Publications by authors named "Oku H"

Background/objectives: Healthcare professionals' (HCPs') accurate knowledge of and positive attitudes toward immunization greatly influence society's acceptance of it. Early and appropriate immunization education for HCP students is vital. This study aimed to understand current immunization education and vaccine hesitancy among medical, nursing, and pharmacy students in Japan.

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In the previous report, we reported that originating from the rhizome of was known to produce a marine-derived natural product. An OSMAC-based approach was designed by modifying the nutritional composition of the growth medium to investigate any possible new metabolites produced by the strain. The culture filtrate and biomass were conditioned through the use of three basal media, namely, Czapek-dox, potato dextrose, and Wickerham broth medium.

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We present a non-smoker woman in her 40s with PLCH who presented with atypical imaging findings of multiple pulmonary noncavitary nodules without air cysts with repeated waxing and waning.

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In this immunohistological study on the peripheral retina of 3-year-old beagle dogs, excised retina specimens were immunostained with antibodies against nestin, Oct4, Nanog, Sox2, CDX2, cytokeratin 18 (CK 18), RPE65, and YAP1, as well as hematoxylin and DAPI, two nuclear stains. Our findings revealed solitary cysts of various sizes in the inner retina. Intriguingly, a mass of small round cells with scant cytoplasms was observed in the cavity of small cysts, while many disorganized cells partially occupied the cavity of the large cysts.

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In robot vision, it is often desired to measure an area larger than the field of view of the camera, so the camera tends to be mounted on a mechanical pan/tilt platform. However, such mechanisms have a non-negligible response time compared to the frame rate of the camera. In this paper, we describe what we believe to be a new method that allows arbitrary and multiple gaze directions to be observed in a frame-by-frame manner based on a resonant mirror and a lock-in pixel image sensor.

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Sign language is designed as a natural communication method to convey messages among the deaf community. In the study of sign language recognition through wearable sensors, the data sources are limited, and the data acquisition process is complex. This research aims to collect an American sign language dataset with a wearable inertial motion capture system and realize the recognition and end-to-end translation of sign language sentences with deep learning models.

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The most widely used isoprene emission algorithm, G93 formula, estimates instantaneous leaf-level isoprene emission using the basal emission factor and light and temperature dependency parameters. The G93 parameters have been suggested to show variation depending on past weather conditions, but no study has closely examined the relationship between past meteorological data and the algorithm parameters. Here, to examine the influence of the past weather on these parameters, we monitored weather conditions, G93 parameters, isoprene synthase transcripts and protein levels, and MEP pathway metabolites in the tropical tree for 12 days and analyzed their relationship with cumulative temperature and light intensity.

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Tauopathy is a neurodegenerative condition associated with oligomeric tau formation through abnormal phosphorylation. We previously showed that tauopathy is involved in death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) after optic nerve crush (ONC). It has been proposed that glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) is involved in the hyperphosphorylation of tau in Alzheimer's disease.

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Biodegradable optical waveguides are breakthrough technologies to light delivery and sensing in biomedical and environmental applications. Agar emerges as an edible, soft, low-cost, and renewable alternative to traditional biopolymers, presenting remarkable optical and mechanical characteristics. Previous works introduced agar-made optical fibers for chemical measurements based on their inherent response to humidity and surrounding concentration.

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In Ficus septica, the short-term control of isoprene production and, therefore, isoprene emission has been linked to the hormone balance between auxin (IAA) and jasmonic acid (JA). However, the relationship between long-term changes in isoprene emission and that of plant hormones remains unknown. This study tracked isoprene emissions from F.

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Algal sulfated polysaccharides are known to be effective hyaluronidase inhibitors. We evaluated hyaluronidase inhibitory activity of sulfated polysaccharide (SP) from Results showed that SP with IC of 163 µg/mL appears to allosterically inhibit the hyaluronidase activity. Main sugar composition and sulfate content of SP was estimated to be Gal, Glc, Xyl, Man, uronic acids, and sulfate in the weight percent of 27.

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Chitosan with pH sensitivity and biocompatibility was selected to prepare chitosan nanoparticle-stabilized Pickering emulsion (CSPE). The flexibility of CSPE enables stress deformation when in contact with cell membranes, thereby mimicking the deformability of natural pathogens and facilitating their efficient uptake by cells. In the acidic environment of lysosomes, the amino groups of chitosan molecules are protonated, and the water solubility increases.

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Article Synopsis
  • A 64-year-old man from Japan found a hard lump in his armpit, which turned out to be a rare type of breast cancer called a neuroendocrine tumor.
  • Doctors removed the tumor and nearby lymph nodes and discovered that most of the tumor was made up of neuroendocrine cells.
  • The man received additional treatments including chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and radiation to help fight the cancer.
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Brown algae contain a polysaccharide-rich cell wall, mainly composed of alginate and fucoidan which have been extensively studied for their individual structure and bioactivities. Particularly, the cell wall of Cladosiphon okamuranus is rich in fucoidan rather than alginate. However, little is known about its arrangement or interlinking with other polysaccharides such as cellulose in the cell wall.

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The isoprene emission rate from plants is simulated by a function of light intensity and leaf temperature, and the G-93 formula is the most extensively applied algorithm for this purpose. Isoprene is biosynthesized by the enzyme isoprene synthase (IspS), and instantly emitted from the leaf. Enzyme kinetics of IspS and substrate availability are important factors involved in the short-term leaf-level control of isoprene emissions.

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The tarsal plate is an eyelid tissue that maintains lid structure from inside the upper/lower eyelids, and it surrounds the meibomian glands and supports their unique secretion mechanism. Sebaceous carcinoma, a malignant eyelid tumour, can sometimes develop from the meibomian glands and is usually excised together with the tarsal plate during surgery, so the tarsal plate serves as a control research tissue. However, since the plate is thick, hard and heterogeneous with few cells, obtaining enough genomic DNA and/or total RNA is often difficult.

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Shiikuwasha (Citrus depressa Hayata) essential oil (SEO) extracted from Shiikuwasha fruit pulp contains two major volatile components, limonene and γ-terpinene (56.56-57.31 and 24.

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Leucaena leucocephala growing in the tropics and subtropics serves as potential forage for livestock because its foliage is rich in protein, fiber, and minerals. However, its use for livestock feed has been hindered by toxic nonprotein amino acid mimosine. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a method to reduce or eliminate mimosine from foliage.

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To reveal direct effects of various protein sources on digestive physiology of red seabream, Pagrus major (38.5 ± 0.4 g), six different protein sources of fishmeal (FM), soybean meal (SBM), corn gluten meal (CGM), soy protein concentrate (SPC), poultry by-product meal (PBM), and poultry-feather meal (PFM) were orally administered to fish (2 mg protein/g body weight) and sampled at 1.

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Purpose: To assess the risk factors for intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation during the early period post cataract surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Methods: This study involved 1587 eyes that underwent cataract surgery at the Baptist Eye Institute, Kyoto, Japan between April 2020 and May 2021.

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It has been suggested that isoprene synthesis by isoprene synthase (IspS) proceeds via a substrate-assisted mechanism. The authors observed a non-enzymatic isoprene formation by Mn, which represents the basis of IspS enzyme reaction. Because IspS and many other terpene synthases require Mn metal ions as cofactor, this study characterized the formation reaction for the first time.

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Background: The first Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program with a two-year educational period in Japan was developed in a nursing university in Tokyo in 2017 (i.e., 2017-ABSN two-year program or designated as program 1) for individuals aiming to pursue nursing as a second career.

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Plant hormone signalling and the circadian clock have been implicated in the transcriptional control of isoprene biosynthesis. To gain more insight into the hormonal control of isoprene biosynthesis, the present study measured plant hormone concentrations in jasmonic acid (JA)-treated leaves of our previous model study, examined their relationship with gene expression of isoprene synthase (IspS) and hormone signalling transcription factors. Of the plant hormones, IAA and JA-Ile and their related transcription factors (MYC2 and SAUR21) were significantly correlated with IspS gene expression.

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This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of triamcinolone acetonide in suppressing inflammation after blepharoptosis surgery. The study was designed as prospective, randomized, two medical centers' clinical trial. Thirty-two patients with involutional blepharoptosis of the same degree in both eyelids underwent bilateral transcutaneous levator advancement.

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This report aimed to introduce the new adjustable rotational skin flap for epicanthoplasty in combination with traditional epiblepharon repair by the modified Hotz procedure. This retrospective study involved 25 consecutive patients with superficial punctate keratitis secondary to epiblepharon complicated with epicanthal fold who underwent the combined surgery between 2019 and 2020. The mean patient age was 11.

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