[A Case of Hydrocephalus Due to Brain Metastasis from Renal Cell Carcinoma Successfully Treated with Axitinib].

We report a case of hydrocephalus due to brain metastasis from renal cell carcinoma treated with axitinib. A 65-year-old man had undergone right radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma in 2010. The pathological diagnosis indicated clear cell carcinoma G3, pT1a.

Oral administration of heat-killed YB38 improves murine influenza pneumonia by enhancing IgA production.

Influenza is one of the important respiratory tract infections that require special attention for maintaining health and hygiene. The removal of influenza virus (IFV) by secretory IgA produced by the respiratory epithelium has been reported to be a critical host defense mechanism. Therefore, we isolated YB38 (YB38), the promoter of the salivary IgA secretion in humans, from honeybee pollen and studied the effect of heat-killed YB38 treatment for preventing IFV infection in a mouse model.

Influence of hooks and a lag screw on internal fixation plates for lateral malleolar fracture: a biomechanical and ergonomic study.

Background: For internal fixation of AO classification Type B lateral malleolar fracture, insertion of lag screws into the fracture plane and fixation with a one-third tubular plate as a neutralization plate are the standard treatment procedures. The one-third tubular plate is processed to a hook shape and hung on the distal end of the fibula. In this study, to compare the function of the hook and lag screws of a one-third tubular plate and LCP for osteosynthesis of lateral malleolar fracture, mechanical indices of internal fixation were compared among the one-third tubular plates with lag screws with and without the hook and a locking compression plate.

Mint3/Apba3 depletion ameliorates severe murine influenza pneumonia and macrophage cytokine production in response to the influenza virus.

Influenza virus (IFV) infection is a common cause of severe pneumonia. Studies have suggested that excessive activation of the host immune system including macrophages is responsible for the severe pathologies mediated by IFV infection. Here, we focused on the X11 protein family member Mint3/Apba3, known to promote ATP production via glycolysis by activating hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) in macrophages, and examined its roles in lung pathogenesis and anti-viral defence upon IFV infection.

Haploinsufficiency of TNFAIP3 (A20) by germline mutation is involved in autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome.

Background: Autoimmune diseases in children are rare and can be difficult to diagnose. Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is a well-characterized pediatric autoimmune disease caused by mutations in genes associated with the FAS-dependent apoptosis pathway. In addition, various genetic alterations are associated with the ALPS-like phenotype.

[Image Format Conversion to DICOM and Lookup Table Conversion to Presentation Value of the Japanese Society of Radiological Technology (JSRT) Standard Digital Image Database].

Japanese Society of Radiological Technology (JSRT) standard digital image database contains many useful cases of chest X-ray images, and has been used in many state-of-the-art researches. However, the pixel values of all the images are simply digitized as relative density values by utilizing a scanned film digitizer. As a result, the pixel values are completely different from the standardized display system input value of digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM), called presentation value (P-value), which can maintain a visual consistency when observing images using different display luminance.

Outcomes of labor epidural analgesia among women aged over 40: A single-institution retrospective study.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of labor epidural analgesia (LEA) on maternal and neonatal outcomes among parturients aged 40 years or older.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of all laboring, singleton and cephalic deliveries at ≥36 weeks' gestation at the Saitama Medical Center from April 2003 to September 2012. Women aged ≥40 years who received LEA (≥40 with LEA group) were compared with women aged ≥40 years who delivered without LEA (≥40 without LEA group) and women <40 years who received LEA (<40 with LEA group).

12. Influence of Wound Dressing on the Fracture Healing Effect of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound (LIPUS).

Objective: We have conducted a basic study on the influences on ultrasonic properties when LIPUS is applied through wound dressing. According to the results of ex vivo experiments conducted to date, LIPUS showed ultrasonic properties such as transmittance, coefficient of transmission, and a non-uniformity ratio through film wound dressing better than other wound dressing, and it was considered that LIPUS's effect for fracture healing was not influenced by film wound dressing. Then, we discussed the influence on the effect of LIPUS through film wound dressing.

5. Accelerated Fracture Healing Targeting Periosteal Cells: Possibility of Combined Therapy of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound (LIPUS), Bone Graft, and Growth Factor (bFGF).

We have studied the mechanism of fracture healing, and the effect of LIPUS, bone graft and growth factor on accelerating fracture healing. We present here the results of our research. To examine callus formation cells in fracture healing, we made marrow GFP chimera mice and a fracture model of marrow mesenchymal stem cell GFP chimera mice.

4. The Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound (LIPUS) Mechanism and the Effect of Teriparatide on Fracture Healing.

Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound (LIPUS) provided a mechanical stimulus, and was thought to promote fracture healing by signal transduction through integrin, a cytoskeletal protein. Meanwhile, teriparatide, a drug for osteoporosis treatment, showed efficacy in promoting bone metabolism. This drug also appeared to prevent fractures in patients with serious osteoporosis by improving bone mineral density and bone quality, which in turn resulted from promoting action for bone metabolism.

Over-the-counter Drug Induced Autoimmune Hepatitis.

A 64-year-old man seeking treatment for a common cold was admitted to our hospital due to symptoms of general fatigue and liver dysfunction. A thorough history review revealed that the patient had recently started taking an over-the-counter (OTC) drug. Drug-induced lymphocyte stimulation tests were positive.

[Investigation of an Optimum Determination Method of Exposure Index for Posterior-Anterior Chest Radiographs Using an Auto Exposure Control].

Fifty posterior-anterior chest radiographs taken using an auto exposure control were evaluated in order to find an optimum determination method of the exposure index (EI). Four types of the relevant image regions were tested: (a) full image, (b) central 25% area, (c) full image excluding direct x-ray area, and (d) pulmonary area only, whereas four types of the value of interest (VOI) were adopted to each relevant image region: mean, median, mode, and middle. When the target EI was determined as the average of the 50 images, the deviation index (DI) was within ±1.

Genetic Diversity in Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis Isolates from Patients with Invasive and Noninvasive Infections in a Japanese University Hospital (2014-2015).

Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) isolates with β-hemolysis and carbohydrate groups G or C are increasingly recovered from invasive infections in Japan. The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiological characteristics of SDSE isolates circulating locally among patients with invasive and noninvasive infections.

Assessment of contamination using an ATP bioluminescence assay on doorknobs in a university-affiliated hospital in Japan.

Background: Doorknobs are inevitable points of hand contact. We monitored doorknob contamination in a university hospital using an ATP bioluminescence assay and stamp agar method. We selected grip-, lever-, push-, insert-, and two-pull-type doorknobs in staff lavatories and break rooms, a linen closet, dirty utility rooms, a newborn care unit, clinical lavatories and examination rooms, dressing rooms for radiological tests, and lavatories for health examination, as monitoring points in wards and clinics.

Intraoperative monitoring during decompression of the spinal cord and spinal nerves using transcranial motor-evoked potentials: The law of twenty percent.

Motor-evoked potential (MEP) monitoring was performed during 196 consecutive spinal (79 cervical and 117 lumbar) surgeries for the decompression of compressive spinal and spinal nerve diseases. MEP monitoring in spinal surgery has been considered sensitive to predict postoperative neurological recovery. In this series, transcranial stimulation consisted of trains of five pulses at a constant voltage (200-600 V).

Increases in endothelial caveolin-1 and cavins correlate with cirrhosis progression.

Background And Aims: Caveolin-1 is associated with flat caveolar domains, invaginated smooth plasmalemmal vesicles, and caveolae. Polymerase 1 and transcript release factor (PTRF) (cavin 1) and serum deprivation protein response (SDPR) (cavin 2) are required for the invagination of caveolae, and PRKCDBP (protein kinase C, delta-binding protein; cavin 3) is required for caveolae budding to form caveolar vesicles. To investigate whether cavins are involved in hepatic sinusoidal angiogenesis and remodeling during progression to cirrhosis, normal control liver specimens and early and late cirrhotic liver specimens were studied.

Frequent High Expression of Kita-Kyushu Lung Cancer Antigen-1 (KK-LC-1) in Gastric Cancer.

Background: The tumor-associated antigen Kita-Kyushu lung cancer antigen-1 (KK-LC-1) has been reported as not being expressed in normal tissues, except for the testis, and in the setting of non-small cell lung cancer. The present study demonstrated that KK-LC-1 is expressed in gastric cancer.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed the expression of KK-LC-1 and cancer/testis antigens (CTAs) in surgical specimens of 49 gastric carcinomas.

Liver abscess caused by Salmonella choleraesuis.

A 65-year-old man with long-term alcohol abuse presented with intermittent fever. Abdominal computed tomography revealed multiple masses. Abscess blood and pus cultures conducted after percutaneous catheter drainage with pigtail catheters yielded Salmonella choleraesuis.

pH-sensitive expression of calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) in type-B intercalated cells of the cortical collecting ducts (CCD) in mouse kidney.

Background: The localization and role of the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) along the nephron including the collecting ducts is still open to debate.

Methods: Using the quantitative, highly sensitive in situ hybridization technique and a double-staining immunohistochemistry technique, we investigated the axial distribution and expression of CaSR along the nephron in mice (C57B/6J) treated for 6 days with acid or alkali diets.

Results: Under control condition, CaSR was specifically localized in the cortical and medullary thick ascending limb of Henle's loop (CTAL and MTAL), macula densa (MD), distal convoluted tubule (DCT), and CCD (TALs, MD > DCT, CCD).

Benefits and problems of transarterial therapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and chronic kidney disease.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of transarterial therapy (transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and transcatheter arterial infusion) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Materials And Methods: The study enrolled 35 patients who received transarterial therapy. The patients were classified into a CKD group (n = 10 nondialysis chronic kidney disease [NDCKD] and n = 9 end-stage renal disease [ESRD]) or a non-CKD group (n = 16).

Expression of three isoforms of Na-K-2Cl cotransporter (NKCC2) in the kidney and regulation by dehydration.

Sodium reabsorption via Na-K-2Cl cotransporter 2 (NKCC2) in the thick ascending limbs has a major role for medullary osmotic gradient and subsequent water reabsorption in the collecting ducts. We investigated intrarenal localization of three isoforms of NKCC2 mRNA expressions and the effects of dehydration on them in rats. To further examine the mechanisms of dehydration, the effects of hyperosmolality on NKCC2 mRNA expression in microdissected renal tubules was studied.

Fibrogenesis and Carcinogenesis in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH): Involvement of Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) and Tissue Inhibitors of Metalloproteinase (TIMPs).

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is emerging worldwide because life-styles have changed to include much over-eating and less physical activity. The clinical and pathophysiological features of NASH are very different from those of HBV- and HCV-chronic liver diseases. The prognosis of NASH is worse among those with nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD), and some NASH patients show HCC with or without cirrhosis.