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Contents In humans, regulatory T (T reg) cells are known to play a critical role in both the regulation of immune homoeostasis and the progression of cancer. However, there is little information about the identification, characterization and the function of T reg cells in canine tumours. We identified T reg cells in 28 canine seminoma samples using a Forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) antibody and investigated the relationship between T reg cell infiltration and histopathological features of classical and spermatocytic seminomas (SE and SS, respectively). The Foxp3 protein showed nuclear immunostaining in infiltrating lymphocytes, and Foxp3+ cells were diffused or focally distributed in seminoma tissues. Foxp3+ cells were frequently present in the SS histotype, in seminomas that showed no evidence of tumour cell invasion into the vessels and in seminomas showing a diffuse growth pattern with three cell types. Neither the SE/SS histotype nor the histopathological features of the tumour correlated with Foxp3+ cell counts. These results indicate that Foxp3+ T reg cells may be associated with a less malignant histological phenotype or may not play a critical role in the immune response of canine seminomas. Moreover, Foxp3+ T reg cells may be associated with SS seminoma, but further studies, involving a larger number of samples, are required to better understand whether these cells play a critical role in the immune response in canine seminomas. This is the first report to demonstrate the characteristics of T reg cell infiltration in canine seminoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aaron T. Beck's cognitive model of depression became the basis for the analysis of cognitive factors as significant correlates and predictors of depression. Psychological mechanisms of depression related to the depressive cognitive triad, the specificity of cognitive schemas and errors in cognitive processing determined the directions of further research on depression. The presented analysis of selected studies confirms and extends Beck's assumptions about the role of cognitive factors in the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms. The analysis of psychological, neuroimaging and biochemical studies provides a broader perspective of understanding both the etiology and mechanisms that sustain the symptoms of depression. The development of neuroimaging research has broadened the knowledge about the brain mechanisms of depression - the presented research combine the theoretical constructs of the cognitive concept of depression with the characteristics of the activity of brain structures and their functional connections. The following conclusions seem to be particularly important for clinical practice: 1) impairment of the cognitive inhibition function in depression reduces the control of negative automatic thoughts - strengthening working memory is important; 2) different brain mechanisms for processing rewards and punishments in people suffering from depression and in healthy people explain the formation of self-esteem - this knowledge can be an important element of psychoeducation in therapeutic work; 3) neuroimaging studies indicate neuronal correlates of cognitive distortions observed in depression - for further research on depression, it would be particularly important to monitor changes in brain activity in the course of its treatment.

In this study, 1-bromohexyl-1methylpiperidinium bromide (Br-6-MPRD) ionic liquid grafted quaternized chitosan (QCS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blends were composited with glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTMAC) quaternized silica (QSiO 2 ) at different dosages. Glutaraldehyde (GA) crosslinked the membranes and then processed into hydroxide form with an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution. The resultant IL-QCS/PVA/QSiO 2 membranes exhibit significantly improved ionic conductivity, moderate water absorption and swelling ratio compared with the pristine IL-QCS/PVA anion exchange membrane (AEM). Among them, the hydroxide ion conductivity and power density of IL-QCS/PVA/QSiO 2 -7 membrane can reach up to 78 mS cm -1 at 80 °C and 115 mW cm -2 at 60 °C respectively. In addition, IL-QCS/PVA/QSiO 2 membranes have excellent thermal, mechanical, and chemical stabilities, which can meet the application requirements of AEM for fuel cells., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Aim: The objective of this review paper is to comprehensively analyze and summarize the current understanding and clinical applications of Botulinum toxin in the field of urology., Patients and Methods: Materials and Methods: The materials and methods for this review paper involved an extensive literature search on the use of Botulinum toxin in urology. Multiple online databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were utilized to gather peer-reviewed articles, clinical trials, and relevant books published within the last decades. A few articles used in the review come from before 21 century because the information is essential to fully describe the topic. Studies were selected based on their relevance to the topic, with a focus on those that reported on the clinical applications of Botulinum toxin in urology - we use information from other review papers, clinical trials and research papers. To expand the database, we have looked through the literature not only in English but also other languages. Thanks to this method we were able to compare the results from different countries and scientific groups all over the world. Data extracted from these sources were then analyzed and synthesized to provide a comprehensive overview of the subject matter., Conclusion: Conclusions: In conclusion, Botulinum toxin has shown significant promise and utility in the field of urology. Its ability to effectively relax muscles has led to its application in a variety of urological conditions, including NDO, OAB, BPS/IC, DSD, BPH, CPP, and PE. The effectiveness and safety of Botulinum toxin have been demonstrated in numerous studies, providing a robust evidence base for its clinical use. However, further research is needed to optimize the administration methods, dosage, and treatment protocols. Additionally, more randomized controlled trials are required to establish the long-term safety and efficacy of Botulinum toxin, especially for conditions for which the current data is limited. Overall, Botulinum toxin represents a valuable tool in the urologist's armamentarium and is likely to continue to be an area of active research and development in the future.

It is essential to understand the barrier height, ideality factor, and role of inhomogeneities at the metal/semiconductor interfaces in nanowires for the development of next generation nanoscale devices. Here, we investigate the drain current ( I ds )-gate voltage ( V gs ) characteristics of GaN nanowire wrap-gate transistors (WGTs) for various gate potentials in the wide temperature range of 130-310 K. An anomalous reduction in the experimental barrier height and rise in the ideality factor with reducing the temperature have been perceived. It is noteworthy that the variations in barrier height and ideality factor are attributed to the spatial barrier inhomogeneities at the AlGaN/GaN interface in the GaN nanowire WGTs by assuming a double Gaussian distribution of barrier heights at 310-190 K (distribution 1) and 190-130 K (distribution 2). The standard deviation for distribution 2 is lower than that of distribution 1, which suggests that distribution 2 reflects more homogeneity at the AlGaN/GaN interface in the transistor's source/drain regions than distribution 1.

Background: Although sympathectomy is highly effective for improving symptom, compensatory hyperhidrosis (CH) is a major issue. In this study, characteristics of primary hyperhidrosis were investigated in terms of the heart rate variability (HRV) parameters. Classification of hyperhidrosis type and prediction of CH after sympathicotomy were also determined using machine learning analysis., Methods: From March 2017 to December 2021, 128 subjects who underwent HRV tests before sympathicotomy were analyzed. T2 and T3 bilateral endoscopic sympathicotomy were routinely performed in patients with craniofacial and palmar hyperhidrosis, respectively. Data collected age, sex, body mass index (BMI), hyperhidrosis type, symptom improvement after sympathicotomy, the degrees of CH after sympathicotomy, and preoperative HRV findings. The independent risk factors associated with the degree of CH after sympathicotomy were investigated. Machine learning analysis was used to determine classification of hyperhidrosis type and prediction of the degree of CH., Results: Preoperatively, patients with palmar hyperhidrosis presented with significantly larger standard deviation of normal-to-normal (SDNN), root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), total power (TP), and low frequency (LF) than patients with craniofacial hyperhidrosis after controlling for age and sex (P=0.030, P=0.004, P=0.041, and P=0.022, respectively). More sympathetic nervous predominance was found in craniofacial type (P=0.019). Low degree of CH had significantly greater RMSSD (P=0.047), and high degree of CH showed more sympathetic nervous predominance (P=0.006). Multivariate analysis showed the type and expansion of sympathicotomy were significant factors for CH (P=0.001 and P=0.028, respectively). The neural network (NN) algorithm outperformed and showed a 0.961 accuracy, 0.961 F1 score, 0.961 precision, 0.961 recall, and 0.972 area under the curve (AUC) for classification of hyperhidrosis type. The random forest (RF) model outperformed showed a 0.852 accuracy, 0.853 F1 score, 0.856 precision, 0.852 recall, and 0.914 AUC for prediction of the degree of CH., Conclusions: The present study showed the machine learning algorithm can classify types and predict CH after sympathicotomy for primary hyperhidrosis with considerable accuracy. Further large-scale studies are needed to validate the findings and provide management guidelines for primary hyperhidrosis., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-23-471/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2023 Journal of Thoracic Disease. All rights reserved.)

We used capacitance-voltage ( C - V ), conductance-voltage ( G - V ), and noise measurements to examine the carrier trap mechanisms at the surface/core of an AlGaN/GaN nanowire wrap-gate transistor (WGT). When the frequency is increased, the predicted surface trap density promptly drops, with values ranging from 9.1 × 10 13 eV -1 ∙cm -2 at 1 kHz to 1.2 × 10 11 eV -1 ∙cm -2 at 1 MHz. The power spectral density exhibits 1/ f -noise behavior in the barrier accumulation area and rises with gate bias, according to the 1/ f -noise features. At lower frequencies, the device exhibits 1/ f -noise behavior, while beyond 1 kHz, it exhibits 1/ f 2 -noise behavior. Additionally, when the fabricated device governs in the deep-subthreshold regime, the cutoff frequency for the 1/ f 2 -noise features moves to the subordinated frequency (~10 2 Hz) side.

For the creation of next-generation nanoscale devices, it is crucial to comprehend the carrier transport mechanisms in nanowires. Here, we examine how temperature affects the properties of GaN nanowire wrap-gate transistors (WGTs), which are made via a top-down technique. The predicted conductance in this transistor remains essentially unaltered up to a temperature of 240 K and then increases after that as the temperature rises. This is true for increasing temperature at gate voltages less than threshold voltage ( V gs < V th ). Sharp fluctuations happen when the temperature rises with a gate voltage of V th < V gs < V FB . The conductance steadily decreases with increasing temperature after increasing the gate bias to V gs > V FB . These phenomena are possibly attributed to phonon and impurity scattering processes occurring on the surface or core of GaN nanowires.

Graphene oxide (GO) is one of the interesting ink materials owing to its fascinating properties, such as high dissolubility in water and high controllable electric properties. For versatile printing application, the viscosity of GO colloids should be controlled in order to meet the specific process requirements. Here, we report on the relatively rapid fabrication of viscosity-increased GO (VIGO) colloids mixed with electrophoretically deposited GO sheets (EPD-GO). As the GO colloid concentration, applied voltage, and deposition time increase, the viscosity of the GO colloids becomes high. The reason for the improved viscosity of GO colloids is because EPD-GO has parallel stacked GO sheets. The GO and VIGO colloids are compared and characterized using various chemical and structural analyzers. Consequently, our simple and fast method for the fabrication of GO colloids with enhanced viscosity can be used for producing inks for flexible and printed electronics.

The transport mechanism of HfO 2 -based metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) capacitors was investigated using low-frequency noise (LFN) measurements for the first time. The current-voltage measurement results revealed that the leakage behavior of the fabricated MFM capacitor was caused by the trap-related Poole-Frenkel transport mechanism, which was confirmed by the LFN measurements. The current noise power spectral densities ( S I ) obtained from the LFN measurements followed 1/ f noise shapes and exhibited a constant electric field ( E ) × S I / I 2 noise behavior. No polarization dependency was observed in the transport characteristics of the MFM capacitor owing to its structural symmetry.

Background and Objective: Owing to the increasing trend of preserving fertility in adenomyomectomy, the need for laparoscopic adenomyomectomy has increased. This study aimed to introduce a new surgical technique, an advanced laparoscopic adenomyomectomy technique, and to evaluate its efficacy, benefits, and safety in focal uterine adenomyosis., Methods: From February 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020, 47 patients who underwent laparoscopic adenomyomectomy using the new surgical technique were enrolled in the study. The inclusion criteria were: (1) Focal-type adenomyosis, diagnosed by ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging that was refractory to medical treatments. (2) A strong desire to preserve the uterus. All the operations were performed by a single surgeon with a uniform technique., Results: The mean patient age was 40.53 ± 5.93 years (median 38.5, range 32-47). The mean diameter of the adenomyoma lesions was 4.57 ± 1.21 cm and the mean weight of the excised lesions was 40.53 ± 35.65g (range, 15-209 g). The mean total operation time was 70.11 ± 15.05 minutes. The mean estimated blood loss was 88.88 ± 20.0 mL (20 - 500 ml). There was no conversion to laparotomy or major complications requiring reoperation. At the seven-month follow-up, there was complete remission of dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia in 97.4% and 88.9% of the patients, respectively., Conclusions: The new advanced laparoscopic adenomyomectomy technique with a three-step approach could be a safe and effective therapeutic method., (© 2022 by SLS, Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons.)

We fabricated and characterized AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with a nano-sized in situ cap layer (one is a silicon carbon nitride (SiCN) layer, and the other is a silicon nitride (SiN) layer) comparing to the conventional device without an in situ cap layer. The pulse characteristics and noise behaviors for two devices with in situ cap layers are much superior to those of the reference device without a cap layer, which means that the in situ cap layer effectively passivates the AlGaN surface. On the other hand, the device with an in situ SiCN cap layer showed the excellent device characteristics and noise performances compared to the other devices because of the reduced positive ionic charges and enhanced surface morphology caused by carbon (C) surfactant atoms during the growth of the SiCN cap layer. These results indicate that the AlGaN/GaN HEMT with the in situ SiCN cap layer is very promising for the next high-power device by replacing the conventional HEMT.

Optimization and miniaturization of existing electronic devices require the development of advanced nanostructured materials with high phase and structural purity. Over the past decade, barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) has attracted considerable attention due to its outstanding ferroelectric and dielectric properties. The present study involved the investigation of the phase transition and structural stability of tetragonal BaTiO 3 nanopowders with pseudo-cubic phase using an in-situ high resolution and high temperature X-ray diffraction method. Under ambient conditions, the coexistence the tetragonal and cubic phases with weight fractions of 75.7% and 24.3%, respectively, was determined in BaTiO 3 . In the temperature range of 25 °C-300 °C, phase boundaries of BaTiO 3 (180 nm in size) exhibiting several phases were detected. The phase transformation behavior, relative crystal phase content, lattice parameters, crystallite size, and tetragonality of the BaTiO 3 nanopowders were established by the Rietveld refinement method at the onset temperature from 25 °C to 300 °C. Up to 150 °C, the nanopowders exhibited a complete transition of the cubic phase. Additionally, a complete tetragonal to cubic transformation was accomplished by a decrease of tetragonality at 125 °C and an increase in the crystallite size at 300 °C., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, blended anion exchange membranes were prepared using polyphenylene oxide containing quaternary ammonium groups and polyvinylidene fluoride. A polyvinylidene fluoride with high hydrophobicity was blended in to lower the vanadium ion permeability, which increased when the hydrophilicity increased. At the same time, the dimensional stability also improved due to the excellent physical properties of polyvinylidene fluoride. Subsequently, permeation of the vanadium ions was prevented due to the positive charge of the anion exchange membrane, and thus the permeability was relatively lower than that of a commercial proton exchange membrane. Due to the above properties, the self-discharge of the blended anion exchange membrane (30.1 h for QA-PPO/PVDF(2/8)) was also lower than that of the commercial proton exchange membrane (27.9 h for Nafion), and it was confirmed that it was an applicable candidate for vanadium redox flow batteries.

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with good alkaline stability and ion conductivity are fabricated by incorporating quaternary ammonium-modified silica into quaternary ammonium-functionalized poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (QPPO). Quaternary ammonium with a long alkyl chain is chemically grafted to the silica in situ during synthesis. Glycidyltrimethylammoniumchloride functionalization on silica (QSiO 2 ) is characterized by Fourier transform infrared and transmission electron microscopic techniques. The QPPO/QSiO 2 membrane having an ion exchange capacity of 3.21 meq·g -1 exhibits the maximum hydration number (λ = 11.15) and highest hydroxide ion conductivity of 45.08 × 10 -2 S cm -1 at 80 °C. In addition to the high ion conductivity, AEMs also exhibit good alkaline stability, and the conductivity retention of the QPPO/QSiO 2 -3 membrane after 1200 h of exposure in 1 M potassium hydroxide at room temperature is about 91% ascribed to the steric hindrance offered by the grafted long glycidyl trimethylammonium chain in QSiO 2 . The application of the QPPO/QSiO 2 -3 membrane to an alkaline fuel cell can yield a peak power density of 142 mW cm -2 at a current density of 323 mA cm -2 and 0.44 V, which is higher than those of commercially available FAA-3-50 Fumatech AEM (OCV: 0.91 V; maximum power density: 114 mW cm -2 at current density: 266 mA cm -2 and 0.43 V). These membranes provide valuable insights on future directions for advanced AEM development for fuel cells., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

In this study, thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) was used to fabricate a water treatment membrane composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and silica. Dioctyl phthalate (DOP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were used as diluents. Crystallization temperature, cloud point, and morphology were observed to investigate the conditions of PVDF/silica/diluent membrane preparation. SEM revealed that the porosity of the membranes was increased with an increase in silica content. Phase diagram and morphology results revealed that 50 wt% PVDF+silica with a PVDF:silica weight ratio of 4.5:1 is the best composition for manufacturing a porous membrane.

Purpose: Acalabrutinib, a highly selective, potent, Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was evaluated in this global, multicenter, randomized, open-label, phase III study in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)., Methods: Eligible patients, aged ≥ 18 years with R/R CLL, were randomly assigned 1:1 centrally and stratified by del(17p) status, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score, and number of prior lines of therapy. Patients received acalabrutinib monotherapy or investigator's choice (idelalisib plus rituximab [I-R] or bendamustine plus rituximab [B-R]). The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS) assessed by an independent review committee (IRC) in the intent-to-treat population. Key secondary end points included IRC-assessed overall response rate, overall survival, and safety., Results: From February 21, 2017, to January 17, 2018, a total of 398 patients were assessed for eligibility; 310 patients were randomly assigned to acalabrutinib monotherapy (n = 155) or investigator's choice (n = 155; I-R, n = 119; B-R, n = 36). Patients had received a median of two prior therapies (range, 1-10). After a median follow-up of 16.1 months (range, 0.03-22.4 months), median PFS was significantly longer with acalabrutinib monotherapy (PFS not reached) compared with investigator's choice (16.5 months [95% CI, 14.0 to 17.1 months]; hazard ratio, 0.31 [95% CI, 0.20 to 0.49]; P < .0001). Estimated 12-month PFS was 88% (95% CI, 81% to 92%) for acalabrutinib and 68% (95% CI, 59% to 75%) for investigator's choice. Serious adverse events occurred in 29% of patients (n = 44 of 154) treated with acalabrutinib monotherapy, 56% (n = 66 of 118) with I-R, and 26% (n = 9 of 35) with B-R. Deaths occurred in 10% (n = 15 of 154), 11% (n = 13 of 118), and 14% (n = 5 of 35) of patients receiving acalabrutinib monotherapy, I-R, and B-R, respectively., Conclusion: Acalabrutinib significantly improved PFS compared with I-R or B-R and has an acceptable safety profile in patients with R/R CLL.

The restoration of damaged endothelium is promising to reduce side effects, including restenosis and thrombosis, in the stent treatment for vascular diseases. Current technologies based on drug delivery for these complications still do not satisfy patients due to invariant recurrence rate. Recently, even if one approach was applied to clinical trial to develop the firstly commercialized stent employing circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in blood vessels, it resulted in failure in clinical trial. Based on instruction of the failed case, we designed an advanced EPC-capture stent covered with anti-CD146 antibody (Ab) immobilized silicone nanofilament (SiNf) for the highly efficient and specific capture of not early but late stage of EPCs. In vitro cell capture test demonstrates enhanced capture efficiency and adhesion morphology of late EPCs on the modified substrate. The modified substrates could capture 8 times more late EPCs and even 3 times more mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as compared to unmodified one. A porcine model with high similarity to human reproduced in vivo results ideally translated from in vitro cell capture results. As restenosis indicators, lumen area, neointimal rate and stenosis area for modified stents were reduced at the range of 30-60% as compared to those for bare metal stent (BMS). Fibrin score indicating thrombosis was lowered less than half as comparing to that on BMS. These inspiring results are attributed to ~2-fold increased endothelial coverage, determined by immuno-histological staining. Taken together, the CD146 Ab-armed nanofilamentous stent could show great performance in the reduction of thrombosis and restenosis through re-endothelialization due to highly efficient specific cell capture. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Stents have been developed from simple metal stents to functionalized stents for past decades. However, they have still risks to relapse the occlusion in stented arteries. In this paper, we describe the fabrication and optimization of cell capturing stents to maximize the effective re-endothelialization through the serial coating of silicone nanofilaments and anti-CD146 antibody. The nanofilaments increase the amount of coated antibodies and provide the anchoring points of circulating angiogenic cells for strong focal adhesion. We demonstrate high immobilizing ability of circulating angiogenic cells (endotheliali progenitor cells and mesenchymal stem cells) in vitro under similar shear stress to coronary arteries (15 dyne/cm 2 ). Also, we show accelerating re-endothelialization and the efficient prevention of restenosis in porcine coronary arteries in vivo., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

We investigate the DC, C-V , and pulse performances in GaN-based nanowire gate-all-around (GAA) transistors with two kinds of geometry: one is AlGaN/GaN heterostructure with two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel and the other is only GaN layer without 2DEG channel. From I-V and C-V curves, the fabricated GaN nanowire GAA transistor with AlGaN layer clearly exhibits normally-on operation with negative threshold voltage ( V th ) due to the existence of 2DEG channel on the trapezoidal shaped GaN nanowire. On the other hand, the GaN nanowire GAA transistor without AlGaN layer presents a positive V th (normally-off operation) due to the absent of 2DEG channel on the triangle shaped GaN nanowire. However, both devices show the similar temperaturedependent I-V characteristics due to the combination of bulk channel and surface channel in GaN nanowire GAA channel are mostly contributed, rather than the 2DEG channel. GaN-based nanowire GAA transistors demonstrate to almost negligible current collapse phenomenon due to the perfect GAA gate structure in GaN nanowire. The proposed GaN-based nanowire GAA transistors are very promising candidate for both high power device and nano-electronics application.

Changes in the olfactory ability are one of early symptoms of developing neurodegenerative diseases, especially Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. In a healthy population olfactory function is characterized by independence from an intelligence quotient and various cognitive functions, e.g., memory. The peak of the olfactory ability falls between 20 and 40 years of age. In the geriatric population the worsening of the olfactory ability is found. Because of it, the knowledge on differences between the changes associated with physiological aging and the symptoms indicating pathological changes in the brain is of clinical importance. In this article, neuroanatomical structures of the olfactory tract and their involutionary changes, which may contribute to age-related olfactory deterioration, are discussed. Data are presented on the frequency of olfactory dysfunction occurrence, sex differences in the olfactory ability, and characteristics of its worsening among the elderly. Furthermore, age-related changes in odor memory are reviewed. The authors suggest that the main criterion allowing for differentiation between a physiological and pathological smell loss is awareness/unawareness of the deficit in this domain.

Rationale: Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a rare life-threatening condition that accompanies general anesthesia. Negative-pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) is a rare cause of DAH., Patient Concerns: A 25-year-old male patient developed hemoptysis following remifentanil administration by bolus injection with sugammadex at the emergence from general anesthesia., Diagnosis: Chest x-ray and computed tomography showed DAH., Interventions: Conservative care was provided with 4L of oxygen via nasal prong, 20 mg of Lasix and 2500 mg of tranexamic acid., Outcomes: The patient was discharged uneventfully., Lessons: Muscle rigidity by remifentanil and the dissociated reversal of neuromuscular blockade by sugammadex was suspected as the cause of NPPE-related DAH. Therefore, the possibility NPPE-related DAH should be considered when using a bolus of remifentanil and sugammadex during emergence from general anesthesia.

Introduction: Uterine-conservative surgery via laparoscopy is a challengeable and high risk because of heavy intra-operative bleeding events in reproductive women with highly vascular uterine benign disease. There are three reported cases of women with highly vascular uterine benign diseases and high risk of intra-operative heavy bleeding, but were treated successfully to control intra-operative heavy bleeding risk by transient occlusion of the uterine artery (TOUA) through laparoscopy and resulted in safe conservation of the uterus., Case Presentation: The cases of women with high risk of heavy bleeding during therapeutic procedure included cesarean scar pregnancy, hydatid form mole on cesarean scar, and cervical pregnancy. All these women had the strong desire to presere their fertility and uterus. In all the three cases, we used the method of TOUA and performed therapeutic surgeries successfully, with less bleeding and safe conservation of the uterus through laparoscopy., Conclusion: Laparoscopic TOUA could be a therapeutic option to manage heavy intra-operative bleeding during conservative uterine surgeries associated with the risk of heavy bleeding., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Aims: To evaluate the surgical outcomes of both approach methods (laparoscopy vs laparotomy) and to suggest the proper surgical approach according to type of uterine adenomyosis (focal vs diffuse)., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 224 cases of uterine adenomyomectomy, 116 laparotomic and 108 laparoscopic, performed between July 2011 and June 2016 by a single surgeon (Y. S. K.). In all 224 cases, the surgeon had used transient occlusion of the uterine artery (TOUA). Surgical outcomes included weight of specimen, operating time, estimated blood loss and intraoperative injury to other organs. Postoperative clinical outcomes included symptom improvement (dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia and others) and recurrence., Results: All patients in the laparoscopic group had been diagnosed with focal uterine adenomyosis, and most in the laparotomic group (85.3%) had been diagnosed with diffuse type. The largest lesion diameters were 6.48 cm in the laparotomic group and 4.34 cm in the laparotomic group. Operation time and estimated blood loss were 116.12 min and 222.67 mL in the laparotomic group and 75.09 min, respectively, and 155.33 mL in the laparoscopic group. There was no case of laparotomic conversion in patients with laparoscopic adenomyomectomy., Conclusion: Conservative surgery is effective to reduce the symptoms of adenomyosis regardless of approach method. For near-complete excision of adenomyosis, the diffuse type is recommended to be treated with laparotomic adenomyomectomy, and focal lesions less than 5 cm can be treated with laparoscopic conservative surgery., (© 2018 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.)

The CXCR4/CXCL12 axis plays an important role in cell locomotion and metastasis in many cancers. In this study, we hypothesized that the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis promotes migration and invasion of canine hemangiosarcoma (HSA) cells. Transcriptomic analysis across 12 HSA cell lines and 58 HSA whole tumour tissues identified heterogeneous expression of CXCR4 and CXCL12, which was associated with cell movement. In vitro, CXCL12 promoted calcium mobilization, cell migration and invasion that were directly proportional to surface expression of CXCR4; furthermore, these responses proved sensitive to the CXCR4 antagonist, AMD3100, in HSA cell lines. These results indicate that CXCL12 potentiates migration and invasion of canine HSA cells through CXCR4 signalling. The direct relationship between these responses in HSA cells suggests that the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis contributes to HSA progression., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The pathogenesis of canine T-cell lymphoma remains incompletely understood, partly because there are no well-established in-vivo models to study these malignancies. For this study, we generated a patient-derived tumour xenograft (PDTX) from a 10-year-old neutered male golden retriever dog with enteropathy-associated intestinal T-cell lymphoma, large cell type. One of two female, 15-week-old beige/nude/XID mice developed a visible tumour 7 weeks after sections of tumour material from the spleen were surgically implanted. The histological appearance, immunophenotype and clonal antigen receptor rearrangements of the tumour from the recipient mouse showed that it was derived from the primary canine tumour. Our results indicate that immunodeficient mice are receptive hosts to develop in-vivo PDTX models to study the pathogenesis and management of canine T-cell lymphomas., Competing Interests: The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or publication of this article., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Gynaecological surgery techniques and instruments have advanced and there is increasing effort to reduce operative complications by preventing adhesion complications after surgery., Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a possible limitation of the Surgi-Wrap(®) anti-adhesion material during clinical follow-up of surgically managed gynaecological malignancies., Methods: We retrospectively analysed the medical records and imaging findings of 92 patients who received the Surgi-Wrap(®) anti-adhesion material., Results: Nine of the 92 patients had local recurrence based on the imaging findings. The positive imaging findings showed focal, isolated and small pelvic lesions without other distant metastasis or recurrence and normal tumour marker levels. Laparoscopic exploration and biopsy were performed in six patients and close clinical follow-up was performed for the other three patients, who had a strong diagnostic impression of a foreign body reaction mimicking a focal recurrence of the tumour. The histological findings of the six laparoscopically-explored patients revealed a foreign body reaction without malignancy in five and recurrence in one case. The rate of foreign body reaction, mimicking a local recurrence, was 5/92 (5.4% of histologically confirmed cases) and 8/92 cases had ambiguous findings between a foreign reaction and local recurrence (8.7% of clinically suspected cases)., Conclusions: It is important to avoid confusion between benign and recurrent conditions during follow-up for gynaecological malignancies. We suggest avoiding use of Surgi-wrap(®) during cancer surgeries and a need for further studies on the safety of Surgi-wrap(®) in patients with cancer., (© 2016 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.)

We present the case of thoracic aortic aneurysm associated with the tuberculous pleural effusion. An 82-year-old woman underwent emergency stent graft under a diagnosis of dissecting thoracic aortic aneurysm. Preoperative computed tomography revealed right pleural effusion supposed to the hemothorax caused by the dissecting aneurysm. But, the effusion was sanguineous color fluid and it was determined to result from pulmonary tuberculosis. The medical team was exposed to the pulmonary tuberculosis; fortunately no one became infected. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of an infected aortic aneurysm and prepare for pathogen transmission.

The AlGaN/GaN nanowire omega-shaped-gate FinFET have been successfully fabricated demonstrating much improved performance compared to conventional AlGaN/GaN MISHFET. The AlGaN/GaN omega-shaped-gate FinFET exhibited the remarkable on-state performances, such as maximum drain current of 1.1 A/mm, low on-resistance, and low current collapse compared to that of the conventional device structure. In addition, the excellent off-state performances were measured: low off-state leakage current as low as -10(-10) mA, the theoretical SS value of -62 mV/dec, and high I(ON)/I(OFF) ratio (-10(9)). Improved dc performances were obtained for omega-shaped-gate structure due to the fully depletion of the active fin body and perfectly separation of the depleted fin from the underlying thick GaN buffer layer. Furthermore, the additional reason for the enhanced device performance of the proposed device is the improved gate controllability compared to the conventional MISHFET. The proposed nano-structure device is very promising candidate for the steep switching device applications.

Objective: To determine the correlation between anatomical features of the upper airway (evaluated via computed tomography imaging) and the ease of light wand-assisted endotracheal intubation in patients undergoing ear, nose and throat surgery under general anaesthesia., Methods: Mallampati class, laryngoscopic grade, thyromental distance, neck circumference, body mass index, mouth opening and upper lip bite class were assessed. Epiglottis length and angle, tongue size and narrowest pharyngeal distance were determined using computed tomography imaging. Intubation success rate, time to successful intubation (intubating time) and postoperative throat symptoms were documented., Results: Of 152 patients, 148 (97.4%) were successfully intubated on the first attempt (mean intubating time 11.5 ± 6.7 s). Intubating time was positively correlated with laryngoscopic grade and body mass index in both male and female patients, and Mallampati class and neck circumference in male patients. Epiglottis length was positively correlated with intubating time., Conclusions: Ease of intubation was influenced by epiglottis length. Radiological evaluation may be useful for preoperative assessment of patients undergoing endotracheal intubation with light wand., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

A 51-year-old woman received a laparoscopic surgical staging operation due to endometrial carcinoma. Adjuvant pelvic radiotherapy was performed when the endometrial carcinoma was staged at FIGO Stage IIIC1, adnexa metastasis. Three months completing adjuvant pelvic radiotherapy, a 2.5-cm vaginal stump mass was found by abdomino-pelvic computed tomography (AP-CT). To rule out local recurrence, diagnostic laparoscopic exploration was performed. The pathologic report revealed chronic inflammation due to the presence of a foreign body. To avoid unnecessary surgery during the follow-up of patients with gynecologic malignancies, anti-adhesive material should be avoided which can possibly cause a lesion mimicking local recurrence.

Colpotomizer instruments are commonly used in laparoscopic hysterectomy to easily manipulate the uterus. This is the case of a forgotten colpotomy cup retained in the vagina for five years, which led to a rectovaginal fistula. A 54-year-old woman without knowledge of presence of the foreign body visited with chronic abdominal pain and foul odorous discharge. Rectovaginal fistula caused by the retained forgotten colpotomy cup was found upon examination.

Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNC) of the ovary is a rare tumor in gynecologic oncologic field. An 18-year-old woman presented with abdominal distention and a pelvic mass measuring ten cm in diameter, who previously underwent laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy due to large borderline mucinous ovarian neoplasm 18 months prior. A debulking operation was optimally performed, which included total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection, bilateral paraaortic lymph node dissection, omentectomy, optimal debulking of gastrohepatic mass and subdiaphragmatic mass, and pelvic peritonectomy. Despite adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin, the patient died of progressive disease seven months after surgery. The authors report the youngest case of LCNC of the ovary, that failed chemotherapy and had the previous history of the conservative surgical treatment due to mucinous borderline tumor.

The CD44+/CD24- phenotype identifies cancer stem cell (CSC) properties in canine mammary carcinoma (MC); however, the histopathological features associated with this phenotype remain to be elucidated. Here, we determined whether the CD44+/CD24- phenotype was associated with hormonal receptor (HR; estrogen receptor [ER] and/or progesterone receptor [PR]) status and/or triple (ER, PR, and human epithelial growth factor receptor 2)-negative (TN) subtype; conventional histological evaluation was also performed. We found that, as single markers, both CD44+ and CD24+ were associated with less aggressive histological types, low grade, and a non-TN subtype; both markers were associated with HR positivity. On the other hand, a CD44+/CD24- phenotype was associated with higher grade of carcinoma. Therefore, our results suggest that immunohistochemical phenotyping for CD44/CD24 is useful for the evaluation of tumor behavior as well as CSC-like properties in canine MCs., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

Obesity can affect the clinical course of a number of diseases, including breast cancer in women and mammary gland tumors in female dogs, via the secretion of various cytokines and hormones. The objective of this study was to examine the expression patterns of obesity-related molecules such as aromatase, leptin, and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1 R) in canine mammary carcinomas (CMCs) on the basis of the body condition score (BCS). Comparative analyses of the expression of these molecules, together with prognostic factors for CMCs, including hormone receptors (HRs; estrogen and progesterone receptors), lymphatic invasion, central necrosis of the tumor, and histologic grade, were performed on 56 CMCs. The mean age of CMC onset was lower in the overweight or obese group (8.7 ± 1.9 years) than in the lean or ideal body weight group (10.4 ± 2.7 years). The proportion of poorly differentiated (grade III) tumors was significantly higher in the overweight or obese female dogs. Aromatase expression was significantly higher in the overweight or obese group and was correlated with the expression of HRs (P = .025). These findings suggest that overweight or obese status might affect the development and behavior of CMCs by tumor-adipocyte interactions and increased HR-related tumor growth., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

Vasculopathy is rarely reported in neurofibromatosis type 1, but when it occurs it primarily involves the aorta and its main branches. Among vasculopathies, aneurysmal dilatation is the most common form. Although several case reports concerning aneurysms or pseudoaneurysms of visceral arteries in neurofibromatosis type 1 patients have been reported, there are no reports describing gastroduodenal artery aneurysms associated with neurofibromatosis type 1. We experienced a case of life-threatening duodenal ulcer bleeding from a ruptured gastroduodenal artery aneurysm associated with neurofibromatosis type 1. We treated our patient by transarterial embolization after initial endoscopic hemostasis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of its type. High levels of suspicion and prompt diagnosis are required to select appropriate treatment options for patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 experiencing upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Embolization of the involved arteries should be considered an essential treatment over endoscopic hemostasis alone to achieve complete hemostasis and to prevent rebleeding.

A 35 year-old woman at 7-week gestational age was referred to our hospital. The patient was diagnosed with the heterotopic interstitial pregnancy by transvaginal ultrasonogra- phy after receiving in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer. Laparoscopic excision and curettage was successfully performed at 8.4-gestational age under general anesthesia and the patient was discharged 2 days after operation without any post-operative complications. The woman had normal antenatal follow-up and deliv- ered a healthy baby at term by cesarean section.