Publications by authors named "Haruo Watanabe"

Background: Cholera can result in the expulsion of important microbiota from the gut and result in death if left untreated. The disease transmits mainly via drinking water carrying Vibrio cholerae; and household contacts (HHC) of cholera patients are at elevated risk during the first week of infection. The gut microbiota profiles of HHC-children of cholera patients at Dhaka city slums were investigated before (day 0) and after (day 8) delivery of chlorinated water as part of the major study 'CHoBI7 trial (cholera-hospital-based intervention for 7 days)'.

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A prostate-targeted biopsy (TB) core is usually collected from a site where magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicates possible cancer. However, the extent of the lesion is difficult to accurately predict using MRI or TB alone. Therefore, we performed several biopsies around the TB site (perilesional [p] TB) and analyzed the association between the positive cores obtained using TB and pTB and the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) scores.

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In 2022, one of its worst cholera outbreaks began in Bangladesh and the icddr,b Dhaka hospital treated more than 1300 patients and ca. 42,000 diarrheal cases from March-1 to April-10, 2022. Here, we present genomic attributes of V.

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Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor, causative agent of the ongoing seventh cholera pandemic, is native to the aquatic environment of the Ganges Delta, Bay of Bengal (GDBB). Recent studies traced pandemic strains to the GDBB and proposed global spread of cholera had occurred via intercontinental transmission. In the research presented here, NotI-digested genomic DNA extracted from V.

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Interorganellar cross talk is often mediated by membrane contact sites (MCSs), which are zones where participating membranes come within 30 nm of one another. MCSs have been found in organelles, including the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi bodies, endosomes, and mitochondria. Despite its seeming ubiquity, reports of MCS involving mitochondrion-related organelles (MROs) present in a few anaerobic parasitic protozoa remain lacking.

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Comparative genomic analysis of Vibrio cholerae El Tor associated with endemic cholera in Asia revealed two distinct lineages, one dominant in Bangladesh and the other in India. An in-depth whole-genome study of V. cholerae El Tor strains isolated during endemic cholera in Bangladesh (1991 to 2017) included reference genome sequence data obtained online.

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Purpose: To compare the real-world effectiveness of antipsychotic treatments focusing on long-acting injectable antipsychotic medications (LAIs) and antipsychotic polytherapies except polytherapy involving clozapine (APEC) for patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: This prospective study was conducted over a 19-month period in 12 psychiatric emergency hospitals in Japan. Patients who were newly admitted to psychiatric emergency wards between September 2019 and March 2020 because of acute onset or exacerbation of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, were included.

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Five novel strains of Serratia fonticola that produce FONA, a minor extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL), were isolated during routine surveillance of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in imported chicken meat in Japan in 2017 and 2018. These strains exhibited a clear ESBL phenotype in susceptibility tests carried out in the presence of clavulanic acid; however, all strains tested negative in a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay used to detect TEM, SHV, and CTX-M β-lactamase genes. After identification of the bacterial species as S.

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Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) form the most important resistance determinants prevalent worldwide. Data on ESBL-producing from poultry and livestock are scarce in India. We present data on the functional and genomic characterization of ESBL-producing obtained from poultry in India.

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Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus; GAS) is an important gram-positive human pathogen capable of causing diseases ranging from mild superficial skin and pharyngeal infections to more severe invasive diseases, including streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). GAS produces a T protein, and T serotyping has considerable discriminatory power for epidemiological characterization of GAS. To clarify the relationship between STSS and pharyngitis in Japan, we examined the T serotypes of GAS strains isolated from clinical specimens of streptococcal infections (STSS, 951 isolates; pharyngitis, 16268 isolates) from 2005 to 2017.

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Article Synopsis
  • Severe invasive group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection can bypass the body's initial immune defenses, but immature myeloid cells (γIMCs) help to counteract this with their production of interferon (IFN)-γ.
  • In a study using a mouse model, it was found that γIMCs first recognize GAS through the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), which triggers the production of interleukin (IL)-6.
  • The IL-6 then promotes the activation of another receptor, called Mincle, which is crucial for γIMC's defense against the GAS infection; blocking IL-6 impairs this protective mechanism.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of initial and second antipsychotic treatments in newly admitted patients with acute-phase schizophrenia over a one-year period.
  • Approximately 58.5% of patients responded to either an initial or second antipsychotic, while 89.8% of those who didn’t respond to the first two showed improvement when a third antipsychotic was added.
  • The combination of two antipsychotics produced a low rate of adverse effects, suggesting that augmentation could be a viable treatment option for non-responders.
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While typically exists in an asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriage state, it may cause potentially lethal diseases in humans, such as septicemia or meningitis, by invading deeper sites in the body. Since the nutrient compositions of human cells are not always conducive to meningococci, needs to exploit nutrients from host environments. In the present study, the utilization of cysteine by the meningococcal cysteine transport system (CTS) was analyzed for the pathogenesis of meningococcal infections.

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Of 19 environmental (n = 12) and (n = 7) tested for quinolone resistance-related genes , , , and , four each of and possessed , and another isolate possessed a new variant of . This is the first detection of in environmentally dwelling bacteria in Bangladesh.

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sequence type 131 (ST131), a pandemic clone responsible for the high incidence of extraintestinal pathogenic (ExPEC) infections, has been known widely for its contribution to the worldwide dissemination of multidrug resistance. Although other ExPEC-associated and extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing clones, such as ST38, ST405, and ST648 have been studied widely, no comparative genomic data with respect to other genotypes exist for ST131. In this study, comparative genomic analysis was performed for 99 ST131 strains with 40 genomes from three other STs, including ST38 ( 12), ST405 ( 10), and ST648 ( 18), and functional studies were performed on five in-house strains corresponding to the four STs.

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Background: The gut of human harbors diverse commensal microbiota performing an array of beneficial role for the hosts. In the present study, the major commensal gut bacteria isolated by culturing methods from 15 children of moderate income families, aged between 10 and 24 months, were studied for their response to different antibiotics, and the molecular basis of drug resistance.

Results: Of 122 bacterial colonies primarily selected from Luria-Bertani agar, bacterial genera confirmed by analytical profile index (API) 20E system included as the predominant (52%) organism, followed by (16%), (12%), (6%), (6%), (3%), and (3%); while and were identified as the infrequently occurring genera.

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Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) and enterotoxigenic (ETEC) are important causes of diarrhea in humans and animals worldwide. Although ruminant animals are the main source of STEC, diarrhea due to this pathotype is very low in Bangladesh where ETEC remains the predominant group associated with childhood diarrhea. In the present study, strains ( = 35) isolated from Bangladesh livestock (goats, sheep, and cattle) and poultry (chicken and ducks) were analyzed for the presence of major virulence factors, such as Shiga toxins (STX-1 and STX-2), heat-labile toxin, and heat-stable toxins (STa and STb).

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Antimicrobial use in food animals selects for antimicrobial resistance in bacteria, which can spread to people. Reducing use of antimicrobials-particularly those deemed to be critically important for human medicine-in food production animals continues to be an important step for preserving the benefits of these antimicrobials for people. The World Health Organization ranking of antimicrobials according to their relative importance in human medicine was recently updated.

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Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is the causative agent of SFTS, an emerging hemorrhagic fever. This disease has a high case fatality rate and is endemic to China, South Korea, and Japan. Because there are currently no effective therapeutics for SFTS, potent and safe antivirals are needed for the treatment of SFTS.

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Purpose: To determine the iodine load per body weight (ILPBW) that is minimally required for the detection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma for 80kVp CT imaging.

Material And Methods: Institutional review board approval and written informed consent were obtained. Fifty-seven consecutive patients with histopathologically-proven pancreatic adenocarcinoma were assigned to three groups at random according to iodine load (0.

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Article Synopsis
  • Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a bacteria causing gastroenteritis, is commonly found in the coastal waters of Bangladesh, which poses a health risk due to endemic diarrhea in the region.
  • A study from 2006-2008 analyzed 175 strains of V. parahaemolyticus, finding that 30.3% possessed a major virulence gene, with significant serotype diversity and a shift from a non-pandemic to a pandemic serotype over the years.
  • The genetic analysis showed two main clusters of strains, emphasizing the need for ongoing environmental monitoring to manage and reduce the risks associated with these pathogens in local drinking water sources.
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