Can WIMP Dark Matter overcome the Nightmare Scenario?

Even if new physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) indeed exists, the energy scale of new physics might be beyond the reach at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the LHC could find only the Higgs boson but nothing else. This is the so-called "nightmare scenario". On the other hand, the existence of the dark matter has been established from various observations. One of the promising candidates for thermal relic dark matter is a stable and electric charge-neutral Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) with the mass below the TeV scale. In the nightmare scenario, we introduce a WIMP dark matter singlet under the SM gauge group, which only couples to the Higgs doublet at the lowest order, and investigate a possibility that such WIMP dark matter can be a clue to overcome the nightmare scenario via various phenomenological tests such as the dark matter relic abundance, the direct detection experiments for the dark matter particle, and the production of the dark matter particle at the LHC.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

A Case of Gallbladder Cancer with Trousseau Syndrome Successfully Treated Using Radical Resection

Trousseau syndrome is characterized by cancer-associated systemic thrombosis. We describe the first case of a successfully treated gallbladder adenocarcinoma accompanied by Trousseau syndrome. A 66-year-old woman presented with right hemiplegia. Magnetic resonance imaging identified multiple cerebral infarctions. Her serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and D-dimer levels were markedly elevated, and a gallbladder tumor was detected via abdominal computed tomography. Venous ultrasonography of the lower limbs revealed a deep venous thrombus in the right peroneal vein. These findings suggested that the brain infarctions were likely caused by Trousseau syndrome associated with her gallbladder cancer. Radical resection of the gallbladder tumor was performed. The resected gallbladder was filled with mucus and was pathologically diagnosed as an adenocarcinoma. Her postoperative course was uneventful, and she received a one-year course of adjuvant therapy with oral S-1. No cancer recurrence or thrombosis was noted 26 months postoperatively. Despite concurrent Trousseau syndrome, a radical cure of the primary tumor and thrombosis could be achieved with the appropriate treatment

Oligonucleotide Microarray Analysis of Dietary-Induced Hyperlipidemia Gene Expression Profiles in Miniature Pigs

BACKGROUND: Hyperlipidemia animal models have been established, but complete gene expression profiles of the transition from normal lipid levels have not been obtained. Miniature pigs are useful model animals for gene expression studies on dietary-induced hyperlipidemia because they have a similar anatomy and digestive physiology to humans, and blood samples can be obtained from them repeatedly. METHODOLOGY: Two typical dietary treatments were used for dietary-induced hyperlipidemia models, by using specific pathogen-free (SPF) Clawn miniature pigs. One was a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet (HFCD) and the other was a high-fat, high-cholesterol, and high-sucrose diet (HFCSD). Microarray analyses were conducted from whole blood samples during the dietary period and from white blood cells at the end of the dietary period to evaluate the transition of expression profiles of the two dietary models. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Variations in whole blood gene expression intensity within the HFCD or the HFCSD group were in the same range as the controls provide with normal diet at all periods. This indicates uniformity of dietary-induced hyperlipidemia for our dietary protocols. Gene ontology- (GO) based functional analyses revealed that characteristics of the common changes between HFCD and HFCSD were involved in inflammatory responses and reproduction. The correlation coefficient between whole blood and white blood cell expression profiles at 27 weeks with the HFCSD diet was significantly lower than that of the control and HFCD diet groups. This may be due to the effects of RNA originating from the tissues and/or organs. CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant differences in fasting plasma lipids and glucose levels between the HFCD and HFCSD groups were observed. However, blood RNA analyses revealed different characteristics corresponding to the dietary protocols. In this study, whole blood RNA analyses proved to be a useful tool to evaluate transitions in dietary-induced hyperlipidemia gene expression profiles in miniature pigs

Mucinous Carcinoma of the Breast: Clinicopathological Features and Long-term Prognosis in Comparison with Invasive Ductal Cancer; A Single Hospital’s 30+-Year Experience

Mucinous carcinoma (MC) of the breast is a rare and special type of malignancy, with a substantial amount of extracellular mucin. We compared the clinicopathological features and the long-term survival of MC patients with those of invasive ductal carcinoma-no special type (IDC-NST) patients, and we examined prognostic factors of MC. A total of 116 patients with mucinous carcinoma and 3,258 patients with IDC-NST who underwent surgery at our hospital (1977-2008) were enrolled. The 10-year overall survival rate and breast cancer-specific survival rate (BSS) of the MC patients (88.3%, 93.7%) were both significantly higher than those of IDC-NST patients (81.6%, 85.0%) (p=0.015, p=0.005, respectively). A Cox regression analysis demonstrated that MC tended to be an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio 0.44, p=0.098). The BSS of the MC patients with positive lymph node (LN) metastasis was significantly poorer than that of the patients without it, by univariate analysis (p=0.002). The tumor size in the MC patients with positive LN metastasis (mean 3.2 cm) was significantly larger than that in the patients without it (mean 1.9 cm) (p=0.0004). Although a Cox regression analysis revealed no independent factor, MC patients with positive LN metastasis should be treated for advanced invasive ductal breast cancer

Favorable Outcome of Repeated Salvage Surgeries for Rare Metastasis to the Ligamentum Teres Hepatis and the Upper Abdominal Wall in a Stage IV Gastric Cancer Patient

Gastric cancer with peritoneal metastases is typically a devastating diagnosis. Ligamentum teres hepatis (LTH) metastasis is an extremely rare presentation with only four known cases. Herein, we report salvage surgery of successive metastases to the abdominal wall and LTH in a patient originally presenting with advanced gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis, leading to long-term survival. A 72-year-old man with advanced gastric cancer underwent curative-intent distal gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection for gastric outlet obstruction. During this procedure, three small peritoneal metastases were detected in the lesser omentum, the small mesentery, and the mesocolon; however, intraoperative abdominal lavage cytology was negative. We added cytoreductive surgery for peritoneal metastasis. The pathological diagnosis of the gastric cancer was tubular adenocarcinoma with pT4aN1pM1(PER/P1b)CY0 stage IV (Japanese classification of gastric carcinoma/JCGC 15th), or T4N1M1b stage IV (UICC 7th). Post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy with S-1 (TS-1)+cisplatin (CDDP) was administered for 8 months followed by S-1 monotherapy for 4 months. At 28 months after the initial surgery, a follow-up computed tomography (CT) detected a small mass beneath the upper abdominal wall. The ass showed mild avidity on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission (FDG-PET) CT. Salvage resection was performed for diagnosis and treatment, and pathological findings were consistent with primary gastric cancer metastasis. At 49 months after the initial gastrectomy, a new lesion was detected in the LTH with a similar level of avidity on FDG-PET CT as the abdominal wall metastatic lesion. We performed a second salvage surgery for the LTH tumor, which also showed pathology of gastric cancer metastasis. There has been no recurrence up to 1 year after the LTH surgery. With multidisciplinary treatment the patient has survived almost 5 years after the initial gastrectomy. Curative-intent gastrectomy with cytoreductive surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer with localized peritoneal metastasis might have had a survival benefit in our patient. Successive salvage surgeries for oligometastatic lesions in the abdominal wall and the LTH also yielded favorable outcomes

Relation between psychosocial variables and the glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional and prospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This cross-sectional and prospective study used a variety of psychological inventories to evaluate the relationship between psychosocial factors and the glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were 304 patients with type 2 diabetes who were treated as outpatients at diabetes clinics. All participants were assessed for HbA_1cand completed the following self-report psychological inventories: 1) Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ), 2) Problem Areas in Diabetes Survey (PAID), 3) Well-being Questionnaire 12 (W-BQ12), 4) Self-Esteem Scale (SES), 5) Social Support Scale, and 6) Self-Efficacy Scale. HbA_1cwas again measured one year later. The relationships between the psychosocial variables obtained by analysis of the psychological inventories and baseline or one-year follow-up HbA_1cwere determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Baseline HbA_1cwas significantly correlated with age, diet treatment regimen, number of microvascular complication of diabetes, and the total scores of DTSQ, W-BQ12, PAID, SES and the Self-Efficacy Scale. Hierarchical stepwise multiple regression revealed that significant predictors of baseline HbA_1cwere total DTSQ and PAID scores, along with age, diet treatment regimen, and number of microvascular complication of diabetes after adjustment for demographic, clinical and other psychosocial variables. Two hundred and ninety patients (95.4% of 304) were followed and assessed one year after baseline. Hierarchical stepwise multiple regression analysis showed the significant predictors of follow-up HbA_1cto be total DTSQ and PAID scores, along with age and diet treatment regimen. However, the correlation between baseline and follow-up HbA_1cwas so high that the only other variable to retain significance was diet treatment regimen once baseline HbA_1cwas included in the regression of follow-up HbA_1c.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The DTSQ and the PAID predicted both current and future HbA_1cto a similar and significant degree in patients with type 2 diabetes.</p

The Impact of the Health Information Exchange System for the hospital management in Japan

Recently Health Information Exchange (HIE) has been gradually spreading in Japan. In this study, the effect against the hospital management of the HIE named the Ajisai-net of Nagasaki prefecture in Japan was evaluated through investigations of both the number of the first visit patients and hospitalized patients. The first visit is classified into three types. The first type is the reserved first visit bringing the introduction letters, 2nd type is the non-reserved first visit bringing the introduction letters and 3rd type is non-reserved first visit not bringing the introduction letters. The total number of hospitalized patients was 12,237/32,398 (37.8%) on the first type, 8,764/ 24,549 (35.7%) on the second type and 1,277/7,167 (17.8%) on the third type, and there were significantly differences among 3 types. (p<0.01) The number of hospitalized patients of the reserved new patients bringing the introduction letters who had been registered to the Ajisai-net was 1,008/2,201(45.8%), significantly more than the number of hospitalized patients of any other 3 types of the first visit patients. (p<0.01) The number of the first visit patients registered to the Ajisai-net was also significantly more than that are not registered to the Ajisai-net. (p<0.01) The increase of the number of the new patients and newly hospitalized patients is the most important factor of the high hospital income in Japan. In conclusion, Japanese type of HIE has a positive effect of the Hospital management was showed in this study

Significance of Microcalcifications on Mammography in the Surgical Treatment of Breast Cancer Patients with a Preoperative Diagnosis of Ductal Carcinoma in Situ by Core Needle Biopsy

To clarify the surgical outcomes of breast cancer patients with a preoperative diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) by core needle biopsy (CNB) (abbreviated as CNBDCIS), we retrospectively analyzed the cases of 131 patients with CNBDCIS who underwent surgery at Oomoto Hospital (32 total mastectomies, 99 conservative mastectomies). Our analysis of underestimation and predictors of invasive breast cancer of CNBDCIS revealed that the underestimation rate of CNBDCIS was 40.5% (53/131). A logistic regression analysis revealed that palpable tumors (yes to no, odds ratio [OR] 3.25), mammography (MMG) category group (category 4 or 5 to categories 1 , 2, or 3, OR 4.69) and MMG microcalcifications (no to yes, OR 0.24) were significant predictive factors for CNBDCIS invasion. In our analysis of the predictors of positive margins during CNBDCIS surgery, 36 (27.5%) of the 131 patients had positive margins after postoperative pathological examination. A logistic regression analysis revealed that the operative procedure (conservative surgery to total mastectomy, OR 21.4) and MMG microcalcifications (yes to no, OR 3.35) were significant factors related to positive margins during CNBDCIS surgery. Thus, MMG microcalcifications are a negative predictor of upgrading of CNBDCIS and a positive predictor of positive surgical margins for CNBDCIS