Robotic Laparoscopy and Endoscopy Cooperative Surgery for Primary Appendiceal Mucinous Carcinoma Masquerading as Bladder Cancer: A Case Report.

Bladder invasion by appendiceal cancer resulting in a vesico-appendiceal fistula is an uncommon occurrence. Both radical tumor removal and functional preservation of the bladder are desirable in the surgical treatment of this disease, and there are few reports on detailed surgical methods. Here, we describe a case of primary appendiceal mucinous carcinoma with bladder invasion treated with robotic laparoscopy and endoscopy cooperative surgery (RECS).

Sequential Conversion of Vinyl Triflates to 1,2-Disilanes via Technical Control of Magnesium and Calcium Reducibility Differences.

Reductive direct substitution of α-arylvinyl triflates on the sp carbon atom by magnesium in the presence of chlorosilane proceeded to give the corresponding α-silylstyrenes, which could not be reduced further, and the reaction completely stopped because the reduction potential of α-silylstyrenes lies out of the reducible field of magnesium. The subsequent reduction of α-silylstyrenes by calcium brought about the second introduction of another silyl group to the vicinal carbon atom to lead a selective and simple route to a variety of 1,2-disilanes from vinyl triflates by cooperative works of magnesium and calcium with different reduction potentiality.

Colorectal anastomotic leakage after conversion surgery for advanced endometrial cancer treated with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab: a case report.

The combination therapy of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab (LP) is increasingly recognized as an important second-line regimen for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer (EC). However, the safety and efficacy of conversion surgery with low anterior rectal resection for unresectable EC following LP therapy is unknown. A 37-year-old woman was referred with unresectable EC with pleural fluid, peritoneal dissemination, and ascites.

Cervical-First Approach in Thoracoscopic Esophagectomy With Intraoperative Nerve Monitoring for an Esophageal Cancer Patient With Aberrant Right Subclavian Artery.

An aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA) is a rare vascular anomaly accompanied by nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve (NRILN). Here, we described the cervical-first approach in thoracoscopic esophagectomy for an esophageal cancer patient with ARSA using the intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) system. First, a left cervical procedure proceeded to expose the left vagus nerve to attach the APS electrode of the IONM system, and the left cervical paraesophageal lymph nodes was dissected separately.

Sciatic Nerve Preservation in Robot-Assisted Surgery for Initially Unresectable Primary Rectal Cancer: A Case Report.

Radical surgery for rectal cancer with bulky lateral pelvic lymph node (LPLN) metastasis involving the sciatic nerve presents both technical and oncological challenges. Preoperative multidisciplinary treatments have recently been anticipated to control the disease as well as to preserve organ function. A 51-year-old man, presenting with right buttock pain and impairment of walking, was diagnosed with sciatic nerve impairment due to right LPLN metastasis from rectal cancer.

A DUF3844 domain-containing protein is required for vacuolar protein sorting in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Protein trafficking to vacuoles in plants and fungi, and to lysosomes in animals, is essential for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the vacuolar protein sorting (VPS) pathway has been well studied by using vacuolar carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) as a model, and many VPS genes have been identified. By contrast, the vacuolar protein trafficking pathway in Schizosaccharomyces pombe remains poorly understood.

Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm penetrating sigmoid colon: A case report.

Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN) is principally characterized by low-grade cytology without evidence of invasion to other organs. We report a LAMN surgical case whose appendiceal tumor penetrated the sigmoid colon wall. An 87-year-old man was referred for endoscopic resection (ER) of a colon polyp.

Appendiceal neoplasms derived from appendiceal tip remnants following appendectomy: a report of two cases.

Background: Neoplasms derived from remnant appendix are rarely described, with most cases arising from the appendiceal "stump". Here, we present two surgical cases of appendiceal neoplasms derived from appendiceal "tip" remnants.

Case Presentation: The first patient was a 71-year-old man who had undergone laparoscopic appendectomy for acute appendicitis 12 years prior.

Midesophageal diverticulum with elevated intrabolus pressure: a case report.

Background: Esophageal diverticulum is commonly associated with esophageal motility disorders, which can be diagnosed using high-resolution manometry (HRM) according to the Chicago classification. Although midesophageal diverticulum (M-ED) is associated with inflammatory processes, esophageal motility disorders have been recently identified as an etiology of M-ED.

Case Presentation: We present the case of a patient with M-ED and elevated intrabolus pressure (IBP), which did not meet the criteria for esophageal motility disorders according to the Chicago classification.

Posterior condylar canal dural arteriovenous fistula: anatomical, symptomatological, and therapeutic considerations in comparison with hypoglossal canal dural arteriovenous fistula.

Background: Posterior condylar canal dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs) are extremely rare.

Methods: We report a case series and literature review of posterior condylar canal dAVFs and discuss similarities and differences between posterior condylar and hypoglossal canal dAVFs with respect to the related vascular anatomy, angioarchitecture of the fistula, presentation, and treatment.

Results: Four cases of posterior condylar canal dAVF were identified at our institutions and six cases were identified in the literature.

Oxidative phosphorylation is a pivotal therapeutic target of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.

Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a non-physiological bone formation where soft tissue progenitor cells differentiate into chondrogenic cells. In fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a rare genetic disease characterized by progressive and systemic HO, the Activin A/mutated ACVR1/mTORC1 cascade induces HO in progenitors in muscle tissues. The relevant biological processes aberrantly regulated by activated mTORC1 remain unclear, however.

Efficacy and safety of ivermectin in patients with mild COVID-19 in Japan and Thailand.

Background: Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug administered to hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Fundamental research suggests that ivermectin is effective against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); therefore, we investigated the efficacy and safety of ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment option.

Methods: This multi-regional (Japan and Thailand), multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, Phase III study evaluated the efficacy and safety of ivermectin in patients with mild COVID-19 (IVERMILCO Study).

Downregulation of osteoprotegerin in colorectal cancer cells promotes liver metastasis via activating tumor-associated macrophage.

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a secreted cytokine that functions as a decoy receptor for receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (RANK) ligand (RANKL). Anti-RANKL treatment for bone metastasis has been widely accepted for solid tumors. However, the mechanism of OPG-RANKL-RANK signaling in systemic colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis remains unclear.

Regioselective Coupling of Different Conjugate Esters by Magnesium Metal Reduction: A Route to Unsymmetrical Adipic Acid Esters.

A novel tactic to synthesize unsymmetrical 3-aryladipic acid esters has been developed via magnesium-promoted reductive coupling of ethyl cinnamates with methyl acrylate. In the present methodology, 3-aryladipic acid derivatives were prepared with good functional group tolerance and a wide substrate scope under very mild reaction conditions in good yields. The application of this reaction to dienic acid esters led to the successful control of the reaction to give 5-aryl-oct-3-enedioic acid esters with high regioselectivity.

Development of a novel artificial intelligence algorithm to detect pulmonary nodules on chest radiography.

Background: In this study, we aimed to develop a novel artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to support pulmonary nodule detection, which will enable physicians to efficiently interpret chest radiographs for lung cancer diagnosis.

Methods: We analyzed chest X-ray images obtained from a health examination center in Fukushima and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Chest X-ray 14 dataset. We categorized these data into two types: type A included both Fukushima and NIH datasets, and type B included only the Fukushima dataset.

Total gastrectomy as a risk factor for postoperative loss of skeletal muscle in minimally invasive surgery for patients with gastric cancer.

Purpose: Loss of skeletal muscle mass after gastrectomy for gastric cancer leads to decreased quality of life and poor postoperative survival. However, few studies have examined the postoperative loss of skeletal muscle mass following minimally invasive gastrectomy. This study investigated the impact of minimally invasive total gastrectomy (MI-TG) on changes in skeletal muscle mass during the early postoperative period.

An osteoinductive and biodegradable intramedullary implant accelerates bone healing and mitigates complications of bone transport in male rats.

Bone transport is a surgery-driven procedure for the treatment of large bone defects. However, challenging complications include prolonged consolidation, docking site nonunion and pin tract infection. Here, we develop an osteoinductive and biodegradable intramedullary implant by a hybrid tissue engineering construct technique to enable sustained delivery of bone morphogenetic protein-2 as an adjunctive therapy.

Degradation of three β-O-4 lignin model compounds organic electrolysis and elucidation of the degradation mechanisms.

Woody biomass comprising cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin has been the focus of considerable attention as an alternative energy source to fossil fuel for various applications. However, lignin has a complex structure, which is difficult to degrade. Typically, lignin degradation is studied using β-O-4 lignin model compounds as lignin contains a large number of β-O-4 bonds.

Recovery after Prolonged Disturbance of Consciousness and Repeated Cerebral Perfusion Changes in Neuronal Intranuclear Inclusion Disease.

Encephalitic episodes are a clinical manifestation of neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID) and often show transient disturbance of consciousness. We herein report a genetically confirmed patient with NIID who initially presented progressive dementia and showed prolonged disturbance of consciousness preceded by an acute-onset headache. During that time, we performed N-isopropyl-p-[I] iodoamphetamine single-photon-emission computed tomography twice and found that the blood flow increased in different regions.

Novel and efficient method for culturing patient-derived gastric cancer stem cells.

Experimental techniques for patient-derived cancer stem-cell organoids/spheroids can be powerful diagnostic tools for personalized chemotherapy. However, establishing their cultures from gastric cancer remains challenging due to low culture efficiency and cumbersome methods. To propagate gastric cancer cells as highly proliferative stem-cell spheroids in vitro, we initially used a similar method to that for colorectal cancer stem cells, which, unfortunately, resulted in a low success rate (25%, 18 of 71 cases).

Mechanistic insights into Schizosaccharomyces pombe GT-A family protein Pvg3 in the biosynthesis of pyruvylated β1,3-galactose of N-linked oligosaccharides.

N-linked oligosaccharides in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe contain large amounts of d-galactose (Gal), which mainly comprises α1,2- and α1,3-linked Gal except for pyruvylated β1,3-linked Gal (PvGalβ) at the non-reducing end. The PvGalβ unit of N-glycans is important for regulating nonsexual flocculation and invasive growth, but the mechanistic basis for β-galactosylation in fission yeast is poorly understood. To gain insight into this mechanism, we have characterized three genes previously identified to be involved in PvGalβ biosynthesis (pvg2, pvg3, and pvg5), with a focus on pvg3, which is predicted to contain a domain conserved in galactosyltransferase family 31 (GT31) proteins.