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Hydrothermal treatment (HTT) as a pretreatment method for compost raw material has multiple benefits such as enhanced solubility of organic material, improved bioaugmentation, and reduced biohazard by killing harmful microorganisms. In this study, we pretreated food waste via HTT at 180 °C for 30 min to investigate its effect on food waste composting. HTT generated 8.98 mg/g-dry solid (g-ds) of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 4.32 mg/g-ds furfural. These furan compounds were completely decomposed in the early stage of composting, subsequently the organic matter in the food waste started to be degraded. The HTT-pretreated experiment demonstrated less organic matter degradation during composting as well as lower compost phytotoxicity compared to the non-HTT-pretreated experiment, where the conversion of carbon was 25.2% and the germination index value was 55%. HTT probably denatured part of the organic matter and making it more difficult to decompose, thereby preventing the rapid release of high concentrations of phytotoxic compounds such as organic acids and ammonium ions during composting. High-throughput microbial community analysis revealed that only Firmicutes appeared in the HTT-pretreated experiment, however, other bacterial groups also appeared in the non-HTT-pretreated experiment. This was possibly influenced by furan compounds and the changes of easily degradable organic matter to hardly degradable. Bacillus and Lysinibacillus were dominant in both composting experiments during vigorous organic matter degradation, suggesting that these bacterial groups were the main contributors to food waste composting. This study suggests that HTT is advantageous for the pretreatment of easily degradable food waste, as compost with less phytotoxicity was produced., (Copyright © 2022 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lactic acid bacteria are observed during early stages of almost all food waste composting. Among them, 2 types of lactic acid bacteria, Pediococcus (homofermentative lactic acid bacterium) and Weissella (heterofermentative lactic acid bacterium) have been often reported. In this study, the roles of these 2 types of lactic acid bacteria in the composting were tried to elucidate. It has been pointed out that Pediococcus accelerates the composting process by producing lactic acid which prevented acetic acid generation, thus activating indigenous composting microorganisms. On the other hand, this study elucidated that Weissella produced acetic acid of 20 mg g -1 DS, which is harmful to composting microorganisms, resulting in the inhibition of vigorous organic matter degradation. When these 2 coexist in the starting material, whether the composting succceeds or not depends on the ratio of these 2 lactic acid bacteria. If Pediococcus and Weissella ratio was higher than 10 1.5 , acetic acid level was almost 3 times lower than that observed in the composting with their lower ratios of 1 and 10 -1 , probably because of the interaction of Pediococcus and Weissella resulting in the suppression of Weissella activity, and thus composting was accelerated., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Food waste collected from restaurants, convenience stores, and food-processing factories was mixed with sawdust and subjected to hydrothermal pretreatment at 180°C for 30min to prepare compost raw material. Furan compounds such as 5-HMF (5-hydroxymethyl furfural) and furfural were produced at concentration levels of approximately 8 and 0.5mg/g-ds, respectively, through hydrothermal pretreatment. The furan compounds inhibited the activity of composting microorganisms, thus delaying the start of organic matter degradation during composting. A newly identified fungus, Paecilomyces sp. FA13, which possesses the ability to degrade furan compounds, was isolated and used as an inoculum for the composting of the raw material prepared by hydrothermal pretreatment. By inoculating the FA13 into the compost raw material at 10(5)CFU/g-ds, the degradation of furan compounds was accelerated. As a result, bacterial activity, which contributed to composting, was enhanced, significantly promoting the start of vigorous degradation of organic materials., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the yeast strain Pichia kudriavzevii RB1 was used as an inoculum to accelerate organic matter degradation of rabbit food with added organic acids, which was used as a model food waste for composting. The RB1 strain rapidly degraded the organic acids present in the raw compost material, leading to an increase in pH beyond the neutral level, within 2 days. Both mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria proliferated faster in the compost with RB1 inoculation than in that without inoculation. Although the yeast died with the increase in compost temperature, it affected the early stages of composting prior to the thermophilic stage and accelerated the composting process by 2 days by eliminating the initial lag phase seen in the growth of other microorganisms. Moreover, populations of Bacillus thermoamylovorans, Bacillus foraminis, and Bacillus coagulans became dominant during the thermophilic stages of both composting with and without RB1 inoculation., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The effects of turning on the microbial consortia during swine manure composting were investigated. To focus on microbial migration, two types of composting runs, with and without turning, were conducted. In both cases, the material was composted in three separate reactors set at 30, 50, and 70 °C. For the runs with turning, the material was removed from the reactors, pooled, mixed, and redistributed daily, whereas for those without turning, the compost was agitated inside the reactors. The microbial consortia were compared by PCR-DGGE for composting without turning at different temperatures; this revealed the temperature preferences of the microorganisms, in situ--i.e., whether they were mesophilic, thermotolerant, thermophilic, or microorganisms that could adapt to a wide range of temperatures. Moreover, most of these microorganisms, except for the enteric bacteria, survived stably during composting with turning, irrespective of the temperature, and the microbial consortia became similar across the three reactors., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A 19-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with acute abdominal pain in the right lower quadrant. He had had mild diarrhea, of 1 day's duration, 2 days before admission. Although physical findings were consistent with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis, computed tomography findings showed marked wall thickening from the ascending colon to the cecum, findings which were similar to those in patients with hemorrhagic colitis due to Escherichia coli O157. Instead of emergency laparotomy, the patient was treated with antimicrobial agents, which led to rapid recovery. Diagnosis of intestinal infection due to E. coli O157 was established later, as serum antibody against lipopolysaccharide of E. coli O157 was positive. E. coli O157 infection should be included in the differential diagnosis of diseases that exhibit marked wall thickening of the right colon on CT in patients with acute abdominal pain in the right lower quadrant who have mild transient diarrhea.

Background/aims: From the experience of laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy, it was considered that a gastrectomy with lymph node dissection could be performed through a minilaparotomy, placed as for gastroduodenostomy in laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy., Methodology: Ten patients with early gastric cancer underwent gastrectomy with lymph node dissection via minilaparotomy. Minilaparotomy was performed via a seven-centimeter midline incision placed at the mid-upper abdomen. Two six-centimeter-wide Kent retractors were used to suspend the abdominal wall on each side, and a multipurpose surgical arm to retract the liver. The abdominal wound could be moved horizontally by pulling these retractors to the right or left. This movable wound allowed direct visualization of almost all the operative field for gastrectomy., Results: No operation was converted to a standard open gastrectomy. The patients who had a tumor in the lower third of the stomach underwent complete D2 lymph node dissection. In the patients who underwent pylorus-preserving gastrectomy, near complete D2 lymph node dissection was performed. Mean operation time was 175 minutes. No significant complication was encountered., Conclusions: It was concluded that minilaparotomy could be used as an alteration to the standard open gastrectomy.

The tendency to perform abdominal wall reinforcement using various types of mesh (tension-free repair) is increasing. A questionnaire to poll Japanese surgeons on their current surgical modalities for groin hernias was sent to 105 hospitals and was returned by 83 hospitals. The majority (83%) of responders to this survey supported the tension-free repair as a standard operation for adult groin hernias. Of these 69 tension-free repairs, the mesh-plug repair was the most frequent standard operation ( n = 53, 64%) and was performed by all responders. Ten (12%) opted for the prolene hernia system (PHS) repair as a standard operation and 52% of responders had experience of the PHS repair. Laparoscopic repair was performed as a standard operation by only one responder and was performed by only 34% of responders.

A metastatic liver carcinoma which developed from the pons hepatis and presented as an extrahepatic mass on ultrasonography and computed tomography is reported. There have been no other reports of hepatoma documenting the extrahepatic growth developed from the pons hepatis. Herein we study the frequency of the pons hepatis and classify the form of REX's recessus. Of 125 cases that underwent upper abdominal operation, 46 cases (38%) had nothing under REX's recessus (Type I), 48 cases (37%) had a fibrous tissue under REX's recessus (Type II), and 31 cases (25%) had a pons hepatis (Type III). In Type III, some cases suggested that the pons hepatis was ready to disconnect from side to side. We conclude that Type II is a modified form of Type III, and Type I is a modified form of Type II.

A 74-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a 2-week history of jaundice. Percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy revealed a nodular tumor originating in the upper part of the common hepatic duct, which was invading the confluence of the right and left hepatic ducts. Microscopic examination of biopsy specimens revealed adenocarcinoma. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography demonstrated multiple enlarged lymph nodes around the extrahepatic bile duct and the common hepatic artery. Laparotomy revealed lymph node enlargement in the hepatoduodenal ligament, behind the pancreatic head, and along the common hepatic and left gastric arteries. Extended left hepatic lobectomy, caudate lobectomy, and resection of extrahepatic bile duct with extended lymph node dissection were performed. The histology of permanent specimen revealed no tumor metastasis but a sarcoid reaction in the lymph nodes. The patient is in good health 21 months after the operation, without any evidence of recurrence. This is the first successfully resected case of hilar cholangiocarcinoma associated with sarcoid reaction in the regional lymph nodes.

A 42-year-old woman was admitted to Gifu Municipal Hospital because of an abnormal mediastinal shadow on a chest X-ray film. The serum CA125 level was slightly high 38 U/L, normal: < 35 U/L. Preoperative examination of fluid from a cyst revealed a high level of carcinoembryonic antigen (550 ng/ ml). The tumor resected was 11 x 9 x 5 cm. Microscopic examination revealed a matured teratoma containing pancreatic cells, collagenous tissues, squamous epithelia, and hair follicle-like tissues. Biochemical analysis of the cystic fluid revealed high levels of eight tumor markers: carcinoembryonic antigen, CA125, CA19-9, SLX, Ferritin, NSE TPA, and elastase 1. Samples stained positively for the tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen CA125, CA19-9, and NSE by ABC immunohistochemical staining. The serum carcinoembryonic antigen levels had decreased to the normal level within two weeks after the surgery. The high levels of tumor markers and materials in the cystic fluid may have been related to the biological characteristics of the various cell components in this matured teratoma.

We have shown that cholesterol-fed diabetic rats developed atheromatous lesions in the aorta and coronary arteries, which were not observed in cholesterol-fed diabetic rats receiving concomitant supplementation with 15% glucomannan, a soluble dietary fiber concentrate. The present study was designed to examine the effects of the dietary fiber supplementation on serum levels of glucose and lipoproteins in cholesterol-fed diabetic rats. Feeding a diet containing 1.5% cholesterol (wt/wt) and 0.37% cholic acid for 18 weeks to rats made diabetic by streptozotocin (35 mg/kg body weight, iv) produced moderate hyperglycemia and moderate hypercholesterolemia, the latter being characterized by high concentrations not only of low density lipoproteins but also intermediate density lipoproteins and very low density lipoproteins. These changes in serum lipoproteins and hyperglycemia were substantially reduced by 18 weeks of supplementation with glucomannan but high density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels did not change after feeding a cholesterol-rich diet in the presence or absence of glucomannan supplementation. These results suggest that amelioration in hyperlipoproteinemia and hyperglycemia induced by the dietary fiber supplementation may help retard or prevent the atheromatous formation found in cholesterol-fed diabetic rats.

Emergency percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass support (PCPS) was instituted in 3 patients with acute myocardial infarction in cardiac arrest refractory to conventional resuscitation measures. All had severe double or triple vessel disease. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was performed in 1 patient and PTCA and directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) were performed in the other 2 patients on combined intraaortic balloon pumping (IABP) and PCPS. Flow rates of 2 to 5 L/min were achieved, with restoration of mean arterial pressure to more than 60 mm Hg during PCPS. The status of all patients was improved hemodynamically with PCPS. One patient died of hemorrhage during PCPS. DCA was successfully performed in the other 2 patients, and PCPS and IABP was discontinued. Time on PCPS ranged from 10 h to 8 days. Time on IABP ranged from 10 days to 2 weeks. These 2 patients died of pneumonia or multiorgan failure after 1.5 months. In conclusion, emergency PCPS is a powerful resuscitative tool that may stabilize the condition of patients in cardiac arrest to allow for definitive intervention.

A 38-year-old woman was admitted because of left pneumothorax on March 16, 1991. She had undergone modified radical mastectomy in Dec. 1986. Chest roentgenogram on admission show a tumor shadow in the left upper lobe. She was diagnosed to have pneumothorax due to metastatic lung tumor. She underwent left upper lobectomy. Histologically poorly differentiated papillotubular adenocarcinoma was found and the cause of pneumothorax was thought to be necrosis of the tumor and direct invasion of the pleura.

A 36-year-old man who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) associated with mitomycin C (MMC) after the radical operation for early gastric cancer was reported. He was successfully treated with hemodialysis and transfusion of fresh frozen plasma. However, the pathogenesis and the effective treatment of this syndrome are still undetermined. The literature on MMC-induced HUS in Japan was reviewed, and the relationship between the prognosis and the patients conditions, such as sex, age, site of primary cancer, total dose of MMC, latent period from MMC administration, laboratory findings at the time of diagnosis and treatment with steroids or plasma exchange, were analysed. Patients less than 60 years old or treated with plasma exchange were found to be associated significantly with a favorable outcome. The most frequent cause of death was pulmonary edema or respiratory failure. In conclusion, early treatment with plasma exchange appeared to result in a better prognosis.

The patient, a 63-year-old woman, who had undergone extra-pleural plombage due to tuberculosis in 1961, was regularly treated for chronic empyema at our outpatient clinic since 1988. The patient who complained of difficulty in breathing because of a recent increase in empyema was admitted to our facility. On a test puncture, pure blood was aspirated without limitation, suggesting the presence of hematoma. On August 5, 1991, pleural decortification, excision of the left upper lobe and thoracoplasty were performed. Perioperative findings included repletion of hematoma and sphacelus in the lumen of thick fibrous capsule, with partial subcutaneous fenestration. Pathologically, cavernous hemangiomas were observed dispersely under the capsule.

A 22-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of productive cough and dyspnea even at rest, and marked cervical lymphadenopathy. Marked stridor and orthopnea were observed, and auscultation of the chest revealed widespread expiratory wheeze which was not relieved by bronchodilators administered intravenously. Chest X-ray and CT scan revealed hilar lymphadenopathy and invasive tumor of the mediastinum. Bronchoscopy demonstrated narrowing of the trachea anteriorly and posteriorly and a submucosal nodular tumor protruding from the right anterior wall, causing approximately 90% occlusion of the lumen of the lower third of the trachea, but distal bronchi were intact. Microscopic findings of inguinal lymph node biopsy specimen revealed mixed cellular lymphoma compatible with Hodgkin's disease. Systemic chemotherapy resulted in relief of symptoms, and two months later, the endotracheal tumor had disappeared bronchoscopically, with slight residual stenosis of the trachea. Before treatment, pulmonary function tests indicated markedly impaired forced volume in 1 second in both expiratory and inspiratory cycles, especially in the latter phase. After remission, however, obstructive ventilatory dysfunction was observed. The cause of prolonged air flow obstruction was thought to be marked infiltration and almost total involvement of the tracheal wall by tumor with a nodular appearance of the lumen. Endotracheal tumor in Hodgkin's disease is rare, and there are few reports on pulmonary function associated with intrathoracic involvement of malignant lymphoma.

A 38-year-old male was admitted with edema of the neck and face. Chest X-ray revealed a mediastinal tumor. On chest CT and MRI, a tumor infiltrating the superior vena cava and bilateral brachiocephalic veins in the upper mediastinum was observed. Venography revealed obstruction of bilateral brachiocephalic veins. The tumor was diagnosed as thymoma by percutaneous biopsy, but since it was of stage III according to Masaoka's classification, complete extirpation was considered to be impossible. Preoperative chemotherapy with multiple drugs (CDDP, ADM, VCR, CPA) was administered. The superior vena cava syndrome resolved and the tumor diminished in size. Because of leukopenia, rhG-CSF was also used. The tumor infiltrated the left brachiocephalic vein; therefore, total resection and left brachiocephalic vein reconstruction were performed. Histopathological examination showed extensive, necrosis and fibrosis containing residual thymoma. Postoperatively, similar chemotherapy and cobalt irradiation (40 Gy) to the superior mediastinum were performed. We thus present a case of invasive thymoma which responded to preoperative chemotherapy.

In order to elucidate the background of candida infection in patients with pulmonary disease, we divided 100 patients into 2 groups according to their serum titer of CAND-TEC determined by latex agglutination test for candida antigen. Group C1 (83 patients) had CAND-TEC value less than 2:1, and Group C2 (17 patients) had CAND-TEC value greater than 4:1. There was a significantly higher incidence of respiratory failure, hypoalbuminemia, and fever unresponsive to antibiotics in Group C2 compared with Group C1. Regarding the sputum culture of candida, there were significantly more positive cases in Group C2 than in Group C1. Furthermore, Group C2 showed a significantly poorer prognosis than Group C1. Generally, the candida antigen titer correlated well with clinical findings and with the course of infection and treatment with antifungal drugs. These results suggest that administration of antifungal drugs may be indicated in patients with fever unresponsive to antibiotics when the candida antigen titer is greater than 4:1.

We encountered a patient who was suspected of having a burned-out tumor of the testis, which was detected after he was treated for pulmonary choriocarcinoma. The patient, a 61-year-old man, was found to have an abnormality on chest X-ray film at a medical examination in December 1989. He visited our department on December 19th, and was diagnosed as having cT1N0M0 (stage I) as a result of a thorough examination. He underwent right upper lobectomy and lymph node dissection on February 14, 1990. The lesion was pathologically diagnosed as choriocarcinoma, and after the operation he received orchiectomy and 3 courses of VAB VI therapy. After the chemotherapy, his blood HCG-beta level was normalized from 34 ng/ml to less than 0.10 ng/ml. The chest X-ray revealed complete disappearance of the coin lesion, while chest CT performed on July 25 revealed a small tumor 10 mm in diameter remaining in the left S10. For this tumor, partial resection of the left S10 was performed on August 6. The histopathological examination revealed nodular necrosis and disappearance of the tumor.

We reported a case of dumbbell type extradural spinal meningioma. The patient was a 45-year-old female. An abnormal shadow in the right middle lung field was pointed out in a mass survey. We recognized a dumbbell type tumor in the posterior mediastinum by chest CT and MRI. The tumor invaded the intervertebral canal through the spinal foramen. Operation was performed firstly with a longitudinal skin incision of the back and Th 6 laminectomy in a prone and secondly with a right posterolateral thoracotomy in a left lateral position. The dumbbell type tumor was completely removed by this operation. The pathological diagnosis was meningioma. The postoperative course was good.

We report a case of pulmonary parenchymal leiomyoma. The patient was a 35- year-old female with a tumor in anterobasal segment of the left lung. Enucleation was performed. The tumor was ball type and 2 cm in diameter, showing smooth and reddish brown cut surface. Microscopic and electron microscopic histology proved it to be leiomyoma.

Cisplatin (CDDP) has attracted attention as a chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of uterine endometrial carcinoma but causes serious side effects, including renal toxicity. CDDP suppositories containing NaCl at different concentrations were prepared to enhance the efficacy and to reduce the side effects of CDDP. The release characteristics, melting point and viscosity of the suppositories were first studied. The rate of CDDP release increased as the NaCl concentration increased: it was 12% 12 h after administration of suppositories containing no NaCl, but 32% with 0.2% NaCl. The melting point was raised by addition of NaCl: 35.5 degrees C without NaCl and 36.5 degrees C with 0.2% NaCl. Addition of 0.2% NaCl doubled the viscosity. Clinically, the suppository containing 0.06% NaCl was given to 3 patients with endometrial carcinoma twice a week for 3 weeks to examine serum CDDP levels and endometrial absorption. Patients with endometrial carcinoma showed different peak plasma platinum (Pt) levels which were as low as 0.12, 0.06 and 0.22 micrograms Pt/ml with similar patterns of change in the level. Radiographic analysis revealed many Pt particles in sections of necrosed endometria after 21d of the treatment. No side effects of CDDP were found in biochemical testing or subjective symptoms.

A 55-year-old female was admitted to our hospital because of high fever, nonproductive cough and dyspnea. Initially she had been treated with cephem antibiotics by a local doctor. However, acute respiratory failure due to severe pneumonia developed. The partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood was 55.5 Torr. Her chest X-ray revealed wide-spread infiltrates with air bronchograms throughout the entire left lung, and pleural effusions were also present in the chest CT scan. Because the patient had a history of the contact with birds, we suspected psittacosis and administered Minocycline immediately. As a result, her clinical condition improved and the abnormal shadow on the chest X-ray film improved markedly in three days. Because the serum titer of a complement fixation test against Chlamydia rose to 1:512, we made the diagnosis of psittacosis. In addition, femoral muscle pain, and a high level of serum GOT, GPT, CK, Aldolase and Myoglobin indicated hepatitis and myositis. In the lung tissue specimens obtained by TBLB performed on the 10th hospital day, slight interstitial pneumonia and intracellular inclusion bodies were found by light microscopy and Chlamydial agents were found electron microscopically.

Thymic carcinoid is rare disease. The frequency, treatment and prognosis of thymic carcinoid are discussed. This report presents a case of a 55-year-old man who underwent rt-hemithymectomy and radiotherapy postoperatively. The patient had no complaint but chest roentgenogram and CT scan revealed an abnormal mass in the anterior superior mediastinal region. Through median sternotomy, rt-hemithymectomy including partial resection of the pericardium was performed. The tumor was 6 X 5 X 5 cm in size, and diagnosis of thymic carcinoid was histologically established. The patient was discharged after postoperative irradiation of total dosage of 54 Gy to the mediastinum. He was no evidence of recurrence twelve months after operation.

A case of a 60-year-old who male developed lung cancer after surgical resection of a emphysematous giant bulla. At first, he showed a emphysematous giant bulla associated with infected bulla in the right lung on the chest roentgenograph. After a giant bullectomy the resected specimen, suggested possible pulmonary tuberculosis. Thereafter, he was followed for one year with antituberculous therapy. Nevertheless, the chest roentgenograph taken one year after surgery, showed a new tumor density (1.5 x 2.0 cm) in the right lung. Due to the rapid growth of the lung tumor, right upper lobectomy was performed. The histological diagnosis was a large cell lung cancer (giant cell type). The postoperative staging of the tumor proved to be T2N0M0. He was treated with systemic chemotherapy of CDDP 120 mg, VDS 4.5 mg, and MMC 12 mg. Unfortunately, he died of cancer recurrence 5 months after lobectomy. Clinical evaluation of the emphysematous giant bulla associated with lung cancer was performed.

A clinical study of cefixime (CFIX), a new oral cephalosporin, was carried out to evaluate its therapeutic effectiveness on bacterial infections in children. CFIX was orally administered to 13 patients including 6 with upper respiratory tract infection (RTI), 3 with pneumonia, and 1 each with bronchitis, otitis media, skin abscess, and urinary tract infection (UTI). The daily dosage per kg bodyweight ranged from 5.1 to 17.4 mg (average: 8.7 mg), and was given in 2 or 3 divided doses per day for 3 to 10 days (average: 5.8 days). The clinical response was excellent in 4 (30.8%), good in 7 (53.8%) and poor in 2 (15.4%), with an overall efficacy rate of 84.6%. Bacteriological efficacy was good, and 6 of the 8 identified causative organisms were eradicated. Side effects were observed in 3 children, i.e., loose stool in 1 and transient elevations of GOT and GPT in 2. The above results suggest that CFIX is a useful new oral cephalosporin for the treatment of bacterial infections in children.