Association of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor with hepatic enzymes, AST/ALT ratio, and FIB-4 index in middle-aged and older women

Substantial evidence suggests an important role of liver function in brain health. Liver function is clinically assessed by measuring the activity of hepatic enzymes in the peripheral blood. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important regulator of brain function. Therefore, we hypothesized that blood BDNF levels are associated with liver function and fibrosis. To test this hypothesis, in this cross-sectional study, we investigated whether serum BDNF concentration is associated with liver enzyme activity, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/ alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio, and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index in middle-aged and older women. We found that serum BDNF level showed a significant positive association with ALT and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) activity and negative association with FIB-4 index, and a trend of negative association with the AST/ALT ratio after adjustment for age. Additionally, these associations remained statistically significant even after adjustment for body mass index (BMI) and fasting blood glucose level. These results demonstrate associations of serum BDNF levels with liver enzymes and hepatic fibrosis-related indices, which may underlie liver-brain interactions

A novel approach to measuring pore fluid sediment concentrations of debris flows in a volcanic torrent

Pore fluid in a debris flow is not fully understood, despite its contribution to the fluidity of the debris flow. To observe sediment concentrations of the pore fluids in debris flows, we established a novel monitoring system in a volcanic catchment, in southern Japan. An observation culvert, 1.0 m in width, 1.5 m in height and 2.0 m in length, was placed along the stream bank. An intake covered by a grating was equipped on the side of the culvert so that only pore fluid of debris flows was led inside. Measurements of dielectric permittivities were conducted within the culvert and used for the calculation of sediment concentrations of the fluid. The sediment concentrations of the pore fluid were successfully measured for natural debris flows. The preliminary observation revealed that the volumetric sediment concentration of pore fluid varied from approximately 5 to 69 %, which were slightly smaller or similar to those of the entire debris flows. Successive occurrences of debris flow caused decreases in the sediment concentration of the pore fluids with each surge

Zero-DeepSub: Zero-Shot Deep Subspace Reconstruction for Rapid Multiparametric Quantitative MRI Using 3D-QALAS

Purpose: To develop and evaluate methods for 1) reconstructing 3D-quantification using an interleaved Look-Locker acquisition sequence with T2 preparation pulse (3D-QALAS) time-series images using a low-rank subspace method, which enables accurate and rapid T1 and T2 mapping, and 2) improving the fidelity of subspace QALAS by combining scan-specific deep-learning-based reconstruction and subspace modeling. Methods: A low-rank subspace method for 3D-QALAS (i.e., subspace QALAS) and zero-shot deep-learning subspace method (i.e., Zero-DeepSub) were proposed for rapid and high fidelity T1 and T2 mapping and time-resolved imaging using 3D-QALAS. Using an ISMRM/NIST system phantom, the accuracy of the T1 and T2 maps estimated using the proposed methods was evaluated by comparing them with reference techniques. The reconstruction performance of the proposed subspace QALAS using Zero-DeepSub was evaluated in vivo and compared with conventional QALAS at high reduction factors of up to 9-fold. Results: Phantom experiments showed that subspace QALAS had good linearity with respect to the reference methods while reducing biases compared to conventional QALAS, especially for T2 maps. Moreover, in vivo results demonstrated that subspace QALAS had better g-factor maps and could reduce voxel blurring, noise, and artifacts compared to conventional QALAS and showed robust performance at up to 9-fold acceleration with Zero-DeepSub, which enabled whole-brain T1, T2, and PD mapping at 1 mm isotropic resolution within 2 min of scan time. Conclusion: The proposed subspace QALAS along with Zero-DeepSub enabled high fidelity and rapid whole-brain multiparametric quantification and time-resolved imaging.Comment: 17 figures, 3 table

The Smallest Reported Malignant Struma Ovarii: A Case Report

Introduction: Malignant struma ovarii is a rare neoplasm. It is usually asymptomatic and not commonly diagnosed preoperatively. In addition, there is currently no established diagnostic and therapeutic approach for malignant struma ovarii. Case Report: A 66-year-old asymptomatic female was referred to our hospital. Computed tomography showed the presence of a well-defined mass with enhancement in the internal and peripheral areas. The patient underwent total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and partial omentectomy. Histopathology revealed the presence of a papillary thyroid carcinoma arising from a 2.5-cm-diameter struma ovarii (malignant struma ovarii). According to the criteria of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the patient had stage IA disease. Subsequently, she underwent a thyroid scan with normal findings. At the 3-month follow-up, the patient was alive, in good clinical condition, and disease free. Conclusion: In this report, we present the smallest malignant struma ovarii reported so far in the literature. Because of the rarity of these tumors and the lack of firm prognostic factors, the treatment decision should be customized for each patient according to the pathological and clinical parameters

Neurocognitive Evaluation of Japanese Childhood Cancer Survivors

Long-term cognitive effects following acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment have been reported for Caucasians; however, these data remain unclear for other ethnicities and the treatment of other cancers. Here, we assessed cognitive function in Japanese childhood cancer survivors. This study enrolled 53 Japanese survivors of childhood cancer （mean age, 9.5 years; 36 boys and 17 girls）. We evaluated performance-based cognitive function using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition （WISC-Ⅳ）. Deviation intelligence quotients （IQ） for verbal comprehension （VC）, perceptual reasoning （PR）, processing speed （PS）, and working memory （WM） were compared with the standardized mean and standard deviation （SD; 100 and 15, respectively）. We classified patients into three groups depending on the cumulative methotrexate （MTX） dose （none, 1–19g/m2, and＞20g/m2）. Full-scale IQ was within normal range at 104.8 （SD, 12.9）, although there were significant differences among the four WISC–Ⅳ index scores （P＜0.001）. The PS score （97.1±15.5） was significantly lower than the VC （107.2±15.8） and PR （105.3±14.2） scores （both P＜0.005）. WM performance decreased in an MTX dose-dependent manner （107.8, 102.6, and 96.5 for none, 1–19g/m2, and higher than 20g/m2, respectively; P=0.05）. Japanese childhood cancer survivors, including those in the non-MTX group, demonstrated significant PS impairment. High-dose MTX treatment might be associated with neurocognitive deficiencies, particularly in WM. Although current treatments are associated with high cure rates, future research and interventions are required to improve cognitive function in these patients

Structural basis for Ccd1 auto-inhibition in the Wnt pathway through homomerization of the DIX domain

Wnt signaling plays an important role in governing cell fate decisions. Coiled-coil-DIX1 (Ccd1), Dishevelled (Dvl), and Axin are signaling proteins that regulate the canonical pathway by controlling the stability of a key signal transducer β-catenin. These proteins contain the DIX domain with a ubiquitin-like fold, which mediates their interaction in the β-catenin destruction complex through dynamic head-to-tail polymerization. Despite high sequence similarities, mammalian Ccd1 shows weaker stimulation of β-catenin transcriptional activity compared with zebrafish (z) Ccd1 in cultured cells. Here, we show that the mouse (m) Ccd1 DIX domain displays weaker ability for homopolymerization than that of zCcd1. Furthermore, X-ray crystallographic analysis of mCcd1 and zCcd1 DIX domains revealed that mCcd1 was assembled into a double-helical filament by the insertion of the β1-β2 loop into the head-to-tail interface, whereas zCcd1 formed a typical single-helical polymer similar to Dvl1 and Axin. The mutation in the contact interface of mCcd1 double-helical polymer changed the hydrodynamic properties of mCcd1 so that it acquired the ability to induce Wnt-specific transcriptional activity similar to zCcd1. These findings suggest a novel regulatory mechanism by which mCcd1 modulates Wnt signaling through auto-inhibition of dynamic head-to-tail homopolymerization