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Hepatic blood flow was associated with degree of hepatic damage. Measurements of blood flow using ultrasonography (US) may vary due to any observer's and patient's conditions. The utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) flowmetry in portal and hepatic veins was assessed. Patients and methods: Using the phase-contrast method, the mean flow velocity of portal (PVF) and hepatic vein (HVF) were determined by MRI and US in 75 consecutive patients with liver diseases, including 58 patients undergoing hepatectomy. The correlations between these parameters and clinicopathological findings were examined. Results: PVF and HVF measured by MRI flowmetry were 12.8±4.5 and 14.7±5.3 cm/s, respectively. There was no significant correlation of both flows between MRI and US. PVF correlated significantly with portal pressure ( r=−0.722; P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between HVF and histological activity index score ( r=−0.366; P<0.05). PVF and HVF were lower in patients with cirrhosis and higher staging score (2–4) and PVF was lower in patients with higher grading score (2–3; P<0.05). PVF and HVF were not significantly associated with postoperative complications. Conclusions: Our results suggest that MRI flowmetry is a potentially useful tool for measurement of hepatic blood flow and recommend its use for estimation of liver cirrhosis-associated impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin films of the p-type thermoelectric misfit-layered oxide, [Ca2CoO3]0.62[CoO2], were prepared for the first time by means of the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique using Ca(thd)2, Co(thd)2, and O3as precursors. As-deposited films were amorphous; however, with heat treatment in an O2gas flow, well-crystallized highly c-axis-oriented [Ca2CoO3]0.62[CoO2] films were obtained. The oxygen content of the O2-annealed film was further controlled through a reductive N2-annealing. Because the degree of reduction was dependent on the annealing temperature, the choice of N2-annealing temperature provided us with a tool for precise tuning of the oxygen content. With decreasing oxygen content, the lattice parameter (c) and the Seebeck coefficient (S) were found to increase. The room-temperature Svalues were 113 and 128 μV/K for the oxygen-richest sample and the most-reduced sample, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of an ovarian tissue transportation network for fertility preservation (FP) for cancer patients in Japan. Methods: PubMed was searched for papers on transportation of human ovarian tissue for FP. We analyzed population, area, number of cancer patients for ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC), quality control/assessment and safety, cost of a cryopreservation center for the building for 30 years, and medical fees of cancer patients (operation, cryopreservation, and storage of ovarian tissue). Results: More than twenty babies have been born in Denmark and Germany through a transportation system. Up to 400 new patients a year need OTC. The fees for removal, cryopreservation, and storage for 5 years, and transplantation of ovarian tissue are around €5,000, €4,000, and €5,000, respectively. It costs more than €5 million to establish and maintain one cryopreservation center for 30 years. If we have a few cryopreservation centers in Japan, we can cryopreserve 400 patients' ovarian tissue per year by safer slow freezing and maintain quality control/assessment. We need to lighten the patients' burden for easy to use FP by a government subsidy and medical insurance coverage. Conclusions: This model has been termed the Danish model ('the woman stays - the tissue moves'). This is truly patient-centered medicine. We can have maximum effects with the minimum burden. A transportation network like those of Denmark and Germany is the best strategy for FP in Japan. It may be the best system for cancer patients, medical staff, and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the optical properties of the layered rhodium oxide K0.49RhO2, which is isostructural to the thermoelectric material NaxCoO2. The optical conductivity shows broad interband transition peaks as well as a low-energy Drude-like upturn, reminiscent of the optical spectra of NaxCoO2. We find that the peaks clearly shift to higher energies with respect to those of NaxCoO2, indicating a larger crystal-field splitting between eg and t2g bands in K0.49RhO2. The Drude weights suggest that the effective mass of K0.49RhO2 is almost two times smaller than that of NaxCoO2. These differences in electronic structures and correlation effects between NaxCoO2 and K0.49RhO2 are discussed in terms of the difference between Co 3d and Rh 4d orbitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. α-Fetoprotein (AFP) has been used as a marker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, AFP levels are often high in patients with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis. Protein-induced vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA-II) is more sensitive for the diagnosis of HCC and prediction of patient survival. Changes in these markers after treatment may reflect treatment curability and patient outcome. Methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of prognosis of 63 HCC patients with high preoperative levels of AFP and PIVKA-II who underwent hepatectomy and examined the relationship between postoperative changes in both markers at 1 month and patient survival. Subjects were divided into three groups according to changes in these tumour markers after hepatectomy: normalization (N) group, decreased but still above the normal level (D) group and unchanged (U) group. Results. There were no significant differences in the numbers of patients who developed tumour recurrence between changes in AFP and PIVKA-II. Survival analysis showed no significant differences in tumour-free and overall survivals between groups with respect to AFP level. The PIVKA-II-N group showed significantly better tumour-free and overall survival compared with the D and U groups ( p [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The relationship between patient prognosis and various tumor biological factors has been reported previously, and prognostic factors of tumor biology may improve predictions of prognosis after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may contribute to a new staging classification. This study was designed to provide an immunohistochemical analysis of tumor biological factors in patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC. METHODS: Factors analyzed included p53 overexpression, microvessel counts, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and expression of nm23. We examined 81 HCCs from patients with chronic liver diseases. RESULTS: In patients who underwent chemoembolization before surgery, or those a who had confluent multinodular tumor, p53 expression tended to be higher than in patients without chemoembolization (33% vs 11%) or those with a simple nodular tumor (28% vs 10%), but the difference was not statistically significant ( P = 0.051 and P = 0.092, respectively). A lower tumor microvessel count and negative nm23 expression were significantly associated with poor disease-free survival by univariate analysis ( P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). A lower tumor microvessel count was found to be a significant prognostic factor for disease-free and overall survivals (risk ratios, 2.44 and 3.13, respectively; P << 0.05), in addition to tumor size, vascular invasion, and longterm ascites, by Cox's multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor microvessel count appears to be a useful prognostic marker for predicting HCC recurrence and patient survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]