#akio kagae

[whytan]

chin rest

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

Neon Genesis Evangelion. Episode 10. “ マグマダイバ  Magmadiver / Magma Diver.”  Written by Hideaki Anno and Akio Satsukawa. Directed by Tsuyoshi Kaga and Hiroyuki Ishido. Gainax, 12-06-1995.

[xiinying]

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Japanese: 会長はメイド様! Romaji: Kaichōu wa Maid-sama! Chinese: 会长是女仆大人！ English: Kaichou wa Maid-sama! Genre: Romantic comedy

Staff Directed by: Hiroaki Sakurai Produced by: Akio Matsuda Written by: Mamiko Ikeda Music by: Wataru Maeguchi Studio: J.C.Staff Licensed by: NA Sentai Filmworks, UK MVM Entertainment Original network: TBS, BS-TBS, Animax Asia English network: NA Anime Network, SEA Animax Asia Original run : April 1, 2010 – September 23, 2010 Episodes: 26 + 2 OVA

Cast Misaki Ayuzawa: Ayumi Fujimura Usui Takumi: Nobuhiko Okamoto Honoka: Kana Asumi Ikuto Sarashina: Takuma Terashima Naoya Shirakawa: Mitsuhiro Ichiki Ryunosuke Kurosaki: Yoshimasa Hosoya Sakura Hanazono: Kana Hanazawa Satsuki Hyodo: Aki Toyosaki Shizuko Kaga: Yu Kobayashi Shoichiro Yukimura: Kazuyoshi Shiibashi Suzuna Ayuzawa: Kaori Ishihara

Synopsis Once an all-boys school, Seika High, a renowned school full of reckless and filthy students, has recently become a co-ed school. However, with the female population still remaining a minority even after the change over the recent years, Misaki Ayuzawa takes it into her own hands to reform the school and allow a chance for the girls to feel safer in the rough environment. Even the teachers are on her side. Training, studying and even becoming the first female student council president of the school, Misaki has gained a reputation, among the male students body as an uptight boy-hating demon dictator and as a shining hope for the teachers and fellow female students.

However, despite her tough-as-nails appearance, she secretly works part-time at a maid café in order to support her family. Unfortunately, her secret is soon discovered by Takumi Usui, a popular boy at Seika High.

[scitechnetwork]

Caffeine as a biomarker for Parkinson’s disease

Source: Juntendo University

(Tokyo, 15 February) Researchers at Juntendo University report in Neurology the potential use of blood levels of caffeine and its byproducts as biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease.  The finding is promising for the development of a method enabling early identification of the disease.

Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, affecting the latter’s motor system — the part controlling bodily motion.  Its symptoms include shaking, rigidity and difficulty with walking.  There is evidence that daily caffeine consumption reduces the risk of developing Parkinson’s.  Now, a team of researchers led by Nobutaka Hattori from Juntendo University School of Medicine have studied how traces of caffeine in the blood, after drinking coffee, can be indicative of Parkinson’s disease.  The researchers found that caffeine levels are significantly lower in patients with the disease; caffeine concentrations could therefore be used as an indicator of Parkinson’s, particularly in its early stages.

 The researchers studied a group of 139 people, both men and women, with and without Parkinson’s disease.  Each person drank between 0 and 5 cups of coffee per day (except for one participant who drank more than six).  Then, they checked the participants’ blood serum for traces of caffeine and its 11 so-called downstream metabolites — small molecules produced during caffeine-induced metabolic processes in the human body.

 The scientists found that the serum levels of caffeine and of almost all metabolites, including theophylline, theobromine and paraxanthine — caffeine’s main byproducts — were lower in patients with Parkinson’s disease.  Although the data obtained by Hattori’s team show that there is a clear relation between a person’s caffeine (metabolite) serum levels and having Parkinson’s disease, there was no significant association between the severity of the disease and the concentration of any of the caffeine-related substances.  Also, there was no significant difference in serum levels between male and female patients (males are known to suffer more often from Parkinson’s disease).

 The findings of Hattori and colleagues suggest that caffeine and caffeine metabolite levels in the blood can be, quoting the researchers, “early diagnostic biomarkers for the [Parkinson’s] disease”; moreover, the results “further indicated the neuroprotective effects of caffeine”.

Background

Parkinson’s disease

In patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, progressive loss of the function or structure of neurons (brain cells) leads to a disorder of the central nervous system, affecting its motor system. Tremor, slowness of movement and difficulties with walking are among the main symptoms in the early stages of Parkinson’s, with dementia being common at more advanced stages.

The cause of Parkinson’s disease is unclear, but it is believed that genetic and environmental factors play a role.  Men are more affected than women, and people who drink tea or coffee have a reduced risk.  The latter inspired Nobutaka Hattori and colleagues from Juntendo University School of Medicine to check whether caffeine levels in the blood, and levels of the byproducts (metabolites) that caffeine intake causes, can be used as biomarkers for the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.  They found that this is indeed the case.

Caffeine

Caffeine is an organic molecule that, when consumed through e.g. coffee or tea, stimulates the central nervous system. Its best-known effect is the prevention of (the onset of) drowsiness.  Daily caffeine consumption has been shown to reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in men, and in women not taking hormone replacement therapy — caffeine’s neuroprotective effect.

The team of Nobutaka Hattori has now demonstrated that, following caffeine intake, the levels of caffeine and its metabolites in the blood serum are lower for people with Parkinson’s, independent of the stage of the disease, implying that these levels could be used as biomarkers for the disease in the early stage.

Reference

Motoki Fujimaki, Shinji Saiki, Yuanzhe Li, Naoko Kaga, Hikari Taka, Taku Hatano, Kei-Ichi Ishikawa, Yutaka Oji, Akio Mori, Ayami Okuzumi, Takahiro Koinuma, Shin-Ichi Ueno, Yoko Imamichi, Takashi Ueno, Yoshiki Miura, Manabu Funayama & Nobutaka Hattori. Serum caffeine and metabolites are reliable biomarkers of early Parkinson disease. Neurology, January 3, 2018.

DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004888

http://n.neurology.org/content/90/5/e404

Figure 1. [From the Supplementary Information (page 7)]

Caffeine and its byproducts (metabolites) after intake in the human body.  Levels of these molecules in the blood are lower for patients with Parkinson’s and can hence serve as biomarkers for the disease.

Source: Juntendo University

[whytan]

happy lunar new year! have some bunny boys in return

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valentine cards from my ocs 💕

here's some alternative versions as well

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oc lineup

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

Neon Genesis Evangelion. Episode 4. “雨、逃げ出した後 Rain, After the Escape / Hedgehog's Dilemma.” Written by Akio Satsukawa. Directed by Tsuyoshi Kaga. Gainax, 10-25-1995