Publications by authors named "Yokota A"

Background: It remains unclear whether the newly adopted high-power, short-duration (HP-SD) setting in ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) impacts periprocedural thrombotic markers or silent stroke (SS) onset.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical impact of HP-SD setting ablation on changes in periprocedural thrombotic markers and the onset of SS.

Methods: We enrolled 101 AF patients: the HP-SD group (n = 67) using 50 W and the conventional ablation group (n = 34) using 30 to 40 W.

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Degradation of damaged mitochondria, a process called mitophagy, plays a role in mitochondrial quality control and its dysfunction has been linked to neurodegenerative pathologies. The PINK1 kinase and the ubiquitin ligase Parkin-mediated mitophagy represents the most common pathway in which specific receptors, including Optineurin (Optn), target ubiquitin-labeled mitochondria to autophagosomes. Here, we show that Protein Kinases D (PKD) are activated and recruited to damaged mitochondria.

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Three Gram-stain-positive aerobic bacteria, characterized by branched mycelia with putative sporangia, were isolated from forest soil inside a decayed bamboo stem from a geothermal area in West Java, Indonesia. The strain S3.2.

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Luspatercept has shown durable clinical efficacy for the treatment of anemia in transfusion-dependent patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (LR-MDS). We report the results of a prespecified primary analysis of a phase 2 trial of luspatercept in non-transfusion-dependent (NTD) Japanese patients with anemia due to LR-MDS. Luspatercept (starting dose 1.

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Varicose veins are common lower extremity venous disorders characterized by dilated veins and incompetent valves. Although maintaining the required vein wall tone for adaptive responses depends on a proper contractile function of the human saphenous smooth muscle, the contractile properties of varicose veins are mostly unknown. We investigated the relationship between contractile responses and the internal diameter of human saphenous varicose veins.

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Purpose: The usefulness of urine dipstick tests (UDTs) in patients with diabetes has been reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate the utility of self-performed UDTs and patient diaries in the management of impaired glucose tolerance, one of the adverse events of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

Methods: Patients receiving ICIs underwent self-checks with UDTs twice a week for up to 6 months.

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Rho kinase inhibitor fasudil exerts therapeutic effects against vasospasms. In this study, we aimed to compare its suppressive effects on serotonin (5-HT)- and noradrenaline (NAd)-induced contractions of human endothelium-denuded internal thoracic arteries (ITAs) and saphenous veins (SVs). NAd and 5-HT induced concentration-dependent contractions in both ITAs and SVs.

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Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is synthesized from l-glutamic acid via glutamate decarboxylase (Gad), is used as food, supplements, and biodegradable plastics. Our previous study demonstrated an Escherichia coli mutant (ΔΔ) strain, lacking type I NADH dehydrogenase (NDH-I) and cytochrome bo oxidase (Cytbo), produced 7 g/L glutamic acid on MS1 glucose-minimal medium. In this study, the ΔΔ strain was used for improving GABA production.

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Hypertension (HTN) is one of the major risk factors for developing atrial fibrillation (AF), and it has been estimated that approximately 70% of hypertensive patients are at risk of developing AF. On the other hand, 60-80% of AF patients have HTN. These two diseases share many risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, obesity, alcohol consumption, and sleep apnea syndrome during their onset and disease progression.

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Anaplerotic reactions catalyzed by pyruvate carboxylase (PC) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) have important roles in the production of l-lysine to replenish oxaloacetic acid (OAA) in Corynebacterium glutamicum. However, the relative contributions of these enzymes to l-lysine production in C. glutamicum are not fully understood.

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Purpose: Establishing zonal tendon-to-bone attachment could accelerate the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) rehabilitation schedule and facilitate an earlier return to sports. KI24RGDS is a self-assembling peptide hydrogel scaffold (SAPS) with the RGDS amino acid sequence. This study aimed to elucidate the therapeutic potential of KI24RGDS in facilitating zonal tendon-to-bone attachment after ACLR.

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Article Synopsis
  • The spatial structure of gut microbiota is vital for gut health, yet how these bacterial communities form in different areas remains unclear.
  • In insects, the anterior midgut has a diverse bacterial community, while the posterior midgut mostly hosts a single bacterial type that withstands antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) produced in that region.
  • Research identifies genetic pathways in these bacteria that help them resist AMPs, indicating that these defenses are essential for survival in the gut and may also play a role in interactions with the host.
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Background: The precise details of atrial activation around the triangle of Koch (ToK) remain unknown. We evaluated the relationship between the atrial-activation pattern around the ToK and success sites for slow-pathway (SP) modification ablation in slow-fast atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT).

Methods: Thirty patients with slow-fast AVNRT who underwent successful ablation were enrolled.

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How bifidobacteria colonize and survive in the intestine is not fully understood. The administration of bifidobacteria to conventional mice can be used to evaluate their ability to colonize the intestine in the presence of endogenous gut microbiota. However, human-derived bifidobacteria do not readily colonize the intestines of conventional mice, and although colonization by UCC2003 has been achieved, the viability of such populations requires improvement.

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Objectives: NS-87/CPX-351 is a dual-drug liposomal encapsulation of cytarabine and daunorubicin. NS-87/CPX-351 exerts antileukemic action by maintaining a synergistic molar ratio of cytarabine to daunorubicin of 5:1 within the liposome while in circulation. Patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which includes therapy-related AML and AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC), have poorer outcomes than those with other AML.

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Article Synopsis
  • Non-dipping blood pressure patterns, where there's a lack of nighttime BP drop, are recognized as a cardiovascular risk, particularly affecting patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).
  • In a study of 76 AF patients, it was found that those with non-dipper status had a significantly higher rate of AF recurrence (38.9%) compared to dipper patients (15.0%).
  • The analysis indicated that non-dipping is an independent predictor of AF recurrence, suggesting that monitoring and managing blood pressure patterns is crucial for improving long-term outcomes post-PVI.
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Toxin-antitoxin systems are preserved by nearly every prokaryote. The type II toxin MazF acts as a sequence-specific endoribonuclease, cleaving ribonucleotides at specific sequences that vary from three to seven bases, as has been reported in different host organisms to date. The present study characterized the MazEF module (MazEF-sth) conserved in the IAM14863 strain, a Gram-negative syntrophic bacterium that can be supported by co-culture with multiple bacteria, including .

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is a bacterium belonging to the genus , which is able to colonize multiple environments like soils and the gut of the bean bug . We constructed a saturated mariner transposon library and revealed by transposon-sequencing that 498 protein-coding genes constitute the essential genome of for growth in free-living conditions. By comparing essential gene sets of and seven related strains, only 120 common genes were identified, indicating that a large part of the essential genome is strain-specific.

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Short-chain fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (SFAHFAs) are a new class of endogenous lipids belonging to the fatty acid esters of the hydroxy fatty acid family. We previously uncovered their chemical structure and discussed their potential biological significance. We anticipate an increased need for SFAHFA measurements as markers of metabolic and inflammatory health.

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The sequence-specific endoribonuclease MazF is widely conserved among prokaryotes. Approximately 20 different MazF cleavage sequences have been discovered, varying from three to seven nucleotides in length. Although MazFs from various prokaryotes were found, the cleavage sequences of most MazFs are unknown.

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Background: We hypothesized that the distance between the anterior leaflet tip and the interventricular septum is a novel predictor for systolic anterior motion (SAM) after mitral valve repair.

Methods: In this case-control study, we included 139 patients who underwent mitral valve repair for degenerative mitral regurgitation between November 2014 and August 2022. We conducted multivariable logistic regression analysis to investigate the impact of the predictors associated with persistent SAM.

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Aim: To investigate the clinical and radiological features to predict adhesion between vestibular schwannoma (VS) and brain tissue which is a critical risk factor for postoperative infarction and residual tumour.

Material And Methods: One hundred and seven consecutive VS surgeries were analysed. After excluding cases without contrast-enhanced (CE) computed tomography (CT), Koos grades 1 and 2, and cases with incomplete clinical data, 44 patients were finally included in the study.

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