Plasma rocuronium concentration in cell salvage blood following cardiac surgery: a case series.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the plasma rocuronium concentration in autologous blood transfusion obtained from the cell salvage (CS) system following cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in a university teaching hospital from July to November 2020. Patients undergoing general anesthesia for cardiac surgery with CPB were enrolled in the study.

Clinical significance of TP53 mutations in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.

Adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATL) patients have a poor prognosis. Here, we investigated the impact of TP53 gene mutations on prognosis of ATL treated in different ways. Among 177 patients, we identified 47 single nucleotide variants or insertion-deletions (SNVs/indels) of the TP53 gene in 37 individuals.

Scattered migrating colony formation in the filamentous cyanobacterium, Pseudanabaena sp. NIES-4403.

Background: Bacteria have been reported to exhibit complicated morphological colony patterns on solid media, depending on intracellular, and extracellular factors such as motility, cell propagation, and cell-cell interaction. We isolated the filamentous cyanobacterium, Pseudanabaena sp. NIES-4403 (Pseudanabaena, hereafter), that forms scattered (discrete) migrating colonies on solid media.

Homology length dictates the requirement for Rad51 and Rad52 in gene targeting in the Basidiomycota yeast Naganishia liquefaciens.

Here, we report the development of methodologies that enable genetic modification of a Basidiomycota yeast, Naganishia liquifaciens. The gene targeting method employs electroporation with PCR products flanked by an 80 bp sequence homologous to the target. The method, combined with a newly devised CRISPR-Cas9 system, routinely achieves 80% gene targeting efficiency.

Clinical impact of comprehensive geriatric assessment in patients aged 80 years and older with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma receiving rituximab-mini-CHOP: a single-institute retrospective study.

Purpose: Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) has been used to help identify elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who were suitable for rituximab combined with CHOP therapy (cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin, vincristine, and prednisolone), but there are few reports of CGA for elderly patients with DLBCL who received R-mini-CHOP.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the risk factors for outcomes among 142 patients aged 80 years and older (≤ 85 years, n = 102; > 85 years, n = 40) with DLBCL who received R-mini-CHOP at 4-week intervals at our institute between 2008 and 2019. We performed a comparison between CGA and treatment outcomes.

Immunotactoid Glomerulopathy with Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infection: A Novel Association.

A 70-year-old woman underwent a renal biopsy due to nephrotic syndrome. She had suffered from nontuberculous mycobacterial infection (NTM) for 14 years. The patient was diagnosed as having membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) type 3 and immunoglobulin (Ig)-associated MPGN based upon LM/erythromycin and IF findings, respectively.

Biochemical properties of fission yeast homologous recombination enzymes.

Homologous recombination (HR) is a universal phenomenon conserved from viruses to humans. The mechanisms of HR are essentially the same in humans and simple unicellular eukaryotes like yeast. Two highly diverged yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, have proven exceptionally useful in understanding the fundamental mechanisms of eukaryotic HR by serving as a source for unique biological insights and also complementing each other.

Efficacy of Intraoperative Neuromonitoring Using Transcranial Motor-Evoked Potentials for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: A Prospective Multicenter Study by the Monitoring Committee of the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research.

Study Design: A prospective multicenter observational study.

Objective: To elucidate the efficacy of transcranial motor-evoked potentials (Tc(E)-MEPs) in degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) surgery by comparing cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) to cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and investigate the timing of Tc(E)-MEPs alerts and types of interventions affecting surgical outcomes.

Summary Of Background Data: Although CSM and OPLL are the most commonly encountered diseases of DCM, the benefits of Tc(E)-MEPs for DCM remain unclear and comparisons of these two diseases have not yet been conducted.

Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy after Radioactive Iodine Therapy for Metastatic Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma.

Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) is an inflammation of the extraocular muscles and periorbital connective tissue caused by autoantibodies against common antigens to both the thyroid and orbit. The release of antigens and induction of hypothyroidism caused by radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy may exacerbate TAO. Here, we present the case of a 67-year-old-woman treated with RAI therapy for metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma who presented with TAO during the course of sorafenib administration.

The muscle evoked potential after epidural electrical stimulation of the spinal cord as a monitor for the corticospinal tract: studies by collision technique and double train stimulation.

To study if spinal motor evoked potentials (SpMEPs), muscle responses after electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, can monitor the corticospinal tract. Study 1 comprised 10 consecutive cervical or thoracic myelopathic patients. We recorded three types of muscle responses intraoperatively: (1) transcranial motor evoked potentials (TcMEPs), (2) SpMEPs and (3) SpMEPs + TcMEPs from the abductor hallucis (AH) using train stimulation.

Intraoperative Spinal Cord Monitoring: Focusing on the Basic Knowledge of Orthopedic Spine Surgeon and Neurosurgeon as Members of a Team Performing Spine Surgery under Neuromonitoring.

An intraoperative functional spinal cord monitoring system is a technology used by spine and spinal cord surgeons to perform a safe surgery and to gain further surgical proficiency. However, no existing clinical neurophysiological method used in the operating room can monitor all complex spinal cord functions. Therefore, by observing the activities of certain neural action potentials transferred via limited neural tissues, surgeons need to deductively estimate the function of the whole spinal cord.

Correlative microscopy and block-face imaging (CoMBI) method for both paraffin-embedded and frozen specimens.

Correlative microscopy and block-face imaging (CoMBI), a method that we previously developed, is characterized by the ability to correlate between serial block-face images as 3-dimensional (3D) datasets and sections as 2-dimensional (2D) microscopic images. CoMBI has been performed for the morphological analyses of various biological specimens, and its use is expanding. However, the conventional CoMBI system utilizes a cryostat, which limits its compatibility to only frozen blocks and the resolution of the block-face image.

Azacitidine for the treatment of patients with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

We retrospectively analyzed 38 patients with AML who received azacitidine (AZA) to treat disease relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Patients with objective response (OR) ( = 20) after AZA had significantly higher 2-year overall survival (OS) (45.0% vs 5.

Rrp1 translocase and ubiquitin ligase activities restrict the genome destabilising effects of Rad51 in fission yeast.

Rad51 is the key protein in homologous recombination that plays important roles during DNA replication and repair. Auxiliary factors regulate Rad51 activity to facilitate productive recombination, and prevent inappropriate, untimely or excessive events, which could lead to genome instability. Previous genetic analyses identified a function for Rrp1 (a member of the Rad5/16-like group of SWI2/SNF2 translocases) in modulating Rad51 function, shared with the Rad51 mediator Swi5-Sfr1 and the Srs2 anti-recombinase.

Kitchen elbow sign predicts surgical outcomes in adults with spinal deformity: a retrospective cohort study.

Kitchen elbow sign (KE-Sign) is a skin abnormality on the extensor side of the elbow and forearm that is often observed in patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD). The significance of KE-Sign in surgical cases was investigated. Overall, 114 patients with ASD treated with long spinal fusion were reviewed and divided into KE-Sign positive and negative groups.

Platelet decrease and efficacy of platelet-rich plasma return following peripheral blood stem cell apheresis.

Background: Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation is a key treatment option for hematological diseases and is widely performed in clinical practice. Platelet loss is one of the major complications of PBSC apheresis, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) return is considered in case of platelet decrease following apheresis; however, little is known about the frequency and severity of platelet loss and the efficacy of PRP return postapheresis.

Methods: We assessed changes in platelet counts following PBSC-related apheresis in 270 allogeneic (allo)- and 105 autologous (auto)-PBSC settings.

Total Synthesis of Thuggacin cmc-A and Its Structure Determination.

The first total synthesis of thuggacin cmc-A and the determination of the absolute structure are described. The thuggacin family of antibiotics is of great interest due to the antibiotic activity against . Based on the assumption that seven stereogenic centers in thuggacin cmc-A would share the same stereochemistry as thuggacin-A, all stereogenic centers of thuggacin cmc-A were strictly constructed in a stereocontrolled manner.

Long-term Clinical Outcomes of Microendoscopic Laminotomy for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: A 5-Year Follow-up Study Compared With Conventional Laminoplasty.

Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to characterize the long-term clinical and radiographic results of articular segmental decompression surgery using endoscopy [cervical microendoscopic laminotomy (CMEL)] for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and to compare outcomes to conventional expansive laminoplasty (ELAP).

Summary Of Background Data: The spinal cord compression in CSM consists of a pincer mechanism due to bulging disk and a hypertrophied ligamentum flavum.

Post-translational modification of factors involved in homologous recombination.

DNA is the molecule that stores the chemical instructions necessary for life and its stability is therefore of the utmost importance. Despite this, DNA is damaged by both exogenous and endogenous factors at an alarming frequency. The most severe type of DNA damage is a double-strand break (DSB), in which a scission occurs in both strands of the double helix, effectively dividing a single normal chromosome into two pathological chromosomes.

Clinicopathological findings of systemic Epstein-Barr virus-positive T-lymphoproliferative diseases in younger and older adults.

Background: Systemic Epstein-Barr virus T-cell lymphoma (sEBV TCL) occurs in childhood and young adults, and is exceptionally rare in older adults.

Methods: We investigated clinicopathological features in 16 patients of various ages with systemic EBV CD8 T-lymphoproliferative diseases.

Results: Eight younger patients and four of eight older adults had sEBV CD8 TCL, with invasion by medium-sized to/or large atypical lymphocytes primarily in bone marrow and lymph nodes, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), and progressive clinicopathological course.

Optimal Anchor at the Uppermost Instrumented Vertebra in Long Fusion From the Pelvis to the Lower Thoracic Spine in Elderly Patients With Degenerative Spinal Deformity: Hook Versus Pedicle Screw.

Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare pedicle screws (PSs) and transverse process hooks (TPHs) as anchors at the uppermost instrumented vertebra (UIV) in the lower thoracic spine in elderly patients with adult spinal deformity.

Summary Of Background Data: Less-rigid fixation using hooks at the UIV are thought to best prevent proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) in long spinal fusion surgery.

Effects of Preoperative Motor Status on Intraoperative Motor-evoked Potential Monitoring for High-risk Spinal Surgery: A Prospective Multicenter Study.

Study Design: Prospective multicenter observational study.

Objective: To evaluate transcranial motor-evoked potentials (Tc-MEPs) baseline characteristics of lower limb muscles and to determine the accuracy of Tc-MEPs monitoring based on preoperative motor status in surgery for high-risk spinal disease.

Summary Of Background Data: Neurological complications are potentially serious side effects in surgery for high-risk spine disease.