Implementation of Molecular Autopsy for Sudden Cardiac Death in Japan - Focus Group Study of Stakeholders.

Background: We assessed the awareness of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals of the challenges related to implementation of molecular autopsy (MA) for sudden cardiac death (SCD) among children and young adults.

Methods and results: We conducted 11 focus groups with 31 multidisciplinary healthcare professionals, and categorized them into 2 themes: values, and challenges of MA implementation. The participants recognized 2 different values of MA: discovering the unknown cause of SCD, and SCD prevention among family members of victims.

The Fragility of Statistically Significant Results in Randomized Clinical Trials for COVID-19.

Importance: Interpreting results from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for COVID-19, which have been published rapidly and in vast numbers, is challenging during a pandemic.

Objective: To evaluate the robustness of statistically significant findings from RCTs for COVID-19 using the fragility index.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study included COVID-19 trial articles that randomly assigned patients 1:1 into 2 parallel groups and reported at least 1 binary outcome as significant in the abstract.

Electron-rich linear triplatinum complexes stabilized by a spinning tetraphosphine, tris(diphenylphosphinomethyl)phosphine.

Linear triplatinum complexes with 48e(-), [Pt3(μ-tdpmp)2(RNC)2](PF6)2 (R = 2,6-xylyl (3), (t)Bu (4)), were synthesized by using a branched tetraphosphine, tris(diphenylphosphinomethyl)phosphine (tdpmp), and characterized by crystallographic and spectroscopic analyses to show their novel dynamic behaviour in the solution state, in which the linear Pt3 unit was stabilized by two spinning tetraphosphine ligands.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor induces prolactin expression in rat pituitary gland.

We investigated the role of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) in the pituitary gland to understand the effect of M-CSF on pituitary hormones and the relationship between the endocrine and immune systems. When we attempted to establish pituitary cell lines from a thyrotropic pituitary tumor (TtT), a macrophage cell line, TtT/M-87, was established. We evaluated M-CSF-like activity in conditioned media (CM) from seven pituitary cell lines using TtT/M-87 cells.

Detailed morphogenetic analysis of the embryonic chicken pars tuberalis as glycoprotein alpha subunit positive region.

The pars tuberalis (PT) is a part of the anterior pituitary gland that is located as a thin cell layer surrounding the median eminence. The characteristics of PT, including cell shape and cell composition, differ from those of the pars distalis (PD), suggesting that PT has unique physiological functions and different morphogenesis compared to PD. In this study, we used chicken embryos and showed for the first time that most hormone-producing cells in PT at embryonic day (E) 20.

Molecular identification of GHS-R and GPR38 in Suncus murinus.

We previously identified ghrelin and motilin genes in Suncus murinus (suncus), and also revealed that motilin induces phase III-like strong contractions in the suncus stomach in vivo, as observed in humans and dogs. Moreover, repeated migrating motor complexes were found in the gastrointestinal tract of suncus at regular 120-min intervals. We therefore proposed suncus as a small laboratory animal model for the study of gastrointestinal motility.

Physiological characteristics of gastric contractions and circadian gastric motility in the free-moving conscious house musk shrew (Suncus murinus).

Although many studies have demonstrated the physiological action of motilin on the migrating motor complex, the precise mechanisms remain obscure. To obtain new insights into the mechanisms, we focused on the house musk shrew (Suncus murinus, suncus used as a laboratory name) as a small model animal for in vivo motilin study, and we studied the physiological characteristics of suncus gastrointestinal motility. Strain gauge transducers were implanted on the serosa of the gastric body and duodenum, and we recorded gastrointestinal contractions in the free-moving conscious suncus and also examined the effects of intravenous infusion of various agents on gastrointestinal motility.

Gastric leptin, but not estrogen and somatostatin, contributes to the elevation of ghrelin mRNA expression level in fasted rats.

Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand for the GH secretagog receptor, is predominantly produced in the stomach. It has been reported that endogenous ghrelin levels are increased by fasting and decreased after refeeding. It has also been reported that estrogen upregulates ghrelin expression and production and that somatostatin inhibits ghrelin secretion, whereas leptin has a paradoxical effect.