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K Sameshima

Publications and source records attributed to K Sameshima.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

A study of the quality of life in elderly people using psychological testing.

To study factors which influence the quality of life (QOL) in the elderly, we investigated the relationship between scores on the modified Philadelphia Geriatric Center (JPGC) Morale Scale and various other psychological tests in 51 elderly people residing in a long-term care facility. The JPGC Morale Scale score correlated with the scores for all sections of the Japanese version of the Cornell Medical Index (JCMI), but not with those for the Mini Mental State Examination, the Kohs block design test, the Bender Gestalt test and the activities of daily living (ADL). Both somatic and psychotic symptoms on the JCMI were correlated with the dementia behaviour disturbance scale score and walking ability according to the ADL. Subjects were further divided into four groups according to Fukamachi's neurotic discriminative diagram based on the JCMI. Scores for most sections of somatic and psychotic symptoms on the JCMI were elevated in proportion to the degree of neurotic tendencies in the elderly. These results indicate that the QOL of the elderly is influenced by subjective symptoms, but not by the degree of cognitive impairment or the ADL.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1995

Remodelling of hand representation in adult cortex determined by timing of tactile stimulation.

The primate somatosensory cortex, which processes tactile stimuli, contains a topographic representation of the signals it receives, but the way in which such maps are maintained is poorly understood. Previous studies of cortical plasticity indicated that changes in cortical representation during learning arise largely as a result of hebbian synaptic change mechanisms. Here we show, using owl monkeys trained to respond to specific stimulus sequence events, that serial application of stimuli to the fingers results in changes to the neuronal response specificity and maps of the hand surfaces in the true primary somatosensory cortical field (S1 area 3b). In this representational remodelling stimuli applied asychronously to the fingers resulted in these fingers being integrated in their representation, whereas fingers to which stimuli were applied asynchronously were segregated in their representation. Ventroposterior thalamus response maps derived in these monkeys were not equivalently reorganized. This representational plasticity appears to be cortical in origin.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

[Anesthetic management of cesarean section in a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy].

We report the anesthetic management of Cesarean section in a pregnant (31 weeks) woman with dilated cardiomyopathy. She had dyspnea and chest pain which were signs of congestive heart failure. The left ventricular ejection fraction was 38%. Anesthesia was induced and maintained with fentanyl, midazolam and vecuronium. There was no significant cardiovascular changes in the mother during the operation. The baby was apneic and showed no movement at birth, but he was immediately intubated and his condition became almost normal on the following day. In the anesthesiological management of Cesarean sections with cardiac disease, general anesthesia with fentanyl can be used to minimize cardiovascular changes in the mother as long as the baby is immediately resuscitated after delivery.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Toxicity of dioxins: role of an absolute hardness-absolute electronegativity diagram (eta-chi diagram) as a new measure in risk assessment.

The differences in biological activities among polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (dioxins) are strongly dependent on the substitution pattern of chlorine at various positions on the parent dibenzo-p-dioxin molecule. The absolute hardness, eta, of dioxins shows a good correlation with the potency of biological activity and the chlorine substitution pattern. The result means that the soft dioxins have a small HOMO-LUMO gap, and are more toxic than the hard dioxins. Therefore, the values of absolute hardness, eta, of dioxins can be used to predict their toxic potency (dioxin hardness). Moreover, we show that the absolute hardness-absolute electronegativity (eta-chi) diagrams, as an activity coordinate, play an important role as a new measure in the assessment of the toxicity and potency of the biological activity of dioxins.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

[Substance P-like immunoreactivity in cerebrospinal fluid in lumbar disc herniation].

Substance P-like immunoreactivity (SP-LI) of the cerebrospinal fluid was measured by radioimmunoassay in 40 patients with lumbar disc herniation (hernia group), and in 10 patients with no low back pain and no leg symptoms (control group). The SP-LI was significantly higher in the hernia group (5.49 +/- 3.01 pg/ml) than in the control group (2.05 +/- 0.52 pg/ml) (p < 0.01). In the hernia group, the SP-LI was significantly higher in patients with severe pain in the lower extremities than in those with only mild pain. As the SP-LI was found to be correlated with the severity of pain, it was considered to be a useful index of pain. As for the correlation of SP-LI with the hernia type, the SP-LI was significantly higher in patients with transligamentous extrusion type hernia than in those with protrusion type hernia. This result suggested that the release of substance P was increased with marked compression on the dorsal root.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

What are parents of obese children concerned about in their children?

We retrospectively examined the issues that concern parents of obese children to determine the most effective means of motivating them to seek treatment for obesity in their children. Children with an obesity index > or = 40%, aged six to 12 years, were screened in Kagoshima City in 1992. Parents were notified if their children needed an evaluation that included a family history and measurements of the blood pressure, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, atherogenic index (ASI), triglycerides, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Parents were informed of the results of the evaluation and invited to attend a lecture on the treatment of obesity in children. A total of 378 obese children were evaluated. However, the parents of only 39 children attended the lecture. Children whose parents attended had higher mean total levels of cholesterol (190 +/- 25 vs 175 +/- 28, P < 0.01) and ASI values (3.2 +/- 0.9 vs 2.7 +/- 0.9, P < 0.02) than those whose parents did not attend. There were no significant differences in other factors. Only 4.2% of parents whose children showed no abnormal values, except for obesity, attended the lecture, compared with 20.3% (P < 0.01) or 16.9% (P < 0.05) of parents whose children had abnormal levels of cholesterol or abnormal ASI. Parents may be more concerned about hypercholesterolemia or arteriosclerosis than obesity per se. We should perhaps use the total cholesterol or ASI values, not just the severity of obesity, to motivate parents to enter their children into treatment programs for obesity.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Cortical plasticity and memory.

The roles of extrinsically modulated, plastic Hebb-like synapses and dynamic cortical cell assemblies underlying cortical plasticity in learning and memory operations are described. From our understanding of the distributed form of representation of learned behaviors in somatosensory and auditory cortical fields, and given new findings about the nature and distribution of responses representing learned and remembered stimuli in the inferior temporal cortex, a hypothetical picture of the cortical engram representing learned behaviors and memories is posited.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1992

Theta waves and behavioral manifestations of alertness and dreaming activity in the rat.

Electro-oscillographic recordings show that when rats wake up, behavioral manifestations such as head dorsal extension and snout and eye movements (which occur in this sequence), occasionally followed by brief ear and limb twitches, are preceded by and are simultaneous with theta waves (around 6.5 Hz in frequency) in neocortical areas 3 and 17 and in the hippocampus. Heart rate increases when the animal passes from synchronized sleep to relaxed wakefulness to exploratory behavior. During desynchronized sleep theta waves, similar to those found during alertness, usually precede and are simultaneous with rostrum and eye movements and brief ear and limb twitches. Heart rate also increases during dreaming activity. A high degree of coherence (near 1.0) was found among theta bursts in different hippocampal areas in both highly attentive alertness and dreaming. It is suggested that theta waves are related to attention as part of some kinds of behavior and of the process of dream shaping and expression, both characterized by consciousness.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Connection, a microcomputer program for storing and analyzing structural properties of neural circuits.

The application of a microcomputer-based system (the Connection system) designed to deal with neuroanatomical information commonly analyzed by researchers and involved in the study of structural properties of neural circuits is presented. This system can be employed at first as a readily-accessible database containing physiological and anatomical data from nuclei of the central nervous system which define a network with up to 45 elements and their subdivisions and connections. Once the database from a specific network is built and stored in a file, routines of this system can be used to classify the nuclei in term of their afferents and efferents and also to display all possible pathways linking any pair of nuclei and their respective length (number of synapses). The role of such a system as an auxiliary tool in neuroanatomical and electrophysiological research is discussed by presenting the results obtained from the analysis of the neural circuits involved in cardiovascular function control in higher vertebrates.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1990

[Reproductive and developmental toxicity study of mofezolac (N-22) (3)--Teratogenicity study in rabbits by oral administration].

Mofezolac (N-22) is a new developed analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent. A teratogenicity study of N-22 was carried out in New Zealand White rabbits to examine the effect on the dams and the teratogenic potentiality. N-22 was administered orally at the dose levels of 12.5, 50 and 200 mg/kg during the organogenesis from day 6 to day 18 of gestation. All pregnant females were sacrificed on day 28 of gestation and their fetuses were examined. There were no growth retardation and teratogenic effects on fetuses from the dams administered N-22, although the administration of 200 mg/kg produced a decrease in food consumption of the dams concomitant with the embryocidal effects as shown by an increase in the early resorption rate. Thus, non-toxic dose level of N-22 on the dams and fetuses was considered to be 50 mg/kg.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1990

Electrical activity of the posterior thalamic nucleus and the hippocampus during wakefulness and desynchronized sleep in the rat: a spectral analysis.

The electrical activity of the posterior thalamic nuclear complex was studied in rats and related to the simultaneous hippocampal electro-oscillogram. Electrocorticographic tracings and spectral analysis showed that during attentive wakefulness the electro-oscillogram peaked at 8 Hz and in desynchronized sleep it oscillated at regular frequencies between 8 and 9 Hz. In quiet wakefulness, frequency was lower (around 6 Hz) and during synchronized sleep rhythmicity disappeared. The electrophysiological patterns during wakefulness and desynchronized sleep are proposed to be linked to the retrieval and combination of information for the generation of attention and dream content.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Stationarity and normality of distribution of rat cortical brain waves.

Establishing the stationarity and statistical distribution of potentials recorded from the nervous system is crucial for the application of frequency analysis. Both parameters were determined in the electrocorticograms of six adult Wistar rats during wakefulness and desynchronized sleep, during both of which desynchronization prevails. Stationarity of the signals was found to occur during at least 20 s in both states of the wakefulness-sleep cycle. A normal distribution was also found for at least 6.7 s. These findings provide strong support for the use of frequency analysis of brain waves as a reliable method to quantify neural electro-oscillograms.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[Two cases of amylase-producing lung cancer].

In 1951, Weiss et al. first reported a case of an amylase-producing lung cancer. Since then, reports on immunohistochemical, ultrastructural, and biochemical studies have been published. We recently have experienced two autopsy cases of lung cancer that manifested high amylase activity in the serum, urine, and pleural effusions. Histologically, both lung cancers were classified as being well differentiated adenocarcinomas, and immunohistochemically, the tumor cells showed positive immunoreactivity for amylase. This paper discusses the histogenesis of amylase-producing lung cancers and cases found in the literature.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1988

Cleft hand in Silver-Russell syndrome.

A case of Silver-Russell Syndrome with a typical cleft hand is presented. The association of cleft hand with this syndrome has never been reported before.

Child↗
PubMed1988

16q21 is critical for 16q deletion syndrome.

A 1-year-old girl with an interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 16 is reported. She was characterized by a distinct craniofacial dysmorphism, meningoencephalocele, mild hydrocephalus, short neck, broad great toes and abnormally positioned toes. High resolution GTG and RBG banding analyses revealed a karyotype: 46,XX,del(16) (q13q22) de novo. An analysis of the smallest region of overlap revealed that the critical band region for 16q deletion syndrome is 16q21.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗