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Anastomotic leakage (AL) occurs with some frequency in all types of colorectal cancer surgery and is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and recurrence rates. Complications might be prevented by monitoring intra-operative bowel perfusion at the anastomotic site. A pilot study concerning the objective and quantitative measurement of tissue perfusion by monitoring regional tissue saturation of oxygen (rSOThis study evaluated the ability of the INVOS™ system to predict AL after left-sided colorectal cancer surgery. rSOAmong 73 patients, 6 (8.2%) experienced AL. The rSOMonitoring the rSO

Background Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are among the most lethal complications of liver transplantation (LT). Natural killer (NK) cells are an important component of innate immunity and play an essential role in infection and cancer. Adoptive transfer of activated NK cells has the potential to decrease post-LT infections, including BSIs. Methods In this prospective, single-center, interventional, single-arm, historical control, phase I/II study, 37 LT recipients will enroll. The patient will receive a single infusion of donor liver-derived NK cells 3−5 days after LT. Discussion The primary endpoint is the incidence of BSIs during the first month after LT. Secondary endpoints include overall survival, adverse events, immunological responses, hepatocellular or de novo malignancy, and incidence of infectious disease. Trial registration This study was prospectively registered with UMIN000019183 (https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000022074) on November 1, 2015 and jRCTa060190036 on February 27, 2020.

Tumor budding (TB) has been described as an adverse prognostic marker for operable colorectal cancer (CRC); however, a limited number of studies have demonstrated the prognostic significance of TB in patients with drug therapy. This study was conducted to determine the predictive power of TB in stage III CRC patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy. We retrospectively collected clinicopathological data including TB of 237 stage III colorectal cancer patients at Hiroshima University Hospital between July 1, 2006 and June 31, 2019. Differential disease-free survival (DFS) was investigated according to TB status. This study included 237 patients with a median age of 67 years, comprising patients who underwent surgery alone (n = 65), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) monotherapy (n = 129), and oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy (n = 43). Overall, 81 patients developed disease recurrence, and 33 patients died of cancer-related causes. The TB status was categorized into two groups: 99 with low budding (

In this study, chitin was nanofibrillated, cationized, and then used as a reinforcing agent for xanthan gum hydrogels. Amidinated chitin nanofibers (CNFs), which were prepared by partial deacetylation of the nanofibrillated chitin and the subsequent reaction of the generated amino groups with N,N-dimethylacetamide dimethyl acetal, were converted into an amidinium chitin bicarbonate with nanofiber morphology by CO2 gas bubbling and ultrasonic treatments in water. Xanthan gum hydrogels, which were prepared by exchange of disperse media from xantham gum ion gels with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, were then soaked in the resulting cationic CNF aqueous dispersions with different degrees of substitution (DSs) of amidinium groups to progress composition, giving rise to the CNF-reinforced xanthan gum hydrogels. The presence of CNFs in the hydrogels was confirmed by SEM measurement of the lyophilized samples. The amounts of CNFs in the hydrogels increased with increasing the DS values. The compression testing of the hydrogels suggested the reinforcing effect of CNFs, which were induced by electrostatic interaction owing to anionic nature of xanthan gum.

In this study, we investigated the preparation of cationic/anionic chitin nanofiber (CNF) composite materials by electrostatic interaction. An aqueous dispersion of amidinium CNF was prepared by a top-down approach, and a maleylated CNF film was obtained by a bottom-up approach from a chitin ion gel in an ionic liquid with subsequent maleylation on the CNFs. The resulting film was dispersed in ammonia (aq), which was then mixed with the aqueous cationic CNF dispersion to give the composite film. The composition of the two CNFs was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. Tensile testing results indicated that the mechanical properties of the composites were enhanced with increasing degrees of substitution of the cationic and anionic groups on CNFs, and also when the molar ratio of these groups approached 1:1. The dissociation of the two kinds of CNFs by alkaline treatment of the composite film was achieved, suggesting the presence of an electrostatic interaction among the interactions between them.

Generalizing the concept of tree metric, Hirai (Ann Combinatorics 10:111–128, 2006) introduced the concept of subtree distance. A nonnegative-valued mapping $$d:X\times X \rightarrow \mathbb {R}_+$$ is called a subtree distance if there exist a weighted tree T and a family $$\{T_x\mid x \in X\}$$ of subtrees of T indexed by the elements in X such that $$d(x,y)=d_T(T_x,T_y)$$ , where $$d_T(T_x,T_y)\ge 0$$ is the distance between $$T_x$$ and $$T_y$$ in T. Hirai (2006) provided a characterization of subtree distances that corresponds to Buneman’s (J Comb Theory, Series B 17:48–50, 1974) four-point condition for tree metrics. Using this characterization, we can decide whether or not a given mapping is a subtree distance in O $$(n^4)$$ time. In this paper, we show an O $$(n^3)$$ time algorithm that finds a representation of a given subtree distance. This results in an O $$(n^3)$$ time algorithm for deciding whether a given mapping is a subtree distance.

Background Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare mesenchymal tumor that occurs almost exclusively in the soft tissue of the pelvis and perineum. AAM has both locally infiltrative and recurrent characteristics. Very few cases of AAM occurring outside of the pelvis and perineum have been reported. Here, we report a case of AAM originating in the liver of a 33-year-old female patient. Case presentation A 33-year-old woman underwent S8 subsegmentectomy after clinical diagnosis of a mucinous cystic neoplasm of the liver. Histological analysis revealed a tumor composed of spindle-shaped cells with vascular proliferation in a myxoid stroma. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells stained positively for CD34, estrogen receptor (ER), and progesterone receptor (PgR) and negatively for S-100, EMA, CK19, CD99, HMB45, and α-smooth muscle actin. The tumor was diagnosed as AAM originating from the liver. The patient received no adjuvant chemotherapy. No sign of recurrence or distant metastasis has been noted for 10 months after the surgery. Conclusions We here report a second case of AAM originating from the liver, which is an uncommon location for this particular tumor.

Two patients with isolated thalamic agraphia are described. Both showed kanji (Japanese morphograms) agraphia due to impaired character recall, grapheme deformity and micrographia (progressive reduction in character size during writing) after a lesion that involved the ventral lateral and ventroposterolateral nuclei. Single photon emission computed tomography with a (99m)Tc-ethylcysteinate dimer revealed hypoperfusion in the left precentral gyrus (Brodmann Area 6) and anterior supramarginal gyrus in both. Six months later, the extent of blood flow reduction decreased in the supramarginal gyrus in both patients and the precentral gyrus in patient 1. By this time, the writing impairment improved to nearly the normal range. Our study suggests that kanji agraphia (corresponding to lexical agraphia in Western countries) with poor grapheme formation and micrographia arises from a lesion in the ventral lateral and ventroposterolateral nuclei in the left thalamus. The accompaniment of poor grapheme formation and micrographia may reflect disruption of the cortico-subcortical motor circuit involving the putamen, thalamus, premotor cortex and sensorimotor cortex. It is also suggested that multiple cortical sites can be a target for secondary dysfunction that yields agraphia in a thalamic lesion, and that the recovery of reduced cortical blood flow does not always proceed in parallel with that of agraphia.

We have isolated a protein complex from the nacreous layer of pearl beads and oyster shells. This complex was mainly composed of pearlin and pearl keratin. Addition of a minute amount of the complex to a calcium-carbonate-saturated solution containing Mg2+ induced aragonite crystallization. The complex was dissociated to individual components in the presence of EDTA and urea. Conversely, the complex was reconstituted from a mixture of components upon incubation with Ca2+ and urea. The mixture of the components was unable to induce aragonite crystallization, but the reconstituted complex recovered this capacity. Thus it is concluded that the complex is the indivisible functional unit required for aragonite crystallization.

A method of chromosome painting on human sperm chromosomes using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is introduced. Sperm chromosome slides were prepared after in vitro fertilization of hamster eggs with human spermatozoa. The slides were treated by RNase A before FISH. Chromosome 4 was clearly and specifically painted in a majority of sperm-derived metaphase plates after an application of whole chromosome painting DNA probes of this chromosome. This is the first report of successful painting on human sperm chromosomes.

The CHO UV-sensitive mutants UV24 and UV135 (complementation groups 3 and 5, respectively) are defective in nucleotide excision repair. After fusing each mutant with human lymphocytes, resistant hybrid clones showing genetic complementation were isolated by repeated exposure to UV radiation. Using a combination of isozyme markers, DNA probes, and cytogenetic methods to analyze the primary hybrids and their subclones, correction of the repair defect was shown to be correlated with the presence of a specific human chromosome in each case. Chromosome 2 corrected UV24, and the gene responsible was designated ERCC3. Line UV135 was corrected by human chromosome 13 and the gene designated ERCC5. The UV-sensitive mouse cell line, Q31, was shown not to complement UV135 and thus appears to be mutated in the same genetic locus (homologous to ERCC5) as UV135. Breakage of complementing chromosomes with retention of the genes correcting repair defects allowed the following provisional assignments: regional localization of ERCC5 to 13q14-q34, exclusion of ERCC3 from the region of chromosome 2 distal to p23, and relief of the ambiguity of ACP1 assignment (2p23 or 2p25) to 2p23 proximal to MDH1.

A new method (viral suicide method) for the isolation of UV-sensitive mutants is described. Colonies of mutagenized human FL cells were infected with UV-irradiated Herpes simplex viruses and surviving ones which seemed to be deficient in host cell reactivation (HCR) were examined for their UV sensitivity. Nineteen of 238 clones examined were sensitive to UV irradiation at the time of the isolation. After recloning, four of these clones have been studied and two (UVS-1 and UVS-2) of them are stable in their UV sensitivity for 4 months in culture. UV sensitivity of UVS-1, UVS-2, and the parental FL cells are as follows: the extrapolation numbers (n) are 2.2, 2.1, and 1.8 and mean lethal doses (D0) are 2.9, 3.7, and 7.8 J/m2 for UVS-1, UVS-2, and the parental FL cells, respectively. They are no more sensitive than FL cells to X- irradiation. The ability of HCR in UVS-2 cells is apparently lower than that in FL cells, whereas UVS-1 cells are the same as FL cells in the ability.

We have isolated 56 UV-sensitive mutant clones from a mouse L51 T/t line of L5178Y cells by a cell suspension spotting method. Five mutants have also been isolated from L51 T/t and L5178Y cells by the method reported by Thompson and coworkers (22). We divided the mutants into two groups, "highly sensitive" and "moderately sensitive" mutants, according to their sensitivity to UV irradiation. Fifty-eight mutants were highly sensitive and three were moderately sensitive to UV. The reconstruction experiments indicate that more than 90% of highly sensitive mutants were recovered by the cell suspension spotting method. Frequencies of recovered mutants highly sensitive to UV increased with increasing dose of mutagens. Recovered mutant frequency reached 10(-2) after treatment with 1.5 micrograms/ml of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) (survival 0.2%). Eight UV-sensitive mutants were divided into four complementation groups. These mutants were 2-6 times more sensitive to UV than parental L51 T/t cells in terms of D37 (dose required to reduce survival to 37%). Four representative UV-sensitive mutants which are classified into different complementation groups were examined for their sensitivity to killing by UV, 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO), mitomycin C (MMC), X-rays, and MNNG. All four classes of mutants were found to be cross-sensitive to UV, 4NQO, and MMC, but not sensitive to X-rays and MNNG.

IT may be of great help in the elucidation of regulatory systems in mammalian cells if we could isolate temperature-conditional mutants and identify their mutated functions. I report here that a temperature-sensitive mutant of L5178Y murine leukaemic cells has a thermolabile L-alanyl-tRNA synthetase.

Highly oriented YBCO films were produced on MgO(100) single crystal substrates. The direction of c axis was perpendicular to the film plane, whereas those of a and b axes were at random directions. The critical current density of the films was significantly high ca. 7x105 A/cm2. The critical transition temperature (Tc) of the YBCO film formed on a metal substrate, predeposited with YSZ as a buffer layer, was similar to those of the YBCO on MgO substrate. The possibility for the formation of superconductor films on metal substrates is suggested from these results.