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Key Clinical Message: Walking ability may be fairly well maintained after sciatic nerve resection combined with wide resection of soft tissue sarcoma, therefore, surgeons should not hesitate to perform sciatic nerve resection to achieve an adequate surgical margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GLO:DBVG/01oct21:clt212063-fig-0002.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): 2 Proportion of patients requiring oral corticosteroid (OCS) maintenance therapy and daily median prednisone-equivalent dose in the on-treatment analysis (A, B) and the on/off-treatment analysis (C, D). Patients with severe eosinophilic asthma experience frequent exacerbations and may require oral corticosteroids (OCS) to maintain asthma control.1 In randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the anti-interleukin-5 monoclonal antibody, mepolizumab, reduces exacerbation rates and OCS use in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma versus placebo.2,3 However, due to strict eligibility criteria, RCT populations often have more homogeneous demographics and clinical characteristics than patients treated in real-world clinical practice.4 As such, it is important to validate and complement the results of RCTs with effectiveness data from real-world settings, which can provide valuable information for clinical decision-making5; these data are currently limited for Japan. In total, 61 patients were included in the on-treatment and on/off-treatment analyses (two patients in the on-treatment analysis and two in the on/off treatment analysis discontinued due to first bronchial thermoplasty); of these, 26 patients were included in the subgroup analysis. [Extracted from the article]

We introduce a novel fracturing device of high accuracy for scanning electron microscopy for the identification of in situ food items in copepod nauplii. The device requires a very small amount of water and sample, which is frozen on the device. The ice is then physically fractured with the included sample, and sublimated to dry. Copepod nauplii of Acartia steueri were fractured with arbitrary cross-sections using this device, and their digestive tracts were observed. Cyanobacteria, diatoms, bacteria, and flagellates were observed in the guts. Elemental analysis of a fecal pellet in the hind gut of a copepod nauplius detected silicon. The accuracy of the device was tested and distribution of fracturing errors showed a normal distribution; the cumulative frequency between −50 μm and 50 μm was 0.81. The accuracy indicates that the device can be widely applied to other microscopic organisms such as barnacle nauplii, starfish larvae, and sea urchin larvae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imbalance between cholinergic activity and dopaminergic activity in the striatum causes a variety of neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. During sensorimotor learning, the arrival of a conditioned stimulus reporting a reward evokes a pause response in the firing of the tonically active cholinergic interneurons in targeted areas of the striatum, whereas the same stimulus triggers an increase in the firing frequency of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. The pause response of the cholinergic interneurons begins with an initial depolarizing phase followed by a pause in spike firing and ensuing rebound excitation. The timing of the pause phase coincides well with the surge in dopaminergic firing, indicating that a dramatic rise in dopamine (DA) release occurs while nicotinic receptors remain unbound by acetylcholine. The pause response begins with dopamine D5 receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity in the cholinergic neurons and an increased GABAergic IPSP, which is followed by a long pause in firing through D2 and D5 receptor-dependent modulation of ion channels. Inactivation of muscarinic receptors on the projection neurons eventually yields endocannabinoid-mediated, dopamine-dependent long-term depression in the medium spiny projection neurons. Breakdown of acetylcholine-dopamine balance hampers proper functioning of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop circuits. In Parkinson's disease, dopamine depletion blocks autoinhibition of acetylcholine release through muscarinic autoreceptors, leading to excessive acetylcholine release which eventually prunes spines of the indirect-pathway projection neurons of the striatum and thus interrupts information transfer from motor command centers in the cerebral cortex. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2010; 10 (Suppl. 1): S148–S157. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1903, Marchiafava-Bignami disease has been recognized as a rare syndrome with focal demyelination and necrosis in the corpus callosum, which is usually found in chronic alcoholics. It extends into the neighboring white matter and occasionally as far as the subcortical regions. We report a Japanese patient with Marchiafava-Bignami disease associated with alcohol abuse, who had traveled around Western Europe, North America and China for more than 30 years. As he suffered extreme delirium in the early stages we administered a low dose (10 mg) of mianserin hydrochloride. He was very irritable and uncooperative on admission, after 20 days his delirium had disappeared and his temper had become very calm and mild. After 40 days, his intelligence level increased substantially as measured by various neuropsychological tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Leishmania tarentolae, all mitochondrial tRNAs are encoded in the nuclear genome and imported from the cytosol It is known that tRNAGlu(UUC) and tRNAGln(UUG) are localized in both cytosot and mitochondria. We investigated structural differences between affinity-isolated cytosolic (cy) and mitochondrial (mt) tRNAs for glutamate and glutamine by mass spectrometry. A unique modification difference in both tRNAs was identified at the anticodon wobble position: cy tRNAs have 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-2- thiouridine (mcm5s2U), whereas mt tRNAs have 5- methoxycarbonylmethyl-2'-O-methyluridine (mcm5Um). In addition, a trace portion (4%) of cy tRNAs was found to have 5-methoxycarbonylmethyluridine (mcm5U) at its wobble position, which could represent a common modification intermediate for both modified uridines in cy and mt tRNAs. We also isolated a trace amount of mitochondria-specific tRNALys(UUU) from the cytosol and found mcm5U at its wobble position, while its mitochondrial counterpart has mcm5Um. Mt tRNALys and in vitro transcribed tRNAGlu were imported much more efficiently into isolated mitochondria than the native cy tRNAGlu in an in vitro importation experiment, indicating that cytosol-specific 2-thiolation could play an inhibitory role in tRNA import into mitochondria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taurine (2-aminoethanesulphonic acid), a naturally occurring, sulfur-containing amino acid, is found at high concentrations in mammalian plasma and tissues. Although taurine is involved in a variety of processes in humans, it has never been found as a component of a protein or a nucleic acid, and its precise biochemical functions are not fully understood. Here, we report the identification of two novel taurine- containing modified uridines (5-taurinomethyluridine and 5-taurinomethyl-2-thiouridine) in human and bovine mitochondrial tRNAs. Our work further revealed that these nucleosides are synthesized by the direct incorporation of taurine supplied to the medium. This is the first reported evidence that taurine is a constituent of biological macromolecules, unveiling the prospect of obtaining new insights into the functions and subcellular localization of this abundant amino acid. Since modification of these taurine-containing uridines has been found to be lacking in mutant mitochondrial tRNAs for Leu(UUR) and Lys from pathogenic cells of the mitochondrial encephalomyopathies MELAS and MERRF, respectively, our findings will considerably deepen our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of mitochondrial encephalomyopathic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total and protein nitrogen in bark and wood of parent stems of mulberry (Morns alba L. cv. Ichinose) decreased readily and to the same extent during leafing‐out of the buds, but the decrease in wood was less marked than in bark. Simultaneously, soluble nitrogen in both bark and wood also declined but the depletion was less marked than that of total and protein nitrogen. During the same period total nitrogen in the new shoots and adventitious roots increased drastically; however, the increase in total nitrogen in the growing parts during rooting was almost the same as the decrease in total nitrogen in the parent stems. Proline, the prevalent amino acid in wood and bark of the parent stems, decreased drastically during rooting, whereas during the same period asparagine in the developing buds, callus and adventitious roots increased markedly and became the predominant amino acid. The amount of arginine was relatively high in bark of the parent stems but Low in wood and the buds. The level of arginine in bark decreased considerably during the experiments (as did that of proline). The results suggest that the nitrogen required by the growing parts (sinks) in the rooting cuttings comes mainly from protein breakdown in bark of the parent stems (source), although stored protein in wood (source) and soluble nitrogen in bark and wood (sources) also play a part in storage of nitrogen. Asparagine is suggested to be the main nitrogen transport compound in the new growth of the tree and the initiating roots of cuttings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The formation of long shoots and short shoots, growing out from erect one‐year‐old stems sprouted from six‐year‐old pruned stumps of mulberry (Morus alba L. cv. Shin‐ichinose), has been studied. In contrast to the branches of the unpruned trees showing an acrotonic growth habit, where only several terminal buds elongate, the buds of these stems, including the basal buds, burst simultaneously in the spring. A few upper shoots continued to elongate until autumn, forming long shoots, whilst the other shoots (lateral shoots) formed short shoots, the apices of which abscinded until early June. Excision of the long shoots before abscission of the apices of the short shoots took place resulted in continued growth of the short shoots and formation of long shoots in the upper portion of the pruned stem. The results suggest that the dominance of the upper shoots (long shoots) is maintained by a correlative control system acting between the apices of long shoots and short shoots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the mechanism and therapeutic indication of prosthetic mandibular advancement in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Decrease of apnea hypopnea index during treatment; Improvement of velopharyngeal obstruction.