Decreased levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor relevant to the ossification disturbance in femoral heads spontaneous hypertensive rats.

Ossification disturbance in femoral head reportedly is seen in the Spontaneously Hypertensive rats (SHR) between ages of 10 and 20 weeks. We investigated serum and tissue levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in SHR relevant to the ossification disturbance and osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Serum levels of IGF-1 and VEGF were significantly lower in SHR than in Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) at weeks 5, 10, 15 and 20 (p<0.005). The incidence of histological ossification disturbance of the femoral head was higher in SHR (59%) than in WKY (40%) at week 20. Lower serum and local levels of VEGF in SHR appeared to be related to the incomplete ossification of the femoral heads. Immunohistochemical study showed significantly lower numbers of IGF-1 and VEGF positive chondrocytes in the femoral epiphyseal cartilage of SHR than in those of WKY at weeks 10, 15 and 20. Our results suggest that local and/or systemic levels of IGF-1 and VEGF between ages of 5 and 20 weeks might play roles in the pathogenesis of ossifi cation disturbance of the femoral head in SHR

Identification of osteoporosis using ensemble deep learning model with panoramic radiographs and clinical covariates

Osteoporosis is becoming a global health issue due to increased life expectancy. However, it is difficult to detect in its early stages owing to a lack of discernible symptoms. Hence, screening for osteoporosis with widely used dental panoramic radiographs would be very cost-effective and useful. In this study, we investigate the use of deep learning to classify osteoporosis from dental panoramic radiographs. In addition, the effect of adding clinical covariate data to the radiographic images on the identification performance was assessed. For objective labeling, a dataset containing 778 images was collected from patients who underwent both skeletal-bone-mineral density measurement and dental panoramic radiography at a single general hospital between 2014 and 2020. Osteoporosis was assessed from the dental panoramic radiographs using convolutional neural network (CNN) models, including EfficientNet-b0, -b3, and -b7 and ResNet-18, -50, and -152. An ensemble model was also constructed with clinical covariates added to each CNN. The ensemble model exhibited improved performance on all metrics for all CNNs, especially accuracy and AUC. The results show that deep learning using CNN can accurately classify osteoporosis from dental panoramic radiographs. Furthermore, it was shown that the accuracy can be improved using an ensemble model with patient covariates

Social Networks, Big Data and Transport Planning

[EN] The characteristics of people who are related or tied to each individual affects her activity-travel behavior. That influence is especially associated to social and recreational activities, which are increasingly important. Collecting high quality data from those social networks is very difficult using traditional travel surveys, because respondents are asked about their general social life, which is most demanding to remember that specific facts. On the other hand, currently there are different potential sources of transport data, which is characterized by the huge amount of information available, the velocity with it is obtained and the variety of format in which is presented. This sort of information is commonly known as Big Data. To use this data on Transport Planning application is a challenge, which require employing complex data mining techniques. In this paper, we identify potential sources of social network related big data that can be used in Transport Planning, discussing their advantages and limitations. Then, a review of current applications in Transport Planning is presented. Finally, some future prospects of using social network related big data that are included in the MINERVA project are highlighted.Cost Action TU1305 Social Networks and Travel Behaviour, MINECORuiz Sánchez, T.; Mars Aicart, MDL.; Arroyo-López, MR.; Serna, A. (2016). Social Networks, Big Data and Transport Planning. Transportation Research Procedia. 18:446-452. doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2017.01.122S4464521

Dietary fiber intake and risk of incident disabling dementia: the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study

OBJECTIVES: It has been hypothesized that dietary fiber intake has a beneficial impact on prevention of dementia, but the epidemiological evidence is scant. We sought to examine whether dietary fiber intake is inversely associated with risk of dementia requiring care under the national insurance (disabling dementia). METHODS: The study setting was the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study, involving 3739 Japanese individuals aged 40-64 years at the dietary surveys (1985-99). Dietary fiber intake was estimated using the 24-hour dietary recall method. Incident disabling dementia was followed up from 1999 through 2020. Disabling dementia was further classified into that with or without a history of stroke. Hazard ratios of disabling dementia according to quartiles of total, soluble, and insoluble fiber intake were calculated using the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: During a median 19.7-year follow-up, a total of 670 cases of disabling dementia developed. Dietary fiber intake was inversely associated with risk of dementia: the multivariate hazards ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.83 (0.67-1.04), 0.81 (0.65-1.02), and 0.74 (0.57-0.96) for individuals with the second, third, and highest quartiles of dietary fiber intake, respectively, as compared with the lowest quartile (P for trend = 0.03). The inverse association was more evident for soluble fiber intake and was confined to dementia without a history of stroke. As for fiber-containing foods, potatoes, but not vegetables or fruits, showed a similar association. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary fiber intake, especially soluble fiber, was inversely associated with risk of disabling dementia in a general Japanese population

Canonical Wnt/Β-catenin signaling is required for maintenance but not activation of Pitx2 expression in neural crest during eye development

Pitx2 is a paired-like homeodomain gene that acts as a key regulator of eye development. Despite its significance, upstream regulation of Pitx2 expression during eye development remains incompletely understood. We use neural crest-specific ablation of Ctnnb1 to demonstrate that canonical Wnt signaling is not required for initial activation of Pitx2 in neural crest. However, canonical Wnt signaling is subsequently required to maintain Pitx2 expression in the neural crest. Eye development in Ctnnb1 -null mice appears grossly normal early but significant phenotypes emerge following loss of Pitx2 expression. LEF-1 and Β-catenin bind Pitx2 promoter sequences in ocular neural crest, indicating a likely direct effect of canonical Wnt signaling on Pitx2 expression. Combining our data with previous reports, we propose a model wherein a sequential code of retinoic acid followed by canonical Wnt signaling are required for activation and maintenance of Pitx2 expression, respectively. Other key transcription factors in the neural crest, including Foxc1 , do not require intact canonical Wnt signaling. Developmental Dynamics 239:3215–3225, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78327/1/22459_ftp.pd

Role of exosomes as a proinflammatory mediator in the development of EBV-associated lymphoma

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes various diseases in the elderly, including B-cell lymphoma such as Hodgkin's lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Here, we show that EBV acts in trans on noninfected macrophages in the tumor through exosome secretion and augments the development of lymphomas. In a humanized mouse model, the different formation of lymphoproliferative disease (LPD) between 2 EBV strains (Akata and B95-8) was evident. Furthermore, injection of Akata-derived exosomes affected LPD severity, possibly through the regulation of macrophage phenotype in vivo. Exosomes collected from Akata-lymphoblastoid cell lines reportedly contain EBV-derived noncoding RNAs such as BamHI fragment A rightward transcript (BART) micro-RNAs (miRNAs) and EBVencoded RNA.We focused on the exosome-mediated delivery of BART miRNAs. In vitro, BART miRNAs could induce the immune regulatory phenotype in macrophages characterized by the gene expressions of interleukin 10, tumor necrosis factor-a, and arginase 1, suggesting the immune regulatory role of BART miRNAs.The expression level of an EBV-encoded miRNA was strongly linked to the clinical outcomes in elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.These results implicate BART miRNAs as 1 of the factors regulating the severity of lymphoproliferative disease and as a diagnostic marker for EBV1 B-cell lymphoma. (Blood. 2018;131(23):2552-2567)

Association between high psychological distress and poor oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) in Japanese community-dwelling people: the Nagasaki Islands Study

Background: We investigated the association between psychological distress and oral health status/oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) in Japanese community-dwelling people. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Nagasaki Islands Study. A total of 1183 (455 men and 728 women)has been analyzed in this study. Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). Oral health status was measured by dental examination. The OHQoL was measured using the General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI). We defined the total score of ?5 points on the K6 as high psychological distress (high-K6 group). Results: The multiple linear regression analysis to identify the GOHAI showed that gender, K6, the total number of teeth, the number of dental caries, and visiting a dental clinic within the past 6 months significantly associated with the GOHAI. Among all of these variables, high-K6 (? 5)was a substantial contributing factor of the GOHAI (β = ? 0.23, 95% Cl ? 2.31 to ?1.41, p < 0.0001).Conclusions: It is likely that the individual with high psychological distress was strongly related to poor OHQoL even in the general population

Education level and physical functional limitations among Japanese community residents-gender difference in prognosis from stroke

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little research has been conducted to examine the relationship between education level and functional limitations among Japanese community residents. We sought to examine the association between education level and physical functional limitations among Japanese men and women, and whether that association was modified by gender and history of stroke.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined prevalence of physical functional limitation by educational level using the data from a total of 29,134 Japanese men and women aged 50–69 years living in communities in 2000. The information of educational level (junior high school graduates, senior high school graduates, college and/or higher education) and physical functional limitations (no need for assistance, need for assistance when going outdoors, and need for assistance to carry out indoor activities) were obtained by self-administrated questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proportions of the subjects reported their highest level of schooling were 48% for junior high school, 39% for high school, and 13% for college. Three hundred and twenty eight subjects (1% of total subjects) reported having some physical functional limitations. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that the odds ratio of needing assistance to carry out indoor activities were 4.84(95%CI:3.61,6.50) for lowest education level group and 2.21(95%CI:1.00,4.86) for middle education level group compared to highest education level group. The corresponding odds ratios of needing assistance when going outdoors were 2.36(95%CI: 2.03,2.72) and 1.08(95%CI:0.73,1.60), respectively. Further, the significant excess prevalence of having functional limitations associated with the low education level was identified for men regardless of history of stroke and for women without history of stroke.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low education level was associated with the higher prevalence of physical functional limitations for both genders. That association among persons with history of stroke was observed for men but not for women probably due to gender differences in stroke subtypes and social support.</p