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Background: Report writing in class provides basic training for academic writing. However, report writing education in medical schools in Japan has rarely been reported and no teaching strategy has been established for it., Methods: This study developed a report writing program using peer review for first-year medical students consisting of two 120-minute classes. The goal of being able to write reports appropriately was established and presented to students at the beginning of the program. In session 1, students decided on a topic, gathered information, and structured their report. In session 2, students' written reports were peer reviewed. The reports were improved based on the peer reviews. The responses of the pre- and post-program questionnaires were evaluated to determine the program's effectiveness. The other reports that were assigned one month after the program were used as comparison with the reports of students who did not participate. Furthermore, the long-term effects of the program were also evaluated by comparing the results of students from the previous year who did not participate in the program with those of program participants six months after the program., Results: A total of 106 students completed the questionnaire evaluation. The program was rated as being acceptable for the students. Self-assessment of report writing significantly improved after the program. The report scores of program participants (n = 99) were significantly higher overall and in all domains than were those of non-participants (n = 99). The self-assessment of students who participated (n = 96) was significantly higher than that of non-participants (n = 109). No difference was observed for students' sense of burden in report writing., Conclusions: The report writing skills of medical students can be improved by clearly establishing the goals of report writing and practicing the basic skills of report writing step-by-step. Moreover, the use of peer review may enhance the effectiveness of learning opportunities for report writing., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

We report the case of a 46-year-old female patient who developed a subacute progression of axial and proximal muscle weakness. Laboratory findings revealed mildly elevated serum creatine kinase levels. No monoclonal gammopathy was detected. A muscle biopsy revealed that she had nemaline myopathy. Serological tests and a lip biopsy revealed Sjögren's syndrome (SjS). We diagnosed her as having sporadic late-onset nemaline myopathy without monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance associated with SjS. Her symptoms improved after methylprednisolone pulse therapy followed by intravenous immunoglobulin therapy. A good response to immunotherapy demonstrates the necessity of making a correct diagnosis, for which a muscle biopsy is required.

Root development is essential for plant survival. The lack of carotenoid biosynthesis in the phytoene desaturase 3 (pds3) mutant results in short primary roots (PRs) and reduced lateral root formation. In this study, we showed that short-term inhibition of PDS by fluridone suppresses PR growth in wild type, but to a lesser extent in auxin mutants of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Such an inhibition of PDS activity increased endogenous indole-3-acetic acid levels, promoted auxin signaling, and partially complemented the PR growth of an auxin-deficient mutant, the YUCCA 3 5 7 8 9 quadruple mutant (yucQ). The exogenous application of retinaldehyde (retinal), an apocarotenoid derived from β-carotene, complemented the fluridone-induced suppression of root growth, as well as the short roots of the pds3 mutant. Retinal also partially complemented the auxin-induced suppression of root growth. These results suggest that retinal may play a role in regulating root growth by modulating endogenous auxin levels., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement. None declared., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists.)

A 31-year-old Japanese man presented with cerebral and pulmonary cryptococcosis. Cryptococcus gattii (C. gattii) genotype VGIIb was detected in the patient's sputum and cerebrospinal fluid specimens. The serum levels of anti-granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) antibodies were elevated in this patient, which has been associated with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis and is considered a risk factor for C. gattii infection. After undergoing >12 months of antifungal treatments, the patient showed improvements in symptoms and findings on brain and lung imaging. Several Japanese patients who develop C. gattii infection have also been reported; however, most of these patients have been infected outside Japan, as C. gattii infection is rare in Japan. Only one patient with C. gattii genotype VGIIb infection has been reported in Japan, and it is believed that this patient contracted the infection in China. In the present case, our patient has never been outside Japan, indicating that the infection originated in Japan. Our findings suggest that C. gattii might be spreading in Japan. Therefore, patients with positive serum anti-GM-CSF antibodies should be thoroughly monitored for C. gattii infection, even those living in Japan., (Copyright © 2024 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Wound healing of partially incised Arabidopsis inflorescence stems constitutes cell proliferation that initiates mainly in pith tissues about three days after incision, and that the healing process completes in about seven days. Although the initiation mechanisms of cell proliferation have been well documented, the suppression mechanisms remain elusive. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are zinc-dependent endopeptidases well-known as proteolytic enzymes in animal systems functioning in extracellular matrix remodeling during physiological and pathological processes, including tissue differentiation, growth, defense, wound healing, and control of cancer growth. In this study, we report At2-MMP might contribute to the suppression mechanism of cell proliferation during tissue-repair process of incised inflorescence stems. At2-MMP transcript was gradually upregulated from day 0 to 5 after incision, and slightly decreased on day 7. Morphological analysis of incised stem of defected mutant at2-mmp revealed significantly enhanced cell proliferation around the incision site. Consistent with this, semi-quantitative analysis of dividing cells displayed a significant increment in the number of dividing cells in at2-mmp as compared to WT. These results showed that the upregulation of At2-MMP at the later stage of wound-healing process is likely to be involved in the completion of the process by attenuating the cell proliferation., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site–for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Hidden curriculum (HC) can limit the effects of professionalism education. However, the research on how HC triggers unprofessional behavior among medical students is scant. Furthermore, there is no established approach for how faculty members may create a context, such as an educational environment and education system, that prevents students' unprofessional behavior. This study aimed to develop an educational approach to prevent unprofessional behavior and clarify how faculty members consider HC that triggers students' unprofessional behavior., Methods: The study sample comprised 44 faculty members and eight medical students from the Chiba University School of Medicine. The participants were divided into groups and asked the following question: "What attitudes, statements, and behaviors of senior students, physicians, and faculty members trigger medical students' unprofessional behavior?" The responses were collected using the affinity diagram method. The group members discussed the causes and countermeasures for the selected attitudes, statements, and behaviors of senior students, physicians, and faculty members based on the affinity diagram. The impact of the group work on the faculty members was surveyed using questionnaires immediately after its completion and six months later. Furthermore, the cards in the group work were analyzed using content analysis., Results: The responses to the questionnaire on group work indicated that some faculty members (43.8%) improved HC, while others suggested conducting group work with more participants. The content analysis revealed six categories - inappropriate attitude/behavior, behavior encouraging unprofessional behavior, lack of compliance with regulations, harassment of other medical staff, inappropriate educational environment/supervisor, and inappropriate self-control - and 46 subcategories., Conclusions: The HC that triggers students' unprofessional behavior includes the words and actions of the educator, organizational culture, and educational environment. Group work makes faculty members aware of the HC that triggers unprofessional behavior, and induces behavioral change for HC improvement in the educational activities. Educators should refrain from using words and actions that encourage unprofessional behavior, such as personal anecdotes, as they reduce students' learning motivation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

NGLY1 deficiency is a genetic disease caused by biallelic mutations of the Ngly1 gene. Although epileptic seizure is one of the most severe symptoms in patients with NGLY1 deficiency, preclinical studies have not been conducted due to the lack of animal models for epileptic seizures in NGLY1 deficiency. Here, we observed the behaviors of male and female Ngly1 -/- mice by video monitoring and found that these mice exhibit spontaneous seizure-like behaviors. Gene expression analyses and enzyme immunoassay revealed significant decreases in oxytocin, a well-known neuropeptide, in the hypothalamus of Ngly1 -/- mice. Seizure-like behaviors in Ngly1 -/- mice were transiently suppressed by a single intranasal administration of oxytocin. These findings suggest the therapeutic potential of oxytocin for epileptic seizure in patients with NGLY1 deficiency and contribute to the clarification of the disease mechanism., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

An educational augmented reality auscultation system (EARS) is proposed to enhance the reality of auscultation training using a simulated patient. The conventional EARS cannot accurately reproduce breath sounds according to the breathing of a simulated patient because the system instructs the breathing rhythm. In this study, we propose breath measurement methods that can be integrated into the chest piece of a stethoscope. We investigate methods using the thoracic variations and frequency characteristics of breath sounds. An accelerometer, a magnetic sensor, a gyro sensor, a pressure sensor, and a microphone were selected as the sensors. For measurement with the magnetic sensor, we proposed a method by detecting the breathing waveform in terms of changes in the magnetic field accompanying the surface deformation of the stethoscope based on thoracic variations using a magnet. During breath sound measurement, the frequency spectra of the breath sounds acquired by the built-in microphone were calculated. The breathing waveforms were obtained from the difference in characteristics between the breath sounds during exhalation and inhalation. The result showed the average value of the correlation coefficient with the reference value reached 0.45, indicating the effectiveness of this method as a breath measurement method. And the evaluations suggest more accurate breathing waveforms can be obtained by selecting the measurement method according to breathing method and measurement point., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Human glutamate carboxypeptidase 2 (GCP2) from the M28B metalloprotease group is an important target for therapy in neurological disorders and an established tumor marker. However, its physiological functions remain unclear. To better understand general roles, we used the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to genetically manipulate its three existing orthologous genes and evaluate the impact on worm physiology. The results of gene knockout studies showed that C. elegans GCP2 orthologs affect the pharyngeal physiology, reproduction, and structural integrity of the organism. Promoter-driven GFP expression revealed distinct localization for each of the three gene paralogs, with gcp-2.1 being most abundant in muscles, intestine, and pharyngeal interneurons, gcp-2.2 restricted to the phasmid neurons, and gcp-2.3 located in the excretory cell. The present study provides new insight into the unique phenotypic effects of GCP2 gene knockouts in C. elegans, and the specific tissue localizations. We believe that elucidation of particular roles in a non-mammalian organism can help to explain important questions linked to physiology of this protease group and in extension to human GCP2 involvement in pathophysiological processes., (© 2024 The Author(s).)