Usefulness of Dual-Energy CT for Differentiating Hemorrhage From Iodine Extravasation in Meningiomas After Preoperative Embolization.

Objective: Discriminating between hemorrhage and iodine extravasation can pose challenges in conventional computed tomography (CCT) images following preoperative embolization for meningioma. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) in differentiating hemorrhage from iodine extravasation after preoperative embolization for meningioma.

Methods: Twenty-one consecutive meningioma patients who underwent CCT before and DECT immediately after preoperative embolization were included in this study.

The association between initiation weekday of radiotherapy and local control in stage 1 glottic carcinoma: a retrospective analysis.

Radiotherapy is one of the definitive treatments for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, especially early-stage glottic squamous cell carcinoma. Although there are several studies on the initiation weekday of cancer treatment, there are very few studies in the radiotherapy field. Thus, the present study investigated whether the initiation weekday of radiotherapy affects the local control rate for stage 1 glottic squamous cell carcinoma.

Acute lower-extremity arterial thrombosis with immune thrombocytopenia.

We describe an acute lower-extremity arterial occlusion in a 30-year-old woman with immune thrombocytopenia and polycystic ovary syndrome. Thrombosis may be a complication of immune thrombocytopenia requiring careful management.

Factors associated with changes in tacrolimus blood concentration after food initiation in patients with ulcerative colitis.

The therapeutic effect of tacrolimus against ulcerative colitis (UC) is correlated with its trough blood concentration. Conventionally, oral tacrolimus for the treatment of UC is initiated under fasting conditions; once the symptoms improve, food intake is resumed. Tacrolimus blood concentration decreases with food intake compared with that under fasting conditions.

Postmortem computed tomography of barium peritonitis due to descending colon perforation.

We describe herein the findings from postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) of barium peritonitis due to descending colon perforation. The patient was a woman in her 60s who underwent upper gastrointestinal series with barium swallow for the purpose of physical examination. The patient developed abdominal pain the next day and visited a clinic, but was sent home for later follow-up.

Utility of a Novel Micro-Spraying Device for Intranasal Administration of Drug Solutions to Mice.

Intranasal administration has attracted attention as a means of delivering drugs because it bypasses the blood-brain barrier. However, conventional intranasal administration of drug solutions to mice using the micropipette method (MP method) is complicated and time-consuming because it requires small doses to be administered under inhalation anesthesia. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a novel intranasal administration method using Micro FPS™, a novel micro-spraying device (the MSD method).

A quantitative evaluation method utilizing the homology concept to assess the state of chromatin within the nucleus of lung cancer.

Homology is a mathematical tool to quantify "the contact degree", which can be expressed in terms of Betti numbers. The Betti numbers used in this study consisted of two numbers, b0 (a zero-dimensional Betti number) and b1 (a one-dimensional Betti number). We developed a chromatin homology profile (CHP) method to quantify the chromatin contact degree based on this mathematical tool.

Clinical Outcomes of Radiotherapy for Stage 1 Glottic Carcinoma: Comparing Accelerated Hyperfractionation and Once-daily Fractionation.

Background/aim: Accelerated hyperfractionation (AHF) is used in head and neck cancer to improve the local control (LC) rate, but reports of outcomes for early-stage GC are limited. The outcomes of radiotherapy (RT) for stage 1 glottic carcinoma (GC) were retrospectively analyzed, comparing AHF and once-daily fractionation (ODF) using 2.0-2.

Successful Preoperative QUAD SHOT for Bulky Parotid Carcinoma: Potential Preoperative Ultra-Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Conversion Surgery.

QUAD SHOT is an ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT) technique that prescribes 14.0-14.8 Gy over 2 days.

Nonpolymer Organic Solar Cells: Microscopic Phonon Control to Suppress Nonradiative Voltage Loss via Charge-Separated State.

Recent remarkable developments on nonfullerene solar cells have reached a photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18% by tuning the band energy levels in small molecular acceptors. In this regard, understanding the impact of small donor molecules on nonpolymer solar cells is essential. Here, we systematically investigated mechanisms of solar cell performance using diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-tetrabenzoporphyrin (BP) conjugates of C4-DPP-HBP and C4-DPP-ZnBP, where C4 represents the butyl group substituted at the DPP unit as small p-type molecules, while an acceptor of [6,6]-phenyl-C-buthylic acid methyl ester is employed.

Mean density of computed tomography for predicting rotational atherectomy during percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Multi-slice computed tomography (CT) allows noninvasive evaluation of the severity of coronary calcification. However, there has yet to be a definitive parameter based on the cross-sectional CT image for predicting the need for rotational atherectomy (RA). Therefore, we aimed to investigate the mean density of cross-sectional CT images to predict the need for RA during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Guidelines for Handling of Cytological Specimens in Cancer Genomic Medicine.

Rapid advances are being made in cancer drug therapy. Since molecularly targeted therapy has been introduced, personalized medicine is being practiced, pathological tissue from malignant tumors obtained during routine practice is frequently used for genomic testing. Whereas cytological specimens fixed mainly in alcohol are considered to be more advantageous in terms of preservation of the nucleic acid quality and quantity.

Dependence of column ozone on future ODSs and GHGs in the variability of 500-ensemble members.

State-of-the-art chemistry-climate models (CCMs) have indicated that a future decrease in ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) combined with an increase in greenhouse gases (GHGs) would increase the column ozone amount in most regions except the tropics and Antarctic. However, large Arctic ozone losses have occurred at a frequency of approximately once per decade since the 1990s (1997, 2011 and 2020), despite the ODS concentration peaking in the mid-1990s. To understand this, CCMs were used to conduct 24 experiments with ODS and GHG concentrations set based on predicted values for future years; each experiment consisted of 500-member ensembles.

Nintedanib-Induced Delayed Mucosal Healing after Adjuvant Radiation in a Case of Oropharyngeal Carcinoma.

Since the launch of imatinib in 2001, tyrosine kinase inhibitors are being used in chemotherapy for a wide range of malignant tumors. Drugs that inactivate multiple molecular mechanisms are called multikinase inhibitors (MKIs). Nintedanib is a type of MKI that inhibits downstream cascades in three systems: vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, fibroblast growth factor receptor, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor inhibitions.

Hepatocyte Growth Factor Enhances Antineoplastic Effect of 5-Fluorouracil by Increasing UPP1 Expression in HepG2 Cells.

Aberrant activation of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor c-Met axis promotes tumor growth. Therefore, many clinical trials have been conducted. A phase 3 trial investigating a monoclonal antibody targeting HGF in combination with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy had to be terminated prematurely; however, the reason behind the failure remains poorly defined.

Machine-Learning-Based Fine Tuning of Input Signals for Mechano-Tactile Display.

Deducing the input signal for a tactile display to present the target surface (i.e., solving the inverse problem for tactile displays) is challenging.

Effect of Progranulin on Proliferation and Differentiation of Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells after Oxygen/Glucose Deprivation.

We previously demonstrated that sivelestat, a selective neutrophil elastase inhibitor, attenuates the cleavage of progranulin (PGRN) and ischemia-induced cell injury in the brain. To obtain further insight into the role of PGRN, in the present study we evaluated the direct effects of sivelestat and recombinant PGRN (rPGRN) on the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in cultures of neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PC) under the ischemic condition in vitro. We demonstrated that oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced cell proliferation of NS/PC was increased by rPGRN treatment.

In-beam Mössbauer spectra of Mn implanted into lithium aluminum hydride.

In-beam Mössbauer spectra of Mn implanted into LiAlH were measured at different temperatures between 17 and 300 K. The Mössbauer spectrum measured at 17 K showed two sets of doublets, which were assigned to Fe atoms at substitutional sites at Al and Li sites. The Debye temperatures θ for the Fe atoms at Al-substituted and Li-substituted sites were estimated to be 194 K and 117 K, respectively.

Control system for the new RIKEN 28-GHz superconducting electron cyclotron resonance ion source for SRILAC.

A new RIKEN 28-GHz superconducting electron cyclotron resonance ion source (SC-ECRIS) has been installed for the superconducting RIKEN linear accelerator (SRILAC). The new SC-ECRIS control system mainly consists of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) embedded with the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System. To improve the reliability as compared with previous control systems, two types of PLC central processing units, sequential and Linux, have been installed in the same unit.

High intensity vanadium beam for synthesis of new superheavy elements with well-controlled emittance by using "slit triplet".

To provide a very powerful vanadium (V) beam with an intensity of at least 6 particle μA for synthesizing a new superheavy element (SHE) with atomic number Z = 119, we have developed a high-temperature oven (HTO) system to evaporate the metallic V powder inside the new superconducting (SC) electron cyclotron ion source. We successfully extracted a V beam with a maximum beam intensity of 600 eμA with 2.8-kW microwave power and 900-W heating power of the HTO.

Reduction of Parasitic Capacitance of A PDMS Capacitive Force Sensor.

Polymer-based flexible micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) tactile sensors have been widely studied for a variety of applications, such as medical and robot fields. The small size and flexibility are of great advantage in terms of accurate measurement and safety. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is often used as the flexible structural material.

Usefulness of adult medaka fish as a model for the evaluation of alcoholic fatty liver.

Alcohol has long been acknowledged to be one of the main causes of hepatic disorders. In recent years, with the advancements in antiviral therapies, the relative proportion that alcoholic liver disease contributes among liver diseases has increased, necessitating the establishment of a useful model for the elucidation of the mechanism of its development. In this study, we developed a model of alcoholic liver disease using medaka, a small-sized fish known for its usefulness as a model organism.