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Animal tissues are composed of heterogenous cells, and their sorting into different compartments of the tissue is a pivotal process for organogenesis. Cells accomplish sorting by themselves-it is well known that singly dispersed cells can self-organize into tissue-like structures in vitro. Cell sorting is regulated by both biochemical and physical mechanisms. Adhesive proteins connect cells together, selecting particular partners through their specific binding properties, while physical forces, such as cell-cortical tension, control the cohesiveness between cells and in turn cell assembly patterns in mechanical ways. These processes cooperate in determining the overall cell sorting behavior. This article focuses on the 'cadherin' family of adhesion molecules as a biochemical component of cell-cell interactions, addressing how they regulate cell sorting by themselves or by cooperating with other factors. New ideas beyond the classical models of cell sorting are also discussed.

The safety and efficacy of elective drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty for unrestrictive de novo coronary stenosis in daily practice is not fully understood, especially in comparison to those of drug-eluting stents (DESs).A total of 588 consecutive de novo coronary stenotic lesions electively and successfully treated with either DCB (n=275) or DESs (n=313) between January 2016 and December 2019 at our medical center were included. The primary safety endpoint was the incidence of target lesion failure (TLF), comprising cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization. The secondary angiographic efficacy endpoint was angiographic restenosis frequency, defined as a follow-up percent diameter stenosis of50. The endpoints were compared after baseline adjustment using propensity score matching. In addition, the frequency and predictors of late lumen enlargement (LLE), defined as minus late luminal loss, were examined in 201 crude angiographic follow-up lesions after DCB angioplasty.A total of 31 baseline parameters were adjusted to analyze 177 lesions in each group. The TLF frequencies (DCB group: 9.6% during a mean observational interval of 789±488 days vs. DES group: 10.2%, 846±484 days, p=0.202) and cumulative TLF-free ratios of both groups were not significantly different (p=0.892, log-rank test). The angiographic restenosis frequency in the DCB group (6.3%, n=128) was not significantly different from that of the DES group (10.1%, n=100, p=0.593). LLE was observed in 45.3% of entire lesions, and a type-A dissection was a significant predictor of LLE among 23 variables (odds ratio: 3.02, 95% CI: 1.31-6.95, p=0.010).The present single-center retrospective study revealed statistically equivalent midterm clinical safety and angiographic efficacy among both elective DCB angioplasty and DESs placements in the treatment of unrestrictive de novo coronary lesions. In our daily practice environment, LLE was achieved in approximately half after DCB angioplasty.

Antiresorptive agent-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (ARONJ) is a severe adverse event associated with use of bone resorption inhibitors (BRIs), such as zoledronic acid and denosumab. Based on the results of phase 3 clinical trials for BRIs, the frequency of ARONJ is reported to be 1 to 2%, but the actual frequency could be higher. We investigated 173 patients with prostate cancer with bone metastases who were treated either with zoledronic acid or denosumab at our hospital between July 2006 and June 2020. ARONJ occurred in 13 patients (8%); i.e., ten out of 159 patients (6%) who were treated with zoledronic acid, and three out of 14 patients (21%) who were treated with denosumab. Multivariate analysis showed that longer duration of BRI exposure and dental treatment before the initiation of BRI are associated with risk of ARONJ. ARONJ is associated with decreased mortality but the association is not significant. Generally, the occurrence of ARONJ may be underestimated; therefore, further studies are warranted to determine the actual frequency of ARONJ.

Identifying elderly individuals with locomotive syndrome is important to prevent disability in this population. Although screening tools for locomotive syndrome are available, these require time commitment and are limited by an individual's ability to complete questionnaires independently. To improve on this limitation, we developed a screening tool that uses information on the distribution of pressure on the plantar surface of the foot with an artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision system to identify patients with locomotor syndrome. Herein, we describe our AI-based system and evaluate its performance.This was a cross-sectional study of 409 participants (mean age, 73.5 years). A foot scan pressure system was used to record the planter pressure distribution during gait. In the image processing step, we developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) to return the logit of the probability of locomotive syndrome based on foot pressure images. In the logistic regression step of the AI model, we estimated the predictor coefficients, including age, sex, height, weight, and the output of the CNN, based on foot pressure images.The AI model improved the identification of locomotive syndrome among elderly individuals compared to clinical data, with an area under curve of 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.79-0.88) for the AI model compared to 0.80 (95% confidence interval, 0.75-0.85) for the clinical model. Including the footprint force distribution image significantly improved the prediction algorithm (the net reclassification improvement was 0.675 [95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.90] P 0.01; the integrated discrimination improvement was 0.059 [95% confidence interval, 0.039-0.088] P 0.01).The AI system, which includes force distribution over the plantar surface of the foot during gait, is an effective tool to screen for locomotive syndrome.

Infertility treatment is a possible factor in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Identifying the characteristics of pregnant women who have undergone infertility treatment and have a potential risk for HDP is valuable for its prevention and treatment. Using data from 12,456 pregnant Japanese women from the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study, the association between infertility treatment and HDP was analyzed. A multiple logistic regression model showed an association between infertility treatment and HDP (odds ratio, 1.34; 95% confidence interval, 1.05–1.72). In vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection were also associated with HDP. Moreover, these associations were observed even among women who were not overweight and did not smoke. The application of infertility treatment should be carefully considered, even among women with low modifiable risk factors.

Novel cobalt(III) complexes of N-confused porphyrin (5,10,15,20-tetrakis(penta-fluorophenyl)-2-aza-21-carbaporphyrin) and its 3,3′-linked dimer, Co1 and Co2, were synthesized and their structures were elucidated by X-ray crystallographic analysis and NMR spectroscopy. The redox properties of the complexes were examined by electrochemical approaches, and the corresponding oxidized/reduced species were analyzed by spectroelectrochemistry and DFT calculations. Notably, due to the facile redox feature of the N-confused porphyrins, ligand-centered oxidative/reductive processes were assumed for Co1 and Co2 presumably as inferred from the spectral analyses. These results indicate the unique multi-electron reservoir capability of the metal complexes of the N-confused porphyrin dimer.

These longitudinal analyses of six muscle groups in septuagenarians provide novel information on the muscle group-specific aging process. Although the quadriceps, hamstrings, psoas, and rectus abdominis atrophied with different magnitudes, the lateral abdominals and paraspinals hypertrophied over the 5 years. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the skeletal muscle aging process and highlight the need to complete studies in this area with a muscle-specific focus.

車載カメラ画像のファインチューンドMask R-CNN モデルによる道路表面物セマンティックセグメンテーション、および土器3D-RGBA データの疑似ラベル教師あり分類・クラスタリングモデルによる導出クラスターと専門家分類のマッチング検証を行った。前者は4 つのCOCO データセット事前学習Mask R-CNN モデルを12 クラスの道路損傷等ラベル付15,881 セグメンテーションデータでファインチューニングを施し、推論および検証を行った。Mask R-CNN Inception ResNet101 AtrousCOCO が学習と推論で優れた結果を示した。東京国立博物館所蔵6 世紀須恵器の光学スキャナー計測データを3D-RGBA Voxel ベースに変換し、Multi View ベースを併用して疑似ラベル教師あり分類・クラスタリングモデルによりクラスターを導出した。須恵器身の色情報なし3D データから導出されたクラスターID3 には専門家分類型式のⅡ-4、特にⅡ-5 が多く集中し、クラスターID5 には専門家分類型式のⅡ-1 とⅡ-2 が集中する傾向が明らかとなった。その他のクラスターでは専門家分類型式が離散し、クラスターと専門家分類の大きな乖離がみられた。

Age-related skeletal muscle atrophy appears to be a muscle group-specific process, yet only a few specific muscles have been investigated and our understanding in this area is limited. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the available information on age-related skeletal muscle atrophy in a muscle-specific manner, nearly half of which comes from the quadriceps. Decline in muscle-specific size over ∼50 yr of aging was determined from 47 cross-sectional studies of 982 young (∼25 yr) and 1,003 old (∼75 yr) individuals and nine muscle groups: elbow extensors (−20%, −0.39%/yr), elbow flexors (−19%, −0.38%/yr), paraspinals (−24%, −0.47%/yr), psoas (−29%, −0.58%/yr), hip adductors (−13%, −0.27%/yr), hamstrings (−19%, −0.39%/yr), quadriceps (−27%, −0.53%/yr), dorsiflexors (−9%, −0.19%/yr), and triceps surae (−14%, −0.28%/yr). Muscle-specific atrophy rate was also determined for each of the subcomponent muscles in the hamstrings, quadriceps, and triceps surae. Of all the muscles included in this review, there was more than a fivefold difference between the least (−6%, −0.13%/yr, soleus) to the most (−33%, −0.66%/yr, rectus femoris) atrophying muscles. Muscle activity level, muscle fiber type, sex, and timeline of the aging process all appeared to have some influence on muscle-specific atrophy. Given the large range of muscle-specific atrophy and the large number of muscles that have not been investigated, more muscle-specific information could expand our understanding of functional deficits that develop with aging and help guide muscle-specific interventions to improve the quality of life of aging women and men.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the evaluation tendency of experienced caregivers on the appropriateness of manner of speaking by current caregivers and students, who were interacting with 3 -year-old children with "desirable attitude" and "attitude needs consideration". We analyzed evaluations by a former public kindergarten director who had worked for 36 years and a child care provider who had worked at a private kindergarten for 15 years and had no experience in a supervisory position. In both evaluations, a similar trend was found for the "attitude needs consideration". However, there was a discrepancy between the two in terms of the “desirable attitude”. This result suggests that reflection, evaluation criteria, interpretation, and meaning making based on childcare experience are more important in capturing "manner of speaking" for "attitude needs consideration”.

Recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been developed as a widely available and noninvasive method for detecting and evaluating hepatic iron overload. This case report presents a successful living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in which the donor was suspected to have hepatic iron deposition by MRI evaluation. A preoperative donor liver biopsy and genetic examination were performed to exclude hereditary hemochromatosis and other chronic liver diseases. A liver biopsy showed an almost normal liver specimen with a slight deposition of iron in 2-3% of hepatocytes, and a genetic examination of hereditary hemochromatosis revealed no typical mutations in HFE, TFR2, HJV, HAMP, or SLC40A1. Despite the traumatic hemothorax complication caused by the liver biopsy, the liver transplant eligibility was confirmed. Two months after the hemothorax complication, an LDLT donor operation was performed. The donor was discharged from the hospital on postoperative day (POD) #17 with favorable liver function. The recipient’s posttransplant clinical course was generally favorable except for acute cellular rejection and biliary complications, and the recipient was discharged from the hospital on POD #87 with excellent graft function. A one-year follow-up liver biopsy of the recipient demonstrated almost normal liver with iron deposition in less than 1% of the hepatocytes, and no iron deposition was identified in the liver graft by MRI examination. Liver biopsy and genetic examination are effective methods to evaluate the eligibility of liver transplant donors with suspected hepatic iron deposition. The living donor with slight hepatic iron deposition, if hereditary hemochromatosis was ruled out, can donate partial liver safely.