Extraction of the pull force from inertial sensors during the pull test for Parkinson's disease: A reliability study.

Objective: To examine the inter- and intra-rater reliability of the pull test in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using the extracted pull force.

Methods: In this inter- and intra-rater reliability study, two raters performed a pull test on 30 patients with PD. The pull force was quantified using inertial sensors attached to the rater's right hand and the patient's lower trunk.

Gastrointestinal cancer occurs as extramuscular manifestation in FSHD1 patients.

Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy type1 (FSHD1) patients with a shortened D4Z4 repeat containing the DUX4 gene have a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. In addition, high expression of DUX4 protein with an aberrant C terminus is frequently identified in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We investigated clinical manifestations in 31 FSHD1 patients and 30 non-affected individuals.

Advanced gallbladder cancer accompanied with cancer-associated dermatomyositis: A case report and literature review.

Rationale: Muscle weakness due to cancer-associated dermatomyositis (CADM) can be misdiagnosed as cancer cachexia and disuse atrophy.

Patient Concerns: A 75-year-old female was admitted to our institute with muscle weakness, dysphagia, and suspected gallbladder cancer. Computed tomography and cytopathological examinations of the liver biopsy and fine-needle aspiration from swollen lymph nodes using endoscopic ultrasonography revealed cancer in the gallbladder body and metastasis to the lymph nodes around the abdominal aorta.

TDP-43 Accumulation Within Intramuscular Nerve Bundles of Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Importance: Degeneration of neuromuscular junctions and axons is considered an important aspect of the pathomechanism of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, a mechanism including the role of transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) in axons has not been pathologically clarified.

Objective: To identify and characterize the histopathology of peripheral axons in the skeletal muscle of patients with ALS.

Short-term or long-term outcomes for stroke patients with cancer according to biological markers.

Background: Although hypercoagulability using D-dimer levels may be a useful marker for predicting outcomes in ischemic stroke patients with cancer, other biological markers for predicting outcomes are unclear. We aimed to investigate the associations between several biological markers and short-term or long-term outcomes among ischemic stroke patients with cancer.

Methods: Consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients with cancer (n = 309) were registered.

Clinical characteristics and tumor markers in ischemic stroke patients with active cancer.

Cancer-associated ischemic stroke (CAS) refers to a hypercoagulation disorder related to malignant tumors, especially adenocarcinoma. Carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125 is a mucinous serum marker that might reflect hypercoagulation status, but the association between CA 125 and CAS is unclear across various types of cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations among tumor markers, coagulation markers, and clinical factors in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with active cancer.

Pembrolizumab-caused polyradiculoneuropathy as an immune-related adverse event.

Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) commonly involve the gastrointestinal tract, endocrine glands, skin, and liver, and rarely the nervous system. The pathomechanism of irAEs in the nervous system is unclear, and so characterizing these severe toxic effects is a priority, even if irAEs are uncommon in the nervous system. Our patient presented subacute muscle weakness and dysesthesia with colitis as irAEs caused by pembrolizumab, one of the anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) antibodies.

Analysis of genetic risk factors in Japanese patients with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Notably, genetic risk factors vary according to ethnicity and geographical regions, and few studies have analyzed the frequency of PD causative genes in Japanese patients. Therefore, we performed genetic analyses of Japanese patients with PD.

Anti-HMGCR Antibody-Positive Myopathy Shows Bcl-2-Positive Inflammation and Lymphocytic Accumulations.

Anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) and antisignal recognition particle (SRP) antibodies are frequently associated with immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM). However, the difference in clinical manifestations between anti-HMGCR and anti-SRP antibodies is unclear. HMGCR is an essential enzyme for cholesterol biosynthesis and is inhibited by statins that regulate apoptosis of Bcl-2-positive and beta chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4)-positive lymphoma cells.

Decreased stimulus-driven connectivity of the primary visual cortex during visual motion stimulation in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: An fMRI study.

Motion perceptual deficits are common in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although the posterior parietal cortex is thought to play a critical role in these deficits, it is currently unclear whether the primary visual cortex (V1) contributes to these deficits in AD. To elucidate this issue, we investigated the net activity or connectivity within V1 in 17 amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, 17 AD patients and 17 normal controls (NC) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Warm Front Passage on the Previous Day Increased Ischemic Stroke Events.

Background And Purpose: The influence of a weather front passage is rarely evaluated on stroke events. We hypothesized that a weather front passage on the stroke onset day or during the previous days may play an important role in the incidence of stroke.

Methods: A multicenter retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of stroke events and their interaction with weather front passages.

Screening for Fabry Disease in Japanese Patients with Young-Onset Stroke by Measuring α-Galactosidase A and Globotriaosylsphingosine.

Background: Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in GLA, which encodes the enzyme α-galactosidase A (α-Gal A). Although the prevalence of Fabry disease in patients with stroke has been reported to range from 0% to 4%, few cohort studies have examined Japanese stroke patients. We aimed to clarify the prevalence of Fabry disease and the frequency of GLA mutations among patients with young-onset stroke in Japan.

Auditory agnosia caused by bilateral putamen haemorrhage.

A 55-year-old right-handed man with a history of hypertension suddenly fell and developed right hemiparesis. Neurological examination revealed that he was alert, but did not appropriately respond to verbal questions and commands. Detailed examination revealed that he could correctly respond to written commands.

Various meteorological conditions exhibit both immediate and delayed influences on the risk of stroke events: The HEWS-stroke study.

We hypothesized that meteorological conditions on the onset day and conditions on the former days may play important roles in the modulation of physical conditions. Associations of meteorological factors and their changes in former days with stroke onset are of interest. We conducted a multicenter retrospective study to evaluate the frequency of stroke events and their interaction with meteorological conditions and their daily changes.

Sialic acid level is significantly elevated in IgM enriched protein fraction in sera of cancer patients.

Serum sialic acid (SA) levels are important for diagnosis, follow-up, and mechanistic analysis of malignant diseases. However, little is known about the levels of SA bound to serum IgM. Here, we isolated IgM from sera of healthy individuals and patients with cancer using DEAE chromatography and 8% polyethylene glycol precipitation.

Multicenter Study of Intravenous Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator Infusion around Hiroshima, Japan: The Hiroshima Acute Stroke Retrospective and Prospective Registry Study.

Objective: Approximately 10 years have passed since intravenous (IV) recombinant tissue plasminogen activator therapy was approved in Japan. The aim of this retrospective study was to identify the effectiveness and safety of IV alteplase therapy with the Japanese original dose around Hiroshima via consideration of the patients' backgrounds, examination findings, and outcomes.

Methods: All consecutive patients with ischemic stroke who received IV alteplase therapy between October 2005 and October 2010 were registered.

Effects of Meteorological Conditions on the Risk of Ischemic Stroke Events in Patients Treated with Alteplase--HEWS-tPA.

Background: Predicting a day that presents a high risk for the occurrence of ischemic stroke events may enable health professionals to prepare for emergency stroke therapy more properly. We evaluated the association between meteorological conditions and the frequency of ischemic stroke events in Japanese patients.

Methods: Ischemic stroke patients (n = 299) who were treated with alteplase at 9 stroke hospitals in 3 restricted areas were examined.

Urinary retention occurring one week after spinal anesthesia: a case of Elsberg syndrome.

Purpose: We describe a case of urinary retention caused by viral sacral myeloradiculitis (Elsberg syndrome) that occurred one week after spinal anesthesia. The differential diagnosis of urinary retention after spinal anesthesia is discussed.

Clinical Features: A 76-yr-old male patient presented for operative removal of a right testicular hydrocele under spinal anesthesia.

Safety evaluation of substituting clopidogrel for ticlopidine in Japanese patients with ischemic stroke--Hiroshima ticlopidine, clopidogrel safe exchange trial.

Background: Clopidogrel is sometimes substituted for ticlopidine when cerebrovascular or cardiovascular patients develop hematologic abnormalities after ticlopidine treatment. However, the adverse event rate after the substitution to clopidogrel remains undetermined. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to define the risk of adverse events after substituting clopidogrel for ticlopidine without a washout period.

Reduction of air leaks in a canine model of pulmonary resection with a new staple-line buttress.

Objective: Recently, linear staplers have been used frequently in thoracic surgery; however, air leakage from the staple line is still unresolved. Various buttress materials have been developed to prevent air leakage, but performance is still not satisfactory. We are therefore developing a new material, consisting of calcium alginate nonwoven fabric covered with sodium alginate sponge.

Dinucleotide repeat polymorphism in interferon-gamma gene is not associated with sporadic Alzheimer's disease.

Various factors have been suggested to participate in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, and some inflammatory cytokines may play an important role in the development of AD. Interferon-gamma (IFNG), an important pro-inflammatory cytokine, is encoded by a single gene mapped to chromosome 12, one of the candidate locus of AD. The first intron in the IFNG gene represents a CA repeat polymorphism that is possible to affect the IFNG secretion dose.