Phenotypic screening using waveform analysis of synchronized calcium oscillations in primary cortical cultures.

At present, in vitro phenotypic screening methods are widely used for drug discovery. In the field of epilepsy research, measurements of neuronal activities have been utilized for predicting efficacy of anti-epileptic drugs. Fluorescence measurements of calcium oscillations in neurons are commonly used for measurement of neuronal activities, and some anti-epileptic drugs have been evaluated using this assay technique.

Implicating genes, pleiotropy, and sexual dimorphism at blood lipid loci through multi-ancestry meta-analysis.

Background: Genetic variants within nearly 1000 loci are known to contribute to modulation of blood lipid levels. However, the biological pathways underlying these associations are frequently unknown, limiting understanding of these findings and hindering downstream translational efforts such as drug target discovery.

Results: To expand our understanding of the underlying biological pathways and mechanisms controlling blood lipid levels, we leverage a large multi-ancestry meta-analysis (N = 1,654,960) of blood lipids to prioritize putative causal genes for 2286 lipid associations using six gene prediction approaches.

The power of genetic diversity in genome-wide association studies of lipids.

Increased blood lipid levels are heritable risk factors of cardiovascular disease with varied prevalence worldwide owing to different dietary patterns and medication use. Despite advances in prevention and treatment, in particular through reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Genome-wideassociation studies (GWAS) of blood lipid levels have led to important biological and clinical insights, as well as new drug targets, for cardiovascular disease.

[The Structure of Practices and Tasks of Death Watch Care of Residents in the A National Sanatorium for Hansen’s Disease].

This study aims to clarify the structure of practices and tasks of death watch care in the A National Sanatorium for Sufferers of Hansen’s Disease (shown as A Sanatorium). A semi-structured interview was conducted of four nurses with experience of death watch care. Then, it was analyzed using the qualitative unification methods (KJ methods) individually and comprehensively.

[Improved care of foot ulcer using foot pressure measurement and foot care method sheet].

At this sanatorium, the number of foot bottom ulcer patients was 13 and the tenure of the foot bottom ulcer was average 11 years. According to the treatment that was not unified, we thought about the cause of the prolongation. Therefore, we made evaluation and care method sheet ("foot care sheet") of the ulcer for the unification.