NMNAT1 Is Essential for Human iPS Cell Differentiation to the Retinal Lineage.

Purpose: The gene encoding nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase 1 (NMNAT1), a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide synthetase localized in the cell nucleus, is a causative factor in Leber's congenital amaurosis, which is the earliest onset type of inherited retinal degeneration. We sought to investigate the roles of NMNAT1 in early retinal development.

Methods: We used human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and established NMNAT1-knockout (KO) hiPSCs using CRISPR/cas9 technology to reveal the roles of NMNAT1 in human retinal development.

Flavonoids in breast milk and their absorption, metabolism, and bioactivity in infants.

Flavonoids are present in plant foods such as vegetables and fruits and exhibit various physiological effects, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Ingested flavonoids are absorbed from the intestinal tract and circulated in the blood. Some studies have indicated the presence of flavonoids in breast milk.

Looking back at the achievements of functional food science in japan.

Functional food science in Japan actively began approximately 40 years ago in the form of specific research projects funded by Grants-in-Aids for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Then, a new category of healthy food, i.e.

Lipid-Mediated Mechanisms of Thermal Adaptation and Thermoregulatory Behavior in Animals.

Temperature affects a variety of cellular processes because the molecular motion of cellular constituents and the rate of biochemical reactions are sensitive to temperature changes. Thus, the adaptation to temperature is necessary to maintain cellular functions during temperature fluctuation, particularly in poikilothermic organisms. For a wide range of organisms, cellular lipid molecules play a pivotal role during thermal adaptation.

The impact of COVID-19 on hay fever treatment in Japan: A retrospective cohort study based on the Japanese claims database.

Background: Hay fever (HF) presents with various symptoms, including allergic conjunctivitis and rhinitis, and requires cross-organ treatment. This study assessed the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on HF treatment trends.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized data from the JMDC database collected between January 2018 and May 2021.

Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Outpatient Visits for Diabetic Retinopathy in Japan: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: Long-term ramifications of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on various care-seeking characteristics of patients with diabetic retinopathy remain unclear. This study aimed to identify risk factors for dropout from regular fundus examinations (RFEs) in patients with diabetic retinopathy in Japan.

Methods: We extracted demographic and health checkup data (April 2018 to March 2021) from the JMDC database.

Effect of antihistamine-releasing contact lenses on ocular symptoms and treatment behavior in patients with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis: A retrospective study.

Purpose: This study aimed to compare subjective allergic conjunctivitis symptoms and anti-allergic eye drop use patterns between antihistamine-releasing contact lens users and daily disposable soft contact lens users during Japan's hay fever season.

Methods: This web-based retrospective cohort study included daily disposable soft contact lens or antihistamine-releasing contact lens users with a history of seasonal allergic conjunctivitis who regularly used daily disposable soft contact lenses since the previous year. The total ocular symptom score (range 0-20) based on 5-item questionnaire scores and time from the start of the hay fever season to the initiation of anti-allergic eye drop treatment were compared between antihistamine-releasing contact lens users and daily disposable soft contact lens users.

Disease-specific variant interpretation highlighted the genetic findings in 2325 Japanese patients with retinitis pigmentosa and allied diseases.

Background: As gene-specific therapy for inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) advances, unified variant interpretation across institutes is becoming increasingly important. This study aims to update the genetic findings of 86 retinitis pigmentosa (RP)-related genes in a large number of Japanese patients with RP by applying the standardised variant interpretation guidelines for Japanese patients with IRD (J-IRD-VI guidelines) built upon the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology rules, and assess the contribution of these genes in RP-allied diseases.

Methods: We assessed 2325 probands with RP (n=2155, including n=1204 sequenced previously with the same sequencing panel) and allied diseases (n=170, newly analysed), including Usher syndrome, Leber congenital amaurosis and cone-rod dystrophy (CRD).

Impact of hormesis to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the bioactivities of polyphenols.

Cells, organs, and the whole body are continuously exposed to various types of stressors, including oxidative stress, protein denaturation, hypoxia, energy starvation, and pathogen insults. Hormesis is an adaptive phenomenon in which a stressor induces cellular stress responses at low or moderate doses, while catastrophic damage is manifested at high doses. Polyphenols, as xenobiotic phytochemicals, exhibit stress responses in animal cells, as demonstrated in cellular and rodent models.

Retinal neurovascular alteration in type 2 diabetes with renal impairment in association with systemic arterial stiffness.

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) patients should be alert for subclinical macroangiopathy. We aimed to investigate the association between retinal neurovascular alteration and systemic arterial stiffness in type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM) patients with varying degrees of renal impairment.

Methods: The study included 170 patients with confirmed diagnosis of type 2 DM aged ≥18 years old.

Developments of inverse analysis by Kalman filters and Bayesian methods applied to geotechnical engineering.

The present paper reviews recent activities on inverse analysis strategies in geotechnical engineering using Kalman filters, nonlinear Kalman filters, and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)/Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) methods. Nonlinear Kalman filters with finite element method (FEM) broaden the choices of unknowns to be determined for not only parameters but also initial and/or boundary conditions, and the use of the posterior probability of the state variables can be widely applied to, for example, the decision making for design changes. The relevance of the unknowns and the observed values and the selection of the best sensor locations are some of the considerations made while using the Kalman filter FEM.

A nerve-goblet cell association promotes allergic conjunctivitis through rapid antigen passage.

The penetration of allergens through the epithelial layer is the initial step in the development of allergic conjunctivitis. Although pollinosis patients manifest symptoms within minutes after pollen exposure, the mechanisms of the rapid transport of the allergens remain unclear. In the present study, we found that the instillation of pollen shells rapidly induces a large number of goblet cell-associated antigen passages (GAPs) in the conjunctiva.

Using the AllerSearch Smartphone App to Assess the Association Between Dry Eye and Hay Fever: mHealth-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Dry eye (DE) and hay fever (HF) show synergistic exacerbation of each other's pathology through inflammatory pathways.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between DE and HF comorbidity and the related risk factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using crowdsourced multidimensional data from individuals who downloaded the AllerSearch smartphone app in Japan between February 2018 and May 2020.

Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Absorption and Functional Mechanisms of Quercetin.

Scope: Quercetin (QUE), a phytochemical found in various plant foods, has been shown to have a variety of physiological activities in vivo, though biological sites where it has activities and the mechanisms of transport have not been fully elucidated.

Methods And Results: In the present study, intracellular uptake of QUE into HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells is found to result in spontaneous release of extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are subsequently embedded with QUE. In addition, QUE-embedded EVs are detected in serum of QUE-administered Sprague-Dawley rats.

Clinical utility of maximum blink interval measured by smartphone application DryEyeRhythm to support dry eye disease diagnosis.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has emphasized the paucity of non-contact and non-invasive methods for the objective evaluation of dry eye disease (DED). However, robust evidence to support the implementation of mHealth- and app-based biometrics for clinical use is lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of app-based maximum blink interval (MBI) measurements using DryEyeRhythm and equivalent traditional techniques in providing an accessible and convenient diagnosis.

Smartphone App-Based and Paper-Based Patient-Reported Outcomes Using a Disease-Specific Questionnaire for Dry Eye Disease: Randomized Crossover Equivalence Study.

Background: Using traditional patient-reported outcomes (PROs), such as paper-based questionnaires, is cumbersome in the era of web-based medical consultation and telemedicine. Electronic PROs may reduce the burden on patients if implemented widely. Considering promising reports of DryEyeRhythm, our in-house mHealth smartphone app for investigating dry eye disease (DED) and the electronic and paper-based Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) should be evaluated and compared to determine their equivalency.

Belly roll, a GPI-anchored Ly6 protein, regulates escape behaviors by modulating the excitability of nociceptive peptidergic interneurons.

Appropriate modulation of escape behaviors in response to potentially damaging stimuli is essential for survival. Although nociceptive circuitry has been studied, it is poorly understood how genetic contexts affect relevant escape responses. Using an unbiased genome-wide association analysis, we identified an Ly6/α-neurotoxin family protein, Belly roll (Bero), which negatively regulates nociceptive escape behavior.

Symptom-based stratification algorithm for heterogeneous symptoms of dry eye disease: a feasibility study.

Background/objective: To test the feasibility of a dry eye disease (DED) symptom stratification algorithm previously established for the general population among patients visiting ophthalmologists.

Subject/methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2015 and October 2021 at a university hospital in Japan; participants who underwent a comprehensive DED examination and completed the Japanese version of the Ocular Surface Disease Index (J-OSDI) were included. Patients diagnosed with DED were stratified into seven clusters using a previously established symptom-based stratification algorithm for DED.

Economic Impacts and Quality of Life for Caregivers of Patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa: A Cross-Sectional Japanese Study.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the second leading cause of visual impairment in Japan and causes progressive vision loss in affected patients. Caregiving for patients with RP is associated with socioeconomic impacts; however, data on the magnitude and scope of these impacts are lacking. This cross-sectional study surveyed informal caregivers of patients with RP in Japan.

Quality of Life and Economic Impacts of Retinitis Pigmentosa on Japanese Patients: A Non-interventional Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited progressive disease, characterized by a loss of photoreceptors, and is the second leading cause of visual impairment in Japan. RP is currently incurable and can result in complete blindness, with affected patients typically experiencing a gradual loss of light sensitivity, visual field, and visual acuity. Identification of any unmet medical needs of patients with this condition requires an understanding of the impacts of RP; in this study, we surveyed Japanese patients with RP to investigate the quality of life and economic impacts of visual impairment.

The protective role of conjunctival goblet cell mucin sialylation.

Gel-forming mucins secreted by conjunctival goblet cells have been implicated in the clearance of allergens, pathogens, and debris. However, their roles remain incompletely understood. Here we show that human and mouse conjunctival goblet cell mucins have Alcian blue-detectable sialic acids, but not sulfates in the steady state.

Examining the potential influence of crosslinguistic lexical similarity on word-choice transfer in L2 English.

We examined whether and how L1-L2 crosslinguistic formal lexical similarity influences L2 word choice. Our sample included two learner subcorpora, containing 8,500 and 6,390 English texts, written in an educational setting, by speakers of diverse L1s in the A1-B2 CEFR range of L2 proficiency. We quantified similarity based on phonological overlap between L1 words and their L2 (English) translations.