Raman spectroscopic investigation of phase changes and reactivity of 1-pentadecene under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions.

The phase changes and reactivity of 1-pentadecene (CH) were investigated using Raman spectroscopy under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions using diamond anvil cells. At room temperature, the phase changes from liquid phase to solid phase I, and solid phase I to solid phase II were observed at 0.3 GPa and 4.

High-risk pathogenic germline variants in blood relatives of BRCA1/2 negative probands.

Background: Tailored, preventive cancer care requires the identification of pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) among potentially at-risk blood relatives (BRs). Cascade testing is carried out for BRs of probands who are positive for PGVs of an inherited cancer but not for negative probands. This study was conducted to examine the prevalence of PGVs for BRs of PGV-negative probands.

The Clinicopathological and Prognostic Significance of HER2-Low Breast Cancer: A Comparative Analysis Between HER2-Low and HER2-Zero Subtypes.

Background: HER2-low breast cancer (BC) is a newly defined subset of HER2-negative BC. However, it is still uncertain whether HER2-low BC can be categorized as a distinct biological/clinical subgroup with any prognostic significance.

Methods: Invasive BC cases (n = 10,215) with Stage I-III were retrospectively analyzed to determine the HER2 status.

Tropomyosin induces the synthesis of magnesian calcite in sea urchin spines.

Calcium carbonate is present in many biominerals, including in the exoskeletons of crustaceans and shells of mollusks. High Mg-containing calcium carbonate was synthesized by high temperatures, high pressures or high molecular organic matter. For example, biogenic high Mg-containing calcite is synthesized under strictly controlled Mg concentration at ambient temperature and pressure.

Long-term prognostic value of the GenesWell BCT score in Asian women with hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative early breast cancer.

Background: Accurate prediction of the risk of recurrence is crucial for optimal treatment decisions in hormone receptor (HR)-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative early breast cancer. The GenesWell BCT is a molecular assay to predict the 10-year risk of distant metastasis. In this study, we evaluated the long-term prognostic value of the GenesWell BCT assay.

Two New Eremophilane-Type Sesquiterpenoids from Japanese Liverwort Bazzania japonica.

Two new eremophilane-type sesquiterpenoids, fusumaols A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the stem-leafy liverwort, Bazzania japonica collected in Mori-Machi, Shizuoka, Japan. Their structures were established using extensive spectroscopic (IR, MS, and 2D NMR) data, and the absolute configuration of 1 was determined by the modified Mosher's method. This is the first time eremophilanes have been discovered in the liverwort genus Bazzania.

Satisfaction of Patients Who Received Breast-Conserving Surgery Using the Suture Scaffold Technique: A Single-Institution, Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Optimal cosmetic results after breast-conserving surgery (BCS) improve patient satisfaction. The suture scaffold technique (SST) is a breast reconstruction technique that all breast surgeons can perform without any extensive training in plastic surgery.

Objective: We aimed to investigate patient satisfaction after BCS and compare blood loss and operative duration between the SST, breast glandular flap technique (BGFT), and no oncoplastic technique (NOT).

Case of reversible Mobitz type II atrioventricular block after the use of injectable antipsychotics.

Although Mobitz type II atrioventricular block is typically an arrhythmia arising from a permanent organic disorder of the His-Purkinje system, reversible factors should also be considered. Here, we report the association between a rare reversible Mobitz type II atrioventricular block and antipsychotic medication in a 75-year-old patient with schizophrenia.

Periosteal Myxoid Leiomyosarcoma Histologically Mimicking Extraskeletal Myxoid Chondrosarcoma: Report of a Case with Histopathological and Cytopathological Comparison with Extraskeletal Myxoid Chondrosarcoma.

Myxoid leiomyosarcoma (MLS) is a rare variant of leiomyosarcoma, with most cases occurring in the uterus. A case of MLS arising in the periosteal region of the tibia, mimicking extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma (EMC), is described. The evaluation included histological and cytological comparison with EMC.

Dohsa-hou intervention for reciprocal interpersonal interaction for a girl with Kabuki syndrome and autism spectrum disorder.

Although available evidence for psychosocial treatment for patients with Kabuki syndrome is limited, Dohsa-hou, a psychomotor therapy, could be a treatment option for autism spectrum disorder associated with the disorder.

Discovery of primitive CO-bearing fluid in an aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite.

Water is abundant as solid ice in the solar system and plays important roles in its evolution. Water is preserved in carbonaceous chondrites as hydroxyl and/or HO molecules in hydrous minerals, but has not been found as liquid. To uncover such liquid, we performed synchrotron-based x-ray computed nanotomography and transmission electron microscopy with a cryo-stage of the aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite Sutter's Mill.

Physician's knowledge, attitudes and practice pattern for breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy: a survey among breast care specialists in Japan.

Background: Breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy (BCP) is uncommon, and thus there is limited evidence on its treatment. However, the incidence of BCP is increasing probably due to women having children at an older age. We aimed to clarify the practice patterns and limitations in treatment for BCP in Japan.

Prevalence of disease-causing genes in Japanese patients with -wildtype hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome.

Panel sequencing of susceptibility genes for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome has uncovered numerous germline variants; however, their pathogenic relevance and ethnic diversity remain unclear. Here, we examined the prevalence of germline variants among 568 Japanese patients with -wildtype HBOC syndrome and a strong family history. Pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were identified on 12 causal genes for 37 cases (6.

Immunohistochemical study on the distribution of β-defensin 1 and β-defensin 2 throughout the respiratory tract of healthy rats.

The distributions of β-defensin 1 and 2 in secretory host defense system throughout respiratory tract of healthy rats were immunohistochemically investigated. In the nasal epithelium, a large number of non-ciliated and non-microvillous cells (NCs) were immunopositive for both β-defensin 1 and 2, whereas a small number of goblet cells (GCs) were immunopositive only for β-defensin 1. Beta-defensin 2-immunopositive GCs were few.

Immunohistochemical study on the secretory host defense system with lysozyme and secretory phospholipase A2 throughout rat respiratory tract.

The host defense system with lysozyme and secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) was immunohistochemically investigated in rat respiratory tract under healthy conditions. In the nasal epithelium, a large number of non-ciliated and non-microvillous cells (NC) and a small number of goblet cells (GC) were immunopositive for lysozyme and sPLA2. A few acinar cells and almost all epithelial cells of intercalated ducts were immunopositive for both bactericidal substances in the nasal glands.

Mechanism of M-cell differentiation accelerated by proliferation of indigenous bacteria in rat Peyer's patches.

The mechanism by which indigenous bacteria on the follicle-associated epithelium (FAE) of lymphatic follicles (LFs) accelerate the differentiation of microvillous columnar epithelial cells (MV) into M-cells was immunohistochemically investigated in rat Peyer's patches. The results showed that the number of Toll-like receptor (TLR) -4 M-cells was greater in the FAE with expansion of bacterial colonies (LFs with bacterial colonies on the FAE: b-LF) than the FAE without expansion of bacterial colonies (nb-LF). TLR-4 was also expressed in the striated borders of MV upstream next to M-cells in the FAE of the b-LF.

Increased expression of prion protein gene is accompanied by demethylation of CpG sites in a mouse embryonal carcinoma cell line, P19C6.

Elucidation of the processes regulating the prion protein gene (Prnp) is an important key to understanding the development of prion disorders. In this study, we explored the involvement of DNA methylation in Prnp transcriptional regulation during neuronal differentiation of embryonic carcinoma P19C6 cells. When P19C6 cells were differentiated into neuronal cells, the expression of Prnp was markedly increased, while CpG methylation was significantly demethylated at the nucleotide region between -599 and -238 from the transcription start site.

CpG site DNA methylation patterns reveal a novel regulatory element in the mouse prion protein gene.

The cellular isoform of the prion protein (PrP) plays critical roles in the development of prion disorders. Although PrP mRNA is ubiquitously present in a tissue-specific manner, the DNA methylation of PrP gene (Prnp) is still unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that the CpG island (CGI, positioned at -218 to +152 bp from the transcriptional start site) including the Prnp core promoter region was completely unmethylated in all tested tissues.

Differential expression of Toll-like receptor-2, -4 and -9 in follicle-associated epithelium from epithelia of both follicle-associated intestinal villi and ordinary intestinal villi in rat Peyer's patches.

The expressions of Toll-like receptor (TLR) -2, -4 and -9 were immunohistochemically investigated in the follicle-associated epithelium (FAE), and epithelia of the follicle-associated intestinal villus (FAIV) and ordinary intestinal villus (IV) in rat Peyer's patch regions with no bacterial colonies on the mucous membranes. TLR-2 was expressed in the striated borders of microvillous columnar epithelial cells (MV) in both FAIV and IV except in the apices. However, TLR-2 expression in the striated borders was weaker in the epithelium of the follicular side of FAIV (f-FAIV) than in epithelia of IV and the anti-follicular side of FAIV.

Prognostic and predictive impacts of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes differ between Triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancers treated with standard systemic therapies.

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have potential value for stratifying the treatment of breast cancer (BC), though their precise use remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the utility of TILs using an alternative approach in different settings. We reviewed patients with triple-negative (TN) or human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive invasive ductal carcinomas from a single institutional cohort and classified archived hematoxylin-eosin-stained samples in terms of TIL score as low (<10 %), intermediate, and high (>50 %).

The effect of Mg(2+) incorporation on the structure of calcium carbonate clusters: investigation by the anharmonic downward distortion following method.

Mg(2+) is considered to play an important role in the formation of calcium carbonate polymorphs; however, how it affects polymorph selection during the early stages of CaCO3 formation is not yet well understood. In the present study, in order to clarify the effect of Mg(2+) on the nucleation of calcium carbonate polymorphs, the stable structures of anhydrous additive-free and Mg-containing calcium carbonate clusters are derived using the anharmonic downward distortion following method, based on quantum chemical calculations. Optimization is performed at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d) level and the solvent effect is induced by the self-consistent reaction field method using the conductor-like polarized continuum calculation model.

Class of cyclic ribosomal peptide synthetic genes in filamentous fungi.

Ustiloxins were found recently to be the first example of cyclic peptidyl secondary metabolites that are ribosomally synthesized in filamentous fungi. In this work, two function-unknown genes (ustYa/ustYb) in the gene cluster for ustiloxins from Aspergillus flavus were found experimentally to be involved in cyclization of the peptide. Their homologous genes are observed mainly in filamentous fungi and mushrooms.

Functional activity of neutrophilic polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the first five days postpartum.

Purpose: To assess the chemotactic activity and phagocytic response of neutrophilic polymorphonuclear leukocytes among women in the first five days postpartum.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional clinical-laboratory study was conducted. Data of 31 postpartum women during the first five days after vaginal delivery were compared with those of 24 healthy non-pregnant non-postpartum women matched for age.