The LECS procedure for dissection of gastric submucosal tumors such as GIST may be performed safely with reasonable operation times, less bleeding, and adequate cut lines. In addition, the success of the procedure does not depend on the tumor location such as the vicinity of the esophagogastric junction or pyloric ring.

We formulate an optimization problem to control a large number of automated guided vehicles in a plant without collision. The formulation consists of binary variables. A quadratic cost function over these variables enables us to utilize certain solvers on digital computers and recently developed purpose-specific hardware such as D-Wave 2000Q and the Fujitsu digital annealer. In the present study, we consider an actual plant in Japan, in which vehicles run, and assess efficiency of our formulation for optimizing the vehicles via several solvers. We confirm that our formulation can be a powerful approach for performing smooth control while avoiding collisions between vehicles, as compared to a conventional method. In addition, comparative experiments performed using several solvers reveal that D-Wave 2000Q can be useful as a rapid solver for generating a plan for controlling the vehicles in a short time although it deals only with a small number of vehicles, while a digital computer can rapidly solve the corresponding optimization problem even with a large number of binary variables. 2/123/12 10/12

BackgroundHuman epidermal growth factor (HER) 2 positivity and its association with clinicopathological factors remain unclear in Japanese gastric cancer (GC) patients. We performed a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study to evaluate HER2 protein expression and gene amplification in Japanese metastatic and recurrent GC patients, and explored its correlations with clinicopathological features.MethodsHER2 protein expression and gene amplification were centrally assessed in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded GC tissue by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Patient information was collected, and associations between clinicopathological factors and HER2 positivity (IHC score 3+ and/or FISH positive) and low HER2 expression (IHC score 0/FISH positive or IHC score 1+/FISH positive) were examined.ResultsFrom September 2011 to June 2012, 1461 patients were registered across 157 sites, and the HER2 status of 1427 patients was evaluated. The rate of HER2 positivity was 21.2 %, whereas the rate of high HER2 expression (IHC score 2+/FISH positive or IHC score 3+) was 15.6 % and that of low HER2 expression was 7.0 %. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified intestinal type, absence of peritoneal metastasis, and hepatic metastasis as significant independent factors related to HER2 positivity. The intestinal type was confirmed to be the GC subtype predominantly associated with lower HER2 expression. Sampling conditions including number of biopsy samples, formalin concentration, and formalin-fixation time did not significantly affect HER2 positivity.ConclusionsHER2 expression in Japanese patients was comparable to that in other populations examined. Intestinal type was an independent factor related to HER2 positivity and low HER2 expression.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a basic helix-loop-helix/Per-ARNT-Sim domain transcription factor, which is activated by various xenobiotic ligands. AHR is known to be abundant in liver tissue and to be associated with hepatic steatosis. However, it has not yet been elucidated how the activation of AHR promotes hepatic steatosis. The aim of this study is to clarify the role of AHR in hepatic steatosis. The intraperitoneal injection of 3-methylcholanthrene (3MC), a potent AHR ligand, into C57BL/6J mice significantly increased the levels of triglycerides and six long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids in the livers of mice, resulting in hepatic microvesicular steatosis. 3MC significantly enhanced the expression level of fatty acid translocase (FAT), a factor regulating the uptake of long-chain fatty acids into hepatocytes, in the liver. In an in vitro experiment using human hepatoma HepG2 cells, 3MC increased the expression level of FAT, and the downregulation of AHR by AHR siRNA led to the suppression of 3MC-induced FAT expression. In addition, the mRNA level of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α, an upstream factor of FAT, was increased in the livers of 3MC-treated mice. Taking together, AHR activation induces hepatic microvesicular steatosis by increasing the expression level of FAT.

No abstract