Characterization of dehydrochlorinated poly(vinylidene chloride) and the shock-compressed material

Dehydrochlorinated poly(vinylidene chloride) proved to be a conjugated polyene-polyene polymer. Shock compression of the polymer formed a large portion of graphite and trace amounts of diamond and of an unknown carbon. The unknown carbon belongs to the hexagonal crystal system and possesses the cell dimension α₀ = 0.338 nm. A comparison with known carbynes was made in terms of the crystalline parameters.     

p53 Status Predicts the Efficacy of Postoperative Oral Administration of Tegafur for Completely Resected Non-small Cell Lung Cancer†

Although postoperative adjuvant therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had not been reported to be effective, it has been reported recently that oral administration of tegafur (1-[2-tetrahydrofuryl]-5-fluorouracil, FT) may improve the postoperative prognosis. In the present paper, to examine whether p53 status affects the efficacy of FT as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC, a total of 236 consecutive patients with completely resected pathologic stage I–IIIa NSCLC were retrospectively reviewed. p53 status was determined by immunohistochemical staining. For all patients, the 5-year survival rate of patients with FT administration (FT group) was 78.1%, being significantly higher than that (69.1%) of patients without FT administration (control group) (P=0.046). For patients without immunohistochemical evidence of p53 overexpression, the 5-year survival rate in the FT group was 87.1%, being significantly higher than that (74.0%) in the control group (P=0.036). This demonstrates an improvement of postoperative prognosis by FT administration. On the other hand, for patients with p53 overexpression, there was no significant difference in the postoperative prognosis between the FT group and the control group (5-year survival rate 63.2% and 60.1%, respectively; P=0.514), demonstrating that FT administration was not effective for these patients. In conclusion, p53 status may be useful for predicting the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy using FT. A prospective randomized study stratified by p53 status is needed to clarify the effect of postoperative FT administration.     

Assessment of single-dose regimen for antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent perioperative infection in urologic surgery

A single-dose ofantimicrobial prophylaxis (AMP) was administered parenterally for prevention of perioperative infection in a total of 206 urologic surgeries including 114 endoscopic-instrumental, 92 clean, and 20 clean-contaminated procedures between January and December, 2007, and surgical site infections (SSI), urinary tract infections (UTI), and remote infections (RI) were prospectively surveyed. The definition of a single-dose of AMP allowed the administration of a second dose of an antimicrobial during a surgical procedure that exceeded 3 hours but not parenteral or oral administration at the end of the procedure, in the recovery room, or at a later time over a period of more than 24 hours. UTI was observed in 3 cases (2.7%) after endoscopic-instrumental procedures and in 1 case (5%) after clean-contaminated procedures while no case was associated with UTI in clean procedures. SSI was seen in 1 case each after clean procedures (1.1%) and after clean-contaminated procedures (5%), and RI was seen in 2 cases (2.2%) after clean procedures. A single-dose regimen of AMP was effective for prevention ofperioperative infections including SSI, UTI, and RI in endoscopic-instrumental, clean, and clean-contaminated surgical procedures in urology.     

Ice-water hand immersion causes a reflex decrease in skin temperature in the contralateral hand

Cutaneous receptors stimulated by ice-water immersion of one hand will increase sympathetic nerve activity to the palm skin in the nonimmersed contralateral hand and reduce blood flow, reflecting on a decrease in skin surface temperature under a constant ambient environment. To test the hypothesis that gender might affect the contralateral vasoconstrictor response, we analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern of palm skin surface temperature during ice-water immersion for 10 min using thermography in eight males and eight females. As soon as the left hand was immersed in ice-water, palm skin temperature in the nonimmersed right hand quickly decreased in all subjects, particularly in the periphery of the digits and palm. The reduction in skin temperature was short-lasting in 63% of males and 38% of females, but it lasted throughout immersion in the remaining subjects. The average decrease in palm skin temperature was not significantly different between males and females, though it tended to be greater in males. The mean arterial blood pressure significantly increased and heart rate decreased during immersion in males, whereas no substantial cardiovascular changes were observed in females. Cold sensation was well coincident with the appearance of a reduction in the palm skin temperature. In consideration of all these results, we suggest that cutaneous cold stimuli increased skin sympathetic nerve activity in the nonimmersed hand and reduced skin blood flow. We also contend that gender difference in the contralateral vasoconstrictor response was denied because the time course and magnitude of the decrease in palm skin temperature were not different between males and females.     

Prostate cancer diagnosed through the biopsy of the bone metastatic lesion; a case report

An 80-year-old man visited our clinic with the chief complaint of asymptomatic macroscopic hematuria secondary to anticoagulant medicine. Although digital rectal examination was normal, a high serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level (85.9 ng/ml) led us to perform sextant prostate biopsy, resulting in negative for cancer. Three months later, since the serum PSA increased to 169 ng/ml with high serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 levels. Twelve-core prostate biopsy was performed again, but the result was negative. Pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a metastatic lesion on the right pubic bone, which was biopsied, and turned out to be poorly differentiated prostate cancer in histology. Maximum androgen blockade failed to control PSA. Finally he died of pneumonia 55 days after the bone biopsy. To our knowledge, there were only two case reports diagnosed as prostate cancer by biopsies of the metastatic lesions in Japanese literature, but none in the English literature. These findings suggest that high serum levels of CEA and CA19-9 in patients with prostate cancer are indications of hormone-refractory prostate cancer resulting in poor prognosis.     

The long-term efficacy of Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura

BACKGROUND AND AIM: A beneficial effect of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication in patients with H. pylori-positive idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) has been reported by several investigators; however, it was not clear whether the recovered platelet count after H. pylori eradication was maintained for a long period. METHOD: Thirty-eight ITP patients who were examined for H. pylori infection were assessed. H. pylori-positive patients received a standard antibiotic therapy for H. pylori eradication. We investigated the long-term effect of H. pylori eradication on platelet recovery in patients with H. pylori-positive ITP. RESULTS: Of the 38 ITP patients, 26 (68.4%) were positive for H. pylori. The response rate of platelet recovery was 56.5% (13/23 patients). Twelve patients showed complete response (CR) and one showed partial response (PR). The mean platelet counts 6 months after eradication significantly increased from 31 x 10(9)/L to 129 x 10(9)/L in 23 H. pylori-eradicated patients (P < 0.001). The median platelet counts of responders 1, 2, 3, and 4 years after eradication were 168 x 10(9)/L (n = 10), 193 x 10(9)/L (n = 9), 168 x 10(9)/L (n = 7), and 243 x 10(9)/L (n = 4) after a mean follow-up of 25.8 months. CONCLUSION: Eradication therapy for H. pylori-positive patients with ITP was effective and a favorable effect was maintained for long periods.