Publications by authors named "Ryota Imai"

Background: Vital signs help determine the safety of early mobilization in critically ill patients in intensive care units. However, none of these variables directly assess cerebral circulation. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship of regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO) and vital signs with in-hospital death in critically ill patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Atomically flat two-dimensional networks of boron are attracting attention as post-graphene materials. An introduction of cations between the boron atomic layers can exhibit unique electronic functions that are not achieved by neutral graphene or its derivatives. In the present study, we propose a synthesis strategy for ion-laminated boron layered materials in a solution phase, which enables the preparation of analogs by changing the alkali-metal species.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Up to 74% of breast cancer survivors (BCS) treated with aromatase inhibitor (AI) experience AI-induced musculoskeletal symptoms (AIMSS). AIMSS is the predominant cause of poor adherence to AI therapy, yet no definitive treatment exists. The primary research objectives of this study were (1) to develop a novel BCS-specific complex intervention to alleviate AIMSS, and to assess its feasibility.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on early mobilisation in patients with acute heart failure, assessing how their physical condition affects this process.
  • It investigates the relationship between regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO) and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO) during initial mobilisation activities.
  • The findings show that while rSO significantly changed during sitting on the edge of the bed, SpO trends also changed but in a different manner, highlighting variances in their monitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Excessive muscle co-contraction is one of the factors related to the progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). A previous study demonstrated that pain, joint instability, lateral thrust, weight, and lower extremity alignment were listed as factors affecting excessive co-contraction in knee OA. However, this study aimed to assess the association between fear-avoidance beliefs and muscle co-contraction during gait and stair climbing in people with knee OA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Aromatase inhibitor (AI)-induced musculoskeletal symptoms (AIMSS) can decrease health-related quality of life and lead to discontinuation of AI therapy for postmenopausal women with breast cancer (BC). Although central sensitization (CS) may contribute to AIMSS, the relevance of CS-related symptoms to AIMSS has not been fully clarified. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between AIMSS and CS-related symptoms in women with BC who received AI therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study explores the relationship between central sensitization and neuroinflammation in knee osteoarthritis and sarcopenia, which has not been extensively researched.
  • It involved 340 knee osteoarthritis patients and 129 healthy older adults, examining various pain and strength metrics to understand differences in central sensitization.
  • Results showed that those with knee osteoarthritis reported higher signs of central sensitization, while sarcopenic individuals exhibited lower pressure pain thresholds, highlighting distinct pain mechanisms in these conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Chronic inflammation is a factor in the pathogenesis of sarcopenia, which is characterized by low muscle mass and reduced strength. Complement C3 is important in the management of the immune network system. This study seeks to determine the relationship between serum C3 levels and body composition and sarcopenia-related status in community-dwelling older adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: As management for osteoarthritis, clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been published worldwide with the aim of attaining optimal treatment and rehabilitation. However, we suspect a lack of knowledge of and/or adherence to osteoarthritis CPGs in physiotherapists' clinical practice. There may be an evidence-to-practice gap in knee osteoarthritis rehabilitation among Japanese physiotherapists.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Employment of the elderly is gaining importance in Japan's super-aging society. However, investigating the role of employment on the health of the elderly population during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, wherein they were susceptible, is necessary. We aimed to investigate whether the presence or absence of employment affected motor and cognitive functions in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: Severe pain and other symptoms in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), such as allodynia and hyperalgesia, are associated with abnormal resting-state brain network activity. No studies to date have examined resting-state brain networks in CRPS patients using electroencephalography (EEG), which can clarify the temporal dynamics of brain networks. : We conducted microstate analysis using resting-state EEG signals to prospectively reveal direct correlations with pain intensity in CRPS patients (n = 17).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Serum transthyretin (TTR) level has suggested association with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. To clarify its usefulness as a biomarker of change in cognitive function in older individuals with normal cognitive function (NC) as a phenotype, we investigated the relationship between cognitive scores and TTR levels. We also investigated the involvement of TTR in the transition from NC to MCI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Low levels of physical activity in individuals with chronic pain can lead to additional functional impairment and disability. This study aims to investigate the predictors of low physical activity levels in individuals with chronic pain, and to determine the accuracy of the artificial neural network used to analyze these predictors. Community-dwelling older adults with chronic pain (n = 103) were surveyed for their physical activity levels and classified into low, moderate, or high physical activity level groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study investigates the factors linked to hallux valgus (HV), a foot condition, using a method called support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE).
  • It involved 864 participants aged 18 and older, assessing factors like age, sex, height, weight, and foot size to see how they relate to HV.
  • Findings indicated that age and sex are significant factors in HV occurrence, with women more affected than men, although the difference lessens in older age groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Under the state of emergency, it has been reported that the amount of physical activity among community-dwelling older adults has decreased significantly due to refraining from going out, and there are strong concerns about the Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale and deterioration of mental health. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether the depressive state before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected the 25-Geriatric Locomotive (GLFS) score during the COVID-19 pandemic among community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: The participants were 194 community-dwelling older adults (45 men, 149 women) with an average age of 75.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * A machine learning tool was developed to analyze images of feet and detect hallux valgus, with tests utilizing 507 images and two different preprocessing patterns (A and B).
  • * The study found that Pattern B preprocessing yielded better accuracy and performance metrics than Pattern A, indicating the potential for this tool to effectively screen for hallux valgus with further improvements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The prevalence of chronic lower back pain (CLBP) among baseball players is high. CLBP is associated with reduced participation in practice and games. This pilot study examined the factors associated with CLBP among high school baseball players in Fukui, Japan.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Persistent post-surgical pain (PPSP) is associated with upper limb dysfunction and decreased quality of life and causes long-term suffering for breast cancer survivors after surgery. However, the predictors of PPSP remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of PPSP intensity and interference at 1 year postoperatively, focusing on treatment-related factors, pre- and postoperative central sensitization (CS), CS-related symptoms (e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic led to decreased physical and social activity, poor eating habits, and worsening mental health among older adults, increasing their frailty.
  • A study involving 111 older adults used a daily task calendar for three months to enhance motor, oral, and cognitive functions, with the intervention group completing specific tasks daily.
  • While there was no overall difference in Kihon checklist scores between groups, the intervention group showed significant improvements in cognitive function and a reduction in pre-frailty and frailty cases after the intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We report a case (a worker with low back pain) who was provided patient education and therapeutic exercise, and we performed a detailed kinematic analysis of his work-related activity over time. The subjects were one 28-year-old male worker with low back pain. In addition, to clearly identify impaired trunk movement during work-related activity in the low back pain subject, 20 age-matched healthy males (control group) were also included as a comparison subject.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Kinematic data obtained during a movement task by individuals with chronic low back pain seem to be related to pain-related fear. General kinesiophobia assessments, such as Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, are often used to assess pain-related fear. However, these questionnaires could suffer from a lack of sensitivity and do not measure the fear of specific movements.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Soy peptide, when consumed as a functional food, has been reported to improve cognitive function. This study aimed to verify the combined effect of soy peptide supplementation and exercise on cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults in Japan.

Methods: In this population-based, non-blinded randomized controlled trial, 72 community-dwelling older adults who were independent in activities of daily living were randomly assigned to an "exercise plus nutrition" program (Ex + Nt group, n = 36) or an exercise program (Ex group, n = 36).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Older people with chronic pain are at higher risk of developing sarcopenia. Central sensitization (CS) has been implicated in chronic pain among community-dwelling older adults. However, a relationship between CS and chronic pain with sarcopenia has not been established.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Locomotive syndrome (LS) is a condition in which mobility decreases, and it is known as a risk factor for elderly persons needing care in connection with sarcopenia and frailty. Prevention or delay of the onset of these diseases is important for preventing the need for care, and identification of biomarkers as indicators for appropriate intervention is useful. The present study aimed to clarify whether the serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) level, which has been reported to be related to sarcopenia and frailty, is related to LS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * A traditional Japanese medicine called ninjin'yoeito (NYT) has shown promise in improving motivation and appetite in Alzheimer's patients and related animal models, but its mechanisms are not well understood.
  • * Research using patch-clamp techniques revealed that NYT lowers the resting membrane potential in VTA and SNpc dopaminergic neurons while increasing the firing frequency of medium spiny neurons in the NAc, suggesting that NYT may enhance dopamine signaling related to motivation and appetite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: fopen(/var/lib/php/sessions/ci_session1jglr2un38u1kut45s0apm1fmrr2cqg0): Failed to open stream: No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 177

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Session/Session.php

Line Number: 137

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once