Ulcerative Colitis Preceding Asymptomatic Wilson's Disease: A Case Report and Literature Review.

An 11-year-old girl with quiescent ulcerative colitis had sustained elevation of liver enzymes. Although she had no clinical symptoms suggestive of Wilson's disease, such as Kayser-Fleischer rings, laboratory data showed decreased serum copper and ceruloplasmin levels and increased urinary copper excretion. Genetic testing showed pathogenic variants in allele 1: c.

Optically enhanced pump-phase noise in mid-link optical parametric phase conjugation.

This paper discusses the impact of pump-phase noise in the χ-based optical parametric amplification process on the phase-conjugated idler. We show that the dispersive fiber propagation of the phase-conjugated idler causes the optically enhanced pump-phase noise (OEPN) effect including a group-velocity jitter. The signal penalty caused by the OEPN in the mid-link optical phase conjugation systems was quantified analytically and proved by numerical simulations.

The improvement of a refractory enterocutaneous fistula with colchicine in a patient with Crohn's disease who had an MEFV gene mutation.

Enterocutaneous fistulas (ECFs) occurring in the setting of Crohn's disease (CD) are difficult to cure with medical treatment alone and affects a patient's quality of life. A 39-year-old man was diagnosed with an ileocolitis-type CD in 2007. His inflammation was insufficiently controlled despite the administration of an anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha antibody.

Thyroid Cancer With Autocrine Sialyl-fibronectin Depletion Has a Poor Prognosis due to EMT Progression.

Background/aim: Elevated blood fibronectin (FN) levels have been observed in various cancers; however, their significance remains controversial. Herein, we measured the levels of sialyl-fibronectin (S-FN), a type of FN secreted by tumor cells, and investigated whether blood S-FN secretion is associated with recurrent metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

Patients And Methods: An ELISA system recognizing S-FN was constructed, and the amount of S-FN in blood samples from 63 patients with thyroid carcinoma was measured.

Preoperative dual-energy computed tomography and positron-emission tomography evaluation of lymph node metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: To investigate the detectability of lymph node metastasis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma using a combination of dual-energy computed tomography (CT) and positron-emission tomography (PET) parameters.

Methods: We analyzed dual-energy CT and PET preoperative data in 27 consecutive patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (23 men, 4 women; mean age, 73.7 years).

Cryptic cytoplasmic male sterility-causing gene in the mitochondrial genome of common japonica rice.

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is an agronomically significant trait that causes dysfunction in pollen and anther development. It is often observed during successive backcrossing between distantly related species. Here, we show that Asian japonica cultivars (Oryza sativa) exhibit CMS when the nucleus is replaced with that of the African rice Oryza glaberrima.

Muscle regeneration therapy using dedifferentiated fat cell (DFAT) for anal sphincter dysfunction.

Purpose: We investigated the effects of mouse-derived DFAT on the myogenic differentiation of a mouse-derived myoblast cell line (C2C12) and examined the therapeutic effects of rat-derived DFAT on anal sphincter injury using a rat model.

Methods: C2C12 cells were cultured using DMEM and DFAT-conditioned medium (DFAT-CM), evaluating MyoD and Myogenin gene expression via RT-PCR. DFAT was locally administered to model rats with anorectal sphincter dysfunction 3 days post-CTX injection.

Usefulness of central venous catheter replacement with a guidewire in patients with intestinal failure: a single-center study.

Purpose: Patients with intestinal failure (IF) require long-term parenteral nutrition using central venous catheters (CVCs), which often require replacement. We adopted a less fallible guidewire replacement (GWR) method and verified its effectiveness and validity.

Methods: We enrolled 108 cases that underwent a CVC replacement with "GWR" method with IF at our department between 2013 and 2023.

Utility of the web excision with pre-membranous incision for congenital intestinal atresia-type I and stenosis.

Purpose: This study analyzed the efficacy of web excision combined with a pre-membranous incision on the dilated proximal segment for congenital intestinal atresia with type I and stenosis (CIA-I/S).

Patients And Methods: Twenty-six patients underwent surgery for CIA-I/S from January 1990 to June 2022. Patients were categorized into 3 groups according to the surgical procedure: Group A, web excision with pre-membranous incision of the dilated intestine (n = 14); Group B, enteroplasty with a trans-membranous vertical incision (n = 7) and Group C, diamond-shaped anastomosis (n = 5).

Therapeutic potential of dedifferentiated fat cells in a rat model of osteoarthritis of the knee.

Introduction: Mature adipocyte-derived dedifferentiated fat cells (DFATs) represent a subtype of multipotent cells that exhibit comparable phenotypic and functional characteristics to adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). In this study, we assessed the chondroprotective properties of intra-articularly administrated DFATs in a rat model of osteoarthritis (OA). We also investigated in vitro the expression of anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective genes in DFATs prepared from the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) and subcutaneous adipose-tissue (SC) of human origin.

Clinical performance of fecal calprotectin, lactoferrin, and hemoglobin for evaluating the disease activity of IBD and detecting colorectal tumors.

Background And Aim: Recently, noninvasive fecal markers have been used as indicators of intestinal inflammation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We conducted a clinical validation study to measure fecal calprotectin (Cp), lactoferrin (Lf), and hemoglobin (Hb) levels using an all-in-one kit in patients with IBD and colorectal tumors and aimed to clarify the utility of these fecal markers.

Methods: In this study, 104 patients were analyzed, including 25 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), 20 with Crohn's disease (CD), 48 with colorectal tumors, and 13 healthy controls (HC).

Cytokine Profile in Predicting the Effectiveness of Advanced Therapy for Ulcerative Colitis: A Narrative Review.

Cytokine-targeted therapies have shown efficacy in treating patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), but responses to these advanced therapies can vary. This variability may be due to differences in cytokine profiles among patients with UC. While the etiology of UC is not fully understood, abnormalities of the cytokine profiles are deeply involved in its pathophysiology.

Effectiveness and Persistency of Ustekinumab Treatment for Ulcerative Colitis: A Phoenix retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Real-world data regarding ustekinumab (UST) for ulcerative colitis (UC) particularly in biologics-naïve patients is currently limited. This study aimed to elucidate the real-world effectiveness and safety of UST for UC.

Methods: Overall, 150 patients with UC treated with UST from March 2020 to January 2023 were enrolled across 7 referral hospitals.

Impact of climate change and oligotrophication on quality and quantity of lake primary production: A case study in Lake Biwa.

Global climate change and anthropogenic oligotrophication are expected to reshape the dynamics of primary production (PP) in aquatic ecosystems; however, few studies have explored their long-term effects. In theory, the PP of phytoplankton in Lake Biwa may decline over decades due to warming, heightened stratification, and anthropogenic oligotrophication. Furthermore, the PP of large phytoplankton, which are inedible to zooplankton, along with biomass-specific productivity (PBc), could decrease.

Transmission of signal and idler using optical parametric amplifier based on PPLN waveguide.

In this study, we attempted the repeated transmission of S-band signals by compensating for the loss of the transmission fiber using an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) based on a periodically poled LiNbO waveguide. We examined and compared the two configurations. The first method involved wavelength conversion of the signal to an idler, while the second method amplified the signal itself.

The mitochondrial and plastid genomes of L. cv. Taichung 65.

A highly contiguous mitochondrial and plastid genome sequences of a rice cultivar, Taichung 65, were determined by a hybrid approach with long- and short-read sequences. The assembled mitochondrial genome was 465,453 bases in length with an overall GC content of 43.8%.

Translational enhancement of target endogenous mRNA in mammalian cells using programmable RNA-binding pentatricopeptide repeat proteins.

Programmable protein scaffolds are invaluable in the development of genome engineering tools. The pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein is an attractive platform for RNA manipulation because of its programmable RNA-binding selectivity, which is determined by the combination of amino acid species at three specific sites in the PPR motif. Translation is a key RNA regulatory step that determines the final gene expression level and is involved in various human diseases.

Long-term effectiveness and safety of infliximab-biosimilar: A multicenter Phoenix retrospective cohort study.

Background: Infliximab (IFX) effectively treats patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IFX-biosimilar (IFX-BS) has the same amino acid sequence as that of the IFX originator, and its increasing use is expected to reduce national healthcare costs. Long-term efficacy and safety of IFX-BS in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) have not been completely investigated.

[Inter-laboratory Study on the Modified Methods for Analyzing Bisphenol A Content for Migration Tests from Polycarbonate Food Apparatuses, Containers, and Packaging].

An inter-laboratory study involving 24 laboratories was conducted to validate the modified analytical method for the migration solution of heptane for the determination of bisphenol A migrating from polycarbonate food processing materials. In this study, two concentrations of samples were blindly coded. Each laboratory determined the analyte (bisphenol A, phenol and p-tert-butylphenol) concentration in each sample according to the established protocol.