Background and study aims  Biliary metallic stents are used to drain unresectable malignant distal biliary obstructions. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a novel 12-mm-diameter covered, self-expandable end bare metal stent (12-mm CSEEMS). Patients and methods  We evaluated 99 patients with unresectable malignant distal biliary obstructions treated with covered biliary metallic stents. Of the 99 patients, 33 underwent 12-mm CSEEMS placement between June 2015 and April 2017 (12-mm-CSEEMS group) and 66 underwent 10-mm fully-covered self-expandable metal stent (FCSEMS) placement between January 2010 and July 2015 (10-mm-FCSEMS group). The overall survival (OS), the recurrent biliary obstruction (RBO), cause of RBO, time to RBO (TRBO) and adverse events in 12-mm-CSEEMS group and 10-mm-FCSEMS group were evaluated retrospectively. Results  The OS tended to be longer in the 12-mm-CSEEMS group (log rank, P  = 0.081) and TRBO was significantly longer in the 12-mm-CSEEMS group (log rank, P  = 0.001) than in the 10-mm-FCSEMS group. Both univariate (HR, 0.449; 95 % CI, 0.27967 – 0.72215; P  = 0.001) and multivariate (HR, 0.458; 95 % CI, 0.28395 – 0.73744; P  = 0.001) Cox hazard analysis found that risk of RBO was significantly lower in 12-mm CSEEMS than in 10-mm FCSEMS. There were no significant differences between the 12-mm-CSEEMS group and 10-mm-FCSEMS group regarding the cause of RBO and adverse events. Conclusions  The 12-mm CSEEMS showed a low risk of RBO compared with 10-mm FCSEMS and was considered to be effective and safe for draining unresectable malignant distal biliary obstruction.

This study revealed an association between rs2856718 and HCC development and an association between rs7453920 and HBsAg levels.

One year of vitamin E treatment improved noninvasive fibrosis scores and liver stiffness in NAFLD patients. The responses were similar between different PNPLA3 genotypes.

Objective: To improve poor medication adherence in schizophrenic patients, long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics are used. However, it has not yet become common in Japan. Recently, aripiprazole LAI was approved for alternative injection into the deltoid muscle in addition to the gluteal muscle. The acceptance for the proposal to switch from gluteal to deltoid injections of aripiprazole LAI was investigated. Methods: The subjects were 32 outpatients with schizophrenia who had continuously received aripiprazole LAI administration into the gluteal muscle for ≥ 6 months. In the patients who had continued deltoid injection for 3 months after switching, the changes in the pain and shame in comparison with gluteal injections were evaluated. Results: Switching to the deltoid injection was chosen by 17 out of 32 patients. Three months later, 9 patients were still receiving deltoid injections with highly rated satisfaction. The main reasons for switching to deltoid injections included the pain and shame associated with gluteal injections. The main reason for returning to the gluteal injection was the pain experienced from the injection in the deltoid. Conclusion: The option to select the injected area was based on the amount of pain in the deltoid and gluteal sites, leading to the widespread use of aripiprazole LAI.

We have developed an optical technique for sensing a vertical surface by utilizing fluorescence signals. The measured surface was coated with a fluorescent dye. First, the angular range of the fluorescence emission from the surface was experimentally investigated. The experimental results revealed that the fluorescence was emitted over a wide range of angles greater than 10° from the surface, which is wide enough to enable the detection of a vertical surface. Second, the surface of a fluorescent-dye-coated silicon wafer was sensed using a fluorescent confocal optical system. The vertical surface was scanned horizontally with a laser beam, and the detected signal was found to have a specific peak of 3 µm at full width at half maximum. Thus, the vertical surface was sensed successfully by the fluorescent confocal optical system.