High Mortality in an Older Japanese Population with Low Forced Vital Capacity and Gender-Dependent Potential Impact of Muscle Strength: Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Generally, weak muscle power is associated with high mortality. We aimed to evaluate the unknown association between % predicted value forced vital capacity (FVC% predicted) and mortality in asymptomatic older people, and the impact of muscle power on this association. We analyzed the Tsurugaya cohort that enrolled Japanese people aged ≥70 for 15 years with Cox proportional hazards model.

Clinical characteristics of glaucoma patients with various risk factors.

Background: Glaucoma is multifactorial, but the interrelationship between risk factors and structural changes remains unclear. Here, we adjusted for confounding factors in glaucoma patients with differing risk factors, and compared differences in structure and susceptible areas in the optic disc and macula.

Methods: In 458 eyes with glaucoma, we determined confounding factors for intraocular pressure (IOP), central corneal thickness (CCT), axial length (AL), LSFG-measured ocular blood flow (OBF), which was assessed with laser speckle flowgraphy-measured mean blur rate in the tissue area (MT) of the optic nerve head, biological antioxidant potential (BAP), and systemic abnormalities in diastolic blood pressure (dBP).

Anatomy and pathology of lymphatic vessels under physiological and inflammatory conditions in the mouse diaphragm.

The lymphatic vessels in the parietal pleura drain fluids. Impaired drainage function and excessive fluid entry in the pleural cavity accumulate effusion. The rat diaphragmatic lymphatics drain fluids from the pleura to the muscle layer.

Advanced paternal age diversifies individual trajectories of vocalization patterns in neonatal mice.

Infant crying is a communicative behavior impaired in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Because advanced paternal age is a risk factor for NDDs, we performed computational approaches to evaluate how paternal age affected vocal communication and body weight development in C57BL/6 mouse offspring from young and aged fathers. Analyses of ultrasonic vocalization (USV) consisting of syllables showed that advanced paternal age reduced the number and duration of syllables, altered the syllable composition, and caused lower body weight gain in pups.

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy in an immobilized knee model in rats prevents progression of joint contracture.

Joint immobilization, which ensures rest and accelerates tissue recovery in musculoskeletal disorders, often causes joint contracture, for which there is still no effective prevention. To address this, we investigated the effects of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in preventing joint contracture, in a unilaterally immobilized knee rat model. Under general anesthesia, ESWT (0.

Prospective association of short sleep duration in newborns with bruxism behavior in children: The Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS).

Background: Bruxism is defined as a repetitive masticatory muscle activity, characterized by clenching or grinding of the teeth and/or by bracing or thrusting of the mandible. Although the bruxism etiology can be bidirectionally described with sleep disorders, there are few studies available to understand the association of sleep duration with bruxism behavior in early childhood.

Methods: A dataset of children (n = 90,148) from the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) - an ongoing nationwide, prospective birth cohort study - was used to investigate the prospective association of the infant's sleep duration with bruxism behavior, which were acquired using self-reported questionnaire.

L-menthol administration facilitates breathing comfort during exhaustive endurance running and improves running capacity in well-trained runners: A randomized crossover study.

This study aimed to clarify the contribution of L-menthol administration to endurande exercise capacity. Thirteen male runners (age, 35.8 ± 7.

Association Between Low Back Pain, Workaholism, and Work Engagement in Japanese Hospital Workers: A Quantitative Cross-sectional Study.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between two types of heavy work investment, workaholism and work engagement, and low back pain prevalence.

Methods: We conducted a paper-based survey of Japanese hospital workers. The Dutch Workaholism Scale (DUWAS) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were used to classify the participants into four groups and perform multiple logistic regression analyses.

Impact of handedness on interlimb transfer depending on the task complexity combined with motor and cognitive skills.

Purpose: Task complexity could affect acquisition efficiency of motor skills and interlimb transfer; however, how task complexity affects interlimb transfer remains unclear. We hypothesized that left- and right-handed participants may have different interlimb transfer efficiency depending on the task complexity.

Methods: Left-hand (n = 28) and right-hand (n = 28) dominant participants (age = 24.

Plasma tRNA derivatives concentrations for detecting early brain damage in patients with acute large vessel occlusion and predicting clinical outcomes after endovascular thrombectomy.

Objective: Transfer RNA (tRNA) is involved in the acute stress response, which results in conformational changes and subsequent fragmentation. Using an antibody against tRNA-specific modified nucleoside 1-methyladenosine, we can selectively detect blood tRNA derivatives from damaged tissues, including neuronal tissue, which serves as a potential marker of early tissue damage. This preliminary study aimed to investigate the correlation between tRNA derivatives and clinical outcomes in patients with acute anterior large vessel occlusion, especially those who underwent endovascular thrombectomy (EVT).

Carbon dioxide effects on daytime sleepiness and EEG signal: A combinational approach using classical frequentist and Bayesian analyses.

Environmental carbon dioxide (CO ) could affect various mental and physiological activities in humans, but its effect on daytime sleepiness is still controversial. In a randomized and counterbalanced crossover study with twelve healthy volunteers, we applied a combinational approach using classical frequentist and Bayesian statistics to analyze the CO exposure effect on daytime sleepiness and electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Subjective sleepiness was measured by the Japanese Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS-J) by recording EEG during CO exposure at different concentrations: Normal (C), 4000 ppm (Moderately High: MH), and 40 000 ppm (high: H).

Correlation Between Enlargement of Retinal Nerve Fiber Defect Angle in En Face Imaging and Visual Field Progression.

Purpose: Retinal nerve fiber layer defects (RNFLDs) become enlarged with glaucoma progression. We measured the RNFLD angle and investigated whether it was correlated with deterioration of the visual field in patients with glaucoma.

Methods: This study included 84 eyes of 84 patients with open-angle glaucoma (mean deviation [MD] = -6.

Temporal and Directional Cue Effects on the Cocktail Party Problem for Patients With Listening Difficulties Without Clinical Hearing Loss.

Objectives: To evaluate the listening difficulty in a cocktail party environment in the sound field in order to better demonstrate patients' difficulties listening in noise, and to examine temporal and directional cue effects on the speech intelligibility in patients with listening difficulties in noise in comparison with control subjects.

Design: This study examined and analyzed 16 control subjects without any complaints of listening difficulties and 16 patients who had visited the outpatient clinic of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Hospital, with complaints of listening difficulties, especially in background crowded conditions, despite having relatively good hearing on routine audiograms and speech audiometry. Using five loudspeakers located in front of the subject and at 30° and 60° to the left and right from the front, word intelligibility for the target voice (female talker) presented from one of the loudspeakers in random order with four distractor voices (male talker) was assessed under the following cue conditions: (1) "no additional temporal/directional cue (only talker sex as a cue)"; (2) "fixed temporal cue without directional cue" (white noise bursts [cue sounds] were presented from the five loudspeakers just before word presentation at 500-ms intervals); (3) "directional + variable temporal cues" [cue sounds were presented from the loudspeaker where the next target word would be presented with a variable inter-stimulus interval [ISI] of 500, 1000, 1500, or 2000 ms between the cue sound and word presentation); and (4) "directional + fixed temporal cues" (cue sounds were presented from the loudspeaker where the next target word would be presented with a fixed ISI of 500 ms).

The subcommissural organ maintains features of neuroepithelial cells in the adult mouse.

The subcommissural organ (SCO) is a part of the circumventricular organs located in the dorsocaudal region of the third ventricle at the entrance of the aqueduct of Sylvius. The SCO comprises epithelial cells and produces high molecular weight glycoproteins, which are secreted into the third ventricle and become part of Reissner's fibre in the cerebrospinal fluid. Abnormal development of the SCO has been linked with congenital hydrocephalus, a condition characterized by excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.

Associations Between Consumption of Different Vegetable Types and Depressive Symptoms in Japanese Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: Vegetable intake is an important part of our everyday diet and is associated with many positive health outcomes. Although previous studies have investigated the association between vegetable consumption and depressive symptoms among various populations, no study has examined this association in the adult working population. The present study investigated whether the frequency of consumption of a specific type of vegetable is associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Japanese adult workers.

A lightweight deep learning model for automatic segmentation and analysis of ophthalmic images.

Detection, diagnosis, and treatment of ophthalmic diseases depend on extraction of information (features and/or their dimensions) from the images. Deep learning (DL) model are crucial for the automation of it. Here, we report on the development of a lightweight DL model, which can precisely segment/detect the required features automatically.

Can Compression Garments Reduce the Deleterious Effects of Physical Exercise on Muscle Strength? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses.

Background: The use of compression garments (CGs) during or after training and competition has gained popularity in the last few decades. However, the data concerning CGs' beneficial effects on muscle strength-related outcomes after physical exercise remain inconclusive.

Objective: The aim was to determine whether wearing CGs during or after physical exercise would facilitate the recovery of muscle strength-related outcomes.

Outcome of the 'waiting until spontaneous extrusion' strategy for long-term tympanostomy tube placement in children with cleft palate.

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) in children with cleft palate (CP) is known to be refractory to treatment and most of these patients undergo surgery for ventilation tube (VT) placement.

Objectives: To identify the outcomes of children with CP using long-term VT with a 'waiting until spontaneous extrusion' strategy.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all children with CP who visited our department from December 2016 to November 2017 and who received long-term VT placement in our department.

Acute Primary Angle Closure Caused by Plateau Iris After Ritodrine Use in a Primigravid Woman Successfully Treated With Clear-Lens Extraction: A Case Report.

Acute primary angle closure (APAC) is rare in young adults (those under approximately 40 years old) and pregnant women. Here, we report the case of a 37-year-old primigravid woman with APAC caused by plateau iris after the use of ritodrine (a β2 stimulator) that was successfully resolved by clear-lens extraction five months after delivery. The patient presented with pain in her right eye after ritodrine infusion for threatened premature labor at 23 weeks of gestation.

A Plant-Derived Antioxidant Supplement Prevents the Loss of Retinal Ganglion Cells in the Retinas of NMDA-Injured Mice.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of plant-derived antioxidant compounds, identified with primary culture screening, on retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival in mice under excitotoxic conditions. Additionally, to determine the effect of these compounds on the involvement of calpain inactivation.

Materials And Methods: Plant-derived antioxidant compounds including hesperidin, crocetin, and were administrated orally to C57BL/6J mice.

Selective Cleavage at CCA Ends and Anticodon Loops of tRNAs by Stress-Induced RNases.

Stress-induced tRNA cleavage has been implicated in various cellular processes, where tRNA fragments play diverse regulatory roles. Angiogenin (ANG), a member of the RNase A superfamily, induces cleavage of tRNAs resulting in the formation of tRNA-derived stress-induced RNAs (tiRNAs) that contribute to translational reprogramming aiming at cell survival. In addition to cleaving tRNA anticodon loops, ANG has been shown to cleave 3'-CCA termini of tRNAs , although it is not known whether this process occurs in cells.

Relationship Between Body-Specific Attention to a Paretic Limb and Real-World Arm Use in Stroke Patients: A Longitudinal Study.

Learned nonuse is a major problem in upper limb (UL) rehabilitation after stroke. Among the various factors that contribute to learned nonuse, recent studies have focused on body representation of the paretic limb in the brain. We previously developed a method to measure body-specific attention, as a marker of body representation of the paretic limb and revealed a decline in body-specific attention to the paretic limb in chronic stroke patients by a cross-sectional study.

Gut Microbiota Dynamics and Uremic Toxins.

Recent evidence has highlighted the importance of the gut microbiota in the pathophysiology of kidney diseases [...