“Visualization” of SDGs-related Patent Technologies by Natural Language Processing Technology

SDGs is an abbreviation for “Sustainable Development Goals”, which were adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. They were set as goals to be achieved by the 193 United Nations Member States during the 15-year period from 2016 to 2030. Technological innovation is indispensable for the realization of the SDGs, but at present, it is unclear where (countries and companies) and to what extent SDG-related technologies are available. For this reason, we used BERT, a natural language processing technology, and Japanese patent publications we own and worked on the "visualization" of the SDGs technologies in Japan. The results show that out of the 17 SDGs goals, patents can contribute to Goals 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13

Reduction of total E2F/DP activity induces senescence-like cell cycle arrest in cancer cells lacking functional pRB and p53

E2F/DP complexes were originally identified as potent transcriptional activators required for cell proliferation. However, recent studies revised this notion by showing that inactivation of total E2F/DP activity by dominant-negative forms of E2F or DP does not prevent cellular proliferation, but rather abolishes tumor suppression pathways, such as cellular senescence. These observations suggest that blockage of total E2F/DP activity may increase the risk of cancer. Here, we provide evidence that depletion of DP by RNA interference, but not overexpression of dominant-negative form of E2F, efficiently reduces endogenous E2F/DP activity in human primary cells. Reduction of total E2F/DP activity results in a dramatic decrease in expression of many E2F target genes and causes a senescence-like cell cycle arrest. Importantly, similar results were observed in human cancer cells lacking functional p53 and pRB family proteins. These findings reveal that E2F/DP activity is indeed essential for cell proliferation and its reduction immediately provokes a senescence-like cell cycle arrest

Visual acuity of amblyopic eye under binocular condition and stereopsis in anisometropic amblyopia

　片眼弱視における視機能障害の主な原因のひとつとして，眼間抑制の不均衡，すなわち健眼から弱視眼への抑制の影響が知られている．この不均衡の程度は，日常臨床では片眼を完全に遮閉した状態で測定した一眼の視力（片眼遮閉視力）と両眼を開放した状態で測定した一眼の視力（両眼開放視力）を比較することで評価が可能と考えられている．　これまで，弱視治療により弱視眼の片眼遮閉視力が1.0以上に回復した不同視弱視症例において，眼間抑制の不均衡がどの程度残存しているかは報告者によって異なる見解が示されている．そこで，本研究では，弱視治療により弱視眼の片眼遮閉視力が1.0以上に到達した不同視弱視患者17例を対象に，方向変換ミラーによる両眼開放視力および Titmus stereo test による立体視機能について検討を行った．　その結果，弱視眼の平均両眼開放視力は平均片眼遮閉視力よりも有意に不良であった（p<0.001）．なお，17例中13例（76％）は両眼開放視力が片眼遮閉視力よりも低値を示し，17例中４例（24％）は両眼開放視力と片眼遮閉視力に差がなかった．さらに，両眼開放視力の低下がみられた13例のうち７例（54%）が60秒より不良な立体視を示したが，両眼開放視力が同等であった群は全例が60秒より良好な正常立体視を獲得していた．　以上より，弱視治療により片眼遮閉視力が改善した弱視患者においても，眼間抑制の不均衡が残存している症例が多いことが示唆された．　The imbalance of inter-ocular suppression is known to be one of the main causes of visual dysfunction in unilateral amblyopia. The amount of imbalance can be clinically evaluated by comparing visual acuities (VA) of the amblyopic eye between binocular and monocular viewing conditions.　Previous studies have reported inconsistent findings concerning how much the suppression imbalance remains in patients whose monocular VAs of the amblyopic eye improved to more than 1.0 after treatment. In the present study, we measured VAs of the amblyopic eye under binocular and monocular viewing conditions using mirrors and stereoacuities using the Titmus stereo test. Seventeen patients with anisometropic amblyopia participated in a survey after their monocular VAs of the amblyopic eye improved to more than 1.0.　The results indicated that VAs of the amblyopic eye were significantly lower for the binocular condition than for the monocular condition (p<0.001). Thirteen of the 17 patients (76%) showed lower VAs under binocular viewing compared with monocular viewing. There was no difference in VA between the binocular and monocular conditions in the remaining 4 patients (24%). Their stereoacuities were more than 60 seconds of arc, indicating normal stereopsis, whereas 7 of the 13 patients with lower binocular VAs than monocular VAs (54%) showed stereoacuities lower than 60 seconds of arc. The present study suggests that there exists an imbalance of inter-ocular suppression even after treatment of the amblyopic eye in a substantial number of patients with amblyopia

A highly accurate inclusive cancer screening test using Caenorhabditis elegans scent detection.

Early detection and treatment are of vital importance to the successful eradication of various cancers, and development of economical and non-invasive novel cancer screening systems is critical. Previous reports using canine scent detection demonstrated the existence of cancer-specific odours. However, it is difficult to introduce canine scent recognition into clinical practice because of the need to maintain accuracy. In this study, we developed a Nematode Scent Detection Test (NSDT) using Caenorhabditis elegans to provide a novel highly accurate cancer detection system that is economical, painless, rapid and convenient. We demonstrated wild-type C. elegans displayed attractive chemotaxis towards human cancer cell secretions, cancer tissues and urine from cancer patients but avoided control urine; in parallel, the response of the olfactory neurons of C. elegans to the urine from cancer patients was significantly stronger than to control urine. In contrast, G protein α mutants and olfactory neurons-ablated animals were not attracted to cancer patient urine, suggesting that C. elegans senses odours in urine. We tested 242 samples to measure the performance of the NSDT, and found the sensitivity was 95.8%; this is markedly higher than that of other existing tumour markers. Furthermore, the specificity was 95.0%. Importantly, this test was able to diagnose various cancer types tested at the early stage (stage 0 or 1). To conclude, C. elegans scent-based analyses might provide a new strategy to detect and study disease-associated scents