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Presents a case report of three members of a Japanese family who had a hyperkeratotic verrucous type of porokeratosis of Mibelli, of which two members showed giant plaque lesions and dermal amyloid deposits beneath the porokeratosis lesions. Findings from physical examinations conducted on the patients; Similarities in the histological features of hyperkeratotic plaques of the first patient and his sister.

Abstract: A multibarrier system consisting of cement-based backfill, structures and support materials, and a bentonite-based buffer material has been studied for the TRU waste disposal concept being developed in Japan, the aim being to restrict the migration of radionuclides. Concern regarding bentonite-based materials in this disposal environment relates to long-term alteration under hyper-alkaline conditions due to the presence of cementitious materials. In tests simulating the interaction between bentonite and cement, formation of secondary minerals due to alteration reactions under the conditions expected for geological disposal of TRU waste (equilibrated water with cement at low liquid/solid ratio) has not been observed, although alteration was observed under extremely hyper-alkaline conditions with high temperatures. This was considered to be due to the fact that analysis of C–S–H gel formed at the interface as a secondary mineral was difficult using XRD, because of its low crystallinity and low content. This paper describes an analytical technique for the characterization of C–S–H gel using a heavy liquid separation method which separates C–S–H gel from Kunigel V1 bentonite (bentonite produced in Japan) based on the difference in specific gravity between the crystalline minerals constituting Kunigel V1 and the secondary C–S–H gel. For development of C–S–H gel separation methods, simulated alteration samples were prepared by mixing 990mg of unaltered Kunigel V1 and 10mg of C–S–H gel synthesized using pure chemicals at a ratio of Ca/Si=1.2. The simulated alteration samples were dispersed in bromoform–methanol mixtures with specific gravities ranging from 2.00 to 2.57g/cm3 and subjected to centrifuge separation to recover the light density fraction. Subsequent XRD analysis to identify the minerals was complemented by dissolution in 0.6N hydrochloric acid to measure the Ca and Si contents. The primary peak (2θ =29.4°, Cu Kα) and secondary peaks (2θ =32.1° and 50.1°, Cu Kα) of the C–S–H gel, which could not be distinguished before the heavy liquid separation, were clearly identified by XRD after separation. The result of the analyses of the light density fraction indicates highest recovery of C–S–H gel and least inclusion of bentonite for separation using heavy liquid with a specific gravity of 2.10g/cm3. The traces of bentonite minerals included in the suspension were identified to be montmorillonite, quartz, clinoptilolite, and calcite. The separation technique was also tested for Ca-bentonite prepared by passing a calcium hydroxide solution through a bentonite (Kunigel V1)-silica sand mixture. The results indicated that the technique would also be applicable to separation of C–S–H gel from Ca-bentonite. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

COMET (Coherent Muon to Electron Transition, J-PARC, Japan) is one of the experiments that studies extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of elementary particle physics. The main purpose of the COMET experiment is to search for charged lepton flavor violating neutrinoless conversion of muons into electrons in the field of a nucleus (μ –e conversion, μ –N → e–N). The goal is to achieve a sensitivity to the branching ratio superior to 10−17, that four orders of magnitude smaller than the present limit. In the experiment a straw detector will be used to measure the momentum of the signal electrons from the μ –e conversion. In order to satisfy the requirements of the momentum measurements, we plan to develop a planar tracking device consisting of thin-wall straws made with an extremely light material to reduce multiple scattering and that is capable of operation in vacuum. Research the mechanical properties of straws will allow us to choose their optimal tension, to estimate the influence of the temperature and humidity, to assess the straws service life in the experiment, which we define as the tension relaxation time to the minimum working value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the endocrine differences among polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) phenotypes in Japanese women., Methods: 118 Japanese women that we diagnosed with PCOS agreed to be included in the study. The study group was classified into the following 4 phenotypes: (A) hyperandrogenism (HA); ovulatory disorder (OvD) and polycystic ovary morphology (PCOM); (B) HA and OvD; (C) HA and PCOM; and (D) OvD and PCOM. We also recruited 66 healthy Japanese women to the study as control participants. Age, body mass index, androgens, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and insulin resistance (IR) index were evaluated and compared., Results: The proportions of phenotypes A, B, C, and D were 57/120 (47.5%), 4/120 (3.3%), 13/120 (10.8%), and 46/120 (38.3%), respectively. The proportion of phenotype B was too small; therefore, phenotypes A and B were grouped as classical PCOS for intergroup comparisons. The luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone ratio in the classical PCOS group was higher than that in the phenotype D group (P < 0.001). Androgen concentrations in the phenotype D group were significantly lower than those in the other groups (P < 0.01). Phenotype D was more common in lean women with PCOS. The surrogate marker of IR (homeostasis model assessment of IR) was not different irrespective of PCOS and its phenotypes., Conclusions: Except for androgens, endocrine differences by PCOS phenotype are not evident, suggesting that diversity among patients with PCOS is relatively low in Japanese women., (Copyright © 2023 The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada/La Société des obstétriciens et gynécologues du Canada. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we performed a molecular phylogenetic analysis of six bovine papular stomatitis virus (BPSV) field strains detected from Japanese beef calves kept on a farm in Saga prefecture, a southwest part of Japan, from 2017 to 2020. The phylogenetic analysis based on a partial B2L gene (554-nt) showed that these field strains were divided into two lineages, a lineage (A-lineage) constructed by a Saga strain and strains obtained from various regions of Japan and the world, and other lineage (B-lineage) constructed by five Saga strains and strains obtained from France, USA and Iwate prefecture (a north part of Japan). Furthermore, a Saga field strain named BPSV&#95;SAGAbv2 and strains obtained from USA and Iwate prefecture belonged to a sub-lineage blanched from B-lineage. This is the first report elucidating molecular epidemiological characters of field BPSVs obtained from Saga prefecture. The existence of the multiple lineages was thought to be related to a history of calf introduction from various regions of Japan into Saga prefecture.

The objective of this study was to explore independent risk factors for the isolation of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Japanese university hospital between January 1997 and December 2010. MDR P. aeruginosa was defined when the organism was resistant or intermediately susceptible to all five antimicrobials tested. In all, 159 patients with MDR P. aeruginosa were identified over the 14-year period. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that prolonged hospital stay, prior exposure to meropenem and fluoroquinolones, and patients suffering from diabetes mellitus or receiving surgery were predictive risk factors for the isolation of MDR P. aeruginosa., (Copyright © 2012 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A review of mainly histopathologic factors associated with the survival of patients with malignant melanoma was carried out in a retrospective study of 124 Japanese patients treated at the National Cancer Center Hospital between July 1962 and December 1992. There were 60 females and 64 males, and the median follow-up period was 52.7 months (range, 1.1 to 235.3 months). The histologic features included tumor thickness, level of invasion, histologic subtype, ulceration, pigmentation, and cell type. Melanomas thicker than 1.5 mm (P<0.01) and with ulceration (P<0.001) had a significantly worse prognosis. With regard to histologic type, ten-year survival was 65.1% for acral lentiginous melanoma, 50.7% for nodular melanoma, and 47.0% for superficial spreading melanoma (SSM), there being no significant differences among them. We suggest that the prognosis was affected not by histologic type but by the large radial or vertical growth component. With regard to clinical features, the clinicopathological stage, patient age, and year when the disease was diagnosed were reflected in the prognosis (P<0.001). Multifactorial analysis showed that the most significant prognostic variables were histopathologic type (SSM or other), stage (I and II or III and IV), and patient age (<70 or > or = 70 yr).