Scraping Assay as a Novel Strategy to Evaluate Axonal Regeneration Using Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neurons.

Neuronal regrowth after traumatic injury is strongly inhibited in the central nervous system (CNS) of adult mammals. Cell-intrinsic and extrinsic factors limit the regulation of axonal growth and regrowth of fibers is minimal despite nearly all neurons surviving. Developing medical drugs to promote neurological recovery is crucial since neuronal injuries have few palliative cares and no pharmacological interventions.

Endoscopic submucosal dissection for pharyngeal cancer: removal of supra-oropharyngeal cancer.

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A rare trigger for acute appendicitis leading to small bowel obstruction: traditional serrated adenoma of the appendiceal foramen.

This is the first documented case of traditional serrated adenoma (TSA) of the appendiceal foramen that triggered acute appendicitis resulting in small bowel obstruction (SBO). An 88-year-old Japanese man presented with abdominal pain, distension, and appetite loss. Computed tomography demonstrated distended ileum adherent to cecum with thickened walls.

Infliximab versus intravenous immunoglobulin for refractory Kawasaki disease: a phase 3, randomized, open-label, active-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter trial.

We compared the efficacy and safety of infliximab with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), a standard therapy, in a phase 3 trial (NCT01596335) for Japanese patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) showing persistent fever after initial IVIG. Patients with initial IVIG-refractory KD, aged 1-10 years, received a single dose of IV infliximab 5 mg/kg or IV polyethylene glycol-treated human immunoglobulin (VGIH) 2 g/kg on day 0. Primary outcome was defervescence rate within 48 h after the start of treatment.

Facile Preparation of Flavinium Organocatalysts.

We developed a safe, simple, inexpensive, and environmentally benign method for preparing N(5)-ethylated flavinium organocatalysts without using hazardous reagents or inert conditions as previously required. 5-Ethyl-3-methyllumiflavinium cation was prepared from its reduced form by NaNO -free aerobic oxidation, which was subsequently extracted onto commercial cation-exchange resins under NaClO -free conditions. The resulting resin-immobilized flavinium salts were found to be effective organocatalysts for aerobic oxidation reactions.

Optimal settings and accuracy of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging for sentinel node biopsy in early gastric cancer.

Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging represents a promising method for sentinel node (SN) biopsy in laparoscopic gastric surgery due to its signal stability. In the present study, the suitability and optimal settings of ICG fluorescence imaging for SN biopsy in early gastric cancer were determined. Patients with single primary superficial-type adenocarcinoma of the stomach, lesions <5 cm in diameter, and no evident nodal metastasis and out of indication for endoscopic submucosal dissection were enrolled.

Oncofetal protein IGF2BP3 facilitates the activity of proto-oncogene protein eIF4E through the destabilization of EIF4E-BP2 mRNA.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have important roles in tumorigenesis. Although IGF2BP3, an evolutionally conserved RBP, has been reported as a useful diagnostic marker for various cancers and has been considered a regulator of tumorigenesis, little is known of the function of IGF2BP3 because of lack of information regarding IGF2BP3 target mRNAs. Here, we report the identification of IGF2BP3 target mRNAs and IGF2BP3 function in cancer proliferation.

Intravascular ultrasound shows the detailed appearance of an unraveled coil identified on echocardiography.

A 4-year-old boy who underwent coil embolization 17 months earlier was admitted for catheter assessment after the Fontan operation. Echocardiography showed a bright linear shadow in the abdominal aorta. Enhanced computed tomography of the chest showed that the coil had unraveled from the collateral arteries to the celiac branch artery.

[Pathogenesis of in-stent thrombosis after carotid artery stenting].

Background And Purpose: In-stent thrombosis (IST) after carotid artery stenting (CAS) is a rare complication that can lead to severe thromboembolic events. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pathogenesis of IST after CAS.

Patients And Methods: A total of 101 patients underwent CAS from January 2006 to September 2013 at our hospital.

System-on-fluidics immunoassay device integrating wireless radio-frequency-identification sensor chips.

A simple and sensitive point-of-care-test (POCT) device for chemiluminescence (CL) immunoassay was devised and tested. The device consists of a plastic flow-channel reactor and two wireless-communication sensor chips, namely, a photo-sensor chip and a temperature-sensor chip. In the flow-channel reactor, a target antigen is captured by an antibody immobilized on the inner wall of the flow-channel and detected with enzyme labeled antibody by using CL substrate.

Genetic manipulation of the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) shunt in rice: overexpression of truncated glutamate decarboxylase (GAD2) and knockdown of γ-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T) lead to sustained and high levels of GABA accumulation in rice kernels.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non-protein amino acid commonly present in all organisms. Because cellular levels of GABA in plants are mainly regulated by synthesis (glutamate decarboxylase, GAD) and catabolism (GABA-transaminase, GABA-T), we attempted seed-specific manipulation of the GABA shunt to achieve stable GABA accumulation in rice. A truncated GAD2 sequence, one of five GAD genes, controlled by the glutelin (GluB-1) or rice embryo globulin promoters (REG) and GABA-T-based trigger sequences in RNA interference (RNAi) cassettes controlled by one of these promoters as well, was introduced into rice (cv.

Insect cytokine paralytic peptide activates innate immunity via nitric oxide production in the silkworm Bombyx mori.

Insect cytokine paralytic peptide (PP) upregulates the expression of immune-related genes and contributes to host defense in the silkworm Bombyx mori. The present findings demonstrated that PP promotes nitric oxide (NO) production and induces the expression of NO synthase. A pharmacologic NO synthase inhibitor suppressed the PP-dependent (i) induction of immune-related genes, (ii) activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and (iii) killing delay of silkworm larvae by Staphylococcus aureus.

Identification and characterization of novel genotoxic stress-inducible nuclear long noncoding RNAs in mammalian cells.

Whole transcriptome analyses have revealed a large number of novel transcripts including long and short noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). Currently, there is great interest in characterizing the functions of the different classes of ncRNAs and their relevance to cellular processes. In particular, nuclear long ncRNAs may be involved in controlling various aspects of biological regulation, such as stress responses.

LKB1, TP16, EGFR, and KRAS somatic mutations in lung adenocarcinomas from a Chiba Prefecture, Japan cohort.

The discovery of somatic mutations in cancer-related genes has been applied to understand the genetic basis of cancer. Here we report somatic mutations of two tumor suppressor genes: LKB1 (exons 1, 4, and 8) and TP16 (CDKN2A) (exons 1 and 2); and two oncogenes: epidermal growth factor receptor EGFR (exons 18-21) and KRAS (exon 2) in 97 lung adenocarcinoma tissues in a cohort from the Kujukuri coast area of Chiba, Japan. In the LKB1 gene, only F354L substitutions were observed in 14 of the 97 tissue samples (14.

Stent placement in the ductus venosus of a neonate with total anomalous pulmonary venous return.

A newborn with right isomerism, infracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR), and obstruction of the ductus venosus underwent stent implantation in the ductus venosus at 4 h after birth. This procedure averted early pulmonary venous obstruction. Since gradual neointimal proliferation subsequently occurred within the stent, the patient underwent stent balloon dilatation at 35 days of age and underwent surgical repair of the TAPVR with a Blalock-Taussig shunt operation at 53 days of age.

Deterministic design of binary phase-only blazed grating with subwavelength features under limitation on spatial resolution of fabrication technique.

We propose a deterministic design method of a blazed grating consisting of a binary grating with subwavelength structures for a multilevel phase modulation. The feasible shapes of binary subwavelength microstructures are restricted to a few kinds of surface profiles by constraints in an actual fabrication technique. The relationship between the feasible shapes of binary subwavelength microstructures and their phase modulations can be calculated by an electromagnetic analysis and tabulated.

Mechanism for covalent binding of rofecoxib to elastin of rat aorta.

We have previously reported that oral administration of [(14)C]rofecoxib to rats resulted in the long retention of radioactivity by the aorta as a consequence of covalent binding to elastin. Treatment of rats with alpha-phenyl-alpha-propylbenzeneacetic acid 2-[diethylamino]-ethyl ester hydrochloride (SKF-525A), a cytochrome P450 inhibitor, significantly decreased the systemic exposure of 5-hydroxyrofecoxib, one of the main metabolites of rofecoxib, whereas there was no statistically significant change in the retention of radioactivity from [(14)C]rofecoxib in the aorta. On the other hand, the aortic retention of radioactivity closely correlated to the systemic exposure of unchanged rofecoxib in the dose range between 2 and 10 mg/kg.

Successful treatment of primary cardiac lymphoma with atrioventricular nodal block.

A 69-year-old female suffering from third-degree atrioventricular block with syncope underwent permanent pacemaker implantation. However, she developed shortness of breath 2 months after the implantation. Blood tests revealed elevated levels of LDH, CRP, BNP, and SIL-2R.

Impact of diabetes mellitus on angiographically silent coronary atherosclerosis.

Constrictive remodeling occurs in significant atherosclerotic lesions of the diabetic patient, but the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the angiographically normal coronary artery is still unclear. Morphometric analysis using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) prior to intervention evaluated 54 sites in 33 DM patients and 106 in 62 non-diabetic patients. Vessel area (VA) and lumen area (LA) were measured at angiographically normal sites in the vessel.

[Effective use of TS-1 in a case of advanced gastric cancer, both in treating the tumor and in maintaining the patient's quality of life].

A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital suffering from discomfort in the epigastrium. Endoscopic examination revealed stenosis from the fornix to the body of the stomach. The lesion had invaded the lower esophagus.