Knockout of , a Putative Glycosyltransferase, Leads to Reduced Susceptibility to Vancomycin in Bacillus subtilis.

Vancomycin resistance of Gram-positive bacteria poses a serious health concern around the world. In this study, we searched for vancomycin-tolerant mutants from a gene deletion library of a model Gram-positive bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, to elucidate the mechanism of vancomycin resistance. We found that knockout of , a glycosyltransferase that is expected to utilize C55-P-glucose to glycosylate cell surface components, caused reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in B.

Content-based image retrieval for the diagnosis of myocardial perfusion imaging using a deep convolutional autoencoder.

Background: Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) plays a crucial role in the optimal treatment strategy for patients with coronary heart disease. We tested the feasibility of feature extraction from MPI using a deep convolutional autoencoder (CAE) model.

Methods: Eight hundred and forty-three pairs of stress and rest myocardial perfusion images were collected from consecutive patients who underwent cardiac scintigraphy in our hospital between December 2019 and February 2022.

Left Ventricular Pseudoaneurysm With a Bead-Like Appearance After Myocardial Infarction: The Utility of Cardiac Computed Tomography.

A left ventricular pseudoaneurysm is a rare but life-threatening complication after myocardial infarction. Because untreated pseudoaneurysms have a 30%-45% risk of rupture, surgery is the preferred therapeutic option. However, its diagnosis is sometimes challenging, as a pseudoaneurysm presents with non-specific symptoms that can mimic myocardial infarction or heart failure.

Upregulation of PODXL and ITGB1 in pancreatic cancer tissues preoperatively obtained by EUS-FNAB correlates with unfavorable prognosis of postoperative pancreatic cancer patients.

The upregulation of PODXL and ITGB1 in surgically resected pancreatic cancer tissues is correlated with an unfavorable postoperative prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PODXL and ITGB1 are useful preoperative markers for the prognosis of postoperative pancreatic cancer patients in comparison with the TNM staging system. Immunohistochemistry was performed using anti-PODXL and anti-ITGB1 antibodies on 24 pancreatic cancer tissue samples preoperatively obtained by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy.

Image similarity-based cardiac rhythm device identification from X-rays using feature point matching.

Aims: Identifying the manufacturer and the type of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) is important in emergent clinical settings. Recent studies have illustrated that artificial neural network models can successfully recognize CIEDs from chest X-ray images. However, all existing methods require a vast amount of medical data to train the classification model.

Forest understories controlled the soil organic carbon stock during the fallow period in African tropical forest: a C analysis.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics after slash-burn agriculture are poorly understood in African tropical forest, though recent studies have revealed C4 grass invasion as a forest understory influences SOC dynamics after deforestation. This study aimed to quantify the relative SOC contribution of C4 and C3 plants separately through the sequential fallow periods of forest (cropland, or 4-7, 20-30, or >50 years of fallow forest) in the tropical forest of eastern Cameroon. We evaluated the SOC stock and natural C abundance for each layer.

Asian dust increases radiocesium retention ability of serpentine soils in Japan.

Radiocesium (RCs) is selectively adsorbed on interlayer sites of weathered micaceous minerals, which can reduce the mobility of RCs in soil. Therefore, soils developed from mica-deficient materials (e.g.

Metabolome analysis of the serotonin syndrome rat model: Abnormal muscular contraction is related to metabolic alterations and hyper-thermogenesis.

Aims: Serotonin syndrome (SS) is an adverse outcome of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, though its mechanism is not understood and there is no specific clinical biomarker. In this article, metabolic profiles of the SS model rats and causes of metabolome disruption were investigated.

Main Methods: Gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS)-based metabolomics, clinical biomarker measurements and qRT-PCR analysis for UCP-3 in skeletal muscles were performed.

Beneficial effects of adaptive servo-ventilation therapy on readmission and medical costs in patients with chronic heart failure.

Adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) therapy is a novel modality of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation and is now widely utilized to treat patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, there has been no clinical study of the effect of ASV therapy on readmission and cost-effectiveness for the treatment of CHF. The present study was conducted to evaluate the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of home ASV therapy in 45 patients with a history of two or more admissions a year for worsening CHF.

Favorable effects of early tolvaptan administration in very elderly patients after repeat hospitalizations for acute decompensated heart failure.

Tolvaptan (TLV) is an oral selective vasopressin 2 receptor antagonist that acts on the distal nephrons, causing a loss of electrolyte-free water. To date, its early administration in very elderly patients after repeat hospitalizations for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) despite receiving optimal medical therapy has not been evaluated. Fifty-six ADHF patients who were >80 years old and had been repeatedly hospitalized were retrospectively enrolled in this study.

Reconstitution of biosynthetic machinery of fungal polyketides: unexpected oxidations of biosynthetic intermediates by expression host.

Reconstitution of whole biosynthetic genes in Aspergillus oryzae has successfully applied for total biosynthesis of various fungal natural products. Heterologous production of fungal metabolites sometimes suffers unexpected side reactions by host enzymes. In the studies on fungal polyketides solanapyrone and cytochalasin, unexpected oxidations of terminal olefin of biosynthetic intermediates were found to give one and four by-products by host enzymes of the transformants harboring biosynthetic genes.

[A case of serous cystic neoplasm of the pancreas with stenosis of the main pancreatic duct].

A 64-year-old woman was accidentally detected to have multiple cystic tumors measuring 30 mm in diameter in the pancreatic head in 2009. The probable diagnosis was a serous cystic neoplasm of the pancreas. However, the tumor had grown to 52 mm in diameter in 4 years, and endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERCP) showed stenosis of the main pancreatic duct.

S-1 vs. gemcitabine as an adjuvant therapy after surgical resection for ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

Background: Pancreatectomy with regional lymphadenectomy remains the only curative treatment option for pancreatic cancer. There is no clear consensus on what type of adjuvant therapy should be used for patients with pancreatic cancer.

Objective: Our objective was to retrospectively evaluate whether postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy using S-1 is clinically beneficial in managing resectable pancreatic cancer.

Effects of acivicin on growth, mycotoxin production and virulence of phytopathogenic fungi.

Acivicin is an inhibitor of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase and glutamine amidotransferase. When grown on a synthetic minimal agar medium, acivicin strongly inhibited the growth of Magnaporthe oryzae and Alternaria brassicicola, and to a lesser extent, Botrytis cinerea. However, only partial or marginal growth inhibition was observed with regard to Fusarium sporotrichioides and Fusarium graminearum.

Invasive carcinoma derived from branch duct-type IPMN may be a more aggressive neoplasm than that derived from main duct-type IPMN.

The present study aimed to evaluate the long-term follow-up results of patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) and to estimate the degree of IPMN malignancy based on pathological and molecular features of resected specimens. The detection rate of IPMN has increased over the last decade; however, the management of this neoplasm remains controversial. This is particularly so for branch duct-type IPMN, which carries a high potential for malignancy and risk of recurrence.

Clinicopathological features and medical management of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms.

Background: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN) are a clinicopathological entity that is being diagnosed with increasing frequency. However, the best approach to medical management of IPMN needs to be clarified. The aim of the present study was to identify preoperative features that may be predictors of malignant IPMN, and to define the medical management of IPMN of the pancreas.

Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction using pentafluorophenylboronic acid.

[reaction: see text] We have found new conditions for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction applicable to pentafluorophenylboronic acid (C(6)F(5)B(OH)(2)) (1), which is an inactive substrate under normal conditions. The reactions of 1 with phenyl iodide or bromide under Pd(PPh(3))(4)/CsF/Ag(2)O or Pd(2)(dba)(3)/P(t-Bu)(3)/CsF/Ag(2)O catalytic system conditions gave 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluoro-1,1'-biphenyl (3a) in more than 90% yields. Combination of CsF and Ag(2)O was essential for promoting these reactions.

[Gene testing of hereditary cancer on comprehensive gene medical examination support system].

It has been estimated that genetic factors or a combination of genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of 10-15% of all cancers. A genetic cause of hereditary cancer has been identified in more than 40 diseases till now. For preventing this cancer, gene testing is essential because it has no definite clinical marker as in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer: HNPCC.

Effect of soil characteristics on Cd uptake by the hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens.

The influence of soil characteristics on the phytoremediation potential of Thlaspi caerulescens is not well understood. We investigated the effect of soil pH and Cd concentration on plant Cd uptake on one soil type, and the variation in Cd uptake using a range of field contaminated soils. On soils with total Cd concentrations of 0.

Spatial variability of nitrous oxide emissions and their soil-related determining factors in an agricultural field.

To evaluate spatial variability of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and to elucidate their determining factors on a field-scale basis, N2O fluxes and various soil properties were evaluated in a 100- x 100-m onion (Allium cepa L.) field. Nitrous oxide fluxes were determined by a closed chamber method from the one-hundred 10- x 10-m plots.

The fine form of Helicobacter pylori on the metaplastic duodenal mucosa is associated with recurrent duodenal ulcers.

Background/aim: It is well known that Helicobacter pylori changes its shapes according to various environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to examine the morphological differences between H. pylori in the duodenum and that in the stomach.