Suppression of FcεRI-evoked Degranulation in RBL-2H3 Cells on Gelatin Methacryloyl Hydrogel.

Cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions play multiple roles in developmental, physiological, and pathological processes. ECM stiffness substantially affects cellular morphology, migration, and function. In this study, we investigated the effect of ECM comprising gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) on the activation of rat basophilic leukemia (RBL-2H3) cells, a model mast cell line.

Detailed analysis of the histology-specific impact of ascites volume on the outcome of epithelial ovarian cancer: a multi-institutional retrospective cohort study.

Background: The accumulation of ascites is a major symptom of ovarian cancer. The volume of ascites is a pathophysiological indicator of the peritoneal environment, such as inflammation and fibrosis; however, the relationship between the volume of ascites and oncological outcomes remains unclear. We herein retrospectively examined the effects of the volume of ascites on the prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer in a multi-institutional large cohort using the stratification of clinical characteristics and statistical adjustment methods.

Histology-specific long-term oncologic outcomes in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent complete tumor resection: The implication of occult seeds after initial surgery.

Objective: Assessing the histology-specific prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (OvCa) is clinically challenging, especially in a patient population with a favorable prognosis. This study investigated the histology-specific long-term oncologic outcomes in OvCa patients who underwent complete tumor resection using a large-scale patient cohort form multiple institutions under a central pathological review system.

Methods: A regional multi-institutional study was conducted from 1986 to 2019.

Increased national critical care demands were associated with a higher mortality of intubated COVID-19 patients in Japan: a retrospective observational study.

Background: There was no study to investigate the association between the national surge of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and the mortality of mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study was to assess the association between mortality in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients and two distinct national COVID-19 surge indices: (1) the daily number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, representing overall medical demands and (2) the total number of critically ill COVID-19 patients, reflecting critical care demands.

Methods: We analyzed the patient data registered in a national database of mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients between February 6, 2020, and May 16, 2023, combined with the data officially published by the Japanese government.

Aging affects regrowth of stealthperitoneal dissemination of advanced ovarian cancer: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Ovarian cancer (OvCa) is one of the most lethal gynecological malignancies, and most patients are diagnosed at advanced stage with peritoneal dissemination. Although age at diagnosis is considered an independent prognostic factor, its impact on peritoneal recurrence after combined cytoreductive surgery and chemotherapy is not clear. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of aging on peritoneal recurrence from stealth dissemination and gain insight of the pathophysiology of OvCa in elderly patients.

Development of a machine learning-based risk model for postoperative complications of lung cancer surgery.

Purpose: To develop a comorbidity risk score specifically for lung resection surgeries.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent lung resections for lung cancer, and developed a risk model using data from 2014 to 2017 (training dataset), validated using data from 2018 to 2019 (validation dataset). Forty variables were analyzed, including 35 factors related to the patient's overall condition and five factors related to surgical techniques and tumor-related factors.

CHST4 Gene as a Potential Predictor of Clinical Outcome in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) develops primarily from asbestos exposures and has a poor prognosis. In this study, The Cancer Genome Atlas was used to perform a comprehensive survival analysis, which identified the gene as a potential predictor of favorable overall survival for patients with MPM. An enrichment analysis of favorable prognostic genes, including , showed immune-related ontological terms, whereas an analysis of unfavorable prognostic genes indicated cell-cycle-related terms.

Changes in electrophysiological findings of spinal muscular atrophy type I after the administration of nusinersen and onasemnogene abeparvovec: two case reports.

Background: Recently, there have been significant advances in the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Although clinical improvement in patients with SMA after the treatment has been reported, changes in electrophysiological findings, especially needle electromyography (EMG), have rarely been reported. Herein, we report the posttreatment changes in EMG and nerve conduction study findings over time in two patients with SMA type I.

Prognostic impact of highly solid component in early-stage solid lung adenocarcinoma.

Background: Based on computed tomography (CT) findings of lung cancer, solid nodules have a much worse prognosis than subsolid nodules, even if the nodules are subcentimeter in size. There is, however, no systematic method for determining the prognosis of solid tumors on CT. This study aimed to discover the prognostic factor of early-stage solid lung adenocarcinoma using three-dimensional CT volumetry.

Evaluating glucose variability through OGTT in early pregnancy and its association with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in non-diabetic pregnancies: a large-scale multi-center retrospective study.

Background: Recent evidence suggests increased glucose variability (GV) causes endothelial dysfunction, a central pathology of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). We aimed to investigate the association between GV in early pregnancy and subsequent HDP development among non-diabetes mellitus (DM) pregnancies.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective study used data from singleton pregnancies between 2009 and 2019.

The prognostic impact of limited-staging surgery in patients with stage IA epithelial ovarian cancer: a multi-center study with a propensity score-adjusted analysis.

Objective: Complete-staging surgery is recommended for stage IA ovarian cancer, but may be omitted for various reasons, including the preservation of fertility and an advanced age. We herein investigated the prognostic impact of limited-staging surgery in patients with stage IA epithelial ovarian cancer.

Methods: We retrospectively collected data on 4730 patients with malignant ovarian tumors from the databases of multiple institutions and ultimately included 293 with stage IA epithelial ovarian cancer.

Factors associated with adverse drug reactions or death in very elderly hospitalized patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

The aging of patients with tuberculosis and better therapeutic management for them are recent concerns. This study aimed to identify risk factors for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) or death in very elderly patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and to assess the association between the dosage of antituberculosis drugs and outcomes. We conducted a multicenter retrospective study at two hospitals.

Extended-spectrum antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia with a low risk for drug-resistant pathogens.

Objectives: The potential hazards of extended-spectrum antibiotic therapy for patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) with low risk for drug-resistant pathogens (DRPs) remain unclear; however, risk assessment for DRPs is essential to determine the initial antibiotics to be administered. The study objective was to assess the effect of unnecessary extended-spectrum therapy on the mortality of such patients.

Methods: A post hoc analysis was conducted after a prospective multicenter observational study for CAP.

Who are the long-term survivors of recurrent ovarian carcinoma?: a retrospective analysis of a multicenter study.

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence and hallmarks of long-term survivors of recurrent ovarian carcinoma (LTSROC) in a large-scale retrospective cohort of patients from a multicenter study group.

Methods: We performed a regional multicenter retrospective study between January 1986 and September 2021 using clinical data collected under the central pathological review system. Patients who underwent surgery for primary OC at diagnosis and developed recurrent tumors after the initial treatment were included.

Obesity contributes to the stealth peritoneal dissemination of ovarian cancer: a multi-institutional retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The clinical significance of a higher BMI on the prognosis of ovarian cancer remains controversial; therefore, a more detailed analysis is demanded. This study investigated the impact of BMI on peritoneum-specific recurrence to clarify the involvement of adipose tissue in the proliferation of cancer cells at sites of peritoneal dissemination.

Methods: Among 4,730 patients with malignant ovarian tumors, 280 diagnosed with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIB to IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer and who underwent complete resection in the primary surgery were included in the present study.

Prediction of Prehospital Change of the Cardiac Rhythm From Nonshockable to Shockable in Out-of-Hospital Patients With Cardiac Arrest: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Nationwide, Multicenter, Prospective Registry.

Background Predicting a spontaneous rhythm change from nonshockable to shockable before hospital arrival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest can help emergency medical services develop better strategies for prehospital treatment. The aim of this study was to identify predictors of spontaneous rhythm change before hospital arrival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and develop a predictive scoring system. Methods and Results We retrospectively reviewed data of eligible patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with an initial nonshockable rhythm registered in a nationwide registry between June 2014 and December 2017.

Machine learning prediction models for postpartum depression: A multicenter study in Japan.

Aim: Postpartum depression (PPD) and perinatal mental health care are of growing importance worldwide. Here we aimed to develop and validate machine learning models for the prediction of PPD, and to evaluate the usefulness of the recently adopted 2-week postpartum checkup in some parts of Japan for the identification of women at high risk of PPD.

Methods: A multicenter retrospective study was conducted using the clinical data of 10 013 women who delivered at ≥35 weeks of gestation at 12 maternity care hospitals in Japan.

Successful Surgical and Endovascular Multidisciplinary Therapy for Mid-aortic Syndrome with Complicated Atherosclerotic Comorbidities in an Older Patient.

Mid-aortic syndrome (MAS) is a rare vascular disorder that causes refractory hypertension. A 76-year-old woman was hospitalized for acute heart failure (HF) with drug-resistant hypertension; other comorbidities included epigastric artery rupture, old myocardial infarction, an intraventricular thrombus, and a cerebral artery aneurysm. Angiography revealed severe narrowing of the descending aorta, which led to the diagnosis of MAS.

The rCAST score is useful for estimating the neurological prognosis in pediatric patients with post-cardiac arrest syndrome before ICU admission: External validation study using a nationwide prospective registry.

Introduction: The objective of this cohort study was to investigate whether the revised post-Cardiac Arrest Syndrome for Therapeutic hypothermia score (rCAST), which we previously developed as a prognostic score for adult patients with post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS), is also applicable to pediatric patients.

Methods: Pediatric PCAS patients were included from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) registry of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM). We validated the predictive accuracy of the rCAST for the neurological outcomes at 30 and 90 days.

A large-scale multi-institutional study evaluating prognostic aspects of positive ascites cytology and effects of therapeutic interventions in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Positive ascites cytology is a strong prognostic factor in patients with early-stage ovarian cancer (OvCa). However, limited information is currently available on the impact of positive ascites cytology on patient prognoses under each clinical background. We herein investigated the comprehensive impact of positive ascites cytology on patients with epithelial OvCa and the effectiveness of additional therapeutic interventions, including complete staging surgery and chemotherapy.

The interplay between bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ambient temperature on neurological outcome after cardiac arrest: A nationwide observational cohort study.

Background: At lower ambient temperature, patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) easily experience hypothermia. Hypothermia has shown to improve the rate of successful return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in animal models. We hypothesized that lower temperature affects the impact of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the increased odds of a favorable neurological outcome post-OHCA.

Outcome Related to Level of Targeted Temperature Management in Postcardiac Arrest Syndrome of Low, Moderate, and High Severities: A Nationwide Multicenter Prospective Registry.

Objectives: The optimal target temperature during targeted temperature management for patients after cardiac arrest remains under debate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between targeted temperature management at lower target temperatures and the neurologic outcomes among patients classified by the severity of postcardiac arrest syndrome.

Design: A multicenter observational study from the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest registry of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, which is a nationwide prospective registry of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients.

Semi-parametric empirical Bayes factor for genome-wide association studies.

Bayes factor analysis has the attractive property of accommodating the risks of both false negatives and false positives when identifying susceptibility gene variants in genome-wide association studies (GWASs). For a particular SNP, the critical aspect of this analysis is that it incorporates the probability of obtaining the observed value of a statistic on disease association under the alternative hypotheses of non-null association. An approximate Bayes factor (ABF) was proposed by Wakefield (Genetic Epidemiology 2009;33:79-86) based on a normal prior for the underlying effect-size distribution.

Effect-Size Estimation Using Semiparametric Hierarchical Mixture Models in Disease-Association Studies with Neuroimaging Data.

In disease-association studies using neuroimaging data, evaluating the biological or clinical significance of individual associations requires not only detection of disease-associated areas of the brain but also estimation of the magnitudes of the associations or effect sizes for individual brain areas. In this paper, we propose a model-based framework for voxel-based inferences under spatial dependency in neuroimaging data. Specifically, we employ hierarchical mixture models with a hidden Markov random field structure to incorporate the spatial dependency between voxels.