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Male patients with acromegaly frequently have hypogonadism. However, whether excess GH affects gonadal function remains unclear. We retrospectively compared clinical features affecting total testosterone (TT) and free testosterone (FT) levels between 112 male patients with acromegaly and 100 male patients with non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) without hyperprolactinemia. Median maximum tumor diameter (14.4 vs. 26.5 mm) and suprasellar extension rate (33 vs. 100%) were lower in acromegaly, but LH, FSH, TT, and FT were not significantly different. In acromegaly, TT was less than 300 ng/dL in 57%, and FT was below the age-specific reference range in 77%. TT and FT were negatively correlated with GH, IGF-1, and the tumor size, and positively correlated with LH. In NFPA, they were positively correlated with IGF-1, LH, FSH, ACTH, cortisol, and free T4, reflecting hypopituitarism. Multiple regression analysis showed that TT and FT had the strongest correlation with GH in acromegaly, and with LH in NFPA. Surgical remission was achieved in 87.5% of 56 follow-up patients with acromegaly. TT and FT increased in 80.4 and 87.5%, respectively, with a significant increase in LH. In acromegaly, the degree of postoperative increase in TT(FT) correlated with the fold increase of TT(FT)/LH ratio, a potential parameter of LH responsiveness, but not with fold increase of LH, whereas in NFPA it correlated with both. These results suggest that excessive GH is the most relevant factor for hypogonadism in male acromegaly, and may cause impaired LH responsiveness as well as the suppression of LH secretion.

A privacy-secure image sharing scheme of ubiquitous cameras on the Sensing Web is presented in this paper. It is aiming at distributing images taken by surveillance cameras to ordinary people, where ubiquitous sensors are opened to public use. However, privacy of recorded subjects should be protected by means of allowing a user to get images without revealing who and where the subjects were. Meanwhile, the one who owns surveillance cameras and offers an image should be able to identify the illegal user who pirates the image. The proposed system provides a solution against violation of user's privacy and content piracy toward establishing a feasible and practical image trading system.

A new method of multi-bit embedding based on a protocol of secure asymmetric digital watermarking detection is proposed. Secure watermark detection has been achieved by means of allowing watermark verifier to detect a message without any secret information exposed in extraction process. Our methodology is based on an asymmetric property of a watermark algorithm which hybridizes a statistical watermark algorithm and a public-key algorithm. In 2004, Furukawa proposed a secure watermark detection scheme using patchwork watermarking and Paillier encryption, but the feasibility had not tested in his work. We have examined it and have shown that it has a drawback in heavy overhead in processing time. We overcome the issue by replacing the cryptosystem with the modified El Gamal encryption and improve performance in processing time. We have developed software implementation for both methods and have measured effective performance. The obtained result shows that the performance of our method is better than Frukawa's method under most of practical conditions. In our method, multiple bits can be embedded by assigning distinct generators in each bit, while the embedding algorithm of Frukawa's method assumes a single-bit message. This strongly enhances capability of multi-bit information embedding, and also improves communication and computation cost.

The mode of action of a potent elicitor, N-acetylchitooligosaccharide, in rice plants was examined. In intact seedlings, no significant uptake of the elicitor via the roots was observed within 3 h, whereas rapid uptake was observed in excised leaves. Rapid and transient expression of an elicitor-responsive gene, EL2, was induced in the leaves of intact seedlings sprayed with the elicitor or in the roots and leaves of intact seedlings by immersing roots in the elicitor solution. Histochemical analysis indicated that EL2 was expressed in cells exposed to the elicitor of root and leaves. In seedlings treated with the elicitor for 1 d or longer, hyphal growth of rice blast fungus was significantly delayed, and an accumulation of auto-fluorescence around the infection site was observed. Two defense-related genes, PR-1 and PR-10 (PBZ1), were induced in a systemic and local manner by elicitor treatment, in correlation with the induction of resistance against rice blast fungus. N-Acetylchitoheptaose did not inhibit the hyphal growth of the fungi. These results indicate the occurrence of systemic signal transmission from N-acetylchitooligosaccharide in rice plants.

As a means of investigating the physiologic damage to and histologic deterioration of the kidney caused by saccharated ferric oxide (SFO) and iron dextran (ID), we administered these substances intraperitoneally to rats. The rats were divided into 3 groups. Group 1 rats ( n = 7) were given SFO, 28 mg/kg for 9 days and 20 mg/kg for 19 days. Group 2 rats ( n = 5) were given ID, 28 mg/kg for 9 days and 20 mg/kg for 19 days. Group 3 rats (control, n = 9) were given normal saline solution. After 28 days, serum calcium, total protein, and albumin concentrations were significantly lower in the SFO group than in the ID group. Serum phosphorus concentrations were significantly lower in the SFO group than in the control group. Serum iron concentrations were significantly higher in the ID group than in the SFO group or the control, and the fractional excretion of sodium was significantly lower in the ID group than in the control group. The percent tubular reabsorption of phosphorus was significantly greater in the ID group than in the SFO group or the control group, and the theoretical threshold concentration of phophorus was also significantly lower in the SFO group than in the ID or the control group. Histologic examination of the kidney after treatment revealed neither iron in the tubules nor any structural damage to the tubules. ID was not found to induce hypophosphatemia, whereas SFO did. We believe that the cause of such hypophosphatemia is impaired tubular reabsorption.

Background: Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) are reported to suffer from upper gastroduodenal lesions with varying frequency, although concurrent Helicobacter pylori infection is reported to be low. Methods: A prospective study was carried out on patients diagnosed with CD or ulcerative colitis (UC) in order to evaluate the degree of upper gastroduodenal tract involvement and the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection. Results: Gastroduodenal lesions were found in 18 (78%) of 23 CD patients, the location being the stomach in 18 (78%), the duodenal bulb in 16 (70%) and the descending duodenum in 16 (70%). Bamboo joint-like lesions were found in four cases (17%) in gastric body and cardia. In contrast, gastroduodenal lesions were found in 10 (53%) of 19 UC patients, the location being the stomach in nine (47%), the duodenal bulb in six (32%), and the descending duodenum in three (16%). The H. pylori-positive rate in patients with CD and UC was 0%, and 11%, respectively. Conclusion: Minute upper gastroduodenal lesions are much more common in CD than in UC patients, especially in the descending duodenum. Accordingly, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy would seem to be a useful means with which to obtain a definitive diagnosis in all suspected IBD cases.

We report here a case of primary colorectal T-cell lymphoma in a 49-year-old man. Eighteen years previously, he was diagnosed as having ulcerative colitis based on the findings of colonoscopy and a barium enema. Since then, he had been treated with salicylazosulfapyridine until the most recent episode. He was refered to our clinic with the chief complaint of abdominal pain and excretion of mucus, and for a workup of bowel lesions. Physical examination results were not remarkable, except for the presence of low-grade fever. Total colonoscopy showed multiple shallow ulcers and aphthoid erosions through the entire colon and rectum, except for the descending colon. Endoscopic findings of the descending colon were normal, which was different from the findings of the active stage of ulcerative colitis. Biopsy specimens from the colon and rectum with ulcerations and aphthoid erosions showed a diffuse proliferation of medium-sized to large atypical lymphoid cells with irregular and indistinct nucleoli, thus revealing malignant lymphoma, diffuse pleomorphic type. The lymphoma cells were positive for CD2, CD3, CD5, CD8, and T-cell receptor (TCR) beta F1, but negative for CD4, CD19, CD20, CD103, and CD56. Southern blotting revealed rearrangement of TCR. Based on these findings, the patient was diagnosed as having high-grade T-cell lymphoma. The findings of computerized tomography of the chest and abdomen, gallium scintigraphy, and abdominal ultrasonography were all normal. There were no abdominal lesions throughout the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, and small intestine. As the patient refused total proctocolectomy, he was treated with one course of CHOP (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, adriamycin, and prednisolone) and subsequently with three courses of ProMACE-CytaBOM (consisting of cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, etoposide, cytarabine, bleomycin, vincristine, methotrexate, and prednisolone). After the therapy, improvement of the colorectal lesions was observed, though lesions clearly still remained. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of primary colorectal T-cell lymphoma with cytotoxic/suppressor T-cell phenotype.

Summary Presence of a high-affinity binding protein for N-acetylchitooligosaccharide (fragments of chitin) elicitor in the plasma membrane from rice leaf and root cells was shown by affinity labeling experiments with an 125I-labeled N-acetylchitooligosaccharide derivative. Binding studies also showed that binding site in the leaf cells has a high affinity to highly elicitor-active, larger chitin fragments but much lower or no affinity to less elicitor-active or elicitor-inactive oligosaccharides. The amount of the binding protein in the leaf cells was slightly smaller than that in the suspension-cultured cells but much larger compared to that in the root cells. These results indicate the possible- involvement of the elicitor binding protein in the perception of the elicitor signal in intact rice plant.

肛門病変初発のCrohn病患者を腹部症状初発のCrohn病患者を対象に肛門病変の有無,病型,X線内視鏡所見,活動指数を比較検討した.A群:肛門病変初発群9例,B群:腹部症状初発群12例であった.A群は全例肛門科よりの紹介例であった.A群の肛門病変は痔瘻,肛門周囲膿瘍,Skintagなど多彩な肛門病変を認め,全例外科的手術が施行された.A群にアフタのみからなる例を高率に認めた.A群ではB群に比しX線所見で敷石像を認める例は少なく,活動指数はB群に比し有意に低値であった.肛門病変初発のCrohn病は腹部症状初発例に比し,腹部症状を認めないことより消化管病変は軽微なことが多く,したがって臨床的活動指数も低い.肛門病変初発例のCrohn病の診断はアフタのみからなる例の診断をはじめ早期診断につながる.

We report a patient with chronic hepatitis C who developed eosinophilic enteritis while being treated with recombinant interferon alpha-2b. He had no history of either allergic disorders or recurring episodes of abdominal cramps, nausea, or diarrhea. He also had had a normal eosinophil count prior to the interferon treatment. After a 12-week course of interferon alpha-2b, he began to complain of severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, and abdominal fullness. His peripheral eosinophil count increased to 45% (absolute count, of 7,610/microl). Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed diffuse thickness of the intestinal wall with gross ascites that contained numerous eosinophils. An upper gastrointestinal barium study with small bowel follow-through showed an edematous mucosal layer of the jejunum and ileum. There was a spectacular relief of the patient's subjective symptoms after the administration of prednisolone. Follow-up studies revealed resolution of the ascites and the mucosal layer edema and normalization of the peripheral eosinophil count. Prednisolone was tapered off, but the eosinophilic enteritis did not recur. As there had been no evident exposure to common causative factors for eosinophilic enteritis, we suggest that interferon alpha-2b could thus have played a role in the triggering of the eosinophilic enteritis.

A 64-year-old Japanese male was admitted to Fukuoka University Hospital to undergo further examination for an elevated γ-glutamyltransferase (γ-GTP) level. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) showed dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct and stenosis of the proximal portion of the common bile duct. No abnormality was found in the gall-bladder. Since the fecal occult blood test was positive, sigmoidoscopy and a barium enema were performed. Sigmoidoscopy showed a hyperemic and hemorrhagic mucosa in the rectum, but a barium enema study did not show any abnormal findings in the entire colon. We diagnosed the patient to have primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and ulcerative proctitis based on these radiological and endoscopic findings. Bloody stool and fever occurred 4 months after the first admission. The patient’s colitis extended to the entire colon. Because of the failure of corticosteroid therapy, a subtotal colectomy was performed. Given that a mass was intraoperatively palpable in the gall-bladder, a cholecystectomy was simultaneously performed. In the whole resected colon, diffuse ulcerations and mucosal islands were found. Grossly, a flat polypoid lesion, measuring 2 cm in diameter, was found in the fundus of the resected gall-bladder. Sections of this lesion in the gall-bladder revealed cystic atypical glands and some atypical cell clusters invading the subserosa. The present case suggests that careful observations are needed for patients with ulcerative colitis who have an elevated γ-GTP level even if the colitis is limited to the distal colon and the serum alkaline phosphatase level is normal.

The association of various HLA class II loci with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) has yet to be fully elucidated. To determine whether there is an association of HLA class II genes (DR, DQ and DP alleles) with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), HLA class II genes for polymorphisms were analyzed at the DNA level in 111 patients with CD, 81 with UC and 525 healthy controls by the polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probe method. Allele and haplotype frequencies were compared between these populations. Results were as follows: 1) the presence of DQB1*0402 (RR=3.90, Pc=0.0001) was positively associated with CD; 2) the presence of DRB1*1502 (RR=4.51, P

症例は74歳, 女性.2週間前に突然, 腹痛・嘔吐が出現し, 症状持続するため, 5月7日当院入院.小腸X線検査で回腸に求心性の管状狭窄を区域性に認めた.狭窄症状は改善せず, また2回目の小腸X線検査においても狭窄がさらに進行していたため, 回腸部分切除術を施行.切除標本は全周性の狭窄, 壁の肥厚を区域性に認め, 組織学的には全周性にUI-IIの潰瘍と著明な線維化, 担鉄細胞の出現を多数認め, 病理組織学的にも虚血性小腸炎に合致した.本邦における虚血性小腸炎の報告は少なく, 従来の報告例を集計しその臨床像の特徴を明らかにした.

症例は48歳,男性.肝腫瘍を指摘され入院.大腸X線検査,内視鏡検査にて大腸肝弩曲部に4.5cm大の粘膜下腫瘍様の隆起性病変を認め,その口側に陥凹を伴う発赤調の隆起病変を認めた.切除標本にて陥凹を伴う隆起病変は中分化型から低分化型腺癌を呈し,その肛門側は癌の直接浸潤により漿膜下に腫瘤を形成し粘膜下腫瘍様形態を示していた.本症例は癌の壁内転移ではなく,直接浸潤により漿膜下に腫瘤を形成し粘膜下腫瘍様形態を呈した大腸進行癌であった.

We encountered 15 patients with colonic polyps showing histologic features that did not belong to any of the known categories. All polyps were elongated and drumstick-shaped, with lengths of 12 to 160 (mean, 29 mm) mm. Histologically, the polyps were covered with normal mucosa and consisted of edematous, loose, fibrous, connective tissues and dense, fibrous submucosal layers, often showing dilation of blood vessels and lymphatics. Although the mechanism of generation of such polyps remains unknown, their elongation may be caused by intestinal motion. Because this kind of polyp has not been described previously outside Japan, we here introduce a new type of polyp, which we have proposed calling the colonic muco-submucosal elongated polyp.

It is now widely accepted that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the major cause of chronic active gastritis and an important pathogen of peptic ulcer disease, gastric cancer, lymphoma of mucosaassociated lymphoid tissue (MALT).1-4 It has previously been thought that the acute phase of H. pylori infection usually manifests only trivial symptoms and thus goes unnoticed by the patient.5 Even in the case of accompanying acute gastric illness caused by H. pylori infection owing to either experimental or accidental oral ingestion, the pathologic lesions remained microscopic abnormalities in most cases.6-8 However, acute H. pylori infection occasionally results in gross lesions such as erosive gastritis,9 purulent gastritis,10 gastric ulceration,11 and lesions that mimic either gastric cancer or lymphoma.12,13 We herein report a case of acute hemorrhagic gastropathy with multiple shallow ulcers caused by an accidental infection of H. pylori which occurred in a laboratory without any knowledge of how it was acquired. This case confirms that an H. pylori infection is etiologically important in the pathogenesis of acute hemorrhagic gastropathy and duodenitis.

The goals of this study were: 1) to examine the prevalence of cytotoxin-associated protein (CagA), vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA), and the vacuolating cytotoxin activity (VCA) in vitro of infecting Helicobacter pylori isolates and 2) to clarify the relation between the expression of these virulence factors and the occurrence of peptic ulceration.One hundred sixty-seven clinical isolates of H. pylori from patients with peptic ulcer disease (gastric ulcer, 62 cases; duodenal ulcer, 48 cases) and nonulcer dyspepsia (57 cases) were studied regarding their genetic and phenotypic properties.Type 1 bacteria, which had both CagA and VCA, and type 2 bacteria, which did not express either CagA or VCA, represented 62.9% and 7.8%, respectively; the remaining 29.4% had an intermediate phenotype, expressing either CagA independent of the presence of VCA (CagA+VCA-) or vice versa (CagA-VCA+). CagA+VCA- and CagA-VCA+ bacteria represented 17.4 % and 12.0%, respectively, both of which were more numerous than the type 2 category. The proportion of the CagA-positive isolates was significantly higher in both the duodenal ulcer (97.9%) and gastric ulcer (83.9%) patients than in the non-ulcer dyspepsia patients (61.4%) (p0.01). On the other hand, the proportion of VacA/VCA-positive isolates was not significantly different between peptic ulcer disease and non-ulcer dyspepsia.The currently used classification of this bacterium based on the concomitant expression of CagA and VacA/VCA into the two major types is not adequate. The CagA-positive phenotype thus may be important as a virulence marker for peptic ulcer disease independent of the presence of VacA/VCA.

A 52-year-old male was admitted to our hospital complaining of crampy abdominal pain of sudden onset, followed by bloody diarrhea. He had been prescribed cefteram pivoxil for gingivitis three days before the onset. A total colonoscopic examination on admission revealed several shallow longitudinal ulcers and erosions, with erythematous, edematous mucosa and luminal narrowing from the sigmoid to the descending colon. Barium enema showed luminal narrowing and thumbprinting in the same region. Fecal culture for Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) on admission was positive and the D-1 toxin of C. difficile was strongly positive in stool. Two days after admission, the stool was negative for the D-1 toxin. Biopsies taken from lesions revealed a desquamation of the surface epithelium and some crypt degeneration, abundant fibrinous exudates in the lamina propria, and mild neutrophilic infiltration. Colonic lesions had resolved by seven days after admission. This case suggests that colitis with ischemic changes may result from antibiotic-associated overgrowth of C. difficile producing the D-1 toxin during antibiotic treatment.

It was confirmed that lanthanum metal is an efficient reagent for the reductive cleavage of the tellurium–tellurium bond of ditelluride. Alkyl phenyl tellurides were prepared by the reaction of dip...

A 72-year-old man presented with consciousness disturbance. The results of brain magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid examination were normal, but triphasic waves were noted on electroencephalography. His plasma ammonia level was elevated due to which encephalopathy secondary to hyperammonemia was suspected. However, his liver function was normal, and no evidence of cirrhosis or portal-systemic shunt was noted. The patient's medical history revealed that he had a tendency to excessively consume pulse products since childhood, and an amino acid analysis showed elevation of citrulline and arginine levels. Thus, we diagnosed the patient with an extremely rare case of adult-onset type II citrullinemia, which was triggered by cessation of the intake of pulse foods (soybeans and peanuts) due to dental problems.

This report describes a case of right-sided ulcerative colitis in which multiple shallow ulcers and erosion with symmetric luminal stenosis were distributed segmentally from the ascending colon to the cecum, with a skip lesion composed of superficial erosions in the right half of the transverse colon. Both the rectum and the left colon were spared at the time of onset. Biopsies taken from the lesions showed non-specific inflammation, while those from the rectum and sigmoid colon showed no abnormal findings. A 5-year follow-up study was made based on radiography and endoscopy. Other inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease, tuberculosis, Yersinosis, Behçet's disease, and ischemic colitis were all ruled out, based on the macroscopic and microscopic findings as well as the clinical course. To our knowledge, this is the first report of right-sided ulcerative colitis that has been followed for a long period.

To determine to usefulness of barium enema examination in detecting dysplasia in patients with ulcerative colitis.Radiographic findings of 22 areas of dysplasia in 10 patients (seven men, three women; aged 34-81 years at diagnosis) were reviewed. Serial changes in radiographic features of four areas of dysplasia in three patients were retrospectively investigated.Fourteen of 22 areas of dysplasia were shown on radiographs. Dysplasia in the rectum or sigmoid colon was depicted less frequently than that in other segments of the colon. Radiographic features were classified as obvious nodular protrusions (seven lesions), irregular mucosa (five lesions), or nodular protrusions with irregular mucosa (two lesions). Six of the seven areas of dysplasia shown as irregular mucosa were accompanied by minute spiculations in the margin of the colonic lumen. There was no correlation between radiologic features and histologic grade of dysplasia.Barium enema examination may be used as a complementary method of cancer surveillance with endoscopy. These methods show about two-thirds of lesions associated with dysplasia.

To investigate the effect of the eradication of Helicobacter pylori on the healing and relapse of duodenal ulcers. 50 patients with active duodenal ulcer and H. pylori infection were randomly allocated to two treatment groups. One group (cimetidine group) received cimetidine 400 mg twice daily for 6 weeks and the other group (double-therapy group) received 300 mg amoxicillin granules and 250 mg metronidazole thrice daily for 2 weeks, in addition to the same regimen of cimetidine as the cimetidine group. Forty-two patients completed the study. After confirmation of ulcer scar, all patients were followed up for 6 months while receiving treatment with teprenone, an agent that does not affect acid secretion or the eradication of H. pylori. The healing rates at 6 weeks were 90% in the cimetidine group and 95.5% in the double-therapy group. H. pylori eradication occurred in 0% of the cimetidine group and in 73.7% of the double-therapy group (P = 0.004). The cumulative relapse rates in the two groups at 6 months were 64.3% and 11.1%, respectively (P = 0.0007). In the double-therapy group, the cumulative relapse rate at 6 months in the patients in whom H. pylori persisted was 50% (2/4); the rate was 0% (0/14) in the patients in whom H. pylori had been eradicated (P = 0.005). Histological gastritis significantly improved compared with the baseline in the double-therapy group, but no such improvement was seen in the cimetidine group. White scarring was found in 7.1% of the cimetidine group and in 83.3% of the double-therapy group after 6 months (P0.0001). The eradication of H. pylori markedly decreased the relapse rate in duodenal ulcer patients, and it significantly improved both the grade of gastritis and the quality of the ulcer scar.

A 62-year-old female, with a forty year's history of Takayasu's arteritis, was admitted to Fukuoka University Hospital, with melena. Endoscopy showed multiple shallow ulcers and edematous mucosa in the terminal ileum, and also showed mucosal redness in the ascending colon. The cultures of feces and biopsy specimens taken from an ulcer in the terminal ileum were negative for bacteria and acid-fast bacilli. Medication such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and potassium chloride were not used before the onset of melena. She was treated with an elemental diet to rest her bowel. Two months later, the ulcers in the terminal ileum had disappeared. However, two years later, similar ulcers recurred in the terminal ileum. These clinical findings and course strongly suggested that her intestinal ulcers might be associated with Takayasu's disease. In Takayasu's arteritis, intestinal lesions have rarely been reported.

This chapter describes a privacy-secure digital watermarking scheme for fair content trading against cybercrime on digital content piracy and privacy leakage. Conventional digital watermarking schemes are effective only for providers since privacy of a client is not concerned though content is protected. Provider’s security as well as client’s security need to be considered to enhance security level of privacy management. Blind and Pseudo-blind watermarking schemes utilizing encryption and media processing respectively are the solutions to protect client’s security.

Intestinal lymphangiectasia is a disorder presenting as enteric protein loss through the dilated lymphatics without mucosal ulceration. To determine the double-contrast radiographic features and to assess the significance of them, five patients with intestinal lymphangiectasia were examined using single- and double-contrast small intestinal studies. The double-contrast examinations demonstrated clearly the main radiographic findings of smooth nodular protrusions, thickening of the mucosal folds, with no evidence of mucosal ulceration. Compared with the single-contrast study, smooth nodular protrusions were seen more often and in more widespread segments, particularly in the duodenum, on double-contrast study. Thickening of the mucosal folds was revealed similarly by both methods. Double-contrast study appears to be worthwhile to demonstrate the characteristic radiographic findings of this disease.

Of 238 patients with Crohn's disease seen at our clinics from April 1973 to August 1988, 203 patients were selected for this study, since they fulfilled the following criteria: they had been followed up for more than 6 months as outpatients or had been treated as inpatients for more than 1 month. They were studied to elucidate: (a) the different types and incidence of various complications, (b) the factors related to complications present at the time of diagnosis, (c) predictors of new complications arising after diagnosis, and (d) the cumulative incidence of complications occurring during the course of the disease from the times of onset and diagnosis. Of the intestinal complications, perianal fistula was most common (33%), followed by strictures with dilatations of the proximal bowel (21%), and internal fistula (14%). Of the extraintestinal complications, menstrual disturbance was the most common (18% of the female patients), followed by arthritis (10%), and aphthous stomatitis (10%). As for the factors influencing complications present at the time of diagnosis, the pattern of bowel involvement was significantly correlated with the presence of intestinal stricture, while the erythrocyte sedimentation rate was significantly correlated with the presence of perianal fistula. A significant predictor of new complications arising after diagnosis was the general well-being of patients at the time of diagnosis. Patients who, at diagnosis, already have complications such as stricture, abdominal abscess, internal or external fistula, massive hemorrhage, and free perforation or anal lesions are more likely to develop new complications in addition to those present at diagnosis, compared with patients without any complications at diagnosis (P = 0.055).

PURPOSE: The postoperative course of intestinal Behcet's disease was studied in nine patients who had undergone a total of 15 operations due to intestinal ulcers. METHODS: These patients were followed up for an average of 6.0 years (range, 1 year, 3 months to 13 years, 10 months) after each operation and they were repeatedly examined by double-contrast radiography and/or colonofiberscopy. RESULTS: Recurrence of intestinal ulcers was observed in 12 (80 percent) of the 15 surgical cases. The incidence (50 percent) of postoperative recurrence in six cases in which intraoperative endoscopy revealed no abnormality in the retained intestine was lower than that (100 percent) in nine cases without this examination. Recurrent intestinal lesions in most cases were demonstrated as multiple aphthoid ulcers in the ileum near the ileocolectomy, or as one or two deep ulcers at the ileocolectomy site. The recurrent ulcers were successfully treated by various medical therapies, but the effectiveness of these therapies was only temporary. CONCLUSION: In the case of this disease, intraoperative endoscopy may be useful for preventing postoperative recurrence and periodic follow-up examination with radiography and endoscopy should be performed, even after surgery.

A case of ulcerative colitis complicated by Wilson's disease is described. In this case, ulcerative colitis occurred 12 years after the diagnosis of Wilson's disease, and the colitis was intractable to prednisolone and salazosulfapyridine. Because copper is one of the trace elements necessary for antioxidant defenses during inflammatory process, altered copper metabolism may have contributed to the intractability of the ulcerative colitis in this case.

A user-friendly digital watermark extraction method is proposed in this paper. Watermark in analog paper such as paper currency can be extracted by simply transmitting the light through the paper. On the other hand, most existing digital watermarking methods require an extraction program. However, ordinary people cannot verify the validity of an extraction program. Moreover, most of them are black-box in order to protect formerly embedded images which may be analyzed by reverse engineering. The proposed digital watermarking can be extracted by any people with no special skill, knowledge, nor tools. Only a web browser without JavaScript or Flash, and a filtering image are needed. We have evaluated robustness and perceptual evaluation of the proposed method which provide an effective result.

外来にて副腎皮質ステロイド治療を行ったCrohn病患者19例の臨床経過を分析し,その有用性を検討した.ステロイドの使用理由は全例症状再燃であった.ステロイド使用開始前後の1カ月当りの入院期間の臨床経過を比較した。両期間中に行われた栄養療法や併用薬剤に差はなかった.1症例当りの平均観察期間はステロイド投与前後でそれぞれ41.4ヵ月と38.8カ月であった.それぞれの期間での平均入院総日数は174.8日と93.8日であった.それぞれの時間での1カ月当りの平均入院日数は5.1日と2.2日であり,ステロイド使用後の入院日数は有意に短縮されていた.またステロイド使用による副作用は認められず,rapidACTH試験による副腎機能評価に異常がなかった.以上より外来でのステロイド治療は入院日数を短縮し,Crohn病患者のquality of lifeを向上させると考えられた.

Crohn病患者106例のquality of life(QOL)評価のため以下の調査を行った.(1)過去1年間の就業就学状況,生命保険加入状況.(2)最近1カ月間の腹部症状,全身症状,精神状態,社会活動(28項目).(3)最近1カ月間の生活の満足度を10点満点で自己評価(主観的QOL).そして主観的QOLに影響する要因を知るため,(2)のほかに性別,年齢,合併症の有無手術の有無,臨床検査値などと主観的QOLとの関係を単変量分析と多変量解析で検討した.その結果,(1)14%が仕事不能,64%が生命保険加入を断わられていた.(2)50%に腹痛,下痢,挫折感,将来の不安,スポーツ・レジャー活動の制限がみられた.(3)年齢,観察期間,病悩期間,病型,手術の有無以外の多くは,主観的QOL(生活の満足度)と有意の相関を認めた.(4)主観的QOLに影響する有意かつ独立した要因はスポーツ・レジャーの活動状態,性別(男性は女性よりQOL不良),挫折感であった.

Antifoaming properties of lubricating oils are reviewed. There are two types of foaming in lubricating oils. One is surface foaming and another is air bubbles in oils. Surface foaming causes overflow of the oil from the reservoir, and air bubbles in oils promote cavitation erosion and wear brought about breakdown of oil film by bubbles. Usually antifoaming agents are added into lubricating oils. However, effects of antifoaming additives are influenced by base oils and other additives or mixing methods. In this review, effects of these several factors on antifoaming properties are summarized.

Results of the reaction of alkyl halides with lanthanum metal have been shown. The reduction of alkyl iodide with 1/3 equiv of lanthanum metal efficiently proceeded to give the corresponding reductive dimerized products along with the formation of reduction and dehydroiodination products. In the case of alkyl bromides and chlorides, the reaction did not proceed under the same reaction conditions as that of alkyl iodides; however, the reaction was dramatically promoted by the addition of a catalytic amount of iodine. A reaction pathway including alkyl radicals was suggested.

A privacy-secure content trading system based on semi-blind fingerprinting which provides privacy-secure content trading as secure as blind fingerprinting at feasible processing cost with sufficient robustness is evaluated in this paper. This system assures both a content provider and a purchaser of a fair trading which is effective in a market where purchasers deal with a number of small or not so reliable content providers. We have implemented the system in which a useful tool should be provided for the market by amending inherent defects of conventional methods. In the basic models of conventional fingerprinting, the user's security is guaranteed only under the premise that a content provider was perfectly trustworthy. Such premise makes a system unpractical. In order to cope with the problem, various fingerprinting schemes have been proposed in which cryptography technique utilized in order to protect user's privacy. However, these are found to be unpractical due to the heavy computation cost and insufficient robustness of watermarking against manipulations. The semi-blind fingerprinting fulfills the need for both feasibility and robustness by altering encryption into the one with image decomposition that could blind an image to be unrecognizable. Image decomposition and a customized embedding algorithm are implemented to a web-based system, whose perceptual condition of decomposed images and robustness of watermark has been evaluated.

We propose and evaluate a privacy-secure image trading framework using blind fingerprinting technique which embeds a user ID using watermark technique. The framework provides a privacy-secure trading even though there is no confidential relation between a content provider and a user. In a conventional fingerprinting scheme, a content provider offers a user ID embedded image to a user in order to trace a pirated piece and an illegal user when an image is pirated.In spite the fact that privacy protection becomes an important issue along with augmentation of digital content trading,it has not been well considered in a conventional fingerprinting scheme. Some blind fingerprinting techniques satisfy privacy protection by concealing user information using cryptography. Semi-blind fingerprinting is another type of blind technique that is proposed with a concept of blinding information within feasible processing cost. Feasibility is satisfied by avoiding use of cryptography which causes heavy overhead in computation. In our proposed image trading framework, we use semi-blind technique which is well optimized for our framework. In order to establish a robust framework, we carry out security analysis by specifying various kinds of incidents and solutions.