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Symptomatic cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in immunocompetent patients has traditionally been considered to have a benign and self-limited course. Moreover, current concept is that CMV infection in immunocompetent patients does not require treatment. However, recent studies reveal that CMV infection in immunocompetent patient with clinical manifestation is not a rare condition as thought previously. Here, we report a case of CMV colitis, which occurred in an immunocompetent hemodialysis patient who neither had HIV infection nor had medication that could cause immunosuppression. Our case revealed that the conservative treatment was not enough, and the administration of ganciclovir was essential for improving the disease course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to determine the plausibility of GPS-derived Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) as a fog detector, the relationship between GPS IWV and meteorological observations during fog was studied in a time domain. In this research, it is assumed that fog is a simple function of water vapour and cloud water based on non-precipitation warm cloud in the bulk water-continuity model and that, during fog, the atmosphere over the fog layer is horizontally homogeneous. The case of dense fog was chosen, for which the visibility observed by the human eye ('synop') was < 1 km with the regular observation at co-located GPS sites. Preliminary results showed that GPS IWV could detect the microphysical and dynamical process of fog, such as conversion of the water vapour into cloud water and inflow of water vapour into GPS observation sites. Furthermore, it could potentially be found that GPS IWV reflected unceasingly and quantitatively the state of fog after saturation. To mitigate limitations of the temporal resolution and the inaccuracy of 'synop' visibility data, a GPS receiver and a visibility meter were operated at the same site simultaneously. This experiment revealed definitively that typical radiation fog was more suitable than other types of fog for detection by GPS IWV. Based on these results, it is suggested that GPS IWV can be considered as a supplementary technique in detecting fog processes and improving fog predictability. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrates the characteristics of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Double-Moment 6-Class (WDM6) Microphysics scheme for representing precipitating moist convection in 3D platforms, relative to theWSM6 scheme that has been widely used in the WRF community. For a case study of convective system over the Great Plains, the WDM6 scheme improves the evolutionary features such as the bow-type echo in the leading edge of the squall line. We also found that the WRF with WDM6 scheme removes spurious oceanic rainfall that is a systematic defect resulting from the use of the WSM6 scheme alone. The simulated summer monsoon rainfall in East Asia is improved by weakening (strengthening) light (heavy) precipitation activity. These changes can be explained by the fact that the WDM6 scheme has a wider range in cloud and rain number concentrations than does the WSM6 scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin C plays a crucial role in the suppression of proliferation of several types of cancer. Over-expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and type I insulin-like growth factor (IGF) receptor are important for proliferation and protection from apoptosis in malignancies. However, its specific mechanisms, especially the interaction between COX-2 expression and IGF-I axis mediated by vitamin C, remain yet to be clarified. Therefore, we investigated the effects of vitamin C on the proliferation of melanoma cells via the modulation of COX-2 expression and IGF-I axis. As a result, we found that 1.0 mM vitamin C inhibits the proliferation of SK-MEL-2 without induction of apoptosis. At that moment, IGF-II production was decreased, followed by the inhibition of COX-2 activity. IGF-IR expression was also down-regulated by vitamin C treatment. It coincided with the result from the inhibition of COX-2 by NS-398 and COX-2 siRNA. In addition, the decreased IGF-IR expression by vitamin C was restored by the treatment of recombinant prostaglandin E2. Finally, we determined whether the signal pathway would be involved in vitamin C-induced IGF-II and IGF-IR down-regulation. When the cells were exposed to SB203580, a specific inhibitor of p38 MAPK, COX-2 expression was dramatically recovered. In addition, phosphorylated p38 MAPK was increased after vitamin C treatment. Taken together, vitamin C suppresses proliferation of the human melanoma cell line SK-MEL2 via the down-regulation of IGF-II production and IGF-IR expression, which is followed by the activation of p38 MAPK and the inhibition of COX-2 expression. J. Cell. Physiol. 216: 180–188, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]