Aortic aneurysms are associated with fatal aortic rupture. Current therapeutic approaches are limited to implantation of aortic prostheses and stent-grafts; no effective drugs are available because ...the pathogenic mechanisms of aortic aneurysms remain unclear. Here, we aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the initiation and progression of aortic aneurysm by lipidomics. We performed lipidomics analyses of lipids in the aortic media of normal, border, and aneurysm areas from patients with thoracic atherosclerotic aortic aneurysm (N = 30), thoracic nonatherosclerotic aortic aneurysm (N = 19), and abdominal atherosclerotic aortic aneurysm (N = 11) and from controls (N = 8) using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Significant alterations were observed in the lipid profiles of patients with atherosclerotic aortic aneurysms and to a lesser extent in those with nonatherosclerotic aneurysms. Increased triacylglycerols (TGs) and decreased ether-type phosphatidylethanolamines (ePEs) were observed throughout the normal, border, and aneurysm areas of thoracic and abdominal atherosclerotic aortic aneurysms. Prostaglandin D
increased, but ePEs and TGs decreased in normal areas of thoracic atherosclerotic aortic aneurysms and thoracic nonatherosclerotic aortic aneurysms compared with the control tissues. These findings expand our knowledge of metabolic changes in aortic aneurysms and provide insights into the pathophysiology of aortic aneurysms.
The purpose of this study was to determine changes in the hepatic arteries after treatment with a molecular targeted agent (MTA), and evaluate the safety and efficacy of transarterial ...chemoembolization (TACE) as a post-MTA treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
The cases of 33 patients with intermediate HCC treated with MTA and TACE were studied retrospectively. The hepatic arteries, and the safety and efficacy of TACE were evaluated before and after MTA treatment.
Following long-term MTA treatment, the diameters of hepatic arteries decreased significantly, while there was no difference in the diameters of the splenic artery or the portal vein. No significant adverse events were observed due to TACE after MTA; however, the therapeutic effect of TACE was limited after MTA treatment.
This study demonstrated that the diameters of hepatic arteries were significantly smaller than those before MTA induction, suggesting ischemic effects and tumor vessel "normalization" by MTA treatment. Although TACE can be performed as a post-MTA treatment without lowering the hepatic reserve or causing serious complications, its therapeutic effect is limited.
Selective etching of LaAlSiOx to Si has been studied in inductively coupled BCl3 plasma using a hot cathode, and in capacitively coupled C4F8/Ar and C4F8/Ar/H2 plasmas. In BCl3 high-temperature ...etching, the etch selectivity of LaAlSiOx to Si was 0.05 at 210 °C. It was found that increasing the bias power using capacitively coupled C4F8/Ar plasma enhanced LaAlSiOx etching. Furthermore, the etch rate of LaAlSiOx increased and that of Si decreased upon the addition of H2. As a result, a high LaAlSiOx-to-Si selectivity of 6.7 was obtained when using C4F8/Ar/H2 plasma at an H2 flow rate ratio of 13%. We confirmed that H2 played different roles on the LaAlSiOx surface and on the Si surface. H2 suppressed Si etching by forming a high-C/F-ratio polymer on the Si surface, while it enhanced LaAlSiOx etching by breaking the stable metal-oxygen bonds of LaAlSiOx.
Double-contrast upper gastrointestinal barium X-ray radiography (UGI-XR) is one of the most widely conducted gastric cancer screening methods. It has been executed to find gastric cancer, but has not ...been usually executed to detect premalignant atrophic mucosa of stomach. To understand the meaning of UGI-XR-based atrophic gastritis, we analyzed its association with several causative factors including Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection.
We evaluated 6,901 healthy adults in Japan. UGI-XR-based atrophic gastritis was diagnosed based on the irregular shape of areae gastricae and its expansion in the stomach.
Of the 6,433 subjects with no history of HP eradication and free from gastric acid suppressants, 1,936 were diagnosed as UGI-XR-based atrophic gastritis (mild: 234, moderate: 822, severe: 880). These were univariately associated with serum HP IgG and serum pepsinogen I/II ratio with statistical significance. The multiple logistic analysis calculating standardized coefficients (β) and odds ratio (OR) demonstrated that serum HP IgG (β = 1.499, OR = 4.48), current smoking (β = 0.526, OR = 1.69), age (β = 0.401, OR = 1.49), low serum pepsinogen I/II ratio (β = 0.339, OR = 1.40), and male gender (β = 0.306, OR = 1.36) showed significant positive association with UGI-XR-based atrophic gastritis whereas drinking and body mass index did not. Among the age/sex/smoking/drinking-matched 227 pairs derived from chronically HP-infected and successfully HP-eradicated subjects, UGI-XR-based atrophic gastritis was detected in 99.1% of the former but in only 59.5% of the latter subjects (p<0.0001). Contrastively, UGI-XR-based atrophic gastritis was detected in 13 of 14 HP-positive proton pump inhibitor users (92.9%) and 33 of 34 HP-positive histamine H2-receptor antagonist users (97.1%), which are not significantly different from gastric acid suppressant-free subjects.
The presence of UGI-XR-based atrophic gastritis is positively associated with Helicobacter pylori infection, current smoking, age, decreased serum pepsinogen I/II ratio, and male gender. Eradication of Helicobacter pylori seems to superficially improve UGI-XR-based atrophic gastritis whereas intake of gastric acid suppressants does not.
Gout is a common arthritis caused by elevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels. Here we investigated loci influencing SUA in a genome-wide meta-analysis with 121,745 Japanese subjects. We identified 8948 ...variants at 36 genomic loci (
<5 × 10
) including eight novel loci. Of these, missense variants of
and
were predicted to be damaging to the function of these proteins; another five loci-
,
,
,
, and
-are related to cell metabolism, proliferation, or oxidative stress; and the remaining locus,
, is unknown. We also identified 132 correlated genes whose expression levels are associated with SUA-increasing alleles. These genes are enriched for the UniProt transport term, suggesting the importance of transport-related genes in SUA regulation. Furthermore, trans-ethnic meta-analysis across our own meta-analysis and the Global Urate Genetics Consortium has revealed 15 more novel loci associated with SUA. Our findings provide insight into the pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of hyperuricemia/gout.
Abstract
The Gamma-Ray Astro-Imager with Nuclear Emulsion (GRAINE) project is aimed at the precise observation of astronomical gamma-ray sources in the energy range of 10 MeV–100 GeV using a ...balloon-borne telescope utilizing a nuclear emulsion, which can help realize precise imaging with high angular resolution (1.0○ at 100 MeV), polarization sensitivity, and large aperture area (10 m2). In 2018, the third balloon experiment was carried out as a demonstration of the detection of the brightest known astronomical gamma-ray source, the Vela pulsar, with an aperture area of 0.38 m2. In these data, some gamma rays were produced by the π0 → 2γ decay, which was caused by the hadronic interactions of cosmic rays in the detector. These could be used to calibrate the reconstructed angle, energy, and so on. In this study, we establish a method of searching for hadronic interactions and concomitant gamma rays with high statistics and purity. Our analysis indicates that the performance of our detector for gamma rays is as expected in wide incidence angle and energy ranges. We plan to commence scientific observations using the proposed system with the verified high angular resolution and largest aperture area in 2022 or later.
Despite the significant advances made in the diagnosis and treatment of Barrett’s esophagus (BE), there is still a need for standardized definitions, appropriate recognition of endoscopic landmarks, ...and consistent use of classification systems. Current controversies in basic definitions of BE and the relative lack of anatomic knowledge are significant barriers to uniform documentation. We aimed to provide consensus-driven recommendations for uniform reporting and global application.
The World Endoscopy Organization Barrett's Esophagus Committee appointed leaders to develop an evidence-based Delphi study. A working group of 6 members identified and formulated 23 statements, and 30 internationally recognized experts from 18 countries participated in 3 rounds of voting. We defined consensus as agreement by ≥80% of experts for each statement and used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) tool to assess the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations.
After 3 rounds of voting, experts achieved consensus on 6 endoscopic landmarks (palisade vessels, gastroesophageal junction, squamocolumnar junction, lesion location, extraluminal compressions, and quadrant orientation), 13 definitions (BE, hiatus hernia, squamous islands, columnar islands, Barrett’s endoscopic therapy, endoscopic resection, endoscopic ablation, systematic inspection, complete eradication of intestinal metaplasia, complete eradication of dysplasia, residual disease, recurrent disease, and failure of endoscopic therapy), and 4 classification systems (Prague, Los Angeles, Paris, and Barrett’s International NBI Group). In round 1, 18 statements (78%) reached consensus, with 12 (67%) receiving strong agreement from more than half of the experts. In round 2, 4 of the remaining statements (80%) reached consensus, with 1 statement receiving strong agreement from 50% of the experts. In the third round, a consensus was reached on the remaining statement.
We developed evidence-based, consensus-driven statements on endoscopic landmarks, definitions, and classifications of BE. These recommendations may facilitate global uniform reporting in BE.
Increasing the number of business operators using anonymously processed information is a critical privacy topic in Japan. To promote the use of the information, an “anonymization dictionary” is ...proposed and implemented. The dictionary is the system that shares use-cases regarding the manner by which business operators produce and provide anonymously processed information. To develop this system, two technical difficulties are resolved: the lack of (i) a method to acquire the use-cases and (ii) a data structure to store the use-cases. In terms of (i), disclosed statements that specify the production and provisioning processes for anonymously processed information is focused. To recognize the statements described in the business operators’ webpages as the use-cases, a web crawler that acquires the statements is developed. The crawler acquires 331 use-cases (statements) in a short duration. In terms of (ii), to define a concrete data structure to store anonymously processed information use-cases, the structure of the use-cases acquired is analyzed. The use-cases are stored into the structure and then in the DB of the dictionary application. This enables a search function to be provided for identifying the necessary use-cases and organizing use-cases in a readable form to the business operators.
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