Early Detection of Radiation Pneumonitis on Cone-Beam CT Images During a Course of Radiotherapy: A Case Series Report.

Background and aim Radiation pneumonitis (RP) is a critical pulmonary toxicity following dose delivery to the lung, and it is usually diagnosed after radiotherapy courses are completed. Because RP may result in a lethal complication, a practical method for detecting early-phase RP is awaited. In this article, we describe our experience through a variety of clinical cases and discuss treatment decisions and lessons we have made and learned.

Diet-related changes of basal lamina fenestrations in the villous epithelium of the rat small intestine: Statistical analysis on scanning electron microscopy.

The epithelial basal lamina of the small intestine has numerous fenestrations for intraepithelial migration of leukocytes. We have reported dynamic changes of fenestrations in dietary conditions. To investigate this phenomenon, we performed statistical analyses using scanning electron microscopy images of the epithelial basal lamina of rat intestinal villi after removal of the villous epithelium by osmium maceration.

A case of -negative early gastric adenocarcinoma with gastrointestinal phenotype.

A 40-year-old man with slightly depressed (0-IIc) type gastric cancer of the pyloric anterior gastric area underwent pre-operative screening for tetralogy of Fallot and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and was tested for antigens and antibodies. Both tests were negative. He did not have a history of eradication.

Long-term survival of 11 years with multidisciplinary therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis to the ovary and peritoneum: a case report.

We herein report a rare case of HCC metastases to the ovary and peritoneum in a 61-year-old female patient who has achieved 11-year survival with multidisciplinary therapy. The patient was diagnosed with HCC during balloon angioplasty performed for Budd-Chiari syndrome in 1994 and underwent partial hepatectomy twice. Five years after the second hepatectomy, allochronic recurrence of a single nodule detected in S8 was treated by radiofrequency ablation, followed by percutaneous ethanol injection therapy and stereotactic body radiotherapy.

Ruptured pancreaticoduodenal pseudoaneurysm causing arterioportal fistula: combined transarterial and transportal embolization.

Background: Arterioportal fistulas are rare vascular disorders of the abdominal viscera. They are arteriovenous communications between the splanchnic arteries and the portal vein or its tributaries. We herein report a case of an extrahepatic arterioportal fistula that was caused by rupture of a pseudoaneurysm of the pancreaticoduodenal artery and successfully treated with embolization using a combination of the arterial and percutaneous transhepatic portal venous approaches.

A New Tumor Delineation Method for Brain Metastases Radiotherapy by Jointly Referring to Contrast-Enhanced T1-Weighted and Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery MRI.

A new tumor delineation technique for brain metastases has been proposed by jointly referring to thin-slice contrast-enhanced T1-weighted and thin-slice contrast-enhanced fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance (MR) images. A single-isocenter six-arc noncoplanar volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy (VMAT) plan for 16 brain metastases was created by the Monaco treatment planning system (Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden) with a photon energy of 6 MV. Each gross target volume (GTV) was very carefully delineated on all three orthogonal planes of the above two different MR images.

Huge liver tumor in young man.

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is the second leading primary hepatic tumors, accounting for 5% of all hepatic tumors. The curability depends on the operability; however, the difficulty of early diagnosis and late clinical presentation account for the poor prognosis. Therefore, development of a novel therapeutic option and a method to determine the viability of the primary tumor, which hinder the assessment of the impact of other therapies, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy are needed.

Dynamic changes in basal lamina fenestrations in rat intestinal villous epithelium under high-fat diet condition.

The basal lamina of the villous epithelium in the small intestine has numerous fenestrations, which are produced by leukocytes for their intraepithelial migration. We previously showed that these fenestrations change due to the dynamics of migrating leukocytes in response to dietary conditions and suggested the possibility that this change is related to the regulation of the absorption of large-sized nutrients such as chylomicrons. The present study was, thus, designed to investigate structural changes in basal lamina fenestrations in response to a high-fat diet.

A highly durable, stretchable, transparent and conductive carbon nanotube-polymeric acid hybrid film.

We demonstrate a highly durable and stretchable carbon nanotube (CNT)-polymer transparent conductive film by utilizing polyacrylic acid wrapping to simultaneously disperse and dope CNTs. This novel strategy not only enables an easy and industrially scalable process where neither removal of dispersant nor further doping is necessary, but also results in a boost in the conductivity and durability, and correspondingly it provides infinite versatility for various applications. A significant improvement in conductivity being comparable to acid doping is achieved through a hybrid structure in which a polyacrylic acid monolayer helically and partially wraps the CNT surface.

Light-induced mechanical response in crosslinked liquid-crystalline polymers with photoswitchable glass transition temperatures.

Energy conversion of light into mechanical work is of fundamental interest in applications. In particular, diligent molecular design on nanoscale, in order to achieve efficient photomechanical effects on macroscopic scale, has become one of the most interesting study topics. Here, by incorporating a "photomelting" azobenzene monomer crosslinked into liquid crystalline (LC) networks, we generate photoresponsive polymer films that exhibit reversible photoswitchable glass transition temperatures (T) at room temperature (~20 °C) and photomechanical actuations under the stimulus of UV/visible light.

Dynamics of basal lamina fenestrations in the rat intestinal villous epithelium in response to dietary conditions.

The epithelial basal lamina of the small intestine forms a felt-like sheet at the base of the epithelium. Previous studies have shown that the basal lamina has numerous fenestrations, which are produced by leukocytes penetrating through the basal lamina. In this study, we aimed to directly visualize fenestrations of the rat basal lamina in intestinal villi by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after removal of the villous epithelium by osmium maceration and ultrasonic treatment.

Carbon nanotube based transparent conductive films: progress, challenges, and perspectives.

Developments in the manufacturing technology of low-cost, high-quality carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are leading to increased industrial applications for this remarkable material. One of the most promising applications, CNT based transparent conductive films (TCFs), are an alternative technology in future electronics to replace traditional TCFs, which use indium tin oxide. Despite significant price competition among various TCFs, CNT-based TCFs have good potential for use in emerging flexible, stretchable and wearable optoelectronics.

[Jejunal varices after choledochojejunostomy treated with laparotomic transcatheter variceal embolization].

Portal hypertension induces collateral shunt formation between the portal and systemic circulation, decompressing the elevated portal pressure. Ectopic varices outside of the gastroesophageal region, such as jejunal varices, are rare conditions. This report describes the successful embolization of ruptured jejunal varices resulting from an extrahepatic portal obstruction.

Light-induced crawling of crystals on a glass surface.

Motion is an essential process for many living organisms and for artificial robots and machines. To date, creating self-propelled motion in nano-to-macroscopic-sized objects has been a challenging issue for scientists. Herein, we report the directional and continuous motion of crystals on a glass surface when irradiated simultaneously with two different wavelengths, using simple azobenzenes as a photoresponsive organic compound.

Understanding device-structure-induced variations in open-circuit voltage for organic photovoltaics.

We investigate the structural influences on the device performance, especially on open-circuit voltage (V(OC)) in squaraine (SQ)/fullerene (C60) bilayer cells. Simply changing the SQ thickness could lead to 40% variation in V(OC) from 0.62 to 0.

Photoinduced crystal-to-liquid phase transitions of azobenzene derivatives and their application in photolithography processes through a solid-liquid patterning.

The direct and reversible transformation of matter between the solid and liquid phases by light at constant temperature is of great interest because of its potential applications in various manufacturing settings. We report a simple molecular design strategy for the phase transitions: azobenzenes having para-dialkoxy groups with a methyl group at the meta-position. The photolithography processes were demonstrated using the azobenzene as a photoresist in a single process combining development and etching of a copper substrate.

Crystal melting by light: X-ray crystal structure analysis of an azo crystal showing photoinduced crystal-melt transition.

Trans-cis photoisomerization in an azo compound containing azobenzene chromophores and long alkyl chains leads to a photoinduced crystal-melt transition (PCMT). X-ray structure analysis of this crystal clarifies the characteristic coexistence of the structurally ordered chromophores through their π···π interactions and disordered alkyl chains around room temperature. These structural features reveal that the PCMT starts near the surface of the crystal and propagates into the depth, sacrificing the π···π interactions.

Photochemically reversible liquefaction and solidification of multiazobenzene sugar-alcohol derivatives and application to reworkable adhesives.

Multiazobenzene compounds, hexakis-O-[4-(phenylazo)phenoxyalkylcarboxyl]-D-mannitols and hexakis-O-[4-(4-hexylphenylazo)phenoxyalkylcarboxyl]-D-mannitols, exhibit photochemically reversible liquefaction and solidification at room temperature. Their photochemical and thermal phase transitions were investigated in detail through thermal analysis, absorption spectroscopy, and dynamic viscoelasticity measurements, and were compared with those of other sugar-alcohol derivatives. Tensile shear strength tests were performed to determine the adhesions of the compounds sandwiched between two glass slides to determine whether the compounds were suitable for application as adhesives.

Control of the orientation and photoinduced phase transitions of macrocyclic azobenzene.

Photoinduced phase transitions caused by photochromic reactions bring about a change in the state of matter at constant temperature. Herein, we report the photoinduced phase transitions of crystals of a photoresponsive macrocyclic compound bearing two azobenzene groups (1) at room temperature on irradiation with UV (365 nm) and visible (436 nm) light. The trans/trans isomer undergoes photoinduced phase transitions (crystal-isotropic phase-crystal) on UV light irradiation.

Simple push coating of polymer thin-film transistors.

Solution processibility is a unique advantage of organic semiconductors, permitting the low-cost production of flexible electronics under ambient conditions. However, the solution affinity to substrate surfaces remains a serious dilemma; liquid manipulation is more difficult on highly hydrophobic surfaces, but the use of such surfaces is indispensable for improving device characteristics. Here we demonstrate a simple technique, which we call 'push coating', to produce uniform large-area semiconducting polymer films over a hydrophobic surface with eliminating material loss.

"Click"-modification of a functionalized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) soluble in organic solvents.

A PEDOT-based conductive copolymer soluble in organic solvents was synthesized electrochemically using dihexyl-EDOT and azidomethyl-EDOT as monomers and was successfully post-functionalized by "click"-cycloaddition reaction with a functionalized terminal alkyne under mild heterogeneous conditions.

Effect of subphase temperature on the phase-separated structures of mixed Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett films of fatty acids and hybrid carboxylic acids.

We examined the phase-separated structures of the mixed Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of C(k)H(2k+1)COOH (HkA: k=17, 21) and C(m)F(2m+1)C(10)H(20)COOH (FmH10A: m=6, 8) fabricated isothermally or after isobaric thermal treatments. Under isothermal fabrication conditions, disks and wire-type domains formed in the H17A/F6H10A LB films at high and low fabrication temperatures, respectively, because the line tension and dipole-dipole interaction were comparable with each other. The thermodynamically stable phases of H21A/F6H10A LB films at high and low fabrication temperatures were disks and polygonal domains, respectively.

Soluble fullerene-based n-channel organic thin-film transistors printed by using a polydimethylsiloxane stamp.

A polydimethylsiloxane stamp was applied for the first time to the fabrication of n-channel thin-film transistors based on soluble small molecule organic semiconducting materials. The stamping method was found to facilitate film transfer onto a gate insulator surface irrespective of its surface free energy. We used [6,6]-phenyl-C(61)-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and C(60)-fused N-methylpyrrolidine-meta-dodecyl phenyl (C60MC12) as n-channel materials.