Purpose
This study aimed to identify independent predictive factors for return to sports (RTS) after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in competitive-level athletes and to determine ...optimal cut-off values for these factors at 6 months after surgery.
Methods
A total of 124 competitive athletes (50 males and 74 females; mean age, 17.0 years; preinjury Tegner activity scale > 7) who underwent primary ACL reconstruction were enrolled. Assessments at 6 months after surgery consisted of knee functional tests quadriceps index, hamstrings index, and single-leg hop for distance (SLH) and 2 self-report questionnaires IKDC subjective score and ACL-Return to Sport after Injury scale (ACL-RSI). At 1 year after surgery, athletes were classified into the RTS group (
n
= 101) or non-RTS group (
n
= 23) based on self-reported sports activities. After screening possible predictive factors of RTS, multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were performed to identify independent factors.
Results
Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified SLH (odds ratio, 2.861 per 10 unit increase;
P
< 0.001) and ACL-RSI (odds ratio, 1.810 per 10 unit increase;
P
= 0.001) at 6 months as independent predictors of RTS at 1 year after surgery. Optimal cut-off values of SLH and ACL-RSI were 81.3% (sensitivity = 0.891; specificity = 0.609) and 55 points (sensitivity = 0.693; specificity = 0.826), respectively.
Conclusion
In competitive athletes, SLH < 81% and ACL-RSI < 55 points at 6 months after surgery were associated with a greater risk of unsuccessful RTS at 1 year after surgery. SLH and ACL-RSI at 6 months could serve as screening tools to identify athletes who have difficulties with returning to sports after ACL reconstruction.
Level of evidence
III.
This study analyzed the expression techniques used in animation and found the possibility of developing them into architectural introduction CG. The analysis revealed the following three findings.1. ...Typified six types of expressive techniques, “First person view type”, “Second person view type”, “Mirror image type”, “Time lapse type”, “Bokeh practical used type” and “Free floating type.”2. “Bokeh practical used type” is used very frequently, indicating that it is a very common type of expression techniques for 3DCG animation.3. Three expression techniques that cannot be typified were considered and proposed for use in the architectural field.
Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) often represents a benign condition that should not be considered as an argument for surgery. We report a patient with PI and obstructing intussusception who underwent ...urgent colectomy and review the literatures regarding PI with intussusception.A 20-year-old man presented at our hospital with a 3-d intermittent lower abdominal pain history. He underwent steroid therapy for membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis for 4 years. Computed tomography revealed ascending colon intussusception with air within the wall. Intraoperative colonoscopy revealed numerous soft polypoid masses with normal overlying mucosa and right hemicolectomy was performed. Histological examination of colonic wall sections revealed large cysts in the submucosal layer. The pathological diagnosis was PI. Nine cases of intussusception associated with primary PI have been reported. Although primary PI often represents a benign condition that should not be considered as an argument for surgery, if the case involves intussusception and obstruction, emergent laparotomy should be considered.
Pneumatosis intestinalis(PI) often represents a benign condition that should not be considered as an argument for surgery. We report a patient with PI and obstructing intussusception who underwent ...urgent colectomy and review the literatures regarding PI with intussusception. A 20-year-old man presented at our hospital with a 3-d intermittent lower abdominal pain history. He underwent steroid therapy for membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis for 4 years. Computed tomography revealed ascending colon intussusception with air within the wall. Intraoperative colonoscopy revealed numerous soft polypoid masses with normal overlying mucosa and right hemicolectomy was performed. Histological examination of colonic wall sections revealed large cysts in the submucosal layer. The pathological diagnosis was PI. Nine cases of intussusception associated with primary PI have been reported. Although primary PI often represents a benign condition that should not be considered as an argument for surgery,if the case involves intussusception and obstruction,emergent laparotomy should be considered.
Recently, we reported PPARα-dependent DNA demethylation of the Fgf21 promoter in the postnatal mouse liver, where reduced DNA methylation is associated with enhanced gene expression after PPARα ...activation. However, there is no direct evidence for the effect of site-specific DNA methylation on gene expression. We employed the dCas9-SunTag and single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-TET1 catalytic domain (TET1CD) system to induce targeted DNA methylation of the Fgf21 promoter both in vitro and in vivo. We succeeded in targeted DNA demethylation of the Fgf 21 promoter both in Hepa1-6 cells and PPARα-deficient mice, with increased gene expression response to PPARα synthetic ligand administration and fasting, respectively. This study provides direct evidence that the DNA methylation status of a particular gene may determine the magnitude of the gene expression response to activation cues.
Background
Immunoinflammatory measures such as the neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and the C-reactive protein (CRP)–albumin ratio (CAR) are useful prognostic ...measures in various malignancies. However, no study has investigated the correlation of these measures with microenvironmental inflammation. Periostin (POSTN), a small extracellular matrix protein, strongly associates with cancer microenvironmental inflammation. The current study investigated the correlation of NLR, PLR, and CAR with periostin expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
Methods
The study retrospectively evaluated preoperative NLR, PLR, and CAR hematologically and POSTN immunohistochemically in 171 patients. The correlation of immunoinflammatory measures, POSTN expression, and survival outcomes was measured.
Results
The study showed a significant correlation of POSTN-positive expression with poor overall survival (OS) (
P
< 0.0001) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (
P
= 0.03). The POSTN-positive group had higher PLR (189.6 ± 8 vs. 159.3 ± 12;
P
= 0.04) and CAR (0.36 ± 0.06 vs. 0.14 ± 0.09;
P
< 0.05) than the POSTN-negative group, whereas NLR did not differ between the two groups (3.27 ± 0.19 vs. 2.65 ± 0.28;
P
= 0.07). The uni- and multivariate analyses showed that POSTN-positive expression (hazard ratio HR, 1.595; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.770–3.031;
P
= 0.03), CAR (HR, 1.663; 95% CI, 1.016–2.764;
P
= 0.03), gender (HR, 2.303; 95% CI, 1.067–6.019;
P
= 0.03), and tumor depth (HR, 1.957; 95% CI, 1.122–3.526;
P
= 0.01) were independent prognostic factors.
Conclusions
Because POSTN-positive expression strongly correlates with immunoinflammatory measures, especially PLR and CAR, it is an independent prognostic factor in ESCC.
Background
One-lung ventilation (OLV) is the standard and widely applied ventilation approach used in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for esophageal cancer (VATS-e). To address the disadvantages ...of OLV with respect to difficulties in intubation and induction, as well as the risk of respiratory complications, two-lung ventilation (TLV) with artificial pneumothorax has been introduced for use in VATS-e. However, no studies have yet compared TLV and OLV with postoperative infection and inflammation in the prone position over time postoperatively. Here, we investigated the efficacy of TLV in patients undergoing VATS-e in the prone position.
Methods
Between April 2010 and December 2016, 119 patients underwent VATS-e under OLV or TLV with carbon dioxide insufflation. Clinical characteristics, surgical outcomes, and postoperative outcomes, including oxygenation and systemic inflammatory responses, were compared between patients who underwent OLV and those who underwent TLV.
Results
Clinical characteristics other than pT stage were comparable between groups. The TLV group had shorter thoracic operation time than the OLV group. No patients underwent conversion to open thoracotomy. The PaO
2
/FiO
2
ratios of the TLV group on postoperative day (POD) 5 and on POD7 were significantly higher than those of the OLV group. C-reactive protein levels on POD7 were lower in the TLV group than in the OLV group. There were no significant differences with respect to postoperative complications between the OLV and TLV groups. In the TLV group, the white blood cell count on POD7 was significantly lower than that in the OLV group; body temperature showed a similar trend immediately after surgery and on POD1.
Conclusions
In this study, we demonstrated that, compared with OLV, TLV in the prone position provides better oxygenation and reduced inflammation in the postoperative course. Accordingly, TLV might be more useful than OLV for ventilation during esophageal cancer surgery.
Ascorbic acid (AA, vitamin C) serves as a cofactor for ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzymes and induces DNA demethylation in vitro. However, its role in DNA demethylation in vivo remains unclear. ...We previously reported that DNA demethylation in the mouse liver was enhanced during the suckling period. Therefore, we hypothesized that DNA demethylation is enhanced in an AA-dependent manner during the suckling period. To examine our hypothesis, we employed wild-type (WT) mice, which synthesize AA, and senescence marker protein-30/gluconolactonase (SMP30/GNL) knockout (KO) mice, which cannot synthesize AA, and analyzed the DNA methylation status in the livers of offspring in both the suckling period and adulthood. SMP30/GNL KO offspring showed DNA hypermethylation in the liver possibly due to low plasma and hepatic AA levels during the suckling period despite the administration of rescue-dose AA to dams. Furthermore, DNA hypermethylation of the fibroblast growth factor 21 gene (Fgf21), a PPARα target gene, persisted into adulthood. In contrast, a high-dose AA administration to SMP30/GNL KO dams during the lactation period restored DNA demethylation in the livers of offspring. Even though a slight increase was observed in plasma AA levels with the administration of rescue-dose AA to WT dams during the gestation and lactation periods, DNA demethylation in the livers of offspring was minimally enhanced. The present results demonstrate that AA intake during the suckling period is required for proper DNA demethylation in the liver.