Abstract Background Although the Milan criteria are widely accepted for liver transplantation (LT) in patients for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), they have not been fully evaluated for salvage LT in ...patients with recurrent HCC. We have previously reported outcomes of living-donor LT (LDLT) for HCC and identified 2 risk factors affecting recurrence-free survival (RFS): tumor size >5 cm and des-γ-carboxyl prothrombin (DCP) concentration >300 mAU/mL (Kyushu University criteria). This study was designed to clarify risk factors for tumor recurrence after LDLT in patients with recurrent HCC. Methods Outcomes in 114 patients who underwent LDLT for recurrent HCC were analyzed retrospectively. RFS rates after LDLT were calculated, and risk factors for tumor recurrence were identified. Results The 1-, 3-, and 5-year RFS rates after LDLT were 90.6%, 80.4%, and 78.8%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that tumor recurrence was associated with alpha-fetoprotein concentration ≥300 ng/mL, DCP concentration ≥300 mAU/mL, tumor number ≥4, tumor size ≥5 cm, transarterial chemotherapy before LDLT, duration of last treatment of HCC to LDLT <3 months, bilobar distribution, exceeding Milan criteria, exceeding Kyushu University criteria, poor differentiation, and histologic vascular invasion. Multivariate analysis showed that DCP ≥300 mAU/mL ( P = .03) and duration from last treatment to LDLT <3 months ( P = .01) were independent predictors of RFS. Conclusions DCP concentration and time between last treatment and LDLT are prognostic of RFS in patients undergoing LDLT for HCC.
OBJECTIVES
Segmentectomy is one of the treatment options for small-sized non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although growing results support the feasibility and efficacy, it still remains unclear in ...segmentectomy. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer recommended a revised classification of TNM staging in 2009 (the seventh edition) and multidisciplinary classification of adenocarcinoma. We report here the outcome of totally thoracoscopic segmentectomy and lobectomy for T factor and adenocarcinoma.
METHODS
Ninety patients with Stage IA NSCLC underwent thoracoscopic segmentectomy between September 2003 and June 2011. A total of 124 patients were referred as a control group to compare the peri-operative outcome, local recurrence rate and survival. These survivals were analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method with the log-rank test and propensity score analyses.
RESULTS
The peri-operative outcome, including operative time, blood loss, duration of chest tube drainage and length of hospital stay, was not significantly different between groups. The number of dissected lymph nodes with segmentectomy was less than that with lobectomy. Morbidity and mortality were not significantly different between groups. Seven patients relapsed in each group and propensity score analysis in disease-free and overall survivals showed no differences between two groups in Stage IA. Subclass analyses revealed that disease-free and overall survivals in T1a and T1b were not significantly different between the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrated that thoracoscopic segmentectomy was feasible with regard to peri-operative and oncological outcomes for Stage IA NSCLC, especially T1a and carefully selected T1b descriptor.
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•Conductance of 1,4-benzenedicarbothioamide (BDTA) molecule has been measured.•BDTA shows a high conductance comparable with that of π-conjugated molecules.•Au/BDTA/Au junctions are ...found to take a few different conductance states.•Geometry and Kohn–Sham orbitals of BDTA have been determined.
We studied the conductance of Au/1,4-benzenedicarbothioamide (BDTA)/Au junctions at room temperature and measured a single-molecule conductance of BDTA. A carbothioamide (thioamide, –CSNH2) group of this molecule consists of two potential linkers, thioketone and amine groups, and would thus be expected to show high conductance. The experimental single-molecule conductance of BDTA is (0.8–1.0)×10-3G0 which roughly compares with that of π-conjugated molecules. We consider that this relatively high conductance of Au/BDTA/Au is due to the homoconjugation of π-orbitals of benzene and sulfur while the amine group is likely to remain as a side group. We also observed that Au/BDTA/Au junctions can exist in multiple configurations of different conductances.
Abstract Introduction Appropriate antiviral treatment is essential for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) to be effective for treating hepatitis C. However, it has never been reported that ...pre-LDLT genetic analyses of both host and virus, with prediction of the outcome of post-LDLT antiviral treatment, indicated LDLT for a borderline case. Case Report We have reported the case of a 68-year-old woman with liver cirrhosis caused by genotype 1b hepatitis C, a history of ruptured esophageal varices, and adequately controlled minor ascites. Her liver function was classified as Child–Pugh grade B. The donor was a 42-year-old woman with an estimated left lobe graft volume (GV) of 33.8% based on the standard liver volume of the recipient. Molecular analyses used to confirm the indication of LDLT for this combination revealed the following: The rs8099917 genotype was T/T in the donor and recipient, the HCV core protein was double wild type, there were no mutations in the interferon sensitivity-determining region, and 8 mutations were found in the interferon/ribavirin resistance-determining region. LDLT was performed because very high sensitivity to interferon treatment was predicted. Discussion Six months after LDLT and uneventful post-LDLT courses, pegylated interferon-α2a and ribavirin were administered under immunosuppression with cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil. This regimen was continued for 48 weeks, resulting in a viral response at 10 weeks and a sustained viral response, as predicted. Conclusions We have reported the usefulness of molecular analyses of host and viral factors for indicating LDLT to treat hepatitis C in a borderline case.
The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of the addition of tandospirone, a serotonin-1A (5-HT(1A)) agonist, to ongoing treatment with typical antipsychotic drugs, on two cognitive domains ...that are relevant to functional outcome in patients with schizophrenia.
Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia who were receiving stable doses of typical antipsychotics were randomly assigned to adjunctive treatment with 30 mg/day of tandospirone or placebo for 6 weeks. Executive function and verbal memory as well as psychopathology were assessed at baseline and after 6 weeks.
Both cognitive measures improved significantly in the patients who received tandospirone; subjects who did not receive tandospirone showed no change. There was no significant change in psychopathology ratings in either group.
The results suggest the usefulness of 5-HT(1A) agonists for enhancing some types of cognitive performance and possibly social and work function in patients with schizophrenia.
A patterned two-dimensional hexagonally ordered array of ferritin molecules, the outer surfaces of which had been genetically modified by titanium (Ti) specific binding peptides (minT1-LF), was ...realized in a self-assembling manner on a hexagonal Ti thin film island made on a silicon substrate. The optimum degree of order was realized at the pH with the maximum selectivity of minT1-LF adsorption on the Ti surface with respect to the silicon dioxide (SiO2) surface. Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurement revealed that minT1-LF adsorbed onto the Ti surface strongly and irreversibly, but adsorbed onto the silicon dioxide surface weakly and reversibly. It was suggested that the concentration of minT1-LF on the Ti pattern promotes hexagonal close-packed ordering and axis aligning.
Ferritin has a mono-dispersed structure and biomineralization properties that allow it to form various kinds of nanoparticles and play an important role in modern nanotechnology. Independent ...nanoparticles synthesized in ferritin are valuable, but moreover a pair of nanoparticles can bring new properties different from those of the independent nanoparticles. In this study, by breaking ferritin's symmetry, we successfully produced ferritin dimers which provide real protein frameworks for nanoparticle dimer formation. Identical nickel hydro-oxide nanoparticle dimers were produced by simply biomineralizing ferritin dimers. The method presented here can produce multi-functional ferritin dimers with different kinds of nanoparticles.
Abstract Introduction Few studies to date have investigated the causes of late graft mortality after living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Patients and ...Methods Fifty-five LDLTs for PBC were retrospectively reviewed. Factors prognostic of graft survival after LDLT were investigated, and histologic findings in patients with late graft loss were assessed. Results The 1-, 5-, and 10-year cumulative graft survival rates were 85.1%, 82.5%, and 66.9%, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis found that male donor and ≥4 HLA mismatches were independently associated with poor graft survival. Among the 13 grafts lost, 5 were lost >1 year after LDLT, including 1 each due to chronic rejection, veno-occlusive disease, and obliterative portal venopathy, and 2 to other causes. Pathologic reviews of the serial biopsy specimens and explanted grafts from these 5 patients, with graft rejections from “chronic immune-mediated reaction syndrome,” showed reciprocal changes over time. No patient died of recurrent PBC. Conclusions Male donor and ≥4 HLA mismatches were independent factors associated with poor graft survival. Late graft mortality after LDLT for PBC in some patients was due to chronic immune-mediated reaction syndrome, including chronic rejection, veno-occlusive disease, and obliterative portal venopathy, but not to recurrent PBC.
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a stromally derived modulator of epithelial cell proliferation and motility. In the present study, we have measured immunoreactive (ir)-HGF concentration in tumor ...extracts of 258 primary human breast cancers using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and have evaluated its association with disease-free and overall survival. The median value of ir-HGF concentration was 11.0 ng/100 mg protein (range, 1.4-566.7 ng/100 mg protein). Correlation analyses between ir-HGF concentration and clinicopathological factors showed that the ir-HGF level was correlated only with tumor size (P = 0.05). No significant associations were found between ir-HGF content and age, menopausal status, nodal status, histological type, histological grade, vessel involvement, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, type of surgery, or postoperative adjuvant therapy. Breast cancer patients with high ir-HGF concentration had a significantly shorter relapse-free (P = 0.001) and overall survival (P = 0.001) rate when compared to those with low ir-HGF concentration at the cutoff point of 21.7 ng/100 mg protein, which was determined in another group of 82 patients. In multivariate analysis, ir-HGF level was found to be the most important independent factor in predicting relapse-free and overall survival, of greater import than lymph node involvement. The putative role of HGF in breast cancer growth and metastasis is hereby strengthened.
Cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticle (NP) was synthesized in the apoferritin cavity by slow chemical reaction system (SCRY) and two step synthesis protocol (TSSP). The survey showed thioacetic acid as ...the optimum sulfur source to form CdS NPs in the apoferirin cavity. Thioacetic acid degrades slowly in weak acidic solution and releases the sulfide ions continuously for long period. The synthesized NP was determined as CdS in cubic phase by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction measurement (XRD). Semiconductor CdS NP surrounded by protein shell can disperse in aqueous solution and will be able to be applied to nano-electronic devices or fluorescent biomarker.
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