Edema Estimation From Facial Images Taken Before and After Dialysis Via Contrastive Multi-Patient Pre-Training.

Edema is a common symptom of kidney disease, and quantitative measurement of edema is desired. This paper presents a method to estimate the degree of edema from facial images taken before and after dialysis of renal failure patients. As tasks to estimate the degree of edema, we perform pre- and post-dialysis classification and body weight prediction.

Essential Oils Derived from Species Activate Mitochondria by Inducing SIRT1 Expression in Human Keratinocytes, Leading to Senescence Inhibition.

L. is a genus of dicotyledonous perennial herbaceous plants. species have been commonly used in folk medicine in the Mediterranean region.

Work engagement, well-being, and intent to continue working based on educational support among foreign care workers in Japan.

Background: Global aging continues to progress. The shortage of human resources involved in long-term care (LTC) is a serious problem worldwide. It is necessary to promote the stable employment of foreign care workers.

[Educational support for obtaining national qualifications of foreign care workers: A qualitative analysis].

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify the needs and issues of continuing employment and educational support for foreign care worker candidates (hereinafter referred to as candidates) to acquire national qualifications.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people who took and passed the National Examination for Care Workers. The data was analyzed using the constant comparative method of the grounded theory approach.

Patient with neonatal-onset chronic hepatitis presenting with mevalonate kinase deficiency with a novel MVK gene mutation.

A Japanese girl with neonatal-onset chronic hepatitis and systemic inflammation was diagnosed with hyper-immunoglobulinemia D and periodic fever syndrome (HIDS). However, she lacked the typical HIDS features until the age of 32 months. She had compound heterozygous MVK mutations, H380R and A262P, the latter of which was novel.

New double-stapling technique for esophagojejunostomy and esophagogastrostomy in gastric cancer surgery, using a peroral intraluminal approach with a digital stapling system.

In the abdominal-transhiatal approach for resection of adenocarcinoma of the cardia or subcardia, and in laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG), the use of a circular stapling device has potential problems with the placement of the purse-string suture and insertion of the anvil of the instrument. We describe a new double-stapling technique for esophagojejunostomy and esophagogastrostomy, using a peroral intraluminal approach with a digital stapling system, a flexible shaft remote-control stapler - the Surg-ASSIST and Power Circular Stapler 21 mm (PCS). The overtube of the flexible shaft of the PCS is prepared with a nylon tie and secured to a nasogastric (NG) tube.

Single nucleotide polymorphism typing of the human toll-like receptor 4 gene at the 2-kb upstream region of the 5' untranslated region: New enclosure strategy for the risk grouping of poorly-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma patients.

To date, no enclosure method for risk grouping patients with poorly-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma has been identified. We examined the relationship between mutations in toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and patients with poorly-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma. Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of 38 patients, 20 with well-differentiated and 18 with poorly-differentiated gastric cancer, from 25 patients with colorectal cancer and from 10 healthy volunteers.

High incidence of Dieulafoy's lesions in upper gastrointestinal bleeding associated with polyarteritis--clinical examination of patients of polyarteritis nodosa with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis.

Background/aims: Polyarteritis nodosa (PN) has been classified into polyarteritis (PA) and microscopic polyarteritis (MA) histologically. To clarify of the characteristics of upper gastrointestinal bleeding lesions in PN, we investigated the patients of PN with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) presenting with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Methodology: The subjects of this study were 21 patients of PN with RPGN (PA: 11, MA: 10) who presented with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Linear IgA bullous dermatosis of neonatal onset: case report and review of the literature.

Unlabelled: Several small blisters were noticed on the forehead and the trunk of a newborn boy on day 1. The blisters gradually enlarged and spread over the whole body including the oral mucosa. A skin biopsy was performed twice and subepidermal bullae with polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cell infiltration were demonstrated.

Enhanced resistance to blast fungus and bacterial blight in transgenic rice constitutively expressing OsSBP, a rice homologue of mammalian selenium-binding proteins.

The rice Oryza sativa selenium-binding protein homologue (OsSBP) gene encodes a homologue of mammalian selenium-binding proteins, and it has been isolated as one of the genes induced by treating a plant with a cerebroside elicitor from rice blast fungus. The possible role of OsSBP in plant defense was evaluated by using a transgenic approach. Plants overexpressing OsSBP showed enhanced resistance to a virulent strain of rice blast fungus as well as to rice bacterial blight.

Altered Mayer wave and baroreflex profiles in high spinal cord injury.

Spinal sympathetic neurons are distributed in cord segments from Th1 to L3. High spinal cord injury demonstrates severe orthostatic hypotension, but not lower cord injury. It remains to be clarified as to where is the critical spinal level disturbing neural cardiovascular regulations in response to orthostatic stress.

Sex-determining gene(s) on distal 9p: clinical and molecular studies in six cases.

We report on clinical and molecular findings in five karyotypic males (cases 1-5) and one karyotypic female (case 6) with distal 9p monosomy. Cases 1-3 and 6 had female external genitalia, case 4 showed ambiguous external genitalia, and case 5 exhibited male external genitalia with left cryptorchidism and right intrascrotal testis. Gonadal explorations at gonadectomy in cases 3 and 4 revealed that case 3 had left streak gonad and right agonadism, and case 4 had bilateral hypoplastic testes.

Electromyographic study relating to shoulder motion: control of shoulder joint by functional electrical stimulation.

The purpose of this study is to create the standard stimulation patterns of shoulder motion from electromyographic (EMG) data in 13 healthy human volunteers in order to control the movement of the paralyzed shoulder in quadriplegic and hemiplegic patients by functional electrical stimulation (FES). Simultaneous EMG measurement was made at 24 points of 17 major muscles relating to shoulder motion. Since the number of the output channels in the portable FES apparatus is limited, 12 major muscles were selected from statistically processing these EMG data and stimulation patterns were created based on the EMG data of these muscles.

Restoration of shoulder movement in quadriplegic and hemiplegic patients by functional electrical stimulation using percutaneous multiple electrodes.

The purpose of this study is to restore the motion of the paralyzed shoulder caused by upper motor neuron disorders using functional electrical stimulation (FES). Percutaneous wire electrodes were implanted into twelve muscles of the shoulder in six patients with stroke or cervical spinal cord injury. The motion of the paralyzed shoulder was controlled by a portable FES computer system, with the three standard stimulation patterns for restoring motion of 90 degrees flexion to 90 degrees horizontal abduction, 90 degrees flexion to 20 degrees horizontal adduction, and 90 degrees abduction to 90 degrees horizontal adduction.

Circadian blood pressure rhythm in patients with higher and lower spinal cord injury: simultaneous evaluation of autonomic nervous activity and physical activity.

Objective: To examine the relationships among the circadian rhythms of blood pressure, autonomic nervous function, and physical activity of patients with varying levels of spinal cord injury.

Design And Methods: We studied 19 patients with spinal cord injury [10 tetraplegic patients with cervical cord injury (C4-C7), and nine paraplegic patients with thoracic cord injury (Th6-Th12)] compared with 16 control subjects. A new multibiomedical recorder was used to measure blood pressure (every 30 min), cardiac vagal activity (hourly frequency of R-R50), and physical activity (integrated acceleration/min) for 24 h under hospital conditions.

[A new reconstructive procedure, interposition of a jejunal pouch after proximal gastrectomy].

In this chapter we mention the significance or advantage of the new reconstructive procedure, interposition of a jejunal pouch after proximal gastrectomy. Instead of oesophagogastrostomy which often brought many postoperative complications, various techniques of anastomosis such as conventional jejunal interposition or double tract method were contrived. Although these techniques could reduce the incidence of postoperative problems such as reflux oesophagitis, it is very difficult to examine or remedy beyond the oesophagojejunostomy site after surgery.

Development of an HPLC method to estimate hexosamines and its application to determine mucin content in rat and human gastric mucosa.

1. An HPLC analysis of hexosamines and related compounds modified from the Waters Pico-Tag amino acid analysis procedure is described. 2.

Stimulation of Cl- and HCO3- secretion by intramural cholinergic neurons in guinea pig antrum in vitro.

Regulation of Cl- and HCO3- secretion by intramural cholinergic neurons was investigated in guinea pig antrum in vitro. Sheet preparations composed of the mucosa and the submucosa were mounted between Ussing chambers and bathed with buffer-free solution on the luminal surface and with HCO3(-)-CO2 solution on the serosal side. Short-circuit current (Isc), unidirectional fluxes of 36Cl and 22Na, and the luminal alkalinization rate (JOHSL) were determined.

Effect of distal gastrectomy on gut hormone release following vagal stimulation in dogs.

The effect of distal gastrectomy on gut hormone release was investigated by electrical stimulation of the posterior truncal vagus in dogs. Peripheral and portal plasma gastrin release was significantly inhibited, but peripheral and portal somatostatin release was unchanged. Peripheral and portal pancreatic polypeptide (PP) release was significantly inhibited.

Effects of bile acids and bilirubin on bicarbonate secretion of isolated guinea pig antrum.

The effects of bile acids and bilirubin, which increase in blood in obstructive jaundice, on bicarbonate secretion were studied experimentally using isolated antral mucosa of the guinea pig. Antral mucosal preparations were mounted between Ussing chambers. Basal and bethanechol-stimulated secretion were measured by a pH stat device using 5 mM HCl.