Non-Abelian Global Vortices

We study topologically stable non-Abelian global vortices in the U(N) linear sigma model. The profile functions of the solutions are numerically obtained. We investigate the behaviour of vortices in two limits in which masses of traceless or trace parts of massive bosons are much larger than the others. In the limit that the traceless parts are much heavier, we find a somewhat bizarre vortex solution carrying a non-integer U(1) winding number 1/\sqrt{N} which is irrational in general.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figure

What Factors Are Associated with Good Performance in Children with Cochlear Implants? From the Outcome of Various Language Development Tests, Research on Sensory and Communicative Disorders Project in Japan: Nagasaki Experience

ObjectivesWe conducted multi-directional language development tests as a part of the Research on Sensory and Communicative Disorders (RSVD) in Japan. This report discusses findings as well as factors that led to better results in children with severe-profound hearing loss.MethodsWe evaluated multiple language development tests in 33 Japanese children with cochlear implants (32 patients) and hearing aid (1 patient), including 1) Test for question and answer interaction development, 2) Word fluency test, 3) Japanese version of the Peabody picture vocabulary test-revised, 4) The standardized comprehension test of abstract words, 5) The screening test of reading and writing for Japanese primary school children, 6) The syntactic processing test of aphasia, 7) Criterion-referenced testing (CRT) for Japanese language and mathematics, 8) Pervasive development disorders ASJ rating scales, and 9) Raven's colored progressive matrices. Furthermore, we investigated the factors believed to account for the better performances in these tests. The first group, group A, consisted of 14 children with higher scores in all tests than the national average for children with hearing difficulty. The second group, group B, included 19 children that scored below the national average in any of the tests.ResultsOverall, the results show that 76.2% of the scores obtained by the children in these tests exceeded the national average scores of children with hearing difficulty. The children who finished above average on all tests had undergone a longer period of regular habilitation in our rehabilitation center, had their implants earlier in life, were exposed to more auditory verbal/oral communication in their education at affiliated institutions, and were more likely to have been integrated in a regular kindergarten before moving on to elementary school.ConclusionIn this study, we suggest that taking the above four factors into consideration will have an affect on the language development of children with severe-profound hearing loss

Effect of exercise and/or educational interventions on physical activity and pain in patients with hip/knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of exercise and/or educational intervention on physical activity and pain in patients with hip/knee osteoarthritis (OA) using systematic review and meta-analysis.Methods: We searched randomized controlled trials that investigated physical activity and pain and compared exercise and/or educational intervention with usual care in patients with hip/knee OA in MEDLINE (PubMed), ProQuest, Scopus, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), including all those published by April 30, 2022 and written in English. Studies that newly applied analgesics after onset of the intervention were excluded. The revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials was used to assess the methodological qualities. The random-effects model was used for meta-analysis with standard mean differences using RevMan version 5.4. The body of evidence for each study was synthesized using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.Results: Twenty studies including 2,350 patients were included (7 exercise studies, 8 educational intervention studies and 5 combination studies). The meta-analysis demonstrated that there is very low evidence that combination therapy of exercise and educational intervention improve the physical activity level at the endpoint (4 articles; SMD 0.33, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.51, P = 0.03). Low evidence was observed for combination therapy reducing pain (4 articles; SMD -0.15, 95% CI -0.29 to -0.02, P = 0.03).Discussion: The current evidence indicated that combination therapy of exercise and educational intervention leads to improved physical activity and pain reduction in hip/knee OA patients, but the risk of bias in each study, especially in allocation concealment, downgraded the evidence level. These findings support the use of a combination therapy of exercise and educational intervention to promote physical activity levels in patients with hip/knee OA.Trail registration: There was no financial support for this research. The protocol was registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (registration code: CRD42020205804)

Degenerative changes in the appendicular joints of ancient human populations from the Japan Islands

Degenerative changes in six major limb joints were investigated to compare their prevalence among five ancient skeletal populations from the Japan Islands. The populations assessed in this study consisted of the farmers in the northern Kyushu/Yamaguchi area and the foragers from the northwestern Kyushu area from the Yayoi period (5th century BC to 3rd century AD); the Okhotsk (5th to 12th centuries AD) foragers from Hokkaido and Sakhalin; the common people from medieval Kamakura (12th to 14th centuries AD) in Kanto, central Japan; and the early-modern farmers (17th to 19th centuries AD) from Kumejima, in the southernmost island chain (Ryukyu Islands). Crude prevalence comparisons showed that the shoulder and hip joints were principally affected in early-modern Kumejima and medieval Kamakura, which contrasted with the high prevalence of elbow and knee joint changes in the Okhotsk people. The heavy dependence on marine mammals and fish for dietary protein intake probably required flexion and extension movements of the most severely degenerated joints in the Okhotsk people. The northern Kyushu/Yamaguchi and northwestern Kyushu Yayoi peoples were more affected by degeneration in the wrist joints than others, possibly due to their use of innovative tools such as stone or shell knives and harpoons. A multivariate logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, region, and sex as the predictor variables for degenerative changes in joints, was applied to only the two samples from Kumejima and Kamakura (including previously reported spine data) because of their better preservation. This revealed differences in the prevalence of changes in some joints; for example, age-related changes were recognized. The Kumejima people were more commonly affected by hip and knee joint changes, whereas the Kamakura people were more commonly affected by changes to apophyseal joints. Because a stable isotope analysis indicated that the trophic levels of the two populations were almost the same, the pattern of degenerative changes would have reflected differences in their specific workloads, such as wet rice cultivation using a peculiar hoe by the Kumejima people. This study, combining multivariate logistic regression analysis of degenerative joint changes and stable isotope analyses, uses large skeletal populations to add clarity to the actual rigors of ancient life. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

含糖酸化鉄注射液の長期投与でFGF23関連低リン血症性骨軟化症を来たしたクローン病の１例

症例は50歳代，男性．クローン病で２年前に右半結腸切除術，小腸部分切除を施行．術後に他院にてアダリムマブを導入され，クローン病は臨床的寛解の状態であった．４か月前より下肢を中心とした疼痛が出現した．アダリムマブによる薬剤起因性ループスあるいは腸炎性関節炎を疑い，２か月前よりアダリムマブ投与を中止し，プレドニゾロンの内服を開始するも改善を認めなかった．血液検査にて，低リン血症と高アルカリフォスファターゼ血症を認め，精査治療目的で当院に紹介入院となった．骨塩定量検査にて骨密度の低下を，骨シンチグラフィーで疼痛を認める骨への多発取り込みを認め，骨軟化症と診断した．血清のfibroblast growth factor 23（FGF23）が175pg/ml と高値であり，入院前まで定期的に使用されていた含糖酸化鉄注射液による，FGF23関連低リン血症性骨軟化症と診断した．含糖酸化鉄注射液投与を中止し，リン製剤とビタミンD 製剤の投与を開始したところ，徐々に低リン血症と高アルカリフォスファターゼ血症の改善を認めた．その後の経過は良好で，FGF23値は徐々に低下を示し，下肢を中心とした疼痛は軽快し，退院した．長期的に含糖酸化鉄注射液を投与する場合は，FGF23関連低リン血症の早期発見のため，血中リン濃度を定期的に測定する必要がある．The case is a man in his 50s. He underwent operations of right half colon resection and small intestine segmental resection due to Crohn’s disease two years ago. After surgery, Adalimumab was introduced in other hospital, and he was a state of the clinical remission in Crohn’s disease. The sharp pain mainly on lower limbs develops from four months ago. We doubted drug origin-related lupus with Adalimumab or enteritis-related joint pain. Therefore, we stopped Adalimumab injection and started internal use of the prednisolone, however the symptoms did not improve and had continued for two months.Laboratory test showed hypophosphatemia and hyperphosphatasemia and then he was transported to our hospital. Bone mineral quantity showed bone salt decrease and bone scan showed increased uptakes in multiple bones. Fibroblast growth factor23 (FGF23) of the serum was high (175pg/ml), and we diagnosed him FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemic osteomalasia induced by prolonged administration of saccharated ferric acid.Saccharated ferric acid has regularly been used until hospitalization. After stopping the ferric acid injection, and taking phosphorus and vitamin D, hypophosphatemia and hyperphosphatasemia was gradually improved. FGF23 level gradually reduced, and the sharp pain mainly on lower limbs was relieved, and it became a discharge. Regular measurement of serum phosphorus concentration is necessary for early detection of the FGF23-related hypophosphatemia in patients with long term use of saccharated ferric acid