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Hearing improvement following stapes surgery is generally good; however, we sometimes encounter patients where hearing loss gradually progresses over the long term. In this study, we investigated the causes of hearing loss in these cases.A total of 30 ears from 23 patients, who underwent stapes surgery at Kitasato University Hospital from 2001 to 2021 and were followed up for ≥5 years, were included in the study. Changes in air conduction (AC) and bone conduction (BC) thresholds were measured, and hearing evaluation was performed by calculating the air-bone gap (ABG) at the mean of 4 frequencies. Cases with a postoperative ABG of ≤10 dB at 6 months after surgery were classified into the following groups according to their hearing changes at 5 years after surgery: Group A (no ABG increase of ≥10 dB and no AC threshold increase of ≥10 dB) and Group B (an ABG increase of ≥10 dB and an AC threshold increase of ≥10 dB). In groups A and B, we examined factors affecting long-term postoperative results. In addition, the patients who underwent reoperation were examined.The AC thresholds 6 months and 5 years after surgery decreased significantly compared with those before surgery (p 0.01); however, the BC thresholds 6 months and 5 years after surgery did not vary significantly from those before surgery (p 0.05). Group A included 16 ears from 13 patients (53.3%), and Group B included 3 ears from 3 patients (10.0%). There were no significant differences in age, sex, surgical method, piston type, piston length, presence of incudostapedial joint subluxation, computed tomography findings, and preoperative ABGs between groups A and B (p 0.05). A total of 6 reoperations were performed in 3 ears from 3 patients, and there were 5 operations with the platinotomy hole to be closed by bone regrowth and 3 operations with the narrowed long process of the incus.In 10.0% of the patients who underwent stapes surgery, the ABG improved 6 months after surgery; however, the AC threshold and ABG increased 5 years after surgery. Our findings suggested that piston displacement and the platinotomy hole to be closed by bone regrowth are possible causes of hearing loss in cases where hearing loss progresses in the long term after stapes surgery.

Streptococcus suis is an important zoonotic pathogen that causes major economic problems in the pig industry worldwide and serious infections in humans, including meningitis and septicemia. Here, we report the complete genome sequences of two strains isolated from asymptomatic pigs.

We report 16S rRNA amplicon sequence data from feces of 109 wild deer in Japan. The dominant bacterial taxa in fecal microbiota of wild deer hunted between village and mountainous areas and those living on Miyajima Island and in Nara Park were similar but differed in abundance.

We report 16S rRNA amplicon sequence data from feces from 58 wild boars, 60 feral raccoons, 9 wild Japanese badgers, 21 wild masked palm civets, and 8 wild raccoon dogs in Japan. The predominant bacterial taxa in the fecal microbiota were similar in part but varied among the animal species.

Introduction Cunninghamella bertholletiae although rarely causing mucormycosis, is responsible for the highest mortality among mucormycetes. The diagnosis of mucormycosis is challenged by the absence of specific biomarkers. Herein, we report a fatal case of C. bertholletiae infection and detection of its DNA in the serum by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Presentation of case A 23-year-old male with refractory osteosarcoma was admitted with multiple lung metastases. He was on oral voriconazole prophylaxis after pulmonary aspergillosis. He suffered from fever during temporary neutropenia following chemotherapy and showed several neurological and respiratory symptoms. Despite liposomal-amphotericin B administration, the symptoms rapidly progressed, and he died five days after the onset of neurological symptoms. We retrospectively evaluated the filamentous fungus isolated after his death from gastric juices. Based on the sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region we identified the fungal isolate as C. bertholletiae. A 146-bp portion of the D1/D2 region was quantified by quantitative-PCR using DNA extracted from the serum. C. bertholletiae DNA load in the serum was 18.0 copies/μL on the day of onset of neurological symptoms, with the highest (101.0 copies/μL) on the day of his death. Discussion Detection of circulating DNA of mucormycetes in the blood would greatly enhance the diagnosis of mucormycosis. Rapid diagnosis might alleviate mortality due to mucormycosis. Conclusion The present case-report suggests that the quantification of C. bertholletiae DNA in the serum could be useful for the diagnosis and evaluation of mucormycosis pathogenesis in patients.

Using first-principles calculations, we examine the transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ of superconductivity in sodium tungsten bronze ( Na$_x$WO$_3$, where $x$ is equal to or less than unity ). Although $T_{\rm c}$ is relatively low $T_{\rm c}(, Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

This paper proposes a visual inspection methodology for the ceiling element of a gymnasium utilizing a blimp robot with a Wi-Fi camera. In the proposed methodology, the blimp robot with the Wi-Fi camera inspects the damage location and captures the photographic image of the damage condition. The inspection blimp robots will be able to estimate the damage condition without any process of engineers’ on-site-inspection involved. To demonstrate the capabilities of such blimp robots, the visual inspections for the ceiling of a gymnasium and the actual bridge deck has been conducted. The results of the application to real structures indicate that the Wi-Fi camera on the blimp robot can estimate the damages from the captured image, and the proposed methodology will provide valuable information for the repair and maintenance decision making of damaged elements located on high attitude.

Lipoblastoma is a rare benign adipose tissue tumor that occurs mostly in infants and children. Histological diagnosis of lipoblastoma is sometimes difficult because it closely resembles other lipomatous tumors. The detection of PLAG1 gene rearrangement is useful for the diagnosis of lipoblastoma. Four PLAG1 fusion partner genes are known in lipoblastoma: HAS2 at 8q24.1, COL1A2 at 7q22, COL3A1 at 2q32, and RAB2A at 8q12. Herein, we describe a novel fusion gene in a case of lipoblastoma of left back origin. We identified a potential PLAG1 fusion partner using 5′ rapid amplification of cDNA ends, and sequence analysis revealed the novel fusion gene, BOC-PLAG1. The BOC-PLAG1 fusion transcript consists of the first exon of the BOC gene fused to exon 2 or exon 3 of the PLAG1 gene. PLAG1 expression was found to be 35.7 ± 2.1 times higher in the tumor specimen than in human adipocytes by qRT-PCR. As a result of the translocation, the constitutively active promoter of BOC leads to PLAG1 overexpression. The identification of the BOC-PLAG1 fusion gene will lead to more accurate diagnosis of lipoblastoma.

Background: Occupied lesions arising in the parapharyngeal space (PPS) are rare. Among these, venous malformations are particularly rare, and very few case reports have appeared. Methods: Two patients with venous malformations in the PPS were operated on by the same surgeon. Here, we report the patient and tumor characteristics, symptoms, preoperative examinations and diagnoses, treatment plans, intraoperative findings and refinements, histological diagnoses, and postoperative complications, in combination with a review of past reports. Results: The patients were two men aged 37 and 29 years who had persistent swelling and pain in the right parotid region. Imaging showed masses in the prestyloid compartment of the right PPS with maximum diameters of 69 and 54 mm, respectively. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) showed blood cell components only in both cases and no diagnosis could be made. Both cases were treated with surgery. The facial nerve was identified and preserved, and the soft lesion was removed using a transcervical-parotid approach. Post-operative histological diagnosis was venous malformation in both and no post-operative recurrence was seen. Conclusion: Venous malformations arising in the PPS are clearly distinguishable from major PPS tumors. The preoperative diagnosis and intraoperative refinements reported here were effective in these cases. Keywords: Parapharyngeal space, Venous malformation, Hemangioma, Surgical case

The authors\' research group has developed a noncontact type of sensors which directly measure the inter-story drift displacements of a building during a seismic event. Soon after that event, such seismically-induced drift displacement data would provide structural engineers with useful information to judge how the stories have been damaged. This paper presents a scheme of estimating the story cumulative plastic deformation ratios based on such measured drift displacement information toward the building safety monitoring. The presented scheme requires the data of story drift displacements and the ground motion acceleration. The involved calculations are rather simple without any detailed information on structural elements required: the story hysteresis loops are first estimated and then the cumulative plastic deformation ratio of each story is evaluated from the estimated hysteresis. The effectiveness of the scheme is demonstrated by utilizing the data of full-scale building model experiment performed at E-defense and conducting numerical simulations.

10038 Background: miR-206 is a muscle-specific microRNA and is much more strongly expressed in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) tumors than in non-RMS tumors. Here, we analyzed the diagnostic and prognostic ...