Colonic Pseudo-occlussion After Lanthanum Carbonate Granules Administration

This supplement to the article "The development, educational stratification and decomposition of mothers' and fathers' childcare time in Germany. An update for 2001-2013" includes the colorized and resizable figures of the paper published in Zeitschrift für Familienforschung | Journal of Family Research, 2017, 29, 3

Survival outcomes of hepatectomy for stage B Hepatocellular carcinoma in the BCLC classification

Background: Because hepatectomy is not recommended in patients with stage B hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging, we evaluated the survival outcomes of hepatectomy for stage B in the BCLC system. Methods: Data were collected from 297 consecutive adult stage B patients who underwent curative hepatectomy for HCC between 1996 and 2014 in Hokkaido University Hospital. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and risk factors were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Independent prognostic factors were evaluated using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. AP-factor (alpha-fetoprotein [AFP] × protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonism factor II [PIVKA-II]) was categorized according to the serum concentrations of AFP and PIVKA-II: AP1 (AFP < 200 ng/ml and PIVKA-II < 100 mAU/ml), AP2 (AFP × PIVKA-II < 10^5), and AP3 (AFP × PIVKA-II ≥ 10^5). Results: There were 130 deaths among our 297 stage B patients (43.8%). The causes of death in these cases were HCC recurrence (n = 106; 81.5%), liver failure (n = 7; 5.4%), and other causes (n = 17; 16.1%). The operative mortality rate was 0.34% (1/297). The 5-year OS and DFS rates for the stage B cases were 54.3 and 21.9%, respectively. By multivariate analysis, tumor number and AP-factor were risk factors for both survival and recurrence that were tumor related and could be evaluated preoperatively. The study patients with stage B HCC were classified into three groups by tumor number (B1, 1; B23, 2 or 3; B4over: ≥4) and into three groups stratified by AP-factor (AP1, AP2, and AP3). The 5-year OS rates of B1, B23, and B4over were 63.6, 52.3, and 29.0%. The 5-year OS rates of AP1, AP2, and AP3 were 67.6, 65.2, and 39.1%. Stratified by the 5-year OS rate, stage B HCC patients were classified into three subgroups (A-C).The 5-year OS rates of groups A (B1 or B23 and AP-1 or AP-2), B (B1 or B23 and AP-3, or B4over and AP-1 or AP-2), and C (B4over and AP-3) were 69.5, 43.7, and 21.3%. Conclusion: Stage B HCC patients with a tumor number ≤ 3 and/or AP-factor < 1 × 10^5 show acceptable 5-year OS rates and could be treated by hepatectomy

Membrane vesicle-mediated bacterial communication

The classical quorum-sensing (QS) model is based on the assumption that diffusible signaling molecules accumulate in the culture medium until they reach a critical concentration upon which expression of target genes is triggered. Here we demonstrate that the hydrophobic signal N-hexadecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone, which is produced by Paracoccus sp., is released from cells by the aid of membrane vesicles (MVs). Packed into MVs, the signal is not only solubilized in an aqueous environment but is also delivered with varying propensities to different bacteria. We propose a novel MV-based mechanism for binary trafficking of hydrophobic signal molecules, which may be particularly relevant for bacteria that live in open aqueous environments

The Naming of Names: Guidelines for Gene Nomenclature in Marchantia.

While Marchantia polymorpha has been utilized as a model system to investigate fundamental biological questions for over almost two centuries, there is renewed interest in M. polymorpha as a model genetic organism in the genomics era. Here we outline community guidelines for M. polymorpha gene and transgene nomenclature, and we anticipate that these guidelines will promote consistency and reduce both redundancy and confusion in the scientific literature

Optimal Intravascular Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients With Multivessel Disease

BACKGROUND: Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was only rarely used in landmark trials comparing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with multivessel disease. OBJECTIVES: The authors aimed to evaluate clinical outcomes after optimal IVUS-guided PCI in patients undergoing multivessel PCI. METHODS: The OPTIVUS (OPTimal IntraVascular UltraSound)-Complex PCI study multivessel cohort was a prospective multicenter single-arm study enrolling 1, 021 patients undergoing multivessel PCI, including left anterior descending coronary artery using IVUS, aiming to meet the prespecified criteria (OPTIVUS criteria: minimum stent area > distal reference lumen area [stent length ≥28mm], and minimum stent area >0.8 × average reference lumen area [stent length <28mm]) for optimal stent expansion. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) (death/myocardial infarction/stroke/any coronary revascularization). The predefined performance goals were derived from the CREDO-Kyoto (Coronary REvascularization Demonstrating Outcome study in Kyoto) PCI/CABG registry cohort-2 fulfilling the inclusion criteria in this study. RESULTS: In this study, 40.1% of the patients met OPTIVUS criteria in all stented lesions. The cumulative 1-year incidence of the primary endpoint was 10.3% (95% CI: 8.4%-12.2%), which was significantly lower than the predefined PCI performance goal of 27.5% (P < 0.001), and which was numerically lower than the predefined CABG performance goal of 13.8%. The cumulative 1-year incidence of the primary endpoint was not significantly different regardless of meeting or not meeting OPTIVUS criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Contemporary PCI practice conducted in the OPTIVUS-Complex PCI study multivessel cohort was associated with a significantly lower MACCE rate than the predefined PCI performance goal, and with a numerically lower MACCE rate than the predefined CABG performance goal at 1 year

Time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography reveals early structural changes in channelrhodopsin

X線自由電子レーザーを用いて、光照射によるチャネルロドプシンの構造変化の過程を捉えることに成功. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-03-26.Channelrhodopsins (ChRs) are microbial light-gated ion channels utilized in optogenetics to control neural activity with light . Light absorption causes retinal chromophore isomerization and subsequent protein conformational changes visualized as optically distinguished intermediates, coupled with channel opening and closing. However, the detailed molecular events underlying channel gating remain unknown. We performed time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallographic analyses of ChR by using an X-ray free electron laser, which revealed conformational changes following photoactivation. The isomerized retinal adopts a twisted conformation and shifts toward the putative internal proton donor residues, consequently inducing an outward shift of TM3, as well as a local deformation in TM7. These early conformational changes in the pore-forming helices should be the triggers that lead to opening of the ion conducting pore