Relevance of increased negative T waves in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with progressive myocardial damage: Insights from repeat cardiac magnetic resonance studies.

In patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), progressive electrocardiographic changes are observed during long-term follow-up. However, it is difficult to correspond these changes to the specific myocardial changes. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging can elucidate myocardial changes by late gadolinium enhancement.

Preoperative Novel Magnetic Resonance Fusion Imaging for Carotid Endarterectomy Patients with Contrast Contraindications: A Pilot Study.

Objective: For carotid endarterectomy (CEA) patients with renal dysfunction and allergies to contrast media, we developed a preoperative novel method of noncontrast 3-dimensional magnetic resonance fusion imaging (NC-3DMRFI) which could describe well blood vessels, plaques, and bony structures even in surgical position. In this study, we examined the usefulness of this method.

Methods: We extracted noncontrast magnetic resonance images of bones, blood vessels, and plaques to create a 3-dimensionalusion image.

Cardiac Disease Classification Using Two-Dimensional Thickness and Few-Shot Learning Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Image Segmentation.

Cardiac cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely used technique for the noninvasive assessment of cardiac functions. Deep neural networks have achieved considerable progress in overcoming various challenges in cine MRI analysis. However, deep learning models cannot be used for classification because limited cine MRI data are available.

A Case of Adenomyoepithelioma With a Pleomorphic Adenoma-Like Component of the Male Breast.

Adenomyoepithelioma (AME) of the male breast is a rare tumor characterized by biphasic proliferation of gland epithelial cells and myoepithelial cells. Though pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is also known to be an epithelial-myoepithelial tumor in the breast, and these tumors are considered to exist on the same spectrum by some authors, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports of a clear transition from AME to PA in the male breast. Therefore, the case of an 85-year-old man with AME with PA-like components is presented.

Assessing myocardial circumferential strain using cardiovascular magnetic resonance after magnetic resonance-conditional cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Nondrug therapy for arrhythmia patients had been developed dramatically until recent years. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), a nondrug therapy for arrhythmia, is especially utilized for the treatment of left ventricular (LV) severe heart failure caused by cardiac dyssynchrony. Prolonged QRS duration (≧130 ms) is strongly used as a CRT indication criterion, but QRS is not the direct clinical index of mechanical contraction delay of the LV myocardium.

Comparative genome-wide analysis of gastric adenocarcinomas with hyperplastic polyp components.

Gastric hyperplastic polyps are common and generally regarded as benign lesions, whereas gastric adenocarcinomas infrequently occur from gastric hyperplastic polyps. Although gastric hyperplastic polyps have received a lot of attention because of their association with malignant transformation, it remains unclear whether gastric hyperplastic polyps are neoplastic lesions that have sporadic genetic changes similar to colorectal hyperplastic polyps. We performed genome-wide analyses of two gastric adenocarcinomas with hyperplastic polyp components.

Accurate and robust systolic myocardial T mapping using saturation recovery with individualized delay time: comparison with diastolic T mapping.

T mapping data are generally acquired in patients' diastolic phase, wherein their myocardium is the thinnest in the cardiac cycle. However, the analysis of the thin myocardium may cause errors in image registrations and settings related to the region of interest. In this study, we validated systolic T mapping using the saturation recovery with individualized delay time (SR-IDT) method and compared it with conventional diastolic T mapping.

Evaluation of IDH1 status in diffusely infiltrating gliomas by immunohistochemistry using anti-mutant and wild type IDH1 antibodies.

Glioma cells with the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1 G395A mutation are strongly immunopositive for mIDH1(R132H), an antibody against mutant IDH1(R132H) (clone H09). However, we encountered some gliomas which were ambiguously positive for mIDH1(R132H) despite having the IDH1 G395A mutation. The aim of this study was to establish an evaluation procedure of IDH1 status by immunohistochemistry.

Epiregulin is critical for the acinar cell regeneration of the submandibular gland in a mouse duct ligation model.

Acinar cell regeneration from tubular structures has been reported to occur in duct-deligated salivary glands. However, the detailed process of acinar cell regeneration has not been clarified. We have developed a mouse duct ligation model to clarify the mechanisms underlying acinar cell regeneration, and we analyzed the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) ligands using the model.

An Oncocytic Variant of Intraductal Papillary Neoplasm of the Bile Duct that Formed a Giant Hepatic Cyst.

Intraductal papillary neoplasms of the bile duct (IPNB) is the collective term used to refer to papillary bile duct tumors, mucin producing bile duct tumors, and cystic bile duct tumors. Pathologically, these tumors may be considered a highly differentiated adenocarcinoma or a tumor of borderline malignant potential. IPNB is classified into one of four variants based on cell differentiation.

Transforming growth factor-α activates pancreatic stellate cells and may be involved in matrix metalloproteinase-1 upregulation.

The role that transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α) has in chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer has not been fully elucidated. We evaluated the effects of TGF-α on the human pancreatic stellate cell (PSC) line RLT-PSC and primary human PSCs, and the expression levels of TGF-α and metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) in human chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer tissues. TGF-α stimulated the proliferation and migration of PSCs.

Nestin expression in brain tumors: its utility for pathological diagnosis and correlation with the prognosis of high-grade gliomas.

One of the type VI intermediate filament proteins, nestin, is expressed in neuroepithelial stem cells during neural embryogenesis. Nestin is also expressed in a variety of neoplasms. Its expression in brain tumors has not been thoroughly studied.

Clinical and immunological assessment of periodontal disease in Japanese leprosy patients.

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by the infection of periodontopathic bacteria in dental plaque. However, an individual's susceptibility to this disease appears to be associated with multiple genetic factors, as seen in the case of leprosy. In order to gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of periodontal disease in subjects with leprosy, we investigated the clinical features of periodontitis and the immunological responses against periodontopathic bacteria in 382 subjects with a history of leprosy and 451 age-matched control subjects.

Development of monoclonal antibodies for analyzing immune and hematopoietic systems of common marmoset.

Objective: Common marmosets are considered experimental animals of primates useful for medical research. We developed several monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed to CD molecules to gain initial insight into the immune and hematopoietic systems of this organism, and analyzed the basic cellularity and characters of marmoset lymphocytes.

Materials And Methods: Anti-marmoset CD antigen mAbs were prepared using marmoset antigen-expressing transfectants and used for flow cytometric analyses and cell fractionation.

IL-6/sIL-6R enhances cathepsin B and L production via caveolin-1-mediated JNK-AP-1 pathway in human gingival fibroblasts.

Interleukin (IL)-6 has an important role in inflammatory diseases. Lysosomal enzymes cathepsins are widely expressed as cysteine proteases regulating inflammatory process. Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is a scaffolding/regulatory membrane protein that interacts with signaling molecules.

Enumeration of sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms on deteriorating stone of the angkor monuments, Cambodia.

Annual change in the density of sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms on sandstone was enumerated to know the effects on the deterioration of stone materials of the Angkor monuments in Cambodia. Samples were obtained from total 12 stations at the Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Phnom Krom temples between 1998 and 2007. Sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms enumerated in a mineral salts medium supplemented with elemental sulfur as the sole energy source had a density of 10(1)-10(5) MPN (g sample)(-1).