Tunability of the open‐shell character, charge asymmetry, and third‐order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of covalently linked (hetero)phenalenyl dimers are investigated by using the density ...functional theory method. By changing the molecular species X and substitution position (i, j) for the linker part, a variety of intermonomer distances R and relative alignments between the phenalenyl dimers can be realized from the geometry optimizations, resulting in a wide‐range tuning of diradical character y and charge asymmetry. It is found that the static second hyperpolarizabilities along the stacking direction, γyyyy, are one‐order enhanced for phenalenyl dimer systems exhibiting intermediate y, a feature that is in good agreement with the “y–γ correlation”. By replacing the central carbon atoms of the phenalenyl rings with a boron or a nitrogen, we have also designed covalently linked heterophenalenyl dimers. The introduction of such a charge asymmetry to the open‐shell systems, which leads to closed‐shell ionic ground states, is found to further enhance the γyyyy values of the systems having longer intermonomer distance R with intermediate ionic character, that is, charge asymmetry. The present results demonstrate a promising potential of covalently linked NLO dimers with intermediate open‐shell/ionic characters as a new building block of highly efficient NLO systems.
Tuning nonlinear optical dimers: Open‐shell characters, charge asymmetry, and third‐order nonlinear optical properties of covalently linked (hetero)phenalenyl dimers are investigated by density functional calculations. By changing the linker species, the diradical/ionic characters can be finely tuned to achieve significantly enhanced second hyperpolarizability (see scheme).
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
A new biological approach to fabricate Au nanowires was examined by using sequenced histidine-rich peptide nanowires as templates. The sequenced histidine-rich peptide molecules were assembled as ...nanowires, and the biological recognition of the sequenced peptide toward Au lead to efficient Au coating on the nanowires. Monodisperse Au nanocrystals were uniformly coated on the histidine peptide nanowires with the high-density coverage, and the crystalline phases of the Au nanocrystals were observed as (111) and (220). The uniformity of the Au coating on the nanowires without contamination of precipitated Au aggregates is advantageous for the fabrication of electronics and sensor devices when the nanowires are used as the building blocks. We believe this simple metal nanowire fabrication method can be applied to various metals and semiconductors with peptides whose sequences are known to mineralize specific ions.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Sake is made from steamed rice, malted rice, and water. Sake production begins with the preparation of a small-scale starter (moto); the quality of moto significantly influences the flavor and ...richness of sake. In the traditional starter, yamahai-moto, the growth of naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria represses the putrefactive micro-organisms, whereas in the modern starter, sokujo-moto, this is achieved by adding lactic acid. In this study, the successive change in bacterial flora of yamahai-moto was analyzed by pyrosequencing 16S ribosomal RNA genes. Lactobacillus was dominant throughout the process (93-98%). Nitrate-reducing bacteria that have been generally assumed to be the first colonizers of yamahai-moto were scarcely found in the early stage, but Lactobacillus acidipiscis dominated. Lactobacillus sakei drastically increased in the middle stage. This is the first report, though one case study, to show how the early stage microbiota in Japanese yamahai-moto is varyingly controlled without nitrate-reducing bacteria using next-generation sequencing.
Microbiota change during the fermentation of traditional Japanese sake starter yamahai-moto.
Recently, presepsin has been reported to be a useful biomarker for early diagnosis of sepsis and evaluation of prognosis in septic patients. However, few reports have evaluated its usefulness in ...patients with urinary tract infections (UTI). This study aimed to evaluate whether presepsin could be a valuable marker for detecting severe sepsis, and whether it could predict the therapeutic course in patients with UTI compared with markers already used: procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP).
From April 2014 to December 2016, a total of 50 patients with urinary tract infections admitted to Gunma university hospital were enrolled in this study. Vital signs, presepsin, PCT, CRP, white blood cell (WBC) count, causative agents of urinary-tract infections, and other data were evaluated on the enrollment, third, and fifth days. The patients were divided into two groups: with (n = 11) or without (n = 39) septic shock on the enrollment day, and with (n = 7) or without (n = 43) sepsis on the fifth day, respectively. Presepsin was evaluated as a biomarker for systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) or septic shock.
Regarding the enrollment day, there was no significant difference of presepsin between the SIRS and non-SIRS groups (p = 0.276). The median value of presepsin (pg/mL) was significantly higher in the septic shock group (p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that presepsin (≥ 500 pg/ml) was an independent risk factor for septic shock (p = 0.007). ROC curve for diagnosing septic shock indicated an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.881 for presepsin (vs. 0.690, 0.583, and 0.527 for PCT, CRP and WBC, respectively). Regarding the 5th day after admission, the median presepsin value on the enrollment day was significantly higher in the SIRS groups than in the non-SIRS groups (p = 0.006). On the other hand, PCT (≥ 2 ng/ml) on the enrollment day was an independent risk factor for SIRS. ROC curve for diagnosing sepsis on the fifth day indicated an AUC of 0.837 for PCT (vs. 0.817, 0.811, and 0.802 for presepsin, CRP, and WBC, respectively).
This study showed that presepsin may be a good marker for diagnosing septic shock based on admission data in patients with UTI.
In cancer cells, the oncogenic mutant p53 (mtp53) protein is present at high levels and gain-of-function (GOF) activities with more expression of mtp53 proteins contribute to tumor growth and ...metastasis. Robust analytical approaches that probe the degree of metastasis of cancer cells in connection with the mtp53 activity will be extremely useful not only for establishing a better cancer prognosis but also understanding the fundamental mechanism of mtp53 oncogenic action. Here we assessed the influence of mtp53 in breast cancers to the mechanical property of breast cancer cells. Recently, ovarian and kidney cancer cell lines have been shown to have higher cellular elasticity as compared to normal cells assessed by monitoring the degree of deformation under hyposmotic pressure. To make fast detection in large scale, the impedance measurement was applied to monitor the swelling ratio of cells with time. The results showed that knockdown of mtp53 leads to decrease in cell swelling. In addition, by means of two types of impedimetric detection systems we consistently detected enhancement of impedance signal in mtp53-expressing breast cancer cells. Based on this observation we hypothesize that highly expressed mtp53 in metastatic mutant breast cancers can promote tumor progression by making cells more deformable and easier to spread out through extracellular matrix. The identification via the electric measurement can be accomplished within 10 minutes. All results in this report suggest that electric probing for the extent of the mtp53 expression of breast cancer cells may serve as a meaningful fingerprint for the cancer diagnostics, and this outcome will also have an important clinical implication for the development of mtp53-based targeting for tumor detection and treatment.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•General agreement in tumoral PD-L1 detection between 22C3 and 28-8 was satisfactory.•Dako 22C3 revealed a significantly higher tumoral PD-L1 expression compared to 28-8.•Positive results of 22C3 ...(reference) and those of 28-8 (comparator) showed discordance.•The results of 28-8 could be translated to those of 22C3 but not vice versa.
Multiple programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) immunohistochemistry assays are currently used as companion or complementary diagnostic tools for anti-programmed cell death-1 immunotherapies. We aimed to characterize two PD-L1 immunohistochemistry assays (Dako 22C3 and 28-8) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in clinical laboratories.
Surgical specimens from 420 patients with pathological stages IA to IIIA NSCLC were investigated. The archived samples were freshly cut into 5-μm-thick sections stained with antibodies 22C3 and 28-8, and tumoral PD-L1 expression was evaluated in two clinical laboratories, respectively. Overall, positive, and negative percent agreement (OPA, PPA, and NPA, respectively) at specified PD-L1 cutoffs were calculated to assess the concordance between 22C3 and 28-8 assays.
Tumoral PD-L1 expression of ≥ 1% was detected by either 22C3 or 28-8 assays in 176 cases (41.9%), whereas 22C3 revealed a significantly higher tumoral PD-L1 expression compared to 28-8 (median 30% vs. 10%, p < 0.0001). OPA was 89.0, 90.2, and 91.9% at 1, 25, and 50% cutoff levels. When 22C3 was compared to a standard assay 28-8, the PPA was 85.5, 98.3, and 94.9%, whereas NPA was 91.0, 89.0, and 91.6% at 1, 25, and 50%. On the other hand, when 28-8 was compared to 22C3, PPA was 84.4% at 1%, but it decreased to 58.3 and 53.6% at 25 and 50%; whereas NPA remained high (91.7, 99.7, and 99.4% at 1, 25 and 50%, respectively).
Our analysis revealed that, despite the high OPA, there was discordance in the PPA between 22C3 as a standard assay and 28-8 as a comparator assay at 25% and 50% PD-L1 cutoff levels, indicating that the results of 28-8 could be translated to those of 22C3 but not vice versa.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Japan has experienced a drastic increase in the incidence of prostate cancer (PC). To assess changes in the risk for PC, we investigated baseline prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in first‐time ...screened men, across a 25‐year period. In total, 72,654 men, aged 50–79, underwent first‐time PSA screening in Gunma prefecture between 1992 and 2016. Changes in the distribution of PSA levels were investigated, including the percentage of men with a PSA above cut‐off values and linear regression analyses comparing log10 PSA with age. The ‘ultimate incidence’ of PC and clinically significant PC (CSPC) were estimated using the PC risk calculator. Changes in the age‐standardized incidence rate (AIR) during this period were analyzed. The calculated coefficients of linear regression for age versus log10 PSA fluctuated during the 25‐year period, but no trend was observed. In addition, the percentage of men with a PSA above cut‐off values varied in each 5‐year period, with no specific trend. The ‘risk calculator (RC)‐based AIR’ of PC and CSPC were stable between 1992 and 2016. Therefore, the baseline risk for developing PC has remained unchanged in the past 25 years, in Japan. The drastic increase in the incidence of PC, beginning around 2000, may be primarily due to increased PSA screening in the country.
What's new?
An increase in incidence rates of prostate cancer has alarmed researchers in Japan in recent years. Here the authors developed a prostate cancer risk calculator (RC) to estimate the RC‐based age‐standardized incidence rate based on baseline prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) recordings between 1992 and 2016. They found the local baseline risk for developing prostrate cancer to be unchanged in the past 25 years pointing to increased usage of PSA monitoring as a potential explanation for the increased cancer incidence.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Urothelial carcinoma arises from the inner urothelial membrane of the renal pelvis, ureter, and bladder and often causes macrohematuria. Here, we report a rare case in which the patient developed ...non-symptomatic urothelial carcinoma anatomically outside the bladder wall 17 years after bladder diverticulectomy.
An 82-year-old male patient previously underwent gastrectomy for stomach cancer and partial hepatectomy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Follow-up computed tomography revealed a tumor in the retroperitoneal space, where a bladder diverticulum was removed 17 years earlier. Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging suggested that the tumor was malignant with rectal invasion. Subsequent computed tomography-guided percutaneous biopsy revealed that the tumor was urothelial carcinoma. The patient underwent two courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by pelvic exenteration with pelvic lymph node dissection. He is currently receiving adjuvant therapy with an immune checkpoint inhibitor and has had no recurrence for 3 months.
Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging is a helpful tool for predicting both tumor malignancy and invasion before a pathologically confirmed diagnosis. Although this case is rare, urologists should be aware of the occurrence of urothelial carcinoma after bladder diverticulectomy in cases of incomplete resection of the diverticulum.
Collagen implants: The unique molecular properties of the collagen‐like triple helix, generated and amplified by recombinant technology, enable the formation of rigid rod‐shaped molecules that are ...ideally suited as biomolecular‐nanowire templates. Biomineralization of Au on the triple helix (see picture) produces monodisperse Au nanowires with dimensions 4x40 nm2.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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