[Successful Identification of Thoracic Duct with Tumor-related Chylothorax by Fluorescence Imaging with Indocyanine Green via Inguinal Lymph Node].

A 60-year-old woman underwent treatment for breast cancer. She underwent thoracic drainage and was treated with dietary restriction for tumor-related chylothorax. However, after a lack of improvement, she underwent surgical ligation of the thoracic duct.

Magnetoresistance in Au/1,4-benzene-dithiol/Au and Au/1,4-benzene-dimethanethiol/Au single-molecule junctions.

Positive and negative magnetoresistance (MR) in single-molecule Au/BDT/Au and Au/BDMT/Au junctions appeared at 100 mT, revealing π-orbital influence. Differences in MR behaviors arise from singlet-triplet state modulation by exchange interaction, explaining the MR sign reversal. These findings provide new insight into magneto-transport in π-conjugated molecular junctions.

Improvements in Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis by Sinusitis Following Treatment of Sphenoid Sinusitis: A Case Report and Literature Review.

The patient was a 36-year-old woman in the 34th week of pregnancy who presented with headache. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed bilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis and inflammatory changes in the sphenoid sinus. No cerebral infarction was detected on diffusion-weighted magnetic MRI.

When two signals cross paths: cGAS-STING and ER stress in kidney disease progression.

Previous reports have suggested that both the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase-stimulator of interferon genes pathways contribute to the progression of chronic kidney disease; however, the relationship between these 2 pathways in kidney injury has not been fully elucidated. Andrade-Silva et al. revealed that the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase-stimulator of interferon genes pathway can enhance ER stress through the protein kinase R-like ER kinase (PERK)-mediated signaling cascade in kidney tubular epithelial cells and sequentially augment fibrosis during kidney injury.

Retrospective evaluation of a novel ultrasound-based imaging analysis software for predicting radiofrequency ablation areas.

Objective: This study aimed to introduce and evaluate a novel software-based system, BioTrace, designed for real-time monitoring of thermal ablation tissue damage during image-guided radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: BioTrace utilizes a proprietary algorithm to analyze the temporo-spatial behavior of thermal gas bubble activity during ablation, as seen in conventional B-mode ultrasound imaging. Its predictive accuracy was assessed by comparing the ablation zones it predicted with those annotated by radiologists using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) 24 hours post-treatment, considered the gold standard.

Generation and Application of All Possible Conformations of Cyclic Tryptophan within and beyond Post-translational Modification.

Isoprenylation of the indole C3-position of tryptophan accompanied by cyclization (c-Trp) is one of the most attractive post-translational modifications because of C-C bond formation and drastic conformational alteration. As the modification generates two stereoisomers of the 6/5/5-fused ring system and consequently, a mixture of four possible conformations as considered in proline, it is expected to influence the biological activity in quorum sensing pheromone ComX containing the c-Trp residue. In this study, the simultaneous control of the amide equilibrium and pyrrolidine ring puckering was achieved by utilizing an N-carbamoylated and α-methylated 6/5/5-fused ring system.

Phonon induced near-field effects on heat transfer across nanogap electrodes.

Heat transfer at the nanoscale remains largely unexplored compared to that in bulk materials, particularly phonon tunneling across extremely narrow nanogaps. The underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon are not well understood due to experimental difficulties. As a novel approach for measuring heat transfer in nanogaps, we have developed an on-chip adiabatic mechanically controllable break junction system based on a suspended membrane device.

Female sex hormones inversely regulate acute kidney disease susceptibility throughout life.

While epidemiological and experimental studies have demonstrated kidney-protective effects of estrogen and female sex in adulthood, some epidemiological data showed deterioration of kidney function during puberty when estrogen production increases. However, molecular mechanisms explaining these conflicting phenomena remain unknown. Here, we showed that the pubertal sex hormone surge in female mice increases susceptibility to kidney ischemia reperfusion injury partly via downregulation of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) expression in proximal tubules.

Periodically Twisted Molecular Wires Based on a Fused Unit for Efficient Intramolecular Hopping Transport.

Realizing efficient long-distance intramolecular charge transport based on a hopping mechanism is a key challenge in molecular electronics. In hopping transport, a smaller reorganization energy (λ) and energy difference between hopping sites (Δ) should lead to a smaller activation energy and faster charge transfer. However, the development of π-extended molecules that meet these requirements is challenging.

Identification of epistatic SNP combinations in rheumatoid arthritis using LAMPLINK and Japanese cohorts.

Genome-wide association studies have enabled the identification of important genetic factors in many trait studies. However, only a fraction of the heritability can be explained by known genetic factors, even in the most common diseases. Genetic loci combinations, or epistatic contributions expressed by combinations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), have been argued to be one of the critical factors explaining some of the missing heritability, especially in oligogenic/polygenic diseases.

Comprehensive HLA Typing from a Current Allele Database Using Next-Generation Sequencing Data.

HLA allele information is essential for a variety of medical applications, such as genomic studies of multifactorial diseases, including immune system and inflammation-related disorders, and donor selection in organ transplantation and regenerative medicine. To obtain this information, an accurate HLA typing method that is applicable for any allele registered in HLA allele databases is needed. Here we describe a method-called HLA-HD-for determining alleles from a current HLA database using next-generation sequencing (NGS) results.

Optical fiber chemical sensing of anionic surfactants using a microfluidic polymer chip with embedded ion-selective fluorescence optode.

This study introduces a novel microfluidic polymer chip system that employs an embedded anionic surfactant (AS) ion-selective fluorescence optode (AS fluorescence optode) as a detector for measuring AS. The AS fluorescent optode comprises a lactone form of rhodamine B (L-RB) embedded in 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether plasticized poly (vinyl chloride) membrane. The AS fluorescence optode demonstrated a linear correlation between fluorescence intensity peak heights and AS concentrations within the range of less than 20 µM under optimal flow conditions.

Material Separation from Polyester/Cotton Blended Fabrics Using Hydrothermal Treatment.

The production of textile products is increasing annually, and most of them are disposed of after use without recycling. One of the reasons for the low recycling percentage of discarded textile products is the difficulty of recycling as a single material as these products are produced from a combination of two or more materials. Therefore, a technology to separate materials is necessary to improve the recycling percentage of textile products and to build a sustainable recycling industry.

[Multiorgan Thromboembolism due to Thrombus in the Remnant Superior Pulmonary Vein After Left Upper Division Segmentectomy:Report of a Case].

A 67 years old male had underwent left upper division segmentectomy. On the sixth day after surgery, he had developed unconsciousness, aphasia and unilateral spatial neglect. Brain MRI revealed a cerebral infarction, and percutaneous cerebral thrombectomy was performed.

Visualization of the landscape of the read alignment shape of ATAC-seq data using Hellinger distance metric.

Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) is the popular technique using next-generation sequencing to measure chromatin accessibility and identify open chromatin regions. While read alignment shape information of next-generation sequencing data with intensity information has been used in various bioinformatics methods, few studies have focused on pure shape information alone. In this study, we investigated what types of ATAC-seq read alignment shapes are observed for the promoter region and whether the pure shape information was related or unrelated to other gene features.

Identification and verification of communicating accessory bile duct associated with a biliary circuit by modified and dynamic intraoperative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Communicating accessory bile duct (CABD) is a rare anatomical anomaly of the bile duct and forms a biliary circuit. It is difficult to identify during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) without the use of intraoperative cholangiography (IOC). A modified IOC, in which tube insertion was performed through the infundibulum of the gallbladder, was evaluated dynamically.

Delving into gene-set multiplex networks facilitated by a k-nearest neighbor-based measure of similarity.

Gene sets are functional units for living cells. Previously, limited studies investigated the complex relations among gene sets, but documents about their altering patterns across biological conditions still need to be prepared. In this study, we adopted and modified a classical k-nearest neighbor-based association function to detect inter-gene-set similarities.

Hematopoietic cell-derived IL-15 supports NK cell development in scattered and clustered localization within the bone marrow.

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells critical for protective immune responses against infection and cancer. Although NK cells differentiate in the bone marrow (BM) in an interleukin-15 (IL-15)-dependent manner, the cellular source of IL-15 remains elusive. Using NK cell reporter mice, we show that NK cells are localized in the BM in scattered and clustered manners.

Reservoir computing with the electrochemical formation and reduction of gold oxide in aqueous solutions with a three-electrode electrochemical setup.

Supervised classification of handwritten digits physical reservoir computing (PRC) using electrochemistry with a three-electrode electrochemical setup was demonstrated. Short-term memory required for the PRC was realized for 3 bit pulse patterns by adjusting the formation/reduction ratio of gold oxides, showing a wide potential of electrochemistry as resources of PR devices.

Magnetoresistance originated from the Au/S interface in Au/1,6-hexanedithiol/Au single-molecule junctions at room temperature.

We report a magnetic response of Au/1,6-hexanedithiol/Au single-molecule junctions at room temperature using a mechanically controllable break junction method. The electrical resistance of the junction was found to increase up to 5.5% under a magnetic field.

Dual deletion of guanylyl cyclase-A and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in podocytes with aldosterone administration causes glomerular intra-capillary thrombi.

Natriuretic peptides exert not only blood-lowering but also kidney-protective effects through guanylyl cyclase-A (GC-A), a natriuretic peptide receptor. Signaling through GC-A has been shown to protect podocytes from aldosterone-induced glomerular injury, and a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor reduced glomerular injury in aldosterone-infused podocyte-specific GC-A knockout mice. To explore the role of p38 MAPK in podocytes, we constructed podocyte-specific p38 MAPK and GC-A double knockout mice (pod-double knockout mice).

Predictors of in-hospital mortality in elderly patients with heart failure treated with tolvaptan.

Objectives: We conducted an analysis of first-time tolvaptan users (≥80 years old) to determine the factors associated with the prognosis of elderly patients with heart failure.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 66 consecutive patients with worsening heart failure (aged ≥80 years) who were admitted to Fujita Health University Bantane Hospital from 2011 to 2016 and treated with tolvaptan. Differences between the in-hospital death and survival groups were evaluated.

Robot-assisted total remnant gastrectomy for interposed jejunal pouch dysfunction 25 years after proximal gastrectomy for gastric cancer: A case report.

Proximal gastrectomy (PG) in combination with jejunal pouch interposition is a technique aimed at improving the postoperative dietary outcomes; however, some cases are reported to require surgical intervention owing to difficulty of food intake caused by pouch dysfunction. Herein, we present a case of robot-assisted surgery for interposed jejunal pouch (IJP) dysfunction in a 79-year-old male, occurring 25 years after the initial PG for gastric cancer. The patient had chronic anorexia for 2 years and was treated with medications and dietary guidance; however, 3 months prior to admission his quality of life had reduced, owing to worsening symptoms.