Paraneoplastic Syndrome Presenting with Polymyalgia Rheumatica-like Accumulations on F-fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography.

A 70-year-old woman presented with a fever and pain in both lower extremities and the right shoulder and right upper arm continuously for approximately 3 months. F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-FDG/PET-CT) revealed the accumulation of FDG in the right shoulder, lumbar spinous processes, both ischial tuberosities, and both hips and greater trochanters, indicating polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). In addition, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed esophageal carcinoma.

Short- and Long-term Opioid Use in Patients with Oral and Oropharynx Cancer.

Objective: Opioid use and abuse is a national health care crisis, yet opioids remain the cornerstone of pain management in cancer. We sought to determine the risk of acute and chronic opioid use with head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) treatment.

Study Design: Retrospective population-based study.

Effectiveness and safety of oral direct factor Xa inhibitors for the treatment of venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer and/or older age.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a multifactorial disease. Cancer and older age are risk factors for both recurrent VTE and bleeding under anticoagulant therapy. Oral direct factor Xa inhibitors (Xa inhibitors) have been widely used to treat VTE.

Identification of serovar 1a, 1b, 2, and 5 strains of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae by a conventional gel-based PCR.

Among the four species of the genus Erysipelothrix, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is the main species that causes disease in swine and poultry and has also been isolated from human patients. Recently, E. rhusiopathiae infections in domesticated animals have increased in many countries and are also the cause of emerging wildlife disease in arctic and boreal ecosystems.

Predictors of mucosal melanoma survival in a population-based setting.

Background: Mucosal melanomas are rare and aggressive neoplasms, with little published population-based data on predictors of survival.

Objective: We sought to assess the influences of race/ethnicity, sex, tumor stage, tumor thickness, and anatomic site on mucosal melanoma survival estimates.

Methods: We analyzed 132,751 cases of melanoma, including 1824 mucosal melanomas, diagnosed between 1994 and 2015 and reported to the California Cancer Registry.

Comparing outcomes of concurrent chemotherapy regimens in patients 65 years old or older with locally advanced oropharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: The comparative efficacy of cisplatin (CDDP), carboplatin, and cetuximab (CTX) delivered concurrently with radiation for locally advanced oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma continues to be evaluated.

Methods: The linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database was used to identify and compare patient and disease profiles, mortality, toxicity, and overall cost for patients with oropharynx cancer undergoing definitive concurrent chemoradiation with CDDP, carboplatin, or CTX between 2006 and 2011. The human papillomavirus status was unknown.

The association of work-related stressors and their changes over time with the development of metabolic syndrome: The Furukawa Nutrition and Health Study.

Objective: To investigate associations of work-related stressors and their changes over time with the risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS) among Japanese manufacturing workers.

Methods: Participants were 1,040 employees aged 19 to 68 years who were free from MetS at baseline and completed the three year-interval follow-up survey. MetS was defined according to the Joint Interim Statement.

Prediabetes and cardiovascular disease risk: A nested case-control study.

Background And Aims: We aimed to examine the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with persistent prediabetes during the last four years prior to a CVD event in a large occupational cohort in Japan.

Methods: We performed a nested case-control study using data from the Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study. A total of 197 registered cases of CVD were identified and matched individually with 985 controls according to age, sex, and worksite.

Smoking, Smoking Cessation, and Risk of Mortality in a Japanese Working Population - Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study.

Background: The effect of smoking on mortality in working-age adults remains unclear. Accordingly, we compared the effects of cigarette smoking and smoking cessation on total and cause-specific mortality in a Japanese working population.

Methods and results: This study included 79,114 Japanese workers aged 20-85 years who participated in the Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study.

Survival impact and toxicity of metformin in head and neck cancer: An analysis of the SEER-Medicare dataset.

Objectives: Recent preclinical research has renewed interest in the interplay between glucose dysregulation and cancer. Metformin holds promise as an adjunctive antineoplastic agent in head and neck cancer (HNC). We aimed to explore the impact of metformin in HNC patients from a population-based dataset.

Association of social jetlag with metabolic syndrome among Japanese working population: the Furukawa Nutrition and Health Study.

Objective: Social jetlag, ie, the mismatch between biological and social timing, has been suggested to induce obesity and cardiometabolic abnormalities. Yet, no study has currently linked social jetlag to metabolic syndrome (MetS) among Asians. The aim of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional association of social jetlag with MetS in a Japanese working population.

Interlaboratory agreement of coccidioidomycosis enzyme immunoassay from two different manufacturers.

Coccidioidomycosis, a fungal infection endemic to the Southwestern United States, is challenging to diagnose. The coccidioidomycosis enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test is the least expensive and simplest to perform to detect coccidioidomycosis antibodies in the serum. Concerns regarding falsely positive immunoglobulin (Ig) M EIA test results have led to questions about the agreement of commercially available EIA test kits among laboratories.

Analysis of the dielectrophoretic properties of cells using the isomotive AC electric field.

Various microfluidic devices utilizing the principle of dielectrophoresis (DEP) have been developed to separate, concentrate, and characterize biological cells; however, their performance is still limited by a lack of quantitative characterization. We addressed this limitation by employing a method capable of accurately quantifying a cell's response to an imposed field gradient. In this study, a simple method using a newly designed Creek-gap electrode was proposed, and the electrokinetic behavior of cells was characterized by DEP velocimetry under the exposure of an approximately constant gradient of electric field square established along the gap of the electrodes.

Identification of the Chromosomal Region Essential for Serovar-Specific Antigen and Virulence of Serovar 1 and 2 Strains of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae.

causes swine erysipelas, an infection characterized by acute septicemia or chronic endocarditis and polyarthritis. Among 17 serovars, determined based on heat-stable peptidoglycan antigens, serovars 1 and 2 are most commonly associated with the disease; however, the molecular basis for the association between these serovars and virulence is unknown. To search for the genetic region defining serovar 1a (Fujisawa) strain antigenicity, we examined the 15-kb chromosomal region encompassing a putative pathway for polysaccharide biosynthesis, which was previously identified in the Fujisawa strain.

Correction: Development of Risk Score for Predicting 3-Year Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes: Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Cumulative Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in a Working Population: The Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study.

Background: We estimated the cumulative risk of type 2 diabetes from age 30 to 65 years in a large working population in Japan.

Methods: We used data from the Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study. Participants (46,065 men and 7,763 women) were aged 30-59 years, free of diabetes at baseline, and followed up for a maximum of 7 years.

Comparison of the effects of edoxaban, an oral direct factor Xa inhibitor, on venous thromboembolism between patients with and without cancer.

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a frequent and serious complication of cancer. The current guidelines in the USA and Europe recommend low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH) for the treatment of cancer-associated VTE. In Japan, LMWH is not given for the treatment of VTE; instead edoxaban, an oral direct factor Xa inhibitor, was approved for the treatment of VTE in September 2014.

In vivo effect of a TLR5 SNP (C1205T) on Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection in weaned, specific pathogen-free Landrace piglets.

Toll-like receptor 5 is a pattern-recognition receptor for bacterial flagellin. We previously reported that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of swine TLR5, C1205T, impairs recognition of Salmonella typhimurium (ST) flagellin and ethanol-killed Salmonella Choleraesuis (SC). In the present study, weaned, specific pathogen-free (SPF) Landrace piglets with CC, CT or TT genotypes were orally infected with ST (L-3569 strain) to determine the effect of this specific SNP on ST infection in vivo.

Usefulness of positron emission tomography-CT for diagnosis of primary bone marrow lymphoma in children.

Primary bone marrow lymphoma (PBML) is hard to diagnose in children, due to the difficult identification of malignant cells in bone marrow. The first case, a 5-year-old boy, showed knee swelling with an intermittent fever. The second case, a 12-year-old girl, showed fever of unknown origin without lymphadenopathy or hepatosplenomegaly.

Association of dietary and serum magnesium with glucose metabolism markers: The Furukawa Nutrition and Health Study.

Background & Aims: Magnesium may play an important role in cardio-metabolic abnormalities, including type 2 diabetes, but epidemiological evidence linking magnesium status to glucose metabolism is limited among Asians. We cross-sectionally examined the association of dietary and serum magnesium with markers of glucose metabolism among Japanese subjects.

Methods: Subjects were 1796 workers, aged 18-78 years, who participated in a health survey.

MexEF-OprN multidrug efflux pump transporter negatively controls N-acyl-homoserine lactone accumulation in pseudomonas syringae pv. Tabaci 6605.

Our previous studies revealed that flagellar-motility-defective mutants such as ∆fliC of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci 6605 (Pta6605) have remarkably reduced production of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL), quorum-sensing molecules. To investigate the reason of loss of AHL production in ∆fliC mutant, we carried out transposon mutagenesis.

Smoking, Smoking Cessation, and the Risk of Hearing Loss: Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study.

Introduction: We aimed to determine the prospective association of smoking status, smoking intensity, and smoking cessation with the risk of hearing loss in a large Japanese cohort.

Methods: The cohort study included 50195 employees, who were aged 20-64 years and free of hearing loss at baseline. Participants were followed up for a maximum of 8 years.

The 24-hour intraocular pressure control by tafluprost/timolol fixed combination after switching from the concomitant use of tafluprost and timolol gel-forming solution, in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the 24-hour intraocular pressure (IOP)-control effect of the tafluprost/timolol fixed combination (TAF/TIM-FC) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma after they switched from the concomitant use of tafluprost and timolol gel-forming solution.

Patients And Methods: Twenty patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (12 male and 8 female; mean ± SD age, 57.0±7.

Longitudinal adherence to a dietary pattern and risk of depressive symptoms: the Furukawa Nutrition and Health Study.

Objective: We explored the association of 3-year adherence to a dietary pattern based on nutrients that may be related to mood with the development of depressive symptoms in Japanese employees.

Methods: Participants were 903 employees free from depressive symptoms at baseline and who attended the 3-year follow-up. Participants with depressive symptoms were defined as those with a score ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

Preparation of Stable Silver Nanoparticles Having Wide Red-To-Near-Infrared Extinction.

The synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) within the interlayer space of transparent layered titania nanosheet (TNS) films is investigated. A considerable number of silver ions (≈70% against the cation exchange capacity of the TNS) are intercalated in the TNS films using methyl-viologen-containing TNSs as a precursor. The silver ion (Ag)-containing TNS films are treated with aqueous sodium tetrahydroborate (NaBH), resulting in a gradual color change to bright blue.