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In deep-sea hydrothermal vent environments, metal-enriched fluids and sediments abound, making these habitats ideal to study metal resistance in prokaryotes. In this investigation, we employed transcriptomics and shotgun proteomics with scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (STEM-EDX) to better understand mechanisms of tolerance for cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) at stress-inducing concentrations in Nitratiruptor sp. SB155-2 (phylum Campylobacterota). Transcriptomic profiles were remarkably different in the presence of these two metals, displaying 385 (19%) and 629 (31%) differentially transcribed genes (DTG) in the presence of Cd(II) and Cu(II), respectively, while only 7% of differentially transcribed (DT) genes were shared, with genes for non-specific metal transporters and genes involved in oxidative stress-response predominating. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses confirmed that metal-specific DT pathways under Cu(II) stress, including those involving sulfur, cysteine, and methionine, are likely required for high-affinity efflux systems, while flagella formation and chemotaxis were over-represented under Cd(II) stress. Consistent with these differences, STEM-EDX analysis revealed that polyphosphate-like granules (pPLG), the formation of CdS particles, and the periplasmic space are crucial for Cd(II) sequestration. Overall, this study provides new insights regarding metal-specific adaptations of Campylobacterota to deep-sea hydrothermal vent environments.

Electronic metal-support interactions (EMSIs) comprise an area of intense study, the manipulation of which is of paramount importance in the improvement of heterogeneous metal nanoparticle (NP) supported catalysts. EMSI is the transfer of charge from the support to NP, enabling more effective adsorption and interaction of reactants during catalysis. Ru NPs on CuO supports show different levels of EMSI (via charge transfer) depending on their crystal structure, with multiple twinned NPs showing greater potential for EMSI. We use magnetron-assisted gas phase aggregation for the synthesis of batches of Ru NPs with different populations of single crystal and multiple twinned nanoparticles, which were deposited on CuO nanowires (NWs). The surface charging of the Ru-CuO catalysts was investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). By doubling the population of multiple twinned NPs, the surface potential of the Ru-CuO catalysts increases roughly 4 times, coinciding with a similar increase in the amount of Ru4+. Therefore, tuning the amount of EMSI in a catalyst is possible through changing the population of multiple twinned Ru NPs in the catalyst. Increasing the amount of multiple twin NPs resulted in improved activity in the oxygen evolution reaction (a roughly 2.5 times decrease in the overpotentials when the population of multiple twinned NPs is increased) and better catalyst stability. This improvement is attributed to the fact that the multiple twin NPs maintained a metallic character under oxidation conditions (unlike single crystal NPs) due to the EMSI between the NP and support.

Interactions between oxide supports and noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) is an area of intense research interest across all fields of catalysis. Oxygen spillover, metal support interactions (MSIs) and charge transfer are among many mechanisms observed and proposed as to how NP–support interfaces assist and enhance catalysis. This work studies the migration of oxygen across the Pd NP–CuO nanowire (NW) interface and beyond. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) found an interaction between the Pd NP and CuO NW support, via the formation of PdO at the Pd–CuO interface. It was found, through in situ irradiation at high vacuum transmission electron microscopy (TEM), that oxygen enters the Pd NP lattice from the Pd–CuO interface via amorphization of the NP. Varying the amount of irradiation highlighted the different rates of amorphization of NPs, with full amorphization of a NP leading to the formation of an epitaxially driven PdO across the NPs. Interestingly, in situ heating in XPS observed a reduction to metallic Pd, found to be similarly amorphous during TEM investigation. On comparison with Pd supported on a non-reducible substrate – in which oxidation was found to proceed from the outer surface in, rather than the support interface (resulting in a PdO shell) – it is theorized that the oxidation and reduction of Pd on CuO forms a PdO NP surface full of Pd–PdO sites allowing for synergistic effects, of great use in the oxidation and hydrogenation of organic species.

Significance Mammalian central synapses of diverse functions contribute to highly complex brain organization, but the molecular basis of synaptic diversity remains open. This is because current synapse proteomics are restricted to the “average” composition of abundant synaptic proteins. Here, we demonstrate a subcellular proteomic workflow that can identify and quantify the deep proteome of synaptic vesicles, including previously missing proteins present in a small percentage of central synapses. This synaptic vesicle proteome revealed many proteins of physiological and pathological relevance, particularly in the low-abundance range, thus providing a resource for future investigations on diversified synaptic functions and neuronal dysfunctions., Current proteomic studies clarified canonical synaptic proteins that are common to many types of synapses. However, proteins of diversified functions in a subset of synapses are largely hidden because of their low abundance or structural similarities to abundant proteins. To overcome this limitation, we have developed an “ultra-definition” (UD) subcellular proteomic workflow. Using purified synaptic vesicle (SV) fraction from rat brain, we identified 1,466 proteins, three times more than reported previously. This refined proteome includes all canonical SV proteins, as well as numerous proteins of low abundance, many of which were hitherto undetected. Comparison of UD quantifications between SV and synaptosomal fractions has enabled us to distinguish SV-resident proteins from potential SV-visitor proteins. We found 134 SV residents, of which 86 are present in an average copy number per SV of less than one, including vesicular transporters of nonubiquitous neurotransmitters in the brain. We provide a fully annotated resource of all categorized SV-resident and potential SV-visitor proteins, which can be utilized to drive novel functional studies, as we characterized here Aak1 as a regulator of synaptic transmission. Moreover, proteins in the SV fraction are associated with more than 200 distinct brain diseases. Remarkably, a majority of these proteins was found in the low-abundance proteome range, highlighting its pathological significance. Our deep SV proteome will provide a fundamental resource for a variety of future investigations on the function of synapses in health and disease.

Hydrogen-terminated (C-H) diamond has a high current density owing to the 2-D hole gas (2DHG) on its C-H diamond surface. The C-H diamond metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) has high-breakdown-voltage characteristics but exhibits normally-ON operation. For security and energy-saving purposes, we fabricated the diamond cascode using the C-H diamond p-channel field-effect transistor (p-FET) combination with the normally- OFF silicon p-FET. The diamond cascode exhibits normally- OFF characteristics and a high breakdown voltage of more than 1.7-kV.

Electronic metal–support interactions (EMSIs) in metallic nanoparticle (NP)-supported catalysts are responsible for these nanomaterials’ high-performance electronic and catalytic properties. However, the investigation of EMSIs at nanoscale under different environments has not been well studied. In this work, gas-phase synthesized Pt NP and thermally grown CuO nanowire (NW) EMSI evolution is characterized via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and PeakForce Kelvin probe force microscopy, in order to describe the chemical state and surface potential of the nanocatalysts. Changes in the system’s EMSIs after NP deposition and thermal annealing have important effects for different nanomaterials’ applications. A significant amount of charge transfer was observed on the CuO NWs after deposition of Pt NPs, which greatly enhanced the catalytic performance of this material for methanol oxidation. Heating the Pt NP–CuO NW system elevated the Pt oxidation states and slowed the charge transfer such that the system exhibited different CO gas sensing mechanisms at two different temperatures, one related to the EMSI at 200 °C and the other related to oxygen spillover at 250 °C. This description of the CuO-NW-supported Pt NP electronic interactions under different reaction environments highlights the importance of EMSI tailoring for supported Pt nanocatalysts.

Comprehensive understanding of the electrochemical activity of single nanoparticles (NPs) is in critical need for opening new avenues in the broad field of electrochemistry. Published reports on si...

Inspired by clinical studies on alcohol abuse induced endoplasmic reticulum disruption, we designed a N-hydroxylethyl peptide assembly to regulate the ER stress response in cancer cells. Upon coupling with a coumarin derivative via an ester linkage, a prodrug was synthesized to promote esterase-facilitated self-delivery of N-hydroxylethyl peptide assemblies around the ER, inducing ER dilation. Following this, ER-specific apoptosis was effectively and efficiently activated in various types of cancer cells including drug resistant and metastatic ones.

Tuning the metal support interaction (MSI) in heterogeneous catalysts is of utmost importance for various applications in different catalysis reactions. Pt–TiN systems are strong contenders for commercial catalysts, although the charge screening of Pt and non-involvement of N reduces their effective MSI and limits it to the Pt–Ti interface. Here, the bias driven landing of gas phase synthesized Pt nanoparticles (NPs) is used to change the nature of the MSI and enhance the charge transfer phenomenon. Bias driven landing of the Pt NPs translates their impact energies to the TiN surface, resulting in a weakening of the Ti–N bonds. This facilitates a new interaction between the Pt and N atoms, resulting in an electronic equilibration in the N–Pt–Ti triumvirate, nullifying the charge screening of Pt. This change in the nature of the MSI enables long range charge transfer throughout the catalyst surface and an increase in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of the Pt–TiN system.

Inspired by the metamorphosis of pore-forming toxins from soluble inactive monomers to cytolytic trans-membrane assemblies, we developed self-assembly-directed membrane insertion of synthetic analogues for permeability alteration. An expanded pi-conjugation-based molecular precursor with an extremely high rigidity and a long hydrophobic length that is comparable to the hydrophobic width of plasma membrane was synthesized for membrane-inserted self-assembly. Guided by the cancer biomarker expression in vitro, the soluble precursors transform into hydrophobic monomers forming assemblies inserted into the fluid phase of the membrane exclusively. Membrane insertion of rigid synthetic analogues destroys the selective permeability of the plasma membrane gradually. It eventually leads to cancer cell death, including drug resistant cancer cells.

Treatment resistance, relapse and metastasis remain critical issues in some challenging cancers, such as chondrosarcomas. Boron-neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a targeted radiation therapy modality that relies on the ability of boron atoms to capture low energy neutrons, yielding high linear energy transfer alpha particles. We have developed an innovative boron-delivery system for BNCT, composed of multifunctional fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles (B-MSNs), grafted with an activatable cell penetrating peptide (ACPP) for improved penetration in tumors and with Gadolinium for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)in vivo. Chondrosarcoma cells were exposedin vitroto an epithermal neutron beam after B-MSNs administration. BNCT beam exposure successfully induced DNA damage and cell death, including in radio-resistant ALDH+ cancer stem cells (CSCs), suggesting that BNCT using this system might be a suitable treatment modality for chondrosarcoma or other hard-to-treat cancers.

In organic field-effect transistors, the first few molecular layers at the semiconductor/dielectric interface are regarded as the active channel for charge transport; thus, great efforts have been devoted to the modification and optimization of molecular packing at such interfaces. Here, we report organic monolayers with large-area uniformity and high crystallinity deposited by an antisolvent-assisted spin-coating method acting as the templating layers between the dielectric and thermally evaporated semiconducting layers. The predeposited crystalline monolayers significantly enhance the film crystallinity of upper layers and the overall performance of transistors using these hybrid-deposited semiconducting films, showing a high carrier mobility up to 11.3 cm2 V–1 s–1. Additionally, patterned transistor arrays composed of the templating monolayers are fabricated, yielding an average mobility of 7.7 cm2 V–1 s–1. This work demonstrates a promising method for fabricating low-cost, high-performance, and large-...

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is the natural fibrous scaffold that regulates cell behavior in a hierarchical manner. By mimicking the dynamic and reciprocal interactions between ECM and cells, higher-order molecular self-assembly (SA), mediated through the dynamic growth of scaffold-like nanostructures assembled by different molecular components, was developed. Designed and synthesized were two self-sorted coumarin-based gelators, a peptide molecule and a benzoate molecule, which self-assemble into nanofibers and nanobelts, respectively, with different dynamic profiles. Upon the dynamic growth of the fibrous scaffold assembled from peptide gelators, nanobelts assembled from benzoate gelators transform into a layer-by-layer nanosheet, reaching ninefold increase in height. By using light and an enzyme, the spatial-temporal growth of the scaffold can be modified, leading to in situ height regulation of the higher-order architecture.

INTRODUCTION From 2007, competitive bidding for procurement became widely employed by the Japanese Government, and health check providers for government workers are selected every year by this method. Deterioration of health check quality due to excessive price competition is a serious concern. The National Federation of Industrial Health Organization (Zeneiren) conducted an investigative research on the contracting of health check providers and occupational physicians in workplaces in 2015-2016 in an effort to prevent low-cost but low-quality health checks. The report of the research is available on the homepage of Zeneiren. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the report, and deterioration of health check quality due to dumping by and switching of health check providers is discussed from economic and legal viewpoints. METHOD Information was obtained from articles in print and on the Internet. RESULTS A questionnaire survey of health check providers revealed that excessive discounts due to both competitive bidding and demand from companies commissioning health checks occurred on a routine basis, and some providers were concerned about worsening business conditions in the future. In a separate questionnaire survey of occupational physicians, it was discovered that they were able to evaluate the quality of health checks, whereas administrative officials responsible for selecting the providers were seldom able to adequately evaluate the health check quality, resulting in contracting providers of questionable quality, which in turn caused considerable dissatisfaction on the part of occupational physicians. Moreover, when health check providers were switched, the reporting format of health check results changed. The physicians did not favor such a change because of the considerably increased workload involved in coordinating past and current data and the risk of decreased occupational health service quality. DISCUSSION Dumping makes the management of health check providers very difficult and is a cause of loss of social capital. If health check providers of good quality withdraw from the market, the supply of high-quality health checks decreases. This corresponds to external diseconomy caused by dumping on the part of the health check providers and loss of social surplus (economic surplus). CONCLUSIONS To avoid deterioration of occupational health service due to low-quality health checks and changes in the reporting format, occupational physicians must actively engage in the selection of health check providers of good quality.

The sheet resistance ( R sk ) underneath ohmic Au-electrodes on hydrogen-terminated surface-conductive diamond (001) surfaces was examined by a special current-voltage measurement. It has been found that R sk is about ~ 200 times larger than the sheet resistance, R sh , in the open areas without Au-electrodes. The specific contact resistance, R C , of ohmic Au-electrodes on H-terminated surface-conductive diamonds as determined by linear transmission line models must be corrected accordingly. As the results of this, R C is suggested to be of the order of 1 × 10 − 3 – 1 × 10 − 4 Ωcm 2 .

Summary Cells modify the migration mechanism in response to their surroundings, which sets the challenge for cancer therapy targeting metastasis through signaling pathways. To cope with the diversity and complexity of molecular self-assembled nanofibrils, we have developed a mechanical approach that captures membrane dynamicity to suppress cancer cell migration and invasion. We designed and synthesized a ruthenium (Ru)-complex-based peptidic molecule that selectively initiates self-assembly into extracellular nanofibrils on lipid rafts of cervical cancer cells by reacting with glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored placental alkaline phosphatase (GPI-anchored PLAP). The growing nanofibrils glue the lipid rafts and chain them into large clusters, leading to reinforced focal adhesion suppressing cell migration. The molecular self-assembly constantly exerts mechanical stimuli to raft-associated protein receptors, provoking opposing cell migration against focal adhesion with enhanced motility. The contradictory motions generate a mechanical force transferred through the actin cytoskeleton. When the force increases, the restricted cervical cancer cell is ruptured.

A simple printing process to design a novel piezoelectric energy-harvesting device made from vinylidene fluoride/trifluoroethylene copolymers is presented. Fabrication using a metal nanoink and a household printer dramatically reduced the fabrication complexity. In addition, this process employed low-temperature steps, and thus the structural damage to the polymers resulting from high-temperature annealing was avoided. By stacking the devices and connecting them in parallel, the generated energy was increased and electric power of ∼1.12 μJ was obtained.

In this work, an axial-type vibration energy harvester with an impact-sliding structure that uses a magnetostrictive Permendur (Fe-Co-V) rod was produced and its power generation properties were measured. It was found that all the peak frequencies analyzed using the FFT method from the experimentally obtained voltage waveforms were consistent with the calculated inherent frequencies of the axial vibration of the rod. Therefore, the power generation by the proposed harvester likely resulted from the inherent axial vibration of the magnetostrictive rod. Furthermore, the maximum output energy obtained in this work was 1592 µJ, which was generated by a harvester with 3000 coil turns and two magnets under a load resistance of 3 kΩ. It was found that the maximum output energy was generated when the load resistance was close to the coil impedance at the inherent frequency of the axial vibration of the rod.

Quiescent (G0 phase) cells must maintain mitotic competence (MC) to restart the cell cycle. This is essential for reproduction in unicellular organisms and also for development and cell replacement in higher organisms. Recently, suppression of MC has gained attention as a possible therapeutic strategy for cancer. Using a Schizosaccharomyces pombe deletion-mutant library, we identified 85 genes required to maintain MC during the G0 phase induced by nitrogen deprivation. G0 cells must recycle proteins and RNA, governed by anabolism, catabolism, transport, and availability of small molecules such as antioxidants. Protein phosphatases are also essential to maintain MC. In particular, Nem1-Spo7 protects the nucleus from autophagy by regulating Ned1, a lipin. These genes, designated GZE (G-Zero Essential) genes, reveal the landscape of genetic regulation of MC.

This paper reports design optimization of vibration based energy harvest device fabricated by simple printing and laminating process using polymeric piezoelectric material (VDF/TrFE). Modified trapezoidal design increased the output voltage and energy dramatically by adhesion strength as well as improvement of internal stress distribution of the device. The process guaranteed simple (fast and low cost) fabrication of energy harvest device and the new design achieved 277 V and 1014 nJ outputs which is about 3 times higher than that of our previous device. Furthermore, by stacking the devices and connecting them in parallel, we increased the output energy into about $\mathbf{2.58}\ \mu \mathbf{J}$.

Among 85 genes that maintain mitotic competence in quiescent eukaryotic cells, Nem1 protects nuclei from autophagy by regulating lipin., Quiescent (G0 phase) cells must maintain mitotic competence (MC) to restart the cell cycle. This is essential for reproduction in unicellular organisms and also for development and cell replacement in higher organisms. Recently, suppression of MC has gained attention as a possible therapeutic strategy for cancer. Using a Schizosaccharomyces pombe deletion-mutant library, we identified 85 genes required to maintain MC during the G0 phase induced by nitrogen deprivation. G0 cells must recycle proteins and RNA, governed by anabolism, catabolism, transport, and availability of small molecules such as antioxidants. Protein phosphatases are also essential to maintain MC. In particular, Nem1-Spo7 protects the nucleus from autophagy by regulating Ned1, a lipin. These genes, designated GZE (G-Zero Essential) genes, reveal the landscape of genetic regulation of MC.

The Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) program has been proposed as a postoperative recovery-enhancing strategy. We frequently apply the Modified-ERAS program following oesophagectomy. This study aims to elucidate the impact of goal-directed fluid therapy (GDT) for the perioperative management of oesophageal cancer on the postoperative recovery of patients undergoing oesophagectomy.This is an interventional before-after comparative observational study conducted at Kanagawa Cancer Centre, Japan. Patients who underwent elective oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer were recruited. Group H (retrospectively collected) received intraoperative and postoperative management consisting of fluid administration without haemodynamic monitoring and the M-ERAS program, while Group S prospectively received management consisting of GDT and the M-ERAS program. The primary endpoint was the speed of gastrointestinal functional recovery, while secondary endpoints were the level of postoperative mobilisation, incidence of complications, postoperative length of hospital stay (LOS), and nutritional status after discharge.The proportion of patients who completely egested Gastrografin by postoperative day 4, the level of postoperative mobilisation, and achievement ratio for a 100-m walk on the first postoperative attempt were significantly higher in Group S than in Group H (P = 0.034, P = 0.0197, and P 0.0001, respectively). No significant differences were observed in the postoperative LOS and incidence of complications within 30 days between the groups. The serum albumin levels at 6 months after discharge was higher in Group S than in Group H (P = 0.0002).The GDT-ERAS program enhanced postoperative gastrointestinal recovery and mobilisation, as well as postoperative nutritional status and protein synthesis. The program did not affect either postoperative LOS or the incidence of complications.UMIN registration number: UMIN000013705, https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000015999.

We devised a co-organizing synthesis by targeting metastable assemblies. Applying a photo-cleavage reaction to the pre-stabilized self-assembled nanostructures, we could successfully place physical constraints on the initiating stage of the molecular co-assembly (CA) process for exotic nanostructures that are away from the thermodynamic minima.

Depth profiles of absorbed hydrogen introduced by electrochemical charging and light elements were analyzed in Ni-Nb-Zr-H amorphous alloy ribbons using a glow discharge optical emission spectrometer. It was clarified that the absorbed hydrogen was comparatively well-distributed on the sample surface and that the content of the hydrogen decreased with increasing depth from the surface. That is, the amount of absorbed hydrogen on the surface was about 17 at %, while that inside the specimens decreased to several atomic percent. The depth profiles of the hydrogen which were close to the surface were slightly different between those on the roller side and those on the free side in the melt-spun ribbon. The difference is thought to originate from the existence of oxygen impurity on the surface and from the difference of the Zr content.

The effect of the annealing temperature on the magnetostrictive properties of Fe­Co alloy thin films on quartz glass was systematically investigated. The saturation magnetostriction was 56ppm for the Fe32Co68-sputtered thin film quenched from 673K, and it increased to 159ppm with increasing annealing temperature up to 1073K. The magnetostriction above 1093K significantly decreased with the emerging fcc phase in the Fe­Co alloy. SEM images showed that the crystal grains present in the fcc phase aggregated to form a discontinuous surface, which resulted in a decrease in the effective magnetostriction. Measurements of the magnetic properties by vibrating sample magnetometer and magnetic force microscopy revealed the enhancement of the magnetization at the crystal grain boundaries of Fe­Co alloy thin films with large magnetostriction. Thus, the heterogeneity of the magnetization can play a key role in inducing the large magnetostrictive effect. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.MBW201315]

We fabricated C-doped (1.5 wt.%) In3Sb1Te2 (CIST) thin films with amorphous phase (a-CIST) using a sputter method. Two electrical-phase-changes at 250 and 275 °C were observed in the sheet resistance measurement. In order to understand the origin of these electrical-phase-changes, all samples were characterized by XRD, TEM, and HRXPS with synchrotron radiation. In a-CIST, only weak Sb-C bonding was observed. In the first electrical-phase-change at 250 °C, strong Sb-C bonding occurred without an accompanying structural/phase change (still amorphous). On the other hand, the second electrical-phase-change at 275 °C was due to the structural/phase change from amorphous to crystalline without a chemical state change.

The electrical transport properties of (Ni0.8Nb0.2)100－xZrx (x = 30, 40 and 50) amorphous ribbons and hydrogen charged specimens were investigated. The amorphous ribbons indicated a negative coefficient in the temperature dependence of their electrical resistivity as well as the typical transport properties of the amorphous alloys with comparatively high values of electrical resistivity, ρ. The normalized temperature coefficient of the resistivity (TCR ≡ 1/ρ300K·dρ/dT) tended to increase with increasing x in the temperature range of 100-300 K. These behaviors would suggest that the transport properties of the present amorphous ribbons were governed by temperature variation of the Debye-Waller factor, not by electron-phonon scattering. The hydrogen charged ribbons obtained by an electrochemical method also showed similar electrical resistivity behaviors as a function of the temperature. However, TCR of x = 40 with hydrogen charged ribbon, in which the amount of absorbed hydrogen was about 14 at%, increased about three times more than that of the pre-charged amorphous ribbon.

Electrical resistivity measurements in the temperature range from 6 to 300K were carried out in order to investigate the effects of the hydrogen absorption on the transport properties of Ni36Nb24Zr40 amorphous alloy ribbon. The electrical resistivity basically behaved negative temperature dependence in all prepared specimens of (Ni0.36Nb0.24Zr0.40)100¹xHx with 0 ¯ x < 15. The absolute value of temperature coefficient of the resistivity, TCR, increased with increasing the amount of the absorbed hydrogen. In addition, it was also clear that the electrical resistivity gradually increased with the time just after electrochemically charging, and tended to saturate after about 800ks at 300K. The behavior of the gradual increase in the electrical resistivity with the time was explained by the model including two kinds of the relaxation times, being associated with the migration of the hydrogen from the sample surface. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.MF201305]

Complete surgical resection is essential for a cure for most gastric cancer. Recently it was reported that surgical Apgar score (SAS) can predict postoperative complication and that postoperative complication is associated with poor long-term survival. The aim of this study is to assess whether SAS can predict overall survival (OS) after surgery for gastric cancer. We retrospectively compared clinicopathological characteristics and survival between high and low SAS score groups in patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Low-scored SAS group (group L) was significantly more common among ASA-PS 2, open approach, total gastrectomy, D2 lymph node dissection, postoperative complication grade 2–4, deep tumor invasion, lymph node metastases, and advanced pathological TNM stage than high-scored SAS group (group H). The 5-year OS of group H and group L were 81.6 and 55.9 %, respectively (p

This paper presents a simple printing process to design a novel piezoelectric energy harvest device made from (VDF/TrFE) copolymers. The fabrication process using metal nano-ink and a household printer dramatically reduced the fabrication complexity. Additionally, this process employed low temperatures and thus the structural damage of the polymers resulting from high temperature annealing could be avoided. An electric power of about 0.06 µJ was generated using this device.

Aim: Preoperative fasting is an established procedure to be practiced for patients before surgery, but optimal preoperative fasting time still remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of “shortened preoperative fasting time” on the change in the amount of total body water (TBW) in elective surgical patients. TBW was measured by multi-frequency impedance method. Methods: The patients, who were scheduled to undergo surgery for stomach cancer, were divided into two groups of 15 patients each. Before surgery, patients in the control group were managed with conventional preoperative fasting time, while patients in the “enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)” group were managed with “shortened preoperative fasting time” and “reduced laxative medication.” TBW was measured on the day before surgery and the day of surgery before entering the operating room. Defecation times and anesthesia-related vomiting and aspiration were monitored. Results: TBW values on the day of surgery showed changes in both groups as compared with those on the day before surgery, but the rate of change was smaller in the ERAS group than in the control group (2.4±6.8% [12 patients] vs. −10.6±4.6% [14 patients], p

The function of granulosa cells is regulated by various hormones and growth factors. Our aim is to clarify the regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production induced by heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) and amphiregulin (AR) in a human granulosa cell line, KGN. KGN cells were cultured and incubated for 24 h with HB-EGF and AR. The levels of VEGF in the culture media were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The activation of MAP kinase in KGN cells was detected by Western blot analysis. VEGF production was significantly increased by HB-EGF or AR alone in a dose-dependent manner, whereas it was decreased by AG1478 or U0126. The MAP kinase activity was increased by treatment with HB-EGF or AR. The results suggested that VEGF is induced by HB-EGF and AR through mechanisms involving MAP kinase. The increase in VEGF may contribute to neovascularization, which in turn would promote various ovulation phenomena as well as follicular growth.

Aim: Preoperative fluid and electrolyte management is usually performed by intravenous therapy. We investigated the safety and effectiveness of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for preoperative fluid and electrolyte management of surgical patients.Methods: The study consisted of two studies, designed as a prospective observational study. In a pilot study, 20 surgical patients consumed 1000 mL of an oral rehydration solution (ORS) until 2 h before induction of general anesthesia. Parameters such as serum electrolyte concentrations, fractional excretion of sodium (FENa) as an index of renal blood flow, volume of esophageal-pharyngeal fluid and gastric fluid (EPGF), and patient satisfaction with ORT were assessed. In a follow-up study to assess the safety of ORT, 1078 surgical patients, who consumed ORS until 2 h before induction of general anesthesia, were assessed.Results: In the pilot study, water, electrolytes, and carbohydrate were effectively and safely supplied by ORT. The FENa value was increased at 2 h following ORT. The volume of EPGF collected following the induction of anesthesia was 5.3±5.6 mL. In the follow-up study, a small amount of vomiting occurred in one patient, and no aspiration occurred in the patients.Conclusion: These results suggest that ORT is a safe and effective therapy for the preoperative fluid and electrolyte management of selected surgical patients.