Publications by authors named "Okazawa A"

Purpose: This study investigated the breast lesion conspicuity and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) reliability for three different diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) protocols: spatiotemporal encoding (SPEN), single-shot echo-planar imaging (SS-EPI), and readout segmentation of long variable echo-trains (RESOLVE).

Methods: Sixty-five women suspected of having breast tumors were included in this study, with 44 lesions (36 malignant, 8 benign) analyzed further. Breast MRI was performed on a 3 Tesla (3T) system (MAGNETOM Prisma, Siemens) equipped with a dedicated 18-channel breast array coil for a phantom and patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on an Arabidopsis mutant that has a defect in the sterolmethyltransferase2 (SMT2) enzyme, leading to significant growth issues and a loss of specific sterols, indicating the unique function of C-24 ethyl sterols in growth.
  • - Fluorescent labeling of sterol biosynthetic enzymes showed that SMT2-GFP is located in the endoplasmic reticulum during interphase but relocates to the division plane during cell division, revealing that this movement is not linked to the transport of cytokinetic vesicles.
  • - The abnormal division processes are accompanied by poor cytoskeletal organization and a failure to establish proper cell wall structures in daughter cells, suggesting that C-24
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Strigolactones (SLs) are plant apocarotenoids with diverse roles and structures. Canonical SLs, widespread and characterized by structural variations in their tricyclic lactone (ABC-ring), are classified into two types based on C-ring configurations. The steric C-ring configuration emerges during the BC-ring closure, downstream of the biosynthetic intermediate, carlactonoic acid (CLA).

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Unable to move on their own, plants have acquired the ability to produce a wide variety of low molecular weight compounds to survive against various stresses. It is estimated that there are as many as one million different kinds. Plants also have the ability to accumulate high levels of proteins.

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Correction for 'Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and high-pressure structural analysis for the mechanism of pressure-induced unique magnetic behaviour in (cation)[FeFe(dto)] (cation = PhP and PrPhP; dto = 1,2-dithiooxalato)' by Ryosuke Taniai , , 2023, , 8368-8375.

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Heteroleptic assemblies composed of several kinds of building blocks have been seen in nature. It is still unclear how natural systems design and create such complicated assemblies selectively. Past efforts on multicomponent self-assembly of artificial metal-organic cages have mainly focused on finding a suitable combination of building blocks to lead to a single multicomponent self-assembly as the thermodynamically most stable product.

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Orobanchaceae root parasitic weeds cause significant damage to agriculture and become threats to global food security. Integrated pest management is a key concept in modern agriculture and requires chemicals with various modes of action. Planteose accumulates as a storage carbohydrate in the dry seeds of root parasitic weeds.

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Pathway selection principles in reversible reaction networks such as molecular self-assembly have not been established yet, because achieving kinetic control in reversible reaction networks is more complicated than in irreversible ones. In this study, we discovered that coordination squares consisting of cis-protected dinuclear rhodium(II) corner complexes and linear ditopic ligands are assembled under kinetic control, perfectly preventing the corresponding triangles, by modulating their energy landscapes with a weak monotopic carboxylate ligand (2,6-dichlorobenzoate: dcb) as the leaving ligand. Experimental and numerical approaches revealed the self-assembly pathway where the cyclization step to form the triangular complex is blocked by dcb.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study highlights the significance of multiple proton transfer (PT) in chemistry and material science, particularly its control through external stimuli like temperature and light.
  • Researchers created a new iron(II) complex with a tridentate ligand that enables PT-coupled spin transitions, allowing for the manipulation of proton positions.
  • Findings indicate that using short hydrogen bonds in molecular design is a potential strategy for achieving controlled multiple PT in crystalline materials.
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1,2-Dithiooxalate (dto) can be employed as a bridging ligand and it exhibits symmetric (,-chelation) or asymmetric (,- and ,-chelation) coordination forms. In this study, we prepared a novel dto-bridged diiron(II) complex, [{Fe(TPA)}(μ-dto)](ClO) (1), where TPA is tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine. Interestingly, the bridging dto ligand exhibited not only the asymmetric form but also a linkage isomer and a diastereomer within the same crystal.

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Abemaciclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor, causes severe hepatotoxicity, a severe adverse event associated with the loss of treatment opportunities. We report a case of liver injury (grade 4) during treatment with abemaciclib, in which the patient was switched to palbociclib and successfully treated with this CDK4/6 inhibitor. A 73-year-old woman with bone metastatic breast cancer (hormone-positive, HER2-negative) was treated with abemaciclib, fulvestrant, denosumab, and precipitated calcium carbonate with cholecalciferol and magnesium carbonate (pCCCM).

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Molecular-based magnetoelectric materials are among the most promising materials for next-generation magnetoelectric memory devices. However, practical application of existing molecular systems has proven difficult largely because the polarization change is far lower than the practical threshold of the ME memory devices. Herein, we successfully obtained an [FeCo] dinuclear complex that exhibits a magnetic field-induced spin crossover process, resulting in a significant polarization change of 0.

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A mixed-valence iron(II,III) coordination polymer, (PhP)[FeFe(dto)] (2; PhP = tetraphenylphosphonium, dto = 1,2-dithiooxalato), exhibits a thermal hysteresis loop and a low temperature shift of the ferromagnetic phase transition temperature, with increasing pressure. The latter magnetic behaviour can also be observed in a novel compound (PrPhP)[FeFe(dto)] (3; PrPhP = -propyltriphenylphosphonium). To understand the structural information under pressure, we performed high-pressure powder X-ray diffraction, and the result suggests that there was no structural phase transition for either compound.

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Purpose: We aimed to investigate the diagnostic feasibility of an adjusted diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lexicon using multiple b values to assess breast lesions according to DWI-based breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS).

Methods: This Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved prospective study included 127 patients with suspected breast cancer. Breast MRI was performed using a 3T scanner.

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Using light as a local heat source to induce a temporary pyroelectric current is widely recognized as an effective way to control the polarization of crystalline materials. In contrast, harnessing light directly to modulate the polarization of a crystal via excitation of the electronic bands remains less explored. In this study, we report an Fe spin crossover crystal that exhibits photoinduced macroscopic polarization change upon excitation by green light.

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Lignans are widely distributed plant secondary metabolites that have received attention for their benefits to human health. Sesamin is a furofran lignan that is conventionally extracted from Sesamum seeds and shows anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities in the human liver. Sesamin is biosynthesized by the Sesamum-specific enzyme CYP81Q1, and the natural sources of sesamin are annual plants that are at risk from climate change.

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In plants, the UV-B photoreceptor UV RESISTANCE LOCUS8 (UVR8) perceives UV-B and induces UV-B responses. UVR8 absorbs a range of UV-B (260-335 nm). However, the responsiveness of plants to each UV-B wavelength has not been intensively studied so far.

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UV-C irradiation increases resveratrol content in grape skins, but it reaches a maximum at a certain UV-C dose. In contrast, UV-B has a weak resveratrol-enhancing effect at low doses, but it has not been investigated at high doses. In this study, we investigated the effect of high-dose UV-B on resveratrol contents in grape skins.

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Euglena gracilis, a phototrophic protist, is a valuable biomass producer that is often employed in sustainable development efforts. E. gracilis accumulates wax esters as byproducts during anaerobic ATP production via the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle, utilizing the storage carbohydrate β-1,3-glucan paramylon as the carbon source.

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Root parasitic weeds of the Orobanchaceae, such as witchweeds (Striga spp.) and broomrapes (Orobanche and Phelipanche spp.), cause serious losses in agriculture worldwide, and efforts have been made to control these parasitic weeds.

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Pyroelectricity plays a crucial role in modern sensors and energy conversion devices. However, obtaining materials with large and nearly constant pyroelectric coefficients over a wide temperature range for practical uses remains a formidable challenge. Attempting to discover a solution to this obstacle, we combined molecular design of labile electronic structure with the crystal engineering of the molecular orientation in lattice.

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Damage caused by Orobanchaceae root parasitic weeds is a substantial agricultural problem for global food security. Many studies have been conducted to establish practical methods of control, but efforts are still required for successful management. Seed germination of root parasitic weeds requires host-derived germination stimulants including strigolactones (SLs).

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Biradicaloid compounds with an open-shell ground state have been the subject of intense research in the past decade. Although diindenoacenes are one of the most developed families, only a few examples have been reported as active layers in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with a charge mobility of around 10 cm V s due to a steric disadvantage of the mesityl group to kinetically stabilize compounds. Herein, we disclose our efforts to improve the charge transport of the diindenoacene family based on hexahydro-diindenopyrene (HDIP) derivatives with different annelation modes for which the most reactive position has been functionalized with (triisopropylsilyl)ethynyl (TIPS) groups.

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The development and the photophysical behavior of a transparent ion-exchange membrane based on a pH-sensitive polypyridyl ruthenium(II) complex, [(bpy)Ru(Hbpib)Ru(bpy)](ClO) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, Hbpib = 1,4-bis([1,10]phenanthroline[5,6-]-imidazol-2-yl)benzene), are experimentally and theoretically reported. The emission spectra of [(bpy)Ru(Hbpib)Ru(bpy)]@Nafion film were observed between pH 2 and pH 11 and showed the highest relative emission intensity at pH 5 ( = 594.4 nm).

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A series of novel monocyclometalated [Ir(tpy)(btp)Cl] complexes (-) were synthesized using 2,2':6',2″-terpyridine (tpy) and 2-(2-pyridyl)benzo[]thiophene (btp) ligands, as well as their derivatives bearing electron-donating -butyl (-Bu) and electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl (CF) groups. - exhibited visible-light absorption stronger than that of the known complex [Ir(tpy)(ppy)Cl] (; ppy = 2-phenylpyridine). Spectroscopic and computational studies revealed that two triplet states were involved in the excited-state dynamics.

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