Development of migrating board at water outlet of rice paddy field for upstream migration of fish

Flashboards are set in the water outlets of paddy fields to manage water depth of the fields. Fish can enter paddy fields through the water outlets of the fields when water overflows due to rainfall and continuous irrigation. However, these flashboards often block fish migration. Therefore, we devised four types of migrating boards, namely, flat type, V-shape type, 5 mm guiding wall type, and 20 mm guiding wall type. These migrating boards cover the top of the flashboard and connect the water surfaces of paddy fields and the top pools of fishways. Upward migration tests on Carassius spp., Gnathopogon elongatus elongatus, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, and Oryzias spp. were conducted using these boards. The highest number of fish migrated when using the 20 mm guiding wall type board. A total of 374 times of migration were observed for three of the four species; that is, migration was not observed for Oryzias spp., which was found to be unable to migrate probably due to the too strong currents for the species in these set-ups. The 20 mm guiding wall type migration board enabled smaller-sized fish to swim just inside the guiding wall and larger-sized fish to swim at the center of the guiding wall. Based on these observations, we concluded that the 20 mm guiding wall-type migrating board is the most effective in promoting fish migration

NTCIR-17 MedNLP-SC Social Media Adverse Drug Event Detection: Subtask Overview

International audienceThis paper presents the Social Media Adverse Drug Event Detection (SM-ADE) subtask as part of the shared task Medical Natural Language Processing for Social Media and Clinical Texts (MedNLP-SC) at NTCIR-17. The SM-ADE subtask aims to identify a set of symptoms caused by a drug, referred to as adverse drug event (ADE) detection, within social media texts in multiple languages, including Japanese, English, French, and German. The competition attracted 26 teams, of which eight submitted official runs for the SM-ADE subtask. We believe this task will be essential to develop core technologies of practical medical applications in the near future.Cet article présente la sous-tâche Social Media Adverse Drug Event Detection (SM-ADE) dans le cadre de la tâche partagée Medical Natural Language Processing for Social Media and Clinical Texts (MedNLP-SC) du NTCIR-17. La sous-tâche SM-ADE vise à identifier un ensemble de symptômes causés par un médicament, appelé détection des événements indésirables liés aux médicaments (ADE), dans les textes des médias sociaux en plusieurs langues, dont le japonais, l'anglais, le français et l'allemand. La compétition a attiré 26 équipes, dont huit ont soumis des courses officielles pour la sous-tâche SM-ADE. Nous pensons que cette tâche sera essentielle pour développer des technologies de base ayant des applications médicales pratiques dans un avenir proche

Effects of home-based exercise on pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients: a randomized pilot and feasibility trial

Abstract Background Only a few research is available on the effects of home-based exercise training on pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the effect of home-based exercise therapy on kidney function and arm and leg muscle strength in pre-dialysis CKD patients. Methods Thirty-six male stage 3–4 pre-dialysis CKD patients (age, 68.7 ± 6.8 years; estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), 39.0 ± 11.6 ml/min/1.73 m2) who were being treated as outpatients were included. The subjects were randomly assigned to an exercise intervention group (Ex group: 18) and a control group (C group: 18). The Ex group wore accelerometer pedometers and were instructed to perform home-based aerobic and resistance exercises, such as brisk walking for 30 min per day, for 12 months. The C group subjects wore accelerometer pedometers but received no exercise therapy guidance; the number of steps covered during normal daily activities was recorded for the C group. The outcome measures were changes in kidney function and handgrip and knee extension muscle strength. Values at the baseline (T1) and 12 months later (T2) were compared. Results There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups; however, the C group was more physically active than the Ex group. Eight subjects dropped out, and 28 subjects (14 in each group) were included in the final analysis. Physical activity increased significantly only in the Ex group. Grip strength (F = 7.0, p = 0.01) and knee extension muscle strength (F = 14.3, p < 0.01) were found to improve only in the Ex group. Further, the changes in eGFR were not significantly different between the two groups (F = 0.01, p = 0.93). Conclusions Home-based exercise therapy for pre-dialysis CKD patients was feasible and improved arm and leg muscle strength without affecting kidney function. Trial registration UMIN Clinical Trials Registry ( UMIN000005091 ). Registered 2/15/2011