Eating Behavior and Environments of Severe Alzheimer's Disease Patients With Loss of Language Skills.

As Alzheimer's disease (AD) progresses, AD patients become more and more dependent on the environment. To prevent the patients from being distracted from eating, it is necessary to pay attention to the environment. Five severe AD patients with loss of language skills were observed closely to identify the environments that interfered with their eating behaviors and environments that encouraged them to eat.

Ultrasound assessment of sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound (US) as a diagnostic tool for sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Female RA patients aged >50 years and matched controls were cross-sectionally assessed. Sarcopenia was diagnosed based on the 2019-updated Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia definition.

Self-Transcendence of Japanese Female Breast Cancer Patients with Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome.

Objective: The present study examined self-transcendence of Japanese female breast cancer patients with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 women with HBOC in their thirties to sixties, who consented to participate in the study. The obtained data were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach.

Relationship between Pressure Ulcers in Elderly People and Physiological Indices of the Skin.

This study examined the relationship between skin physiological indices and pressure ulcers in elderly people. The subjects were 55 bedridden elderly Japanese patients with a median age of 85 years. The following parame-ters were measured using non-invasive devices: skin surface temperature, moisture content in the stratum corneum, moisture content in the dermis, transepidermal water loss as an index of skin barrier function, skin erythema and skin elasticity.

Caregivers' roles in preventing patients with severe Alzheimer's disease from becoming distracted during mealtimes: two case reports.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to identify the roles of caregivers in preventing patients with severe Alzheimer's disease with loss of language skills from becoming distracted while eating their meals. [Participants and Methods] The study was conducted on two residents of a nursing home with severe Alzheimer's disease who had lost their language skills. In this study, by comparing the scenes in which the two participants were distracted and not distracted from eating, we analyzed the factors associated with patients with severe Alzheimer's disease who had lost their language skills becoming distracted and factors that prevented them from becoming distracted from eating at mealtimes and considered the roles of caregivers.

Revising "Nutritional Reference Values for Feeding at Evacuation Shelters" According to Nutrition Assistance by Public Health Dietitians Based on Past Major Natural Disasters in Japan: A Qualitative Study.

It is important to provide nutritionally adequate food in shelters to maintain the health of evacuees. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has released the "Nutritional Reference Values for Evacuation Shelters" (Reference Values) after every major natural disaster. There is clear evidence, however, that the Reference Values have only been used infrequently.

[Lead poisoning associated with an Indian-manufactured unauthorized dietary supplement].

We report the case of a patient with lead poisoning caused by a dietary supplement. A 40-year-old man was referred to us due to intermittent upper abdominal pain and normocytic anemia. His hemoglobin level was 9.

[Chronic myeloid leukemia with variant e13a3 (b2a3) BCR-ABL1 as an ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor-sensitive subtype].

We report the case of a 26-year-old male patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia in the chronic phase with the e13a3 (b2a3) variant of BCR-ABL1 fusion. Despite the presence of Philadelphia chromosome and fluorescence in situ hybridization-detectable BCR-ABL1 fusion signals, quantitative measurement of BCR-ABL1 on the ABL1 using a reverse primer in exon 2 of ABL1 failed to detect the fusion transcripts. PCR direct sequencing analysis with a sense primer for exon 13 of BCR and an antisense primer for exon 3 of ABL1 revealed the e13a3 variant of BCR-ABL1 fusion.

Malaria rapid diagnostic test (HRP2/pLDH) positivity, incidence, care accessibility and impact of community WASH Action programme in DR Congo: mixed method study involving 625 households.

Background: Malaria is one of the most prevalent and deadliest illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite recent gains made towards its control, many African countries still have endemic malaria transmission. This study aimed to assess malaria burden at household level in Kongo central province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the impact of community participatory Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Action programme.

Transdisciplinary Research Priorities for Human and Planetary Health in the Context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Human health and wellbeing and the health of the biosphere are inextricably linked. The state of Earth's life-support systems, including freshwater, oceans, land, biodiversity, atmosphere, and climate, affect human health. At the same time, human activities are adversely affecting natural systems.

Aspects of the minds of mothers of children with developmental but no intellectual disabilities and the nature of these disabilities.

[Purpose] This study aimed to elucidate the aspects of psychosocial adjustment of mothers of children with developmental but no intellectual disabilities and to clarify the nature of these disabilities. [Participants and Methods] We conducted an unstructured group interview with three mothers of children with developmental but no intellectual disabilities. [Results] The mothers who were not aware of the disabilities, because the disability characteristics made it difficult to recognize easily the disabilities, began to feel anxious about the unforeseeable future when their children began to fail in society outside the home, such as in school.

Six new species of Begonia from Guangxi, China.

Background: With currently 1980 described species, the mega-diverse Begonia is now perhaps the 5th largest flowering plant genus, expanding rapidly from ca. 900 species in 1997 to its current size in merely two decades. In continuation of our studies of Asian Begonia, we report six additional new species from Guangxi, the region/province harboring the second richest Begonia flora of China.

All-trans retinoic acid reduces the transcriptional regulation of intestinal sodium-dependent phosphate co-transporter gene (Npt2b).

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) homeostasis is regulated by intestinal absorption via type II sodium-dependent co-transporter (Npt2b) and by renal reabsorption via Npt2a and Npt2c. Although we previously reported that vitamin A-deficient (VAD) rats had increased urine Pi excretion through the decreased renal expression of Npt2a and Npt2c, the effect of vitamin A on the intestinal Npt2b expression remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of treatment with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a metabolite of vitamin A, on the Pi absorption and the Npt2b expression in the intestine of VAD rats, as well as and the underlying molecular mechanisms.

The matrix vesicle cargo miR-125b accumulates in the bone matrix, inhibiting bone resorption in mice.

Communication between osteoblasts and osteoclasts plays a key role in bone metabolism. We describe here an unexpected role for matrix vesicles (MVs), which bud from bone-forming osteoblasts and have a well-established role in initiation of bone mineralization, in osteoclastogenesis. We show that the MV cargo miR-125b accumulates in the bone matrix, with increased accumulation in transgenic (Tg) mice overexpressing miR-125b in osteoblasts.

Prevalence of Smoking Among 4 Licensed Types of Nursing Personnel in Japan: An Epidemiological Study.

There is a high prevalence of smoking among nursing personnel, despite the fact that nursing is a health care profession. In Japan there are 4 types of licensed nursing professionals. However, the prevalence of smoking among different types of licensed personnel has not been clarified.

Sustaining Power of Nurses in a Damaged Hospital During the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Purpose: This study aimed to describe the experiences of nurses who were employed in a psychiatric hospital in Fukushima prefecture during the Great East Japan Earthquake and to explore what sustained the nurses while they worked in the damaged hospital.

Design And Methods: The research design was a qualitative descriptive study. The setting for the study was one of the Fukushima psychiatric hospitals where functions were disrupted by the earthquake and tsunami.

Impact of Diarrhea after Drinking on Colorectal Tumor Risk: A Case Control Study.

Background: Recently, the number of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases in Japan has been increasing, and is strongly influenced by alcohol consumption. On the other hand, there are several reports suggesting a relationship between bowel movement (constipation and diarrhea) and CRC development. Moreover, it is generally known that diarrhea may occur after drinking.

Environmental and sociodemographic factors associated with household malaria burden in the Congo.

Background: Malaria is one of the most severe public health issues that result in massive morbidity and mortality in most countries of the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study aimed to determine the scope of household, accessibility to malaria care and factors associated with household malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in an urban and a rural sites in which 152 households participated, including 82 urban and 70 rural households (1029 members in total).

Metabolism of Natural Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acid, Tetracosahexaenoic Acid (24:6n-3), in C57BL/KsJ-db/db Mice.

Tetracosahexaenoic acid (THA; 24:6n-3) is a natural, n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid (n-3HUFA) that exists in fish, including Baltic herring (Clupea harengus) and the flathead flounder (Hippoglossoides dubius). In this study, natural n-3HUFAs, i.d.

Meaning and potential of interview data in depiction of life stories: interviews of three mothers caring for children with severe disabilities.

[Purpose] This study aimed to review the meaning and potential of interview data for life story depiction. [Participants and Methods] The participants were three mothers who appeared to have positively accepted their daily lives while raising children with severe disabilities. Semi-structured interviews of these mothers were performed.

Respiratory health of dust-exposed Congolese coltan miners.

Purpose: In Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), informal coltan mining has been expanding amidst increased insecurity due to armed conflicts. We investigated the impact of occupational dust-exposure on the respiratory health of Congolese coltan miners.

Methods: In total, 441 Congolese workers participated in this study, including 199 informal coltan miners and 242 office workers (controls).

Higher enterococcus counts indicate a lower risk of colorectal adenomas: a prospective cohort study.

Intestinal bacteria play an important role in human health. This prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the relationship between the abundance of different intestinal bacteria and the risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). Fecal samples from CRC patients ( 157) were collected at the start of the study wherein patients subsequently underwent endoscopy to remove polyps.

RANKL-mediated osteoclastogenic differentiation of macrophages in the abdominal aorta of angiotensin II-infused apolipoprotein E knockout mice.

Objective: Osteoclastogenic activation of macrophages (OCG) occurs in human abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and in calcium chloride-induced degenerative AAAs in mice, which have increased matrix metalloproteinase activity. As the activity of OCG in dissecting aneurysms is not clear, we tested the hypothesis that OCG contributes to angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced dissecting aneurysm (Ang II-induced AAA) in apolipoprotein E knockout mice.

Methods: AAAs were produced in apolipoprotein E knockout mice via the administration of Ang II.