MIB-1 index is unlikely to predict relapse-free survival in patients who underwent R0-esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

MIB-1 is a cell proliferation marker and has previously been investigated as a diagnostic or prognostic indicator of malignancy. Previous studies have investigated MIB-1 index and clinicopathological factors in relation to prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer, with conflicting results. The aim of this study is to assess the prognostic significance of MIB-1 index in patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. A total of 78 patients who underwent R0-esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled in this study. Preoperatively, 29 patients underwent chemotherapy, six underwent chemoradiotherapy, and the remaining did not undergo any preoperative therapy. The MIB-1 labeling index was reported by counting 500 tumor cells in the hot spots of nuclear labeling. Correlations between MIB-1 index, clinicopathological factors, and relapse-free survival (RFS) were investigated. The mean MIB-1 index was 39.3 ± 21.0 (range: 0-91.3). There was no significant correlation between clinicopathological factors and MIB-1 index in the study patients, irrespective of whether they underwent preoperative therapy. Univariate analysis revealed no significant association between MIB-1 index and RFS. However, depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and stage, all showed a significant correlation to RFS. Multivariate analysis of RFS revealed that stage was the only significant factor. Conversely, MIB-1 index was not significantly related to RFS (p = 0.41). In conclusion, MIB-1 index is unlikely to be a significant prognostic indicator for esophageal cancer.

Cricoid pressure impedes tracheal intubation with the Pentax-AWS Airwayscope®: a prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear how cricoid pressure affects tracheal intubation with the Pentax-AWS Airwayscope(®) (AWS). We conducted a prospective randomized clinical trial in anaesthetized patients. METHODS: Sixty patients were allocated to either the cricoid pressure (CP) group (n=30) or the sham group (n=30). We compared the two groups with regard to intubation time, number of attempts required for insertion of the Intlock blade (disposable blade of the AWS) and tracheal intubation, percentage of glottic opening (POGO) score, and subjective difficulty of both laryngoscopy and passage of a tube through the glottis. RESULTS: Intubation time was significantly longer in the CP group (median 45[IQR40-59] s) than in the sham group (32[28-45] s) (P=0.003, 95% CI for median difference 5-24 s). The number required for insertion of the Intlock blade did not differ between the groups (P=0.08), but the number for tracheal intubation was significantly higher in the CP group (1 attempt in 14 patients, 2 in 7, 3 in 9) than in the sham group (1 attempt in 24 patients, 2 in 6; P=0.002). POGO score did not differ significantly between the groups (P=0.60), nor did the subjective difficulty of laryngoscopy (P=0.06). The visual analogue scale score for passage of a tube through the glottis was significantly higher in the CP group than in the sham group (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Cricoid pressure impedes tracheal intubation using the AWS, and is associated with longer intubation time, which can be attributed to increased difficulty in the passage of a tube through the glottis. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY NUMBER: UMIN000018209.

Trajectories of Change in Psychotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: The current study used multilevel growth mixture modeling to ascertain groups of patients who had similar trajectories in their psychological functioning over the course of short-term treatment. METHOD: A total of 10,854 clients completed a measure of psychological functioning before each session. Psychological functioning was measured by the Behavioral Health Measure, which is an index of well-being, symptoms, and life-functioning. Clients who attended 5 to 25 sessions at 46 different university/college counseling centers and one community mental health center were included in this study. Client diagnoses and the specific treatment approaches were not known. RESULTS: A 3-class solution was a good fit to the data. Clients in classes 1 and 3 had moderate severity in their initial psychological functioning scores, and clients in class 2 had more distressed psychological functioning scores. The trajectory for clients in class 1 was typified by early initial change, followed by a plateau, and then another gain in psychological functioning later in treatment. The trajectory for clients in class 2 demonstrated an initial decrease in functioning, followed by a rapid increase, and then a plateau. Last, the clients in class 3 had a steady increase of psychological functioning, in a more linear manner. CONCLUSION: The trajectories of change for clients are diverse, and they can ebb and flow more than traditional dose-effect and good-enough level models may suggest.

Design of a simplified histopathologic model for gastrointestinal inflammation in dogs.

Significant interobserver variability in the diagnostic interpretation of endoscopic gastrointestinal (GI) specimens exists even with the use of World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) standardization criteria. Chi-square analyses compared the extent of pathologists' agreement for microarchitectural features of inflammation in endoscopic specimens obtained from 253 animals of the original WSAVA study. Patterns of agreement between pathologists were classified as broad (3/4 pathologists agreed), dichotomous (2/4 pathologists agreed), or divergent (no agreement between pathologists). The simplified model for GI inflammation was based on those parameters for which the pathologists had either broad or minimally divergent opinions of histopathologic significance. In this model, the parameters chosen were as follows: gastric parameters (intraepithelial lymphocytes [IELs], lamina propria [LP] infiltrates, and mucosal fibrosis), duodenal parameters (villus atrophy, epithelial injury, IELs, crypt changes, and LP infiltrates), and colonic parameters (epithelial injury, crypt dilation, fibrosis, LP infiltrates, and goblet cell depletion). Preliminary data using this simplified model showed excellent correlation between pathologists in defining the presence and extent of GI inflammation in dogs.

Cloning and expression of a surface immunogenic protein in Streptococcus dysgalactiae isolated from fish and its application in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to diagnose S. dysgalactiae infections in fish.

Lancefield group C Streptococcus dysgalactiae (GCSD) causes severe necrotic lesions in the caudal peduncle in the genus Seriola farmed in Japan. To develop a sero-diagnostic method for GCSD infection in farmed fish, we attempted to identify a surface immunogenic protein that induces an antibody after infection with GCSD by immunoblot analysis using sera collected from infected fish. A protein obtained from sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) extracts of GCSD was identified as S. dysgalactiae surface immunogenic protein (Sd-Sip). Sd-Sip exhibited more than 94% homology with a surface antigen or a hypothetical protein from S. dysgalactiae mammalian isolates at the nucleotide sequence level. Expression of the recombinant Sd-Sip (rSd-Sip) was confirmed by immunoblot analysis, that is, its reactivity to GCSD-infected sera. Antibody detection ELISA using rSd-Sip and their usefulness for diagnosis of GCSD infection were examined. GCSD-infected sera collected from farmed amberjack, Seriola dumerili (Risso), showed strong reaction with immobilized rSd-Sip. Meanwhile, sera immunized by other pathogenic bacteria of fish were showed ELISA values similar to those of non-infected sera. These results of this study suggest that the antibody detection ELISA using rSd-Sip is an effective diagnostic method for GCSD infection in fish.

Automation of etch pit analyses on solid-state nuclear track detectors with machine learning for laser-driven ion acceleration.

Solid-state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs) are often used as ion detectors in laser-driven ion acceleration experiments and are considered to be the most reliable ion diagnostics since they are sensitive only to ions and measure ions one by one. However, ion pit analyses require tremendous time and effort in chemical etching, microscope scanning, and ion pit identification by eyes. From a laser-driven ion acceleration experiment, there are typically millions of microscopic images, and it is practically impossible to analyze all of them by hand. This research aims to improve the efficiency and automation of SSNTD analyses for laser-driven ion acceleration. We use two sets of data obtained from calibration experiments with a conventional accelerator where ions with known nuclides and energies are generated and from actual laser experiments using SSNTDs. After chemical etching and scanning the SSNTDs with an optical microscope, we use machine learning to distinguish the ion etch pits from noises. From the results of the calibration experiment, we confirm highly accurate etch-pit detection with machine learning. We are also able to detect etch pits with machine learning from the laser-driven ion acceleration experiment, which is much noisier than calibration experiments. By using machine learning, we successfully identify ion etch pits ∼105 from more than 10 000 microscopic images with a precision of ≳95%. A million microscopic images can be examined with a recent entry-level computer within a day with high precision. Machine learning tremendously reduces the time consumption on ion etch pit analyses detected on SSNTDs.

Phase I clinical trial of human vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 peptide vaccines for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: It is well known that renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents one of the most immune-responsive cancers. Although the lack of defined antigens in RCC has hindered more specific vaccine development, research regarding vaccination therapy has been of special interest for the treatment of RCC for more than 30 years. METHODS: To evaluate the safety of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1) peptide vaccination and its clinical outcomes, data from 18 metastatic RCC (mRCC) patients treated with VEGFR1 vaccine were collected. Toxicity assessments were performed. Clinical outcomes included assessment using CT scanning, magnetic resonance imaging or X-ray examination in accordance with the WHO Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. RESULTS: No patient showed any toxicities of grade 3 or greater. Of the 18 patients, 2 patients showed a partial response during treatment. Stable disease for more than 5 months was observed in eight patients with a median duration of 16.5 months (4-32 months). At the time of the analysis in this study, six patients were alive with a median follow-up of 30 months (26-36 months). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that VEGFR1 peptide vaccine is safe and is recommended for further trials for patients with mRCC.

Characterization of a retroreflector array for 320-GHz interferometer system in Heliotron J.

A retroreflector array, composed of a cluster of small retroreflectors, is experimentally studied for application to a Michelson-type interferometer system in the fusion plasma experiment. Such a new-type reflector has the potential to be a vital and effective tool at a spatially limited location, such as on the vacuum chamber wall of plasma experimental devices. To investigate the effect of retroreflector array on the reflected beam properties, a tabletop experiment is performed with the retroreflector array composed of 4 mm corner-cube retroreflectors and with a 320-GHz (λ ∼ 0.937 mm) submillimeter wave source. An imaging camera is utilized to measure the submillimeter wave beam profile and is scanned perpendicularly to the beam propagation direction if necessary. The experimental result exhibits a diffraction effect on the reflected beam, resulting in the emergence of discrete peaks on the reflected beam profile, as predicted in the past numerical study; however, the most reflected beam power converges on the one reflected into the incident direction, resulting from a property as a retroreflector. Furthermore, the dependence of the reflected beam on the incident beam angle is characterized while fixing the detector position, and the retroreflection beam intensity is found to vary due to the diffraction effect. Such an undesired variation of beam intensity induced by the diffraction can be suppressed with a focusing lens placed in front of the detector in the practical application to an interferometer.

Involvement of glucocorticoid receptor on hyperpyrexia induced by methamphetamine administration.

UNLABELLED: We have investigated the involvement of glucocorticoid on methamphetamine (MA) induced hyperpyrexia using a bio-telemetric system. A significant level of hyperpyrexia was observed in MA administered rats. In contrast, increase of body temperature was suppressed by adrenalectomy or by the administration of RU-486, an antagonist of the glucocorticoid receptor. These data suggest that the glucocorticoid receptor may be involved in hyperpyrexia induced by MA. KEYWORDS: methamphetamine - hyperpyrexia - glucocorticoid - corticosterone.

A multi-stage scintillation counter for GeV-scale multi-species ion spectroscopy in laser-driven particle acceleration experiments.

Particle counting analysis (PCA) with a multi-stage scintillation detector shows a new perspective on angularly resolved spectral characterization of GeV-scale, multi-species ion beams produced by high-power lasers. The diagnosis provides a mass-dependent ion energy spectrum based on time-of-flight and pulse-height analysis of single particle events detected through repetitive experiments. With a novel arrangement of multiple scintillators with different ions stopping powers, PCA offers potential advantages over commonly used diagnostic instruments (CR-39, radiochromic films, Thomson parabola, etc.) in terms of coverage solid angle, detection efficiency for GeV-ions, and real-time analysis during the experiment. The basic detector unit was tested using 230-MeV proton beam from a synchrotron facility, where we demonstrated its potential ability to discriminate major ion species accelerated in laser-plasma experiments (i.e., protons, deuterons, carbon, and oxygen ions) with excellent energy and mass resolution. The proposed diagnostic concept would be essential for a better understanding of laser-driven particle acceleration, which paves the way toward all-optical compact accelerators for a range of applications.

Mass-resolved ion measurement by particle counting analysis for characterizing relativistic ion beams driven by lasers.

Particle counting analysis is a possible way to characterize GeV-scale, multi-species ions produced in laser-driven experiments. We present a multi-layered scintillation detector to differentiate multi-species ions of different masses and energies. The proposed detector concept offers potential advantages over conventional diagnostics in terms of (1) high sensitivity to GeV ions, (2) realtime analysis, and (3) the ability to differentiate ions with the same charge-to-mass ratio. A novel choice of multiple scintillators with different ion stopping powers results in a significant difference in energy deposition between the scintillators, allowing accurate particle identification in the GeV range. Here, we report a successful demonstration of particle identification for heavy ions, performed at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba. In the experiment, the proposed detector setup showed the ability to differentiate particles with similar atomic numbers, such as C6+ and O8+ ions, and provided an excellent energy resolution of 0.41%-1.2% (including relativistic effect, 0.51%--1.6%).

Measurement of Paα line from pellet ablation cloud in Heliotron J.

The Paα line (1875.13 nm) in the near-infrared (NIR) region was evaluated to apply Stark broadening of the line spectrum to the electron density measurement of the small-pellet ablation cloud in Heliotron J, a medium-sized helical-axis heliotron device. Paα is three-to-four times broader than the visible Hß line (486.13 nm) for the same electron density. Using a portable NIR spectrometer, preliminary proof-of-concept experiments determined the marginal density, below which the broadening was undetectable. The lower detection density limit can be decreased using a narrower entrance slit or a denser grating.

Predictive capability of material screening by fast neutron activation analysis using laser-driven neutron sources.

Bright, short-pulsed neutron beams from laser-driven neutron sources (LANSs) provide a new perspective on material screening via fast neutron activation analysis (FNAA). FNAA is a nondestructive technique for determining material elemental composition based on nuclear excitation by fast neutron bombardment and subsequent spectral analysis of prompt γ-rays emitted by the active nuclei. Our recent experiments and simulations have shown that activation analysis can be used in practice with modest neutron fluences on the order of 105 n/cm2, which is available with current laser technology. In addition, time-resolved γ-ray measurements combined with picosecond neutron probes from LANSs are effective in mitigating the issue of spectral interference between elements, enabling highly accurate screening of complex samples containing many elements. This paper describes the predictive capability of LANS-based activation analysis based on experimental demonstrations and spectral calculations with Monte Carlo simulations.

Development and initial results of 320 GHz interferometer system in Heliotron J.

A new 320 GHz solid-state source interferometer is installed in the Heliotron J helical device to explore the physics of high-density plasmas (ne > 2-3 × 1019 m-3, typically) realized with advanced fueling techniques. This interferometry system is of the Michelson type and is based on the heterodyne principle, with two independent solid-state sources that can deliver an output power of up to 50 mW. A high time resolution measurement of <1 µs can be derived by tuning the frequency of one source in the frequency range of 312-324 GHz on the new system, which can realize the fluctuation measurement. We successfully measured the line-averaged electron density in high-density plasma experiments. The measured density agreed well with a microwave interferometer measurement using a different viewing chord, demonstrating that the new system can be used for routine diagnostics of electron density in Heliotron J.

Three-dimensional dynamics of fluctuations appearing during pellet ablation process around a pellet in a fusion plasma experiment.

Understanding pellet ablation physics is crucial to realizing efficient fueling into a high temperature plasma for the steady state operation of ITER and future fusion reactors. Here we report the first observation of the formation of fluctuation structures in the pellet plasmoid during the pellet ablation process by a fast camera in a medium-sized fusion device, Heliotron J. The fluctuation has a normalized fluctuation level of ~ 15% and propagates around the moving pellet across the magnetic field. By comparing the fluctuation structures with the shape of magnetic field lines calculated with the field line tracing code, we successfully reconstruct the spatio-temporal structure of the fluctuations during the pellet ablation process. The fluctuations are located at the locations displaced toroidally from the pellet and propagate in the cross-field direction around the pellet axis along the field line, indicating a three-dimensional behavior and structure of fluctuations. The fluctuation would be driven by a strong inhomogeneity formed around the pellet and invoke the relaxation of the gradient through a cross-field transport induced by the fluctuations, which could affect the pellet ablation and pellet fueling processes. Such fluctuations can be ubiquitously present at the inhomogeneity formed around a pellet in the pellet ablation process in fusion devices.

Direct observations of pure electron outflow in magnetic reconnection.

Magnetic reconnection is a universal process in space, astrophysical, and laboratory plasmas. It alters magnetic field topology and results in energy release to the plasma. Here we report the experimental results of a pure electron outflow in magnetic reconnection, which is not accompanied with ion flows. By controlling an applied magnetic field in a laser produced plasma, we have constructed an experiment that magnetizes the electrons but not the ions. This allows us to isolate the electron dynamics from the ions. Collective Thomson scattering measurements reveal the electron Alfvénic outflow without ion outflow. The resultant plasmoid and whistler waves are observed with the magnetic induction probe measurements. We observe the unique features of electron-scale magnetic reconnection simultaneously in laser produced plasmas, including global structures, local plasma parameters, magnetic field, and waves.