Structure and function of a β-1,2-galactosidase from Bacteroides xylanisolvens, an intestinal bacterium.

Galactosides are major carbohydrates that are found in plant cell walls and various prebiotic oligosaccharides. Studying the detailed biochemical functions of β-galactosidases in degrading these carbohydrates is important. In particular, identifying β-galactosidases with new substrate specificities could help in the production of potentially beneficial oligosaccharides.

Legionnaires' Disease Presenting With Acute Kidney Injury: Successful Treatment With Antibiotics.

Legionnaires' disease is a bacterial infection caused by , such as . It mainly causes severe pneumonia, with symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath. In rare cases, it can cause acute kidney disease and also occasionally become severe enough to require replacement therapy.

Predictive utility of nomogram based on serum glucose-regulated protein 78 and kidney function for long-term kidney graft survival.

The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 1 year post-transplantation is a well-established predictor of long-term graft survival; however, its predictive accuracy needs improvement. We retrospectively analyzed data from 51 kidney transplant recipients at Kanazawa Medical University Hospital (January 2001-February 2015). Cox regression was used to identify risk factors for death-censored graft loss and create a nomogram to predict graft survival at 15 years post-transplantation.

Using peptide barcodes for simultaneous profiling of protein expression from mRNA.

Rationale: mRNA technology has begun to play a significant role in the areas of therapeutic intervention and vaccine development. However, optimizing the mRNA sequence that influences protein expression levels is a resource-intensive and time-consuming process. This study introduces a new method to accelerate the selection of sequences of mRNA for optimal protein expression.

State-Aware Deep Item Response Theory using student facial features.

This paper introduces a novel approach to Item Response Theory (IRT) by incorporating deep learning to analyze student facial expressions to enhance the prediction and understanding of student responses to test items. This research is based on the assertion that students' facial expressions offer crucial insights into their cognitive and affective states during testing, subsequently influencing their item responses. The proposed State-Aware Deep Item Response Theory (SAD-IRT) model introduces a new parameter, the student state parameter, which can be viewed as a relative subjective difficulty parameter.

Case report of systemic sclerosis: Uncommon manifestation of nephrotic syndrome post-renal crisis.

Kidney involvement in systemic sclerosis occurs in about 20% of cases, with scleroderma renal crisis as a significant complication. However, cases of glomerular disease with massive proteinuria are rare. We present a unique case of systemic sclerosis with the development of nephrotic syndrome.

Spatiotemporal Control of Ice Crystallization in Supercooled Water via an Ultrashort Laser Impulse.

Focused irradiation with ultrashort laser pulses realized the fine spatiotemporal control of ice crystallization in supercooled water. An effective multiphoton excitation at the laser focus generated shockwaves and bubbles, which acted as an impulse for inducing ice crystal nucleation. The impulse that was localized close to the laser focus and accompanied by a small temperature elevation allowed the precise position control of ice crystallization and its observation with spatiotemporal resolution of micrometers and microseconds using a microscope.

Epoxidized graphene grid for highly efficient high-resolution cryoEM structural analysis.

Functionalization of graphene is one of the most important fundamental technologies in a wide variety of fields including industry and biochemistry. We have successfully achieved a novel oxidative modification of graphene using photoactivated ClO as a mild oxidant and confirmed the oxidized graphene grid is storable with its functionality for at least three months under N atmosphere. Subsequent chemical functionalization enabled us to develop an epoxidized graphene grid (EG-grid™), which effectively adsorbs protein particles for electron cryomicroscopy (cryoEM) image analysis.

Early, Noninvasive Clinical Indicators of Kidney Prognosis in Primary Nephrotic Syndrome: A Retrospective Exploratory Study.

This retrospective exploratory study aimed to identify early clinical indicators of kidney prognosis in primary nephrotic syndrome (NS). Univariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis identified clinical parameters in the 2-month period after initiating immunosuppressive therapy (IST); it predicted 40% reduction in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in 36 patients with primary NS. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the predictors for the cumulative incidence of 40% reduction in the eGFR up to 8 years after initiating IST.

Comparison of the Representational Power of Random Forests, Binary Decision Diagrams, and Neural Networks.

In this letter, we compare the representational power of random forests, binary decision diagrams (BDDs), and neural networks in terms of the number of nodes. We assume that an axis-aligned function on a single variable is assigned to each edge in random forests and BDDs, and the activation functions of neural networks are sigmoid, rectified linear unit, or similar functions. Based on existing studies, we show that for any random forest, there exists an equivalent depth-3 neural network with a linear number of nodes.

Effect of sutureless securement on hemodialysis catheter-related bloodstream infection.

The use of sutureless securement devices during catheterization might reduce the risk of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) by suppressing catheter-exit infection and catheter dislodgement. However, the effectiveness of these devices in reducing CRBSI risk when securing hemodialysis catheters has not been explored. This single-center retrospective observational study examined 211 non-tunneled hemodialysis catheters (NTHCs) from 110 hemodialysis inpatients, of which 121 were secured using conventional skin sutures (Suture group) and 90 with GRIP-LOK (GRIP-LOK group).

The role of anticipated regret in choosing for others.

In everyday life, people sometimes find themselves making decisions on behalf of others, taking risks on another's behalf, accepting the responsibility for these choices and possibly suffering regret for what they could have done differently. Previous research has extensively studied how people deal with risk when making decisions for others or when being observed by others. Here, we asked whether making decisions for present others is affected by regret avoidance.

Interpersonal physiological synchrony is associated with first person and third person subjective assessments of excitement during cooperative joint tasks.

Interpersonal physiological synchrony has been shown to play important roles in social activities. While most studies have shed light on the effects of physiological synchrony on recognition of the group state, such as cohesion or togetherness, the effect of physiological synchrony on the recognition of emotional experience has not been adequately researched. In this study, we examined how physiological synchrony is associated with first- and third-person emotion recognition during a joint task.

Role and expression of non-classical human leukocyte antigen-G in renal transplanted allografts.

Background: The non-classical class I molecule human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) has great potential to modulate the immune response. However, the mechanism underlying HLA-G induction remains unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the factors that induce HLA-G expression on proximal tubular epithelial cells (pTECs) in renal transplanted allografts in vivo and in vitro.

Regulation of vanillate and syringate catabolism by a MarR-type transcriptional regulator DesR in Sphingobium sp. SYK-6.

Vanillate and syringate are major intermediate metabolites generated during the microbial degradation of lignin. In Sphingobium sp. SYK-6, vanillate is O demethylated to protocatechuate by LigM; protocatechuate is then catabolized via the protocatechuate 4,5-cleavage pathway.

Parsing cultural impacts on regret and risk in Iran, China and the United Kingdom.

Value-based choices are influenced both by powerful counterfactuals, such as regret, and also by risk in potential outcomes. Culture can profoundly affect how humans perceive and act in the world, but it remains unknown how regret in value-based choice and key aspects of risk-taking may differ between cultures. Here our computational approach provides precise and independent metrics, grounded in extensive neurobiological evidence, for the influences of risk and regret on choice.

Highly potent antiobesity effect of a short-length peptide YY analog in mice.

Continuous administration of a 14-amino acid peptide YY (PYY) analog, Ac-[d-Pro,Pya(4),Cha,Aib,Lys]PYY(23-36) (4), which has a high binding affinity and agonist activity for the neuropeptide Y2 receptor (Y2R), has previously shown an antiobesity effect in a 2-week diet-induced obesity (DIO) study in mice. However, there remained a possibility to obtain more potent analogs by further improving its pharmacokinetic profile. A combination of the N-terminal 4-imidazolecarbonyl moiety and three amino acid substitutions, trans-4-hydroxy-d-proline (d-Hyp), isovaline (Iva), and γ-methylleucine (γMeLeu), not only improved the binding affinity of the peptide for Y2R but also increased its anorectic activity in lean mice.

Potent antiobesity effect of a short-length peptide YY-analogue continuously administered in mice.

The gastrointestinal peptide, peptide YY (PYY) and its shorter peptide analogues have been reported to reduce appetite by activating the neuropeptide Y2 receptor (Y2R), which is associated with obesity and other metabolic diseases. A 14-amino acid PYY analogue, Ac-[d-Pro,Cha,Aib]PYY(23-36) (3), showed high binding affinity and agonist activity for the Y2R, similar to that of PYY, but had weak anorectic activity upon continuous administration in lean mice. Three amino acid substitutions [Pya(4), Aib, Lys], which contributed to the decreased hydrophobicity of 3, efficiently increased its anorectic activity.

Antiobesity Effect of a Short-Length Peptide YY Analogue after Continuous Administration in Mice.

Gastrointestinal peptides such as peptide YY (PYY) can regulate appetite, which is relevant to the study of obesity. The intraperitoneal bolus administration of PYY and a 12-amino acid PYY analogue, benzoyl-[Cha,Aib]PYY (), showed similar anorectic activity by activating the Y2 receptor (Y2R). However, food intake inhibition and body weight loss were not observed upon continuous subcutaneous administration of with osmotic pumps in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice.

A Short-Length Peptide YY Analogue with Anorectic Effect in Mice.

Peripheral administration of PYY, a fragment of peptide YY (PYY), has been reported to reduce food intake by activating the neuropeptide Y2 receptor (Y2R). An N-terminally truncated PYY analogue, benzoyl-[Ala,Ile]PYY(25-36) (), showed a relatively potent agonist activity for Y2R but a weak anorectic activity by intraperitoneal administration (2000 nmol/kg) in lean mice because of its markedly poor biological stability in the mouse serum. Notably, two cyclohexylalanine (Cha) substitutions for Tyr residues at positions 27 and 36 () improved the stability in the mouse serum concomitant with enhanced anorectic activity.

PEGylated neuromedin U-8 shows long-lasting anorectic activity and anti-obesity effect in mice by peripheral administration.

Neuromedin U (NMU) is a neuropeptide found in the brain and gastrointestinal tract. The NMU system has been shown to regulate energy homeostasis by both a central and a peripheral mechanism. Peripheral administration of human NMU-25 was recently shown to inhibit food intake in mice.

A PEGylated analog of short-length Neuromedin U with potent anorectic and anti-obesity effects.

Neuromedin U (NMU) is a neuropeptide known to regulate food intake and energy homeostasis that is widely distributed in the gastrointestinal tract, hypothalamus, and pituitary. A short form of NMU, porcine NMU-8 has potent agonist activity for the receptors NMUR1 and NMUR2; however, its short half-life precludes its effective use in vivo. To address this limitation, we designed and synthesized NMU-8 analogs modified by polyethylene glycol (PEG) with a molecular weight of 30kDa (PEG30k) via a variety of linkers (i.

Towards a unified model of neutrino-nucleus reactions for neutrino oscillation experiments.

A precise description of neutrino-nucleus reactions will play a key role in addressing fundamental questions such as the leptonic CP violation and the neutrino mass hierarchy through analyzing data from next-generation neutrino oscillation experiments. The neutrino energy relevant to the neutrino-nucleus reactions spans a broad range and, accordingly, the dominant reaction mechanism varies across the energy region from quasi-elastic scattering through nucleon resonance excitations to deep inelastic scattering. This corresponds to transitions of the effective degree of freedom for theoretical description from nucleons through meson-baryon to quarks.