A fully automated health-care monitoring at home without attachment of any biological sensors and its clinical evaluation.

金沢大学理工研究域機械工学系Daily monitoring of health condition is important for an effective scheme for early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases such as adiposis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other diseases. Commercially available devices for health care monitoring at home are cumbersome in terms of self-attachment of biological sensors and self-operation of the devices. From this viewpoint, we have been developing a non-conscious physiological monitor installed in a bath, a lavatory, and a bed for home health care and evaluated its measurement accuracy by simultaneous recordings of a biological sensors directly attached to the body surface. In order to investigate its applicability to health condition monitoring, we have further developed a new monitoring system which can automatically monitor and store the health condition data. In this study, by evaluation on 3 patients with cardiac infarct or sleep apnea syndrome, patients\u27 health condition such as body and excretion weight in the toilet and apnea and hypopnea during sleeping were successfully monitored, indicating that the system appears useful for monitoring the health condition during daily living

Development of an Ambulatory Device for Monitoring Posture Change and Walking Speed for Use in Rehabilitation

山越, 憲一金沢大学ベンチャー・ビジネス・ラボラトリー金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科知的システム創成Monitoring of posture change in sagittal plane and walking speed is important for evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation program or brace. We have developed a wearable device for monitoring human activity. However, in the previous system, there still remain several drawbacks for practical use such as accuracy in angle measurement, cumbersome cable arrangements, and so on. In order to improve these practical drawbacks, a new sensor system was designed, and its availability was evaluated. The results demonstrated that the accuracy of this system showed superior to that of the previous, and this system appears to be a significant means for quantitative assessment of the patient\u27s motion. ©2006 IEEE

RIM1 confers sustained activity and neurotransmitter vesicle anchoring to presynaptic Ca2+ channels.

International audienceThe molecular organization of presynaptic active zones is important for the neurotransmitter release that is triggered by depolarization-induced Ca2+ influx. Here, we demonstrate a previously unknown interaction between two components of the presynaptic active zone, RIM1 and voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs), that controls neurotransmitter release in mammalian neurons. RIM1 associated with VDCC beta-subunits via its C terminus to markedly suppress voltage-dependent inactivation among different neuronal VDCCs. Consistently, in pheochromocytoma neuroendocrine PC12 cells, acetylcholine release was significantly potentiated by the full-length and C-terminal RIM1 constructs, but membrane docking of vesicles was enhanced only by the full-length RIM1. The beta construct beta-AID dominant negative, which disrupts the RIM1-beta association, accelerated the inactivation of native VDCC currents, suppressed vesicle docking and acetylcholine release in PC12 cells, and inhibited glutamate release in cultured cerebellar neurons. Thus, RIM1 association with beta in the presynaptic active zone supports release via two distinct mechanisms: sustaining Ca2+ influx through inhibition of channel inactivation, and anchoring neurotransmitter-containing vesicles in the vicinity of VDCCs

Interstitial Pneumonia Developed in HTLV-I Carriers: Report of Two Cases

Two carriers of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) with interstitial pneumonia are described. The first case, a 60-year-old man, was admitted with cough and dyspnea on exertion. Light microscopy of a lung specimen obtained by a transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB ) showed thickening of the alveolar walls with infiltration of lymphocytes and fibrosis of the pulmonary parenchyma. Immunohistochemical analysis of the TBLB specimen showed positive staining in the lymphocytes for UCHL-1. This case was suspected as HTLV-I associated bronchiolo-alveolar disorder. The second case, a 74-year-old man, visited our hospital because of a persistent productive cough and dyspnea on exertion. Light microscopy of the TBLB showed a slight thickening of the alveolar walls and fibrosis of the pulmonary parenchyma with minimal infiltration of lymphocytes. Only 2.2% of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid consisted of lymphocytes. The findings of the second case suggest that some factors other than T-lymphocytes may be related with the development of interstitial pneumonia in HTLV-I carriers. Interstitial pneumonia in HTLV-I carriers may be caused by as yet undiscovered mechanisms. A cohort study involving residents of an area where HTLV-I is endemic should be conducted to clarify the mechanism of pulmonary involvement in HTLV-I carriers

Development of a new wearable monitoring system for posture changes and activities and its application to rehabilitation

金沢大学理工研究域機械工学系In order to evaluate the efficacy of rehabilitation for persons with hemiplegia, a therapist usually makes judgment by directly observing posture changes, walking speed, activities not only in hospital, but also during daily living. Therefore, quantitative assessment of activities is most desirable. From this viewpoint, we have developed a device for ambulatory monitoring of posture changes, walking speed and activity scenario and evaluated its measurement accuracy by simultaneous recordings of a digital video camera. In order to investigate its applicability to a patient\u27s activity monitoring, we have further developed a new monitoring system which can display static and dynamic motion pictures as well as detailed angle changes of the trunk, thigh and calf. This system makes a therapist to easily understand the patient\u27s motion during training in rehabilitation center and activities during daily living. By evaluation on 6 patients with hemiplegia, the patients\u27 motions were successfully monitored during walking in the rehabilitation center and daily living at their own home. The results clearly demonstrated that the system could detect detailed motion characteristics, indicating that the system appears useful for evaluating quantitatively the efficacy of rehabilitation. © 2009 Springer-Verlag

Development of a ubiquitous healthcare monitoring system combined with non-conscious and ambulatory physiological measurements and its application to medical care

The demand for ubiquitous healthcare monitoring has been increasingly raised for prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, acute life support or chronic therapies for inpatients and/or outpatients having chronic disorder and home medical care. From these view points, we developed a non-conscious healthcare monitoring system without any attachment of biological sensors and operations of devices, and an ambulatory postural changes and activities monitoring system. Furthermore in this study, in order to investigate those applicability to the ubiquitous healthcare monitoring, we have developed a new healthcare monitoring system combined with the non-conscious and the ambulatory measurements developed by us. In patients with chronic cardiovascular disease or stroke, the daily health conditions such as pulse, respiration, activities and so on, could be continuously measured in the hospital, the rehabilitation room and subject\u27s own home, using the present system. The results demonstrated that the system appears useful for the ubiquitous healthcare monitoring not only at medical facility, but also during daily living at home. © 2011 IEEE

Development of a ubiquitous healthcare monitoring system combined with non-conscious and ambulatory physiological measurements and its application to medical care.

The demand for ubiquitous healthcare monitoring has been increasingly raised for prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, acute life support or chronic therapies for inpatients and/or outpatients having chronic disorder and home medical care. From these view points, we developed a non-conscious healthcare monitoring system without any attachment of biological sensors and operations of devices, and an ambulatory postural changes and activities monitoring system. Furthermore in this study, in order to investigate those applicability to the ubiquitous healthcare monitoring, we have developed a new healthcare monitoring system combined with the non-conscious and the ambulatory measurements developed by us. In patients with chronic cardiovascular disease or stroke, the daily health conditions such as pulse, respiration, activities and so on, could be continuously measured in the hospital, the rehabilitation room and subject\u27s own home, using the present system. The results demonstrated that the system appears useful for the ubiquitous healthcare monitoring not only at medical facility, but also during daily living at home

Mitochonic Acid 5 (MA-5) Facilitates ATP Synthase Oligomerization and Cell Survival in Various Mitochondrial Diseases

Mitochondrial dysfunction increases oxidative stress and depletes ATP in a variety of disorders. Several antioxidant therapies and drugs affecting mitochondrial biogenesis are undergoing investigation, although not all of them have demonstrated favorable effects in the clinic. We recently reported a therapeutic mitochondrial drug mitochonic acid MA-5 (Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2015). MA-5 increased ATP, rescued mitochondrial disease fibroblasts and prolonged the life span of the disease model “Mitomouse” (JASN, 2016). To investigate the potential of MA-5 on various mitochondrial diseases, we collected 25 cases of fibroblasts from various genetic mutations and cell protective effect of MA-5 and the ATP producing mechanism was examined. 24 out of the 25 patient fibroblasts (96%) were responded to MA-5. Under oxidative stress condition, the GDF-15 was increased and this increase was significantly abrogated by MA-5. The serum GDF-15 elevated in Mitomouse was likewise reduced by MA-5. MA-5 facilitates mitochondrial ATP production and reduces ROS independent of ETC by facilitating ATP synthase oligomerization and supercomplex formation with mitofilin/Mic60. MA-5 reduced mitochondria fragmentation, restores crista shape and dynamics. MA-5 has potential as a drug for the treatment of various mitochondrial diseases. The diagnostic use of GDF-15 will be also useful in a forthcoming MA-5 clinical trial