Publications by authors named "Nakamura W"

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers among men worldwide, and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is a widely used treatment for localized PCa. Achieving pentafecta outcomes, which include continence, potency, cancer control, free surgical margins, and no major complications, is a critical measure of surgical success and long-term prognosis. However, predicting these outcomes remains challenging.

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The ovarian steroid hormones, estrogen and progesterone, the levels of which fluctuate dynamically with the estrous cycle, alter circadian behavioral rhythms in mammals. However, it remains unclear whether the sleep-wake rhythm fluctuates with the menstrual cycle in humans. To ascertain the relationship between the menstrual cycle and sleep-wake rhythms, we evaluated the objective and long-term sleep-wake rhythms of ten healthy women using a recently developed wearable device.

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Background/objectives: Circadian clocks are endogenous systems that regulate numerous biological, physiological, and behavioral events in living organisms. Aging attenuates the precision and robustness of circadian clocks, leading to prolonged and dampened circadian gene oscillation rhythms and amplitudes. This study investigated the effects of food-derived polyphenols such as ellagic acid and its metabolites (urolithin A, B, and C) on the aging clock at the cellular level using senescent human fibroblast cells, TIG-3 cells.

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Objective: This study aimed to establish a robust predictive model for biochemical recurrence (BCR) in patients with prostate cancer who underwent robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy.

Material And Methods: A cohort of 1700 patients who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for prostate cancer between August 2009 and December 2022 was included. BCR was defined as two consecutive PSA levels exceeding 0.

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Background: Recently, various novel robotic systems have been put into clinical use. The aim of the present study was to assess the perioperative outcomes of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) using the Hugo™ RAS system, one of brand-new robot-assisted surgical platforms.

Methods: We performed RARP with the Hugo™ RAS system in 13 cases of localized prostate cancer (PCa) between August 2023 and February 2024 at our hospital.

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Background: Chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia is often a use-limiting adverse reaction to gemcitabine and cisplatin (GC) combination chemotherapy, reducing therapeutic intensity, and, in some cases, requiring platelet transfusion.

Objective: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients with urothelial cancer at the initiation of GC combination therapy and the objective was to develop a prediction model for the incidence of severe thrombocytopenia using machine learning.

Methods: We performed receiver operating characteristic analysis to determine the cut-off values of the associated factors.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Results showed that the ERAS protocol significantly shortened hospital stays, improved bowel recovery, and reduced POI in non-frail patients, but it did not have the same benefits for frail patients.
  • * The findings suggest that while ERAS is effective for non-frail patients, frail patients might require additional strategies, like prehabilitation, to better manage POI post-surgery.
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  • Innovations in sequencing technology have improved the detection of genetic mutations related to inherited diseases, yet many patients remain undiagnosed due to limitations in current methods.
  • The study introduces a new computational workflow for target adaptive sampling long-read sequencing (TAS-LRS) that enhances diagnostic accuracy by effectively identifying both single nucleotide variants and complex structural variations.
  • The TAS-LRS method not only discovered new mutations related to familial adenomatous polyposis and Lynch syndrome but also demonstrated the potential to analyze off-target reads for comprehensive genetic risk assessments.
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  • Open retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (O-RPLND) is the traditional gold standard treatment for testicular tumors needing surgical intervention.
  • Robot-assisted RPLND (R-RPLND) is emerging as a minimally invasive alternative, shown in a case study of a 32-year-old man with a left testicular teratoma.
  • R-RPLND in this case was successful with no significant complications; however, more research is needed to support its widespread use in clinical practice.
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Ocean-based carbon dioxide removal has gained immense attention as a countermeasure against climate change. The enhancement of ocean alkalinity and the creation of new blue carbon ecosystems are considered effective approaches for this. To evaluate the function of steelmaking slag from the viewpoints of CO reduction and creation of new blue carbon ecosystems, we conducted a comparative experiment using two mesocosms that replicated tidal-flats and shallow-water ecosystems.

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Pentafecta (continence, potency, cancer control, free surgical margins, and no complications) is an important outcome of prostatectomy. Our objective was to assess the pentafecta achievement between nerve-spring and non-nerve-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) in a large single-center cohort. The study included 1674 patients treated with RARP between August 2009 and November 2022 to assess the clinical outcomes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Genetic testing methods like sequencing analysis and MLPA are typically used to diagnose familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), but some genetic changes can be hard to detect.
  • A case study of a woman with FAP showed that complex genomic rearrangements could be identified through advanced techniques such as multigene panel testing, chromosomal analysis, and long-read sequencing.
  • The study highlights the importance of using comprehensive genomic analyses when standard testing fails to find genetic variants, especially in patients with a relevant medical or family history of hereditary cancer syndromes.
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  • Many female mammals, including rodents, have cyclical reproductive behaviors that are influenced by reproductive hormones and circadian rhythms.
  • Disruption in these circadian rhythms can negatively affect estrous cycles, leading to fewer pregnancies in mice.
  • Extending the length of daylight by just 2 hours can normalize estrous cycles in mice, suggesting that increasing light exposure may enhance reproductive success.
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Background: We recently reported the importance of deep learning (DL) of pelvic magnetic resonance imaging in predicting the degree of urinary incontinence (UI) following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). However, our results were limited because the prediction accuracy was approximately 70%.

Aim: To develop a more precise prediction model that can inform patients about UI recovery post-RARP surgery using a DL model based on intraoperative video images.

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Introduction: The trigeminal nerve conveys delicate sensations such as warmth, pain, and tactile pressure in the oral and facial regions, and most trigeminal afferent cell bodies are located in the trigeminal ganglion. Our previous study has shown that sensations in trigeminal nerve innervated areas, specifically in the maxillofacial region, exhibit diurnal variation and that sensitivity changes time-dependently. In this study, we aimed to clarify the rhythm of expression of clock gene in the trigeminal ganglion of mice to elucidate the mechanism of circadian regulation in the same area.

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Several studies have suggested a strong interaction between the circadian clock and lipid metabolism in mammals. The circadian clock is driven by endogenous cyclic gene expression patterns, commonly referred to as clock genes, and transcription-translation negative feedback loops. Clock genes regulate the transcription of some lipid metabolism-related genes; however, the relationship between the circadian clock and triglyceride (TG) accumulation at the cellular level remains unclear.

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Background/purpose: Tongue pressure plays an important role in swallowing function. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether decreased tongue pressure is associated with dysphagia and the development of pneumonia in the elderly requiring long-term care.

Materials And Methods: Tongue pressure measurement and swallowing videoendoscopic (VE) examination were performed in 60 hospitalized elderly people (33 males and 27 females, with an average age of 84.

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In the central nervous system (CNS), many neurons develop axonal arbors that are crucial for information processing. Previous studies have demonstrated that premature axons contain motile and stationary mitochondria, and their balance is important for axonal arborization. However, the mechanisms by which neurons determine the positions of stationary mitochondria as well as their turnover remain to be elucidated.

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In mammals, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a principal circadian pacemaker that optimizes the timing of behavioral rhythms and physiological events. Normally, circadian behavioral rhythms are entrained by the environmental light-dark (LD) cycle via the SCN. However, daily rhythms of other synchronizing signals, such as food availability, also emerge.

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The circadian rhythms of physiology and behavior are based on molecular systems at the cellular level, which are regulated by clock genes, including cryptochrome genes, Cry1 and Cry2. In mammals, the circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus maintains the circadian rhythms throughout the body. Cry1 and Cry2 play distinct roles in regulating the circadian rhythm.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers conducted in vitro drug sensitivity testing on blood samples from eight TAM patients to explore new treatment options, screening a total of 41 different drugs.
  • * The study found that TAM cells are particularly sensitive to glucocorticoids, the MAP2K inhibitor trametinib, and cytarabine, indicating these could be potential therapeutic approaches for TAM.
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User experience (UX) is a quality aspect that considers the emotions evoked by the system, extending the usability concept beyond effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. Practitioners and researchers are aware of the importance of evaluating UX. Thus, UX evaluation is a growing field with diverse approaches.

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Management of time and circadian disruption is an extremely important factor in basic research on pain and analgesia. Although pain is known to vary throughout the day, the mechanism underlying this circadian variation remains largely unknown. In this study, we hypothesized that the process of pain transmission to the central nervous system (after receiving nociceptive stimuli from outside the body) would show day-night differences.

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