Search

Several epidemiological studies have suggested that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) lytic infection is essential for the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), as the elevation of antibody titers against EBV lytic proteins is a common feature of NPC. Although ZEBRA protein is a key trigger for the initiation of lytic infection, whether its expression affects the prognosis and pathogenesis of NPC remains unclear. In this study, 64 NPC biopsy specimens were analyzed using immunohistochemistry. We found that ZEBRA was significantly associated with a worsening of progression-free survival in NPC (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-11.87; p = 0.037). Moreover, ZEBRA expression positively correlated with key endocrinological proteins, estrogen receptor α, and aromatase. The transcriptional level of ZEBRA is activated by estrogen in an estrogen receptor α-dependent manner, resulting in an increase in structural gene expression levels and extracellular virus DNA copy number in NPC cell lines, reminiscent of lytic infection. Interestingly, it did not suppress cellular proliferation or increase apoptosis, in contrast with cells treated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and sodium butyrate, indicating that viral production induced by estrogen is not a cell lytic phenomenon. Our results suggest that intratumoral estrogen overproduced by aromatase could induce ZEBRA expression and EBV reactivation, contributing to the progression of NPC.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-associated malignancies. NPC is highly metastatic compared to other head and neck carcinomas, and evidence has shown that the metastatic features of NPC are involved in EBV infection. The prognosis of advanced cases, especially those with distant metastasis, is still poor despite advancements in molecular research and its application to clinical settings. Thus, further advancement in basic and clinical research that may lead to novel therapeutic modalities is needed. Farnesylation is a lipid modification in the C-terminus of proteins. It enables proteins to attach to the lipid bilayer structure of cellular membranes. Farnesylation was initially identified as a key process of membrane association and activation of the RAS oncoprotein. Farnesylation is thus expected to be an ideal therapeutic target in anti-RAS therapy. Additionally, more and more molecular evidence has been reported, showing that proteins other than RAS are also farnesylated and have significant roles in cancer progression. However, although several clinical trials have been conducted in cancers with high rates of ras gene mutation, such as pancreatic carcinomas, the results were less favorable than anticipated. In contrast, favorable outcomes were reported in the results of a phase II trial on head and neck carcinoma. In this review, we provide an overview of the molecular pathogenesis of NPC in terms of the process of farnesylation and discuss the potential of anti-farnesylation therapy in the treatment of NPC.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is caused by infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and endemic in certain geographic regions. EBV lytic gene, BALF2, closely associates with viral reactivation and BALF2 gene variation, the H-H-H strain, causes NPC in endemic region, southern China. Here, we investigate whether such EBV variations also affect NPC in a non-endemic region, Japan. Viral genome sequencing with 47 EBV isolates of Japanese NPC were performed and compared with those of other EBV-associated diseases from Japan or NPC in Southern China. EBV genomes of Japanese NPC are different from those of other diseases in Japan or endemic NPC; Japanese NPC was not affected by the endemic strain (the BALF2 H-H-H) but frequently carried the type 2 EBV or the strain with intermediate risk of endemic NPC (the BALF2 H-H-L). Seven single nucleotide variations were specifically associated with Japanese NPC, of which six were present in both type 1 and 2 EBV genomes, suggesting the contribution of the type 2 EBV-derived haplotype. This observation was supported by a higher viral titer and stronger viral reactivation in NPC with either type 2 or H-H-L strains. Our results highlight the importance of viral strains and viral reactivation in the pathogenesis of non-endemic NPC.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate whether pretreatment skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) is a predictor for the risk of aspiration pneumonia and to explore the relationship between low SMI and overall survival (OS) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) receiving chemoradiotherapy (CRT). METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients with HNSCC who received CRT during 2010-2019. Patients received a combination of radiotherapy and cisplatin-based chemotherapy (3 cycles of 80 mg/m2 cisplatin on days 1, 22, and 43). Aspiration pneumonia were defined as the presence of both subjective and objective symptoms. Kaplan-Meier curves were generated to analyze survival. RESULTS Among the 159 patients, 36 (22.6%) developed aspiration pneumonia during treatment. Median SMI in patients with and without pneumonia was 12.4 cm2 /m2 (9.0-20.7) and 13.6 cm2 /m2 (8.1-19.7), respectively (P

Latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is a primary oncogene encoded by the Epstein‐Barr virus, and various portions of LMP1 are detected in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tumor cells. LMP1 has been extensively studied since the discovery of its transforming property in 1985. LMP1 promotes cancer cell growth during NPC development and facilitates the interaction of cancer cells with surrounding stromal cells for invasion, angiogenesis, and immune modulation. LMP1 is detected in 100% of pre‐invasive NPC tumors and in approximately 50% of advanced NPC tumors. Moreover, a small population of LMP1‐expressing cells in advanced NPC tumor tissue is proposed to orchestrate NPC tumor tissue maintenance and development through cancer stem cells and progenitor cells. Recent studies suggest that LMP1 activity shifts according to tumor development stage, but it still has a pivotal role during all stages of NPC development.

Conclusion: Reduced-RADPLAT for HPC achieved comparative survival and locoregional control rates with lower toxicities compared with concurrent chemoradiotherapies including original RADPLAT. S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy showed a survival benefit. Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicities of targeted intra-arterial (IA) infusion of cisplatin with concurrent radiotherapy with a reduced dose (reduced-RADPLAT) for resectable hypopharyngeal cancer (HPC). Methods: Between 1999–2012, 50 patients with stage II–IVA HPC primarily treated by reduced-RADPLAT were analyzed. They were treated by 2–5 courses of IA cisplatin infusion (100 mg per body) with simultaneous systemic infusion of sodium thiosulfate concurrent with conventional radiotherapy (66–70 Gy). After 2003, S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine, adjuvant chemotherapy was administered to all eligible patients. Results: During a median follow-up of 48.6 months, the estimated 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), locoregional control, and laryngoesophageal dysfunction-free survival (LEDFS) rates were 76.0% and 62.0%, 58.0% and 50.0%, 66.0% and 62.0%, and 56.0% and 54.0%, respectively. Grade 3 toxicities were observed in 30.0%. No patient had grade 4 or higher toxicities. No patient required tube feeding or tracheotomy at 3 months after treatment. T4-lesions and S-1 administration were significant factors predicting poor and good OS, PFS, and LEDFS, respectively. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, Embargo Period 12 months

In this study, we investigated for a period of 8 years, 884 patients who underwent swallowing rehabilitation in our hospital, and evaluated the factors affecting resumption of oral intake of food. We found that the number of patients undergoing swallowing rehabilitation in our hospital increased over time. Of the included patients, 82.8% were ≥70 years of age and men were more frequent than women (p=0.004). At the end of the rehabilitation, 56.3% patients' main nutrition route was oral. Most (60.5%) patients required30 days of rehabilitation. We evaluated correlation between the states of patients at starting point of swallowing rehabilitation and the result of the rehabilitation. The patients having a desire for eating were significantly more successful in regaining oral intake of food than those without the desire (p0.001) and those with desire unknown (p0.001). We classified the patients as per the Japan Coma Scale into four groups: alert, 1 digit, 2 digits, and 3 digits; the 3-digit group was significantly less successful in resumption of oral ingestion compared to all other groups (p0.001). Based on the activities of daily living (ADL), we classified the patients into four groups: supine position, possible to semi-sitting group (get-up more than 30°), possible to sit-up group, and possible more than transferring by oneself group. It was proved that the supine position group was significantly less successful in regaining oral intake of food compared to all other groups (p0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the strongest correlation for regaining oral ingestion was desire for eating (p0.001), followed by ADL and level of consciousness. In conclusion, we found that the number of patients undertaking swallowing rehabilitation in our hospital is increasing, and that factors such as desire for eating, ADL, and level of consciousness significantly influence the resumption of oral intake of food.

Conclusion: SPARC-expression is an indicator of the prognosis in terms of OS, independent of HPV-infection. HPV-negative patients with SPARC-Low show survival as favorable as HPV-positive patients, probably because of their higher salvage rate after relapse than SPARC-High patients. Objective: The objectives of the study were to clarify the correlation between the expression of secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) and HPV-status, and to determine the prognostic value of SPARC-expression in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) patients. Methods: Fifty-three formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues were obtained from patients with OPSCC who underwent curative treatment. The SPARC protein was detected by immunohistochemistry. SPARC-expression level was divided into two categories, SPARC-High and SPARC-Low, according to the staining index. Results: Twenty-two out of the 53 OPSCC patients were HPV-positive. There was no significant correlation between the HPV-status and SPARC-expression level. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that the HPV-status and SPARC-expression are independent prognostic indicators of favorable and unfavorable overall survival (OS) (p = 0.021 and p = 0.012), respectively. For disease-free survival, the HPV-status was the only predictive factor (p = 0.022). After stratification by the HPV-status, high SPARC-expression was a significant predictor of poor OS in HPV-negative OPSCC patients using Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test (p = 0.014). Ten out of 28 SPARC-Low patients relapsed, among which six patients (60%) were salvaged. However, 14 out of 25 SPARC-High patients relapsed, and only three patients (21.4%) were salvaged. © 2015 Taylor & Francis., Embargo Period 12 months

Paradoxical vocal cord motion (PVCM) during vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) generally occurs spasmodically and transiently. After we had experienced 36 cases of VCD and successfully treated with conservative treatment including "pursed lips inspiration" method, we experienced a boy who had persistent PVCM. It was observed his PVCM vanished when he breathed in through pursed lips, while it appeared again when he stopped pursed lips inspiration. An airway reflex has been reported where the negative pressure in the subglottic space resulting from the inspiratory effort against a narrowed glottis activates the vocal cord adductor. VCD is considered to have both acceleration of laryngeal closure reflex against airway stimuli and active adductive movement of vocal cords against negative pressure in the subglottic space as underlying factors. The pursed lips inspiration method enables VCD patients not only to accomplish slow and light breathing but also to decrease the difference in the pressure between the supra--and subglottic space by occluding the nasal cavity and voluntary puckering up of the mouth which generate negative pressure in the supraglottic space. This is the first report of the pursed lips inspiration method as a treatment for VCD. Pursed lips inspiration is a simple method which is easy to perform anytime, anywhere without any special equipment, and is considered to be worth trying for VCD.

This article reports the piezoelectric moduli of wood d 31, d 32, and d 36. The piezoelectric moduli of wood d 31 and d 32 have not been previously reported, although there has been much research on the d 14 and d 25 moduli of wood. The moduli d 31, d 32, and d 36 were measured carefully because their absolute values were considerably smaller than those of d 14 and d 25. For Softwoods, d 36 values were mostly negative, whereas the values for hardwoods had either positive or negative values. The other moduli, d 31 and d 32, were a mixture of positive and negative values in softwoods and hardwoods. The existence of d 31 and d 32 suggests the presence of an electrical polarity of the cellulose crystal in the fiber direction of the wood. The polarities of d 31 and d 32 became clear from wood in the outer part of the trunk, where the crystallinity of cellulose is large and the alignment of the crystals becomes parallel to the fiber direction.

78歳女．約40年前に左乳癌に対し胸筋合併乳房切除術および術後放射線照射の既往あり．2006年秋に左胸部の術後瘢痕部付近に小皮疹が出現し，徐々に拡大したため2007年8月28日紹介受診．初診時，左胸部術後瘢痕中央部付近に7.5×3.5cmの紫紅褐色の板状硬結を認めた．生検により皮膚血管肉腫と診断した．本人の強い意向により積極的加療は行わず外来にて経過観察のみ行っているが，腫瘍は拡大しほぼ左胸部全体を占めているものの，症状発現より2年半以上の間入院加療等を要さずQOLを保ったまま生存中である．皮膚血管肉腫は稀ではあるものの非常に予後不良な腫瘍であり，放射線照射は皮膚血管肉腫発生のリスクとなるため，今後乳癌患者の急激な増加に伴い放射線照射後の皮膚血管肉腫が発生する症例も増加する可能性が高い．そのため，外科医は放射線照射後の皮膚血管肉腫発症の可能性を必ず周知しfollow upを行うべきと考える．

The natural killer (NK) cell activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) in patients with various chronic liver diseases, and its in vitro response to human interferon-alpha(Le) were investigated using a 16-h 51-Cr releasing cytotoxicity assay against YAC-1 or RSa target cells. The NK cell activity was found to be higher in chronic active hepatitis (CAH) and liver cirrhosis (LC) patients without HCC, whereas it was slightly lower in LC patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), than in normal controls. By the addition of IFN-alpha(Le) in vitro, the NK cell activity was clearly and dose-dependently augmented, even in chronic liver diseases, as well as in normal controls. The magnitude of this augmentation by 10,000 IU/ml of IFN-alpha(Le) in the various chronic liver diseases was not significantly different from that in normal controls. The results suggested that the response of NK cells to IFN-alpha(Le) is not impaired even in chronic liver disease conditions, while the level of NK cell activity may vary according to the type of chronic liver disease and may decrease in patients with HCC.

This paper presents several finite element analyses on a dent produced by a single shot. A finite element model is discussed in order to clarify the influences of peening conditions and characteristics of material on the surface aspect. The following points are presented; (1) Dent form is influenced significantly by the yield stress of work material, but not influenced by density and Poisson's ratio. (2) Influence of Tangent modulus on the Dent form, which is work hardening coefficient, is low whenever Yield stress is high. (3) Finite element analysis method (FEM) is able to represent almost exactly dent forms.

The piezoelectric modulus of Wood has been measured in the temperature range of −170°C. to +150°C. The kind of wood investigated is hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa Endl.). When a sinusoidal stress is longitudinally given to the thin plate specimen, the polarization is produced in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the plate. It has been found that the piezoelectric modulus generally increases with the rise of temperature. However, the modulus-temperature curve shows discontinuous changes in slope at about −80, 30, and 130°C. These temperatures seem to be associated with transitions in amorphous regions of cellulose and other macromolecules in wood. Gamma-ray irradiation up to 1.7 × 108 rad causes little variation in the magnitude and the temperature dependence of the piezoelectric modulus. Treatments with liquid ammonia, sodium hydroxide, and ethylenediamine result in a large increase in the magnitude and the temperature dependence of the piezoelectric modulus. The crystal lattices of cellulose II and III are more favorable than that of cellulose I for producing the piezoelectric effect.

上腕骨骨幹部偽関節および遷延癒合症例4例を前方進入による plate 固定と腸骨移植で治療した．手術時年齢は27歳から60歳で，男1例・女3例であった．初回治療は functional brace による保存療法2例，エンダー釘による骨接合術2例で，受傷から偽関節手術までの期間は3から63ヵ月であった．全例6ヵ月以内に骨癒合した．Plate 固定の最大の利点は強固な圧迫固定性と，肩肘を損傷しないので術直後から関節可動域訓練が行えることである．

稀な遠位橈尺関節掌側脱臼を2例経験したので報告する．症例1 44歳男性．倒れて来た人を左手で支えようとした時に，左手関節を受傷した．左手関節部痛が出現し，前腕回内が出来なくなった．受診時 X 線，CT で遠位橈尺関節の掌側脱臼を認めた．全身麻酔下に徒手整復を行い，前腕からのギブス固定を6週間行った．症例2 29歳男性．ラクビーのレフリーをしていて，右手関節を捻って受傷した．右手関節部痛が出現し，前腕回内が出来なくなった．受診時 X 線，CT で遠位橈尺関節の掌側脱臼を認めた．全身麻酔下に徒手整復を行い，前腕からのギブス固定を4週間行った．最終調査時には2例とも疼痛はなく，手関節，前腕の可動域制限は認めなかった．遠位橈尺関節掌側脱臼は早期に徒手整復，ギブス固定を行うために，早期診断することが重要である．

横止め髄内釘法で手術を行った上腕骨骨幹部骨折7骨折を調査した．性別は男性3骨折，女性4骨折，受傷時年齢は平均67歳（40～91歳）であった．骨折型はAO分類でA2：2骨折，A3：1骨折，B1：1骨折，B2：2骨折，B3：1骨折で，骨折部位は全て中1/3であった．経過観察期間は平均12ヵ月（4～18ヵ月）であった．その結果，骨癒合は6骨折で得られたが，1骨折は偽関節となった．術後肩痛などの症状を訴えたものはなく，橈骨神経麻痺などの合併症もなかった．これらの事より，高齢者に対する順行性横止め髄内釘法は有効な手術方法であると考えられた．

The crystalline behavior of heat-treated wood cellulose treated at 85% relative humidity (RH), in water, or boiled in water after heat treatment was investigated. The normal increased crystallinity was significantly depressed for samples that were oven-dried and then treated in 85% RH or in water. In the case of boiling-water treatment, a more pronounced increased in crystallinity was initially observed, which then decreased gradually. The crystallinity decreased more than untreated wood for samples that were heat treated for long periods and was slightly higher than the decreased crystallinity from the beginning of the above two treatments. On the other hand, no significant change in crystallinity was observed for samples of increased crystallinity or decreased crystallinity that were treated under high-moisture conditions, for all three treatments. The results show that the crystalline state of wood cellulose heat treated under oven dry or high-moisture conditions behave differently if treated in water after heat treatment. Results suggested that the mechanism of crystallization might be different for samples that are subjected to heat treatment under oven-dry and high-moisture conditions.

Synovial cyst is a relative disease. We report a synovial cyst with literature. The cyst reduced remarkably after arthrography. A 45-year-old woman had been suffering back pain and left leg pain for seven months, and was unable to stand or walk. MRI indicated a tumor in the left side between L5 and S1, and arthrography was performed to remove the synovial cysts. After arthrography, pain of the left leg reduced remarkably and the cystic component was found to have disappeared in MRI. No lumbar pain nor left leg pain recurred. Way of curing synovial cysts include resting, use of instruments, steroid injection, and operation to remove a part of the vertebral arch, and removal of the synovial cysts. In this case, the wall of the cysts broke when the needle of the arthrography was injected, and the components of the cyst leaked out. In the removal of synovial cysts, arthrography is sometimes useful for diagnosis and curing.

Six cases with displaced fracture of the distal end of the clavicle (Neer Type II) were treated using the Scorpion plate. All cases had bone union. In addition, all cases except one for the most part achieved full range of motion at the shoulder joint in early post operation. The Scorpion plate provides stable fixation which allows an early range of motion of the shoulder joint without impairing the acromioclavicular joint.

This study investigated the behavior of piezoelectric, dielectric, and elastic constants and the crystallinity in wood cellulose by repeated measurements (n = 42) between 100°C and 220°C. There was an insignificant change in the piezoelectric constant during repeated measurements in this temperature range. On the other hand, thermal decomposition of the amorphous region contributed to the decreasing trend of dielectric and elastic constants, although only a small increase in the elastic constant was found at the time of the initial measurements. The increase in the repeated measurements in this temperature range resulted in an increase in the piezoelectric loss modulus constantd 25″, which is closely related to energy loss. Thed 25″ peak shifted to a higher temperature with increasing measurements, which might be due not to the increase in rigidity of the wood specimen but to the increase in total peak area, which was observed during the later measurements. At the same time, variations of piezoelectric loss modulusd 25″ ande 25″ at advanced stages of the measurements suggested damage and structural changes in the wood.

The effect of intermittent heat treatment on cellulose crystallites in wood was studied to evaluate quantitatively the changes of crystallinity induced by intermittent and continuous heating. The changes in crystallinity were found to be strongly affected by the intermittent heat treatment. The increased crystallinity, the width of the crystals, and the piezoelectric properties were the same for the first intermittent heating as for continuous heating. Further intermittent heating for the same time duration and temperature had no effect on the above properties, probably due to the stopping of the thermal reaction during the interval. Our results suggested that intermittent heat treatment has certain critical cooling temperatures that stop the thermal reaction and are closely related to the duration of the interval. Samples once exposed to a certain duration of heat treatment and then cooled need more time, about twice that of the first duration of intermittent heating compared with continuous heating, to reach maximum crystallinity in wood cellulose.

BACKGROUND Intensifying the dose of paclitaxel given in a weekly schedule is useful towards improving the therapeutic index of paclitaxel in treating a variety of advanced and recurrent malignancies and is suitable for outpatient administration. This pilot study was carried out to evaluate the safety of weekly paclitaxel administration by 1 h infusion in the outpatient setting. METHODS Eleven patients with recurrent gynecological tumors who had previously been treated with at least one platinum-based chemotherapy regimen participated in the study between May 1999 and March 2000. Paclitaxel was given at a dose of 70 mg/m(2 ) as a 1 h infusion every week for at least 20 consecutive weeks unless lesions became progressive. Intravenous dexamethasone and cimetidine and oral diphenhydramine were administered 30 min before paclitaxel infusion. RESULTS The 11 patients received a total of 166 cycles of therapy. All patients received 70 mg/m(2 ) doses of paclitaxel without treatment delay. No hypersensitivity reactions were elicited. Grade 3 or 4 leukopenia and neutropenia occurred in 9 and 36% of the patients, respectively. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was required for only one patient and no patients experienced febrile neutropenia. Neurotoxicity was the most serious adverse effect and all patients experienced grade 1 or 2 peripheral neuropathy. Grade 1 or 2 myalgias were observed in 45% of the patients. Alopecia was universal. No Grade 3 or higher non-hematological toxicities were observed. CONCLUSION Weekly 1 h paclitaxel administration is considered safe as a salvage therapy for recurrent gynecological tumors, making its use more convenient and easier in the outpatient setting. The current results support further evaluation.

Information-guided stereotaxis, assisted by visualization of medical information, will become the next generation of neurosurgical systems. We performed 76 open MRI surgeries at Tokyo Women’s Medical University between March 3, 2000 and April 12, 2001. Of them, comparisons of pre- and post-operative MR images for malignant gliomas in 21 cases revealed an average resection rate of 90.3% (the maximum 100%, the minimum 55%). In this article we describe real time updated navigation, augmented reality navigation, three-dimensional navigation, chemical navigation, information-guided navigation system (High definition visual Computer Aided Surgery System: HivisCAS), and open MRI-guided surgery that we are developing.

The different effects of heat treatment on wood, especially on the cellulose crystallites of wood under ovendried and highly moist conditions, were investigated by X-ray diffractometer. Heat was found to increase significantly the crystallinity of wood cellulose; moreover, almost twice as much crystallization was observed after heat treatment of spruce and buna under a highly moist condition than under the oven-dried condition. In pure cellulose almost the same crystallization was observed under both the conditions, whereas more crystallization occurred in wood cellulose than in pure cellulose. Absolute crystallization was observed for the wood species and pure cellulose under both conditions, considering the thermal decomposition of the amorphous region in addition to crystallization. Our results suggested that other components accomparying wood cellulose were involved in the increase of crystallinity by heat treatment, and that wood cellulose contained more quasicrystalline regions than pure cellulose. Moreover, calculated apparent activation energies revealed that crystallization and decrystallization in pure and wood cellulose under heat treatment of highly moist condition were some-what easier than those under the oven-dried condition. The behavior of the piezoelectric modulusd′ 25 almost paralleled that of crystallinity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxicity and efficacy of weekly paclitaxel in patients with recurrent endometrial cancer. Methods: Paclitaxel (70 mg/m2 by 1-h infusion weekly) was administered to two patients with recurrent endometrial cancer of the lung. Results: After 5 cycles, both patients with platinum-resistant disease achieved clinical partial responses confirmed by computed tomography (CT) scan. The serum CA125 levels of case 1 decreased to cut-off level. The response duration of both patients was 4 months. The toxicity was acceptable and probably less pronounced than that characterize of the standard tri-weekly schedules. Conclusion: Although conclusions regarding survival are premature, weekly paclitaxel might offer better quality of life during treatment.

The piezoelectricity of cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose was investigated. Elastic, piezoelectric, and dielectric relaxations were observed at −80° to −60°C and 0° to 20°C at a frequency of 10Hz. The activation energy is about 9–15 kcal/mol in the low temperature region and about 30–45 kcal/mol at room temperature. These relaxations in the low temperature region may be caused by the motion of the cyanoethyl group and those at room temperature mostly by the motions of the main chain. Cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose has a high piezoelectric strain constant (d 25), which is the largest value among the cellulose derivatives and is almost the same as the value for polyvinylidene fluoride. The electromechanical coupling factor for cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose was small.

Metastases to the nasal tip from gynecological malignancies are extremely rare. We present a case of a tumor metastatic to the nasal tip from a carcinoma of the uterine cervix. We administered high-dose focal irradiation to the site of the tumor. The literature on metastases to the nose, maxillary sinuses, and paranasal sinuses from gynecologic malignancies is reviewed.

Objectives: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-related micoRNAs (miRNAs), BamHI-A rightward transcripts (BART)-miRNAs, are released in a stable form from viable cells, which are abundant in patients with EBV-positive nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We estimated copy numbers of circulating miR-BART2-5p, miR-BART17-5p, and miR-BART18-5p as well as BamHI-W DNA as biomarkers. Materials and Methods: Serums from 31 EBV-positive (confirmed by in situ hybridization for EBV-encoded small RNAs) NPC patients and 40 non-NPC controls were analyzed. Among the 31 NPC patients, serums at the initial diagnosis and three months after treatment were obtained from 20 patients, and serums only at three months after treatment were obtained from 11 patients. Results: The sensitivity/specificity of circulating BamHI-W DNA, miR-BART2-5p, miR-BART17-5p, and miR-BART18-5p for the diagnosis of NPC before treatment were 100/100, 85/85, 60/95, and 25/100%, respectively. For BamHI-W DNA, NPC patients with stage IV disease had significantly higher copy numbers than those with I-III. Copy numbers decreased significantly post-treatment. In contrast, copy numbers of the three BART-miRNAs showed no significant correlation with the clinical stage at diagnosis or any significant post-treatment change. After treatment, BamHI-W DNA and miR-BART17-5p were detected in 5 and 6 cases out of 11 patients with recurrent or residual tumors, respectively. However, BamHI-W DNA and miR-BART17-5p were absent in all 20 patients without relapse or residual tumors. Conclusion: The copy number of circulating BamHI-W DNA is a more useful biomarker for the initial diagnosis of NPC than the three BART-miRNAs examined. Post-treatment detection of miR-BART17-5p is a potential biomarker of a poor prognosis. © 2016 Hirai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Experience consistant a realiser un hologramme avec l'intensite de lumiere (tres faible) d'un photon unique

We reviewed a case of myasthenia gravis leading to degenerative scoliosis. The patient was a 62-year-old woman, who has been receiving treatment for myasthenia gravis since 33 years old. Her spinal deformity progressed rapidly during the last 7 years. Magnetic Resonance Image revealed atrophy of the paravertebral muscle and severe compression of the spinal cord. Instrumentation from Th11 to the ilium and posterior decompression were performed. After the operation, low back pain and intermittent claudication disappeared.

Aerodynamic forces, drag and lift were estimated by the body attached inertia sensors and high speed videography in ski jumping. Last ISEA conference, the authors presented our new method for the aerodynamic study on ski jumping. In this paper, we propose more robust and reliable measurement system by using wireless technology. Wireless 6DOF inertia sensor platform, which has a built-in tri-axial accelerometer and three single axial gyroscopes, was attached on the jumper’s low back. The authors adopted IEEE802.15.4 for the start trigger and real time monitoring during long training session. Sensor also has a flush memory inside for one hour data storage at 250Hz. The primary target of the present study is to extract the aerodynamic force data during real jumping flight. Angular velocity on the sagittal plane was directly measured from the gyroscope. Then we could obtain the jumper’s body pitch angle by its time integration. The accelerations with respect to the body local coordinate system which was determined by the body pitch angle, indicated the drag and lift forces. The assessment of the aerodynamic forces of ski jumping was examined by both of the sensor data and the kinematical data in this study.