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Aims: The influence of lifestyle-related factors, including smoking and drinking, was evaluated for Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy with vonoprazan or proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Methods: Between 2012 and 2016, the medical records of 620 patients receiving H. pylori eradication therapy at Saiseikai Karatsu Hospital were evaluated. Patients had received vonoprazan (20 mg) or PPIs with 200 mg clarithromycin and 750 mg amoxicillin twice daily for 7 days. The influence of lifestyle-related factors on eradication failure was determined in the 2 groups. Results: The eradication rates for vonoprazan and lansoprazole, rabeprazole, and esomeprazole were, respectively, 91.0, 73.8, 72.0, and 84.6%. The vonoprazan eradication rate was significantly higher than those for the PPIs (p < 0.01). Habitual smoking and drinking did not increase eradication failure, and smoking and drinking during the eradication period did not reduce the eradication rate. Metabolic syndrome-related factors including obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus had no negative influence on the eradication rate. Eradication with vonoprazan was more effective compared with that achieved through the use of PPIs. Conclusion: Lifestyle-related factors including smoking and drinking did not exacerbate the H. pylori eradication failure, and vonoprazan was more effective than the PPIs.

Background: Leukocyte removal therapy (LRT) is an effective treatment for active ulcerative colitis (UC). The present study was performed to evaluate the relapse-free period after LRT and identify risk factors for relapse. Methods: In total, 94 patients who underwent first-time LRT for remission of moderate to severe UC from April 2004 to March 2016 were enrolled in the present study. The patients were randomly assigned to one of 2 treatments: leukocytapheresis (LCAP; n = 43) or granulocyte and monocyte/macrophage adsorptive apheresis (GMA; n = 51). The 5-year cumulative relapse-free rate and risk factors for relapse were evaluated. Results: The therapeutic response rate was 82% for GMA and 70% for LCAP without a statistically significant difference. The 5-year relapse-free rate was 34.7% in the LRT group. The 5-year relapse-free rate in patients aged > 40 years was 49.9%, which was significantly higher than that in patients aged ≤40 years (22.9%, p < 0.01). The relapse-free period was longer in the older than younger patients. Conclusions: The relapse-free period after LRT was examined in patients with UC, and 34.7% of patients achieved clinical remission within a 5-year period. The risk factor for early relapse after LRT was younger age.

We examined phototactic responses of dipteran insects, including Neoempheria ferruginea (Brunetti), Sciaridae, and Drosophila, using ultraviolet (365nm), green (525nm), and white wavelengths of a LED (light emitting diode) using a water-pan trap. The number of N. ferruginea captured (trap catches) were highest in the trap with ultraviolet LED. Then, we examined the effects of ultraviolet LED and surfactant (1% Tween 80) in the water-pan trap on the trap catches using generalized linear mixed model. Both ultraviolet LED and surfactant were shown to affect positively on the trap catches. Nevertheless, the LED variable had the highest effect on N. ferruginea trap catches. On the other hand, trap catches of Sciaridae and Drosophila were affected most by the surfactant.

Background and Aim Leukocyte removal therapy (LRT) is recognized as an effective treatment for active ulcerative colitis (UC). In this study, factors associated with the efficacy and long-term effects of LRT were evaluated. Methods From April 1998 to March 2010, 98 patients with moderate to severe UC were randomly assigned to granulocyte and monocyte/macrophage adsorptive apheresis (GMA) (n = 47) or leukocytapheresis (LCAP) (n = 51) treatment. Patients received two sessions of LRT in the first week, followed by three weekly administrations. All patients were treated with 5-aminosalicylic acid and corticosteroid. Steroid doses were tapered if patients achieved clinical improvement. Clinical remission was defined as a decrease in clinical activity index to

Many social animals develop vocal communications to send and receive information efficiently in a group. In alarm communication, call recipients in a social group evaluate alarm calls, enhancing their probability of survival in the face of predatory threats. Calls from naive and younger group members might be less evocative, in terms of rendering group members vigilant, than calls from more experienced adults because adults are generally more reliable. It remains uncertain, however, what acoustic characteristics render an alarm call reliable. Here, we report that adult degus, Octodon degus (Rodentia, Octodontidae), produced an alarm with a frequency-modulated (FM) syllable, accompanied by low bandwidth and entropy, to evoke a high-vigilance response amongst receivers. Unlike adults, subadult degus did not emit the FM syllable in the warning context, and their call without the FM syllable evoked less vigilance than the adult alarm. We suggest that the FM structure of the adult-produced syllable serves as the primary feature characterizing a reliable alarm call. Our results are consistent with those found in other social rodents, e.g., ground squirrels and gerbils, also produce FM alarm calls in high-urgency situations supports the importance of the FM syllable in alarm communication.

Background In Japan, preoperative chemotherapy followed by surgery is the standard treatment for clinical stage II or III, excluding T4 thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Here, we investigated the efficacy of preoperative chemotherapy in our hospital. Methods From January 2010 through December 2017, 33 patients with clinical stage II/III esophageal SCC underwent esophagectomy after preoperative chemotherapy with two cycles of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil. Overall survival (OS) and clinical and pathological tumor responses were retrospectively evaluated. In addition, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake was assessed by FDG-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). Results There were 9 patients with stage II and 24 with stage III esophageal SCC, and two cycles of chemotherapy were completed by 27 patients (81.8%). Three-year OS rates were 100% in patients with stage II and 66.7% in patients with stage III esophageal SCC, whose observation period exceeded beyond 3 years. Of the 33 patients who showed a clinical response at the primary site, 22 (66.7%) had a partial response (PR), and a 3-year OS of 85.7%, while 4 (12.1%) had a complete response (CR), and a 3-year OS of 100%. In regards to pathological response, as evaluated using The Japan Esophageal Society histological evaluation criteria, 3 patients (9.1%) were classified as grade 0, 18 (54.5%) as grade 1a, 4 (12.1%) as grade 1b, 6 (18.2%) as grade 2, and 2 (6.1%) as grade 3. Of the 22 patients who achieved PR, 14 (63.6%) were classified as either grade 0 or 1a. On the other hand, when we compared the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of FDG − PET/CT at the primary site before and after preoperative chemotherapy, the patients with high decreasing rates mostly belonged to the grade 1b-3 group. The OS rate tended to be higher in the grade 1b-3 group than in the grade 0–1a group. Conclusion Our present results suggest that, although pathological responses do not necessarily correspond to clinical tumor reduction, a good pathological response is potentially related to a better prognosis. Furthermore, the FDG uptake value may reflect pathological effects that occur owing to preoperative chemotherapy. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

SUMMARY Ultrasonic hearing is widespread among moths, but very few moth species have been reported to produce ultrasounds for sexual communication. In those that do, the signals are intense and thus well matched for long distance communication. By contrast, males of the Asian corn borer moth (Crambidae) were recently shown to whisper extremely low-intensity ultrasonic courtship songs close to females. Since low sound levels will prevent eavesdropping by predators, parasites and conspecific rivals, we predicted low intensity ultrasound communication to be widespread among moths. Here we tested 13 species of moths including members of the Noctuidae, Arctiidae, Geometridae and Crambidae. Males of nine species, 70%, produced broadband ultrasound close to females. Peak frequencies ranged from 38 to above 100 kHz. All sounds were of low intensity, 43-76 dB SPL at 1 cm [64±10 dB peSPL (mean ± s.d.), N=9 species]. These quiet and/or hyper-frequency ultrasounds are audible to nearby mates, but inaudible to unintended receivers. Although largely unknown because it is so inconspicuous, acoustic communication using low intensity ultrasound appears to be widespread among hearing moths. Thus, acoustic communication may be the norm rather than the exception.

The brown-winged green bug, Plautia stali Scott, mainly reproduces on Japanese cedar or cypress cones in Japanese plantation forests during summer and autumn. It often depletes its food sources in forest habitats and moves to cultivated crops in large numbers. To establish an easy method for assessing the risk of fruit orchard infestation by P. stali, we conducted a 3-yr field survey that monitored the attraction of bugs to the synthetic P. stali aggregation pheromone using a sticky trap. We used a morphological indicator, variable body size depending on food intake, to estimate the nutritional status in nymphs, which showed that nymphs attracted to the synthetic pheromone were starving. Comparisons between increasing changes in the number of stylet sheaths left on the cones by P. stali and the number of trapped nymphs show that monitoring nymphs with the pheromone-baited sticky trap is useful for inferring conditions regarding food resources in forest habitats. The trend toward trapping second instars can provide a timely overview of resource competition for cones. Trapping middle-to-late (third-fifth) instars is a warning that the cones are finally depleted and that there is a high probability that adults will leave the forests and invade the orchards. In addition, trends in trapping adults suggest that there is a potential risk of orchard infestation by the pest and predict the intensity and period of the invasion. The pheromone-baited sticky trap is an easy but useful survey tool for predicting P. stali orchard infestations.

Melanoma metastases to the pituitary gland are extremely rare, with only a few reported cases. We report an unusual case of pituitary metastatic melanoma in which the patient presented with pituitary apoplexy. A 68-year-old man presented general fatigue and anorexia following sudden headache. Neurological examination disclosed bitemporal hemianopsia. Computed tomography (CT) scans revealed a suprasellar mass including intratumoral hematoma. Magnetic resonance (MR) images demonstrated a circumscribed mass lesion in the intra- and suprasellar regions, compressing the optic chiasm. Surgical exploration was performed through a transsphenoidal approach, and a mixture of tumor and necrotic tissue with old hematoma was obtained. The histological examination of the specimen revealed a partly necrotic, malignant tumor with focal melanotic pigmentation. Histopathologically, the diagnosis was consistent with pituitary apoplexy caused by hemorrhage from pituitary metastatic melanoma.

A simultaneous composite injection molding (SCI. molding) process has been developed based on a conventional two color injection molding process. This is a new process of composite parts in which two different melts are injected into one mold cavity simultaneously through two channels. It has outstanding advantages of high resin/resin bonding strength and low production cost compared with the conventional method.In the present paper, the resin/resin bonding strengths of ABS/ABS, PBT/PBT and ABS/PBT composite molding produced by SCI. molding are compared with those from the conventional injection molding. The optimum control methodologies of the interface geometry are discussed.

Although sex pheromone communication in the genus Ostrinia (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) has been studied intensively, acoustic communication in this genus has not been explored. In this study, we report that male-produced ultrasound serves as a courtship song in the Asian corn borer moth, O. furnacalis. Upon landing close to a pheromone-releasing female, a male showed a series of courtship behaviors involving emission of ultrasound. The sounds were produced when the wings were vibrated quickly in an upright position. The male song was composed of chirps, i.e., groups of pulses (duration of a chirp = 58.9 ms, 8.8 pulses/chirp), with a broadband frequency of 25-100 kHz. In flight tunnel experiments, deaf and hearing females showed a significant difference in the incidence of three behavioral responses to courting males, i.e., immediate acceptance, acceptance after walk- ing, and rejection. Deaf females showed more 'rejection' and less 'acceptance after walking' than hearing females, indicating that the detection of male-produced ultrasound plays an important role in the acceptance of a male. The findings are discussed in the context of exploitation of receiver bias and mate choice.

HEK293 cells transfected with a double-stranded siRNA to suppress expression of the homeobox gene HOXB13 were highly resistant to oxidative stress-inducing agents, such as hydrogen peroxide, N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), and paraquat. This finding suggests that HOXB13 might enhance cell injury caused by oxidative stress.

Background: Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) could be a major risk factor for lower intestinal hemorrhage, in addition to the upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The aim of this study is to assess whether use of NSAIDs is a risk factor for ischemic colitis or colonic diverticular hemorrhage, which are well-known causes for lower intestinal hemorrhage. Methods: We enrolled consecutive 98 patients of hemorrhage caused by ischemic colitis (n=47) or colonic diverticulum (n=51), who visited Saga Medical School between January 2000 and December 2008. Gender and age matched control cases (n=196) were selected from patients of other diseases hospitalized during the same period. We evaluated influences of comorbidities (cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and osteoporosis), medications including NSAIDs, duration of hospitalization, and habits (smoking, alcohol, chronic constipation) by using logistic regression analysis. Results: Regarding comorbidities, duration of hospitalization, smoking and alcohol, there was no significant difference between patients of ischemic colitis and of colonic diverticular hemorrhage. NSAIDs (odds ratio = 11.420, 95%CI: 2.222-58.705, p=0.0035), and hyperlipidemia (odds ratio = 2.393, 95%CI: 1.0425.497, p=0.0397) were significant risk factors in colonic diverticular hemorrhage, but not in ischemic colitis, compared to the selected case controls. The acceleration effect of NSAIDs for diverticular bleeding was not observed in patients with low dose aspirin. Use of NSAIDs and anticoagulant prolonged duration of hospitalization of patients of colonic diverticular hemorrhage (odds ratio = 1.1, 95%CI: 1.002-1.098, p=0.042). This study also indicated that use of NSAIDs was a risk factor for re-bleeding of diverticulum (odds ratio = 5.4, 95%CI: 1.01-28.78, p=0.048). Re-bleeding was increased in diverticulum patients with constipation (odds ratio = 10.22, 95%CI: 1.6-64.4, p=0.01). In cases of ischemic colitis patients,no risk factor including NSAIDs was not confirmed compared to the case-controls. Conclusion: This case-control study indicated that use of NSAIDs could be a significant risk factor in colonic diverticular hemorrhage and re-hemorrhage, but not in ischemic colitis.