Initial experience of a novel surgical assist robot "Saroa" featuring tactile feedback and a roll-clutch system in radical prostatectomy.

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Saroa Surgical Robot System in robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP). We enrolled 60 patients who underwent RARP using either the Saroa (n = 9) or da Vinci Xi (n = 51) systems at Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital from January 2022 to March 2024. We compared preoperative characteristics, perioperative outcomes, complications, and postoperative urinary continence at three months between the two groups.

Root exudates in mangrove forests accelerate bicarbonate production in the soil environment.

Mangrove forests are increasingly recognized as vital blue carbon ecosystems due to their high carbon sequestration capacity, primarily through the accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC). Recent research highlights that, in addition to SOC, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), particularly in the form of bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻), plays a crucial role in carbon sequestration by being exported from these ecosystems to adjacent coastal waters. This study aims to investigate the previously unexamined mechanisms behind bicarbonate production in mangrove soils.

Night flight facilitates late breeding catch-up in a long-distance migratory seabird.

Long-distance migrants must optimise their timing of breeding to capitalise on resources at both breeding and over-wintering sites. In species with protracted breeding seasons, departing earlier on migration might be advantageous, but is constrained by the ongoing breeding attempt. Here we investigated how breeding timing affects migratory strategies in the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), a trans-hemispheric migratory seabird with large temporal variation in the onset of breeding.

Legume content estimation from UAV image in grass-legume meadows: comparison methods based on the UAV coverage vs. field biomass.

Legume content (LC) in grass-legume mixtures is important for assessing forage quality and optimizing fertilizer application in meadow fields. This study focuses on differences in LC measurements obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images and ground surveys based on dry matter assessments in seven meadow fields in Hokkaido, Japan. We propose a UAV-based LC (LC) estimation and mapping method using a land cover map from a simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC) algorithm and a random forest (RF) classifier.

A stacked CNN and random forest ensemble architecture for complex nursing activity recognition and nurse identification.

Nursing activity recognition has immense importance in the development of smart healthcare management and is an extremely challenging area of research in human activity recognition. The main reasons are an extreme class-imbalance problem and intra-class variability depending on both the subject and the recipient. In this paper, we apply a unique two-step feature extraction, coupled with an intermediate feature 'Angle' and a new feature called mean min max sum to render the features robust against intra-class variation.

Refining minimal engineered receptors for specific activation of on-target signaling molecules.

Since designer cells are attracting much attention as a new modality in gene and cell therapy, it would be advantageous to develop synthetic receptors that recognize artificial ligands and activate solely signaling molecules of interest. In this study, we refined the construction of our previously developed minimal engineered receptors (MERs) to avoid off-target activation of STAT5 while maintaining on-target activation of signaling molecules corresponding to tyrosine motifs. Among the myristoylated, cytoplasmic, and transmembrane types of MERs, the cytoplasmic type had the highest signaling efficiency, although there was off-target activation of STAT5 upon ligand stimulation.

Electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlattices.

Extending ferroelectric materials to two-dimensional limit provides versatile applications for the development of next-generation nonvolatile devices. Conventional ferroelectricity requires materials consisting of at least two constituent elements associated with polar crystalline structures. Monolayer graphene as an elementary two-dimensional material unlikely exhibits ferroelectric order due to its highly centrosymmetric hexagonal lattices.

Hypoxia drives the formation of lung micropapillary adenocarcinoma-like structure through hypoxia-inducible factor-1α.

Micropapillary adenocarcinoma (MPC) is an aggressive histological subtype of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). MPC is composed of small clusters of cancer cells exhibiting inverted polarity. However, the mechanism underlying its formation is poorly understood.

NS1 binding protein regulates stress granule dynamics and clearance by inhibiting p62 ubiquitination.

The NS1 binding protein, known for interacting with the influenza A virus protein, is involved in RNA processing, cancer, and nerve cell growth regulation. However, its role in stress response independent of viral infections remains unclear. This study investigates NS1 binding protein's function in regulating stress granules during oxidative stress through interactions with GABARAP subfamily proteins.

Age- and sex-related changes in the position of the mental foramina and age estimation methods that use these changes.

The position of the mental foramen is reported to change with age. This study aimed to examine age-related changes in the position of the mental foramen in men and women. Among 200 cases (age 21-100 years; 400 foramina) that underwent postmortem computed tomography, 109 (age 21-93 years; 218 foramina) with mandibular first and second premolars were examined using image analysis software to classify the position of the mental foramen according to Fishel's classification, and the χ² test was performed.

Effect of heart rate on B-type natriuretic peptide in sinus rhythm.

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels accurately reflect the degree of cardiac overload in heart failure. Considering cardiac morphology and intracardiac pressure, including the left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) and left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVI), is essential for cardiac overload assessment. These indexes influence plasma BNP levels, and high heart rate is likely associated with cardiac morphology.

D-loop mutations in mitochondrial DNA are a risk factor for chemotherapy resistance in esophageal cancer.

Esophageal cancer is a highly aggressive disease, and acquired resistance to chemotherapy remains a significant hurdle in its treatment. mtDNA, crucial for cellular energy production, is prone to mutations at a higher rate than nuclear DNA. These mutations can accumulate and disrupt cellular function; however, mtDNA mutations induced by chemotherapy in esophageal cancer remain unexplored.

Recent methane surges reveal heightened emissions from tropical inundated areas.

Record breaking atmospheric methane growth rates were observed in 2020 and 2021 (15.2±0.5 and 17.

Microenvironmental modulation breaks intrinsic pH limitations of nanozymes to boost their activities.

Functional nanomaterials with enzyme-mimicking activities, termed as nanozymes, have found wide applications in various fields. However, the deviation between the working and optimal pHs of nanozymes has been limiting their practical applications. Here we develop a strategy to modulate the microenvironmental pHs of metal-organic framework (MOF) nanozymes by confining polyacids or polybases (serving as Brønsted acids or bases).

Preventive effect of Tyr-Pro, a blood-brain barrier transportable dipeptide, on memory impairment in SAMP8 mice.

In a series of studies on blood-brain barrier transportable peptides, a soybean dipeptide, Tyr-Pro, penetrated the mouse brain parenchyma after oral intake and improved short and long memory impairment in acute Alzheimer's model mice. Here, we aimed to clarify the anti-dementia effects of this peptide administered to SAMP8 mice prior to dementia onset. At the end of the 25-week protocol in 16-week-old SAMP8 mice, Tyr-Pro (10 mg/kg/day) significantly improved the reduced spatial learning ability compared with that in the control and amino acid (Tyr + Pro) groups as indicated by the results of Morris water maze tests conducted for five consecutive days.

Structure-function analysis of carrier protein-dependent 2-sulfamoylacetyl transferase in the biosynthesis of altemicidin.

The general control non-repressible 5 (GCN5)-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) SbzI, in the biosynthesis of the sulfonamide antibiotic altemicidin, catalyzes the transfer of the 2-sulfamoylacetyl (2-SA) moiety onto 6-azatetrahydroindane dinucleotide. While most GNAT superfamily utilize acyl-coenzyme A (acyl-CoA) as substrates, SbzI recognizes a carrier-protein (CP)-tethered 2-SA substrate. Moreover, SbzI is the only naturally occurring enzyme that catalyzes the direct incorporation of sulfonamide, a valuable pharmacophore in medicinal chemistry.

Ultrafast Floquet engineering of Fermi-polaron resonances in charge-tunable monolayer WSe devices.

Fermi polarons are emerging quasiparticles when a bosonic impurity immersed in a fermionic bath. Depending on the boson-fermion interaction strength, the Fermi-polaron resonances exhibit either attractive or repulsive interactions, which impose further experimental challenges on understanding the subtle light-driven dynamics. Here, we report the light-driven dynamics of attractive and repulsive Fermi polarons in monolayer WSe devices.

Femtomolar hydrogen sulfide detection via hybrid small-molecule nano-arrays.

Early disease diagnosis hinges on the sensitive detection of signaling molecules. Among these, hydrogen sulfide (HS) has emerged as a critical player in cardiovascular and nervous system signaling. On-chip immunoassays, particularly nanoarray-based interfacial detection, offer promising avenues for ultra-sensitive analysis due to their confined reaction volumes and precise signal localization.

A general strategy to achieve see-through devices through the micro-structuring of colored functional materials.

Irrespective of the specific see-through device, obtaining optimal transparency remains the primary goal. In this work, we introduce a general strategy to enhance the transparency of various see-through devices. We achieve this by structuring the colored functional materials into imperceptible three-dimensional mesh lines, addressing a common challenge in multi-layer structures where each layer causes a reduction in transparency due to their color or opacity.

Structural insights into how Cas9 targets nucleosomes.

The CRISPR-associated endonuclease Cas9 derived from prokaryotes is used as a genome editing, which targets specific genomic loci by single guide RNAs (sgRNAs). The eukaryotes, the target of genome editing, store their genome DNA in chromatin, in which the nucleosome is a basic unit. Despite previous structural analyses focusing on Cas9 cleaving free DNA, structural insights into Cas9 targeting of DNA within nucleosomes are limited, leading to uncertainties in understanding how Cas9 operates in the eukaryotic genome.

A high-protein diet-responsive gut hormone regulates behavioral and metabolic optimization in Drosophila melanogaster.

Protein is essential for all living organisms; however, excessive protein intake can have adverse effects, such as hyperammonemia. Although mechanisms responding to protein deficiency are well-studied, there is a significant gap in our understanding of how organisms adaptively suppress excessive protein intake. In the present study, utilizing the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, we discover that the peptide hormone CCHamide1 (CCHa1), secreted by enteroendocrine cells in response to a high-protein diet (HPD), is vital for suppressing overconsumption of protein.

Current perspectives on the dynamic culture of mesenchymal stromal/stem cell spheroids.

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) are promising candidates for regenerative medicine owing to their self-renewal properties, multilineage differentiation, immunomodulatory effects, and angiogenic potential. MSC spheroids fabricated by 3D culture have recently shown enhanced therapeutic potential. MSC spheroids create a specialized niche with tight cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions, optimizing their cellular function by mimicking the in vivo environment.

Hydronium Ions Are Less Excluded from Hydrophobic Polymer-Water Interfaces than Hydroxide Ions.

The cloud point temperatures of aqueous poly(-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(ethylene) oxide (PEO) solutions were measured from pH 1.0 to pH 13.0 at a constant ionic strength of 100 mM.

Downregulation of semaphorin 4A in keratinocytes reflects the features of non-lesional psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a multifactorial disorder mediated by IL-17-producing T cells, involving immune cells and skin-constituting cells. Semaphorin 4A (Sema4A), an immune semaphorin, is known to take part in T helper type 1/17 differentiation and activation. However, Sema4A is also crucial for maintaining peripheral tissue homeostasis and its involvement in skin remains unknown.

Co-culture of Aspergillus niger IFM 59706 and RAW264 cells enhances the production of aurasperone A with NO inhibitory activity.

Most actinomycetes and fungi have a multitude of silent biosynthetic genes whose activation could lead to the production of new natural products. Our group recently designed and used a co-culture method to isolate new natural products, based on the idea that pathogens might produce immune suppressors to avoid attack by immune cells. Here, we searched for compounds produced by the co-culture of immune cells with pathogenic fungi isolated from clinical specimens.