Obesity and Perioperative management – Review –

　Obesity is a contributing factor to life-style related diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia, as well as being a cause of metabolic syndromes. It has been predicted that more than half of the adult population in the world might be obese within the next twenty years. Once a person is diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia may remain mild even while visceral fat obesity slowly advances arterial sclerosis. Eventually, severe clinical conditions such as heart diseases and stroke can result. In recent years, there are more and more patients diagnosed with morbid obesity both inside and outside of Japan. This case report will discuss some concerns and tasks in treating patients with obesity and morbid obesity

Effect of Uniaxial Stress for Pressure-Induced Superconductor SrFe_2As_2

We report that the pressure-temperature phase diagram of single-crystalline SrFe$_2$As$_2$ is easily affected by the hydrostaticity of a pressure-transmitting medium. For all of the three mediums we used, superconductivity with zero resistance appears, accompanied by the suppression of an antiferromagnetic (orthorhombic) phase, but the critical pressure $P_c$ was found to depend on the type of medium. $P_c$ was estimated to be 4.4 GPa under almost hydrostatic condition, but it decreased to $3.4-3.7$ GPa with the use of the medium already solidified at room temperature. The uniaxial stress along the c-axis is suggested to aid in the suppression of the antiferromagnetic (orthorhombic) phase. The pressure effect of BaFe$_2$As$_2$ is also reported.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. No.8 (2009

Four cases of gastric cancer in patients with autoimmune gastritis

　Here, we report on four cases of gastric cancer in patients with autoimmune gastritis (AIG). AIG is characterized by the corpus-predominant atrophic gastritis with preserved antrum caused by autoimmune mechanisms. Although AIG is a high risk factor for gastric cancer and neuroendocrine tumors (NET), there are few reports describing the characteristics of gastric cancer in patients with AIG. In this case report, all four cases were diagnosed as having AIG by endoscopic findings and the presence of extra-gastric autoimmune diseases before the treatment for gastric cancer

Specific Heat Discontinuity, deltaC, at Tc in BaFe2(As0.7P0.3)2 - Consistent with Unconventional Superconductivity

We report the specific heat discontinuity, deltaC/Tc, at Tc = 28.2 K of a collage of single crystals of BaFe2(As0.7P0.3)2 and compare the measured value of 38.5 mJ/molK**2 with other iron pnictide and iron chalcogenide (FePn/Ch) superconductors. This value agrees well with the trend established by Bud'ko, Ni and Canfield who found that deltaC/Tc ~ a*Tc**2 for 14 examples of doped Ba1-xKxFe2As2 and BaFe2-xTMxAs2, where the transition metal TM=Co and Ni. We extend their analysis to include all the FePn/Ch superconductors for which deltaC/Tc is currently known and find deltaC/Tc ~ a*Tc**1.9 and a=0.083 mJ/molK**4. A comparison with the elemental superconductors with Tc>1 K and with A-15 superconductors shows that, contrary to the FePn/Ch superconductors, electron-phonon-coupled conventional superconductors exhibit a significantly different dependence of deltaC on Tc, namely deltaC/Tc ~ Tc**0.9. However deltaC/gamma*Tc appears to be comparable in all three classes (FePn/Ch, elemental and A-15) of superconductors with, e. g., deltaC/gamma*Tc=2.4 for BaFe2(As0.7P0.3)2. A discussion of the possible implications of these phenomenological comparisons for the unconventional superconductivity believed to exist in the FePn/Ch is given.Comment: some disagreement in reference and footnote numbering with the published versio

A Case of Cholesterol Crystal Embolization with Hemorrhagic Intestinal Ulcer

Cholesterol crystal embolization (CCE) is a rare systemic embolism caused　by formation of cholesterol crystals from atherosclerotic plaques. CCE usually occurs during　vascular manipulation such as vascular surgery or endovascular catheter manipulation, or　due to anticoagulation or thrombolytic therapy. We report a rare case of localized intestinal　ulcer with active hemorrhage caused by spontaneous CCE. An 83-year-old man with a history　of hypertension and diabetes was treated with a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)　for myocardial infarction. Melena occurred eight days after PCI. An abdominal computed　tomography revealed small intestinal ulcer, extravasation of the gastrointestinal tract and　bleeding in the abdominal cavity. The patient was diagnosed as bleeding from the small　intestinal ulcer, so an emergency laparotomy was performed. Partial resection of the small　intestine was performed. A histopathological examination indicated that small intestine　obstruction was caused by CCE. A histopathological examination indicated that small intestinal　obstruction was caused by CCE. Therefore, in cases of intestinal obstruction after vascular　manipulation, CCE should also be considered

Evaluation of intra-ductal cancer spread using contrast superb micro-vascular imaging (SMI) : a case report

Currently, breast conserving surgery has been adopted to treat more than half of all breast cancer patients in Japan. When performing breast-conserving surgery, an appropriate margin needs to be determined for radical cure. The resection volume influences the esthetic outcome, but a cancer-positive resection stump is also important risk factor of local recurrence. Additionally, the degree of cancer progression influences the surgical method, so understanding the appropriate resection margin is necessary for the surgeons. We report here on a 50- year old patient whose intra-ductal cancer progression was shown, as predicted, by contrast SMI (superb micro-vascular imaging). A one-cm size tumor mass was palpable with a clear boundary. B-mode ultrasound confirmed the presence of a breast duct towards the nipple from the tumor mass. Using contrast SMI, an accelerated blood flow was detected around the duct, which suggested intra-ductal progression. The pathological results also showed intra-ductal progression to the nipple from the tumor. Around the progression area, a meandering vessel was found and the vessel was able to be visualized by contrast SMI

Transient Increase in Zn2+ in Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Neurons Causes Reversible Memory Deficit

The translocation of synaptic Zn2+ to the cytosolic compartment has been studied to understand Zn2+ neurotoxicity in neurological diseases. However, it is unknown whether the moderate increase in Zn2+ in the cytosolic compartment affects memory processing in the hippocampus. In the present study, the moderate increase in cytosolic Zn2+ in the hippocampus was induced with clioquinol (CQ), a zinc ionophore. Zn2+ delivery by Zn-CQ transiently attenuated CA1 long-term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampal slices prepared 2 h after i.p. injection of Zn-CQ into rats, when intracellular Zn2+ levels was transiently increased in the CA1 pyramidal cell layer, followed by object recognition memory deficit. Object recognition memory was transiently impaired 30 min after injection of ZnCl2 into the CA1, but not after injection into the dentate gyrus that did not significantly increase intracellular Zn2+ in the granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus. Object recognition memory deficit may be linked to the preferential increase in Zn2+ and/or the preferential vulnerability to Zn2+ in CA1 pyramidal neurons. In the case of the cytosolic increase in endogenous Zn2+ in the CA1 induced by 100 mM KCl, furthermore, object recognition memory was also transiently impaired, while ameliorated by co-injection of CaEDTA to block the increase in cytosolic Zn2+. The present study indicates that the transient increase in cytosolic Zn2+ in CA1 pyramidal neurons reversibly impairs object recognition memory

Orbital-Selective Superconductivity and the Effect of Lattice Distortion in Iron-Based Superconductors

The superconducting (SC) state of iron-based compounds in both tetragonal and orthorhombic phases is studied on the basis of an effective Hamiltonian composed of the kinetic energy including the five Fe 3d-orbitals, the orthorhombic crystalline electric field (CEF) energy, and the two-orbital Kugel'-Khomski\u{i}-type superexchange interaction. Our basic assumption is that the antiferromagnetic (AF) state in the parent compounds can be described by the $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals, and that the electrons in these orbitals have relatively strong electron correlation in the vicinity of the AF state. In order to study the physical origin of the structure-sensitive SC transition temperature, the effect of orthorhombic distortion is taken into account as the energy-splitting, $\Delta_{\textrm{ortho.}}$, between the $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals. We find that the eigenvalue of the linearized gap equation decreases accompanied with the reduction of the partial density of states for the $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals as $\Delta_{\textrm{ortho.}}$ increases, and that the dominant pairing symmetry is an unconventional fully gapped $s_{+-}$-wave pairing. We also find large anisotropy of the SC gap function in the orthorhombic phase. We propose that the CEF energy plays an important role in controlling $T_{\textrm{c}}$ and the SC gap function, and that orbital-selective superconductivity is a key feature in iron-based superconductors, which causes the structure-sensitive $T_{\textrm{c}}$.Comment: 11 pages, To appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jp