Fetal fibroblast heterogeneity defines dermal architecture during human embryonic skin development.

To investigate heterogeneity of fibroblasts in human fetal skin, we analysed published single-cell RNA sequencing data (8 and 16 post conception weeks (PCW)) and performed single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridisation to map their spatial distribution and predicted dynamic interactions. Clustering revealed 8 fibroblast populations with developmental stage-specific abundance changes. Proliferative cells (MKI67+) were present at all stages.

A 96-week real-world outcome of upadacitinib treatment for atopic dermatitis: systemic therapy-naive versus -experienced patients.

Background: Long-term (2-year) effectiveness of upadacitinib for atopic dermatitis (AD) is unknown in real-world practice.

Objective: To evaluate 96-week real-world effectiveness of upadacitinib in Japanese patients with moderate-to-severe AD, stratified by the presence or absence of prior systemic therapies.

Methods: This prospective study included 327 Japanese patients treated with upadacitinib 15 mg (n = 248) or 30 mg (n = 79).

Enhancing single-stage partial nitritation-anammox process with airlift inner-circulation and oxygen partition: a novel strategy for treating high-strength ammonium wastewater.

In the single-stage partial nitritation-anammox process for high-ammonium wastewater treatment, the presence of sufficient biomass with high activity is essential. This study developed an innovative airlift inner-circulation partition bioreactor (AIPBR) with a dual-cylinder structure. During the 362 days' operation, the AIPBR exhibited robust and stable nitrogen removal performance under diverse influent ammonium spanning from 300 to 1800 mg N/L.

Swarm systems as a platform for open-ended evolutionary dynamics.

Artificial swarm systems have been extensively studied and used in computer science, robotics, engineering and other technological fields, primarily as a platform for implementing robust distributed systems to achieve pre-defined objectives. However, such swarm systems, especially heterogeneous ones, can also be utilized as an ideal platform for creating open-ended evolutionary dynamics that do not converge toward pre-defined goals but keep exploring diverse possibilities and generating novel outputs indefinitely. In this article, we review Swarm Chemistry and its variants as concrete sample cases to illustrate beneficial characteristics of heterogeneous swarm systems, including the cardinality leap of design spaces, multi-scale structures/behaviours and their diversity, and robust self-organization, self-repair and ecological interactions of emergent patterns, all of which serve as the driving forces for open-ended evolutionary processes.

Swarm shepherding using bearing-only measurements.

Drawing inspiration from natural herding behaviours, shepherding provides a method for swarm guidance that utilizes steering agents and can be applied in biological and robotics systems at various scales. However, while most shepherding research has relied on the precise sensing capabilities of steering agents, these assumptions do not necessarily hold in real-world tasks. To fill in the gap between practice and literature, in this study, we demonstrate that swarm shepherding can be achieved via bearing-only measurements, and explore the minimum amount of information required.

Signalling and social learning in swarms of robots.

This paper investigates the role of communication in improving coordination within robot swarms, focusing on a paradigm where learning and execution occur simultaneously in a decentralized manner. We highlight the role communication can play in addressing the credit assignment problem (individual contribution to the overall performance), and how it can be influenced by it. We propose a taxonomy of existing and future works on communication, focusing on information selection and physical abstraction as principal axes for classification: from low-level lossless compression with raw signal extraction and processing to high-level lossy compression with structured communication models.

Xanomeline-Trospium for Adults with Schizophrenia Experiencing Acute Psychosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Safety and Tolerability Outcomes.

The United States Food and Drug Administration approved the xanomeline-trospium combination in September 2024 for treating schizophrenia, based in part on three double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trials in adults with schizophrenia experiencing acute psychosis. This random-effects model pairwise meta-analysis of those three trials found that xanomeline-trospium was comparable to placebo in terms of all-cause discontinuation, discontinuation rate due to adverse events, Simpson-Angus Scale score change, Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale score change, body weight change, body mass index change, blood pressure change, serum total cholesterol change, blood glucose change, QTc interval changes, and the incidence of headache, somnolence, insomnia, dizziness, akathisia, agitation, tachycardia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, diarrhea, increased weight, and decreased appetite. However, xanomeline-trospium was associated with a higher incidence of at least one adverse event, dry mouth, hypertension, nausea, vomiting, dyspepsia, and constipation, and increased serum triglyceride compared with placebo.

Shifting surface plasmon resonance wavelength to the far-ultraviolet region with aluminum-based sensors.

A novel aluminum (Al)-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor operating in the far-ultraviolet (FUV, <200 nm) region has been developed. By utilizing a thinner Al film compared to previously reported deep-ultraviolet (DUV, <300 nm) SPR sensors, the SPR wavelength was effectively maintained within the FUV region across various liquids. In the presence of resonant molecules, the SPR wavelength shift was notably enhanced.

Kinetic evaluation for Cs desorption from riverine particles in seawater, and exploration of sorbent agents for fixation of the desorbed fraction.

In this study, we evaluated 1) the potential ability of sorbents to adsorb Cs desorbed from contaminated riverine particles that had been introduced into seawater, and 2) the rates of desorption of Cs from weak and strong sorption sites. We performed particle-seawater desorption experiments to simulate the mixing of riverine particles with seawater and used a kinetic model to simulate results. We tested two sorbent agents: beach sand collected from less contaminated coast and zeolite.

Prolonged high Myl9 levels are associated with the pathogenesis and respiratory symptom of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome: A 6-month follow-up study.

Background: Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome (PACS) occurs in some COVID-19 patients long after acute infection and significantly affects patients' health. However, the mechanism by which PACS develops is unknown. Myosin light chain 9 (Myl9), produced by activated platelets, plays a role in immune dysregulation and microthrombi formation during acute COVID-19.

Sister chromatid cohesion through the lens of biochemical experiments.

Faithful chromosome segregation in eukaryotes relies on physical cohesion between newly duplicated sister chromatids. Cohesin is a ring-shaped ATPase assembly that mediates sister chromatid cohesion through its ability to topologically entrap DNA. Cohesin, assisted by several regulatory proteins, binds to DNA prior to DNA replication and then holds two sister DNAs together when it encounters the replication machinery.

Safety comparison between Pfizer BNT162b2, Moderna mRNA-1273, and AstraZeneca AZD1222 in a Nationwide prospective cohort survey at the beginning of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccination in Japan.

This study was conducted at 112 government and Juntendo University hospitals in February 2021 for the primary series of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations. We compared the timing of solicited adverse event (AE) onset and prevalence of unsolicited AEs for Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines in a nationwide, large-scale prospective cohort study. The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines were associated with a higher frequency of fever after the second dose than after the first dose.

Clinical implications of disappearing pancreatic cancer liver metastases: Lessons from colorectal liver metastases.

Background: The efficacy of local control for pancreatic cancer liver metastases (PCLM), including surgical treatment, remains controversial, with no consensus on the management and clinical significance of disappearing liver metastases (DLMs). This study aimed to evaluate the clinical implications of DLMs in treating PCLM after multi-agent chemotherapy, utilizing contrast-enhanced imaging modalities.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients who underwent curative resection for pancreatic cancer with synchronous or metachronous liver metastases between 2014 and 2023.

Background factors for postoperative eyebrow descent in blepharoptosis: A retrospective case-control study of 93 patients.

Upper blepharoplasty for ptosis aims to achieve functional and aesthetic outcomes. However, postoperative eyebrow descent is a potential complication that can affect surgical outcomes. This descent reflects the return of the brow to its normal position due to the release of compensatory frontalis muscle activity for ptosis.

Beyond XGBoost and SHAP: Unveiling true feature importance.

This paper outlines key machine learning principles, focusing on the use of XGBoost and SHAP values to assist researchers in avoiding analytical pitfalls. XGBoost builds models by incrementally adding decision trees, each addressing the errors of the previous one, which can result in inflated feature importance scores due to the method's emphasis on misclassified examples. While SHAP values provide a theoretically robust way to interpret predictions, their dependence on model structure and feature interactions can introduce biases.

Juhn Atushi Wada (1924-2023) and the history of the Wada test.

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurologic conditions in the world. Surgical treatment for refractoryepilepsy is a method to optimize the quality of life for patients. Throughout his medical career, Dr.

miR378a-3p in serum extracellular vesicles is associated with pancreatic beta-cell mass in diabetic states.

The condition in which the insulin secretory ability of pancreatic β-cells decreases in diabetes is extremely important, but there are currently no biomarkers that reflect pancreatic β-cell failure. Therefore, we conducted a search for biomarkers, using pancreatic β-cell-specific 3-Phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK1) knockout mice, which develop severe hyperglycemia due to a decrease in pancreatic β-cell mass without insulin resistance. The analysis was performed in young mice when metabolic abnormalities were not yet apparent.

Impact of Antiplatelet Medication Continuation on Surgical Outcomes after Minimally Invasive Posterior Lumbar Decompression Surgery: Retrospective Cohort Study.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: Spinal surgeons face a dilemma regarding the continuation or discontinuation of antiplatelet agents during the perioperative period. Guidelines recommend considering the balance between thrombotic and bleeding risks.

Estimating the Prevalence of Schizophrenia in the General Population of Japan Using an Artificial Neural Network-Based Schizophrenia Classifier: Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: Estimating the prevalence of schizophrenia in the general population remains a challenge worldwide, as well as in Japan. Few studies have estimated schizophrenia prevalence in the Japanese population and have often relied on reports from hospitals and self-reported physician diagnoses or typical schizophrenia symptoms. These approaches are likely to underestimate the true prevalence owing to stigma, poor insight, or lack of access to health care among respondents.

First-Line Mobocertinib Versus Platinum-Based Chemotherapy in Patients With Exon 20 Insertion-Positive Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in the Phase III EXCLAIM-2 Trial.

Purpose: Mobocertinib is an oral epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets exon 20 insertion (ex20ins) mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This open-label, phase III trial (EXCLAIM-2: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04129502) compared mobocertinib versus platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment of ex20ins+ advanced/metastatic NSCLC.

The development and validation of a Japanese hazard perception task.

Objectives: This study aimed to validate the hazard perception task developed for Japanese drivers with brain damage.

Methods: A total of 36 professional driving instructors, 67 older adult drivers, 39 young drivers, and 72 patients with brain damage participated in the study. A video-based hazard perception task measured the hazard perception skills of each group.

Usefulness of Tapered Cutting Needles for Lymphaticovenular Anastomosis.

We report the usefulness of a tapered cutting needle, which has a polyhedral tip similar to that of a square needle and transitions to a round tip in the middle, for super-microsurgery. We have performed more than 500 lymphaticovenular anastomoses (LVAs) using tapered cutting needles. Therefore, we investigated the caliber of the anastomosed lymphatic vessels and veins, characteristics of the lymphatic vessels, the time required to perform the anastomosis, damage to the lymphatic vessels and veins during anastomosis, and patency of 30 recently performed consecutive anastomoses.

Fatuamide A, a Hybrid PKS/NRPS Metallophore from a sp. Marine Cyanobacterium Collected in American Samoa.

A structurally novel metabolite, fatuamide A (), was discovered from a laboratory cultured strain of the marine cyanobacterium sp., collected from Faga'itua Bay, American Samoa. A bioassay-guided approach using NCI-H460 human lung cancer cells directed the isolation of fatuamide A, which was obtained from the most cytotoxic fraction.