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Objective: This study aimed to identify the prediction accuracy of the combination of C-reactive protein (CRP) albumin ratio (CAR) and time to castration resistance (TTCR) for overall survival (OS) following development of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Methods: Clinical data from 98 mCRPC patients treated at our institution from 2009 to 2021 were retrospectively evaluated. Optimal cutoff values for CAR and TTCR to predict lethality were generated by use of a receiver operating curve and Youden's index. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression models for OS were used to analyze the prognostic capabilities of CAR and TTCR. Multiple multivariate Cox models were then constructed based on univariate analysis and their accuracy was validated using the concordance index. Results: The optimal cutoff values for CAR at the time of mCRPC diagnosis and TTCR were 0.48 and 12 months, respectively. Kaplan-Meier curves indicated that patients with CAR >0.48 or TTCR <12 months had a significantly worse OS (both p < 0.005). Univariate analysis also identified age, hemoglobin, CRP, and performance status as candidate prognostic factors. Furthermore, a multivariate analysis model incorporating those factors and excluding CRP showed CAR and TTCR to be independent prognostic factors. This model had better prognostic accuracy as compared with that containing CRP instead of CAR. The results showed effective stratification of mCRPC patients in terms of OS based on CAR and TTCR (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Although further investigation is required, CAR and TTCR used in combination may more accurately predict mCRPC patient prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Although multiple mechanisms associated with Peyronie’s disease (PD) have been proposed, details regarding etiologic factors, especially genetic, remain unclear. We examined the relationship of the ABO blood type system, known as a genetic factor associated with susceptibility to a number of diseases, with PD in Japanese males. Materials and Methods We compared 202 Japanese PD patients treated with surgery at our hospital between March 2004 and December 2019 with 846 randomly selected non-PD male patients who underwent urological surgery during the same period regarding distribution of ABO blood types. In addition, we assessed the risk of PD according to blood type group among all study participants using odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) calculations. Results The distribution of individual blood types in the control group was nearly the same as that in the general Japanese population. In contrast, O, A, B, and AB blood types were noted in 37.6%, 36.1%, 14.9% and 11.4%, respectively, of the PD patients, which was significantly different from the control group, where blood type O was found in 29.1% and B in 23.2% (p<0.05). Our results showed that as compared with patients with blood group B, those with another blood type were more likely to develop PD, among which type O had a significantly increased OR of 2.018 (CI, 1.271–3.205). Conclusions These are the first reported results showing that ABO blood type may be associated with risk of PD, though further investigations are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The azoospermia factor (AZF) region is important for spermatogenesis, and deletions within these regions are a common cause of oligozoospermia and azoospermia. Although several studies have reported this cause, the present research, to the best of our knowledge, is the first large-scale study assessing this factor in Japan. In this study, 1030 male patients with infertility who were examined for Y chromosome microdeletion using the polymerase chain reaction-reverse sequence-specific oligonucleotide (PCR-rSSO) method, a newly developed method for Y chromosome microdeletion screening, were included. The study enrolled 250 patients with severe oligospermia and 717 patients with azoospermia. Among the 1030 patients, 4, 4, 10, and 52 had AZFa, AZFb, AZFb+c, and AZFc deletions, respectively. The sperm recovery rate (SRR) of microdissection testicular sperm extraction in patients with AZFc deletions was significantly higher than that in those without AZF deletions (60.0% vs 28.7%, P = 0.04). In patients with gr/gr deletion, SRR was 18.7%, which was lower than that in those without gr/gr deletion, but was not statistically significant. In conclusion, our study showed that the frequency of Y chromosome microdeletion in male patients in Japan was similar to that reported in patients from other countries, and SRR was higher in patients with AZFc deletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an interface for the tele-operation of a laparoscope-holder robot via head movement using facial feature point detection. Fourteen feature points on the operator's face are detected using a camera. The vertical and horizontal rotation angles and the distance between the face and the camera are estimated from the points using deep learning. The training data for deep learning are obtained using a dummy face. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) between the estimated and directly measured values is calculated for different numbers of nodes, layers, and epochs, and suitable numbers are determined from the RMSE values. The trained data are evaluated with four subjects. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on VLBI observations of a water maser source associated with the SgrD HII region, which is a bright radio continuum source in the direction of the Galactic center region. The absolute proper motions and the distance measured by VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) were (μα cos δ, μδ) = (-1.32 ± 0.15 mas yr-1, -2.86 ± 0.34 mas yr-1) and d = 2.36+0.58-0.39 kpc, respectively. The line-of-sight velocity of the water maser emission is similar to that of the H91α recombination line emission detected at the SgrD HII region. The spatial position and line-of-sight velocity of the water maser emission indicate that this source is physically associated with the extended HII source seen under radio continuum observations. Thus, our results suggest that the SgrD HII region is located in the Scutum arm of the Galactic disk. We discuss this new view of the SgrD complex, based on the parallax and proper motions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on simultaneous very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) mapping of 28SiO v = 1, 2, 3, and 29SiO v = 0 J = 1 → 0 maser lines at the 7 mm band toward the semi-regular variable star, W Hydrae (W Hya), using the new data acquisition system (OCTAVE-DAS), installed in the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) array and temporarily operated in the 45 m telescope of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory. Although these masers were spatially resolved, their compact maser spots were fortunately detected in the 1000 km baselines of VERA. We found the locations of the v = 3 maser emission which are unexpected from the currently proposed maser pumping models. Mapping of the 29SiO maser line in W Hya is the third result after those in WX Psc and R Leo. This paper shows the scientific implication of simultaneous VLBI observations of multiple SiO maser lines as realized by using the OCTAVE system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have measured the annual parallax of the water maser around a Mira star, U Lyncis (U Lyn) with VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA). The value of the parallax is 1.27±0.06 mas, corresponding to a distance of 786-36+40 pc. This is the first VLBI measurement of the parallax of U Lyn. We obtained the period and the apparent magnitude of U Lyn based on near-infrared observations with the Kagoshima University 1mtelescope. The period and the mean magnitude of the K' band are 437.9 day and +1.15±0.09 mag, respectively. Using our measured parallax and period, we find that the location of U Lyn on the period-luminosity plane is consistent with its nature as a Mira variable fundamental mode pulsator. Also, we estimated the distance using the period-luminosity relationship, our period and apparent magnitude and this gave a difference of about 100 pc between our parallactic distance and the distance estimated by using the period-luminosity relationship. We estimated the luminosity, radius, and mass of U Lyn to be 10100±420 L8857;, 391±34 R8857;, and 1.9±0.7 M8857;, respectively. We found 50 water maser spots with a distribution ~13 au around the star and the motion implies the existence of an outflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hitachi and Takahagi 32 m radio telescopes (former satellite communication antennas) were so upgraded as to work at 6, 8, and 22GHz. We developed the receiver systems, IF systems, back-end systems (including samplers and recorders), and reference systems. We measured the performance of the antennas. The system temperature including the atmosphere toward the zenith, T*sys, is measured to be ~30-40 K for 6 GHz and ~25-35 K for 8GHz. T*sys for 22GHz is measured to be ~40-100 K in winter and ~150-500 K in summer seasons, respectively. The aperture efficiency is 55%-75% for Hitachi at 6GHz and 8GHz, and 55%-65% for Takahagi at 8GHz. The beam sizes at 6 GHz and 8 GHz are ~4'.6 and ~3'.8, respectively. The side-lobe level is less than 3%-4% at 6 and 8GHz. Pointing accuracy was measured to be better than ~0'.3 for Hitachi and ~0'.6 for Takahagi. We succeeded in VLBI observations in 2010 August, indicating good performance of the antenna. We started single-dish monitoring observations of 6.7GHz methanol maser sources in 2012 December, and found several new sources showing short-term periodic variation of the flux density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We detected internal proper motions of the methanol maser features at 6.7GHz in a high-mass star-forming region G006.79-00.25 with the East-Asian VLBI Network. The spatial distribution of the maser features shows an elliptical morphology. The internal proper motions of 17 methanol maser features relative to the barycenter of the features were measured. The amplitude of the internal motions ranged from 1.30 to 10.25 km s-1. Most of the internal proper motions of the maser features seem to point counterclockwise along the elliptical morphology of the maser features. We applied the disk model, which includes both rotating and expanding components, to the observed positions, l.o.s. velocities, and proper motions. The derived rotation, expansion, and systemic velocities are +3-2+2, +6-2+2, and +21-2+2 km s-1, respectively, at the radius of 1260 au on the disk with a position angle of the semi-major axis of -140° and an inclination of 60°. The derived rotating motion suggests that the methanol maser emissions showing the elliptical spatial morphology possibly trace the rotating disk. The derived expanding motion might be caused by the magnetic-centrifugal wind on the disk, which was estimated on the basis of the typical magnetic field strength at emitting zones of a methanol maser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation (BPOP), first described by Nora et al. in 1983 and therefore termed "Nora's lesion", is a rare lesion that occurs in the short bones of the hands and feet and eventually presents as a parosteal mass. Reports of BPOP in the long bones are very rare. A benign disease, BPOP does not become malignant, although a high rate of recurrence following surgical resection is reported. Because of its atypical imaging findings and histopathological appearance, a BPOP might be misdiagnosed as a malignant tumor such as an osteochondroma with malignant transformation, a parosteal osteosarcoma, or a periosteal osteosarcoma.Case Presentation: A 58-year-old woman complained of left ulnar wrist pain at the time of her initial presentation. Plain x-rays showed ectopic calcifications in and around the distal radioulnar joint, which supported the diagnosis of subacute arthritis with hydroxyapatite crystal deposition. She was initially given a wrist brace and directed to follow-up, but her persistent pain required the administration of corticosteroid injections into the distal radioulnar joint. Increasing ulnar wrist joint pain and limited forearm pronation and wrist flexion necessitated computed tomography and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. BPOP was diagnosed based on the preoperative imaging studies, and a resection of the lesion was performed along with the decortication of the underlying the cortical bone to reduce recurrence rates. The diagnosis of BPOP was confirmed by pathologic examination. Two years after surgery, the patient has no subsequent pain complaints and an improved range of motion.Conclusions: BPOP affecting the distal end of the ulna is exceedingly rare. Because BPOP was diagnosed primarily based upon preoperative imaging findings in our patient, decortication of the underlying cortical bone was performed to reduce recurrence rates. Further careful follow-up in these patients is essential, despite the non-recurrence of the lesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the position of the radio core in a blazar by multi-epoch astrometric observations at 43 GHz. Using the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA), we have conducted four adjacent observations in 2011 February and another four in 2011 October, and succeeded in measuring the position of the radio core in the TeV blazar Mrk 501 relative to a distant compact quasar NRAO512. During our observations, we find that (1) there is no positional change within ∼0.2mas or ∼2.0 pc de-projected with ±1 σ error for the weighted-mean phase-referenced positions of the Mrk 501 core relative to NRAO512 over four adjacent days, and (2) there is an indication of position change for the 3C 345 core relative to NRAO512. By applying our results to the standard internal shock model for blazars, we constrain the bulk Lorenz factors of the ejecta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted astrometry of H2O masers in Galactic star-forming regions G48.99-0.30 and G49.19-0.34 with VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA). The observational results yield the parallaxes of G48.99-0.30 and G49.19-0.34 to be 0.178±0.017 mas (5.62+0.59-0.49 kpc) and 0.211±0.016 mas (4.74+0.39-0.33 kpc), respectively. We discuss in detail the sources of astrometric errors based on the observations of the two sources. The positional systemic errors in RA and Dec of (23, 31)μ as for G49.19-0.34 are dominated by a tropospheric contribution from the Earth's atmosphere. Those of (23, 53)μas for G48.99-0.30 are attributed to a tropospheric contribution and a maser structure effect. The formal positional error from thermal noise is significantly smaller than these systemic positional errors. VERA phase-referencing observations could achieve a positional accuracy of a few tens of μas in both RA and Dec directions for point-like and bright sources at high elevation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed astrometric observations of IRAS 20126+4104 with the very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA). The measured parallax was 0.750±0.092 mas, corresponding to a distance of 1.33+0.19 -0.15 kpc. We found that IRAS 20126+4104 is located approximately 100 pc above the Galactic plane and moving further away from the Galactic plane with a velocity of approximately 16±4kms-1. This motion would be associated by common origin with the expanding motions of OB typestars in the Cygnus superbubble. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel core–shell composite photocatalyst, commercially available titanium(iv) oxide (TiO2) particles directly incorporated into a hollow amorphous silica shell, was fabricated by successive coating of TiO2 with a carbon layer and a silica layer followed by heat treatment to remove the carbon layer. The composite induced efficient photocatalytic reactions when relatively small substrates were used, such as methanol dehydration and decomposition of acetic acid, without any reduction in the intrinsic activity of original TiO2, but did not exhibit efficient photocatalytic activity for decomposition of large substrates, methylene blue and polyvinyl alcohol. The unique size-selective properties of the composites are due to their structural characteristics, i.e., the presence of a pore system and a void space in the silica shell and between the shell and medial TiO2 particles, respectively. The loading of alkylsilyl groups on the surface of the composite led to highly photostable floatability: the floated sample also induced efficient photocatalytic reaction for decomposition of acetic acid while retaining floatation at the gas/water interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A core–shell composite of TiO2 particles encapsulated in a hollow silica was fabricated, and the core–shell composite showed size-selective photocatalytic activity for decomposition of organics without reducing the intrinsic activity of the naked TiO2 core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the precise location of the radio core in the nearby blazar Mrk 501 for the first time during its X-ray and TeV γ-ray active state in 2012 by revisiting from the perspective of astrometry the six-epoch observations with the Very Long Baseline Array at 43 GHz reported by Koyama et al. We find that the position of the radio core seen at 43 GHz remained stable during our observations from 2012 to 2013 February within 42 μas in the southeast jet direction and 56 μas along the northeast jet direction. This implies that the location of the 43 GHz radio-emitting core was limited within the deprojected scale of 4.6 × 103 Schwarzschild radii (Rs) during the high-energy active state. This result is a contrast to another case of the astrometric observation of the famous nearby TeV blazar Mrk 421, which showed a clear radio core position change soon after the large X-ray flare in 2011, reported by Niinuma et al. We compare the two cases and discuss possible origins of the different results of the radio core astrometry in the high-energy active states between the nearby blazars. Based on the internal shock model for blazars, the Lorentz factors of the ejecta explaining the stability of the radio core in Mrk 501 are expected to be a few times smaller than those for the wandering core in Mrk 421. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of multi-epoch VLBI observations toward water/SiO masers in Orion-KL are presented. We conducted high-resolution VLBI observations of water/SiO masers with VERA to probe the structure and the kinematics of the disk/outflow in Orion-KL. The VERA observations provide the positions and proper motions of masers features in Orion-KL with the highest accuracy ever observed. The results of water and SiO maser observations suggest that Source I is a massive YSO with an accretion disk and a collimated outflow. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Granular cell tumors (GCTs) have a characteristic cytological appearance, and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been suggested to be the diagnostic modality of choice. However, the differential diagnosis has not yet been well described. We herein describe a rare case of GCT of the breast and discuss the differential diagnosis. A 53-year-old woman presented to our hospital with a left breast mass. In clinical and radiological examinations, the mass was suspected to be malignant. Cytologically, the tumor was composed of cohesive groups of cells with a syncytial appearance, and the cells contained abundant, finely eosinophilic cytoplasmic granules and small round-to-slightly-oval nuclei, thus suggesting the presence of benign GCT. The results of immunohistochemical staining supported the proposed deviation from Schwann cells. This case emphasizes the fact that GCTs are a rare but important possibility in the differential diagnosis of breast tumors, and that FNAC may provide clinically useful information on the management of such lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]