Publications by authors named "Masataka Yoshida"

is an emerging pathogenic fungus that is highly resistant to existing antifungal drugs. Manogepix is a novel antifungal agent that exerts antifungal activity by inhibiting glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor biosynthesis. Although the mechanisms of resistance of species to manogepix have been reported previously, those of are yet to be studied.

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Exophiala dermatitidis is an emerging black fungus that causes pulmonary infections that may be underestimated by conventional culture methods. We encountered one case that initially appeared to be yeast and was misidentified as Rhodotorula spp. using a commercial identification kit.

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  • - The study investigates how periodontal pathogens cause severe inflammation by examining the role of neutrophils and the potential treatment effects of macrolides like clarithromycin on this inflammation.
  • - Researchers tested clarithromycin on human airway epithelial cells exposed to pathogen supernatants, finding it reduced the production of the inflammatory marker IL-8 by interfering with specific signaling pathways.
  • - Results suggest that the extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) are activated by pathogen exposure and that clarithromycin pretreatment can inhibit this activation, pointing to its therapeutic potential for managing inflammation caused by periodontal pathogens in lung tissues.
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  • - A middle-aged Japanese man with no known immunocompromised conditions developed a severe infection (fungemia) after undergoing surgery for ileal diverticulitis, caused by a newly recognized ascomycetous yeast pathogen.
  • - Initial treatment with micafungin was ineffective, prompting a switch to a combination of liposomal amphotericin B and caspofungin, which ultimately cleared the infection.
  • - Despite the presence of septic emboli in the lungs and spleen, the patient showed no signs of heart infection after extensive testing, and he remained symptom-free after receiving prolonged antifungal therapy.
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Background And Objective: The identification of factors associated with long-term prognosis after community-onset pneumonia in elderly patients should be considered when initiating advance care planning (ACP). We aimed to identify these factors and develop a prediction score model.

Methods: Patients aged 65 years and older, who were hospitalized for pneumonia at nine collaborating institutions, were included.

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  • * Out of 672 patients analyzed, only 9 (1.3%) developed complicated NTM infections, leading to a higher mortality rate in those patients compared to others.
  • * The findings suggest that while NTM complications are rare among those on biologics, they can be severe, especially in patients taking higher doses of corticosteroids, necessitating vigilant monitoring even in the absence of positive MAC antibody tests.
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Background: Nursing- and healthcare-associated pneumonia (NHCAP) constitutes most of the pneumonia in elderly patients including aspiration pneumonia in Japan. Lascufloxacin (LSFX) possesses broad antibacterial activity against respiratory pathogens, such as Streptococcus spp. And anaerobes inside the oral cavity.

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We present a partially-oxidised bimetallic Mo-Pt subnanoparticle (MoPtO) enabling thermally-driven CO hydrogenation to CO at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. A mechanistic study explained the full catalytic cycle of the reaction from CO activation to catalyst reactivation. DFT calculations revealed that alloying with Mo lowers the activation barrier by weakening the CO adsorption.

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Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) is a paraneoplastic syndrome, the exact pathogenesis of which remains to be elucidated. The case of a 69-year-old man who developed intractably painful HOA secondary to lung cancer is presented. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the chest showed an 80-mm solid nodule with a large low-density area.

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Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty following intraplaque wiring and the use of modified balloons is safe and effective in the percutaneous treatment of coronary chronic total occlusions (CTOs).

Background: DCB is an alternative therapeutic option without the limitations of permanent vascular implants. However, its efficacy in CTOs has yet to be confirmed.

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Binary alloy catalysts have the potential to exhibit higher activity than monometallic catalysts in nitrogen activation reactions. However, owing to the multiple possible combinations of metal elements constituting binary alloys, an exhaustive search for the optimal combination is difficult. In this study, we searched for the optimal binary alloy catalyst for nitrogen activation reactions using a combination of Bayesian optimization and density functional theory calculations.

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Oxidative addition of CH to the catalyst surface produces CH and H. If the CH species generated on the surface couple with each other, reductive elimination of CH may be achieved. Similarly, H's could couple to form H.

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A chiral structure is formed by the optical radiation force induced by a circularly polarized light that has spin angular momentum; chiral structures are expected to be used for light control devices and molecular chirality discrimination devices. In this paper, we clarify the relationship between the differences in the distributions of the optical radiation force and the possibility of formation of chiral structures. We first simulate the optical radiation force distribution in the case of a Gaussian beam that successfully forms a chiral structure.

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  • Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) and Japanese spotted fever (JSF) are tick-borne diseases posing rising public health challenges in Japan and East Asia.
  • A study analyzed data from 23 SFTS and 38 JSF patients to identify clinical characteristics useful for differentiating the two diseases, focusing on symptoms, exams, and lab findings.
  • Key indicators to differentiate SFTS from JSF included leukopenia (WBC < 4000/μL) and altered mental status, while absence of skin rash also supported the diagnosis in suspected cases.
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Bonding dissimilar elements to provide synergistic effects is an effective way to improve the performance of metal catalysts. However, as the properties become more dissimilar, achieving synergistic effects effectively becomes more difficult due to phase separation. Here we describe a comprehensive study on how subnanoscale alloying is always effective for inter-elemental synergy.

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Sea turtles have well developed lacrimal glands for their electrolyte homeostasis. In turtles, stapedial artery and palatine artery send branches to supply orbital region, but supply artery for lacrimal glands was not identified. Micro-CT scans showed dorsoventrally large lacrimal glands of sea turtle are supplied by both stapedial artery and palatine artery.

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Objectives: This study aimed to examine whether the combination of excimer laser coronary atherectomy (ELCA) and drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty can provide feasible clinical outcome in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with 8-month and 2-year scheduled follow-up angiography.

Background: Intracoronary thrombus elevates the risk of interventional treatment in patients with STEMI and hampers drug absorption into the vasculature released from DCB.

Methods: Sixty-two patients with STEMI within 24 h after the onset of symptoms were enrolled in this prospective, single-center, single-arm study.

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Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by the SFTS virus. It involves multiple organ systems, including the lungs. However, the significance of the lung involvement in SFTS remains unclear.

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Focus of attention is one of the most influential factors facilitating motor performance. Previous evidence supports that the external focus (EF) strategy, which directs attention to movement outcomes, is associated with better motor performance than the internal focus (IF) strategy, which directs attention to body movements. However, recent studies have reported that the EF strategy is not effective for some individuals.

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How Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) occasionally occurs following chronic inflammation remains to be elucidated. The case of a 57-year-old man who developed pulmonary EBV-positive DLBCL from underlying silicosis lesions is presented. Immunohistochemical examination of the resected silicosis lesions showed predominant helper T cells and M1/M2 macrophages, with a lack of B cells, regulatory T cells, and resident memory T cells.

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Objectives: We evaluated the thrombus-vaporizing effect of excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) by optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Background: Larger intracoronary thrombus elevates the risk of interventional treatment and mortality in patients with STEMI.

Methods: A total of 92 patients with STEMI who presented within 24 hours from the onset and underwent ELCA following manual aspiration thrombectomy (MT) were analyzed.

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Purpose: Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a major cause of evaporative dry eye. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of a mineral oil-containing ophthalmic solution (MO) in mitigating the evaporative dry eye phenotypes in a mouse model in which fatty acid elongase Elovl1 is disrupted.

Methods: Elovl1-deficient mice were assessed in terms of number of plugged meibomian gland orifices, tear film breakup time (BUT), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS) score, tear quantity, and histology.

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Background: The lack of precise information on the epidemiology of peripheral intravascular catheter (PIVC)-related phlebitis and complications in critically ill patients results in the absence of appropriate preventive measures. Therefore, we aimed to describe the epidemiology of the use of PIVCs and the incidence/occurrence of phlebitis and complications in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: This prospective multicenter cohort study was conducted in 23 ICUs in Japan.

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A 60-year-old Japanese woman presented with subacute progressive muscle pain and weakness in her proximal extremities. She was diagnosed with influenza A (H3N2) infection a week before the onset of muscle pain. At the time of admission, she exhibited weakness in the proximal muscles of the upper and lower limbs, elevated serum liver enzymes and creatinine kinase, and myoglobinuria.

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