Regional contributions through athletic lessons for elementary school children

We have provided athletic lessons for elementary school children for four years. These lessons are at the center of a project that aims to contribute to the local community. Initially, we decided on the following theme: “Have fun, learn to run fast, and stand on the Big Swan track.” To improve children’s competitive abilities, we focused on engaging them in fun activities that would lay the foundation for a life filled with sports; to motivate and engage the children, we gave them a chance to attend track meets as part of the program. This project has great potential, both as a practical approach to Track and Field instruction and as a basis for student volunteer activities in the elementary school teaching course. We believe that faculty members and students of Niigata University of Health and Welfare will be able to connect with many more children in the region through this project

Involvement of the cerebellum in classical fear conditioning in goldfish

To investigate the cognitive role of the cerebellum of fish, we conducted experiments examining effects of cerebellar manipulations on fear-related classical heart rate conditioning in goldfish. We performed two types of manipulations, one was total ablation of the corpus cerebelli and the other was localized cooling of the corpus cerebelli for reversible inactivation of the cerebellar function. Both the cardiac arousal response to the first presentation of the conditioned stimulus and the cardiac reflex to the aversive unconditioned stimulus were not impaired by the ablation or cooling of the corpus cerebelli. On the other hand, inactivation of cerebellar function severely impaired the acquisition of a conditioned cardiac response in the fear-related conditioning. In addition, localized cooling of the corpus cerebelli reversibly suppressed the expression of established conditioned response. We suggest that the cerebellum of fish is not only being a motor coordination center but also is involved in emotional learning

Pediatric Living Donor Liver Transplantation for Congenital Absence of the Portal Vein With Pulmonary Hypertension: A Case Report

Few reports of liver transplantation exist in patients with congenital absence of the portal vein and pulmonary hypertension. Living donor liver transplantation is usually performed before exacerbation of pulmonary hypertension. A 7-year-old girl (height: 131.5 cm; weight: 27.4 kg) with congenital absence of the portal vein was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary artery pressure 35 mm Hg), and liver transplantation was planned before exacerbation of pulmonary hypertension. We successfully managed her hemodynamic parameters using low-dose dopamine and noradrenaline under monitoring of arterial blood pressure, central venous pressure, cardiac output, and stroke volume variation. Anesthesia was maintained using air-oxygen-sevoflurane and remifentanil 0.1 to 0.6 μg∙kg-1∙min-1. It is necessary to understand the potential perioperative complications in such cases and to adopt a multidisciplinary team approach in terms of the timing of transplantation and readiness to deal with exacerbation of pulmonary hypertension

日本人男性における携帯式尿流量計(P-Flowdiary®)を用いた排尿量/尿流量に関する年齢階層別ノモグラムの作成

Background: To develop a nomogram of urinary volume and flow based on the data of Japanese men without lower urinary tract symptoms and multiple flows per participant whose characteristics were clear. Methods: Overall, 101 Japanese male volunteers without lower urinary tract symptoms aged between 20 and 59 years were enrolled. A portable uroflowmeter (P-Flowdiary®) was used to record urinary information (flow rate and volume) for 2 successive days. The model (quadratic, linear, or logarithmic regression) most fit for the relationship between maximum flow rate and voided volume was determined. The maximum flow rate at > 150 mL was compared among the 20-29-, 30-39-, 40-49-, and 50-59-year age groups. Nomograms appropriate for the age groups were created. Results: The mean age, International Prostate Symptom Score, and Overactive Bladder Symptom Score were 38.5 years, 0.42, and 0.24, respectively. The quadratic regression model was the most fit because its mean coefficient determination was 0.93 ± 0.06. The mean maximum flow rate was significantly lower in the 50-59-year age group (21.8 ± 5.05 mL/s, P < 0.01) than in the younger groups (24.14 ± 4.94, 24.05 ± 6.99, and 24.64 ± 5.72 mL/s). The 2 nomograms are Y = 28.99 {1 - exp(- 0.01 × X)} and Y = 25.67 {1 - exp(- 0.01 × X)} for the 20-49- and 50-59-year age groups, respectively. Conclusions: The nomogram can predict maximum flow rate based on voided volume in Japanese men aged 20-59 years without lower urinary tract symptoms.博士（医学）・甲第858号・令和4年12月22日© 2022. The Author(s). Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data

Fetal Cerebellar Growth Curves Based on Biomathematics in Normally Developing Japanese Fetuses and Fetuses with Trisomy 18

We used biomathematics to describe and compare cerebellar growth in normally developing and trisomy 18 Japanese fetuses. This retrospective study included 407 singleton pregnancies with fetuses at 14-39 weeks of gestation and 33 fetuses with trisomy 18 at 17-35 weeks. We used ultrasonography to measure fetal transverse cerebellar diameter (TCD) and anteroposterior cerebellar diameter (APCD). We hypothesized that cerebellar growth is proportional to cerebellar length at any given time point. We determined the formula L(t) ≒Keat+r, where e is Napier’s number, t is time, L is cerebellar length, and a, K, and r are constants. We then obtained regression functions for each TCD and APCD in all fetuses. The regression equations for TCD and APCD values in normal fetuses, expressed as exponential functions, were TCD(t)=27.85e0.02788t−28.62 (mm) (adjusted R2=0.997), and APCD(t)=324.29e0.00286t−322.62 (mm) (adjusted R2=0.995). These functions indicated that TCD and APCD grew at constant rates of 2.788%/week and 0.286%/week, respectively, throughout gestation. TCD (0.0153%/week) and APCD (0.000430%/week) grew more slowly in trisomy 18 fetuses. This study demonstrates the potential of biomathematics in clinical research and may aid in biological understanding of fetal cerebellar growth