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Abstract Background We aimed to determine the capabilities of compressed sensing (CS) and deep learning reconstruction (DLR) with those of conventional parallel imaging (PI) for improving image quality while reducing examination time on female pelvic 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods Fifty-two consecutive female patients with various pelvic diseases underwent MRI with T1- and T2-weighted sequences using CS and PI. All CS data was reconstructed with and without DLR. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of muscle and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between fat tissue and iliac muscle on T1-weighted images (T1WI) and between myometrium and straight muscle on T2-weighted images (T2WI) were determined through region-of-interest measurements. Overall image quality (OIQ) and diagnostic confidence level (DCL) were evaluated on 5-point scales. SNRs and CNRs were compared using Tukey’s test, and qualitative indexes using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results SNRs of T1WI and T2WI obtained using CS with DLR were higher than those using CS without DLR or conventional PI (p

Abstract Graphene oxide (GO) is the one of the most promising family of materials as atomically thin membranes for water-related molecular separation technologies due to its amphipathic nature and layered structure. Here, we show important aspects of GO on water adsorption from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, in-situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, and ex-situ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. Although the MD simulations for GO and the reduced GO models revealed that the flexibility of the interlayer spacing could be attributed to the oxygen-functional groups of GO, the ultra-large GO model cannot well explain the observed swelling of GO from XRD experiments. Our MD simulations propose a realistic GO interlayer structure constructed by staggered stacking of flexible GO sheets, which can explain very well the swelling nature upon water adsorption. The transmission electron microscopic (TEM) observation also supports the non-regular staggered stacking structure of GO. Furthermore, we demonstrate the existence of the two distinct types of adsorbed water molecules in the staggered stacking: water bonded with hydrophilic functional groups and “free” mobile water. Finally, we show that the staggered stacking of GO plays a crucial role in H/D isotopic recognition in water adsorption, as well as the high mobility of water molecules.

Abstract Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have the potential to promote peripheral nerve regeneration, although with limited capacity and foreign body reaction. This study investigated whether CNTs hydrophilized by oxidation can improve peripheral nerve regeneration and reduce foreign body reactions and inflammation. Three different artificial nerve conduit models were created using CNTs treated with ozone (O group), strong acid (SA group), and untreated (P group). They were implanted into a rat sciatic nerve defect model and evaluated after 8 and 16 weeks. At 16 weeks, the SA group showed significant recovery in functional and electrophysiological evaluations compared with the others. At 8 weeks, histological examination revealed a significant increase in the density of regenerated neurofilament and decreased foreign body giant cells in the SA group compared with the others. Oxidation-treated CNTs improved biocompatibility, induced nerve regeneration, and inhibited foreign-body reactions.

Background: Diffusion-weighted images (DWI) obtained by echo-planar imaging (EPI) are frequently degraded by susceptibility artifacts. It has been suggested that DWI obtained by fast advanced spin-echo (FASE) or reconstructed with deep learning reconstruction (DLR) could be useful for image quality improvements. The purpose of this investigation using in vitro and in vivo studies was to determine the influence of sequence difference and of DLR for DWI on image quality, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) evaluation, and differentiation of malignant from benign head and neck tumors. Methods: For the in vitro study, a DWI phantom was scanned by FASE and EPI sequences and reconstructed with and without DLR. Each ADC within the phantom for each DWI was then assessed and correlated for each measured ADC and standard value by Spearman’s rank correlation analysis. For the in vivo study, DWIs obtained by EPI and FASE sequences were also obtained for head and neck tumor patients. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and ADC were then determined based on ROI measurements, while SNR of tumors and ADC were compared between all DWI data sets by means of Tukey’s Honest Significant Difference test. Results: For the in vitro study, all correlations between measured ADC and standard reference were significant and excellent (0.92 ≤ ρ ≤ 0.99, p < 0.0001). For the in vivo study, the SNR of FASE with DLR was significantly higher than that of FASE without DLR (p = 0.02), while ADC values for benign and malignant tumors showed significant differences between each sequence with and without DLR (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In comparison with EPI sequence, FASE sequence and DLR can improve image quality and distortion of DWIs without significantly influencing ADC measurements or differentiation capability of malignant from benign head and neck tumors.

Previous studies of the protoplanetary disk HD 163296 revealed that the morphology of its sub-au infrared emission encompasses the terminal sublimation front of dust grains, referred to as the inner rim, but also extends into the (supposedly) dust-free region within it. Here, we present a set of radiative hydrostatic simulations of the inner rim in order to assess how much the rim alone can contribute to the observed interferometric visibilities V , half-light radii R _hl , and fractional disk fluxes ${ \mathcal F }$ in the wavelength range 1.5–13 μ m. In our set of models, we regulate the cooling efficiency of the disk via the boundary condition for radiation diffusion and we also modify the shape of the sublimation front. We find that when the cooling efficiency is reduced, the infrared photosphere at the rim becomes hotter, leading to an increase in R _hl sufficient to match the observations. However, the near-infrared disk flux is typically too low ( ${ \mathcal F }\simeq 0.25$ at 1.5 μ m), resulting in H -band visibility curves located above the observed data. We show that the match to the H -band observations up to moderate baselines can be improved when a wall-shaped rather than curved sublimation front is considered. Nevertheless, our model visibilities always exhibit a bounce at long baselines, which is not observed, confirming the need for additional emission interior to the rim. In summary, our study illustrates how the temperature structure and geometry of the inner rim need to change in order to boost the rim’s infrared emission.

Abstract Much theoretical effort and automatization are required to confront new physics models with experimental data for many types of particle reactions at future colliders. In this context, we extend Grace, an automatic calculation system for invariant amplitudes, to incorporate particles and interactions in the Georgi–Machacek model. With the extended Grace system, we study fermiophobic Higgs boson production processes at $$e^+ e^-$$ e + e - and $$e^- e^-$$ e - e - colliders in the model. The results show some advantages of $$e^- e^-$$ e - e - colliders over $$e^+ e^-$$ e + e - colliders for new physics search and thus its complementary role.

Abstract Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylindrical nanostructures and have unique properties, including flexibility, electrical conductivity, and biocompatibility. We focused on CNTs fabricated with the carbon nanotube yarns (cYarn) as a possible substrate promoting peripheral nerve regeneration with these properties. We bridged a 15 mm rat sciatic nerve defect with five different densities of cYarn. Eight weeks after the surgery, the regenerated axons crossing the CNTs, electromyographical findings, and muscle weight ratio of the lower leg showed recovery of the nerve function by interfacing with cYarn. Furthermore, the sciatic nerve functional index (SFI) at 16 weeks showed improvement in gait function. A 2% CNT density tended to be the most effective for nerve regeneration as measured by both histological axonal regeneration and motor function. We confirmed that CNT yarn promotes peripheral nerve regeneration by using it as a scaffold for repairing nerve defects. Our results support the future clinical application of CNTs for bridging nerve defects as an off-the-shelf material.

We investigated whether a blend of probiotics (KABP-021, KABP-022, and KABP-023) improved diarrhea-related problems in healthy Japanese adults who routinely lived under stressful conditions. Twenty-six females and 34 males were divided randomly into the probiotic and placebo groups in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group comparison study. All participants ingested 1 capsule of probiotics or placebo per day for 4 weeks. Intervention with probiotics significantly reduced diarrhea-related problems assessed by the Izumo scale compared with placebo treatment (P < 0.001). In the Short Form-8 questionnaire, probiotic intervention improved mental component scores (P = 0.002), role emotional scores (P = 0.002), and mental health scores (P < 0.001). Treatment with probiotics also reduced the effects of diarrhea on daily activities (P < 0.001) and overall working habits (P = 0.010), including missing work (absenteeism) and impaired productivity (presenteeism), as assessed by the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire: General Health. Furthermore, there was a correlation between improved scores for diarrhea on the Izumo scale and increased abundance of Faecalibacterium, a butyric acid-producing bacterium, in the gut in the probiotic group (P = 0.047), whereas no such a correlation or trend was found in the placebo group. Our strategy of supplementation for 4 weeks with a specific blend of probiotics reduced diarrhea-related symptoms and may improve the mental health and daily activities of healthy individuals under stress.

An area-detector CT (ADCT) has a 320-detector row and can obtain isotropic volume data without helical scanning within an area of nearly 160 mm. The actual-perfusion CT data within this area can, thus, be obtained by means of continuous dynamic scanning for the qualitative or quantitative evaluation of regional perfusion within nodules, lymph nodes, or tumors. Moreover, this system can obtain CT data with not only helical but also step-and-shoot or wide-volume scanning for body CT imaging. ADCT also has the potential to use dual-energy CT and subtraction CT to enable contrast-enhanced visualization by means of not only iodine but also xenon or krypton for functional evaluations. Therefore, systems using ADCT may be able to function as a pulmonary functional imaging tool. This review is intended to help the reader understand, with study results published during the last a few decades, the basic or clinical evidence about (1) newly applied reconstruction methods for radiation dose reduction for functional ADCT, (2) morphology-based pulmonary functional imaging, (3) pulmonary perfusion evaluation, (4) ventilation assessment, and (5) biomechanical evaluation.

Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) can improve the differentiation of material by using two different X-ray energy spectra, and may provide new imaging techniques to diagnostic radiology to overcome the limitations of conventional CT in characterizing tissue. Some techniques have used dual-energy imaging, which mainly includes dual-sourced, rapid kVp switching, dual-layer detectors, and split-filter imaging. In iodine images, images of the lung’s perfused blood volume (PBV) based on DECT have been applied in patients with pulmonary embolism to obtain both images of the PE occluding the pulmonary artery and the consequent perfusion defects in the lung’s parenchyma. PBV images of the lung also have the potential to indicate the severity of PE, including chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Virtual monochromatic imaging can improve the accuracy of diagnosing pulmonary vascular diseases by optimizing kiloelectronvolt settings for various purposes. Iodine images also could provide a new approach in the area of thoracic oncology, for example, for the characterization of pulmonary nodules and mediastinal lymph nodes. DECT-based lung ventilation imaging is also available with noble gases with high atomic numbers, such as xenon, which is similar to iodine. A ventilation map of the lung can be used to image various pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Abstract Background Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a rare adverse event in patients receiving adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for breast cancer. Few studies have reported the frequency of ILD in detail, and only small numbers of cases have been described in the literature. Given these previous findings concerning ILD, we retrospectively examined the clinicopathological characteristics of five cases of ILD who had received epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (EC) and compared their findings with non-ILD cases. Methods The present single-center retrospective study included breast cancer patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy or NAC at our hospital between January 2014 and January 2021. Results Thirty-nine patients who had received EC for operable breast cancer were enrolled in this study. ILD developed 5 out of 39 patients (12.8%). The incidence of ILD in patients with non-dose-dense (dd) or dd chemotherapy was statistically significantly different (p = 0.0149). ILD occurred in three patients during dd EC treatment and two during weekly paclitaxel (wPTX) after dd EC. ILD was detected in one patient with high Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) levels, in two patients with continuous pyrexia, and in two patients from computed tomography imaging, which was taken to estimate the efficacy of chemotherapy, in two patients. Three of the 5 ILD patients underwent bronchoalveolar lavage, and 2 of these patients were diagnosed with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP). There were no cases of serious ILD that required steroid pulse therapy. Conclusions Dd chemotherapy may be associated with an increased ILD frequency, which may reflect developing PCP. Careful monitoring and a timely diagnosis are useful for detecting early-stage ILD.

Since the Radiology Diagnostic Oncology Group (RDOG) report had been published in 1991, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging had limited clinical availability for thoracic malignancy, as well as pulmonary diseases. However, technical advancements in MR systems, such as sequence and reconstruction methods, and adjustments in the clinical protocol for gadolinium contrast media administration have provided fruitful results and validated the utility of MR imaging (MRI) for lung cancer evaluations. These techniques include: (1) contrast-enhanced MR angiography for T-factor evaluation, (2) short-time inversion recovery turbo spin-echo sequences as well as diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for N-factor assessment, and (3) whole-body MRI with and without DWI and with positron emission tomography fused with MRI for M-factor or TNM stage evaluation as well as for postoperative recurrence assessment of lung cancer or other thoracic tumors using 1.5 tesla (T) or 3T systems. According to these fruitful results, the Fleischner Society has changed its position to approve of MRI for lung or thoracic diseases. The purpose of this review is to analyze recent advances in lung MRI with a particular focus on lung cancer evaluation, clinical staging, and recurrence assessment evaluation.

Abstract Background Paravertebral compartment syndrome occurring without trauma is quite rare. We report a case of compartment syndrome that occurred after spinal exercises. Case presentation A 23-year-old Japanese rower developed severe back pain and was unable to move 1 day after performing exercises for the spinal muscles. Initial evaluation at a nearby hospital revealed hematuria and elevated creatine phosphokinase levels. He was transferred to our hospital, where magnetic resonance imaging revealed no hematoma but confirmed edema in the paravertebral muscles. The compartment pressure measurements were elevated bilaterally. Despite his pain being severe, his creatine phosphokinase levels were expected to peak and decline; his urine output was normal; and surgery was undesirable. Therefore, we opted for conservative management. The next day, the patient’s compartment pressure diminished, and his pain levels decreased to 2/10. After 5 days, he was able to walk without medication. Conclusions We present a rare case of compartment syndrome of the paravertebral muscles with good resolution following conservative management. We hope our case findings will help avoid unnecessary surgery in cases of paravertebral compartment syndrome.

The Japanese Society for Burn Injuries (JSBI) published the third edition of guidelines to present the standard of care for inpatient treatment of burn injuries in Japan. The guideline is not a mere revision of the first and second editions but has been carefully designed to be user friendly and of high quality for medical professionals engaged in burn care. We think it is important to share these guidelines with other countries to work toward a consensus of burn care, then develop new research to establish evidence for burn care and treatment in the future.

Characterizing the physical properties of dust grains in a protoplanetary disk is critical to comprehending the planet formation process. Our study presents Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) high-resolution observations of the young protoplanetary disk around DG Tau at a 1.3 mm dust continuum. The observations, with a spatial resolution of ≈0.″04, or ≈5 au, revealed a geometrically thin and smooth disk without substantial substructures, suggesting that the disk retains the initial conditions of the planet formation. To further analyze the distributions of dust surface density, temperature, and grain size, we conducted a multiband analysis with several dust models, incorporating ALMA archival data of the 0.87 and 3.1 mm dust polarization. The results showed that the Toomre Q parameter is ≲2 at a 20 au radius, assuming a dust-to-gas mass ratio of 0.01. This implies that a higher dust-to-gas mass ratio is necessary to stabilize the disk. The grain sizes depend on the dust models, and for the DSHARP compact dust, they were found to be smaller than ∼400 μ m in the inner region ( r ≲ 20 au) while exceeding larger than 3 mm in the outer part. Radiative transfer calculations show that the dust scale height is lower than at least one-third of the gas scale height. These distributions of dust enrichment, grain sizes, and weak turbulence strength may have significant implications for the formation of planetesimals through mechanisms such as streaming instability. We also discuss the CO snowline effect and collisional fragmentation in dust coagulation for the origin of the dust size distribution.

Dust particle sizes constrained from dust continuum and polarization observations by radio interferometry are inconsistent by at least an order of magnitude. Motivated by porous dust observed in small solar system bodies (e.g., from the Rosetta mission), we explore how the dust particle’s porosity affects the estimated particle sizes from these two methods. Porous particles have lower refractive indices, which affect both opacity and polarization fraction. With weaker Mie interference patterns, the porous particles have lower opacity at millimeter wavelengths than the compact particles if the particle size exceeds several hundred microns. Consequently, the inferred dust mass using porous particles can be up to a factor of six higher. The most significant difference between compact and porous particles is their scattering properties. The porous particles have a wider range of particle sizes with high linear polarization from dust self-scattering, allowing millimeter- to centimeter-sized particles to explain polarization observations. With a Bayesian approach, we use porous particles to fit HL Tau disk’s multiwavelength continuum and millimeter-polarization observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Very Large Array (VLA). The moderately porous particles with sizes from 1 mm–1 m can explain both continuum and polarization observations, especially in the region between 20 and 60 au. If the particles in HL Tau are porous, the porosity should be from 70%–97% from current polarization observations. We also predict that future observations of the self-scattering linear polarization at longer wavelengths (e.g., ALMA B1 and ngVLA) have the potential to further constrain the particle’s porosity and size.

Background: Clinicians may choose to administer antiplatelet medications to patients with cerebral aneurysms following endovascular coiling to prevent thrombus formation and vascular occlusion, if they fear a thrombus will form on the platinum wire where it diverges into the vessel from the aneurysm sac. However, the mechanism by which vascular endothelial cells repair a vessel in the living body in the event of a coil deviation and the effects of antiplatelet drugs on these cells have not been fully elucidated. We aimed to investigate the association between endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and endothelium formation at the surface of the platinum coils deployed in the carotid artery of rats, and to determine the effects of different antiplatelet drugs on this process. Subjects and Methods: We established an experimental model using normal and diabetic rats at 12 months of age. The diabetic rats were assigned to 4 different diet groups, distinguished by whether they were fed plain rat feed, or the same feed supplemented by 1 of 3 antiplatelet drugs (cilostazol, aspirin, or clopidogrel: all 0.1%) for 2 weeks, and the carotid artery was perforated by an embolization coil (“carotid coil model”). We monitored the process by which vascular endothelial cells formed the new endothelium on the surface of the coil by sampling and evaluating the region at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after placement. This repair process was also compared among 3 groups treated with different antiplatelet drugs (i.e. aspirin, clopidogrel, and cilostazol). One-way analysis of variance tests were performed to evaluate the differences in vascular thickness between groups, and P

We calculate the rapidity gap survival probability associated with the Higgs decay and Higgs plus dijet production in proton-proton collisions by resumming the leading non-global logarithms without any approximation to the number of colors. For dijet production, depending on partonic subprocesses, the probability involves various ‘color multipoles’, i.e., the product of 4 (qq→qq) or 6 (qg→qg) or 8 (gg→gg) Wilson lines. We calculate all these multipoles for a fixed dijet configuration and discuss the factorization of higher multipoles into lower multipoles as well as the validity of the large-Nc approximation.

Diffractive dijet production at the electron-ion collider (EIC) has been proposed to study the gluon Wigner distribution at small-x. We investigate the soft gluon radiation associated with the final state jets and an all order resummation formula is derived. We show that the soft gluon resummation plays an important role to describe E791 data on π-induced diffractive dijet production at Fermilab. Predictions for the EIC are presented, and we emphasize that the soft gluon resummation is an important aspect to explore the nucleon/nucleus tomography through these processes.

This case reports rare findings on computed tomography of a manifestation of malignant lymphoma, in which diffuse lung shadows appeared as miliary nodules distributed throughout the lungs bilaterally. The patient had a history of surgical treatment of rectal cancer and had received chemotherapy for suspicious liver metastasis. At her current presentation for evaluation suspected miliary tuberculosis on chest radiography, subsequent liver biopsy revealed a mass infiltration of atypical lymphocytes, which was diagnosed as follicular lymphoma. The miliary tuberculosis was suspected more than neoplastic lesions, such as metastatic rectal cancer or malignant lymphoma. Despite repeated bacteriologic tests of various samples, including sputum, urine, bronchial secretion, peripheral blood, bone marrow aspiration, and gastric lavage, all results were negative for mycobacterium tuberculosis. Finally, multiple, small, mass lesions of lymphocytes were demonstrated in the lung obtained from video-assisted thoracic surgery, and a diagnosis of follicular lymphoma was given. The final interpretations of liver mass and military lung lesions were tumor involvement by the follicular lymphoma. This radiologic findings of multiple miliary opacities throughout the whole lungs confused definite diagnosis because these images were remarkably similar with miliary tuberculous. This case reminds us to consider a wide variety of differential diagnoses even we assumed to be familiar with radiographic imaging at first glance.

Very recently, a modest but significant efficacy of granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) inhalation therapy for the treatment of mild to moderate autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (aPAP) has been reported. As the ability to measure the level of GM-CSF autoantibody (GMAb) in the serum is required to decide the indication for this therapy, we developed a high-performance GMAb testing kit for clinical use. As the kit succeeded in reducing nonspecific IgG binding to the ELISA plate, the predictive performance shown in the training study to discriminate aPAP patients from healthy subjects was perfect, providing a cut-off value of 1.65 U·mL−1 in 78 patients with aPAP and 90 healthy subjects in an operator-blinded manner using logistic regression analysis. As in the validation study, serum samples from another 213 patients with aPAP were also blinded and evaluated in an operator-blinded manner against external 207 samples from patients with other types of PAP and patients exhibiting various ground-glass opacities on chest high-resolution computed tomography that require discrimination from PAP. The logistic regression analysis of these validation data sets revealed values of 97.6% and 100% for specificity and sensitivity, respectively. Thus, this new GMAb testing kit is reliable for the diagnosis of aPAP and differential diagnosis of other lung diseases.

Abstract Full one-loop electroweak corrections for an $$e^-e^+\rightarrow t \bar{t}$$ e-e+→tt¯ process associated with sequential $$t\rightarrow b \mu \nu _\mu $$ t→bμνμ decay are discussed. At the one-loop level, the spin-polarization effects of the initial electron and positron beams are included in the total and differential cross sections. A narrow-width approximation is used to treat the top-quark production and decay while including full spin correlations between them. We observed that the radiative corrections due to the weak interaction have a large polarization dependence on both the total and the differential cross sections. Therefore, experimental observables that depend on angular distributions such as the forward–backward asymmetry of the top-production angle must be treated carefully including radiative corrections. We also observed that the energy distribution of bottom quarks is largely affected by the radiative corrections.

Environmental light conditions influence the biosynthesis of monoterpenes in the mint plant. Cyclic terpenes, such as menthol, menthone, pulegone, and menthofuran, are major odor components synthesized in mint leaves. However, it is unclear how light for cultivation affects the contents of these compounds. Artificial lighting using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for plant cultivation has the advantage of preferential wavelength control. Here, we monitored monoterpene contents in hydroponically cultivated Japanese mint leaves under blue, red, or far-red wavelengths of LED light supplements. Volatile cyclic monoterpenes, pulegone, menthone, menthol, and menthofuran were quantified using the head-space solid phase microextraction method. As a result, all light wavelengths promoted the biosynthesis of the compounds. Remarkably, two weeks of blue-light supplement increased all compounds: pulegone (362% increase compared to the control), menthofuran (285%), menthone (223%), and menthol (389%). Red light slightly promoted pulegone (256%), menthofuran (178%), and menthol (197%). Interestingly, the accumulation of menthone (229%) or menthofuran (339%) was observed with far-red light treatment. The quantification of glandular trichomes density revealed that no increase under light supplement was confirmed. Blue light treatment even suppressed the glandular trichome formation. No promotion of photosynthesis was observed by pulse-amplitude-modulation (PAM) fluorometry. The present result indicates that light supplements directly promoted the biosynthetic pathways of cyclic monoterpenes.

Fusion genes involving MEF2D have recently been identified in precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, mutually exclusive of the common risk stratifying genetic abnormalities, although their true incidence and associated clinical characteristics remain unknown. We identified 16 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 1 of lymphoma harboring MEF2D fusions, including MEF2D-BCL9 (n=10), MEF2D-HNRNPUL1 (n=6), and one novel MEF2D-HNRNPH1 fusion. The incidence of MEF2D fusions overall was 2.4% among consecutive precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients enrolled onto a single clinical trial. They frequently showed a cytoplasmic μ chain-positive pre-B immunophenotype, and often expressed an aberrant CD5 antigen. Besides up- and down-regulation of HDAC9 and MEF2C, elevated GATA3 expression was also a characteristic feature of MEF2D fusion-positive patients. Mutations of PHF6, recurrent in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, also showed an unexpectedly high frequency (50%) in these patients. MEF2D fusion-positive patients were older (median age 9 years) with elevated WBC counts (median: 27,300/ml) at presentation and, as a result, were mostly classified as NCI high risk. Although they responded well to steroid treatment, MEF2D fusion-positive patients showed a significantly worse outcome, with 53.3% relapse and subsequent death. Stem cell transplantation was ineffective as salvage therapy. Interestingly, relapse was frequently associated with the presence of CDKN2A/CDKN2B gene deletions. Our observations indicate that MEF2D fusions comprise a distinct subgroup of precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with a characteristic immunophenotype and gene expression signature, associated with distinct clinical features.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify the correlation between preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of myoma and the incidence of bleeding during laparoscopic myomectomy (LM). Methods: We investigated the preoperative MRI findings of 25 patients who underwent LM from January 2012 to December 2014, including patients who had undergone myoma resection. We evaluated the correlations between perioperative blood loss and the size of the myoma as well as between perioperative blood loss and the maximal minor axis of flow void (MMAFV) of the myoma margins. Results: The mean diameters of the myomas were as follows: longest axis, 60.4 ± 20.6 mm; occipitofrontal diameter, 55.0 ± 15.7 mm; upper and lower diameters (ULDs), 53.7 ± 19.3 mm; and transverse diameter, 56.5 ± 21.7 mm. The mean MMAFV was 2.1± 0.9 mm. The estimated mean blood loss was 104.9 g (range, 5–450 g). All myoma diameters showed a significant linear positive correlation with the estimated perioperative blood loss. The correlation of the ULDs was the highest among all myoma diameters (r = 0.59, P = 0.0021). The MMAFV showed a significant linear positive correlation with the estimated perioperative blood loss (r = 0.62, P = 0.0010). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the ULDs and MMAFV of the myoma margins are risk factors for bleeding during LM, as determined using preoperative MRI.

We perform the leading logarithmic resummation of nonglobal logarithms for the single-hemisphere jet mass distribution in e+e− annihilation including the finite-Nc corrections. The result is compared with the previous all-order result in the large-Nc limit as well as fixed-order perturbative calculations.

[Cu(4,4'-bipyridine)2(BF4)2] (ELM-11), an elastic layer-structured MOF (metal-organic framework), is expected to be a sophisticated CO2 reservoir candidate because of its high capacity and recovery efficiency for CO2 sorption. While ELM-11 shows a unique double-step gate sorption for CO2 gas, the dynamics of the structural transition have not yet been clarified. In this study, the dynamics of the 4,4'-bipyridine linkers and the BF4- anions were studied by determining 1H spin-lattice relaxation times (T1). The ELM-11 structural transition accompanying CO2 sorption was also examined through the CO2 uptake dependence of the 1H spin–spin relaxation time (T2), in addition to T1. In its closed form, the temperature dependence of the 1H T1 of ELM-11 was analyzed by considering the contributions of both paramagnetic and dipolar relaxations, which revealed the isotropic reorientation of BF4- and the torsional flipping of the 4,4'-bipyridine moieties. The resultant activation energy of 32 kJ mol-1 for the isotropic BF4− reorientation is suggestive of strong (B-F...Cu2+) interactions between Cu(II) and the F atoms in BF4−. Furthermore, the CO2 uptake dependence of T1 was found to be dominated by competition between the increase in the longitudinal relaxation time of the electron spins and the decrease in the spin density in the unit cell.

Non-magnetic impurity scattering effects on the vortex core states are theoretically studied to clarify the contributions from the sign-change of the pairing function in anisotropic superconductors. The vortex states are calculated by the Eilenberger theory in superconductors with p x -wave pairing symmetry, as well as the corresponding anisotropic s-wave symmetry. From the spatial structure of the pair potential and the local electronic states around a vortex, we examine the differences between anisotropic superconductors with and without sign-change of the pairing function, and estimate how twofold symmetric vortex core images change with increasing the impurity scattering rate both in the Born and the unitary limits. We found that twofold symmetric vortex core image of zero-energy local density of states changes the orientation of the twofold symmetry with increasing the scattering rate when the sign change occurs in the pairing function. Without the sign change, the vortex core shape reduces to circular one with approaching dirty cases. These results of the impurity effects are valuable for identifying the pairing symmetry by observation of the vortex core image by the STM observation.

Ovarian cancer arising from an ovarian endometriotic cyst is frequently encountered; however, this condition has rarely been reported in young patients. We herein report a case of malignant transformation of an ovarian endometriotic cyst in a 26-year-old woman (gravida 0, para 0). During the initial examination at our hospital, ultrasound revealed an endometriotic cyst in the right ovary measuring 49×44×29 mm and an endometriotic cyst in the left ovary measuring 59×53×32 mm with no marked mural nodules on either side. The patient was followed up every 3 months while receiving hormone therapy. At the 6-month follow-up, ultrasound revealed 10-mm mural nodules within the endometriotic cyst of the left ovary. At 10 months, ultrasound revealed that these the mural nodules had enlarged to 15 mm. Pelvic magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the tumor in the left ovary was 64×63 mm in size, which was slightly larger than in the previous scan. The patient underwent laparotomy because of the potential for malignant transformation. Pathological examination revealed clear cell adenocarcinoma. Although malignant transformation of this cancer is rare in women in their 20s, its possibility should be considered; this is true even when cyst enlargement can be controlled during hormone therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging is extremely useful in the diagnosis of malignant transformation.

The article focuses on investigating the potential therapeutic effects of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs) in a mouse model of Kawasaki disease (KD), particularly in suppressing coronary artery vasculitis. It examines the administration of hADSCs and its impact on reducing inflammation, as well as explores the involvement of Galectin-1 (Gal-1) in mediating these anti-inflammatory effects.

The article focuses on investigating the mechanisms of bendamustine resistance in leukemia cells, emphasizing epigenetic factors, particularly the methylation status of the PLK-1 gene. It is reported that Bendamustine-resistant leukemia cells exhibited decreased expression of Polo-like kinase-1 (PLK-1) mRNA. It is noted that treatment with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine significantly increased PLK-1 gene expression.

Background Burn injuries, particularly extensive severe burns, often have a fatal prognosis. However, many prognostic predictors are based on changes in the clinical course of treatment, and no prognostic predictors can be estimated in the early phases of injury. Using the Burn Index (BI) for evaluations requires familiarity with daily burn treatment, such as being able to evaluate the change from a second degree burn to a third degree burn appropriately. We sought to find a simpler and more quantitative prognostic prediction index. Methods We hypothesized that, in addition to the current prognostic predictors, the number of neutrophils in severe burns may correlate with the prognosis, and analyzed its usefulness. The neutrophil and white blood cell counts were measured within 48 hours of injury in 35 burn patients who required inpatient treatment at our own institution. Mann--Whitney test was used to deter- mine the significant of differences between the Survivor and Non-survivor groups. Results Compared to the Survivor group, neutrophil (P = 0.038) and white blood cell counts were increased significantly in the Non-survivor group (P = 0.004). Neutrophil counts and white blood cell counts correlated positively with the length of hospital stay, total body surface area, Prognostic Burn Index (PBI), and BI. The BI and PBI correlated with patient prognosis, as did neutrophil and white blood cell counts. Conclusion These results suggested that neutrophil and white blood cell counts in the early phases of burn injuries might be another factor in the prognosis of burn patients in addition to the current predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]