Important Role of Ultrasonography Immediately After Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy of Thyroid Nodules to Detect Acute Transient Thyroid Swelling.

Objective: We aimed to determine whether early detection of acute transient thyroid swelling (ATTS) is possible using ultrasonography (US) surveillance immediately after fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and discuss the usefulness of routine US after FNAB.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the incidence, clinical features, and US and computed tomography findings of ATTS in patients with thyroid nodules who underwent FNABs at our hospital. The study period was divided into two time periods: only symptomatic patients after FNAB were examined using US in the first period (period A: January 2016 to November 2020), whereas all patients were routinely examined using US shortly after FNAB in the second period (period B: December 2020 to December 2022).

Fourier-transform THz spectroscopy based on electric-field interferometry using THz-PMT.

We demonstrate a high dynamic range (DR) Fourier-transform-based terahertz (THz) spectrometer by combining a THz photomultiplier tube (PMT) with a metasurface and a conventional Michelson interferometer. Because the THz-PMT response depends on the incident electric-field strength following the Fowler-Nordheim equation, we can directly obtain an electric field interferogram without any synchronized optical probe pulse in contrast to conventional THz-time-domain-spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The DR of the corresponding power spectrum using the proposed method was 4.

Multiple angiosarcomas of both breasts: a case report.

Background: Primary angiosarcomas of the breast are rare and highly aggressive. We herein report a rare case of multiple angiosarcomas detected concurrently in both breasts.

Case Presentation: A 49-year-old woman visited a doctor after noticing a lump in her right breast.

Overlapping-plasty technique for pulmonary artery aneurysm.

Massive pulmonary artery aneurysms, while extremely rare, might require surgical intervention. Most previous cases have been repaired either by pulmonary artery plication or synthetic graft replacement. We report a case of massive pulmonary artery aneurysm that was successfully repaired using an 'overlapping-plasty' technique with the help of 3D image simulation.

Portal circle.

Highlight A 51-year-old man was referred for further evaluation of a hepatic anomaly detected on abdominal ultrasonography. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed an extremely rare portal venous anomaly, almost like a 'portal circle'. Ataka and colleagues present the first report of this type of anomaly and describe it from an embryological perspective.

Work environment for hospital nurses in Japan: The relationships between nurses' perceptions of their work environment and nursing outcomes.

Aim: To investigate nurses' perceptions of their work environment and to investigate the relationships between variables measuring the work environment (WE) and nursing outcomes (NO ).

Design: A 2-year prospective longitudinal survey (2013-2015).

Method(s): Descriptive statistics of nurse demographics, organizational WE and NOs were calculated by position.

[Relationship between prolonged media usage and lifestyle habits among junior and senior high school students].

Objective　In recent years, the long-term use of media (including the Internet, video games, and social networking services) at a young age has been regarded as a problem. It has been pointed out that prolonged media usage may have an undesirable effect on the growth of adolescents from the physical, mental, and social perspectives. Junior and senior high school students are in a particularly important period of self-management of the basic lifestyle habits acquired thus far.

High-Resolution Crystal Structure of Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS T Illuminates Its Phospholipid-Binding Site in Flowering.

Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) is a pivotal component of florigen, a long-range mobile flowering signal. Here, we determined the 1.0 Å-resolution crystal structure of FT, a significantly higher-resolution crystal structure of FT than previously reported one (2.

The Speed of Sound in Rat Liver With Steatohepatitis: Ex Vivo Analysis Using Two Types of Ultrasound Systems.

We have previously reported a non-invasive method that would be clinically applicable for measurement of speed of sound (SOS) in the liver. The objective of the present study was to confirm the utility of this new method for assessing over time the SOS in liver with progressive steatohepatitis of different grades and stages. Rats were divided into two groups-a control group and a steatohepatitis group-prepared by keeping the rats on a methionine and choline-deficient diet for 43 wk.

Activation of Endogenous Retroviruses in Dnmt1(-/-) ESCs Involves Disruption of SETDB1-Mediated Repression by NP95 Binding to Hemimethylated DNA.

Repression of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in mammals involves several epigenetic mechanisms. Acute loss of the maintenance methyltransferase Dnmt1 induces widespread DNA demethylation and transcriptional activation of ERVs, including CpG-rich IAP (intracisternal A particle) proviruses. Here, we show that this effect is not due simply to a loss of DNA methylation.

A new method for measuring the speed of sound in rat liver ex vivo using an ultrasound system: correlation of sound speed with fat deposition.

The speed of sound correlates well with the fat content of the liver. Therefore, non-invasive quantification of sound speed in the liver might be of diagnostic value. Here we describe a new non-invasive method that would be clinically applicable for measurement of sound speed in the liver.

Development of a scale measuring the job satisfaction of Japanese hospital nurses.

Aim: This study attempts to develop a scale measuring job satisfaction in Japanese hospital nurses.

Methods: The authors developed items for a new scale measuring job satisfaction and determined the scale's internal and external validity. Based on this analysis, the authors then modified the scale after conducting two surveys.

[Annuloaortic ectasia associated with antithrombin III deficiency; report of a case].

A 33-year-old male with hereditary deficiency of antithrombin III (AT III) was diagnosed with annuloaortic ectasia and scheduled for the aortic root replacement. As perioperative anticoagulation, AT III was administered to have its activity≥70% in addition to heparin. During the operation with cardiopulmonary bypass, 3,000 IU of AT III concentrate was infused, and there was no hemorrhagic complication.

Factors relating to doctors' desire to change hospitals in Japan.

Purpose: This study seeks to investigate doctors' desire to change the hospital where they work to sustain higher quality care.

Design/methodology/approach: Self-administered questionnaires were sent to doctors in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Data were analyzed using univariate and logistic regression analysis and recursive partitioning.

[Mycotic aortic aneurysm due to Streptococcus pneumoniae: a case report and review of literature].

Mycotic aortic aneurysm due to Streptococcus pneumoniae is rare. The case of we report occurred in 62-year-old man with no antecedent infection admitted for appetite loss and lower leg edema. Chest and abdominal computed tomography, blood culture, and gene analysis to detec arterial wall pneumococci led to a diagnosis of mycotic aortic aneurysm caused by S.

Novel dihydrothieno[2,3-e]indazole derivatives as IκB kinase inhibitors.

Synthesis, and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies of the novel IKK-β inhibitors 2 and 3 characterized by a dihydrothieno[2,3-e]indazole core are presented. Compound 2t was efficacious in a mouse model of LPS-stimulated TNF-α production.

Expression and localization of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in normal and proteinuric kidney glomeruli.

Aim: Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) acts on target cells in an endocrine and/or local manner through the IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR), and its actions are modulated by multiple IGF binding proteins (IGFBP). To elucidate the roles of local IGFBP in kidney glomeruli, the expression and localization of their genes were examined and compared with normal and proteinuric kidney glomeruli.

Methods: A cDNA microarray database (MAd-761) was constructed using human kidney glomeruli and cortices.

Computer analysis system of the physician-patient consultation process.

Purpose: Measurements of the quality of physician-patient communication are important in assessing patient outcomes, but the quality of communication is difficult to quantify. The aim of this paper is to develop a computer analysis system for the physician-patient consultation process (CASC), which will use a quantitative method to quantify and analyze communication exchanges between physicians and patients during the consultation process.

Design/methodology/approach: CASC is based on the concept of narrative-based medicine using a computer-mediated communication (CMC) technique from a cognitive dialog processing system.

Expression of the chemokine fractalkine (FKN/CX3CL1) by podocytes in normal and proteinuric rat kidney glomerulus.

Background/aims: A chemokine fractalkine (FKN/CX3CL1) is induced primarily by endothelial cells and accumulates inflammatory cells via its receptor CX3CR1. Since glomerular preferential expression of FKN/CX3CL1 gene was reported in normal human kidney, we presumed FKN/CX3CL1 might play some roles in glomerular physiology. The purpose of this study is to examine the expression and localization of FKN/CX3CL1 in normal and proteinuric glomeruli.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor has no adverse effects on atherosclerotic lesions in high cholesterol-fed miniature Swine.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is widely used to mobilize peripheral blood stem cells, and expected to restore cardiac function for patients with coronary artery diseases as a consequence of progression of atherosclerosis. Safety issues related to the administration of G-CSF to these patients, however, are still under study. The animal model for atherosclerosis was produced by feeding miniature swine a high-cholesterol diet for 3 months.

Nucleotide-sugar transporter SLC35D1 is critical to chondroitin sulfate synthesis in cartilage and skeletal development in mouse and human.

Proteoglycans are a family of extracellular macromolecules comprised of glycosaminoglycan chains of a repeated disaccharide linked to a central core protein. Proteoglycans have critical roles in chondrogenesis and skeletal development. The glycosaminoglycan chains found in cartilage proteoglycans are primarily composed of chondroitin sulfate.

Neuronal and glial accumulation of alpha- and beta-synucleins in human lipidoses.

A number of the lysosomal storage diseases that have now been characterized are associated with intra-lysosomal accumulation of lipids, caused by defective lysosomal enzymes. We have previously reported neuronal accumulation of both alpha- and beta-synucleins in brain tissue of a GM2 gangliosidosis mouse model. Although alpha-synuclein has been implicated in several neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy, its functions remain largely unclear.

Anti-perforin antibody treatment ameliorates experimental crescentic glomerulonephritis in WKY rats.

The depletion of CD8+ cells has been shown to prevent the initiation and progression of antiglomerular basement membrane (GBM) crescentic glomerulonephritis (GN) in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. In this study, we asked whether CD8+ cells produce their effects by perforin/granzyme-mediated or by Fas ligand (FasL)-mediated pathways. The glomerular mRNA expression of perforin and granzyme B corresponded with the number of CD8+ cells, whereas that of granzyme A, Fas, and FasL did not.