Survey of enteral feeding of preterm infants and the human milk bank in Japan.

BACKGROUND: In Japan, the first human milk bank (HMB) was established in 2017, which changed the practice of enteral feeding in neonatal care. This study investigated the practice of enteral feeding of preterm infants after the establishment of the HMB in Japan and examined related future issues. METHODS: A survey on enteral feeding and the use of the HMB was conducted in 251 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) from December 2020 to February 2021. RESULTS: The response rate was 61%. The ideal times to start enteral feeding for extremely-low-birthweight infants (ELBWI) and very-low-birthweight infants (VLBWI) were within 24 h after birth in approximately 59% and 62% of NICUs, however, only 30% and 46% could do so, respectively. Artificial nutrition was used to initiate enteral feeding for ELBWIs and VLBWIs in in 24% and 56% of NICUs, respectively. Of the NICUs, 92% considered the HMB "necessary" or "rather necessary". Fifty-five percent wanted to use the HMB but could not. The major reasons for this were (1) difficulty in paying the annual membership fee, (2) difficulty obtaining approval from the NICU, and (3) complexity in using the facility. The indications for using and discontinuation of use of donor milk varied among the NICUs. Only in 17%, milk expression was within 1h after delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with before the establishment of the HMB, NICUs are currently more willing to start enteral feeding for preterm infants earlier. However, the implementation of enteral feeding appears to be challenging. Issues related to the HMB highlighted by the responses need to be addressed. Additionally, guidelines for using donor milk should be established.

Protein C system in preterm babies with chronic lung disease: Prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic lung disease (CLD) is a major neonatal pulmonary disorder associated with inflammation. Recent studies have shown that protein C anticoagulant pathways, such as those for protein C (PC), protein S (PS), and thrombomodulin (TM), could be useful indices for reflecting pulmonary injury. However, the involvement of these factors in preterm infants with very low birthweight (VLBW) who have developed CLD remains to be investigated. Here, we investigated whether PC pathway-related factors could predict the development of CLD in preterm infants with VLBW. METHODS: We collected plasma samples from 26 preterm infants with VLBW (13 each from those with and without CLD) at the time of birth and measured TM, PC, and PS levels in their plasmas. We analyzed prospectively the relationship between these factors in infants with and without CLD. RESULTS: There were significant differences in gestational age, birthweight, Apgar score (5 min), and duration of mechanical ventilation between the CLD and non-CLD groups. No significant differences in the PC and PS levels at birth were observed between the two groups, whereas the TM levels in the CLD group were significantly higher than those in the non-CLD group (P = 0.013). The TM levels correlated with gestational age and duration of mechanical ventilation. However, covariance analysis demonstrated that gestational age was significantly associated with TM levels, and consequently, development of CLD was not associated with TM level at birth. CONCLUSIONS: Thrombomodulin, PC, and PS levels at birth could not predict the development of CLD in preterm infants with VLBW.

Development of novel potent ligands for GPR85, an orphan G protein-coupled receptor expressed in the brain.

GPR85 is a member of the G protein-coupled receptor and is a super-conserved receptor expressed in the brain sub-family (Super Conserved Receptor Expressed in Brain; SREB) with GPR27 and GPR173. These three receptors are "orphan receptors"; however, their endogenous ligands have not been identified. SREB has garnered the interest of many scientists because it is expressed in the central nervous system and is evolutionarily conserved. In particular, brain mass is reported to be increased and learning and memory are improved in GPR85 knockout mice (Matsumoto et al. 2008). In this study, we characterized newly synthesized compounds using a GPR85-Gsα fusion protein and the [35 S]GTPγS binding assay and identified novel GPR85 inverse-agonists with IC50 values of approximately 1 µM. To analyze the neurochemical character of the compounds and investigate the physiological significance of GPR85, we used cerebellar Purkinje cells expressing GPR85 and an electrophysiological technique. Based on the results, the inverse-agonist compound for GPR85 modulated potassium channel opening. Together with the results of previous gene analysis of GPR85, we expect that the development of the GPR85 ligand will provide new insights into a few types of neurological disorders.

Long-Wavelength-Filtered Light Transiently Inhibits Negative Lens-Induced Axial Eye Growth in the Chick Myopia Model.

Purpose: Eye growth and myopia development in chicks, and some other animal models, can be suppressed by rearing under near-monochromatic, short-wavelength blue light. We aimed to determine whether similar effects could be achieved using glass filters that transmit a broader range of short and middle wavelengths. Methods: On day 6 or 7 post-hatch, 169 chicks were assigned to one of three monocular lens conditions (-10 D, +10 D, plano) and reared for 7 or 10 days under one of four 201-lux lighting conditions: (1) B410 long-wavelength-filtered light, (2) B460 long-wavelength-filtered light, (3) Y48 short-wavelength-filtered light, or (4) HA50 broadband light. Results: At 7 days, B410 (but not B460) long-wavelength-filtered light had significantly inhibited negative lens induced axial growth relative to Y48 short-wavelength-filtered light (mean difference in experimental eye = -0.249 mm; P = 0.006) and HA50 broadband light (mean difference = -0.139 mm; P = 0.038). B410 filters also inhibited the negative lens-induced increase in vitreous chamber depth relative to all other filter conditions. Corresponding changes in refraction did not occur, and biometric measurements in a separate cohort of chicks suggested that the axial dimension changes were transient and not maintained at 10 days. Conclusions: Chromatic effects on eye growth can be achieved using filters that transmit a broad range of wavelengths even in the presence of strong cues for myopia development. Translational Relevance: Broad-wavelength filters that provide a more "naturalistic" visual experience relative to monochromatic light have potential to alter myopia development, although the effects shown here were modest and transient and require exploration in further species.

Helimagnetic Structure and Heavy-Fermion-Like Behavior in the Vicinity of the Quantum Critical Point in Mn_{3}P.

Antiferromagnet Mn_{3}P with Neel temperature T_{N}=30 K is composed of Mn tetrahedrons and zigzag chains formed by three inequivalent Mn sites. Due to the nearly frustrated lattice with many short Mn-Mn bonds, competition of the exchange interactions is expected. We here investigate the magnetic structure and physical properties including pressure effect in single crystals of this material, and reveal a complex yet well-ordered helimagnetic structure. The itinerant character of this materials is strong, and the ordered state with small magnetic moments is easily suppressed under pressure, exhibiting a quantum critical point at ∼1.6 GPa. The remarkable mass renormalization, even in the ordered state, and an incoherent-coherent crossover in the low-temperature region, characterize an unusual electronic state in Mn_{3}P, which is most likely effected by the underlying frustration effect.

GPR31 and GPR151 are activated under acidic conditions.

Recent studies have revealed that not only proton-sensing channels, but also one family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprising OGR1, GPR4, G2A and TDAG8 are responsible for the sensing of extracellular protons, or pH. Here, we report that two other GPCRs, GPR31 and GPR151, were also activated in acidic condition. Elevated pH of assay mixtures resulted in a remarkable increase in [35S]GTPγS binding by GPR31-Giα and GPR151-Giα fusion proteins in a narrow range between pH 6 and 5. Our reporter gene assays with CHO cells expressing recombinant GPR31 or GPR151 also showed that activation was maximal at pH ∼5.8. Although these results from in vitro and cellular assays revealed slightly different pH sensitivities, all of our results indicated that GPR31 and GPR151 sensed extracellular protons equally well as other proton-sensing GPCRs.

High-fidelity self-assembly pathways for hydrogen-bonding molecular semiconductors.

The design of molecular systems with high-fidelity self-assembly pathways that include several levels of hierarchy is of primary importance for the understanding of structure-function relationships, as well as for controlling the functionality of organic materials. Reported herein is a high-fidelity self-assembly system that comprises two hydrogen-bonding molecular semiconductors with regioisomerically attached short alkyl chains. Despite the availability of both discrete cyclic and polymeric linear hydrogen-bonding motifs, the two regioisomers select one of the two motifs in homogeneous solution as well as at the 2D-confined liquid-solid interface. This selectivity arises from the high directionality of the involved hydrogen-bonding interactions, which renders rerouting to other self-assembly pathways difficult. In thin films and in the bulk, the resulting hydrogen-bonded assemblies further organize into the expected columnar and lamellar higher-order architectures via solution processing. The contrasting organized structures of these regioisomers are reflected in their notably different miscibility with soluble fullerene derivatives in the solid state. Thus, electron donor-acceptor blend films deliver a distinctly different photovoltaic performance, despite their virtually identical intrinsic optoelectronic properties. Currently, we attribute this high-fidelity control via self-assembly pathways to the molecular design of these supramolecular semiconductors, which lacks structure-determining long aliphatic chains.

Supramolecular engineering of oligothiophene nanorods without insulators: hierarchical association of rosettes and photovoltaic properties.

Supramolecular rosettes of oligothiophenes that do not bear long aliphatic tails have been designed as semiconducting nanomaterials for solution-processable bulk heterojunction solar cells. The rosettes consist of six barbiturated thienyl[oligo(hexylthiophene)] units (Bar-T-hTn ; n=3,4,5) aggregated by multiple hydrogen bonds, which have been directly visualized by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at a solid-liquid interface. (1) H NMR spectroscopy in [D8 ]toluene showed that Bar-T-hTn exists as a mixture of monomers and small hydrogen-bonded aggregates. Hierarchical organization of the hydrogen-bonded aggregates took place through π-π stacking interactions upon casting their toluene solutions, resulting in the growth of highly ordered nanorods whose widths are consistent with the diameters of the rosettes. The nanorods could be generated in the presence of soluble fullerene derivatives via solution casting or the annealing of the resulting thin films. The solar cells fabricated based on these bulk heterojunction films showed power conversion efficiencies of 1-3 %, which are far higher than those of the non-hydrogen-bonded reference oligothiophene and the derivative that possesses long aliphatic tails.