[Rippling muscle disease with myasthenia gravis].

In February 2020, a 51-year-old woman experienced leg myalgia and noticed calf muscle movements that resembled a rippling wave while crouching down. In June 2020, she complained of bilateral arm myalgia. In August 2020, she developed left ptosis, had difficulty raising her bilateral arms, and developed diplopia and was admitted to our hospital.

Effects of long-term childhood exercise and detraining on lipid accumulation in metabolic-related organs.

The preventive effects of regular exercise on obesity-related health problems are carried over to the non-exercise detraining period, even when physical activity decreases with aging. However, it remains unknown whether regular childhood exercises can be carried over to adulthood. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of long-term childhood exercise and detraining on lipid accumulation in organs to prevent obesity in adulthood.

Acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors is mediated by BRAF splicing variants in BRAF V600E mutation-positive colorectal neuroendocrine carcinoma.

Neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs), a poorly differentiated subtype of neuroendocrine neoplasms, are aggressive and have a poor prognosis. Colorectal neuroendocrine carcinomas (CRC-NECs) are observed in about 0.6% of all patients with CRC.

Medium-term outcomes of a program to upgrade the nursing faculty in Cambodia: A qualitative study.

Continuous professional development is important for improving professional competencies, such as cognitive knowledge, technical skills, behaviors, and attitudes. Trainees who complete training programs can have a positive influence on their workplaces. However, it is challenging to establish a process that can facilitate individual learning and help achieve training outcomes in educational and clinical workplaces.

Effect of Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Harboring Mutation in Early Clinical Experience.

Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (ATZ/BV) treatment is a combined immunotherapy consisting of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor monoclonal antibody, which has brought a major paradigm shift in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Gain-of-function mutation of contributes to resistance of ICI monotherapy through the framework of non-T-cell-inflamed tumor microenvironment. However, whether mutation renders resistance to ATZ/BV similar to ICI monotherapy remains to be elucidated.

A Pilot Study to Assess Glucose, Insulin, and Incretin Responses Following Novel High Resistant Starch Rice Ingestion in Healthy Men.

Introduction: A newly developed resistant starch (RS) rice line with double mutation of starch synthase IIIa and branching enzyme IIb (ss3a/be2b) exhibits a tenfold greater percentage RS value than the wild-type rice line. Currently, the effects of cooked rice with such high RS content on secretion and action of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) are unclear. Therefore, we conducted a pilot study to assess postprandial responses of GLP-1 and GIP along with glucose and insulin and also gastric emptying after ingestion of the high-RS cooked rice with ss3a/be2b in healthy subjects.

Coupled versus decoupled visuomotor feedback: Differential frontoparietal activity during curved reach planning on simultaneous functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electroencephalography.

Introduction: Interacting with the environment requires the planning and execution of reach-to-target movements along given reach trajectory paths. Human neural mechanisms for the motor planning of linear, or point-to-point, reaching movements are relatively well studied. However, the corresponding representations for curved and more complex reaching movements require further investigation.

Significance of pelvic lymph node dissection during radical prostatectomy in high-risk prostate cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy.

We aimed to determine the survival and staging benefit of limited pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) during radical prostatectomy (RP) in high-risk prostate cancer (PC) patients treated with neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy. We retrospectively analyzed 516 patients with high-risk localized PC (< cT4N0M0) who received neoadjuvant androgen-deprivation therapy plus estramustine phosphate followed by RP between January 2010 and March 2020. Since we stopped limited PLND for such patients in October 2015, we compared the surgical outcomes and biochemical recurrence-free survival (BCR-FS) between the limited-PLND group (before October 2015, n = 283) and the non-PLND group (after November 2015, n = 233).

Improving Agricultural Traits While Maintaining High Resistant Starch Content in Rice.

Background: Resistant starch (RS) is beneficial for human health. Loss of starch branching enzyme IIb (BEIIb) increases the proportion of amylopectin long chains, which greatly elevates the RS content. Although high RS content cereals are desired, an increase in RS content is often accompanied by a decrease in seed weight.

[A case of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma manifested as lacunar infarction].

A 79-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of sudden onset of left ataxic hemiparesis. Brain MRI diffusion weighted images showed typical lacunar infarction on the right internal capsule. He had no risk factors of cerebrovascular disorder such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and arrhythmia.

A diet-induced murine model for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with obesity and insulin resistance that rapidly develops steatohepatitis and fibrosis.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Patients with NAFLD often suffer steatohepatitis, which can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The presence of visceral obesity or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major risk factor and potential therapeutic target for NAFLD.

Association between Sarcopenia and Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Introduction: This study aimed to validate whether preoperative sarcopenia can predict long-term outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and identify the associations between sarcopenia and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

Methods: This large, retrospective study included 353 patients who underwent hepatic resection for HCC and preoperative computed tomography scans. Skeletal muscle mass was measured at the third lumbar vertebrae.

Single immediate instillation of chemotherapy is associated with decreased recurrence and progression in patients with high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer who receive adjuvant induction bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy.

Objectives: To investigate whether a single intravesical instillation of chemotherapy is associated with improved oncological outcomes in patients with high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer who receive adjuvant induction bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy.

Methods: This multi-institutional retrospective study included 205 patients with high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer who received adjuvant induction bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy. Patients were divided into two groups: those who received the combined therapy of a single instillation of chemotherapy plus subsequent adjuvant induction bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy (combined therapy group), and those who received adjuvant induction bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy alone (bacillus Calmette-Guérin monotherapy group).

Comparative Study of S2-Alar-Iliac Screw Trajectories between Males and Females Using Three-Dimensional Computed Tomography Analysis: The True Lateral Angulation of the S2-Alar-Iliac Screw in the Axial Plane.

The S2 alar-iliac screw (S2AIS) is commonly used for long spinal fusion as a rigid distal foundation in spinal deformity surgeries, and it is also used in percutaneous sacropelvic fixation for providing an in-line connection to the proximal spinal constructs without using offset connectors. Although the pelvic shape is different between males and females, reports on S2AIS trajectories according to gender have been scarce in the literature. In this paper, S2AIS trajectories are compared between males and females using pelvic three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) in a normal Japanese population.

Novel approach to semi-quantification of tracer accumulation in dopamine transporter scan.

Purpose: Accurate tracer accumulation evaluation is difficult owing to the partial volume effect (PVE). We proposed a novel semi-quantitative approach for measuring the accumulation amount by examining the approximate image. Using a striatal phantom, we verified the validity of a newly proposed method to accurately evaluate the tracer accumulations in the caudate and putamen separately.

Machine learning diagnosis by immunoglobulin N-glycan signatures for precision diagnosis of urological diseases.

Early diagnosis of urological diseases is often difficult due to the lack of specific biomarkers. More powerful and less invasive biomarkers that can be used simultaneously to identify urological diseases could improve patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate a urological disease-specific scoring system established with a machine learning (ML) approach using Ig N-glycan signatures.

The impact of eligibility for maintenance immunotherapy on prognosis in patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Objectives: To investigate the eligibility for maintenance immunotherapy and its impact on the prognosis of advanced urothelial carcinoma treated with first-line chemotherapy, as the selection biases of the eligible population in the JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial remain unclear.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 213 patients (median age, 71 years) with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma treated with platinum-based first-line chemotherapy between May 2003 and April 2021. The patients were categorized into the following two groups: progressive disease (PD) within four cycles (trial ineligible group) and non-PD within four cycles (trial eligible group).

[Recurrent autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy with long cervical cord lesions: a case report].

A 61-year-old man who had suffered two episodes of generalized convulsion in a two-year period was admitted to our hospital because of progressive gait disturbance during the previous five months. Neurological examination revealed cognitive impairment, spasticity of the lower limbs, truncal ataxia, and dysautonomia including orthostatic hypotension, dysuria and hypohydrosis. Brain fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI detected high-signal-intensity lesions in the periventricular white matter and centrum semiovale, with punctate gadolinium (Gd) enhancement.

Effects of Various Allelic Combinations of Starch Biosynthetic Genes on the Properties of Endosperm Starch in Rice.

Rice endosperm accumulates large amounts of photosynthetic products as insoluble starch within amyloplasts by properly arranging structured, highly branched, large amylopectin molecules, thus avoiding osmotic imbalance. The amount and characteristics of starch directly influence the yield and quality of rice grains, which in turn influence their application and market value. Therefore, understanding how various allelic combinations of starch biosynthetic genes, with different expression levels, affect starch properties is important for the identification of targets for breeding new rice cultivars.

Ultrasonographic reference values and a simple yet practical formula for estimating average kidney length in Japanese children.

Background: The assessment of kidney size is essential for treating kidney disease. However, there are no reliable and sufficiently robust ultrasonographic reference values or prediction formulas for kidney length in Japanese children, based on a sufficient number of participants.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed kidney measurements by ultrasonography in children aged 18 years or younger from eight facilities throughout Japan between January 1991 and September 2018.

High catalytic performance of Al-Pd-(Ru, Fe) icosahedral approximants for acetylene semi-hydrogenation.

Three cubic crystalline icosahedral approximants (C phase: AlPdFe, P phase: AlPdRu, P phase: AlPdRu) exhibit high ethylene selectivity of over 90% for hydrogenating acetylene at 150 °C. Moreover, the powdered P also demonstrates a high catalytic performance under an industry-like ethylene feed containing 0.5% acetylene as an impurity.