Kumiai Chemical Industry (Japan)

ABSTRACTThe construction of building foundations requires substantial time and effort, particularly in fabricating reinforced concrete footings and foundation beams. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel structural system that utilizes steel structures for the foundation beams and reinforces pile heads with double steel tubes. Loading tests were conducted to assess the influence of various factors. The applicability of existing evaluation equations is examined to highlight the need for a new prediction formula. As a result, this paper proposes an evaluation equation for the ultimate bearing capacity and a constitutive law to predict the behavior under compression forces.

To develop and validate a prognostic risk model for high-risk metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) patients treated with upfront abiraterone acetate (ABI). This retrospective multicenter study involved 233 high-risk mHSPC patients who received upfront ABI, developed by three academic centers. The model was externally validated with an independent cohort of 282 patients. To identify independent prognostic factors for second progression-free survival (PFS2) and develop the best-fitted model, Cox proportional hazards regression, followed by the Akaike information criterion, was used. Patients were categorized into three groups based on their risk scores. PFS2 and overall survival (OS) were evaluated according to the risk groups in the discovery and validation cohorts. The median age was 72 (range 51-89) years, with a median follow-up duration of 27 months. Independent factors linked to PFS2 included an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≥2, a primary Gleason score of 5, an extent of disease score of ≥3 or liver metastasis, and lactate dehydrogenase >220 U/L. Median PFS2 for favorable-, intermediate-, and poor-risk groups were not reached, 43 months, and 16 months, respectively. The median OS was 29 months in the poor-risk group, whereas it was not reached in the favorable- and intermediate-risk groups. The 2-year OS rates in the favorable-, intermediate- and poor-risk groups were 94.5%, 80.1%, and 60.3%, respectively. The validation cohort confirmed the risk model's relationship with PFS2 and OS. The median PFS2 and OS in the high-risk group were 21 months and 32 months, respectively. Our prognostic model, including five clinical factors, is useful for patient care and treatment selection in high-risk mHSPC patients treated with ADT plus ABI. The developed model could provide more accurate information, guide treatment decisions, or classify patients in future clinical trials.

Sex hormones, such as androgens and estrogens, are predominantly produced in the gonads (ovaries and testes) and adrenal cortex. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are substances that mimic, block, or interfere with hormones in the endocrine systems of humans and organisms. EDCs mainly act via nuclear receptors and steroidogenesis-related enzymes. In the OECD conceptual framework for testing and assessment of EDCs, several well-known assays are used to identify the potential disruption of nuclear receptors both in vivo and in vitro, whereas the H295R steroidogenesis assay is the only assay that detects the disruption of steroidogenesis. Forskolin and prochloraz are often used as positive controls in the H295R steroidogenesis assay. Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) was suspected one of EDCs, but the effects of D5 on steroidogenesis remain unclear. To establish a short-term in vivo screening method that detects the disruption of steroidogenesis, rats in the present study were fed a diet containing forskolin, prochloraz, or D5 for 14 days. Forskolin increased plasma levels of 17β-estradiol (E2) and testosterone as well as the mRNA level of Cyp19 in both the adrenal glands and ovaries. Prochloraz induced the loss of cyclicity in the sexual cycle and decreased plasma levels of E2 and testosterone. D5 increased E2 levels and shortened the estrous cycle in a dose-dependent manner; however, potential endocrine disruption was not detected in the H295R steroidogenesis assay. These results demonstrate the importance of comprehensively assessing the endocrine-disrupting effects of chemicals on steroidogenesis in vivo.

Recently, there are few construction works in vacant lot. Many construction works take place after demolishing the existing building. In such case, reuse of the existing piles is reasonable. We need a way to verify the performance of the existing piles for reuse. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed a simple method for estimating the static elastic pile-head spring using the impulse response excited by human power. We also proposed a simple method to simulate the impulse response of the pile-head.

Abstract Background: Endoscopic removal of colorectal adenoma is considered an effective treatment for reducing the mortality rates associated with colorectal cancer. Warfarin, a type of anticoagulant, is widely used for the treatment and prevention of thromboembolism; however, bleeding may increase with its administration after polypectomy. In recent times, a high incidence of bleeding after endoscopic polypectomy has been reported in patients receiving heparin bridge therapy. However, previous studies have not compared the bleeding rate after endoscopic colorectal polypectomy between patients who continued with anticoagulant therapy and those who received heparin bridge therapy. We hypothesized that endoscopic colorectal polypectomy under the novel treatment with continuous warfarin is not inferior to endoscopic colorectal polypectomy under standard treatment with heparin bridge therapy with respect to the rate of postoperative bleeding. This study aims to compare the efficacy of endoscopic colorectal polypectomy with continuous warfarin administration and endoscopic colorectal polypectomy with heparin bridge therapy with respect to the rate of postoperative bleeding.Methods: We will conduct a prospective multicentre randomized controlled non-inferiority trial of two parallel groups. We will compare patients scheduled to undergo colorectal polypectomy under anticoagulant therapy with warfarin. There will be 2 groups, namely, a standard treatment group (heparin bridge therapy) and the experimental treatment group (continued anticoagulant therapy). The primary outcome measure is the rate of postoperative bleeding. On the contrary, the secondary outcomes include the rate of cumulative bleeding, rate of overt haemorrhage (that does not qualify for the definition of haemorrhage after endoscopic polypectomy), incidence of haemorrhage requiring haemostasis during endoscopic polypectomy, intraoperative bleeding during endoscopic colorectal polypectomy requiring angiography, abdominal surgery and/or blood transfusion, total rate of bleeding, risk factors for postoperative bleeding, length of hospital stay, incidence of thromboembolism, prothrombin time-international ratio (PT-INR) 28 days after the surgery, and incidence of serious adverse events.Discussion: The results of this randomized controlled trial will provide valuable information for the standardization of management of anticoagulants in patients scheduled to undergo colorectal polypectomy.Trial registration: UMIN-CTR identifier, UMIN000023720. Registered on 22 August 2016; https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000027270

Obesity is caused by a chronic positive energy balance, which not only increases the amount of lipid in adipose tissue, but also, in non-adipose tissue. Excessive accumulation of lipids in tissues may lead to cell dysfunction or cell death, a phenomenon known as lipotoxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of high-fat diet (HFD) feeding on the sciatic nerves of both male and female mice. HFD feeding induced increased mRNA levels of Bax and Bcl2 in HFD group of males only, although the accumulation of fatty acids in the sciatic nerves was induced by HFD feeding in the both sexes. To determine whether estrogen was involved in the inhibitory effects of HFD feeding-induced increased expression of apoptosis-related genes, ovariectomized (OVX) females were fed a normal diet (ND) or HFD with or without daily ethinylestradiol treatment for 1 week. In OVX mice, the mRNA levels of Bax and Bcl2 in HFD group were higher than in ND group. In contrast, in OVX mice treated with ethinylestradiol, there was no significant between ND and HFD groups. In conclusion, HFD induced apoptosis in the sciatic nerves of males, but not females, and estrogen had inhibitory effects on HFD-induced apoptosis in the sciatic nerves of females. Long-term feeding studies are needed to investigate the pathological effects on sciatic nerves of mice fed HFD as pathological findings were not observed under our study condition.

The accumulation of free fatty acids induces lipotoxicity in neural cells. Estrogen, 17estradiol (E2) protects against the damage of cells in various organs and tissues. However, the role of E2 on lipotoxicity in neural cells remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of E2 on stearic acid (saturated fatty acid)-and oleic acid (unsaturated fatty acid)-induced cytotoxicity in retinoic acid-induced mouse neuroblastoma Neuro-2a differentiated into neural cells. Cell viability was evaluated by lactate dehydrogenase release from Neuro-2a neural cells. Stearic acid and oleic acids suppressed the cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. E2 prevented oleic acid-induced cytotoxicity but had no effect on stearic acid-induced cytotoxicity. ER-selective agonist prevented cytotoxicity in Neuro-2a neural cells. In contrast, ER-selective agonist slightly significantly enhanced the cytotoxicity in the presence of oleic acid. Oleic acid, but not stearic acid, increased the mRNA level of p62/Sqstm1. E2 treatment statistically significantly, but slightly, enhanced the stearic acid-induced Bax expression. In contrast, E2 and ERselective agonist inhibited the oleic acid-induced the p62/Sqstm1 expression. Our results suggested that fatty acids induced cytotoxicity in Neuro-2a neural cells, and estrogen prevented the oleic acid-induced cytotoxicity via ER, but not ER. Further studies are needed to understand the role of ER in neuron injury under normal conditions.

平成24年度より由利本荘地区（由利本荘市・にかほ市）で，20～49歳の女性を対象として子宮頸部細胞診にHPV検査を併用したHPV（human papillomavirus）併用検診が開始された。平成28年度までの5年間で3,581名がHPV併用検診を受け，369名（10.3％）がHPV検査陽性であった。細胞診あるいはHPV検査が陽性であった433名の中で，342名（79.0％）に対して組織診が行なわれた。今回報告したHPV併用検診で，子宮頸がん検診の発見目標とすべきCIN2（cervical intraepithelial neoplasia）以上の病変は62名（18.1％）に発見された。細胞診は正常であるがHPV検査が陽性で組織診を受けた204名の中に，18名のCIN2と6名のCIN3以上の病変が存在していた。従来の細胞診のみによる子宮頸がん検診のCIN2以上の発見率は0.58％であったが，HPV検査を併用することで1.73％までに向上した。子宮頸がん検診の精度向上と子宮頸部病変の早期発見のために，HPV併用検診を積極的に取り入れていくべきと考えられた。