movement self-screening scores and pain

Background : Various musculoskeletal screening and functional performance tests are used to evaluate physical condition. However, validated analysis tools that can identify gaps in pain knowledge during athletes’ daily training are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pain intensity in athletes during their daily training and the KOJI AWARENESS™ test in order to determine whether body dysfunction is related to pain among athletes. Methods : This cross-sectional study was conducted in a fitness center at the authors’ affiliated institution. Thirty-five athletes (17 women and 18 men) aged 20-40 years were selected for study participation. KOJI AWARENESS™ self-evaluated test scores and pain intensity during daily training, as assessed on the numerical rating scale (NRS), were recorded. Results : The KOJI AWARENESS™ score showed a strong negative correlation with the NRS score for pain intensity during daily training (r = −0.640, P < 0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between KOJI AWARENESS™ and NRS scores, even when body mass index, sex, and age were entered as control variables. Conclusions : KOJI AWARENESS™ was highly accurate in detecting pain in athletes during their training

Effectiveness of KOJI AWARENESS tool

Background : The KOJI AWARENESS™ screening test is a self-administered screening tool for assessment of mobility, stability, and strength. It provides corrective exercises corresponding to the individual’s answers to the KOJI AWARENESS™ test questions. However, there is no evidence of the effectiveness of corrective exercises in improving KOJI AWARENESS™ screening test scores and activity-related pain. Methods : Twenty- six healthy subjects (11 female and 15 male ; age 20–50 years) were selected for participation. In a controlled laboratory setting, subjects were administered the KOJI AWARENESS™ test and were provided with individualized exercise programs based on the results of this first test. KOJI AWARENESS™ results were checked on the first day immediately after the first exercise session, and then again after the two-week program. Pain intensity was also assessed during daily training using a numerical rating scale. Results : Compared to pre-intervention, KOJI AWARENESS™ scores were significantly higher immediately after the first corrective exercise session and after 2 weeks of intervention (p < 0.001). Moreover, pain intensity was significantly lower after 2 weeks of intervention (p < 0.001). Conclusions : Individualized KOJI AWARENESS™ corrective exercises were effective immediately on the first day and also after the two-week program in improving the KOJI AWARENESS™ score and reducing pain intensity during daily training

Desymmetrization of meso-methylenecyclopropanes by a palladium-catalyzed asymmetric ring-opening bis(alkoxycarbonylation) reaction

Desymmetrization of various meso-methylenecyclopropanes was accomplished by a palladium-catalyzed asymmetric ring-opening bis(alkoxycarbonylation) reaction employing a chiral bioxazoline ligand. The reaction proceeded smoothly in the presence of copper(I) triflate under carbon monoxide and oxygen at ambient pressure to give the corresponding optically active α-methyleneglutarates with up to 60% ee. Desymmetrization of protected meso-(3-methylenecyclopropane- 1,2-diyl)dimethanols was also carried out to give enantioenriched highly oxygen-functionalized α-methyleneglutarates. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

A dehydrated space-weathered skin cloaking the hydrated interior of Ryugu

Without a protective atmosphere, space-exposed surfaces of airless Solar System bodies gradually experience an alteration in composition, structure and optical properties through a collective process called space weathering. The return of samples from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu by Hayabusa2 provides the first opportunity for laboratory study of space-weathering signatures on the most abundant type of inner solar system body: a C-type asteroid, composed of materials largely unchanged since the formation of the Solar System. Weathered Ryugu grains show areas of surface amorphization and partial melting of phyllosilicates, in which reduction from Fe3+ to Fe2+ and dehydration developed. Space weathering probably contributed to dehydration by dehydroxylation of Ryugu surface phyllosilicates that had already lost interlayer water molecules and to weakening of the 2.7 µm hydroxyl (–OH) band in reflectance spectra. For C-type asteroids in general, this indicates that a weak 2.7 µm band can signify space-weathering-induced surface dehydration, rather than bulk volatile loss

Percutaneous Transtracheal Jet Ventilation with Various Upper Airway Obstruction

A “cannot-ventilate, cannot-intubate” situation is critical. In difficult airway management, transtracheal jet ventilation (TTJV) has been recommended as an invasive procedure, but specialized equipment is required. However, the influence of upper airway resistance (UAR) during TTJV has not been clarified. The aim of this study was to compare TTJV using a manual jet ventilator (MJV) and the oxygen flush device of the anesthetic machine (AM). We made a model lung offering variable UAR by adjustment of tracheal tube size that can ventilate through a 14-G cannula. We measured side flow due to the Venturi effect during TTJV, inspired tidal volume (TVi), and expiratory time under various inspiratory times. No Venturi effect was detected during TTJV with either device. With the MJV, TVi tended to increase in proportion to UAR. With AM, significant variations in TVi was not detected with changes in any UAR. In conclusion, UAR influenced forward flow of TTJV in the model lung. The influence of choked flow from the Venturi effect was minimal under all UAR settings with the MJV, but the AM could not deliver sufficient flow

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation during Hemodialysis Suppresses Postprandial Hyperglycemia in Patients with End-Stage Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Crossover Controlled Trial

Hemodialysis patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) experience blood glucose fluctuations owing to insulin removal. We evaluated the effects of single and long-term application of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) during hemodialysis on glycemic control. This trial was conducted in two stages: Stage 1, following a crossover design and 4 week washout period, eleven outpatients with DKD either underwent a single bout of NMES for 30 min (NMES period) or rested (control period) after receiving nutritional support during hemodialysis; Stage 2, following a crossover design and 4 week washout period, each participant received the intervention for 12 weeks. NMES was administered for 30 min at the maximum tolerable intensity. The mean subcutaneous glucose concentration and mean amplitude of glycemic excursion (MAGE) were determined by flash glucose monitoring for 24 h. Changes in glycoalbumin and MAGE before and after NMES initiation were evaluated. The mean blood glucose level and MAGE after a single bout of NMES were significantly lower than those after rest. Glycoalbumin levels and echo intensity of the rectus femoris tended to decrease, but not significantly by ANOVA due to a lack in statistical power after the dropout of three patients. NMES in end-stage DKD decreased blood glucose levels during and after hemodialysis

Delamination structure imaged in the source area of the 1982 Urakawa-oki earthquake

The Kuril arc collides with the northeast Japan arc in the southern part of Hokkaido, Japan. 3-D tomographic inversion of data from a dense network of sensitive ocean-bottom seismographs and land stations has allowed imaging of previously unseen details of the arc-arc collision structure. A low velocity body dips gently southwestward, at depths of 35 to 45 km, from east of the Hidaka Mountains to the source area of the 1982 Urakawa-oki destructive earthquake (Ms 6.8). The low velocity body is the lower half of the lower crust of the Kuril arc, which must have been delaminated by the collision. We believe that the continuing collision of the delaminated lower crust with the northeast Japan arc resulted as an episode of aseismic slow slip prior to the 1982 Urakawa-oki earthquake as well being the reason for the high seismic activity in this region