Publications by authors named "Okazaki A"

During the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident on March 11, 2011, radionuclides such as tritium were released into the environment across Japan, obscuring the natural background signal of tritium in precipitation. This anthropogenic component was rapidly washed out by precipitation according to measurements in Japan. However, the impact of the accident on the natural tritium-based estimation of water system transit times in Fukushima and other prefectures in Japan remains uncertain.

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Background: This study investigated poor prognostic factors for the relapse of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) after remission induction therapy.

Methods: We enrolled patients diagnosed with MPA complicated by ILD according to the Chapel Hill Consensus definition from 2001 to 2023 in multiple institutions in the REVEAL cohort. All patients who were treated with immunosuppressive therapy were followed up, and those who relapsed with ILD were extracted in this study.

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Objectives: Clostridium species are ubiquitous in nature and commonly cause infections, including bacteremia. C. perfringens is often the causative species, while the epidemiology of other clostridial species remains unclear.

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  • Efficiently addressing combinatorial optimization problems like Max-Cut is tough due to exponential growth in resource demands with larger problem sizes.
  • This study introduces a method using a spiking neural network (SNN)-based Boltzmann machine (BM) on neuromorphic hardware, featuring innovative algorithms and simulations that show high accuracy for large-scale Max-Cut problems.
  • The method has been validated on a neuromorphic chip with phase change memory, marking a significant step as the first known implementation of using SNNs to tackle the Max-Cut problem effectively.
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Background: Mepolizumab (MPZ) has demonstrated efficacy in clinical trials for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA); however, few studies compare the disease course between patients treated with MPZ (MPZ group) and those who were not treated with MPZ (non-MPZ group) in real-world settings.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the disease course and outcomes between the two groups and assess the long-term efficacy of MPZ in a multicenter cohort in Japan. Methods: We enrolled 113 EGPA patients registered in the cohort until June 2023.

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  • Delivery of mRNA to organs beyond the liver is important for new therapies, and functionalized lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) can help, but they come with complexity and higher costs.
  • This study shows that the expression of mRNA can shift from the liver to the spleen depending on the length of the lipid tail, even when using different lipid head structures.
  • The researchers found that LNPs with short lipid tails have a unique property that reduces their clearance from the liver, allowing for better targeting of the spleen and effective immune responses when delivering SARS-CoV-2 mRNA.
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  • This study investigated clinical indicators that can help predict relapses in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) who have anti-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (ARS) antibodies, treated with prednisolone and calcineurin inhibitors.
  • Fifty patients were monitored over a span of up to 4.8 years, where 38% experienced relapses, and researchers analyzed various factors to determine what might signal a relapse.
  • Key findings showed that acute/subacute ILD, high serum levels of aldolase and surfactant protein-D, and low forced vital capacity percentages are significant risk factors, enabling earlier predictions and potentially better management of the condition.
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Of the primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphomas, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the CNS (CNS-DLBCL) is an aggressive extranodal lymphoma that originates in the CNS. Lymphomatosis cerebri (LC) is an exceptionally rare subtype, posing diagnostic challenges due to the absence of abnormal enhancement and making the identification of suitable biopsy sites difficult. Arterial spin-labeling magnetic resonance imaging (ASL-MRI) is a non-invasive MRI technique that quantifies tumor blood flow.

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  • MITF (Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor) is crucial for melanocyte function and is linked to melanoma development, helping cancer cells survive therapy by regulating antioxidant responses.
  • It promotes antioxidant programs that protect melanoma cells from damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS), with a clear association between MITF levels and antioxidant defenses in cell lines and patient samples.
  • Experimental studies, including a zebrafish melanoma model, confirm that MITF reduces ROS-related DNA damage through direct regulation of specific target genes, establishing its role in enhancing cellular antioxidant capacity.
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Background & Aims: The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria has been recognised as major diagnostic criteria for malnutrition in adults worldwide; however, its validity in rehabilitation settings remains unclear. This study investigated the concurrent and predictive validity of the GLIM criteria for adult patients in convalescent rehabilitation wards.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using pre-established datasets from convalescent rehabilitation wards in a hospital.

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A 66-year-old woman with liver cirrhosis and hemodialysis was referred with a 1-week history of pain and rash on the left lower leg. On an examination, the patient was in shock. She was administered catecholamine support for septic shock and ampicillin/sulbactam for severe cellulitis.

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  • The study explores the importance of cell alignment in human heart muscle for effective tissue movement, focusing on hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) grown on microstripe-patterned plates.
  • Aligned cardiomyocytes (ACMs) showcased adult-like characteristics in terms of pathology, gene expression, and drug response compared to unaligned CMs.
  • The research suggests that ACMs could serve as a better model for drug testing and offer potential for regenerative therapies in heart failure, particularly using cells from patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
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Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have emerged as promising platforms for efficient in vivo mRNA delivery owing to advancements in ionizable lipids. However, maintaining the thermostability of mRNA/LNP systems remains challenging. While the importance of only a small amount of lipid impurities on mRNA inactivation is clear, a fundamental solution has not yet been proposed.

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Objectives: To determine the current retention rate of mepolizumab (MPZ) and identify factors associated with drug retention in patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) in the Kansai multicentre cohort (REVEAL cohort).

Methods: Sixty patients diagnosed with EGPA and treated with MPZ between December 2016 and June 2023 were enrolled. The clinical characteristics, including laboratory data, treatments administered, and disease course outcomes, were collected retrospectively.

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Electrochemical paper-based analytical devices represent an important platform for portable, low-cost, affordable, and decentralized diagnostics. For this kind of application, chemical functionalization plays a pivotal role to ensure high clinical performance by tuning surface properties and the area of electrodes. However, controlling different surface properties of electrodes by using a single functionalization route is still challenging.

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Objective: Infections are a critical concern for patients with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with serious infections (SIs) and infection-related mortality in patients with MPA, as well as the effect of glucocorticoid (GC) dose tapering on these outcomes.

Methods: This multicentre, retrospective, and observational study utilised data from a cohort of patients with MPA in Japan [Registry of Vasculitis Patients to Establish REAL World Evidence (REVEAL) cohort].

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Objective: The prognostic value of electroneurography (ENoG) for predicting the incidence of synkinesis is reportedly about 40 % using the formal standard method (ENoG-SM). However, the prognostic value of ENoG using the newly developed midline method (ENoG-MM) has not been determined. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the optimal prognostic value and advantages of ENoG-MM for predicting the incidence of synkinesis.

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Key Clinical Message: Ultrasound-assisted small catheter placement may be considered in cases where computed tomography guidance is unavailable, and ultrasound can identify pleural effusions clearly, even in cases where empyema is localized solely on the dorsal side.

Abstract: Thoracic catheter insertion for empyema can be challenging when the pleural effusion is localized dorsally and computed tomography guidance is unavailable. We report the case of a 40-year-old man with acute dorsal bacterial empyema who underwent successful ultrasound-assisted catheter placement in an orthopneic position.

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  • The study investigates the risk factors for severe-to-fatal post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis (PEP) in 3739 ERCP patients with biliary disease over a one-year period.
  • Key risk factors identified include pancreatic guidewire-assisted biliary cannulation, post-ERCP NSAID use, and a history of previous pancreatitis, all significantly increasing the likelihood of severe-to-fatal PEP.
  • Preventive measures that showed effectiveness include endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy and prophylactic pancreatic stents, both of which significantly reduced the risk of severe-to-fatal PEP.
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Small-molecule analyte detection is key for improving quality of life, particularly in health monitoring through the early detection of diseases. However, detecting specific markers in complex multicomponent media using devices compatible with point-of-care (PoC) technologies is still a major challenge. Here, we introduce a novel approach that combines molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), electrolyte-gated transistors (EGTs) based on 2D materials, and machine learning (ML) to detect hippuric acid (HA) in artificial urine, being a critical marker for toluene intoxication, parasitic infections, and kidney and bowel inflammation.

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The recently demonstrated chiral modes of lattice motion carry angular momentum and therefore directly couple to magnetic fields. Notably, their magnetic moments are predicted to be strongly influenced by electronic contributions. Here, we have studied the magnetic response of transverse optical phonons in a set of PbSnTe films, which is a topological crystalline insulator for > 0.

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Unlabelled: Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) plays pivotal roles in melanocyte development, function, and melanoma pathogenesis. MITF amplification occurs in melanoma and has been associated with resistance to targeted therapies. Here, we show that MITF regulates a global antioxidant program that increases survival of melanoma cell lines by protecting the cells from reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced damage.

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Background: To establish refined risk prediction models for mortality in patients with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) by using comprehensive clinical characteristics.

Methods: Data from the multicentre Japanese registry of patients with vasculitis (REVEAL cohort) were used in our analysis. In total, 194 patients with newly diagnosed MPA were included, and baseline demographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment details were collected.

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Background: Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) has emerged as a novel physiological pacing method to reduce left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony due to ventricular pacing. Only lumen-less pacing leads (LLLs) with fixed helixes could achieve LBBAP previously, but recently, LBBAP has been performed using stylet-driven leads (SDLs). This study aimed to evaluate the LV dyssynchrony between SDLs and LLLs techniques in LBBAP.

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  • * Out of 74 patients, 16.2% developed ESRD, and higher serum C4 levels and serum creatinine levels were identified as significant risk factors.
  • * The findings suggest that elevated serum C4 levels can help assess renal disease activity and predict outcomes in MPA patients, with specific cut-off values established for serum C4 and creatinine levels.
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