Management of ERCP-related perforation: a large multicenter study.

Background And Aims: Perforation is a rare but serious adverse event associated with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). There is no consensus to guide clinicians in the management of ERCP-related duodenal perforations, making it difficult to determine whether surgical or endoscopic treatment is optimal. The present study retrospectively evaluated the characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients who experienced ERCP-related duodenal perforations according to the mechanism of injury.

Erratum: Search for Cosmic-Ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter Using Recoil Protons at Super-Kamiokande [Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 031802 (2023)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.

Efficacy and associated factors of endoscopic transpapillary drainage for postoperative biliary leakage.

Objective: Adequate biliary decompression is important in treating bile leaks, and endoscopic transpapillary drainage is widely used for this purpose. As an indicator to evaluate the usefulness of endoscopic drainage for postoperative biliary leakage, we focused on external drain removability, which affects quality of life, after endoscopic treatment. Our aim was to clarify the success rate of external tube removal after endoscopic drainage for postoperative biliary leakage and to examine associated factors.

Search for Cosmic-Ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter Using Recoil Protons at Super-Kamiokande.

We report a search for cosmic-ray boosted dark matter with protons using the 0.37  megaton×years data collected at Super-Kamiokande experiment during the 1996-2018 period (SKI-IV phase). We searched for an excess of proton recoils above the atmospheric neutrino background from the vicinity of the Galactic Center.

Fucosylated haptoglobin is a novel predictive marker of hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatitis C virus elimination in patients with advanced liver fibrosis.

Background: Patients with advanced fibrosis are at risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) even after hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination. We previously reported that serum fucosylated haptoglobin (Fuc-Hp) levels increase as the disease progresses from chronic hepatitis to cirrhosis and then HCC. However, it remains unclear whether serum Fuc-Hp levels can stratify the risk of HCC occurrence after a sustained virological response (SVR) is achieved with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in patients with advanced liver fibrosis.

Helicobacter pylori eradication prevents secondary gastric cancer in patients with mild-to-moderate atrophic gastritis.

Background And Aim: Whether Helicobacter pylori eradication prevents metachronous recurrence after endoscopic resection (ER) of early gastric cancer remains controversial. This multicenter retrospective study aimed to evaluate the long-term (> 5 years) effects of H. pylori eradication by stratifying patients' baseline degrees of atrophic gastritis.

Characterization of two β-decarboxylating dehydrogenases from Sulfolobus acidocaldarius.

Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, a hyperthermoacidophilic archaeon, possesses two β-decarboxylating dehydrogenase genes, saci_0600 and saci_2375, in its genome, which suggests that it uses these enzymes for three similar reactions in lysine biosynthesis through 2-aminoadipate, leucine biosynthesis, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. To elucidate their roles, these two genes were expressed in Escherichia coli in the present study and their gene products were characterized. Saci_0600 recognized 3-isopropylmalate as a substrate, but exhibited slight and no activity for homoisocitrate and isocitrate, respectively.

Impact of branched-chain amino acid supplementation on survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib: A multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Aim: The therapeutic efficacy of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) when added to sorafenib has not been fully assessed in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This multicenter study investigated whether BCAA supplementation improves prognosis in patients with advanced HCC who underwent sorafenib treatment.

Methods: This retrospective analysis included 256 patients with advanced HCC treated with sorafenib, including 55 who did and 201 who did not receive BCAA supplementation.

Scheduled endoscopic surveillance controls secondary cancer after curative endoscopic resection for early gastric cancer: a multicentre retrospective cohort study by Osaka University ESD study group.

Background: After endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) of early gastric cancer (EGC), patients are at high risk for synchronous or metachronous multiple gastric cancers.

Objective: To elucidate the time at which multiple cancers develop and to determine whether scheduled endoscopic surveillance might control their development.

Design: A multicentre retrospective cohort study from 12 hospitals was conducted.

Short-term outcomes of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric neoplasm: multicenter survey by osaka university ESD study group.

Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) was developed for en bloc removal of large and flat gastrointestinal tract neoplasms. In Japan, ESD is performed under conscious sedation. The risks for sedation-related complications of ESD, such as postoperative pneumonia, have not been evaluated.

Endoscopic submucosal dissection as a treatment for gastric noninvasive neoplasia: a multicenter study by Osaka University ESD Study Group.

Background: Treatment with endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for gastric noninvasive neoplasia (NIN) diagnosed by endoscopic forceps biopsy specimen, whether as a follow-up or "total incisional biopsy", is controversial. To validate the use of ESD for total incisional biopsy in NIN, we examined the underdiagnosis rate of NIN and the rates of complication associated with ESD.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional multicenter retrospective study from 10 hospitals.

[An imported Japanese case of cyclosporiasis].

A 42-year-old Japanese woman, who resided in Indonesia suffered from watery diarrhea. As soon as she returned to Japan, she had a medical examination at our hospital. Oocysts of Cyclospora cayetanensis were isolated from her stool on the 14th day.

Serum proteins and fractions, HDL-cholesterol and total IgG and IgE levels in cases of acute and chronic paracoccidioidomycosis.

This study evaluated serum protein fractions, HDL-cholesterol, total immunoglobulin G and total immunoglobulin E levels in patients with acute and chronic paracoccidioidomycosis, by means of electrophoresis, enzymatic reaction and immunoenzymatic assay. The results demonstrated elevated levels of total immunoglobulin G, total immunoglobulin E, alpha-2 and gamma-globulins, which were more evident in acute than in chronic PCM, but no increase in HDL-cholesterol levels. There was a correlation between the levels of total immunoglobulin E and gamma-globulins and the alpha-2 and beta-globulin fractions in the acute form and between beta and gamma-globulins in both the acute and the chronic form.

[Palliative care team in National Hospital Organization Osaka Minami Medical Center].

Preparation of a system of palliative care support is called for by The Basic Act on Anti-Cancer Measures and The Basic Plans for National Cancer Strategy. The Organization of Hospitals for Cancer Treatment should play a very important role in the regional palliative care network. The palliative care team in the Organization of Hospitals for Cancer Treatment should promote palliative care support throughout regional hospitals.

Evaluation of stable and highly productive gene amplified CHO cell line based on the location of amplified genes.

In order to establish an easy and quick construction method for obtaining a stable and highly productive gene-amplified recombinant Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line, variouskinds of stepwise methotrexate (MTX) selection were carriedout. The specific growth and production rates of the cell were compared with each other, and the distribution of the amplified gene location was determined using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The specific growth andproduction rates of the cell pool reached the highest levels under the selection condition in which the stepwise increase in the MTX concentration was most gradual; about 82% of amplified genes were observed near the telomeric region.

A new prognostic system for hepatocellular carcinoma including recurrent cases: a study of 861 patients in a single institution.

Objective: To manage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients surviving for a long term, the treatment strategy for recurrent cancer is as important as that for the initial treatment. However, no prognostic scoring system has been available for patients with HCC recurrence. The purpose of this study was to develop a new staging system for deciding the treatment strategy not only for first-time diagnosed patients but also for recurrent patients.

Characterization of lucidin formation in Rubia tinctorum L.

In order to approach lucidin formation (a strong mutagen or a carcinogen) from a physiological standpoint, hairy roots of Rubia tinctorum L. were established by a transformation of Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain 15834 and cultured in a liquid woody plant medium without plant hormones. The anthraquinone pigment composition of the intact hairy roots was essentially the same as that of the intact non-transformed (normal) roots, in which lucidin O-beta-D-primeveroside (LuP) was one of the major pigments.

Alteration in gene expression profile by full-length hepatitis B virus genome.

Persistent expression of hepatitis B virus (HBV) proteins is thought to be involved in virus-related hepatocarcinogenesis. Here, we compared the gene expression profile of cells persistently expressing the full-length HBV with that of negative control cells to comprehensively investigate virus-mediated changes in the gene expression of the host cells. RNA samples from both virus-expressing and negative control cells were used for the DNA array assay.

Juvenile hepatocellular carcinoma with congestive liver cirrhosis.

A case of juvenile hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with congestive liver cirrhosis is reported. The patient was a 21-year-old woman. She had been diagnosed as having transposition of the great arteries, type 2, in 1978.

The significance of interferon and ribavirin combination therapy followed by interferon monotherapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C in Japan.

One hundred seventy-one patients with chronic hepatitis C were included in this study (genotype1 and high viral loads (1H), [Formula: see text]; non-1H, [Formula: see text]; N.D., [Formula: see text] ).

Hepatitis C virus core functions as a suppressor of cyclin-dependent kinase-activating kinase and impairs cell cycle progression.

We investigated how the hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein affects the cell cycle profile and cell cycle-related molecules by using the HCV core-expressing stable transfectant. Analysis of the cell cycle profile showed that HCV core impaired G(1) to S transition. The E2F-mediated transcription, phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein, and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and CDK2 activities were suppressed in HCV core-expressing cells.

The relationship between nerve conduction study and clinical grading of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Purpose: To conduct a median nerve conduction study on patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and investigate the relationship between nerve conduction study parameters and clinical grading.

Methods: A nerve conduction study was performed on 60 upper limbs of 37 patients with idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome, and the relationship between the clinical grade and various study parameters was assessed.

Results: The amplitude of the sensory nerve action potential and the motor nerve action potential differed according to clinical grading, but this pattern was not seen for sensory nerve conduction velocity, motor nerve conduction velocity, or motor nerve terminal latency and clinical grading.