Feasibility study of skin dosimetry with TLD sheets for measuring the effect of 3D printed bolus in radiotherapy.

The thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) sheet is a measurement device coated with manganese-doped LiBO in sheet form. The sheet is 0.2-mm thick and flexible.

Total Synthesis of Antiausterity Agent Callistrilone O Reveals Promising Antitumor Activity in a Melanoma Homograft Mouse Model.

The antiausterity strategy in anticancer drug discovery has attracted much attention as a way to exterminate cancer cells under nutrient deprived conditions which are commonly found in solid tumors. These tumors under low nutrient stress are known to be malignant and often resist conventional drug therapy. As a potential drug candidate, we focused on the meroterpenoid natural product callistrilone O which has demonstrated extremely potent antiausterity properties toward PANC-1 pancreatic carcinoma in vitro.

A turn-on fluorescent probe containing a β-ketoester moiety for the selective detection of intracellular hydrazine.

Fluorogenic probes containing the β-ketoester structure were developed for selective hydrazine detection. The probe equipped with a cyclopropane moiety, having reduced steric hindrance, showed a higher reaction rate than its dimethyl counterpart. In live cell imaging, the probe detects intracellular hydrazine with minimal cytotoxicity.

Development of 1,3,6-Tribenzoylated Glucose as an Antiausterity Agent Targeting Tumor Microenvironment.

One aspect of cancer-specific environments, nutrient starvation, is a factor in cancer cell resistance to treatment with chemotherapeutic agents and development of malignancy. Our newly synthesized novel glucose derivative β-1,3,6-O-tribenzoyl-D-glucose (3) showed preferential cytotoxicity against PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer cells as well as HT-29 human colon cancer cells depending on low nutritional environment. The amount of ester functionalization in 3 is important.

Use of the Shizuoka Hip Fracture Prognostic Score (SHiPS) to Predict Long-Term Mortality in Patients With Hip Fracture in Japan: A Cohort Study Using the Shizuoka Kokuho Database.

Hip fractures are common in patients of advanced age and are associated with excess mortality. Rapid and accurate prediction of the prognosis using information that can be easily obtained before surgery would be advantageous to clinical management. We performed a population-based retrospective cohort study using an 8.

Advances in reaction-based synthetic fluorescent probes for studying the role of zinc and copper ions in living systems.

Recently, the behavior of essential trace metal elements in living organisms has attracted more and more attention as their dynamics have been found to be tightly regulated by metallothionines, transporters, etc. As the physiological and/or pathological roles of such metal elements are critical, there have been many non-invasive methods developed to determine their cellular functions, mainly by small molecule fluorescent probes. In this review, we focus on probes that detect intracellular zinc and monovalent copper.

The Status of Newborn Hearing Screening in Japan: Past, Present, and the Future.

This review article summarizes the chronological history of newborn hearing screening (NHS) implementation in Japan. Beginning with experimental pilot programs implemented in the early 2000s, efforts have been made to establish NHS throughout the country. The results of and responses to these pilot programs are introduced, analyzed, and discussed.

F9 mRNA splicing aberration due to a deep Intronic structural variation in a patient with moderate hemophilia B.

Introduction: Hemophilia B (HB) is a hereditary bleeding disorder caused by the genetic variation of the coagulation factor IX (FIX) gene (F9). Several F9 structural abnormalities, including large deletion and/or insertion, have been observed to cause HB development. However, there is limited information available on F9 deep intronic variations.

Periosteum-derived podoplanin-expressing stromal cells regulate nascent vascularization during epiphyseal marrow development.

Bone marrow development and endochondral bone formation occur simultaneously. During endochondral ossification, periosteal vasculatures and stromal progenitors invade the primary avascular cartilaginous anlage, which induces primitive marrow development. We previously determined that bone marrow podoplanin (PDPN)-expressing stromal cells exist in the perivascular microenvironment and promote megakaryopoiesis and erythropoiesis.

Identification of HLA-A*24:02-Restricted CTL Candidate Epitopes Derived from the Nonstructural Polyprotein 1a of SARS-CoV-2 and Analysis of Their Conservation Using the Mutation Database of SARS-CoV-2 Variants.

COVID-19 vaccines are currently being administered worldwide and playing a critical role in controlling the pandemic. They have been designed to elicit neutralizing antibodies against Spike protein of the original SARS-CoV-2, and hence they are less effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutated Spike than the original virus. It is possible that novel variants with abilities of enhanced transmissibility and/or immunoevasion will appear in the near future and perfectly escape from vaccine-elicited immunity.

Early Cochlear Implantation Allows Deaf Children to Control Voice Pitch and Loudness independently.

Objective: Congenitally deaf children with a cochlear implant (CI) improve their speech production intelligibility, but their prosody, including stress and intonation produced by voice pitch and loudness changes, often differs from normal hearing people, which affects their fluent oral communication. This study is aimed to clarify abnormal characteristics of voice pitch and loudness control in CI recipients using a newly developed visually guided pitch change task.

Methods: We included 13 normal hearing volunteers (NH group) and 17 congenitally deaf CI users who showed good speech intelligibility.

Bone marrow space volume of the mandible influencing intraoperative blood loss in bilateral sagittal split osteotomy: A pilot Study.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the bone marrow space volume of the mandible affects blood loss during bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO). Sixteen patients who underwent BSSO in our hospital were included in this study. Bone marrow space volume of the mandible was measured by analyzing images from computed tomography.

Investigation of the hearing levels of siblings affected by a single GJB2 variant: Possibility of genetic modifiers.

Objective: Variants in GJB2 can cause autosomal recessive deafness (DFNB1). There is evidence for genotype-phenotype correlations of GJB2 variants; however, several genotypes can cause varying levels of hearing loss likely attributable to differences in genetic or environmental background. As siblings share approximately 50% of their genetic background and usually have a common environmental background, analysis of phenotypes of siblings with a specific GJB2 variant may reveal factors relevant to phenotypic variation.

Could London Dispersion Force Control Regioselective (2 + 2) Cyclodimerizations of Benzynes? YES: Application to the Synthesis of Helical Biphenylenes.

In recent years, London dispersion interactions, which are the attractive component of the van der Waals potential, have been found to play an important role in controlling the regio- and/or stereoselectivity of various reactions. Particularly, the dispersion interactions between substrates and catalysts (or ligands) are dominant in various selective catalyzes. In contrast, repulsive steric interactions, rather than the attractive dispersion interactions, between bulky substituents are predominant in most of the noncatalytic reactions.

Esophageal inflammatory pseudotumor with low-dose corticosteroid therapy after surgery.

Inflammatory pseudotumors of the esophagus are extremely rare, and the treatment has been controversial. Herein, we report a case of esophageal inflammatory pseudotumor with low-dose corticosteroid treatment following surgery. A 50-year-old woman with a 3-month history of progressive dysphagia and weight loss, was admitted to our hospital for examination and treatment.

Total Synthesis of Antiausterity Agent (±)-Uvaridacol L by Regioselective Axial Diacylation of a -Inositol Orthoester.

The antiausterity natural product (±)-uvaridacol L was synthesized for the first time in seven steps from -inositol. The key reaction of this synthesis, axial selective dibenzoylation of -inositol orthoformate, was achieved using a catalytic amount of tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF). The preferential cytotoxicity of racemic uvaridacol L against cancer cell lines able to adapt to nutrient deprivation was also evaluated under nutrient deprived conditions.

Essential role of a carboxyl-terminal α-helix motif in the secretion of coagulation factor XI.

Background: Coagulation factor XI (FXI) is a plasma serine protease zymogen that contributes to hemostasis. However, the mechanism of its secretion remains unclear.

Objective: To determine the molecular mechanism of FXI secretion by characterizing a novel FXI mutant identified in a FXI-deficient Japanese patient.

Identification of HLA-A*02:01-restricted candidate epitopes derived from the non-structural polyprotein 1a of SARS-CoV-2 that may be natural targets of CD8 T cell recognition .

COVID-19 vaccines are being rapidly developed and human trials are underway. Almost all of these vaccines have been designed to induce antibodies targeting spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 in expectation of neutralizing activities. However, non-neutralizing antibodies are at risk of causing antibody-dependent enhancement.

Incidence of Mumps Deafness in Japan, 2005-2017: Analysis of Japanese Insurance Claims Database.

Background: Mumps deafness causes serious problems, and incidence data are needed to identify its disease burden. However, such data are limited, and the reported incidence is highly variable. Nationwide studies in Japan with a large age range are lacking.

A fluorogenic probe using a catalytic reaction for the detection of trace intracellular zinc.

Labile zinc plays various roles in cells at low concentrations which most fluorescent probes are not able to detect. Here we report a cephem-based probe which coordinates to zinc and zinc-bound water cleaves the scaffold and releases the fluorophore. In addition, the zinc is recycled and reacts with multiple probes, amplifying the signal.

Mumps-Related Disease Burden in Japan: Analysis of JMDC Health Insurance Reimbursement Data for 2005-2017.

Background: Mumps vaccination coverage is low in Japan, partly because of its voluntary nature. Although pediatric cases of mumps virus infection are captured by the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases program under the Infectious Disease Law, there are currently no data regarding the occurrence of mumps and its complications in adults.

Methods: We investigated the annual incidence rates of mumps and its complications based on health insurance reimbursement data for 5,209,660 individuals aged 0-64 years for 2005-2017, obtained from JMDC Inc.

Aberrant X chromosomal rearrangement through multi-step template switching during sister chromatid formation in a patient with severe hemophilia A.

Background: Hemophilia A (HA) is an X-linked recessive bleeding disorder caused by pathogenic variants of the coagulation factor VIII gene (F8). Half of the patients with severe HA have a recurrent inversion in the X chromosome, that is, F8 intron 22 or intron 1 inversion. Here, we characterized an abnormal F8 due to atypical complex X chromosome rearrangements in a Japanese patient with severe HA.

Major and trace elements in the surface water of Tonle Sap Lake, Mekong River, and other tributary rivers in Cambodia.

To evaluate the seasonal water circulation of Tonle Sap Lake and its tributary rivers in Cambodia, the spatial distribution patterns of major and trace elements in surface water were investigated. Based on the similarity of the dissolved elemental concentrations, the water samples were mainly divided into the three groups: samples with relatively high percentages of Ca, Mo, and Sb (Subcluster B1); samples with high Si, Al, and Fe (B2); and samples with high Na, K, and Mg (B3). During the rainy season, the elemental composition of lake water (B1) appeared to be greatly influenced by the intrusion of water from the Mekong River (B1) through the Tonle Sap River (B1).