CD4 T Responses Other Than Th1 Type Are Preferentially Induced by Latency-Associated Antigens in the State of Latent Infection.

() produces a diverse range of antigenic proteins in its dormant phase. The cytokine profiles of CD4 T cell responses, especially subsets other than Th1 type (non-Th1 type), against these latency-associated antigens such as α-crystallin (Acr), heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA), and mycobacterial DNA-binding protein 1 (MDP-1) remain elusive in relation to the clinical stage of infection. In the present study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from different stages of -infected cases and control PBMCs were stimulated with these antigens and ESAT-6/CFP-10.

Publisher Correction: Development of an immunodeficient pig model allowing long-term accommodation of artificial human vascular tubes.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Development of an immunodeficient pig model allowing long-term accommodation of artificial human vascular tubes.

Before they are used in the clinical setting, the effectiveness of artificially produced human-derived tissue-engineered medical products should be verified in an immunodeficient animal model, such as severe combined immunodeficient mice. However, small animal models are not sufficient to evaluate large-sized products for human use. Thus, an immunodeficient large animal model is necessary in order to properly evaluate the clinical efficacy of human-derived tissue-engineered products, such as artificial grafts.

A Case of Sporadic Blau Syndrome with an Uncommon Clinical Course.

Background: Sporadic Blau syndrome (SBS), a rare systemic inflammatory disease in children, is associated with gene mutations. SBS is often misdiagnosed as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) because of their similar clinical manifestations. Herein, we present a case of SBS with an uncommon clinical course.

New antibiotic regimen for preterm premature rupture of membrane reduces the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Aim: The optimal antibiotic regimen for preterm premature rupture of membrane (pPROM) is still unclear. This study aimed to determine the effects of ampicillin-sulbactam (SBT/ABPC) and azithromycin (AZM) on the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Methods: This retrospective study included women with singleton gestations and a diagnosis of pPROM between 22 and 27 weeks of gestation.

High-intensity breastfeeding improves insulin sensitivity during early post-partum period in obese women with gestational diabetes.

Aim: To investigate whether high-intensity breastfeeding (HIB) reduces insulin resistance during early post-partum period in women with gestational diabetes (GDM), independent of post-partum weight change (PWC).

Materials And Methods: In this multicentre prospective study, we included Japanese women with GDM who underwent a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) during early post-partum. We measured plasma insulin during OGTT to obtain a homeostasis model of assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

A longer body length and larger head circumference at term significantly influences a better subsequent psychomotor development in very-low-birth-weight infants.

Aim: To clarify the influence of intra- and extra-uterine growth on subsequent psychomotor development in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants.

Methods: Two hundred and eighty VLBW infants (28.4 ± 2.

Type II restriction modification system in Ureaplasma parvum OMC-P162 strain.

Ureaplasma parvum serovar 3 strain, OMC-P162, was isolated from the human placenta of a preterm delivery at 26 weeks' gestation. In this study, we sequenced the complete genome of OMC-P162 and compared it with other serovar 3 strains isolated from patients with different clinical conditions. Ten unique genes in OMC-P162, five of which encoded for hypothetical proteins, were identified.

Extrauterine growth restriction was associated with short stature and thinness in very low birthweight infants at around six years of age.

Aim: The effect that intrauterine or extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR) had on the build of very low birthweight (VLBW) infants was investigated before Japanese children started school.

Method: Between 2005 and 2017, the National Hospital Organization, Saga, Japan, carried out preschool checks on 322 children born with a VLBW at approximately six years of age. Growth restriction was defined as being born small for gestational age (SGA) or EUGR if they were born at term.

Intelligence test at preschool-age predicts reading difficulty among school-aged very low birth weight infants in Japan.

Objective: To elucidate whether the results of an intelligence test at preschool age are predictive of reading difficulty (RD) at school age among very low birth weight infants (VLBWI).

Methods: Subjects were 48 Japanese children whose birth weight was <1500 g and who regularly visited a follow-up clinic. All subjects completed the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) during the last grade of kindergarten, and four reading tasks during the second to fourth grade of elementary school.

Prevalence of β-agonist inhalation for outpatients in a pediatric emergency center during enterovirus D68 epidemic.

Background: Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has been reported to have caused severe bronchial asthma attacks and hospitalization epidemics in Japan in September 2015.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of β-agonist inhalation in a pediatric emergency center during a period of increased hospitalization for bronchial asthma, which was suggested to be associated with EV-D68.

Methods: We investigated the prevalence of β-agonist inhalation in a pediatric emergency center in Saga city, Japan, from April 2013 to October 2015, and also clarified the trends in bronchial asthma hospitalization in the same area during that time.

[Effective Techniques to Reduce Radiation Exposure to Medical Staff during Assist of X-ray Computed Tomography Examination].

Medical staffs like radiological technologists, doctors, and nurses are at an increased risk of exposure to radiation while assisting the patient in a position or monitor contrast medium injection during computed tomography (CT). However, methods to protect medical staff from radiation exposure and protocols for using radiological protection equipment have not been standardized and differ among hospitals. In this study, the distribution of scattered X-rays in a CT room was measured by placing electronic personal dosimeters in locations where medical staff stands beside the CT scanner gantry while assisting the patient and the exposure dose was measured.

Microbiome profile of the amniotic fluid as a predictive biomarker of perinatal outcome.

Chorioamnionitis (CAM), an inflammation of the foetal membranes due to infection, is associated with preterm birth and poor perinatal prognosis. The present study aimed to determine whether CAM can be diagnosed prior to delivery based on the bacterial composition of the amniotic fluid (AF). AF samples from 79 patients were classified according to placental inflammation: Stage III (n = 32), CAM; Stage II (n = 27), chorionitis; Stage 0-I (n = 20), sub-chorionitis or no neutrophil infiltration; and normal AF in early pregnancy (n = 18).

Reading difficulty in school-aged very low birth weight infants in Japan.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of and the perinatal risk factors related to reading difficulty in school-aged very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) with normal intelligence.

Methods: Subjects were 79 Japanese children in the second to fourth grade of elementary school who had been born at very low birth weight and who regularly visited a follow-up clinic at one of four hospitals. All members had a full-scale IQ score of 80 or higher.

Cancer Cell Interaction with Adipose Tissue: Correlation with the Finding of Spiculation at Mammography.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between spiculated masses at mammography and marginal adipose tissue invasion at histologic examination.

Materials And Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study, and the requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. A total of 478 patients with invasive breast cancer who underwent surgery between 1999 and 2009 were included in this study.

Torsion of the gallbladder in a 3-year-old infant.

A 3-year-old girl was admitted to hospital with complaints of severe upper abdominal pain and vomiting. On admission, a board-like rigidity in the right hypochondrium was noted, along with a high white blood cell count and a high C-reactive protein value. Abdominal ultrasonography (US) revealed a left-sided enlarged gallbladder with a thickened wall, without gallstones.

Prognostic impact of marginal adipose tissue invasion in ductal carcinoma of the breast.

This study aimed to investigate whether adipose tissue invasion (ATI) of cancer cells at the tumor margin influenced lymph node status and prognosis in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. Data for 245 patients with breast cancer with marginal ATI were clinicopathologically compared with data for 65 patients without ATI. We also examined the value of the combination of ATI and peritumoral lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI).

R352Q mutation of the DHCR7 gene is common among Japanese Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome patients.

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is an autosomal recessive malformation syndrome characterized by microcephaly, syndactyly of toes, ambiguous genitalia, and mental retardation. The underlying DHCR7 gene has been identified and a wide variety of distinct mutations were reported in USA and European SLOS patients. A significant difference has been suggested in the frequency of SLOS among different ethnic populations.

Surgery for ileal mesenteric lymphangioma during pregnancy: case report and review of the literature.

Mesenteric lymphangioma is one of the least frequently encountered types of benign tumor. This case report concerns a 31-year-old pregnant woman with a mesenteric cystic lymphangioma in the ileum. The multiloculated cystic mass was noted near the uterus by CT before the patient became pregnant.

Two cases of ileosigmoid knot: the youngest reported patient and CT findings.

Ileosigmoid knot is one of the causes of intestinal obstruction, but it is very difficult to make a correct preoperative diagnosis of the disease. This rare condition with high mortality is usually found in adult patients and has rarely been reported in children. We recently experienced two patients with ileosigmoid knot.