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The 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami inundated the Joban coastal area in the Odaka region of the city of Minamisoma, up to 2818 m from the shoreline. In this study, the flow characteristics of the tsunami were reconstructed from deposits using the DNN (deep neural network) inverse model, suggesting that the tsunami inundation occurred in the Froude supercritical condition. The DNN inverse model effectively estimated the tsunami flow parameters in the Odaka region, including the maximum inundation distance, flow velocity, maximum flow depth, and sediment concentration. Despite having a few topographical anthropogenic undulations that caused the inundation height to fluctuate greatly, the reconstructed maximum flow depth and flow velocity were reasonable and close to the values reported in the field observations. The reconstructed data around the Odaka region were characterized by an extremely high velocity (12.1 ms-1). This study suggests that the large fluctuation in flow depths on the Joban Coast compared with the stable flow depths in the Sendai Plain can be explained by the inundation in the supercritical flow condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field surveys following the 2011 Tohoku‐oki tsunami showed that mud tsunami deposits reached close to the tsunami inundation limit. However, the factors controlling the distribution of mud tsunami deposits remained unclear. We investigated these influencing factors by numerically simulating sand and mud transport after validating the tsunami inundation and distributions of sand and mud deposits during the 2011 Tohoku‐oki tsunami based on our sensitivity analysis of parameters used in the mud and sand sediment simulations. We have revealed that when the source of mud sediments is only on the seafloor (i.e., no terrestrial source), mud is deposited along less than 10% of the inundation distance. In contrast, if a terrestrial source of mud is present, mud deposits can cover 100% of the inundation distance. We have also revealed that mud sediments are not formed when topographic slopes are steep (1/20–1/500), irrespective of a terrestrial mud source, because flow stagnation does not occur. Therefore, to reproduce past inundation ranges of tsunamis from the distribution of mud deposits, two conditions are required: (a) regions with onshore mud sediments and (b) a gentle topographic slope (around 1/1,000) to allow for long‐time (more than 100 min) flow stagnation. Plain Language Summary: Boulders, gravel, sand, and mud deposits have been used as geological evidence of tsunamis. Mud deposits have been suggested to indicate the tsunami inundation limit. However, there needs to be an understanding of the conditions that mud deposits are distributed up to the inundation limit. We investigated the conditions by numerically modeling mud and sand transport by tsunamis of different sizes. After validating our model by reproducing inundation distances of a known tsunami, our model has revealed that mud deposits can be distributed near the inundation limit of a tsunami when an onshore source of mud is present and when the land slope is gentle enough (around 1/1,000) for water flow stagnation. Key Points: The depositional time of mud tsunami sediments is several hours, which is substantially longer than for sand tsunami sedimentsMud tsunami sediments tend to thicken landward, and their thickness is smaller than that of sand tsunami sedimentsMud sediments reach a tsunami inundation limit only when an onshore mud source is present, and the land slope is gentle [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami inundated the Joban coastal area in the Odaka region of Minamisoma City, up to 2,818 m from the shoreline. In this study, the flow characteristics of the tsunami were reconstructed from deposits using the DNN (deep neural network) inverse model, suggesting that the tsunami inundation occurred in the Froude-supercritical condition. The DNN inverse model effectively estimated the tsunami flow parameters in the Odaka region, including the maximum inundation distance, flow velocity, maximum flow depth, and sediment concentration. Despite having a few topographical instabilities that caused the flow height to fluctuate greatly, the reconstructed maximum flow depth and flow velocity were reasonable and close to the values reported in the field observations. The reconstructed data around the Odaka region were characterized by an extremely high velocity (12.1 m/s). This study suggests that the large fluctuation of flow depths at the Joban coast compared with the stable flow depths at the Sendai plain can be explained by the inundation in the supercritical flow condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Whether a laparoscopic procedure can contribute to the improvement of clinical outcomes in obese patients with stage II/III rectal cancer compared to an open procedure remains unclear. Objective: This study evaluated the technical and oncological safety of laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery in obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥25 kg/m2) with rectal cancer. Patients and Methods: Data were collected from patients with pathological stage II/III rectal cancer and analyzed. Operations were performed via laparoscopic or open surgery from 2009 to 2013. A comparative analysis was performed after applying propensity score matching to the two cohorts (laparoscopic group and open group). The primary endpoint was 3‐y relapse‐free survival (RFS). Results: Overall, 524 eligible cases were collected from 51 institutions. Equal numbers of propensity score‐matched patients were included in the laparoscopic (n = 193) group and open (n = 193) group. Although the rate of D3 lymph node dissection did not differ between the laparoscopic group (87.0%) and the open group (88.6%), the median number of harvested lymph nodes was significantly lower in the laparoscopic group versus open group (17.5 vs 21, P = 0.0047). The median postoperative hospital stay was also significantly shorter in the laparoscopic group (14 d) vs the open group (17 d) (P = 0.0014). Three‐y RFS was not significantly different between the two groups (hazard ratio 1.2454, 95% confidence interval 0.9201–1.6884, P = 0.4689). Conclusion: The short‐ and long‐term results of this large cohort study (UMIN ID: UMIN000033529) indicated that laparoscopic surgery in obese rectal cancer patients has advantageous short‐term outcomes and no disadvantageous long‐term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is a safety survey of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2-positive, chemotherapy-naive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab plus paclitaxel at the Saitama Cancer Center (Saitama, Japan) between April 2018 and March 2022. The expression of infusion reaction (IR) and the effect on cardiac function were investigated in patients who switched from reference trastuzumab (HERCEPTIN®) to biosimilar trastuzumab (Trastuzumab-NK) and continued treatment (switching group). The two groups (reference vs. biosimilar trastuzumab) had no significant difference in the expression of IR (P>0.999). In the switching group, IR associated with switching did not occur in all nine eligible patients. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was used to assess cardiac function, and no patient in either group experienced a significant decrease in LVEF with treatment, meaning that there was no effect of switching on the decrease in LVEF. These results suggested that switching from reference to biosimilar trastuzumab may not have a significant effect on the frequency of IR expression or the occurrence of cardiac dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simple suspension method (SSM) involves administering tablets or capsules using a tube after disintegration and suspension in hot water without crushing or opening the capsule. Particularly, for anticancer drugs, it is an excellent method of administration that reduces the risk of exposure during dispensing. In contrast, information on SSM for individual drugs is insufficient. Anticancer drugs present a therapeutic challenge because their information is limited. We investigated whether SSM is possible with 36 anticancer drugs. Furthermore, we examined the pH of the suspension of these drugs, for which no information on SSM is available. We found that suspension was possible for 24 of the 36 drugs. Furthermore, the pH of the suspension was measured, which provided important information when considering dissolution solutions other than hot water. Little changes in the pH were observed before or after passing through the tube. The results of this study may improve medication adherence in patients with cancer experiencing dysphagia.

Objectives: The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) is a nutrition-related risk index calculated easily from serum albumin and the ratio of body weight to ideal body weight. We investigated the prognostic values of the GNRI in elderly patients with obstructive colorectal cancer (OCRC) who had a self-expandable metallic stent inserted as a bridge to curative surgery., Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 61 patients aged ≥65 years with pathological stage I to III OCRC. Associations of preoperative GNRI and pre-stenting GNRI (ps-GNRI) with short- and long-term outcomes were examined., Results: Multivariate analyses revealed GNRI of <85.3 and ps-GNRI of <92.9 were independently associated with worse cancer-specific survival (CSS; P = 0.016, and P = 0.041, respectively), and overall survival (OS; P = 0.020, and P = 0.024, respectively). A ps-GNRI of <92.9 was correlated with poorer relapse-free survival (RFS) only in the univariate analysis (P = 0.034). For the OCRC cohort without age restriction (n = 86), GNRI of <85.3 and ps-GNRI of <92.9 were independently associated with worse CSS (P = 0.021), and OS (P = 0.023), respectively. In univariate analysis, ps-GNRI of <92.9 was significantly correlated with poorer RFS (P = 0.006). Moreover, ps-GNRI of <92.9 was significantly associated with Clavien-Dindo grade of ≥III postoperative complications (P = 0.037), anastomotic leak (P = 0.032), infectious complications (P = 0.002), and longer postoperative hospital stay (17 days vs. 15 days; P = 0.048)., Conclusions: In OCRC patients, decreased preoperative and pre-stenting GNRI were significantly correlated with poorer survival, and decreased pre-stenting GNRI was significantly associated with worse short- and long-term outcomes., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 The Japan Society of Coloproctology.)

The present study is a safety survey of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2-positive, chemotherapy-naive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab plus paclitaxel at the Saitama Cancer Center (Saitama, Japan) between April 2018 and March 2022. The expression of infusion reaction (IR) and the effect on cardiac function were investigated in patients who switched from reference trastuzumab (HERCEPTIN ® ) to biosimilar trastuzumab (Trastuzumab-NK) and continued treatment (switching group). The two groups (reference vs. biosimilar trastuzumab) had no significant difference in the expression of IR (P>0.999). In the switching group, IR associated with switching did not occur in all nine eligible patients. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was used to assess cardiac function, and no patient in either group experienced a significant decrease in LVEF with treatment, meaning that there was no effect of switching on the decrease in LVEF. These results suggested that switching from reference to biosimilar trastuzumab may not have a significant effect on the frequency of IR expression or the occurrence of cardiac dysfunction., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright: © Abe et al.)

Aim: Whether a laparoscopic procedure can contribute to the improvement of clinical outcomes in obese patients with stage II/III rectal cancer compared to an open procedure remains unclear., Objective: This study evaluated the technical and oncological safety of laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery in obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥25 kg/m 2 ) with rectal cancer., Patients and Methods: Data were collected from patients with pathological stage II/III rectal cancer and analyzed. Operations were performed via laparoscopic or open surgery from 2009 to 2013. A comparative analysis was performed after applying propensity score matching to the two cohorts (laparoscopic group and open group). The primary endpoint was 3-y relapse-free survival (RFS)., Results: Overall, 524 eligible cases were collected from 51 institutions. Equal numbers of propensity score-matched patients were included in the laparoscopic (n = 193) group and open (n = 193) group. Although the rate of D3 lymph node dissection did not differ between the laparoscopic group (87.0%) and the open group (88.6%), the median number of harvested lymph nodes was significantly lower in the laparoscopic group versus open group (17.5 vs 21, P  = 0.0047). The median postoperative hospital stay was also significantly shorter in the laparoscopic group (14 d) vs the open group (17 d) ( P  = 0.0014). Three-y RFS was not significantly different between the two groups (hazard ratio 1.2454, 95% confidence interval 0.9201-1.6884, P  = 0.4689)., Conclusion: The short- and long-term results of this large cohort study (UMIN ID: UMIN000033529) indicated that laparoscopic surgery in obese rectal cancer patients has advantageous short-term outcomes and no disadvantageous long-term outcomes., (© 2022 The Authors. Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.)

Objectives: Understanding the relationship between sarcopenia and malignancy is increasingly important since they inevitably affect the aging population. We investigated the clinical significance of sarcopenia in nonmetastatic obstructive colorectal cancer (OCRC) patients who were inserted self-expandable metallic stent and underwent curative surgery., Methods: Plain cross-sectional CT images obtained before stenting were retrospectively analyzed in 92 patients. Muscle volume loss (myopenia) and decreased muscle quality (myosteatosis) were evaluated as skeletal muscle index (SMI) and intramuscular adipose tissue content (IMAC), respectively., Results: This study included 54 men and 38 women, with a median age of 70.5 years. The median interval between SEMS placement and the surgery was 17 days (range, 5-47). There were 35 postoperative complications. The median postoperative hospital stay was 15.5 days (range, 8-77). Twenty-eight patients (41.3%) were classified as SMI-low, and 31 (34.1%) patients were classified as IMAC-high. In multivariate analysis, IMAC-high [hazard ratio (HR) = 7.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.22-26.5, P = 0.001] and right-sided tumor (HR = 5.79, 95% CI 1.36-24.7, P = 0.018) were independent predictors of postoperative complications. IMAC-high (HR = 23.2, 95% CI 4.11-131, P < 0.001) and elevated modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) (HR = 5.85, 95% CI 1.22-28.1, P = 0.027) were independent predictors of infectious complications. Relapse-free survival and overall survival were not significantly different regardless of the SMI or IMAC status., Conclusions: IMAC was associated with postoperative complications and infectious complications. Myosteatosis might be a stronger predictor of postoperative complications than myopenia., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 by The Japan Society of Coloproctology.)

Objectives: It has been increasingly recognized that the progression of cancer is dependent not only on the tumor characteristics but also on the nutritious and inflammatory condition of the host. We investigated the relationship between the globulin-to-albumin ratio (GAR) and long-term outcomes in obstructive colorectal cancer (OCRC) patients who were inserted self-expandable metallic stent as a bridge to curative surgery., Methods: A total of 75 pathological stage II and III OCRC patients between 2013 and 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. The associations of the preoperative GAR with clinicopathological factors and patient survival were examined., Results: Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that the optimal cutoff value was 0.88. The GAR ≥ 0.88 status was significantly associated with the absence of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.011), longer postoperative hospital stay (17 days vs 15 days, P = 0.042), and not receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.011). Relapse-free survival and cancer-specific survival were significantly shorter in the GAR ≥ 0.88 group (P = 0.007 and P = 0.023, respectively). Multivariate analyses revealed that the GAR ≥ 0.88 was independently associated with relapse-free survival [hazard ratio (HR) = 4.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.32-13.14, P = 0.015)]. Moreover, CA19-9 ≥ 37 (HR = 6.56, 95% CI 2.12-20.27, p = 0.001) and not receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 4.41, 95% CI 1.28-15.26, p = 0.019) were independent poor prognostic factors for relapse-free survival., Conclusions: The results demonstrated that the GAR was a significant prognostic factor for OCRC patients., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 by The Japan Society of Coloproctology.)