Clinical features and treatment outcome of very elderly patients over 80 years old with multiple myeloma:comparison with patients in different age groups in the era of novel agents

We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 175 consecutive patients admitted to our hospital between April 2004 and June 2014, and identified 42 (24%), 80 (46%), and 53 (30%) patients 80, 66-79, and 65 years old, respectively. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of the 80, 66-79, and 65 years old groups were 19.1, 26.3, and 54.3 months, and 31.9, 54.8, and 83.8 months, respectively. Patients 80 but not 79 years old with ECOG performance score (PS) 3 and/or Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) 5 showed significantly shorter survival. ECOG PS and CCI predicted the treatment outcome of patients 80 but did not predict 79 years old.</p

Photo-excitation band-structure engineering of 2H-NbSe2_2 probed by time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

We investigated the nonequilibrium electronic structure of 2H-NbSe$_2$ by time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We find that the band structure is distinctively modulated by strong photo-excitation, as indicated by the unusual increase in the photoelectron intensities around E$_F$. In order to gain insight into the observed photo-induced electronic state, we performed DFT calculations with modulated lattice structures, and found that the variation of the Se height from the Nb layer results in a significant change in the effective mass and band gap energy. We further study the momentum-dependent carrier dynamics. The results suggest that the relaxation is faster at the K-centered Fermi surface than at the $\Gamma$-centered Fermi surface, which can be attributed to the stronger electron-lattice coupling at the K-centered Fermi surface. Our demonstration of band structure engineering suggests a new role for light as a tool for controlling the functionalities of solid-state materials.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Evaluation of oral immunotherapy efficacy and safety by maintenance dose dependency: A multicenter randomized study

Background Generally, oral immunotherapy (OIT) aims for daily administration. Recently, the efficacy of treatment with OIT at a low dose has been reported. However, the optimal dose and the evaluation of dose-dependent OIT outcome have not been described. Methods A multicenter, parallel, open-labeled, prospective, non-placebo controlled, randomized study enrolled 101 Japanese patients for treatment with OIT. We hypothesized that target dose OIT would induce short-term unresponsiveness (StU) earlier than reduced dose OIT. StU was defined as no response to 6200 mg whole egg, 3400 mg milk, and 2600 mg wheat protein, as evaluated by oral food challenge after 2-week ingestion cessation. To compare the two doses of OIT efficacy, the maximum ingestion doses during the maintenance phase of OIT were divided into 100%-dose or 25%-dose groups against their target StU dose, respectively. A total of 51 patients were assigned to the 100%-dose group [hen's egg (HE) = 26, cow's milk (CM) = 13, wheat = 12] and 50 to the 25%-dose group (HE = 25, CM = 13, wheat = 12). Primary outcome was established by comparing StU at 1 year. Secondary outcome was StU at 2 years and established by comparing allergic symptoms and immunological changes. Results The year 1 StU rates (%) for the 100%- and 25%-dose groups were 26.9 vs. 20.0 (HE), 7.7 vs. 15.4 (CM), and 50.0 vs. 16.7 (wheat), respectively. The year 2 StU rates were 30.8 vs. 36.0 (HE), 7.7 vs. 23.1 (CM), and 58.3 vs. 58.3 (wheat), respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in StU between years 1 and 2. The total allergic symptom rate in the 25%-dose group was lower than that in the 100%-dose group for egg, milk, and wheat. Antigen-specific IgE levels for egg-white, milk, and wheat decreased at 12 months. Conclusions Reduced maintenance dose of egg OIT showed similar therapeutic efficacy to the target dose. However, we were not able to clearly demonstrate the efficacy, particularly for milk and wheat. Reducing the maintenance dose for eggs, milk, and wheat may effectively lower the symptoms associated with their consumption compared to the target OIT dose. Furthermore, aggressive reduction of the maintenance dose might be important for milk and wheat, compared to the 25%-dose OIT

A Clinical Trial Evaluating the Usefulness of Tailored Antimicrobial Prophylaxis Using Rectal-culture Screening Media Prior to Transrectal Prostate Biopsy: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial

The aim of this report is to introduce an on-going, multicenter, randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether tailored antimicrobial prophylaxis guided by rectal culture screening prevents acute bacterial prostatitis following transrectal prostate biopsy (TRPB). Patients will be randomized into an intervention or non-intervention group; tazobactam-piperacillin or levofloxacin will be prophylactically administered according to the results of rectal culture prior to TRPB in the intervention group whereas levofloxacin will be routinely given in the non-intervention group. The primary endpoint is the occurrence rate of acute bacterial prostatitis after TRPB. Recruitment begins in April, 2021 and the target total sample size is 5,100 participants

ドジョウ カンソウ ショリ オヨビ ヒカリ ハンシャ シート ノ フセツ ガ カシス(Ribes nigrum L.)ノ カジツ ヒンシツ ビタミンC ガンリョウ オヨビ コウサンカノウ ニ オヨボス エイキョウ

ポット植えしたカシス`ラジアント\u27を,かん水量を制限した乾燥土壌で栽培した。その結果,十分にかん水した場合と比較して果実が小型化し,滴定酸度は上昇し,ビタミンC含量は増加傾向を示した。屈折計示度および抗酸化能(H-ORAC)は変化しなかった。また,カシス`ネービス\u27を,株の周辺に光反射シートを敷設して栽培した。この際,かん水は十分量を与えた。その結果,無処理の場合と比較して屈折計示度および滴定酸度は変化しなかったが,ビタミンC含量が増加し,抗酸化能は上昇傾向を示した。以上のことから,土壌乾燥処理や光反射シートの利用によってカシス果実の栄養および機能性を向上させ得ることが示された。Potted plants of the blackcurrant cultivar `Radiant\u27 were subjected to soil drying with limited irrigation. The treatment decreased fruit size, increased titratable acidity, and tended to increase vitamin C content in fruits, as compared with sufficiently irrigated plants. There was no difference in soluble solid content and antioxidant capacity (evaluated using the hydrophilic-oxygen radical absorbance capacity (H-ORAC) method) between the treated and control plants. Potted plants of the blackcurrant cultivar `Nevis\u27 were subjected to mulching culture by using a light-reflecting sheet. In this experiment, both treated and control plants were sufficiently watered. The soluble solid content and titratable acidity of the treated fruits were similar to those of the control fruits, while vitamin C content of the treated fruits was higher and antioxidant capacity of the treated fruits tended to increase as compared with the control fruits. These results indicate that soil drying and a light-reflecting sheet are capable of increasing the nutritional quality and functional components of blackcurrant fruits