Intelligibility Sound Therapy Enhances the Ability of Speech-in-Noise Perception and Pre-Perceptual Neurophysiological Response.

Aural rehabilitation with hearing aids can decrease the attentional requirements of cognitive resources by amplifying deteriorated-frequency sound in hearing loss patients and improving auditory discrimination ability like speech-in-noise perception. As aural rehabilitation with an intelligible-hearing sound also can be hopeful, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of aural rehabilitation with intelligible-hearing sound for hearing loss patients. Adult native Japanese speakers (17 males and 23 females, 68.

Cardiac Reprogramming and Gata4 Overexpression Reduce Fibrosis and Improve Diastolic Dysfunction in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a major health concern. Pathological stimuli and interactions between cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) and other cell types may lead to cardiac fibrosis and diastolic dysfunction, which are hallmarks of HFpEF. Interstitial and perivascular cardiac fibrosis correlates with poor prognosis in HFpEF; however, mechanisms of fibrosis remain poorly elucidated, and targeted therapies are lacking.

Timing of Intracordal Trafermin Injection in Patients With Vocal Fold Paralysis: Recommendations for a New Treatment Time Course.

Objective: To identify factors correlated with the effect of intracordal trafermin injection.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: Herein, 177 patients who received an intracordal trafermin injection at the Tokyo Voice Center for vocal fold paralysis were included.

New Associations with the HIV Predisposing and Protective Alleles of the Human Leukocyte Antigen System in a Peruvian Population.

The accurate determination of an individual's unique human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele holds important significance in evaluating the risk associated with autoimmune and infectious diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Several allelic variants within the HLA system have been linked to either increased protection or susceptibility in the context of infectious and autoimmune diseases. This study aimed to determine the frequency and association of HLA alleles between people living with HIV (PLHIV) as the case group and Peruvian individuals without HIV with high-risk behaviors of sexually transmitted diseases as the control group.

Vicious cycle of vitamin B insufficiency and heart failure in cardiology outpatients.

Heart failure is a major manifestation of vitamin B deficiency; beriberi. We have previously reported that even vitamin B insufficiency, milder than deficiency, is a risk for heart failure in the institutionalized elderly. Then in this cross-sectional study, sixty-eight cardiology outpatients were evaluated for their whole blood vitamin B and plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations, a sensitive marker of heart failure, as well as their dietary intake.

Variants in the -acetyltranferase 2 gene, acetylator phenotypes and their association with tuberculosis: Findings in Peruvian patients.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly prevalent chronic infectious disease in developing countries, with Peru being one of the most affected countries in the world. The variants of the -acetyltransferase 2 () gene are related to xenobiotic metabolism and have potential usefulness in TB studies.

Aim: To determine whether gene variants and acetylator phenotypes are associated with active TB in Peruvian patients.

Risk of death in old Japanese COVID-19 cases infected with the Omicron variant: a population-based study.

We assessed case fatality rates (CFRs) in cases aged ≥70 years in 10 Japanese prefectures (14.8 million residents) diagnosed between January 2022 and March 2023, when the Omicron variant was dominant in Japan. We selected incident reports on 283,052 study subjects from participating Public Health Centers adhering to the Infectious Diseases Control Law.

An Exploration of the Viral Coverage of Mosquito Viromes Using Meta-Viromic Sequencing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The aim of this review was to delve into the extent of mosquito virome coverage (proportion of viral reads) via meta-viromic sequencing and uncover potential factors of heterogeneity that could impact this coverage. Data sources were PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Science-Direct, Google Scholar, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Pooled coverage was estimated using random-effects modeling, and subgroup analyses further reveal potential heterogeneous factors.

A proposal for analyzing the inflammatory and remodeling processes of mucosa in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis through MRI.

Objectives: Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyposis (CRSwNP) is a disease characterized by chronic inflammation and tissue remodeling process. The remodeling process in nasal polyps has mainly been studied by histology analysis. However, it is limited to a polyp fragment and requires tissue removal.

Development of adeno-associated viral vectors targeting cardiac fibroblasts for efficient in vivo cardiac reprogramming.

Overexpression of cardiac reprogramming factors, including GATA4, HAND2, TBX5, and MEF2C (GHT/M), can directly reprogram cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) into induced cardiomyocytes (iCMs). Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are widely used clinically, and vectors targeting cardiomyocytes (CMs) have been extensively studied. However, safe and efficient AAV vectors targeting CFs for in vivo cardiac reprogramming remain elusive.

Sporadic inclusion body myositis-derived myotube culture revealed muscle cell-autonomous expression profiles.

Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) is a muscle disease in older people and is characterized by inflammatory cell invasion into intact muscle fibers and rimmed vacuoles. The pathomechanism of sIBM is not fully elucidated yet, and controversy exists as to whether sIBM is a primary autoimmune disease or a degenerative muscle disease with secondary inflammation. Previously, we established a method of collecting CD56-positive myoblasts from human skeletal muscle biopsy samples.

Dual-specificity phosphatases 13 and 27 as key switches in muscle stem cell transition from proliferation to differentiation.

Muscle regeneration depends on muscle stem cell (MuSC) activity. Myogenic regulatory factors, including myoblast determination protein 1 (MyoD), regulate the fate transition of MuSCs. However, the direct target of MYOD in the process is not completely clear.

Harmony between spinopelvic mismatch and sagittal hip alignment contributes to upright standing in females: a cross-sectional study.

Background: In upright standing, spinopelvic mismatch is compensated by hip extension. However, few studies have investigated the reciprocal relationship between the sagittal alignment of the hip joints and spinopelvic mismatch during upright standing in humans. Our study aims to investigate (I) the relationship between spinopelvic mismatch and hip extension and (II) whether insufficient hip extension against spinopelvic mismatch, i.

Cryo-EM structure and biochemical analyses of the nucleosome containing the cancer-associated histone H3 mutation E97K.

The Lys mutation of the canonical histone H3.1 Glu97 residue (H3E97K) is found in cancer cells. Previous biochemical analyses revealed that the nucleosome containing the H3E97K mutation is extremely unstable as compared to the wild-type nucleosome.

Valence-state mixing and reduced magnetic moment inFe3-δGeTe2single crystals with varying Fe content probed by x-ray spectroscopy.

We present a spectroscopic study of the magnetic properties ofFe3-δGeTe2single crystals with varying Fe content, achieved by tuning the stoichiometry of the crystals. We carried out x-ray absorption spectroscopy and analyzed the x-ray circular magnetic dichroism spectra using the sum rules, to determine the orbital and spin magnetic moments of the materials. We find a clear reduction of the spin and orbital magnetic moment with increasing Fe deficiency.

No-load resistance training as a promising alternative to stop detraining period due to covid-19 lockdown in older adults - Case report.

Restrictions to control the COVID-19 pandemic have caused older adults to stop their usual activities, including physical exercises. The novel approach of isometric no-load resistance training (NLRT) can be an interesting alternative to conventional training to oppose the harmful effects of detraining. We described the design and preliminary evaluation of an eight-week, twice-weekly NLRT program for older adults returning to strength training programs after COVID-19 lockdown.

Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament is linked to heterotopic ossification of the ankle/foot tendons.

Introduction: Systemic osteogenesis has been speculated to be involved in the pathogenesis of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). Our purpose was to compare the radiologic prevalence and severity of heterotopic ossification in foot tendons of Japanese patients with OPLL and to determine their association with systemic heterotopic ossification.

Materials And Methods: Clinical and radiographic data of 114 patients with OPLL were collected from 2020 to 2022.

Involvement of Siglec-15 in regulating RAP1/RAC signaling in cytoskeletal remodeling in osteoclasts mediated by macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

DNAX-associated protein 12 kD size (DAP12) is a dominant immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)-signaling adaptor that activates costimulatory signals essential for osteoclastogenesis. Although several DAP12-associated receptors (DARs) have been identified in osteoclasts, including triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM-2), C-type lectin member 5 A (CLEC5A), and sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin (Siglec)-15, their precise role in the development of osteoclasts and bone remodeling remain poorly understood. In this study, mice deficient in Trem-2, Clec5a, Siglec-15 were generated.