Increasing robustness of assay for immnosuppressive effect of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells: The role of inflammatory cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Introduction: The Quality by Design (QbD) approach for developing cell therapy products using mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) is a promising method for designing manufacturing processes to improve the quality of MSC products. It is crucial to ensure the reproducibility and robustness of the test system for evaluating critical quality attributes (CQAs) in the QbD approach for manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. In this study, we explored the key factors involved in establishing a robust evaluation system for the immunosuppressive effect of MSCs, which can be an example of a CQA in developing and manufacturing therapeutic MSCs for treating graft-versus-host disease, , and we have identified method attributes to increase the robustness of a simple assay to assess the immunosuppressive effects of MSCs.

Development of a novel instrument to measure Japanese psychiatric nurses' technological competency as caring in nursing.

Background: To effectively advance person-centered care (PCC) practice, it is important to equip healthcare providers with person-centered values and beliefs while simultaneously transforming their work environment to align with PCC. Thus, instruments to measure caring practice status in nursing competency for psychiatric-specific behavioral limitations, ethico-moral behavior, technology use, and PCC need to be developed.

Objective: This study developed the Technological Competency as Caring in Psychiatric Nursing Instrument (TCCNPNI) to measure practice status and test its content and construct validity.

Characteristics associated with career self-reliance behaviors of nurses working in nursing homes in Japan: A cross-sectional study.

Background: With an aging global population, establishing integrated systems for long-term care is challenging in several countries. Adequate and quality service for older adults in nursing homes can improve their quality of life. The career self-reliance of nurses working in nursing homes may affect the quality of life of older adults; this suggests a need for educational support for career self-reliance behavior.

Cerebral blood flow following successful living kidney transplantation: the VINTAGE study.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. However, there is limited research on how successful living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) affects cerebral blood flow (CBF). This study aims to comprehensively investigate how LDKT influences CBF across various brain levels and regions.

Achieving myoblast engraftment into intact skeletal muscle via extracellular matrix.

Cell therapy of skeletal muscles is a promising approach for the prevention of muscular diseases and age-related muscle atrophy. However, cell transplantation to treat muscle atrophy that does not involve disease, such as sarcopenia, is considered impossible because externally injected cells rarely engraft into non-injured muscle tissue. Additionally, skeletal muscle-specific somatic stem cells, called satellite cells, lose their ability to adhere to tissue after being cultured and transforming into myoblasts.

Prognostic value of liver metastasis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab.

Nivolumab has been approved for unresectable recurrent advanced esophageal cancer. The present study aimed to provide real-world data on diverse patient profiles, including the elderly and those with poor performance status, while exploring therapeutic efficacy biomarkers. This retrospective study included 42 patients with esophageal cancer who received nivolumab after second- or later-line treatment at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine (Kyoto, Japan) from February 2020 to December 2021.

Second-line treatment patterns and outcomes in advanced HCC after progression on atezolizumab/bevacizumab.

Background & Aims: Atezolizumab/bevacizumab (A/B) is now a standard first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the optimal second-line regimen is not known. We evaluated real-world treatment patterns and outcomes to investigate factors associated with post-progression survival (PPS).

Methods: In this multicenter, international, retrospective study, we examined clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with advanced HCC who progressed on first-line A/B.

Impact of comorbid constipation on the survival of patients with heart failure: a multicenter, prospective cohort study conducted in Japan.

Background: Constipation frequently affects heart failure patients because of medication side effects and physiological effects of the condition. Although recent speculation suggests that comorbid constipation may affect cardiovascular disease onset and survival rates, this relationship remains unclear. We examined the effect of comorbid constipation on the survival of patients with heart failure.

Development of novel nucleic acid therapy aimed at directly controlling liver fibrosis.

Currently, no drugs directly treat liver fibrosis. Previously, we have shown that treatment with miR-29a-3p improved liver fibrosis in a mouse model. To investigate the effectiveness of nucleic acid therapy at a lower dose, a modified nucleic acid was prepared based on miR-29a-3p.

Achievement of guideline-based lipid goals among very-high-risk patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes: results in 213,380 individuals from the cvMOBIUS2 registry.

Objective: Lowering lipid to reach guideline-indicated goals significantly reduces cardiovascular outcomes in very-high-risk (VHR) patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and type 2 diabetes (DM2). How well VHR patients currently achieve these goals in community practice is unknown.

Methods: VHR patients with ASCVD and DM2 were identified across 14 US healthcare systems using electronic health records between 1/1/2021-12/31/2022.

Clinical results of carpal tunnel Re-release revision surgery and synovial wrap for recurrent carpal tunnel syndrome.

Introduction: Carpal tunnel syndrome is a challenging condition when conventional carpal tunnel revision surgery fails to alleviate symptoms. This study aims to assess the outcomes of combining carpal tunnel revision surgery with a synovial wrap for cases of recurrent carpal tunnel syndrome in patients who had adhered median nerve, with a minimum 1-year follow-up.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 10 patients (mean age: 73.

Pancreatic β cell-secreted factor FGF23 attenuates Alzheimer's disease-related amyloid β-induced neuronal death.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline and memory impairment. The pathophysiology of AD may involve aggregated amyloid β (Aβ) accumulation, which may underlie the disease mechanism. Patients with diabetes exhibit an elevated risk of developing AD, indicating potential therapeutic implications upon elucidating the underlying mechanisms.

Early diagnosis of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in HIV-negative patients: Integration of brain MRI and clinical findings.

Purpose: Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis (CM) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative patients are often diagnosed later than in HIV-infected patients, which increases mortality rates concerning the former. Consequently, early diagnosis and treatment are crucial for improving clinical prognosis in HIV-negative patients. This study investigated the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in combination with clinical and laboratory findings for early diagnosis of CM in HIV-negative patients.

Examination of Sensory Recovery of Breasts Reconstructed With Silicone Breast Implants After Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy.

Reconstructed breast with silicone breast implants (SBIs) after nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) provides high patient satisfaction from a cosmetic point of view, but low patient satisfaction with respect to hypoesthesia of the reconstructed breast, and reinnervation is required. Currently, few reports are available on reinnervation in breast reconstruction with implants, and detailed data on desensitization of reconstructed breasts are lacking. Therefore, we examined perceptual data after NSM with respect to reinnervation.

Clinicopathological Features of Mixed Connective Tissue Disease-Related Myositis: A Case Series.

Introduction: Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) patients often have myositis, however, myopathological and clinical data for MCTD are limited. Recent reports have shown that the pathology of MCTD myositis resembles that of immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), whereas earlier reports described perifascicular atrophy or inflammatory infiltrates predominantly in the perivascular region in MCTD myositis. We aim to describe the clinical and myopathological features of MCTD myositis.

Regional brain iron correlates with transcriptional and cellular signatures in Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: The link between overload brain iron and transcriptional/cellular signatures in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains inconclusive.

Methods: Iron deposition in 41 cortical and subcortical regions of 30 AD patients and 26 healthy controls (HCs) was measured using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). The expression of 15,633 genes was estimated in the same regions using transcriptomic data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas (AHBA).

Methyl side-groups control the 3̄ phase in core-non-symmetric aryloyl-hydrazine-based molecules.

Control of the formation of liquid crystalline 3̄ gyroid phases and their nanostructures is critical to advance materials chemistry based on the structural feature of three-dimensional helical networks. Here, we present that introducing methyl side-group(s) and slight non-symmetry into aryloyl-hydrazine-based molecules is unexpectedly crucial for their formation and can be a new design strategy through tuning intermolecular interactions: the two chemical modifications in the core portion of the chain-core-chain type molecules effectively lower and extend the 3̄ phase temperature ranges with the increased twist angle between neighboring molecules along the network. The detailed analyses of the aggregation structure revealed the change in the core assembly mode from the double-layered core mode of the mother molecule (without methyl groups) to the single-layered core mode.

Robust undulatory locomotion through neuromechanical adjustments in a dissipative medium.

Dissipative environments are ubiquitous in nature, from microscopic swimmers in low-Reynolds-number fluids to macroscopic animals in frictional media. In this study, we consider a mathematical model of a slender elastic locomotor with an internal rhythmic neural pattern generator to examine various undulatory locomotion such as swimming and crawling behaviours. By using local mechanical load as mechanosensory feedback, we have found that undulatory locomotion robustly emerges in different rheological media.

Cooperative bots exhibit nuanced effects on cooperation across strategic frameworks.

The positive impact of cooperative bots on cooperation within evolutionary game theory is well-documented. However, prior studies predominantly use discrete strategic frameworks with deterministic actions. This article explores continuous and mixed strategic approaches.

Mechanistic Insights into the Apoptosis of Cancer Cells Induced by a Kinase-Responsive Peptide Amphiphile.

Organelle targeting is a useful approach in drug development for cancer therapy. Peptide amphiphiles are good candidates for targeting specific organelles because they can be engineered into a wide range of molecular structures, enabling customization for specific functional needs. We have developed a peptide amphiphile, C16-(EY)3, that can respond to tyrosine kinase activity and undergo phosphorylation inside cancer cells.

Sexual conflict underlying external female genital mutilation in spiders: assessing whether females benefit from multiple matings.

External female genital mutilation (EFGM) is a type of traumatic mating in which males damage female genitalia, resulting in the loss of female re-mating ability. This study examined whether sexual conflict underlies EFGM by examining the possible female reproductive costs from the decreased number of matings in spider, . The female typically receives sperm from a male twice during a mating bout.

Concomitant motor responses facilitate the acquisition of multiple prior distributions in human coincidence timing.

The brain optimizes timing behaviour by acquiring a prior distribution of target timing and integrating it with sensory inputs. Real events have distinct temporal statistics (e.g.

Scaling of shoot and root respiration of woody and herbaceous plants.

Woody and herbaceous plants are the main components of global terrestrial ecosystems, and their growth, adaptation and survival depend largely on the metabolism of shoots and roots. Therefore, understanding size-scaling of metabolic rates in woody and herbaceous plants, and in shoots and roots, is a fundamental issue in ecology. However, few empirical studies have examined metabolic scaling exponents across a wide range of plant sizes.