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Tc-99m PMT and Tc-99m GSA can be taken up by hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but there has been no report concerning HCC showing accumulation of both of Tc-99m PMT and Tc-99m GSA. In this paper we describe a case of two simultaneously developed HCCs, one of which took up both tracers but the other took up neither of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypervelocity impact phenomena of long period stacking ordered type magnesium alloys (LPSO-Mg) plates were examined at the impact velocities of 4 km/s and 6 km/s. Ejecta veil and external bubble of debris of LPSO-Mg were darker than those of aluminum alloy A6061-T6. The size of external bubble of debris of LPSO-Mg was slightly smaller than that of A6061-T6. The velocity reduction of LPSOMg was slightly larger than that of A6061-T6. However, the scatter area of projectile and targets were not determined by electron probe micro-analyzer.

Traveler's diarrhea (TD) is a global problem, and identifying the causative organisms of TD is important for adequate treatment. Therefore, this study retrospectively analyzed TD cases in patients who returned to Japan after traveling abroad to determine the causative organisms by travel region. We included patients with a final diagnosis of TD registered in the Japan Registry for Infectious Diseases from Abroad database from September 25, 2017, to September 1, 2022, from 14 medical institutions. A total of 919 patients were analyzed; the causative TD pathogen was identified in 188 cases (20%), of which 154 were caused by diarrheagenic bacteria, the most common being Campylobacter spp. (64%). A 2.2 mg/dL C-reactive protein concentration cutoff value had some predictive ability for bacterial TD (negative predictive value, 89%). Therefore, the C-reactive protein level may help rule out bacterial diarrhea and prevent unnecessary antimicrobial administration when patients cannot provide a stool specimen., Competing Interests: Yamamoto K received research grants from Fujirebio, Inc., Mizuho Medy, Co., Ltd., VisGene, Co., Ltd., Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd., Canon Medical Systems Co., and CarbGeM Inc. outside of the submitted work; the other authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (2023, National Center for Global Health and Medicine.)

A novel multiplex loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method combined with DNA chromatography was developed for the simultaneous detection of three important respiratory disease-causing viruses: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), influenza A virus, and influenza B virus. Amplification was performed at a constant temperature, and a positive result was confirmed by a visible colored band. An in-house drying protocol with trehalose was used to prepare the dried format multiplex LAMP test. Using this dried multiplex LAMP test, the analytical sensitivity was determined to be 100 copies for each viral target and 100-1000 copies for the simultaneous detection of mixed targets. The multiplex LAMP system was validated using clinical COVID-19 specimens and compared with the real-time qRT-PCR method as a reference test. The determined sensitivity of the multiplex LAMP system for SARS-CoV-2 was 71% (95% CI: 0.62-0.79) for cycle threshold (Ct) ≤ 35 samples and 61% (95% CI: 0.53-0.69) for Ct ≤40 samples. The specificity was 99% (95%CI: 0.92-1.00) for Ct ≤35 samples and 100% (95%CI: 0.92-1.00) for the Ct ≤40 samples. The developed simple, rapid, low-cost, and laboratory-free multiplex LAMP system for the two major important respiratory viral diseases, COVID-19 and influenza, is a promising field-deployable diagnosis tool for the possible future 'twindemic, ' especially in resource-limited settings., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Hayashida et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Osteogenic differentiation has been reportedly regulated by various mechanical stresses, including fluid shear stress and tensile and compressive loading. The promotion of osteoblastic differentiation by these mechanical stresses is accompanied by reorganization of the F-actin cytoskeleton, which is deeply involved in intracellular forces and the mechanical environment. However, there is limited information about the effect on the mechanical environment of the intracellular nucleus, such as the mechanical properties of the nucleus and intracellular forces exerted on the nucleus, which have recently been found to be directly involved in various cellular functions. Here, we investigated the changes in the intracellular force applied to the nucleus and the effect on nuclear morphology and mechanical properties during osteogenic differentiation in human osteoblast-like cells (Saos-2). We carried out cell morphological analyses with confocal fluorescence microscopy, nuclear indentation test with atomic force microscopy (AFM), and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) for intranuclear DNA. The results revealed that a significant reorganization of the F-actin cytoskeleton from the nuclear surfaces to the cell periphery occurred in the osteogenic differentiation processes, simultaneously with the reduction of compressive forces to the nucleus. Such changes also facilitated nuclear shrinkage and stiffening, and further intranuclear chromatin compaction. The results indicate that the reduction of the intracellular compressive force due to reorganization of the F-actin cytoskeleton affects the intra- and extra-mechanical environment of the nucleus, and this change may affect gene expression and DNA replication in the osteogenic differentiation process., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The increasing burden of tick-borne orthonairovirus infections, such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, is becoming a global concern for public health. In the present study, we identify a novel orthonairovirus, designated Yezo virus (YEZV), from two patients showing acute febrile illness with thrombocytopenia and leukopenia after tick bite in Hokkaido, Japan, in 2019 and 2020, respectively. YEZV is phylogenetically grouped with Sulina virus detected in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Romania. YEZV infection has been confirmed in seven patients from 2014-2020, four of whom were co-infected with Borrelia spp. Antibodies to YEZV are found in wild deer and raccoons, and YEZV RNAs have been detected in ticks from Hokkaido. In this work, we demonstrate that YEZV is highly likely to be the causative pathogen of febrile illness, representing the first report of an endemic infection associated with an orthonairovirus potentially transmitted by ticks in Japan., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Autophagy is a cellular degradation system widely conserved among eukaryotes. During autophagy, cytoplasmic materials fated for degradation are compartmentalized in double membrane-bound organelles called autophagosomes. After fusing with the vacuole, their inner membrane-bound structures are released into the vacuolar lumen to become autophagic bodies and eventually degraded by vacuolar hydrolases. Atg15 is a lipase that is essential for disintegration of autophagic body membranes and has a transmembrane domain at the N-terminus and a lipase domain at the C-terminus. However, the roles of the two domains in vivo are not well understood. In this study, we found that the N-terminal domain alone can travel to the vacuole via the multivesicular body pathway, and that targeting of the C-terminal lipase domain to the vacuole is required for degradation of autophagic bodies. Moreover, we found that the C-terminal domain could disintegrate autophagic bodies when it was transported to the vacuole via the Pho8 pathway instead of the multivesicular body pathway. Finally, we identified H435 as one of the residues composing the putative catalytic triad and W466 as an important residue for degradation of autophagic bodies. This study may provide a clue to how the C-terminal lipase domain recognizes autophagic bodies to degrade them.

Introduction: The epidemiology of infectious diseases in Japan remains undefined despite the increasing tourism. GeoSentinel, an epidemiological surveillance system for reporting imported infectious diseases, has only two participating facilities in Japan. Although the number of infectious diseases is reported by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, there is no detailed clinical information about these cases. Therefore, we established J-RIDA (Japan Registry for Infectious Diseases from Abroad) to clarify the status of imported infectious diseases in Japan and provide detailed information., Methods: J-RIDA was started as a registry of imported infectious diseases. Case registration began in October 2017. Between October 2017 and September 2019, 15 medical institutions participated in this clinical study. The registry collected information about the patient's age, sex, nationality, chief complaint, consultation date, date of onset, whether visit was made to a travel clinic before travel, blood test results (if samples were collected), travel history, and final diagnosis., Results: Of the 3046 cases included in this study, 46.7% to Southeast Asia, 13.0% to Africa, 13.7% to East Asia, 11.5% to South Asia, 7.5% to Europe, 3.8% to Central and South America, 4.6% to North America, 3.9% to Oceania, and 2.8% to Central and west Asia. More than 85% of chief complaints were fever and general symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, respiratory symptoms, or dermatologic problems. The most common diseases were travelers' diarrhea, animal bite, upper respiratory infection, influenza, and dengue fever., Conclusions: We summarized two-year cases registered in Japan's imported infectious disease registry. These results will significantly contribute to the epidemiology in Japan., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None declared., (Copyright © 2020 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become an urgent global health issue. An older age and underlying conditions, such as diabetes, have been reported as risk factors, but whether or not autoimmune diseases increase the risk remains unknown. An 85-year-old man with Sjögren's syndrome developed a severe COVID-19 infection that required oxygen supplementation. After discussing the goals of care with him and his wife, off-label tocilizumab was given concomitantly, resulting in a rapid improvement in his symptoms and respiratory failure. This patient represents a supplementary case confirming the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab for COVID-19 in elderly patients with autoimmune diseases.

The ongoing spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a worldwide crisis. Hokkaido Prefecture in Japan promptly declared a state of emergency following the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases, and the policy became an example to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We herein report 15 cases of COVID-19 including 3 cases requiring mechanical ventilation. Based on review of our cases, among patients over 50 years of age with underlying diseases such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus, and those who required oxygen administration tended to deteriorate. These cases highlight the importance of understanding the background and clinical course of severe cases to predict prognosis., (2020, National Center for Global Health and Medicine.)