This cross-sectional analysis aimed to assess the extent of conflicts of interest among the Japanese government coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) advisory board members and elucidate the accuracy ...of conflicts of interest (COI) disclosure and management strategies. Using the payment data from all 79 pharmaceutical companies in Japan between 2017 and 2019 and direct research grants from the Japanese government between 2019 and 2020, we evaluated the extent of financial and non-financial COI among all 20 Japanese government COVID-19 advisory board members. The Ethic Committee of the Medical Governance Research Institute approved this study. Japanese government COVID-19 advisory board members were predominantly male (75.0%) and physicians (50.0%). Between 2019 and 2020, 2 members (10.0%) received a total of $819,244 in government research funding. Another 5 members (25.0%) received $532,127 in payments, including $276,722 in personal fees, from 31 pharmaceutical companies between 2017 and 2019. The average value of the pharmaceutical payments was $9155 (standard deviation: $12,975). Furthermore, neither the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare nor the Japanese Cabinet Secretariat disclosed financial or non-financial COI with industry. Additionally, the government had no policies for managing COI among advisory board members. This study found that the Japanese government COVID-19 advisory board had financial and non-financial COI with pharmaceutical companies and the government. Furthermore, personal communication received as part of this research indicated that there were no rigorous COI management strategies for the COVID-19 advisory board members. Any government must ensure the independence of scientific advisory boards by implementing more rigorous and transparent management strategies that require the declaration and public disclosure of all COI.
We demonstrate that the critical thickness for Ge-rich strained SiGe layers can be drastically increased by a factor of more then two by means of growth on mesa-patterned Ge-on-Si. The Si0.2Ge0.8 ...layer grown on sub-millimeter mesa Ge-on-Si is fully strained and free from ridge roughness, while the same Si0.2Ge0.8 layers grown on unpatterned Ge-on-Si and a Ge substrate are partially strain-relaxed with the surface covered by high-density ridge roughness. This demonstrates that the proposed patterning method can provide thick and stable strained SiGe films as promising templates for realization of strained SiGe-based optoelectronic and spintronic devices.
ObjectivesLittle is known about the effectiveness of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) for elderly patients who had out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The aim of this study was ...to examine the impact of age on outcomes among patients who had OHCA treated with ECPR.DesignSingle-centre retrospective cohort study.SettingA critical care centre that covers a population of approximately 1 million residents.ParticipantsPatients who had consecutive OHCA aged ≥18 years who underwent ECPR from 2005 to 2013.Primary and secondary outcome measuresPrimary outcomes were 1 month neurologically favourable outcomes and survival. To determine the association between advanced age and each outcome, we fitted multivariable logistic regression models using: (1) age as a continuous variable and (2) age as a categorical variable (<50 years, 50–59 years, 60–69 years and ≥70 years).ResultsOverall, 144 patients who had OHCA who underwent ECPR were eligible for our analyses. The proportion of neurologically favourable outcomes was 7%, while survival was 19% in patients who had OHCA. After the adjustment for potential confounders, while advanced age was non-significantly associated with neurologically favourable outcomes (adjusted OR 0.96 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.01), p=0.08), the association between advanced age and the poor survival rate was significant (adjusted OR 0.96 (95% CI 0.93 to 0.99), p=0.04). Additionally, compared with age <50 years, age ≥70 years was non-significantly associated with poor neurological outcomes (adjusted OR 0.08 (95% CI 0.01 to 1.00), p=0.051), whereas age ≥70 years was significantly associated with worse survival in the adjusted model (adjusted OR 0.14 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.80), p=0.03).ConclusionsIn our analysis of consecutive OHCA data from a critical care hospital in an urban area of Japan, we found that advanced age was associated with the lower rate of 1-month survival in patients who had OHCA who underwent ECPR. Although larger studies are required to confirm these results, our findings suggest that ECPR may not be beneficial for patients who had OHCA aged ≥70 years.
Background:Door-to-balloon (DTB) time ≤90 min is an important quality indicator in the management of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), but a considerable number of patients still do not ...meet this goal, particularly in countries outside the USA and Europe.Methods and Results:We analyzed 2,428 STEMI patients who underwent primary PCI ≤12 h of symptom onset who were registered in an ongoing prospective multicenter database (JCD-KiCS registry), between 2008 and 2013. We analyzed both the time trend in DTB time within this cohort in the registry, and independent predictors of delayed DTB time >90 min. Median DTB time was 90 min (IQR, 68–115 min) during the study period and there were no significant changes with year. Predictors for delay in DTB time included peripheral artery disease, prior revascularization, off-hour arrival, age >75 years, heart failure at arrival, and use of IABP or VA-ECMO. Notably, high-volume PCI-capable institutions (PCI ≥200/year) were more adept at achieving shorter DTB time compared with low-volume institutions (PCI <200/year).Conclusions:Half of the present STEMI patients did not achieve DTB time ≤90 min. Targeting the elderly and patients with multiple comorbidities, and PCI performed in off-hours may aid in its improvement.
Recent preclinical data suggest that androgen receptor (AR) signaling plays a significant role in subsets of breast cancer. Clinical trials testing AR-targeting therapies in breast cancer have been ...conducted. Assessment of AR-signal in breast cancer tissue maybe useful for treatment selections. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is the product of an androgen-responsive gene. Serum PSA (sPSA) can be detected in women by a highly sensitive assay although the concentration is much lower than that observed in males. We investigated if sPSA reflects tumor biology, including AR signaling in breast cancer patients.
In this study, 132 healthy controls and 144 breast cancer patients were enrolled. sPSA was evaluated by the chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) method. Correlations between sPSA and the various clinicopathological factors were analyzed.
In post-menopausal state, sPSA detection rate was significantly higher in breast cancer patients compared with controls (27.4% vs 11.3%: p = 0.0090), but not in the whole cohort (29.2% vs 25.8%: p = 0.5265) or pre-menopausal subgroup (37.0% vs 42.6%: p = 0.6231). In post-menopausal breast cancer cases, higher sPSA value was associated with clinic-pathological factors including the expression of AR protein in primary legion. In a correlation analysis of quantitative data limited to post-menopausal metastatic breast cancer (MBC), sPSA was positively, albeit weakly correlated with clinic-pathological features including serum testosterone levels and AR positivity.
Our data suggest that sPSA may reflect tumor biological properties including AR activity in post-menopausal breast cancer.
In the radiation industry, occupational health is a significantly important issue. As the workers belong to a wide range of socioeconomic classes, the management of the health of the workers, ...especially in a lower socioeconomic status, such as migrant workers, is essential. After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, migrant decontamination workers were recruited to help clean up and mitigate the ionizing radiation in evacuation zone, in order to resume life. As this was the first attempt at such decontamination work after a nuclear accident, these workers were the first to experience these conditions. However, limited information is available on the health of the workers engaged in this work. This paper comprehensively reviews the existing health risks faced by the workers after the FDNPP accident to provide general health guidelines to mitigate the health risks of decontamination workers in future disasters. Following previous literature, the health risks were categorized by those associated with occupational hazards and those associated with the living environment. Not only a mitigation of the direct occupational hazards, such as radiation exposure, work-related infection and trauma during work, but also the management of lifestyle should be adequately supported for decontamination workers of future nuclear disasters.
Escherichia coli has dispensable genome regions and eliminating them may improve cell use by reducing unnecessary metabolic pathways and complex regulatory networks. Although several strains with ...reduced genomes have already been constructed, there have been no reports of strains constructed with deletions assayed for influence on growth. To retain robust growth and fundamental metabolic pathways, the growth of each deletion strain and combination effects of deletions were checked using M9 minimal medium. Then a new strain, MGF-01, with a 1 Mb reduced genome was constructed by integrating deletions that did not affect growth. MGF-01 grew as well as the wild type in the exponential phase and continued growing after the wild type had entered the stationary phase. The final cell density of MGF-01 was 1.5 times higher than that of the wild-type strain. Using MGF-01 as a production host, a 2.4-fold increase in l-threonine production was achieved.
Skeletal muscle atrophy occurs rapidly as a result of inactivity. Although there are many reports on changes in gene expression during the early phase of muscle atrophy, the patterns of up-and ...downregulated gene expression after long-term and equilibrated muscle atrophy are poorly understood. In this study, we comprehensively examined the changes in gene expression in long-term denervated mouse muscles using RNA-Seq. The murine right sciatic nerve was denervated, and the mice were housed for five weeks. The cross-sectional areas of the hind limb muscles were measured using an X-ray CT system 35 days after denervation. After 28 d of denervation, the cross-sectional area of the muscle decreased to approximately 65% of that of the intact left muscle and reached a plateau. Gene expression in the soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles on the 36th day was analyzed using RNA-Seq and validated using RT-qPCR. RNA-Seq analysis revealed that three genes-
, and
-were upregulated and one gene-
-was downregulated in the soleus muscle; additionally, four genes-
,
,
, and
-were upregulated and one gene-
-was downregulated in the EDL muscle (FDR < 0.05). Among these genes,
, one of the long non-coding RNAs, was significantly upregulated in both the muscles. These findings indicate that
could be a candidate gene for the maintenance of atrophied skeletal muscle size and an atrophic state.
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