Publications by authors named "Miura A"

The management of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) is still controversial, because of complicated patient status and poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the treatment results for induction chemoradiotherapy (iCRT) followed by surgery for LA-NSCLC. From 1999 to 2016, 157 patients were surgically treated after iCRT in our hospital, and their median follow-up was 43 months.

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Many natural products that inhibit melanogenesis, freckles, and hyperpigmentation have been selectively used in cosmetics because melanogenesis is linked to the multiple biogenesis cascades of melanin synthesis. However, some of these compounds have side effects that may result in their restriction in the future. We report here the isolation and structural elucidation of compounds extracted from Mansonia gagei and evaluate their activity on melanogenesis inhibition.

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CePr OBiS powders and CePrOBiS single crystals were synthesized and their structure and superconductive properties were examined by X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption, electronic resistivity, and magnetization. While PrOBiS was found to be in a monoclinic phase with one-dimensional Bi-S zigzag chains showing no superconductive transition above 0.1 K, CeOBiS was in a tetragonal phase with two-dimensional Bi-S planes showing zero resistivity below 1.

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A divergent strategy has been used for the concise and efficient enantioselective formal synthesis of Annonaceous acetogenin cis-solamin. Our synthetic strategy comprises concise preparation of the diepoxyester via an 11-membered silaketal constructed by ring-closing metathesis after the dimerization of chiral epoxides, and uses an acid-catalyzed tandem intramolecular SN2-like reaction to construct the threo-cis-threo configuration of the tetrahydrofuran-diol moiety.

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Neospora caninum is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that infects domestic and wild animals. Canids are considered to be definitive hosts since they may shed oocysts into the environment through their feces. The disease is recognized as one of the major causes of bovine abortion worldwide, leading to important economic losses in the dairy and beef cattle industries.

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Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite materials have recently been investigated in a variety of applications, including solar cells, light emitting devices (LEDs), and lasers because of their impressive semiconductor properties. Nevertheless, the perovskite structure has the ability to host extrinsic elements, making its application in the battery field possible. During the present study, we fabricated and investigated the electrochemical properties of three-dimensional (3D) methylammonium lead mixed-halide CHNHPbIBr and two-dimensional (2D) propylammonium-methlylammonium lead bromide (CHNH)(CH(CH)NH)PbBr hybrid perovskite thin films as electrode materials for Li-ion batteries.

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Silver bismuth diselenide (AgBiSe) has attracted much attention as an efficient thermoelectric material, owing to its intrinsically low lattice thermal conductivity. While samples synthesized using a solid-state reaction showed n-type conductivity and their dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) reached ∼1 by electron doping, theoretical calculations predicted that a remarkably high thermoelectric performance can be achieved in p-type AgBiSe. In this paper, we present the effect of Te substitution on the crystal structure and thermoelectric properties of AgBiSe, expecting p-type conductivity due to the shallowing of the energy potential of the valence band.

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Article Synopsis
  • Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that infects warm-blooded animals, including humans, and exhibits significant genetic diversity in South American strains.
  • Researchers assessed T. gondii prevalence in free-ranging chickens in northwest Parana, Brazil, using two serological tests, resulting in 30.8% of samples testing positive for the parasite.
  • The study successfully isolated 18 T. gondii strains and identified ten genotypes, including four new types, highlighting the need for further research on the potential zoonotic transmission of this parasite from chickens.
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Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formed from glyceraldehyde (Gcer) and glycolaldehyde (Gcol) are involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, via interactions with a receptor for AGEs (RAGE). In this study, we aimed to elucidate the RAGE-binding structure in Gcer and Gcol-derived AGEs and identify the minimal moiety recognized by RAGE. Among Gcer and Gcol-derived AGEs, GLAP (glyceraldehyde-derived pyridinium) and GA-pyridine elicited toxicity in PC12 neuronal cells.

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Objective: Atypical Odontalgia (AO) is a condition characterized by tooth pain with no apparent cause. Although psychiatric comorbidity seems to be very common, it has rarely been studied. To clarify the influence of psychiatric comorbidity on the clinical features in patients with AO, we retrospectively evaluated their examination records.

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In the production of useful microbial secondary metabolites, the breeding of strains is generally performed by random mutagenesis. However, because random mutagenesis introduces many mutations into genomic DNA, the causative mutations leading to increased productivity are mostly unknown. Therefore, although gene targeting is more efficient for breeding than random mutagenesis, it is difficult to apply.

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Context: Kisspeptin receptor (KISS1R) is expressed in hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons and responsible for pubertal onset and reproductive functions. mutations remain a rare cause of congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH).

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the genetic cause of CHH in a patient and to functionally characterize a mutation.

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Plastic crystals represent a unique compound class that is often encountered in molecules with globular structures. The highly symmetric cubic crystal structure of plastic crystals endows these materials with multiaxial ferroelectricity that allows a three-dimensional realignment of the polarization axes of the crystals, which cannot be achieved using conventional molecular ferroelectric crystals with low crystal symmetry. In this work, we focused our attention on malleability as another characteristic feature of plastic crystals.

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Article Synopsis
  • An intense and explosive reaction occurred quickly between Ba(OH), NbCl, and NaNH, creating barium niobium perovskite oxynitride.
  • The use of hexane during the mixing process minimized explosion risks, while heat treatment at 498 K helped control the exothermic reaction.
  • Similar methods successfully produced barium tantalum perovskite oxynitride, indicating the effectiveness of the process.
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The current study investigated whether visual coupling between two people producing dance-related movements (requiring whole-body auditory-motor coordination) results in interpersonal entrainment and modulates individual auditory-motor coordination dynamics. Paired participants performed two kinds of coordination tasks - either knee flexion or extension repeatedly with metronome beats (Flexion-on-the-beat and Extension-on-the-beat conditions) while standing face-to-face or back-to-back to manipulate visual interaction. The results indicated that the relative phases between paired participants' movements were closer to 0° and less variable when participants could see each other.

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Paclitaxel is an effective chemotherapeutic agent, but has some treatment-limiting adverse effects that markedly decrease patients' quality of life. Peripheral neuropathy is one of these, and no treatment for it has been established yet. Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, is secreted from the stomach and has widespread effects on multiple systems.

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AOAC Final Action Official MethodSM 2015.06 "Minerals and Trace Elements in Milk, Milk Products, Infant Formula and Adult/Pediatric Nutritional Formula, ICP-MS Method" was collaboratively studied. Note that "milk, milk products" has now been added to the title of the Final Action method because whole milk and several dairy ingredients were successfully incorporated into the collaborative study for the purpose of developing an International Organization for Standardization/International Dairy Federation standard (ISO/DIS 21424; in progress).

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence of N. caninum associated with abortions of dairy cattle from Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunohistochemistry (IHC), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Blood from dairy cows that aborted along with intrathoracic fluid and tissue samples (brain, heart, liver, and lung) from their fetuses were collected and used for serology; PCR, histopathological, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) evaluations were also conducted.

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Objective: This study aimed (1) to investigate the differences in clinical characteristics of patients between 2 groups, those who have atypical odontalgia (AO) only and those who have AO with burning mouth syndrome (BMS), and (2) to assess the influence of psychiatric comorbidity factors on patients' experiences.

Method: Medical records and psychiatric referral forms of patients visiting the Psychosomatic Dentistry Clinic of Tokyo Medical and Dental University between 2013 and 2016 were reviewed. The final sample included 2 groups of 355 patients: those who have AO only (n = 272) and those who have AO with BMS (AO-BMS; n = 83).

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Salmon cartilage proteoglycan fractions have recently gained favor as ingredients of functional food and cosmetics. An optimal hot water method to extract proteoglycan from salmon cartilage has recently been developed. The extracted cartilage includes hyaluronan and collagen in addition to proteoglycan as counterparts that interact with each other.

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The fibrinolysis system is thought to play an important role in liver regeneration. We previously found that plasminogen (Plg) is localized to the cell surface of regenerating liver tissue as well as proliferating hepatocytes in vitro. Here, we investigated the significance of Plg binding to the cell surface during liver regeneration.

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Neuromedin U (NMU), a highly conserved peptide in mammals, is implicated in energy homeostasis and glycemic control, and may also be involved in the regulation of adipoinsular axis function. However, the role of NMU in regulating insulin secretion has not been clearly established. In this study, we investigated the role of NMU in the regulation of insulin secretion both in vitro and in vivo.

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The relationship of liquidus temperatures among six binary and four ternary phases in a Ag-Al-Sn-Zn system was analyzed by means of statistical modeling. Four statistical models to predict changes in the liquidus temperatures in Ag-Al-Sn-Zn were proposed on the basis of different hypotheses derived from macroscopic and microscopic standpoints. The results of interpolation tests to evaluate the prediction accuracies of the ternary liquidus temperatures suggested that the multivariate regression model based on binary liquidus temperatures, interactive binary liquidus temperatures, and products of atomic ratios was found to be the most effective among the four models.

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