Publications by authors named "Kobayakawa K"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examines how the preoperative Spine Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) relates to surgical decisions and patient outcomes in spinal metastases patients.
  • The research involved 317 patients and assessed various factors like surgery type, existing conditions, and postoperative health indicators over 6 months.
  • Findings revealed that SINS did not correlate with life expectancy, all patient-reported outcomes improved post-surgery, and surgical approach (especially fusion vs. non-fusion) didn't significantly impact these outcomes.
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Study Design: Prospective multicenter study.

Objectives: Palliative surgery is crucial for maintaining the quality of life (QOL) in patients with spinal metastases. This study aimed to compare the short-term outcomes of QOL after palliative surgery between patients with metastatic spinal tumors at different segments.

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Study Design: Retrospective study of prospectively collected data.

Objective: To investigate the influence of cartilaginous endplates (CEs) in herniated discs on clinical symptoms and postoperative outcomes in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) in different age groups.

Summary Of Background Data: LDH involving CEs, which are hard and less resorptive, is frequently observed with increasing age and appears to affect the natural course and clinical outcomes following discectomy.

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  • The study investigated the postoperative outcomes for patients with spinal metastases from prostate cancer, focusing on improvements in their quality of life and other patient-oriented assessments.
  • Conducted across 35 centers, the research assessed 413 patients, with 41 specifically having prostate cancer, and followed them for at least a year following surgery using various evaluation methods.
  • Results showed significant improvements in neurological function, quality of life, and patient motivation post-surgery, indicating that surgical intervention is beneficial for these patients.
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Allorecognition-the ability of an organism to discriminate between self and nonself-is crucial to colonial marine animals to avoid invasion by other individuals in the same habitat. The cnidarian hydroid Hydractinia has long been a major research model in studying invertebrate allorecognition, establishing a rich knowledge foundation. In this study, we introduce a new cnidarian model Cladonema radiatum (C.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to determine minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) for patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastases to improve patient care by linking quality of life assessments with clinical outcomes.
  • A total of 171 patients were evaluated pre- and post-surgery using various scales, leading to the identification of specific MCID values for different quality of life aspects based on their treatment outcomes.
  • The study successfully established both anchor-based and distribution-based MCIDs for surgical interventions, which can help in assessing patient progress and overall treatment effectiveness.
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Background: Spinal metastases can impair mobility, worsening the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS). Surgery for spinal metastases has the potential to improve KPS and extend prognosis, but it is crucial to recognize the elevated risk of perioperative complications. Therefore, the development of a new scoring system to accurately predict perioperative complications in spinal metastatic surgery is essential.

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  • In patients with cervical spinal cord injuries, accurate prognosis during the acute phase is crucial for effective rehabilitation.
  • Two predictive models, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), were created using data from 20 clinical parameters gathered at the time of admission.
  • The ANN model showed a significantly higher success rate (75.0%) in predicting outcomes compared to the MLR model (31.3%), suggesting that ANNs can effectively enhance rehabilitation strategies and improve patients' quality of life post-discharge.
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Study Design: Retrospective study.

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of newly developing Modic changes following discectomy and their impact on residual low back pain (LBP) in the early postoperative stage of lumbar disc herniation.

Methods: We included 96 patients who underwent microscopic discectomy.

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Article Synopsis
  • Osteoclastogenesis is the process of developing special cells called osteoclasts that help break down bone, and metal ions are important for this process.
  • * Metallothionein (MT) is a protein that helps control metal levels in the body and its role in osteoclast formation, particularly MT3, is essential for their development.
  • * When scientists reduced the amount of MT3 in certain cells, it stopped them from becoming mature osteoclasts and affected other important processes like cell survival and the balance of harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS).
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Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating disease that results in permanent paralysis. Currently, there is no effective treatment for SCI, and it is important to identify factors that can provide therapeutic intervention during the course of the disease. Zinc, an essential trace element, has attracted attention as a regulator of inflammatory responses.

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Neonatal spinal cord injury (SCI) shows better functional outcomes than adult SCI. Although the regenerative capability in the neonatal spinal cord may have cues in the treatment of adult SCI, the mechanism underlying neonatal spinal cord regeneration after SCI is unclear. We previously reported age-dependent variation in the pathogenesis of inflammation after SCI.

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After spinal cord injury (SCI), inflammatory cells such as macrophages infiltrate the injured area, and astrocytes migrate, forming a glial scar around macrophages. The glial scar inhibits axonal regeneration, resulting in significant permanent disability. However, the mechanism through which glial scar-forming astrocytes migrate to the injury site has not been clarified.

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In developing brains, activity-dependent remodeling facilitates the formation of precise neuronal connectivity. Synaptic competition is known to facilitate synapse elimination; however, it has remained unknown how different synapses compete with one another within a post-synaptic cell. Here, we investigate how a mitral cell in the mouse olfactory bulb prunes all but one primary dendrite during the developmental remodeling process.

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Recent long-term optical imaging studies have demonstrated that the activity levels of hippocampal neurons in a familiar environment change on a daily to weekly basis. However, it is unclear whether there is any time-invariant property in the cells' neural representations. In this study, using miniature fluorescence microscopy, we measured the neural activity of the mouse hippocampus in four different environments every 3 d.

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Article Synopsis
  • Joint contracture is a permanent mobility disorder caused by factors like trauma and aging, primarily due to joint capsule fibrosis, but the exact molecular reasons are still unclear.
  • A mouse model study revealed that increased levels of the protein periostin (POSTN) in joint capsules are linked to irreversible contractures, with significant fibrosis observed.
  • Treatment with POSTN-neutralizing antibodies showed promise in reducing contracture severity, highlighting POSTN as a potential target for future therapies to address joint contracture.
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After spinal cord injury (SCI), inflammatory cells such as macrophages infiltrate the injured area, and astrocytes migrate, forming a glial scar around macrophages. The glial scar inhibits axonal regeneration, resulting in significant permanent disability. However, the mechanism by which glial scar-forming astrocytes migrate to the injury site has not been clarified.

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Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes reactive astrogliosis, the sequential phenotypic change of astrocytes in which naïve astrocytes (NAs) transform into reactive astrocytes (RAs) and subsequently become scar-forming astrocytes (SAs), resulting in glial scar formation around the lesion site and thereby limiting axonal regeneration and motor/sensory functional recovery. Inhibiting the transformation of RAs into SAs in the acute phase attenuates the reactive astrogliosis and promotes regeneration. However, whether or not SAs once formed can revert to RAs or SAs is unclear.

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We hypothesized that circulatory and jejunal mucosal blood flow would improve after 2-methyl-2thiazoline (2MT) administration in endotoxic shock. This study aimed to evaluate changes in systemic circulation and in superior mesenteric venous (SMV) blood flow and jejunal mucosal tissue blood flow of the intestinal vascular system over time after administration of 2MT in rabbits with endotoxic shock. We created four groups (n = 6 each): control group, LPS (1 mg/kg) group, 2MT (80 mg/kg) group, and LPS-2MT group.

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Sensory signals are critical to perform adaptive social behavior. During copulation, male mice emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). Our previous studies have shown that female mice exhibit approach behavior toward sound sources of male USVs and that, after being exposed to a male pheromone, exocrine gland-secreting peptide 1 (ESP1), female mice exhibited a preference toward a particular type of male USVs.

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Background: Little attention has been focused on risk factors for undergoing bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) after primary unilateral TKA among patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). This study investigated the differences in characteristics between groups with and without additional TKA for the contralateral knee among patients with knee OA who underwent primary unilateral TKA.

Methods: Seventy-six patients who underwent primary unilateral TKA were included in this study.

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In crush syndrome, massive muscle breakdown resulting from ischemia-reperfusion muscle injury can be a life-threatening condition that requires urgent treatment. Blood reperfusion into the ischemic muscle triggers an immediate inflammatory response, and neutrophils are the first to infiltrate and exacerbate the muscle damage. Since free zinc ion play a critical role in the immune system and the function of neutrophils is impaired by zinc depletion, we hypothesized that the administration of a zinc chelator would be effective for suppressing the inflammatory reaction at the site of ischemia-reperfusion injury and for improving of the pathology of crush syndrome.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the occurrence and risk factors for pneumonia in individuals who suffered from acute traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI) in a spinal injuries center in Japan.
  • Out of 167 patients analyzed, 30 (or 18%) developed pneumonia, with the majority (87%) linked to aspiration due to swallowing difficulties.
  • Key risk factors identified include severity of spinal injury and dysphagia, establishing the importance of addressing swallowing issues early to help prevent pneumonia.
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Meniscal repair is one of the most common procedures for meniscal tears; however, a previous systematic review showed meniscal repairs have a greater reoperation rate compared with partial meniscectomies. Therefore, an improvement of existing meniscal repair techniques is warranted. Clinical results of polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheets have been reported for rotator cuff repairs.

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Aims: Cardiac ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remains a critical issue in the therapeutic management of ischaemic heart failure. Although mild hypothermia has a protective effect on cardiac I/R injury, more rapid and safe methods that can obtain similar results to hypothermia therapy are required. 2-Methyl-2-thiazoline (2MT), an innate fear inducer, causes mild hypothermia resulting in resistance to critical hypoxia in cutaneous or cerebral I/R injury.

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