[Carcinoma of the small intestine diagnosed by double balloon endoscopy].

There are no specific symptoms of patients with carcinoma of the small intestine. Therefore, it is difficult to diagnose in the early stage by imaging modalities such as radiological enteroclysis, computed tomography, and classical endoscopy. However, double balloon endoscopy makes it possible to diagnose the carcinoma of the entire small bowel by taking tissue samples for pathological assessment.

[A case of pulmonary hyalinizing granuloma with high-grade uptake on FDG-PET mimicking metastatic lung cancer].

A 28-year-old man was referred to Hakodate Municipal Hospital for examination of multiple pulmonary nodules detected on a medical check-up. His chest CT demonstrated well-defined multiple nodules with random distribution. 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) showed abnormal uptake in the pulmonary nodules and the hilar, mediastinal lymph node.

Initial Diagnosis of Mediastinal Lymph Node Metastases From Prostate Cancer by Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration.

A 61-year-old patient with multiple enlarged mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes (♯3a, ♯4R, ♯7, and ♯11) and no abnormal shadows in the lung field by chest computed tomography was referred to our department for further evaluation. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration was performed; cytology revealed adenocarcinoma, whereas histology contained adenocarcinoma of prostate origin. Immunohistochemistry was strongly positive for prostate-specific antigen and prostate-specific acid phosphate for confirmation of metastases from the prostate cancer and negative for thyroid transcription factor-1.

Localization and roles in fertilization of sperm proteasomes in the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi.

We previously reported that sperm proteasome is responsible for degradation of the ubiquitinated vitelline-coat during fertilization in the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi. Here, we report the roles in fertilization and localization in the sperm cell surface of H. roretzi sperm proteasome.