Amphetamine, methamphetamine, and MDMA in hair samples from a rehabilitation facility: Validation and applicability of HF-LPME-GC-MS.

Introduction: It is known that drug abuse jeopardizes economic and social development. Toxicological analyses can guide prevention and treatment strategies in rehabilitation facilities. The current greatest challenge is finding easily adaptable and less costly sensitive methods that meet the principles of green chemistry.

Histological and immunohistochemical characteristics and status studied by FISH in six incidentally detected cases of well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma of the peritoneum.

Well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma (WDPM) is an uncommon mesothelial neoplasm, which is generally regarded as benign or indolent in terms of its clinical behavior. However, details about WDPM have remained relatively unknown. Therefore, in this study, we examined six incidentally detected cases of WDPM of the peritoneum.

Nevus lipomatosus cutaneous superficialis on the shoulder: A case report with MRI findings.

Nevus lipomatosus cutaneous superficialis is a rare disease, and its magnetic resonance imaging features have not been reported. A 1-year-old male infant was admitted to our hospital for examination of a mass on his right shoulder. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed hypertrophic skin and a lipomatous subcutaneous mass, consistent with a hamartoma-like lesion or mesenchymal tumor; after surgery, the tumor was pathologically diagnosed as nevus lipomatosus cutaneous superficialis.

[A case of non-invasive IPMC with fibrotic lesion-like "tubular complex"].

A 73-year-old man was incidentally diagnosed with a cystic lesion in the pancreatic body. Ultrasonography, abdominal computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, and endoscopic ultrasound were performed, and a nodule was detected in the cystic lesion along with an irregularity of the main pancreatic duct. An initial diagnosis of a mixed-type intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm was made, and a central pancreatectomy was performed.

Gastric cancer metastatic to neck lipoma: a case report with imaging consideration.

A 71-year-old man visited our hospital for examination of a soft neck mass. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans showed a well-circumscribed large lipomatous tumor with multiple nodules inside. Atypical lipomatous tumor or lipoma involving the lymph nodes was considered.

Cytokeratin 7-positive/cytokeratin 20-negative cecal adenocarcinoma metastatic to the uterine cervix: a case report.

Background: The vast majority of uterine cervical malignancies are primary carcinomas, and secondary neoplasms that metastasize to the uterine cervix from a distant organ are uncommon. Although relatively rare, metastases to the uterine cervix from a primary colon cancer have been reported. We report a rare case of metastatic carcinoma originating from a cecal adenocarcinoma with an unusual cytokeratin 7/cytokeratin 20 immunophenotype.

Solitary uterine metastasis of invasive lobular carcinoma after adjuvant endocrine therapy: a case report.

Introduction: Solitary uterine metastases from extragenital cancers are very rare. Breast cancer is the most frequent primary site of metastasis to the uterine corpus, with invasive lobular carcinoma more likely to spread to gynecologic organs than invasive ductal carcinoma.

Case Presentation: A 62-year-old postmenopausal Japanese woman was diagnosed with uterine leiomyomata more than 20 years ago and had been managed conservatively until menopause.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease with several inflammatory foci.

We herein report the case of a 62-year-old Japanese man who presented with jaundice, dry eyes and abdominal discomfort. Imaging studies revealed swelling of the periorbital tissue, parotid and submandibular glands, pulmonary hilar lymph nodes, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder walls, bilateral kidneys, arterial walls and prostate. A significant increase in the serum level IgG4 was seen, and the patient was diagnosed with IgG4-related disease after undergoing a biopsy of the pancreas and prostate.

Efficient palliative involved-field radiotherapy on highly progressive diffuse large B-cell primary gastric lymphoma with liver cirrhosis.

We report the case of a 73-year-old woman having diffuse large B-cell primary gastric lymphoma with a cirrhotic liver caused by hepatitis C virus infection. She visited our hospital with symptoms of nausea and vomiting, which appeared to be caused by stenosis due to the tumor. Metastatic tumors were seen in the gastric and jugular lymph nodes.

A patient with severe hypercalcemia in multiple organ dysfunction syndrome: role of elevated circulating 1alpha,25(OH)2 vitamin D levels.

A 54-year-old man was transferred to our ICU because of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). He died after 38 days of intensive care. During treatment, his serum calcium (Ca) levels continued to increase and reached 3.

Extranodal Rosai-Dorfman disease involving bilateral ovaries in a patient with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt.

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare condition of unknown etiology, and female genital tract involvement in RDD is uncommon. We describe the first case of RDD with bilateral ovarian involvement in a patient implanted with a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt. The patient was a 17-year-old Japanese woman who had undergone radiotherapy, surgery for extranodal RDD involving the brain, and VP shunt insertion at age 12.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor is indispensable for repopulation and differentiation of Kupffer cells but not for splenic red pulp macrophages in osteopetrotic (op/op) mice after macrophage depletion.

We previously reported that macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF, CSF-1) played important roles in the process of the repopulation of Kupffer cells after their elimination by administration of liposome-entrapped dichloromethylene diphosphonate (lipo-MDP). In this study, we examined the repopulation of Kupffer cells and splenic red pulp macrophages in osteopetrotic (op/op) mice defective in the production of functional M-CSF and their littermate mice by using the lipo-MDP model. In untreated op/op mice, numbers of F4/80-positive Kupffer cells in the liver and F4/80-positive splenic red pulp macrophages were reduced.

Apoptosis observed in murine peritoneal macrophages treated with interferon gamma through staphylococcal enterotoxin-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

The concept of superantigens is well-known and widely accepted. In this brief communication, we analyze the behaviour of antigen-presenting cells after T-cell activation by staphylococcal enterotoxin B, a representative superantigen. We tried to activate murine T cells by inflammatory mouse peritoneal macrophage in the presence of staphylococcal enterotoxin B, but no T-cell activation was observed.

An exfoliative toxin A-converting phage isolated from Staphylococcus aureus strain ZM.

Exfoliative toxin A (ETA) causes staphylococcal scalded-skin syndrome in children. The gene for ETA was believed to be coded by the chromosomal DNA. We isolated temperate phages from an ETA-producing strain, ZM, using a restriction minus strain, 1039, as an indicator.

Protective immunity induced by a Trypanosoma cruzi soluble extract antigen in experimental Chagas' disease. Role of interferon gamma.

CBA/J mice can be protected against lethal infection with Trypanosoma cruzi by treatment using T. cruzi soluble extract antigen (TCSE). In vivo administration of TCSE (400 microg/mouse) into naive mice increased the cellular proliferative response to Con A and elevated the levels of IFN-gamma.

Different effects of fibronectin on the phagocytosis of Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci by murine peritoneal macrophages.

Fibronectin is known to be an important factor in colonization by Staphylococcus aureus of host tissues as well as other extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen and laminin. We investigated the effect of fibronectin on the phagocytosis of the S. aureus Cowan I strain by macrophages and of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) strains for comparison.

Evidence for cross-reactivity between antigen derived from Trypanosoma cruzi and myelin basic protein in experimental Chagas disease.

Some autoimmune diseases are thought to arise after an infection. Infectious agents can initiate a chronic inflammatory response associated with autoimmune reactions. Chagas disease, caused by the intracellular parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is an excellent model for autoimmune disease induced by an infection.

Occurrence of coagulase serotype among Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from healthy individuals--special reference to correlation with size of protein-A gene--.

One-hundred-and-nineteen strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from healthy individuals for 3 years between 1991 and 1993 were subjected to an investigation on the producibility of proteins including protein A, coagulase, enterotoxins and toxic-shock syndrome toxin-1. Especially, protein A was the center of our interest. Among these strains, 69, 43, 3 and 1 strains were found to have the protein-A gene containing 5, 4, 3 and 2 IgG-binding domains, respectively.

Inhibitory effect of bacterial attachment on candidal growth due to adherence with mannose-sensitive pili.

A bacterial strain with affinity to Candida albicans was successfully obtained from a natural environment. An uncovered Petri dish containing a suspension of heat-killed C. albicans cells was allowed to stand in a laboratory for several days.

Immunodepression induced by Trypanosoma cruzi and mouse hepatitis virus type 3 is associated with thymus apoptosis.

Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mice show disturbance in the peripheral immune system such as polyclonal lymphocyte activation, autoantibody production, and immunosuppression of T lymphocytes. Previous observations in our laboratory showed that some stocks of T. cruzi can be contaminated with mouse hepatitis virus type 3 (MHV-3).

Effects of mixed solvents on three elementary steps in the reactions of horseradish peroxidase and lactoperoxidase.

The effects of methanol, acetone, and ethylene glycol (up to 50% v/v) on elementary steps in the reactions of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and lactoperoxidase (LPO) were studied by means of the stopped-flow method and the difference spectrum. The rate constant (k3,app) of the oxidation reaction of p-cresol with HRP compound II was remarkably reduced in the presence of organic solvents (to 2.3%, 1.

Subcutaneous growth of Staphylococcus aureus concomitantly inoculated with Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

Intratumoral growth of Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I-derived AP332 was examined by subcutaneous inoculation of cocci in doses ranging from 18 to 1.8 x 10(5) CFU with Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. Inoculation of 18 CFU AP332 resulted in staphylococcal growth in one of five mice, and the proportion of mice established intratumoral infection increased with the initial inocula.