Effectiveness of Nutrition Support Team Intervention in Pediatric Patients with Cancer.

Malnutrition in children with cancer is associated with poor prognosis. This study aimed to determine whether nutritional support team (NST) interventions prevent adverse events and improve the nutritional status in pediatric patients admitted for cancer treatment. This was a historical cohort study of pediatric patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, neuroblastoma, or brain tumor who received chemotherapy or underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Adoption of an Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocol for Neuromuscular Scoliosis Shortens Length of Hospital Stay.

Introduction: We aimed to implement the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol for pediatric neuromuscular scoliosis (NMS) surgery and to examine the effectiveness of this program in this study.

Methods: Subjects were children with NMS who underwent scoliosis surgery at our department by a surgeon using a single posterior approach. A series of 27 cases before the introduction of ERAS and 27 cases during program stabilization were included in the study.

Hyponatremia secondary to severe atopic dermatitis in early infancy.

Background: Infants with atopic dermatitis who developed hyponatremia and hyperkalemia with raised aldosterone have been repeatedly described in the Japanese-language literature, but similar reports from other countries are scarce.

Methods: We collected reports of atopic dermatitis complicated with hyponatremia (≤130 mEq/L), written either in English or in Japanese, to delineate the characteristics and to elucidate the pathophysiology of this condition.

Results: Of a total of 36 patients, 35 were Japanese.

Food repertoire history in children with autism spectrum disorder in Japan.

Background: Food selectivity is commonly reported in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to investigate eating habit history in children with ASD.

Methods: We analyzed 3 day food records completed by the parents and assessed how many unique foods each child consumed.

Standard values of rapid turnover proteins and zinc in Japanese children.

Measurement of rapid-turnover proteins has an established place in nutrition assessment and is partly dependent on the zinc metallo-enzymes involved. We investigated the reference values of rapid turnover proteins and zinc in Japanese children. This cross-sectional study was conducted at a single center.

Studies of self-organization processes in nanoporous alumina membranes by small-angle neutron scattering.

We performed studies of the self-organization processes in nanoporous alumina membranes at initial and late stages of aluminum anodization by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). SEM observations indicated three stages in the self-organization of nanopores in alumina: (1) nucleation of random nanopores with a broad radius distribution, (2) narrowing the radius distribution and (3) slow evolution of the nanoporous structure towards ordering of nanopores into large domains. SANS studies revealed orientational correlation between ordered domains of nanopores, which is characterized by a small misorientation angle.

Fried-potato diet causes vitamin A deficiency in an autistic child.

A 5-year-old boy with autism developed dry eye and xerophthalmia. Serum vitamin A was undetectable. Dietary history revealed a markedly altered intake consisting of only fried potatoes and rice balls for 2 years.

Cage lifetimes of ionic liquids as studied by the magnetic field effect probe.

Magnetic field effects (MFEs) on the photoinduced hydrogen abstraction reaction of benzophenone with phenol were investigated in ionic liquids (ILs) with a short alkyl chain (N,N,N-trimethyl-N-propylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (TMPA TFSA)) and long alkyl chains ((N,N,N-trimethyl-N-octylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (TMOA TFSA) and N-decyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (DTMA TFSA)) by a nanosecond laser flash photolysis technique. In each ionic liquid, escaped radical yield of a benzophenone ketyl radical rapidly increased with increasing magnetic field strength (B) of 0 T < B≤ 0.01 T.

Cyclotron resonance and mass enhancement by electron correlation in KFe2As2.

Cyclotron resonance (CR) measurements for the Fe-based superconductor KFe(2)As(2) are performed. One signal for CR is observed, and is attributed to the two-dimensional α Fermi surface at the Γ point. We found a large discrepancy in the effective masses of CR [(3.

Magnetic field effects on hydrogen abstraction of thiobenzophenone as a probe of microviscosity.

Hydrogen abstraction reactions of thiobenzophenone with thiophenol in solutions of varying viscosities (η=0.29-42.0 cP) were studied by a nanosecond laser flash photolysis under magnetic fields of 0-15.

Standardization of excitation efficiency in near-field scanning optical microscopy.

Near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM or SNOM) is a form of scanning probe microscope (SPM), which is used to observe the optical properties of a sample surface with a nanometer-scale spatial resolution. Since the near-field light strongly interacts with the sample surface, or with nanometer-scale objects on the substrate's surface, NSOM is advantageous to excite only the vicinity of a sample surface. From the view point of surface chemical analysis, a discussion about the light energy concentration within a nanometer-scale region, and an estimation of its efficiency are indispensable for accurate measurements of the optical properties in a nanometer-scale region.

Photochemical primary process of photo-Fries rearrangement reaction of 1-naphthyl acetate as studied by MFE probe.

Photo-Fries rearrangement reactions of 1-naphthyl acetate (NA) in n-hexane and in cyclohexane were studied by the magnetic field effect probe (MFE probe) under magnetic fields (B) of 0 to 7 T. Transient absorptions of the 1-naphthoxyl radical, T-T absorption of NA, and a short-lifetime intermediate (τ = 24 ns) were observed by a nanosecond laser flash photolysis technique. In n-hexane, the yield of escaped 1-naphthoxyl radicals dropped dramatically upon application of a 3 mT field, but then the yield increased with increasing B for 3 mT < B≤ 7 T.

Fraction of a millimeter propagation of exciton polaritons in photoexcited nanofibers of organic dye.

We report propagation of exciton polaritons (EPs) in photoexcited nanofibers of thiacyanine dye over a few hundred micrometers at room temperature. We determine the complex refractive index along the nanofibers by fluorescence microscopy measurements on single nanofibers and observe its anomalous behavior due to the EP effect. The longitudinal-transverse splitting energy (ΔE(L-T)) is evaluated to be ∼1  eV.

Large anisotropy in the magnetic susceptibility of metallic carbon nanotubes.

Through magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy, the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes has been extracted and found to be 2-4 times greater than values for semiconducting nanotubes. This large anisotropy can be understood in terms of large orbital paramagnetism of metallic nanotubes arising from the Aharonov-Bohm-phase-induced gap opening in a parallel field, and our calculations quantitatively reproduce these results. We also compare our values with previous work for semiconducting nanotubes, which confirm that the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy does not increase linearly with the diameter for small-diameter nanotubes.

Development of magnetically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes-gelatin composite films.

Magnetically aligned and highly dispersed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)-gelatin composite films were fabricated on a quartz substrate of newly designed disassemblable sample cells. After an SWNTs-gelatin composite sol in each sample cell was exposed to vertical DC magnetic fields to 28 T during the sol-gel transition, a side plate with a polytetrafluoroethylene film attached to the inner surface was removed from the sample cell carefully, and the composite gel left on the other side plate made of quartz was dehydrated in a nonmagnetic circumstance. We have found that the alignment of SWNTs is retained in uniform composite films obtained after the nonmagnetic drying process.

Tissue remodeling induced by hypersecreted epidermal growth factor and amphiregulin in the airway after an acute asthma attack.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor ligands, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and amphiregulin, may play key roles in tissue remodeling in asthma. However, the kinetics of EGF and amphiregulin secretion in the airway after an acute asthma attack and the effect of prolonged airway exposure to these ligands on airway remodeling are unknown.

Objective: To measure the EGF and amphiregulin concentrations in sputa obtained from patients with asthma under various conditions, and to examine the effects of EGF and amphiregulin on the proliferation or differentiation of airway structural cells.

Possible phase transition deep inside the hidden order phase of ultraclean URu2Si2.

To elucidate the underlying nature of the hidden order (HO) state in heavy-fermion compound URu(2)Si(2), we measure electrical transport properties of ultraclean crystals in a high field, low temperature regime. Unlike previous studies, the present system with much less impurity scattering resolves a distinct anomaly of the Hall resistivity at H;{*} = 22.5 T, well below the destruction field of the HO phase = or approximately 36 T.

Anisotropic elasticity of magnetically ordered agarose gel.

The physical properties of agarose gel prepared under strong magnetic fields were investigated. The storage modulus was measured by the reflection method with an ultrasonic pulse. The measurement results of the gel's elasticity indicate that agarose gel has anisotropic properties.