132 research outputs found
Applying an Artificial Neural Network to Predicting Effort and Errors for Embedded Software Development Projects
Global Thrombosis Test - a possible monitoring system for the effects and safety of dabigatran
© Otsui et al. 2015BACKGROUND: Dabigatran is an alternative to warfarin (WF) for the thromboprophylaxis of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The advantage of dabigatran over WF is that monitoring is not required; however, a method to monitor the effect and the safety of dabigatran is not currently available. The Global Thrombosis Test (GTT) is a novel method to assess both clot formation and lysis activities under physiological conditions. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether treatment with dabigatran might affect shear-induced thrombi (occlusion time [OT], sec) by the GTT, and to investigate the possibility that the GTT could be useful as a monitoring system for dabigatran. PATIENTS/METHODS: The study population consisted of 50 volunteers and 43 NVAF patients on WF therapy, who were subsequently switched to dabigatran. Using the GTT, the thrombotic status was assessed one day before and 1 month after switching anticoagulation from WF to dabigatran. RESULTS: The OT was 524.9 ± 17.0 sec in volunteers whereas that of NVAF patients on WF therapy was 581.7 ± 26.3 sec. The switch from WF to dabigatran significantly prolonged OT (784.5 ± 19.3 sec). One patient on WF therapy and 12 patients on dabigatran therapy were shown to have OT > 900 sec. CONCLUSION: The GTT could be used to assess the risk of dabigatran-related bleeding complications.Peer reviewe
Corrigendum to “An Increased Ratio of Glycated Albumin to HbA1c Is Associated with the Degree of Liver Fibrosis in Hepatitis B Virus-Positive Patients”
Antidepressant‐Like Effect of Ferulic Acid via Promotion of Energy Metabolism Activity
Scope Ferulic acid (FA), a natural phenolic phytochemical abundantly present in whole grains, herbs, and dried fruits, exhibits anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective effects. In the present study, the antidepressant-like effects of FA in male ICR mice using tail suspension test (TST) are investigated and its molecular mechanisms are explored. Methods and Results Oral administration of FA at a dose of 5 mg kg(-1) for 7 days significantly reduces immobility of mice compared to vehicle-administered control group. Microarray and real-time PCR analyses reveal that FA upregulates the expression of several genes associated with cell survival and proliferation, energy metabolism, and dopamine synthesis in mice limbic system of brain. Interestingly, it is found that FA, unlike antidepressant drug bupropion, strongly promotes energy metabolism. Additionally, FA increases catecholamine (dopamine and noradrenaline), brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and ATP levels, and decreases glycogen levels in the limbic system of the mice brain. Conclusion The research provides the first evidence that FA enhances energy production, which can be the underlying mechanism of the antidepressant-like effects of FA observed in this study
Heliocentric Distance Dependence of Zodiacal Light Observed by Hayabusa2#
Zodiacal light (ZL) is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust particles
(IDPs) at optical wavelengths. The spatial distribution of IDPs in the Solar
System may hold an important key to understanding the evolution of the Solar
System and material transportation within it. The number density of IDPs can be
expressed as , and the exponent was
obtained by previous observations from interplanetary space by Helios 1/2 and
Pioneer 10/11 in the 1970s and 1980s. However, no direct measurements of
based on ZL observations from interplanetary space outside Earth's
orbit have been performed since then. Here, we introduce initial results for
the radial profile of the ZL at optical wavelengths observed over the range
0.76-1.06 au by ONC-T aboard the Hayabusa2# mission in 2021-2022. The ZL
brightness we obtained is well reproduced by a model brightness, although there
is a small excess of the observed ZL brightness over the model brightness at
around 0.9 au. The radial power-law index we obtained is , which is consistent with previous results based on ZL observations. The
dominant source of uncertainty arises from the uncertainty in estimating the
diffuse Galactic light (DGL).Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication by Earth,
Planets and Spac
The CD46 transmembrane domain is required for efficient formation of measles-virus-mediated syncytium
Using assessment of higher brain functions of children with GJB2-associated deafness and cochlear implants as a procedure to evaluate language development
Objective: While investigators have reported that patients with GJB2-associated deafness and cochlear implants have preferable language development, the mechanisms of this phenomenon remains unknown. The goat of the present study was to assess higher brain functions of patients with GJB2-retated and GJB2-unrelated deafness as a method of evaluating language development.
Methods: Eight children with cochlear implants were subjected to genetic testing for GJB2 and underwent the Raven colored progressive matrices test, Rey's auditory verbal learning test, Rey's complex figure test, the standardized Language test for aphasia, the picture vocabulary test, and the standardized comprehension test for abstract words.
Results:Three children were diagnosed with GJB2-related deafness, and five children were diagnosed with GJB2-unrelated deafness. All three GJB2-related cases demonstrated normal range higher brain functions and fair language development. By contrast, one GJB2-unrelated case showed a semantic disorder, another demonstrated a visual cognitive disorder with dyslexia, and another had attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.
Conclusions:Children with GJB2-unrelated deafness showed a high frequency of heterogeneous disorders that can affect proper language development. This difference between children with GJB2-retated and GJB2-unrelated deafness may account for the improved language development in children with GJB2-related deafness and cochlear implants. Further, genetic diagnosis of the non-syndromic hearing toss represents a useful tool for the preoperative prediction of outcomes following a cochlear implant procedure.</p
Amelioration of Acute Kidney Injury in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome by an Aldose Reductase Inhibitor, Fidarestat
Systemic inflammatory response syndrome is a fatal disease because of multiple organ failure. Acute kidney injury is a serious complication of systemic inflammatory response syndrome and its genesis is still unclear posing a difficulty for an effective treatment. Aldose reductase (AR) inhibitor is recently found to suppress lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cardiac failure and its lethality. We studied the effects of AR inhibitor on LPS-induced acute kidney injury and its mechanism.Mice were injected with LPS and the effects of AR inhibitor (Fidarestat 32 mg/kg) before or after LPS injection were examined for the mortality, severity of renal failure and kidney pathology. Serum concentrations of cytokines (interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α) and their mRNA expressions in the lung, liver, spleen and kidney were measured. We also evaluated polyol metabolites in the kidney.Mortality rate within 72 hours was significantly less in LPS-injected mice treated with AR inhibitor both before (29%) and after LPS injection (40%) than untreated mice (90%). LPS-injected mice showed marked increases in blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and cytokines, and AR inhibitor treatment suppressed the changes. LPS-induced acute kidney injury was associated with vacuolar degeneration and apoptosis of renal tubular cells as well as infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages. With improvement of such pathological findings, AR inhibitor treatment suppressed the elevation of cytokine mRNA levels in multiple organs and renal sorbitol accumulation.AR inhibitor treatment ameliorated LPS-induced acute kidney injury, resulting in the lowered mortality
The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory
The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly
successful X-ray missions initiated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical
Science (ISAS). ASTRO-H will investigate the physics of the high-energy
universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range,
from 0.3 keV to 600 keV. These instruments include a high-resolution,
high-throughput spectrometer sensitive over 0.3-2 keV with high spectral
resolution of Delta E < 7 eV, enabled by a micro-calorimeter array located in
the focal plane of thin-foil X-ray optics; hard X-ray imaging spectrometers
covering 5-80 keV, located in the focal plane of multilayer-coated, focusing
hard X-ray mirrors; a wide-field imaging spectrometer sensitive over 0.4-12
keV, with an X-ray CCD camera in the focal plane of a soft X-ray telescope; and
a non-focusing Compton-camera type soft gamma-ray detector, sensitive in the
40-600 keV band. The simultaneous broad bandpass, coupled with high spectral
resolution, will enable the pursuit of a wide variety of important science
themes.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical
Instrumentation "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to
Gamma Ray
Consciousness Level and Off‐Hour Admission Affect Discharge Outcome of Acute Stroke Patients: A J‐ASPECT Study
Background-Poor outcomes have been reported for stroke patients admitted outside of regular working hours. However, few studies have adjusted for case severity. In this nationwide assessment, we examined relationships between hospital admission time and disabilities at discharge while considering case severity. Methods and Results-We analyzed 35 685 acute stroke patients admitted to 262 hospitals between April 2010 and May 2011 for ischemic stroke (IS), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), or subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The proportion of disabilities/death at discharge as measured by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was quantified. We constructed 2 hierarchical logistic regression models to estimate the effect of admission time, one adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities, and number of beds; and the second adjusted for the effect of consciousness levels and the above variables at admission. The percentage of severe disabilities/death at discharge increased for patients admitted outside of regular hours (22.8%, 27.2%, and 28.2% for working-hour, off-hour, and nighttime; P<0.001). These tendencies were significant in the bivariate and multivariable models without adjusting for consciousness level. However, the effects of off-hour or nighttime admissions were negated when adjusted for consciousness levels at admission (adjusted OR, 1.00 and 0.99; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.13 and 0.89 to 1.10; P=0.067 and 0.851 for off-hour and nighttime, respectively, versus working-hour). The same trend was observed when each stroke subtype was stratified. Conclusions-The well-known off-hour effect might be attributed to the severely ill patient population. Thus, sustained stroke care that is sufficient to treat severely ill patients during off-hours is important
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