An Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for Early-Stage Olfactory Neuroblastoma: An Evaluation of 2 Cases with Minireview of Literature

We describe the clinical findings in two patients with pathologically diagnosed olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB) of the sinonasal area and the surgical methods used for its treatment. Using an endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) without dura resection, along with radiotherapy, we successfully treated ONB at the Kadish stage A. One of our patients, however, experienced tumor recurrence 24 years after open surgery with radiotherapy that was conducted at another hospital. This patient was no longer eligible for radiotherapy, and the tumor was therefore resected with dura resection using an EEA combined with duraplasty. The dura resection with duraplasty using fascia lata and a pedicled nasal septal flap was minimally invasive. As with surgery without duraplasty, a postoperative computed tomography (CT) examination revealed that EEA with duraplasty led to quick improvement of the postoperative inflammatory response as well as pneumocranium. Here, we investigated whether to modify the method of surgery depending upon the primary site of early-stage ONB. We suggest that, in early-stage ONB, an endoscopic endonasal approach is an effective and less invasive method. It is also advisable to perform dura mater resection of the lesion site despite the absence of obvious intracranial invasions in image findings

Survey of Uterine Cervix Cancer Screening by Examination Car in Niigata Prefecture from 1995 to 2009

Based on the results obtained from 1995 to 2009, we explored the current activity statuses of the uterine cervix cancer screening by examination car conducted in Niigata Prefecture. A total of 318,580 women between age 20 and 85 (60,215 initial examinees including examinees who received cancer screening at interval of more than 3 or 5 years, and 258,365 re-examinees who received the screening more than twice within the past 3 or 5 years) were screened during this 15-year period. The mean consultation rate (proportion of examinees to the target population) was 4.10%, showing the highest rate 5.50% in 1996 and the lowest rate 1.98% in 2007. By the cancer screening, 255 cancer patients were detected in the 15 years (mean detection rate: 0.08%, range: 0.04% -1.30%). The mean cancer detection rate in the initial examinees (0.28%, 167 cases) was 8.1 times higher than that in the re-examinees (0.03%, 88 cases). Furthermore, the frequency of examinees diagnosed with dysplasia in the initial examinees was 5.7 times higher than that in the re-examinees (0.51% vs. 0.09%). Examinees requiring detailed examination (3.27%), or examinees diagnosed with dysplasia (0.18%), were detected at the highest rate in their twenties. However, the overall cancer detection rate in their twenties (0.17%) was the secondhighest during the study period, after that in their thirties (0.24%). The cancer detection rate leveled off at about 0.08% during the 15 years, and higher detection rates were found in the initial examinees, especially in their twenties and thirties. We believe the increase in cancer screening examinees of these generations is related to the increase in detection rates of dysplasia or cancer, and may be implicated in the future decrease in the cervical cancer death rate

Prediction of Sound Pressure Level of Turbulent Noise Generated from Multiple-Disk Fans

We proposed a theory for estimating the spectral density distribution and over all sound pressure level of the turbulent noise radiated from multiple-disk fans. In the theory, correlations between the longitudinal and lateral correlation lengths, and the pressure spectral densities were used. The effects of casing on the radiated noise were experimentally made clear by comparing the spectral density distributions with and without casing. The validity of theoretically obtained formula was examined with respect to the effects of such parameters as; the gap between two disks, the rotational frequency, the number of disks, the thickness of disks, the radius of impeller and the flow rate. The agreement between the theoretical and the experimental results was fairly satisfactory

Evaluation of Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The long-term results of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (LP-TAE) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were evaluated in comparison with that of transcatheter arterial chemoinfusion (LP-TAI) and systemic chemotherapy. The cumulative survival rate in 29 patients who received LP-TAE at one-year, two-years and three-years were 70.9%, 54.0% and 25.2%, respectively. In contrast, the cumulative survival rate at one-year in patients who received LP-TAI was 20.6% and those who received systemic chemotherapy was 5.6%. The cumulative survival rate for LP-TAE was significantly higher than those for LP-TAI and systemic chemotherapy (p<0.001). The factor that affected the survival rate for LP-TAE was the size of the tumor. Patients with HCC of less than 5cm in diameter lived significantly longer than those with HCC of more than 5cm in diameter (p<0.05)

Dynamics of rheumatoid joint

In the present communication the recent works done by the Rheumatism Research Group of Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Okayama University, are described. The principal findings may briefly be summarized as follows. 1. Pathohistological pictures of the synovial membrane are classified into six types. Among them, Fibrinoid type and Follicular-Fibrosis type are the representative ones of chronic rheumatoid arthritis. 2. For the evaluation of the systemic as well as the local activities in rheumatoid arthritis and for judging the therapeutic effect, some indices have been established. 3. Injection of steroid hormones into the local joints fails to give satisfactory results in advanced, chronic rheumatoid arthritis. In such instances the flushing of the joint with physiological saline solution is effective. 4. In the case of chronic rheumatoid arthritis where the inflammation of hand and phalangeal joints is marked, RA-test gives rapid and more intense reaction, and most of such cases are of Follicular-Fibrosis type. 5. When lymph follicles appearing in the synovial membrane are stained when methyl green pyronine, the arrangement of lymphoid cells and plasma cells becomes distinctly clear. By micro-autoradiographic observations it can be seen that ³H-thymindine injected into the joint cavity is mostly ingested by the lymphoid cells in lymph follicles. 6. In the observation by the fluorescent antibody method multinuclear leucocytes found in the joint fluid and in the peripheral blood react with 19S and 7S-gamma-globulins. 7. When the serum and the joint fluid of the patient with rheumatoid arthritis are fractionated, they separate into three peaks at 19S, 7S, and 4S. Both S. S. C. A.-test and L. F. T. tests reveal the peak at 19S. The serum of chronic hepatitis positive to RA-test and the serum of rheumatoid arthritis are found to react immunologically the same to anti-&#946;2 M globulin sheep serum. 8. When the reticulo-endothelial system of rat is blocked by 900,000 molecules of poly-vinyl-pyrroridon, the ability of antibody production is diminished. 9. Chemical synovectomy of injecting osmic acid is effective to FibrinoidCoating type. Its action mechanism lies in the complete cleaning of the surface of synovial membrane. 10. By radiating synovectomy with 193Au a fairly good result can be expected. 198Au is ingested by those cells in the surface layer of the synovial membrane and also by histiocytes in the synovial membrane. When 5 mc of 198Au are injected into the knee joint, a marked necrosis of the synovial membrane occurs. When 198Au is added to the ascites cells of rabbit during the tissue culture, in the concentration of over 14 &#956;C degeneration of these cells can be recognized. 11. From the examination results of prognosis on those 25 cases with 41 rheumatoid knee joints after surgical synovectomy, it is considered that this method is indicated for Follicular-Fibrosis type. Ones with rheumatoid knee joint of Fibrinoid-Coating type gold sol treatment should be resorted to. In the cases of hand joints, surgical synovectemy is to be recommended at a relatively early stage.</p

X-ray Radiation Damage Effects on Double-SOI Pixel Detectors for the Future Astronomical Satellite "FORCE"

We have been developing the monolithic active pixel detector "XRPIX" onboard the future X-ray astronomical satellite "FORCE". XRPIX is composed of CMOS pixel circuits, SiO2 insulator, and Si sensor by utilizing the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. When the semiconductor detector is operated in orbit, it suffers from radiation damage due to X-rays emitted from the celestial objects as well as cosmic rays. From previous studies, positive charges trapped in the SiO2 insulator are known to cause the degradation of the detector performance. To improve the radiation hardness, we developed XRPIX equipped with Double-SOI (D-SOI) structure, introducing an additional silicon layer in the SiO2 insulator. This structure is aimed at compensating for the effect of the trapped positive charges. Although the radiation hardness to cosmic rays of the D-SOI detectors has been evaluated, the radiation effect due to the X-ray irradiation has not been evaluated. Then, we conduct an X-ray irradiation experiment using an X-ray generator with a total dose of 10 krad at the SiO2 insulator, equivalent to 7 years in orbit. As a result of this experiment, the energy resolution in full-width half maximum for the 5.9 keV X-ray degrades by 17.8 $\pm$ 2.8% and the dark current increases by 89 $\pm$ 13%. We also investigate the physical mechanism of the increase in the dark current due to X-ray irradiation using TCAD simulation. It is found that the increase in the dark current can be explained by the increase in the interface state density at the Si/SiO2 interface.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and System