Radiomics based on diffusion-weighted imaging for differentiation between focal-type autoimmune pancreatitis and pancreatic carcinoma.

Objective: To evaluate the parameters of support vector machine (SVM) using imaging data generated from the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) to differentiate between focal-type autoimmune pancreatitis (f-AIP) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) when using SVM based on diffusion-weighted imaging.

Methods: The 2D-ADC and texture parameters (16 texture features × [non-filter+17 filters]) were retrospectively segmented by 2 readers in 28 patients with f-AIP and 77 patients with pathologically proven PDAC. The diagnostic accuracy of the SVM model was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and calculation of the area under the curve (AUC).

Vitamin E reduces liver stiffness in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of vitamin E treatment on liver stiffness in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods: Thirty-eight NAFLD patients were administered vitamin E for > 1 year. The doses of vitamin E were 150, 300, or 600 mg; three times per day after each meal.

Factors correlating with acoustic radiation force impulse elastography in chronic hepatitis C.

Aim: To investigate the factors other than fibrosis stage correlating with acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastograpy in chronic hepatitis C.

Methods: ARFI elastograpy was performed in 108 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C who underwent a liver biopsy. The proportion of fibrosis area in the biopsy specimens was measured by computer-assisted morphometric image analysis.

Kinetic and thermodynamic evidence for flipping of a methyl-CpG binding domain on methylated DNA.

The methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) is a conserved domain in transcriptional factors that binds to methylated CpG dinucleotide DNA sequences in vertebrates. The complex is comprised of an asymmetric MBD monomer and a symmetric DNA duplex. Therefore, in the complex, each strand of the duplex DNA is in contact with the protein at a distinct surface and thus exhibits a different chemical shift in NMR spectra.

Structure of the ubiquitin-interacting motif of S5a bound to the ubiquitin-like domain of HR23B.

Ubiquitination, a modification in which single or multiple ubiquitin molecules are attached to a protein, serves signaling functions that control several cellular processes. The ubiquitination signal is recognized by downstream effectors, many of which carry a ubiquitin-interacting motif (UIM). Such interactions can be modulated by regulators carrying a ubiquitin-like (UbL) domain, which binds UIM by mimicking ubiquitination.