Surgical experience of using the endoscope manipulator robot EMARO in totally extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repair: A case report.

Robot-assisted surgery has advanced rapidly since the 1980s. However, new equipment is still needed to overcome problems in conventional endoscopic surgery, including unique risks, such as camera shake and communication difficulties between the operator and the scopist. EMARO, an endoscope manipulator robot, is the world's first pneumatically driven endoscope-holder robot that can operate flexibly and smoothly with the use of air pressure.

Prognostic Impact of the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Stage I-II Rectal Cancer Patients.

Background: Systemic inflammation and immune response play crucial roles in tumor growth; neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a known systemic inflammatory scoring system. Previous studies have reported that NLR is a prognostic biomarker in various human cancers. The aim of this study was to determine whether the NLR predicts tumor recurrence in patients with stage I-II rectal cancer after curative resection.

Parallel damage in mitochondria and lysosomes is an efficient way to photoinduce cell death.

Cells challenged by photosensitized oxidations face strong redox stresses and rely on autophagy to either survive or die. However, the use of macroautophagy/autophagy to improve the efficiency of photosensitizers, in terms of inducing cell death, remains unexplored. Here, we addressed the concept that a parallel damage in the membranes of mitochondria and lysosomes leads to a scenario of autophagy malfunction that can greatly improve the efficiency of the photosensitizer to cause cell death.

Phylogeography of bivalve Meretrix petechialis in the Northwestern Pacific indicated by mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data.

The marine clam Meretrix petechialis is an important economic shellfish species in Northwestern Pacific, but little is known about its phylogeographical pattern. Here, we analyzed 311 samples from 22 locations along the northwestern Pacific using combined profiling of one mitochondrial gene (the first subunit of cytochrome coxidase, COI) and one nuclear DNA marker (the internal transcribed spacer region 1, ITS-1) to investigate contemporary genetic structure and reconstruct phylogenetic history of this species. The results revealed that two distinct phylogeographic lineages dominated marginal seas-the East China Sea (ECS) and the South China Sea (SCS) respectively.

Laparoscopic intraperitoneal mesh repair of Spigelian hernia: A case report.

Spigelian hernia is a rare congenital defect of the anterior abdominal wall located along the semilunar line through the aponeurosis fascia of the transversus abdominis muscle. It represents 1%-2% of all abdominal wall hernias. Few cases of laparoscopic treatment for Spigelian hernia have been reported, especially in Japan.