Publications by authors named "Furukawa S"

The architectural characteristics of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can be examined through their net topology, which consists of nodes and linkers. A node's connectivity and site symmetry are likely the key elements influencing the net topology of MOFs. Metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs) function effectively as nodes when used as supermolecular building blocks (SBBs).

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Background: The prognostic nutritional index has been identified as a predictor of postoperative outcomes in various fields. We investigated the usefulness of the prognostic nutritional index as a risk factor for postoperative complications in secondary spontaneous pneumothorax.

Methods: In this retrospective study, patients who underwent surgery for secondary spontaneous pneumothorax were reviewed.

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Allergic diseases and ulcerative colitis (UC) share pathophysiological similarities. This study aimed to investigate the unclear association between allergic diseases and mucosal healing (MH), an important factor in the prognosis of UC. We studied 289 Japanese patients with UC.

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While the effectiveness of metabolic/bariatric surgery has been confirmed, understanding the factors associated with weight loss is paramount for providing guidance in postoperative treatment strategies. Here, we aimed to examine the factors associated with long-term maintenance of weight loss after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). This prospective observational cohort included patients who underwent LSG at a single academic health center between January 2017 and June 2022.

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Background: Constipation is a very common medical issue among the general population worldwide. However, the association between exercise habits and constipation is still not fully understood. Additionally, no evidence regarding the association between exercise partners and constipation exists.

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  • The study analyzed glycan biomarkers in serum to understand their relationship with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and treatment effects.
  • Significant differences were found in N-glycan levels, particularly lower sialylated N-glycans in CIDP patients compared to healthy controls, while O-glycan levels remained unchanged.
  • Lower sialylated N-glycan levels may indicate therapeutic resistance and could serve as a potential biomarker for CIDP’s pathophysiology.
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Whisker-mediated tactile perception is essential for rodent navigation, food acquisition, and social interactions. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying tactile information processing, learning, and memory have not been studied to the same extent as for other modalities. Using immunohistochemical staining, we investigated changes in regional c-Fos expression as an index of neuronal activity and phosphorylated (p)ERK1/2 as an index of ERK1/2 activity in mice trained on a tactile-cued 8-arm radial maze task.

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A 75-year-old man presented with hematochezia. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer (stage 1) 1 month previously and had undergone gold marker injection and hydrogel spacer insertion 3 weeks previously to prepare for radiotherapy. Hydrogel spacer insertion is a safe procedure that can prevent the side effects of radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

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  • The study aimed to explore the genetic basis and pathogenic variants associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by performing whole-genome sequencing on 57 Japanese ASD patients and their parents.
  • Researchers identified potentially pathogenic variants in about 31.6% of the patients, with a higher rate (43.5%) among those with comorbid intellectual developmental disorder (IDD), highlighting specific genes like PTEN and CHD7 linked to recognized ASD phenotypes.
  • The findings emphasize the importance of understanding the genetic underpinnings of ASD to aid in clinical diagnosis and treatment, though no significant results were found regarding short tandem repeats or polygenic risk scores.
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: The usefulness of bevacizumab (BEV) as first-line chemotherapy for advanced ovarian clear cell carcinoma (CCC) was retrospectively evaluated at Tohoku Gynecologic Cancer Unit institutions. : A total of 81 patients (52 patients without BEV and 29 with BEV) with advanced ovarian CCC who received initial platinum-based chemotherapy were enrolled. We selected 26 patients each without and with BEV according to propensity score matching methods, and compared the platinum-resistant recurrence rate, response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events between the two groups.

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Purpose: To evaluate the importance of daily laparoscopic training using laparoscopic forceps to fold origami paper cranes (a traditional Japanese paper craft) and assess the performance of laparoscopic origami crane folding in an actual competition.

Method: A competition, named the "Kaminote Challenge World Championship," was used to evaluate the effectiveness of training. The participants folded the paper cranes using laparoscopic forceps.

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  • - Cochlear implant (CI) users often struggle with distinguishing pitch, despite some having decent speech comprehension; this issue is linked to the quality of sound signals processed through the implants.
  • - Research shows that user sensitivity to pitch varies individually, suggesting factors like neuroplasticity or neural health impact their ability, rather than limitations in the CI signal itself.
  • - A study using deep neural networks to decode pitch from simulated CI signals found that better sound representation (more electrode channels and higher pulse rates) improves pitch estimation, especially in quiet environments, although performance drops significantly in noisy settings.
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The capability of materials to interconvert between different phases provides more possibilities for controlling materials' properties without additional chemical modification. The study of state-changing microporous materials just emerged and mainly involves the liquefication or amorphization of solid adsorbents into liquid or glass phases by adding non-porous components or sacrificing their porosity. The material featuring reversible phases with maintained porosity is, however, still challenging.

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  • The study investigates the permeability and toxicity of various cryoprotective agents (CPAs) on silkworm embryos, identifying propylene glycol as the most effective.
  • Ethylene glycol and propylene glycol were found to be the least toxic, while glycerol and dimethyl sulfoxide exhibited higher toxicity levels.
  • The research highlights that silkworm embryos, particularly at early development stages, show good tolerance to vitrification, which can enhance protocols for cryopreserving these embryos.
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Access to defined glycans and glycoconjugates is pivotal for discovery, dissection, and harnessing of a range of biological functions orchestrated by cellular glycosylation processes and the glycome. We previously employed genetic glycoengineering by nuclease-based gene editing to develop sustainable production of designer glycoprotein therapeutics and cell-based glycan arrays that display glycans in their natural context at the cell surface. However, access to human glycans in formats and quantities that allow structural studies of molecular interactions and use of glycans in biomedical applications currently rely on chemical and chemoenzymatic syntheses associated with considerable labor, waste, and costs.

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Background: This study aimed to investigate the risk factors for peritoneal recurrence (PR) in patients with stage II to III colorectal cancer who underwent colorectal surgery.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 232 patients who underwent colorectal surgery for stage II to III colorectal cancer. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine risk factors for PR.

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Recombinant porcine factor VIII (rpFVIII) is a hemostatic agent for acquired hemophilia A (AHA). Cross-reaction of auto-antibodies against rpFVIII has been reported, although no data are available in Japanese patients. This study investigated the cross-reactivity and coagulation potential of rpFVIII in plasma samples from Japanese patients with AHA.

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In patients with hemophilia A with inhibitor (PwHA-I), emicizumab drastically reduces bleeding events. However, few studies have investigated the behavior and effects of factor X (FX) in patients who require intensive treatment with factor VIII-bypassing agents (BPA) and emicizumab. A 59-year-old man with HA-I receiving emicizumab prophylaxis was admitted to our hospital because of acute gangrenous cholecystitis.

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Variant annotations are crucial for efficient identification of pathogenic variants. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the utility of four annotation tools (allele frequency, ClinVar, SpliceAI, and Phenomatcher) in identifying 271 pathogenic single nucleotide and small insertion/deletion variants (SNVs/small indels). Although variant filtering based on allele frequency is essential for narrowing down on candidate variants, we found that 13 de novo pathogenic variants in autosomal dominant or X-linked dominant genes are registered in gnomADv4.

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  • The study focused on identifying risk factors that lead to the recurrence of stage II-III colorectal cancer (CRC) after surgical treatment by analyzing data from 232 patients.
  • Findings revealed that diabetes mellitus (DM) significantly increased the risk of cancer recurrence, with a recurrence rate of 21.6% among patients.
  • It was concluded that patients with stage III CRC who also had DM experienced shorter recurrence-free survival times, suggesting the need for targeted postoperative care for this group.
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  • Researchers studied how letrozole, a medicine, affected the growth of the placenta in pregnant rats.
  • They found that giving letrozole led to more fetal deaths and increased placental weight over time.
  • Although the babies initially got heavier, they later lost weight as the placenta became less effective, causing problems for the babies towards the end of pregnancy.
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Background: Complete endoscopic resection of superficial non-ampullary duodenal epithelial tumors (SNADETs) is technically difficult, especially with an extremely high risk of adverse event (AE), although various endoscopic resection methods including endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), underwater EMR (UEMR), and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) have been tried for SNADETs. Accordingly, a novel simple resection method that can completely resect tumors with a low risk of AEs should be developed.

Aims: A resection method of Noninjecting Resection using Bipolar Soft coagulation mode (NIRBS) which has been reported to be effective and safe for colorectal lesions is adapted for SNADETs.

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Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) limb regeneration begins with blastemas of various sizes, in contrast to the limb developmental process. Despite this size variation, normal limb morphology, consistent with a limb stump size, is regenerated. This outcome suggests the existence of underlying scale-invariant mechanisms.

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Introduction: Chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) is a condition characterized by peripheral arterial disease and tissue damage caused by reduced blood flow. New therapies using various cell types, such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and mononuclear cells (MNCs), have been developed for the patients unresponsive to conventional therapies. MSCs are promising because of their ability to secrete growth factors essential for vascularization, whereas MNCs contain endothelial progenitor cells that are important for blood vessel formation.

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Background: Interleukin (IL)-23 is involved in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC). A genome-wide significant association between IL23R p.G149R (rs76418789) and UC was previously identified in Japan and Korea.

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