Evaluation of urinary vanin-1 for the early prediction of cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury during neoadjuvant chemotherapy for esophageal cancer.

Purpose: Cisplatin (CDDP) induces acute kidney injury (AKI) as a side effect during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Urinary vanin-1 excretion may increase during CDDP treatment. We investigated whether urinary vanin-1 is an early biomarker for CDDP-induced AKI.

Development and validation of a predictive model for in-hospital mortality from perioperative bacteremia in gastrointestinal surgery.

Purpose: Prognostic scores require fluctuating values, such as respiratory rate, which are unsuitable for retrospective auditing. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate a predictive model for in-hospital mortality associated with gastrointestinal surgery for retrospective auditing.

Methods: Data from patients with bacteremia related to gastrointestinal surgery performed at Shizuoka General Hospital between July 2006 and December 2021 were extracted from a prospectively maintained database.

Pharmacogenomic study of gemcitabine efficacy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer: A multicenter, prospective, observational cohort study (GENESECT study).

Background: Genetic polymorphisms of molecules are known to cause individual differences in the therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs. However, to date, germline mutations (but not somatic mutations) for anticancer drugs have not been adequately studied. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between germline polymorphisms of gemcitabine metabolic and transporter genes with carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) response (decrease ≥50% from the pretreatment level at 8 weeks) and overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who receive gemcitabine-based chemotherapy.

Systemic inflammation score as a predictor of death within one year after esophagectomy.

Background: After radical resection for esophageal cancer, death within 1 year of surgery can occur due both to recurrence and to other diseases, even after postoperative complications have been overcome. This study identified risk factors for early death within 1 year of esophagectomy for reasons other than death in hospital in patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal cancer or esophagogastric junction cancer.

Methods: We reviewed 366 patients who underwent esophagectomy without adjuvant treatment between January 2009 and July 2022 for thoracic esophageal cancer or esophagogastric junction cancer.

Risk factors for abdominal surgical infectious complications after distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer: A post-hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial (JCOG0912).

Background: Abdominal surgical infectious complications (ASIC) after gastrectomy for gastric cancer impair patients' survival and quality of life. JCOG0912 was conducted to compare laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with open distal gastrectomy for clinical stage IA or IB gastric cancer. The present study aimed to identify risk factors for ASIC using prospectively collected data.

Complete Regression of an 8-cm Desmoid Fibromatosis After Treatment With Tamoxifen.

We report a case of a relatively large desmoid fibromatosis that responded completely to tamoxifen as a single drug therapy. A 47-year-old Japanese man underwent laparoscopy-assisted endoscopic submucosal dissection for a duodenal polyp. He developed postoperative generalized peritonitis and underwent an emergency laparotomy.

Esophageal ulcer related to zinc deficiency following a total gastrectomy.

A 76-y-old Japanese man who had undergone gastrectomy 4.5 y earlier experienced 2 wk of sore throat, heartburn, and difficulty swallowing. Endoscopy showed deep, craterlike, longitudinal ulcers in the lower and middle esophagus.

Pseudoentropy in dS/CFT and Timelike Entanglement Entropy.

We study holographic entanglement entropy in dS/CFT and introduce timelike entanglement entropy in CFTs. Both of them take complex values in general and are related with each other via an analytical continuation. We argue that they are correctly understood as pseudoentropy.

Skeletal Muscle Loss During Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Predicts the Incidence of Postoperative Infectious Complications in Esophageal Cancer Patients Undergoing Esophagectomy.

Background/aim: Malnutrition, immune deficiency, and skeletal muscle loss are associated with a risk of postoperative complications in patients with various types of cancer. This study evaluated whether malnutrition, immunological deficiencies, and skeletal muscle loss during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) predict postoperative complications in patients with esophageal cancer.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 123 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with NAC and esophagectomy at our hospital between 2014 and 2019.

Esophageal cancer presenting with brain abscess.

A 76-year-old man experienced fatigue and progressive dysphagia. He underwent endoscopy at another hospital and was diagnosed with thoracic esophageal cancer. Three days after the endoscopy, the patient was rushed to our hospital with sudden seizures of the right upper and lower extremities.

Holography in de Sitter Space via Chern-Simons Gauge Theory.

In this Letter, we propose a holographic duality for classical gravity on a three-dimensional de Sitter space. We first show that a pair of SU(2) Chern-Simons gauge theories reproduces the classical partition function of Einstein gravity on a Euclidean de Sitter space, namely S^{3}, when we take the limit where the level k approaches -2. This implies that the conformal field theory (CFT) dual of gravity on a de Sitter space at the leading semiclassical order is given by an SU(2) Wess-Zumino-Witten model in the large central charge limit k→-2.

The impact of the American Society of Anesthesiology-Physical Status classification system on the treatment and prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer undergoing esophagectomy.

Background: The American Society of Anesthesiologists-Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification system has been shown to predict morbidity and mortality after surgery. However, the impact of the ASA-PS on esophageal cancer treatment remains unclear. This study examined both the impact of the ASA-PS on treatment, including surgery and perioperative chemotherapy, and the prognostic effects of ASA-PS class in patients who had undergone esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer or esophagogastric junction cancer.

Risk Factors for Candidiasis as an Intra-Abdominal Infection after Gastrectomy in Patients with Gastric Cancer.

Intra-abdominal infections (IAIs) develop in 2.4%-26.6% of patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer and are occasionally serious.

Esophageal inflammatory pseudotumor with low-dose corticosteroid therapy after surgery.

Inflammatory pseudotumors of the esophagus are extremely rare, and the treatment has been controversial. Herein, we report a case of esophageal inflammatory pseudotumor with low-dose corticosteroid treatment following surgery. A 50-year-old woman with a 3-month history of progressive dysphagia and weight loss, was admitted to our hospital for examination and treatment.

Preoperative skeletal muscle index and visceral-to-subcutaneous fat area ratio are associated with long-term outcomes of elderly gastric cancer patients after gastrectomy.

Purpose: Sarcopenia is a risk factor of severe surgical complications, short-term outcomes, and long-term outcomes for patients with gastric cancer. Several computed tomography (CT) measurements have been performed to diagnose sarcopenia. However, the optimal CT measurements for determining long-term outcomes have not been revealed.

Identification and characterization of mutations responsible for the β-lactam resistance in oxacillin-susceptible mecA-positive Staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus strains that are susceptible to the β-lactam antibiotic oxacillin despite carrying mecA (OS-MRSA) cause serious clinical problems globally because of their ability to easily acquire β-lactam resistance. Understanding the genetic mechanism(s) of acquisition of the resistance is therefore crucial for infection control management. For this purpose, a whole-genome sequencing-based analysis was performed using 43 clinical OS-MRSA strains and 100 mutants with reduced susceptibility to oxacillin (MICs 1.

Association of mprF mutations with cross-resistance to daptomycin and vancomycin in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

We first reported a phenomenon of cross-resistance to vancomycin (VCM) and daptomycin (DAP) in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 2006, but mechanisms underlying the cross-resistance remain incompletely understood. Here, we present a follow-up study aimed to investigate genetic determinants associated with the cross-resistance. Using 12 sets of paired DAP susceptible (DAP) and DAP non-susceptible (DAP) MRSA isolates from 12 patients who had DAP therapy, we (i) assessed susceptibility to DAP and VCM, (ii) compared whole-genome sequences, (iii) identified mutations associated with cross-resistance to DAP and VCM, and (iv) investigated the impact of altered gene expression and metabolic pathway relevant to the cross-resistance.

Hand-assisted robotic surgery in the abdominal phase of robot-assisted oesophagectomy.

Robot-assisted minimally invasive oesophagectomy (RAMIE) has been developed to overcome the technical limitations of conventional thoracoscopic oesophagectomy. Hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) is used as a practical and useful technique during the abdominal phase of thoracoscopic oesophagectomy. During RAMIE, a robotic vessel sealer cannot be used with HALS; another vessel sealer or ultrasonic coagulating device for laparoscopic surgery is required.

Duplicate left gastric artery identified during laparoscopic distal gastrectomy.

The reported incidence of duplicate left gastric artery is not very low, with a rate of 0.4%. However, there have been no reports of the surgical management of patients with a duplicate left gastric artery.

Size of the thoracic inlet predicts cervical anastomotic leak after retrosternal reconstruction after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.

Background: Although an anastomotic leak after esophagectomy is one of the most common postoperative complications, it is not well understood whether specific anatomic factors of the different route of reconstruction can predispose to the development of anastomotic leak after esophagectomy. This study aimed to clarify whether various factors related to the size of the thoracic inlet are independent predictors of anastomotic leak after esophagectomy.

Methods: We reviewed 248 patients who underwent esophagectomy with retrosternal reconstruction of the gastric conduit between January 2013 and March 2019.

Development of CRISPR-Cas13a-based antimicrobials capable of sequence-specific killing of target bacteria.

The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria is an increasingly serious threat to global health, necessitating the development of innovative antimicrobials. Here we report the development of a series of CRISPR-Cas13a-based antibacterial nucleocapsids, termed CapsidCas13a(s), capable of sequence-specific killing of carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by recognizing corresponding antimicrobial resistance genes. CapsidCas13a constructs are generated by packaging programmed CRISPR-Cas13a into a bacteriophage capsid to target antimicrobial resistance genes.