Effectiveness of Cross‐Linked Gelatin Glue in Canine Lung Surgery Models.

Background. Air leakage is a common postoperative complication in pulmonary surgery, and surgical sealants have been developed to prevent or reduce the incidence of air leaks. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of cross-linked gelatin glue (gelatin plus glutaraldehyde) in canine lung surgery models. Methods. Pulmonary fistulas and injuries were created in dogs and sealed with gelatin glue, fibrin glue, or fibrin glue with a polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheet. Seal-breaking pressures were measured in the fistula model, and pleural adhesions were assessed 28 days postoperatively in the lung injury model. Results. The seal-breaking pressures for canine cadaver and living lung surgeries (; the maximum pressures were 80 and 40 cm H₂O) were respectively: gelatin glue, 77 ± 6 and 32.3 ± 8.9cm H₂O; fibrin glue using spray, 39.2 ± 9.3 and 32 ± 6cm H₂O; fibrin glue using the rub-and-soak method, 35 ± 13.4 and 40 ± 0 cm H₂O; and fibrin glue with a PGA sheet, 55.5 ± 18.2 and 39 ± 2cm H₂O. In the lung injury model, there were no chest wall adhesions in the gelatin and fibrin glue alone groups, while strong adhesions were observed when treated with fibrin glue with a PGA sheet. Conclusions. Gelatin glue's sealing effect was superior to that of fibrin glue while preventing postoperative pleural adhesions. These findings suggest that gelatin glue may be effective as a surgical sealant or anti-adhesion materialin lung surgery

Measurements of ultrafast dissociation in resonant inelastic x-ray scattering of water

There has been a discussion on the interpretation of the resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra of liquid water in terms of either different structural environments or that core hole dynamics can generate well-resolved dissociative spectral components. We have used RIXS with high resolution in the OH stretch vibration energy part, at extremely high overtones going toward the continuum of full OH bond breakage, to identify the amount of dissociative contributions in the valence band RIXS spectra at different excitation energies. We observe that at low excitation energies, corresponding to population of states with strongly antibonding character, the valence band RIXS spectra have a large contribution from a well-resolved dissociative feature. Instead, at higher excitations, this spectral component diminishes and becomes a weak structure on the high-energy side of one of the spectral peaks related to the 1b1 state from tetrahedral configurations. This result brings both interpretations to be essential for the understanding of RIXS spectra of liquid water

A suitable stereoisomer of vibrioferrin probes for iron uptake of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Suitable Stereostructures of vibrioferrin probes for iron uptake of Vibrio parahaemolyticus was revealed. Stereoisomers of dansyl labeled vibrioferrin at the 2′′-position were synthesized and their uptake activities were evaluated. Vibrio parahaemolyticus take in both isomers at the 2′′-position. In addition to Vibrio parahaemolyticus, several bacteria have also taken up the (R)-isomer

OGLE-2019-BLG-0825: Constraints on the Source System and Effect on Binary-lens Parameters arising from a Five Day Xallarap Effect in a Candidate Planetary Microlensing Event

We present an analysis of microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0825. This event was identified as a planetary candidate by preliminary modeling. We find that significant residuals from the best-fit static binary-lens model exist and a xallarap effect can fit the residuals very well and significantly improves $\chi^2$ values. On the other hand, by including the xallarap effect in our models, we find that binary-lens parameters like mass-ratio, $q$, and separation, $s$, cannot be constrained well. However, we also find that the parameters for the source system like the orbital period and semi major axis are consistent between all the models we analyzed. We therefore constrain the properties of the source system better than the properties of the lens system. The source system comprises a G-type main-sequence star orbited by a brown dwarf with a period of $P\sim5$ days. This analysis is the first to demonstrate that the xallarap effect does affect binary-lens parameters in planetary events. It would not be common for the presence or absence of the xallarap effect to affect lens parameters in events with long orbital periods of the source system or events with transits to caustics, but in other cases, such as this event, the xallarap effect can affect binary-lens parameters.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables. Accepted by A

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Surgical treatment for coarctation of the aorta

Key Clinical Message Surgical treatment is a better option for coarctation of the aorta. Abstract A 56‐year‐old man was admitted to the hospital due to chest pain. Computed tomography showed severe coarctation of the aorta distal to the left subclavian artery, with poststenotic dilatation of the descending aorta. A descending aortic replacement was performed in an uneventful manner. The postoperative course was good without symptoms

〈Case Reports〉Control of the platelet count for emergency ascending aortic repair in a patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

[Abstract]We report an acute type A dissection case with refractory idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). A 72-year-old woman treated as ITP patient, whose platelet count was decreased to 2,000/mm3, was transfered to our institute, due to the acute Stanford A aortic dissection complicated with pericardial effusion. She was treated with high-dose γ-globulin therapy (HDGT) and platelet transfusion immediately after admission under pulse steroid therapy. Her platelet count was recovered to 47,000/mm3 36 hours after the onset of acute dissection while maintaining lower systemic blood pressure. Then, we decided to per-form ascending aortic replacement. HDGT and platelet transfusion were continued during the operation. The replacement was completed with-out hemostatic problems, maintaining the plate-let count at >50,000/mm3. HDGT and platelet transfusion should be started as soon as possible after the urgency of the operation of ITP patients become apparent. The operation must be per-formed promptly without hesitation

A systematic forward genetic analysis identified components of the Chlamydomonas circadian system

The molecular bases of circadian clocks have been studied in animals, fungi, bacteria, and plants, but not in eukaryotic algae. To establish a new model for molecular analysis of the circadian clock, here we identified a large number of components of the circadian system in the eukaryotic unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by a systematic forward genetic approach. We isolated 105 insertional mutants that exhibited defects in period, phase angle, and/or amplitude of circadian rhythms in bioluminescence derived from a luciferase reporter gene in their chloroplast genome. Simultaneous measurement of circadian rhythms in bioluminescence and growth rate revealed that some of these mutants had defects in the circadian clock itself, whereas one mutant had a defect in a specific process for the chloroplast bioluminescence rhythm. We identified 30 genes (or gene loci) that would be responsible for rhythm defects in 37 mutants. Classification of these genes revealed that various biological processes are involved in regulation of the chloroplast rhythmicity. Amino acid sequences of six genes that would have crucial roles in the circadian clock revealed features of the Chlamydomonas clock that have both partially plant-like and original components