Comparison of surgical outcomes between iStent inject W implantation and microhook ab interno trabeculotomy in combination with phacoemulsification in primary open-angle glaucoma patients

PurposeTo examine primary open-angle glaucoma patients after undergoing combined cataract surgery with microhook ab interno trabeculotomy (μLOT-Phaco) or iStent inject W implantation (iStent-Phaco), and then evaluate the surgical outcomes after a minimum of 6 months of follow-up.MethodsBetween October 2020 and July 2022, 39 μLOT-Phaco eyes and 55 iStent-Phaco eyes that underwent surgery were evaluated in this retrospective, multicenter comparative case series. Data that included preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP), number of glaucoma medications, and occurrence of complications were collected from medical records and then examined. Surgical failure was defined as patients exhibiting a < 20% reduction in the preoperative IOP or an IOP > 18 mmHg on two consecutive follow-up visits, or when patients were required to undergo reoperation. Success rates were determined based on a Kaplan–Meier survival analysis.ResultsAt 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively, there was a significant postoperative reduction in the IOP (p < 0.001) and in the medications scores (p < 0.001) for both of the groups. In the μLOT-Phaco and iStent-Phaco groups, the probabilities of success at 6 and 12 months were 55.3 and 45.5%, and 48.4 and 45.5% (p = 0.38; log-rank test), respectively. In the iStent-Phaco group, there was a significant decrease in the hyphema.ConclusionComparable surgical outcomes occurred for both the μLOT and iStent inject W procedures

Utility of immune checkpoint inhibitors in non-small-cell lung cancer patients with poor performance status

Most clinical trials of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) exclude patients with poor ECOG performance status (PS). Thus, the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with poor PS remains unclear. Herein, we used data from a retrospective cohort to assess the potential clinical benefits of ICIs in NSCLC patients with poor PS. Data from NSCLC patients who received ICI monotherapy at 9 institutions between December 2015 and May 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. After excluding 4 patients who lacked PS data, a total of 527 ICI-treated patients, including 79 patients with PS 2 or higher, were used for our analyses. The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with PS 2 or higher were significantly shorter compared with those of PS 0-1 patients (median PFS, 4.1 vs 2.0 months;P < .001 and median OS, 17.4 vs 4.0 months;P < .001). Among NSCLC patients with programmed cell death protein-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression of 50% or higher who were treated with pembrolizumab as first-line therapy, the median PFS times of patients with PS 2 and 0-1 were 7.3 and 8.1 months, respectively. There was no significant difference in PFS between patients with PS 2 and 0-1 (P = .321). Although poor PS was significantly associated with worse outcomes in NSCLC patients treated with ICIs, pembrolizumab as a first-line treatment in NSCLC patients expressing high levels of PD-L1 could provide a clinical benefit, even in patients with PS 2

21セイキ ノ カンドウミャク インターベンション

Coronary intervention has come to achieve good results with the use of new devices, such as Rotablator (ROTA), new directional coronary atherectomy (DCA), and a special guide wire, even for lesions in which good results were not obtained with plain old balloon angioplasty. In the present study, we evaluated the initial results in patients who underwent ROTA procedures, coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion (CTO), and new DCA procedures in our hospital between January and December 2001. (1) There were 99 patients who underwent ROTA, with an average age of 68±12 years, a lesion length of 15.9±9.9 mm, a reference vessel diameter of 2.7±0.6 mm, and a success rate of 98%. Among these 99 patients, there were 82 patients (83%) with B2 or C type lesion, which is difficult to treat. (2) There were 61 patients with CTO who underwent coronary intervention, with an average age of 63±9 years, an occlusion length of 22.8±13.3 mm, a reference vessel diameter of 2.6±0.7 mm, and a success rate of 82%. (3) There were 5 patients who underwent DCA for ostial lesion of left anterior desending artery and the target lesion was successfully dilated in all these patients. These results indicated that new devices for coronary intervention have made it possible to treat a wider range of lesions, but restenosis still remains to be solved. In Europe and the U.S.A., restenosis is reported to have been drastically reduced by drug eluting stents, which are expected to be introduced in Japan in the future

深穴金型におけるPVDコーティング膜厚の均一化: 対向デュアルビーム・アーク蒸着法の開発

金沢大学理工研究域機械工学系対向デュアルビーム・アーク蒸着装置によって金型の深穴内面へTiN膜を生成し，膜厚分布を検証している．従来のPVDコーティングでは膜生成が不可能であったL（長さ）/D（内径）＝5の深穴において，本製法では全面にTiN膜を生成することができる．また，深穴の奥部でも、入口部と同等の組成および塑性変形硬さが得られる．深穴を有する粉末成形用金型へ適用した結果、従来比10倍以上の寿命向上を実現している．出版者照会後に全文公

Multicolor and multi-spot observations of Starlink's Visorsat

This study provides the results of simultaneous multicolor observations for the first Visorsat (STARLINK-1436) and the ordinary Starlink satellite, STARLINK-1113 in the $U$, $B$, $V$, $g'$, $r$, $i$, $R_{\rm C}$, $I_{\rm C}$, $z$, $J$, $H$, and $K_s$ bands to quantitatively investigate the extent to which Visorsat reduces its reflected light. Our results are as follows: (1) in most cases, Virorsat is fainter than STARLINK-1113, and the sunshade on Visorsat, therefore, contributes to the reduction of the reflected sunlight; (2) the magnitude at 550 km altitude (normalized magnitude) of both satellites often reaches the naked-eye limiting magnitude ($<$ 6.0); (3) from a blackbody radiation model of the reflected flux, the peak of the reflected components of both satellites is around the $z$ band; and (4) the albedo of the near infrared range is larger than that of the optical range. Under the assumption that Visorsat and STARLINK-1113 have the same reflectivity, we estimate the covering factor, $C_{\rm f}$, of the sunshade on Visorsat, using the blackbody radiation model: the covering factor ranges from $0.18 \leq C_{\rm f} \leq 0.92$. From the multivariable analysis of the solar phase angle (Sun-target-observer), the normalized magnitude, and the covering factor, the phase angle versus covering factor distribution presents a moderate anti-correlation between them, suggesting that the magnitudes of Visorsat depend not only on the phase angle but also on the orientation of the sunshade along our line of sight. However, the impact on astronomical observations from Visorsat-designed satellites remains serious. Thus, new countermeasures are necessary for the Starlink satellites to further reduce reflected sunlight.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures, published in PAS

高硬度粉末の結合特性に関する研究: 可視化による結合メカニズムの解明

金沢大学理工研究域機械工学系In this study, laser irradiation state is visualized by a high-speed camera. The influence of laser condition, such as power and laser scanning speed, on the consolidation of metal powder was investigated. In addition, the aspect of sputtered particles from the melt pool were evaluated. As results, consolidated state was found to be different in spite of same energy density. Scattering direction of sputteringwas found to be related to the scanning speed. Counts of sputtered particles was found to be reduced when the scanning speed increase.粉末結合積層法では、従来の加工法と比べ製品が望ましい品質に達していないといった問題がある。造形条件の各パラメータによる品質への影響を調査した内容は数多く存在するが、粉末が溶融・固化する際の詳細なメカニズムは深く調査されていない。本研究では、高速度カメラを使用して粉末にレーザを照射する様子を観察し、撮影した動画並びに画像を基に結合メカニズムの解明を試みた内容について報告する。出版者照会後に全文公

The Japanese space gravitational wave antenna; DECIGO

DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future Japanese space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to open a new window of observation for gravitational wave astronomy especially between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz, revealing various mysteries of the universe such as dark energy, formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and inflation of the universe. The pre-conceptual design of DECIGO consists of three drag-free spacecraft, whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry– Perot Michelson interferometer. We plan to launch two missions, DECIGO pathfinder and pre- DECIGO first and finally DECIGO in 2024

Asymmetrical bonding in liquid Bi disentangled by inelastic X-ray scattering

The structure of liquid Bi has been debated in relationship with the Peierls distortion, as crystalline Bi takes A7 structure. A recent ab initio molec- ular dynamics simulation for liquid Bi predicted a flat-topped profile of the acoustic dispersion curve. To confirm the prediction, we have carried out inelas- tic x-ray scattering (IXS) for liquid Bi. The dynamic structure factor obtained by the IXS exhibits a distinct inelastic excitation of the longitudinal acoustic mode up to 14 nm−1 and the dispersion curve of the excitation energy obtained by the memory function analysis becomes a flat-topped one. We found that a linear chain model including the interatomic interaction with the second near- est neighbors can explain the flat-topped profile. The result suggests that the anomalous dispersion curve in liquid Bi arises from local anisotropy related to the Peierls distortion in the crystalline phase.

DECIGO pathfinder

DECIGO pathfinder (DPF) is a milestone satellite mission for DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) which is a future space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to provide us fruitful insights into the universe, in particular about dark energy, a formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and the inflation of the universe. Since DECIGO will be an extremely large mission which will formed by three drag-free spacecraft with 1000m separation, it is significant to gain the technical feasibility of DECIGO before its planned launch in 2024. Thus, we are planning to launch two milestone missions: DPF and pre-DECIGO. The conceptual design and current status of the first milestone mission, DPF, are reviewed in this article