Arthroscopic labral repair concomitantly performed with curved periacetabular osteotomy

A 23-year-old female presented with pain in the left hip. Radiological examination showed developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) combined with acetabular retroversion and posterior wall deficiency. Findings in the physical examination were coincident with femoroacetabular impingement. At surgery, we performed curved periacetabular osteotomy concomitant with arthroscopic labral repair and osteochondroplasty, simultaneously addressing dysplastic acetabulum and femoroacetabular impingement. The final follow-up examination at 18 months showed satisfactory outcome with the D’Aubigne and Postel hip score of 17/18. In addition to accurate diagnosis, the arthroscopic procedure for associated intra- and peri-articular problems seems to help improve the surgical outcome of periacetabular osteotomy performed for patients with DDH. Level of evidence IV

Multiple pelvic insufficiency fractures in rheumatoid patients with mutilating changes

Multiple insufficiency fractures occurred in two patients with mutilating rheumatoid arthritis (RA), leading to substantial disabilities. Both patients received long-term oral glucocorticoid therapy and underwent multiple lower-extremity surgeries such as total hip arthroplasty (THA) or Total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The multiple fractures were located in the pelvis and lumbosacral region. Fractures in both patients were treated conservatively. Although bony union and resumption of activities were achieved in one patient, the other patient was not able to resume ambulation. For RA patients with combined risk factors for insufficiency fractures, aggressive preventive intervention and careful clinical assessment for early detection and management are warranted

Closed-cycle cold helium magic-angle spinning for sensitivity-enhanced multi-dimensional solid-state NMR

AbstractMagic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR is a powerful tool for studying molecular structure and dynamics, but suffers from its low sensitivity. Here, we developed a novel helium-cooling MAS NMR probe system adopting a closed-loop gas recirculation mechanism. In addition to the sensitivity gain due to low temperature, the present system has enabled highly stable MAS (vR=4–12kHz) at cryogenic temperatures (T=35–120K) for over a week without consuming helium at a cost for electricity of 16kW/h. High-resolution 1D and 2D data were recorded for a crystalline tri-peptide sample at T=40K and B0=16.4T, where an order of magnitude of sensitivity gain was demonstrated versus room temperature measurement. The low-cost and long-term stable MAS strongly promotes broader application of the brute-force sensitivity-enhanced multi-dimensional MAS NMR, as well as dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP)-enhanced NMR in a temperature range lower than 100K

Engineering research and development of magnetically levitated high-temperature superconducting coil system for mini-RT project

A magnetically levitated superconducting coil system is being developed using high temperature superconductors for examining a new magnetic confinement of high-beta plasmas. A miniature double-pancake coil was fabricated with a Bi-2223 Ag-sheathed tape for the purpose of developing a floating control using laser displacement gauges. The coil was inductively excited with liquid nitrogen cooling and successfully levitated in the air. A persistent current switch is also being developed with a Bi-2223 Ag-0.3wt%Mn-sheathed tape, and a prototype model was successfully tested

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guideline for acute kidney injury 2016

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome which has a broad range of etiologic factors depending on different clinical settings. Because AKI has significant impacts on prognosis in any clinical settings, early detection and intervention are necessary to improve the outcomes of AKI patients. This clinical guideline for AKI was developed by a multidisciplinary approach with nephrology, intensive care medicine, blood purification, and pediatrics. Of note, clinical practice for AKI management which was widely performed in Japan was also evaluated with comprehensive literature search

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Shoji Nishio, Fumiaki Imamura,

Multiple pelvic insufficiency fractures in rheumatoid patients with mutilating change

Combined anteversion of the total hip arthroplasty implanted with image-free cup navigation and without stem navigation

In total hip arthroplasty (THA), combined anteversion (CA), the sum of cup anteversion (AV) and stem antetorsion (AT) are used as parameters to assess the appropriateness of overall prosthetic alignment. In this study, we evaluated the CA value based on the post-operative computed tomography (CT) measurements in our patient population who underwent THA using the OrthoPilotTM image-free navigation system (B/BRAUN-Aesculap, Tuttlingen, Germany). During surgery, cup alignment was adjusted with the use of the navigation system while the positioning of the femoral stem was arbitrarily adjusted by the surgeon. Seventy-nine THAs were included in the study. Post-operative CT assessment for the prosthetic alignment showed the average cup inclination and AV values to be 40.5°±4.1° and 20.6°±4.6°, respectively, demonstrating the effectiveness of the navigation system by small values of standard deviation. By contrast, the AT value measured for the stem showed wide variability (mean 23.6°±11.2°). Consequently, the resulting CA was also inconsistent (mean 44.4°±11.2°) and only 61 of the 79 THAs (77.2%) were defined as satisfactory