Heart failure treatment and serum carnitines in HFpEF and HFrEF with or without hypertension - a pilot study.

The ratio of serum acylcarnitines to free carnitines (AC/FC) reflects impaired cardiomyocyte β-oxidization. The effect of heart failure (HF) treatment on AC/FC remained unclear. This pilot study retrospectively examined treatment-induced AC/FC changes in patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in 148 consecutive inpatients undergoing echocardiography and carnitine measurement at admission and discharge.

Paravertebral crystal deposition disease: a retrospective study of clinical presentation, prevalence, and CT imaging findings.

Objectives: Paravertebral crystal deposition disease, characterized by the deposition of crystals around the vertebral bodies leading to acute inflammation and pain, is a condition that remains largely unrecognized. This study aims to elucidate the prevalence, clinical features, and CT findings associated with this disease.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 14,839 consecutive patients who underwent chest and/or abdominal CT (September 2017 to September 2024) owing to chest, abdominal, or back pain.

High leafy and root vegetables and high rice dietary patterns were associated with primary and secondary bile acid levels in the feces.

Colorectal cancer has the second highest mortality among cancer sites worldwide, with increasing morbidity, high recurrence rates, and even poorer postoperative quality of life. Therefore, preventive strategies for colorectal cancer should be established. This study aimed to cross-sectionally explore dietary patterns affecting the intestinal metabolism of bile acids (BAs), a risk factor for colorectal cancer, in young Japanese women.

Ethical considerations regarding the treatment of extremely preterm infants at the limit of viability: a comprehensive review.

Advancements in perinatal care have improved survival rates of extremely preterm infants born at 22 to 23 weeks of gestation, thus introducing new ethical challenges associated with their treatment. Therefore, we reviewed the epidemiological prognosis, treatment evolution, and ethical considerations associated with the care of preterm infants at the limit of viability. We comprehensively searched PubMed to find relevant English-language articles published between January 2014 and July 2024.

Massively parallel characterization of transcriptional regulatory elements.

The human genome contains millions of candidate cis-regulatory elements (cCREs) with cell-type-specific activities that shape both health and many disease states. However, we lack a functional understanding of the sequence features that control the activity and cell-type-specific features of these cCREs. Here we used lentivirus-based massively parallel reporter assays (lentiMPRAs) to test the regulatory activity of more than 680,000 sequences, representing an extensive set of annotated cCREs among three cell types (HepG2, K562 and WTC11), and found that 41.

Widespread occurrence and relevance of phosphate storage in foraminifera.

Foraminifera are ubiquitous marine protists that intracellularly accumulate phosphate, an important macronutrient in marine ecosystems and in fertilizer potentially leaked into the ocean. Intracellular phosphate concentrations can be 100-1,000 times higher than in the surrounding water. Here we show that phosphate storage in foraminifera is widespread, from tidal flats to the deep sea.

Diversity of TCR repertoire predicts recurrence after CRT followed by durvalumab in patients with NSCLC.

Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by durvalumab is standard for unresectable locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC). This study assesses how CRT alters the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in CD8 + PD-1 + T-cells and its impact on clinical outcomes. This prospective study, conducted from November 2019 to May 2021 at three institutions in Japan, evaluated the diversity of TCR repertoire (DE50) in PD-1 + CD8 + T-cells and CD8 + T-cell phenotypes in peripheral blood before and after CRT.

Development and validation of nomograms for predicting pentafecta outcomes before and after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a retrospective study.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers among men worldwide, and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is a widely used treatment for localized PCa. Achieving pentafecta outcomes, which include continence, potency, cancer control, free surgical margins, and no major complications, is a critical measure of surgical success and long-term prognosis. However, predicting these outcomes remains challenging.

Exploring the subtle and novel renal pathological changes in diabetic nephropathy using clustering analysis with deep learning.

To decrease the number of chronic kidney disease (CKD), early diagnosis of diabetic kidney disease is required. We performed invariant information clustering (IIC)-based clustering on glomerular images obtained from nephrectomized kidneys of patients with and without diabetes. We also used visualizing techniques (gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) and generative adversarial networks (GAN)) to identify the novel and early pathological changes on light microscopy in diabetic nephropathy.

Hardware-efficient preparation of architecture-specific graph states on near-term quantum computers.

Highly entangled quantum states are an ingredient in numerous applications in quantum computing. However, preparing these highly entangled quantum states on currently available quantum computers at high fidelity is limited by ubiquitous errors. Besides improving the underlying technology of a quantum computer, the scale and fidelity of these entangled states in near-term quantum computers can be improved by specialized compilation methods.

Two-layer homolog network approach for PFAS nontarget screening and retrospective data mining.

The rapid increase of novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) raises concerns, while their identification remains challenging. Here, we develop a two-layer homolog network approach for PFAS nontarget screening using mass spectrometry. The first layer constructs networks between homologs, with evaluation showing that it filters 94% of false candidates.

Rational selection of TbpB variants yields a bivalent vaccine with broad coverage against Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an on-going public health problem due in part to the lack of success with efforts to develop an efficacious vaccine to prevent this sexually transmitted infection. The gonococcal transferrin binding protein B (TbpB) is an attractive candidate vaccine antigen. However, it exhibits high levels of antigenic variability, posing a significant obstacle in evoking a broadly protective immune response.

Optical Fresnel zone plate flat lenses made entirely of colored photoresist through an i-line stepper.

Light manipulation and control are essential in various contemporary technologies, and as these technologies evolve, the demand for miniaturized optical components increases. Planar-lens technologies, such as metasurfaces and diffractive optical elements, have gained attention in recent years for their potential to dramatically reduce the thickness of traditional refractive optical systems. However, their fabrication, particularly for visible wavelengths, involves complex and costly processes, such as high-resolution lithography and dry-etching, which has limited their availability.

Cutting through the noise: A narrative review of Alzheimer's disease plasma biomarkers for routine clinical use.

As novel, anti-amyloid therapies have become more widely available, access to timely and accurate diagnosis has become integral to ensuring optimal treatment of patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD). Plasma biomarkers are a promising tool for identifying AD pathology; however, several technical and clinical factors need to be considered prior to their implementation in routine clinical use. Given the rapid pace of advancements in the field and the wide array of available biomarkers and tests, this review aims to summarize these considerations, evaluate available platforms, and discuss the steps needed to bring plasma biomarker testing to the clinic.

The underappreciated roles of aboveground vertebrates on belowground communities.

In recent decades, evidence of interactions between aboveground and belowground (i.e., soil) subsystems has accumulated.

Adjuvant Chemotherapy Decisions in the Treatment of Lung Cancer Considering Nonrelapse Mortality: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Adjuvant chemotherapy (Adj) reduces recurrence and improves long-term survival in patients with surgically resected lung cancer. However, it has minimal impact on patients who die without relapsing. To optimize Adj indications, we aimed to identify factors associated with nonrelapse mortality (NRM).