Unilateral Bleomycin-induced Interstitial Pneumonitis Mouse Model With Both a Healthy and a Diseased Lung.

Background/aim: A standard mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis has been created by intratracheal or intraperitoneal administration of bleomycin. However, a difficulty presented by this traditional method is its high mortality rate of more than 50% after bleomycin administration. In this study, we aimed to establish a unilateral lung disease model and to assess its feasibility and usefulness.

Effects of Institutional Experience on Plan Quality in Stereotactic Radiotherapy Using HyperArc for Brain Metastases.

Background/aim: HyperArc (HA) is an automated planning technique enabling single-isocenter brain stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT); however, dosimetric outcomes may be influenced by the planner's expertise. This study aimed to assess the impact of institutional experience on the plan quality of HA-SRT for both single and multiple brain metastases.

Materials And Methods: Twenty patients who underwent HA-SRT for single metastasis between 2020 and 2021 comprised the earlier group, while those treated between 2022 and 2024 constituted the later group.

Salvage-line of Capecitabine Plus Oxaliplatin Therapy (XELOX) for Patients With Inoperable/Advanced Gastric Cancer Resistant/Intolerant to Cisplatin (OGSG1403).

Background/aim: No prospective study has evaluated salvage chemotherapy with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (XELOX) in patients with gastric cancer who are resistant to or intolerant of cisplatin.

Patients And Methods: This multicenter, open-label, single-arm, phase II study was conducted at six centers in Japan, enrolling patients with metastatic or advanced gastric cancer resistant to or intolerant of fluoropyrimidine, cisplatin, taxane, and irinotecan. Capecitabine 1,000 mg/m was administered orally twice daily for 14 days, followed by a 7-day rest period.

Sustained growth-promoting effects of vosoritide in children with achondroplasia from an ongoing phase 3 extension study.

Background: Vosoritide is a C-type natriuretic peptide analog that addresses an underlying pathway causing reduced bone growth in achondroplasia. Understanding the vosoritide treatment effect requires evaluation over an extended duration and comparison with outcomes in untreated children.

Methods: After completing ≥6 months of a baseline observational growth study and 52 weeks in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study (ClinicalTrials.

Hypoxia-induced increase in sphingomyelin synthase 2 aggravates ischemic skeletal muscle inflammation.

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the most advanced stage of peripheral arterial disease, posing a high risk of mortality. Sphingomyelin, a sphingolipid synthesized by sphingomyelin synthases (SMSs) 1 and 2, plays an essential role in signal transduction as a component of lipid rafts. However, the role of sphingomyelin in the inflammation of ischemic skeletal muscles remains unclear.

piRNA processing within non-membrane structures is governed by constituent proteins and their functional motifs.

Discovered two decades ago, PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are crucial for silencing transposable elements (TEs) in animal gonads, thereby protecting the germline genome from harmful transposition, and ensuring species continuity. Silencing of TEs is achieved through transcriptional and post-transcriptional suppression by piRNAs and the PIWI clade of Argonaute proteins within non-membrane structured organelle. These structures are composed of proteins involved in piRNA processing, including PIWIs and other proteins by distinct functional motifs such as the Tudor domain, LOTUS, and intrinsic disordered regions (IDRs).

How many cases do young pediatric surgeons need to experience to achieve autonomy in performing pediatric endoscopic surgery? A nationwide survey to establish an ideal curriculum for pediatric endoscopic surgery in Japan.

Purpose: To ensure the safe prevalence of pediatric endoscopic surgery in Japan, a training curriculum should be established. In addition, the number of pediatric surgical cases is decreasing due to the decreasing birth rate in Japan, and it is necessary to clarify the number of surgical cases required for young pediatric surgeons to achieve autonomy in pediatric endoscopic surgery.

Methods: An online nationwide survey was conducted among young pediatric surgeons with 3-15 years of clinical experience in Japan.

Selective engagement of long-latency reflexes in postural control through wobble board training.

Long-latency reflexes (LLRs) are critical precursors to intricate postural coordination of muscular adaptations that sustain equilibrium following abrupt disturbances. Both disturbances and adaptive responses reflect excursions of postural control from quiescent Gaussian stability under a narrow bell curve, excursions beyond Gaussianity unfolding at many timescales. LLRs slow with age, accentuating the risk of falls and undermining dexterity, particularly in settings with concurrent additional tasks.

Automated chest CT three-dimensional quantification of body composition: adipose tissue and paravertebral muscle.

This retrospective study developed an automated algorithm for 3D segmentation of adipose tissue and paravertebral muscle on chest CT using artificial intelligence (AI) and assessed its feasibility. The study included patients from the Boston Lung Cancer Study (2000-2011). For adipose tissue quantification, 77 patients were included, while 245 were used for muscle quantification.

Imaging pathology in archived cornea with Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy including tissue reprocessing for volume electron microscopy.

Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is a common sight-threatening condition characterised by pathological changes in the posterior cornea. Here we report observations by light, transmission and volume scanning electron microscopy on changes in the endothelium and matrix associated with the characteristic deformations of Descemet's membrane, termed guttae. Specimens were archived full-thickness human corneal tissue, removed during graft surgery, that had been fixed, stained and embedded by conventional processing methods for examination by transmission electron microscopy more than 40-years previously.

Hypoxia drives the formation of lung micropapillary adenocarcinoma-like structure through hypoxia-inducible factor-1α.

Micropapillary adenocarcinoma (MPC) is an aggressive histological subtype of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). MPC is composed of small clusters of cancer cells exhibiting inverted polarity. However, the mechanism underlying its formation is poorly understood.

D-loop mutations in mitochondrial DNA are a risk factor for chemotherapy resistance in esophageal cancer.

Esophageal cancer is a highly aggressive disease, and acquired resistance to chemotherapy remains a significant hurdle in its treatment. mtDNA, crucial for cellular energy production, is prone to mutations at a higher rate than nuclear DNA. These mutations can accumulate and disrupt cellular function; however, mtDNA mutations induced by chemotherapy in esophageal cancer remain unexplored.

Downregulation of semaphorin 4A in keratinocytes reflects the features of non-lesional psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a multifactorial disorder mediated by IL-17-producing T cells, involving immune cells and skin-constituting cells. Semaphorin 4A (Sema4A), an immune semaphorin, is known to take part in T helper type 1/17 differentiation and activation. However, Sema4A is also crucial for maintaining peripheral tissue homeostasis and its involvement in skin remains unknown.

Peritoneal Dissemination and Malignant Ascites in Duodenal Cancer Successfully Treated With Adoptive Cell Therapy Using WT1- and MUC1-Pulsed Dendritic Cells and Activated T Cells With No Adverse Effects: A Case Report.

A satisfactory treatment for the dissemination of duodenal cancer has not yet been established. We describe a case of peritoneal dissemination and malignant ascites in duodenal cancer that was successfully treated with adoptive cell therapy with no adverse effects. A 72-year-old Japanese male patient with primary duodenal cancer with distal lymph node metastases received chemotherapy with S-1, an oral pyrimidine fluoridederived agent, and oxaliplatin after gastrojejunal bypass, which resulted in tumor shrinkage; however, peritoneal dissemination developed.

Heterogeneous appetite patterns in depression: computational modeling of nutritional interoception, reward processing, and decision-making.

Accurate interoceptive processing in decision-making is essential to maintain homeostasis and overall health. Disruptions in this process have been associated with various psychiatric conditions, including depression. Recent studies have focused on nutrient homeostatic dysregulation in depression for effective subtype classification and treatment.

Gene Fusion Detection in Long-Read Transcriptome Datasets from Multiple Cancer Cell Lines.

Background: Fusion genes are important biomarkers in cancer research because their expression can produce abnormal proteins with oncogenic properties. Long-read RNA sequencing (long-read RNA-seq), which can sequence full-length mRNA transcripts, facilitates the detection of such fusion genes. Several tools have been proposed for detecting fusion genes in long-read RNA-seq datasets derived from cancer cells.

Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis During Intensive Immunosuppressive Treatment for Acute Exacerbation of Interstitial Pneumonia: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare disease characterized by the accumulation of surfactants in the alveoli. It has been suggested that immunosuppressants contribute to the development and exacerbation of PAP. Here, we report the case of a 73-year-old man who developed secondary PAP after intensive immunosuppressive treatment for acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia (IP).

Antiplatelets before or during endovascular therapy after intravenous thrombolysis for atherothrombotic large vessel occlusion.

Re-occlusion and intravascular thrombus formation following mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in stroke patients worsen clinical outcomes. Although early administration of antiplatelet therapy (APT) prevents these complications, current guidelines advise against using APT soon after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), making the management of atherothrombotic large vessel occlusion (AT-LVO) difficult. We investigated the safety of early APT for acute AT-LVO treated with MT following IVT.

Generation of highly stable electron beam via the control of hydrodynamic instability.

By employing the stabilizer in the supersonic gas nozzle to produce the plasma density profile with a sharp downramp, we have experimentally demonstrated highly stable electron beam acceleration based on the shock injection mechanism in laser wakefield acceleration with the use of a compact Ti:sapphire laser. A quasi-monoenergetic electron beam with a peak energy of 315 MeV ± 12.5 MeV per shot is generated.

Muscle synergy in several locomotor modes in chimpanzees and Japanese macaques, and its implications for the evolutionary origin of bipedalism through shared muscle synergies.

Recent evidence indicates that human ancestors utilized a combination of quadrupedal walking, climbing, and bipedal walking. Therefore, the origin of bipedalism may be linked to underlying mechanisms supporting diverse locomotor modes. This study aimed to elucidate foundations of varied locomotor modes from the perspective of motor control by identifying muscle synergies and demonstrating similarities in synergy compositions across different locomotor modes in chimpanzees and Japanese macaques.

Quantitative Live Imaging Reveals Phase Dependency of PDAC Patient-Derived Organoids on ERK and AMPK Activity.

Patient-derived organoids represent a novel platform to recapitulate the cancer cells in the patient tissue. While cancer heterogeneity has been extensively studied by a number of omics approaches, little is known about the spatiotemporal kinase activity dynamics. Here we applied a live imaging approach to organoids derived from 10 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients to comprehensively understand their heterogeneous growth potential and drug responses.

Prognostic role of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis: insights from ILLUMINATE-CS.

Aims: The prognostic role of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) as a biomarker in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) has yet to be fully determined, especially when compared with B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP).

Methods And Results: In this post-hoc analysis of the ILLUMINATE-CS (ILLUstration of the Management and prognosIs of JapaNese pATiEnts with Cardiac Sarcoidosis), which is a multicentre retrospective observational study, we analysed 103 patients (62.2 ± 10.

Reservoir computing with generalized readout based on generalized synchronization.

Reservoir computing is a machine learning framework that exploits nonlinear dynamics, exhibiting significant computational capabilities. One of the defining characteristics of reservoir computing is that only linear output, given by a linear combination of reservoir variables, is trained. Inspired by recent mathematical studies of generalized synchronization, we propose a novel reservoir computing framework with a generalized readout, including a nonlinear combination of reservoir variables.

The short term impact of radiofrequency ablative techniques and peripheral nerve block on thermoregulation in mouse models.

This study investigated the impact of multiple nerve block methods (local anesthesia, conventional radiofrequency thermocoagulation [CRF], and pulsed radiofrequency [PRF]) on thermoregulation. Focusing on hypothalamic function, the effects of local anesthesia, CRF, and PRF on central and peripheral temperatures were analyzed and compared. Our findings revealed that all three nerve block groups cause a decrease in central temperature, with the CRF group exhibiting the most pronounced effect.