We have developed an efficient skin tumour classifier using a DCNN trained on a relatively small dataset. The DCNN classified images of skin tumours more accurately than board-certified dermatologists. Collectively, the current system may have capabilities for screening purposes in general medical practice, particularly because it requires only a single clinical image for classification.

'Autoantibody-based classification' of dermatomyositis subsets is now a useful strategy for comprehending the heterogeneous spectrum of dermatomyositis.

Carbon vacancies ͑V C ͒ are typical intrinsic defects in silicon carbides ͑SiC͒ and so far have been observed only in the form of positively charged states in p-type or semi-insulating SiC. Here, we present electronparamagnetic-resonance ͑EPR͒ and photoinduced EPR ͑photo-EPR͒ observations of their negatively charged state ͑V C − ͒ in n-type 4H-SiC. This EPR center ͑called HEI1͒ is characterized by an electron spin of 1 / 2 in a Si-Si antibonding state of V C. First-principles calculations confirm that the HEI1 center arises from V C − at hexagonal sites. The HEI1 spectrum shows a transition between C 1h and C 3v symmetries due to a fast reorientation effect reflected in the nature of this defect. The photo-EPR data suggest that V C 2− is the dominant form of V C when the Fermi level lies 1.1 eV below the conduction band.

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The epidermis is a self-renewing tissue, the homeostasis of which is dependent upon the tight balance between proliferation and differentiation based on appropriate regulation of the cell cycle. The cell cycle regulation is dependent on the interactions among a number of cell cycle regulatory molecules, including the pituitary tumor-transforming gene 1 (PTTG1), also known as securin, a regulator of sister chromatid separation and transition from metaphase to anaphase. This study was conducted to clarify the less-known functions of PTTG1 in the epidermis by the use of keratinocytes cultured under two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) conditions. Forced overexpression of PTTG1 caused upregulation of cyclin B1, cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), and c-Myc, resulting in enhanced proliferation and suppression of early differentiation without apparent alterations in terminal differentiation, and the exogenous PTTG1 was downregulated in association with cell cycle exit. In contrast, depletion of PTTG1 caused their downregulation and constrained proliferation with retention of differentiation capacity. These findings suggested that PTTG1 could alter the proliferation status by modulating the expression levels of the other cell cycle regulatory proteins, and excess PTTG1 primarily affects early differentiation of keratinocytes under the stability regulation associated with cell cycle exit.

Skin grafts are frequently used for the reconstruction of skin defects, and optimal stabilization of the graft is essential for successful reconstruction. Although the tie-over technique has been widely used as a standard method in Japan, we sometimes encounter cases with significant graft loss due to suboptimal stabilization of the graft. Reported risk factors for increased graft loss include the following: defects of a large size, with muscle exposure, and located in the trunk and extremities. Recent studies have demonstrated the usefulness of negative-pressure closure (NPC) for the stabilization of skin grafts due to the uniform pressure it provides across the graft. Therefore, since March 2017, we have used NPC for skin graft stabilization in patients with defects in the trunk and extremities of more than 10 cm in size or with muscle exposure. We carried out a retrospective comparative study of the outcome of the conventional tie-over technique versus NPC. Mann-Whitney U-test revealed that NPC showed significantly higher graft survival rate than tie-over method (P = 0.0012). In addition, NPC showed a tendency toward shorter operative times (from skin graft harvest to the completion of the graft stabilization) than the tie-over method (P = 0.0931). These results suggest that NPC may be superior to the tie-over method for stabilization of skin grafts especially in large or muscle-exposing defects in the trunk or extremities.