Comparison of three artificial intelligence algorithms for automatic cobb angle measurement using teaching data specific to three disease groups.

Spinal deformities, including adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and adult spinal deformity (ASD), affect many patients. The measurement of the Cobb angle on coronal radiographs is essential for their diagnosis and treatment planning. To enhance the precision of Cobb angle measurements for both AIS and ASD, we developed three distinct artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms: AIS/ASD-trained AI (trained with both AIS and ASD cases); AIS-trained AI (trained solely on AIS cases); ASD-trained AI (trained solely on ASD cases).

Decomposed Multilateral Filtering for Accelerating Filtering with Multiple Guidance Images.

This paper proposes an efficient algorithm for edge-preserving filtering with multiple guidance images, so-called multilateral filtering. Multimodal signal processing for sensor fusion is increasingly important in image sensing. Edge-preserving filtering is available for various sensor fusion applications, such as estimating scene properties and refining inverse-rendered images.

Automatic measurement of the Cobb angle for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using convolutional neural network.

This study proposes a convolutional neural network method for automatic vertebrae detection and Cobb angle (CA) measurement on X-ray images for scoliosis. 1021 full-length X-ray images of the whole spine of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) were used for training and segmentation. The proposed AI algorithm's results were compared with those of the manual method by six doctors using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Multispectral near-infrared imaging for wetness estimation.

Estimation of the wetness of objects is an important technique for recognizing states in the real world. In this paper, we propose a non-contact method for estimating the wetness of objects using multispectral near-infrared (NIR) imaging. In contrast with a previous method that requires hyperspectral (110-band) images taken with fine spectral resolution (5 nm intervals) to estimate the degree of wetness, our method enables accurate wetness estimation using few-band NIR images with coarse spectral resolution (40 nm intervals).

Upper End Vertebra of Proximal Thoracic Curve At T1 is a Novel Risk Factor of Postoperative Shoulder Imbalance in Lenke Type 2 Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Study Design: Retrospective single-center study.

Objective: We investigated the risk factors of postoperative shoulder imbalance (PSI) in patients with Lenke type 2 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) including the position of preoperative upper end vertebra (UEV).

Methods: Seventy-five patients with Lenke type 2 AIS who underwent posterior correction and fusion surgeries from 2008 to 2018 were included.

Does cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders assist the discontinuation of benzodiazepines among patients with anxiety disorders? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Long-term use of benzodiazepines (BZD) is not recommended for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment option for discontinuation of BZD in patients with anxiety disorders. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to clarify whether CBT is effective for discontinuing BZD anxiolytics in patients with anxiety disorders.

Investigation of appropriate semi-quantitative index for assessment of esophageal and breast cancer treatment response in Japanese patients using F-FDG PET/CT findings.

Objective: To examine the correlation of the quantitative indexes standardized uptake value (SUV), SUV corrected for lean body mass (SUL) and SUV corrected for Japanese lean body mass (SULj) with body weight to develop an appropriate quantitative index independent of body weight fluctuation for assessment of response to cancer treatment in Japanese patients.

Subjects And Methods: Fifty-six males with esophageal cancer and 30 females with breast cancer underwent fluorine-18-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scans, once before and once after, receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to planned surgical resection. The maximum value, peak value, and average value of SUV, SUL and SULj were calculated by setting a spherical volume of interest (3cm diameter) in a normal area of the liver.

[Simulation at Incomplete Acquisition on Stress-rest Cerebral Blood Flow Quantitative Values One Day Method].

The QSPECT dual table autoradiography (DTARG) method can be used for quantitative determination of cerebral blood flow. We verified the influence on quantitative values obtained for cerebral blood flow in the case when usual acquisition was impossible and evaluated those values. Results obtained with an acquisition time of 30 min were considered to be true values, and the correlation and consistency with results of other times were evaluated.

C5a receptor expression is associated with poor prognosis in urothelial cell carcinoma patients treated with radical cystectomy or nephroureterectomy.

Patients with aggressive urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) that undergo radical cystectomy or nephroureterectomy exhibit markedly high rates of disease recurrence and mortality. To select appropriate adjuvant thxerapies in addition to radical surgery, the identification of predictive prognostic markers for UCC patients is required. The aim of the present study was to identify such markers, by evaluating the association of UCC complement component 5 (C5) fragment a (C5a)receptor (C5aR) expression, detected using immunohistochemistry, with clinicopathological parameters and survival outcomes of UCC patients.

Sorafenib enhances the antitumor effects of anti-CTLA-4 antibody in a murine cancer model by inhibiting myeloid-derived suppressor cells.

This antitumor effect of sorafenib is considered to be dependent not only on its direct cytotoxicity to cancer cells but also due to the inhibition of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Recently, a novel antibody against cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), which activates lymphocytes, is currently in clinical applications. The aim of the present study was to investigate the synergistic antitumor effects of anti-CTLA-4 antibody (Ab) and sorafenib in a murine cancer model.

C5aR is frequently expressed in metastatic renal cell carcinoma and plays a crucial role in cell invasion via the ERK and PI3 kinase pathways.

The anaphylatoxin C5a is a chemoattractant for leukocyte migration via the C5a receptor (C5aR). We recently reported that C5aR was aberrantly expressed in a wide variety of human related cancers, while it also promotes cancer cell invasion by C5a stimulation. However, the biological significance of C5aR expression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has not yet been clarified.

Severe bleeding tendency caused by a rare complication of excessive fibrinolysis with disseminated intravascular coagulation in a 51-year-old Japanese man with prostate cancer: a case report.

Introduction: Disseminated intravascular coagulation causes thrombotic tendency leading to multiple organ failure and occurs in a wide variety of diseases including malignancy. Disseminated intravascular coagulation is a latent complication in people with prostate cancer.

Case Presentation: A 51-year-old Japanese man with advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer was admitted to our hospital because of extensive purpura and severe anemia.

Two identical nonylphenol monooxygenase genes linked to IS6100 and some putative insertion sequence elements in Sphingomonas sp. NP5.

Sphingomonas sp. NP5 can degrade a wide range of nonylphenol (NP) isomers that have widely contaminated aquatic environments as major endocrine-disrupting chemicals. To understand the biochemical and genetic backgrounds of NP degradation, a gene library of strain NP5 was constructed using a broad-host-range vector pBBR1MCS-2 and introduced into Sphingobium japonicum UT26.

Blood kinetics of four intraperitoneally administered therapeutic candidate bacteriophages in healthy and neutropenic mice.

Due to multiple-drug resistant bacteria, phage therapy is being revisited. Although most animal experiments focus on therapeutic efficacy, the blood clearance kinetics of phages have not been well described. For further development of an efficient therapeutic strategy, information on phage blood kinetics is important.

A new retainer using magnetic attachment.

Patient: A 58-year-old man with a complaint of masticatory disturbance presented. His mandibular left premolars and molars were missing, and the mandibular left canine, which was neighboring to the missing part, showed marked labial tipping. A cobalt-chromium removable partial denture was fabricated using a new magnetic attachment retainer because it seemed difficult to apply a conventional clasp for this case.

Preventive effects of a Kampo medicine, Shosaikoto, on inflammatory responses in LPS-treated human gingival fibroblasts.

In the present study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of a Kampo medicine Shosaikoto (TJ-9) using in vitro periodontal disease model, in which human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Porphyromonas gingivalis (PgLPS) produce IL-6, IL-8 and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Treatment with PgLPS (10 ng/ml), TJ-9 (up to 1 mg/ml) and their combinations for 24 h did not affect the viability of HGFs. Moreover, TJ-9 did not alter LPS-induced IL-6 and IL-8 productions.

Pharmacological effects of solifenacin on human isolated urinary bladder.

To investigate the effects of solifenacin on human detrusor smooth muscles, we evaluate the effects of solifenacin on the contractions induced by carbachol, KCl, CaCl2 and electrical field stimulation (EFS), and the EFS-induced acetylcholine release from detrusor smooth muscle strips by using the muscle bath and microdialysis technique. The effects of solifenacin were also compared with effects of other antimuscarinic agents (atropine, oxybutynin and propiverine). Pretreatment with various antimuscarinic agents caused parallel shifts to the right of the concentration-response curves to carbachol.

Basic and clinical aspects of non-neuronal acetylcholine: expression of non-neuronal acetylcholine in urothelium and its clinical significance.

Recently, several reports demonstrate that non-neuronal acetylcholine (ACh) release may contribute to various pathophysiological conditions. In this review, we presented our experiments designed to evaluate the non-neuronal cholinergic system in human bladder. After insertion of the microdialysis probe, human bladder strips were suspended in an organ bath filled with Krebs-Henseleit solution, and Ringer solution was perfused into the probe.

Pharmacological effects of propiverine and its active metabolite, M-1, on isolated human urinary bladder smooth muscle, and on bladder contraction in rats.

Objective: To investigate the effects of M-1, a major active metabolite of propiverine on the bladder.

Methods: We have evaluated the effects of M-1 on the contractions induced by carbachol, KCl, CaCl(2), and electrical field stimulation (EFS) in human detrusor smooth muscles, and pelvic nerve stimulation-induced bladder contractions in rats. The effects of M-1 were also compared with the effects of propiverine and tolterodine.

Isolation and characterization of a novel Enterococcus faecalis bacteriophage phiEF24C as a therapeutic candidate.

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE) has become a significant threat in nosocomial settings. Bacteriophage (phage) therapy is frequently proposed as a potential alternative therapy for infections caused by this bacterium. To search for candidate therapeutic phages against Enterococcus faecalis infections, 30 Enterococcus faecalis phages were isolated from the environment.

Change in acetylcholine release from rat bladder with partial outlet obstruction.

Objective: To investigate changes in acetylcholine release from the bladder of rats with partial bladder outlet obstruction (BOO), as partial BOO leads to hypertrophy and an alteration in the contractions of the detrusor smooth muscle, and acetylcholine plays an important role in urinary bladder contractions but there is little available information on acetylcholine release after BOO.

Material And Methods: Partial BOO was induced in adult female rats by ligating the proximal urethra over a 1 mm angiocatheter; sham-operated rats served as controls. The rats were killed 2 weeks, 3 and 6 months after induction of BOO.

[Bilateral pheochromocytomas with von Hippel-Lindau disease: a case report].

A case of bilateral pheochromocytomas with von Hippel Lindau disease (VHL) is reported. A 32-year-old man visited Kumamoto Red Cross Hospital for further examination of hypertension. Computed tomography revealed bilateral adrenal tumors and noradrenalin levels in serum and urine were elevated.

Familial hypercholesterolemia: a family who suffered cerebral infarction over three successive generations.

A certain family with a history of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) in which several members suffered cerebral infarction (CI) for 3 successive generations is reported. The first case is a 54-year-old female who suffered from medial longitudinal fasciculus syndrome caused by a lesion on the pons. The second case is the son of the first case and is a 28-year-old male who suffered from left hemiparesis by a lesion on the corona radiata.

Effect of tamsulosin hydrochloride on lower urinary tract symptoms and quality of life in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Evaluation using bother score.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) affects quality of life (QOL), and the goal of treatment is to improve lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), thus improving patient QOL. However, the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) used for evaluating LUTS does not always reflect the level of patient bother, and improvement in the IPSS score does not always reflect patient QOL. Therefore, in the present study, we observed the therapeutic effects of alpha(1)-blockers on IPSS, QOL index, and the bother score for individual symptoms.