[A Case of UFT/LV-Induced Acute Liver Failure after Surgery for Sigmoid Colon Cancer].

Oral uracil and tegafur plus Leucovorin(UFT/LV)therapy is one of the standard adjuvant chemotherapies for colorectal cancer, and is widely used without any serious adverse events. Herein, we describe a case of UFT/LV-induced acute liver failure in a 75-year-old woman who underwent laparoscopic sigmoidectomy for sigmoid colon cancer. She was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and lymph node metastasis by postoperative histopathological analysis, and adjuvant chemotherapy was initiated.

The d-mannose/l-galactose pathway is the dominant ascorbate biosynthetic route in the moss Physcomitrium patens.

Ascorbate is an abundant and indispensable redox compound in plants. Genetic and biochemical studies have established the d-mannose/l-galactose (d-Man/l-Gal) pathway as the predominant ascorbate biosynthetic pathway in streptophytes, while the d-galacturonate (d-GalUA) pathway is found in prasinophytes and euglenoids. Based on the presence of the complete set of genes encoding enzymes involved in the d-Man/l-Gal pathway and an orthologous gene encoding aldonolactonase (ALase) - a key enzyme for the d-GalUA pathway - Physcomitrium patens may possess both pathways.

[A Case of Inverted LECS for GIST in the Remnant Stomach after Distal Gastrectomy].

Laparoscopy and endoscopy cooperative surgery(LECS)is the surgical procedure used to avoid excessive resection of the gastrointestinal wall and preserve its function. We report the case of a patient who was successfully treated with inverted LECS for gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST)in the remnant stomach and underwent distal gastrectomy. The patient was a 75- year-old man who received distal gastrectomy for gastric ulcer 28 years before.

[A Case of Gastric Small Cell Carcinoma with Rapid Regrowth after Surgery].

The patient was a 59-year-old man with type 2 advanced gastric cancer in the antrum. Abdominal computed tomography revealed the primary tumor with regional lymph node metastasis. Distal gastrectomy and D2 lymph node dissection were performed.

[A Case of Long-Term Disease-Free Survival of a Gastric Cancer Patient with Peritoneal Dissemination and Transverse Colon Invasion].

A 71-year-old man visited our hospital because ofepigastralgia and anorexia. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed type 1 gastric cancer. Contrast-enhanced abdominal CT revealed gastric wall thickening in the midgastric region and direct invasion ofthe transverse colon.

Automatic distractor generation for multiple-choice English vocabulary questions.

The use of automated systems in second-language learning could substantially reduce the workload of human teachers and test creators. This study proposes a novel method for automatically generating distractors for multiple-choice English vocabulary questions. The proposed method introduces new sources for collecting distractor candidates and utilises semantic similarity and collocation information when ranking the collected candidates.

Ultra-Fine Bubble Distributions in a Plant Factory Observed by Transmission Electron Microscope with a Freeze-Fracture Replica Technique.

Water containing ultra-fine bubbles (UFB) may promote plant growth. But, as UFBs are too small to distinguish from other impurities in a nutrient solution, it is not known if UFBs survive transport from the water source to the rhizosphere. Here we use the freeze-fracture replica method and a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to observe UFBs in the nutrient solutions used in a crop-growing system known as a plant factory.

[A Case of Goblet Cell Carcinoid of the Appendix Treated by Laparoscopic Ileocecal Resection after Diagnosis by Colonoscopic Examination for Positive Occult Blood].

A79 -year-old woman underwent colonoscopic examination for positive occult blood. Aneoplastic lesion was seen in the orifice of the vermiform appendix. She was referred to our hospital and underwent colonoscopic examination again.

[A Case of Long-Term Survival with Multidisciplinary Therapy for a Patient with Multiple Metastases from Rectal Cancer].

Combined modality therapy is sufficient to treat advanced rectal cancer with multiple metastases. Her, we report a case of long-term survival in a patient with multiple metastases from rectal cancer. A5 8-year-old man had previously undergone low anterior resection for advanced rectal cancer.

[A Case of Intussusception Caused by Colon Cancer in A 25-Year-Old Woman].

A 25-year-old woman presented to our hospital with left flank pain and diarrhea. Contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography(CT)showed a target sign in the descending colon. She was diagnosed with intussusception of the colon.

Human knee joint sound during the Lachman test: Comparison between healthy and anterior cruciate ligament-deficient knees.

Background: The Lachman test is clinically considered to be a reliable physical examination for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficiency. However, the test involves subjective judgement of differences in tibial translation and endpoint quality. An auscultation system has been developed to allow assessment of the Lachman test.

Evaluation of automatically generated English vocabulary questions.

This paper describes details of the evaluation experiments for questions created by an automatic question generation system. Given a target word and one of its word senses, the system generates a multiple-choice English vocabulary question asking for the closest in meaning to the target word in the reading passage. Two kinds of evaluation were conducted considering two aspects: (1) measuring English learners' proficiency and (2) their similarity to the human-made questions.

Controlling item difficulty for automatic vocabulary question generation.

The present study investigates the best factor for controlling the item difficulty of multiple-choice English vocabulary questions generated by an automatic question generation system. Three factors are considered for controlling item difficulty: (1) reading passage difficulty, (2) semantic similarity between the correct answer and distractors, and (3) the distractor word difficulty level. An experiment was conducted by administering machine-generated items to three groups of English learners.

Improving the Quality of Postgraduate Education in Traditional Japanese Kampo Medicine for Junior Residents: An Exploratory Survey Conducted in Five Institutions in the Tohoku Area.

Traditional Japanese (Kampo) medicine has been widely applied in general medicine in Japan. In 2001, the model core curriculum for Japanese medical education was revised to include Kampo medicine. Since 2007, all 80 Japanese medical schools have incorporated it within their programs.

Questionnaire-Based Development of an Educational Program of Traditional Japanese Kampo Medicine.

Traditional Japanese Kampo medicine has been widely used in clinical practice in Japan. Though it is a compulsory subject in Japanese medical schools, a standard educational program in Kampo medicine does not exist. Tohoku University has incorporated Kampo medicine into clinical education via didactic lectures since 2003; however, student evaluations have been lower for Kampo than for all other clinical specialties.

A neutrophil elastase inhibitor improves lung function during ex vivo lung perfusion.

Objective: Ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) has been used not only for graft evaluation but also for graft reconditioning prior to lung transplantation. Inflammatory cells such as neutrophils may cause additional graft injury during EVLP. Neutrophil elastase inhibitors protect lungs against neutrophil-induced lung injury, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Pneumocephalus and chylothorax complicating vertebrectomy for lung cancer.

Pneumocephalus is a rare, but potentially fatal complication of thoracic surgery. We describe a case of successful management of pneumocephalus complicated by persistent chylothorax developing after en bloc partial vertebrectomy performed after induction chemoradiotherapy for lung cancer invading the spine. Surgical treatment should be considered for pneumocephalus complicated by any condition requiring persistent chest drainage.

Unilateral lung transplantation using right and left upper lobes: an experimental study.

Objective: The shortage of organ donors is a serious problem in Japan. The right and left upper lobes of rejected extended-criteria lungs have the potential to be used for downsized lung transplantation; however, the 2 upper lobes are too small for a size-matched recipient. The present study investigated the feasibility of unilateral transplantation using the right and left upper lobes.

Detection of airway ischaemic damage after lung transplantation by using autofluorescence imaging bronchoscopy.

Objectives: Airway complications related to ischaemia are a major cause of morbidity after lung transplantation. Early detection of airway ischaemia and optimal management of the anastomotic site could reduce the risk of airway complications. Autofluorescence imaging (AFI) bronchoscopy has been increasingly recognized as an effective technique for detecting abnormal mucosal thickening.

Use of a vessel sealing system versus conventional electrocautery for lung parenchymal resection: a comparison of the clinicopathological outcomes in porcine lungs.

Purpose: LigaSure, a vessel sealing system, has been shown to have excellent hemostatic properties; however, its use for lung parenchymal resection has been limited. We herein examined the hemostatic properties and potential for inducing histological lung injury of the LigaSure system in non-anatomic pulmonary resection to estimate the feasibility of its clinical application.

Methods: Non-anatomic pulmonary wedge resections of the right cranial, middle, and caudal lobes were performed in four pigs using the LigaSure system (Group A) or electrocautery (Group B).

Expression of aspartyl protease and C3HC4-type RING zinc finger genes are responsive to ascorbic acid in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Ascorbate (AsA) is a redox buffer and enzyme cofactor with various proposed functions in stress responses and growth. The aim was to identify genes whose transcript levels respond to changes in leaf AsA. The AsA-deficient Arabidopsis mutant vtc2-1 was incubated with the AsA precursor L-galactono-1,4-lactone (L-GalL) to increase leaf AsA concentration.

Euglena gracilis ascorbate peroxidase forms an intramolecular dimeric structure: its unique molecular characterization.

Euglena gracilis lacks a catalase and contains a single APX (ascorbate peroxidase) and enzymes related to the redox cycle of ascorbate in the cytosol. In the present study, a full-length cDNA clone encoding the Euglena APX was isolated and found to contain an open reading frame encoding a protein of 649 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 70.5 kDa.

The effect of obesity and smoking status on lung age in Japanese men.

Background And Objective: The lung age of smokers is greater than their real age. We have had the clinical impression that the lung age of non-smokers might be older than their real age and that obese subjects with decreased VC and FEV1 would also have an increased lung age. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationships between lung age and smoking status, and lung age and BMI.

The pathway via D-galacturonate/L-galactonate is significant for ascorbate biosynthesis in Euglena gracilis: identification and functional characterization of aldonolactonase.

We have previously proposed that Euglena gracilis possesses a pathway for the production of ascorbate (AsA) through d-galacturonate/L-galactonate as representative intermediates ( Shigeoka, S., Nakano, Y., and Kitaoka, S.