Falling of older adults with cognitive impairment: a new home environment evaluation chart and a preliminary examination in the Wakuya Project.

Unlabelled: It is important to evaluate the home environment because most fractures in older adults are caused by falls indoors. However, previous studies have not separated individual abilities from environments. Also, the interrelationship between falls, cognitive function, and home environments has not been clarified.

Disturbed medication management in older adults with good cognitive health and mild cognitive impairment associated with semantic memory impairment: The Wakuya Project.

Aim: For older adults with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, maintaining daily lives at home is also ideal for quality of life. However, they have serious problems with medication management. Although the Dementia Assessment Sheet in community-based integrated care system-21 items and the regimen comprehension scale are assessment scales for medication, there have been no reports evaluating both semantic memory and actual performance.

Lower extremities task of pressing an "accelerator" or a "brake": association with traffic accidents in older drivers - a preliminary study.

Unlabelled: Traffic accidents by older drivers are a social urgent problem. The National Police Agency (NPA) in Japan has institutionalized the (NPA test) for renewal of a driver's license for older adults. However, driving ability cannot be simply evaluated by usual cognitive tests on the desk.

The Changes in the F FDG Metabolism in the Muscles by the Use of Cuboid Support Insoles.

Healthy men aged 55,39, 23.45 years were administered 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) after fasting for over 5 h; then, a 30-min self-paced walking (6-min walk and 2-min rest + 6-min walk and 2-min rest + 6-min walk and 2-min rest + 6-min walk) session was performed. While walking, the same athletic shoes were used, same with walking supports, flat insoles, and cuboid support insoles (BMZ Inc.

Brain and muscle activation patterns during postural control affect static postural control.

Background: Previous studies have reported existence of coordinated brain and muscle activity patterns that affect postural control. However, differences in these activity patterns that affect postural control are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to clarify brain and muscle activity pattern affecting postural control.

Longitudinal Association of Arterial Stiffness and Pressure Wave Reflection with Decline of the Cardiac Systolic Performance in Healthy Men.

Aims: This prospective observational study aimed to examine the individual longitudinal associations of the increases in the arterial stiffness and pressure wave reflection with the decline in the cardiac systolic performance during the study period in healthy middle-aged Japanese men.

Methods: In 4016 middle-aged Japanese healthy men (43±9 years), the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), radial augmentation index (rAI), and pre-ejection period/ejection time (pre-ejection period (PEP)/ET) were measured annually during a 9-year study period.

Results: The baPWV, rAI, and PEP/ET showed steady annual increases during the study period.

Difficulties with Workplace Support for a Patient with Frontotemporal Dementia: A Case Report.

A 59-year-old, right-handed woman made many mistakes in her job in a pharmacy, despite having considerable experience working in this setting. She had a can-do attitude, but also showed no sign of remorse when she failed. Other staff grew impatient with her and she was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia based on clinical and brain imaging findings.

Comparison of Functional Connectivity during Visual-Motor Illusion, Observation, and Motor Execution.

This study investigated the functional connectivity during visual-motor illusion and compared it with observation and motor execution using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Thirty subjects were randomly assigned to: illusion, observation, and motor execution group. Illusion group watched own finger joint movement video image and induced kinesthetic illusion, while the other group only performed observation or motor execution.

Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea is independently associated with inter-arm systolic blood pressure difference: Tokyo Sleep Heart Study.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, inter-arm systolic blood pressure difference (IAD), inter-ankle systolic blood pressure difference (IAND), and ankle-brachial index (ABI) are all known predictors of cardiovascular events. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between OSA and four-limb blood pressure differences.

Decreased Time on the Nondominant One-Leg Standing Test Associated with Repeated Falls in Older Residents with Healthy Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Dementia: The Wakuya Project.

Introduction: The aim of this study is to clarify the association between repeated falls and the dominant/nondominant side in the open-eyed one-leg standing (OLS) test among people who are healthy or have mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia in a community setting. We recruited 180 participants from 39 areas in the town of Wakuya.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study.

Mental and Physical Self-Awareness of Alzheimer Patients: Decreased Awareness of Amnesia and Increased Fear of Falling Compared to Views of Families: The Tajiri and Wakuya Projects.

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to examine self-awareness of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) regarding forgetfulness and physical status, with the goal of further psychological understanding of these patients.

Methods: The 255 subjects included 33 healthy volunteers and 48 patients with mild cognitive impairment who were elderly community residents selected from the 2017 Wakuya Project and 174 consecutive outpatients with AD at the Tajiri Clinic. Test data were selected from a pooled database.

Effects of visual-motor illusion on functional connectivity during motor imagery.

This study aimed to verify whether visual-motor illusion changes the functional connectivity during kinesthetic motor imagery and the vividness of kinesthetic motor imagery. Twelve right-handed healthy adults participated in this study. All participants randomly performed both the illusion and observation conditions in 20 min, respectively.

Mediation of Arterial Stiffness for Hyperuricemia-Related Decline of Cardiac Systolic Function in Healthy Men.

This prospective observational study examined whether hyperuricemia may be associated with impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function and increased cardiac load resulting from increased arterial stiffness. In 1,880 middle-aged (mean [±SD] age 45±9 years) healthy men, serum uric acid (UA) levels, pre-ejection period/ejection time (PEP/ET) ratio, serum N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels, and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were measured at the start and end of the 3-year study period. Linear regression analysis revealed that serum UA levels measured at baseline were significantly associated with the PEP/ET ratio, but not with serum NT-proBNP levels, measured at baseline (β=0.

Self-Reported Cognitive Decline Based on the Ascertain Dementia 8 Questionnaire May Be Effective for Detecting Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in the Community: The Wakuya Project.

Introduction: To assess cognitive impairment, self-awareness is an important issue. The Ascertain Dementia 8 questionnaire (AD8) is a brief observation checklist for detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. After analyzing the reliability and validity of a self-reported Japanese version of the AD8 (AD8-J), we compared self- and informant-reported versions of the AD8-J.

Association of pulse wave velocity and pressure wave reflection with the ankle-brachial pressure index in Japanese men not suffering from peripheral artery disease.

Background And Aims: We examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal association of arterial stiffness and pressure wave reflection with the ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) in middle-aged Japanese subjects free of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Methods: ABI, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and radial augmentation index (rAI) were measured annually during the 9-year observation period in 3066 men (42 ± 9 years old) with ABI ≥1.00 at baseline of the study period, and not taking any antihypertensive medication.

Immediate effects of visual-motor illusion on resting-state functional connectivity.

Visual-motor illusion (VMI) is to evoke a kinesthetic sensation by viewing images of oneself performing physical exercise while the body is at rest. Previous studies demonstrated that VMI activates the motor association brain areas; however, it is unclear whether VMI immediately alters the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC). This study is aimed to verify whether the VMI induction changed the RSFC using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Perforated duodenal diverticulum successfully treated with a combination of surgical drainage and endoscopic nasobiliary and nasopancreatic drainage: a case report.

Background: Perforation of a duodenal diverticulum is a rare complication that may become fatal with a delay in appropriate treatment. However, the optimal treatment for perforated duodenal diverticulum remains controversial, ranging from conservative therapy to surgery including pancreatoduodenectomy.

Case Presentation: The patient was a 60-year-old woman with no particular medical history who visited our hospital with chief complaints of continuous fever and right dorsal pain.

Word Processing Is Faster than Picture Processing in Alzheimer's Disease.

Objective: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a slow progressive impairment of episodic memory. Many studies have shown that AD exhibits deterioration of semantic memory during the course of disease progression. We previously reported that AD patients exhibited severe access disorders in the semantic memory system, using the Momentary Presentation Task (20 or 300 ms).

Monitoring of drug treatment and psychosocial intervention with SPECT in Alzheimer patients Implications for neurologically appropriate psychosocial interventions. An observational study. The Osaki-Tajiri Project.

Unlabelled: We previously examined cerebral blood flow (CBF) with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) with reference to drug treatment (donepezil) and psychosocial intervention.

Objective: The aim is to provide "brain-based" evidence for psychosocial interventions using SPECT.

Methods: The participants were 27 consecutive outpatients with AD who received the drug and psychosocial intervention, and SPECT three times (baseline, pre-/post-intervention) at 6 month-intervals.

Fear of Falling and Cognitive Impairments in Elderly People with Hip Fractures.

Background/aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the estimated prevalence of dementia and the relationship between cognitive impairment and fear of falling in patients with hip fractures.

Methods: Analysis 1 included 100 patients with hip fractures. Analysis 2 included a subgroup of subjects with ≥75 years of functional independence: 46 patients with hip fractures and 46 control subjects without hip fractures, and presence or absence of dementia.

Neuroepidemiologic and Neurobehavioral Characteristics of Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome in an Old-Old Population: The Kurihara Project.

Background: Recently, the concept of motoric cognitive risk (MCR) syndrome was proposed, where slow gait is considered a risk factor for conversion to dementia.

Aim: To retrospectively investigate the characteristics of MCR among a population aged 75+ years, focusing on the aspects of epidemiology and neurobehavioral characteristics.

Method: The participants were 590 residents aged 75+ years living in Kurihara who underwent MRI and neurobehavioral assessments including walking velocity.

Endoscopic biliary drainage as a bridging procedure to single-stage surgery for perforated choledochal cyst: a case report and review of the literature.

Choledochal cyst (CC)-a congenital anomaly of the bile duct-is rare. We report a 28-year-old woman complaining of epigastralgia who was transferred to our hospital. Physical examination revealed severe tenderness to abdominal palpation without symptoms of diffuse peritonitis.

Disturbed social recognition and impaired risk judgement in older residents with mild cognitive impairment after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011: the Tome Project.

Aim: After the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, we investigated the safety of residents in the affected communities. Most of the people requiring help were elderly and had previously been assessed as Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) 0.5 (i.