Publications by authors named "Okayasu T"

Background: This study aimed to clarify the prognosis of asymptomatic endolymphatic hydrops (EH) in healthy volunteers via five-year follow-ups with inner ear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Inner ear MRI was performed on 115 participants recruited as controls in a previous study on Meniere's disease. The endolymphatic space was visualized using Naganawa's method of contrast-enhanced MRI with intravenous gadolinium injection and evaluated using Nakashima's method of 2D imaging analysis.

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  • - The study focuses on how aging affects the vestibular system, particularly the otolith organs in mice, which are critical for balance and can increase fall risk in older adults.
  • - Researchers used young and old mice to analyze the morphology and function of the otoliths, finding significant differences in otolith density and structural changes that correlated with age.
  • - The results suggest that aging leads to a decline in otolith function, evidenced by reduced responsiveness in eye movement during tests, which may contribute to increased falls in the elderly.
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Background And Aim: Although no specific sedation recommendations exist in early-stage gastric cancer (ESGC) for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), dexmedetomidine (DEX) is useful along with benzodiazepines and analgesics. Furthermore, DEX is used for endoscopic treatment requiring lengthy sedation. However, it is unclear which patients should be administered DEX.

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CO enrichment is an essential environmental control technology due to its significantly enhancing effect on crop production capacity. Despite being a key energy consumer in protected agriculture (i.e.

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  • Kampo medicine, a traditional Japanese herbal remedy, is specifically used for treating ear and nervous system diseases in Japan and some Asian nations.
  • In Japan, only licensed medical doctors can prescribe both Kampo and conventional Western medicine, which may improve the quality of clinical research on these treatments.
  • This article aims to present existing evidence from previous studies on the effectiveness of Kampo treatment for otologic and neurotologic conditions, as there is currently no English review available on this topic.
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Introduction: Dizziness is a common disease. However, approximately 10-40% of patients were diagnosed unknown dizziness even though general, neurological, and otological examinations were performed. The aim of this otopathological study was to investigate the histopathology of the peripheral vestibular system of patients who suffered from undiagnosed dizziness.

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Mononeuritis multiplex is a rare form of cerebral nerve palsy caused by various factors. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination could be an etiology of mononeuritis multiplex, which can affect various nerves. Post-COVID-19 and vaccination-related neurological impairments involve cranial nerves such as the facial, trigeminal, and vagal nerves.

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Immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis is small-vessel arteritis triggered by autoimmunity and allergies. IgA vasculitis among elderly patients is rare, and there is a lack of evidence regarding the choice of medicine and treatment duration. The main treatment for IgA vasculitis is steroids which can be cured with a small dose of prednisolone without immunosuppressants.

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  • The study investigated prognostic factors for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) in 115 patients, particularly focusing on the effects of vertigo/dizziness and age on hearing loss outcomes.
  • Results showed that patients with vertigo/dizziness experienced more severe hearing loss and poorer recovery, especially at certain frequency ranges, while older patients (65+) had higher post-treatment hearing thresholds.
  • The findings emphasize the importance of comparing affected and nonaffected ear thresholds to better understand the impact of pre-existing hearing loss on SSNHL outcomes.
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Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the middle and large arteries. Rural areas have many older patients with various symptoms, so large-vessel-type GCA should be managed effectively. Older patients tend to show vague symptoms that cannot be adequately diagnosed and observed.

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COVID-19 causes not only acute but also subacute medical conditions during the clinical course. COVID-19 causes severe inflammatory conditions; therefore, patients may develop long-term complications. Among patients with acute COVID-19, some patients can experience persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, joint pain, and smell and taste abnormalities, known as the long COVID-19 syndrome.

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Many people are affected by tinnitus, a sensation of ringing in the ear despite the absence of external sound. Goshajinkigan (GJG) is one of the formulations of Japanese traditional herbal medicine and is prescribed for the palliative treatment of patients with tinnitus. Although GJG is clinically effective in these patients, its behavioral effects and the underlying neuroanatomical substrate have not been modeled in animals.

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  • A study examined the effectiveness of cartilage conduction (CC) hearing aids for patients with aural atresia, focusing on whether placing the transducer on the aural cartilage or mastoid provides better sound transmission.
  • The research involved 35 patients with severe conductive hearing loss, comparing hearing thresholds for different transducer placements.
  • Results showed that for patients with bony atresia, the aural cartilage placement significantly improved hearing thresholds at lower frequencies, while no benefits were found for non-atretic ears, indicating placement is crucial for effective hearing compensation.
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Meniere's disease is a common inner ear disorder accompanied by vertigo attacks and fluctuating hearing loss that some believe is due to a stressful lifestyle. To elucidate the scientific relationship in neuro-endocrinology between Meniere's disease and stress, we examined the surgical results of endolymphatic sac drainage surgery and changes in stress-induced plasma arginine-vasopressin levels. We enrolled 100 intractable Meniere's patients and examined surgical results and plasma vasopressin levels.

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Objective: Congenital aural atresia causes severe conductive hearing loss disturbing auditory development. The differences in speech recognition were investigated between bilateral and unilateral aural atresia.

Design: The maximum speech recognition scores (SRSs) were compared between patients with bilateral and unilateral aural atresia.

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  • The study investigates whether cochlear implantation leads to an increase in monocyte-derived macrophages within cochlear vessels, finding that macrophages are more prevalent in implanted ears compared to unimplanted ones.* -
  • Using light microscopy and anti-Iba1 immunostaining, researchers analyzed human cochlear samples, revealing that Iba1-positive macrophages were significantly more common in vessels near the round window of implanted ears.* -
  • Results indicate that the density of these macrophages correlates with the duration since implantation, suggesting that the immune response may play a key role in changes observed in the cochlea post-surgery.*
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  • The study investigates how speech-modulated bone-conducted ultrasound (SM-BCU) can convey information about vowel duration, a crucial aspect of spoken language, particularly in distinguishing between words with different vowel lengths.
  • Eight Japanese-speaking participants performed a task to differentiate between "hato" (pigeon) and "haato" (heart) based on varying vowel durations presented through SM-BCU and traditional air-conducted sound.
  • Results showed that while the SM-BCU method required slightly longer vowel durations for accurate recognition compared to traditional sound (274.6 ms vs. 269.6 ms), both methods had a similar ability to convey vowel duration differences. *
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  • Ultrasound is typically considered inaudible, but bone-conducted ultrasound (BCU) can be heard, especially by individuals with profound deafness.
  • There are indications that BCU may serve as a potential hearing aid or therapy for tinnitus, as some patients can perceive and differentiate speech through this method.
  • The review examines both the perception of BCU and its clinical applications, including the need to encode speech signals into BCU for effective hearing aids and its potential role in tinnitus treatment.
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Autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (ASHL) is a rare disease of uncertain etiology, with no established treatment strategy. The duration of morbidity is increased in refractory cases; and therefore, the preservation of hearing and the prevention of adverse effects with steroid therapy are serious long term issues to consider. Long-term follow up of patients treated for ASHL was performed retrospectively in order to elucidate the pathogenesis of ASHL, evaluate the consequences of steroid therapy, and determine a promising treatment course.

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High-light (HL) stress enhances the production of H O from the photosynthetic electron transport chain in chloroplasts, potentially causing photo-oxidative damage. Although stromal and thylakoid membrane-bound ascorbate peroxidases (sAPX and tAPX, respectively) are major H O -scavenging enzymes in chloroplasts, their knockout mutants do not exhibit a visible phenotype under HL stress. Trans-thylakoid proton gradient (∆pH)-dependent mechanisms exist for controlling H O production from photosynthesis, such as thermal dissipation of light energy and downregulation of electron transfer between photosystems II and I, and these may compensate for the lack of APXs.

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  • - The study hypothesizes that cochlear implantation increases macrophage presence in the cochlea, akin to previous observations in vestibular endorgans.
  • - Researchers analyzed macrophage prevalence in the cochlea of 10 patients following unilateral cochlear implantation, comparing it to their unoperated ear.
  • - Results indicated a significant rise in macrophage density in the cochlea of implanted ears, along with varying macrophage types, suggesting their role in both inflammation and homeostasis post-surgery.
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Kleefstra syndrome is a rare neurogenetic disorder caused by a subtelomeric 9q34.3 deletion or by an intragenic mutation of the euchromatin histone methyl transferase 1 gene (EHMT1). Approximately 20% to 30% of individuals have hearing loss.

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  • Cochlear implantation may lead to a higher density of macrophages in vestibular endorgans, which are areas in the inner ear responsible for balance.
  • A study involving 10 human subjects showed that macrophage counts were significantly greater in implanted ears compared to unimplanted ones, except in specific zones of the utricle and posterior semicircular canal.
  • The findings suggest a possible immune response, indicated by macrophages migrating from the subepithelial area into the neuroepithelium after the cochlear implantation procedure.
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Introduction: Sensorineural hearing loss frequently has been described in patients with leukemia, and in fact, hearing loss may be the presenting symptom of this disease. However, the pathogenesis of sensorineural hearing loss in leukemia is not well understood.

Objective: To describe the temporal bone histopathology in 1 patient with leukemia and sensorineural hearing loss.

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Spin-momentum locking, which constrains spin orientation perpendicular to electron momentum, is attracting considerable interest for exploring various spin functionalities in semiconductors and topological materials. Efficient spin generation and spin detection have been demonstrated using the induced helical spin texture. Nevertheless, spin manipulation by spin-momentum locking remains a missing piece because, once bias voltage is applied to induce the current flow, the spin orientation must be locked by the electron momentum direction, thereby rendering spin phase control difficult.

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