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Postoperative distant metastasis dramatically affects rectal cancer patients who have undergone neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT). Here, we clarified the association between NACRT‐mediated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway activation and rectal cancer metastatic potential. We performed immunohistochemistry for phosphorylated mTOR (p‐mTOR) and phosphorylated S6 (p‐S6) on surgical specimen blocks from 98 rectal cancer patients after NACRT (cohort 1) and 80 colorectal cancer patients without NACRT (cohort 2). In addition, we investigated the association between mTOR pathway activity, affected by irradiation, and the migration ability of colorectal cancer cells in vitro. Based on the results of the clinical study, p‐mTOR was significantly overexpressed in cohort 1 (with NACRT) as compared to levels in cohort 2 (without NACRT) (P, The postoperative distant recurrence is critical in rectal cancer patients who have received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT). We investigated NACRT‐mediated mTOR activation and metastatic potential of rectal cancer, identifying p‐S6 expression as a NACRT predictor of postoperative distant metastasis in rectal cancer patients, suggesting that chemoradiotherapy may modulate the mTOR signaling pathway to promote metastasis.

Aim Recently, the accessory middle colic artery (AMCA) has been recognized as the vessel that supplies blood to the splenic flexure. However, the positional relationship between the AMCA and inferior mesenteric vein (IMV) has not been evaluated. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the anatomy of the AMCA and the splenic flexure vein (SFV). Method Two hundred and five patients with colorectal cancer who underwent enhanced CT preoperatively were enrolled in the present study. The locations of the AMCA and IMV were evaluated, focusing on the positional relationship between the vessels and pancreas - below the pancreas or to the dorsal side of the pancreas. Results The AMCA was observed in 74 (36.1%) patients whereas the SFV was found in 177 (86.3%) patients. The left colic artery (LCA) was the major artery accompanying the SFV in 87 (42.4%) of patients. The AMCA accompanied the SFV in 65 (32.7%) patients. In 15 (7.8%) patients, no artery accompanied the SFV. The origin of the AMCA was located on the dorsal side of the pancreas in 15 (20.3%) of these 74 patients. Similarly, the destination of the IMV was located on the dorsal side of the pancreas in 65 (31.7%) of patients. Conclusion The SFV was observed in most patients, and the LCA or AMCA was the common accompanying artery. In some patients these vessels were located on the dorsal side of the pancreas and not below it. Preoperative evaluation of this anatomy may be beneficial for lymph node dissection during left-sided hemicolectomy.

The layout of visual elements in advertising influences consumers' perception and judgments. The research reported here investigates the influence of the face orientation of a human model on the perception of their attractiveness and its downstream consequences on product evaluation. Across five experiments, we first demonstrate that consumers tend to perceive a model's face showing his or her left cheek as more attractive than when showing the right cheek, even when the images are otherwise identical. More importantly, we demonstrate the downstream influence of face orientation on the evaluation of advertised products whereby the leftward (vs. rightward) model's face increases the evaluation of the advertised product through perceived model attractiveness. We identify the underlying mechanism of the face orientation effect, namely, that consumers perceive those faces showing their left (vs. right) cheek as more prototypical, and that this perception of prototypicality elicits an aesthetic preference for the model's leftward face which in turn carries over to influence product evaluation. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are also discussed.

Aim The rate of extension of proctitis in Western countries has been reported, but no data regarding long-term follow-up have been described for the Japanese population. Additionally, patients with long-standing or extensive ulcerative colitis have an increased risk for developing colorectal cancer. This study evaluated both the rate of extension of the disease and the development of neoplasia among patients with an initial diagnosis of ulcerative proctitis. Method We retrospectively investigated the medical charts of patients with proctitis from 1979 to 2014. The primary focus of this research was the extension of the inflammatory area. The secondary focus included risk factors for disease extension and the development of neoplasia. Results Sixty-six patients satisfied the inclusion criteria. Proximal extension of the disease occurred in 34 patients: 19 patients had left-sided colitis and 15 had pancolitis. According to a multivariate analysis, disease extension was significantly higher in patients with disease onset before 25 years of age (P-value = 0.043). The cumulative rates of disease extension at 10 and 20 years were 33.8% and 52.2%, respectively. Three patients were diagnosed with dysplasia during follow-up, all of whom experienced disease extension before the development of dysplasia. Conclusion The rate of extension of ulcerative colitis in the Japanese population was comparable to that in Western countries. A younger age of disease onset was associated with disease extension. Extension of proctitis may be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Long-standing ulcerative colitis patients are known to be at high risk for the development of colorectal cancer. Therefore, surveillance colonoscopy has been recommended for these patients. Because colitis-associated colorectal cancer may be difficult to identify even by colonoscopy, a random biopsy method has been recommended. However, the procedure of carrying out a random biopsy is tedious and its effectiveness has also not yet been demonstrated. Instead, targeted biopsy with chromoendoscopy has gained popularity in European and Asian countries. Chromoendoscopy is generally considered to be an effective tool for ulcerative colitis surveillance and is recommended in the guidelines of the British Society of Gastroenterology and the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation. Although image-enhanced endoscopy, such as narrow-band imaging and autofluorescence imaging, has been investigated as a potential ulcerative colitis surveillance tool, it is not routinely applied for ulcerative colitis surveillance in its present form. The appropriate intervals of surveillance colonoscopy have yet to be determined. Although the Japanese and American guidelines recommend annual or biannual colonoscopy, the British Society of Gastroenterology and the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation stratified their guidelines according to the risks of colorectal cancer. A randomized controlled trial comparing random and targeted biopsy methods has been conducted in Japan and although the final analysis is still ongoing, the results of this study should address this issue. In the present review, we focus on the current detection methods and characterization of dysplasia/cancer and discuss the appropriate intervals of colonoscopy according to the stratified risks.

Existing concepts and models for glucose‐stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) are overviewed and a newer perspective has been formulated toward the physiological understanding of GSIS. A conventional model has been created on the basis of in vitro data on application of a square wave high glucose in the absence of any other stimulatory inputs. Glucose elicits rapid insulin release through an adenosine triphosphate‐sensitive K+ channel (KATP channel)‐dependent mechanism, which is gradually augmented in a KATP channel‐independent manner. Biphasic GSIS thus occurs. In the body, the β‐cells are constantly exposed to stimulatory signals, such as glucagon‐like peptide 1 (GLP‐1), parasympathetic inputs, free fatty acid (FFA), amino acids and slightly suprathreshold levels of glucose, even at fasting. GLP‐1 increases cellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate, parasympathetic stimulation activates protein kinase C, and FFA, amino acids and glucose generate metabolic amplification factors. Plasma glucose concentration gradually rises postprandially under such tonic stimulation. We hypothesize that these stimulatory inputs together make the β‐cells responsive to glucose independently from its action on KATP channels. Robust GSIS in patients with a loss of function mutation of the sulfonylurea receptor, a subunit of KATP channels, is compatible with this hypothesis. Furthermore, pre‐exposure of the islets to an activator of protein kinase A and/or C makes β‐cells responsive to glucose in a KATP channel‐ and Ca2+‐independent manner. We hypothesize that GSIS occurs in islet β‐cells without glucose regulation of KATP channels in vivo, for which priming with cyclic adenosine monophosphate, protein kinase C and non‐glucose nutrients are required. To understand the physiology of GSIS, comprehensive integration of accumulated knowledge is required.

Because of their overwhelming size over other organisms, trees define the structural and energetic properties of forest ecosystems. From grasslands to forests, leaf area index, which determines the amount of light energy intercepted for photosynthesis, increases with increasing canopy height across the various terrestrial ecosystems of the world. In vertically well-developed forests, niche differentiation along the vertical gradient of light availability may promote species coexistence. In addition, spatial and temporal differentiation of photosynthetic traits among the coexisting tree species (functional diversity) may promote complementary use of light energy, resulting in higher biomass and productivity in multi-species forests. Trees have evolved retaining high phenotypic plasticity because the spatial/temporal distribution of resources in forest ecosystems is highly heterogeneous and trees modify their own environment as they increase nearly 1,000 times in size through ontogeny. High phenotypic plasticity may enable coexistence of tree species through divergence in resource-rich environments, as well as through convergence in resource-limited environments. We propose that the breadth of individual-level phenotypic plasticity, expressed at the metamer level (leaves and shoots), is an important factor that promotes species coexistence and resource-use complementarity in forest ecosystems. A cross-biome comparison of the link between plasticity of photosynthesis-related traits and stand productivity will provide a functional explanation for the relationship between species assemblages and productivity of forest ecosystems.

Mixed forests comprising multiple tree species with contrasting crown architectures, leaf phenologies, and photosynthetic activity, tend to have high ecosystem productivity. We propose that in such forests, differentiation among coexisting species in their spatial and temporal strategies for light interception, results in complementary use of light. Spatial differentiation among coexisting tree species occurs as a result of adaptation of crown architecture and shoot/leaf morphology to the spatially variable light conditions of the canopy, sub-canopy, and understory. Temporal differentiation occurs as a result of variation in leaf phenology and photosynthetic activity. The arrangement of leaves in both space and time is an important aspect of plant strategies for light interception and determines photosynthetic carbon gain of the plant canopy. For example, at the shoot level, morphological and phenological differentiation between long and short shoots reflects their respective shoot functions, indicating that spatial and temporal strategies for light interception are linked. Complementary use of light is a consequence of the spatiotemporal differentiation in light interception among coexisting species. Because coexisting species may show differentiation in strategies for resource acquisition (functional diversification) or convergence with respect to some limiting resource (functional convergence), the relative importance of various crown functions and their contribution to growth and survival of individuals need to be evaluated quantitatively and compared among coexisting species.

We studied how the dominant factor affecting stem volume growth changes during stand development in a monoclonal stand of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don. Stem analysis was used to compare growth history of trees in an unthinned plot (closed canopy) and a thinned plot (open canopy). In the unthinned plot, the dominant factor affecting stem volume growth was basal area (BA) before canopy closure, whereas neighborhood competition index (CI) was the dominant factor after canopy closure. In contrast, the dominant factor affecting stem volume in the thinned plot was BA throughout stand development. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient between BA and CI continued to increase after canopy closure and size rank among individuals became increasingly fixed. Our results indicated that stem volume growth shifts from size-dependent to competition-dependent growth at canopy closure. The apparent correlation between tree size and growth rate observed in many previous studies may be the result of competition-mediated positive feedback between size and growth.

We investigated the spatial distribution and growth of the Siberian dwarf pine (Pinus pumila) in a valley–foothill larch–birch (Larix cajanderi–Betula platyphylla as canopy trees) mixed forest of fire origin located in central Kamchatka with the aim of elucidating the ecological features of P. pumila when it is an undergrowth species in a forest. The spatial distribution of all individuals of all tree species was clumped, and the spatial distribution of the two canopy tree species did not repulsively affect that of P. pumila (i.e., its establishment site). These results suggest that the regeneration of P. pumila does not depend on canopy gaps. However, the analysis using a growth model indicated that the canopy trees negatively affected the growth of P. pumila and that the negative effect of L. cajanderi on P. pumila growth was stronger than that of B. platyphylla. The direction of the crown extension of P. pumila was weakly related to the open-space direction. Our results suggest that, although the spatial pattern of establishment of P. pumila is not repulsed by the distribution of canopy trees, the crown can spread horizontally toward the more sparsely populated areas of the canopy trees where they may have higher growth rates.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to construct questionnaires for the dental school setting from freely given patient answers with the aid of text mining, and to confirm the structure, reliability and validity of the questionnaires. Methods: Using these questionnaires, we carried out a survey of the satisfaction of patients treated at the Dental Hospital of the Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine. A total of 3394 patients participated in the study. To confirm the reliability of inter-item correlations and construct validity, factor analysis was carried out, and items belonging to each factor and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated. Results: Four factors were extracted and 64.0% of the variance was explained by these four factors. All correlation coefficients were >0.85. These four factors were: ‘Treatment’, ‘Communication’, ‘Facilities’ and ‘Appearances’. From structural equation modelling, we determined that overall satisfaction was >0.75 and was statistically significant. Conclusion: The questionnaires used in this study are useful for measuring patient satisfaction in the dental school hospital setting.

This paper considers the multi-objective linear programming problem and discusses the case in which the coefficients of the objective function are fuzzy random variables. First, the fuzzy goal is introduced into the objective function, considering the fuzzy decision of the human decision-maker. We consider a model in which the possibility or the necessity that the objective function value achieves the fuzzy goal is maximized on the basis of fuzzy programming or possibility programming. It is noted that the possibility or necessity fluctuates stochastically, and a decision-making process based on the stochastic programming model is proposed. After modifying the problem with constraint into an equivalent deterministic problem, the convex programming problem with a parameter is introduced. Then, an algorithm is proposed in which the optimal solution is derived, combining nonlinear programming and the bisection method. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 88(1): 68–75, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjc.10151

In this paper, we propose an application of the genetic algorithm to adaptive routing and flow control in information networks. Although studies using a genetic algorithm have been made on routing or flow control individually, this study proposes a method which controls them simultaneously. We chose a flow model which can evaluate congestion by the traffic arrival rate in a link. By simulation, we show that the proposed network control method using the genetic algorithm is superior to the usual method which performs routing by the Dijkstra method and flow control by the gradient method. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 34(1): 11–20, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/scj.10215

The authors propose a new method for restoring images corrupted by high-probability impulsive noise at 10 to 50%. The strength (number of instances) of impulsive noise present in the area adjacent to a processing point is not uniform even in images that are corrupted by high-probability impulsive noise. In addition, when a processing point itself does not represent high-probability impulsive noise, outputting the input signal as is without performing median filter processing is vital to avoid image degradation. Given the above, one approach for restoring images degraded by high-probability impulsive noise is to first determine whether or not a processing point represents impulsive noise, and then perform median filter processing only when it is determined that impulsive noise is present. Second, when performing median filter processing, the amount of impulsive noise adjacent to a processing point must be estimated, the size of the filter window appropriate to that amount must be set, and efforts to preserve the signal must be made. In the proposed method the authors were able to unify three types of fuzzy inference. In addition, the proposed method is superior at handling images degraded by impulsive noise over a probability range of 10 to 50% when the fuzzy sets are fixed by setting the fuzzy sets in the three fuzzy inferences appropriately. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 85(9): 43–57, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjc.1118

Synthesis of results from different investigations is an important activity for ecologists but when compared with analysis the method of synthesis has received little attention. Ecologists usually proceed intuitively and this can lead to a problem in defining differences between the syntheses made by different scientists. It also leads to criticism from scientists favoring analytical approaches that the construction of general theory is an activity that does not follow the scientific method. We outline a methodology for scientific inference about integrative concepts and the syntheses made in constructing them and illustrate how this can be applied in the development of general theory from investigations into particular ecological systems. The objective is to construct a causal scientific explanation. This has four characteristics. (1) It defines causal and/or organizational processes that describe how systems function. (2) These processes are consistent - under the same conditions they will produce the same effect. (3) A causal scientific explanation provides general information about events of a similar kind. (4) When experiments are possible then a designed manipulation will produce a predictable response. The essential characteristic of making synthesis to construct a causal scientific explanation is that it is progressive and we judge progress made by assessing the coherence of the explanation using six criteria: acceptability of individual propositions including that they have been tested with data, consistency of concept definitions, consistency in the type of concepts used in making the explanation, that ad hoc propositions are not used, that there is economy in the number of propositions used, that the explanation applies to broad questions. We illustrate development of a causal scientific explanation for the concept of long-lived pioneer tree species, show how the coherence of this explanation can be assessed, and how it could be improved.

For most of scheduling problems, jobs’ processing times and due-dates are treated as certain values, but that is not proper to all actual situations. Processing times are not constant because of measurement errors in the data sets for deciding them and/or human actions in the manufacturing process. However, we may be permitted to exceed due-dates slightly. In this paper, we propose a model dealing with uncertain processing times and flexible due-dates in consideration of real situations. Assuming the times and due-dates to be fuzzy numbers, and defining a fuzzy tardiness for a job’s due-date, we design to minimize the number of tardy jobs in our problem formulation.

A case of central fibroma involving the mandible in a 58 year old woman is described. There was slight swelling of the left cheek and bone-hard bulging was detected on palpation but the patient had not complained of the swelling. The lesion was removed under general anaesthesia and then examined histopathologically. There was no sign of recurrence eleven months after the operation.

Justesen presented the asymptotically good block codes, and then the asymptotically good convolutional codes Rj in a constructive way. The latter are the concatenated codes, where the outer code is the convolutional code generated by the generator polynomial of Reed-Solomon code, and the inner code is Wozencraft's randomly shifted code. The performance of Justesen's convolutional code is not necessarily high for low code rates. Sugiyama, Kasahara, Hirasawa and Namekawa presented new asymptotically good convolutional codes Rc by applying the second order concatenation to Justesen's convolutional codes Rj, which gave an improvement for the low code rates. This paper presents constructively new asymptotically good convolutional codes R(J), by comgining the second-order concatenation of the forementioned improved convolutional codes Rc and the generalized concatenated codes. It is shown that the new codes R(J) always have a higher performance than that of the convolutional codes Rc, and have the best performance for the low code rates 0

This paper considers a stochastic version of bottleneck spanning tree problem in which edge costs are random variables. The problem is to find an optimal spanning tree under the chance constraint with respect to bottleneck (maximum cost) edge of spanning tree. The problem is first transformed into a deterministic equivalent problem. Then its subproblem is introduced and a close relation between these problems is clarified. Finally, based on the relation, an algorithm which finds an optimal spanning tree of the original problem in a polynomial order of its problem size is proposed.