Season of birth of breast cancer patients and its relation to patients' reproductive history in Tokyo, Japan.

Seasonal distribution of the birth dates of 405 pre-menopausal and 285 post-menopausal breast cancer patients was investigated in order to determine whether or not the season of their birth was related to various reproductive risk factors of breast cancer, including nulliparity, late age at first birth, early age at menarche, late age at menopause, and a history of benign breast diseases. The seasonal distributions of births were compared between groups of patients categorized according to whether they possessed each risk factor or not, separately for pre- and post-menopausal patients. Patients with the same menopausal status generally had the same seasonal distribution of births, irrespective of whether or not they possessed a risk factor. Moreover, low-risk patients exhibited more deviation in the seasonal distribution of birth from general births than the high-risk patients. These results suggest that the distinctive seasonal distribution of birth observed in breast cancer patients is basically a phenomenon independent from the effect of the reproductive history on the occurrence of breast cancer, and that specific seasonal factors are involved at the fetal or neonatal stage in the etiology of breast cancer.</p

Une correspondante sportive dans l’abîme du décalage langagier

Depuis 2006, l’année de mes débuts professionnels en tant que traductrice-interprète, mes travaux se sont progressivement concentrés sur la traduction dans le domaine des sports, notamment celui du football : interprétation consécutive lors d’une conférence de presse du Grenoble Foot 38, création et mise à jour de contenus sur le serveur d’un site officiel spécialement conçu pour la Coupe du Monde, préparation d’informations destinées aux commentateurs des matchs de Ligue 1 diffusés au Japon,..

Introducing Objective Structured Clinical Examinations for Undergraduate Orthoptic Education

Aim: Introducing the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) to improve orthoptic education and clinical competence including the clinical attitude and skills of orthoptic students.Methods: Subjects were thirty-one fourth grade orthoptic students from our department. Six basic examinations were included in stations for trial use of OSCE. The OSCE were performed and compared before and after the eight weeks clinical training. Ten items of clinical attitude and six examinations were evaluated respectively. Six experienced orthoptists evaluated students\u27 clinical attitude and examination techniques while they were performing simulated patient (SPs) examinations according to the evaluation sheets we designed.Results: After clinical training, both students\u27 attitudes toward SPs and examination techniques including correction of refractive errors improved significantly (p<0.05). However, the refractive correction score did not reach sixty. Attitudes toward SPs improved in eight areas out of ten. Safety procedures during examination and signaling the end of examinations did not attain a score of sixty.Conclusion: We were able to evaluate objectively the effect of clinical training on the clinical competence (attitude toward patients and examination techniques) of students by OSCE. Improvements in the evaluation sheets and crossed-check system are still necessary

Enzymatic synthesis of chiral P-stereogenic phosphonoacetates

In this data article, we describe the enzymatic kinetic resolution of a series of racemic mixed phosphonoacetates, which were successfully prepared from methyl bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)phosphonoacetate (Still-Gennari reagent) by alcoholysis with σ-symmetrical secondary alcohols in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU). Porcine liver esterase (PLE)-catalyzed kinetic resolution of some of these racemic mixed phosphonoacetates proceeded in a highly stereoselective manner to furnish the chiral P-stereogenic phosphonoacetates (up to >99% ee)

Sessions communes d’auto-formation en interprétation

Le métier de traducteur étant un travail très solitaire, c’est tout d’abord dans un souci de partager un moment de convivialité entre confrères et consœurs que nous avons pris l’habitude de nous retrouver régulièrement autour d’un café. Ce n’est que plus tard, une fois la relation de confiance instaurée, que l’idée d’une collaboration a tout naturellement émergé. Cela a néanmoins représenté un pas important dans notre relation, tant sur le plan symbolique que pratique, puisque nous avons déci..

Surrogate marker of schistocytes

Objectives : Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA) is an important early post-treatment condition. This study evaluated the Revised %MICRO, a parameter obtained from the ADVIA 2120i automated blood cell counter, as a surrogate marker of the schistocyte ratio. We hypothesized that individual differences between the %MICRO value and schistocyte ratio would remain constant. Design and Methods: EDTA-2K-treated peripheral blood samples were collected from 19 patients who underwent allogeneic HSCT from April 2014 to September 2018. First, the baseline difference, X, was calculated using a sample from the first day after HSCT as X = %MICRO (first day) – schistocyte ratio (first day). Next, the Revised %MICRO for each subsequent day was calculated as Revised %MICRO = %MICRO – X. We evaluated correlations of the schistocyte ratio with the calculated %MICRO and Revised %MICRO and the RBC fragment, RBC distribution width, %MICRO and Revised %MICRO data obtained from the ADVIA 2120i. Results : The mean schistocyte percentage and Revised %MICRO were both 0.4% ± 0.6. RBC fragments correlated weakly with the %MICRO and schistocyte ratio, respectively (r = 0.162 and r = 0.771, respectively), whereas the Revised %MICRO correlated strongly with the schistocyte ratio (r = 0.893). Conclusion : The Revised %MICRO appears to be a good surrogate of the schistocyte ratio in a clinical setting

Comprehensive Prospective Analysis of the Factors Contributing to Aspiration Pneumonia Following Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection in Patients with Early Gastric Neoplasms

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has become the first-line treatment for early gastric neoplasms; however, a subset of patients treated by this method develop aspiration pneumonia. We conducted a comprehensive prospective analysis of the factors contributing to post-ESD aspiration pneumonia in early gastric neoplasms in this study, with special focus on whether pre-treatment oral care can prevent aspiration pneumonia. Sixty-one patients who underwent ESD for gastric neoplasms were randomly assigned to the oral care or control groups. ESD was performed under deep sedation. Of 60 patients whose data were available for analysis, 5 (8.3%) experienced pneumonia confirmed either by chest radiography or computed tomography. Although no difference in the rate of pneumonia was found between the control and oral care groups, the post-oral care bacteria count was significantly higher in the saliva of patients who developed pneumonia compared to those without pneumonia. In addition, the presence of vascular brain diseases and the dose of meperidine were also significantly associated with the occurrence of pneumonia. These results suggest that the number of oral bacteria as well as pre-existing vascular brain diseases and high-dose narcotics can affect the incidence of post-ESD pneumonia

Polyglycolic Acid Felt Sealing Method for Prevention of Bleeding Related to Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection in Patients Taking Antithrombotic Agents

Background and Study Aims. When performing endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for patients on antithrombotic agents, the frequency of delayed bleeding is expected to increase. The endoscopic polyglycolic acid (PGA) felt and fibrin glue sealing method could be a new method for prevention of delayed bleeding. Patients and Methods. The safety and efficacy of the endoscopic tissue sealing method with PGA sheets and fibrin glue for the prevention of post-ESD bleeding were examined in 104 patients taking antithrombotic agents. During the study period, 70 patients taking antithrombotic agents did not undergo the sealing method, 36 patients discontinued antithrombotic agents, and 724 patients had not received antithrombotic therapy. Results. Delayed bleeding rates were 3.8% (4/104) in the sealing group, 12.9% (9/70) in the nonsealing group, 8.3% (3/36) in the discontinuation group, and 4.6% (33/724) in the nonantithrombotic therapy group. Thus, the delayed bleeding rate was significantly lower in the sealing group than in the nonsealing group and comparable to that in the nonantithrombotic therapy group. Conclusions. This PGA felt and fibrin glue sealing method might become a promising post-ESD bleeding prevention method in patients taking antithrombotic agents (UMIN000013990, UMIN000013993)

Mismatch of minor histocompatibility antigen contributes to a graft-versus-leukemia effect rather than to acute GVHD, resulting in long-term survival after HLA-identical stem cell transplantation in Japan

金沢大学大学院医学系研究科We determined the alleles of five polymorphic molecules including HA-1 and four adhesion molecules for 106 patients transplanted with HLA-identical stem cell grafts and investigated the association of mismatches as correlates of relapse and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). All 106 recipients underwent stem cell transplantation (SCT) after myeloablative conditioning between 1985 and 2002. Risk status of disease at SCT was standard (n = 63) and high (n = 42). After SCT, 36, 49 and 33 developed acute GVHD, chronic GVHD and relapsed, respectively. Our patients relapsed at rates of 16.7 and 38.6% with one or more and without incompatibilities (P = 0.013). The relapse rates of patients with CD62L, CD31 codon 563, CD31 codon 125, HA-1 and CD49b incompatibilities were 5.9, 11.8, 15.4, 16.0 and 33.3%, respectively. The frequency of acute GVHD did not differ regardless of incompatibilities. In standard-risk group, the accumulated relapse rates of 19 and 44 patients with and without minor histocompatibility antigen incompatibility were 22% and unexpectedly 66%, respectively (P = 0.02). The probability of 12-year survival was 88% in the former and 66% in the latter patients (P = 0.03). Our data suggest that incompatibility of CD62L, CD31 codon 563 and CD31 codon 125 contributes to a graft-versus-leukemia effect rather than to GVHD, resulting in prolonged survival after HLA-identical SCT