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ABSTRACT We have developed a novel nondestructive inspection technique for infrastructures using spintronics technologies. Since the tunnel magneto‐resistance (TMR) effect has become dramatically more sensitive in recent years, TMR sensors can be applied to the highly sensitive nondestructive inspection named magnetic hammering test (MHT). The proposed MHT technique is based on the principle of detecting slight fluctuations in the spatial magnetic field caused by the vibration of steel materials. Since the fluctuations in the magnetic field occur with the natural vibration frequency of the steel materials, their condition can be detected from the change of natural frequency using highly sensitive TMR sensors. In this work, we have demonstrated that the size of steel plates was determined with high accuracy using the MHT technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffuse interstitial lung diseases (ILD) include conditions with identifiable causes such as chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP), sarcoidosis (SAR), chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (CHP), and connective tissue disease-associated interstitial pneumonia (CTD), as well as idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) of unknown origin. In non-IIP diffuse lung diseases, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid appearance is diagnostic. This study examines lymphocyte subsets in BAL fluid and peripheral blood of 56 patients with diffuse ILD, excluding idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), who underwent BAL for diagnostic purposes. Patients were classified into CEP, SAR, CHP, CTD, and IIP groups, and clinical data, BAL cell analysis, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell analysis were compared. Eosinophils and type 3 innate lymphocytes (ILC3s) were significantly increased in the BAL fluid of the CEP group. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified eosinophils ≥ 8% in BAL cells and ILC3s ≥ 0.0176% in the BAL lymphocyte fraction as thresholds distinguishing CEP. SAR patients exhibited significantly elevated CD4/CD8 ratios in the BAL fluid, with a ratio of 3.95 or higher and type 1 innate lymphoid cell frequency ≥ 0.254% as differentiation markers. High Th1 cell frequency (≥17.4%) in BAL lymphocytes in IIP, elevated serum KL-6 (≥2081 U/mL) and SP-D (≥261 ng/mL) in CHP, and increased BAL neutrophils (≥2.0%) or a low CD4/CD8 ratio (≤1.2) in CTD serve as distinguishing markers for each ILD. Excluding CEP and SAR, CD4+ T cell frequencies, including Th1, Th17, and Treg cells in peripheral blood, may differentiate IIP, CHP, and CTD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neprilysin (NEP) is a metalloprotease that has become a therapeutic target for the treatment of heart failure and hypertension. However, the significance of NEP in chronic liver diseases has rarely been investigated. In this study, we investigated the serum NEP levels in patients with chronic liver disease and their relationship with clinical parameters. Methods and results: Thirty-seven patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) who achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) after antiviral treatment and 73 patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) were enrolled. Serum neprilysin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The median NEP levels were 2.2 ng/mL in CHC and 4.1 ng/mL in MASLD, with the latter being significantly higher. Notably, in patients with MASLD, a significant correlation was observed between NEP and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels at baseline. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between NEP levels and progression of liver fibrosis in either group. In the MASLD group, obesity and lifestyle diseases were significantly more prevalent, and the patients exhibited significantly higher NEP levels. In patients with CHC, NEP levels significantly decreased after SVR. NEP mRNA expression in liver tissues was significantly downregulated following SVR. Furthermore, a significant correlation was observed between the degree of NEP and GGT improvement. Conclusions: Elevated NEP levels were observed in both CHC and MASLD groups. Considering the association between NEP levels and obesity, lifestyle diseases, and GGT levels, this suggests that oxidative stress may be involved in the elevation of NEP levels in patients with CHC and MASLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial urinary sphincters (AUS) are an effective treatment for male stress urinary incontinence (SUI). However, infection, erosion, mechanical failure, atrophy, and balloon deterioration cause device malfunction in approximately half of patients by 10 years after implantation. Many patients desire to regain urinary continence and require revision surgery (RS), including device removal and simultaneous or delayed implantation. Patients for whom RS is considered should be examined physically and by interview for signs of infection. Urethral erosion should be assessed using cystoscopy. If there is infection or erosion, all devices should be removed first, and a new device should be implanted several months later. During the RS, after strong adhesion around the urethra, transcorporal cuff implantation is a safe choice. Device removal and simultaneous implantation can be performed in the absence of infection or erosion. If a long time has passed since device implantation, the entire device should be replaced due to device aging and deterioration; however, if the time is short, only the defective component need be replaced. Intraoperative assessment of urethral health is necessary for device removal and implantation. If the urethra is healthy, a new cuff can be placed in the same position as the old cuff was removed from; however, if the urethra is unhealthy, the cuff can be implanted in a more proximal/distal position, or a transcorporal cuff implant may be chosen. This article reviews the literature on diagnostic and treatment strategies for recurrent SUI in male patients with AUS and proposes a flowchart for AUS revision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Omalizumab, the anti-IgE monoclonal antibody used to treat severe asthma, reduces asthma exacerbations, hospitalizations, and corticosteroid use. Although allergic asthma is a therapeutic target of omalizumab, omalizumab is not effective in all patients with severe allergic asthma and is not always available for long-term use. We retrospectively investigated factors related to long-term (≥ 2 years) use of omalizumab for severe asthma. Patients and Methods: Of the 116 patients treated with omalizumab for severe asthma at our hospital between 2009 and 2017, 82 were included in this retrospective analysis. Thirty-four were excluded because of adverse events, financial difficulties, or hospital transfers. The number of asthma exacerbations, unscheduled visits, corticosteroid doses, asthma control test scores, pulmonary function test results, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide levels were evaluated. Results: The median age of the study population was 58 years, with 66% female and 26% taking regular oral corticosteroids. After 2 years of treatment, 52 responders were identified using the global evaluation of treatment effectiveness (GETE) score. Improvements in asthma control test scores, airflow limitation, exacerbations, and oral corticosteroid use were observed in the responders. Multivariate analysis revealed that a peripheral blood eosinophil count of ≥ 200 or a perennial antigen-specific IgE antibody positivity of ≥ 2 predicted a response at the 2-year mark. However, Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated that neither high eosinophil counts nor perennial antigen-specific IgE positivity influenced the prolongation of treatment beyond 2 years, and responders at 2 years underwent omalizumab treatment for a significantly longer period than non-responders (HR = 9.89, p < 0.001), with GETE at 2 years being the only predictor of long-term omalizumab use. Conclusion: In this retrospective study the GETE after 2 years of omalizumab therapy emerged as the most meaningful predictor of the long-term effectiveness of omalizumab treatment in patients with severe asthma, highlighting the benefits of prolonged therapy in certain populations. These findings may guide future therapeutic strategies for severe asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oscillometry devices (also termed forced oscillation technique) devices such as MasterScreen-IOS® (Jaeger, Hochberg, Germany) and MostGraph-01® (Chest, Tokyo, Japan) are useful for obtaining physiological assessments in patients with obstructive lung diseases, including asthma. However, as oscillometry measurements have not been fully compared between MasterScreen-IOS® and MostGraph-01® in patients with asthma, it is unknown whether there are differences in the measurements between the devices. This study aimed to determine whether there is any difference in oscillometry measurements obtained using the two devices in patients with asthma. Methods: Oscillometry measurements obtained using MasterScreen-IOS® and MostGraph-01® were retrospectively evaluated in 95 patients with asthma at Juntendo University Hospital between October 2009 and November 2009. Results: There was a strong positive correlation in the measurements between the two devices. However, the values of R5, R20, ALX and Fres were lower when measured with MostGraph-01® than with MasterScreen-IOS®, and vice versa for the values of X5. The results were used in correction equations to convert oscillometry parameters measured using MasterScreen-IOS® to those measured using MostGraph-01®. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report to compare MostGraph-01® and MasterScreen-IOS® devices using practical clinical data obtained in patients with asthma. The values obtained by both devices can be interpreted in a similar way, although there is slight variation. The conversion equations produced in this study may assist to compare the oscillometry measurements obtained by each of the two devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) improves clinical outcomes and quality of life for patients with severe asthma and has shown sustained reductions in airway narrowing and air trapping in previous CT studies. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive analysis, including CT evaluation, of clinical outcomes in Japanese patients who have undergone BT for severe asthma. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of BT in Japanese asthma patients, with a focus on the CT metric "WA at Pi10" to assess airway disease. Methods: Twelve patients with severe persistent asthma who underwent BT were assessed using ACQ6, AQLQ, pulmonary function tests, FeNO measurement, blood sampling, and chest CT before BT and one year after the third procedure for the upper lobes. Results: The median age of the patient was 62.0 years, 7/12 (58.3%) were male, 4/12 (33.3%) used regular oral corticosteroids, and 8/12 (66.7%) received biologics. Median FEV1% was 73.6%, and median peripheral eosinophil count was 163.8/μL. After one year of BT, ACQ6 scores improved from 2.4 to 0.8 points (p = 0.007), and AQLQ scores improved from 4.3 to 5.8 points (p < 0.001). Significant improvements were also observed in asthma exacerbations, unscheduled visits due to exacerbations, FeNO, and √WA at Pi10 (p < 0.05). The baseline mucus score on the CT findings was negatively correlated with FEV1 (r = − 0.688, p = 0.013) and with the maximum mid-expiratory flow rate (r = − 0.631, p = 0.028), and positively correlated with the peripheral blood eosinophil count (r = − 0.719, p = 0.008). Changes in √WA at Pi10 after one year were positively correlated with changes in the mucus score (r = 0.742, p = 0.007). Conclusion: This study has limitations, including its single-arm observational design and the small sample size. However, BT led to a symptomatic improvement in patients with severe asthma. The validated "√WA at Pi10" metric on CT effectively evaluated the therapeutic response in Japanese asthma patients after BT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new nondestructive inspection method, the magnetic hammer test (MHT), which uses a compact and highly sensitive tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) sensor, is proposed. This method complements the magnetic flux leakage method and eliminates the issues of the hammer test. It can therefore detect weak magnetic fields generated by the natural vibration of a pipe with a high signal-to-noise ratio. In this study, several steel pipes with different wall thicknesses were measured using a TMR sensor to demonstrate the superiority of MHT. The results of the measurement show that wall thickness can be evaluated with the accuracy of several tens of microns from the change in the natural vibration frequency of the specimen pipe. The pipes were also inspected underwater using a waterproofed TMR sensor, which demonstrated an accuracy of less than 100 μm. The validity of these results was by simulating the shielding of magnetic fields and vibration of the pipes with the finite element method (FEM) analysis. The proposed noncontact, fast, and accurate method for thickness testing of long-distance pipes will contribute to unmanned, manpower-saving nondestructive testing (NDT) in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]