Constantly increasing air pollution (AP) poses a concern affecting not only our health but also our skin. A typical manifestation of the skin damage induced by AP is its premature aging, irritation, skin barrier impairment, pigmentation disorders, and development or exacerbation of various skin diseases. For these reasons, it is crucial to protect the skin from the negative effects of AP. In this study, we evaluated the ability of some compounds commonly used in dermatological or cosmetic preparations with various biological activities to reduce AP-induced skin damage.

We established a new experimental model using porcine skin explants exposed to cigarette smoke (CS) in which we determined the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the stratum corneum, skin barrier lipids peroxidation, and gene expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 6 in the epidermis. Then, we tested several polysaccharides and their derivatives such as sodium hyaluronate (SH) of different molecular weight (MW, 1.6 MDlogical ingredients with various mechanisms of action.

AP leads to a significant skin damage which can be effectively prevented using some conventional cosmetic and dermatological ingredients with various mechanisms of action.

The clinical benefit of systemic chemotherapy for recurrent/metastatic retroperitoneal/intra-abdominal soft tissue sarcoma (STS) compared to its benefits for other primary lesions has not been known or sufficiently evaluated.

We retrospectively reviewed the cases of the STS patients who consulted a department of medical oncology in Tokyo between June 2011 and March 2018, and we extracted the cases of patients with primary sites at the retroperitoneum/intra-abdomen (cohort R) or extremities/trunk (cohort E) who received systemic chemotherapy in a recurrent/metastatic setting, comparing the cohorts‘ characteristics, chemotherapy details, and prognoses.

Of all 337 STS patients, we enrolled 49 patients in cohort R and 75 patients in cohort E. Liposarcoma was more frequently observed in cohort R (51.0%) than cohort E (22.7%). Galunisertib mw The median chemotherapy treatment line was two lines (range 1-6) in cohort R and three lines (range 1-9) in cohort E. The doxorubicin usage rates differed in recurrent/metastatic settings (90.0% in cohort R and 55.0% in cohort E), due mainly to the higher rate of a perioperative chemotherapy treatment history in cohort E (52.0% vs. 6.1% in cohort R). The median overall survival from the start of salvage chemotherapy was 31.9 months (cohort R; 95% CI 20.9-42.8) and 27.1 months (cohort E; 95% CI 21.6-32.5) (p = 0.549).

There were differences in the distributions of pathology and antitumor drugs used in a salvage setting between retroperitoneal/intra-abdominal and extremities/trunk STS patients in recurrent/metastatic settings, but the prognoses with salvage chemotherapy were similar in the two cohorts.

There were differences in the distributions of pathology and antitumor drugs used in a salvage setting between retroperitoneal/intra-abdominal and extremities/trunk STS patients in recurrent/metastatic settings, but the prognoses with salvage chemotherapy were similar in the two cohorts.The trans-translation process is a ribosomal rescue system for stalled ribosomes processing truncated mRNA. The genes ssrA and smpB fulfil the key functions in most bacteria, but some species have either lost these genes or the function of the ribosomal rescue system is taken over by other genes. To date, the ribosomal rescue system has not been analysed in detail for the Acholeplasmataceae. This family, in the Mollicutes class, comprises the genus Acholeplasma and the provisional taxon „Candidatus Phytoplasma“. Despite their monophyletic origin, the two clades can be separated by traits such as not representing primary pathogens for acholeplasmas versus being phytopathogenic for the majority of phytoplasmas. Both taxa share reduced genomes, but only phytoplasma genomes are characterised by a remarkable level of instability and reduction. Despite the general relevance of the ribosomal rescue system, information is lacking on coding, the genomic context and pseudogenisation of smpB and ssrA and their possible application as a phylogenetic marker. Herein, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the ribosomal rescue system in members of Acholeplasmataceae. The examined Acholeplasmataceae genomes encode a ribosomal rescue system, which depends on tmRNA encoded by ssrA acting in combination with its binding protein SmpB. Conserved gene synteny is evident for smpB, while ssrA shows a less conserved genomic context. Analysis of the tmRNA sequences highlights the variability of proteolysis tag sequences and short conserved sites at the 5′- and 3′-ends. Analyses of smpB provided no hints regarding the coding of pseudogenes, but they did suggest its application as a phylogenetic marker of Acholeplasmataceae – in accordance with 16S rDNA topology. Sequence variability of smpB provides sufficient information for species assignment and phylogenetic analysis.

There are several methods that are used to predict emergency room visits or rehospitalization for the elderly. However, existing risk assessment models of mortality in elderly people are limited. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the factors that affect all-cause mortality and to show the risk assessment model of mortality in elderly Koreans.

This was a cohort study conducted using the health checkup data of 246,422 individuals aged ≥60 years, which was provided by the National Health Insurance Service of South Korea between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2012. The hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of several conditions and all-cause deaths were estimated using a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model. A nomogram was constructed to visualize the risk factors of mortality; a calibration plot and area under the curve (AUC) were also used to verify the nomogram.

Being 85 years or older (100 points) had the greatest influence on all-cause mortality, followed by being underweight (57 points), having more than five chronic diseases (49 points), and ages 78-84 years (45 points); smoking and lack of regular exercise affected mortality to a similar degree. The calibration curves showed good agreement between predictions and observations. The AUC of our nomogram was 0.73 (95% CI 0.72-0.73).

Our results showed the relationship between each condition and mortality rate among elderly individuals in Korea. Our nomogram showed a satisfactory performance in the assessment of the risk of all-cause mortality in elderly Korean people.

Our results showed the relationship between each condition and mortality rate among elderly individuals in Korea. Our nomogram showed a satisfactory performance in the assessment of the risk of all-cause mortality in elderly Korean people.

Cancer is one of the main causes of death among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged 15-39 years. The improvement in overall 5-year survival in AYA cancer patients was far below than that of adult cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to clarify the features of cancer in AYAs by comparing them with those of controls.

Patients in the cancer registry of the University of Tsukuba Hospital between 2007 and 2017 (median age, 65 years) were included in this study. We used patients between the ages of 64 and 66 years as controls. We then obtained the age at diagnosis, sex, primary site, and pathological type.

Among 27,281 cancer patients in the registry between 2007 and 2017, 1,947 (7.1%) patients were categorized into the AYA group, and 2,354 into the control group. Among men in the AYA group, central nervous system (CNS) tumors accounted for 22.7% of all cancers, followed by germ cell tumors, 22.5%, and hematopoietic malignancies, 12.5%. Among women in the AYA group, cervical cancer accounted foated to different modes of pathogenesis in AYAs. The identification of high-risk groups of these tumors in the AYA generation is crucial for prevention and early detection and will be a major topic for future research. While most of adult cancers are treated independently by each medical department, AYA cancers need to be treated in collaboration with experts from several departments. It is desirable to address the issues involved in applying treatments established for adult cancers to AYA cancers on a cancer-by-cancer basis.

Epidemiological studies have indicated that anti-Ascaris IgE enhances asthma and allergies under specific conditions although the association between them is still controversial. The association of anti-Ascaris IgE with increased asthma symptoms among children from a general population with a mild to moderate Ascaris infection prevalence was investigated.

A total of 126 children aged 5 years with wheezing during the previous year and 110 children who did not have wheezing were selected randomly from the rural service area of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. Serum levels of total, anti-Ascaris, anti-Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, and anti-cockroach IgEs were tested, and their risks for wheezing were analyzed. The wheezing children were then classified by hierarchical cluster analysis to investigate the contribution of anti-Ascaris IgE to wheezing.

The anti-Ascaris IgE levels in wheezing and never-wheezing children were 1.07 and 0.65 UA/mL, and it contributed to 11% o risk of wheezing in a general population with a mild to moderate Ascaris infection prevalence, suggesting robustness as a risk factor and a possible dose-response relationship.Aggressive behavior in patients with intellectual disability can be resistant to pharmacological treatment and have detrimental consequences to themselves, family members, and caregivers. Hypothalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been used to improve this type of behavior in severe and refractory cases. Here, we present the description and analysis of DBS of the posteromedial hypothalamus (PMH) and its long-term impact as treatment to improve severe and refractory aggressive behaviors, even with previous bilateral hypothalamotomy without improvement in patients with intellectual disability. Eleven patients underwent bilateral DBS of the PMH. Their medical records were reviewed, and the impact on behavior was measured using preoperative and postoperative Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) during the last follow-up medical visit. Nine of 11 patients presented a significant decrease in the severity of aggressive behavior, with a preoperative and postoperative MOAS average value of 50.5 and 18.7, respectively. An overall improvement of 63% was seen with a mean follow-up time of 4 years. A patient who previously underwent a bilateral hypothalamotomy via radiofrequency was included in this group. During follow-up, 3 patients presented deterioration of symptoms subsequent to pulse generator depletion but made a full clinical recovery after battery replacement. We posit that DBS of the PMH may be a safe and effective in improving severe and refractory aggressive behavior in patients with long-term intellectual disability.

Inflammatory processes are a cause of accelerated loss of muscle mass. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a highly prevalent age-related condition, which may promote and be promoted by inflammation. However, whether inflammation in MetS (metaflammation) is associated with lower muscle mass is still unclear.

Complete cross-sectional data on body composition, MetS, and the inflammatory markers interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were available for 1,377 BASE-II participants (51.1% women; 68 ± 4 years old). Appendicular lean mass (ALM) was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Low muscle mass (low ALM-to-BMI ratio [ALMBMI]) was defined according to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Sarcopenia Project. Regression models, adjusted for an increasing number of confounders (sex, age, physical activity, morbidities, diabetes mellitus type II, TSH, albumin, HbA1c, smoking habits, alcohol intake, education, and energy intake/day), were used to calculate the association between low ALMBMI and high inflammation (tertile 3) according to MetS.