Life Cycle Strategies of the Centric Diatoms in a Shallow Embayment Revealed by the Plankton Emergence Trap/Chamber (PET Chamber) Experiments

In situ emergence of the centric diatoms from the surface sediment, along with the occurrence of the vegetative cells in the water column, were monitored monthly in a shallow embayment, Ago Bay, of central Japan, where light penetrated to the seafloor. The in situ emergence flux (cells m-2 day-1) was measured by experiments using a ‘plankton emergence trap/chamber (PET chamber)’. During the study period from July 2006 to May 2008, germinating and rejuvenating cells of centric diatoms were successfully collected by the PET chamber. Furthermore, vegetative cells forming long-chain colonies, including the species which have not been known to form resting stage cells, were also found, indicating that these cells already inhabited the surface sediment prior to the start of the PET chamber experiments. The vegetative cells could be cells that grew after germination/rejuvenation and/or cells deposited from the upper layer in the water column. When comparing emergence flux in the PET chamber and the integrated abundance of the vegetative cells in the water column for the diatoms frequently observed, significant positive relationships were found for some diatom taxa. However, even for these taxa that showed a clear relationship, the magnitude of the vegetative population in the water column did not necessarily correlate with that of the emergence flux. These observations indicate that the magnitude of the vegetative population was not regulated directly by the emergence flux. The magnitude of the vegetative population could be dependent on the vegetative growth itself. This implies that the presence of vegetative cells in the water column is important at the time when environmental conditions become suitable for vegetative growth. In this context, the presence of various types of cells, such as germinating, rejuvenating, and vegetative cells, in the sediment is essential as seeds waiting for recruitment into the water column. Consequently, the seafloor in Ago Bay may act as a ‘refuge and nursery’ for centric diatoms. Based on the above, we demonstrated various patterns of life cycle strategies of the diatoms in a shallow coastal water/embayment

Evaluation of Aortic Disease with Spiral CT Angiography and Multiplanar Reconstructions: Comparison with Catheter Angiography

Purpose: To assess the usefulness of spiral CT angiography (CTA) in the evaluation of aortic aneurysm (AA) or dissection (AD). Methods: Ninety-eight patients with AA (n = 78) or AD (n = 20) were examined with CTA. Imaging results were correlated with angiographic (n = 98) findings in all cases and surgical findings in AA cases (n = 64). The spiral CT angiography were analyzed by an experienced radiologist without knowledge of the result of the catheter angiography, to evaluate the same features. The catheter angiograms were individually interpreted by two experienced radiologists. Results: In AA, all of major aortic branches were depicted on CTA except two of seven accessory renal arteries and six of 26 inferior mesenteric arteries. CTA correctly assessed aneurysm involvement of left subclavian (LSA), renal (RA), and iliac arteries (IA) in all patients. In AD, CTA correctly assessed Stanford classification in all patients, and the relationship between 70 major aortic branches and true/false lumen in all but two branches. CTA showed 23 of 30 intimal tears in double barreled AD. Conclusion: CTA might replace catheter angiography in evaluation of AA and AD except in cases of type A dissection. Index Terms: computed tomography - CT angiography - aorta, aneurysm - aorta, dissection - Catheter angiograph

頚椎手術術中神経モニタリングにおける偽陽性減少を目的とした顔面運動誘発電位の応用

Objective: False-positive intraoperative muscle motor evoked potential (mMEP) monitoring results due to systemic effects of anesthetics and physiological changes continue to be a challenging issue. Although control MEPs recorded from the unaffected side are useful for identifying a true-positive signal, there are no muscles on the upper or lower extremities to induce control MEPs in cervical spine surgery. Therefore, this study was conducted to clarify if additional MEPs derived from facial muscles can feasibly serve as controls to reduce false-positive mMEP monitoring results in cervical spine surgery. Methods: Patients who underwent cervical spine surgery at the authors' institution who did not experience postoperative neurological deterioration were retrospectively studied. mMEPs were induced with transcranial supramaximal stimulation. Facial MEPs (fMEPs) were subsequently induced with suprathreshold stimulation. The mMEP and subsequently recorded fMEP waveforms were paired during each moment during surgery. The initial pair was regarded as the baseline. A significant decline in mMEP and fMEP amplitude was defined as > 80% and > 50% decline compared with baseline, respectively. All mMEP alarms were considered false positives. Based on 2 different alarm criteria, either mMEP alone or both mMEP and fMEP, rates of false-positive mMEP monitoring results were calculated. Results: Twenty-three patients were included in this study, corresponding to 102 pairs of mMEPs and fMEPs. This included 23 initial and 79 subsequent pairs. Based on the alarm criterion of mMEP alone, 17 false-positive results (21.5%) were observed. Based on the alarm criterion of both mMEP and fMEP, 5 false-positive results (6.3%) were observed, which was significantly different compared to mMEP alone (difference 15.2%; 95% CI 7.2%-23.1%; p < 0.01). Conclusions: fMEPs might be used as controls to reduce false-positive mMEP monitoring results in cervical spine surgery.博士（医学）・甲第746号・令和2年6月30日© Copyright 2019 American Association of Neurological SurgeonsThe definitive version is available at " http://dx.doi.org/10.3171/2019.9.SPINE19800

頸動脈狭窄に対する自己拡張型ステント留置後フォローアップ時のステント径と内腔の検討

Purpose: We examined postoperative stent and lumen expansions after carotid artery stenting (CAS) in patients with carotid artery stenosis. Furthermore, we investigated factors influencing the stent and lumen expansions in a follow-up period. Subjects: 134 cases (128 patients) who underwent CAS and performed follow-up cerebral angiography 12 months after CAS were enrolled into this study. The stenosis rate based on the stent and lumen diameters on follow-up angiography as a percentage of that immediately after CAS was evaluated. Results: Both the stent and lumen diameters were significantly dilated 12 months after CAS (p <0.001). There were no significant stent-type-related differences in the stent expansion rate. In the symptomatic stenosis group, this expansion rate was significantly higher than in the asymptomatic stenosis group (p = 0.02). With respect to the presence or absence of a high signal intensity on time of flight (TOF) magnetic resonance (MR) images, the stent expansion rate was significantly higher in the high signal intensity group (p = 0.006). In patients with a plaque/sternocleidomastoid muscle signal intensity ratio of ≥1.50 on plaque images, it was significantly higher than in those with a value of <1.50 (p = 0.006). However, there were no significant differences in the lumen expansion rate among the groups. Conclusion: Both the stent and vascular lumen were dilated 12 months after CAS. Plaque fragility influenced the stent expansion rate; however, there were no significant factor-related differences in the vascular lumen expansion rate.博士（医学）・乙第1414号・平成30年3月15日©2017 The Editorial Committee of Journal of Neuroendovascular Therapy. All rights reserved. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

The acute effects of antidepressants on the human AEP (Auditory Evoked Potential) and EEG

The acute effect of clomipramine hydrochloride (CMI) was studied by auditory evoked potential (AEP) and compared with those of mianserin hydrochloride (MSR), with each 12 and 16 healthy male subjects, respectively. In the two experimental session on different days, CMI (0.5mg/kg) or MSR (0.3mg/kg) were orally administered for each subjects. EEGs containing AEPs evoked by click stimuli once every 5 sec were derived from the two derivations ( 3ch : Cz→A1+2 , 6ch : Cz→T5) and recorded into magnetic tape. Reproducing the tape, AEPs before and 120 min after the administration of these drugs, with 1024 msec of analysis time were obtained by averaging 100 responses, and EEGs were subjected to the frequency analysis. The changes of the waveform of group mean AEP were studied. Individual AEPs were subjected to the component analysis, and to the statistical assessment together with EEG. The following, statistically significant results were obtained. 1. After the administration of CMI, only P8 and N8 latencies of long latency components significantly increased (P<0.05), while the peak-to-peak amplitudes of middle latency components significantly increased (P<0.01, P<0.05). In EEG, the α1 power% significantly increased (P<0.01). In conclusion, stimulatory effect of CMI besides inhibitory effect was verified by AEP. 2. After the administration of MSR, P2 and P3 latencies of the middle latency components and those of long latency components (P7~) significantly increased (P<0.01, P<0 05). All of significant changes were decrease for the peak-to-peak amplitudes (P<0.01, P<0.05). In EEG, the power% were significantly increased for δ and θ, but significantly decreased for α2 and β2 (P<0.01, P<0.05). In conclusion, sedative effect of MSR was verified by AEP

A case of locally advanced adenosquamous carcinoma of the cecum with long-term survival

A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a right lower abdominal mass and general fatigue. Preoperative examination suggested a large ovarian tumor or cecal carcinoma. However, her intraoperative diagnosis was colon cancer; we therefore performed an ileocecal resection with oophorectomy. The tumor was pathologically diagnosed as adenosquamous carcinoma T4bN1M-stage IIIa. We administrated CapeOX adjuvant chemotherapy for 6 months. Adenosquamous carcinoma is extremely rare, at around 0.1% of all colorectal cancers, and usually has a poor prognosis. The patient is still alive without recurrence after 84 post-operative months, even with later developments of metachronous early colorectal cancer and breast cancer. We herein report a rare case of cecal ASC with good prognosis