• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.295-303
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• 2018

Purpose: We evaluated prognostic value of the 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer/International Union for Cancer Control (AJCC/UICC) staging system for nasopharyngeal cancer and investigated whether tumor volume/metabolic information refined prognostication of anatomy based staging system. Materials and Methods: One hundred thirty-three patients with nasopharyngeal cancer who were staged with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) between 2004 and 2013 were reviewed. Multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate prognostic value of the 8th edition of the AJCC/UICC staging system and other factors including gross tumor volume and maximum standardized uptake value of primary tumor (GTV-T and SUV-T). Results: Median follow-up period was 63 months. In multivariate analysis for overall survival (OS), stage group (stage I-II vs. III-IVA) was the only significant prognostic factor. However, 5-year OS rates were not significantly different between stage I and II (100% vs. 96.2%), and between stage III and IVA (80.1% vs. 71.7%). Although SUV-T and GTV-T were not significant prognostic factors in multivariate analysis, those improved prognostication of stage group. The 5-year OS rates were significantly different between stage I-II, III-IV (SUV-T ≤ 16), and III-IV (SUV-T > 16) (97.2% vs. 78% vs. 53.8%), and between stage I, II-IV (GTV-T ≤ 33 mL), and II-IV (GTV-T > 33 mL) (100% vs. 87.3% vs. 66.7%). Conclusion: Current anatomy based staging system has limitations on prognostication for nasopharyngeal cancer despite the most accurate assessment of tumor extent by MRI. Tumor volume/metabolic information seem to improve prognostication of current anatomy based staging system, and further studies are needed to confirm its clinical significance.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.431-434
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• 2023

Background: The first 3 ribs are anatomically well-protected, shielded by the large thoracic muscles, the shoulder girdle, and the arm. A significant force is required to fracture these ribs; thus, such fractures suggest a high-energy trauma and are associated with injuries to vital organs of the thorax, such as the aorta, the heart, the lungs and the great vessels. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted over a 10-year period at a single hospital. The study assessed patients with fractures of the second rib, including their concurrent injuries and the overall severity of their trauma. Results: Among the 76 patients included in the study, the average age was 47.35 years, 81.5% were men, and 19.5% were women. Thirteen patients (17.1%) survived their injuries. The most common causes of injury were road traffic accidents (63%) and pedestrian injuries (22%). The patients who did not survive sustained injuries to an average of 5 additional organs, while survivors had injuries to an average of 2.07 additional organs. Left rib fractures were the most frequently observed (46%). The most serious concurrent injuries reported were to the aorta (5.26%), heart (10.52%), lung (52.36%), head (57.89%), liver (30.2%), spleen (26.31%), and kidney (17.1%). Conclusion: As indicators of serious injury to vital endothoracic organs, isolated fractures of the second rib should be considered equal to first rib fractures in clinical importance.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.7.1-7.11
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• 2019

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder that affects mainly salivary and lacrimal glands, but its cause remains largely unknown. Clinical data indicating that SS occurs in a substantial proportion of patients with lupus points to common pathogenic mechanisms underlying the two diseases. To address this idea, we asked whether SS develops in the lupus-prone mouse strain sanroque (SAN). Owing to hyper-activation of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, female SAN mice developed lupus-like symptoms at approximately 20 wk of age but there were no signs of SS at that time. However, symptoms typical of SS were evident at approximately 40 wk of age, as judged by reduced saliva flow rate, sialadenitis, and IgG deposits in the salivary glands. Increases in serum titers of SS-related autoantibodies and numbers of autoantibody-secreting cells in cervical lymph nodes (LNs) preceded the pathologic manifestations of SS and were accompanied by expansion of Tfh cells and their downstream effector cells. Thus, our results suggest that chronic dysregulation of Tfh cells in salivary gland-draining LNs is sufficient to drive the development of SS in lupus-prone mice.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.367-374
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• 2023

Background/Aims: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) using oblique-view EUS in patients with a surgically altered anatomy (SAA) of the upper gastrointestinal tract is limited because of difficult scope insertion due to the disturbed anatomy. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of forward-view (FV)-EUS in performing FNA in patients with a SAA. Methods: We retrospectively investigated 32 patients with a SAA of the upper gastrointestinal tract who visited Aichi Cancer Center Hospital in Nagoya, Japan, between January 2014 and December 2020. We performed upper gastrointestinal EUS-FNA using FV-EUS combined with fluoroscopic imaging to confirm tumor recurrence or to make a decision before chemotherapy or after a failure of diagnosis by radiology. Results: We successfully performed EUS-FNA in all studied patients (100% technical success), with the specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy of 100%, 87.5%, and 87.8%, respectively, with no complications. Conclusions: EUS-FNA using FV-EUS combined with fluoroscopic imaging is an effective and safe technique for tissue acquisition in patients with a SAA.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3677-3680
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• 2013

We aimed to assess the role of XPG, XPC and MMS19L polymorphisms on response to chemotherapy in osteosarcomas, and the clinical outcomes. One hundred and eighty five osteosarcoma patients who were histologically confirmed were enrolled in our study between January 2007 and December 2009. Genotyping of XPG, XPC and MMS19L was performed in a 384-well plate format on the MassARRAY$^{(R)}$ platform. Individuals with XPG TT genotype and T allele were more likely to be better response to chemotherapy than CC genotype, with the OR (95% CI) of 4.17 (1.64-11.54) and 2.66 (1.39-5.11), respectively. Those carrying MMS19L TT genotype and T allele showed better response to chemotherapy, with ORs (95% CI) of 4.8 (1.56-17.7) and 2.3 (1.22-4.36), respectively. Patients carrying TT genotype of XPG and MMS19L showed a significantly longer overall survival than CC genotype, with a 0.47 and 0.30-fold risk of death when compared with the wild-type of the gene. XPG and MMS19L are correlated with response to chemotherapy and prognosis of osteosarcoma, so that they could be used as predictive markers for prognosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.267-285
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• 2017

Angiostrongylus cantonensis invades the central nervous system (CNS) of humans to induce eosinophilic meningitis and meningoencephalitis and leads to persistent headache, cognitive dysfunction, and ataxic gait. Infected mice (nonpermissive host), admittedly, suffer more serious pathological injuries than rats (permissive host). However, the pathological basis of these manifestations is incompletely elucidated. In this study, the behavioral test, histological and immunohistochemical techniques, and analysis of apoptotic gene expression, especially caspase-3, were conducted. The movement and motor coordination were investigated at week 2 post infection (PI) and week 3 PI in mice and rats, respectively. The cognitive impairs could be found in mice at week 2 PI but not in rats. The plaque-like lesion, perivascular cuffing of inflammatory cells, and dilated vessels within the cerebral cortex and hippocampus were more serious in mice than in rats at week 3 PI. Transcriptomic analysis showed activated extrinsic apoptotic pathway through increased expression of TNFR1 and caspase-8 in mice CNS. Immunohistochemical and double-labeling for NeuN and caspase-3 indicated the dramatically increased expression of caspase-3 in neuron of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus in mice but not in rats. Furthermore, western-blotting results showed high expression of cleaved caspase-3 proteins in mice but relatively low expression in rats. Thus, extrinsic apoptotic pathway participated in neuronal apoptosis might be the pathological basis of distinct behavioral dysfunctions in rodents with A. cantonensis infection. It provides the evidences of a primary molecular mechanism for the behavioral dysfunction and paves the ways to clinical diagnosis and therapy for A. cantonensis infection.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.111-121
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• 2010

In order to investigate the preliminary repeat oral dose toxicity and to determine the highest dosage for further 4-week repeated dose toxicity test, Low Molecular Weight Fucoidan (LMF) has been showed various pharmacological effects, was orally administered to female and male rats, once a day for 14 days at dose levels of 2,000, 1,000, 500 and 0 (vehicle control) mg/kg (body weights) in a volume of 10 ml/kg. The mortality and changes on the body weights, clinical signs, hematology, serum biochemistry and gross observations were monitored with organ weight and histopathology of principle organs. As the results of 14-day repeated oral treatment of LMF, no LMF treatment related mortalities were detected up to 2,000 mg/kg in both male and female rats, respectively. In addition, no noticeable changes on the body weight and clinical signs were detected except for significant decreases on the body weights and gains restricted to male 2,000 mg/kg treated groups as compared with male vehicle control. No meaningful changes on the organ weights, hematological, serum biochemistrical, gross and histopathological findings were observed. Therefore the highest dosage in the 4-week repeated dose toxicity test is suggested as 2,000 mg/kg in both female and male rats, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.116-124
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• 2010

This study was aimed to clerify the cytotoxicity of some plant extracts such as Hosta longissima HONDA (HL), Hemerocallis fulva var. Kwanso REGL (HFVK), Hemerocallis fulva L (HF), Macrocapium officinale NAKAI (MO) and Mentha canadensis var. piperascens HARA (MCVP), the cultured NIH3T3 fibroblasts were treated with 25, 50, 100, 150 and $200{\mu}g/mL$ of five kinds of plant extracts for 48 hours, respectively. The cytotoxicity of plant extracts was measured by MTT and NR assays for the cell viability, and XTT assay for the cell adhesion activity. In this study, HL, MO and FHVK extracts showed the range of midtoxic-non toxic by the criteria of chemical cytotoxicity. While, the HF and MCVP extracts showed midtoxic. In the extract cytotoxicity, HL, MO and FHVK extracts showed non-toxic by the criteria of extract cytotoxicity. While, HF extract was determined as lower-toxic. In the responsive sensitivity of each plant extract on colorimetric assays, HF extract was sensitive to mitochondrial enzyme by MTT assay, lysosomal enzyme by NR assay and mitochondrial nucleus by XTT assay. While, MCVP extract was sensitive to mitochondrial enzyme by MTT assay and lysosomal enzyme by NR assay than other assays. While, HL, HFVK and MO extracts were most sensitive to NR assay. Cell culture is one of useful materials in the screening of cytotoxic and recovary effect on the putative chemical agents or plant extract. And also, colorimetric assay is regarded as very useful tools for quantitative measurement of cytotoxic effect on plant extracts in vitro.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.440-447
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• 2022

Background: Agricultural handle equipment is present on all production areas' farms. They are handy and portable; however, excessive use can lead to acute traumas or accidental injuries. Repetitive movements, awkward postures, and hand-arm vibrations predispose them to pain and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of this study was to observe the interaction of handle equipment in terms of electromyographic activity and analyze the postural work-related alterations. Materials and methods: Twenty male agricultural operators, mean age 24±1.54 years, underwent the electromyographic analysis testing their muscular activities with a brushcutter, electric saw, and hedge trimmer in four different test conditions. Results: The brushcutter proved to be the agricultural handle equipment with the higher mean frequency (3.37±0.38 Hz) and root mean square (5.25±1.24 ms^-2). Furthermore, the digital postural analysis showed a general asymmetry of the main arm and the respective side of the trunk. The head resulted right inclined in the anterior frontal plane by 5.7°±1.2°; the right scapula lower than the left in the posterior frontal plane (8.5°±1.8°), and a working trunk inclination of 34.15°±5.7°. Conclusions: Vibrations of handle equipment and awkward working postures represent a risk for agricultural operators. Preventive measures are required to avoid young operators from experiencing musculoskeletal disorders all lifelong.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.429-433
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to find anatomical variation of each small breed dog's dentition for designing more effective dental chews. Small breed dogs were volunteered for dental impressions with dental stone and alginate under tiletamine-zolazepam, tramadol, and medetomidine intravenous anesthesia. Twenty-two criteria were measured to compare dental impressions. Twenty-five dogs (9 Malteses, 8 Miniature Poodles, and 8 Shih-Tzus) were recruited. Statistically, Shih-Tzus had smaller teeth and shorter interdental spaces than those of Maltese and Miniature Poodles. Grossly, the distance between upper teeth and lower teeth was wider in Shih-Tzus. Shih-Tzu had different dental anatomy in comparative to Miniature Poodle and Maltese. It was recommended to design the dental chew considering these differences.