Impact of body surface area on efficacy and safety in patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer treated with osimertinib as a first-line treatment.

Background: The most recommended treatment for stage IV EGFR-positive lung cancer is osimertinib monotherapy. The dosage of osimertinib is fixed at 80 mg/day regardless of body surface area (BSA), however some patients withdraw or reduce the dosage due to adverse events (AEs).

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 98 patients with EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), who received 80 mg osimertinib as the initial treatment.

Pilot study of aerosols visualized and evaluated in a radiotherapy room.

Health care institutions provide prevention strategies for coronavirus disease 2019 and non-infectious disease care. We investigated the characteristics of patient contamination in a radiotherapy room by examining the trajectory and number of airborne particles in the air when talking and coughing occurred and clarified the actual state of contamination in this closed space. Aerosols were visualized and evaluated in the vertical height and head-to-tail width directions when the participant was lying on the radiotherapy tabletop.

The Effectiveness of a Liver Disease Education Class for Providing Information to Patients and Their Families.

Background: We have been conducting liver disease education classes regularly in our hospital for the purpose of providing health information to patients and their families.

Methods: In order to evaluate the effectiveness of these classes, we conducted a questionnaire survey of patients and family members who attended the classes held three times in 2012. The cumulative total number of participants was 80 (49 patients, 26 family members, and five others).

Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary patterns of the order Collodaria (Radiolaria).

Collodaria are the only group of Radiolaria that has a colonial lifestyle. This group is potentially the most important plankton in the oligotrophic ocean because of its large biomass and the high primary productivity associated with the numerous symbionts inside a cell or colony. The evolution of Collodaria could thus be related to the changes in paleo-productivity that have affected organic carbon fixation in the oligotrophic ocean.

Effects of topical application of ibudilast for seasonal allergic conjunctivitis in patients wearing soft contact lenses.

Purpose: To assess the influence of topical application of ibudilast for seasonal allergic conjunctivitis in patients wearing soft contact lenses (SCLs).

Materials And Methods: There were 16 SCL wearers (32 eyes) with allergic conjunctivitis due to cedar pollen, who were studied from February to April 2007. Before enrollment, informed consent to participation in this study was obtained from all subjects.

Bifocal contact lenses: History, types, characteristics, and actual state and problems.

Since people who wear contact lenses (CL) often continue using CL even when they develop presbyopia, there are growing expectations for bifocal CL. To understand actual state and problems, history, types, and their characteristics are summarized in this review. Bifocal CL have a long history over 70 years.

A Proteomic Approach for the Diagnosis of 'Oketsu' (blood stasis), a Pathophysiologic Concept of Japanese Traditional (Kampo) Medicine.

'Oketsu' is a pathophysiologic concept in Japanese traditional (Kampo) medicine, primarily denoting blood stasis/stagnant syndrome. Here we have explored plasma protein biomarkers and/or diagnostic algorithms for 'Oketsu'. Sixteen rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were treated with keishibukuryogan (KBG), a representative Kampo medicine for improving 'Oketsu'.

Identification of a predictive biomarker for the beneficial effect of a Kampo (Japanese traditional) medicine keishibukuryogan in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objectives: Kampo (Japanese traditional herbal) medicines are now ethically used in Japan as pharmaceutical grade prescription drugs. However, there are distinct groups of responders and non-responders to Kampo medicines. We searched for biomarker candidates to discriminate responders from non-responders to keishibukuryogan (KBG); one of the most frequently used Kampo medicines.

Infectious myositis involving the piriformis in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis.

A 49-year-old Japanese woman treated with oral corticosteroids, methotrexate, and infliximab for malignant rheumatoid arthritis was admitted because of fever and low back pain. The white blood cell count and C-reactive protein concentration were elevated. Lumbar and pelvic computed tomography showed enlargement of the piriformis muscle including a hypodense area consistent with gas formation.

Episodic fresh surface waters in the Eocene Arctic Ocean.

It has been suggested, on the basis of modern hydrology and fully coupled palaeoclimate simulations, that the warm greenhouse conditions that characterized the early Palaeogene period (55-45 Myr ago) probably induced an intensified hydrological cycle with precipitation exceeding evaporation at high latitudes. Little field evidence, however, has been available to constrain oceanic conditions in the Arctic during this period. Here we analyse Palaeogene sediments obtained during the Arctic Coring Expedition, showing that large quantities of the free-floating fern Azolla grew and reproduced in the Arctic Ocean by the onset of the middle Eocene epoch (approximately 50 Myr ago).

The Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean.

The history of the Arctic Ocean during the Cenozoic era (0-65 million years ago) is largely unknown from direct evidence. Here we present a Cenozoic palaeoceanographic record constructed from >400 m of sediment core from a recent drilling expedition to the Lomonosov ridge in the Arctic Ocean. Our record shows a palaeoenvironmental transition from a warm 'greenhouse' world, during the late Palaeocene and early Eocene epochs, to a colder 'icehouse' world influenced by sea ice and icebergs from the middle Eocene epoch to the present.

Heterozygous Ala137Pro mutation in keratin 12 gene found in Japanese with Meesmann's corneal dystrophy.

Purpose: To report the molecular genetic analysis of a Japanese pedigree with Meesmann's corneal dystrophy (MCD).

Methods: Sequencing of the keratin 3 and keratin 12 genes was performed in 2 patients who were siblings and in an unaffected individual in the same family. The patients had the typical corneal microcysts and recurrent erosions with mild photophobia.

[Seven cases of remitting seronegative symmetrical synovitis with pitting edema (RS3PE) syndrome].

Among the elderly patients with seronegative polyarthritis, McCarty et al. (1985) proposed a disease entity of "remitting seronegative symmetrical synovitis with pitting edema (RS3PE) syndrome", but only a few cases have been reported in Japan. Here we report 7 cases suspicious of RS3PE syndrome, 2 men and 5 women with an average age of 75.