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To compare the diagnostic test of integrated 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy- d- glucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) with that of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the differentiation of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours (MPNSTs) in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patients. A systematic search was performed in PubMed and EMBASE (last updated in 30 November 2022). Studies investigating the performance of FDG PET/CT and MRI for differentiation of MPNSTs were eligible for inclusion. Only studies reporting a direct comparison between these imaging methods were considered to establish precise summary estimates in the same setting of patients. The pooled estimate of sensitivity of FDG PET/CT was 0.99 and a pooled specificity of 0.53. The pooled estimate of sensitivity of MRI was 0.85 and a pooled specificity of 0.85. Analysis of the available studies indicated that FDG PET/CT and MRI had similar diagnostic performances for differentiation of MPNSTs in patients with NF1; however, either technique can be a complement to the other rather than being used singly. • F-18 FDG PET/CT and MRI were compared for differentiation of MPNSTs. • Both techniques showed similar accuracies for differentiation of MPNSTs. • Each modality can be a complement to other rather than being used singly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disinfection of shared spaces has become essential to minimize the spread of various diseases. An efficient disinfection device that can simultaneously inactivate airborne bacteria and surface-adhered bacteria in an enclosed space is required. An air-passable plasma filter (APF) was developed and applied to a chamber model to evaluate the efficacy of zone disinfection. The 60 L chamber consisted of a nebulizer, circulation fans, temperature and humidity monitors, an air-sampling port with a sealed gate, airborne bacteria-trapping media, and a built-in fan for evaluation. After spraying each bacterial strain (Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus epidermidis , and Mycobacterium smegmatis) as a bioaerosol, airborne and surface-attached bacteria were quantified simultaneously to evaluate the zone-disinfection effect of APF. The operation of APF in the 60 L chamber showed a complete zone-disinfection effect for E. coli (10 min), S. epidermidis (10 min), and M. smegmatis (60 min) present in the air and on the walls at various locations. The time required to completely disinfect each of the airborne bacteria and surface-attached bacteria within the same space was different. APF has the potential to exhibit significant germicidal effects on various micro-organisms and can be an effective alternative for disinfection of enclosed spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transoral endoscopic thyroid surgery (TOET) is a new, minimally-invasive approach that does not result in a scar in the anterior neck. To prevent infection of the surgical site from oral cavity flora into the thyroidectomy area, postoperative antibiotics are generally given orally for 3–7 days. However, there is no clinical evidence to support this approach. This study was an open-label, randomised, controlled trial to evaluate the clinical usefulness of postoperative antibiotics given orally to patients having TOET. Patients were randomly assigned to receive amoxicillin-clavulanate 625 mg orally three times a day for a week after operation (treated group) or no antibiotics (untreated group). Fifty patients – 25 treated and 25 untreated – were enrolled. Maximum body temperature, pulse rate, white blood cell count, and C-reactive protein concentrations did not differ between the two groups. Evaluation of the surgical site showed no significant differences between them. Seven patients in the treated group developed nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea compared with none in the untreated group. The results suggest that postoperative oral antibiotics are not essential after TOET. Large-scale prospective series are required to confirm this finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the diagnostic performance of 18F-fluciclovine positron-emission tomography (PET) or combined PET and computed tomography (PET/CT) for diagnosis of primary cancer, preoperative lymph node (LN) staging, and detection of recurrent disease of prostate cancer (PCa) through a systematic review and meta-analysis.Materials and Methods: The PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched from the earliest available date of indexing through 31 December 2018, for studies evaluating the diagnostic performance of 18F-fluciclovine PET or PET/CT for the management of PCa patients. The sensitivities, specificities, and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR-) across the studies were calculated and summary receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed.Results: Across 13 studies (563 patients), the pooled sensitivity for 18F-fluciclovine PET or PET/CT for diagnosis of primary PCa was 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77-0.93) and a pooled specificity of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.68-0.93). For LN staging, the pooled sensitivity was 0.56 (95% CI: 0.37-0.74) and a pooled specificity of 0.98 (95% CI: 0.88-1.00). For detection of recurrent disease, the pooled sensitivity was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.60-0.91) and a pooled specificity of 0.69 (95% CI: 0.59-0.77). In meta-regression analysis, no definite variable was the source of the study heterogeneity.Conclusion: The current meta-analysis showed the moderate sensitivity and specificity of 18F-fluciclovine PET or PET/CT for the diagnosis of primary cancer, preoperative LN staging, and detection of recurrent PCa. Further large multicentre studies will be necessary to substantiate the diagnostic accuracy of 18F-fluciclovine PET/CT for management of PCa patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrapped-mixed-microbial cell (EMMC) with and without humic substance for both fixed and moving carrier reactors and conventional suspended growth culture in order to improve the process performance regarding the removal of organics, nitrogen, and an odor-causing compound in domestic waste water is reviewed.

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the prospective drug utilization review (DUR) system introduced in Korea in December 2010 as a real-time method to improve patient safety, in terms of changes in prescribing practices, adverse drug events (ADEs), and ADE-related healthcare expenditure, using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and their common ADEs as a guide. Study design We used an interrupted time-series study design using generalized estimating equations to evaluate changes in prescription rate and ADE-related healthcare expenditure. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the probability of NSAID-associated ADEs. Methods A total of 154,585 outpatients with musculoskeletal or connective tissue disorders, without pre-existing gastric bleeding or ulcers were included in this study. The primary outcome was the level and trend change in prescription rate, drug–drug interactions, coprescribed gastro-protective drugs, and defined daily dose (DDD) of NSAIDs. The secondary outcome was the probability of ADEs and changes in ADE-related healthcare expenditure. Results There was a significant trend change after introducing the DUR system in terms of drug–drug interactions (−3.6%) and coprescribed gastro-protective drugs (+0.6%). The mean DDD of NSAIDs increased by 0.2. The probability of ADEs decreased overall (−1.7%) and in the high-risk group (age ≥65 years; −9.6%); however, only the latter was significant. There was no significant trend or level change in ADE-related health expenditure. Conclusions The introduction of the DUR system was associated with more efficient prescribing, including a reduction in drug–drug interactions and an increase in the use of gastro-protective drugs. The system had a positive effect on patient outcome but was not associated with reduced ADE-related costs. Further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of the DUR system in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In stage I/II natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma, concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) had previously been shown to result in superior outcome compared with anthracycline-containing regimens, which have since been considered ineffective. The role of CCRT in comparison with approaches employing nonanthracycline-containing chemotherapy (CT) and sequential radiotherapy (RT) in such patients remains to be defined. Patients and methods: Three hundred and three untreated patients (207 men, 96 women; median age: 51, 18-86 years) with stage I/II NK/T-cell lymphoma who had received nonanthracycline-containing regimens were collected from an international consortium and retrospectively analyzed. Treatment included single modality (CT and RT), sequential modalities (CTþRT; RTþCT) and concurrent modalities (CCRT; CCRTþCT). The impact of clinicopathologic parameters and types of treatment on complete response (CR) rate, progression-free-survival (PFS) and overall-survival (OS) was evaluated. Results: For CR, stage (P=0.027), prognostic index for NK/T-cell lymphoma (PINK) (P=0.026) and types of initial treatment (P=0.011) were significant prognostic factors on multivariate analysis. On Cox regression analysis, ECOG performance score (P=0.021) and PINK-EBV DNA (PINK-E) (P=0.002) significantly impacted on PFS; whereas ECOG performance score (P=0.008) and stage (P<0.001) significantly impacted on OS. For comparing CCRT6CT and sequential CTþRT, CCRT6CT patients (n=190) were similar to sequential CTþRT patients (n=54) in all evaluated clinicopathologic parameters except two significantly superior features (higher proportion of undetectable circulating EBV DNA on diagnosis and lower PINK-E scores). Despite more favorable pre-treatment characteristics, CCRT6CT patients had CR rate, PFS and OS comparable with sequential CTþRT patients on multivariate and Cox regression analyses. Conclusions: In stage I/II NK/T-cell lymphomas, when effective chemotherapeutic regimens were used, CCRT and sequential CTþRT gave similar outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuum-based approach for describing the plastic hardening behavior of magnesium alloy sheets subjected to non-proportional strain path changes at room temperature is presented. The constitutive model is based on an anisotropic distortional yield function that combines a stable component and a fluctuating component. The stable component initiates the yield criterion that characterizes the typical strength differential (SD) effect between tension and compression in magnesium alloys at room temperature. The evolution of the fluctuating component is reformulated based on its cubic metal counterpart to represent the deformation behavior of magnesium alloys, which consists of slip- and twinning-dominant deformation modes. To validate the proposed model, a predictor–corrector numerical algorithm was implemented in a finite element (FE) program by using a user material subroutine, and its numerical accuracy was evaluated by iso-error map analysis. Comparison of the experimental and simulated results obtained for various loading path changes showed that, although the model was not formulated using the kinematic hardening concept, the model could reproduce complex features of the stress–strain responses of an AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet under non-proportional loading paths, i.e., asymmetric hardening behavior under tension and compression, the sigmoidal nature of the hardening curve during monotonic compression and compression followed by tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Organ donation after brain death is a major source for obtaining transplantable organs for patients with end-stage organ disease. However, the time from declaring brain death to organ procurement is often longer than expected. Analyzing factors that delay organ procurement may help to prevent damage to organs from marginal and unstable donors and aid in preparation for recipient operation. The aim of this study was to examine factors associated with the interval between the time of declaring brain death and organ procurement. Methods Medical records of patients who underwent organ procurement after brain death from February 2009 to April 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Results Of the 77 patients which were scheduled to undergo organ procurement, 68 eventually underwent procurement of ≥1 organ. The average time interval from 1st exam for brain death to organ procurement decreased from 1,248 minutes in 2009 to 910 minutes in 2015. Although not statistically significant, during the 6-year period, the time interval decreased from 1,105 minutes to 1,075 minutes in the latter half of the period ( P = .623). Organ procurement was extensively delayed most commonly owing to false negative electroencephalogram (EEG; 62.5%). Conclusions With increasing experience in dealing with brain death donors, the time interval from declaring brain death to organ procurement decreased. We suggest that an EEG be performed during the initial stages of examination for brain death to prevent unnecessary preparation of recipient operation owing to a false EEG test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanin is the first newly discovered peptide encoded in the mitochondrial genome in over three decades. It is the first member of a novel class of mitochondrial derived peptides. This small, 24 amino acid peptide was initially discovered to have neuroprotective effects and subsequent experiments have shown that it is beneficial in a diverse number of disease models including stroke, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Over a decade ago, our lab found that humanin bound IGFBP-3 and more recent studies have found it to decrease circulating IGF-I levels. In turn, IGF-I also seems to regulate humanin levels and in this review, we cover the known interaction between humanin and IGF-I. Although the exact mechanism for how humanin and IGF-I regulate each other still needs to be elucidated, it is clear that humanin is a new player in IGF-I signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Everolimus, an oral mTOR inhibitor, has single-agent activity against relapsed lymphomas. Thus, we carried out a phase II study of everolimus in combination with CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) as a first-line treatment for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) based on our phase I study results. Patients and methods: Participants (n = 30) received CHOP with 5 mg everolimus per day from day 1 to 14 every 21 days for a total of six cycles. The primary end point was the overall response rate (ORR), which included complete response (CR) and partial response (PR) to this regimen. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the expression of phosphatase and tensin homology (PTEN) and phosphorylated S6 kinase (pS6K) as a response. Results: The objective response rate was 90% with CR (n = 17) and PR (n = 10). The CR rate was different among sub-types; angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL, n = 3) had a CR whereas PTCL-not-otherwise specified and ALK-negative anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) patients showed 63% (12/19) and 29% (2/7) of CR rate, respectively. This difference in CR rate among subtypes was associated with PTEN loss because PTEN loss was not seen in AITL but 33% of ALCL patients. The most common toxicity was hematological, with 80% of patients experiencing at least one event of grade 3/4 neutropenia, and 60% of patients had grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia. Conclusion: The everolimus plus CHOP was effective for PTCL patients, and its efficacy might be related with the preservation of PTEN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Romidepsin, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, has been approved for the treatment of relapsed and refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma. However, the efficacy and safety of romidepsin has never been studied in patients with relapsed or refractory extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL). Patients and methods: We conducted an open-label, prospective pilot study to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of romidepsin in the treatment of patients with ENKTL. The treatment was intravenous infusion of romidepsin (14 mg/m2) for 4 h on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle, and was repeated until disease progression or the occurrence of unacceptable toxicity. Results: A total of five patients enrolled on to this pilot study. However, three patients developed fever and elevated liver enzyme and bilirubin levels immediately after their first administration of romidepsin. We suspected that these events were associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation because of the rapidly elevated EBV DNA titers in blood from these patients. An in vitro study with the ENKTL cell line SNK-6 cells also showed that HDAC inhibitors including romidepsin increased the copy number of EBV DNA in a dose-dependent manner. These findings suggested that romidepsin-induced histone acetylation reversed the repressed state of the genes required for EBV reactivation and that romidepsin treatment may have caused EBV reactivation in EBV-infected tumor cells in ENKTL patients. Therefore, we discontinued the enrollment of patients into this pilot study. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the use of romidepsin may cause severe EBV reactivation in patients with ENKTL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In heat resistant steels, tensile stress accelerates the decomposition of preexisting smaller carbides and the growth of larger carbides. Consequently, the dissolved carbon is enriched in the matrix during the decomposition. Under the tensile stress, the massive diffusion of the enriched carbon results in more active segregation to the grain boundary/carbide interfaces for the growth of the larger carbides than the carbide-free grain boundaries. The segregation kinetics of carbon forms a convex profile during the growth process of carbides. A concave segregation profile of chromium corresponds to the convex profile of carbon. This is attributed to the diffusivity of chromium much lower than that of carbon which makes the chromium as the rate-controlling factor for the carbide growth. Due to the repulsive segregation behavior between carbon and phosphorus, the concave segregation profile of phosphorus results from the convex segregation profile of carbon formed during the active carbide growth. A convex segregation profile of sulfur is also formed owing to the formation reaction of MnS particles, but it is independent of the segregation behaviors of the other solutes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]