Simple Wearable Device to Reduce Stress When Delivering a Speech without Pre-training.

Objective: There are many occasions in modern life when people must deliver presentations in front of audiences. Most people feel nervous before and while giving a speech. If there were a simple way to ease their stress, speakers would be able to perform better and their quality of life would improve.

The Effect of Cyanine Dye NK-4 on Photoreceptor Degeneration in a Rat Model of Early-Stage Retinitis Pigmentosa.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of NK-4 on the apoptosis of photoreceptors in a rat model of retinitis pigmentosa and explore the mechanism underlying anti-apoptosis activity. The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats received an intravitreous injection of NK-4 solution in the left eye and vehicle control in the right eye. Apoptosis was detected by TUNEL method in frozen sections of the eyes.

Microenvironment of mammary fat pads affected the characteristics of the tumors derived from the induced cancer stem cells.

Breast cancer is the first common cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. Since the malignancy and aggressiveness of breast cancer have been correlated with the presence of breast cancer stem cells, the establishment of a disease model with cancer stem cells is required for the development of a novel therapeutic strategy. Here, we aimed to evaluate the availability of cancer stem cell models developed from mouse induced pluripotent stem cells with the conditioned medium of different subtypes of breast cancer cell lines, the hormonal-responsive T47D cell line and the triple-negative breast cancer BT549 cell line, to generate tumor models.

Photocontrolled apoptosis induction using precursor miR-664a and an RNA carrier-conjugated with photosensitizer.

Methods to spatially induce apoptosis are useful for cancer therapy. To control the induction of apoptosis, methods using light, such as photochemical internalization (PCI), have been developed. We hypothesized that photoinduced delivery of microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate apoptosis could spatially induce apoptosis.

Noninvasive, label-free, and quantitative monitoring of lipase kinetics using terahertz emission technology.

Enzymes catalyze chemical transformations of great importance in many fields, and analysis of the rate of these transformations is equally important. The latter are typically monitored using surrogate substrates that produce quantifiable optical signals, owing to limitations associated with "label-free" techniques that could be used to monitor the transformation of original substrate molecules. In this study, terahertz (THz) emission technology is used as a noninvasive and label-free technique to monitor the kinetics of lipase-induced hydrolysis of several substrate molecules (including the complex substrate whole cow's milk) and horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation of o-phenylenediamine in the presence of H O .

Metformin suppresses self-renewal and stemness of cancer stem cell models derived from pluripotent stem cells.

Metformin exhibits anti-cancer activities in various types of tumours while it is prescribed as the first-line drug for type 2 diabetes. Since new evidence has recently suggested that metformin could target cancer stem cells (CSCs) and prevent their recurrence, repositioning of metformin could be considered as a candidate for anti-CSC agent. In this study, we assessed the effect of metformin on the cancer stem cells developed from induced pluripotent stem cells.

Enhanced cellular engraftment of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell spheroids by using nanosheets as scaffolds.

The short survival time of transplanted adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) is a problem for skin wound healing. Transplantation after the formation of cellular spheroids has been investigated as a promising method for prolonging cellular survival. However, there have been technical restrictions for transplantation of spheroids in clinical practice.

Genome sequence analysis of new plum pox virus isolates from Japan.

Objective: To find mutations that may have recently occurred in Plum pox virus (PPV), we collected six PPV-infected plum/peach trees from the western part of Japan and one from the eastern part. After sequencing the full-length PPV genomic RNAs, we compared the amino acid sequences with representative isolates of each PPV strain.

Results: All new isolates were found to belong to the PPV-D strain: the six isolates collected from western Japan were identified as the West-Japan strain while the one collected from eastern Japan as the East-Japan strain.

Linking cortical circuit models to human cognition with laminar fMRI.

Laboratory animal research has provided significant knowledge into the function of cortical circuits at the laminar level, which has yet to be fully leveraged towards insights about human brain function on a similar spatiotemporal scale. The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in conjunction with neural models provides new opportunities to gain important insights from current knowledge. During the last five years, human studies have demonstrated the value of high-resolution fMRI to study laminar-specific activity in the human brain.

Photoelectric Dye, NK-5962, as a Potential Drug for Preventing Retinal Neurons from Apoptosis: Pharmacokinetic Studies Based on Review of the Evidence.

NK-5962 is a key component of photoelectric dye-based retinal prosthesis (OUReP). In testing the safety and efficacy, NK-5962 was safe in all tests for the biological evaluation of medical devices (ISO 10993) and effective in preventing retinal cells from death even under dark conditions. The long-term implantation of the photoelectric dye-coupled polyethylene film in the subretinal space of hereditary retinal dystrophic (RCS) rats prevented neurons from apoptosis in the adjacent retinal tissue.

Parieto-Occipital Alpha and Low-Beta EEG Power Reflect Sense of Agency.

The sense of agency (SoA) is part of psychophysiological modules related to the self. Disturbed SoA is found in several clinical conditions, hence understanding the neural correlates of the SoA is useful for the diagnosis and determining the proper treatment strategies. Although there are several neuroimaging studies on SoA, it is desirable to translate the knowledge to more accessible and inexpensive EEG-based biomarkers for the sake of applicability.

Human Somatosensory Processing and Artificial Somatosensation.

In the past few years, we have gained a better understanding of the information processing mechanism in the human brain, which has led to advances in artificial intelligence and humanoid robots. However, among the various sensory systems, studying the somatosensory system presents the greatest challenge. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the human somatosensory system and its corresponding applications in artificial systems.

Glycoprotein Semisynthesis by Chemical Insertion of Glycosyl Asparagine Using a Bifunctional Thioacid-Mediated Strategy.

Glycosylation is a major modification of secreted and cell surface proteins, and the resultant glycans show considerable heterogeneity in their structures. To understand the biological processes arising from each glycoform, the preparation of homogeneous glycoproteins is essential for extensive biological experiments. To establish a more robust and rapid synthetic route for the synthesis of homogeneous glycoproteins, we studied several key reactions based on amino thioacids.

Investigation into the Effect of Breast Volume on Irradiation Dose Distribution in Asian Women with Breast Cancer.

Reports on irradiation dose distribution in breast cancer radiotherapy with sufficient sample size are limited in Asian patients. Elucidating dose distribution in Asian patients is particularly important as their breast volume differs compared to patients in Europe and North America. Here, we examined dose distribution in the irradiation field relative to breast volume for three irradiation methods historically used in our facility.

Development of a method to rapidly assess resistance/susceptibility of Micro-Tom tomatoes to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus via agroinoculation of cotyledons.

Objective: Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) is one of the pathogens severely damaging tomato crops. Therefore, methods to treat or prevent TYLCV infection need to be developed. For this purpose, a method to conveniently and quickly assess infection of tomatoes by TYLCV is desired.

Prostate Cancer Detected by Choroidal Tumor and Complete Response to Hormonal Therapy: Case Report and Literature Review of 24 Patients With Choroidal Metastasis From Prostate Cancer.

Metastatic choroidal tumors derived from prostate cancer are rare. In this study, we report a patient who manifested a choroidal tumor as the initial presenting sign of prostate cancer and review 23 patients with choroidal metastasis of prostate cancer in the literature to answer a clinical question how the choroidal metastases would respond to hormonal therapy. A 73-year-old man presented with a choroidal tumor in the right eye.

Alcohol Consumption and Age-related Macular Degeneration: A Systematic Review and Dose-response Meta-analysis.

: To perform a systematic review on the association between alcohol consumption and risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using a meta-analytical approach.: Systematic literature research was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Both categorical and dose-response meta-analysis was performed separately for early and late AMD.

Inhibition of HSF1 and SAFB Granule Formation Enhances Apoptosis Induced by Heat Stress.

Stress resistance mechanisms include upregulation of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and formation of granules. Stress-induced granules are classified into stress granules and nuclear stress bodies (nSBs). The present study examined the involvement of nSB formation in thermal resistance.

Cripto-1 as a Potential Target of Cancer Stem Cells for Immunotherapy.

The immune system has been found to be suppressed in cancer patients. Cancer cells are extremely resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs, conventional immunotherapy, or cancer antigen vaccine therapy. Cancer immunotherapy, which is mainly based on immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as those for PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA4, is an effective treatment method.

Paclitaxel-Based Chemotherapy Targeting Cancer Stem Cells from Mono- to Combination Therapy.

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a chemotherapeutical agent commonly used to treat several kinds of cancer. PTX is known as a microtubule-targeting agent with a primary molecular mechanism that disrupts the dynamics of microtubules and induces mitotic arrest and cell death. Simultaneously, other mechanisms have been evaluated in many studies.

Usability of detecting delivery errors during treatment of prostate VMAT with a gantry-mounted transmission detector.

Volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) requires highly accurate control of multileaf collimator (MLC) movement, rotation speed of linear accelerator gantry, and monitor units during irradiation. Pretreatment validation and monitoring of these factors during irradiation are necessary for appropriate VMAT treatment. Recently, a gantry mounted transmission detector "Delta Discover® (D4D)" was developed to detect errors in delivering doses and dose distribution immediately after treatment.

Treatment of Retinoblastoma 1-Intact Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4/6 Inhibitor Combination Therapy.

Background And Aims: Synthetic cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors exert antitumor effects by forcing RB1 in unphosphorylated status, causing not only cell cycle arrest but also cellular senescence, apoptosis, and increased immunogenicity. These agents currently have an indication in advanced breast cancers and are in clinical trials for many other solid tumors. HCC is one of promising targets of CDK4/6 inhibitors.

Modelling the visual response to an OUReP retinal prosthesis with photoelectric dye coupled to polyethylene film.

Retinal prostheses have been developed to restore vision in blind patients suffering from diseases like retinitis pigmentosa.A new type of retinal prosthesis called the Okayama University-type retinal prosthesis (OUReP) was developed by chemically coupling photoelectric dyes to a polyethylene film surface. The prosthesis works by passively generating an electric potential when stimulated by light.

How can we turn the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway down? Insights into inhibition and treatment of cancer.

: The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase-B/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) pathway is a fundamental regulator of cell proliferation and survival. Dysregulation in this pathway leads to the development of cancer. Accumulating evidence indicates that dysregulation in this pathway is involved in cancer initiation, progression, and recurrence.