Impact of Body Mass Index of Japanese Gallbladder Cancer Patients on their Postoperative Outcomes

　We investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and postoperative outcomes in 450 gallbladder cancer patients in Japan. We collected patient information, including sex, age, underlying disease, BMI, stage, surgery method, postoperative time to discharge, and postoperative Medicare fees, from the Japanese administrative database associated with the Diagnosis Procedure Combination system. We classified patient BMIs as underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m2), normal (BMI≥18.5 kg/m2 and <25 kg/m2) or overweight/obese (BMI≥25 kg/m2), then investigated the relationship between these categories and two postoperative outcomes: time to discharge and postoperative Medicare fees. The median postoperative time to discharge was 12 days in all patients, and 12 days in each of the three weight groups (p=0.62, n.s.). The median postoperative Medicare fees from surgery until discharge were (USD): all patients, $5,002; underweight,$5,875; normal weight, $4,797; and overweight/obese,$5,179 (p=0.146, n.s.). A multivariate analysis with adjustment for competing risk factors revealed that BMI was not associated with increased risk of longer postoperative time to discharge (normal weight: HR 1.17, p=0.29; overweight/obese: HR 1.17, p=0.37) or higher postoperative Medicare fees (OR 0.99, p=0.86, n.s.). Thus, high BMI was not found to be a factor for poor postoperative outcomes in Japanese patients with gallbladder cancer

Impact of Body Mass Index on Survival of Pancreatic Cancer Patients in Japan

The impact of body mass index (BMI) on postoperative survival in Japanese patients with pancreatic cancer is unclear. We examined the relationship between preoperative BMI and the prognosis of Japanese patients who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer to determine whether BMI affects these patients’ prognosis. Of the patients who underwent pancreatectomy between January 2004 and August 2015 at our institution, 246 were pathologically diagnosed with pancreatic tubular adenocarcinoma; the cancer was located in the pancreatic head (n=161) and in the body and tail (n=85). We classified the patients by BMI: underweight (n=22), normal weight (n=190), and overweight/obese (n=34) groups. We retrospectively analyzed medical records for patient characteristics, lesion location, disease stage, postoperative complications, chemotherapy, and prognosis. Lesion location, disease stage, postoperative complications, and chemotherapy were not significantly different among the BMI groups. The median survival times were as follows (days): all patients, 686; underweight, 485; normal weight, 694; and overweight/obese, 839. In a multivariate analysis, after adjusting for competing risk factors, low BMI was associated with an increased risk of death (normal weight: HR 0.58, p=0.038; overweight/obese: HR 0.54, p=0.059). High BMI was not found to be a postoperative factor for poor prognosis in Japanese pancreatic cancer patients

Rapid detection of mycoplasma pneumoniae in throat smears by indirect immunofluorescence

In mycoplasmal pneumonia, both bacteriological and serological diagnoses are retrospective and, therefore, offer little help to clinicians. The isolation and identification of M. pneumoniae (Mp) require more than 1-2 weeks, and the serum antibody titer takes 1-2 weeks to rise after onset of the disease.I have developed a rapid test which applies the indirect immunofluorescent technique, for patient throat smears.Anti-Mp rabbit IgG was prepared by immunizing a rabbit with a concentrated cell suspension of Mp. Purified anti-Mp rabbit igG (primary antibody) and FITC-labeled anti-rabbit IgG goat IgG were applied to the throat smears which were pretreated with normal goat IgG to eliminate background non-specific fluorescence.Specific immunofluorescence was seen in 9 out of 10 throat smears from patients with Mp infection. Both granular and diffuse types of fluorescence were seen in the smears; the former was found in mucus and the latter on the entire surface of the epithelium. No specific immunofluorescence was seen in smear taken from patients with other respiratory infections or from normal volunteers.I consider that the method is useful for the early and rapid diagnosis of mycoplasmal infection

A defect in amino acid transport of filamentous Escherichia coli induced by penicillin.

最少発育阻止濃度以下のぺニシリンGにより誘導した大腸菌フィラメント細胞のアミノ酸能動輸送能の測定を行った.各種アミノ酸の能動輸送能は細胞の伸長に伴い低下したが,特にosmotic shock resistant基質においてその低下が著しかった.α-MGやTPMP(+)の取り込み能は,ぺニシリン処理の影響をほとんど受けなかった.このことから,アミノ酸能動輸送能の低下は,そのエネルギー源の消失によるのではなく,原形質膜中のアミノ酸能動輸送担体の分布またはその量的変化に起因することが示唆された.This paper describes a new type of penicillin action on the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli. The ability of filamentous cells to uptake amino acids induced by low concentrations of penicillin increased with cell elongation. This defect in amino acid transport was mostly observed on the substrate of the osmotic shock resistant transport system. Penicillin treatment, however, did not disturb the other membrane functions such as the uptake of α-D-methyl glucopyranoside and triphenylmethylphosphonium ion

Comparative Study of Enterococci and Fecal Coli form Group as an Indicator of Seawater Pollution

A sampling of seawater was carried out on the coast east of Okayama Prefecture in 1984. Thirty samples of seawater were collected at 10 sampling points near beaches and were examined for both enterococci and fecal coli form group bacteria. The MPN technique was used for the detection of enterococci, and the MF technique for fecal coli form group bacteria. Enterococci were detected about 7.7 times as often as fecal coli form group bacteria. The correlation coefficient was high(r=0.8) when the bacterial numbers of both groups were plotted as logarithms. This result indicates that both bacteria can serve as a reliable indicator of the fecal pollution of seawater. However, the detection of enterococci using the MPN technique is more suitable for routine testing than that of the fecal coliform group with the MF technique in terms of the test performance and the cost involved