Prognostic impact of immune-related adverse events on combination immune checkpoint/tyrosine kinase inhibition for metastatic renal cancer.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) combinations and tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) use are standard for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), leading to improved outcomes. However, due to a lack of predictive biomarkers, the presence or absence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) is currently employed as a predictive factor in clinical practice. To elucidate the impact of irAEs on efficacy, a cohort of mRCC patients who received ICI-based combination therapy as initial treatment was analyzed.

[A Case of Precaval Right Renal Artery].

Understanding renal artery tortuosity is important in urological surgery. The right renal artery normally runs dorsal to the inferior vena cava. In precaval renal artery, vascular anomaly, the right renal artery, branching from the abdominal aorta, runs ventral to the inferior vena cava.

Comparison of tocilizumab and corticosteroid treatment with baricitinib and corticosteroid treatment in severely and critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

Background: Several guidelines recommend that systemic therapies involving tocilizumab, baricitinib, and corticosteroids are crucial in treating severely and critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the efficacy of the tocilizumab and corticosteroid combination compared with the baricitinib and corticosteroid combination in severely and critically ill hospitalized patients with COVID-19 remains unclear.

Methods: We analyzed severely and critically ill hospitalized patients with COVID-19 aged ≥18 years between 1 January 2020 and 31 March 2023 using a Japanese inpatient database.

Exploring factors associated with clinical remission in patients with severe asthma receiving anti-IL-4Rα, anti-IL-5/5R, or anti-IgE treatment.

Background: The optimal selection of biologics is critical for achieving clinical remission (CR) in patients with severe asthma. This real-world study examined baseline prebiologic factors associated with CR in patients with severe asthma receiving anti-IL-4Rα, anti-IL-5/5R, or anti-IgE treatment.

Methods: This Japanese multicenter retrospective observational study included consecutive patients with severe asthma whose spirometry and asthma control test (ACT) data were available after at least 1 year of anti-IL-4Rα, anti-IL-5/5R, or anti-IgE treatment.

Tip-Enhanced Sum Frequency Generation for Molecular Vibrational Nanospectroscopy.

Vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) is a nonlinear spectroscopic technique widely used to study the molecular structure and dynamics of surface systems. However, the spatial resolution achieved by far-field observations is constrained by the diffraction limit, obscuring molecular details in inhomogeneous structures smaller than the wavelength of light. To overcome this limitation, we developed a system for tip-enhanced SFG (TE-SFG) spectroscopy based on a scanning tunneling microscope.

The effect of antibiotic prescription in non-critically ill hospitalized patients with COVID-19: A Japanese inpatient database study.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing global pandemic. Bacterial coinfections with COVID-19 occur in 3.5% of COVID-19 cases, with a higher incidence in severe cases.

The relationship between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 omicron variant epidemic and acute myocardial infarction: A self-controlled case series study.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to various complications, including cardiovascular events. Despite the widespread impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant in 2022, no studies have evaluated the relationship between the Omicron variant epidemic and acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Methods: We utilized a Japanese claims database to identify patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022.

FEM simulation of breast deformation with semi-fluid representation.

Purpose: In image-guided surgery for breast cancer, the representation of the breast deformation between planning and surgery plays a key role. The breast deforms significantly and behaves as a fluid with some constraints. Concretely, the deep fat layer in the breast deforms fluidly due to its incomplete fixation to the chest wall, while the anchoring structures by fascia avoid excessive deformation.

The effect of baricitinib and corticosteroid compared to that of corticosteroid monotherapy in severely and critically ill patients with COVID-19: A Japanese multicenter inpatient database study.

Background: Systemic baricitinib and corticosteroids play important roles in treating severely and critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the efficacy of the combination of baricitinib and corticosteroids compared to that of corticosteroid monotherapy in severely and critically ill hospitalized patients with COVID-19 remains unclear.

Methods: We analyzed severely and critically ill hospitalized patients with COVID-19 aged >18 years between January 1, 2020 and May 31, 2023, using a Japanese multicenter inpatient database.

The Epidemiology of Circulating Respiratory Pathogens during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective To survey the epidemiology of respiratory pathogens during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Methods Specimens were assayed using multiplex nested PCR. Materials Specimens were obtained from outpatients who presented with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection and asymptomatic outpatients who had contact with patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection at Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital in Sendai, Japan, from November 1, 2020, to May 31, 2023.

Long-Term Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor for Squamous Cell Carcinoma Lesion Transformed From -Mutated Adenocarcinoma After Osimertinib Treatment: A Case Report.

Histologic transformation is one of the mechanisms of resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor in patients with NSCLC with mutation. The transformation from adenocarcinoma to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has been recently recognized as a mechanism of resistance to osimertinib. The prognosis after transformation to SCC is considered to be poor, and the therapeutic strategy for these patients is unclear.

Vertically Oriented Metallic Heterodimer Array Semiembedded in Flat Conductive Carbon Film for Electrochemical Application.

General synthesis of a highly oriented metallic heterodimer array based on a selective electrodeposition technique onto a metal nanoparticle-embedded carbon film is proposed, which enables the preparation of heterodimers with a wide variety of metal combinations. This method requires no surfactant, capping agent, organic solvent, or heat treatment. As a representative metal combination, a nickel (Ni)/palladium (Pd) heterodimer array was prepared by selective electrodeposition of Ni nanoparticles (Ni NPs) on top of partially exposed Pd NPs embedded in carbon film electrodes fabricated by a cosputtering technique.

A Prehospital Triage System to Detect Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage Using Machine Learning Algorithms.

Importance: An adequate system for triaging patients with head trauma in prehospital settings and choosing optimal medical institutions is essential for improving the prognosis of these patients. To our knowledge, there has been no established way to stratify these patients based on their head trauma severity that can be used by ambulance crews at an injury site.

Objectives: To develop a prehospital triage system to stratify patients with head trauma according to trauma severity by using several machine learning techniques and to evaluate the predictive accuracy of these techniques.

Use of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay for the early detection of an outbreak of human parainfluenza virus type 3 infection in a nursery school during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Although outbreaks of parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV-3) have been reported in children, to our knowledge none have been reported in a nursery school. As the symptoms of PIV-3 infection are similar to those of COVID-19 infection, accurate diagnosis of PIV-3 and other respiratory viruses is important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aims: We experienced an outbreak of upper respiratory symptoms at a nursery school in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, from 29/5/2021 to 13/6/2021 and aimed to determine the causative organism(s).

Supporting effects of a N-doped carbon film electrode on an electrodeposited Ni@Ni(OH) core-shell nanocatalyst in accelerating electrocatalytic oxidation of oligosaccharides.

The supporting effect of a N-doped carbon film induced superior crystallinity in electrodeposited Ni@Ni(OH) core-shell nanoparticles. This improvement resulted in a much higher regeneration rate of catalytic sites (NiOOH), leading to higher oxidation currents of sugars. Also, the overpotential of the maltopentaose (G5) oxidation reaction decreased significantly, probably due to the effect of the electrostatic interaction between NPs and G5.

Drug-Tea Polyphenol Interaction (III) Incompatibility between Aripiprazole Oral Solution and Green Tea.

The details of incompatibility between aripiprazole (ARIP) oral solution and green tea were examined. When the ARIP oral solution was mixed with a commercial PET bottled green tea beverage, the residual rate of ARIP in the mixed solution decreased to 15.7-17.

Hybrid Carbon Film Electrodes for Electroanalysis.

Carbon materials have been widely used for electrochemical analysis and include carbon nanotubes, graphene, and boron-doped diamond electrodes in addition to conventional carbon electrodes, such as those made of glassy carbon and graphite. Of the carbon-based electrodes, carbon film has advantages because it can be fabricated reproducibly and micro- or nanofabricated into electrodes with a wide range of shapes and sizes. Here, we report two categories of hybrid-type carbon film electrodes for mainly electroanalytical applications.

Electrochemical Analysis of Coffee Extractions at Different Roasting Levels Using a Carbon Nanotube Electrode.

This study reports on the electrochemical analysis of coffee extractions at different roasting levels by using a carbon nanotube (CNT) electrode. The roasting levels, ranging from 1 (low) to 6 (high), were determined according to the roasting time after fixing the roasting temperature. Level 1 roasting resulted in light roasted beans and level 6 in dark roasted ones.

Electrochemical Detection of Curcumin in Food with a Carbon Nanotube-Carboxymethylcellulose Electrode.

Herein, an electrochemical method is presented for the detection of curcumin in food using a carbon nanotube (CNT)-carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) electrode. The CNT-CMC electrode exhibited ideal characteristics for curcumin detection, namely, a high response current and adequate peak separation toward curcumin oxidation. Cyclic voltammetry revealed two oxidation peaks.

Decoupling from a Thermal Bath via Molecular Polariton Formation.

The coupling between an electronic system and an environmental bath plays a decisive role in the excited state dynamics of artificial/natural molecular condensed phases. Although it is generally difficult to control the coupling between the system and the thermal bath in condensed matter, a strong light-matter coupling can control system-bath coupling properties using the polaron decoupling effect, in which a coherent interaction between excitons and photons reduces the reorganization energy. Here we demonstrate that this polaron decoupling strongly reduces the fluctuations in electronic energy in tetraphenyldibenzoperiflanthene thin films embedded in an optical microcavity.

Singlet fission of amorphous rubrene modulated by polariton formation.

The excited-state dynamics of molecular aggregates are governed by their potential energy landscape that can hardly be controlled artificially. However, it is possible to alter the excited state dynamics by a strong coupling between light and molecules (polariton formation) because it can decouple the electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom. Here, we demonstrate this polaron decoupling effect on the photochemical dynamics in singlet fission (SF) of amorphous rubrene thin films embedded in optical microcavities.

Electrochemical determination with a long-length carbon nanotube electrode of quercetin glucosides in onion, apple peel, and tartary buckwheat.

Since the intake of quercetin glucosides has healthy benefits, the analysis of quercetin glucosides in food is useful. The electrochemical determination of individual quercetin glucosides (quercetin-3-glucoside (Q3G), quercetin-4'-glucoside (Q4'G), and quercetin-3,4'-diglucoside (Q34'G)) in food is carried out. For the detection of quercetin glucosides, a long-length carbon nanotube electrode offers attractive properties such as well-defined current peaks, high sensitivity, and high reproducibility.