Development of a Grape Cut Point Detection System Using Multi-Cameras for a Grape-Harvesting Robot.

Harvesting grapes requires a large amount of manual labor. To reduce the labor force for the harvesting job, in this study, we developed a robot harvester for the vine grapes. In this paper, we proposed an algorithm that using multi-cameras, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) object detection methods, to detect the thin stem and decide the cut point.

Evaluating Apelin as a Potential Biomarker in Major Depressive Disorder: Its Correlation with Clinical Symptomatology.

To date, only a limited number of studies have investigated the potential effects of apelin on mood regulation and emotional behavior. Therefore, this study investigated apelin's role in major depressive disorder (MDD) by comparing the serum and plasma apelin concentrations between 30 patients with MDD and 30 healthy controls (HCs), and the correlated serum and plasma apelin levels and the severity of depressive symptoms using the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Blood samples were collected following 12 h of fasting, and the apelin levels were measured using an ELISA kit.

Association Between Low Tongue Pressure and Physical Abnormalities in Adolescent and Young Adult Women: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: We examined the factors associated with low tongue pressure to clarify its association with physical abnormalities in adolescent and young adult women.

Methods: This study enrolled 92 women aged 10-20 years. Following the collection of anthropometric data, measurements were performed, including grip strength, maximum occlusal force, maximum tongue pressure, and masticatory performance.

Clinical Outcomes of Micropapillary Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder Treated With Radical Cystectomy.

Background/aim: This study examined the treatment outcomes of radical cystectomy (RC) for micropapillary subtype (MPS) bladder cancer treated at our hospital.

Patients And Methods: Histopathological findings of RC specimens collected from 2003 to 2020 were evaluated. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) after RC, as well as the efficacy of chemotherapy in cases of recurrence, were retrospectively assessed.

Pulmonary Mycobacterium malmoense Infection in a Patient with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer, Systemic Sclerosis, and Interstitial Pneumonia: A Case Report and Brief Review of the Literature.

A 69-year-old man with systemic sclerosis and interstitial pneumonia presented with an abnormal shadow in the right upper lung lobe. A thoracoscopic needle biopsy was performed on the right upper lobe lesion, and Mycobacterium malmoense was identified by 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequencing. Surgical treatment was performed to obtain a radical cure, and lung squamous cell carcinoma and M.

Blood DNA virome associates with autoimmune diseases and COVID-19.

Aberrant immune responses to viral pathogens contribute to pathogenesis, but our understanding of pathological immune responses caused by viruses within the human virome, especially at a population scale, remains limited. We analyzed whole-genome sequencing datasets of 6,321 Japanese individuals, including patients with autoimmune diseases (psoriasis vulgaris, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) or multiple sclerosis) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), or healthy controls. We systematically quantified two constituents of the blood DNA virome, endogenous HHV-6 (eHHV-6) and anellovirus.

Optimizing Radiation Protection in PET/CT Examinations: Reducing Occupational Exposure During Patient Positioning.

Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the occupational radiation exposure of healthcare workers during positron emission tomography (PET)/CT examinations, focusing on patient positioning and assessing the effectiveness of different radiation protection measures. Methods Thirteen medical workers (physicians, radiological technologists, and nurses) performed PET/CT examinations on 86 patients at a major Japanese hospital from June to August 2019. Occupational doses were measured using a real-time semiconductor dosimeter: RaySafe i2 (Unfors RaySafe, Billdal, Sweden), recording the 1 cm dose equivalent (Hp(10)).

The Usefulness of Mandibular Anglectomy in Patients With Masticatory Muscle Tendon-Aponeurosis Hyperplasia: A Preliminary Single-Center Survey.

Objective Masticatory muscle tendon-aponeurosis hyperplasia (MMTAH) is a recently identified condition characterized by restricted mouth opening due to hyperplasia of the temporalis muscle tendon and masseter muscle aponeurosis. This study examines the treatment and clinical course of patients with MMTAH who underwent surgery at our hospital. Subjects and methods The study included 14 patients (four males and 10 females; mean age: 33.

The 2024 APLAR Consensus on the Management of Lupus Nephritis.

The APLAR has published a set of recommendations on the management of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in 2021. The current consensus paper supplements and updates specifically the treatment of lupus nephritis (LN) according to two rounds of Delphi exercise from members of the APLAR SLE special interest group, invited nephrologists, histopathologists, and lupus nephritis patients. For initial treatment of LN, we recommend a combination of glucocorticoids (GCs) with cyclophosphamide (CYC), mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), or the calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) as first-line options.

Exploring the acceptance of virtual reality training systems among construction workers: a combined structural equation modeling and artificial neural network approach.

Virtual Reality Training System (VRTS) has been verified effective in safety training in the construction field. However, in China, it is not widely used as a regular training tool. Among all the reasons, the acceptance level of construction workers (CWs) has the decisive impact on the promotion of VRTS.

Excessive BMP3b suppresses skeletal muscle differentiation.

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-3b, also known as growth differentiation factor (GDF)-10, belongs to the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β superfamily. Despite being named a BMP, BMP3b is considered as an intermediate between the TGFβ/activin/myostatin and BMP/GDF subgroups of the TGFβ superfamily. Myoblast differentiation is tightly regulated by various cytokines, including the TGFβ superfamily members.

Induction of interleukin 21 receptor expression via enhanced intracellular metabolism in B cells and its relevance to the disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To elucidate the association between the changes in intracellular metabolism in the early stage of B cell activation and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pathogenesis.

Methods: CD19 or CD19CD27 (naïve) cells from the peripheral blood of healthy controls and lupus patients were cultured under different stimuli. The changes in intracellular metabolism and signalling pathways in these cells were evaluated.

Fine-tuning SLE treatment: the potential of selective TYK2 inhibition.

In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), adaptive immunity is activated by the stimulation of innate immunity, leading to the development of autoreactive T cells and activation and differentiation of B cells. Cytokine signalling plays an essential role in the pathogenesis and progression of this disease. In particular, the differentiation and function of CD4+ T cell subsets, which play a central role in SLE pathology, are significantly altered by cytokine stimulation.

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.

A Combination of Cell Findings Improves the Accuracy of Voided Urine Cytology.

Introduction: Urine cytology is a morphological diagnostic test that is, patient-friendly and easy to sample but subjective in morphological evaluation. This study aims to evaluate the effect of combining cell findings to assess urine cytology.

Materials And Methods: Thirty cell findings found in high-grade urothelial carcinoma (HGUC) were selected for morphological abnormalities, each with detailed definitions.

Association between antinuclear antibodies status and preterm birth in Japanese pregnant women: a prospective cohort study from Adjunct Study of the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Background: Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are important biomarkers for the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases; however, the general population also tests positive at a low frequency, especially in women. Although the effects of various autoimmune diseases on pregnancy outcomes have been studied, the association of ANA with pregnancy outcomes in healthy individuals is unclear. Preterm birth (PTB), a major cause of neonatal death or long-term health problems, is a complex condition with a multifactorial etiology, and the underlying mechanism remains unclear.

Surgical indications for pleurectomy decortication in pleural mesothelioma based on the newly revised 9th edition tumor-node-metastasis classification.

Objectives: The MARS2 trial questioned the efficacy of curative intent surgery for pleural mesothelioma, while real-world clinical data from Japan suggest a favourable prognosis in surgical cases, indicating survival benefits in selected patients. The newly revised 9th edition of the tumour-node-metastasis classification introduces a novel indicator based on pleural thickness.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective evaluation of patients with pleural mesothelioma who underwent pleurectomy decortication between 2012 and 2022.

Successful Management of Intraprocedural Arterial Dissection During Carotid Artery Stenting With an Overlapping CASPER Rx Stent for Tortuous Vessel: A Case Report.

Carotid artery stenosis is a significant cause of ischemic stroke, often necessitating interventions like carotid artery stenting (CAS) to restore adequate blood flow. However, complications like intraprocedural arterial dissection can arise during the procedure. This report presents a case of intraprocedural arterial dissection during CAS using a CASPER Rx stent.

TIM-3 marks measurable residual leukemic stem cells responsible for relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

In this study, we investigated the measurable residual leukemic stem cell (MR-LSC) population after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) for high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML), utilizing T-cell immunoglobulin mucin-3 (TIM-3) expression as a functional marker of AML leukemic stem cells (LSCs). Analysis of the CD34CD38 fraction of bone marrow cells immediately after achievement of engraftment revealed the presence of both TIM-3LSCs and TIM-3 donor hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) at varying ratios. Genetic analysis confirmed that TIM-3 cells harbored patient-specific mutations identical to those found in AML clones, whereas TIM-3 cells did not, indicating that TIM-3CD34CD38 cells represent residual AML LSCs.

Gene expression profiles in human dental pulp stem cells treated short-term with lipopolysaccharides before and after osteoinduction.

Objectives: Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are essential for reparative dentinogenesis following damage or infection. DPSCs surrounding the blood vessels in the central region of the dental pulp actively proliferate after tooth injury and differentiate into new odontoblast-like cells or odontoblasts to form reparative dentin. However, the signaling pathways involved in undifferentiated and osteodifferentiated DPSCs under inflammatory conditions remain unclear.

Clinical impact of a subtype of urothelial carcinoma in nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the oncological outcomes of the subtype of urothelial carcinoma (SUC), including divergent differentiation and histologic subtype, in comparison with those of pure urothelial carcinoma (PUC) in nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated patients who were initially treated with transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT) between March 2005 and August 2020 at a single institution. Patients with PUC and SUC were compared in terms of recurrence-free survival (RFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).

Low-Gradient Severe Aortic Stenosis: Insights From the CURRENT AS Registry-2.

Background: Low-gradient (LG) aortic stenosis (AS) has not been fully characterized compared with high-gradient (HG) AS in terms of cardiac damage, frailty, aortic valve calcification, and clinical outcomes.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes between each hemodynamic type of LG AS and HG AS.

Methods: The current study included 3,363 patients in the CURRENT AS (Contemporary outcomes after sURgery and medical tREatmeNT in patients with severe Aortic Stenosis) Registry-2 after excluding patients without indexed stroke volume or left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) data.