Novel anti-flavivirus drugs targeting the nucleolar distribution of core protein.

The risk of infectious diseases caused by Flavivirus is increasing globally. Here, we developed a novel high-throughput screening (HTS) system to evaluate the inhibitory effects of compounds targeting the nuclear localization of the flavivirus core protein. We screened 4000 compounds based on their ability to inhibit the nuclear localization of the core protein, and identified over 20 compounds including inhibitors for cyclin dependent kinase and glycogen synthase kinase.

Concurrent Bacteremia Due to Non-vaccine Serotype 24F Pneumococcus in Twins: A Rapid Increase in Serotype 24F-invasive Pneumococcal Disease and its High Invasive Potential.

Although concurrent bacteremia in siblings is rare, serotype 24F Streptococcus pneumoniae was isolated from the blood of twin 1-year-old girls within a 3-day interval, supporting the high invasive potential of this serotype. As the prevalence of childhood serotype 24F-invasive pneumococcal diseases increases in Europe and the Western Pacific Region, investigation and surveillance of this serotype are necessary.

Intramucosal-lymphatic invasion has a slight impact on lymph node metastasis in patients with early gastric cancer.

Purpose: Lymphatic invasion (LI) is associated with lymph node metastasis (LNM) and a poor prognosis in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). Although the impact of the LI volume on LNM has been described, no reports have assessed the impact of its depth on LNM.

Methods: A total of 360 EGC patients with pathologically proven LI who underwent radical gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy between January 2005 and June 2018 at our institution were extracted from our database.

Expression, Folding, and Activation of Halophilic Alkaline Phosphatase in Non-Halophilic Brevibacillus choshinensis.

Halophilic enzymes contain a large number of acidic amino acids and marginal large hydrophobic amino acids, which make them highly soluble even under strongly hydrophobic conditions. This characteristic of halophilic enzymes provides potential for their industrial application. However, halophilic enzymes easily degrade when used for industrial applications compared with enzymes from other extremophiles because of their instability in low-salt environments.

Feasibility and Safety of Early Oral Intake and Discharge After Total or Proximal Gastrectomy: An Analysis of Consecutive Cases Without Exclusion Criteria.

Background: Postoperative feeding is administered relatively early in gastric surgery, especially distal gastrectomy, but its feasibility and safety for proximal gastric surgery remains unclear.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 91 consecutive patients who underwent total or proximal gastrectomy between 2014 and 2019. Baseline and perioperative results were prospectively recorded in our dataset.

SNAIL- and SLUG-induced side population phenotype of HCT116 human colorectal cancer cells and its regulation by BET inhibitors.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with cancer malignancies such as invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance. In this study, HCT116 human colorectal cancer cells were transduced with SLUG or SNAIL retroviruses, and EMT cells with mesenchymal morphology were established. The EMT cells showed a high invasive activity and resistance to several anticancer agents such as methotrexate, SN-38, and cisplatin.

Perioperative chemotherapy for locally advanced gastric cancer in Japan: current and future perspectives.

The standard treatment for locally advanced gastric cancer differs across the world. In western countries, perioperative chemotherapy or postoperative adjuvant chemoradiotherapy are the preferred treatment options, whereas in Asia, D2 gastrectomy followed by postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy is standard. In Japan, adjuvant chemotherapy with S-1 is the standard treatment for pStage II gastric cancer, whereas adjuvant chemotherapy with a doublet regimen is preferred for pStage III gastric cancer.

Application of Consistent Massage-Like Perturbations on Mouse Calves and Monitoring the Resulting Intramuscular Pressure Changes.

Massage is generally recognized to be beneficial for relieving pain and inflammation. Although previous studies have reported anti-inflammatory effects of massage on skeletal muscles, the molecular mechanisms behind are poorly understood. We have recently developed a simple device to apply local cyclical compression (LCC), which can generate intramuscular pressure waves with varying amplitudes.

HER2 heterogeneity is a poor prognosticator for HER2-positive gastric cancer.

Background: The clinical significance of intratumoral human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) heterogeneity is unclear for HER2-positive gastric cancer, although it has been reported to be a significant prognosticator for HER2-positive breast cancer, which has received trastuzumab-based chemotherapy.

Aim: To clarify the clinical significance of intratumoral HER2 heterogeneity for HER2-positive gastric cancer, which has received trastuzumab-based chemotherapy.

Methods: Patients with HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic gastric cancer who received trastuzumab-based chemotherapy as a first line treatment were included.

Batroxobin accelerated tissue repair via neutrophil extracellular trap regulation and defibrinogenation in a murine ischemic hindlimb model.

Batroxobin, isolated from Bothrops moojeni, is a defibrinogenating agent used as a thrombin-like serine protease against fibrinogen for improving microcirculation. Here, we investigated whether, and if so, how batroxobin restores ischemic tissue injury in terms of anti-inflammatory effects. In an in vitro flow cytometry assay for human neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), batroxobin (DF-521; Defibrase) inhibited human NETs induced by tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the presence of human fibrinogen.

Surface Modification of a Supported Pt Catalyst Using Ionic Liquids for Selective Hydrodeoxygenation of Phenols into Arenes under Mild Conditions.

The selective and efficient removal of oxygenated groups from lignin-derived phenols is a critical challenge to utilize lignin as a source for renewable aromatic chemicals. This report describes how surface modification of a zeolite-supported Pt catalyst using ionic liquids (ILs) remarkably increases selectivity for the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenols into arenes under mild reaction conditions using atmospheric pressure H . Unmodified Pt/H-ZSM-5 converts phenols into aliphatic species as the major products along with a slight amount of arenes (10 % selectivity).

Extra-perigastric Extranodal Metastasis is a Significant Prognostic Factor in Node-Positive Gastric Cancer.

Background: Extranodal metastasis is an isolated tumor nodule without a residual lymph node structure and has been reported as a poor prognostic factor in gastric cancer. The aim of this study is to assess the prognostic value of extranodal metastasis, especially from the viewpoint of its anatomical distribution.

Methods: A total of 139 consecutive gastric cancer patients who underwent curative surgery with lymph node metastasis between 2008 and 2009 were included.

Different risks of nodal metastasis by tumor location in remnant gastric cancer after curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Background: Curative surgery for remnant gastric cancer (RGC) after gastrectomy for gastric cancer (GC) can be challenging. We examined the risk factors for lymph node metastasis in RGC, especially for tumors located at the greater curvature (G) or non-greater curvature (NG), to determine the appropriate indications of curative surgery.

Methods: Data from the two high-volume centers of Japan between 1998 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed.

Large Enhancement of Thermoelectric Efficiency Due to a Pressure-Induced Lifshitz Transition in SnSe.

The Lifshitz transition, a change in Fermi surface topology, is likely to greatly influence exotic correlated phenomena in solids, such as high-temperature superconductivity and complex magnetism. However, since the observation of Fermi surfaces is generally difficult in the strongly correlated systems, a direct link between the Lifshitz transition and quantum phenomena has been elusive so far. Here, we report a marked impact of the pressure-induced Lifshitz transition on thermoelectric performance for SnSe, a promising thermoelectric material without a strong electron correlation.

Quantized surface transport in topological Dirac semimetal films.

Unconventional surface states protected by non-trivial bulk orders are sources of various exotic quantum transport in topological materials. One prominent example is the unique magnetic orbit, so-called Weyl orbit, in topological semimetals where two spatially separated surface Fermi-arcs are interconnected across the bulk. The recent observation of quantum Hall states in Dirac semimetal CdAs bulks have drawn attention to the novel quantization phenomena possibly evolving from the Weyl orbit.

EORTC-1203-GITCG - the "INNOVATION"-trial: Effect of chemotherapy alone versus chemotherapy plus trastuzumab, versus chemotherapy plus trastuzumab plus pertuzumab, in the perioperative treatment of HER2 positive, gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma on pathologic response rate: a randomized phase II-intergroup trial of the EORTC-Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Group, Korean Cancer Study Group and Dutch Upper GI-Cancer group.

Background: 10-20% of patients with gastric cancer (GC) have HER2+ tumors. Addition of trastuzumab (T) to cisplatin/fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy (CT) improved survival in metastatic, HER2+ GC. When pertuzumab (P) was added to neoadjuvant T and CT, a significant increase in histopathological complete response rate was observed in HER2+ breast cancer.

Enantioselective Protonation of Enol Esters with Bifunctional Phosphonium/Thiourea Catalysts.

Bifunctional phosphonium/thioureas derived from tert-leucine behaved as highly selective catalysts for enantioselective protonation of enol esters, providing α-chiral ketones in yields of up to 99% with high enantioselectivities (up to 98.5:1.5 er).

[Follicular lymphoma with nodular lesions mimicking gallbladder carcinoma].

A 68-year-old female was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma (FL) grade 2, based on the excisional biopsy of her enlarged left cervical lymph node. Positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) revealed the F-fluoro-deoxyglucose-avid lesions in the sigmoid colon and at the fundus of the gallbladder, besides those in the left neck. A sigmoid colon polyp, which was endoscopically resected, proved histologically to be a well- to moderately-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma with deep invasion into the submucosa.

Clinical impact of splenic hilar dissection with splenectomy for gastric stump cancer.

Background: Splenectomy for advanced gastric stump cancer (GSC) is performed in Japan, based on the concept that lymphatic flow toward the splenic hilum is dominant following initial gastrectomy. However, little has been reported on the therapeutic impact of complete splenic hilar dissection with splenectomy.

Material And Methods: A total of 184 patients who underwent R0 total gastrectomy with or without splenectomy for GSC between 1998 and 2015 were included in this retrospective analysis.

A series of magnon crystals appearing under ultrahigh magnetic fields in a kagomé antiferromagnet.

Geometrical frustration and a high magnetic field are two key factors for realizing unconventional quantum states in magnetic materials. Specifically, conventional magnetic order can potentially be destroyed by competing interactions and may be replaced by an exotic state that is characterized in terms of quasiparticles called magnons, the density and chemical potential of which are controlled by the magnetic field. Here we show that a synthetic copper mineral, Cd-kapellasite, which comprises a kagomé lattice consisting of corner-sharing triangles of spin-1/2 Cu ions, exhibits an unprecedented series of fractional magnetization plateaus in ultrahigh magnetic fields of up to 160 T.

Topological transitions among skyrmion- and hedgehog-lattice states in cubic chiral magnets.

Manipulating topological spin textures is a key for exploring unprecedented emergent electromagnetic phenomena. Whereas switching control of magnetic skyrmions, e.g.

Thermodynamic evidence of magnetic-field-induced complete valley polarization in bismuth.

We investigated the fundamental physical properties in the ultra-quantum limit state of bismuth through measurements of magnetoresistance, magnetization, magnetostriction, and ultrasound attenuation in magnetic fields up to 60T. For magnetic fields applied along the bisectrix direction of a single crystal, a drastic sign reversal in magnetostriction was observed at approximately 39T, which could be ascribed to the complete valley polarization in the electron Fermi pockets. The application of magnetic fields along the binary direction presented an anomalous feature at approximately 50T only in the magnetoresistance.