Impact of comorbidity and relative dose intensity on outcomes in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients treated with R-CHOP.

Background: Comorbidity and relative dose intensity (RDI) have been associated with survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients, but both relationships remain unaddressed in the same patients.

Methods: A retrospective review of consecutive DLBCL patients treated from January 2010 to October 2018 was performed. Data for the clinical characteristics of the patients, including the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and RDI, on their outcomes were evaluated.

Visual exploration of emotional faces in schizophrenia using masks from the Japanese Noh theatre.

Studying eye movements during visual exploration is widely used to investigate visual information processing in schizophrenia. Here, we used masks from the Japanese Noh theatre to study visual exploration behavior during an emotional face recognition task and a brightness evaluation control task using the same stimuli. Eye movements were recorded in 25 patients with schizophrenia and 25 age-matched healthy controls while participants explored seven photos of Japanese Noh masks tilted to seven different angles.

Masked ambiguity - Emotion identification in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder.

Both patients with schizophrenia and with a major depressive disorder (MDD) display deficits in identifying facial expressions of emotion during acute phases of their illness. However, specific deficit patterns have not yet been reliably demonstrated. Tasks that employ emotionally ambiguous stimuli have recently shown distinct deficit patterns in patients with schizophrenia compared to other mental disorders as well as healthy controls.

Ezetimibe in Combination With Statins Ameliorates Endothelial Dysfunction in Coronary Arteries After Stenting: The CuVIC Trial (Effect of Cholesterol Absorption Inhibitor Usage on Target Vessel Dysfunction After Coronary Stenting), a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: We sought to investigate whether treatment with ezetimibe in combination with statins improves coronary endothelial function in target vessels in coronary artery disease patients after coronary stenting.

Approach And Results: We conducted a multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded-end point trial among 11 cardiovascular treatment centers. From 2011 to 2013, 260 coronary artery disease patients who underwent coronary stenting were randomly allocated to 2 arms (statin monotherapy, S versus ezetimibe [10 mg/d]+statin combinational therapy, E+S).

Benefits of using culturally unfamiliar stimuli in ambiguous emotion identification: A cross-cultural study.

A novel emotion recognition task that employs photos of a Japanese mask representing a highly ambiguous stimulus was evaluated. As non-Asians perceive and/or label emotions differently from Asians, we aimed to identify patterns of task-performance in non-Asian healthy volunteers with a view to future patient studies. The Noh mask test was presented to 42 adult German participants.

Toll-like receptor-4 is upregulated in plaque debris of patients with acute coronary syndrome more than Toll-like receptor-2.

Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by inflammation in the arterial wall. Atherogenesis is dependent on the innate immune response involving activation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and the expression of inflammatory proteins, those may lead to acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We investigated the expression level of TLR-4 in ACS, as compared with TLR-2 and patients with stable angina.

Comparison of the reperfusion efficacy of thrombus aspiration with and without distal protection during primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

We evaluated a hypothesis that thrombus aspiration with distal protection is superior to simple thrombus aspiration in patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A total of 176 consecutive patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction were enrolled in this study and assigned to either the thrombus aspiration group (A, n = 104) or the thrombus aspiration with distal protection group using a filter device system (A + DP, n = 72). We compared the angiographic reperfusion grade, left ventricular (LV) function, and clinical outcomes between the 2 groups.

Gender differences in factors influencing electrocardiographic findings of left ventricular hypertrophy in severe aortic stenosis.

We investigated gender differences in factors influencing the electrocardiographic (ECG) findings of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). The functional and geometric responses of the left ventricle to chronic pressure overload, such as hypertension and AS, have been reported to be different between men and women. However, gender differences in the factors influencing the ECG findings of LVH in pressure overload remain unknown.

Clinical impact of coronary artery spasm in patients with no significant coronary stenosis who are experiencing acute coronary syndrome.

Background And Objective: To clarify the clinical features of coronary artery spasm (CAS) with no significant coronary stenosis in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in real practice.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study of patients with suspected ACS (n=645) based on symptoms, electrocardiographic changes, and/or positive cardiac biomarkers and vasospastic angina (VSA, n=90). ACS patients were divided into two groups: (1) organic ACS (n=515), culprit lesion ≥75% coronary stenosis with/without thrombosis; (2) spastic ACS (n=70), coronary stenosis <75%, either with positive acetylcholine (ACh) test (n=51) or without ACh test but verified spontaneous spasm (n=19).

Relationships between inflammatory mediators and coronary plaque composition in patients with stable angina investigated by ultrasound radiofrequency data analysis.

Inflammation has been recognized as a critical process in the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. Virtual Histology-intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) has been reported to be a useful tool for tissue characterization of coronary atherosclerotic plaque. We investigated relationships between plaque composition and inflammation-related factors possibly contributing to atheromatous plaque formation and progression, since these are largely unknown.

Scavenging free radicals improves endothelial dysfunction in human coronary arteries in vivo.

The effect of a novel free radical scavenger, edaravone, on coronary endothelial dysfunction was examined in patients who had no significant stenosis of coronary arteries, to elucidate the role of free radicals on coronary endothelial dysfunction. The coronary blood flow (CBF) responses to acetylcholine (ACh) were measured by quantitative coronary arteriography and the intracoronary Doppler technique before and after the administration of edaravone. Twenty-four patients were divided into two groups on the basis of CBF responses to ACh; those with "attenuated" (%Delta CBF < 300%, n = 12) and "normal" (%Delta CBF > 300%, n = 12) flow responses.

Overexpression of myosin phosphatase reduces Ca(2+) sensitivity of contraction and impairs cardiac function.

Background: Phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain of myosin (MLC) has roles in cardiac function. In vitro, myosin phosphatase target subunit 2 (MYPT2) is a strongly suspected regulatory subunit of cardiac myosin phosphatase (MP), but there is no in-vivo evidence regarding the functions of MYPT2 in the heart.

Methods And Results: Transgenic mice (Tg) overexpressing MYPT2 were generated using the alpha-MHC promoter.

Reliability and validity of questionnaire for neurobehavioral disability following traumatic brain injury.

The neurobehavioral disability recognized in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a severe sequela, but there is no appropriate classification due to its various manifestations. In the present study a questionnaire for a simple investigation of this disability was prepared, and its reliability and validity verified. The survey was conducted on 72 patients with TBI by the caregiver of each patient.

Randomized phase III trial of pelvic radiotherapy versus cisplatin-based combined chemotherapy in patients with intermediate- and high-risk endometrial cancer: a Japanese Gynecologic Oncology Group study.

Objective: To establish an optimal adjuvant therapy for intermediate- and high-risk endometrial cancer patients, we conducted a multi-center randomized phase III trial of adjuvant pelvic radiation therapy (PRT) versus cyclophosphamide-doxorubicin-cisplatin (CAP) chemotherapy in women with endometrioid adenocarcinoma with deeper than 50% myometrial invasion.

Methods: Among 385 evaluated patients, 193 patients received PRT and 192 received CAP. The PRT group received at least 40 Gy.

Three fatal cases of rapidly progressive infective endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus aureus: one case with huge vegetation.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infective endocarditis (IE) is a severe disease with a high mortality despite intensive therapy. Three cases of S.

Re-expression of proteins involved in cytokinesis during cardiac hypertrophy.

Cardiomyocytes stop dividing after birth and postnatal heart growth is only achieved by increase in cell volume. In some species, cardiomyocytes undergo an additional incomplete mitosis in the first postnatal week, where karyokinesis takes place in the absence of cytokinesis, leading to binucleation. Proteins that regulate the formation of the actomyosin ring are known to be important for cytokinesis.

Ca2+ stimulates COX-2 expression through calcium-sensing receptor in fibroblasts.

Fibroblasts isolated from jaw cysts expressed calcium-sensing receptor (CasR). In the fibroblasts elevated extracellular Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](o)) increased fluo-3 fluorescence intensity, and the production of inositol(1,4,5)trisphosphate and active protein kinase C. Phospholipase C inhibitor U-73122 attenuated the Ca(2+)-induced increase in fluo-3 fluorescence intensity.

Somatic DNA recombination in a mouse genomic region, BC-1, in brain and non-brain tissue.

The genomic region BC-1 (GenBank acc. No. AB075899) on mouse chromosome 16 has been reported as a genomic region undergoing somatic DNA recombination producing circular DNA and genomic deletion in brain during late embryogenesis.

Transient receptor potential (TRP) protein 7 acts as a G protein-activated Ca2+ channel mediating angiotensin II-induced myocardial apoptosis.

Transient receptor potential (TRP) proteins have been identified as cation channels that are activated by agonist-receptor coupling and mediate various cellular functions. TRPC7, a homologue of TRP channels, has been shown to act as a Ca2+ channel activated by G protein-coupled stimulation and to be abundantly expressed in the heart with an as-yet-unknown function. We studied the role of TRPC7 in G protein-activated signaling in HEK293 cells and cultured cardiomyocytes in vitro transfected with FLAG-tagged TRPC7 cDNA and in Dahl salt-sensitive rats with heart failure in vivo.

How great is willingness to pay for recovery from sequelae after severe traumatic brain injury in Japan?

Objective: To evaluate the burden on families with a family member suffering traumatic brain injury sequelae in Japan.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: Family members' burden from the sequelae of traumatic brain injury was estimated by use of willingness-to-pay models and the contingent valuation method.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma ligands attenuate brain natriuretic peptide production and affect remodeling in cardiac fibroblasts in reoxygenation after hypoxia.

Cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) participate in cardiac remodeling after hypoxic cardiac damage, and remodeling is thought to be mediated by CF synthesis of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). It is unknown whether the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), which mediate cellular signaling for growth and migration, affect BNP synthesis and whether PPARs participate in regulation of extracellular matrix protein (ECM) expression for remodeling. We examined the production of BNP in cultured neonatal ventricular CFs and its signaling system on collagen synthesis and on activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in reoxygenation after hypoxia.

Efficacy of milnacipran on poststroke depression on inpatient rehabilitation.

Post-stroke depression (PSD) has a negative impact on rehabilitation following stroke. No satisfactory antidepressant treatment for PSD has yet been developed. The present study examined the effect of milnacipran, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, on PSD patients.

Mutational analysis of TP53 and p21 in familial and sporadic ovarian cancer in Japan.

Objective: To investigate whether somatic mutations in cell cycle checkpoint genes, TP53 and p21, are involved in the development of ovarian cancer with or without BRCA1 germline mutation.

Methods: We analyzed somatic genetic alterations of TP53 and p21 in 46 ovarian cancer patients with BRCA1 germline mutations and 93 sporadic patients, using direct sequencing for the entire coding sequences in TP53 and p21.

Results: TP53 somatic mutations were detected in 25 of the 46 BRCA1 cases and 40 of the 93 sporadic cases (54.