A Case of Choroidal Neovascularization Secondary to Unilateral Retinal Pigment Epithelium Dysgenesis

Aim: To report a case of choroidal neovascularization secondary to unilateral retinal pigment epithelium dysgenesis (URPED), which was resistant to posterior subtenon injection of triamcinolone acetonide (STTA) and intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB). Case Report: An 8-year-old boy was referred to us because of a unilateral unique clinical appearance on funduscopic examination in his left eye (OS). A geometric lesion at the retinal pigment epithelium level of the interpapillomacular area was disclosed OS. The optic nerve was slightly hyperemic OS. Findings from the right fundus examination were normal. Based on these characteristic findings, he was diagnosed as having URPED. Best corrected Landolt ring chart visual acuity (BCVA) was 1.0 in both eyes. Twenty-three months after the first visit, the patient presented with visual disturbance OS. Funduscopic examination showed an expansion of the geometric lesion and the development of a subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV). BCVA was 0.4 OS. Two-time STTA (40 mg/1 ml) was performed at the onset of CNV and 6 months later, and additional IVB (1.25 mg/0.05 ml) was done 10 months later for the treatment of CNV, but the geometric lesion and CNV were resistant to the treatment and continued to expand. Seven years after the first visit, the geometric lesion and the CNV kept expanding steadily. Conclusion: URPED is a rare clinical entity, and the prognosis of this disease is still unclear. The visual prognosis may depend on whether CNV fully develops

Breaking pairing-based cryptosystems using ηT\eta_T pairing over GF(397)GF(3^{97})

There are many useful cryptographic schemes, such as ID-based encryption, short signature, keyword searchable encryption, attribute-based encryption, functional encryption, that use a bilinear pairing. It is important to estimate the security of such pairing-based cryptosystems in cryptography. The most essential number-theoretic problem in pairing-based cryptosystems is the discrete logarithm problem (DLP) because pairing-based cryptosystems are no longer secure once the underlining DLP is broken. One efficient bilinear pairing is the $\eta_T$ pairing defined over a supersingular elliptic curve $E$ on the finite field $GF(3^n)$ for a positive integer $n$. The embedding degree of the $\eta_T$ pairing is $6$; thus, we can reduce the DLP over $E$ on $GF(3^n)$ to that over the finite field $GF(3^{6n})$. In this paper, for breaking the $\eta_T$ pairing over $GF(3^n)$, we discuss solving the DLP over $GF(3^{6n})$ by using the function field sieve (FFS), which is the asymptotically fastest algorithm for solving a DLP over finite fields of small characteristics. We chose the extension degree $n=97$ because it has been intensively used in benchmarking tests for the implementation of the $\eta_T$ pairing, and the order (923-bit) of $GF(3^{6\cdot 97})$ is substantially larger than the previous world record (676-bit) of solving the DLP by using the FFS. We implemented the FFS for the medium prime case (JL06-FFS), and propose several improvements of the FFS, for example, the lattice sieve for JL06-FFS and the filtering adjusted to the Galois action. Finally, we succeeded in solving the DLP over $GF(3^{6\cdot 97})$. The entire computational time of our improved FFS requires about 148.2 days using 252 CPU cores. Our computational results contribute to the secure use of pairing-based cryptosystems with the $\eta_T$ pairing

Key Length Estimation of Pairing-based Cryptosystems using ηT\eta_T Pairing

The security of pairing-based cryptosystems depends on the difficulty of the discrete logarithm problem (DLP) over certain types of finite fields. One of the most efficient algorithms for computing a pairing is the $\eta_T$ pairing over supersingular curves on finite fields whose characteristic is $3$. Indeed many high-speed implementations of this pairing have been reported, and it is an attractive candidate for practical deployment of pairing-based cryptosystems. The embedding degree of the $\eta_T$ pairing is 6, so we deal with the difficulty of a DLP over the finite field $GF(3^{6n})$, where the function field sieve (FFS) is known as the asymptotically fastest algorithm of solving it. Moreover, several efficient algorithms are employed for implementation of the FFS, such as the large prime variation. In this paper, we estimate the time complexity of solving the DLP for the extension degrees $n=97,163, 193,239,313,353,509$, when we use the improved FFS. To accomplish our aim, we present several new computable estimation formulas to compute the explicit number of special polynomials used in the improved FFS. Our estimation contributes to the evaluation for the key length of pairing-based cryptosystems using the $\eta_T$ pairing

A CRAF/glutathione-S-transferase P1 complex sustains autocrine growth of cancers with KRAS and BRAF mutations

The Ras/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway is an essential signaling cascade for various refractory cancers, such as those with mutant KRAS (mKRAS) and BRAF (mBRAF). However, there are unsolved ambiguities underlying mechanisms for this growth signaling thereby creating therapeutic complications. This study shows that a vital component of the pathway CRAF is directly impacted by an end product of the cascade, glutathione transferases (GST) P1 (GSTP1), driving a previously unrecognized autocrine cycle that sustains proliferation of mKRAS and mBRAF cancer cells, independent of oncogenic stimuli. The CRAF interaction with GSTP1 occurs at its N-terminal regulatory domain, CR1 motif, resulting in its stabilization, enhanced dimerization, and augmented catalytic activity. Consistent with the autocrine cycle scheme, silencing GSTP1 brought about significant suppression of proliferation of mKRAS and mBRAF cells in vitro and suppressed tumorigenesis of the xenografted mKRAS tumor in vivo. GSTP1 knockout mice showed significantly impaired carcinogenesis of mKRAS colon cancer. Consequently, hindering the autocrine loop by targeting CRAF/GSTP1 interactions should provide innovative therapeutic modalities for these cancers

A case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma arising in mature cystic teratoma

卵巣粘表皮癌は卵巣悪性腫瘍の中で極めてまれな組織型に分類される。今回、我々は成熟嚢胞性奇形種より発生した卵巣粘表皮癌の症例を経験したので報告する。症例は、69歳、女性、両側の成熟嚢胞性奇形腫を認めたが、SCC 高値とCT、MRI にて左側の腫瘍内に造影される充実性部分を認めたこと、小腸に浸潤を疑う所見を認めたこと、から悪性転化を疑い、手術を施行した。開腹時、両側卵巣腫瘍を認め、左卵巣腫瘍はS状結腸と強固に癒着していた。卵巣腫瘍充実性部分の迅速病理にて低分化癌と診断し、単純子宮全摘出術、両側付属器摘出術、S状結腸合併切除、骨盤リンパ節郭清術、大網切除術を施行した。病理組織学的には、左卵巣腫瘍の嚢胞壁肥厚部に皮膚付属器、脂肪織、軟骨組織、リンパ球集簇、卵巣間質を認め、充実成分に低分化な浸潤性扁平上皮癌を認めた。充実成分には、粘表皮癌に特徴的な、豊富な胞体粘液（PASおよびAlcian blue 染色陽性）を有する異型細胞が胞巣状~不完全な腺管状を呈する領域があり、成熟嚢胞性奇形腫より発生した卵巣粘表皮癌IIb期(pT2bN0M0)と診断した。術後補助化学療法としてDC（ドセタキセル、カルボプラチン）療法を施行し、術後1年8ヶ月現在、再発を認めない。雑誌掲載論