[Situation and Problems of Activities for Cancer Cooperative Treatment in Kumamoto].

The Consultation Support and Information Providing Committee, which is a subsidiary organization of the Kumamoto Cancer Medical Cooperation Council, created a critical path called"my medical chart,"which is used in Kumamoto prefecture jointly. The path was implemented in 2009 at designated cancer hospitals. For promoting cancer consultation support centers and nurturing cancer counselors, the Cancer Special Counselor Working Group was formed, and activities were initiated.

Achromatic wave plate in THz frequency region based on parallel metal plate waveguides with a pillar array.

We demonstrated an achromatic wave plate based on parallel metal plate waveguides in the high THz frequency region. The metal plates have periodic rough structures on the surface, which allow slow transverse magnetic wave propagation and fast transverse electric wave propagation. A numerical simulation showed that the height of the periodic roughness is important for optimizing the birefringence.

Achromatic THz wave plate composed of stacked parallel metal plates.

We propose a simple achromatic terahertz wave plate composed of stacked parallel metal plates with a hole array. It consists of an ensemble of designed parallel plate waveguides; the high and low propagation speeds of waves in TE and TM waveguide modes with the same group velocity cause a constant phase difference over a wide frequency region. Using that wave plate, we obtained intense single- and multi-cycle THz pulses with circular polarization.

Nondestructive analysis of structure and components of tablet coated with film by the usage of terahertz time-domain reflection spectroscopy.

Nondestructive analysis of tablet is of great importance from the aspect of productivity and safety. In terahertz (THz) region, however, the analysis of core of coated tablet has not been progressed. In this study, we have measured a flat-surface push-pull osmotic pump tablet, having no orifice, having bilayer core and a coating film layer.

Mutual contribution of Pten and estrogen to endometrial carcinogenesis in a PtenloxP/loxP mouse model.

Objective: An association between estrogen and the risk of type 1 endometrial carcinoma, which shows frequent mutations in the Pten tumor suppressor gene, has consistently been found in many studies. However, such tumors usually arise in perimenopausal or postmenopausal women with decreased serum estrogen levels. This study aimed to reveal the contributions of estrogen to endometrial carcinogenesis in a mouse model of endometrial carcinoma initiated by conditional targeting of Pten.

Involvement of M2-polarized macrophages in the ascites from advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma in tumor progression via Stat3 activation.

Ascites macrophages in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (AdEOC) are involved in cancer metastasis and progression by modifying the tumor microenvironment. However, the precise mechanisms of cell-to-cell interaction between macrophages and tumor cells are still unclear. This study focused on the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) which is a critical signal transduction molecule at a point of convergence for numerous oncogenic signaling pathways as well as controlling the M2-poralization of macrophages.

Long-term oncological outcomes of ovarian serous carcinomas with psammoma bodies: a novel insight into the molecular pathogenesis of ovarian epithelial carcinoma.

A two-tier system in which ovarian epithelial carcinomas are subdivided into type I and type II tumors has been proposed on the basis of recent molecular pathogenesis findings. Type I tumors, unrelated to tumor protein p53 (TP53) mutations, show favorable prognosis in a slow step-wise process, whereas type II tumors, related to TP53 mutations, contribute to poor prognosis. Ovarian serous carcinomas with excessive psammoma bodies behave like type I tumors.

Broadband and high power terahertz pulse generation beyond excitation bandwidth limitation via chi2 cascaded processes in LiNbO3.

We proposed a novel THz generation technique beyond the limitation of the input optical pulse width, based on phase modulation via cascaded chi((2)) process. When intense THz electric field generated by optical rectification lies in electro-optic (EO) crystal, emitted THz field gives phase modulation to the optical excitation pulse. The phase modulation causes excitation pulse narrowing and consequently gives rise to the enhancement of conversion efficiency and THz wave bandwidth broadening.

High-resolution time-of-flight terahertz tomography using a femtosecond fiber laser.

High-resolution tomographic imaging is demonstrated using a reflection-type terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. To realize a practical system for general use, a robust all-fiber laser was used as the pump light source. Broadband terahertz waves were generated with the combination of optical pulses compressed to 17 fs using optical fibers and a DAST crystal.

Generation and detection of broadband coherent terahertz radiation using 17-fs ultrashort pulse fiber laser.

We describe the generation and detection of broadband terahertz radiation using an all-fiber laser. Optical pulses from a mode-locked fiber laser oscillator are compressed using nonlinear and dispersion effects induced in optical fibers, and 17-fs optical pulses with 170-kW peak power are generated at the wavelength region around 1.5 microm.

Endometrioid adenocarcinoma arising in adenomyosis: elucidation by periodic magnetic resonance imaging evaluations.

There are several case reports of adenocarcinomas developing within adenomyosis. However, there is no report demonstrating the natural course from adenomyosis to adenocarcinoma. We report a patient (a 41-year-old Japanese woman) who was observed every 6 months after being diagnosed with adenomyosis at our University Hospital.

Structural changes and cell properties of human ovarian surface epithelium in ovarian pathophysiology.

The surface epithelial cells of the ovary, which are modified peritoneal cells, form a single, focally pseudostratified layer. The Müllerian ducts differentiate after invagination of the coelomic mesothelium over the gonadal ridges during the 6th week of embryonic life. On the basis of the embryologically putative Müllerian potential of this epithelium, endometriosis can be explained by coelomic metaplasia from the peritoneum, including ovarian surface epithelium.

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy of amino acids and polypeptides.

Frequency-dependent absorption coefficients and refractive indices of amino acids (glycine and l-alanine) and polypeptides (polyglycine and poly-l-alanine) in the wavenumber region from 7 to 55 cm(-1) were measured by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. A vibrational band was observed at 45.5 cm(-1) for polyglycine, which was assigned as an interchain mode.

Roles of luteinizing hormone/chorionic gonadotropin receptor in anchorage-dependent and -independent growth in human ovarian surface epithelial cell lines.

Epithelial ovarian carcinomas are thought to arise from cells of ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) covering the free surface of the human ovary. Two immortalized human cell lines, OSE2a (non-tumorigenic) and OSE2b-2 (tumorigenic), were previously established from normal OSE cells of a reproductive-age patient. In the present study, we found that expression of luteinizing hormone (LH)/chorionic gonadotropin (CG) receptor (LH/CGR) is present in OSE2a cells and absent in OSE2b-2 cells.

High-energy, all-solid-state, ultraviolet laser power-amplifier module design and its output-energy scaling principle.

We demonstrate that a coaxially pumped, large-aperture ultraviolet power-amplifier module with solid-state tunable laser medium Ce(3+):LiCaAlF6 has 98-mJ, 290-nm, and 3-ns output pulses with a sufficient extraction efficiency of 25%. The detailed information of design parameters, including the gain-coefficient dependence on pump condition, is successfully accumulated for further energy scaling for a terawatt-class ultraviolet chirped pulse amplification laser system or a high-pulse-energy laser system.