Parental intentions and requests to provide pain care for their infants in neonatal intensive care units.

Purpose: The Japan Association of Neonatal Nursing evaluated the pain care provided by parents to their infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). However, further collaborations with families based on family-centered care are necessary to clarify the parental intentions and requests regarding pain care for their infants. This study aimed to describe the experiences and content of nonpharmacological pain care provided by parents to their infants, the intentions and requests of parents regarding each type of recommended pain care (irrespective of whether they had provided pain care at the NICU), and the reasons for their hesitation to implement specific pain management methods.

Ethical considerations regarding the treatment of extremely preterm infants at the limit of viability: a comprehensive review.

Advancements in perinatal care have improved survival rates of extremely preterm infants born at 22 to 23 weeks of gestation, thus introducing new ethical challenges associated with their treatment. Therefore, we reviewed the epidemiological prognosis, treatment evolution, and ethical considerations associated with the care of preterm infants at the limit of viability. We comprehensively searched PubMed to find relevant English-language articles published between January 2014 and July 2024.

Pregnancy complicated by fetal goiter following lung transplantation for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension: A case study.

Objective: We report a case of pregnancy following lung transplantation (LT) for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) in Japan.

Case Report: A female developed IPAH at 14 years of age and underwent a successful bilateral living-donor lobar LT from her parents at 19 years of age (gravida 2, para 0). At the age of 40 years, the patient became pregnant via artificial insemination.

Impact of resistance training and chicken intake on vascular and muscle health in elderly women.

Background: Resistance training is a well-known exercise therapy for preventing and improving lacks of muscle mass, strength, and quality with advances in age; however, its effects on arterial stiffness are not beneficial. Additionally, a higher intake of protein, which is an effective nutrient for muscle health, results in lower arterial stiffness. Whether the combination of moderate to high-intensity resistance training and high-protein intake would improve muscle mass, strength, and quality and cancel the resistance training-induced increase in arterial stiffness in elderly women remains unclear.

Functional reorganization of brain regions supporting artificial grammar learning across the first half year of life.

Pre-babbling infants can track nonadjacent dependencies (NADs) in the auditory domain. While this forms a crucial prerequisite for language acquisition, the neurodevelopmental origins of this ability remain unknown. We applied functional near-infrared spectroscopy in neonates and 6- to 7-month-old infants to investigate the neural substrate supporting NAD learning and detection using tone sequences in an artificial grammar learning paradigm.

Discordant responses of bone formation and absorption markers in Japanese infants with vitamin D deficiency: a comprehensive matched case-control study.

Vitamin D deficiency during infancy has been associated with increased bone turnover rate and bone mineral loss. However, few studies have examined bone turnover markers (BTMs) for both bone formation and resorption in infants with vitamin D deficiency. Here, we analyzed serum concentrations of 25OHD, intact parathormone (iPTH), and BTMs including total alkaline phosphatase (ALP), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase isoform 5b (TRACP-5b), and serum type I collagen N-telopeptide (NTx) as well as basic clinical characteristics of 456 infants (626 samples) aged less than 12 mo born at Saitama City Hospital, Japan (latitude 35.

Efficacy and safety of a telemedicine system in subjects with gestational diabetes mellitus (TELEGLAM): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Strict glycemic control is important to prevent perinatal complications in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Patients often require insulin injection, and frequent hospital visits are necessary to adjust the dose of insulin, which is considered burdensome for pregnant patients. Telemedicine may reduce the burden of hospital visits, and previous studies have reported its safety in GDM patients.

Incidence and clinical risk factors of Bednar's aphthae in Japanese newborns.

Background: The etiology of Bednar's aphthae remains unclear. Our aim was to investigate the incidence of, and factors associated with, Bednar's aphthae in a Japanese newborn cohort.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on neonates discharged from the well-baby nursery at Saitama City Hospital, Japan.

Designing artificial circadian environments with multisensory cares for supporting preterm infants' growth in NICUs.

Previous studies suggest the importance of stable circadian environments for fetuses to achieve sound physiology and intrauterine development. This idea is also supported by epidemiological and animal studies, in which pregnant females exposed to repeated shifting of light-dark cycles had increased rates of reproductive abnormalities and adverse pregnancy outcomes. In response to such findings, artificial circadian environments with light-dark (LD) cycles have been introduced to NICUs to promote better physical development of preterm infants.

Consensus core outcome rating for the Japanese neonatal pain guidelines.

Introduction: The Japanese Neonatal Pain Guidelines Committee, led by the Japan Academy of Neonatal Nursing, uses the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation Working Group method to evaluate the quality of evidence and the strength of treatment recommendations. Ratings on the importance of outcomes related to neonatal pain have not been reported. This study aimed to reach a consensus on the importance of outcomes through a guideline panel composed of doctors, nurses, a nurse practitioner, a physical therapist, and families to ensure consistency in systematic reviews of neonatal pain and future revisions to the guidelines.

Use of access port covers in transport incubators to improve thermoregulation during neonatal transport.

Hypothermia in newborns increases the risk of health complications and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of using covers over snap-open access ports of a transport incubator to maintain the temperature within. The change in temperature inside the transport incubator was evaluated over a 15-min period at three ambient room temperatures (20 °C, 24 °C, and 28 °C), as well as for three snap-open access port conditions: closed, where ports are closed; open, where the two ports on one side are open; and covered, where the two ports on one side are open but a cover is used.

Risk factors of neonatal hypoglycemia in neonates born to mothers with gestational diabetes.

Hypoglycemia is one of the most significant problems in neonates born to mothers with gestational diabetes (GDM). This study aimed to identify novel predictors of hypoglycemia in neonates born to mothers with GDM. A total of 443 term singleton infants from mothers diagnosed with GDM and cared for at Keio University Hospital between January 2013 and December 2019 were included in this study.

Trends in ambulance dispatches related to heat illness from 2010 to 2019: An ecological study.

Heatstroke is a serious heat-related illness that can even cause death. Heat alert systems play an important role in reducing the number of patients experiencing heat illness, as they encourage preventive actions such as the use of air conditioning, hydration, or other strategies. However, to date, the Japanese hazard classification has not considered seasonal and regional variations, despite clear differences in meteorological conditions across different regions in Japan.

Associations of time to return to performance following acute posterior thigh injuries with running biomechanics, hamstring function, and structure in collegiate sprinters: A prospective cohort design.

Background: The time to return to sport from acute hamstring strain injuries is associated with several functional and structural impairments. However, not all previous studies assessed the preinjury level before acute hamstring strain injuries directly. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of the time to return to performance following acute hamstring strain injuries with deficits in running biomechanics, hamstring function and structure in collegiate sprinters by a prospective study.

Seasonal variation in vitamin D status of Japanese infants starts to emerge at 2 months of age: a retrospective cohort study.

Vitamin D seasonality has been reported in adults and children, suggesting that sunlight exposure has effects on 25(OH)D production. While vitamin D deficiency among infants has received significant attention, little is known about the extent to which vitamin D status during early infancy is affected by sunlight exposure. Here, we retrospectively analysed serum 25(OH)D levels of 692 samples obtained from healthy infants aged 1-2 months born at Saitama City Hospital, Japan (latitude 35·9° North) between August 2017 and September 2021.

Effects of Quercetin Glycoside Supplementation Combined With Low-Intensity Resistance Training on Muscle Quantity and Stiffness: A Randomized, Controlled Trial.

Objective: Aging of skeletal muscle is characterized not only by a decrease of muscle quantity but also by changes in muscle quality, such as an increase in muscle stiffness. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of supplementation with quercetin glycosides (QGs), well-known polyphenolic flavonoids, combined with resistance exercise on muscle quantity and stiffness.

Materials And Methods: A randomized, controlled trial was conducted in community-dwelling, Japanese people aged 50-74 years who were randomly allocated to exercise with placebo or 200 or 500 mg of QG supplementation.

Relationship between thigh muscle cross-sectional areas and single leg stand-up test in Japanese older women.

In older adults, the quantitative decline of the quadriceps femoris is associated with the augmentation of difficulty in the execution of a stand-up task. However, it is unclear whether the cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of individual thigh muscles differ between older adults who can stand up from a 40-cm-height chair on a single leg and those who cannot. To investigate this, the present study determined the CSAs of individual mid-thigh muscles in 67 Japanese women aged 60-77 years by using a magnetic resonance imaging method.

A case of severe neonatal transient hyperinsulinemic hypoglycaemia without identifiable risk factors: a case report.

Background: Neonatal hypoglycaemia is one of the major metabolic disorders that causes irreversible brain injury. Assessing for maternal glucose metabolism disorders can predict and avoid this perinatal complication. Accordingly, diagnosing maternal gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is important in protecting neonatal neurological prognosis.

Spatial complexity method for tracking brain development and degeneration using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Brain complexity analysis using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has attracted attention as a biomarker for evaluating brain development and degeneration processes. However, most methods have focused on the temporal scale without capturing the spatial complexity. In this study, we propose a spatial time-delay entropy (STDE) method as the spatial complexity measure based on the time-delay measure between two oxy-hemoglobin (Δ[HbO]) or two deoxy-hemoglobin (Δ[Hb]) oscillations within the 0.

The cut-off values of vitamin D deficiency in early infancy.

Background: Several cut-off points for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels have been proposed to determine vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency. However, the level for 25(OH)D deficiency in early infancy remains unclear. The serum 25(OH)D value at which parathyroid hormone level plateaus, called the "inflection point," is considered the most appropriate criterion for defining an adequate vitamin D status.

Relationship between protein intake and resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy in middle-aged women: A pilot study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to observe the relationship of protein intake at each meal and daily total with change in lean tissue mass with progressive resistance exercise training (RET) in healthy middle-aged women.

Methods: Twenty-two healthy Japanese women were recruited from Shiga Prefecture, Japan, and a supervised whole body RET program was conducted twice a week for 16 wk. The dietary intake was assessed using 3-d dietary records.

Physical function examination at intensive care unit as predictive indicators for hospitalization-associated disability in patients after cardiovascular surgery.

Background: Following cardiovascular surgery, patients are at high risk of requiring systemic management in the intensive care unit (ICU), resulting in hospitalization-associated disability (HAD). Predicting the risk of HAD during the postoperative course is important to prevent susceptibility to cardiovascular events. Assessment of physical function during the ICU stay may be useful as a prediction index but has not been established.

Effects of resistance training intensity on muscle quantity/quality in middle-aged and older people: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: A sarcopenia diagnosis is confirmed by the presence of low muscle quantity or quality under the 2018 revised definition by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2. Imaging methods [i.e.

Co-ingestion of cluster dextrin carbohydrate does not increase exogenous protein-derived amino acid release or myofibrillar protein synthesis following a whole-body resistance exercise in moderately trained younger males: a double-blinded randomized controlled crossover trial.

Purpose: This study investigates if co-ingestion of cluster dextrin (CDX) augments the appearance of intrinsically labeled meat protein hydrolysate-derived amino acid (D-phenylalanine), Akt/mTORC1 signaling, and myofibrillar protein fractional synthetic rate (FSR).

Methods: Ten moderately trained healthy males (age: 21.5 ± 2.