COVID-19 vaccination benefits in preventing severe disease in mild-to-moderate cases: An analysis in the first specialized hospital for COVID-19 in Japan.

Background: In Japan, the fourth round of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination is ongoing and is targeted at medical staff and nursing home workers, individuals aged ≥60 years, and those with comorbidities or other high-risk factors, including body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m. The incidence of severe COVID-19 decreased markedly after widespread COVID-19 vaccination drives, and our hospital experienced a similar trend. We, therefore, examined the characteristics of our patients to clarify who benefited the most from vaccination.

Antibody Avidity Maturation Following Recovery From Infection or the Booster Vaccination Grants Breadth of SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Capacity.

Background: Cross-neutralizing capacity of antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants is important in mitigating (re-)exposures. Role of antibody maturation, the process whereby selection of higher affinity antibodies augments host immunity, to determine SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing capacity was investigated.

Methods: Sera from SARS-CoV-2 convalescents at 2, 6, or 10 months postrecovery, and BNT162b2 vaccine recipients at 3 or 25 weeks postvaccination, were analyzed.

Glycated hemoglobin level on admission associated with progression to severe disease in hospitalized patients with non-severe coronavirus disease 2019.

Aims/introduction: Poor glycemic control is known to be associated with severe infection development. This retrospective observational study examined whether glycemic control before coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) onset contributes to progression from non-severe to severe COVID-19.

Materials And Methods: Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was measured on hospital admission in 415 patients with non-severe COVID-19.

Treatment and outcome of COVID-19 patients in a specialized hospital during the third wave: advance of age and increased mortality compared with the first/second waves.

Purpose: To elucidate the clinical course of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treated at a specialized hospital mainly for those with mild and moderate severity during the third wave, and to compare that with the first and second (1st/2nd) waves.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the severity on admission, treatment, and outcome of a total of 581 patients from September, 2020, to March, 2021, and examined the risk factors for deterioration of respiratory condition, defined as requiring oxygen ≥ 7 L/min for 12 h.

Results: The median age was 78 (interquartile range 62-83) years, older than in the 1st/2nd waves (53 years), and 50% of the patients was male.

Isoniazid-induced Immune Thrombocytopenia.

Drug-induced thrombocytopenia occurs through immune-mediated platelet destruction, and its management is challenging during tuberculosis treatment. Although rifampicin is the most common drug causing thrombocytopenia, isoniazid can also cause thrombocytopenia. We herein report a 75-year-old man who developed thrombocytopenia during tuberculosis treatment.

SARS-CoV-2-induced humoral immunity through B cell epitope analysis in COVID-19 infected individuals.

The aim of this study is to understand adaptive immunity to SARS-CoV-2 through the analysis of B cell epitope and neutralizing activity in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. We obtained serum from forty-three COVID-19 patients from patients in the intensive care unit of Osaka University Hospital (n = 12) and in Osaka City Juso Hospital (n = 31). Most individuals revealed neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 assessed by a pseudotype virus-neutralizing assay.

Clinical profiles and outcome of patients with COVID-19 in a specialized hospital in Japan.

Purpose: To characterize the clinical features and outcome of patients treated at a specialized hospital for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the symptoms on admission, treatment, and outcome of a total of 300 patients with mild (peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO) ≥ 96%), moderate I (93% < SpO < 96%), moderate II (SpO ≤ 93%) and severe (requiring admission to the ICU or mechanical ventilation) COVID-19.

Results: Median age was 53 (interquartile range [IQR] 33-72) years and 57% was male.

[Primary nasopharyngeal tuberculosis].

A 59-year-old female was complaining of sore throat, right otorrhea, and hearing impairment. There were no abnormal findings suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis on her chest XP and CT. Nasopharyngoscopic examination detected a lesion coated with white mass on her nasopharynx, and a biopsy-specimen from this lesion revealed histopathological findings compatible with tuberculosis and the presence of acid-fast bacilli.

A phase I/II study comparing regimen schedules of gemcitabine and docetaxel in Japanese patients with stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: Gemcitabine and docetaxel are non-platinum agents with activity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study was conducted to determine and evaluate the recommended regimen of gemcitabine-docetaxel and evaluated its efficacy and safety in chemonaive Japanese NSCLC patients.

Methods: In phase I, patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC were randomized and received either gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 plus docetaxel on day 1 or gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 plus docetaxel on day 8.

[A case of interstitial pneumonia in the upper lung field histologically diagnosed as nonspecific interstitial pneumonia complicated by bilateral pneumothorax].

A 55-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of progressive dyspnea. Chest radiography showed interstitial shadows in the upper lobe. The pathological diagnosis of lung biopsy specimens obtained from upper and middle lobes by video-assisted thoracoscopy was non-specific interstitial pneumonia, group 2.

Bilateral tubal pregnancies after the termination of intrauterine pregnancy following gamete intrafallopian transfer.

It is well known that the prevalence of heterotopic pregnancies following assisted reproductive technology (ART) is much higher than among spontaneous pregnancies. Here, we illustrate a very rare case of bilateral simultaneous tubal pregnancies combined with intrauterine pregnancy (incomplete abortion) following gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT). In this case, unsuspected bilateral tubal pregnancies were diagnosed when laparotomy was performed 10 days after the termination of an intrauterine pregnancy.

Imbalance between vascular endothelial growth factor and endostatin levels in induced sputum from asthmatic subjects.

Background: Angiogenesis has recently attracted considerable attention as a component of airway remodeling in bronchial asthma. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is highly expressed in asthmatic airways, and its contribution to airway remodeling has been reported. Although angiogenesis is regulated by a balance of angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors, the relative levels of antiangiogenic factors in asthmatic airways have not been evaluated.

Ultrastructure of receptaculum seminis in Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae) in relation to inserted endospermatophore.

The receptaculum seminis, opening into the female genital tract, is found only in the metastriate ixodid ticks. An endospermatophore that has been inserted into the female genital aperture at copulation is first stored in the receptaculum seminis, where spermiogenesis is completed before the sperm ascend the oviducts. The receptaculum seminis consists of a simple cuticularized epithelium.

Ultrastructure of the tubular accessory gland in Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae).

The paired tubular accessory glands in Haemaphysalis longicornis open at the junction of the cervical and the vestibular parts of vagina via short and narrow ducts. The pseudostratified columnar glandular epithelium covered by the muscle layer consists of both secretory and supporting cells. As feeding proceeds, the secretory cells increase in volume.