Seroprevalence kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in pediatric patients visiting a hospital during COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Children infected with SARS-CoV-2 are often asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. The studies on the seroprevalence kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in children are limited. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of the positive rate of the SARS-CoV-2 IgG in pediatric patients without suspected COVID-19 infection between January 2007 and March 2022.

pH-Responsive Lipid Nanoparticles Achieve Efficient mRNA Transfection in Brain Capillary Endothelial Cells.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which is comprised of brain capillary endothelial cells, plays a pivotal role in the transport of drugs from the blood to the brain. Therefore, an analysis of proteins in the endothelial cells, such as transporters and tight junction proteins, which contribute to BBB function, is important for the development of therapeutics for the treatment of brain diseases. However, gene transfection into the vascular endothelial cells of the BBB is fraught with difficulties, even in vitro.

Regional Differences in the Absolute Abundance of Transporters, Receptors and Tight Junction Molecules at the Blood-Arachnoid Barrier and Blood-Spinal Cord Barrier among Cervical, Thoracic and Lumbar Spines in Dogs.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to quantitatively determine the expression of transporters, receptors and tight junction molecules at the blood-arachnoid barrier (BAB) and blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) in cervical, thoracic and lumbar spines from dogs.

Methods: The expression levels of 31 transporters, 3 receptors, 1 tight junction protein, and 3 marker proteins in leptomeninges and capillaries isolated from spines (3 male and 2 female dogs) were determined by quantitative Targeted Absolute Proteomics (qTAP). The units were converted from fmol/μg protein to pmol/cm (absolute abundance at the BAB and the BSCB in a 1 cm section of spine).

Activation of Annexin A2 signaling at the blood-brain barrier in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

Blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction is a fundamental cause of multiple sclerosis and identifying the molecules that are responsible is an urgent matter. Protein expression was comprehensively quantified at the BBB of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mice, a model of multiple sclerosis, using the SWATH method. Concerning tight junction molecules, the level of expression of Claudin-5, which, in a previous immunohistochemical analysis, was confirmed to be down-regulated by EAE, remained unchanged, but the expression of Claudin-11 and Occludin was decreased by 0.

Validation Study of Algorithms to Identify Malignant Tumors and Serious Infections in a Japanese Administrative Healthcare Database.

Background: This retrospective observational study validated case-finding algorithms for malignant tumors and serious infections in a Japanese administrative healthcare database.

Methods: Random samples of possible cases of each disease (January 2015-January 2018) from two hospitals participating in the Medical Data Vision Co., Ltd.

Risk of opportunistic infections in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, using a Japanese health insurance database.

Aim: Opportunistic infections (OIs) adversely affect outcomes in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV). This study aimed to identify the incidence proportion of risk factors for OIs in patients with AAV who were on remission-induction therapy, using a Japanese health insurance database.

Method: This retrospective longitudinal population-based study was conducted using claims data provided by Medical Data Vision Co.

Finite Element Analysis of Stress in Maxillary Dentition during En-masse Retraction with Implant Anchorage.

The goal of this study was to investigate how the height of the archwire hook and implant anchor affect tooth movement, stress in the teeth and alveolar bone, and the center of resistance during retraction of the entire maxillary dentition using a multibracket system. Computed tomography was used to scan a dried adult human skull with normal occlusion. Three-dimensional models of the maxillary bone, teeth, brackets, archwire, hook, and implant anchor were created and used for finite element analysis.

[A case of advanced breast cancer with multiple lung and liver metastases successfully treated with multi-disciplinary therapy].

We report a case of advanced breast cancer with multiple lung and liver metastases (T4bN1M1) achieving a significant improvement of QOL by multi-disciplinary therapy. The patient was a 63-year-old woman with slight jaundice who had ascites and an ulcerative breast lump with multiple lung and liver metastases. A core needle biopsy for breast tumor led to a diagnosis of an invasive ductal carcinoma positive for HER2/neu protein expression.

[Study of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in patients with breast cancer].

We evaluated the clinical significance of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in breast cancer. Operative specimens obtained from 30 patients with breast cancer were investigated by semiquantitative RT-PCR with specific primers against IDO. The correlations among IDO expression, clinicopathologic factors and prognosis were studied.