Spectra of pulsating aurora emissions observed by an optical spectrograph at Tromso, Norway

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OS] Space and upper atmospheric sciences, Wed. 4 Dec. /Entrance Hall (1st floor) at National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR

Associated factors with surgical site infections after hepatectomy: Predictions and countermeasures by a retrospective cohort study

Background: To clarify the factors associated with post-hepatectomy surgical site infections (SSIs), the clinicopathological data of 526 patients who underwent hepatectomy was retrospectively examined as a retrospectively cohort study. Methods: Patient demographics, liver functions, histological findings, surgical records and post-hepatectomy morbidity were compared between non-SSI and SSI groups; the SSI group included superficial and deep SSIs. Results: The prevalence of SSIs (5-8%) has not changed over an 18-year period. Deep SSIs were significantly more increased in male patients with lower performance statuses and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores (p < 0.05). SSIs tended to be less prevalent, although not significant (p = 0.10), in patients who underwent laparoscopic hepatectomies compared to those who underwent laparotomies. For patients in whom hemostatic devices were used, the prevalence of superficial SSIs was significantly lower than those in whom the devices were not used (p < 0.05). Blood loss and transfusion were significantly more frequent in the deep SSI group compared to other groups (p < 0.01). Hospital stay in the deep SSI group was significantly longer compared to other groups. The incidence of morbidity was more frequent in the SSI groups compared with the non-SSI group (p < 0.001). A multivariate analysis showed that not using a vessel sealing device was significantly associated with superficial SSIs; male gender, hepatic failure and bile leakage were significantly associated with deep SSIs (p < 0.05). Conclusions: SSIs were important indicators of patient outcomes after hepatectomies, and preventing SSI development after surgical procedures is an important step in improving the overall prevalence of SSIs

Clinicopathological Parameters Associated with Surgical Site Infections in Patients who Underwent Pancreatic Resection

Background/Aims: To clarify parameters associated with postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) after pancreatectomy, we examined clinicopathological and surgical records in 186 patients who underwent pancreatectomy at a single academic institute. Methodology: Patient demographics, liver functional parameters, histological findings, surgical records and post-hepatectomy outcomes during hospitalization were compared between the non-SSI and SSI group, in which SSIs included superficial and deep SSIs. Results: The prevalence of SSI (29-35%) has not changed over an 18-year period. With respect to patient demographics and laboratory data, no parameters were associated with postoperative SSI. In surgical records, the operating time in the SSI group tended to be longer in comparison with that in the non-SSI group (618 vs. 553 minutes, respectively) but not significantly different (p=0.070). With respect to postoperative outcomes, time to oral intake in the SSI group was significantly longer than that in the non-SSI group (21.2 vs. 13.7 days, respectively) (p<0.01). Incidences of pancreatic fistula, postoperative bleeding, long-term ascites and re-operation were significantly more frequent in the SSI group in comparison with the non-SSI group (p<0.05). Decrease of body weight after surgery in the SSI group was significantly greater than that in the non-SSI group (-4.1 vs. -2.7kg, respectively) (p<0.05). Period of hospital stay in the SSI group was significantly longer than that in the non-SSI group (37 vs. 25 days) (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that only postoperative pancreatic fistula was significantly associated with SSI (p<0.01). Conclusions: SSI is an important risk factor of longer hospital stay after pancreatectomy and prevention of pancreatic fistula through the future improvement of surgical procedures is necessary to decrease SSI rates

A New Device Facilitating Intracorporeal Purse-string Suture during Endoscopic Surgery

Standard laparoscopic colorectal surgery requires additional incision or enlargement of the trocar incision for the retrieval of the surgical specimen. A natural orifice specimen extraction （NOSE） procedure, in which the specimen is retrieved through the anus or vagina without any additional skin incision, requires purse-string suture （PSS） of the rostral intestinal segment in order to fix the anvil head of the stapler and perform extracorporeal mechanical anastomosis. Colorectal surgery has a limited NOSE in cases where the end of the rostral segment could be pulled through the anus. Broader application of NOSE depends on intracorporeal PSS. We developed a new forceps for intracorporeal PSS during NOSE and evaluated its efficacy. The PSS instrument was refined to pass through a 12-mm trocar in an intracorporeal PSS and achieve anastomosis using double stapling. In trials utilizing an endoscopic practice box, regular spacing of stitches during PSS were consistent （n＝10）, and tight intracorporeal anastomosis of the porcine colon was successfully performed （n＝2）. We then confirmed efficacy through an operation on a pig. Our novel PSS device will help us perform NOSE not only in laparoscopic colorectal surgery but also in any operation requiring intracorporeal PSS, which should contribute to further advances in endoscopic digestive surgery

Acceleration of the lower-thermospheric wind measured with a Fabry-Perot interferometer around substorm onsets at Tromsø, Norway

第3回極域科学シンポジウム/第36回極域宙空圏シンポジウム 11月26日（月）、27日（火） 国立極地研究所 2階ラウン

A novel biomarker TERTmRNA is applicable for early detection of hepatoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgrounds</p> <p>We previously reported a highly sensitive method for serum human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). α-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-γ-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) are good markers for HCC. In this study, we verified the significance of hTERTmRNA in a large scale multi-centered trial, collating quantified values with clinical course.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 638 subjects including 303 patients with HCC, 89 with chronic hepatitis (CH), 45 with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 201 healthy individuals, we quantified serum hTERTmRNA using the real-time RT-PCR. We examined its sensitivity and specificity in HCC diagnosis, clinical significance, ROC curve analysis in comparison with other tumor markers, and its correlations with the clinical parameters using Pearson relative test and multivariate analyses. Furthermore, we performed a prospective and comparative study to observe the change of biomarkers, including hTERTmRNA in HCC patients receiving anti-cancer therapies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>hTERTmRNA was demonstrated to be independently correlated with clinical parameters; tumor size and tumor differentiation (P < 0.001, each). The sensitivity/specificity of hTERTmRNA in HCC diagnosis showed 90.2%/85.4% for hTERT. hTERTmRNA proved to be superior to AFP, AFP-L3, and DCP in the diagnosis and underwent an indisputable change in response to therapy. The detection rate of small HCC by hTERTmRNA was superior to the other markers.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>hTERTmRNA is superior to conventional tumor markers in the diagnosis and recurrence of HCC at an early stage.</p

Recent Results from LHD Experiment with Emphasis on Relation to Theory from Experimentalist’s View

he Large Helical Device (LHD) has been extending an operational regime of net-current free plasmas towardsthe fusion relevant condition with taking advantage of a net current-free heliotron concept and employing a superconducting coil system. Heating capability has exceeded 10 MW and the central ion and electron temperatureshave reached 7 and 10 keV, respectively. The maximum value of β and pulse length have been extended to 3.2% and 150 s, respectively. Many encouraging physical findings have been obtained. Topics from recent experiments, which should be emphasized from the aspect of theoretical approaches, are reviewed. Those are (1) Prominent features in the inward shifted configuration, i.e., mitigation of an ideal interchange mode in the configuration with magnetic hill, and confinement improvement due to suppression of both anomalous and neoclassical transport, (2) Demonstration ofbifurcation of radial electric field and associated formation of an internal transport barrier, and (3) Dynamics of magnetic islands and clarification of the role of separatrix

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection