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The objective of this U.S.-Japan joint seminar series is to provide a cross-disciplinary and international forum for discussing and identifying outstanding science and technology issues in the area of nanoscale thermophysics and energy conversion and to foster collaboration among researchers in these areas. The first of this seminar series, championed by the late Professors Chang-Lin Tien and Kunio Hijikata, was held in Kanazawa, Japan, in June of 1993. Subsequent meetings have been held every three years, alternating venues between the United States and Japan. The Sixth U.S.-Japan Joint Seminar on Nanoscale Transport Phenomena—Science and Engineering was held in Boston, Massachusetts, July 13-16, 2008, and was organized by Professors Gang Chen from MIT, Fushinobu Kazuyoshi from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Shigeo Maruyama from Tokyo University, and Pamela Norris from University of Virginia. Nearly 100 scientists participated in the seminar. (The agenda of the seminar is attached at the end at this report[14].) The seminar included keynote sessions and invited sessions, as well as a dedicated poster session of selected presentations from an open call for papers. All papers presented in the regular sessions, the invited sessions, were upon invitation by the organizers. Invited sessions used a mixed form of communication: each speaker gave a 5-minute summary of his work followed by a 30-minute poster session of just the papers summarized orally, and then these speakers came back to the podium, serving as panelists to answer questions regarding their papers and session themes. This format offered good opportunities for the presenters to discuss their work with the participants. Reports for each session were summarized by session chairs. Following is a brief summary of the sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration granted an accelerated approval to aducanumab for patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, the cost of aducanumab is high, at approximately $28,000 for one year per person. On the other hand, lithium is much cheaper at $40 a year, and has been reported to be effective for the cognitive decline observed in both patients with MCI and AD. In contrast to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and N-methyl D-aspartate receptor antagonists, aducanumab and lithium may be disease-modifying drugs. Therefore, we focused on aducanumab and lithium and compared the effects of these drugs on the cognitive decline in MCI and AD patients using a network meta-analysis., Methods: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, CINHAL, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for randomized controlled trials testing lithium or aducanumab for the treatment of cognitive decline in patients with MCI or AD, up to January 31, 2022. A frequentist fixed-effect network meta-analysis was performed to estimate direct and indirect effects. The primary outcome was change scores in cognitive decline measured by Mini-Mental State Examination. This study has been registered with PROSPERO (number CRD42022304807)., Results: Network meta-analysis demonstrated that lithium was significantly more effective than aducanumab in the primary outcome., Conclusion: Although there were various limitations in this study, lithium may be a more cost-effective treatment than aducanumab for MCI and AD., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest Takeshi Inoue has received personal compensation from Mochida Pharmaceutical, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Eli Lilly, Janssen Pharmaceutical, MSD, Taisho Toyama Pharmaceutical, Yoshitomiyakuhin, and Daiichi Sankyo; grants from Shionogi, Astellas, Tsumura, and Eisai; and grants and personal compensation from Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry, Pfizer, Novartis Pharma, and Meiji Seika Pharma; and is a member of the advisory boards of Pfizer, Novartis Pharma, and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma. The other authors declare that they have no actual or potential conflicts of interest associated with this study., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Joint Commission International (JCI) is a US-based organization that accredits and certifies hospitals worldwide. Among the requirements for accreditation, the JCI emphasizes continuous quality improvement (CQI) with regard to international patient safety goals (IPSGs). Our university hospital treats about 26,000 hospitalized patients and 600,000 outpatients annually, and our goal is patient safety in compliance with IPSGs. The purpose of this study is to examine the activities of orthopedic surgeons in preparation for JCI accreditation, including clear identification of patients, preoperative timeout and marking to ensure correct surgery, timely approval of CT/MRI reports, care with pain management, prevention of infection, setting of quality indicators and daily monitoring, and teamwork. Examiners from the JCI visited our hospital to review medical records and documents, and to interview patients, nurses and doctors. There were 1270 evaluation items covering 16 fields, including reviews of IPSGs, patient evaluation and care, infection prevention and control, and governance and leadership. Most importantly, the efforts of all the medical staff in our hospital in obtaining the first JCI accreditation among national university hospitals in Japan have promoted the safety and quality of medical care from the perspective of the patient., Competing Interests: None of the authors have a conflict of interest. Funding was from institutional sources only.

Dr. Rhoton's key philosophies included "Keep working hard.", "Make surgery more accurate, gentle and safe", "We want perfect anatomical dissections, because we want perfect surgical operations", "Competence without compassion is worthless. Compassion without competence is meaningless", "Neurosurgeons share a great professional gift; our lives have yielded an opportunity to help mankind in a unique and exciting way" and "There is no finish line for this effort". His words reveal his passion for microneurosurgery and infinite love for humankind. Although his reknown rested on his reputation as a researcher, Dr. Rhoton was also a devoted educator. The principal aim behind the enormous amount of work he performed was that of educating neurosurgeons worldwide, so that they could be better surgeons. His work included: (1) numerous dissection courses, (2) numerous lectures and publications including about 160 original papers (3) the textbook "RHOTON" and Rhoton Collection (4) the education of 119 research fellows. The projects directed in his lab, produced the international dissemination of neuroanatomical knowledge. The ultimate goal of his microsurgical research was to improve the care of patients with neurosurgical diseases around the world. The technical contributions and humble character of Dr. Rhoton should be remembered as we care for patients.

Background: Easily measured and clinically useful biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are required to advance patient care. We previously reported that the agalactosyl fraction among fucosylated IgG oligosaccharides is increased in IBD, especially Crohn's disease (CD). The present study aimed to establish a simple detection system for aberrant glycosylated IgG based on lectin-oligosaccharide interactions., Methods: Lectins with higher affinity to serum IgG from IBD patients than healthy volunteers (HV) were screened by lectin microarray. Binding of selected lectins to agalactosyl IgG was definitively confirmed using step-by-step glycosidase treatment. Using the selected lectins, a lectin-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system was established and its clinical utility was investigated in a total of 410 (249 Japanese and 161 American) IBD patients, disease controls, and HVs., Results: Agaricus bisporus Agglutinin (ABA) and Griffonia simplicifolia Lectin-II (GSL-II) had higher affinity for serum agalactosyl IgG from IBD patients, especially those with CD, compared to HV. Agalactosyl IgG levels measured by a lectin-enzyme immunoassay (EIA) with ABA or GSL-II were significantly increased in CD compared with HV and disease controls. Agalactosyl IgG levels significantly correlated with disease activity, showed higher predictability of therapeutic outcomes for CD than C-reactive protein levels, and exhibited higher specificity for diagnosing IBD in combination with anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody (ASCA). Validation analysis showed that agalactosyl IgG levels were significantly increased in Japanese and American CD patients., Conclusions: A lectin-EIA for agalactosyl IgG is a novel biomarker for IBD, especially in patients with CD.

Background: A Patterns of Care Study (PCS) has been conducted to evaluate the standards of practice for prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy in Japan. This study examines the influence of institutional stratification on the process of care for patients receiving radical external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer in the 1999-2001 PCS in Japan. These PCS results were compared with those of the 1999 PCS in the USA., Methods: A national survey of 36 institutions was conducted using two-stage cluster sampling and detailed information was accumulated on 305 clinically localized prostate cancer patients who received radiotherapy between 1999 and 2001. Of these, 181 patients treated with radical external beam radiotherapy were selected and the preliminary results were analyzed. Institutions were classified as A1 (academic institutions treating >or=430 patients a year) or B1 (non-academic institutions treating >or=130 patients a year)., Results: In both A1 and B1 institutions, more than 80% of the patients had intermediate or unfavorable risk diseases. There were no significant differences in the patients' disease characteristics between A1 and B1 institutions, while the institutional stratification significantly affected the patterns of radiotherapy; such as the beam energy (>or=10 MV, A1 89.9%, B1 72.2%; P = 0.0022), the use of a CT simulator (A1 91.0%, B1 80.0%; P = 0.0340) and the administration of conformal therapy (A1 85.0%, B1 20.5%; P < 0.0001). The median number of full-time equivalent (FTE) radiation oncologists was 2.7 in A1 institutions and only 0.7 in B1 institutions. Median radiation doses of 66.00 Gy (A1 institutions) and 69.00 Gy (B1 institutions) were delivered and hormonal therapy was commonly used before, during and after radiotherapy, with a mean duration of 1.3 years (88.0% in A1 institutions; 90.0% in B1 institutions). In comparing the results of PCS in Japan (1999-2001) with those in the USA (1999), patients in Japan were found to have more advanced primary diseases with higher PSA levels than those in the USA. The median prescribed dose to the primary tumor was not significantly different between the two countries (69.00 Gy in Japan and 70.45 Gy in the USA). Conversely, almost half of the patients in the USA were treated with higher prescription dose levels (>or=72 Gy), whereas only 9.4% of the Japanese patients received these dose levels. Hormonal therapy was used more frequently in Japan (88.1% of the patients) than in the USA (50% of the patients). Most of the Japanese patients with a favorable prognosis (72.0%) were treated with hormonal therapy, compared with 30% in the USA. On the other hand, most of the patients in the unfavorable risk group were treated with radiotherapy in conjunction with hormonal therapy both in Japan (91.1%) and the USA (81%)., Conclusions: During the period 1999-2001, the majority of the prostate cancer patients treated in Japan with radical external beam radiotherapy had advanced diseases and institutional stratification significantly affected the patterns of radiotherapy. In both academic and non-academic institutions, radiotherapy in conjunction with long-term hormonal therapy was commonly used. In comparison with the 1999 PCS in the USA, Japanese patients had more advanced diseases, but the higher prescribed doses (>or=72 Gy) were less common in Japan. Administration rates of hormonal therapy for favorable risk patients were different between Japan and the USA. On the other hand, for unfavorable risk patients, radiotherapy in conjunction with hormonal therapy appeared to be an accepted approach both in Japan and in the USA.

Background: The Patterns of Care Study (USPCS) by the American College of Radiology (ACR) has made significant contributions to improvements in the procedures of care for patients with breast cancer in the USA. The purpose of this study was to identify problems associated with the process of care for patients undergoing post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) in Japan compared with those in the USA., Methods: The Japanese Patterns of Care Study Subgroup (JPCS) conducted a national survey in 1998-2000, involving 79 institutions and using two-stage cluster sampling of institutions and patients, which showed that between 1995 and 1997 PMRT was performed on 258 patients. The survey of the USPCS, involving 55 institutions, found that 407 patients received PMRT between 1998 and 1999., Results: More than three axillary positive nodes were detected in 54% of the patients covered by the JPCS and in 46% of those covered by the USPCS. The clinical set-up of radiation treatment was planned without the aid of computed tomography or X-ray simulation for 25% of the JPCS patients and for 6% of the USPCS patients. The chest wall of 31% of the JPCS patients and of 98% of the USPCS patients was irradiated. The JPCS showed that inappropriate radiation techniques such as parallel opposed fields for chest wall irradiation were used for 3% of the patients in academic facilities, but for 25% of those in non-academic facilities (P = 0.0002)., Conclusion: There is ample room for improvement in radiation treatment planning and chest wall irradiation techniques in Japan.

Purpose: To evaluate the quality of radiotherapy (RT) in Japan, we have been carrying out a national survey through patterns-of-care studies (PCSs) since 1996. We present the preliminary results of surgery combined with RT with or without chemotherapy for thoracic esophageal cancer., Methods and Materials: A Japanese PCS data format for esophageal cancer was established based on one used in the United States and including information used in the surgical registration system in Japan, so that the results in both countries could be compared. An independent panel of radiation oncologists surveyed randomly selected institutions and patients between September 1998 and March 2001. There were 767 esophageal cancer patients, of whom 220 had undergone preoperative or postoperative RT., Results: The median age of the 220 patients was 62.3 years (range 31-89); of them, 88.1% were men. Pathologically, 218 patients (99.5%) had squamous cell carcinoma, predominantly located in the middle and lower thoracic esophagus, 41.7% of the patients had Stage III disease; they accounted for 52.6% of patients in nonacademic institutions and for 37.7% of those in academic institutions (p = 0.016). Sixty-nine patients received preoperative RT; of them, 60.9% received chemotherapy; 145 patients received postoperative RT with or without chemotherapy. The spinal cord of 23 (11.7%) of 196 patients was irradiated with >/=50 Gy. In academic institutions, extended radical "three-field" lymphatic dissection was performed for 72 (48.7%) of 148 patients; however, this sophisticated surgical procedure was done in only 13 (25.5%) of 51 patients in nonacademic settings (p = 0.004). In all large academic institutions (those treating >/=300 patients annually), >/=6 MV of photon energy was used; 30.5% of nonacademic institutes had linear accelerators of <6 MV photon (p = 0.001). No deviations occurred in the radiation dose (median 46 Gy), fractionations, or fields between the two types of institutions. Univariate analyses showed that the statistically significant prognostic factors affecting overall survival were stage (p = 0.001), extended radical "three-field" lymphatic dissection (p = 0.001), no residual tumor (p = 0.001), supraclavicular RT (p = 0.001), mediastinal RT (p = 0.025), Karnofsky performance status (p = 0.006) photon energy (p = 0.011), and stratification of the institutions (p = 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the type of institution (p = 0.045, risk ratio = 0.604), stage (p 0.029, risk ratio = 0.572), no residual tumor (p = 0.006, risk ratio = 0.487), photon energy (p = 0.043, risk ratio = 0.579), and use of chemotherapy (p = 0.012, risk ratio = 1.907) significantly affected overall survival., Conclusion: This PCS showed that in Japan important issues are present regarding RT for esophageal cancer that should be solved immediately, namely, treatment strategy, photon energy, and dose applied to the spinal cord. The PCS provided important information on how much improvement in structure and process would be required nationwide for RT of esophageal cancer.

Background: We investigated the clinical quality assurance (QA) of radiotherapy in Japan since 1981. The aim of this study was to establish the QA of a radiotherapy system and its clinical assessment in Japan., Methods: We introduced the Patterns of Care Study (PCS) into Japan to perform this study in 1996. The PCS is a retrospective study designed to establish the national practice for cancer patients during a specific period and should be a complementary study to a prospective randomized controlled study. We collected precise data for 4399 patients with carcinomas of the breast, cervix, esophagus, lung and prostate by means of external audits for 96 institutes from 1998 through 2001. Patients were randomly sampled with two-stage cluster sampling. We stratified 556 institutes into four categories according to the academic condition and annual number of radiotherapy patients. National and regional averages of various factors of radiotherapy could be calculated and were used to measure QA of radiotherapy., Results: Using a standard score, we could compare the process of individual institutions with national averages and feed back the evaluation score to each institution. With a PCS process survey, we could observe the dissemination of the treatment method under evidence-based medicine from the prospective randomized controlled study. We proposed future prediction of the number of radiotherapy patients and a counter plan for equipment and personnel. The first US-Japan PCS Workshop was held at San Francisco in 2001., Conclusion: We could establish QA of a radiotherapy system using PCS 1995-97 in Japan.

The glossy non-encapsulated strain of Steptococcus equi, NCTC 9682, was compared with the matt strain Hidaka/95/2 which expresses a medium sized capsule and with the mucoid CF32 which expresses a large sized capsule in phagocytosis assays and for virulence in inoculated horses. The three strains, NCTC 9682, Hidaka /95/2 and CF32 produced 2.0, 3.1, and 5.3 mg/g wet cells respectively after 3 h incubation, but similar amounts of M-like proteins, cytotoxin and mitogen. NCTC 9682 showed no resistance to phagocytosis by equine neutrophils regardless of the presence of opsonin while strains Hidaka /95/2 and CF32 showed almost complete resistance to phagocytosis. Furthermore, NCTC 9682 produced no clinical disease although it infected the guttural pouch and caused seroconversion. Typical strangles with guttural pouch invasion was observed in all horses infected with encapsulated strains.

Bone mineral density (BMD) of total body, spine, and proximal femur and the percentage of body fat in 151 U.S.-born Japanese-American women and 137 Japan-born immigrant Japanese-American women living in San Diego, California were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. These data were compared with unpublished data from Japanese women obtained in previous studies in Hamamatsu, Japan. The age-adjusted BMD for the spinal level, femoral neck, Ward's triangle, trochanter, and total body, respectively, of U.S.-born Japanese-American women were 10.2, 9.8, 9.9, 9.2, and 2.7% higher than those of native Japanese women. The U.S.-born Japanese-American women had significantly higher body fat than immigrant Japanese-American women. Furthermore, the immigrant women had higher BMD and higher body fat than their native Japanese counterparts; however, no significant total-body BMD differences were found among the three groups after age, height, and weight were adjusted. The U.S.-born Japanese-American women had BMD values equivalent to those of white normals at the spine and femur. Significant life-style differences between U.S.-born and immigrant Japanese-American women were noted. Weight, exercise, early menarche, and years of lifetime estrogen exposure correlated positively with BMD. The significant negative correlates of BMD were age, smoking, and percentage of body fat. Our study presents data suggesting that immigration to the United States has produced a higher BMD in Japanese-American women that is attributable to changes in life-style and diet.