In order to detect the localization of ALPase activity in the liver parenchyma more effectively and make the reaction product finer in EM, AMP (2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol) buffer has been tried for the exploration on ultrastructural enzyme-histochemistry and biochemical quantitation by the lead citrate method. The microsections were used after fixation with 0.5% glutaraldehyde perfusion.The original Tris-HCl buffer was replaced by 175-350mM AMP buffer and 5mM or 20mM sodium 尾-glycerophosphate were used as substrate. By using all these different concentrations of reaction medium, the ALPase activity in the liver was found in the lateral and sinusoidal surface of hepatocytes as well as in the bile canalicular surface and the surface of mitochondria and lysosome. This suggests that AMP buffer is better and more effective for detection of ALPase activity in liver parenchyma by the lead citrate method.

In Kyoto, we held the first “Palliative care workshop for physicians engaged in clinical practice for cancer treatment” in Japan on June 7-8, 2008 under the directive of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. There were 163 participants in the workshop, including 56 physicians and 107 voluntarily participating healthcare professionals (77 nurses, 23 pharmacists and 7 other medical professionals). We analyzed the results of tests consisting of 25 questions classified into 7 categories based on their contents. Tests were administered before and after the workshop (pre-test and post-test), and the educational effects of our conference were evaluated by examining changes in test scores. Participants other than physicians, nurses and pharmacists were excluded from analysis of the test scores because comprehensive medical knowledge was required to solve the questions. The mean rates of correct answers on pre- and post-test were 87.9% for physicians (total 78.9%) and 94.6% for physicians (total 89.1%), respectively. The scores were markedly increased after the workshop, showing practical significance of our attempt. However, the percentage of correct answers regarding psychological symptoms was lowest for physicians as well as for other healthcare professionals on both pre- and post-test. These findings strongly suggest that the workshops produced a sufficient educational effect, but improvement in individual training systems is considered necessary, especially in fields related to psychological manifestations. Palliat Care Res 2010; 5(2): 152-161

Medical students in the second to fifth years evaluated all classroom lectures and laboratories in 1998. To clarify the faculty's opinions on student evaluations, in 2000 a questionnaire survey was given to 420 members of the teaching staff, of whom 137 (33%) responded. One hundred three (81.1%) instructors immediately checked the questionnaires after the classroom lecture or laboratory session, of whom 100 reported that the questionnaires were helpful for preparing subsequent lectures. One hundred nine faculty members replied that student evaluations of faculty teaching were meaningful, and 109 supported similar surveys in the future. Although conducting surveys of many students requires considerable time and cost, an effective feedback system plays an important role for both faculty and students.

Lipid rafts provide a platform for regulating cellular functions and participate in the pathogenesis of several diseases. However, the role of caveolin-1 in this process has not been elucidated definitely in neuron. Thus, this study was performed to examine whether caveolin-1 can regulate amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing in neuronal cells and to identify the molecular mechanisms involved in this regulation. Caveolin-1 is up-regulated in all parts of old rat brain, namely hippocampus, cerebral cortex and in elderly human cerebral cortex. Moreover, detergent-insoluble glycolipid (DIG) fractions indicated that caveolin-1 was co-localized with APP in caveolae-like structures. In DIG fractions, bAPP secretion was up-regulated by caveolin-1 over-expression, which was modulated via protein kinase C (PKC) in neuroblastoma cells. From these results we conclude that caveolin-1 is selectively expressed in senescent neurons and that it induces the processing of APP by beta-secretase via PKC downregulation.
Up-Regulation ; Receptors, Cell Surface/*metabolism ; Rats ; Protein Kinase C/metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Microscopy, Electron ; Humans ; Caveolin 1/*metabolism/physiology ; Caveolae/*metabolism/ultrastructure ; Brain/metabolism/pathology/ultrastructure ; Animals ; Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor/*metabolism ; Amyloid beta-Protein/*metabolism ; Alzheimer Disease/*metabolism ; Aging/metabolism ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aged