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Background: The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has published Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. These provide a global standard for writing and editing medical articles, including research integrity. However, no study has examined the research integrity-related content of Japanese medical journals' Instructions for Authors. We therefore compared research integrity content in ICMJE member journals with those in the English- and Japanese-language journals of the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences (JAMS). Materials and methods: This was a descriptive literature study. We obtained Instructions for Authors from English- and Japanese-language journals listed on the JAMS website and the ICMJE member journals listed on the ICMJE website as of September 1, 2021. We compared the presence of 20 topics (19 in the ICMJE Recommendations plus compliance with ICMJE) in the Instructions for Authors, and analyzed the content of the conflict of interest disclosure. Results: We evaluated 12 ICMJE member journals, and 82 English-language and 99 Japanese-language subcommittee journals. The median number of topics covered was 10.5 for ICMJE member journals, 10 for English-language journals, and three for Japanese-language journals. Compliance with ICMJE was mentioned by 10 (83%) ICMJE member journals, 75 (91%) English-language journals, and 29 (29%) Japanese-language journals. The ICMJE Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Form was requested by seven (64%) ICMJE member journals, 15 (18%) English-language journals, and one (1%) Japanese-language journal. Conclusions: Although the topics in the JAMS English-language journals resembled those in the ICMJE member journals, the median value of ICMJE-related topic inclusion was approximately one-third lower in JAMS Japanese-language journals than in ICMJE member journals. It is hoped that Japanese-language journals whose conflict of interest disclosure policies differ from ICMJE standards will adopt international standards to deter misconduct and ensure publication quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Routine preoperative pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are not recommended prior to low-risk surgery because their prognostic value is limited. However, only a few studies have assessed the utilization of healthcare resources regarding preoperative PFTs in a real-world setting. Here, we aimed to assess the prevalence and determinant factors of preoperative PFTs before low-risk surgery in Japan. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we used the nationwide insurance claims databases. Patients who underwent low-risk surgeries under general anesthesia between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2016, were included. The primary outcome was the receipt of PFTs within 60 days before an index surgery. We performed descriptive analyses to estimate the rates of preoperative PFTs annually starting in 2012, and examined the associations between patient- and institutional-level factors and preoperative PFTs using multilevel logistic regression analyses. Results The cohort included 9495 procedures (8866 patients) at 1487 institutions. Preoperative PFTs were conducted before 71.8% of the procedures. The temporal trend of preoperative PFTs remained constant from 72.4% in 2012 to 72.2% in 2015. Multilevel regression analysis revealed that preoperative PFTs were associated with older age, number of beds at a medical facility, and inpatient procedures. The median institutional-specific proportion of PFTs was 75.0% (interquartile range, 14.3-100%) with wide inter-institutional variation. Conclusions Our analysis found that preoperative PFTs were performed before 72% of low-risk surgeries under general anesthesia. Apart from age, preoperative PFTs were determined primarily by non-medical factors. Additionally, we observed substantial institutional variation in the use of preoperative PFTs., Author(s): Hiroshi Yonekura [sup.1] , Kazuki Ide [sup.1] , Kahori Seto [sup.1] , Yohei Kawasaki [sup.1] , Shiro Tanaka [sup.2] , Isao Nahara [sup.1] , Chikashi Takeda [sup.1] [sup.3] , [...]

Terrabacter sp. strain DBF63 is capable of degrading fluorene (FN) to tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates via phthalate and protocatechuate. Genes were identified for the protocatechuate branch of the [beta]-ketoadipate pathway (pcaR, pcaHGBDCFIJ) by sequence analysis of a 70 kb DNA region of the FN-catabolic linear plasmid pDBF1. RT-PCR analysis of RNA from DBF63 cells grown with FN, dibenzofuran, and protocatechuate indicated that the pcaHGBDCFIJ operon was expressed during both FN and protocatechuate degradation in strain DBF63. The gene encoding [beta]-ketoadipate enol-lactone hydrolase (pcaD) was not fused to the next gene, which encodes [gamma]-carboxymuconolactone decarboxylase (pcaC), in strain DBF63, even though the presence of the pcaL gene (the fusion of pcaD and pcaC) within a pca gene cluster has been thought to be a Gram-positive trait. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that pcaD mRNA levels increased sharply in response to protocatechuate, and a biotransformation experiment with cis,cis-muconate using Escherichia coil carrying both catBC and pcaD indicated that PcaD exhibited [beta]-ketoadipate enol-lactone hydrolase activity. The location of the pca gene cluster on the linear plasmid, and the insertion sequences around the pca gene cluster suggest that the ecologically important [beta]-ketoadipate pathway genes, usually located chromosomally, may be spread widely among bacterial species via horizontal transfer or transposition events.