Publications by authors named "Ohkubo T"

This study presents a novel nanostructured material formed by inserting oxidized carbon nanohorns (CNHox) between layered graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets using metal ions (M) from nitrate as intermediates. The resulting GO-CNHox-M structure effectively mitigated interlayer aggregation of the GO nanosheets. This insertion strategy promoted the formation of nanowindows on the surface of the GO sheets and larger mesopores between the GO nanosheets, improving material porosity.

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In this study, we aimed to reveal the trends of self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) and SMBP-derived indices during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The Babies and Their Parents Longitudinal Observation in Suzuki Memorial Hospital in the Intrauterine Period (BOSHI) Study is a prospective cohort study in Japan. Participants were instructed to measure SMBP daily during pregnancy and for 1 month after delivery.

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In warm environments, thermoregulation in poultry is controlled by heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), whose expression is controlled by heat shock factor 3 (HSF3). Although the association between genetic polymorphisms in these genes and thermotolerance as well as reproductive traits has been extensively studied in mammals, the association has not yet been studied in poultry. This study aimed to explore the relationship between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes and the egg production traits of Bangladeshi hilly chickens.

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Home blood pressure (BP) measurement is widely used, and home BP plays a central role in hypertension management in clinical practice in Japan. We updated the systematic review to determine whether home BP-based antihypertensive treatment is superior to office BP-based treatment in improving clinical outcomes, including BP levels, in adult patients with essential hypertension. A literature search identified 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

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: Routine activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT) measurements do not indicate hypercoagulability in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and acute cerebral infarction (ACI). : Hypercoagulability in patients with AMI or ACI was evaluated using a clot waveform analysis of the APTT or a small amount of tissue factor activation assay (sTF/FIXa). In the CWA, the derivative peak time (DPT), height (DPH), width (DPW), and area the under the curve (AUC) were evaluated.

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Stress and anxiety are significant psychological challenges in modern society, which have led to a rapidly growing market for functional foods, including those reported to relieve stress, as alternatives to psychoactive drugs. Among these, diacyl glyceryl ethers (DAGE) derived from deep-sea shark liver oil have gained attention for their strong antioxidant properties and potential mental health benefits. Building on preliminary evidence suggesting DAGE's efficacy in enhancing stress resilience and modulating biochemical pathways associated with reduced oxidative stress, the present study aimed to examine their effects on stress responses in two specific mouse strains.

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is a hot spring purple nonsulfur phototrophic bacterium that contains bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) . Here, we present a 2.21 Å cryo-EM structure of the thermostable light-harvesting 1-reaction center (LH1-RC) complex from .

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Background: Although a high pulse rate assessed in the clinic office setting has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, there are few studies assessing the prognostic ability of out-of-office pulse rate, particularly self-measured home pulse rate.

Methods And Results: We investigated the prognostic ability of home pulse rate in 3022 patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. During a median follow-up of 7.

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The effect of self-measurement of blood pressure (BP) at home (home BP measurement, HBPM) has been evaluated over the past decade. This meta-analysis included the latest studies to determine whether HBPM reduced BP (PROSPERO ID: CRD42023442225). PubMed, Cochrane Library Database, and IchuShi-Web were searched for randomized controlled trials after the year 2000 which demonstrated the effect of HBPM on BP change compared with usual care (UC).

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Highly modified LaO-YO-BO ternary glasses were fabricated by using a levitation technique. The thermal and structural properties of (50 - )LaO-YO-50BO glasses and (60 - )LaO-YO-40BO glasses were investigated. Raman scattering spectra indicated that B atoms mainly formed isolated planar BO triangles similar to those of crystalline LaBO.

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The discrepancy between model predictions and actual processes, known as process-model mismatch (PMM), remains a substantial challenge in bioprocess optimization. We previously introduced a hybrid in silico/in-cell controller (HISICC) that combines model-based optimization with cell-based feedback to address this problem. Here, we extended this approach to regulate a key enzyme level using intracellular biosensing.

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In this work, trivalent rare earth (RE)-rich borate glasses (30 LaO-70 BO, 50 LaO-50 BO, 60 LaO-40 BO, and 50 YO-50 BO) were modeled using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations through the melt-quenching route. It was found that the AIMD-derived structures reproduced the experimental structure factors and B solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance data. Isolated borate units (monomers, dimers, and trimers) terminated with nonbridging oxygen were found in the structures.

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Article Synopsis
  • Glycerophosphocholine (GPC) is a metabolite related to choline in cells and has been considered a potential supplement for brain health, but high choline intake may lead to TMAO production, linked to atherosclerosis.
  • This study investigates how GPC is absorbed and metabolized by the intestine, showing that it converts to choline and is transported into cells.
  • Researchers highlighted the enzyme Gpcpd1, which regulates this conversion and TMAO levels, with experiments indicating that its absence alters GPC metabolism and lowers TMAO in the bloodstream.
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Although the benefits of anti-hypertensive treatment are well known, the proportion of hypertensive patients with controlled blood pressure (BP) remains suboptimal. The present study aimed to compare BP control conditions in a hypertension-specialized clinic and non-hypertension-specialized clinics. This cross-sectional study used data from 379 treated patients who measured home BP in the Ohasama study between 2016 and 2019 (men: 43.

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Bridges will inevitably experience structural damage during long-term operation, which will decrease their structural load bearing capacity and durability. The vibration characteristics of bridge structures can be used as evaluation indicators for accurately diagnosing their deterioration. This study aimed at developing a vibration testing method for identifying bridge deck damage that does not affect traffic and is easy to implement.

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Article Synopsis
  • Epidemiological studies show that the urine sodium-to-potassium (Na/K) ratio is a stronger indicator of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk compared to measuring sodium or potassium alone.
  • For accurate individual estimates, it's recommended to average the Na/K ratio from casual urine samples collected on at least four different days a week, due to high variability in measurements.
  • The ideal target for the Na/K ratio is an average of 2 for healthy individuals, aligning with dietary recommendations for sodium and potassium in Japan, while an average of 4 can be a reasonable temporary goal based on population averages.
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Understanding how carbon dioxide (CO) behaves and interacts with surfaces is paramount for the development of sensors and materials to attempt CO mitigation and catalysis. Here, we combine simultaneous atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) using CO-functionalized probes with density functional theory (DFT)-based simulations to gain fundamental insight into the behavior of physisorbed CO molecules on a gold(111) surface that also contains one-dimensional metal-organic chains formed by 1,4-phenylene diisocyanide (PDI) bridged by gold (Au) adatoms. We resolve the structure of self-assembled CO islands, both confined between the PDI-Au chains as well as free-standing on the surface and reveal a chiral arrangement of CO molecules in a windmill-like structure that encloses a standing-up CO molecule and other foreign species existing at the surface.

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This study aimed to investigate the association between the frequency of home blood pressure (HBP) measurement and hypertension control in a middle-aged working population. This study included 627 employees aged 40 years or older who underwent health check-ups for 2 consecutive years from 2019 to 2022 and had blood pressure (BP) ≥ 140/90 mmHg at the health check-up in the first year. The participants were stratified by the length of antihypertensive treatment (within 1 year, >1 year) using data in the first and second years, and were classified by the frequency of HBP measurement (<6 times/week, almost every day) using data in the second year.

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The cubic perovskite SrMoO with a paramagnetic ground state and remarkably low room-temperature resistivity has been considered as a suitable candidate for the new-era oxide-based technology. However, the difficulty of preparing single-phase SrMoO thin films by hydrogen-free sputtering has hindered their practical use, especially due to the formation of thermodynamically favorable SrMoO impurity. In this work, we developed a radio frequency sputtering technology enabling the reduction reaction and achieved conductive epitaxial SrMoO films with pure phase from a SrMoO target in a hydrogen-free, pure argon environment.

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This study aimed to evaluate the associations of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels at <24 weeks of gestation with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) and compare the strengths of the associations of HDP with FPG and HbA1c levels. Totally, 1,178 participants were included in this prospective cohort study. HDP, FPG, HbA1c, and potential confounding factors were included in multiple logistic regression models.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how well conventional MRI can differentiate corticobasal degeneration (CBD) from its mimics due to similar clinical features.
  • - Researchers analyzed the degree of brain atrophy and asymmetry in MRI images of 19 CBD patients and 16 patients with conditions that mimic CBD, like Alzheimer's and progressive supranuclear palsy.
  • - Findings suggest that specific patterns of atrophy and the presence of white matter hyperintensity can be used as imaging biomarkers to help diagnose CBD more accurately.
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Controlling the rotation of carbon-carbon bonds, which is ubiquitous in organic molecules, to create functionality has been a subject of interest for a long time. In this context, it would be interesting to explore whether cooperative and collective rotation could occur if dipolar molecular rotors were aligned close together while leaving adequate space for rotation. However, it is difficult to realize such structures as bulk molecular assemblies, since molecules generally tend to assemble into the closest packing structure to maximize intermolecular forces.

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Background: This study aimed to propose reference values for day-to-day home blood pressure (BP) variability that align with the established hypertension threshold of home BP for the risk of two different outcomes: cardiovascular mortality and cognitive decline.

Methods: This prospective study was conducted in Ohasama town, Japan, with 1212 participants assessed for cardiovascular mortality risk (age: 64.7 years, 33.

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