Fermented food Tempeh induces interleukin 12 and enhances macrophage phagocytosis.

It is known that lactic acid bacteria induce the IL-12. The IL-12 activates NK cells and promotes the production of IFN-γ. The IFN-γ activates macrophages resulting in enhanced phagocytosis and bactericidal activity.

[A Case of Advanced Esophagogastric Junction Cancer Responding to S-1 Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy].

A 56-year-old man was diagnosed with advanced adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. He received 1 course of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with S-1. After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the primary tumor showed a remarkable decrease in size.

Therapeutic depletion of myeloid lineage leukocytes by adsorptive apheresis for psoriatic arthritis: Efficacy of a non-drug intervention for patients refractory to pharmacologics.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a chronic inflammatory arthropathy associated with psoriasis, is an intractable immune disorder and refractory to pharmacological intervention. We assessed efficacy of selective depletion of myeloid lineage leukocytes in patients with PsA in a multicenter setting. A total of 20 patients with moderate to severe PsA refractory to conventional and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were included.

Direct visualization of pancreatic juice flow using unenhanced MRI with spin labeling can be aid in diagnosing chronic pancreatitis.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to prospectively assess whether direct visualization of pancreatic juice flow using an unenhanced MRI technique with spin labeling can aid in the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

Subjects And Methods: Ten healthy volunteers and 50 patients who were categorized as having no chronic pancreatitis (n = 11), early chronic pancreatitis (n = 7), or established chronic pancreatitis (n = 32) underwent MRI, including direct pancreatic juice visualization using a flow-out technique with a time-spatial labeling inversion pulse, comprising a nonselective inversion recovery pulse immediately followed by a spatially selective inversion labeling pulse. The mean velocities and volumes of pancreatic juice excretion were also obtained.

Visualization of pancreatic juice movement using unenhanced MR imaging with spin labeling: preliminary results in normal and pathophysiologic conditions.

Purpose: To visualize the movement of pancreatic juice noninvasively by using an unenhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technique.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained for this study. A flow-out technique of time-spatial labeling inversion pulse (SLIP) technique was applied using both nonselective and selective inversion pulses to label, or tag, pancreatic juice to move out of the region.

Diagnostic efficacy of the cell block method in comparison with smear cytology of tissue samples obtained by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration.

Background: The diagnostic efficacy of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) cytology may vary greatly depending on the treatment of the samples obtained and the level of proficiency of the cytopathologist or cytoscreener.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of the cell block (CB) method and that of smear cytology using tissue samples obtained in the same needle pass at EUS-FNA in 33 patients with pancreatic tumors, abdominal tumors or swollen lymph nodes. An average of 3.

High b-value diffusion-weighted MRI for detecting gallbladder carcinoma: preliminary study and results.

The aim of this preliminary study was to retrospectively evaluate the usefulness of high b-value diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) in the detection of gallbladder carcinoma. Fifteen patients with gallbladder carcinoma and 14 other patients were included in this study. All patients and subjects underwent DWI, and images were evaluated by two radiologists.

[Pathological complete response in an elderly patient with locally advanced gastric cancer treated with S-1/CDDP].

We report a patient with locally advanced gastric carcinoma successfully treated with S-1/CDDP. The patient was a 77-year-old woman who had gastric cancer surgically diagnosed as T4N2, invading the pancreas and mesocolon. After the firsts exploratory laparotomy, chemotherapy was begun as follows.

X-ray telescope onboard Astro-E. III. Guidelines to performance improvements and optimization of the ray-tracing simulator.

We present a detailed study of the performance of the Astro-E x-ray telescope (XRT) onboard the Astro-E satellite. As described in preceding papers the ground-based calibrations of the Astro-E XRT revealed that its image quality and effective area are somewhat worse than that expected from the original design. Conceivable causes for such performance degradation are examined by x-ray and optical microscopic measurements at various levels, such as individual reflectors, sectors, and quadrants of the XRT and their alignments.

Autoimmune pancreatitis and multiple bile duct strictures treated effectively with steroid.

We herein report a patient with strictures of the hepatic hilar and intrapancreatic bile duct associated with autoimmune pancreatitis, who responded well to corticosteroid therapy. Although this bile duct lesion resembled primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) morphologically,its dramatic response to corticosteroid therapy seems to indicate that it is a different entity. A review of the literature revealed 13 patients with multiple biliary strictures and chronic pancreatitis successfully treated with corticosteroid therapy.

Characterization of the supermirror hard-x-ray telescope for the InFOCmuS balloon experiment.

A hard-x-ray telescope is successfully produced for balloon observations by making use of depth-graded multilayers, or so-called supermirrors, with platinum-carbon (Pt/C) layer pairs. It consists of four quadrant units assembled in an optical configuration with a diameter of 40 cm and a focal length of 8 m. Each quadrant is made of 510 pieces of coaxially and confocally aligned supermirrors that significantly enhance the sensitivity in an energy range of 20-40 keV.

Spindle cell angiosarcoma following irradiation therapy for cervical carcinoma.

Background: Angiosarcomas arise in the scalp and face in the elderly, in association with chronic lymphedema (Stewart-Treves syndrome), and in irradiated areas. Rarely in these settings, angiosarcomas exhibit pure spindle cell phenotype.

Methods: Herein, the clinicopathologic features of a 72-year-old-woman with spindle cell angiosarcoma are described.