Voriconazole treatment of pulmonary mycosis caused by after treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis.

is a soil-dwelling fungus that rarely causes pulmonary infections, and a small number of cases have been reported to date. A 74-year-old man, who had previously been treated for tuberculosis, presented with symptoms of low-grade fever, anorexia, cough, and bloody sputum. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed a thick-walled cavitary lesion in the right upper lobe, in which there was a suspected mycotic mass.

Analysis of the safety of pretransplant corticosteroid therapy in patients with acute liver failure and late-onset hepatic failure in Japan.

Background And Aim: In Japan, corticosteroids have been commonly used as a part of multidisciplinary therapy for patients with acute liver failure and late-onset hepatic failure. However, there is controversy regarding the development of infections and other complications. In this study, the influence of corticosteroids on patient outcomes after liver transplantation was investigated.

Significant elevation of free itraconazole concentration at onset of adverse effects: A case report.

Free itraconazole and hydroxyitraconazole concentrations were markedly elevated despite almost no changes in total concentrations when itraconazole was discontinued due to adverse effects. Elevated free itraconazole concentration may have a causal relationship with the development of adverse effects.

Plant phylogeny drives arboreal caterpillar assemblages across the Holarctic.

Assemblages of insect herbivores are structured by plant traits such as nutrient content, secondary metabolites, physical traits, and phenology. Many of these traits are phylogenetically conserved, implying a decrease in trait similarity with increasing phylogenetic distance of the host plant taxa. Thus, a metric of phylogenetic distances and relationships can be considered a proxy for phylogenetically conserved plant traits and used to predict variation in herbivorous insect assemblages among co-occurring plant species.

A public health collaboration between medical professionals and Japan's professional football league for rubella awareness.

A public health collaboration between medical professionals and Japan's professional football league for rubella awareness.

Psychometric Validation of a Japanese Version of the emPHasis-10 Questionnaire, a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Pulmonary Hypertension - Multicenter Study in Japan.

The emPHasis-10 questionnaire is a disease-specific patient-reported outcome assessment of quality of life (QOL) in pulmonary hypertension (PH). The aim of this study was to psychometrically validate a linguistically validated Japanese version of the emPHasis-10. Japanese patients with PH (age ≥18 years) and no change in functional status, or initiation or change in PH-specific treatment during the past 3 months were recruited from 5 institutions from August 2018 to July 2019.

Propofol midazolam for sedation during radiofrequency ablation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Aim: Standardization of the sedation protocol during radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is needed. This randomized, single-blind, investigator-initiated trial compared clinical outcomes during and after RFA using propofol and midazolam, respectively, in patients with HCC.

Methods: Few- and small-nodule HCC patients (≤3 nodules and ≤3 cm) were randomly assigned to either propofol or midazolam.

Pancreatic β cells control glucose homeostasis via the secretion of exosomal miR-29 family.

Secreted microRNAs (miRNAs) are novel endocrine factors that play essential pathological and physiological roles. Here, we report that pancreatic β cell-released exosomal miR-29 family members (miR-29s) regulate hepatic insulin sensitivity and control glucose homeostasis. Cultured pancreatic islets were shown to secrete miR-29s in response to high levels of free fatty acids (FFAs) in vitro.

Intrapopulation genetic variation in the level and rhythm of daily activity in .

Genetic diversity within a population, such as polymorphisms and personality, is considered to improve population performance because such intraspecific variations have the potential to alleviate the competition for a limited resource or the risk of predation and sexual harassment at a population level. Variation in the level and rhythm of daily activity in a population could also affect population performance by directly altering ecological, social, and sexual interactions among individuals. However, it remains to be elucidated whether such intra-population variation in the level and rhythms of daily activity exists in a natural population.

Ungual hyalohyphomycosis caused by .

onychomycosis is uncommon in the temperate climate zone of Japan. Based on the morphological characteristics and a gene analysis, we diagnosed a patient with ungual hyalohyphomycosis caused by belonging to the complex. This intractable disease was cured by 6-month treatment with efinaconazole 10% solution.

Predictive model of bleeding following endoscopic sphincterotomy for the treatment of choledocholithiasis in hemodialysis patients: A retrospective multicenter study.

Background And Aim: Although hemodialysis (HD) is a strong risk factor for postendoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) bleeding, additional risk factors in HD patients remain unclear. There is no model for predicting post-ES bleeding risk in HD patients. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective multicenter study to reveal these risk factors and develop a predictive model of post-ES bleeding in HD patients.

Advances in the surgical treatment of esophageal cancer since 1965.

In Japan, the treatment of esophageal cancer has undergone significant development since the Japanese Society for Esophageal Diseases was established in 1965 by Doctors Komei Nakayama, Shigetsugu Katsura, and Ichiro Akakura. When the Society was established, surgery was the first-line treatment for esophageal cancer. Since then, the Society has been led by three successive chairpersons-Doctors Katsura, Nakayama, and Satoh.

Two new species of subgenus (Primulaceae-Myrsinoideae) from Borneo.

and from subgenus Tetrardisia are herein described and illustrated as new species. They are endemic to Borneo and the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan and to the Malaysian state of Sarawak, respectively. is unique in its linear-oblong leaves, with a long, acuminate-caudate apex, and finely serrulate margins, while can be easily recognized by its elliptic-lanceolate leaves.

Taxonomic studies of the ground beetle subgenus Ledoux & Roux, 2005 (Coleoptera, Carabidae, ) from Honshû, Japan.

Nebria (Falcinebria) reflexa Bates (Carabidae), a Japanese endemic flightless ground beetle, is geographically polytypic and was thought to be composed of four subspecies (including nominotypical subspecies). Populations from Honshû recognized as three subspecies were taxonomically revised based primarily on the shape of the endophallus, a membranous inner sac everted from the aedeagus. Three known taxa, , Bates, and Nakane, are redefined based on endophallus morphology, and the latter two are described as distinct species rather than subspecies of .

Assisted reproductive technology in Japan: A summary report for 2017 by the Ethics Committee of the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Purpose: The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG) has collected cycle-based assisted reproductive technology (ART) data in an online registry since 2007. Herein, we present the characteristics and treatment outcomes of ART cycles registered during 2017.

Methods: We collected cycle-specific information for all ART cycles implemented at participating facilities and performed descriptive analysis.

Background characteristics and postoperative outcomes of insufficient weight loss after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in Japanese patients.

Aim: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is becoming popular in Japan, but insufficient weight loss is often observed in patients after LSG. We investigated the effect of LSG on obesity-related comorbidities and identified the background characteristics of Japanese patients with insufficient weight loss after LSG.

Methods: In this multi-institutional retrospective study at 10 certified bariatric institutions, 322 Japanese patients who underwent LSG with a follow-up period of more than 2 years were analyzed.

Minimally invasive manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for the sciatic nerve tract tracing used intra-articularly administrated dextran-manganese encapsulated nanogels.

Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI) enables tract tracing to follow neural pathways through axonal transport. However, the method is problematic because of the high local concentrations of Mn involved. We developed a tetrananogel containing a dextran-manganese complex (Dex-Mn-Gel) and applied this nanogel to rats.

The presence of a cryptic barrier in the West Pacific Ocean suggests the effect of glacial climate changes on a widespread sea-dispersed plant, (Fabaceae).

Ocean currents are an important driver of evolution for sea-dispersed plants, enabling them to maintain reciprocal gene flow via sea-dispersed diaspores and obtain wide distribution ranges. Although geographic barriers are known to be the primary factors shaping present genetic structure of sea-dispersed plants, cryptic barriers which form clear genetic structure within oceanic regions are poorly understood. To test the presence of a cryptic barrier, we conducted a phylogeographic study together with past demographic inference for a widespread sea-dispersed plant, , using 308 individuals collected from the entire Indo-West Pacific (IWP) region.

Characteristics of care methods for daily life disabilities in Alzheimer's type dementia that respect autonomy and independence.

Aim: To clarify the characteristics of appropriate care methods for people with daily life disabilities due to Alzheimer's type dementia.

Design: A cross-sectional survey study.

Methods: A survey was implemented targeting 2,156 advanced care practitioners for dementia.

OLFM4 Enhances STAT3 Activation and Promotes Tumor Progression by Inhibiting GRIM19 Expression in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Olfactomedin 4 (OLFM4) induces signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) activation by inhibiting gene associated with retinoid-interferon-induced mortality 19 (GRIM19), a strong STAT3 suppressor gene; however, the mechanisms of OLFM4 for regulating GRIM19-STAT3 cascade in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. The functions and regulations of OLFM4, GRIM19, and STAT3 activation in HCC progression were evaluated using surgical specimens collected from 111 HCC patients or 2 HCC cell lines . Moreover, the cancer stem cell-like property of OLFM4 mediated by leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (LGR5), known as an intestinal stem cell marker, was investigated.

Evolutionary origin of a periodical mass-flowering plant.

The evolutionary origin of periodical mass-flowering plants (shortly periodical plants), exhibiting periodical mass flowering and death immediately after flowering, has not been demonstrated. Within the genus (Acanthaceae), which includes more than 50 periodical species, on Okinawa Island, Japan, flowers gregariously every 6 years. We investigated the life history of in other regions and that of closely related species together with their molecular phylogeny to reveal the evolutionary origin of periodical mass flowering.