The impact of mobilization training time during the first postoperative week on the length of hospital stay in postoperative patients admitted to an intensive care unit.

Objective: To determine the impact of mobilization training time during the first postoperative week on the length of hospital stay for postoperative patients admitted to an intensive care unit.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Patients: Consecutive patients who underwent elective surgery and stayed in the intensive care unit of a university hospital for more than 48 h between July 2017 and August 2020 were enrolled.

Comparison between electrochemiluminescence of luminol and electrocatalysis by Prussian blue for the detection of hydrogen peroxide.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of luminol and electrocatalysis by Prussian blue were compared for the selective detection of HO at the boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. The HO detection was optimized by various parameters such as the applied potential at pH 7.4, which is a physiological value usually used for HO detection in enzymatic reactions.

Efficient production system for hydrogel-based transparent soil for plant root observation.

Observation of plant root morphology in soil is of fundamental importance in plant research, but the lack of transparency of the soil hampers direct observation of roots. One of the approaches to overcome this technical limitation is the use of "transparent soil" (TS), hydrogel-based beads produced by spherification of gelling agents. However, the production of TS by natural dripping of gelling solution can be labor intensive, time consuming and difficult to maintain consistent product quality.

Microfluidic-based redesign of a humidity-driven energy harvester.

Integrating microfluidic elements onto a single chip offers many advantages, including miniaturization, portability, and multifunctionality, making such systems highly useful for biomedical, healthcare, and sensing applications. However, these chips need redesigning for compatibility with microfluidic fabrication methods such as photolithography. To address this, we integrated microfluidics technology into our previously developed humidity-driven energy harvester to create a self-powered system and redesigned it so that it could be fabricated using photolithography and printing.

Unit-cell parameters determination from a set of independent electron diffraction zonal patterns.

Due to the short de Broglie wavelength of electrons compared with X-rays, the curvature of their Ewald sphere is low, and individual electron diffraction patterns are nearly flat in reciprocal space. As a result, a reliable unit-cell determination from a set of randomly oriented electron diffraction patterns, an essential step in serial electron diffraction, becomes a non-trivial task. Here we describe an algorithm for unit-cell determination from a set of independent electron diffraction patterns, as implemented in the program PIEP (Program for Interpreting Electron diffraction Patterns), written in the early 1990s.

Effect of Social Restriction Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic on Activity of Daily Living and Disease Severity of Patients With Alzheimer Disease: Sub-analysis of a Double-blinded Noninferiority Study of Donepezil Patches and Donepezil Tablets.

Background: We previously reported that social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a decline in cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD). Here, we assessed the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on the activities of daily living (ADL) and disease severity in patients by comparing them to a control group.

Methods: We examined the impact on ADL, evaluated using disability assessment for dementia (DAD), and disease severity, evaluated using the ABC dementia scale, in patients with mild-to-moderate AD.

Nurses' Recognition and Care of Thirst in Perioperative Patients in Japan.

Purpose: Postoperative thirst is common and distressing to patients, as is pain and nausea. The causes of postoperative thirst are complex and include factors like preoperative fasting, perioperative fluid loss, and certain anesthesia medications. Effective care for postoperative thirst has been shown in post-anesthesia care units (PACUs), but many Japanese hospitals lack PACUs or do not address thirst in their PACUs.

Negative perceptions toward older adults and life satisfaction among community-dwelling older citizens in Japan.

Background: With the rapid aging of the population, increasing life satisfaction among older adults is essential. Negative perceptions of older adults are internalized, leading to poor mental health. This study hypothesized that participants with more negative perceptions of older adults would have lower life satisfaction.

Combination of Two-Stage Continuous Feeding and Optimized Synthetic Medium Increases Lipid Production in .

The oleaginous yeast is recognized for its remarkable lipid accumulation under nitrogen-limited conditions. However, precise control of microbial lipid production in remains challenging due to the complexity of nutrient media. We developed a two-stage fed-batch fermentation process using a well-defined synthetic medium in a 5-L bioreactor.

Plasma-Derived Atomic Hydrogen Enables Eley-Rideal-Type CO Methanation at Low Temperatures.

Activating H molecules into atomic hydrogen and utilizing their intrinsic chemical reactivity are important processes in catalytic hydrogenation. Here, we have developed a plasma-catalyst combined system that directly provides atomic hydrogen from the gas phase to the catalytic reaction to utilize the high energy and translational freedom of atomic hydrogen. In this system, we show that the temperature of CO methanation over Ni/AlO can be dramatically lower compared to thermal catalysis.

Molecular characterization of chicken DA systems reveals that the avian personality gene, , is expressed in the mitral cells of the olfactory bulb.

Animal personalities are stable, context-dependent behavioral differences. Associations between the personality of birds and polymorphisms in the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene have been repeatedly observed. In mammals, our understanding of the role of the dopamine (DA) system in higher cognitive functions and psychiatric disorders is improving, and we are beginning to understand the relationship between the neural circuits modulating the DA system and personality traits.

Optimizing the role of scrub nurses during robotic surgery console time.

At our institution, scrub nurses leave the surgical field during the console time for robotic surgeries to attend to other duties. The first assistant then assumes their responsibilities, allowing for efficient use of staff time and resources. This practice improves teamwork and can be presented as a cost-saving measure for hospital administrations.

The role of conscious attention in auditory statistical learning: Evidence from patients with impaired consciousness.

The need for attention to enable statistical learning is debated. Testing individuals with impaired consciousness offers valuable insight, but very few studies have been conducted due to the difficulties inherent in such studies. Here, we examined the ability of patients with varying levels of disorders of consciousness (DOC) to extract statistical regularities from an artificial language composed of randomly concatenated pseudowords by measuring frequency tagging in EEG.

Imaging of biphasic signalosomes constructed by checkpoint receptor 2B4 in conventional and chimeric antigen receptor-T cells.

A co-signaling receptor, 2B4, has dual effects in immune cells, but its actual functions in T cells remain elusive. Here, using super-resolution imaging technology with an immunological synapse model, we showed that 2B4 forms "2B4 microclusters" immediately after 2B4-CD48 binding. A lipid phosphatase, SHIP-1, subsequently combined with 2B4 to form coinhibitory signalosomes, leading to the suppression of cytokine production.

Tunable structural rearrangement in Cu cluster assemblies through linker and solvent alterations.

The scarcity of approaches to assembling copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) has restricted advancements in Cu NCs research, largely due to stability challenges of the individual NCs. By utilizing the structural adaptability of Cu NCs, we systematically investigate how variations in organic linkers and solvents affect the cluster node size, shape, and their assembling dimensionality. Here, we introduce a facile, one-pot synthesis method for obtaining a range of crystalline Cu cluster-assembled materials (CAMs) through a liquid-liquid interfacial crystallization technique.

Culture-Negative Infective Endocarditis Due to .

can cause culture-negative endocarditis, and almost all antibiotics included in empirical therapy regimens for endocarditis are ineffective against this pathogen. We report a case of culture-negative endocarditis in which identification of the pathogen avoided repeated valve destruction and surgery.

Catalytic Reductive Homocoupling of Benzyl Chlorides Enabled by Zirconocene and Photoredox Catalysis.

The bibenzyl skeleton is prevalent in numerous natural products and other biologically active compounds. Radical homocoupling provides a straightforward approach for synthesizing bibenzyls in a single step with the reductive homocoupling of benzyl halides undergoing extensive development. Unlike benzyl bromides and other tailored precursors used in visible-light-mediated homocoupling, benzyl chlorides offer greater abundance and chemical stability.

Stepwise Chemical Reduction of [4]Cyclo[4]helicenylene: Stereo Transformation and Site-Selective Metal Complexation.

A highly strained macrocycle comprising four [4]helicene panels, [4]cyclo[4]helicenylene ([4]CH, ), was synthesized through a one-pot macrocyclization and chemically reduced by alkali metals (Na and K), revealing a four-electron reduction process. The resulting di-, tri-, and tetraanions of compound were isolated and crystallographically characterized by X-ray diffraction. Owing to the four axially chiral bi[4]helicenyl fragments, a reversible stereo transformation of between the (,,,)- and (,,,)-configurations was disclosed upon the two-electron uptake, which was rationally understood by theoretical calculations.

Constructing Two-Dimensional, Ordered Networks of Carbon-Carbon Bonds with Precision.

Organic semiconducting nanomembranes (OSNMs), particularly carbon-based ones, are at the forefront of next-generation two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor research. These materials offer remarkable promise due to their diverse chemical properties and unique functionalities, paving the way for innovative applications across advanced semiconductor material sectors. Graphene stands out for its extraordinary mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, and superior charge transport capabilities, inspiring extensive research into other 2D carbon allotropes like graphyne and graphdiyne.

Short-term Assessment of Glaucoma Progression in Clinical Trials Using Trend-based Visual Field Progression Analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of disease stage, frequency and clustering of visual field (VF) tests, inclusion of 1 or both eyes, and 1 (1 arm; before and after a treatment) or 2 groups (2 arms; treatment and control arm) on sample size calculation in clinical trials.

Design: Clinical cohort study.

Participants: A series of VFs were simulated based on test-retest VF data in the early, moderate, and advanced stages of glaucoma with 231, 204, and 226 eyes, respectively.

Impact of pathogenic mutations of the GLUT1 glucose transporter on solute carrier dynamics using ComDYN enhanced sampling.

The solute carrier (SLC) family of membrane proteins is a large class of transporters for many small molecules that are vital for cellular function. Several pathogenic mutations are reported in the glucose transporter subfamily SLC2, causing Glut1-deficiency syndrome (GLUT1DS1, GLUT1DS2), epilepsy (EIG2) and cryohydrocytosis with neurological defects (Dystonia-9). Understanding the link between these mutations and transporter dynamics is crucial to elucidate their role in the dysfunction of the underlying transport mechanism, which we investigate using molecular dynamics simulations.

Age-disproportionate atrophy in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease spectra.

Introduction: Brain age gap (BAG), defined as the difference between MRI-predicted 'brain age' and chronological age, can capture information underlying various neurological disorders. We investigated the pathophysiological significance of the BAG across neurodegenerative disorders.

Methods: We developed a brain age estimator using structural MRIs of healthy-aged individuals from one cohort study.

Clonal Hematopoiesis Is Associated With Adverse Clinical Outcomes and Left Ventricular Remodeling in Aortic Stenosis.

Background: Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) has been linked to intensified systemic inflammation and represents a novel risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, including aortic stenosis (AS).

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the clinical impact of CHIP in a cohort of severe AS patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Methods: We enrolled 110 severe AS patients in this retrospective study.