A New Device to Prevent Irregular Adsorption of Fatty Tissue While Using an Irrigation-suction Instrument for Laparoscopic Surgery: Divided Silicone Drain Tip.

Background: While using an irrigation-suction instrument for laparoscopic surgery, irregular adsorption of fatty tissue may damage the tissue or obstruct continuous sucking. A new device made up of a divided silicone drain tip to prevent irregular adsorption was reported.

Materials And Methods: A cigarette-type silicone drain was cut 4 cm in length.

Evaluation of tissue blood flow of the gastric tube after vessel anastomosis for esophageal reconstruction.

Objectives And Methods: Impaired blood flow of the upper end of the gastric tube is one of the major causes of anastomotic leak following esophageal reconstruction after esophagectomy for cancer. We applied an additional microvascular anastomosis procedure--the supercharging technique--to improve blood flow. We investigated blood flow improvement in 15 patients who underwent the supercharging technique after total excision of the thoracic esophagus and gastric tube reconstruction through the posterior mediastinal route from August 2003 to March 2005.

Microbial diversity of anammox bacteria enriched from different types of seed sludge in an anaerobic continuous-feeding cultivation reactor.

Enrichment of anammox bacteria from three types of seed sludge, sewage, digester, and nitrification sludges, was conducted using a nonwoven fabric carrier for immobilizing the anammox bacteria, and the microbial diversity of the enriched anammox culture was investigated. About four months later, simultaneous removals of ammonium and nitrite, and production of a small amount of nitrate, which is unique to the anammox reaction, were observed in all 3 sludge reactors. Results of 16S rRNA gene analysis indicated that anammox bacteria were cultivated and diversified in each sludge type.

'FloraArray' for screening of specific DNA probes representing the characteristics of a certain microbial community.

To investigate uncharacterized microbial communities, a custom DNA microarray named 'FloraArray' was developed for screening specific probes that would represent the characteristics of a microbial community. The array was prepared by spotting 2000 plasmid DNAs from a genomic shotgun library of a sludge sample on a DNA microarray. By comparative hybridization of the array with two different samples of genomic DNA, one from the activated sludge and the other from a nonactivated sludge sample of an anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacterial community, specific spots were visualized as a definite fluctuating profile in an MA (differential intensity ratio vs.

Nitrogen removal from wastewater using simultaneous nitrate reduction and anaerobic ammonium oxidation in single reactor.

The effects of C/N ratio and total organic carbon (TOC) loading on nitrogen removal through simultaneous nitrate reduction and anaerobic ammonium oxidation in a single reactor were examined. Granular sludge taken from a methane fermentation reactor was placed in an upflow reactor and supplied with synthetic wastewater containing nitrate at a C/N ratio of 1 to grow heterotrophic denitrifying bacteria. When nitrogen removal ratio reached 30%, anammox sludge attached to nonwoven-carrier was added into the same reactor and then ammonia was added to the synthetic wastewater.

Adenocarcinoma arising in gastric inverted hyperplastic polyp: a case report and review of the literature.

A 54-year-old man, found to have a submucosal tumor in the stomach by double contrast roentgenography, endoscopy, and endoscopic ultrasonography, underwent a laparoscopic partial gastrectomy. The pathological examination revealed that the lesion, measuring 45 mm x 35 mm, was an inverted hyperplastic polyp (IHP) located in the submucosal layer and consisting mostly of columnar cells resembling foveolar epithelium and pyloric gland cells. Notably, adenocarcinoma with adjacent dysplasia was observed in the submucosal glands.

Intravenous administration of ghrelin stimulates growth hormone secretion in vagotomized patients as well as normal subjects.

Objective: Ghrelin is a potent peptide stimulating GH secretion. Besides its direct action on the pituitary, ghrelin has been reported to stimulate GH release via the vagal afferent nerve in rats. To examine the involvement of vagal nerve in ghrelin-induced GH secretion in humans, GH responses to ghrelin were compared between vagotomized patients with gastrectomy and normal subjects.

An experimental study of regional chemotherapy using CDDP-loaded microspheres for esophageal cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the antitumor effects of cisplatin-loaded microspheres (CDDP-MS) and the efficacy of the administration of CDDP-MS into the mediastinum.

Methods: To evaluate the antitumor effect, we first performed a paratumoral injection of CDDP-MS to FF6 tumor-bearing DA rats to compare its effect with that of the intraperitoneal injection of a CDDP solution at different doses.

Results: In the CDDP-MS groups the tumor growth was effectively delayed in proportion to the dosage of CDDP-MS.