Subserosal Inflammatory Pseudotumor Causing Intussusception

We present an adult case of intussusception caused by subserosal inflammatory pseudotumor of the terminal ileum. Enteric intussusception was diagnosed by characteristic Xray finding, so called "beak-like" filling defect in the terminal ileum. An exploratory laparotomy revealed focal subserosal thickening in the terminal ileum, and partial ileocolectomy was performed. Microscopically, we identified a pseudotumor that extended through the muscularis propria into serosa. The pseudotumor was composed of fibrous stroma and chronic inflammatory cells with calcification

Primary productivity, bacterial productivity and nitrogen uptake in response to iron enrichment during the SEEDS II

Primary productivity (PP), bacterial productivity (BP) and the uptake rates of nitrate and ammonium were measured using isotopic methods (13C, 3H, 15N) during a mesoscale iron (Fe)-enrichment experiment conducted in the western subarctic Pacific Ocean in 2004 (SEEDS II). PP increased following Fe enrichment, reached maximal rates 12 days after the enrichment, and then declined to the initial level on day 17. During the 23-d observation period, we observed the development and decline of the Fe-induced bloom. The surface mixed layer (SML) integrated PP increased by 3-fold, but was smaller than the 5-fold increase observed in the previous Fe-enrichment experiment conducted at almost the same location and season during 2001 (SEEDS). Nitrate uptake rates were enhanced by Fe-enrichment but decreased after day 5, and became lower than ammonium uptake rates after day 17. The total nitrogenous nutrient uptake rate declined after the peak of the bloom, and accumulation of ammonium was obvious in the euphotic layer. Nitrate utilization accounted for all the requirements of N for the massive bloom development during SEEDS, whereas during SEEDS II, nitrate accounted for >90% of total N utilization on day 5, declining to 40% by the end of the observation period. The SML integrated BP increased after day 2 and peaked twice on days 8 and 21. Ammonium accumulation and the delayed heterotrophic activity suggested active regeneration occurred after the peak of the bloom. The SML integrated PP between days 0 and day 23 was 19.0g Cm^[-2]. The SML integrated BP during the same period was 2.6 g C m^[-2], which was 14% of the SML integrated PP. Carbon budget calculation for the whole experimental period indicated that 33% of the whole (particulate plus dissolved) PP (21.5 gCm^[-2]) was exported below the SML and 18% was transferred to the meso-zooplankton (growth). The bacterial carbon consumption (43% of the whole PP) was supported by DOC or POC release from phytoplankton, zooplankton, protozoa and viruses. More than a half (56%) of the whole PP in the Fe patch was consumed within the SML by respiration of heterotrophic organisms and returned to CO2

Behavior of Water Mass Beneath the Tsushima Warm Current in the Japan Sea

To better understand the behavior of water mass beneath the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC), we use the vertical cross-sections of potential temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen in the Japan Sea obtained by the T/V Oshoro Maru of the Hokkaido University during 8-29 June in 2011 to analyze its origins and variations. The results show that the potential temperature and salinity beneath the TWC varies little, but the dissolved oxygen varies largely with the geographical location. There are two deep water masses with different dissolved oxygen content below the TWC. One is on the coastal side with the low dissolved oxygen, and the other is on the offshore side with the high dissolved oxygen. It is inferred that the former one is relatively old water and the latter is the new water. By using the phosphate (PO4) and the apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) relationship, we calculate the PO40(preformed PO4) as a water mass tracer. These results suggest that the water masses beneath the TWC with high and low dissolved oxygen originate from the same surface water mass in the central Japan Sea

Properties of Starch and Protein of “Hattan-Type Varieties” of Rice Suitable for Brewing Original Hiroshima Sake

By successive crossing using Hattan-type varieties originating from “Hattanso” as a parent, “Hattan-type varieties” of rice suitable for brewing the original Hiroshima sake have been bred. In this study, the difference in the properties of starch and protein among the Hattan-type varieties was examined. Six Hattan-type varieties, Hattanso, Hattan No.10, Hattan No.35, Hattan No.40, Hattan-nishiki No.1 and Hattan-nishiki No.2, were used. As the properties of starch, amylose content, pasting properties and gelatinization properties were examined. The pasting and gelatinization properties were examined using a rapid viscoanalyzer (RVA) and a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. As the properties of protein, the compositional ratio of two types of protein bodies (PB-II/PB-I) was analyzed. However, no significant differences in the above properties were observed among these Hattan-type varieties. The above properties of starch and protein in Hattanso seem to be retained in all of these varieties. In these varieties, breeding might not have been aimed at improvement of the properties of starch and protein

Medical Needs Extraction for Breast Cancer Patients from Question and Answer Services: Natural Language Processing-Based Approach

Background: A large number of patient narratives are available on various web services. As for web question and answer services, patient questions often relate to medical needs, and we expect these questions to provide clues for a better understanding of patients’ medical needs. Objective: This study aimed to extract patients’ needs and classify them into thematic categories. Clarifying patient needs is the first step in solving social issues that patients with cancer encounter. Methods: For this study, we used patient question texts containing the key phrase “breast cancer,“ available at the Yahoo! Japan question and answer service, Yahoo! Chiebukuro, which contains over 60,000 questions on cancer. First, we converted the question text into a vector representation. Next, the relevance between patient needs and existing cancer needs categories was calculated based on cosine similarity. Results: The proportion of correct classifications in our proposed method was approximately 70%. Considering the results of classifying questions, we found the variation and the number of needs. Conclusions: We created 3 corpora to classify the problems of patients with cancer. The proposed method was able to classify the problems considering the question text. Moreover, as an application example, the question text that included the side effect signaling of drugs and the unmet needs of cancer patients could be extracted. Revealing these needs is important to fulfill the medical needs of patients with cancer