The purpose is to clarify the relationship between patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO), maximal intima-media complex thickness (Max IMT), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide ...(NT-proBNP), which is useful in assessing atherosclerosis. This was a retrospective observation, single center study. The patients were 86 RVO patients (male: female = 43:43, mean age 63.3 years), 25 with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and 61 with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), classified as ≧50 years old and <50 years old, Max IMT≧1.1 and less, NT-pro BNP≧55 and less. Results showed that Max IMT ≧1.1 was significantly more common in both the CRVO and BRVO groups at ≧50 years, and NT-pro BNP ≧55 was significantly more common in the CRVO group. Max IMT≧1.1 was seen in 80% of the BRVO group and in 85% of patients aged ≧50 years. Sixty-eight percent of patients in the CRVO group had Max IMT≧1.1, but none of those < 50 years had Max IMT≧1.1. Forty-eight percent of RVO patients had NT-pro BNP≧55, and significantly more patients had Max IMT≧1.1 than those who did not have NT-pro BNP more than 55 (p = 0.02). Multiple regression analysis with Max IMT as the dependent variable showed that age and NT-pro BNP were significantly associated with RVO (p = 0.015, 0.022). RVO patients were more likely to have a Max IMT≧1.1, which was associated with atherosclerosis. Max IMT and NT-pro BNP were also associated with RVO patients, so NT-pro BNP may be a marker of RVO.
Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are ectopic lymphoid aggregates in non-lymphoid tissues, which are associated with improved prognosis in some cancer types. This study aimed to investigate the ...clinical significance of TLSs in oesophageal cancer (EC).
In a series of 316 EC surgical specimens from two different institutes, we evaluated the density and maturity of peritumoral TLSs using haematoxylin/eosin, immunohistochemistry, and multiplex immunofluorescence staining. We analysed the association between TLSs and clinicopathological parameters. The clinical significance of TLSs was further evaluated in a different cohort of 34 patients with recurrent EC treated with anti-PD-1 antibody.
Tumours with high TLS density predominantly consisted of matured TLSs. High TLS density was significantly associated with less advanced tumour stage, absence of lymphatic/vascular invasion, better serum nutrition parameters (neutrophils count, albumin, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and prognostic nutritional index), and prolonged survival. This survival trend was more remarkable in cases with matured TLSs, which represented an increased population of CD138
plasma cells. In the second EC cohort, TLS density predicted the clinical response to anti-PD-1 antibody and patient survival.
The density and maturity of peritumoral TLSs are useful parameters for predicting long-term survival and response to anti-PD-1 antibody treatment in EC patients.
The catalytic performance of Ru-NAD-type complexes Ru(tpy)(pbn)(CO)2+ (12+; tpy = 2,2′;6′,2″-terpyridine; pbn = 2-(pyridin-2-yl)benzob1,5naphthyridine) and the Ru-CO-bridged metallacycle 2+ ...was investigated in the context of the electrochemical reduction of CO2 in H2O/CH3CN at room temperature. A controlled-potential electrolysis of 12+ and 2+ afforded formate (HCOO–) as the main product, under concomitant formation of minor amounts of CO and H2. Metallacycle 2+ showed a higher selectivity toward the formation of HCOO– than 12+ (HCOO–/CO for 12+, 2.7; HCOO–/CO for 2+, 7). The generation of HCOO– via a catalytic hydride transfer from the NADH-type ligands of 12+ and 2+ to CO2 was supported by the experimental results and a comparison with the reduction of CO2 catalyzed by Ru(tpy)(bpy)(CO)2+ under similar conditions. A mechanism for the catalytic reduction of CO2 by 12+ and 2+ was proposed based on the experimental evidence. The thus-obtained results may help to expand the field of NADH-assisted reduction reactions.
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have long been recognized as playing an important role in tumor immune microenvironment. Lately, the Immunoscore (IS) has been proposed as a new method of ...quantifying the number of TILs in association with patient survival in several cancer types.
In 300 preoperatively untreated esophageal cancer (EC) patients who underwent curative resection at two different institutes, immunohistochemical staining using CD3 and CD8 antibodies was performed to evaluate IS, as objectively scored by auto-counted TILs in the tumor core and invasive margin. In addition, in pre-neoadjuvant chemotherapy (pre-NAC) endoscopic biopsies of a different cohort of 146 EC patients who received NAC, CD3, and CD8 were immunostained to evaluate TIL density.
In all cases, the IS-high (score 3-4) group tended to have better survival 5-year overall survival (OS) of the IS-high vs low group: 77.6 vs 65.8%, P = 0.0722 than the IS-low (score 1-2) group. This trend was more remarkable in cStage II-IV patients (70.2 vs 54.5%, P = 0.0208) and multivariate analysis of OS further identified IS (hazard ratio 2.07, P = 0.0043) to be an independent prognostic variable. In preNAC biopsies, NAC-responders had higher densities than non-responders of both CD3 + ( P = 0.0106) and CD8 + cells ( P = 0.0729) and, particularly CD3 + cell density was found to be an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio 1.75, P = 0.0169).
The IS signature in surgical specimens and TIL density in preNAC- biopsies could be predictive markers of clinical outcomes in EC patients.
The reproducibility of longitudinal strain measured by 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) may be affected by ultrasound settings. This study investigated the effect of transmit ultrasound ...frequency on global longitudinal strain (GLS) by 2DSTE. Apical, 2- and 4-chamber, and long-axis views were obtained in consecutive 162 patients using Philips ultrasound devices. Three different frequency presets were used sequentially: high resolution (HRES, 1.9 to 2.1 MHz), general (HGEN, 1.6 to 1.8 MHz), and penetration mode (HPEN, 1.3 to 1.6 MHz). GLS values were determined for each preset using the Philips Q-station software, resulting in GLS-HRES, GLS-HGEN, and GLS-HPEN. Among the 151 patients with successfully measured GLS, a significant difference in GLS was observed among the three presets (p < 0.0001). GLS-HRES (- 17.9 ± 4.4%) showed a slightly smaller magnitude compared to GLS-HGEN (- 18.8 ± 4.5%, p < 0.0001) and GLS-HPEN (- 18.8 ± 4.5%, p < 0.0001), with absolute differences of 1.1 ± 1.0% and 1.1 ± 1.2%, respectively. This variation in GLS with frequency was evident in patients with both optimal (n = 104) and suboptimal (n = 47) image quality and remained consistent regardless of ultrasound devices, ischemic etiology, or ejection fraction. In conclusion, ultrasound frequency had only a modest effect on GLS measurements. GLS may be reliably assessed in most cases regardless of the ultrasound frequency used.
This study longitudinally examined the relation between support reciprocity and mental health among college students, focusing on the early stage of friendship development. A total of 106 first-year ...college students (51 male and 55 female) completed measures of support exchange in a new friendship, mental health (general distress), and relationship intimacy at one week (T1), two weeks (T2), four weeks (T3), and three months (T4) after entering college. In students whose relationship with their new friend remained superficial at T4, support reciprocity was not significantly correlated with general distress at any time point. In contrast, in students whose relationship grew closer at T4, support reciprocity was significantly related to lower general distress at T3 and T4, in line with the whole sample cases.
This retrospective study aimed to clarify the risk of older adults' nursing home placement in terms of basic movements and activities of daily living (ADLs) by analyzing data from a long-term care ...insurance certification survey in 2016‒2018 in City A. Of the 21,520 people certified as needing care, 16,865 could be followed up until 2018. Data on sex, age, household structure, and level of care required were obtained. Those who lived at home and at nursing homes were categorized as the "Unchanged group" and the "Changed group," respectively. Multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis was performed, with group type as the dependent variable and basic movement and ADL scores as the independent variables. For factor analysis according to care level, participants were classified into support need levels 1 and 2, care need levels 1 and 2, and care need levels 3, 4, and 5. For those categorized into support need levels 1 and 2, standing on one leg and transferring (basic movements) and urination and face cleaning (ADLs) were associated with nursing home placement. For those in care need levels 1 and 2, getting up and transferring (basic movements) and bathing, urination, face cleaning, and hair styling (ADL) were significantly associated with nursing home placement. For those in care need levels 3, 4, and 5, sitting and transferring (basic movements) and self-feeding and defecation (ADL) were significant. Occupational therapists must focus on older adults' declining ADLs and basic movements and relay the necessary information to patients, families, and other healthcare professionals to ensure appropriate and prompt care delivery.
Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors. Although improvement in chemotherapy has been achieved, the clinical prognosis of advanced gastric cancer remains poor. Therefore, it is ...increasingly important to predict the prognosis and determine whether patients should or should not receive neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. Leucine‐rich α2‐glycoprotein‐1 (LRG1) is overexpressed during inflammation and is associated with various malignancies. In this study, we assessed LRG1 expression in cancer specimens and in the sera of patients with cancer to clarify the usefulness of LRG1 as a biomarker in gastric cancer. This study enrolled 239 (for immunohistochemical staining; IHC) and 184 (for ELISA) patients with gastric cancer. Results of IHC showed that LRG1 expression was significantly associated with histological type, lymphatic and venous invasion, tumor and node factors, and disease stage. Overall survival was significantly worse in the high LRG1 expression group than in the low LRG1 group (P = 0.0003). Cox multivariate analysis of overall survival revealed that LRG1 expression was an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.0258). Serum LRG1 was significantly higher in gastric cancer patients than in healthy volunteers, and increased as the pathological stage progressed. Furthermore, a significant correlation was revealed between serum LRG1 level and LRG1 expression with IHC (P < 0.0001). Inhibition of LRG1 significantly decreased cell proliferation in vitro (migratory and invasive capacity of gastric cancer cells). These results suggest that LRG1 expression in tumors and serum may be a useful prognostic marker in gastric cancer patients.
Expression of leucine‐rich α2‐glycoprotein‐1 (LRG1) with both preoperative serum and resected specimen is a significant prognostic factor in gastric cancer. Inhibiting LRG1 decreases cell growth in gastric cancer cell lines. In gastric cancer, LRG1 expression has a critical role progression and may be a clinical therapeutic target.
Despite recent advances in chemotherapy for gastrointestinal cancer, a crucial factor related to poor prognosis is reduced tolerance to chemotherapy induced by cancer cachexia. Fish oil (FO)-derived ...eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) modulates inflammation in patients with various malignancies; however, the impact of FO-enriched nutrition as a combined modality therapy on clinical outcomes remains controversial. We systemically analysed chronological changes in biochemical and physiological status using bioelectrical impedance analysis in 128 gastrointestinal cancer patients provided with or without FO-enriched nutrition during chemotherapy. Furthermore, we evaluated the clinical significance of FO-enriched nutrition and clarified appropriate patient groups that receive prognostic benefits from FO-enriched nutrition during treatment of gastrointestinal cancer. The control group showed significant up-regulation of serum CRP) levels and no significant difference in both skeletal muscle mass and lean body mass. In contrast, the FO-enriched nutrition group showed no changes in serum CRP concentration and significantly increased skeletal muscle mass and lean body mass over time. Furthermore, high CRP levels significantly correlated with reduced tolerance to chemotherapy, and FO-enriched nutrition improved chemotherapy tolerance and prognosis, particularly in gastrointestinal cancer patients with a modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) of 1 or 2. We conclude that FO-enriched nutrition may improve the prognosis of patients with cancer cachexia and systemic inflammation (i.e., those with a mGPS of 1 or 2).
Water oxidation, in which two water molecules undergo the coupled loss of four electrons and four protons to form an O–O bond, is one of the most appealing target reactions for molecular catalysts in ...view of hydrogen production by electrolytic or photolytic water splitting to cope with urgent energy and environmental problems. Inspired by a natural oxygen‐evolving multinuclear manganese cluster, a number of water oxidation catalysts based on multinuclear transition‐metal complexes have been developed over the last three decades. In recent years, in parallel with the discovery of mononuclear oxygen‐evolving complexes, both experimental and theoretical studies have yielded important insight into O–O bond‐formation pathways in these water‐oxidizing complexes. In this microreview, we will present an updated view of selected current literature focusing on the working mechanism of ruthenium‐based water oxidation catalysts and on the development of rationally designed ruthenium complexes that activate water at mild potentials.
Selected current literature on homogeneous molecular catalysts for water oxidation with the use of transition‐metal complexes is reviewed. Special attention is paid to the mechanism of O–O bond formation in ruthenium‐based catalysts. This review surveys rational approaches to conduct oxygen evolution near the thermodynamic limit.
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