Comparison of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings of Neuroendocrine and Non-neuroendocrine Ductal Carcinoma in Situ of the Breast

Neuroendocrine ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast（NE-DCIS）was recently recognized as a special subtype of DCIS, although the diagnostic criteria for NE-DCIS are yet to be established. DCIS is defined as the immunohistochemical expression of neuroendocrine markers chromogranin A and/or synaptophysin in over 50％ of tumor cells. Here, we investigated whether there are significant differences in magnetic resonance imaging（MRI）findings between NE-DCIS and non-NE-DCIS. The study sample comprised 8 lesions in 7 patients with breast NE-DCIS and 71 lesions in 69 patients with non-NE-DCIS who underwent preoperative MRI and histopathological diagnosis at our hospital from June 2010 to June 2012. The patients were females aged 34–85 years. We examined the lesion type, pattern of time-signal intensity curve（TIC）on dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI（DCE-MRI）, presence or absence of bloody duct ectasia delineation, and presence or absence of calcification on mammography（MMG）. Mass-type lesions were significantly more common in breast NE-DCIS than in non-NE-DCIS on MRI. On DCE-MRI, the TIC washout pattern was more commonly observed in NE-DCIS than in non-NE-DCIS, and although there was no significant difference in the rate of bloody duct ectasia delineation, it was relatively more common in NE-DCIS. MMG revealed a significant difference in calcification between non-NE-DCIS（60.1％）and NE-DCIS（0％）. Mass-type lesions and TIC washout pattern are significantly more common in patients with NE-DCIS than in those with non-NE-DCIS on MRI and DCE-MRI

Proton (1H) MR Spectroscopy of the Breast at 3.0T: Detectability of the Choline Peak of Breast Cancer in Comparison with a 1.5T Imager

1H-MR spectroscopy (MRS) of the breast demonstrated that choline could be detected in breast cancers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the detectability of the choline peak (Tcho) in breast cancer using a 3.0T imager. A total of 52 female patients who underwent MR imaging were evaluated. Localization methods included the SVS and PRESS, with acquisition times of approximately 5 minutes. Correlations among tumor size, histological type, and the presence of Tcho were evaluated. Of 52 breast lesions that were pathologically diagnosed, 50 were malignant [45 invasive ductal carcinomas (IDC), five ductal carcinomas in situ (DCIS) ]and 2 were benign. The presence of Tcho was evaluated in 50 cases. The average diameter of malignant tumors was 2.2 cm and that of benign tumors was 1.9cm. Tcho was identified in 24 of 48 breast cancers (sensitivity 50%, specificity 100%). There was a significant difference between the identification in tumors according to tumor size. Tcho was identified in 76.9% of IDC cases with a diameter greater than the voxel size (1.5cm), while it was identified in only 17.6% of tumors less than 1.5cm in size. Tcho was identified in approximately 77% of breast cancer tumors overall with a diameter greater than the voxel size. The result was comparable with the detectability at 1.5T, although the acquisition times at 3.0T were much shorter than at 1.5T. The advantages at 3.0T include the ability to investigate smaller lesions within a shorter time frame

Prediction of Carbohydrate-Binding Proteins from Sequences Using Support Vector Machines

Carbohydrate-binding proteins are proteins that can interact with sugar chains but do not modify them. They are involved in many physiological functions, and we have developed a method for predicting them from their amino acid sequences. Our method is based on support vector machines (SVMs). We first clarified the definition of carbohydrate-binding proteins and then constructed positive and negative datasets with which the SVMs were trained. By applying the leave-one-out test to these datasets, our method delivered 0.92 of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. We also examined two amino acid grouping methods that enable effective learning of sequence patterns and evaluated the performance of these methods. When we applied our method in combination with the homology-based prediction method to the annotated human genome database, H-invDB, we found that the true positive rate of prediction was improved

Distribution of Faraday Rotation Measure in Jets from Active Galactic Nuclei II. Prediction from our Sweeping Magnetic Twist Model for the Wiggled Parts of AGN Jets and Tails

Distributions of Faraday rotation measure (FRM) and the projected magnetic field derived by a 3-dimensional simulation of MHD jets are investigated based on our "sweeping magnetic twist model". FRM and Stokes parameters were calculated to be compared with radio observations of large scale wiggled AGN jets on kpc scales. We propose that the FRM distribution can be used to discuss the 3-dimensional structure of magnetic field around jets and the validity of existing theoretical models, together with the projected magnetic field derived from Stokes parameters. In the previous paper, we investigated the basic straight part of AGN jets by using the result of a 2-dimensional axisymmetric simulation. The derived FRM distribution has a general tendency to have a gradient across the jet axis, which is due to the toroidal component of the magnetic field generated by the rotation of the accretion disk. In this paper, we consider the wiggled structure of the AGN jets by using the result of a 3-dimensional simulation. Our numerical results show that the distributions of FRM and the projected magnetic field have a clear correlation with the large scale structure of the jet itself, namely, 3-dimensional helix. Distributions, seeing the jet from a certain direction, show a good matching with those in a part of 3C449 jet. This suggests that the jet has a helical structure and that the magnetic field (especially the toroidal component) plays an important role in the dynamics of the wiggle formation because it is due to a current-driven helical kink instability in our model.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Endobronchial Argon Plasma Coagulation for the Palliation of Recurrent Tracheobronchial Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma

This is a non-final version of an article published in final form in Journal of Bronchology, 14(4):278-280, October 2007.The standard treatment of adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the airway is surgery, if possible, because survival rate is better than other treatments including radiotherapy. Although ACC shows frequent recurrence during the long-term follow-up unless there has been a complete resection (negative surgical margin), no further treatments are recommended. This report describes how argon plasma coagulation using flexible bronchoscopy has been successfully employed in the treatment of ACC after conventional therapy in 1 case of recurrence after surgery and 2 cases of inoperable patients. All of the patients are alive and healthy more than 6 years after diagnosis.ArticleJournal of Bronchology. 14(4):278-280 (2007)journal articl

Accuracy of an Artificial Intelligence–Based Model for Estimating Leftover Liquid Food in Hospitals : Validation Study

Background: An accurate evaluation of the nutritional status of malnourished hospitalized patients at a higher risk of complications, such as frailty or disability, is crucial. Visual methods of estimating food intake are popular for evaluating the nutritional status in clinical environments. However, from the perspective of accurate measurement, such methods are unreliable. Objective: The accuracy of estimating leftover liquid food in hospitals using an artificial intelligence (AI)–based model was compared to that of visual estimation. Methods: The accuracy of the AI-based model (AI estimation) was compared to that of the visual estimation method for thin rice gruel as staple food and fermented milk and peach juice as side dishes. A total of 576 images of liquid food (432 images of thin rice gruel, 72 of fermented milk, and 72 of peach juice) were used. The mean absolute error, root mean squared error, and coefficient of determination (R2) were used as metrics for determining the accuracy of the evaluation process. Welch t test and the confusion matrix were used to examine the difference of mean absolute error between AI and visual estimation. Results: The mean absolute errors obtained through the AI estimation approach were 0.63 for fermented milk, 0.25 for peach juice, and 0.85 for the total. These were significantly smaller than those obtained using the visual estimation approach, which were 1.40 (P<.001) for fermented milk, 0.90 (P<.001) for peach juice, and 1.03 (P=.009) for the total. By contrast, the mean absolute error for thin rice gruel obtained using the AI estimation method (0.99) did not differ significantly from that obtained using visual estimation (0.99). The confusion matrix for thin rice gruel showed variation in the distribution of errors, indicating that the errors in the AI estimation were biased toward the case of many leftovers. The mean squared error for all liquid foods tended to be smaller for the AI estimation than for the visual estimation. Additionally, the coefficient of determination (R2) for fermented milk and peach juice tended to be larger for the AI estimation than for the visual estimation, and the R2 value for the total was equal in terms of accuracy between the AI and visual estimations. Conclusions: The AI estimation approach achieved a smaller mean absolute error and root mean squared error and a larger coefficient of determination (R2) than the visual estimation approach for the side dishes. Additionally, the AI estimation approach achieved a smaller mean absolute error and root mean squared error compared to the visual estimation method, and the coefficient of determination (R2) was similar to that of the visual estimation method for the total. AI estimation measures liquid food intake in hospitals more precisely than visual estimation, but its accuracy in estimating staple food leftovers requires improvement

Inhibition of Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase enhances the activation of epidermal growth factor receptor in pancreatic cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase (Rho-kinase/ROCK) is involved in various cellular functions including cell proliferation, and is generally considered to be oncogenic, while some studies show that ROCK functions as a negative regulator of cancer progression. As a result, the precise role of ROCK remains controversial. We have previously reported that Rho-kinase/ROCK negatively regulates epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced cell proliferation in SW480 colon cancer cells. In the present study, we investigated the role of ROCK in EGF receptor (EGFR) signaling in the pancreatic cancer cell lines, Panc1, KP3 and AsPc1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In these cells, Y27632, a specific ROCK inhibitor, enhanced EGF-induced BrdU incorporation. The blockade of EGF stimulation utilizing anti-EGFR-neutralizing antibodies suppressed Panc1 cell proliferation. EGF induced RhoA activity, as well as the phosphorylation of cofilin and myosin light chain (MLC), both targets of ROCK signaling, and Y27632 suppressed both of these processes, indicating that the phosphorylation of cofilin and MLC by EGF occurs through ROCK in Panc1 cells. EGF-induced phosphorylation of EGFR at tyrosine residues was augmented when the cells were pretreated with Y27632 or were subjected to gene silencing using ROCK-siRNA. We also obtained similar results using transforming growth factor-α. In addition, EGF-induced phosphorylation of p44/p42 mitogen-activated protein kinase and Akt were also enhanced by Y27632 or ROCK-siRNA. Moreover, an immunofluorescence microscope study revealed that pretreatment with Y27632 delayed EGF-induced internalization of EGFR. Taken together, these data indicate that ROCK functions to switch off EGFR signaling by promoting the internalization of the EGFR.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>While EGF first stimulates the activation of the EGFR and subsequently increases cancer cell proliferation, EGF concurrently induces the activation of ROCK, which then turns off the activated EGFR pathway via a negative feedback system.</p

Coupled spin-charge-phonon fluctuation in the all-in/all-out antiferromagnet Cd2Os2O7

We report on a spin-charge fluctuation in the all-in/all-out pyrochlore magnet Cd2Os2O7, where the spin fluctuation is driven by the conduction of thermally excited electrons/holes and associated fluctuation of Os valence. The fluctuation exhibits an activation energy significantly greater than the spin-charge excitation gap and a peculiar frequency range of 10(6)-10(10) s(-1). These features are attributed to the hopping motion of carriers as small polarons in the insulating phase, where the polaron state is presumably induced by the magnetoelastic coupling via the strong spin-orbit interaction. Such a coupled spin-charge-phonon fluctuation manifests as a part of the metal-insulator transition that is extended over a wide temperature range due to the modest electron correlation comparable with other interactions characteristic for 5d-subshell systems

Comparison of 1.5 T(Tesla) and 3.0 T(Tesla) Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Evaluating Local Extension of Endometrial Cancer

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important means of evaluating local extension of endometrial cancer. The 3.0 Tesla (T) MRI system introduced in 2005 improved the diagnostic capabilities of this modality due to an increased signal to noise ratio; however, it was also susceptible to artifacts and debate remains regarding the clinical applicability of 3.0 T MRI in the pelvic region. A few reports have compared 1.5 T and 3.0 T MRI for determining the degree of progression of endometrial cancer. Therefore, we conducted a comparative study of the diagnostic capability of 1.5 T and 3.0 T MRI for the local extension of endometrial cancer. Over the 6 years and 8 months from 1 January 2008 to 30 August 2014, preoperative MRI has been conducted at our hospital including T2-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for cases of endometrioid adenocarcinoma requiring surgery. We investigated 60 subjects after excluding cases for which the tumor could not be imaged and cases that underwent surgery 2 months or more after undergoing MRI. Two radiologists used magnetic resonance images taken preoperatively to determine local extension using T2-weighted, diffusion-weighted, and dynamic-study images. Results for local extension were compared with those of postoperative histopathology. Results indicated no significant difference in accurate diagnosis rates between 1.5 T and 3.0 T MRI for any of the imaging modalities examined by both radiologists

The Usefulness of Diffusion-weighted Imaging in Observing Localized Extension of Endometrial Cancer

Endometrial cancer is the seventh most common human malignancy and the most common form of cancer treated in women by obstetrics and gynecology departments. Until now, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used for pre-surgical evaluation of endometrial cancer and evaluating the depth of myometrial invasion, in addition to being a valuable diagnostic tool. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has been reported as useful in distinguishing between benign and malignant tumors when observing lesions in the endometrium. Subsequent reports suggest that DWI is also effective in identifying malignancy and diagnosing local extension in a range of tissues. Based on this, we implemented a study of the effectiveness of DWI in identifying local extension of endometrial cancer. This study enrolled patients undergoing surgery at this hospital for cancer of the uterine body during the six years from January 2008 to February 2014. Cases in which images were unclear or the lesions were too small to be described by MRI examination were excluded, leaving 61 patients in the study. Using the results from pre-surgical MRI, a sequence comprising a T2-weighted axial view alone and a T2-weighted axial view to which a diffusion-weighted axial view had been added was created for each patient. Two radiologists then independently examined the image sequence to determine localized extension. Following surgery, the pre-surgical assessment was compared to the localized extension determined by histopathology of post-surgical samples to evaluate the effectiveness of adding diffusion-weighted imaging to the process. The first radiographic interpreter\u27s rate of correct diagnosis using the T2-weighted axial view alone was 45 out of 55 cases (81.8%), while using the T2-weighted axial view to which a diffusion-weighted axial view had been added gave a correct diagnosis rate of 51 out of 55 cases (92.7%). The second radiographic interpreter\u27s rate of correct diagnosis using the T2-weighted axial view alone was 41 out of 55 cases (74.5%), while using the T2-weighted axial view with diffusion-weighted axial view added gave a correct diagnosis rate of 51 out of 55 cases (92.7%). These differences were statistically significant based on the McNemar testing. This study confirmed that DWI is an effective means of diagnosing localized extension from images. It is anticipated that DWI will be used in the future clinical workplace to provide more accurate pre-surgical diagnoses