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Cancer patients are regarded as highly vulnerable to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2. However, little is known regarding how cancer treatments should be restarted for cancer patients after coronavirus disease (COVID)-19. We herein report a pancreatic cancer case in which chemotherapy was able to be reinstituted after COVID-19. The patient was a 67-year-old man diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On day 7 after first chemotherapy, he was infected with COVID-19. A SARS-CoV-2 test was negative after one month of treatment, and we reinstituted chemotherapy. The patient has received three cycles of chemotherapy without recurrence of COVID-19. It may be feasible to reinstitute chemotherapy for cancer patients after a negative SARS-CoV-2 test.

Non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB) is still a common and life-threatening disease, thus it would have a big impact on medical care cost. However, little is known about risk factors for increased medical care cost in NVUGIB patients. The purpose of the study was to clarify predictor of requiring high medical care cost in NVUGIB patients. Patients who underwent endoscopic hemostasis due to NVUGIB between April 2012 and March 2015 were included in this retrospective study. We analyzed the association between patients’ background including activity of daily livings (ADL) and high medical care cost using logistic regression model. Medical care cost was calculated in reference to the “Diagnosis Procedure Combination” which is diagnosis-dominant case-mix system in Japan. The cutoff value of high medical care cost was defined as its first quartile. ADL was assessed according to Katz-6 score. We defined impaired ADL patient who revealed Katz-6 score more than 1. A total of 128 consecutive patients were included in this study. Median medical care cost was 5323 USD (IQR 3661–8172 USD). There were 13 patients (10%) in impaired ADL group. In univariate analysis, age and impaired ADL before admission revealed significant association with high cost. Of these, impaired ADL was an only independent risk factor [odds ratio 15.3 (95% CI 2.49–183)] in multivariate analysis. Impairment in ADL before admission was an independent predictor for high medical care cost with NVUGIB patients.

Background/Aims: Although colonic diverticular bleeding (CDB) often ceases spontaneously, re-bleeding occurs in about 30%. Bleeding diverticulum can be treated directly by endoscopic hemostasis; however, it is difficult to perform colonoscopy in all cases with limited medical resource and certain risks. The aim of this study was to clarify who should undergo colonoscopy as well as appropriate methods of initial management in CDB patients. Methods: A total of 285 patients who were diagnosed as CDB and underwent colonoscopy from March 2004 to October 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. First, the association between re-bleeding and various factors including patients’ background and initial management were analyzed. Second, the examination conditions that influenced bleeding point identification were analyzed. Results: Of 285 patients, 187 were men and 98 were women. Median age was 75 years, and the median observation period was 17.5 months. Re-bleeding was observed in 79 patients (28%). A history of CDB (OR 2.1, p = 0.0090) and chronic kidney disease (CKD; OR 2.3, p = 0.035) were risk factors, and bleeding point identification (OR 0.20, p = 0.0037) was a preventive factor for re-bleeding. Bleeding point identification significantly reduced approximately 80% of re-bleeding. Furthermore, extravasation on CT (OR 3.7, p = 0.031) and urgent colonoscopy (OR 5.3, p < 0.001) were predictors for identification of bleeding point. Compared to bleeding point identification of 11% in all patients who underwent colonoscopy, identification rate in those who had extravasation on CT and underwent urgent colonoscopy was as high as 70%. Conclusions: Contrast-enhanced CT upon arrival is suggested, and patients with extravasation on CT would be good candidates for urgent colonoscopy, as well as patients who have a history of CDB and CKD.

Background: Some scoring systems have been introduced to predict the need for performing urgent endoscopy in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB). However, in an emergency situation, this intervention is insufficient and cannot easily provide the required treatment. Aim: To identify new risk factors that can predict the need for endoscopic intervention (EI) in UGIB patients. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. Patients with UGIB admitted from April 2011 to August 2014 were included. The proportion of cases requiring EI and clinical factors (age, gender, antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy, history of gastro-duodenal ulcer (GDU), systolic blood pressure, heart rate, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, blood urea nitrogen-creatinine ratio (BUN/Cr ratio), prothrombin time-international normalized ratio, and Glasgow-Blatchford Score (GBS) were analyzed using logistic regression models. Result: Of 378 patients who were included in this study, 180 were found to be with GDU. The proportion of cases requiring EI was significantly higher in those with GDU than in other causes except variceal bleeding (53.5 vs. 37.0%, p < 0.01). Multivariate analysis revealed that a history of GDU was an independent risk factor (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.06–3.00) in addition to BUN/Cr ratio (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.00–1.03) and GBS (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.08–1.33). Conclusion: A history of GDU was an independent risk factor for predicting the need for EI in UGIB in addition to BUN/Cr ratio and GBS.

Along with the development of interferon and therapeutic medication, the incidence of viral hepatitis constituting the largest part of liver disease decreased, and the main target in the field of liver disease is now shifting from viral hepatitis to alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as metabolic liver disease. Although these diseases tend.to. be gathered as non-viral liver disease because the similar specific liver tissue, the natural history and etiology are considerably different between them. We need to distinguish both of them to do appropriate treatment intervention. Questioning of amount of drinking is needed, but we experience some difficult cases to understand drinking history because of a too little declaration of amount of drinking. A new ultrasonic image analyses using propagation speed in the organization of the pulse vibration wave was developed as Fibroscan by Echosens company in recent years. Fibroscan is a non-invasive test to quantify liver fibrosis as Liver Stiffness Measurement (LSM). It also detects and quantifies steatosis simultaneously using the Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP). CAP is a measurement of the ultrasound attenuation. We measured liver steatosis of patients using Fibroscan, and other blood tests. 63 cases of ALD, 177 cases of NAFLD, 57 cases of Virus and 271 cases of Normal were enrolled. CAP value were significantly lower in the ALD group compared with NAFLD group. (P0.0053, ALD 268 dB/m : NAFLD 290 dB/m) We elucidate the diagnostic accuracy of CAP using Fibroscan for ALD patients, comparing the results of them to those of virus patients and NAFLD patients.

Alkyl or alkenyl N,N-dimethylchalcogenocarbamates were easily prepared by a stepwise treatment of bis(N,N-dimethylcarbamoyl) dichalcogenides with NaH or NaBH 4 , followed by various alkylating agents or acetylenes bearing electron-withdrawing substituents. The one-step conversion of alkyl or alkenyl N,N-dimethylselenocarbamates or N,N-dimethyltellurocarbamates into the corresponding symmetrical dialkyl or dialkenyl dichalcogenides was also achieved efficiently by treating with SnCl 4 .

背景:甲状腺びまん性硬化型乳頭癌は, 若い女性に好発し, 臨床的・病理学的に通常の乳頭癌と鑑別すべき特徴を有するまれな腫瘍である. 今回われわれはその1例を経験したので報告する.症例:31歳, 女性. 右甲状腺腫瘤を主訴とし当院受診. 橋本病が疑われ, 甲状腺穿刺吸引細胞診が施行された. 細胞診では一般的な乳頭癌での細胞所見に加え, 多数のリンパ球が背景に出現し, 扁平上皮化生様異型細胞, 砂粒小体形成が認められた. びまん性硬化型乳頭癌が強く疑われ, 甲状腺全摘出術および頸部廓清術が施行された. 甲状腺右葉は明らかな結節を形成することなく線維化を伴ってびまん性に腫大していた. 組織学的には右葉を主体に, 線維化やリンパ濾胞形成を伴うリンパ球浸潤を背景とし, 核溝やすりガラス状核を呈する異型細胞が乳頭状, 濾胞状, 一部充実性に増生していた. 扁平上皮化生様変化, 砂粒小体形成を伴う甲状腺内微小転移巣やリンパ管侵襲を認めた. リンパ節転移が高頻度にみられた.結論:細胞診でも, びまん性硬化型乳頭癌の特徴とされる高度のリンパ球浸潤, 砂粒小体, 扁平上皮化生様変化がみられ, 触診所見, 画像情報等の臨床情報を加味することにより細胞診での推定は可能と考えられた.

OBJECTIVE: To apply the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect clonality for potentially helping to establish a definitive diagnosis of lymphoma in cytologic material. STUDY DESIGN: In this retrospective study, Papanicolaou-stained cytologic smears and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from 17 cases of B-cell lymphoma were examined to investigate their clonality by a PCR technique using three different approaches (FR3, FR3A and FR2) for amplification of immunoglobulin heavy chain genes. Cytologic smears from 10 cases of non-neoplastic lymphoid tissues and T-cell lymphomas served as negative controls. RESULTS: Monoclonality was detected in 9 of 17 cases (53%) of B-cell lymphoma in cytologic smears as compared with 8 of 16 cases (50%) in tissue sections. Seminested PCRs (FR3A/FR2) were superior to the single PCR (FR3) in the detection rate (41% vs. 18%). Five of seven cases (71%) of marginal zone B-cell lymphomas showed monoclonality, whereas only 4 of 10 cases (40%) of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas did so. Monoclonality was demonstrated in none of the negative controls. CONCLUSIONS: Clonality detection in B-cell lymphomas by PCR using cytologic smears is specific and equal in sensitivity to that using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. The detection rate is especially excellent in marginal zone B-cell lymphoma, in which the cytologic diagnosis is particularly challenging. Combined seminested PCRs for FR3A and FR2 are advocated for a reliable assessment of clonality.

This study was undertaken to examine whether males develop schizophrenia at a younger age than females, and whether temporal socioeconomic change affects the age at onset of schizophrenia. The subjects were 848 ICD-9 schizophrenics who were admitted to Nihon University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, during the period of 1955-64 (n = 468 (214 males and 254 females), group A) or during the period of 1982-91 (n = 380 (220 males and 160 females). group B). Schizophrenic males showed an earlier age at onset than schizophrenic females. However, the mean age at onset of schizophrenia did not differ significantly between group A and group B. These results indicate that the gender difference in age at onset of schizophrenia has not been influenced by temporal socioeconomic change.

pump activity is unclear. In the plasma membrane vesicles from rye leaves high concentrations of sucrose had significant inhibitory effects on the plasma membrane H+ pump activity. Fusicoccin and trypsin treatment experiments suggest that the C-terminal region of the H+ pump may partially but significantly be involved in the sucrose effect.

It has recently been shown that shuffling of the amino acid sequences of family enzymes allows the generation of improved enzymes. Family shuffling is generally achieved by a DNase I treatment and then by PCR. Shuffling of the xylE and nahH genes, both encoding catechol 2,3-dioxygenases, was carried out by the published method. However, nahH–xylE hybrids were only formed at a very low frequency (less than 1%). Therefore, we developed improved methods for family shuffling by which DNA was cleaved by restriction enzymes instead of by DNase I. With the first improved method, five nahH fragments and five xylE fragments that had been generated by restriction enzyme digestion were subjected to the PCR reactions in two steps, the first being without a primer and the second with a set of primers. This method enabled nahH–xylE hybrid genes to be formed at a high frequency (almost 100%). With the second improved method, nahH and xylE were cleaved by several sets of restriction enzymes, and these digests were then reassembled in two steps. The nahH and xylE DNAs were each cleaved by two (or three) sets of restriction enzymes, and one type of nahH digest and one type of xylE digest were mixed, thus making four (or nine) different mixtures of the nahH and xylE digests. These mixtures were used as templates to carry out PCR without a primer. After the first PCR reaction, all the mixtures were combined, and a second PCR reaction was carried out without a primer. Following these two PCR assembly steps, a third PCR reaction was carried out with two primers to amplify the full-length nahH–xylE hybrid genes. This second method also yielded nahH–xylE hybrids at a frequency of 100%. The degree of recombination of the products with the second method was higher than that with the first method. These methods were used to isolate catechol 2,3-dioxygenases exhibiting relatively high stability at high temperature, one of them being respectively 13- and 26-fold more thermostable than XylE and NahH at 50°C.

Because the vanadium (V) chemistry provides that a significant amount of V in soil water can exist as vanadate which has been shown to have inhibitory effects on plant some enzymes, we analyzed the concentration of V in soil water, and examined the effect of such concentrations of vanadate on plant growth and metabolism. Concentration of V in water of collected soil samples was 0.013 to 0.040 μM. Vanadate‐treatment experiments with rye or wheat showed that 0.1 uM vanadate had slight effects on seed germination, and growth (shoot and root), photosynthesis (leaf), respiration (leaf and root), and three typical types of membrane H+‐ATPases (leaf and root) of the plants and contents of cellular various components (leaf and root). These results, at least, suggest that even if all of the V in soil water exists in the form of vanadate, effects of the vanadate on growth and metabolisms of rye or wheat may be insignificant.

The patient was a 78-year-old woman who suffered from right upper quadrant pain. She was diagnosed as colon cancer with hepatic metastasis. Initial chemotherapy using capecitabine plus oxaliplatin(XELOX)+bevacizumab achieved partial response. After 12 months, XELOX was discontinued due to Grade 3 hand-foot syndrome and peripheral neuropathy. Irinotecan plus oral S-1(a combination of tegafur, 5-chloro-2, 4-dihydroxypyridine, and potassium oxonate)and(IRIS)+bevacizumab were continued as second-line therapy, and her status was maintained as stable disease. XELOX and IRIS regimens do not require catheter placement and long infusion process, providing a great advantage to patients.

眼科臨床上, クラミジア眼感染症は比較的頻度の高い疾患であるが, 細胞材料として提出される機会は多くなく, 細胞学的な報告も少ない. 今回われわれは, 臨床的にクラミジア結膜炎 (成人封入体結膜炎) が疑われ, 擦過細胞診を施行した症例を経験したので報告する. 症例は67歳, 男性. 結膜の充血ならびに分泌物増加を主訴に眼科を受診した. 2ヵ月前より配偶者にも同様の症状を認めている. 結膜擦過標本にて, 上皮細胞の細胞質内に微細な顆粒状あるいは網状小体が比較的高密度に集簇する像とともに, より粗大な顆粒状物質が集簇性に分布する像を認め, 両者ともに細胞学的に本感染細胞を疑った. 簡易固定染色 (Diff-Quik) 標本の脱色標本を用いて行ったクラミジア免疫染色にて, 前者は陰性であったが後者は陽性となり, 本症の確診に至った. クラミジア封入体は今回の症例のように典型的な星雲状封入体とは異なる像を呈する場合もあり, この場合には免疫染色が確定診断の一手法としてきわめて有用になると考えられた. 特に形態像と免疫染色像を対比できる点から, 臨床的に普及している蛍光抗体法や酵素免疫法などの抗原検出法にはない利点があると思われた.

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the various aspects of single-stranded DNA family shuffling. DNA shuffling is a technique that allows accelerated and directed protein evolution in vitro . This technique has been shown to be powerful in combining independently isolated mutations of a gene into a single progeny. By using the sense strand ssDNA of one gene and the antisense-strand ssDNA of another gene as starting materials for DNA family shuffling, high recombination efficiency can be expected, as only heteroduplex molecules are formed in the first round of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Single-stranded DNAs can be prepared by cloning into a phagemid vector such as pBluescript. The phagemid replicates as a double-stranded plasmid in an Escherichia coli host. The PCR procedure used for ssDNA shuffling is basically carried out in two steps. The first PCR step is conducted without primers in order to reassemble the DNase I-digested fragments into longer pieces. It is suggested that an effective DNA shuffling method combined with a high-throughput screening method will provide the technical solutions for engineering proteins in basic and applied scientific applications.

To apply the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect clonality for potentially helping to establish a definitive diagnosis of lymphoma in cytologic material.In this retrospective study, Papanicolaou-stained cytologic smears and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from 17 cases of B-cell lymphoma were examined to investigate their clonality by a PCR technique using three different approaches (FR3, FR3A and FR2) for amplification of immunoglobulin heavy chain genes. Cytologic smears from 10 cases of nonneoplastic lymphoid tissues and T-cell lymphomas served as negative controls.Monoclonality was detected in 9 of 17 cases (53%) of B-cell lymphoma in cytologic smears as compared with 8 of 16 cases (50%) in tissue sections. Semi-nested PCRs (FR3A/FR2) were superior to the single PCR (FR3) in the detection rate (41% vs. 18%). Five of seven cases (71%) of marginal zone B-cell lymphomas showed monoclonality, whereas only 4 of 10 cases (40%) of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas did so. Monoclonality was demonstrated in none of the negative controls.Clonality detection in B-cell lymphomas by PCR using cytologic smears is specific and equal in sensitivity to that using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. The detection rate is especially excellent in marginal zone B-cell lymphoma, in which the cytologic diagnosis is particularly challenging. Combined seminested PCRs for FR3A and FR2 are advocated for a reliable assessment of clonality.

Family shuffling, which is one of the most powerful techniques for in vitro protein evolution, always involves the problem of reassembling the gene fragments into parental gene sequences, because such a process prevents the formation of chimeric sequences. In order to improve the efficiency of hybrid formation in family shuffling, single-stranded DNAs (ssDNAs) were used as templates. The ssDNAs of two catechol 2,3-dioxygenase genes, nahH and xylE, were prepared, the xylE strand being complementary to the nahH strand. When these ssDNAs were digested by DNase I and reassembled, chimeric genes were obtained at a rate of 14%, which was much higher than the rate of less than 1% obtained by shuffling with double-stranded DNAs. Chimeric catechol 2,3-dioxygenases that were more thermally stable than the parental enzymes, XylE and NahH, were obtained by this ssDNA-based DNA shuffling.

Background Doublecortin and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase-like-1 (DCAMKL1) is a candidate marker for progenitor cells in the gastrointestinal mucosa. Lineage cells in the gastric mucosa are derived from progenitor cells, but this process can be altered after injury. Therefore, we explored DCAMKL1 expression under pathological conditions. Methods An immunohistochemical analysis was performed in rat stomach with acute superficial injury, chronic ulcer, intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia. Results DCAMKL1 was exclusively expressed in immature quiescent cells in the isthmus of normal fundic glands, where putative progenitor cells are thought to reside. DCAMKL1-positive cells and proliferating cells shed into the lumen after superficial injury and re-appeared during the regenerative process, mainly in the superficial mucosa. In the marginal mucosa around the active ulcer, parietal and chief cells diminished, foveolar hyperplasia was evident, and trefoil factor family 2 (TFF2)/spasmolytic polypeptide-expressing metaplasia (SPEM) emerged at the gland base. DCAMKL1 cells re-emerged in the deep mucosa juxtaposed with SPEM and proliferating cells. In the healing ulcer, the TFF2 cell population expanded and seemed to redifferentiate to chief cells, while proliferating cells and DCAMKL1 cells appeared above and below the TFF2 cells to promote healing. SPEM appeared and PCNA cells increased in the intestinalized mucosa, and DCAMKL1 was expressed in the proximity of the PCNA cells in the deep mucosa. DCAMKL1, PCNA and TFF2 were expressed in different dysplastic cells lining dilated glands near SPEM. Conclusion The ultrastructural appearance of DCAMKL1-positive cells and the expression patterns of DCAMKL1 in normal and pathological states indicate that the cells belong to a progenitor cell population. DCAMKL1 expression is closely associated with TFF2/SPEM cells after injury. DCAMKL1 cells repopulate close to proliferating, hyperplastic, metaplastic and dysplastic cells, and the progenitor zone shifts according to the pathological circumstances.

Preparation of organo-silica nanoparticles dispersing in an isoparaffin Isopar L as a dispersion medium was explored aiming at use of the particles for microencapsulated electrophoretic displays. The particles were prepared by a procedure based on the Stober method using a mixture of both TEOS and various organotrialkoxysilanes as silica sources. The particles obtained using octadecyltriethoxysilane or 3,3,3-trifluoropropyltrimethoxysilane were readily transferred by extraction in the Isopar L phase and the dispersions were successfully encapsulated in microcapsules.