Optimizing Physical Assessment in Intrathecal Baclofen Screening Trials for High-Performing Patients With Spastic Paraparesis.

Objectives: Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) therapy is well documented as an effective treatment option for severe spasticity. Before ITB implantation, trials are conducted to evaluate efficacy, safety, and candidate suitability. While many centers conduct ITB trials, appropriate physical assessment has not been fully established.

Adverse reactions to mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in people with allergies in Japan.

mRNA vaccines emerged as a new therapeutic modality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals with allergies often experience anxiety about potential adverse reactions to these vaccines. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between adverse reactions and various allergies, asthma, or atopic disorders.

Successful factors for improving aortic remodeling with thoracic endovascular repair and bare stent extension.

Objective: Proximal ExTension to Induce COmplete ATtachment (PETTICOAT), which uses downstream bare metal stents for structural support, demonstrates potential, yet its adoption is limited by variable outcomes. This study elucidates the potential of PETTICOAT in aortic dissection, emphasizing the determinants that guide patient selection.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 60 patients who underwent full PETTICOAT for aortic dissections was conducted.

Association of Social Network with Physical Function Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Rural Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: As the number of older adults in society increases, their social roles and networks, as well as their physical function, decrease. This study aimed to clarify the association between social networks and physical function among people aged ≥ 60 years in rural Thailand.

Patients And Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Photharam District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand.

Visualizing the invisible: aortopulmonary window diagnosis enhanced by 3D computer graphics.

An aortopulmonary window is a rare disorder that occurs in 0.1–0.2% of all congenital disorders.

Osteosarcopenia: the coexistence of sarcopenia and osteopenia is predictive of prognosis and postoperative complications after curative resection for colorectal cancer.

Purpose: To establish if osteosarcopenia is related to postoperative complications, prognosis, and recurrence of colorectal cancer (CRC) after curative surgery.

Methods: The clinical data of 594 patients who underwent curative resection for CRC between January, 2013 and December, 2018 were analyzed retrospectively to examine the relationship between clinicopathological data and osteosarcopenia. The following definitions were used: sarcopenia, low skeletal muscle mass index; osteopenia, low bone mineral density on computed tomography at the level of the 11th thoracic vertebra; and osteosarcopenia, sarcopenia with osteopenia.

The lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio as a significant inflammatory marker associated with survival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated using nivolumab plus ipilimumab therapy.

Background: Nivolumab plus ipilimumab (NIVO + IPI) is the first-line treatment for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). While approximately 40% of patients treated with NIVO + IPI achieve a durable response, 20% develop primary resistance with severe consequences. Therefore, there is a clinical need for criteria to select patients suitable for NIVO + IPI therapy to optimize its therapeutic efficacy.

Predictive factors of renal function after robot-assisted partial nephrectomy in clinical T1b tumors.

Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) has been shown to be a safe and effective method for treatment of small renal tumors, including clinical T1b renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, the impact of RAPN for cT1b renal tumors on renal function is not well understood. In this retrospective study, 50 patients who underwent RAPN for cT1b renal tumors were evaluated for pre- and post-operative renal function and perioperative clinical factors. Renal function was assessed using the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at baseline and on postoperative days (POD) 1, 7, 30, and 180.

Identification of risk factors for the onset of delirium associated with COVID-19 by mining nursing records.

COVID-19 has a range of complications, from no symptoms to severe pneumonia. It can also affect multiple organs including the nervous system. COVID-19 affects the brain, leading to neurological symptoms such as delirium.

Magnetic resonance imaging of blood perfusion rate based on Helmholtz decomposition of heat flux.

Thermal property (TP) maps of human tissues are useful for tumor treatment and diagnosis. In particular, the blood perfusion rate is significantly different for tumors and healthy tissues. Noninvasive techniques that reconstruct TPs from the temperature measured via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by solving an inverse bioheat transfer problem have been developed.

Limiting parameter range for cortical-spherical mapping improves activated domain estimation for attention modulated auditory response.

Background: Attention is one of the factors involved in selecting input information for the brain. We applied a method for estimating domains with clear boundaries using magnetoencephalography (the domain estimation method) for auditory-evoked responses (N100m) to evaluate the effects of attention in milliseconds. However, because the surface around the auditory cortex is folded in a complicated manner, it is unknown whether the activity in the auditory cortex can be estimated.

Frameshift Mutation in de novo Small-Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Prostate: A Case Report.

A 66-year-old male was diagnosed with cT4N0M1b small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the prostate. Four months after the administration of combined androgen blockade, multiple novel metastatic regions in the lung and liver and progression of bone metastasis were observed. The patient was referred to our hospital because of biochemical and radiographic progression after four cycles of docetaxel as a first-line therapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Retrospective observational study of changes in serum cytokines and adiponectin with continuous plasma exchange with dialysis therapy for severe COVID-19.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a marked increase in the inflammatory cytokines, IL-6 and IL-18. Blood purification therapy aimed at controlling cytokines is one treatment option; however, evidence of its effectiveness is needed. Plasma exchange with dialysis (PED) is a blood purification method involving selective plasma exchange with dialysate flowing through the outer hollow fiber of the plasma separator.

Real clinical outcomes of nivolumab plus ipilimumab for renal cell carcinoma in patients over 75 years old.

Background: Although nivolumab plus ipilimumab is the standard treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), its efficacy and safety in older patients remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the clinical outcomes of nivolumab plus ipilimumab for metastatic RCC in patients aged ≥ 75 years.

Methods: We enrolled 120 patients with metastatic RCC treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab from August 2015 to January 2023.

Key determinants for signaling in the sensory rhodopsin II/transducer complex are different between Halobacterium salinarum and Natronomonas pharaonis.

The cell membrane of Halobacterium salinarum contains a retinal-binding photoreceptor, sensory rhodopsin II (HsSRII), coupled with its cognate transducer (HsHtrII), allowing repellent phototaxis behavior for shorter wavelength light. Previous studies on SRII from Natronomonas pharaonis (NpSRII) pointed out the importance of the hydrogen bonding interaction between Thr204 and Tyr174 in signal transfer from SRII to HtrII. Here, we investigated the effect on phototactic function by replacing residues in HsSRII corresponding to Thr204 and Tyr174 .

Recent expansion of metabolic versatility in Diplonema papillatum, the model species of a highly speciose group of marine eukaryotes.

Background: Diplonemid flagellates are among the most abundant and species-rich of known marine microeukaryotes, colonizing all habitats, depths, and geographic regions of the world ocean. However, little is known about their genomes, biology, and ecological role.

Results: We present the first nuclear genome sequence from a diplonemid, the type species Diplonema papillatum.