Publications by authors named "Nagao H"

The Ru(IV,IV), Ru(III,IV), and Ru(III,III) complexes with the doubly oxido- and/or hydroxido-bridged diamond core {Ru(μ-O(H))}, bridged by an η:η:μ-type bidentate sulfato ligand, [{Ru(L)}(μ-O)(μ-OSO)] ( = 1: [III,IV]; = 2: [IV,IV]), [{Ru(L)}(μ-O)(μ-OH)(μ-OSO)] ([III,IV_1H]), and [{Ru(L)}(μ-OH)(μ-OSO)] ([III,III_2H]) (L = ethylbis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine), were synthesised as ClO-salts, and their crystal and electronic structures investigated. The corresponding hydrogencarbonato-bridged Ru(III,III) complex, [{Ru(L)}(μ-OH)(μ-OCOH)] ([III,III(HCO3)_2H]), was also prepared and its crystallographic and electronic structures compared to those of the sulfato-bridged system, [III,III_2H]. All the sulfato-bridged complexes isolated were confirmed in the Pourbaix diagram, wherein the redox potential was plotted as a function of pH.

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Background/objectives: Understanding food preferences is important for weight management. However, methods for assessing food preferences are not well established, especially in Japan. This study aimed to examine detailed food preferences and their associations with actual food intake in non-obese and abdominal-obese subjects using a newly developed questionnaire tailored for the Japanese population.

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Blood levels of hypoxanthine (HX) have been suggested as potential biomarkers associated with intramuscular metabolic dynamics in response to exercise. This pilot randomized crossover trial (UMIN000036520) aimed to investigate the changes in plasma HX after whole-body vibration exercise (WBVE) and their relationships with body composition and muscle-related parameters, enrolling eighteen healthy male volunteers. In the WBVE-alone intervention, the study subjects performed 20-min of WBVE.

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Introduction And Aims: This study systematically reviews and conducts a meta-analysis to evaluate the performance of various large language models (LLMs) in dental licensing examinations worldwide. The aim is to assess the accuracy of these models in different linguistic and geographical contexts. This will inform their potential application in dental education and diagnostics.

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Article Synopsis
  • Intratumoral immune profiles play a crucial role in determining prognosis and treatment effectiveness, potentially leading to personalized treatments using specific biomarkers.
  • A new 6-marker rapid multiplex immunohistochemistry (IHC) method was created, streamlining the process originally based on a 14-marker system, making it faster and less complex.
  • Validation studies demonstrated that this new method reliably assessed immune features and densities in cancer tissues, which could improve the way we understand and treat tumors clinically.
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Aim And Objective: Our recent report showed that soluble T-cadherin promotes pancreatic beta-cell proliferation. However, how and where the secretion of soluble T-cadherin is regulated remain unclear.

Methods And Results: Soluble T-cadherin levels significantly increased in leptin receptor-deficient db/db mice with hypoinsulinaemia or in wild-type mice treated with insulin receptor blockade by S961.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study assessed the repeatability of T1 and T2* relaxation times and quantitative susceptibility (χ) values using quantitative parameter mapping (QPM) across three different 3T MRI scanners at three sites.
  • Twelve healthy volunteers underwent three separate scans at each site, and various statistical analyses were used to measure consistency and variation.
  • Results showed high intra-site repeatability for all measured values (T1, T2*, and χ) and acceptable cross-site reproducibility, suggesting QPM can reliably support multisite studies in MRI research.
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The pyrazine-coordinated dinuclear and mononuclear ruthenium complexes were synthesized through the framework conversion reactions of the triply chlorido-bridged diruthenium(II) complex [{Ru(bbpma)}(μ-Cl)] (bbpma; benzylbis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine, []) in the presence of pyrazine, which could function as the simple molecular multinucleation ligand of metal compounds. A reduction reaction of -[RuCl(bbpma)] with zinc in the presence of hydrochloric acid afforded [] in solution, and the following addition of pyrazine (1 equiv) in the solution led to the formation of a singly pyrazine (pz)-bridged diruthenium complex, [{Ru(μ-ClZnCl)(bbpma)}(μ-pz)] ([]). The stoichiometric two-electron oxidation of [] was successfully proceeded, and a Ru(III)-Ru(III) species, [{RuCl(bbpma)}(μ-pz)](PF) ([,](PF)), was isolated.

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Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) and p38α MAP kinase (p38α MAPK), regulate various cellular responses. ERK2 is a drug target for treating many diseases, such as cancer, whereas p38α has attracted much attention as a promising drug target for treating inflammatory disorders. ERK2 is a critical off-target for p38α MAPK and vice versa.

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Pharmacological activation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), a hypoxia-responsive transcription factor, has attracted increasing attention due to its efficacy not only in renal anemia but also in various disease models. Our study demonstrated that a HIF-1 activator enhanced extracellular vesicle (EV) production from cultured endothelial cells synergistically with adiponectin, an adipocyte-derived factor, through both transcriptional induction and posttranscriptional stabilization of an adiponectin binding partner, T-cadherin. Increased EV levels were observed in wild-type mice but not in T-cadherin null mice after consecutive administration of roxadustat.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the connection between systemic inflammatory markers, specifically the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and the tumor-immune microenvironment in patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
  • Findings show that a high NLR (≥4.5) before treatment is linked to poorer survival rates and malnutrition, indicating its potential as a prognostic marker.
  • The research suggests that the NLR in blood reflects the immune makeup of the tumor environment, highlighting a relationship between systemic inflammation, nutritional status, and tumor immunity.
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Visceral fat accumulation is a major determinant of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies have reported that glutamate is the most elevated amino acid in the plasma amino acid profile in patients with obesity and/or visceral fat accumulation. Here, we show the relationship between plasma glutamate and the clinical features of patients with type 2 diabetes.

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Adiposity varies among individuals with the influence of diverse physiological, pathological, environmental, hormonal, and genetic factors, but a unified molecular basis remains elusive. Here, we identify HSP47, a collagen-specific chaperone, as a key determinant of body adiposity. HSP47 expression is abundant in adipose tissue; increased with feeding, overeating, and obesity; decreased with fasting, exercise, calorie restriction, bariatric surgery, and cachexia; and correlated with fat mass, BMI, waist, and hip circumferences.

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Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2), a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), plays an essential role in physiological cellular processes and is a drug target for treating cancers and type 2 diabetes. A previous in silico screening study focusing on an allosteric site that plays a crucial role in substrate anchoring conferred an ERK2 inhibitor (compound 1). In this report, compound 1 was found to show high selectivity toward ERK2 compared with the nearest off-target p38α MAPK, and the crystal structure revealed that compound 1 binds to the allosteric site of ERK2.

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Background: Abnormal cardiotocogram (CTG) tracing may appear after induction of neuraxial labor analgesia. Non-reassuring fetal status (NRFS) indicated by severely abnormal tracings, such as prolonged deceleration (PD) or bradycardia, can necessitate immediate operative delivery. Combined spinal epidural analgesia (CSEA) is known to result in more frequent abnormal tracings than epidural analgesia (EA); however, the corresponding data related to dural puncture epidural (DPE) are unclear.

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Ru(IV)-Ru(IV) complexes having the doubly oxido-bridged diamond core with a bridging carbonato or hydrogencarbonato ligand, [{Ru(ebpma)}(μ-O)(μ-OCO(H))]X (ebpma; ethylbis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine, = 0; [IV,IV]X (X = PF, ClO), = 1; [IV,IV_1H](ClO)), were isolated the oxidation of the corresponding carbonato-bridged Ru(III)-Ru(IV) complex ([III,IV]), and "[IV,IV](ClO) and [IV,IV_1H](ClO)" were structurally characterized. The electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of [IV,IV] and [IV,IV_1H] were investigated both in organic solvents and aqueous solutions. The reactivity toward organic solvents having (a) methyl group(s) and reactions with organic substrates were studied as well.

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Insulin acts through the insulin receptor (IR) tyrosine kinase to exert its classical metabolic and mitogenic actions. Here, using receptors with either short or long deletion of the β-subunit or mutation of the kinase active site (K1030R), we have uncovered a second, previously unrecognized IR signaling pathway that is intracellular domain-dependent, but ligand and tyrosine kinase-independent (LYK-I). These LYK-I actions of the IR are linked to changes in phosphorylation of a network of proteins involved in the regulation of extracellular matrix organization, cell cycle, ATM signaling and cellular senescence; and result in upregulation of expression of multiple extracellular matrix-related genes and proteins, down-regulation of immune/interferon-related genes and proteins, and increased sensitivity to apoptosis.

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Insulin and IGF-1 receptors (IR and IGF1R) are highly homologous and share similar signaling systems, but each has a unique physiological role, with IR primarily regulating metabolic homeostasis and IGF1R regulating mitogenic control and growth. Here, we show that replacement of a single amino acid at position 973, just distal to the NPEY motif in the intracellular juxtamembrane region, from leucine, which is highly conserved in IRs, to phenylalanine, the highly conserved homologous residue in IGF1Rs, resulted in decreased IRS-1/PI3K/Akt/mTORC1 signaling and increased Shc/Gab1/MAPK cell cycle signaling. As a result, cells expressing L973F-IR exhibited decreased insulin-induced glucose uptake, increased cell growth, and impaired receptor internalization.

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Ultra-long-chain fatty acids (ULCFAs) are biosynthesized in certain types of tissues, but their biological roles remain unknown. Here, we report how the conformation of ULCFAs depends on the length and unsaturated-bond ratio of the ultra-long chains and the composition of the host bilayer membrane using molecular dynamics simulations. The ultra-long chain of ULCFAs flips between the two leaflets and fluctuates among three conformations: elongated, L-shaped, and turned.

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Quinones are widespread in plants, animals, insects, and microorganisms. Several anticancer agents contain quinone structures as critical parts to show remarkable potential and distinctive modes of actions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the structure-activity relationships of microbial quinones and their derivatives as anticancer agents.

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The global phase 3 IMpower010 study evaluated adjuvant atezolizumab versus best supportive care (BSC) following platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with resected stage IB-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we report a subgroup analysis in patients enrolled in Japan. Eligible patients had complete resection of histologically or cytologically confirmed stage IB (tumors ≥4 cm)-IIIA NSCLC.

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Ruthenium complexes containing two anilines or its derivatives, -[Ru(NHCH)(bpy)] ([1]) and -[Ru(NHCH(4-CH))(bpy)] ([2]), were oxidized by four molar equivalents of (NH)[Ce(SO)]·2HO to give -phenylcyclohexa-3,5-diene-1,2-diimineruthenium(ii) complexes, -[Ru(HCH CH)(bpy)] ([4]) and -[Ru(HCH(4-CH)CH(4-CH))(bpy)] ([5]), respectively, through an N-C bond formation between two aniline ligands -coordinated to the ruthenium center.

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We determined the marker-less barbell auto-tracking accuracy using the Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) algorithm in a digital video for two-dimensional analysis (2D-AT). The position coordinates of the barbell's right end during multiple loads (60%-90% of one-repetition maximum) of snatch motion in eight participants were recorded using a three-dimensional motion capture system. Simultaneously, the snatch motion was recorded by a digital camera from the right side.

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Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) controls vital physiological processes involving proliferation and differentiation and is a drug target molecule for many diseases such as cancers. In silico screening focusing on an allosteric site that plays a crucial role in substrate anchoring conferred an ERK2 inhibitor (compound 1). However, a competitive binding assay indicated that compound 1 did not bind to the allosteric site.

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