Resection of Hepatic Metastasis from Colorectal Cancer : Survival, Factors Influencing Prognosis, and Follow-up

The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze the surgical results of hepatic resection in our patients with colorectal hepatic metastasis. During a 26-year period, 223 patients among 1,484 patients with colorectal cancer suffered liver metastasis. In 44 curatively resected patients, the one-, three- and five-year cumulative survival rates were 85.9%, 44.9% and 23.0%, respectively. The prognostic importance of seven factors was evaluated. Synchronous or metachronous resection, the type of liver resection, and histologic differentiation did not influence the prognosis, whereas the number and size of metastases, and lymph node involvement did significantly affect prognosis as single factors. The mean diameter of metastatic lesions in the liver was 2.5 cm in the synchronous group and 4.5 cm in the metachronous group, the difference being significant (p = 0.0005). The presence of tumors with large diameters in the metachronous group might mean our failure of early detection of the recurrence of hepatic metastases. It is necessary to make steady efforts such as introducing regular follow-up imaging of colorectal cancer. The median interval between the primary operation and liver metastasis resection was 15.7 months in the lymph node involvement group and 37.7 months in the no lymph node involvement group. In 19 patients among 21 metachronously resected patients, the hepatic resection was done within three years. In conclusion, it was considered that hepatectomy could be done safely, that detection of an earlier lesion could improve the surgical results, and that follow-up for liver metastasis should be done intensively between 12 and 36 months after colorectal cancer surgery

Seed-coat protective neolignans are produced by the dirigent protein AtDP1 and the laccase AtLAC5 in Arabidopsis

種子を保護するネオリグナンの生合成機構を解明 --新たな薬効成分の創出に期待--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-12-03.Lignans/neolignans are generally synthesized from coniferyl alcohol (CA) in the cinnamate/monolignol pathway by oxidation to generate the corresponding radicals with subsequent stereoselective dimerization aided by dirigent proteins (DIRs). Genes encoding oxidases and DIRs for neolignan biosynthesis have not been identified previously. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the DIR AtDP1/AtDIR12 plays an essential role in the 8-O-4′ coupling in neolignan biosynthesis by unequivocal structural determination of the compound missing in the atdp1 mutant as a sinapoylcholine (SC)-conjugated neolignan, erythro-3-{4-[2-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-hydroxymethylethoxy]-3, 5-dimethoxyphenyl}acryloylcholine. Phylogenetic analyses showed that AtDP1/AtDIR12 belongs to the DIR-a subfamily composed of DIRs for 8-8′ coupling of monolignol radicals. AtDP1/AtDIR12 is specifically expressed in outer integument 1 cells in developing seeds. As a putative oxidase for neolignan biosynthesis, we focused on AtLAC5, a laccase gene coexpressed with AtDP1/AtDIR12. In lac5 mutants, the abundance of feruloylcholine (FC)-conjugated neolignans decreased to a level comparable to those in the atdp1 mutant. In addition, SC/FC-conjugated neolignans were missing in the seeds of mutants defective in SCT/SCPL19, an enzyme that synthesizes SC. These results strongly suggest that AtDP1/AtDIR12 and AtLAC5 are involved in neolignan biosynthesis via SC/FC. A tetrazolium penetration assay showed that seed coat permeability increased in atdp1 mutants, suggesting a protective role of neolignans in A. thaliana seeds

A review of clinical characteristics and genetic backgrounds in Alport syndrome

Alport syndrome (AS) is a progressive hereditary renal disease that is characterized by sensorineural hearing loss and ocular abnormalities. It is divided into three modes of inheritance, namely, X-linked Alport syndrome (XLAS), autosomal recessive AS (ARAS), and autosomal dominant AS (ADAS). XLAS is caused by pathogenic variants in COL4A5, while ADAS and ARAS are caused by those in COL4A3/COL4A4. Diagnosis is conventionally made pathologically, but recent advances in comprehensive genetic analysis have enabled genetic testing to be performed for the diagnosis of AS as first-line diagnosis. Because of these advances, substantial information about the genetics of AS has been obtained and the genetic background of this disease has been revealed, including genotype–phenotype correlations and mechanisms of onset in some male XLAS cases that lead to milder phenotypes of late-onset end-stage renal disease (ESRD). There is currently no radical therapy for AS and treatment is only performed to delay progression to ESRD using nephron-protective drugs. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors can remarkably delay the development of ESRD. Recently, some new drugs for this disease have entered clinical trials or been developed in laboratories. In this article, we review the diagnostic strategy, genotype–phenotype correlation, mechanisms of onset of milder phenotypes, and treatment of AS, among others

The interaction between shock waves and solid spheres arrays in a shock tube

When a shock wave interacts with a group of solid spheres, non-linear aerodynamic behaviors come into effect. The complicated wave reflections such as the Mach reflection occur in. the wave propagation process. The wave interactions with vortices behind each sphere's wake cause fluctuation in the pressure profiles of shock waves. This paper reports an experimental study for the aerodynamic processes involved in the interaction between shock waves and solid spheres. A schlieren photography was applied to visualize the various shock waves passing through solid spheres. Pressure measurements were performed along different downstream positions. The experiments were conducted in both rectangular and circular shock tubes. The data with respect to the effect of the sphere array, size, interval distance, incident Mach number, etc., on the shock wave attenuation were obtained

Improved lattice enumeration algorithms by primal and dual reordering methods

Abstract The security of lattice‐based cryptosystems is generally based on the hardness of the Shortest Vector Problem (SVP). The original enumeration (ENUM) algorithm solving SVP runs in exponential time due to the exhaustive search, which is used as a subroutine for the block Korkin–Zolotarev (BKZ) algorithm. It is a critical issue to reduce the computational complexity of ENUM. In this paper, first, we improve the reordering method proposed by Wang et al. in ACISP 2018. We call our proposed method DPR, which permutates the projected dual lattice vectors by decreasing norms. Preliminary experimental results show that the proposed reordering methods can reduce the ENUM complexity compared to the predecessor; for instance, DPR reduces around 32.8% on average in 45‐dimensional lattices. Moreover, the authors’ simulation shows that the higher the lattice dimension, the more DPR can reduce the ENUM complexity. In addition, we study a condition for deciding when the reordering method shall be executed or not. Finally, we improve the BKZ algorithm with DPR methods and the proposed condition