Transbronchial cryobiopsy using an ultrathin cryoprobe with a guide sheath for the diagnosis of pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.

Pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is difficult to diagnose and relatively rare. Tissue sampling through transbronchial biopsy is often inadequate, necessitating surgical lung biopsy. However, a recently developed technique, transbronchial lung cryobiopsy (TBLC), has shown promise for obtaining larger specimens.

Relationship between Permeability and Structure of CO-Assisted Polymer Compression Products.

Membrane filters were fabricated from polyethylene terephthalate nonwoven fabrics with an average fiber diameter of 8 μm using the CO-assisted polymer compression method. The filters were subjected to a liquid permeability test and structural analysis was performed using X-ray computed tomography to evaluate the tortuosity, pore size distribution, and percentage of open pores. Based on the results, filter tortuosity was proposed to be a function of porosity.

Nivolumab Therapy in Lung Cancer Associated with IgG4-related Disease.

A 75-year-old man with severe bilateral pleural thickening and dense soft tissue masses surrounding the abdominal aorta on computed tomography was diagnosed with IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) as a complication of lung cancer. He was started on nivolumab as second-line therapy along with low-dose prednisolone. Nivolumab was administered for 15 months until disease progression, during which time IgG4-RD did not relapse, and no problematic immune-related adverse events occurred.

Effect of Crystallinity on Young's Modulus of Porous Materials Composed of Polyethylene Terephthalate Fibers in the Presence of Carbon Dioxide.

Carbon dioxide (CO)-assisted polymer compression method is used for plasticizing polymers with subcritical CO and then crimping the polymer fibers. Given that this method is based on crimping after plasticization by CO, it is very important to know the degree of plasticization. In this study, heat treatment was gently applied on raw material fibers to obtain fibers with different degrees of crystallinity without changing the shape of the fibers.

New Design Method for Fabricating Multilayer Membranes Using CO-Assisted Polymer Compression Process.

It was verified that deep learning can be used in creating multilayer membranes with multiple porosities using the CO-assisted polymer compression (CAPC) method. To perform training while reducing the number of experimental data as much as possible, the experimental data of the compression behavior of two layers were expanded to three layers for training, but sufficient accuracy could not be obtained. However, the accuracy was dramatically improved by adding the experimental data of the three layers.

Correlation between the Porosity and Permeability of a Polymer Filter Fabricated via CO-Assisted Polymer Compression.

A porous filter was fabricated by plasticizing polymer fibers with CO, followed by pressing and adhering; then, its gas permeability, a basic physical property of filters, was measured using N. The as-obtained filter was well compressed and expected to approximate a sintered porous material. Therefore, the fabricated filter was analyzed by applying the Darcy law, and the correlation between its gas permeability and porosity was clarified.

Novel Strategy for Fabricating Multilayer Porous Membranes with Varying Porosity.

CO-assisted polymer compression (CAPC) is a method for fabricating porous polymer materials in which the polymer is plasticized with CO and then pressed. In this work, a two-step molding method is adapted, and a porous membrane with multiple layers of varying porosity is fabricated by laminating sheets of a single starting material. A model is constructed in which the expansion owing to CO and compression reflected by the longitudinal elastic modulus are considered.

Peel and Penetration Resistance of Porous Polyethylene Terephthalate Material Produced by CO₂-Assisted Polymer Compression.

CO₂-assisted polymer compression (CAPC) involves adhering fiber sheets without impurities at room temperature and producing porous materials suitable for use in medical and skin-contactable products. The mechanical strength of the resultant porous material has not yet been reported. The penetration resistance of the CAPC material, which is a laminated material comprising fibrous polymer sheets, was measured, and this increased gradually with the density.

Analysis of Sustained Release Behavior of Drug-Containing Tablet Prepared by CO₂-Assisted Polymer Compression.

A controlled-release system for drug delivery allows the continuous supply of a drug to the target region at a predetermined rate for a specified period of time. Herein, the sustained release behavior of a drug-containing tablet fabricated through CO₂-assisted polymer compression (CAPC) was investigated. CAPC involves placing the drug in the center of a nonwoven fabric, sandwiching this fabric between an integer number of nonwoven fabrics, and applying pressure bonding.

Relation between volume expansion and hydrogen bond networks for CO2-alcohol mixtures at 40 °C.

We experimentally determined the density and mole fraction of CO(2) (x(CO(2))) for CO(2)-alcohol (methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, isopropyl alcohol, and tert-butyl alcohol) mixtures and performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the mechanisms of volume expansion at 40 °C. The volume as calculated by vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) data increased with decreasing alkyl chain length, although there was no effect of branched alkyl groups. Analysis of the hydrogen bond network showed that the average number of hydrogen bonds per alcohol molecule decreased with increasing branched methyl groups.

Liquid structure of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate by neutron diffraction with H/D isotopic substitution method.

The liquid structure of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [BMIM]PF(6), was investigated by neutron diffraction with H/D substitution method, where the hydrogen atoms in the imidazolium ring were partially deuterated. The local structures around the ring hydrogen atoms in liquid are very similar to those estimated from the crystal structure.

Nanostructure of pure iron anodically oxidized in borate buffer solution and annealed by infrared radiation.

The behavior of oxide film on pure iron passivated in a borate buffer solution and subsequently radiated by infrared light (IR) was investigated in comparing to that by just IR annealing without passivation, and was evaluated by film structure, etc. The effect of thermal annealing over 250 degrees C was observed with gamma-Fe2O3 grain growth and sharp increase in surface roughness, film thickness and oxygen content. An ellipsometric parameter of tan psi was sensitively reflected by annealing effect, and tan psi curve had a shoulder at 150 degrees C for 5 min and a peak of tan psi was shifted from 350 nm to 450 nm in wavelength.

Estimation of local density augmentation and hydrogen bonding between pyridazine and water under sub- and supercritical conditions using UV-vis spectroscopy.

The local density around pyridazine was evaluated by examining the UV-vis spectral shift of pyridazine in a high-pressure liquid state and supercritical water from 25 to 450 degrees C and from 20 to 45 MPa. Augmentation of the local density was observed from 380 to 420 degrees C, and showed the maximum at a lower density than the critical density of water. The degree of hydrogen bonding was estimated in consideration of the local density augmentation.

Solution structures of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ionic liquid saturated with CO2: Experimental evidence of specific anion-CO2 interaction.

X-ray diffraction measurements for 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ionic liquid ([BMIM][PF6])-CO2 systems were carried out at high pressures with a newly developed polymer cell. The intermolecular distribution functions (g(inter)(r)) were obtained at 25 degrees C for neat [BMIM][PF6] and its solutions saturated with CO2 at 4 and 15 MPa, where the mole fractions (x) of CO2 correspond to 0.5 and 0.

Temperature dependence of local density augmentation for acetophenone N,N,N',N'-tetramethylbenzidine exciplex in supercritical water.

Local density augmentation around exciplex between acetophenone and N,N,N',N'-tetramethylbenzidine in supercritical water was measured by observing the peak shift of transient absorption spectrum at temperatures from 380 to 410 degrees C and at pressures from 6 to 37 MPa. Large local density augmentation was observed at lower solvent densities. Local density augmentation was evaluated by the excess density, which was defined as the difference between local density and bulk density, and the density enhancement factor, which was defined by the ratio of the local density to the bulk density.

Determination of Kamlet-Taft solvent parameters pi* of high pressure and supercritical water by the UV-Vis absorption spectral shift of 4-nitroanisole.

Kamlet-Taft solvent parameters, pi*, of high pressure and supercritical water were determined from 16-420 degrees C based on solvatochromic measurements of 4-nitroanisole. For the measurements, an optical cell that could be used at high temperatures and pressures was developed with the specification of minimal dead space. The low dead space cell allowed us to measure the absorption spectra of 4-nitroanisole at high temperature conditions before appreciable decomposition occurred.

Melting point depression of ionic liquids confined in nanospaces.

A new physical method was proposed to control the liquid properties of room temperature ionic liquids (RT-ILs) in combination with nanoporous materials; the melting point of ILs confined in nanopores remarkably decreases in proportion to the inverse of the pore size.