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Background: Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rapidly growing malignant tumor that typically shows sensitivity to high-dose methotrexate-based chemotherapy. Rapid diagnosis and early chemotherapy are thus essential to obtain the best outcome. To accomplish this, we have performed intraoperative rapid immunohistochemistry (IHC) as an examination method for obtaining accurate diagnosis during surgery. Here, to markedly enhance the accuracy of intraoperative rapid IHC, the utility of adding intraoperative rapid examinations of cytology and flow cytometry (FCM) in addition to rapid IHC was investigated. Methods: From April 2020 to January 2024, we performed intraoperative rapid IHC in 35 patients with intracranial lesions, including PCNSL. In the last 17 of these cases, intraoperative cytology and FCM were also performed simultaneously. We examined the utility of examination methods in determining treatment strategies for brain tumors, particularly early therapeutic intervention for PCNSL. Results: Postoperative final pathological diagnoses from paraffin-embedded sections were as follows: 20 PCNSLs, 9 glioblastomas, 4 diffuse gliomas, 1 meningioma, and 1 inflammatory disorder. In all cases, results from intraoperative rapid IHC were consistent with final pathological diagnoses from paraffin-embedded sections. In two cases, results from conventional intraoperative rapid pathological diagnoses based on morphological assessments using frozen sections changed with the addition of intraoperative rapid IHC. Further, the time from surgery to initiation of chemotherapy for PCNSL was significantly reduced by adding cytology and FCM to rapid IHC alone (only rapid IHC group: 7.3 days, combination group: 1.6 days; p= 0.015). Conclusions: The combination of rapid intraoperative IHC, cytology, and FCM contributes to deciding appropriate treatment strategies and facilitating early initiation of chemotherapy for PCNSL. These examination methods may allow new therapeutic strategies for not only PCNSL, but also other brain tumors.

Purpose: The development of innovative solutions, such as simulator training and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tutoring systems, has significantly changed surgical trainees’ environments to receive the intraoperative instruction necessary for skill acquisition. In this study, we developed a new objective assessment system using AI for forceps manipulation in a surgical training simulator. Methods: Laparoscopic exercises were recorded using an iPad®, which provided top and side views. Top-view movies were used for AI learning of forceps trajectory. Side-view movies were used as supplementary information to assess the situation. We used an AI-based posture estimation method, DeepLabCut (DLC), to recognize and positionally measure the forceps in the operating field. Tracking accuracy was quantitatively evaluated by calculating the pixel differences between the annotation points and the points predicted by the AI model. Tracking stability at specified key points was verified to assess the AI model. Results: We selected a random sample to evaluate tracking accuracy quantitatively. This sample comprised 5% of the frames not used for AI training from the complete set of video frames. We compared the AI detection positions and correct positions and found an average pixel discrepancy of 9.2. The qualitative evaluation of the tracking stability was good at the forceps hinge; however, forceps tip tracking was unstable during rotation. Conclusion: The AI-based forceps tracking system can visualize and evaluate laparoscopic surgical skills. Improvements in the proposed system and AI self-learning are expected to enable it to distinguish the techniques of expert and novice surgeons accurately. This system is a useful tool for surgeon training and assessment.

Some patients with intestinal failure, who are dependent on total parenteral nutrition for long periods, suffer from a lack of suitable conventional venous access points, including axillary, external jugular, internal jugular, subclavian, saphenous, and the brachio-cephalic and femoral veins, due to their occlusion. Furthermore, extensive central venous stenosis and/or thrombosis of the superior and inferior vena cava may preclude further catheterization, so uncommon routes must be used, which can be challenging. In such patients, the azygos vein via the intercostal vein is a viable candidate. Thoracotomy-assisted, thoracoscopy-assisted, and cut-down procedures are currently suggested such access. We found that ultrasound-guided percutaneous puncture method was a safe and minimally invasive approach and successfully placed two central venous lines in preparation for small bowel transplantation via two different intercostal veins (ninth and tenth). Although the lung was actually located just below the target veins, an ultrasound provided augmented and clear vision, which contributed to the safe performance of the procedure without the need for invasive surgical intervention, such as thoracotomy, thoracoscopy, or rib resection using the cut-down technique. Furthermore, constant positive-pressure ventilation during vein puncture under general anesthesia also helps avoid venous collapse. Despite carrying a slight risk of light injury to the lung, artery, and nerve along with the vein compared to other procedures, we believe that ultrasound-guided puncture under general anesthesia is feasible as a minimally invasive method.

Pediatric patients with certain rare diseases are at increased risk of severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. However, the prophylactic use of anti-RSV antibody (palivizumab) in these patients is not indicated at present in Japan.

AbstractWe evaluated how the cultivation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) host (wheat) and non-host (rapeseed) crops affects the subsequent soybean crop by assessing AMF spore density and AMF colonization, phosphorus (P) uptake by soybean and yields of soybean over a 4-year period. Every year wheat or rapeseed was cultivated from autumn to spring and soybean from spring to autumn. From the first to fourth year, AMF spore density was higher in the plot after the cultivation of wheat (wheat plot) than in the rapeseed plot. From the second to fourth year, the AMF colonization ratio was higher in the wheat plot than in the rapeseed plot. In the first year, there was no difference in the AMF colonization ratio, growth, and P uptake by soybean plants between the rapeseed plot and wheat plot. However, from the second to fourth year, AMF colonization ratio, plant growth, and P uptake by soybean in the wheat plot were higher than those in the rapeseed plot. The soybean yields in both plots gradually decreased from the first to fourth year, but, in the second and the fourth year, soybean yields were higher in the wheat plot than in the rapeseed plot. Soybean yield was significantly correlated with the AMF colonization ratio, but not with AMF spore density. Therefore, we concluded that AMF colonization is not determined by AMF spore density alone, and other factors influence the AMF colonization in subsequent soybean plants. It is important to increase the AMF colonization ratio to increase soybean yield.

AbstractA neutron generator is developed using 1-mm-diam spherical deuterated polystyrene targets on a rotating disk irradiated with an ultrahigh-intensity (>1018W/cm2) diode-pumped laser. It consists of a rotating disk supplier, the targets, and a control system to irradiate the targets at 1.25 Hz. We adjusted the laser focus and position on the target to obtain the maximum neutron yield.

Uniformly sized, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) of bisphenol A (BPA), one of many potential endocrine disruptors, were prepared by selective surface modification and immobilized at intervals of functional monomers with 4,4′‐methylenebisphenol as a pseudotemplate. MIPs for BPA were prepared with 4‐vinyl pyridine immobilized at the most effective interval and with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate monomer as a functional crosslinker. The prepared MIPs were surface‐modified with both polar and ionic monomers with different modification methods and then evaluated to reveal their selectivity and retention characteristics. Some of the modified MIPs showed significant selectivity for BPA retention when they were used as high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) stationary phases, in comparison with ordinary MIPs. This effect of molecular imprinting was retained even after the surface modification of MIPs. The MIPs employed as pretreatment media for a column‐switching HPLC system provided a detection limit as low as 1 ng/L (ppt) by electrochemical detection. Actual samples, including Suwannee River natural organic matter (NOM), were analyzed for BPA, and BPA was quantitatively detected in NOM even with the combination with widely used UV detection because of the effective removal of interference afforded by an effective surface modification of the MIPs. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 2048–2060, 2005

A new high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed to detect ultra-low concentrations of bisphenol-A (BPA) (below 1 ng/L (ppt)) using column switching electrochemical detection (ECD). The results were superior to those obtained from manual pretreatment procedure with membrane stationary phase. BPA is inherently ubiquitous in the environment, including tools and solvents used for its analysis; to obtain meaningful results, therefore, the concentration of the overall BPA contamination must be below the detection limit for BPA using the analytical system. Therefore, purified water for preparing the standard BPA solution must be filtered with a hydrophobic membrane to suppress BPA background levels of contamination. In addition, we investigated methods for effectively preserving environmental water containing BPA. The addition of a small amount of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) provided good recovery even after overnight storage. By employing these precautionary measures and procedures to reduce BPA contamination from the analytical procedure, we could accurately determine 1 - 10 ppt of BPA in environmental water samples using a column switching HPLC system.

The present study showed that treatment with a cell membrane-impermeable metal ion chelator, EDTA, of porcine oocytes at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage collected from follicles 2–6 mm in diameter induced artificial activation followed by formation of a pronucleus (PN). When the oocytes were cultured for 48 h in medium containing 0.1 to 2 mM EDTA disodium salt (Na-EDTA), they were activated to form PN, and the maximum PN formation rate (63%, n = 68) was achieved in oocytes cultured with 1 mM Na-EDTA. More than 90% of oocytes activated by 1 mM Na-EDTA treatment formed 1 PN without emission of the first and the second polar bodies (PB). This result suggests that EDTA at 1 mM may force the maturing (meiosis I) oocytes to form a PN without chromosome segregation. When oocytes at the GV stage that had been cultured with 1 mM Na-EDTA for 48 h were further cultured in 0.4% BSA-containing NCSU23 medium for 144 h, blastocysts that appeared to be morphologically normal were formed at the rate of 10%, whereas no blastocysts were formed from oocytes that had not been cultured with Na-EDTA. Next we examined the effects of Ca2+, Zn2+, Fe3+, or Cu2+-saturated EDTA (Ca-EDTA, Zn-EDTA, Fe-EDTA, and Cu-EDTA, respectively), and a Ca2+-specific chelator, EGTA, at a concentration of 1 mM. The Ca-EDTA, Fe-EDTA, and Cu-EDTA, but not Zn-EDTA or EGTA, had the ability to activate the oocytes. From these results, it is suggested that extracellular chelation of Zn2+with EDTA of maturing (meiosis I) porcine oocytes results in parthenogenetic activation of the oocytes, which induces PN formation followed by development to blastocysts.

Crack-initiation sites and crack-propagation rates of small cracks in smooth specimens of alumina with two grain sizes have been studied. The principal results that have been obtained are as follows: (i) in most cases, the crack-initiation life comprises a large portion of the fatigue life, (ii) small cracks that are initiated in smooth specimens propagate with stress intensity factors that are much lower than the apparent threshold stress intensity factors (KImax) of artificial cracks that are 200 µm in length, and (iii) the critical crack lengths beyond which the crack-propagation rate is described uniquely by KImaxare 120 µm for fine-grained alumina and 250 µm for coarse-grained alumina.

Photoreaction of C60and C70with adamantylideneadamantane or sulfide under oxygen flow gives fullerene epoxide together with adamantylideneadamantane epoxide or sulfoxide via peroxide intermediates.

Uniformly sized molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for bisphenol A (BPA) with immobilized intervals of functional monomers utilizing 4,4'-methylenebisphenol as a pseudo template have been prepared. The MIPs through surface modification for the removal of interference showed significant selectivity for BPA retention and removal performance for interference in actual environmental water samples as the HPLC stationary phase compared to those of ordinary MIPs. These MIPs were employed as pretreatment media of column switching HPLC.

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