The networks from medical knowledge and clinical practice have small-world,scale-free,and hierarchical features

Here, we constructed and analyzed a network (henceforth, “medical knowledge network”) derived from a commonly used medical text. We show that this medical knowledge network has small-world, scale-free, and hierarchical features. We then constructed a network from data from a hospital information system that reflected actual clinical practice and found that this network also had small-world, scale-free, and hierarchical features. Moreover, we found that both the diagnosis frequency distribution of the hospital network and the diagnosis degree distribution of the medical knowledge network obeyed a similar power law. These findings suggest that the structure of clinical practice may emerge from the mutual influence of medical knowledge and clinical practice, and that the analysis of a medical knowledge network may facilitate the investigation of the characteristics of medical practice.     

Carbon nanotube growth on a pointed bulk electrode using femtosecond laser nonlinear lithography

Carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles were synthesized on pointed bulk electrodes using femtosecond laser nonlinear lithography. A resist mask of 1.5 μm diameter was formed on a pointed bulk cathode by translating a laser focus three-dimensionally inside the spherical photoresist. Metal masks obtained by pattern transfers of the resists effectively suppressed CNT growth during plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, resulting in synthesis of CNT bundles only at the electrode tip. Irradiation of field emission currents from the pointed cathode enables local melting and subsequent removal of anode materials. The damaged region size and the threshold voltage for this removal process were reduced by spatial limitations of emission sites using the metal mask.     

The Effect of Trifluoromethyl and Difluoromethoxy Groups on Mesomorphic Properties

Abstract

This paper describes the effect of terminal substituent on the mesomorphic properties in 3-and 4-(4-alkoxyphenoxycarbonyl)phenyl 3- and 4-R-benzoate and 4-(4-alkoxybenzoyloxy)phenyl 2-, 3-, and 4-R-benzoates (R = CF₃, OCF₃, OCF₂H). The meta-trifluoromethoxy and para-difluoromethoxy compounds tend to show a smectic C phase, as well as smectic A and nematic ones, and introduction of a chiral carbon in the alkoxyl group induces the chiral smectic C one.     

A case of fat necrosis after breast quadrantectomy in which preoperative diagnosis was enabled by MRI with fat suppression technique

A 63-year-old woman was found to have a left breast mass after quadrantectomy and radiation for bilateral breast cancer on postoperative cyclic examination. Intramammary recurrence could not be excluded by physical examination, mammography, or ultrasound examination. MR imaging with fat suppression technique revealed an oil-containing lesion, indicating fat necrosis. It was confirmed histologically that the mass-forming lesion included no cancer tissue. MR imaging with fat suppression technique appears to be a promising method for identification of postoperative mass lesions of the breast.     

Biological Effects of a Simplified Synthetic Analogue of Ion-Channel-Forming Polytheonamide B on Plasma Membrane and Lysosomes

Polytheonamide B ( 1 ) is a linear 48-mer natural peptide with alternating d - and l -amino acid residues. Compound 1 forms conducting channels for monovalent ions and exhibits potent cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cells. Previously, we reported that nanomolar concentrations of 1 induce plasma membrane depolarization and lysosomal pH disruption, which triggers apoptosis. Here, we report the cellular localization and biological action of a simplified synthetic analogue of 1 , polytheonamide mimic 3 . Compared with 1 , the toxicity of 3 against MCF-7 cells is 16 times weaker. Although its plasma membrane depolarization effect is only 3.6 times lower, more 3 (20-fold) is required to neutralize lysosomal pH. Thus, the effective concentrations for lysosomal neutralization and cytotoxicity by 3 are comparable. These results strongly suggest that the activity of 3 against the lysosomal membrane is more important for apoptotic cell death than its effects on the plasma membrane, and provide valuable information regarding the unique behavior of polytheonamide-based molecules.     

Identification of degranulation inhibitors from rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) tea in rat basophilic leukaemia cells

Quercetin, luteolin and chrysoeriol were identified from rooibos tea as degranulation inhibitors in rat basophilic leukaemia cells. The degranulation inhibitory activity of chrysoeriol was first discovered in the present study. When quercetin, luteolin and chrysoeriol were mixed in the ratio that occurs in rooibos tea extract, the mixture inhibited antigen- and calcium ionophore-stimulated degranulation to the same degree as that by the whole rooibos tea extract. These findings indicate that these three flavonoids are the key factors underlying the degranulation inhibitory activity of rooibos tea.