Methyl α-l-sorboside monohydrate.

Methyl l-sorboside monohydrate, CHO·HO, was prepared from the rare sugar l-sorbose, CHO, and crystallized. It was confirmed that methyl l-sorboside formed α-pyran-ose with a conformation and crystallized with one water molecule of crystallization. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network.

Ultra-high-molecular-weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) Wing Method for Strong Cranioplasty.

We developed a new cranioplasty method that utilizes artificial bone made of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, with a wedge-shaped edge (UHMWPE Wing). This study shows the methods and data of case series and finite element analyses with the UHMWPE Wing. A circumferential wing was preoperatively designed for a custom-made artificial bone made of UHMWPE to achieve high fixed power and to minimize the usage of cranial implants.

Ethyl α-l-sorboside.

Ethyl l-sorboside, CHO, was prepared from the rare sugar l-sorbose, CHO, and crystallized. It was confirmed that ethyl l-sorboside formed α-pyran-ose with a conformation. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network.

[A comparison of chest radiographs between patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium kansasii infection and those with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in the initial stage of disease].

Objectives: To elucidate the differences in affected lung segments between patients with pulmonary M. kansasii infection and those with M. tuberculosis infection in the initial stage of disease, we examined chest radiography images and CT scans.

Doctor's delay in endobronchial tuberculosis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the current status of doctor's delay in diagnosing endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB) and to elucidate the risk factors contributing to the delay.

Methods: Retrospective clinicopathological analysis.

Patients: Sixty-two patients with EBTB were admitted at our hospital between 1999 and 2010.

Chronological decrease of tuberculosis incidence rates by organ classification based on a birth cohort study in Japan, 1975-2005.

Background And Objective: The incidence and annual risk of infection of tuberculosis (TB) have decreased rapidly in Japan because of the development of anti-TB medicines and nutritional and hygienic improvements after World War II. The incidence of tuberculosis is currently high among elderly people, reflecting the fact that the prevalence rate of TB infection had been extremely high during their youth. This would suggest that most current cases of TB in the elderly are reactivation of infections acquired in their youth.

[Tuberculosis care and new horizon of Japanese society].

Current tuberculosis (TB) problems are reflections of Japanese society. Living or dying alone among the elderly, difficulty in finding jobs or withdrawal into themselves among the youths are features of modem society. The future needs for TB care were discussed on specific topics of TB among the elderly, foreigners and the homeless.

[Evaluation of tuberculosis treatment including levofloxacin (LVFX) in cases who could not continue standard regimen].

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate tuberculosis treatment including levofloxacin (LVFX) and to investigate the effectiveness of changing drug regimens at our hospital.

Subjects And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 331 patients with tuberculosis admitted to Tokyo National Hospital in 2005. Out of these 331 patients, LVFX was used in 48 (14.

Evaluation of a simple loop-mediated isothermal amplification test kit for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Objective: A new loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) test kit, including a simple DNA extraction device for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, was developed for commercial use and evaluated for its usefulness in diagnosing tuberculosis (TB).

Design: The LAMP test was performed using untreated and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NALC) NaOH-treated sputum specimen. The efficiency of the kit was compared with other conventional laboratory examinations, including other nucleic acid amplification (NAA) tests.

[A case of tuberculous pleurisy developing contralateral effusion during anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy].

A 55-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of chest pain, fever, and right pleural effusion that was exudative and lymphocyte-dominant with a high level of adenosine deaminase (ADA). Since her blood QuantiFERON-TB 3G test (QFT) was positive, she was diagnosed with tuberculous pleurisy. After initiation of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy with isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide, her symptoms improved.

[A case of cold abscess of the chest wall due to thoracic drainage for tuberculous pleuritis].

A 56-year-old man underwent thoracic drainage for two weeks for tuberculous pleuritis. He was put on antituberculosis chemotherapy with INH (400 mg), RFP (450 mg), and EB (750 mg). Two months later, he developed an elastic hard subcutaneous mass in the area of the previous thoracic drainage.

[Clinical investigation among elderly patients with tuberculosis].

Objectives: We discussed the factors which may confuse diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) in elderly patients, in order to improve the situation.

Subjects And Methods: 414 patients who were hospitalized for active tuberculosis in Tokyo National Hospital were divided into three groups according to their ages (in years): less than 65, 65 to 74, and greater than 75. The three groups were compared in terms of performance status (PS), serum albumin level (whether over 3 g/dl or not), underlying diseases, symptoms at onset, sputum smear findings for acid-fast bacilli, presence or absence of cavitary lesion, regimen of treatment, adverse reaction to medications, and treatment outcome.

[Review of pulmonary Mycobacterium xenopi infection cases: 11 cases of our own and 18 other cases reported in Japan].

Objective: To investigate clinical features of patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium xenopi infection treated at our hospital.

Subjects And Methods: We diagnosed 11 cases of M. xenopi infection at Tokyo National Hospital between 2000 and 2008 and recorded the drug susceptibility, patient characteristics, radiographic findings, treatments given and clinical courses.

The value of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in culture-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients whose pre-bronchoscopic sputum specimens were negative both for smear and PCR analyses.

Objective: This study assessed the diagnostic rate of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) using fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FBS) in patients with suspected PTB, and negative pre-bronchoscopy smear and polymerase-chain reaction (PCR) in sputum.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 201 culture-positive PTB patients that underwent FBS because both smear and PCR results in sputum were negative. The positive rates of smear for acid fast bacilli, PCR for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the presence of granuloma in transbronchial biopsy (TBB), and culture of M.

[A case of tuberculosis with multiple lung nodules, abdominal lymphadenopathy, and splenomegaly].

Abdominal tuberculous lymphadenitis is very rare. We report a case of pulmonary tuberculosis showing marked abdominal lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly. A 95-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of abnormal chest X-ray and body weight loss in last 6 months.

[A case of primary pulmonary cryptococcosis presenting with acute respiratory failure].

A 71-year-old previously healthy woman, presented with respiratory failure several days after initiation of cough and fever. A chest X-ray revealed multiple infiltrative shadows with airbronchograms in bilateral middle and lower lung fields. Transbronchial lung biopsy, performed after steroid pulse therapy which induced transient improvement, demonstrated exudative lesions with massive aggregation of histiocytes containing yeast-like fungi in their cytoplasm.

[Usefulness of bronchofiberscopy for the diagnosis of pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteriosis--an analysis mainly on pulmonary M. avium complex disease].

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of bronchofiberscopy (BFS) in the diagnosis of pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteriosis (PNTM).

Materials And Methods: Among 909 PNTM patients admitted to our hospital during the period from 1995 to 2006, BFS was performed for the diagnosis of PNTM in 107 patients (12%) who had either a negative sputum-smear for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) (n = 100) or from whom it had been impossible to collect sputum (n =7). For these 107 cases, we retrospectively compared and analyzed the findings from specimens obtained by BFS, such as smears, cultures, polymerase-chain reaction (PCR), and transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB), with clinical, radiological, and sputum examination disease, was also seen in the positive ratios of other nontuberculous mycobacteriosis cases.

[Drug-induced hepatotoxicity caused by anti-tuberculosis drugs in tuberculosis patients complicated with chronic hepatitis].

Objectives: To investigate retrospectively the incidence of drug-induced hepatitis (DIH) caused by antituberculosis drugs including isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RFP), with and without pyrazinamide (PZA), and to evaluate risk factors for DIH in tuberculosis patients complicated with chronic hepatitis (CH).

Materials: One hundred and seven tuberculosis patients with CH (M/F= 96/11, mean age +/- SE, 60.8 +/- 1.

Diagnosis of active tuberculous serositis by antigen-specific interferon-gamma response of cavity fluid cells.

Background: To develop a more accurate methodology for diagnosing active tuberculous pleurisy, as well as peritonitis and pericardits of tuberculous origin, we established an antigen-specific interferon gamma (IFN-gamma)-based assay that uses cavity fluid specimens.

Methods: Over a 19-month period, 155 consecutive, nonselected patients with any cavity effusion were evaluated. Study subjects were 28 patients with bacteriologically confirmed active tuberculous serositis and 47 patients with definitive nontuberculous etiology.

Redox-induced conformational alteration of n,n-diarylamides.

We constructed a novel molecular conformational alteration system with an N-aryl-N-phenylacetamide structure, in which the N-aryl group consists of a hydroquinone-p-quinone system as a redox-dependent aromatic trigger. The amide conformation depended on the oxidation state of the aryl group, and the two states (compounds 2 and 3) were reversibly converted to each other by redox reactions. Such compounds would be applied as useful structural units for external stimulus-responsive control on the shape and function of large molecules or supramolecules.

[Features of bronchial tuberculosis--an analysis of 103 cases].

Objectives: The aim of this study is to clarify the features of bronchial tuberculosis.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed the clinicopathological data from 103 out of 4467 (2.3%) cases of culture positive tuberculosis admitted to the National Hospital Organization Tokyo National Hospital in the period from 1993 to 2004 in which bronchial tuberculosis was confirmed by bronchofiberscopy.

[Usefulness of a whole blood interferon gamma assay (QuantiFERON-TB-2G) for detecting tuberculosis infection in HIV-infected persons].

Background: New blood test (QuantiFERON-TB-2G: QFT-2G), based on detection of IFN-gamma released by T cells in response to M. tuberculosis specific antigens, has the high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of tuberculosis. However, it is essential to evaluate this T cell-based approach in individuals with HIV-associated impairment in T cell immunity.

[Bone and joint tuberculosis concurrent with tuberculosis of other organs].

Objectives: To study the characteristics of bone or joint tuberculosis (TB) accompanied by TB in other organs (especially the lung), and to study patients' and doctors' delay in detecting bone or joint TB.

Subjects And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 33 patients with bone or joint TB concurrent with TB of other organs, especially the lung, who were admitted to our hospital between 1981 and 2005. The patients were divided into the following three groups according to the organ of concurrent TB : (1) miliary TB group (N = 10), (2) pulmonary TB group (N = 19), and (3) other TB site group (N = 4).

[Coexisting lung cancer and active pulmonary mycobacteriosis].

We reviewed 72 patients with coexisting lung cancer and pulmonary mycobacteriosis, and discuss the features and transition of these coexistent cases. There were 56 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases and 16 non-tuberculous mycobacteriosis (PNTM) cases, 62 men and 10 women, with a mean age of 69 years. In 43 cases, both diseases were concurrently detected, lung cancer was first detected in 19 cases, and mycobacteriosis was first detected in 10 cases.