From our experience, robotic liver resection seems to be a feasible and safe procedure, even for major hepatectomy. Robotic surgery can be considered a new advanced option for minimally invasive liver surgery.

Two novel conjugated polymers incorporating quinoidal thiophene are successfully synthesized. By combining 1D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and 2D nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy analyses, the isomeric form of the major quinoid monomer is clearly identified as the asymmetric Z, E-configuration. The quinoidal polymers are synthesized via Stille polymerization with thiophene or bithiophene. Both quinoidal polymers exhibit the low band gap of 1.45 eV and amphoteric redox behavior, indicating extended conjugation owing to the quinoidal backbone. These quinoidal polymers show ambipolar behaviors with high charge carrier mobilities when applied in organic field-effect transistors. In addition, the radial alignment of polymer chains achieved by off-center spin-coating leads to further improvement of device performance, with poly(quinoidal thiophene-bithiophene) exhibiting a high hole mobility of 8.09 cm V s , which is the highest value among the quinoidal polymers up to now. Microstructural alteration via thermal annealing or off-center spin-coating is found to beneficially affect charge transport. The enhancement of crystallinity with strong π-π interactions and the nanofibrillar structure arising from planar well-delocalized quinoid units is considered to be responsible for the high charge carrier mobility.

The two small molecules, quinoidal bithiophene (QBT) and quinoidal biselenophene (QBS), are designed based on a quinoid structure, and synthesized via a facile synthetic route. These quinoidal molecules have a reduced band gap and an amphoteric redox behavior, which is caused by an extended delocalization. Due to such properties, organic field‐effect transistors based on QBT and QBS have shown balanced ambipolar characteristics. After thermal annealing, the performances of the devices are enhanced by an increase in crystallinity. The field‐effect hole and electron mobilities are measured to be 0.031 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 0.005 cm2 V−1 s−1 for QBT, and 0.055 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 0.021 cm2 V−1 s−1 for QBS, respectively. In addition, we investigate the effect of chalcogen atoms (S and Se) on the molecular properties. The optical, electrochemical properties and electronic structures are mainly dominated by the quinoidal structure, whereas molecular properties are scarcely affected by either type of chalcogen atom. The main effect of the chalcogen atoms is ascribed to the difference of crystallinity. Due to a strong intermolecular interaction of the selenophene, QBS exhibits a higher degree of crystallinity, which leads to an enhancement of both hole and electron mobilities. Consequently, these types of quinoidal molecules are found to be promising for use as ambipolar semiconductors.

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01550406.

Methionine dependence is due to the overuse of methionine for aberrant transmethylation reactions in cancer. Methionine dependence may be the only general metabolic defect in cancer. In order to exploit methionine dependence for therapy, our laboratory previously cloned L-methionine α-deamino-γ-mercaptomethane lyase [EC 4.4.1.11]). The cloned methioninase, termed recombinant methioninase, or rMETase, has been tested in mouse models of human cancer cell lines. Ewing's sarcoma is recalcitrant disease even though development of multimodal therapy has improved patients'outcome. Here we report efficacy of rMETase against Ewing's sarcoma in a patient-derived orthotopic xenograft (PDOX) model. The Ewing's sarcoma was implanted in the right chest wall of nude mice to establish a PDOX model. Eight Ewing's sarcoma PDOX mice were randomized into untreated control group (n = 4) and rMETase treatment group (n = 4). rMETase (100 units) was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) every 24 hours for 14 consecutive days. All mice were sacrificed on day-15, 24 hours after the last rMETase administration. rMETase effectively reduced tumor growth compared to untreated control. The methionine level both of plasma and supernatants derived from sonicated tumors was lower in the rMETase group. Body weight did not significantly differ at any time points between the 2 groups. The present study is the first demonstrating rMETase efficacy in a PDOX model, suggesting potential clinical development, especially in recalcitrant cancers such as Ewing's sarcoma.

This study showed that the TachoSil® patch did not reduce the incidence of POPF after distal pancreatectomy.

The benefits of early enteral feeding (EEN) have been demonstrated in gastrointestinal surgery. But, the impact of EEN has not been elucidated yet. We assessed the postoperative nutritional status of patients who had undergone pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) according to the postoperative nutritional method and compared the clinical outcomes of two methods. A prospective randomized trial was undertaken following PD. Patients were randomly divided into two groups; the EEN group received the postoperative enteral feed and the control group received the postoperative total parenteral nutrition (TPN) management. Thirty-eight patients were included in our analyses. The first day of bowel movement and time to take a normal soft diet was significantly shorter in EEN group than in TPN group. Prealbumin and transferrin were significantly reduced on post-operative day (POD) 7 and were slowly recovered until POD 90 in the TPN group than in the EEN group. EEN group rapidly recovered weight after POD 21 whereas it was gradually decreased in TPN group until POD 90. EEN after PD is associated with preservation of weight compared with TPN and impact on recovery of digestive function after PD.

In addition to frequent higher-grade complications and prolonged hospital stays, Lap DPS appeared to impair patient quality of life based on follow-up survey. Even an effort to preserve adult spleen in distal pancreatectomy is worthwhile.