COVID-19 risk assessment at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The 2020 Olympic/Paralympic Games have been postponed to 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed a model that integrated source-environment-receptor pathways to evaluate how preventive efforts can reduce the infection risk among spectators at the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympic Games. We simulated viral loads of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emitted from infectors through talking/coughing/sneezing and modeled temporal environmental behaviors, including virus inactivation and transfer.

Centiloid scale analysis for F-THK5351 PET imaging in Alzheimer's disease.

Purpose: A standardized method for quantification is required for analyzing PET data, but such standards have not been established for tau PET imaging. The Centiloid scale has recently been proposed as a standard method for quantifying amyloid deposition on PET imaging. Therefore, the present study aimed to apply the Centiloid scale to F-THK5351 PET imaging in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Eculizumab in Asian patients with anti-aquaporin-IgG-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder: A subgroup analysis from the randomized phase 3 PREVENT trial and its open-label extension.

Background Eculizumab, a terminal complement inhibitor, significantly reduced the risk of relapse compared with placebo in patients with anti-aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G-positive (AQP4+) neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in the PREVENT trial. We report efficacy and safety analyses in Asian patients in PREVENT and its open-label extension (OLE). Methods PREVENT was a double-blind, randomized, phase 3 trial.

Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in Aquaporin-4 IgG-Positive NMOSD.

Objective: During PREVENT (NCT01892345), eculizumab significantly reduced relapse risk versus placebo in patients with aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4-IgG+ NMOSD). We report an interim analysis of PREVENT's ongoing open-label extension (OLE; NCT02003144) evaluating eculizumab's long-term safety and efficacy.

Methods: Patients who completed PREVENT could enroll in the OLE to receive eculizumab (maintenance dose = 1,200 mg/2 weeks, after a blinded induction phase).

Sensitivity analysis of the primary endpoint from the N-MOmentum study of inebilizumab in NMOSD.

Background: In the N-MOmentum trial, the risk of an adjudicated neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) attack was significantly reduced with inebilizumab compared with placebo.

Objective: To demonstrate the robustness of this finding, using pre-specified sensitivity and subgroup analyses.

Methods: N-MOmentum is a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-masked trial of inebilizumab, an anti-CD19 monoclonal B-cell-depleting antibody, in patients with NMOSD.

Optimal management of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder with aquaporin-4 antibody by oral prednisolone maintenance therapy.

Background: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a relapsing neuroinflammatory disease associated with aquaporin-4 antibody. Since disabilities in patients with NMOSD accumulate with attacks, relapse prevention is crucially important for improving long-term outcomes. Corticosteroids are inexpensive and promising drugs for relapse prevention in NMOSD, but few studies have analysed the efficacy of corticosteroids in NMOSD, especially regarding the appropriate dosing and tapering regimens.

Gray matter structural networks related to F-THK5351 retention in cognitively normal older adults and Alzheimer's disease patients.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the alterations in gray matter networks related to tau retention in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and cognitively normal (CN) older individuals.

Methods: Eighteen amyloid-positive AD patients and 30 age- and sex-matched amyloid-negative CN controls were enrolled. All underwent 3D T1-weighted MRI, amyloid positron-emission tomography imaging (PET) with C-Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB), and tau PET with F-THK5351.

The difference between IgM and IgG antibody prevalence in different serological assays for COVID-19; lessons from the examination of healthcare workers.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the differences between the results of two serology assays for detection of COVID-19 among medical staff, who are at higher risks of infection.

Methods: The immunochromatography (ICG) rapid test kit and the chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) quantitative antibody test were performed. The differences in IgM and IgG antibody prevalence in different serological assays were descriptively analyzed.

Patterns of cortical grey matter thickness reduction in multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To examine the patterns of cortical gray matter thickness in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Methods: Seventy-four MS patients-clinically isolated syndrome (4%), relapsing-remitting MS (79%), and progressive MS (17%)-and 21 healthy controls (HCs) underwent 1.5 Tesla T1-weighted 3D MRI examinations to measure brain cortical thickness in a total of 68 regions of interest.

Distinct epigenetic signatures between adult-onset and late-onset depression.

The heterogeneity of major depressive disorder (MDD) is attributed to the fact that diagnostic criteria (e.g., DSM-5) are only based on clinical symptoms.

Results of Mechanical Thrombectomy 6 Hours after Stroke Onset: Analysis of Multiple Stroke Centers in Fukushima Prefecture.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute occlusion of a large cerebral artery in the anterior circulation beyond 6 hours of the time last known to be well using the real-world clinical data collected from non-urban areas of Japan.

Methods: We analyzed a retrospective multicenter database collected at 10 thrombectomy capable primary stroke centers in Fukushima Prefecture. In all, 188 patients were presenting a large cerebral artery occlusion in the anterior circulation, that is, internal carotid and middle cerebral artery (M1 and M2 segment).

Poor oral hygiene and dental caries predict high mortality rate in hemodialysis: a 3-year cohort study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of oral hygiene, periodontal diseases, and dental caries on all-cause mortality in hemodialysis. This prospective cohort study included 266 patients with end-stage renal disease who were undergoing hemodialysis. Medical interviews, blood biochemical tests, and comprehensive dental examinations including periodontal pocket examination on all teeth and dental plaque accumulation by debris index-simplified (DI-S), were performed.

Benefits of eculizumab in AQP4+ neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder: Subgroup analyses of the randomized controlled phase 3 PREVENT trial.

Background: Antibodies to the aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channel in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) are reported to trigger the complement cascade, which is implicated in astrocyte damage and subsequent neuronal injury. The PREVENT study demonstrated that the terminal complement inhibitor eculizumab reduces adjudicated relapse risk in patients with anti-AQP4 immunoglobulin G-positive (AQP4+) NMOSD. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of eculizumab in reducing relapse risk and its safety in AQP4+ NMOSD across clinically relevant subgroups in PREVENT.

Periodontal regenerative therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes using minimally invasive surgical technique with enamel matrix derivative under 3-year observation: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Information regarding periodontal regenerative therapy in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is limited. This pilot study compared the regenerative outcomes of minimally invasive periodontal surgery using enamel matrix derivative (EMD) between DM and non-DM patients.

Methods: This prospective study included deep intrabony defects in patients with or without type 2 DM.

A multicenter prospective cohort study on the effect of smoking cessation on periodontal therapies in Japan.

Few prospective studies have reported the effects of periodontal therapy on patients who attempted to quit smoking. This study aimed to assess how smoking cessation affects periodontal therapy. Twenty-five smokers with periodontitis were investigated by dividing them into two groups, a smoking cessation support group and a continued smoking group.

FLAIR-Wise Machine-Learning Classification and Lateralization of MRI-Negative F-FDG PET-Positive Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

In this study, we investigated the ability of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) data coupled with machine-leaning algorithms to differentiate normal and epileptic brains and identify the laterality of focus side in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients with visually negative MRI. The MRI data were acquired on a 3-T MR system (Philips Medical Systems). After pre-proceeding stage, the FLAIR signal intensities were extracted from specific regions of interest, such as the amygdala, cerebral white matter, inferior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and temporal pole, and fed into a classification framework followed by a support vector machine as classifier.

Association between neurite metrics and tau/inflammatory pathology in Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: The molecular mechanism of neurodegeneration, including tau and neurite complexity, is an important topic in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research.

Methods: We recruited 27 amyloid-positive individuals identified through C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) and 31 amyloid-negative individuals with normal cognition. All participants underwent C-PiB and F-THK5351 PET and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) protocol.

New therapies for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.

Background: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder is an autoimmune disease of the CNS that primarily affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. Most patients have serum antibodies targeting the aquaporin-4 water channel expressed on the end-feet of astrocytes. Although the prevalence of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder is limited to around 1-2 people per 100 000, severe immune-mediated attacks can quickly lead to blindness and paralysis if undiagnosed and untreated.