Publications by authors named "Yuko Hara"
Biliary stent occlusion is due, in part, to biofilm formation by bacteria. However, previous culture-based approaches may not have revealed all microorganisms on the surface. Twenty-seven patients underwent endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage for the removal or replacement of plastic biliary stents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClinical and bacteriological characteristics of Corynebacterium keratitis.
J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect
January 2025
Purpose: Corynebacterium species are commensals of human skin and mucous membranes and are recognized as important pathogens in ocular infections. This study investigated the clinical characteristics of Corynebacterium keratitis.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed cases of bacterial keratitis in which Corynebacterium species were solely isolated from corneal scraping cultures collected at Ehime University Hospital between January 2010 and February 2024.
Article Synopsis
- Artificial intelligence shows potential for diagnosing allergic conjunctival diseases (ACDs), but its development is hindered by a lack of tailored image databases and model explainability.
- This study utilized a dataset of 4,942 slit-lamp images from 10 institutions in Japan to create an AI model that diagnoses ACDs and explains its reasoning.
- Results indicated the AI model achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 86.2%, significantly outperforming board-certified ophthalmologists, and demonstrated effective identification of key clinical indicators for various ACDs.
Article Synopsis
- * Three expert endoscopists reviewed images from both methods, with the primary focus on how consistently each method diagnosed SCC through kappa values, which measure the agreement between observers.
- * Results showed that UTE had a comparable accuracy (87.2%) and agreement (0.74) to ME (86.0% accuracy, 0.84 agreement), indicating that UTE is a reliable tool for diagnosing SSCC without significant differences in performance when compared to ME. *
Article Synopsis
- Texture and color enhancement imaging (TXI) improves the visibility of gastric neoplasms compared to traditional white light imaging (WLI), using both conventional and newly developed endoscopes.
- A study involved patients with gastric neoplasms, where endoscopists scored the visibility of these neoplasms under different imaging modalities, revealing TXI provided significantly better visibility than WLI.
- Overall, using the newer endoscopes led to better visibility scores across all imaging types, highlighting TXI's effectiveness without any specific factors affecting its benefits.
Article Synopsis
- This study examines how marriage desires change among single individuals in Japan, a country known for delayed marriage and low nonmarital childbearing.
- Researchers analyzed data from the Japan Life Course Panel Survey, finding that as singles age, their desire to marry generally declines, but it can increase when they see more chances for romantic relationships.
- The findings indicate that a rise in marriage desires leads singles to actively seek partners and impacts their fertility preferences, revealing that these desires are influenced by age norms and the availability of potential partners.
Article Synopsis
- This study focused on understanding the clinical outcomes and management of adverse events (AEs) in patients who had endoscopic resection (ER) for superficial duodenal epithelial tumors (SDETs).
- Researchers examined data from patients treated between January 2008 and July 2018 across 18 Japanese hospitals, specifically looking at the occurrence and management of AEs and the risks associated with surgical conversion.
- Findings showed an 8% surgical conversion rate among patients with AEs, with higher rates linked to delayed perforations and involvement of the major papilla, highlighting the need for preventive measures against delayed perforations in the first three days post-surgery.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined endoscopic resection outcomes for duodenal tumors, focusing on the occurrence of synchronous (present at the same time) and metachronous (developing later) lesions, and their links to colorectal advanced adenoma (CAA) and colorectal cancer (CRC).
- A total of 2,658 patients were analyzed, revealing that 7.0% had synchronous lesions and 2.0% had metachronous lesions, with a 5-year incidence rate of 4.1% for metachronous lesions.
- While the incidence of CAA was higher in patients with synchronous lesions (11.8% vs 7.5%), and CRC was more common in metachronous
Purpose: To confirm the efficacy and safety of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant autologous cultivated limbal epithelial cell sheets in government-controlled clinical trials that adhered to Good Clinical Practice stipulations for patients with unilateral limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).
Design: A prospective, multicenter, open-label, uncontrolled, single-arm clinical trial.
Participants: Ten consecutive eyes of 10 patients with unilateral LSCD were followed for 2 years after surgery.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates the metastasis rate of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) that invades the muscularis mucosae, focusing on how lymphovascular invasion (LVI) impacts this rate based on immunohistochemical (IHC) staining.
- - Out of 104 analyzed patients with pT1a-MM ESCC, the positive rate for LVI was 43.3%, and while those without LVI had a 5.1% metastasis rate, those with LVI receiving additional therapy faced a 20.8% rate, while those without additional therapy had a 0% rate.
- - The study found that lesion size of 25 mm or more was the only significant
Purpose: To report the clinical characteristics of 13 cases of noninfectious corneal ulceration related to lacrimal drainage pathway disease.
Methods: Medical records of 13 patients with lacrimal drainage pathway disease-associated keratopathy who were examined at Ehime University Hospital between April 2007 and December 2021 were analyzed.
Results: The predisposing lacrimal drainage pathway diseases for corneal ulceration were chronic dacryocystitis in seven patients and lacrimal canaliculitis in six patients.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how different storage conditions affect microbial profiles in saliva using 16S rRNA sequencing, with a focus on three storage environments (-80°C after flash-freezing, -80°C, and -15°C) for 14 days.
- Results show no significant differences in microbial profiles between immediate DNA extraction and the various storage temperatures, indicating storage at -15°C is comparable to immediate processing.
- The findings suggest that using -15°C as a storage method is not only effective but also more cost-efficient and easier for future salivary microbial studies.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates why some superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SESCCs) are missed by narrow-band imaging (NBI) despite its higher detection rate compared to white-light endoscopy.
- Researchers enrolled patients with current or historical squamous cell carcinoma and used NBI followed by Lugol chromoendoscopy (LCE) to identify lesions, revealing that 20 lesions were undetectable by NBI but recognizable through LCE.
- Findings indicate that NBI is less effective at identifying flat SESCCs, especially those with numerous irregularly shaped Lugol-voiding lesions and lesions located on the anterior wall of the esophagus.
Background: Data on endoscopic resection (ER) for superficial duodenal epithelial tumors (SDETs) are insufficient owing to their rarity. There are two main ER techniques for SDETs: endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). In addition, modified EMR techniques, such as underwater EMR (UEMR) and cold polypectomy, are becoming popular.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Many cases of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) present with various psychotic features, including hallucinations, depression, catatonia, and delusions before the onset of cognitive impairment. However, the characteristic features of these psychotic symptoms in prodromal DLB have not been sufficiently described.
Objective: To clarify and describe the psychotic features of prodromal DLB before overt cognitive impairment.
Background: Most research linking jobs to marriage formation focuses on how job contexts and prospects affect singles' paces of entering marriage. Direct evidence on whether job traits shape singles' desire for marriage and actions toward forming a union remains scarce.
Objective: We examine how changes in a range of job characteristics correspond to alterations in never-married people's intention to marry and actions taken to meet romantic partners in Japan, a country with increasing inequality in job quality and declining marriage rates.
We previously reported that superficial non-ampullary duodenal tumors (SNADETs) commonly had a whitish mucosal surface, named milk-white mucosa (MWM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of MWM with epithelial intracellular lipid droplets (immunohistochemically stained by adipose differentiation-related protein (ADRP)) and histological tumor grades. We reviewed endoscopic images and the histopathology of SNADETs resected en bloc endoscopically.
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- Despite interest in the gender pay gap related to parenthood, previous studies often overlooked the role of employers and made comparisons that ignored individual differences between parents and non-parents.
- Research using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth found that motherhood correlates with decreased earnings while fatherhood is linked to increased pay, showing a distinct contrast in how parents are valued in the workplace.
- The findings suggest that discrimination plays a significant role: employers may trust existing mothers less due to bias, resulting in a greater penalty when changing jobs, while they tend to favor fathers already working for them, leading to a larger pay premium.
Article Synopsis
- * Somatic stem cells thrive in low-oxygen environments and can be effectively cultured under these conditions, especially oral mucosal stem cells which are valuable for regenerative medicine.
- * This study reveals significant metabolic changes in oral keratinocytes and fibroblasts when cultured in hypoxic conditions, highlighting alterations in pathways like the urea cycle and glycolysis, with keratinocytes showing more dramatic changes than fibroblasts.
Article Synopsis
- Drug development for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative dementias has faced many trials that failed to demonstrate the effectiveness of new drugs.
- Exploratory clinical trials, which are shorter and smaller than traditional trials, aim to assess drug effects and can help determine whether to continue or terminate a drug's development.
- Organizations like the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation are working to create guidelines that improve the design and efficiency of these exploratory trials, potentially leading to faster and more cost-effective drug development.
Background: Blood group O of ABO blood group system is considered as a risk factor for various bleeding events, but the relationship with endoscopic treatment-associated bleeding has yet to be investigated. This study aimed to evaluate whether blood group O is associated with delayed bleeding after colorectal endoscopic resection.
Methods: This was a retrospective observational study based on medical records at four university hospitals in Japan.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to analyze the initial symptoms of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in a large cohort of 234 participants, focusing on gender differences in symptoms presented at diagnosis.
- Initial symptoms reported included cognitive impairment (41.9%) and psychiatric symptoms (42.3%), with women experiencing more auditory hallucinations while men showed higher rates of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD).
- The findings highlight significant gender discrepancies in both initial and subsequent DLB symptoms, suggesting that men generally experience more physical symptoms while women are more prone to psychiatric symptoms.