Clinical Performance of a Salivary Amylase Activity Monitor During Hemodialysis Treatment

The hemodialysis procedure is thought to be a physical stressor in the majority of hemodialyzed patients. Previous studies suggest that elevated salivary amylase level may correlate with increased plasma norepinephrine level under psychological and physical stress conditions. In this study, we investigated biological stress reactivity during hemodialysis treatment using salivary amylase activity as a biomarker. Seven patients (male/female = 5/2, age: 67.7+/−5.9 years) who had been receiving regular 4 h hemodialysis were recruited. Salivary amylase activity was measured using a portable analyzer every hour during the hemodialysis session. Salivary amylase activity was shown to be relatively stable and constant throughout hemodialysis, whereas there were significant changes in systolic blood pressure and pulse rate associated with blood volume reduction. Our results show that hemodialysis treatment per se dose not affect salivary amylase activity

Five-year quality of life assessment after carbon ion radiotherapy for prostate cancer

The aim of this study was to prospectively assess 5-year health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients treated with carbon ion radiotherapy (C-ion RT) for clinically localized prostate cancer. A total of 417 patients received carbon ion radiotherapy at a total dose of 63–66 Gray-equivalents (GyE) in 20 fractions over 5 weeks, and neoadjuvant and adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) were administered for intermediate and high-risk patients. A HRQOL assessment was performed at five time points (immediately before the initiation of C-ion RT, immediately after, and at 12, 36 and 60 months after completion of C-ion RT) using Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) questionnaires. FACT-G and FACT-P scores were significantly decreased; however, the absolute change after 60 months was minimal. The transient decreases in the Trial Outcome Index (TOI) score returned to their baseline levels. Use of ADT, presence of adverse events, and biochemical failure were related to lower scores. Scores of subdomains of FACT instruments indicated characteristic changes. The pattern of HRQOL change after C-ion RT was similar to that of other modalities. Further controlled studies focusing on a HRQOL in patients with prostate cancer are warranted

腎細胞癌に合併した腎盂Inverted papillomaの1例

Twenty-one cases of inverted papilloma of the renal pelvis have been described in the literature. A 71-year-old man was admitted to our hospital to examine a right renal mass. We diagnosed a right renal tumor on the basis of the findings from excretory urogram (IVP), computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Surgical material revealed an inverted papilloma in the renal pelvis. We report on the first case of an invested papilloma of the renal pelvis associated with renal cell carcinoma

Changes in corneal higher-order aberrations during treatment for infectious keratitis

Abstract This study aimed to quantify the changes in corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) before and after treatment for infectious keratitis and verify the correlation between corneal HOAs and visual acuity. Corneal HOAs were analysed using swept-source anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT). Ninety-eight eyes of 96 consecutive patients with infectious keratitis treated with topical eye drops were retrospectively evaluated. Corneal HOAs increased with the infection but decreased with infection resolution following antimicrobial treatment. Corneal HOAs became larger as the degree of corneal findings became more severe. The increase in HOAs of the total cornea was correlated with the decrease in visual acuity both before and after treatment (4 mm, ρ = 0.530 and 0.590; 6 mm, ρ = 0.479 and 0.567, respectively; all P < 0.0001). Furthermore, pretreatment HOA (anterior, 6 mm), pretreatment logMAR best spectacle-corrected visual acuity, and age were prognostic factors significantly associated with posttreatment visual acuity (β = 0.31, P = 0.013; β = 0.36, P < 0.0001; and β = 0.35, P = 0.0007, respectively) (adjusted R2 = 0.474). These results indicate that corneal HOAs quantified using AS-OCT can be used as an objective index to evaluate corneal optical function during the treatment of infectious keratitis

Identifying an Optimum Perovskite Solar Cell Structure by Kinetic Analysis: Planar, Mesoporous Based, or Extremely Thin Absorber Structure

Perovskite solar cells have rapidly been developed over the past several years. Choice of the most suitable solar cell structure is crucial to improve the performance further. Here, we attempt to determine an optimum cell structure for methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃) perovskite sandwiched by TiO₂ and spiro-OMeTAD layers, among planar heterojunction, mesoporous structure, and extremely thin absorber structure, by identifying and comparing charge carrier diffusion coefficients of the perovskite layer, interfacial charge transfer, and recombination rates using transient emission and absorption spectroscopies. An interfacial electron transfer from MAPbI₃ to compact TiO₂ occurs with a time constant of 160 ns, slower than the perovskite photoluminescence (PL) lifetime (34 ns). In contrast, fast non-exponential electron injection to mesoporous TiO₂ was observed with at least two different electron injection processes over different time scales; one (60–70%) occurs within an instrument response time of 1.2 ns and the other (30–40%) on nanosecond time scale, while most of hole injection (85%) completes in 1.2 ns. Analysis of the slow charge injection data revealed an electron diffusion coefficient of 0.016 ± 0.004 cm² s^–1 and a hole diffusion coefficient of 0.2 ± 0.02 cm² s^–1 inside MAPbI₃. To achieve an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency of >80%, a minimum charge carrier diffusion coefficient of 0.08 cm² s^–1 was evaluated. An interfacial charge recombination lifetime was increased from 0.5 to 40 ms by increasing a perovskite layer thickness, suggesting that the perovskite layer suppresses charge recombination reactions. Assessments of charge injection and interfacial charge recombination processes indicate that the optimum solar cell structure for the MAPbI₃ perovskite is a mesoporous TiO₂ based structure. This comparison of kinetics has been applied to several different types of photoactive semiconductors such as perovskite, CdTe, and GaAs, and the most appropriate solar cell structure was identified

The Successful Retreatment with Glecaprevir and Pibrentasvir of Genotype 1 or 2 HCV-infected Hemodialysis Patients who Failed to Respond to NS5A and Protease Inhibitor Treatment

Clinical trials and real-world data have proven that hepatitis C virus (HCV) in most infected patients can be eradicated by direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). However, the proper retreatment regimen for hemodialysis patients with HCV infection who have previously failed to respond to DAAs has not been clarified. We herein report, for the first time, the successful retreatment with glecaprevir and pibrentasvir, of three hemodialysis patients with genotype 1 or 2 HCV infection, who had previously failed to respond to combination therapy with an HCV-NA5A inhibitor (daclatasvir) and an HCV protease inhibitor (asunaprevir)