Factors Associated With the Development of Bacterial Pneumonia Related to Seasonal Influenza Virus Infection: A Study Using a Large-scale Health Insurance Claim Database.

Background: Influenza-related bacterial pneumonia is a leading complication of influenza infection. However, the differences in the incidence rates and risk factors associated with concomitant viral/bacterial pneumonia (CP) and secondary bacterial pneumonia following influenza (SP) remain unclear. This study aimed to clarify the incidence rates of CP and SP following seasonal influenza and identify factors associated with their development.

Association between serum iron markers, iron supplementation and cardiovascular morbidity in pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease.

Background: The optimal range of serum iron markers and usefulness of iron supplementation are uncertain in patients with pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD). We investigated the association between serum iron indices and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and the effectiveness of iron supplementation using Chronic Kidney Disease Japan Cohort data.

Methods: We included 1416 patients ages 20-75 years with pre-dialysis CKD.

A Novel Non-invasive Qualitative Assay Using Urinary Fluorescence Imaging to Assess Kidney Disease.

In patients with chronic kidney disease, it is necessary to identify the etiology of glomerular disease. Renal biopsy is the gold standard for assessing the underlying pathology; however, it has the risk of potential complications. We have established a urinary fluorescence imaging technique to assess enzymatic activity using an activatable fluorescent probe targeting two enzymes: gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and dipeptidyl-peptidase.

Topical Betamethasone Treatment of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis with Ocular Involvement in the Acute Phase.

Purpose: To clarify the importance of administering topical steroids for the treatment of Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) / toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) with ocular involvement in the acute phase.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Methods: Using the medical records of acute SJS/TEN patients treated at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Hospital, Kyoto, Japan, between July 2006 and July 2017, the ocular findings, topical steroid dosage, systemic steroid dosage, and ocular sequelae were retrospectively examined.

Sex Differences in the Density of Lipidic Plaque Materials: Insights From the REASSURE-NIRS MultiCenter Registry.

Background: Intravascular imaging has shown better response of coronary atheroma to statin-mediated lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in women. However, its detailed mechanism remains to be determined yet. Modifiability of coronary atheroma under lipid-lowering therapies is partly driven by lipidic plaque component.

Sympathetic Nervous Hyperactivity Impairs Microcirculation Leading to Early Brain Injury After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Background: Although early brain injury (EBI) is recognized as a critical step following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), its pathophysiology and underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Herein, we investigated the role of cerebral circulation in the acute phase using patient data and a mouse SAH model and evaluated its regulation via the sympathetic nervous system.

Methods: The cerebral circulation time and neurological outcomes in the human body were retrospectively examined in 34 SAH cases with ruptured anterior circulation aneurysms and 85 cases with unruptured anterior circulation cerebral aneurysms at Kanazawa University Hospital from January 2016 to December 2021.

Clinical characterization of patients with schizophrenia and 16p13.11 duplication: A case series.

Background: Chromosome 16p13.11 duplication is a well-known genetic risk factor for schizophrenia (SCZ) (odds ratio = 1.84).

Binaural Listening with Head Rotation Helps Persons with Blindness Perceive Narrow Obstacles.

Orientation and mobility (O&M) are important abilities that people with visual impairments use in their independent performance of daily activities. In orientation, people with total blindness pinpoint nonsounding objects and sounding objects. The ability to perceive nonsounding objects is called , wherein people with blindness recognize the various characteristics of an obstacle using acoustic cues.

Do Types of Opioids Matter for Terminal Cancer Dyspnea? A Preliminary Multicenter Cohort Study.

Context: Dyspnea is among the most distressing symptoms in the last weeks to days of life (terminal dyspnea). While physicians frequently use parenteral opioids other than morphine for terminal dyspnea, little is known about their effects in cancer patients.

Objectives: To explore the effectiveness and safety of parenteral morphine, oxycodone, and hydromorphone for cancer patients with terminal dyspnea.

A worldwide survey on incidence, management, and prognosis of oesophageal fistula formation following atrial fibrillation catheter ablation: the POTTER-AF study.

Aims: Oesophageal fistula represents a rare but dreadful complication of atrial fibrillation catheter ablation. Data on its incidence, management, and outcome are sparse.

Methods And Results: This international multicentre registry investigates the characteristics of oesophageal fistulae after treatment of atrial fibrillation by catheter ablation.

Mediating Effects of Trait Anxiety and State Anxiety on the Effects of Physical Activity on Depressive Symptoms.

Background: Previous studies have reported that physical activity can prevent the onset of depression and reduces anxiety. In the present study, the hypothesis that total physical activity time influences depressive symptoms via state and trait anxiety was tested by a path analysis.

Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were used to survey 526 general adult volunteers from April 2017 to April 2018.

Long-term outcome of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension using direct oral anticoagulants and warfarin: a Japanese prospective cohort study.

Background: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) requires lifelong anticoagulation. Long-term outcomes of CTEPH under current anticoagulants are unclear.

Objectives: The CTEPH AC registry is a prospective, nationwide cohort study comparing the safety and effectiveness of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and warfarin for CTEPH.

Propensity-Matched Study of Early Cardiac Rehabilitation in Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.

Background: The impact of early implementation of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in heart failure (HF) patients remains to be elucidated. This study sought to determine whether CR during HF hospitalization could improve prognostic outcomes in patients with acute decompensated HF.

Methods: We analyzed patients with HF enrolled in the JROADHF (Japanese Registry of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure) registry, a retrospective, multicenter, nationwide registry of patients hospitalized for acute decompensated HF.

Duration of Initial Intensive Rivaroxaban Therapy for Patients With Venous Thromboembolism - Subanalysis of the J'xactly Study.

Rivaroxaban, a direct oral anticoagulant, is used as a first-line treatment to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). However, whether 21 days is optimal for the initial treatment duration has not been investigated. In this subanalysis of the prospective multicenter observational J'xactly study, which included 1,039 Japanese patients with acute symptomatic/asymptomatic DVT/PE who were prescribed rivaroxaban, the VTE recurrence rate and incidence of bleeding complications were assessed in 667 patients who underwent intensive rivaroxaban treatment (15 mg, twice daily) for a short (1-8 days), intermediate (9-16), or standard (17-24) duration.

Spatiotemporal consistency of neural responses to repeatedly presented video stimuli accounts for population preferences.

Population preferences for video advertisements vary across short video clips. What underlies these differences? Repeatedly watching a video clip may produce a consistent spatiotemporal pattern of neural activity that is dependent on the individual and the stimulus. Moreover, such consistency may be associated with the degree of engagement and memory of individual viewers.

Longitudinal Association of Working From Home on Work Functioning Impairment in Desk Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide Cohort Study.

Objective: This study clarifies the longitudinal association between working from home and work functioning impairment among desk workers.

Methods: Nationwide surveys were conducted from 2020 to 2022, analyzing 3532 desk workers who never worked from home before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: The adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence intervals) of working from home at least once a month or more with the composite result (incidence of work functioning or reduced work participation) was 1.

Prediction of mobilized hematopoietic stem cell yield in patients with multiple myeloma: Usefulness of whole-body MRI-derived indices.

Introduction: High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplant is the mainstay of treatment for multiple myeloma (MM). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of MRI-derived indices to predict mobilized hematopoietic stem cell yield.

Materials And Methods: In this exploratory pilot work, we retrospectively analyzed 38 mobilization procedures for MM.

Image sharpening algorithms improve clarity of surgical field during 3D heads-up surgery.

Background: Image-sharpening algorithms with color adjustments enable real-time processing of the surgical field with a delay of 4 msec for heads-up surgery using digital three-dimensional displays. The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of the algorithms with the Artevo 800 digital microscope.

Methods: Seven vitreoretinal surgeons evaluated the effects of image-sharpening processing on the clarity of the surgical field with the Artevo 800 system that is used for cataract and vitreous surgeries.

Efficacy of elotuzumab for multiple myeloma in reference to lymphocyte counts and kappa/lambda ratio or B2 microglobulin.

Novel therapeutic drugs have dramatically improved the overall survival of patients with multiple myeloma. We sought to identify the characteristics of patients likely to exhibit a durable response to one such drug, elotuzumab, by analyzing a real-world database in Japan. We analyzed 179 patients who underwent 201 elotuzumab treatments.

ZBP1 Protects Against mtDNA-Induced Myocardial Inflammation in Failing Hearts.

Background: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-induced myocardial inflammation is intimately involved in cardiac remodeling. ZBP1 (Z-DNA binding protein 1) is a pattern recognition receptor positively regulating inflammation in response to mtDNA in inflammatory cells, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. However, the role of ZBP1 in myocardial inflammation and cardiac remodeling remains unclear.

Supply chain logistics with quantum and classical annealing algorithms.

Noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware is almost universally incompatible with full-scale optimization problems of practical importance which can have many variables and unwieldy objective functions. As a consequence, there is a growing body of literature that tests quantum algorithms on miniaturized versions of problems that arise in an operations research setting. Rather than taking this approach, we investigate a problem of substantial commercial value, multi-truck vehicle routing for supply chain logistics, at the scale used by a corporation in their operations.

Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) through inhibiting interaction with prohibitins.

5'-Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a potential therapeutic target for various medical conditions. We here identify a small-molecule compound (RX-375) that activates AMPK and inhibits fatty acid synthesis in cultured human hepatocytes. RX-375 does not bind to AMPK but interacts with prohibitins (PHB1 and PHB2), which were found to form a complex with AMPK.