Herein, we report a case of pregnancy of a female bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) that was subjected to artificial insemination (AI) in water based on its estrous behavior using simple instruments. AI was performed on this female dolphin once or twice daily for 4 days at the detection of estrous behavior, such as floating horizontally and showing reduced responsiveness, likely indicating the appropriate timing for AI. The female was placed in supine a position in the water to position the genital slit above the water surface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFare generally considered low-pathogenicity organisms but can occasionally cause severe infections. We report a severe case of infective endocarditis caused by complicated by multifocal mycotic aneurysms in an immunocompetent patient who consumed probiotic drinks daily. He had a history of hypertension and aortic valve regurgitation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Direct reinfusion of pericardial blood during cardiac surgery triggers a systemic inflammatory response. Although various inflammatory mediators have been identified as triggers, the role of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) remains poorly understood. Despite guidelines recommending against this practice owing to its harmful effects, it is sometimes used in emergencies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe recently found two α-L-glucosidases, which can hydrolyze -nitrophenyl α-L-glucopyranoside (PNP L-Glc) rather than -nitrophenyl α-L-fucopyranoside, in glycoside hydrolase family 29. This study evaluated their substrate specificity for -nitrophenyl α-L-rhamnopyranoside (PNP L-Rha), α-L-quinovopyranoside (PNP L-Qui), and α-L-xylopyranoside (PNP L-Xyl), of which structure is similar to PNP L-Glc. The two α-L-glucosidases had little activity toward PNP L-Rha.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe presence of an intraperitoneal source of infection, e.g., a liver abscess, can be an obstacle to performing an abdominal aortic surgery with a midline laparotomy because graft infection is one of the most critical complications of aortic surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnzyme Microb Technol
October 2024
Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are leading prebiotics that help keep the gut healthy and aid wellness by stimulating the growth and activity of beneficial intestinal bacteria. The best-studied FOS are inulin-type FOS, mainly oligosaccharides with β-Fruf-(2→1)-Fruf linkages, including 1-kestose [β-Fruf-(2→1)-β-Fruf-(2↔1)-α-Glcp] and nystose [β-Fruf-(2→1)-β-Fruf-(2→1)-β-Fruf-(2↔1)-α-Glcp]. However, the properties of other types of FOS-levan-type FOS with β-Fruf-(2→6)-Fruf linkages and neo-type FOS with β-Fruf-(2→6)-Glcp linkages-remain ambiguous because efficient methods have not been established for their synthesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe establishment and maintenance of a pregnancy requires proper interaction between the endocrine and immune systems in the uterus. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how changes in endometrial cytokine levels facilitate reproduction. This study aimed to investigate how representative cytokines sequentially changed in the endometrium and whether conception could be attributed to these changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCampylobacter spp. is a widely recognized pathogen accountable for acute enteritis, frequently linked to sepsis, primarily attributed to C. jejuni.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 59-year-old male dialysis patient with a history of coronary artery bypass graft surgery underwent percutaneous coronary intervention of a right coronary artery with a severely calcified lesion. While debulking calcification using a Rotablator, the driveshaft was suddenly fractured. We attempted to move a child-in-mother catheter closer and across a second floppy wire and we dilated a 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: A 27-year-old Japanese woman with a history of depression and an eating disorder presented to our emergency department with a chief complaint of generalized weakness. Electrocardiography showed prominent QT prolongation with multiple ventricular contractions. Chest X-ray plain computed tomography revealed pulmonary edema.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRuminant animals rely on the activities of -glucosidases from residential microbes to convert feed fibers into glucose for further metabolic uses. In this report, we determined the structures of Br2, which is a glycoside hydrolase family 1 -glucosidase from the bovine rumen metagenome. Br2 folds into a classical (/)-TIM barrel domain but displays unique structural features at loop 5→5 and -helix 5, resulting in different positive subsites from those of other GH1 enzymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAscites is the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity and is commonly attributed to various etiologies, including portal hypertension and peritoneal diseases. Hyperthyroidism is rarely associated with ascites, which is typically chylous and accompanied by high central venous pressure. We present a unique case of a 57-year-old woman with untreated hyperthyroidism who manifested non-chylous ascites without evidence of high venous pressure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 65-year-old Japanese man without medical history presented with sudden onset lower abdominal pain to our emergency department. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed dissections of the inferior mesenteric artery and left renal artery with false lumen thrombosis without aortic dissection. He was immediately hospitalized, and conservative treatment was administered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBACKGROUND Heart failure is caused by coronary artery disease, valvular disease, and arrhythmias and is highly treatable with recent technology. However, the incidence of syphilis is increasing worldwide. This case report describes tertiary cardiovascular syphilis, accompanied by aortic regurgitation, syphilitic aortitis complicated by thrombus of the ascending aorta, and coronary artery occlusion, requiring percutaneous coronary artery intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypercortisolism is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular outcomes, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. It has been suggested that cardiovascular risk increases with increasing steroid use in patients taking oral steroids as immunosuppressive drugs. Cardiomyopathy is often reported to occur concomitantly in patients with Cushing's syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Measuring patient satisfaction is a crucial aspect of medical care. Advanced natural language processing (NLP) techniques enable the extraction and analysis of high-level insights from textual data; nonetheless, data obtained from patients are often limited.
Objective: This study aimed to create a model that quantifies patient satisfaction based on diverse patient-written textual data.
Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a marked increase in the inflammatory cytokines, IL-6 and IL-18. Blood purification therapy aimed at controlling cytokines is one treatment option; however, evidence of its effectiveness is needed. Plasma exchange with dialysis (PED) is a blood purification method involving selective plasma exchange with dialysate flowing through the outer hollow fiber of the plasma separator.
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