Tonal alignment in Tokyo Japanese

A large amount of evidence for regularities of tonal alignment in various languages has been accumulated recently. However, there is still much disagreement on the characterisation and modelling of these alignment regularities. This thesis investigates tonal alignment in Tokyo Japanese with two objectives. One is to provide a thorough description of tonal alignment in Tokyo Japanese, including a well-known phenomenon, ososagari ('peak delay'); the other is to contribute to the current understanding of tonal alignment, based on empirical data of tonal alignment in Tokyo Japanese. Three speech production experiments were performed. The first experiment examined the alignment of the F0 targets at the beginning of initial-accented words, varying the syllable/mora structures of the accented syllable. The results showed that both the F0 valley and peak were consistently aligned with specific segmental landmarks, and that the alignment of the F0 peak depended on the syllable/mora structure of the accented syllable. The second experiment explored how the alignment patterns found in the first experiment were influenced in different speaking modes; the speaking modes of interest were fast speech rate, raised voice, and local emphasis. The results showed that the orderly alignment behaviour found in the first experiment remained intact irrespective of different speaking modes, although different kinds of small effects were found. The third experiment compared the F0 peak alignment of unaccented and non-initial-accented words to those of initial-accented words. The results of unaccented words demonstrated consistent alignment of the F0 peak with a specific landmark, which is comparable to those of initial-accented words. On the other hand, the results of non-initial-accented words showed earlier alignment of the F0 peak for the pitch accent than those of initial-accented words. The results of the current study as a whole demonstrate consistent alignment of the F0 targets with specific places in the prosodic structure in a language-specific way, which are rather resistant to changes caused by differences of speaking mode. Further durational analyses, together with the alignment data, also suggest that segments and tones are mutually synchronised with each other. These findings provide further evidence that segmental anchoring is a necessary concept in accounting for alignment regularities

Protective Actions of 17 β

Steroid hormones synthesized in and secreted from peripheral endocrine glands pass through the blood-brain barrier and play a role in the central nervous system. In addition, the brain possesses an inherent endocrine system and synthesizes steroid hormones known as neurosteroids. Increasing evidence shows that neuroactive steroids protect the central nervous system from various harmful stimuli. Reports show that the neuroprotective actions of steroid hormones attenuate oxidative stress. In this review, we summarize the antioxidative effects of neuroactive steroids, especially 17β-estradiol and progesterone, on neuronal injury in the central nervous system under various pathological conditions, and then describe our recent findings concerning the neuroprotective actions of 17β-estradiol and progesterone on oxidative neuronal injury induced by organometallic compounds, tributyltin, and methylmercury

Dual Role of Superoxide Dismutase 2 Induced in Activated Microglia: OXIDATIVE STRESS TOLERANCE AND CONVERGENCE OF INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES

Microglia are activated quickly in response to external pathogens or cell debris and clear these substances via the inflammatory response. However, excessive activation of microglia can be harmful to host cells due to the increased production of reactive oxygen species and proinflammatory cytokines. Superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) is reportedly induced under various inflammatory conditions in the central nervous system. We herein demonstrated that activated microglia strongly express SOD2 and examined the role of SOD2, focusing on regulation of the microglial activity and the susceptibility of microglia to oxidative stress. When rat primary microglia were treated with LPS, poly(I:C), peptidoglycan, or CpG oligodeoxynucleotide, respectively, the mRNA and protein levels of SOD2 largely increased. However, an increased expression of SOD2 was not detected in the primary neurons or astrocytes, indicating that SOD2 is specifically induced in microglia under inflammatory conditions. The activated microglia showed high tolerance to oxidative stress, whereas SOD2 knockdown conferred vulnerability to oxidative stress. Interestingly, the production of proinflammatory cytokines was increased in the activated microglia treated with SOD2 siRNA compared with that observed in the control siRNA-treated cells. Pretreatment with NADPH oxidase inhibitors, diphenylene iodonium and apocynin, decreased in not only reactive oxygen species generation but also the proinflammatory cytokine expression. Notably, SOD2 knockdown largely potentiated the nuclear factor κB activity in the activated microglia. Taken together, increased SOD2 conferred tolerance to oxidative stress in the microglia and decreased proinflammatory cytokine production by attenuating the nuclear factor κB activity. Therefore, SOD2 might regulate neuroinflammation by controlling the microglial activities.This work was supported in part by KAKENHI Grants 26740024, 30291149, and 22310041 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (to Y. I., K. I., and T. Y.); a grant from the Fujii Foundation (to Y. I.); and a grant from the Hiroshima University Education and Research Support Foundation (to Y. I.)

Prehospital advanced airway management of emergency medical service-witnessed traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients: analysis of nationwide trauma registry

Aim: Survival of traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is poor. Early use of advanced airway management (AAM) tech niques, including endotracheal intubation and supraglottic devices, are expected to contribute to the improved survival of these patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether prehospital use of AAM improves the outcomes for emergency medical service (EMS)-witnessed traumatic OHCA. Methods: A nationwide retrospective study was carried out. Trauma patients with EMS-witnessed cardiac arrest who received car diopulmonary resuscitation during transport were included. Patients younger than 16 years and those with missing data were excluded. We compared two groups using propensity score matching. The primary outcome was survival to discharge. The secondary outcome was return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) on hospital arrival. A logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI). Results: After propensity score matching, 1,346 patients were enrolled (AAM 673 versus non-AAM 673). Forty-four AAM cases (6.5%) and 39 non-AAM cases (5.8%) survived. Logistic regression analysis did not show a contribution of AAM for survival to discharge (AAM 44/673 (6.5%), non-AAM 39/673 (5.8%); OR 1.12; 95% CI, 0.70-1.76; P = 0.64). However, AAM improved ROSC on admission (AAM 141/673 (21.0%), non-AAM 77/673 (11.4%); OR 2.05; 95% CI, 1.51-2.78; P < 0.001). This tendency was consistent throughout our subgroup analysis categorized by body region of the severe injury (head trauma, torso trauma, and extremity/spine trauma). Conclusions: Prehospital AAM among EMS-witnessed traumatic OHCA patients was not associated with survival to discharge; however, ROSC on hospital admission improved for the AAM patients

Prehospital emergency life-saving technicians promote the survival of trauma patients: A retrospective cohort study

Objective Appropriate decisions by medical technicians at a trauma scene may influence a patient's prognosis. Emergency life-saving technicians (ELSTs) are certified specialists trained with the knowledge to provide advanced techniques for prehospital emergency care in Japan. However, the benefit of treatment by ELSTs compared to basic emergency medical technicians (BEMTs) remains unclear. The aim of this study is to determine whether treatment by ELSTs improves outcomes for trauma patients. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the Japan Trauma Data Bank for the years 2004 to 2017. Patients transferred to the hospital directly from the trauma scene and at least 16 years old were included in this study. The following criteria were used to exclude patients; presence of burns, untreatable severe traumas, unknown ELST attendance, and missing prognosis. We compared two groups (ELST group: patients transported by emergency medical services (EMS) with the presence of at least one ELST; BEMT group: patients transported only by BEMTs). Primary outcome was survival to discharge. Secondary outcomes were the need of definitive treatments defined by surgical intervention, intravascular radiology and blood transfusion at the receiving hospital within 24 h. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) adjusted by age, sex, revised trauma score, and Injury severity score (ISS). Results Overall survival to discharge did not improve significantly (adjusted OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.99–1.30) with ELST intervention. In-hospital blood transfusion was more frequently required in the ELST group (adjusted OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01–1.20). Emergency interventions (adjusted OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.97–1.09) were not different between the groups. In stratified analysis, the benefit of ELST attendance for survival was observed among patients with ISS Conclusions Dispatch systems with ELST should be considered for trauma transports, which may benefit elderly or moderate severity trauma groups, with shorter transportation time conditions