Community-Level Participation in Volunteer Groups and Individual Depressive Symptoms in Japanese Older People: A Three-Year Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis Using JAGES Data.

Background: The current study aimed to investigate the contextual effect of volunteer group participation on subsequent depressive symptoms in older people.

Methods: We analyzed the longitudinal data of 37,552 people aged 65 years and older in 24 municipalities surveyed in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study. Volunteer group participation of older people was assessed in 2013 by one question and depressive symptoms were assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale 15 in 2016.

Fatal intracranial hemorrhage due to infantile acute lymphoblastic leukemia mimicking abusive head trauma.

We report the case of a 2-month-old infant who was found moribund in her crib. Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) was performed before autopsy. As the baby had a severe subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, and encephalopathy on PMCT, abusive head trauma (AHT) was tentatively diagnosed.

Patient-reported burden of symptoms in neuromyelitis optica: A secondary analysis on pain and quality of life.

Introduction: Relapses of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) result in cumulative neurologic disabilities, are unpredictable, and are interspersed with remissions. Pain in NMOSD is often severe and intractable, with a significant impact on patient quality of life (QoL). We performed a more detailed analysis of previously published survey data on the association of pain and QoL, comparing patients who were seropositive and seronegative for antibodies against aquaporin-4 (AQP4-IgG).

[Association of Cigarette Smoking with Muscle Mass Reduction and Low Muscle Strength in Community-Dwelling Elderly Men].

Objectives: Recently, attention has been paid to the impact of cigarette smoking on skeletal muscles, as its underlying pathophysiological mechanism has been gradually elucidated. In this study, we aimed to examine whether cigarette smoking is associated with muscle mass reduction and low muscle strength in elderly men.

Methods: The study participants comprised 417 community-dwelling elderly men (aged 73±6 years) without severe glucose intolerance, chronic kidney disease, or liver disease.

Successful blastocyst production by intracytoplasmic injection of sperm after in vitro maturation of follicular oocytes obtained from immature female squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis).

Advanced reproductive technologies are being applied for the propagation of squirrel monkeys, to ensure their preservation as a genetic resource and the effective use of their gametes in the future. In the present study, oocytes and spermatozoa were collected from live squirrel monkeys, following which piezo intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was performed using these gametes. Follicular development was induced by administering equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) containing inhibin antiserum to an immature squirrel monkey female.

Association between respiratory and heart rate fluctuations and death occurrence in dying cancer patients: continuous measurement with a non-wearable monitor.

Background: The present study aimed to explore the association between impending death and continual changes in respiratory and heart rates measured using a non-wearable monitor every minute for the final 2 weeks of life in dying cancer patients.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, we enrolled patients in a palliative care unit and continuously measured their respiratory and heart rates via a monitor and additionally captured their other vital signs and clinical status from medical records.

Result: A dataset was created comprising every 24-h data collected from every-minute raw data, including information from 240 days prior to death from 24 patients (345,600 data); each patient's data were measured for 3-14 days until death.

Analgesic Effect of Combined Therapy with the Japanese Herbal Medicine "" and Electroacupuncture in Rats with Acute Inflammatory Pain.

Japanese herbal medicine, called Kampo medicine, and acupuncture are mainly used in Japanese traditional medicine. In this experiment, the analgesic effect of (YKS) alone and a combination of YKS and electroacupuncture (EA) on inflammatory pain induced by formalin injection were examined. Animals were divided into four groups: a control group, formalin injection group (formalin), YKS-treated formalin group (YKS), and YKS- and EA-treated formalin group (YKS + EA).

Summary concordance index for meta-analysis of prognosis studies with a survival outcome.

In prognosis studies to evaluate association between a continuous biomarker and a survival outcome, investigators often classify subjects into two subclasses of the high- and low-expression groups and apply simple survival analysis techniques of the Kaplan-Meier method and the logrank test. The high- and low-expressions are defined according to whether or not the observation of the biomarker is higher than the cut-off value, which is heterogeneous across studies. The heterogeneous definitions of the cut-off value make it difficult to apply the standard meta-analysis techniques.

In-depth correlation analysis demonstrates that 4-hydroxyproline at the Yaa position of Gly-Xaa-Yaa repeats dominantly stabilizes collagen triple helix.

There is a general consensus that collagen stability is largely maintained by Pro and its major hydroxylated form, 4-hydroxyproline (4Hyp). However, positional difference in their stabilizing effect at the Xaa or Yaa position of collagenous Gly-Xaa-Yaa sequences has remained inconclusive. Here, we position-specifically evaluated the correlation of imino acid contents to denaturation temperature (T) of collagen among various vertebrate and invertebrate species, using a recently developed LC-MS methodology.

Silibinin attenuates motor dysfunction in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease by suppression of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation along with promotion of mitophagy.

Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn has been widely used to obtain a drug for the treatment of hepatic diseases. Silibinin (silybin), a flavonoid extracted and isolated from the fruit of S.

Using clinical trial registries to inform Copas selection model for publication bias in meta-analysis.

Prospective registration of study protocols in clinical trial registries is a useful way to minimize the risk of publication bias in meta-analysis, and several clinical trial registries are available nowadays. However, they are mainly used as a tool for searching studies and information submitted to the registries has not been utilized as efficiently as it could. In addressing publication bias in meta-analyses, sensitivity analysis with the Copas selection model is a more objective alternative to widely-used graphical methods such as the funnel-plot and the trim-and-fill method.

and blood compatibility of concentrated polymer brushes.

Concentrated polymer brushes (CPBs) and semi-dilute polymer brushes (SDPBs) of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate), poly[poly(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate] (PPEGMA) and poly(2-methoxyetyl acrylate) were prepared on silica particles and silicon wafers by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). In order to evaluate in vitro blood compatibility, plasma protein adsorption on the brushes was quantified with a BCA protein assay, and the adsorbed proteins on the brushes were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). All four CPBs displayed much less protein adsorption than their corresponding SDPBs.

Oral Administration of Silibinin Ameliorates Cognitive Deficits of Parkinson's Disease Mouse Model by Restoring Mitochondrial Disorders in Hippocampus.

Besides motor disorder, cognitive dysfunction is also common in Parkinson's disease (PD). Essentially no causal therapy for cognitive dysfunction of PD exists at present. In this study, a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced mouse model of PD was used to analyze the neuroprotective potential of orally administered silibinin, a proverbial hepatoprotective flavonoid derived from the herb milk thistle (Silybum marianum).

Biochemical and Structural Properties of Entecavir-Resistant Hepatitis B Virus Polymerase with L180M/M204V Mutations.

Entecavir (ETV) is a widely used anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) drug. However, the emergence of resistant mutations in HBV reverse transcriptase (RT) results in treatment failure. To understand the mechanism underlying the development of ETV resistance by HBV RT, we analyzed the L180M, M204V, and L180M/M204V mutants using a combination of biochemical and structural techniques.

Autophagy and glycolysis independently attenuate silibinin-induced apoptosis in human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 and Hep3B cells.

Purpose: The mechanism of cytotoxicity of silibinin on two human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines, HepG2 (p53 wild-type) and Hep3B cells (p53 null), is examined in relation with the induction of autophagy and phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK).

Materials And Methods: Levels of apoptosis in relation to the levels of autophagy and those of glycolysis-related proteins, glucose transporter 1/4 (Glut1/4) and hexokinase-II (HK2), in HepG2 and Hep3B cells were examined.

Results: Silibinin-induced apoptosis was incomplete for HCC cell death in that up-regulated autophagy and/or reduced level of glycolysis, which are induced by silibinin treatment, antagonized silibinin-induced apoptosis.

The dipeptide prolyl-hydroxyproline promotes cellular homeostasis and lamellipodia-driven motility via active β1-integrin in adult tendon cells.

Collagen-derived hydroxyproline (Hyp)-containing peptides have a variety of biological effects on cells. These bioactive collagen peptides are locally generated by the degradation of endogenous collagen in response to injury. However, no comprehensive study has yet explored the functional links between Hyp-containing peptides and cellular behavior.

Environmental factors related to sleep latency among inpatients in rehabilitation wards according to functional independence measure cognitive scores.

Background: No study has investigated sleep-related environmental factors in patients according to their functional independence measure (FIM) cognitive scores.

Aims: The aim of this study is to examine the associations between environmental factors such as noise and sleep latency according to the FIM cognitive scores among inpatients in rehabilitation wards.

Design: This is a prospective longitudinal study.

Laparoendoscopic single-site simple nephrectomy and reduced port procedure for inflammatory nonfunctioning kidney.

Introduction: To describe laparoendoscopic single-site simple nephrectomy and reduced port simple nephrectomy for inflammatory nonfunctioning kidney.

Case Presentation: Case 1: a 58-year-old female with fever was referred to our hospital. Computed tomography demonstrated a markedly atrophic right kidney and mild hydronephrosis.

Association between transient appetite loss and vitamin B1 deficiency in elderly patients with suspected deficiency.

Background: There is scarce evidence associating vitamin B1 levels and appetite loss duration in elderly patients with suspected B1 deficiency. We aimed to investigate this association in elderly hospitalized patients with suspected vitamin B1 deficiency in rural Japan.

Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated 309 elderly patients (aged ≥ 65 years) admitted to one rural Hospital between April 2017 and March 2019.

Collagens I and V differently regulate the proliferation and adhesion of rat islet INS-1 cells through the integrin β1/E-cadherin/β-catenin pathway.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in tissue repair, cell proliferation, and differentiation. Our previous study showed that collagen I and collagen V differently regulate the proliferation of rat pancreatic β cells (INS-1 cells) through opposite influences on the nuclear translocation of β-catenin. In this study, we investigated the β-catenin pathway in INS-1 cells on dishes coated with collagen I or V.

Isotopic evidence for acidity-driven enhancement of sulfate formation after SO emission control.

After the 1980s, atmospheric sulfate reduction is slower than the dramatic reductions in sulfur dioxide (SO) emissions. However, a lack of observational evidence has hindered the identification of causal feedback mechanisms. Here, we report an increase in the oxygen isotopic composition of sulfate ([Formula: see text]) in a Greenland ice core, implying an enhanced role of acidity-dependent in-cloud oxidation by ozone (up to 17 to 27%) in sulfate production since the 1960s.

Significance of Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy as Primary Treatment in Patients with Metastatic Cervical Cancer.

(1) This study investigated the prognostic impact of tumor size in patients with metastatic cervical cancer. (2) Methods: Seventy-three cervical cancer patients in our institute were stratified into two groups based on distant metastasis: para-aortic lymph node metastasis alone (IIIC2) or spread to distant visceral organs with or without para-aortic lymph node metastasis (IVB) to identify primary tumor size and concurrent chemoradiotherapy. (3) Results: The overall survival (OS) for patients with a tumor >6.