Pancreatic Lymphoepithelial Cysts Diagnosed with Endosonography-guided Fine Needle Aspiration

Although lymphoepithelial cysts (LECs) of the pancreas are benign lesions, most of them have been treated with surgical resection due to diagnostic difficulty. We report a 66-year-old woman diagnosed with pancreatic LECs. Abdominal ultrasound revealed two masses in the pancreas, which were not visible on the abdominal computed tomography. In an abdominal magnetic resonance imaging, pancreas lesions showed solid tumors, which revealed a low signal intensity on T1-, moderate high signal intensity on T2 weighted images, and homogeneous delayed enhancement in the portal venous phase. Endosonography (EUS) revealed two hypoechoic round masses measuring 1.5 cm and 4.5 cm in the body and tail of the pancreas, respectively. EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) revealed squamous cells, amorphous keratinous debris, and lymphocytes. The patient was diagnosed with LECs of the pancreas. For the duration of the follow-up period of two years, imaging studies were unchanged. EUS-FNA is useful in making a definite diagnosis and avoiding unnecessary surgery. This is the first case of pancreatic LECs diagnosed with EUS-FNA in Korea

Vasorelaxant effect of <it>Prunus yedoensis</it> bark

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Prunus yedoensis</it> Matsum. is used as traditional medicine—‘Yaeng-Pi’ or ‘Hua-Pi’—in Japan and Korea. However, no studies have examined the pharmacological activities of the <it>P. yedoensis</it> bark. Only the antioxidant and antiviral activities of <it>P. yedoensis</it> fruit and the anti-hyperglycaemic effect of <it>P. yedoensis</it> leaf have been investigated. While studying the antihypertensive effects of several medicinal plants, we found that a methanol extract of <it>P. yedoensis</it> bark (MEPY) had distinct vasorelaxant effects on rat aortic rings.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The aortic rings were removed from Sprague–Dawley rats and suspended in organ chambers containing 10 ml Krebs-Henseleit solution. The aortic rings were placed between 2 tungsten stirrups and connected to an isometric force transducer. Changes in tension were recorded via isometric transducers connected to a data acquisition system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MEPY relaxed the contraction induced by phenylephrine (PE) both in endothelium-intact and endothelium-denuded aortic rings concentration dependently. However, the vasorelaxant effects of MEPY on endothelium-denuded aortic rings were lower than endothelium-intact aortic rings. The vasorelaxant effects of MEPY on endothelium-intact aortic rings were reduced by pre-treatment with <smcaps>l</smcaps>-NAME, methylene blue, or ODQ. However, pre-treatment with indomethacin, atropine, glibenclamide, tetraethylammonium, or 4-aminopyridine had no affection. In addition, MEPY inhibited the contraction induced by extracellular Ca²⁺ in endothelium-denuded rat thoracic aorta rings pre-contracted by PE (1 μM) or KCl (60 mM) in Ca²⁺-free solution.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that MEPY exerts its vasorelaxant effects via the activation of NO formation by means of <smcaps>l</smcaps>-Arg and NO-cGMP pathways and via the blockage of extracellular Ca²⁺ channels.</p

Measurement of the Ωc0\Omega_c^0 lifetime at Belle II

We report on a measurement of the $\Omega_c^0$ lifetime using $\Omega_c^0 \to \Omega^-\pi^+$ decays reconstructed in $e^+e^-\to c\bar{c}$ data collected by the Belle II experiment and corresponding to $207~{\rm fb^{-1}}$ of integrated luminosity. The result, $\rm\tau(\Omega_c^0)=243\pm48( stat)\pm11(syst)~fs$, agrees with recent measurements indicating that the $\Omega_c^0$ is not the shortest-lived weakly decaying charmed baryon

Measurement of the Ωc0\Omega_c^0 lifetime at Belle II

We report on a measurement of the $\Omega_c^0$ lifetime using $\Omega_c^0 \to \Omega^-\pi^+$ decays reconstructed in $e^+e^-\to c\bar{c}$ data collected by the Belle II experiment and corresponding to $207~{\rm fb^{-1}}$ of integrated luminosity. The result, $\rm\tau(\Omega_c^0)=243\pm48( stat)\pm11(syst)~fs$, agrees with recent measurements indicating that the $\Omega_c^0$ is not the shortest-lived weakly decaying charmed baryon

Measurement of the Ωc0\Omega_c^0 lifetime at Belle II

We report on a measurement of the $\Omega_c^0$ lifetime using $\Omega_c^0 \to \Omega^-\pi^+$ decays reconstructed in $e^+e^-\to c\bar{c}$ data collected by the Belle II experiment and corresponding to $207~{\rm fb^{-1}}$ of integrated luminosity. The result, $\rm\tau(\Omega_c^0)=243\pm48( stat)\pm11(syst)~fs$, agrees with recent measurements indicating that the $\Omega_c^0$ is not the shortest-lived weakly decaying charmed baryon