Search

The adsorption structure of formate species on Cu(III) is studied using ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy and prepared from CO2 hydrogenation and adsorption of formic acid over Cu(III).

Objectives Damage and detachment of podocytes and loss into the urine have been implicated in the progression of kidney diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential role of urine cytology based on SurePath™ combined with immunoenzyme staining using Wilms' tumour 1 ( WT1) antibody as a podocyte marker in the discrimination of normality and non-renal urinary tract disease from kidney disease. Methods Sixty-six patients with kidney disease, 45 patients with lower urinary tract disease and 30 healthy volunteers were examined. Urine cytology slides were prepared using the SurePath method and immunoenzyme stained with WT1 antibody, and the number of WT1-positive cells was counted. Results In kidney disease, WT1-positive cells were found in 33 (50%) of 66 samples. No WT1-positive cells were found in 45 patients with lower urinary tract disease or in 30 healthy volunteers. The positive rates for WT1 varied with disease type, but not significantly: immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy, (14/23); membranous glomerulonephritis, (4/10); Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis, (3/5); diabetic glomerulopathy, (5/5); minor glomerular abnormality/minimal change nephrotic syndrome (0/4). Conclusions The results suggest that WT1 immunoenzyme staining of urine cytology can be used to detect some types of kidney disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a patient with complication of huge hepatic subcapsular hematoma after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for pancreatic lithotripsy. The hematoma measured 78-110mm. Angiography showed a subcapsular hematoma, rather than a hematoma in the liver. In the arterial phase, the distal end of the small vessel showed spotty opacification similar to microaneurysma, suggesting that it was an injury caused by separation of the liver and its capsule, caused by the shock waves. The portal vein and hepatic vein were normal. After 8 weeks of conservative therapy, the hematoma was gradually absorbed and the patient was discharged. Eight months after the accident, the hematoma had decreased to 40mm in size. After 20 months, it was completely absorbed. The reported rate of renal subcapsular hematoma after ESWL for renal or ureter stones is 0.1%-0.7%. To date, however, only five cases of hepatic subcapsular hematoma after right renal stone disintegration have been reported. This is the first report of hepatic subcapsular hematoma after ESWL for pancreatic stones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of ZnO/SiO2 in a physical mixture of Cu/SiO2 and ZnO/SiO2 on methanol synthesis from CO2 and H2 was studied to clarify the role of ZnO in Cu/ZnO-based catalysts. An active Cu/SiO2 was prepared by the following procedure: the Cu/SiO2 and ZnO/SiO2 catalysts with a different SiO2 particle size were mixed and reduced with H2 at 523-723 K, and the Cu/SiO2 was then separated from the mixture using a sieve. The methanol synthesis activity of the Cu/SiO2 catalyst increased with the reduction temperature and was in fairly good agreement with that previously obtained for the physical mixture of Cu/SiO2 and ZnO/SiO2. These results indicated that the active site for methanol synthesis was created on the Cu/SiO2 upon reduction of the physical mixture with H2. It was also found that ZnO itself had no promotional effect on the methanol synthesis activity except for the role of ZnO to create the active site. The active site created on the Cu/SiO2 catalyst was found not to promote the formation of formate from CO2 and H2 on the Cu surface based on in situ FT-IR measurements. A special formate species unstable at 523 K with an OCO asymmetric peak at ~1585 cm-1 was considered to be adsorbed on the active site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction Differentiation of cystic mass lesions of the sellar and parasellar regions may pose a diagnostic dilemma for physicians, neurosurgeons, radiologists and pathologists involved in treating patients with these entities. A considerable number of tumors previously identified as craniopharyngiomas may, in fact, have been xanthogranulomas. We report a case of pituitary dysfunction caused by xanthogranuloma of the intrasellar region. Case presentation A 47-year-old man of Japanese descent presented to our institution with a tumor located exclusively in the intrasellar region which manifested as severe hypopituitarism. MRI revealed a clearly defined intrasellar mass that was heterogeneously hyperintense on T1-weighted images and markedly hypointense on T2-weighted images. We preoperatively diagnosed the patient with Rathke's cleft cyst or non-functioning pituitary adenoma. Although the tumor was completely removed using a transsphenoidal approach, the improvement of the patient's endocrine function was marginal, and continued endocrine replacement therapy was needed. Postoperatively, a histological examination revealed the tumor to be a xanthogranuloma of the intrasellar region. His visual field defects and headache improved. Conclusion Because diagnosis depends on surgical intervention and xanthogranulomas of the intrasellar region are very rare, the natural history of xanthogranuloma is still unknown. Therefore, this entity is difficult to diagnose preoperatively. We suggest that xanthogranuloma should be included in the differential diagnosis, even in the case of sellar lesions, to formulate appropriate postoperative management and improve endocrine outcomes.

Multi-lineage differentiating stress-enduring (Muse) cells, identified as pluripotent surface marker SSEA-3(+) cells, are stress tolerant endogenous pluripotent-like stem cells, and are involved in tissue repair. However, the significance of Muse cells in acute myocarditis has not been evaluated. In the present study, we counted Muse cells/area in biopsied myocardial tissue samples from 17 patients with fulminant myocarditis, and 6 with non-inflammatory myocardial disease as controls. Compared with controls, patients with fulminant myocarditis had significantly more Muse cells (p = 0.00042). Patients with mechanical circulatory support (p = 0.006) and myocardial degeneration (p = 0.023) had significantly more Muse cells than those without them. The Muse cell number was correlated with acute phase CK-MB level (ρ = 0.547, p = 0.029), indicating the severity of myocardial injury, and was also correlated with acute/recovery phase ratio of CK-MB (ρ = 0.585, p = 0.023) and cardiac troponin I (ρ = 0.498, p = 0.047) levels, indicating resilience of myocardial injury. In fulminant myocarditis, the Muse cell number was associated with the severity of clinical features in the acute phase, and also with the recovery from myocardial damage in the chronic phase. Endogenous Muse cells might be mobilized and accumulate to the myocardial tissues in fulminant myocarditis, and might participate in the repair of injured myocardium., (© 2024 The Author(s). Clinical and Translational Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.)

Background: Stanford type B-acute aortic dissection (type B-AAD) is often life-threatening without invasive surgery. Multilineage-differentiating stress enduring cell (Muse cells), which comprise several percent of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), are endogenous pluripotent-like stem cells that selectively home to damaged tissue and replace damaged/apoptotic cells by in-vivo differentiation., Methods: Mortality, aortic diameter expansion, cell localization, cell differentiation, and inflammation of the dissected aorta were evaluated in type B-AAD model mice intravenously injected with human-Muse cells, -elastin-knockdown (KD)-Muse cells, -human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G)-KD-Muse cells, or MSCs, all without immunosuppressant., Results: Here, we show the Muse (50,000 cells) group has a lower incidence of aortic rupture and mortality of AAD compared with the MSC-50K (50,000 human-MSCs) and vehicle groups. Spectrum computed tomography in-vivo dynamics and 3-dimensional histologic analyses demonstrate that Muse cells more effectively home to the AAD tissue and survive for 8 weeks in the Muse group than in the MSC-750K (750,000 human-MSCs containing 50,000 Muse cells) group. Homing of Muse cells is impeded in the HLA-G-KD-Muse (50,000 cells) group. Differentiation of homed Muse cells into CD31(+) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (+) cells, production and reorganization of elastic fibers in the AAD tissue, and suppression of diameter expansion are greater in the Muse group than in the MSC-750K and elastin-KD-Muse (50,000 cells) groups., Conclusions: Intravenously administered Muse cells reconstruct the dissected aorta and improve mortality and diameter enlargement rates. Moreover, small doses of purified Muse cells are more effective than large doses of MSCs. HLA-G is suggested to contribute to the successful survival and homing of Muse cells., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Muse cells, identified as cells positive for the pluripotent surface marker SSEA-3, are pluripotent-like endogenous stem cells located in the bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood, and organ connective tissues. The detailed characteristics of SSEA-3(+) cells in extraembryonic tissue, however, are unknown. Here, we demonstrated that similar to human-adult tissue-Muse cells collected from the BM, adipose tissue, and dermis as SSEA-3(+), human-umbilical cord (UC)-SSEA-3(+) cells express pluripotency markers, differentiate into triploblastic-lineage cells at a single cell level, migrate to damaged tissue, and exhibit low telomerase activity and non-tumorigenicity. Notably, ~ 20% of human-UC-SSEA-3(+) cells were negative for X-inactive specific transcript (XIST), a naïve pluripotent stem cell characteristic, whereas all human adult tissue-Muse cells are XIST-positive. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that the gene expression profile of human-UC-SSEA-3(+) cells was more similar to that of human post-implantation blastocysts than human-adult tissue-Muse cells. The DNA methylation level showed the same trend, and notably, the methylation levels in genes particularly related to differentiation were lower in human-UC-SSEA-3(+) cells than in human-adult tissue-Muse cells. Furthermore, human-UC-SSEA-3(+) cells newly express markers specific to extraembryonic-, germline-, and hematopoietic-lineages after differentiation induction in vitro whereas human-adult tissue-Muse cells respond only partially to the induction. Among various stem/progenitor cells in living bodies, those that exhibit properties similar to post-implantation blastocysts in a naïve state have not yet been found in humans. Easily accessible human-UC-SSEA-3(+) cells may be a valuable tool for studying early-stage human development and human reproductive medicine., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The current method for generating an animal model of spinal cord (SC) infarction is highly invasive and permits only short-term observation, typically limited to 28 days., Objective: We aimed to establish a rat model characterised by long-term survival and enduring SC dysfunction by inducing selective ischaemic SC damage., Methods: In 8-week-old male Wistar rats, a convection-enhanced delivery technique was applied to selectively deliver endothelin-1 (ET-1) to the anterior horn of the SC at the Th13 level, leading to SC infarction. The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor score was assessed for 56 days. The SC was examined by a laser tissue blood flowmeter, MRI, immunohistochemistry, triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, Western blots and TUNEL staining., Results: The puncture method was used to bilaterally inject 0.7 µL ET-1 (2.5 mg/mL) from the lateral SC into the anterior horns (40° angle, 1.5 mm depth) near the posterior root origin. Animals survived until day 56 and the BBB score was stably maintained (5.5±1.0 at day 14 and 6.2±1.0 at day 56). Rats with BBB scores ≤1 on day 1 showed stable scores of 5-6 after day 14 until day 56 while rats with BBB scores >1 on day 1 exhibited only minor dysfunction with BBB scores >12 after day 14. TTC staining, immunostaining and TUNEL staining revealed selective ischaemia and neuronal cell death in the anterior horn. T2-weighted MR images showed increasing signal intensity at the SC infarction site over time. Western blots revealed apoptosis and subsequent inflammation in SC tissue after ET-1 administration., Conclusions: Selective delivery of ET-1 into the SC allows for more precise localisation of the infarcted area at the targeted site and generates a rat SC infarction model with stable neurological dysfunction lasting 56 days., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Bleomycin (BLM)-induced lung injury is characterized by mixed histopathologic changes with inflammation and fibrosis, such as observed in human patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Although no curative therapies for these lung diseases exist, stem cell therapy has emerged as a potential therapeutic option. Multilineage-differentiating stress-enduring (Muse) cells are endogenous pluripotent- and macrophage-like stem cells distributed in various adult and fetal tissues as stage-specific embryonic antigen-3-positive cells. They selectively home to damaged tissue by sensing sphingosine-1-phosphate and replace the damaged/apoptotic cells by in vivo differentiation. Clinical trials for some human diseases suggest the safety and therapeutic efficacy of intravenously injected human leukocyte antigen-mismatched allogenic Muse cells from adult bone marrow (BM) without immunosuppressant. Here, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of human Muse cells from preterm and term umbilical cord (UC), and adult BM in a rat BLM-induced lung injury model., Methods: Rats were endotracheally administered BLM to induce lung injury on day 0. On day 3, human preterm UC-Muse, term UC-Muse, or adult BM-Muse cells were administered intravenously without immunosuppressants, and rats were subjected to histopathologic analysis on day 21. Body weight, serum surfactant protein D (SP-D) levels, and oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) were monitored. Histopathologic lung injury scoring by the Ashcroft and modified American Thoracic Society document scales, quantitative characterization of engrafted Muse cells, RNA sequencing analysis, and in vitro migration assay of infused Muse cells were performed., Results: Rats administered preterm- and term-UC-Muse cells exhibited a significantly better recovery based on weight loss, serum SP-D levels, SpO 2 , and histopathologic lung injury scores, and a significantly higher rate of both Muse cell homing to the lung and alveolar marker expression (podoplanin and prosurfactant protein-C) than rats administered BM-Muse cells. Rats receiving preterm-UC-Muse cells showed statistically superior results to those receiving term-UC-Muse cells in many of the measures. These findings are thought to be due to higher expression of genes related to cell migration, lung differentiation, and cell adhesion., Conclusion: Preterm UC-Muse cells deliver more efficient therapeutic effects than term UC- and BM-Muse cells for treating BLM-induced lung injury in a rat model., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: To evaluate the effect of intravenous administration of human multilineage-differentiating stress-enduring (Muse) cells on rat postoperative erectile dysfunction (ED) with cavernous nerve (CN) injury without an immunosuppressant., Materials and Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomised into three groups after CN crush injury. Either human-Muse cells, non-Muse mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) (both 1.0 × 10 5 cells), or vehicle was infused intravenously at 3 h after CN injury without immunosuppressant. Erectile function was assessed by measuring intracavernous pressure (ICP) and arterial pressure (AP) during pelvic nerve electrostimulation 28 days after surgery. At 48 h and 28 days after intravenous infusion of Muse cells, the homing of Muse cells and non-Muse MSCs was evaluated in the major pelvic ganglion (MPG) after CN injury. In addition, expressions of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (Cxcl12) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (Gdnf) in the MPG were examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Statistical analyses and comparisons among groups were performed using one-way analysis of variance followed by the Tukey test for parametric data and Kruskal-Wallis test followed by the Dunn-Bonferroni test for non-parametric data., Results: The mean (SEM) ICP/AP values at 28 days were 0.51 (0.02) in the Muse cell group, 0.37 (0.03) in the non-Muse MSC group, and 0.36 (0.04) in the vehicle group, showing a significant positive response in the Muse cell group compared with the non-Muse and vehicle groups (P = 0.013 and P = 0.010, respectively). In the MPG, Muse cells were observed to be engrafted at 48 h and expressed Schwann cell markers S100 (~46%) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (~24%) at 28 days, while non-Muse MSCs were basically not engrafted at 48 h. Higher gene expression of Cxcl12 (P = 0.048) and Gdnf (P = 0.040) was found in the MPG of the Muse group than in the vehicle group 48 h after infusion., Conclusion: Intravenously engrafted human Muse cells recovered rat erectile function after CN injury in a rat model possibly by upregulating Cxcl12 and Gdnf., (© 2023 BJU International.)

Allophagy is responsible for the selective removal of paternally inherited organelles, including mitochondria, in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, thereby facilitating the maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA. We previously identified two key factors in allophagy: an autophagy adaptor allophagy-1 (ALLO-1) and TBK1/IKKε family kinase IKKE-1. However, the precise mechanisms by which ALLO-1 and IKKE-1 regulate local autophagosome formation remain unclear. In this study, we identify two ALLO-1 isoforms with different substrate preferences during allophagy. Live imaging reveals a stepwise mechanism of ALLO-1 localization with rapid cargo recognition, followed by ALLO-1 accumulation around the cargo. In the ikke-1 mutant, the accumulation of ALLO-1, and not the recognition of cargo, is impaired, resulting in the failure of isolation membrane formation. Our results also suggest a feedback mechanism for ALLO-1 accumulation via EPG-7/ATG-11, a worm homolog of FIP200, which is a candidate for IKKE-1-dependent phosphorylation. This feedback mechanism may underlie the ALLO-1-dependent initiation and progression of autophagosome formation around paternal organelles., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In COVID-19 patients who are immunocompromised or have severe COVID-19, the duration of infectious viral shedding may be longer, and a longer isolation duration is recommended. At the National Sagamihara Hospital, a decline in the viral load to end the isolation of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 was confirmed using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). However, a subset of patients displayed LAMP positivity for more than 20 days after symptom onset. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective observational study to investigate the factors that affect the persistence of LAMP positivity. This study included a total of 102 participants. The severity of COVID-19 was mild (25.5%), moderate (67.6%), or severe (6.9%). The median number (interquartile range) of days until negative LAMP results from symptom onset were 16 (14-19) days. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that patients ≥55 years and/or those with the delta variant were correlated with persistent LAMP positivity for more than 20 days after symptom onset. This study identified age, the delta variant, and oxygen requirement as factors that contribute to persistently positive LAMP results. Therefore, it is posited that in these patients, the implementation of LAMP for deisolation would result in a prolonged isolation duration.

Purpose: Allogeneic synovial mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) effectively promote meniscus healing in micro minipigs. We investigated the effect of autologous synovial MSC transplantation on meniscus healing in a micro minipig model of meniscus repair showing synovitis after synovial harvesting., Materials and Methods: Synovium was harvested from the left knee of the micro minipigs after arthrotomy and used to prepare synovial MSCs. The left medial meniscus in the avascular region was injured, repaired, and transplanted with synovial MSCs. First, synovitis was compared after 6 weeks in knees with and without synovial harvesting. Second, the repaired meniscus was compared for the autologous MSC group and the control group (in which synovium was harvested but MSCs were not transplanted) 4 weeks after transplantation., Results: Synovitis was more severe in knees subjected to synovium harvesting than in knees not subjected to harvesting. Menisci treated with autologous MSCs showed no red granulation at the tear of the meniscus, but menisci not treated with MSCS showed red granulation. Macroscopic scores, inflammatory cell infiltration scores, and matrix scores assessed by toluidine blue staining were all significantly better in the autologous MSC group than in the control group without MSCs (n = 6)., Conclusion: Autologous synovial MSC transplantation suppressed the inflammation caused by synovial harvesting in micro minipigs and promoted healing of the repaired meniscus., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: We compared the outcomes of patients with tube thoracostomy for chest trauma between the prehospital and inhospital settings., Methods: The subjects were then divided into 2 groups: the prehospital group, which included subjects who underwent tube thoracostomy in the prehospital setting, and the inhospital group, which included subjects who underwent tube thoracostomy in the inhospital setting. The variables were compared between the 2 groups., Results: There were no significant differences between the 2 groups with regard to gender, age, history, mechanism of injury, infusion of antibiotics, white blood cell count, duration of insertion of a chest drain, mechanical ventilation, complication of drain infection, duration of admission, or final outcome. However, the Injury Severity Score, maximum C-reactive protein level, and maximum temperature during hospitalization in the prehospital group (n = 15) were significantly greater than those in the inhospital group (n = 119)., Conclusion: The present study suggested that thoracostomy performed by physicians in the prehospital setting was safe and did not have an increased risk of infection. In addition, thoracostomy for chest injury in the prehospital setting suggested an improvement in the likelihood of a survival outcome., (Copyright © 2022 Air Medical Journal Associates. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)