Milan Ultrasound Criteria predict relapse of ulcerative colitis in remission

Introduction Bowel ultrasound is a non-invasive alternative to endoscopy for assessing the disease activity of ulcerative colitis; however, it is unclear whether bowel ultrasound can predict subsequent relapse from remission. Materials and Methods A retrospective cohort study enrolled patients with ulcerative colitis who underwent bowel ultrasound between July 2018 and July 2021 during clinical remission (patient-reported outcome-2 ≤ 1 and no rectal bleeding) for at least 3 months and were followed up for 1 year. Ultrasonographic findings (bowel wall thickness, bowel wall flow, bowel wall stratification, and enlarged lymph nodes), Milan Ultrasound Criteria, Mayo endoscopic subscore, C-reactive protein, and fecal calprotectin levels and their association with subsequent clinical relapse were assessed. Relapse was defined as rectal bleeding score ≥ 1, stool frequency score ≥ 2, or treatment intensification for symptoms. Results 31% of the patients (18/58) relapsed within 1 year. No single ultrasonographic finding predicted relapse, whereas Milan Ultrasound Criteria > 6.2 (p = 0.019), Mayo endoscopic subscore ≥ 1 (p = 0.013), and fecal calprotectin ≥ 250 μg/g (p = 0.040) were associated with a shorter time to relapse in the log-rank test. Milan Ultrasound Criteria > 6.2 (hazard ratio 3.22; 95% confidence interval 1.14-9.08, p = 0.027) and Mayo endoscopic subscore ≥ 1 (hazard ratio 8.70; 95% confidence interval 1.11-68.1, p = 0.039) showed a higher risk of relapse according to a Cox proportional hazards model. Discussion/Conclusion Bowel ultrasound can predict subsequent clinical relapse from remission in patients with ulcerative colitis using the Milan Ultrasound Criteria

Neurocytotoxic effects of iron-ions on the developing brain measured in vivo using medaka (Oryzias latipes), a vertebrate model

Purpose: Exposure to heavy-ion radiation is considered a critical health risk on long-term space missions. The developing central nervous system (CNS) is a highly radiosensitive tissue; however, the biological effects of heavy-ion radiation, which are greater than those of low-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation, are not well studied, especially in vivo in intact organisms. Here, we examined the effects of iron-ions on the developing CNS using vertebrate organism, fish embryos of medaka (Oryzias latipes)

テンプレート機構による配列制御ラジカル重合

京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(工学)甲第18296号工博第3888号新制||工||1596(附属図書館)31154京都大学大学院工学研究科高分子化学専攻(主査)教授 澤本 光男, 教授 中條 善樹, 教授 赤木 和夫学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering)Kyoto UniversityDGA

A strategy for sequence control in vinyl polymers via iterative controlled radical cyclization.

高分子のモノマー配列を制御する手法の開発. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2016-03-23.There is a growing interest in sequence-controlled polymers toward advanced functional materials. However, control of side-chain order for vinyl polymers has been lacking feasibility in the field of polymer synthesis because of the inherent feature of chain-growth propagation. Here we show a general and versatile strategy to control sequence in vinyl polymers through iterative radical cyclization with orthogonally cleavable and renewable bonds. The proposed methodology employs a repetitive and iterative intramolecular cyclization via a radical intermediate in a one-time template with a radical-generating site at one end and an alkene end at the other, each of which is connected to a linker via independently cleavable and renewable bonds. The unique design specifically allowed control of radical addition reaction although inherent chain-growth intermediate (radical species) was used, as well as the iterative cycle and functionalization for resultant side chains, to lead to sequence-controlled vinyl polymers (or oligomers)

Accurate compositional analysis of unknown polymer systems within ±1 wt% errors via thermogravimetry-synchronized reference-free quantitative mass spectrometry.

Compositional analysis (CA)—identification and quantification of the system constituents—is the most fundamental and decisive approach to investigate the system of interest. Pyrolysis mass spectrometry (MS) with millidalton resolution is very effective for chemical identification and directly applicable to polymer materials regardless of their solubilities; however, it is less helpful for quantification especially when the references, i.e., pure constituents, are unknown, non-isolable and thus unpreparable. To compensate this weakness, herein we propose reference-free quantitative mass spectrometry (RQMS) with enhanced quantification accuracy assisted by synchronized thermogravimetry (TG). The key to success is the conversion of MS signal intensities of pyrolyzed fragments into weight abundances via mathematically incorporated TG data. In a benchmark test using ternary polymer systems, this new framework named TG-RQMS demonstrates accurate CA within ±1 wt% errors without using any knowledge nor spectra of the references. This simple yet accurate and versatile CA method would be an invaluable tool to investigate polymer materials whose composition is hardly accessible via other analytic methods

Polymer sequencing via unsupervised learning of pyrolysis-mass spectra

A sequence—an arrangement of monomers—dominates polymer properties, as best exemplified by proteins; however, an efficient sequencing method for synthetic polymers has not been established yet. Herein, we propose a polymer sequencer based on mass spectrometry of pyrolyzed oligomeric fragments. By interpreting an observed fragment pattern as one generated from a mixture of sequence-defined copolymers, sequencing can be simplified to compositional analysis. Our key development is a reference-free quantitative mass spectrometry. The reference spectra of the hardly synthesizable sequence-defined copolymers were not actually measured but virtually inferred via unsupervised learning of the spectral dataset of easily synthesizable random copolymers. The polymer sequencer quantitatively evaluates complex sequence distribution in versatile multi-monomer systems, which would allow sequence–property correlation studies and practical sequence-controlled polymerization

Ultrasensitive Imaging of Ca2+ Dynamics in Pancreatic Acinar Cells of Yellow Cameleon-Nano Transgenic Mice

Yellow Cameleons are genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators in which cyan and yellow fluorescent proteins and calmodulin work together as a fluorescence (Förster) resonance energy transfer Ca2+-sensor probe. To achieve ultrasensitive Ca2+ imaging for low resting Ca2+ or small Ca2+ transients in various organs, we generated a transgenic mouse line expressing the highest-sensitive genetically encoded Ca2+ indicator (Yellow Cameleon-Nano 15) in the whole body. We then focused on the mechanism of exocytotic events mediated by intracellular Ca2+ signaling in acinar cells of the mice with an agonist and observed them by two-photon excitation microscopy. In the results, two-photon excitation imaging of Yellow Cameleon-Nano 15 successfully visualized intracellular Ca2+ concentration under stimulation with the agonist at nanomolar levels. This is the first demonstration for application of genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators to pancreatic acinar cells. We also simultaneously observed exocytotic events and an intracellular Ca2+ concentration under in vivo condition. Yellow Cameleon-Nano 15 mice are healthy and no significant deteriorative effect was observed on physiological response regarding the pancreatic acinar cells. The dynamic range of 165% was calculated from Rmax and Rmin values under in vivo condition. The mice will be useful for ultrasensitive Ca2+ imaging in vivo

Severe hypoglycemia during pneumocystis pneumonia treatment associated with trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole use in a patient on peritoneal dialysis

Abstract Background Trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) is an essential antimicrobial agent for treating pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). Furthermore, the risk of hypoglycemia is increased with the co-administration of sulfonylurea due to the presence of the same sulfanilamide structural group in SMX and sulfonylurea. However, hypoglycemia caused by a single administration of TMP/SMX is a rare adverse reaction, and not many cases have been reported. Renal failure is a risk factor for hypoglycemia with single TMP/SMX administration. Case presentation A 54-year-old Japanese woman on peritoneal dialysis (PD) for 10 years was admitted to our hospital for the suspicion of PCP. She underwent immunosuppressive treatment with oral prednisolone (3 mg/day) and a subcutaneous injection of adalimumab (40 mg) every 2 weeks for rheumatoid arthritis. We initiated the administration of a low-to-moderate dose of TMP/SMX (TMP equivalent to TMP/SMX, approximately 8 mg/kg/day) in the patient, considering that she was on PD. At 10 days after administration, the patient became unconscious, and blood test results showed that her blood glucose level was low (15 mg/dL). Unlike hypoglycemia, her serum insulin levels were abnormally high (69.4 μU/mL) at that time. Glucose injection was used for correcting the hypoglycemia, but it was refractory. Highly concentrated glucose infusion was needed to maintain her blood glucose level normal. Her serum insulin level was confirmed to have returned to normal (4.0 μU/mL) at 9 days after completing the TMP/SMX treatment. Conclusions We suspected that the refractory hypoglycemia in this case was caused by high levels of insulin secretion due to the accumulation of TMP/SMX. One of the risk factors in this patient was the low excretion rate of TMP/SMX into the PD fluid. Although hypoglycemia is a rare complication of TMP/SMX, we should consider this risk during TMP/SMX use in patients, especially those on PD