The firefly luciferase (Luc) reporter assay is a powerful tool used to analyze promoter activities in living cells. In this report, we established a firefly Luc reporter assay system in the unicellular model red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae. A nitrite reductase (NIR) promoter-Luc fusion gene was integrated into the URA5.3 genomic region to construct the C. merolae NIR-Luc strain. Luc activities in the NIR-Luc strain were increased, correlating with the accumulation of endogenous NIR transcripts in response to nitrogen depletion. Luc activity was also significantly increased by the overexpression of the MYB1 gene, which encodes a transcription factor responsible for NIR promoter activation. Thus, our results demonstrate the utility of the Luc reporter system in C. merolae.The number of surgeons is decreasing in Japan. We investigated the trend and factors influencing surgeons' selection of and retention in surgical specialty. In 2016, we obtained data of biennial surveys conducted by the government, and analyzed the annual data of doctors up to the latest available survey at that time (survey, 1994-2014; medical license acquisition, 1993-2014). The rate of selecting surgery by male and female doctors during early career (first three surveys after acquiring medical license) decreased from 28.1% in 1994 to 21.3% in 2010 (first to nineth survey). https://www.selleckchem.com/products/ro-61-8048.html Female surgeons increased from 7.8% in 1993 to 12.4% in 2003, but decreased from 12.5% in 2006 to 10.7% in 2010. Total number of surgeons declined throughout the period. In females, the rate of selecting surgery tended to increase at the beginning of the new training system in 2004, but declined slightly thereafter. The retention rate in those who selected surgery at least once by the third survey (1998) after acquiring medical license in 1993 showed a downward trend. The retention rate in females declined continuously to 48.4% in 2002, stabilized thereafter, and then increased from 47.6% in 2006 to 50.8% in 2014. The retention rate after 10 years (1993-2003) was almost stable (72.4%) in males, but increased to 57.5% in females, and the gender difference tended to decrease. Younger doctors tend to value their private life, and may not choose or continue to practice surgery unless working conditions in surgery improve and income is commensurate with their work.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health concern that can be classified as mild, moderate, severe, or critical, based on disease severity. Since the identification of critical patients is crucial for developing effective management strategies, we evaluated clinical characteristics, laboratory data, treatment provided, and oxygenation to identify potential predictors of mortality among critical COVID-19 pneumonia patients. We retrospectively utilized data from seven critical patients who were admitted to our hospital during April 2020 and required mechanical ventilation. The primary endpoint was to clarify potential predictor of mortality. All patients were older than 70 years, five were men, six had hypertension, and three ultimately died. Compared with survivors, non-survivors tended to be never smokers (0 pack-years vs. 30 pack-years, p = 0.08), to have higher body mass index (31.3 kg/m2 vs. 25.3 kg/m2, p = 0.06), to require earlier tracheal intubation after symptom onset (2.7 days vs. 5.5 days, p = 0.07), and had fewer lymphocytes on admission (339 /μL vs. 518 /μL, p = 0.05). During the first week after tracheal intubation, non-survivors displayed lower values for minimum ratio of the partial pressure of oxygen to fractional inspiratory oxygen concentration (P/F ratio) (44 mmHg vs. 122 mmHg, p less then 0.01) and poor response to intensive therapy compared with survivors. In summary, we show that obesity and lymphopenia could predict the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia and that the trend of lower P/F ratio during the first week of mechanical ventilation could provide useful prognostic information.The purpose of this study was to clarify the usage and understanding of denture adhesives among 1,825 denture wearers, aged 40 years and older in Japan, using a web-based survey. The NTTCom Online survey (a closed investigation) was conducted over a period of 4 days using a 13-item questionnaire about denture adhesives. Results showed that 67.1% of the respondents were satisfied with their dentures; 81.5% of respondents knew about denture adhesive, but only 347 (19.0%) had used the product. Products used by the 347 denture wearers included cream type (79.7%), cushion type (16.2%), and powder type (3.2%). The most common reason for the selection of a particular type was "Saw the product" (59.9%), followed by "Saw an advertisement" (19.3%), and "Explanation at a dental clinic" (8.4%). The response of "Ill-fitting denture" significantly affected the response of "Use of denture adhesives" (chi-square test; P less then 0.001). Moreover, the sensitivity (0.56) was lower than the specificity (0.75). These findings show that denture adhesives were not always necessary for those with ill-fitting dentures. We have previously reported 5-year follow-up data on the TIAregistry.org, an international prospective cohort in patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke. We conducted a Japanese subgroup analysis because outcomes and predictors might differ according to ethnicities and regions. In this study, we compared the baseline and 5-year follow-up data of Japanese and non-Japanese patients with TIA or minor stroke. Patients with TIA or minor ischemic stroke within 7 days after the onset were classified into two groups based on ethnicity, Japanese (n=345) and non-Japanese (n=3502); further, 5-year event rates were compared between the two groups. We also determined predictors of 5-year stroke for both groups. Vascular death and death from any cause were identified to be less prevalent, unlike stroke and intracranial hemorrhage, which was determined to be more prevalent in Japanese than in non-Japanese patients. Five-year rate of stroke was significantly higher in Japanese patients. Cumulativeould take Japanese-patient-specific residual risks into account. |