Asymmetric Cationic Polymerization of Benzofuran through a Reversible Chain-Transfer Mechanism: Optically Active Polybenzofuran with Controlled Molecular Weights.

Benzofuran (BzF) is a prochiral, 1,2-disubstituted, unsymmetric cyclic olefin that can afford optically active polymers by asymmetric polymerization, unlike common acyclic vinyl monomers. Although asymmetric cationic polymerization of BzF was reported by Natta et al. in the 1960s, the polymer structure has not been clarified, and there are no reports on molecular weight control.

A change in the timing of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination in 2013 was associated with an increase in the incidence rate of infants with latent tuberculosis infection.

Background: A change in the timing of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination among infants in Japan appears to be associated with an increase in the incidence rate of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI).

Methods: Data on both active and latent tuberculosis (TB) infections from 2007 to 2019, which were reported by the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, were statistically analyzed by comparing TB incidence rates in 2007-2012 and 2013-2019.

Results: Although the incidence rate for active TB disease did not statistically increase nor decrease in the infant age group for either sex (and in fact decreased for some of the other age groups), the incidence rates of LTBI for both sexes were increased in the infant age group, while the incidence rates decreased in the other age groups.

Characteristics and etiology of infection in febrile infants aged ≤90 days.

Background: Infants ≤90 days old can exhibit non-specific signs of infection, even in cases of serious bacterial infection (SBI).

Methods: This prospective study included infants aged ≤90 days hospitalized for fever from June 2017 to August 2019. Nasopharyngeal swabs were tested using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 16S ribosomal RNA analysis of whole blood to determine causative microorganisms.

Stepwise neuronal network pattern formation in agarose gel during cultivation using non-destructive microneedle photothermal microfabrication.

Conventional neuronal network pattern formation techniques cannot control the arrangement of axons and dendrites because network structures must be fixed before neurite differentiation. To overcome this limitation, we developed a non-destructive stepwise microfabrication technique that can be used to alter microchannels within agarose to guide neurites during elongation. Micropatterns were formed in thin agarose layer coating of a cultivation dish using the tip of a 0.

Emergent synchronous beating behavior in spontaneous beating cardiomyocyte clusters.

We investigated the dominant rule determining synchronization of beating intervals of cardiomyocytes after the clustering of mouse primary and human embryonic-stem-cell (hES)-derived cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocyte clusters were formed in concave agarose cultivation chambers and their beating intervals were compared with those of dispersed isolated single cells. Distribution analysis revealed that the clusters' synchronized interbeat intervals (IBIs) were longer than the majority of those of isolated single cells, which is against the conventional faster firing regulation or "overdrive suppression.

Epidemiology of urinary tract infections in children: Causative bacteria and antimicrobial therapy.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common bacterial infections in children. This study aimed to review characteristics of causative bacteria and the effectiveness of antimicrobial therapy in children with febrile UTIs.

Methods: Clinical records of 108 patients (130 episodes) with febrile UTIs admitted to the Kawasaki Medical School Hospital between July 2009 and October 2016 were retrospectively reviewed.

Infection Complicated with Bacteremia in a 10-Month-Old Boy.

() infection complicated with bacteremia rarely occurs. infection is also known to produce various symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease (KD) due to the production of -derived mitogen (YPM), an exotoxin with superantigen activity. Moreover, it causes terminal ileitis and is responsible for appendix swelling.

Geometric Understanding of Local Fluctuation Distribution of Conduction Time in Lined-Up Cardiomyocyte Network in Agarose-Microfabrication Multi-Electrode Measurement Assay.

We examined characteristics of the propagation of conduction in width-controlled cardiomyocyte cell networks for understanding the contribution of the geometrical arrangement of cardiomyocytes for their local fluctuation distribution. We tracked a series of extracellular field potentials of linearly lined-up human embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived cardiomyocytes and mouse primary cardiomyocytes with 100 kHz sampling intervals of multi-electrodes signal acquisitions and an agarose microfabrication technology to localize the cardiomyocyte geometries in the lined-up cell networks with 100-300 μm wide agarose microstructures. Conduction time between two neighbor microelectrodes (300 μm) showed Gaussian distribution.

Molecular epidemiology, antimicrobial susceptibility, and characterization of fluoroquinolone non-susceptible Streptococcus pyogenes in Japan.

Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococci: GAS) are known to cause a wide variety of human illnesses, some of which can be life-threatening. Usually, penicillin is the first-choice agent for the treatment of GAS infections. For patients with penicillin or beta-lactam antibiotics allergies, macrolide drugs are recommended as an alternative therapy.

Comparing Antimicrobial Susceptibilities among Isolates from Pediatric Patients in Japan between Two Recent Epidemic Periods.

We compared the antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates from pediatric patients in Japan in 2011-2012 and 2015-2016, when epidemics occurred. The antimicrobial activity of macrolides and tetracyclines against infection tended to be restored in 2015-2016. There was no change in the antimicrobial activity of quinolones against infection.

LAMP-based assay can rectify the diagnosis of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections otherwise missed by serology.

Background: Despite being a well-known but seldom encountered zoonotic pathogen, diagnosis of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is not necessarily easy. Infected patients occasionally present with various symptoms resembling Kawasaki disease; thus discriminating the two in the acute phase is challenging. In addition to bacterial culture and serology, novel detection methods based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) are reported in the literature.

Macrolide-Resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection, Japan, 2008-2015.

We evaluated isolates obtained from children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection throughout Japan during 2008-2015. The highest prevalence of macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae was 81.

Molecular epidemiology, antimicrobial susceptibility, and characterization of macrolide-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes in Japan.

Here we report the molecular epidemiology of macrolide-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococci, GAS) isolated from children with pharyngotonsillitis between 2011 and 2013 in Japan. In 299 isolates, 124 (41.5%) isolates were macrolide-resistant.

An HIV-infected Pregnant Woman Treated with the Long-term Administration of Antiretroviral Therapy Including Raltegravir.

A 27-year-old HIV-infected pregnant Japanese woman was admitted to our hospital at gestational week 14. The patient's HIV viral load was 71,000 copies/mL, and her CD4 cell count was 147 cells/mm(3). Zidovudine, lamivudine, and lopinavir/ritonavir were administered at gestational week 18.

[Antibiotic therapy against acute tonsillopharyngitis in children due to group A beta-hemolytic streptococci: comparison of clinical efficacy, the bactericidal effects, and effects on oral flora between cefditoren pivoxil for 5 days and amoxicillin for 10 days].

We compared the clinical efficacy, the bactericidal effects, effect on the oral microbial flora, and adverse reactions between cefditoren pivoxil (CDTR-PI) for 5 days and amoxicillin (AMPC) for 10 days in children with acute group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GAS) tonsillopharyngitis, and simultaneously examined the emm genotype and drug susceptibility of the isolated GAS. The results showed that the clinical efficacy was 100% for CDTR-PI and 97.9% for AMPC, with no difference between the two groups, and the bacterial elimination rate was 100% in both groups.

Power-law analysis of surface-plasmon-enhanced electromagnetic field dependence of blinking SERS of thiacyanine or thiacarbocyanine adsorbed on single silver nanoaggregates.

Blinking statistics in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of thiacyanine or thiacarbocyanine adsorbed on single Ag nanoaggregates were analyzed by a power law. A power law reproduces the probability distributions of both the bright and dark SERS occurrences against their duration times. As the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength of a single Ag nanoaggregate approached the excitation wavelength or the excitation laser intensity increases, the power-law exponents were close to -1.

Analysis of excitation laser intensity dependence of blinking SERRS of thiacarbocyanine adsorbed on single silver nanoaggregates by using a power law with an exponential function.

In blinking SERRS, probability distributions of the dark events against their duration were mostly reproduced by a power-law with the same exponential function under various excitation laser intensities, although they were given by a power-law with the different exponential functions at other excitation wavelengths.

Power-law statistics in blinking SERS of thiacyanine adsorbed on a single silver nanoaggregate.

In blinking surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), probability distributions of the bright and dark events against their duration times are reproduced by a power-law without and with an exponential function, respectively. The truncation at the tail of the power-law suggests not only a potential well but also an energy barrier during a single molecule optical trapping onto the junction.

Simplified protocol for detection of protein-ligand interactions via surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering and surface-enhanced fluorescence.

A simple and effective protocol for detections of protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions has been developed. After interactions between proteins and their corresponding ligands, we employed colloidal silver staining for producing active substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF). Tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate (TRITC) and Atto610 were used for both Raman and fluorescent probes.