Plasma microRNAs Associate Positive, Negative, and Cognitive Symptoms with Inflammation in Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a complex and heterogenous psychiatric disorder characterized by positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. Our previous study identified three subgroups of schizophrenia patients based on plasma microRNA (miRNA) profiles. The present study aims to (1) verify the reproducibility of the miRNA-based patient stratification and (2) explore the pathophysiological pathways linked to the symptoms using plasma miRNAs.

Three stepwise pH progressions in stratum corneum for homeostatic maintenance of the skin.

The stratum corneum is the outermost skin layer with a vital role in skin barrier function. It is comprised of dead keratinocytes (corneocytes) and is known to maintain its thickness by shedding cells, although, the precise mechanisms that safeguard stratum corneum maturation and homeostasis remain unclear. Previous ex vivo studies have suggested a neutral-to-acidic pH gradient in the stratum corneum.

Circulating microRNA Profiles Identify a Patient Subgroup with High Inflammation and Severe Symptoms in Schizophrenia Experiencing Acute Psychosis.

Schizophrenia is a complex and heterogenous psychiatric disorder. This study aimed to demonstrate the potential of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) as a clinical biomarker to stratify schizophrenia patients and to enhance understandings of their heterogenous pathophysiology. We measured levels of 179 miRNA and 378 proteins in plasma samples of schizophrenia patients experiencing acute psychosis and obtained their Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores.

Model-Based Meta-Analysis to Optimize ‒Targeted Therapies for Atopic Dermatitis.

Several clinical trials of ()‒targeted therapies for atopic dermatitis (AD) have shown conflicting results about whether they improve AD severity scores. This study performs a model-based meta-analysis to investigate the possible causes of these conflicting results and suggests how to improve the efficacies of ‒targeted therapies. We developed a mathematical model that describes systems-level AD pathogenesis involving dynamic interactions between and coagulase-negative (CoNS).

Scale-Free Soft Sensor for Monitoring of Water Content in Fluid Bed Granulation Process.

In-line monitoring of granule water content during fluid bed granulation is important to control drug product qualities. In this study, a practical scale-free soft sensor to predict water content was proposed to cope with the manufacturing scale changes in drug product development. The proposed method exploits two key ideas to construct a scale-free soft sensor.

Establishment of a clinically relevant specification for dissolution testing using physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling approaches.

This paper presented how to establish a clinically relevant specification (CRS) using in silico physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. Three different formulations of model drug products were used in the clinical studies in order to distinguish between bioequivalent (BE) batches from non-BE batches. A human PBPK model was constructed by integrating the clinical and non-clinical observations by using GastroPlus software.

Spectral fluctuation dividing for efficient wavenumber selection: application to estimation of water and drug content in granules using near infrared spectroscopy.

In process analytical technology (PAT) based on near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, wavenumber selection is crucial to develop an accurate and robust calibration model. The present research proposes new efficient spectral dividing and wavenumber selection methods to significantly reduce the computational load required by conventional wavenumber selection methods such as interval partial least squares (iPLS). The proposed method, named spectral fluctuation dividing (SFD), divides a whole spectrum into multiple spectral intervals at local minimum points of the spectral fluctuation profile, which consists of the standard deviation of absorbance at each wavenumber in a calibration set.

Verification of model development technique for NIR-based real-time monitoring of ingredient concentration during blending.

There has been a considerable research on the process analytical technology (PAT) and real-time monitoring based on NIR, but the model development is still an important issue and persons in charge have difficulty in building good models. In this study, to realize efficient NIR-based real-time monitoring of ingredient concentration and establish a model development method, we investigated the effect of a calibration set, spectral preprocessing, wavelengths, and other factors on the prediction error through pilot and commercial scale blending experiments. The results confirmed that the small prediction error was realized by a calibration set, including dynamic measurement spectra acquired with the target blender.

Anionic amino acid dendrimer-trastuzumab conjugates for specific internalization in HER2-positive cancer cells.

Trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), offers a promising strategy of anticancer drug targeting to HER2-expressing cancer cells. Conjugation of trastuzumab to dendrimers, repeatedly branched polymers with a highly functionalized surface, can enhance the drug loading capacity. However, typical dendrimers such as cationic polyamidoamine dendrimers have exhibited a nonspecific cytotoxicity.