Prognostic value of the combination of pre- and postoperative C-reactive protein in colorectal cancer patients.

Purpose: Inflammation is closely related to cancer development and progression. This retrospective study investigated the prognostic value of the combination of pre- and postoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: The subjects of this study were 406 patients who underwent surgery for CRC.

Traumatic Gastric Perforation Associated with Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Case Report.

Sternal and rib fractures are well-known complications of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We experienced a rare case of traumatic gastric perforation associated with CPR that required emergency laparotomy. In this case, we examined whether surgery is essential for gastric perforation associated with CPR.

Resection of rectal cancer resembling submucosal tumor that was preoperatively diagnosed with endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) resembling submucosal tumor (SMT; CRC/SMT) is very rare. Because its biopsy is challenging, accurate preoperative diagnosis is also very rare.

Case Presentation: A 55-year-old woman with a high serum carcinoembryonic antigen level underwent a computed tomography colonoscopy, which showed extrinsic rectum compression.

Fate of methylated/unmethylated H19 imprinting control region after paternal and maternal pronuclear injection.

The paternal-allele-specific methylation of the Igf2/H19 imprinting control region (ICR) is established during gametogenesis and maintained throughout development. To elucidate the requirement of the germline passage in the maintenance of the imprinting methylation, we established a system introducing a methylated or unmethylated ICR-containing DNA fragment (ICR-F) into the paternal or maternal genome by microinjecting into the paternal or maternal pronucleus of fertilized eggs, and traced the methylation pattern in the ICR-F. When the ICR-F was injected in a methylated form, it was demethylated approximately to half degree at blastocyst stage but was almost completely remethylated at 3 weeks of age.

Orientation and Order of the Amide Group of Sphingomyelin in Bilayers Determined by Solid-State NMR.

Sphingomyelin (SM) and cholesterol (Chol) are considered essential for the formation of lipid rafts; however, the types of molecular interactions involved in this process, such as intermolecular hydrogen bonding, are not well understood. Since, unlike other phospholipids, SM is characterized by the presence of an amide group, it is essential to determine the orientation of the amide and its order in the lipid bilayers to understand the nature of the hydrogen bonds in lipid rafts. For this study, 1'-(13)C-2-(15)N-labeled and 2'-(13)C-2-(15)N-labeled SMs were prepared, and the rotational-axis direction and order parameters of the SM amide in bilayers were determined based on (13)C and (15)N chemical-shift anisotropies and intramolecular (13)C-(15)N dipole coupling constants.