Comparative Quality of Laparoscopic and Open Cholecystectomy in the Elderly Using Propensity Score Matching Analysis

The safety of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in patients ≥65 years of age requires further investigation of postoperative outcomes before it becomes more widely accepted as a safe technique. The advantages of using LC versus open cholecystectomy (OC) in elderly patients were analyzed using propensity score matching. The demographics, cholecystitis severity, comorbidities, complications, and admission and discharge Barthel Index (BI) scores of patients with benign gallbladder diseases were analyzed. Outcomes were analyzed by age, length of stay (LOS), total charges (TCs), BI improvement, and postoperative complications. OC, which was indicated in severe disease cases, increased hospital resource use and caused more complications than LC, but did not improve BI. Advanced age and OC resulted in greater LOS and TCs and was the best indicator of BI deterioration. Whenever possible, surgeons should use LC in elderly patients to minimize postoperative complications and allow them to regain a good quality of life

Quinazolinobenzodiazepine Derivatives, Novobenzomalvins A–C: Fibronectin Expression Regulators from Aspergillus novofumigatus

Three new quinazolinobenzodiazepine derivatives, novobenzomalvins A (1), B (2), and C (3), have been isolated as fibronectin expression regulators from Aspergillus novofumigatus CBS117520. The structures of 1 to 3 were established by spectroscopic and physicochemical analysis, and chemical investigation including the total synthesis of 1. Treatment with novo-benzomalvins A (1), B (2), C (3), and N-methylnovobenzomalvin A (5) increased the expression of fibronectin in normal human neonatal dermal fibroblast cells

Gut Cryptopatches Direct Evidence of Extrathymic Anatomical Sites for Intestinal T Lymphopoiesis

AbstractAthymic cytokine receptor γ chain mutant mice that lack the thymus, Peyer's patches, cryptopatches (CP), and intestinal T cells were reconstituted with wild-type bone marrow cells. Bone marrow–derived TCR− intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) first appeared within villous epithelia of small intestine overlying the regenerated CP, and these TCR− IEL subsequently emerged throughout the epithelia. Thereafter, TCR+ IEL increased to a comparable number to that in athymic mice and consisted of TCRγδ and TCRαβ IEL. In gut-associated lymphoid tissues of wild-type mice, only CP harbored a large population of c-kithighIL-7R+CD44+Thy-1+/−CD4+/−CD25low/−αEβ7−Lin− (Lin, lineage markers) lymphocytes that included cells expressing germline but not rearranged TCRγ and TCRβ gene transcripts. These findings provide direct evidence that gut CP develop progenitor T cells for extrathymic IEL descendants

Rice apoplastic CBM1-interacting protein counters blast pathogen invasion by binding conserved carbohydrate binding module 1 motif of fungal proteins

いもち病からイネを守る細胞外タンパク質 (CBMIP) の発見 --CBMIPはイネの細胞壁を守り、いもち病菌の感染を抑える--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-09-30.When infecting plants, fungal pathogens secrete cell wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs) that break down cellulose and hemicellulose, the primary components of plant cell walls. Some fungal CWDEs contain a unique domain, named the carbohydrate binding module (CBM), that facilitates their access to polysaccharides. However, little is known about how plants counteract pathogen degradation of their cell walls. Here, we show that the rice cysteine-rich repeat secretion protein OsRMC binds to and inhibits xylanase MoCel10A of the blast fungus pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, interfering with its access to the rice cell wall and degradation of rice xylan. We found binding of OsRMC to various CBM1-containing enzymes, suggesting that it has a general role in inhibiting the action of CBM1. OsRMC is localized to the apoplast, and its expression is strongly induced in leaves infected with M. oryzae. Remarkably, knockdown and overexpression of OsRMC reduced and enhanced rice defense against M. oryzae, respectively, demonstrating that inhibition of CBM1-containing fungal enzymes by OsRMC is crucial for rice defense. We also identified additional CBM-interacting proteins (CBMIPs) from Arabidopsis thaliana and Setaria italica, indicating that a wide range of plants counteract pathogens through this mechanism

Development of a cadmium telluride pixel detector for astrophysical applications

We are developing imaging Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) pixel detectors optimized for astrophysical hard X-ray applications. Our hybrid detector consist of a CdTe crystal 1mm thick and 2cm × 2cm in area with segmented anode contacts directly bonded to a custom low-noise application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The CdTe sensor, fabricated by ACRORAD (Okinawa, Japan), has Schottky blocking contacts on a 605 micron pitch in a 32 × 32 array, providing low leakage current and enabling readout of the anode side. The detector is bonded using epoxy-gold stud interconnects to a custom low noise, low power ASIC circuit developed by Caltech's Space Radiation Laboratory. We have achieved very good energy resolution over a wide energy range (0.62keV FWHM @ 60keV, 10.8keV FWHM @ 662keV). We observe polarization effects at room temperature, but they are suppressed if we operate the detector at or below 0°C degree. These detectors have potential application for future missions such as the International X-ray Observatory (IXO)

Real-time In Situ Electron Spin Resonance Measurements on Fungal Spores of Penicillium digitatum during Exposure of Oxygen Plasmas

We report the kinetic analysis of free radicals on fungal spores of Penicillium digitatum interacted with atomic oxygen generated plasma electric discharge using real time in situ electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements. We have obtained information that the ESR signal from the spores was observed and preliminarily assignable to semiquinone radical with a g-value of around 2.004 and a line width of approximately 5G. The decay of the signal is possibly linked to the inactivation of the fungal spore. The real-time in situ ESR has proven to be a useful method to elucidate plasma-induced surface reactions on biological specimens.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure