Excited and Ionized States of p-Benzoquinone and Its Anion Radical: SAC-CI Theoretical Study

Excited and ionized states of p-benzoquinone (p-BQ) and the ground and excited states of its anion radical were studied by the SAC (symmetry adapted cluster)/SAC-CI (configuration interaction) method. Calculated ionization energies were in good agreement with the experimental ionization spectra, and the ionization peaks up to ca. 20 eV were assigned. The lowest four ionized states were calculated to be n

Lipomatous Pseudohypertrophy of the Pancreas Taking the Form of Huge Massive Lesion of the Pancreatic Head

A 70-year-old woman presented with hypogastric pain. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a retroperitoneal tumor 18.0 cm in diameter with fatty tissue density, ventrally compressing the pancreatic head. We suspected a well-differentiated liposarcoma compressing the pancreas. At laparotomy, the tumor mass was the size of an infant's head; its center was located in the area corresponding to the pancreatic uncus. It was continuous with the pancreatic parenchyma through a poorly demarcated border, and we resected as much of the tumor mass as possible while conserving the pancreatic capsule. Histopathological examination indicated lipomatous pseudohypertrophy of the pancreas with proliferation of mature fatty tissue as the main constituent. At the periphery, islands of acinar tissue were retained among the fatty infiltration, which also contained branches of the pancreatic duct and islets of Langerhans. Previous reports have stated that this disorder only causes fatty replacements throughout the pancreas or in the pancreatic body and tail; however, in this patient, imaging and macroscopic examination revealed no fatty replacements in the pancreatic body and tail. We report this case, which we consider extremely rare, along with a brief review of the literature

Peeled Guidewire Coating with Debulked Plaque Obtained by Directional Coronary Atherectomy

Percutaneous directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) is a plaque debulking method performed in Japan, and recently a renewed DCA device has been launched. We present a case with a tight left anterior descending lesion undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with application of DCA. After several sessions of DCA, white plaques accompanied by green, stringed materials were obtained from the device; some materials were considerably long (approximately 15 mm in length). A drug-eluting stent was subsequently implanted, and the procedure was completed successfully without any complications. The extracted plaques and artificial materials were pathologically examined, and no inflammatory changes were detected on plaques adjacent to the material. Assessing pathological findings and structure of the DCA catheter, the obtained artificial materials were considered as peeled guidewire, possibly resulting from the friction between the guidewire and metallic bearing in the housing of DCA catheter. Of note, this phenomenon has been recognized even in other DCA cases in which guidewires of the other kind are used. We report this phenomenon for the first time, warning of theoretically possible distal embolization of artificial materials caused by any debulking devices

Iron-heme-Bach1 axis is involved in erythroblast adaptation to iron deficiency

Iron plays the central role in oxygen transport by erythrocytes as a constituent of heme and hemoglobin. The importance of iron and heme is also to be found in their regulatory roles during erythroblast maturation. The transcription factor Bach1 may be involved in their regulatory roles since it is deactivated by direct binding of heme. To address whether Bach1 is involved in the responses of erythroblasts to iron status, low iron conditions that induced severe iron deficiency in mice were established. Under iron deficiency, extensive gene expression changes and mitophagy disorder were induced during maturation of erythroblasts. Bach1−/− mice showed more severe iron deficiency anemia in the developmental phase of mice and a retarded recovery once iron was replenished when compared with wild-type mice. In the absence of Bach1, the expression of globin genes and Hmox1 (encoding heme oxygenase-1) was de-repressed in erythroblasts under iron deficiency, suggesting that Bach1 represses these genes in erythroblasts under iron deficiency to balance the levels of heme and globin. Moreover, an increase in genome-wide DNA methylation was observed in erythroblasts of Bach1−/− mice under iron deficiency. These findings reveal the principle role of iron as a regulator of gene expression in erythroblast maturation and suggest that the iron-heme-Bach1 axis is important for a proper adaptation of erythroblast to iron deficiency to avoid toxic aggregates of non-heme globin

Impact of Shaking Exercise on Functional Recovery in Patients with Chronic Post-Stroke Upper Limb Impairment: A Multicenter, Open-Label, Quasi-Randomized Controlled Trial

Stroke causes disability and significantly affects patient quality of life. Post-stroke rehabilitation of upper limb function is crucial, as it affects daily activities and individual autonomy. Traditional rehabilitation methods often require frequent visits to specialized centers, which can be costly and challenging. This study investigated the effectiveness of a home-based self-training device, “Kenko Yusuri”, in improving upper limb function in patients with chronic stroke. This multicenter prospective intervention study used a quasi-randomized controlled trial design. Ninety-three outpatients from five hospitals in Japan were enrolled and assigned to either the intervention group which used the “Kenko Yusuri” device or the control group which underwent conventional rehabilitation. All patients received botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) injections to treat upper limb spasticity. The primary outcome measure was the Fugl–Meyer Assessment (FMA) of upper-extremity motor function. Secondary outcomes included the modified Ashworth scale (MAS) score, range of motion (ROM), and chronic pain assessments. The intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in FMA total scores than the control group. Patients with moderate impairment experienced the greatest benefits from the intervention. There were no significant between-group differences in MAS scores or ROM measurements. Pain and wrist ROM showed improvement in the intervention group. Home-based training with a shaking device significantly improved upper limb function in patients with moderate chronic post-stroke paralysis. This approach aligns with the principles of use-dependent plasticity and offers a feasible and cost-effective alternative to traditional rehabilitation methods

Ground and excited states of singlet, cation doublet, and anion doublet states of o-benzoquinone: A theoretical study

The singlet excited states and doublet ionized/electron-attached states of o-benzoquinone (o-BQ) were studied by the symmetry adapted cluster (SAC) / SAC-configuration interaction (SAC-CI) method, and the corresponding spectral bands were assigned. The calculated transition energies reasonably reproduced the experimental spectra with the mean error of about 0.2 eV, except for the 1 1A1 states, whose disagreement may be attributed to involvement of the shoulder peak of this state in the intense peak at approximately 6.2 eV. For the singlet states, the lowest four excited states were assigned to n+-ð+ * (1B1), n--ð+ * (1A2), ð--ð+ * (1B2), and ð+-ð+ * (1A1) in order of increasing energy, and the intense band at approximately 6.2 eV in the experimental spectra was assigned to the 1B2 state in our calculations. For the cation doublet states, the lowest four states were assigned to n+ (2A1), ð- (2A2), n- (2B2), and ð+ (2B1) in order of increasing energy. Shake-up ionized states appeared in the energy region higher than 16 eV. For the anion doublet states, the ground state was 2B1, and five valence excited states were calculated within 4.0 eV above the anion ground state. The adiabatic electron affinity was calculated to be 1.63 eV, which is in very good agreement with the corresponding experimental value (1.62 eV). The use of Koopmans ’ theorem does not reproduce this energy order for either the singlet or the doublet states. We showed that, as in the case of p-BQ (J. Phys. Chem. A 2002, 106, 3838), electron correlation is essential in the description of the excited states of o-BQ. 1