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Masafumi Kon,1 Michiko Nakamura,1 Kimihiko Moriya,1,2 Yoko Nishimura,1 Yurie Hirata,1 Mutsumi Nishida,3 Madoka Higuchi,1 Takeya Kitta,1 Nobuo Shinohara1 1Department of Renal and Genitourinary Surgery, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan; 2Department of Urology, Sapporo City General Hospital, Sapporo, Japan; 3Diagnostic Center for Sonography and Division of Laboratory and Transfusion Medicine, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, JapanCorrespondence: Kimihiko MoriyaDepartment of Urology, Sapporo City General Hospital, 1-1 North 11, West 13, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, 060-8604, JapanTel +81-11-726-2211Fax +81-11-726-7912Email k-moriya@med.hokudai.ac.jpIntroduction: Recent guidelines do not recommend routine screening of vesicoureteral reflux after a first febrile urinary tract infection in children without abnormal findings on ultrasound or atypical/recurrent urinary tract infection. Currently, there are no clear ultrasonographic parameters for detecting abnormalities in renal size, especially in young children. The aim of the present study was to determine an optimal cutoff value for detecting small kidney in children without apparent congenital anomalies except vesicoureteral reflux by retrospective chart review.Patients and Methods: Children aged ≤ 3 years who had undergone nuclear renal scans and ultrasound were enrolled. Small kidney was defined as split renal function of < 40%. Optimal cutoff values of various ultrasonographic parameters for detecting small kidney were calculated.Results: Of the 69 children included in the present study, small kidney was identified in 20. There was a significant difference in renal size between each kidney in patients with small kidney, whereas there was no significant difference in those without small kidney. With a ratio of estimated renal area of 74.26%, maximum area under the curve with the highest sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy rate were obtained. In addition, simple measurement of renal length with a cutoff of 4.97 cm showed high specificity comparable with estimated renal area.Conclusion: Small kidney may be screened by two-dimensional measurement on ultrasonographic examination, even in young children. With the cutoff described, risk stratification or an individualized approach may be possible.Keywords: small kidney, ultrasound, screening, cutoff value

Accurately quantifying the above-ground carbon stock of tropical rainforest trees is the core component of “Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation-plus” (REDD+) projects and is important for evaluating the effects of anthropogenic global change. We used high-resolution optical imagery (IKONOS-2) to identify individual tree crowns in intact and degraded rainforests in the mountains of Northern Borneo, comparing our results with 50 ground-based plots dispersed in intact and degraded forests, within which all stems > 10 cm in diameter were measured and identified to species or genus. We used the dimensions of tree crowns detected in the imagery to estimate above-ground biomasses (AGBs) of individual trees and plots. To this purpose, preprocessed IKONOS imagery was segmented using a watershed algorithm; stem diameter values were then estimated from the cross-sectional crown areas of these trees using regression relationships obtained from ground-based measurements. Finally, we calculated the biomass of each tree (AGBT, in kg), and the AGB of plots by summation (AGBP, in Mg ha-1). Remotely sensed estimates of mean AGBT were similar to ground-based estimates in intact and degraded forests, even though small trees could not be detected from space-borne sensors. The intact and degraded forests not only had different AGB but were also dissimilar in biodiversity. A tree-centric approach to carbon mapping based on high-resolution optical imagery, could be a cheap alternative to airborne laser-scanning.

Akram Hossain,1,2 Fuminori Yamaguchi,1 Kayoko Hirose,1 Toru Matsunaga,3 Li Sui,1 Yuko Hirata,1 Chisato Noguchi,1 Ayako Katagi,1 Kazuyo Kamitori,1 Youyi Dong,1 Ikuko Tsukamoto,4 Masaaki Tokuda11Department of Cell Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Ikenobe, Miki, Kagawa, Japan; 2Research and Development, Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Kitaitami, Itami-shi, Hyogo, Japan; 3Division of Hospital Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Ikenobe, Miki, Kagawa, Japan; 4Department of Pharmaco-Bio-Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Ikenobe, Miki, Kagawa, JapanBackground: The fundamental cause of overweight and obesity is consumption of calorie-dense foods. We have introduced a zero-calorie sweet sugar, D-psicose (D-allulose), a rare sugar that has been proven to have strong antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effects, and could be used as a replacement of natural sugar for the obese and diabetic subjects.Aim: Above mentioned efficacy of D-psicose (D-allulose) has been confirmed in our previous studies on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) model Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats with short-term treatment. In this study we investigated the long-term effect of D-psicose in preventing the commencement and progression of T2DM with the mechanism of preservation of pancreatic β-cells in OLETF rats.Methods: Treated OLETF rats were fed 5% d-psicose dissolved in water and control rats only water. Nondiabetic control rats, Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO), were taken as healthy control and fed water. To follow the progression of diabetes, periodic measurements of blood glucose, plasma insulin, and body weight changes were continued till sacrifice at 60 weeks. Periodic in vivo body fat mass was measured. On sacrifice, pancreas, liver, and abdominal adipose tissues were collected for various staining tests.Results: D-Psicose prevented the commencement and progression of T2DM till 60 weeks through the maintenance of blood glucose levels, decrease in body weight gain, and the control of postprandial hyperglycemia, with decreased levels of HbA1c in comparison to nontreated control rats. This improvement in glycemic control was accompanied by the maintenance of plasma insulin levels and the preservation of pancreatic β-cells with the significant reduction in inflammatory markers. Body fat accumulation was significantly lower in the treatment group, with decreased infiltration of macrophages in the abdominal adipose tissue.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the rare sugar D-psicose could be beneficial for the prevention and control of obesity and hyperglycemia with the preservation of β-cells in the progression of T2DM.Keywords: rare sugar d-psicose, OLETF rats, type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, adiposity, β-islet preservation

Ikuko Tsukamoto,1,* Akram Hossain,2,3,* Fuminori Yamaguchi,2 Yuko Hirata,2 Youyi Dong,2 Kazuyo Kamitori,2 Li Sui,2 Machiko Nonaka,2 Masaki Ueno,4 Kazuyuki Nishimoto,5 Hirofumi Suda,5 Kenji Morimoto,6 Tsuyoshi Shimonishi,7,† Madoka Saito,8 Tao Song,9 Ryoji Konishi,1 Masaaki Tokuda2 1Department of Pharmaco-Bio-Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Miki, Kagawa, Japan; 2Department of Cell Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan; 3Matsutani Chemical Industry Co, Ltd, Itami, Japan; 4Department of Inflammation Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan; 5Division of Radioisotope Research, Life Science Research Center, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan; 6Rare Sugar Research Center, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan; 7IZUMORING LLC, Miki, Kita, Kagawa, Japan; 8Department of Pharmacy, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan; 9The First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work†Tsuyoshi Shimonishi has passed away Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate intestinal absorption, organ distribution, and urinary elimination of the rare sugar D-psicose, a 3-carbon stereoisomer of D-fructose that is currently being investigated and which has been found to be strongly effective against hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. Methods: This study was performed using radioactive D-psicose, which was synthesized enzymatically from radioactive D-allose. Concentrations in whole blood, urine, and organs were measured at different time points until 2 hours after both oral and intravenous administrations and 7 days after a single oral administration (100 mg/kg body weight) to Wistar rats. Autoradiography was also performed by injecting 100 mg/kg body weight of 14C-labeled D-psicose or glucose intravenously to C3H mice. Results: Following oral administration, D-psicose easily moved to blood. The maximum blood concentration (48.5±15.6 µg/g) was observed at 1 hour. Excretion to urine was 20% within 1 hour and 33% within 2 hours. Accumulation to organs was detected only in the liver. Following intravenous administration, blood concentration was decreased with the half-life=57 minutes, and the excretion to urine was up to almost 50% within 1 hour. Similarly to the results obtained with oral administration, accumulation to organs was detected only in the liver. Seven days after the single-dose oral administration, the remaining amounts in the whole body were less than 1%. Autoradiography of mice showed results similar to those in rats. High signals of 14C-labeled D-psicose were observed in liver, kidney, and bladder. Interestingly, no accumulation of D-psicose was observed in the brain. Conclusion: D-psicose was absorbed well after oral administration and eliminated rapidly after both oral and intravenous administrations, with short duration of action. The study provides valuable pharmacokinetic data for further drug development of D-psicose. Because the findings were mainly based on animal study, it is necessary to implement human trials to study the metabolism pathway, which would give an important guide for human intake and food application of D-psicose. Keywords: 14C-labeled D-psicose, organ accumulation, pharmacokinetics, autoradiography