Impact of Olfactory Change on Postoperative Body Weight Loss in Patients with Gastric Cancer after Gastrectomy.

Patients undergoing gastrectomy for gastric cancer may experience alterations in olfaction, yet the association between olfactory changes and postoperative weight loss remains uncertain. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between olfactory changes and postoperative weight loss in patients with gastric cancer. Patients who underwent radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer between February 2022 and August 2022 were included in the study. Those experiencing a higher Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score postoperatively compared to preoperatively were deemed to have undergone olfactory changes. Postoperative weight loss was determined using the 75th percentile as a cutoff value, designating patients surpassing this threshold as experiencing significant weight loss. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to identify risk factors for postoperative weight loss, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Out of 58 patients, 10 (17.2%) exhibited olfactory changes. The rate of postoperative weight loss at one month was markedly higher in the group with olfactory changes compared to those without (9.6% versus 6.2%, respectively; p = 0.002). In addition, the group experiencing olfactory changes demonstrated significantly lower energy intake compared to the group without such changes (1050 kcal versus 1250 kcal, respectively; p = 0.029). Logistic regression analysis revealed olfactory changes as an independent risk factor for significant weight loss at one month postoperatively (odds ratio: 7.64, 95% confidence interval: 1.09-71.85, p = 0.048). In conclusion, olfactory changes emerged as an independent risk factor for postoperative weight loss at one month in patients with gastric cancer following gastrectomy.

Widely Dispersed Intermolecular Valence Bands of Epitaxially Grown Perfluoropentacene on Pentacene Single Crystals.

Strong intermolecular electronic coupling and well-ordered molecular arrangements enable efficient transport of both charge carriers and excitons in semiconducting π-conjugated molecular solids. Thus, molecular heteroepitaxy to form crystallized donor-acceptor molecular interfaces potentially leads to a novel strategy for creating efficient organic optoelectronic devices via the concomitance of these two requirements. In the present study, the crystallographic and electronic structures of a heteroepitaxial molecular interface, perfluoropentacene (PFP, C22F14) grown on pentacene single crystals (Pn-SCs, C22H14), were determined by means of grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and angle-resolved ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (ARUPS), respectively. GIXD revealed that PFP uniquely aligned its primary axis along the [11̅0] axis of crystalline pentacene to form well-crystallized overlayers. Valence band dispersion (at least 0.49 eV wide) was successfully resolved by ARUPS. This indicated a significant transfer integral between the frontier molecular orbitals of the nearest-neighbor PFP molecules.

Clinical evaluation of recombinant human growth hormone in Noonan syndrome.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of administration of recombinant human growth hormone (hGH) in patients with Noonan syndrome. hGH was administered (0.5 IU/kg/week) to 15 patients with Noonan syndrome over a 2 year period. Average patient age prior to therapy was 7.5 +/- 2.5 (mean +/- SD) yr, the height SD score was -2.8 +/- 0.7, and the pretreatment height velocity and bone age were 4.8 +/- 1.0 cm/yr and 5.8 +/- 2.1 yr, respectively. The height velocity in the year prior to treatment, and 0-12 and 12-24 months after commencing treatment was 4.8 +/- 1.0 cm/yr, 7.0 +/- 1.2 cm/yr, and 5.5 +/- 0.6 cm/yr, respectively. The height velocity in the first year of treatment was significantly greater (P = 0.0001, n = 14) than the pretreatment value, but there was no significant difference in the second year. The height SD scores at the commencement of treatment, and after 12 and 24 months of treatment were -2.8 +/- 0.7, -2.4 +/- 0.7, and -2.2 +/- 0.5, respectively. Bone age advanced by 1.1 +/- 0.5 yr in the 12 months after commencing treatment. We conclude that the use of hGH may be beneficial in the treatment of Noonan syndrome, although further research is required.