Salvage radiotherapy for locoregional recurrence of esophageal cancer after surgery.

Objective: There is no consensus on the optimal treatment for patients with locoregional recurrence of esophageal cancer after surgery. The objective of this study was to investigate the outcomes and prognostic factors associated with salvage radiotherapy in patients with locoregional recurrence of esophageal cancer after surgery.

Methods: We reviewed 80 patients with locoregional recurrence of esophageal cancer after surgery who were treated with radiotherapy.

Lung ultrasound in the assessment of interstitial lung disease in patients with connective tissue disease: Performance in comparison with high-resolution computed tomography.

Objective: To investigate clinical relevance of performing lung ultrasound (LUS) in patients with connective tissue disease (CTD)-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) in comparison with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT).

Methods: This single-centre study enrolled eligible patients with CTD-ILD from the prospective LUS registry. Total B-lines were detected by assessment at 14 sites via LUS.

Clinical phenotyping in patients with anti-synthetase antibodies using cluster analysis.

Objectives: To characterize clinically distinct subgroups among unselected patients with anti-synthetase antibodies using cluster analysis.

Methods: This study evaluated patients with anti-synthetase antibodies registered to two independent cohorts; 106 consecutive patients from a prospective, single-centre cohort of the Scleroderma/Myositis Centre of Excellence (SMCE) were used as a derivation cohort and 125 patients from the Multicentre Retrospective Cohort of Japanese Patients with Myositis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease (JAMI) were used as a validation cohort. Anti-synthetase antibodies were identified by RNA immunoprecipitation.

Simultaneous boost radiotherapy versus conventional dose radiotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma: a multi-institutional analysis.

We compared survival outcomes of high-dose concomitant boost radiotherapy (HDCBRT) and conventional dose radiotherapy (CRT) for newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GB). Patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy for newly diagnosed GB were included. In HDCBRT, specific targets received 69, 60, and 51 Gy in 30 fractions, while 60 Gy in 30 fractions was administered with a standard radiotherapy method in CRT.

Elucidation of Late-Stage Biosynthesis of Phomoidride: Proposal of Cyclization Mechanism Affording Characteristic Nine-Membered Ring of Fungal Dimeric Anhydride.

Antihypercholesterolemic agent phomoidride (PMD) B has a highly elaborated bicyclo[4.3.1]deca-1,6-diene core scaffold derived from dimeric anhydride with a nine-membered ring.

Bronchogenic cyst with atypical imaging findings and repeated ruptures in a short period of time: A case report.

Bronchogenic cysts are the most common primary cysts of the mediastinum. Although most are asymptomatic, some bronchogenic cysts cause symptoms such as chest pain and dyspnea. Here, we report a case of bronchogenic cyst that ruptured twice in a short period of time in a patient who presented with sudden back pain.

c-kit inhibitor masitinib induces reactive oxygen species-dependent apoptosis in c-kit-negative HepG2 cells.

Tumor-specific growth signal inhibition is a major anticancer strategy. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are the most upstream receptors for growth signaling in cancer. Therefore, inhibition of RTKs has been proposed as an efficient therapeutic target.

Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor-Induced Vasculitis Successfully Treated With Short-Term Corticosteroid Therapy: A Case Report.

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is widely used for preventing neutropenia, and large vessel vasculitis has been recognized as one of its severe adverse events. We report a case of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in a 78-year-old woman in whom fever and right cervical pain developed after administration of filgrastim. Computed tomography and cervical artery ultrasound imaging revealed wall thickening in the right common carotid artery.

Barium-induced pneumatosis intestinalis in a patient with anti-synthetase syndrome.

Pneumatosis intestinalis is defined as the presence of gas in the bowel wall. The combination of the two risks, pre-existing connective tissue diseases and barium contrast examination, may trigger pneumatosis intestinalis, albeit at a low incidence. Clinicians should be aware of the condition for proper differential diagnosis.

Visual Summary Identification From Scientific Publications Self-Supervised Learning.

The exponential growth of scientific literature yields the need to support users to both effectively and efficiently analyze and understand the some body of research work. This exploratory process can be facilitated by providing graphical abstracts-a visual summary of a scientific publication. Accordingly, previous work recently presented an initial study on automatic identification of a central figure in a scientific publication, to be used as the publication's visual summary.

The "Ant-farm"-like Appearance of Restricted Lower Limb Vasculitis on Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron Emission Tomography.

Restricted lower limb vasculitis is a type of localized muscle vasculitis limited to the lower limbs. The usefulness of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) for the diagnosis of this entity has not yet been reported. We herein report three patients with a fever and persistent lower limb pain.

Purple urine bags reflecting an aging society.

The purple urine bag syndrome is an underrecognized but quite common condition, resulting in marked discoloration of the urine bag system due to bacterial metabolism. This syndrome is associated with advanced age and bedridden persons.

Gait Phase Detection Based on Muscle Deformation with Static Standing-Based Calibration.

Gait phase detection, which detects foot-contact and foot-off states during walking, is important for various applications, such as synchronous robotic assistance and health monitoring. Gait phase detection systems have been proposed with various wearable devices, sensing inertial, electromyography, or force myography information. In this paper, we present a novel gait phase detection system with static standing-based calibration using muscle deformation information.

Provisional seven-item criteria for the diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa.

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a potentially life-threatening systemic vasculitis, which predominantly involves medium arteries. However, it may be difficult to diagnose PAN in its early stage. The aim of our study was to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) criteria for the diagnosis of PAN in a single-centre retrospective cohort in Japan and to develop simplified criteria with favourable diagnostic performance.

Effect of chum salmon egg lectin on tight junctions in Caco-2 cell monolayers.

The effect of a chum salmon egg lectin (CSL3) on tight junction (TJ) of Caco-2 cell monolayers was investigated. The lectin opened TJ as indicated by the decrease of the transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) value and the increase of the permeation of lucifer yellow, which is transported via the TJ-mediated paracellular pathway. The effects of CSL3 were inhibited by the addition of 10 mM L-rhamnose or D-galactose which were specific sugars for CSL3.

Effects of food lectins on the transport system of human intestinal Caco-2 cell monolayers.

The effects of 16 lectins isolated from foodstuff on the transport system across human intestinal Caco-2 cell monolayers were investigated by using four fluorescent markers: lucifer yellow (LY) for the paracellular pathway, fluorescein (FL) for the monocarboxylic acid transporter-mediated pathway, rhodamine 123 for the P-glycoprotein-mediated efflux pathway, and calcein for the multidrug resistance associated protein-related efflux pathway. The transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) values for the monolayers were also measured. WGA from wheat germ, ABA from white mushroom, AOL from Aspergillus oryzae, and CSL3 from chum salmon eggs (each at 100 µg/mL) decreased the TER value by 20-40% which resulted in increased LY transport.

TRIC-A channels in vascular smooth muscle contribute to blood pressure maintenance.

TRIC channel subtypes, namely TRIC-A and TRIC-B, are intracellular monovalent cation channels postulated to mediate counter-ion movements facilitating physiological Ca(2+) release from internal stores. Tric-a-knockout mice developed hypertension during the daytime due to enhanced myogenic tone in resistance arteries. There are two Ca(2+) release mechanisms in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs); incidental opening of ryanodine receptors (RyRs) generates local Ca(2+) sparks to induce hyperpolarization, while agonist-induced activation of inositol trisphosphate receptors (IP(3)Rs) evokes global Ca(2+) transients causing contraction.

New molecular mechanisms for cardiovascular disease: cardiac hypertrophy and cell-volume regulation.

Cardiac hypertrophy is an increase in the muscle volume of the ventricle due to the enlargement of cardiac cells. Physiological cardiac hypertrophy is the normal response to healthy exercise, and pathological hypertrophy is the response to increased stress such as hypertension. Intracellular and extracellular aniosmotic conditions also change cell volume.