Effect of Proteolytic Modification on Texture and Mastication of Heat-Treated Egg White Gels.

Unlabelled: Raw egg white undergoes sol-gel transition by heat treatment, which changes it to an elastic gel. Here, protease treatment to render a new texture to heated egg white gel was applied. Protease-treated gels exhibited ductile flow without obvious rupture points.

Primary Palatoplasty for Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Using Mucosal Grafts and Flaps.

The mucosal graft and flaps method (MG method) is a palatoplasty technique that was developed for the purpose of improving maxillary growth in patients with cleft palate. In the MG method, full-thickness buccal mucosa is grafted onto the raw surface created by pushback palatoplasty. The method is unlikely to result in severe scarring and has a favorable effect on maxillary growth.

Efficacy and safety of sorafenib in very elderly patients aged 80 years and older with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: Sorafenib is the standard systemic therapy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of sorafenib therapy in very elderly patients aged 80 years and older with advanced HCC.

Methods: In a retrospective multicenter study in Japan, we reviewed 185 patients (median age, 71 years; 82% male; 95% Child-Pugh class A) with advanced HCC who received sorafenib therapy.

Identification of bitterness-masking compounds from cheese.

Bitterness-masking compounds were identified in a natural white mold cheese. The oily fraction of the cheese was extracted and further fractionated by using silica gel column chromatography. The four fractions obtained were characterized by thin-layer chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Adoptive cellular therapy enhances the helper T cell response and reduces the number of regulatory T cells.

It remains to be clarified whether adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) in patients with advanced cancer, in whom strong immunosuppression and immune-escape mechanisms are established, has the potential to alter cytokine secretion from blood cells and affect the number of regulatory T cells (Tregs). In this study, the secretion of cytokines from peripheral blood cells and the number of peripheral blood Tregs were analyzed before and after ACT. Blood samples were collected from 109 consecutive cancer patients who received ACT, which consisted of anti-CD3 stimulated lymphokine-activated killer cells.