Hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is a life-threatening disorder characterized by pancytopenia and activation of macrophages. Recently, corticosteroid incorporated in lipid microspheres (liposteroid) has ...been reported to be taken up by macrophages and to suppress their functions. Here we present a case of systemic lupus erythematosus complicated by HPS that was successfully treated with liposteroid in addition to an oral corticosteroidand intravenoushigh-dose cyclophosphamidetherapy. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-a and ferritin that have been reported to be associated with activity of macrophages remarkably reduced after liposteroid administration. This case suggests that liposteroid is useful for the treatment of HPS.
We report a search for X ( 3872 ) and X ( 3915 ) in B+ → χc1π0K+ decays. We set an upper limit of B ( B+ → X ( 3872 ) K+ ) × B ( X ( 3872 ) → χc1π0 ) <8.1×10-6 and B ( B+ → X ( 3915 ) K+ ) × B ( X ( ...3915 ) → χc1π0 ) <3.8×10-5 at 90% confidence level. We also measure B ( X ( 3872 ) → χc1π0 ) / B ( X ( 3872 ) → J / ψπ+π- ) <0.97 at 90% confidence level. The results reported here are obtained from 772×106 B B ¯ events collected at the Υ ( 4S ) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider.
Equal amounts of matter and antimatter are predicted to have been produced in the Big Bang, but our observable Universe is clearly matter-dominated. One of the prerequisites for understanding this ...elimination of antimatter is the nonconservation of charge-parity (CP) symmetry. So far, two types of CP violation have been observed in the neutral K meson (K0) and B meson (B0) systems: CP violation involving the mixing between K0 and its antiparticle (and likewise for B0 and ), and direct CP violation in the decay of each meson. The observed effects for both types of CP violation are substantially larger for the B0 meson system. However, they are still consistent with the standard model of particle physics, which has a unique source of CP violation that is known to be too small to account for the matter-dominated Universe. Here we report that the direct CP violation in charged B±→K± 0 decay is different from that in the neutral B0 counterpart. The direct CP-violating decay rate asymmetry, (that is, the difference between the number of observed B-→K- 0 event versus B+→K+ 0 events, normalized to the sum of these events) is measured to be about +7%, with an uncertainty that is reduced by a factor of 1.7 from a previous measurement. However, the asymmetry for versus B0→K+ - is at the -10% level. Although it is susceptible to strong interaction effects that need further clarification, this large deviation in direct CP violation between charged and neutral B meson decays could be an indication of new sources of CP violation-which would help to explain the dominance of matter in the Universe.
To investigate the clinical courses of patients with corneal endothelial dysfunction due to
milky latex-induced injury.
In this retrospective case series, we included consecutive patients who visited ...Miyata Eye Hospital or Kagoshima Miyata Eye Clinic between October 2010 and August 2017 and had corneal edema caused by
milky latex-induced injury. Patient information and data on central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal endothelial cell density (ECD), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and treatment were retrospectively reviewed.
Five eyes of four patients were included. The mean age was 79.0 ± 7.1 years. All patients complaining of symptoms visited the hospital 1 or 2 days after the injury. All patients had corneal edema; two of the five eyes showed hyperemia, whereas none showed corneal epithelial defect or blepharitis. The mean CCT was 699.8 ± 95.9 μm at the first visit and decreased to 563.2 ± 74.0 μm 1 week after the injury with treatment with topical steroids and antibiotics. The mean ECD and BCVA were 2695.8 ± 191.3 cells/mm
and 0.22 ± 0.19 at the first visit and 2826.0 ± 132.9 cells/mm
and 0.10 ± 0.09 one week after the injury, respectively.
caused transient dysfunction of the corneal endothelium and thereby, corneal edema. Accurate diagnosis with history taking is important to ascertain the types of plants the patient has touched and to exclude other possible diagnoses.
To clarify the functional status of the articularis genus muscle (AGM) in individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to analyze the muscle's relationship with knee OA.
Fifty-two individuals with ...knee OA (mean age, 73.4 years), 50 elderly individuals without knee OA changes (mean age, 71.2 years) and 75 young individuals (mean age, 20.2 years) were observed the AGM using ultrasonography. The thickness of the AGM, the anteroposterior distance of the suprapatellar bursa, and moving distance of the muscle insertion were measured both at rest and during isometric contraction, and values during contraction were expressed as percentages of the values at rest (%Muscle-Increase, %Bursa-Increase).
Muscle thickness at rest, %Muscle-Increase, %Bursa-Increase, and moving distance of the muscle insertion were significantly lower and anteroposterior distance of the suprapatellar bursa was significantly higher in the OA group than in the controls (p<0.001, all). In the OA group, these values for the AGM were significantly correlated with knee range of motion, knee pain, and Kellgren and Lawrence grade.
Individuals with knee OA exhibited atrophic changes and dysfunctions of the AGM, and these were associated with symptoms. Atrophic changes and dysfunctions of the AGM may be specific changes associated with knee OA.
A search for the decays B+ → hcK+ and B0 → hcKS0 is performed. Evidence for the decay B+ → hcK+ is found; its significance is 4.8σ . No evidence is found for B0 → hcKS0 . The branching fraction for ...B+ → hcK+ is measured to be ( 3.7-0.9+1.0 -0.8+0.8 ) ×10-5 ; the upper limit for the B0 → hcKS0 branching fraction is 1.4×10-5 at 90% C.L. In addition, a study of the p p ¯ π+π- invariant mass distribution in the channel B+ → ( p p ¯ π+π- ) K+ results in the first observation of the decay ηc ( 2S ) → p p ¯ π+π- with 12.1σ significance. The analysis is based on the 711 fb-1 data sample collected by the Belle detector at the asymmetric-energy e+e- collider KEKB at the γ ( 4S ) resonance.
We study charmless hadronic decays of charged B mesons to the final states KS0KS0K± and KS0KS0π± using a 711 fb-1 data sample that contains 772×106 B B ¯ pairs and was collected at the Υ ( 4S ) ...resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. For B± → KS0KS0K± , the measured branching fraction and direct CP asymmetry are 10.42±0.43 ( stat ) ±0.22 ( syst ) ×10-6 and +1.6±3.9 ( stat ) ±0.9 ( syst ) % , respectively. In the absence of a statistically significant signal for B± → KS0KS0π± , we obtain a 90% confidence-level upper limit on its branching fraction as 8.7×10-7 .
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