Antimicrobial prescription practices for outpatients with uncomplicated cystitis in Japan

To promote antimicrobial stewardship, we studied antimicrobial prescription rates for uncomplicated cystitis, a common outpatient disease requiring antibiotic treatment. This multicenter retrospective study was performed from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2020, in Japan, targeting outpatients aged >= 20 years whose medical records revealed International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes suggesting uncomplicated cystitis (N300). The data of 1445 patients were collected and that of 902 patients were analyzed. The overall median patient age was 71 years and a proportion of those aged less than 50 years was 18.8% with a female dominance (82.6%). Antimicrobials were prescribed for 884 patients (98.0%) and a total of 623 patients (69.1%) were treated with broad-spectrum drugs, including fluoroquinolones (36.0%), third-generation cephalosporins (29.9%) and faropenem (3.1%). A logistic regression model revealed that the broad-spectrum agents were significantly prescribed for the older patients, male patients, and those who visited internists. Recurrence was observed in 37 (4.1%) cases, and the multivariate analysis suggested any of age, sex, or antimicrobial types were not associated with the recurrence. Collectively, approximately two-thirds of antimicrobials prescribed for uncomplicated cystitis were broad-spectrum agents. The present data would be an indicator for antimicrobial prescriptions in uncomplicated cystitis in Japan

Variation in Courtship Ultrasounds of Three Ostrinia Moths with Different Sex Pheromones

Moths use ultrasounds as well as pheromones for sexual communication. In closely related moth species, variations in ultrasounds and pheromones are likely to profoundly affect mate recognition, reproductive isolation, and speciation. The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, and its Asian congeners, Ostrinia furnacalis and Ostrinia scapulalis, exhibit within-species and between-species variation in their pheromone communication. Recently, we reported ultrasound communication in O. furnacalis; however, variations in ultrasounds in the three congeners have not been addressed to date. Here we investigated features of ultrasound production and hearing in O. nubilalis and O. scapulalis, and compared them with those of O. furnacalis. As in O. furnacalis, males of O. nubilalis and O. scapulalis produced ultrasounds during courtship by rubbing specialized scales on the wings against scales on the thorax. The covering of these scales with nail polish muffled the sounds and significantly reduced mating success in O. nubilalis, showing the importance of ultrasound signaling in mating. The ultrasounds produced by O. nubilalis and O. scapulalis were similar, consisting of long trains of pairs of pulses with a main energy at 40 kHz, but distinctly different from the ultrasound produced by O. furnacalis, consisting of groups of pulses peaking at 50 kHz and with substantially more energy up to 80 kHz. Despite overall similarities, temporal features and patterns of amplitude modulation differed significantly among the geographic populations of O. nubilalis and O. scapulalis, which differed in pheromone type. In contrast, no significant difference in hearing was found among the three species with regard to the most sensitive frequencies and hearing threshold levels. The patterns of variations in the songs and pheromones well reflected those of the phylogenetic relationships, implying that ultrasound and pheromone communications have diverged concordantly. Our results suggest that concordant evolution in sexual signals such as courtship ultrasounds and sex pheromones occurs in moths

Draft genome sequence of Weissella viridescens UCO-SMC3, isolated from the slime of helix aspersa Müller snails

This report describes the draft genome sequence of Weissella viridescens UCO-SMC3, isolated from Helix aspersa Müller slime. The reads were generated by a whole-genome sequencing (WGS) strategy on an Illumina MiSeq sequencer and were assembled into contigs with a total estimated size of 1,612,814 bp. A total of 2,455 genes were predicted, including 2,301 protein-coding sequences. The draft genome sequence of W. viridescens UCO-SMC3 will be useful for further studies of specific genetic features and for understanding the mechanisms of its beneficial properties in the skin.Fil: Garcia Cancino, Apolinaria. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Albarracín, Leonardo Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Espinoza Monje, Marcela. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Campos Martin, Jorge. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Garcia Castillo,Valeria. Tohoku University; Japón. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Nakano, Yukha. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Ikeda Ohtsubo, Wakako. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Gutierrez, Cristian. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Morita, Hidetoshi. Okayama University; JapónFil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Tohoku University; Japó

Impact of the day of the week on the discontinuation of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescriptions; a multi-centered observational study

To encourage and guide antimicrobial stewardship team (AST) activity and promote appropriate antibiotic use, we studied the impact of day of the week on the initiation and discontinuation of antibiotic administration. This was a multicenter observational study conducted at 8 Japanese hospitals from April 1 to September 30, 2019, targeting patients who underwent treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics, such as anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus agents and anti-pseudomonal agents. We compared the weekly numbers of initiations and discontinuations of antibiotic prescription on each day of the week or on the days after a holiday. There was no statistical difference in the number of antibiotic initiations on both weekdays and the day after a holiday. However, antibiotic discontinuation was significantly higher from Tuesday onward than Monday and from the second day than the first day after a holiday. Similar trends were observed regardless of the categories of antibiotics, hospital and admission ward, and AST activity. This study suggests that broad-spectrum antibiotics tend to be continued during weekends and holidays and are most likely to be discontinued on Tuesday or the second day after a holiday. This was probably due to behavioral factors beyond medical indications, requiring further antimicrobial stewardship efforts in the future

Serotonin Improves High Fat Diet Induced Obesity in Mice

There are two independent serotonin (5-HT) systems of organization: one in the central nervous system and the other in the periphery. 5-HT affects feeding behavior and obesity in the central nervous system. On the other hand, peripheral 5-HT also may play an important role in obesity, as it has been reported that 5-HT regulates glucose and lipid metabolism. Here we show that the intraperitoneal injection of 5-HT to mice inhibits weight gain, hyperglycemia and insulin resistance and completely prevented the enlargement of intra-abdominal adipocytes without having any effect on food intake when on a high fat diet, but not on a chow diet. 5-HT increased energy expenditure, O2 consumption and CO2 production. This novel metabolic effect of peripheral 5-HT is critically related to a shift in the profile of muscle fiber type from fast/glycolytic to slow/oxidative in soleus muscle. Additionally, 5-HT dramatically induced an increase in the mRNA expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator 1α (PGC-1α)-b and PGC-1α-c in soleus muscle. The elevation of these gene mRNA expressions by 5-HT injection was inhibited by treatment with 5-HT receptor (5HTR) 2A or 7 antagonists. Our results demonstrate that peripheral 5-HT may play an important role in the relief of obesity and other metabolic disorders by accelerating energy consumption in skeletal muscle

Effect of Saxagliptin on Endothelial Function in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes : A Prospective Multicenter Study

The dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor saxagliptin is a widely used antihyperglycemic agent in patients with type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of saxagliptin on endothelial function in patients with type 2 diabetes. This was a prospective, multicenter, interventional study. A total of 34 patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled at four university hospitals in Japan. Treatment of patients was initially started with saxagliptin at a dose of 5 mg daily. Assessment of endothelial function assessed by flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) and measurement of stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) were conducted at baseline and at 3 months after treatment with saxagliptin. A total of 31 patients with type 2 diabetes were included in the analysis. Saxagliptin significantly increased FMD from 3.1 ± 3.1% to 4.2 ± 2.4% (P = 0.032) and significantly decreased total cholesterol from 190 ± 24 mg/dL to 181 ± 25 mg/dL (P = 0.002), glucose from 160 ± 53 mg/dL to 133 ± 25 mg/dL (P < 0.001), HbA1c from 7.5 ± 0.6% to 7.0 ± 0.6% (P < 0.001), urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio from 63.8 ± 134.2 mg/g to 40.9 ± 83.0 mg/g (P = 0.043), and total SDF-1α from 2108 ± 243 pg/mL to 1284 ± 345 pg/mL (P < 0.001). These findings suggest that saxagliptin is effective for improving endothelial function

Solar System Exploration Sciences by EQUULEUS on SLS EM-1 and Science Instruments Development Status

EQUULEUS is a spacecraft to explore the cislunar region including the Earth-Moon Lagrange point L2 (EML2) and will be launched by NASA’s SLS EM-1 rocket. Although the size of EQUULEUS is only 6U, the spacecraft carries three different science instruments. By using these instruments, the spacecraft will demonstrate three missions for solar system exploration science during and after the flight to EML2; imaging of the plasmasphere around the earth, observation of space dust flux in the cislunar region, and observation of lunar impact flashes at the far side of the moon. The developments and verifications of the flight models of these science instruments were completed by the end of 2018, and we started flight model integration and testing. This paper introduces the details of the scientific objectives, design results and development statuses of the instruments. In addition, results of the integration and pre-flight tests are also described

An adult female suspected case of herpangina presenting with fever, headache, and oral phlyctenula

　ヘルパンギーナは，発熱と口腔粘膜の水疱性の発疹が特徴の急性のウイルス性咽頭炎で，おもに小児にみられ，夏に流行する．我々は，発熱，頭痛，軟口蓋の小水疱を呈し，ヘルパンギーナが疑われた成人女性の１例を経験したので報告する．患者は25歳，女性．７月に発熱，頭痛，嘔気を主訴に受診し，入院となった．血液検査では，CRP とプロカルシトニンの上昇を認めた．頭部 CT では，出血や占拠性病変は見られなかった．胸腹部 CT では，熱源となる異常所見は見られなかった．抗菌薬投与と対症療法を行い，発熱，頭痛は改善を認めた．口腔内違和感の訴えがあり，口腔内所見で軟口蓋に紅暈を伴う小水疱を数個認め，エンテロウイルス属感染症（ヘルパンギーナ）が疑われた．エンテロウイルス属のウイルス抗体検査では，原因ウイルスは特定できなかった．夏期に発熱，口内炎を呈する場合には，成人でもへルパンギーナを鑑別に挙げる必要があると考える．　Herpangina is an acute viral pharyngitis which presents with fever and oral phlyctenula. It is commonly seen in children, usually during summer. We report an adult female suspected of having developed herpangina because on admission she presented with fever, headache, and oral phlyctenula. The 25-year-old female underwent a medical check at our hospital because of fever, headache, and nausea in July. She was admitted to our hospital. The blood test showed elevation of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin. Brain CT scan showed no bleeding nor any space occupying lesion. Chest and abdominal CT scan showed no lesion of fever origin. Her fever and headache improved after antibiotics and symptomatic treatment. But the patient felt that something was wrong within her oral cavity. Herpangina was suspected because of the presence of phlyctenula with a red halo in the soft palate. Viral antibody test of enteroviruses did not identify viruses that commonly cause herpangina. This case indicates that herpangina should be considered for the differential diagnosis during medical examination of an adult patient who presents with fever and stomatitis during summer