Impact of Spinal Instrumentation on Early Postoperative Inflammatory Markers: A Comparative Analysis in the Same Patient Cohort with or without Instrumentation.

Backgrounds: Postoperative inflammatory parameters are important markers of surgical site infection. Some authors have reported that spine surgery with instrumentation elevates CRP levels more than that without instrumentation does. However, those studies compared early postoperative inflammatory markers with or without instrumentation in different patients, although CRP levels vary widely among patients.

A comparative psychological evaluation of a robotic avatar in Dubai and Japan.

Introduction: This study focused on the psychological evaluation of an avatar robot in two distinct regions, Dubai in the Middle East and Japan in the Far East. Dubai has experienced remarkable development in advanced technology, while Japan boasts a culture that embraces robotics. These regions are distinctively characterized by their respective relationships with robotics.

Android avatar improves educational effects by embodied anthropomorphization.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the adoption of distance learning has been accelerated in educational institutions in multiple countries. In addition to using a videoconferencing system with camera images, avatars can also be used for remote classes. In particular, an android avatar with a sense of presence has the potential to provide higher quality education than a video-recorded lecture.

Improving the closing sequences of interaction between human and robot through conversation analysis.

This study employs Conversation Analysis to create a recursive model that improves the quality of human-robot interaction. Our research goal is to create a dialogue robot that offers pleasant experiences for users, so they are willing to engage in repeated interactions in daily lives. While there has been dramatic progress in the performance of dialogue robots, there has been less attention to the importance of users' interactional experience compared to the "specs" of the dialogue system.

Cybernetic avatars: Teleoperation technologies from in-body monitoring to social interaction.

Cybernetic avatars integrate physical and virtual avatars to enhance human capabilities in diverse scales and contexts.

Cap-Specific mAm Methyltransferase PCIF1/CAPAM Regulates mRNA Stability of and through the mA Methyltransferase Activity.

Chemical modifications of cellular RNAs play key roles in gene expression and host defense. The cap-adjacent ,2'--dimethyladenosine (mAm) is a prevalent modification of vertebrate and viral mRNAs and is catalyzed by the newly discovered methyltransferase PCIF1. However, its role in gene expression remains unclear due to conflicting reports on its effects on mRNA stability and translation.

Mechanism of antibacterial property of micro scale rough surface formed by fine-particle bombarding.

Fine-particle bombardment (FPB) is typically used to modify metal surfaces by bombarding them with fine particles at high speed. FPB is not a coating technique but is used for forming microscale concavities and convexities on a surface. Previously, we reported that an FPB-treated surface showed antibacterial effects; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Enhanced CFTR modulator efficacy in ΔF508 CFTR mouse organoids by ablation of RFFL ubiquitin ligase.

The most common CFTR mutant in cystic fibrosis (CF), ΔF508 CFTR, is eliminated by ubiquitination even in the presence of CF drugs, reducing their therapeutic efficacy. RFFL is one of the ubiquitin ligases that remove ΔF508 CFTR from the cell surface despite treatment with the triple combination of CFTR modulators (TEZ/ELX/IVA) used clinically. Although RFFL knockdown has been shown to enhance the efficacy of TEZ/ELX/IVA in cell culture models, its impact in mouse models has not been evaluated.

Prognostic value of the 21-Gene Breast Recurrence Score® assay for hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor 2-negative advanced breast cancer: subanalysis from Japan Breast Cancer Research Group-M07 (FUTURE trial).

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether the 21-Gene Breast Recurrence Score® assay from primary breast tissue predicts the prognosis of patients with hormone receptor-positive and human epidermal growth factor 2-negative advanced breast cancers (ABCs) treated with fulvestrant monotherapy (Group A) and the addition of palbociclib combined with fulvestrant (Group B), which included those who had progression in Group A from the Japan Breast Cancer Research Group-M07 (FUTURE trial).

Methods: Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using the log-rank test and Cox regression analysis based on original recurrence score (RS) categories (Low: 0-17, Intermediate: 18-30, High: 31-100) by treatment groups (A and B) and types of ABCs (recurrence and de novo stage IV).

Results: In total, 102 patients [Low: n = 44 (43.

Flower technique-A bailout technique to retrieve disrupted balloon catheters and stents.

We report two case series in which we encountered the difficulties to retrieve disrupted devices during percutaneous coronary intervention and endovascular treatment. The broken devices were successfully and safely retrieved by the "flower technique" that creates multiple cut and slit in the tip of the guiding catheter. This technique can be easily and safely applied in situations where a balloon catheter or stent has been disrupted and device entrapment has occurred, as the technique simply involves manually placing multiple cuts or slits in the tip of the guiding catheter.

Dissociable Neural Mechanisms for Human Inference Processing Predicted by Static and Contextual Language Models.

Language models (LMs) continue to reveal non-trivial relations to human language performance and the underlying neurophysiology. Recent research has characterized how word embeddings from an LM can be used to generate integrated discourse representations in order to perform inference on events. The current research investigates how such event knowledge may be coded in distinct manners in different classes of LMs and how this maps onto different forms of human inference processing.

Comparison of Postoperative Complications and Outcomes in Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery: Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament Versus Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To compare the frequency of complications and outcomes between patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) of the cervical spine and those with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) who underwent anterior surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: Anterior cervical spine surgery for OPLL is an effective surgical procedure; however, it is complex and technically demanding compared with the procedure for CSM.

Reduced chondroitin sulfate content prevents diabetic neuropathy through transforming growth factor-β signaling suppression.

Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is a major complication of . Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is one of the most important extracellular matrix components and is known to interact with various diffusible factors; however, its role in DN pathology has not been examined. Therefore, we generated CSGalNAc-T1 knockout (T1KO) mice, in which CS levels were reduced.

Subclinical myocardial damage after anthracycline chemotherapy in Japanese patients with breast cancer.

Background: Data on the incidence, timing, and severity of myocardial damage after anthracycline-based chemotherapy (AC) in Japanese patients with breast cancer are limited.

Method: We evaluated cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) in Japanese women with breast cancer (n = 51) after the first AC according to the definitions of the 2022 European Society of Cardiology onco-cardiology guideline, including assessment of high-sensitivity troponin I (TnI) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels.

Results: CTRCD was detected in 67 % of the patients (3.

Opinion attribution improves motivation to exchange subjective opinions with humanoid robots.

In recent years, the development of robots that can engage in non-task-oriented dialogue with people, such as chat, has received increasing attention. This study aims to clarify the factors that improve the user's willingness to talk with robots in non-task oriented dialogues (e.g.

Identifying prognostic biomarkers for palbociclib add-on therapy in fulvestrant-resistant breast cancer using cell-free DNA sequencing.

Background: The FUTURE trial (UMIN000029294) demonstrated the safety and efficacy of adding palbociclib after fulvestrant resistance in patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) advanced and metastatic breast cancer (ABC/MBC). In this planned sub-study, cancer panel sequencing of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) was utilized to explore prognostic and predictive biomarkers for further palbociclib treatment following fulvestrant resistance.

Materials And Methods: Herein, 149 cfDNA samples from 65 patients with fulvestrant-resistant disease were analysed at the time of palbociclib addition after fulvestrant resistance (baseline), on day 15 of cycle 1, and at the end of treatment using the assay for identifying diverse mutations in 34 cancer-related genes.

Self-administered questionnaires enhance emotion estimation of individuals with autism spectrum disorders in a robotic interview setting.

Background: Robots offer many unique opportunities for helping individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Determining the optimal motion of robots when interacting with individuals with ASD is important for achieving more natural human-robot interactions and for exploiting the full potential of robotic interventions. Most prior studies have used supervised machine learning (ML) of user behavioral data to enable robot perception of affective states (i.

A parent-rating scale of postpartum depression: Maternity-monitoring scale by parents (MMSP).

Postpartum depression (PPD) is an illness that is difficult for the affected women themselves to recognize. Moreover, many mothers believe that mothers should not complain about the mental difficulties of taking care of their children. Therefore, in addition to self-evaluation for PPD, evaluation from others is also necessary.