Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Cells and Small Cell Lung Carcinoma: Immunohistochemical Study Focusing on Mechanisms of Neuroendocrine Differentiation.

Neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation has been histochemically detected in normal and cancer tissues and cells. Immunohistochemical analyses have provided a more detailed understanding of NE biology and pathology. Pulmonary NE cells are a rare lung epithelial type, and small cell carcinoma of the lung (SCLC) is a high-grade NE tumor.

Osimertinib plus platinum-pemetrexed in newly diagnosed epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive advanced/metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: safety run-in results from the FLAURA2 study.

Background: The phase III FLAURA2 (NCT04035486) study will evaluate efficacy and safety of first-line osimertinib with platinum-pemetrexed chemotherapy versus osimertinib monotherapy in epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive (EGFRm) advanced/metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The safety run-in, reported here, assessed the safety and tolerability of osimertinib with chemotherapy prior to the randomized phase III evaluation.

Patients And Methods: Patients (≥18 years; Japan: ≥20 years) with EGFRm locally advanced/metastatic NSCLC received oral osimertinib 80 mg once daily (QD), with either intravenous (IV) cisplatin 75 mg/m or IV carboplatin target area under the curve 5, plus pemetrexed 500 mg/m every 3 weeks (Q3W) for four cycles.

Successful treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitor for patients with acute myeloid leukemia with .

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with is rare and has a poor prognosis with conventional chemotherapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) alone. We reported a case of AML with patient who was successfully treated with dasatinib alone; additionally, we previously reported another case of long-term remission maintained with imatinib monotherapy. These results suggested that a treatment with a novel and significantly potent TKI may be effective in AML with patients with low tumor burden and without additional chromosome aberrations and kinase domain mutations.

[Survey on the Efficacy of Two Types of Medication Administration-assisting Food for Hospitalized Children].

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of two types of medication administration-assisting food. The subjects were 30 caregivers of children from one to eight years old hospitalized in the pediatrics unit of a university hospital, and 30 nurses caring for them. The caregivers gave medications to their children using two types of administration-assisting food, "chocolate" and "jelly".

IFPA meeting 2018 workshop report I: Reproduction and placentation among ocean-living species; placental imaging; epigenetics and extracellular vesicles in pregnancy.

Workshops are an important part of the IFPA annual meeting as they allow for discussion of specialized topics. At IFPA meeting 2018 there were nine themed workshops, four of which are summarized in this report. These workshops discussed new knowledge and technological innovations in the following areas of research: 1) viviparity in ocean-living species; 2) placental imaging; 3) epigenetics; and 4) extracellular vesicles in pregnancy.

Protruded retinal layers within the optic nerve head neuroretinal rim.

Purpose: To determine the frequency with which retinal tissues other than the nerve fibre layer, hereafter referred to as protruded retinal layers (PRL), are a component of optical coherence tomography (OCT) neuroretinal rim measurements.

Methods: Ninety healthy (30 White, Black and Japanese, respectively) subjects were included in the study. A radial scan pattern (24 B-scans centred on Bruch's membrane opening [BMO]) was used.

2017 Clinical practice guidelines of the Japan Research Committee of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare for Intractable Vasculitis for the management of ANCA-associated vasculitis.

Objective: The Japan Research Committee for Intractable Vasculitis has fully revised the clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for the management of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) to improve and standardize the medical treatment of the disease in Japan.

Methods: The previous CPG was published in a classical review style in Japanese in 2011 and 2014. We adopted the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system for this revision, and various stakeholders, including patients, participated in it.

Prevalence and molecular characteristics of DNA mismatch repair protein-deficient sebaceous neoplasms and keratoacanthomas in a Japanese hospital-based population.

Background: Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS) is currently considered as a clinical variant of Lynch syndrome (LS). The clinical significance of the screening of patients with MTS-associated cutaneous tumors for the identification of LS has not yet been established. In addition, the prevalence and molecular characteristics of mismatch repair (MMR) protein deficiency in such tumors has scarcely been investigated in the Japanese population.

Clinical Findings of a Cantilever Iliac Bone Graft for Secondary Correction of Cleft Lip-Nose Deformities.

The authors performed a cantilever iliac bone graft for the secondary correction of severe cleft lip-nose deformities after the completion of growth. For the purpose of clarifying effects of the cantilever iliac bone grafts and the adverse events with regard to their time course changes after this procedure, the authors retrospectively surveyed long-term morphologic changes in 65 cleft lip, alveolus, and palate patients in whom cleft lip-nose deformities were treated with a cantilever iliac bone graft (age at surgery: 14-45 years old). All postsurgical documents of facial photographs and radiologic images were reviewed to evaluate the effects and adverse events.

Gallstones were associated with the gastrointestinal adverse events of cinacalcet in hemodialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism.

This study aimed to investigate the association of gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events of cinacalcet with gallstones in the hemodialysis (HD) patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT). A total of 23 HD patients under the treatment with cinacalcet and 101 control patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. We investigated the prevalence of gallstones and the association of GI adverse events of cinacalcet with gallstones.

Bisphosphonates prevent age-related weight loss in Japanese postmenopausal women.

Decline of body weight with aging is a major risk factor for frailty, osteoporosis and fracture, suggesting that treatment for osteoporosis may affect body composition. Recently, we have shown that 5-year treatment with raloxifene prevented age-related weight loss, suggesting some other drugs for osteoporosis may also prevent a decrease in body weight with aging. The present study aimed to identify the relationship between bisphosphonate treatment and body composition markers.

Determinants and Characteristics of Bruch's Membrane Opening and Bruch's Membrane Opening-Minimum Rim Width in a Normal Japanese Population.

Purpose: To identify determinants of Bruch's membrane opening (BMO), and BMO-minimum rim width (BMO-MRW) and circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) centered on BMO center and characterize these parameters in a normal Japanese population.

Methods: Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography images of optic nerve head and circumpapillary and macular retina were obtained in 258 eyes of 258 normal Japanese with mean (standard deviation) age of 51.7 (18.

Low serum osteocalcin concentration is associated with incident type 2 diabetes mellitus in Japanese women.

Increasing evidence suggests that osteocalcin is involved in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. However, the relationship between serum osteocalcin levels and risk of incident type 2 diabetes mellitus is not clear. The objective of this study is to investigate whether serum osteocalcin levels are associated with the risk of incident type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Differentiation of Islet Progenitors Regulated by Nicotinamide into Transcriptome-Verified β Cells That Ameliorate Diabetes.

Developmental stage-specific differentiation of stem or progenitor cells into safe and functional cells is of fundamental importance in regenerative medicine, including β-cell replacement. However, the differentiation of islet progenitor cells (IPCs) into insulin-secreting β cells remains elusive. Here, we report that the multifunctional molecule nicotinamide (NIC) is a specific differentiation regulator of mouse IPCs.

The effect of different anesthetics on tumor cytotoxicity by natural killer cells.

A number of retrospective studies have suggested that choice of anesthetic drugs during surgical tumor resection might affect tumor recurrence/metastasis, or outcome of patients. The recent study showed that volatile anesthetics-based general anesthesia was associated with the worse outcomes than intravenous anesthetics-based general anesthesia. However, the underlying mechanism is yet to be determined.

Effect of Predialysis Recombinant Human Erythropoietin on Early Survival After Hemodialysis Initiation in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: Co-JET Study.

Progression of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with an increased risk of death and hospitalization. It is not sufficiently clear whether treating renal anemia with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) has a beneficial effect on early survival after hemodialysis (HD) initiation in patients with CKD. The study was an open-label multicenter retrospective cohort study to evaluate the relationship between rHuEPO treatment and early survival after HD initiation in patients with CKD.

GABAergic modulation of serotonin release in the rat subfornical organ area.

The present study was carried out to examine whether γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor mechanisms are involved in the release of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the subfornical organ (SFO) using intracerebral microdialysis techniques. Perfusion with the GABA receptor antagonists as well as agonists was performed in the region of the SFO through a microdialysis probe and extracellular concentrations of 5-HT and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were measured in freely moving rats. Perfusion with the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (10 and 50μM), but not the GABAB receptor antagonist phaclofen (10 and 50μM), increased dialysate 5-HT and 5-HIAA concentrations in the SFO area, suggesting that the GABAergic system may tonically inhibit the 5-HT release in the SFO area through GABAA receptors.

Computed tomographic evaluation of novel custom-made artificial bones, "CT-bone", applied for maxillofacial reconstruction.

Introduction: We fabricated custom-made artificial bones using three-dimensionally layered manufacturing (3D printing) process, and have applied them to patients with facial deformities. We termed this novel artificial bone the "CT-bone". The aim of the present study was to evaluate the middle- and long-term safety and effectiveness of the CT-bones after transplantation.

Differences in Relationship Between Macular Inner Retinal Layer Thickness and Retinal Sensitivity in Eyes With Early and Progressed Glaucoma.

Purpose: To determine if the relationship between retinal sensitivity and macular inner retinal layer thickness differs between primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) with mild and advanced central visual field (VF) damage.

Methods: One eye of 153 POAG patients was included. Using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, we measured the average thickness of the macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layers (GCIPLT) and the macular nerve fiber layer/GCIPL (ganglion cell complex [GCCT]) in a 0.

Preventive effects of raloxifene treatment on agerelated weight loss in postmenopausal women.

Decline of body weight and body mass index (BMI) with aging is a major risk factor for osteoporosis and fracture, suggesting that treatment for osteoporosis may affect body composition. However, the effects of treatment for osteoporosis on body composition are not well known. The present study aimed to identify the relationship between raloxifene treatment and body composition markers.