Publications by authors named "Sugawara Y"

We report on the preparation of reinforced membranes (SPP-QP-PE, where SPP stands for sulfonated polyphenylene), composed of an in-house proton-conductive polyphenylene ionomer (SPP-QP) and a flexible porous polyethylene (PE) mechanical support layer. By applying the push coating method, dense, uniform, transparent, and thin SPP-QP-PE membranes were obtainable. The use of SPP-QP with higher ion exchange capacity induced very high proton conductivity of SPP-QP-PE, leading to high fuel cell performance even at low humidified conditions (e.

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Background: In Japan, there are ongoing efforts to shift the gastric cancer prevention and control policy priorities from barium-based screening to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)-oriented primary prevention. A comprehensive summary of the evidence regarding the effects of H.

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Background: To clarify the association between psychosocial problems and frailty in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and to develop strategies for preventive long-term care in the community, we launched the Kesennuma Study in 2019. This report describes the study design and the participants' profiles at baseline.

Methods: The prospective study comprised 9,754 people (4,548 men and 5,206 women) randomly selected from community-dwelling independent adults aged 65 to 84 who were living in Kesennuma City, Miyagi.

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Article Synopsis
  • Hungry bone syndrome is a rare and serious condition that causes rapid and severe low levels of calcium and phosphorus due to increased bone activity, often following surgeries like liver transplants.
  • The case involves a 5-month-old boy with biliary atresia who underwent a living donor liver transplant and developed hypocalcemia and hypophosphatemia post-surgery, despite taking vitamin D supplementation.
  • This case highlights the need for careful monitoring of nutrition and electrolytes before and after surgery to prevent complications associated with hungry bone syndrome, which can lead to serious health issues if not addressed quickly.
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The plasmid-mediated (X7) conferring high-level tigecycline resistance was identified in five -positive strains (ST10 [ = 3] and ST155 [ = 2]) isolated from chickens in Egypt. Two fosfomycin-resistant -carrying IncFII plasmids (∼79 kb in size) were detected. Transposase IS (IS family) is syntenic with (X7) in all isolates, suggesting its role in the mobilization of (X7).

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Background: Although social participation has been reported to be associated with significantly lower risks of mortality and disability, to our knowledge, no study has estimated its impact on disability-free life expectancy (DFLE). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between social participation and DFLE in community-dwelling older people.

Methods: We analyzed 11-year follow-up data from a cohort study of 11,982 Japanese older adults (age ≥65 years) in 2006.

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Background: Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) are spreading in hospitals, environment and retail foods in Yangon, Myanmar.

Objectives: To investigate whether CPE colonize healthy individuals living in Yangon and whether clinical-related strains are spreading in the community.

Methods: CPE was isolated from faecal samples obtained from healthy Japanese residents of Yangon with no history of hospitalization.

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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world, and cirrhosis is a risk factor for HCC. Resection is indicated for those unilobar tumors without vascular invasion and metastases in the liver and preserved liver function. Small HCC (< 2 cm) without microvascular invasion is associated with a 5-year recurrence rate as high as 50% to 60%, whereas liver transplantation is indicated for those within the Milan criteria (solitary tumor ≤ 5 cm or two or three nodules ≤ 3 cm) who have decompensated cirrhosis.

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For providing advanced desalination the combination of the improvement of water recovery ratio in the reverse osmosis (RO) process and the No-Chlorine/No-Sodium Bisulfite (SBS) Dosing process was studied. In order to prevent membrane fouling even in high recovery water operations, an advanced two-stage design was implemented to (1) control the permeate flux through the RO membrane module, (2) optimize the system to reduce contaminant build-up and (3) eliminate the use of chlorine and SBS, which can accelerate membrane fouling. The system was evaluated by monitoring the biofouling and the microorganisms proliferation on the membrane surface based on membrane biofilm formation rate (mBFR).

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Prior studies reported the association of reproductive factors with breast cancer (BC), but the evidence is inconsistent. We conducted a pooled analysis of nine cohort studies in Japan to evaluate the impact of six reproductive factors (age at menarche/age at first birth/number of births/age at menopause/use of female hormones/breastfeeding) on BC incidence. We conducted analyses according to menopausal status at the baseline or at the diagnosis.

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Objective: Shoulder pain is a common health problem coexisting with other musculoskeletal pain. However, the effects of pre-existing musculoskeletal pain on the development of shoulder pain are not clear. The present study aimed to elucidate the association between coexisting musculoskeletal pain at other body sites and new-onset shoulder pain among survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE).

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Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) spreads through cell contact. Therefore, this virus persists and propagates within the host by two routes: clonal proliferation of infected cells and de novo infection. The proliferation is influenced by the host immune responses and expression of viral genes.

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Although alcohol consumption is reported to increase the incidence of breast cancer in European studies, evidence for an association between alcohol and breast cancer in Asian populations is insufficient. We conducted a pooled analysis of eight large-scale population-based prospective cohort studies in Japan to evaluate the association between alcohol (both frequency and amount) and breast cancer risk with categorization by menopausal status at baseline and at diagnosis. Estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated in the individual cohorts and combined using random-effects models.

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The discovery of hydrogen atoms on the TiO surface is crucial for many practical applications, including photocatalytic water splitting. Electronically activating interfacial hydrogen atoms on the TiO surface is a common way to control their reactivity. Modulating the potential landscape is another way, but dedicated studies for such an activation are limited.

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Background: Both weight loss and cognitive impairment are common in late-life, but it remains unknown whether weight change is associated with risk of incident dementia among elderly Japanese. Our study aimed to investigate the association between long-term weight change since midlife and risk of incident disabling dementia using a community-based cohort study of elderly Japanese.

Methods: In 2006, we conducted a cohort study of 6,672 disability-free Japanese adults aged ≥65 years.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Pretransplant portal vein thrombosis (PVT) was identified as a major risk factor for developing portal vein stenosis (PVS), while factors like male sex and splenectomy increased the risk for portal vein thrombosis (PVT).
  • * Treatment for PVS showed positive results regardless of when it occurred, while late-onset PVT and occlusion had poor treatment outcomes, emphasizing the need for customized treatment strategies based on the
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Background & Aims: Previous studies have reported that the Japanese diet is associated with a lower risk of dementia; however, whether changes in adherence to the Japanese diet affects incident dementia remains unknown. We aimed to evaluate the association between long-term changes in adherence to the Japanese diet and risk of incident dementia among older Japanese individuals.

Methods: We collected dietary information from community-dwelling older individuals living in Ohsaki city, Japan using a validated 39-item food frequency questionnaire in 1994 and 2006.

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Aim: To clarify how the medical institutions overcame the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Japan and to discuss its impact on the medical labor force.

Methods: We analyzed questionnaire data from the end of May 2020 from 180 hospitals (102,578 beds) certified by the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine.

Results: Acute (emergency) medicine physicians treated severe COVID-19 patients in more than half of hospitals.

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Associations of coffee and tea consumption with lung cancer risk have been inconsistent, and most lung cancer cases investigated were smokers. Included in this study were over 1.1 million participants from 17 prospective cohorts.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study was a longitudinal analysis of low back pain (LBP) among survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake over a 5-year period, involving 1821 participants.
  • The researchers found that the prevalence of LBP remained relatively stable at around 25-27% during the study, with a significant association between earlier episodes of LBP and the likelihood of experiencing LBP later on.
  • The findings indicate that individuals with a history of LBP are at a higher risk for future episodes, with a particularly strong correlation when they had LBP at both of the earlier follow-up points.
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Aims: Patients who survive acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are at risk of being rehospitalized owing to the occurrence of acute decompensated heart failure (HF). However, the clinical characteristics of HF after AMI, especially the frequency of each HF subtype, are unclear.

Methods And Results: We retrospectively studied 1055 patients with AMI.

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Background: It has been recently reported that liver stiffness assessed by transient elastography reflects right atrial pressure (RAP) and is associated with worse outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF). However, the relationship between shear wave dispersion (SWD, a novel indicator of liver viscosity) determined by abdominal ultrasonography and RAP, and the prognostic impact of SWD on HF patients have not been fully examined. We aimed to clarify the associations of SWD with parameters of liver function test (LFT) and right heart catheterization (RHC), as well as with cardiac events such as cardiac death and worsening HF, in patients with HF.

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The atomic arrangement of the Si(110)-(16×2) reconstruction was directly observed using noncontact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) at 78 K. The pentagonal structure, which is the most important building block of the reconstruction, was concluded to consist of five atoms, while only four or five spots (depending on tip bias) have been reported with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Single atoms were determined to exist near step edges between upper and lower terraces, which have not been reported using STM.

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Background: The use of social media by hospitals has become widespread in the United States and Western European countries. However, in Japan, the extent to which hospitals and clinics use social media is unknown. Furthermore, recent revisions to the Medical Care Act may subject social media content to regulation.

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Aim: To investigate and clarify the surge capacity of staff/equipment/space, and patient outcome in the first wave of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Japan.

Methods: We analyzed questionnaire data from the end of May 2020 from 180 hospitals (total of 102,578 beds) with acute medical centers.

Results: A total of 4,938 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were confirmed.

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