Barriers to the Utilization of Low-Vision Rehabilitation Services among Over-50-Year-Old People in East and Southeast Asian Regions: A Scoping Review.

East and Southeast Asia (ESEA) are facing age-related eye health issues. Low-vision rehabilitation (LVR), which is a special rehabilitation service for individuals with vision impairment, is a promising solution for these health issues; however, poor accessibility to LVR services has been reported globally, including ESEA. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to summarize and understand the barriers to accessing LVR services in ESEA.

Estimation of Sensitization Status in Renal Transplant Recipients by Assessing Indirect Pathway CD4 + T Cell Response to Donor Cell-pulsed Dendritic Cell.

Background: Generation of donor-specific human leukocyte antigen antibody (DSA) via indirect allorecognition is detrimental to long-term survival of transplant organs. The detection of such immune responses would make it possible to define patients with high risk of sensitization. In this study, we established a novel method for evaluating indirect allorecognition to assess sensitization in kidney transplant recipients.

Case Report: Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia Treated With Plasmapheresis Before Living-Donor Kidney Transplantation.

Background: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a serious adverse effect of heparin. Additionally, although heparin can affect kidney transplantation, there only have been a few reports on this condition. Here, we report a case wherein surgery was safely performed with preoperative plasmapheresis in a patient with HIT.

Mite avoidance decreased mite-specific IgE levels and ameliorated asthma symptoms in subjects who lived in temporary housing after natural disasters.

Background: We previously reported an increased prevalence of asthma among patients who had lived in temporary housing after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. We investigated the prognosis of asthma in former residents of temporary housing after allergen avoidance.

Methods: Asthma was diagnosed in adults ≥ 15 years from 2014 to 2019 who had lived in temporary housing in Ishinomaki City for at least 1 year.

The Utility of a Combination of Tc-MIBI Washout Imaging and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Evaluation of Cardiomyopathy.

: In cardiomyopathy, Tc-MIBI washout can reflect mitochondrial dysfunction and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic imaging (MRI) is associated with tissue fibrosis. We sought to determine the relationship between Tc-MIBI uptake, Tc-MIBI washout, and LGE on MRI in patients with cardiomyopathy. : Twenty-one patients underwent rest myocardial perfusion scintigraphy at 45 minutes (early) and 4 hours (delayed) after intravenous Tc-MIBI administration and cardiac MRI.

Clinical impact of preoperative serum p53 antibody titers in 1487 patients with surgically treated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a multi-institutional study.

Background: Although the clinicopathological significance of serum p53 antibodies (s-p53-Abs) in esophageal cancer have been evaluated previously, previous reports only analyzed around 100-200 patients. This study was a multi-institutional study promoted by the Japan Esophageal Society to evaluate the clinical significance of preoperative s-p53-Ab status and antibody titers in 1487 esophageal cancer patients without neoadjuvant therapy.

Methods: A total of 1487 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma surgically treated between 2008 and 2016 in 15 hospitals in Japan were enrolled.

The prognostic impact of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) in patients with distal bile duct cancer.

Background: A growing body of evidence suggests that inflammatory response markers such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) are associated with outcomes of various malignancies. However, no study has reported the prognostic value of NLR and LMR in patients with distal bile duct cancer (DBDC) to date. We investigated the prognostic significance of these inflammatory markers in patients with DBDC who underwent radical resection.

The utility of the combination of a SPECT study with [123I]-FP-CIT of dopamine transporters and [123I]-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy in differentiating Parkinson disease from other degenerative parkinsonian syndromes.

Objective: Molecular imaging of nigrostriatal dopamine transporters (DAT) and sympathetic cardiac innervation with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are useful tools for differentiating idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) from other degenerative parkinsonian syndromes (non-PD). Nevertheless, these modalities are often insufficient for achieving a definite diagnosis. The aims of this study were to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the combination of these tools.

Effects of air abrasion with alumina or glass beads on surface characteristics of CAD/CAM composite materials and the bond strength of resin cements.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate effects of air abrasion with alumina or glass beads on bond strengths of resin cements to CAD/CAM composite materials.

Material And Methods: CAD/CAM composite block materials [Cerasmart (CS) and Block HC (BHC)] were pretreated as follows: (a) no treatment (None), (b) application of a ceramic primer (CP), (c) alumina-blasting at 0.2 MPa (AB), (d) AB followed by CP (AB+CP), and (e) glass-beads blasting at 0.

Congenital toxoplasmosis and pregnancy malaria detection post-partum: Effective diagnosis and its implication for efficient management of congenital infection.

Congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) and pregnancy malaria (PM) have been individually reported to cause severe negative outcomes in pregnancies but the diagnostic method is still debatable. This study sought to estimate the prevalence of PM and CT single and co-infections in pregnant women by using various specimens including plasma and placental tissues. Genomic DNA extracted from the placenta, cord blood or blood of mothers was tested by PCR.

Bovine oviduct epithelial cells downregulate phagocytosis of sperm by neutrophils: prostaglandin E2 as a major physiological regulator.

This study aimed to investigate the presence of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) in bovine oviduct fluid under physiological conditions and to determine the possible role of bovine oviduct epithelial cells (BOECs) in the regulation of the phagocytic activity of PMNs for sperm. During the pre-ovulatory stage, PMNs were identified in the bovine oviduct fluid in relatively constant numbers. In our experiments, PMNs were incubated for 4 h with the supernatant of cultured BOECs stimulated for 24 h by LH (10 ng/ml).

[Estimation of activities caused by black spots in digital radiography systems: analysis of black spots by the low concentrate radioisotopes adhered directly to the surface of the phosphor plate].

Because of an accident of the nuclear power plants in the Fukushima, many radioisotopes (RI) have been diffused to the environment. As a result, black spots were appearing on the medical images which were taken by the phosphor plate. The aim of this study is to evaluate the activity (Bq) of radioactive contaminated IP based on the experiment using RI.

Action mechanisms of complementary and alternative medicine therapies for rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized as a chronic inflammatory disease in joints and concomitant destruction of cartilage and bone. Cartilage extracellular matrix components, such as type II collagen and aggrecan are enzymatically degraded by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and aggrecanases in RA. Currently, treatments targeting cytokines, including anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α antibodies, soluble TNF receptor, anti-interleukin (IL)-6 receptor antibody, and IL-1 receptor antagonist, are widely used for treating RA in addition to antiantiinflammatory agents and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), such as inflmethotrexate, but these treatments have some problems, especially in terms of cost and the increased susceptibility of patients to infection in addition to the existence of low-responders to these treatments.

[Impact of multileaf collimator leaf positioning accuracy on intensity modulated radiation therapy].

In multileaf collimator (MLC)-based intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), the dose is influenced by the uncertainty of MLC driving control. In this study, we examined the influence of MLC driving control accuracy on dose evaluation (gamma analysis) by evaluating 60-day MLC driving control accuracy (stationary positioning accuracy and positioning reproducibility) once a week as well as measuring IMRT dose distribution. The MLC positioning accuracy accompanied variation over time and tended to expand by 0.

Bone marrow-derived myofibroblasts contribute to the mesenchymal stem cell niche and promote tumor growth.

Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) that express α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) contribute to cancer progression, but their precise origin and role are unclear. Using mouse models of inflammation-induced gastric cancer, we show that at least 20% of CAFs originate from bone marrow (BM) and derive from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). αSMA+ myofibroblasts (MFs) are niche cells normally present in BM and increase markedly during cancer progression.

Discerning malignancy in resected adrenocotical tumors.

Background: The number of adrenocortical tumors discovered incidentally has recently increased owing to the advent of imaging techniques. The most important diagnostic point in evaluation of resected specimens of these tumors is to discern malignancy to determine postoperative management of the patients.

Objective/methods: To determine what the effective methods of discerning malignancy in resected specimens of adrenocortical tumors are at this juncture.

Comparative effects of propofol, landiolol, and nicardipine on hemodynamic and bispectral index responses to endotracheal intubation: a prospective, randomized, double-blinded study.

Study Objectives: To examine the comparative effects of propofol, landiolol, and nicardipine on hemodynamic responses and bispectral index (BIS) changes to endotracheal intubation.

Setting: Operating room of a university-affiliated general hospital.

Patients: 27 ASA physical status I and II patients who were scheduled to undergo elective general surgical, urological, or gynecological procedures with general anesthesia.

[An effect of semantic satiation in conceptual processing].

This study examined whether semantic satiation effects for a picture exemplar differ from a word exemplar. If massive repetition of the category name leads to an inhibition of conceptual processing, then semantic satiation effects would be found in both the word and picture exemplar conditions. However, if the repetition leads to an inhibition of lexical processing, then effects would be found for the word exemplar but not the picture exemplar.

New anchoring method for tarsal tendon transfers in myelomeningocele patients.

We describe a new anchoring method for tarsal tendon transfers in myelomeningocele patients to protect the sole of the foot from pressure sores and skin necrosis and to loosen the tension of the transferred tendon.Tendon transfer procedures were performed in 51 feet (33 patients) with myelomeningocele. We transferred tibialis anterior tendons to the second or third cuneiform in 19 with equinovarus deformities, and transferred tibialis anterior tendons to the calcaneus through the interosseous membrane in 32 with talipes calcaneus.

A peptide against the N-terminus of myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate inhibits degranulation of human leukocytes in vitro.

Leukocytes synthesize a variety of inflammatory mediators that are packaged and stored in the cytoplasm within membrane-bound granules. Upon stimulation, the cells secrete the granule contents via an exocytotic process whereby the granules translocate to the cell periphery, the granule membranes fuse with the plasma membrane, and the granule contents are released extracellularly. We have reported previously that another exocytotic process, release of mucin by secretory cells of the airway epithelium, is regulated by the myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS) (Li Y, Martin LD, Spizz G, Adler KB.

Survival of pathogenic bacteria in compost with special reference to Escherichia coli.

Application of compost in agricultural practice could potentially cause contamination of foodstuffs with pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. Coli O157). We investigated pathogenic bacteria in compost collected from the compost facilities, and evaluated the survival of E.

Administration of granulated BCAA and quality of life.

The PEM (protein energy malnutrition) is an important factor for improvement of prognosis and QOL in the patients with liver cirrhosis. In 453 chronic liver disease patients, QOL decreased significantly according to the progression of disease assessed by SF-36 (Kruskal-Wallis test: p<0.05) Moreover, the QOL of patients with chronic liver diseases was improved in BCAA administration group (n=13) compared with non-administration group (n=12) after 6 months period.

Intraoperative monitoring of myogenic motor-evoked potentials from the external anal sphincter muscle to transcranial electrical stimulation.

Study Design: Motor-evoked potentials from the external anal sphincter were analyzed using transcranial electrical stimulation during spinal surgery in patients under general anesthesia.

Objective: To investigate whether motor-evoked potentials from the external anal sphincter could be elicited by transcranial electrical stimulation under general anesthesia.

Summary Of Background Data: Lumbosacral surgery often places nerve rootlets at risk for injury during operative dissection.