Quality of Life in Adults with Atopic Dermatitis in Relation to Disease Severity: Nationwide Data in Japan.

Introduction: The impact of atopic dermatitis (AD) on daily life and different levels of quality of life (QOL) according to AD severity has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to assess QOL in relation to the AD severity in Japan.

Methods: This observational study used anonymized data of health insurance association members and their families registered to a mobile health app.

Understanding of the functions of forgiveness among preschoolers.

Forgiveness plays an important role in restoring and maintaining cooperative relationships. Previous studies have demonstrated that young children could forgive transgressors both as a third party and as a victim. However, the research on young children's understanding of forgiveness is scant.

A miniaturized piezoelectric Mössbauer spectrometer with feedback control.

A Mössbauer spectrometer was built and evaluated using an amplified piezoelectric actuator under feedback control for the Doppler velocity drive. The actuator was driven with a quadratic displacement waveform, giving a linear velocity profile. The optimization of the piezoelectric Doppler drive under feedback control was performed with measurements from a laser Doppler vibrometer.

Usefulness of smear microscopy for therapeutic decision-making in patients with infectious keratitis.

Purpose: To determine the usefulness of smears in the diagnosis of infectious keratitis by comparing smears and 2 different culture methods.

Study Design: Retrospective, observational study.

Methods: The foci of 73 patients diagnosed with infectious keratitis at Hiroshima University Hospital between July 2011 and September 2015 were abraded, and smear microscopy and culturing were performed.

Influence of discontinuation of prophylactic antimicrobial agent for trabeculectomy.

Background: There is no unified view of the necessity of prophylactic antimicrobial agents in trabeculectomy. Preoperative prophylactic antimicrobial agent injection and cefazolin sodium (CEZ) for trabeculectomy were discontinued at the Hiroshima University Hospital. In this study, we evaluated whether discontinuation of preoperative administration of CEZ in ophthalmology affects the incidence of postoperative infections.

Impact of the Intermittent Pringle Maneuver for Predicting Post-hepatectomy Liver Failure: A Cohort Study of 597 Consecutive Patients.

Background: Intermittent Pringle maneuver (PM) is widely performed to reduce blood loss during hepatectomy; however, its impact on clinically relevant post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the impact of PM on PHLF and explore whether PM provides additional value for predicting PHLF.

Methods: Consecutive patients, who underwent hepatectomy without biliary and/or vascular reconstruction between 2011 and 2018 in a single institution, were retrospectively analyzed.

Clinically relevant model of oxaliplatin-induced sinusoidal obstruction syndrome.

Aim: Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) induced by oxaliplatin-including chemotherapies (OXCx) is associated with impaired hepatic reserve and higher morbidity after hepatic resection. However, in the absence of an appropriate animal experimental model, little is known about its pathophysiology. This study aimed to establish a clinically relevant reproducible model of FOLFOX-induced SOS and to compare the clinical/histopathological features between the clinical and animal SOS settings.

Lung cancer CT image generation from a free-form sketch using style-based pix2pix for data augmentation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in medical imaging continue facing the difficulty in collecting and using large datasets. One method proposed for solving this problem is data augmentation using fictitious images generated by generative adversarial networks (GANs). However, applying a GAN as a data augmentation technique has not been explored, owing to the quality and diversity of the generated images.

Impact of Preoperative CEA Uptrend on Survival Outcomes in Patients with Colorectal Liver Metastasis After Hepatectomy.

Background: Preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has been reported as a prognostic factor in patients with colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) after hepatectomy. However, the impact of a preoperative "CEA uptrend" on prognosis after hepatectomy in these patients remains unknown. This study assessed the impact of CEA uptrend on prognosis in patients undergoing hepatectomy for CRLM.

Dietary Vitamins A, C, and Potassium Intake Is Associated With Narrower Retinal Venular Caliber.

Introduction: The retinal vasculature, a surrogate for the systemic microvasculature, can be observed non-invasively, providing an opportunity to examine the effects of modifiable factors, such as nutrient intake, on microcirculation. We aimed to investigate the possible associations of dietary nutrient intake with the retinal vessel caliber.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 584 participants in a medical survey of Japanese descendants living in Los Angeles in 2015 underwent a dietary assessment, fundus photographic examination, and comprehensive physical and blood examinations.

Intraoperative indocyanine green imaging facilitates optimal surgical margin for colorectal liver metastasis with preoperatively undetected intrabiliary tumor growth.

Highlight Colorectal liver metastases readily invade the bile ducts, but diagnosis of intrabiliary tumor growth remains difficult despite the development of radiological techniques. In the present case, Seo and colleagues demonstrate how intrabiliary tumor growth which was not observed on preoperative images was clearly visualized on indocyanine green fluorescence imaging.

Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome Promotes Liver Metastatic Seeding of Colorectal Cancer Cells in a Rat Model.

Background/aim: Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with oxaliplatin for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) has been reported to lead to early recurrence. This study investigated the effects of SOS on the development of CRLM in a rat model.

Materials And Methods: RCN-H4 cells were injected into the spleen or liver of ten monocrotaline-treated (SOS group) and ten untreated (control group) rats.

Synthetic CT image generation of shape-controlled lung cancer using semi-conditional InfoGAN and its applicability for type classification.

Purpose: In recent years, convolutional neural network (CNN), an artificial intelligence technology with superior image recognition, has become increasingly popular and frequently used for classification tasks in medical imaging. However, the amount of labelled data available for classifying medical images is often significantly less than that of natural images, and the handling of rare diseases is often challenging. To overcome these problems, data augmentation has been performed using generative adversarial networks (GANs).

What is a precise anatomic resection of the liver? Proposal of a new evaluation method in the era of fluorescence navigation surgery.

Background/purpose: Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence navigation has been adapted for anatomic liver resection (AR) but an objective method for evaluation of its validity is required. This pilot study aimed to propose a new method to evaluate the accuracy of parenchymal division along the plane between hepatic segments and estimate the real-time navigation efficacy for AR by the Medical Imaging Projection System (MIPS), which continuously demonstrates the transection plane using projection mapping with ICG fluorescence.

Methods: Ten patients who underwent open AR using liver segmentation with ICG fluorescence technique between August 2016 and July 2019 were included: six patients under MIPS guidance (MIPS group), while four using only conventional ICG fluorescence technique before parenchymal resection (non-MIPS group).

Deep learning using preoperative magnetic resonance imaging information to predict early recovery of urinary continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Objectives: To investigate whether a deep learning model from magnetic resonance imaging information is an accurate method to predict the risk of urinary incontinence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Methods: This study included 400 patients with prostate cancer who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. Patients using 0 or 1 pad/day within 3 months after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy were categorized into the "good" group, whereas the other patients were categorized into the "bad" group.

Conversion to complete resection with mFOLFOX6 with bevacizumab or cetuximab based on K-RAS status for unresectable colorectal liver metastasis (BECK study): Long-term results of survival.

Background/purpose: To investigate the long-term outcome and entire treatment course of patients with technically unresectable CRLM who underwent conversion hepatectomy and to examine factors associated with conversion to hepatectomy.

Methods: Recurrence and survival data with long-term follow-up were analyzed in the cohort of a multi-institutional phase II trial for technically unresectable colorectal liver metastases (the BECK study).

Results: A total of 22/12 patients with K-RAS wild-type/mutant tumors were treated with mFOLFOX6 + cetuximab/bevacizumab.

A photoperiodic time measurement served by the biphasic expression of Cryptochrome1ab in the zebrafish eye.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a model species that is used to study the circadian clock. It possesses light-entrainable circadian clocks in both central and peripheral tissues, and its core circadian factor cryptochromes (CRYs) have diverged significantly during evolution. In order to elucidate the functional diversity and involvement of CRYs in photoperiodic mechanisms, we investigated the daily expression profiles of six Cry transcripts in central (brain and eye) and peripheral (fin, skin and muscle) tissues.

Identification of the Uptake Transporter Responsible for Distribution of Acotiamide into Stomach Tissue.

The acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, acotiamide, improves gastric motility and is clinically used to treat functional dyspepsia. The present study aimed to identify the transporters involved in the distribution of acotiamide in stomach tissue. Acotiamide uptake by the gastric cancer-derived model cell line, Hs746 T, was Na- and pH-independent.

Different clinical risk scores for prediction of early mortality after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma: which is the best?

Background: Prediction of early mortality after hepatectomies for hepatocellular carcinoma is essential to identify high-risk patients and to decrease the operative mortality rate. Several post-operative clinical risk scores were developed recently to predict mortality post-hepatectomy; however, which one is the best remains undefined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the different post-operative clinical risk scores in predicting early mortality after hepatectomies.

Optimal introduction of laparoscopic liver resection for Child-Pugh B.

Introduction: Surgery for Child-Pugh B liver function is considered risky because of its high morbidity rate and the acceptable indication criteria for laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) for Child-Pugh B patients have not been identified. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to determine the optimal introduction of LLR for Child-Pugh B patients based on our single-institute experience.

Methods: A total of 17 Child-Pugh B patients underwent LLR between 2005 and 2017.

Successful recovery from misdirection syndrome in nanophthalmic eyes by performing an anterior vitrectomy through the anterior chamber.

Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of iridectomy, capsulotomy and anterior vitrectomy through the anterior chamber to treat misdirection syndrome in pseudophakic nanophthalmic eyes.

Methods: This was a non-comparative study of seven nanophthalmic eyes from four consecutive patients. All eyes developed misdirection syndrome after successful cataract surgery.

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Azeloprazole Sodium, a Novel Proton Pump Inhibitor, in Healthy Japanese Volunteers.

The pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of proton pump inhibitors differ among cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C19 genotypes. Therefore, we developed azeloprazole sodium (Z-215), a novel proton pump inhibitor, whose metabolism is not affected by CYP2C19 activity in vitro. However, the PK and PD of azeloprazole sodium have not been evaluated in Japanese subjects.

Mass balance and metabolism of Z-215, a novel proton pump inhibitor, in healthy volunteers.

The human mass balance of [C]Z-215, a novel proton pump inhibitor, was characterised in six healthy male volunteers following single oral administration of [C]Z-215 (20 mg, 3.7 MBq) to determine the elimination pathway of Z-215 and the distribution of its metabolites in plasma, urine, and faeces (NCT02618629). [C]Z-215 was rapidly absorbed, with a C of 434 ng/mL at 0.

A Propensity Score-Based Analysis of Laparoscopic Liver Resection for Liver Malignancies in Elderly Patients.

Purpose: Laparoscopic liver resection is safe, feasible and associated with less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and fewer postoperative complications in the working age patients with malignant liver tumors. However, it is still unclear if the elderly patients with malignant liver tumors would also benefit from that approach as the younger patients. So, the aim of the study was to compare the clinical outcomes of laparoscopic versus open liver resection for malignant liver tumors in elderly patients.