Novel Virus Air Sampler Based on Electrostatic Precipitation and Air Sampling of SARS-CoV-2.

The assessment of airborne viruses in air is a critical step in the design of appropriate prevention and control measures. Hence, herein, we developed a novel wet-type electrostatic air sampler using a viral dissolution buffer containing a radical scavenging agent, and verified the concentration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in the air of hospital rooms inhabiting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and public areas. RNA damage caused by corona discharge was negligible when Buffer AVL was used as the collecting electrode.

Reducing the risk of developing walled-off necrosis in patients with acute necrotic collection using recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin.

Background/purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possibility of reducing clinical impacts of acute necrotic collection (ANC) on patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) using recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin (rTM).

Methods: In this retrospective multicenter study, 233 consecutive AP patients with ANC and acute peripancreatic fluid collection (APFC) from 2012 to 2016 were enrolled. To assess clinical impacts of ANC, severity on admission (JPN score, JPN CT grade, and Modified CT severity index), development of walled-off necrosis (WON), imaging costs for follow-up, and mortality were recorded.

A Phase 1 Study of KHK4083: A Single-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Single-Ascending-Dose Study in Healthy Adults and an Open-Label Multiple-Dose Study in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis.

OX40 plays an essential role in maintaining late T-cell proliferation and survival by suppressing apoptosis and by inducing T-cell memory formation. Here, we report the results of the phase 1 study of KHK4083, a fully human antimonoclonal antibody specific for OX40. In this study, we aimed to assess the safety and tolerability of a single intravenous or subcutaneous administration of KHK4083 compared with placebo in healthy Japanese and Caucasian subjects and determined the pharmacokinetics (PK) and immunogenicity.

[Prediction of pancreatitis following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography].

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if the difference in serum amylase levels prior to, and two hours following, an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), or the ratio of the two-hour post-ERCP amylase level to the pre-ERCP amylase level was a better predictor of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP).

Methods: This was a retrospective, single-center study of consecutive patients, who underwent ERCP between April 2015 and August 2018. Serum amylase was measured before and two hours following ERCP.

Long-term safety and efficacy of lanreotide autogel in Japanese patients with neuroendocrine tumors: Final results of a phase II open-label extension study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the long-term safety and efficacy of lanreotide in Japanese patients with neuroendocrine tumors.

Methods: The final analyses of a 48-week open-label phase II study (n = 32) and its extension study (n = 17) were conducted. Patients received 4-weekly subcutaneous injections of lanreotide autogel 120 mg.

Integrated GWAS and mRNA Microarray Analysis Identified IFNG and CD40L as the Central Upstream Regulators in Primary Biliary Cholangitis.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in European and East Asian populations have identified more than 40 disease-susceptibility genes in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). The aim of this study is to computationally identify disease pathways, upstream regulators, and therapeutic targets in PBC through integrated GWAS and messenger RNA (mRNA) microarray analysis. Disease pathways and upstream regulators were analyzed with ingenuity pathway analysis in data set 1 for GWASs (1,920 patients with PBC and 1,770 controls), which included 261 annotated genes derived from 6,760 single-nucleotide polymorphisms ( < 0.

Risk Factors for Delayed Bleeding after Therapeutic Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in Patients Receiving Oral Anticoagulants: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Background/aims: Delayed bleeding is among the adverse events associated with therapeutic gastrointestinal endoscopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors for delayed bleeding after gastrointestinal endoscopic resection in patients receiving oral anticoagulants as well as to compare the rates of occurrence of delayed bleeding between the oral anticoagulants used.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a total of 772 patients receiving anticoagulants.

POGLUT1, the putative effector gene driven by rs2293370 in primary biliary cholangitis susceptibility locus chromosome 3q13.33.

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic and cholestatic autoimmune liver disease caused by the destruction of intrahepatic small bile ducts. Our previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified six susceptibility loci for PBC. Here, in order to further elucidate the genetic architecture of PBC, a GWAS was performed on an additional independent sample set, then a genome-wide meta-analysis with our previous GWAS was performed based on a whole-genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) imputation analysis of a total of 4,045 Japanese individuals (2,060 cases and 1,985 healthy controls).

Serum IFN-λ3 Levels Correlate with Serum Hepatitis C Virus RNA Levels in Symptomatic Patients with Acute Hepatitis C.

Background: Recent genome-wide association studies demonstrated that 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), upstream of the interferon-λ (IFNL) 3 gene, are associated with the spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in symptomatic patients with acute hepatitis C (AHC). Although these 2 SNPs, rs8099917 and rs12979860, have established their significant roles in the innate immunity response to spontaneously clear HCV in patients with AHC, the detailed mechanisms of their roles remain largely unknown.

Aim: This study is aimed at clarifying the factors affecting IFNL3 production and assessing the roles of IFNL3 in AHC.

[Selection of regimens for patients with hepatitis C virus genotype/serotype discrepancy].

In the present study, the usefulness of the resistance-associated variant (RAV) analysis to select direct acting antiviral (DAA) drugs for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype/serotype discrepancy was evaluated. The core-genotype and serotype were determined in the 559 patients recruited in the study. The RAV analysis and NS5B-genotype determination were performed in the eight patients who exhibited a genotype/serotype discrepancy.

Antithrombin III for portal vein thrombosis in patients with liver disease: A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

Aim: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is one of the most critical disorders in liver disease patients. These patients have the imbalance of coagulation and coagulation inhibition resulting from decreased levels of coagulation inhibitory factors, such as protein C, protein S, and antithrombin III (AT-III). We designed this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing the safety and efficacy of AT-III for PVT in liver disease patients with those who received no treatment.

Early diagnosis of pancreatic necrosis based on perfusion CT to predict the severity of acute pancreatitis.

Background: Perfusion CT can diagnose pancreatic necrosis in early stage of severe acute pancreatitis, accurately. However, no study to date has examined whether early diagnosis of pancreatic necrosis is useful in predicting persistent organ failure (POF).

Methods: We performed a multi-center prospective observational cohort study to investigate whether perfusion CT can predict the development of POF in the early stage of AP, based on early diagnosis of the development of pancreatic necrosis (PN).

Risk factors for developing colorectal cancer in Japanese patients with ulcerative colitis: a retrospective observational study-CAPITAL (Cohort and Practice for IBD total management in Kyoto-Shiga Links) study I.

Background And Aims: Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) are at risk for developing colorectal cancer (CRC), despite the development of new therapeutic agents. Stratification of the individual UC-patient's risk would be helpful to validate the risk factors for CRC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for the development of CRC in a large cohort of patients with UC.

Inhibition of hepatocellular carcinoma by PegIFNα-2a in patients with chronic hepatitis C: a nationwide multicenter cooperative study.

Background: We investigated whether the administration of maintenance doses of interferon prevented hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Methods: Study 1: A multicenter, retrospective, cooperative study was carried out to determine whether long-term administration of low-dose peginterferon alpha-2a (PegIFNα-2a) prevented HCC development in patients with chronic hepatitis C. In total, 594 chronic hepatitis C patients without a history of HCC were enrolled and treated with 90 μg PegIFNα-2a administered weekly or bi-weekly for at least 1 year.

Dual therapy for third-line Helicobacter pylori eradication and urea breath test prediction.

We evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of a dual therapy with rabeprazole and amoxicillin (AMX) as an empiric third-line rescue therapy. In patients with failure of first-line treatment with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-AMX-clarithromycin regimen and second-line treatment with the PPI-AMX-metronidazole regimen, a third-line eradication regimen with rabeprazole (10 mg q.i.

[A case of epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver: detection by FDG-PET].

A 57 year-old woman was admitted for focal accumulation of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in the liver detected by positron emission tomography (PET). A 25- mm hypovascular tumor was detected by computed tomography. Tumor biopsy revealed many atypical cells with positive staining for factor VIII-related-antigen in sinusoids.

Risk of HCV transmission after needlestick injury, and the efficacy of short-duration interferon administration to prevent HCV transmission to medical personnel.

Background: We carried out this study to assess the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission after needlestick injuries in medical personnel, and to evaluate the efficacy of short-duration interferon administration to prevent HCV transmission.

Methods: A total of 684 personnel who had been occupationally exposed to an anti-HCV-positive source and followed for more than 3 months were retrospectively examined.

Results: Of the 684 subjects, 279 (41%) were treated with 1 to 3 days of interferon either just after or 1 to 12 days after the injury.

The usefulness of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy in comparison with that of open distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer.

Background: The technique of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) was developed for early gastric cancer, but its feasibility and the associated clinical outcome remain unclear.

Methods: We reviewed 24 patients who underwent LADG (LADG group) and 35 patients who underwent traditional open distal gastrectomy (ODG group) for early gastric cancer in our hospital, and compared the clinical data of the two groups.

Results: The clinical and pathological backgrounds of the patients in the two groups were similar.

FDG uptake, GLUT-1 glucose transporter and cellularity in human pancreatic tumors.

Unlabelled: We previously reported that grading of GLUT-1 glucose transporter expression was related closely to FDG accumulation in FDG PET in human cancers. But in this strong GLUT-1 expression group, there was an enormous range of standardized uptake values (SUVs) within them.

Methods: To evaluate other factors determining the FDG PET uptake, FDG PET was performed in 36 preoperative patients (mean age 62.

Antitumor effect of transcatheter oily chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma assessed by computed tomography: role of iodized oil.

The efficacy of transcatheter oily chemoembolization (TOCE) was evaluated in 82 patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by computed tomography more than 6 months after TOCE. A doxorubicin in oil emulsion (DOE) was administered to 42 cases and an epirubicin in oil emulsion (EOE) was administered to 40 cases. No significant differences were found in the patient background characteristics between the DOE-treated group and the EOE-treated group.