Carcinoma Arising from Brunner's Gland in the Duodenum after 17 Years of Observation – A Case Report and Literature Review

A 60-year-old man presented with melena and hematemesis in 1984. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) detected a small protruding lesion in the duodenal bulb, which was diagnosed as Brunner's adenoma. No significant change was detected in subsequent annual EGD and biopsies for 10 years, after which the patient was not observed for 7 years. The patient presented with melena again in 2001. The lesion had changed shape to become a 10 mm sessile tumor with a central depression, and following a biopsy was diagnosed as an adenocarcinoma. The patient underwent partial resection of the duodenum. Histopathological assessment showed acidophilic cells with swollen nuclei, and clear cells forming a tubular or papillary tubule in the mucosal lamina propria and submucosal layer. The tumor cells stained positive for lysozyme, indicating that they arose from Brunner's gland. The patient showed no sign of recurrence and was disease-free for more than 34 months after surgery. The patient died of pneumonia. This is an extremely rare case of primary duodenal carcinoma arising from Brunner's gland in a patient observed for 17 years

The Association between Electroencephalography with Auditory Steady-State Response and Postoperative Delirium

Delirium is a disorder of consciousness and a risk factor for cognitive dysfunction and poor prognosis. We hypothesized that preoperative gamma activities would be linked to postoperative delirium. We enrolled 71 subjects for elective surgery and recorded auditory steady-state response (ASSR) by electroencephalography (EEG) before the surgery and examined postoperative delirium with DSM-5. The EEG data were analyzed for baseline power, and ASSR evoked power (EP) and phase-locking factor (PLF) within the gamma range. Postoperative delirium was found in 18 patients (delirium group) but not in 53 patients (non-delirium group). There were no significant differences in the 40-Hz EP or PLF between the two groups. The baseline gamma activity negatively correlated with the 40-Hz PLF in the non-delirium group (ρ = −0.444, p < 0.01). The correlation between baseline gamma activity and 40-Hz EP was not significant in either the delirium or non-delirium group. In all patients, both preoperative PLF and EP had no significant correlations with the Delirium Rating Scale Revised-98 and the Memorial Delirium Assessment Measure at the post-operation, respectively. The disruption of the neurophysiological relationship between baseline gamma activity before sound stimuli and the PLF of the 40-Hz ASSR may be one of the potential neurophysiological indicators associated with postoperative delirium

Collaboration between Clinical Psychologists and Community-based Self-help Groups for Cancer Survivors

Methods for promoting collaboration between clinical psychologists (CPs) and community-based self-help groups (SHGs) for cancer survivors were investigated from the perspective of community psychology. A semi-structured interview was administered to CPs (N = 5) that were collaborating with the SHGs: CP A was a leader of a SHG for cancer survivors, B was a volunteer of SHGs for children with cancer and their parents, C was a staff consultant of SHGs for parents of children having cancer in her hospital, D was an experienced psychotherapist, counseling terminally ill members of SHGs that had survived various types of cancers and D was a researcher developing a scale to evaluate supportive functions of SHGs for cancer survivors. The results suggested that the main collaborative roles of CPs' were to assess and coordinate supportive functions of SHGs. The significance of the role of CP's as volunteers was discussed

Clinical application of oligodendrocyte precursor cells for cell-based therapy

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), which give rise to mature oligodendrocytes (OLs), play important roles in maintaining white matter function. Even during the adulthood period, OPCs comprise roughly 5% of all cells in the forebrain and retain a capability to become myelinated OLs. Recently, OPCs have been proposed as a novel source for cell-based therapy. For the purpose, OPCs can be obtained from embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and directly converted cells derived from patients. Here, we will provide a brief review of the potential of using OPCs as a cell-based therapy for treating various neurological diseases

Estimation of sink capacity of rice grains: A comparison of calculation methods based on 1000-grain weight and grain projected area

ABSTRACTAccurate estimation of sink capacity in rice (grain number × potential grain size), independent of grain filling, is necessary for considering source – sink interactions. However, how to measure potential grain size is still a matter of debate. Here, we investigated the effect of modifying the grain-filling environment on 1000-grain weight of grains screened by specific gravity or brown rice thickness, grain projected area (‘grain area’), or husk weight as candidate indicators of potential grain size using a japonica cultivar Koshihikari and its near-isogenic line with greater spikelet number. We found grain area to be the best, followed by 1000-grain weight. We developed a novel method to calculate sink capacity from grain area; the method was developed based on the relationship between individual grain weight and grain area. Comparison with the conventional method based on 1000-grain weight showed that although the method based on grain area is more accurate, that based on 1000-grain weight is useful enough, because screening by specific gravity or brown rice thickness selected filled grains well, and the effect of the grain-filling environment on 1000-grain weight was limited