Search

This report described the case of a 70-year-old man who developed polyarthralgia after nivolumab treatment for recurrent esophageal cancer. Arthritis developed after initiating nivolumab therapy, and the patient tested positive for rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies. The hand and elbow joints were already deformed, suggesting that he had had rheumatoid arthritis for several years and that the symptoms had only become apparent after nivolumab administration. This patient had rheumatoid arthritis, which was diagnosed as a nivolumab-induced rheumatic immune-related adverse event (rh-irAEs). Arthralgia during nivolumab administration can occur in rh-irAE cases. Patients should be assessed for autoimmune diseases before initiating immune checkpoint inhibitors.

[Background] Talaporfin sodium photodynamic therapy (TS-PDT) for local failure after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma has recently been reported to be highly effective and less invasive, compared to other treatment modalities. TS-PDT was recently introduced at the Tottori University Hospital, Japan. The aim of this study is to clarify the efficacy and safety of PDT in our hospital. [Methods] This was a single-center observational study. We examined eight cases of TS-PDT performed between January 2016 and December 2019. The main endpoints were local complete remission (L-CR) rate and the adverse events. In addition, age, gender, histology, tumor location, TNM stage, tumor depth, irradiation dose, and overall survival (OS) were examined. [Results] The patients included 7 men and a woman, with an average age of 72.1 years (range 63–82 years). The baseline clinical stages before CRT or radiotherapy were stage I in 1, stage II in 3, stage III in 3, and stage IVA in 1 patient. The T stage on endoscopic assessment before TS-PDT was T1 in 6 patients and T2 in 2 patients. Treatment outcomes and adverse events were evaluated. There were no treatment-related deaths, and no significant adverse events occurred intraoperatively or postoperatively. The L-CR rate was 7/8 (87.5%); T1 cases had 100% (6/6) L-CR, while T2 cases had 50% (1/2). The 2-year OS rates were 87%. [Conclusion] TS-PDT was observed to be safe and effective in the first eight cases of its application following its introduction in our hospital.

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) often accompanies a short RNA molecule called a satellite RNA (satRNA). When infected with CMV in the presence of Y-satellite RNA (Y-sat), tobacco leaves develop a green mosaic, then turn yellow. Y-sat has been identified in the fields in Japan. Here, we show that the yellow leaf colour preferentially attracts aphids, and that the aphids fed on yellow plants, which harbour Y-sat-derived small RNAs (sRNAs), turn red and subsequently develop wings. In addition, we found that leaf yellowing did not necessarily reduce photosynthesis, and that viral transmission was not greatly affected despite the low viral titer in the Y-sat-infected plants. Y-sat-infected plants can therefore support a sufficient number of aphids to allow for efficient virus transmission. Our results demonstrate that Y-sat directly alters aphid physiology via Y-sat sRNAs to promote wing formation, an unprecedented survival strategy that enables outward spread via the winged insect vector., The cucumber mosaic virus is accompanied by short RNA molecules, satellite RNAs. This study shows that leaves infected with Y-satellite RNA preferentially attract aphids and manipulate aphid physiology to promote their spread to neighbouring plants.

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and en bloc resection of stomach and colon tumors have become common. However, mucosal defects resulting from ESD may cause delayed bleeding and perforation. To prevent adverse events, we developed a new clip closure technique, namely, the loop and open–close clip closure method (LOCCM), and aimed to examine its efficacy after ESD for stomach and colon tumors. The LOCCM uses loop and open–close clips. Here, the open–close clip was used to grasp the loop to bring it to the edge of the post-ESD mucosal defect. Another clip with a loop was then inserted into the opposite edge and clipped to the contralateral mucosa to pull both edges together. Once apposed, additional clips facilitated complete closure. The LOCCM was performed in 19 patients after ESD at Tottori University between October 2020 and March 2021. The outcomes retrospectively analyzed were the LOCCM success and adverse event rates. The complete closure rate using LOCCM was 89.5% and none of the patients had post-ESD bleeding or perforation. The results show that LOCCM is an effective and safe closure technique for mucosal defects after stomach and colon ESD to prevent bleeding and perforation.

Nano-size EVONIK AEROXIDE® P25 titanium dioxide, TiO2, powder was heat-treated at temperatures, 700–900°C, in air. An X-ray diffraction study showed that the P25 powder is composed of approximately 20 and approximately 80 mass% of rutile and anatase phases, respectively. It was also shown that the transformation from anatase to rutile induced by hightemperature heat treatment was almost completed at 750°C, whereas a small amount (less than 3 mass%) of anatase phase was still left even in the powder heat-treated at 900°C. The transformation behaviour was consistent with results obtained by Raman scattering spectroscopy. Raman experiments also indicated that high-temperature heating induced the formation of oxide ion vacancies. Powders were dispersed in methyl orange (MO) aqueous solution, and the bleach rate of MO was measured to evaluate photocatalytic activity under ultraviolet (UV)- and visible-light irradiation. After the heat treatment, the UV-light photocatalytic performance sharply deteriorated. Interestingly, visible-light photocatalytic activity was enhanced by high-temperature heating and reached the highest performance for an 800°C-heated sample, indicating that the P25 powder obtained high visible-light photocatalytic performance after heat treatment. Even after 900°C heat treatment, the photocatalytic performance was higher than that of as-received powder. Enhancement of photocatalytic activities was discussed in relation to visible light absorption and charge carrier transfer., T.I., H.O. and D.H. were supported by a programme, the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities, grant no. S1311023, from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan.

An evaluation method for stiffness of origami folding is proposed. As a simple idea to evaluate the stiffness, we may consider a sheet of paper as a rectangular board, and evaluate its elastic deformation. However, when we apply this simple idea to folding of a folded sheet of paper, it contradicts the results of a questionnaire survey. We investigate more details of folding motion of origami, and give a hypothesis that the stiffness of folding motion comes from the intersection points of crease lines, where is the toughest points to fold. Our proposed evaluation method is consistent with the questionnaire survey, and hence useful to evaluate the stiffness of folding.Copyright © 2015 by ASME

In this paper put forward are neuron-type models, i.e., neural network model, wavelet neuron model and three layered wavelet neuron model(WV3), for estimating traveling time between signalized intersections in order to facilitate adaptive setting of traffic signal parameters such as green time and offset. Model validation tests using simulated data reveal that compared to other models, WV3 model works very fast in learning process and can produce more accurate estimates of travel time. Also, it is exhibited that up-link information obtainable from optical beacons, i.e., travel time observed during the former cycle time in this case, makes a crucial input variable to the models in that there isn't any substantial difference between the change of estimated and simulated travel time with the change of green time or offset when up-link information is employed as input while there appears big discrepancy between them when not employed.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of S-1 monotherapy in patients with pretreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).We prospectively analyzed patients previously treated with a platinum-containing regimen or monotherapy with a third-generation chemotherapeutic drug. S-1 was orally administered at approximately 80 mg/m / 2day for 28 days followed by a 2-week rest period. We evaluated the efficacy and toxicities.A total of 15 patients received S-1 monotherapy. Three partial responses were observed among them with an overall response rate of 20%. Toxicities of grade 3 or higher included anemia(13%), thrombocytopenia( 6%), fatigue(6%), anorexia(13%), diarrhea(13%), interstitialpneumonitis(6%)and infection(6%). The ratio of outpatient treatment period was 73.5%. The median time to progression, median survivaltime and 1-year survival rate were 4.2 months, 7.8 months and 27.8% respectively.S-1 monotherapy was suggested to be effective and tolerable in patients with pretreated advanced NSCLC.

We studied the clinical features and efficacy of home noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) therapy in 80 patients to ascertain its indications and problems. The causes of chronic respiratory failure were restrictive thoracic diseases of post-tuberculosis sequelae (40 cases) and kyphoscoliosis (9 cases), COPD (8 cases), bronchiectasis (7 cases), and interstitial pneumonia (4 cases). One year survival rate of the patients with post-tuberculosis sequelae was 76% and most of the patients who started NPPV at their acute exacerbation died within several months. About half of the patients of COPD improved their quality of life (QOL) through NPPV. However, their survival rate 3 months later was only 69%. More than half of the patients with bronchiectasis felt that their QOL was improved by NPPV. Most of the patients with interstitial pneumonia died within 3 months indicating that NPPV is less useful for improving QOL of interstitial pneumonia PaCO2, after home NPPV, decreased significantly in the responder group (70.0 +/- 15.4 vs. 57.6 +/- 10.7[SD]Torr, p0.05), while PaCO2 in the non-responder group was unchanged (65.4 +/- 12.1 vs. 64.2 - 10.4 [SD] Torr). Body Mass Index (BMI) in the responder group tended to be higher than in the non-responder group. In conclusion, the restrictive thoracic diseases with post-tuberculosis sequelae and kyphoscoliosis are a good indication for NPPV and the therapy is also useful for patients with bronchiectasis who can dispose of their sputum by themselves. Home NPPV is suitable for patients whose PaCO2 decreases through NPPV and whose BMI is relatively high. QOL of interstitial pneumonia barely improves through NPPV, because interstitial pneumonia with hypercapnia is at the terminal stage.