Alcohol synthesis based on the S2 reactions of alkyl halides with the squarate dianion.

A convenient method has been developed for transforming alkyl halides into the corresponding alcohols an S2 reaction. Treatment of an alkyl halide with the squarate dianion at high temperature produces mono-alkyl squarate, and a one-pot basic hydrolysis of the intermediate affords the alcohol in good yield.

[Vaccination in Workplace and Compensation for Adverse Events].

Several types of SARS-Cov-2 vaccine have been quickly developed and officially approved for emergency use in accordance with the Pharmaceutical Act. Mass vaccination in workplaces in Japan was subsequently promoted, targeting health care workers and senior citizens. We overviewed the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and reviewed reports containing fatal outcomes, compensation programs, and remedial measures for health damage after vaccinations, in relation to their relevant legislations.

A maternal high-fat diet may accelerate adipo-immunologic aging in offspring.

Aim: Maternal obesity and improper nutrition predispose offspring to chronic metabolic diseases. Although the frequency of these diseases increases with aging, the effect of a maternal high-fat diet on aged offspring remains elusive.

Main Methods: C57BL/6J female mice were fed a high-fat (HF) diet or a control (CON) diet and then mated.

The Influence of LPS-Induced Maternal Inflammation on Postnatal Collagen-Induced Arthritis.

Maternal health and nutritional status influence offspring health and the diseases that may develop in them. The effects of maternal inflammation on offspring from the perspective of the inflammatory response and immune changes are not fully understood. We hypothesized that maternal inflammation modulates immune and metabolic functions, affecting the pathophysiology of inflammatory diseases in offspring.

Effects of in vitro heat shock on immune cells in diet-induced obese mice.

Obesity has been associated with impaired immune responses and inflammation. The mechanisms underlying these immune disturbances in obesity are not yet clarified. This study investigated the effects of in vitro heat shock (HS) on immune cells from the point of view of thymocyte apoptosis and T-cell mitogen-stimulated splenocyte cytokine production as well as the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) protein levels in diet-induced obese mice to explore a possible association between the disturbance of T cell immunity and HS response in obesity.

Inducing maternal inflammation promotes leptin production in offspring but does not improve allergic symptoms in a mouse model of allergic rhinitis.

Aims: The intrauterine environment is considered to affect immunological development in fetus, leading to an increased risk of developing allergy. In particular, maternal lipopolysaccharides (LPS) administration might regulate the development of allergic disease in offspring. Several studies have shown that being obese relates to a higher prevalence of allergic diseases compared to normal weight.

Daily rhythm and heat shock protein expression in obese ob/ob mice.

Objectives: This study examined heat shock protein (HSP) 70 expression and rhythms of drinking behavior and locomotor activity in obesity, in order to clarify the involvement of HSPs in obesity-induced disturbance of circadian rhythms.

Methods: C57BL/6J ob/ob mice were used as a murine model of severe obesity. Drinking behavior and locomotor activity of male C57BL/6J (control) mice and ob/ob mice were recorded with the behavioral analyzing system.

Effects of reduced dialysis fluid flow in hemodialysis.

Background: Hemodialysis is a treatment in which uremic toxins and excess water content are removed from the blood with a dialyzer and dialysis fluid. The efficiency of hemodialysis is strongly influenced by the following 3 parameters: the blood flow rate (QB), the dialysis fluid flow rate (QD), and the overall mass transfer area coefficient (K0A), an index of a dialyzer's performance. The flow ratio (QB : QD) to obtain a well-balanced dialysis efficiency is generally said to be 1 : 2.

Nutritional status in relation to adipokines and oxidative stress is associated with disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: We assessed whether disease activity was associated with dietary habits, nutritional status, adipokines, and oxidative stress in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: The subjects were 37 patients with RA. The assessment of the nutritional status included anthropometric and biochemical parameters.

Randomized crossover study of the efficacy and safety of sevelamer hydrochloride and lanthanum carbonate in Japanese patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Insufficient control of serum calcium and phosphate levels in patients undergoing hemodialysis is associated with increased mortality. As commonly used calcium-containing phosphate binders can cause arterial calcification, newly developed calcium-free phosphate binders, such as sevelamer hydrochloride (SH) and lanthanum carbonate (LC), have received much attention. We assessed the efficacy and safety of SH and LC treatment in Japanese patients undergoing hemodialysis in a prospective randomized open blinded endpoint (PROBE) crossover study.

Analysis of adipose tissues and stromal vascular cells in a murine arthritis model.

Purpose: Changes in body composition in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including a reduction in skeletal muscle mass and the accumulation of visceral fat, have been identified, and the interaction between immune abnormality and metabolic disorders has received much attention. The effect of a high-fat (HF) diet and the role of adipose tissue in an arthritis model were investigated.

Methods: The effect of an HF diet on the histopathology of joints in murine type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) was evaluated.

Use of ultrasonic cleansing in managing the couplers of dialyzer systems.

Dialysis-related complications have become a major concern as the number of patients receiving long-term maintenance dialysis increases. One cause of complications is contamination of the dialysis fluid. When dialysis fluid contaminated by bacteria or endotoxin (ET) or both has been used for a long time, cytokine production in vivo is enhanced and can lead to such complications as dialysis amyloidosis.

The performance evaluation of endotoxin retentive filters in haemodialysis.

Background: Hemodialysis is a method for removing uremic toxins and water directly from the blood into a dialysis fluid through an artificial semipermeable membrane called a dialyzer. The ability of the dialyzer to remove uremic toxins has steadily improved, but the likelihood has also increased that bioactive substances, such as bacterial endotoxin (ET) fragments, can be transferred from the dialysis fluid into the patient's blood through the phenomena of back-diffusion and back-filtration in the dialyzer. Therefore, further efforts to improve the quality of water are required.

Dietary intake is associated with human chronotype as assessed by both morningness-eveningness score and preferred midpoint of sleep in young Japanese women.

We analyzed the association between dietary intake and chronotype as assessed by both Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) score and preferred midpoint of sleep in 112 young Japanese women. Dietary intake was assessed by a brief, self-administered diet history questionnaire. A lower MEQ score (evening-type tendency) showed a significant association with a lower energy-adjusted intake of protein, calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamins (D, riboflavin, and B(6)), and vegetables, and with a higher intake of noodles.

Nutritional status is strongly correlated with grip strength and depression in community-living elderly Japanese.

Objectives: To evaluate the utility of the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) in assessing nutritional, physical and psychosocial functions in community-living elderly individuals.

Design: A cross-sectional study of elderly individuals investigated in August 2007 and August-September 2008. Nutritional status was assessed using serum biomarkers, anthropometric measurements and the MNA.

The midpoint of sleep is associated with dietary intake and dietary behavior among young Japanese women.

Objectives: How human chronotype is correlated to nutrient and food-group intakes and dietary behavior remains to be elucidated. We cross-sectionally examined the association between the midpoint of sleep and these dietary variables in young Japanese women. A calculated halfway point between bedtime and rise time was used as midpoint of sleep.

Association between human metapneumovirus seroprevalence and hypertension in elderly subjects in a long-term care facility.

Recently, relations between hypertension and infections caused by several pathogens have been reported. However, few studies have examined the relationship between human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and hypertension in elderly inpatients. To assess the association between anti-hMPV-immunoglobulin G (IgG) titer and the prevalence of hypertension, we conducted a case-control study in a Japanese long-term care facility (LTCF).

Different clinical outcomes for cardiovascular events and mortality in chronic kidney disease according to underlying renal disease: the Gonryo study.

Purpose: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can result from a wide variety of diseases, but whether clinical outcomes differ in the same CKD stages according to the underlying renal disease remains unclear. Clarification of this issue is important for stratifying risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death in patients before dialysis.

Patients And Methods: The study comprised 2,692 patients recruited from 11 outpatient nephrology clinics, classified by underlying disease of primary renal disease (PRD) (n = 1,306), hypertensive nephropathy (HN) (n = 458), diabetic nephropathy (DN) (n = 283), or other nephropathies (ON) (n = 645).

The influence of a high-fat dietary environment in the fetal period on postnatal metabolic and immune function.

Few reports show whether a high-fat (HF) dietary environment in the fetal period affects immune function or the development of lifestyle-related disease at maturity. We examined the influence of an HF dietary environment in the fetal period on postnatal metabolic and immune function. A total of 16 pregnant mice were given control (CON) diet and 16 were given HF diet in the gestational period, from mating to delivery.

[Relationships between smoking and eating habits or behavior in male students].

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between smoking and eating habits or behavior in male students.

Methods: We performed a questionnaire regarding smoking, eating habits, eating behavior, and the frequency of food intake for 277 male students. We also measured bone mass by a quantitative ultrasound device, along with height, weight, body fat, and gripping power.

Improvement of nutritional status and incidence of infection in hospitalised, enterally fed elderly by feeding of fermented milk containing probiotic Lactobacillus johnsonii La1 (NCC533).

Probiotics have potential to improve host immunity; however, there is less evidence showing their efficacy against infections and nutritional status in the elderly. We conducted a double-blinded feeding trial in the elderly to elucidate the effect of fermented milk containing Lactobacillus johnsonii La1 (LC1) on infections and nutritional status. Twenty-four completely enterally fed elderly in-patients aged over 70 years were randomly assigned into two groups.

Effect of Lactobacillus johnsonii La1 on immune function and serum albumin in aged and malnourished aged mice.

Objective: Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is a serious nutritional problem that causes immune dysfunction in elderly people. Probiotic lactic acid bacteria may potentially modify immunity; however, there is little evidence to elucidate the influence of these bacteria on PEM in the elderly.

Methods: The immune modulation effects of lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus johnsonii La1 (La1) were examined in aged mice and aged mice with PEM.

Comparative study on solvation free energy expressions in reference interaction site model integral equation theory.

The performance of the recently proposed partial wave (PW) free energy functional is compared with those of two previous expressions, Gaussian fluctuation (GF) and hypernetted chain (HNC), within the reference interaction site model framework. The applications to the calculations of ambient and supercritical water, solvation free energies of organic molecules, and partition coefficients clearly show that the PW and GF free energy expressions provide more reliable results than the HNC functional, indicating rather associative situations of geometry in ordinary liquids of medium-sized molecules.