Pain detection using biometric information acquired by a wristwatch wearable device: a pilot study of spontaneous menstrual pain in healthy females.

Objective: Pain is subjective, and self-reporting pain might be challenging. Studies conducted to detect pain using biological signals and real-time self-reports pain are limited. We evaluated the feasibility of collecting pain data on healthy females' menstrual pain and conducted preliminary analysis.

Persistent prey species in the Lotka-Volterra apparent competition system with a single shared predator.

We analyze the Lotka-Volterra n prey-1 predator system with no direct interspecific interaction between prey species, in which every prey species undergoes the effect of apparent competition via a single shared predator with all other prey species. We prove that the considered system necessarily has a globally asymptotically stable equilibrium, and we find the necessary and sufficient condition to determine which of feasible equilibria becomes asymptotically stable. Such an asymptotically stable equilibrium shows which prey species goes extinct or persists, and we investigate the composition of persistent prey species at the equilibrium apparent competition system.

Returning genetic risk information for hereditary cancers to participants in a population-based cohort study in Japan.

Large-scale population cohort studies that collect genomic information are tasked with returning an assessment of genetic risk for hereditary cancers to participants. While several studies have applied to return identified genetic risks to participants, comprehensive surveys of participants' understanding, feelings, and behaviors toward cancer risk remain to be conducted. Here, we report our experience and surveys of returning genetic risks to 100 carriers of pathogenic variants for hereditary cancers identified through whole genome sequencing of 50 000 individuals from the Tohoku Medical Megabank project, a population cohort study.

Deep learning-based histopathological assessment of tubulo-interstitial injury in chronic kidney diseases.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes progressive and irreversible damage to the kidneys. Renal biopsies are essential for diagnosing the etiology and prognosis of CKD, while accurate quantification of tubulo-interstitial injuries from whole slide images (WSIs) of renal biopsy specimens is challenging with visual inspection alone.

Methods: We develop a deep learning-based method named DLRS to quantify interstitial fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration as tubulo-interstitial injury scores, from WSIs of renal biopsy specimens.

Directional intermodular coupling enriches functional complexity in biological neuronal networks.

Hierarchically modular organization is a canonical network topology that is evolutionarily conserved in the nervous systems of animals. Within the network, neurons form directional connections defined by the growth of their axonal terminals. However, this topology is dissimilar to the network formed by dissociated neurons in culture because they form randomly connected networks on homogeneous substrates.

Diffractometer for element-specific analysis on local structures using a combination of X-ray fluorescence holography and anomalous X-ray scattering.

To tackle disorder in crystals and short- and intermediate-range order in amorphous materials, such as glass, we developed a carry-in diffractometer to utilise X-ray fluorescence holography (XFH) and anomalous X-ray scattering (AXS), facilitating element-specific analyses with atomic resolution using the wavelength tunability of a synchrotron X-ray source. Our diffractometer unifies XFH and AXS configurations to determine the crystal orientation via diffractometry. In particular, XFH was realised even for a crystal with blurred emission lines by a standing wave in a hologram, and high-throughput AXS with sufficient count statistics and energy resolution was achieved using three multi-array detectors with crystal analysers.

Garment Recognition and Reconstruction Using Object Simultaneous Localization and Mapping.

The integration of robotics in the garment industry remains relatively limited, primarily due to the challenges in the highly deformable nature of garments. The objective of this study is thus to explore a vision-based garment recognition and environment reconstruction model to facilitate the application of robots in garment processing. Object SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) was employed as the core methodology for real-time mapping and tracking.

Effect of Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide 1B1 on Plasma Concentration Dynamics of Clozapine in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia.

The involvement of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters in plasma clozapine (CLZ) dynamics has not been well examined in Japanese patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). Therefore, this clinical study investigated the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of various pharmacokinetic factors (drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters) and dynamic changes in CLZ. Additionally, we aimed to determine whether CLZ acts as a substrate for pharmacokinetic factors using in vitro assays and molecular docking calculations.

Toward an Asian-based bodily movement database for emotional communication.

Most current databases for bodily emotion expression are created in Western countries, resulting in culturally skewed representations. To address the obvious risk this bias poses to academic comprehension, we attempted to expand the current repertoire of human bodily emotions by recruiting Asian professional performers to wear whole-body suits with 57 retroreflective markers attached to major joints and body segments, and express seven basic emotions with whole-body movements in a motion-capture lab. For each emotion, actors performed three self-created scenarios that covered a broad range of real-life events to elicit the target emotion within 2-5 seconds.

Identifying key genes in COPD risk via multiple population data integration and gene prioritization.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a highly prevalent disease, making it a leading cause of death worldwide. Several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been conducted to identify loci associated with COPD. However, different ancestral genetic compositions for the same disease across various populations present challenges in studies involving multi-population data.

Next-generation sequencing analysis with a population-specific human reference genome.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has become widely available and is routinely used in basic research and clinical practice. The reference genome sequence is an essential resource for NGS analysis, and several population-specific reference genomes have recently been constructed to provide a choice to deal with the vast genetic diversity of human samples. However, resources supporting population-specific references are insufficient, and it is burdensome to perform analysis using these reference genomes.

Image quality improvement in single plane-wave imaging using deep learning.

In ultrasound image diagnosis, single plane-wave imaging (SPWI), which can acquire ultrasound images at more than 1000 fps, has been used to observe detailed tissue and evaluate blood flow. SPWI achieves high temporal resolution by sacrificing the spatial resolution and contrast of ultrasound images. To improve spatial resolution and contrast in SPWI, coherent plane-wave compounding (CPWC) is used to obtain high-quality ultrasound images, i.

Creating a diagnostic assessment model for autism spectrum disorder by differentiating lexicogrammatical choices through machine learning.

This study explores the challenge of differentiating autism spectrum (AS) from non-AS conditions in adolescents and adults, particularly considering the heterogeneity of AS and the limitations ofssss diagnostic tools like the ADOS-2. In response, we advocate a multidimensional approach and highlight lexicogrammatical analysis as a key component to improve diagnostic accuracy. From a corpus of spoken language we developed, interviews and story-recounting texts were extracted for 64 individuals diagnosed with AS and 71 non-AS individuals, all aged 14 and above.

Whole-Head Noninvasive Brain Signal Measurement System with High Temporal and Spatial Resolution Using Static Magnetic Field Bias to the Brain.

Noninvasive brain signal measurement techniques are crucial for understanding human brain function and brain-machine interface applications. Conventionally, noninvasive brain signal measurement techniques, such as electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and near-infrared spectroscopy, have been developed. However, currently, there is no practical noninvasive technique to measure brain function with high temporal and spatial resolution using one instrument.

The effect of electrical muscle stimulation on intentional binding and explicit sense of agency.

The motivating question for this study is determining whether electrical muscle stimulation (EMS)-induced movements can extend the user's ability without reducing the sense of agency. Moreover, it is crucial to find the timing of the EMS application that is robust against individual differences and environmental changes. Previous studies have reported that the user-specific EMS-application timings, determined through explicit measures of sense of agency, would effectively shorten their reaction time in a push task while maintaining their sense of agency.

Association of olfactory and cognitive function test scores with hippocampal and amygdalar grey matter volume: a cross-sectional study.

Few population-based studies including younger adults have examined the potential of olfactory function tests to capture the degree of atrophy in memory-associated brain regions, which cannot be adequately explained by cognitive function tests screening for cognitive impairment. This population-based study investigated associations between high-resolution olfactory test data with few odours and grey matter volumes (GMVs) of the left and right hippocampi, amygdala, parahippocampi, and olfactory cortex, while accounting for differences in cognitive decline, in 1444 participants (aged 31-91 years). Regression analyses included intracranial volume (ICV)-normalised GMVs of eight memory-related regions as objective variables and age, sex, education duration, smoking history, olfaction test score, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Japanese version (MoCA-J) score as explanatory variables.

Isotropy of Cosmic Rays beyond 10^{20} eV Favors Their Heavy Mass Composition.

We report an estimation of the injected mass composition of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) at energies higher than 10 EeV. The composition is inferred from an energy-dependent sky distribution of UHECR events observed by the Telescope Array surface detector by comparing it to the Large Scale Structure of the local Universe. In the case of negligible extragalactic magnetic fields (EGMFs), the results are consistent with a relatively heavy injected composition at E∼10  EeV that becomes lighter up to E∼100  EeV, while the composition at E>100  EeV is very heavy.