Factors Associated with Choking During Meals; a Risk Indicator for Repetitive Fevers in the Elderly Community

Background: Choking during meals is a common symptom in the elderly, however the factors associated with it have not been fully clarified. In this study, we examined the factors associated with choking during meals. Methods: The oral health status and practices that promote oral health conditions was surveyed in 1305 community dwelling elderly using a self-administered questionnaire. Eight items including satisfaction with their oral condition, denture fit, chewing ability, tooth brushing frequency, dental visits, exercises to train muscles for chewing and swallowing, choking during meals, and repetitive fever were selected for analysis. Results: 25.1% of the subjects experienced choking during meals, which was significantly associated with repetitive fever occurrence. Differences in satisfaction levels with their oral condition, denture fit, chewing ability, and tooth brushing frequency were observed between groups with and without choking. Age, satisfaction level, and chewing ability were significantly associated with choking during meals. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that choking during meals is a risk indicator for repetitive fever in the elderly living in community settings. Poor chewing ability and dissatisfaction with their oral condition were risk factors associated with choking. These results suggest that training the elderly to eat efficiently and safely and improving oral conditions is necessary for those who suffer from choking during meals to prevent repetitive fever. &nbsp

GABAergic Activities Control Spike Timing- and Frequency-Dependent Long-Term Depression at Hippocampal Excitatory Synapses

GABAergic interneuronal network activities in the hippocampus control a variety of neural functions, including learning and memory, by regulating θ and γ oscillations. How these GABAergic activities at pre- and postsynaptic sites of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells differentially contribute to synaptic function and plasticity during their repetitive pre- and postsynaptic spiking at θ and γ oscillations is largely unknown. We show here that activities mediated by postsynaptic GABAARs and presynaptic GABABRs determine, respectively, the spike timing- and frequency-dependence of activity-induced synaptic modifications at Schaffer collateral-CA1 excitatory synapses. We demonstrate that both feedforward and feedback GABAAR-mediated inhibition in the postsynaptic cell controls the spike timing-dependent long-term depression of excitatory inputs (“e-LTD”) at the θ frequency. We also show that feedback postsynaptic inhibition specifically causes e-LTD of inputs that induce small postsynaptic currents (<70 pA) with LTP-timing, thus enforcing the requirement of cooperativity for induction of long-term potentiation at excitatory inputs (“e-LTP”). Furthermore, under spike-timing protocols that induce e-LTP and e-LTD at excitatory synapses, we observed parallel induction of LTP and LTD at inhibitory inputs (“i-LTP” and “i-LTD”) to the same postsynaptic cells. Finally, we show that presynaptic GABABR-mediated inhibition plays a major role in the induction of frequency-dependent e-LTD at α and β frequencies. These observations demonstrate the critical influence of GABAergic interneuronal network activities in regulating the spike timing- and frequency-dependences of long-term synaptic modifications in the hippocampus

『經傳釋詞札記』における古代漢語の日本語との対照研究の妥当性

Jing-Zhuan-Shi-Ci is a book of notes on such Chinese canonical texts as The Analects of Confucius, and was written in the Qing dynasty. Jing-Zhuan-Shi-Ci-Zha-Ji are its reading notes which were written by Dr. Yu Min. Dr. Yu Min studied the functional words of the Chinese canonical texts by applying the contrastive study of Classical Chinese and English, German, Russian, Sanskrit and Japanese. In this paper the author especially criticizes Dr. Yu Min\u27s contrastive study of Classical Chinese and Japanese

Aurora and Airglow Observations with an All-Sky Imager on Shirase to Fill the Observation Gap over the Southern Ocean

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Special session: [S] Future plan of Antarctic research: Towards phase X of the Japanese Antarctic Research Project (2022-2028) and beyond, Tue. 3 Dec. / Entrance Hall (1st floor) at National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR

A Novel Suturing Technique for Choroidal Avulsion

Ocular trauma has been one of the leading causes of visual impairment, and choroidal avulsion is especially devastating. Surgical treatment of choroidal avulsion is challenging, and very few surgical techniques have been reported. We experienced two cases of globe rupture with 360-degree avulsion of the choroid-ciliary body from the peripheral section. After vitrectomy for a globe rupture, the choroid gradually slid down to the posterior pole over time and vision deteriorated even though the retina was attached. We treated the choroidal avulsion using two surgical methods: a mattress suturing technique using a 10-0 proline long needle and a 7-0 nylon single suture technique. In both methods, the retina-choroid, which had slipped down to the posterior pole, was suspended and fixed to the sclera assisted by a wide-angle viewing system, improving visual acuity. These two methods are considered to be useful surgical procedures for the treatment of an avulsed choroid

Lean Limit Expansion up to Lambda 2 by Multi-Point Microwave Discharge Igniter

The main challenge to run the engine at ultra-lean or high EGR conditions depends on robust ignition of the mixture i.e. generation of a repeatable and robust ignition kernel to subsequently ignite the fuel-air mixture. We had developed microwave enhanced ignition system in which regular spark is augmented by microwaves which generates a bigger size plasma where. large pool of active radicals effectively increased the initial flame speed, engine efficiency, extended the lean limit and resultant decrease in COV of IMEP. Recently, we developed another plasma-based ignition device named Microwave Discharge Igniter (MDI) which works on the principle of microwave resonation within a cavity. MDI is a compact 4.5 mm plug with a quarter coaxial cavity resonator built into its structures. It receives the microwave (MW) pulse signal at 2.45 GHz from a semiconductor-based MW generator which can be controlled to produce very precise pulse characteristics such as pulse width, pulse number and pulse frequency, with time resolution down to 0.1 μs. The MDI has been shown to have very good combustion performance, including dilution and lean limit extensions. An igniter for gasoline engine also needs to be robust. Hence, the MDI was put under stress and endurance tests. The tests were carried out inside a constant volume chamber at non-reactive condition up to 0.5 MPa. The MDI was controlled to discharge continuously for more than 20 million times, 124-hour straight, mimicking the standard lifetime of 20,000 km highway driving. The compact size of the igniter means that multi-point ignition inside the combustion chamber is possible. In this study, a 3-point MDI plug with M12 size was developed and tested inside a practical commercially available multi-cylinder engine to evaluate the performance of multi-point ignition. The lean limit was compared with a standard spark ignition system at 1460 rpm engine speed and 20 Nm engine torque condition. As expected, 2-point ignition performed better than single-point, reaching the air-fuel ratio of 31 (approximately Lambda, λ = 2.1) in cylinders #1 and #3. However, the variance in IMEP of cylinder #2 was higher than that of cylinder #1 and #3 at the same airfuel ratio for both spark ignition and multi-point MDI. This is caused by cylinder difference of combustion due to the mounting platform constraint imposed on the intake manifolds. Even though the engine used for this study was not optimally designed for higher lean limits at the chosen conditions of this study, the multi-point MDI demonstrated a better load and emission performance tests maintaining exhaust gas temperatures below 300°C and achieving single digit ppm of NO compound emission

古代漢語における指示人称表現研究

Submitted by アルバイト QIR ([email protected]) on 2013-05-15T00:31:01Z No. of bitstreams: 2 lit261.pdf: 1462669 bytes, checksum: b31c182d26a803445880e15122fdc4ab (MD5) lit261_abstract.pdf: 113269 bytes, checksum: 68982a8ef70ea135aa15371bbca33d62 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-15T00:31:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 lit261.pdf: 1462669 bytes, checksum: b31c182d26a803445880e15122fdc4ab (MD5) lit261_abstract.pdf: 113269 bytes, checksum: 68982a8ef70ea135aa15371bbca33d62 (MD5)本論文は、古代漢語における指示人称表現について論証した研究である。従来の研究は、どういった語彙が、どの文献に、どれだけあるかについては、さほど顧みられなかった傾向にある。本研究は、語彙を決定し、文献を定め、用例数を見てゆくことによって、具体的な文法現象が明らかになることを、目指した研究である。まず第1章では、その前提として、古代漢語文法研究における時期区分と言語資料の問題を論じた。第1節では、商周漢語、古代漢語、近世漢語というおおまかな枠組みを示し、次に古代漢語の下限について述べた。第2節では古代漢語の言語資料としては、春秋戦国期『論語』以降の歴史・思想方面の十分な校訂を経た文献に限定して、論じることとした。第2章では、古代漢語における指示詞の問題を論じた。まず第1節で研究史の大まかな流れを示し、次に第2節において上古漢語の『孟子』を基本的な言語資料として示し、その体系が所謂三分指示であることを論証した。また第3節では、上古漢語の指示詞が中古漢語においては「繋詞」へと変遷してゆくさまを見た。次の第4節では、『孟子』の近称指示詞限定語に特有の現象について述べた。また第5節では疑問指示代名詞に焦点を絞り、古代漢語における変遷のさまを見た。最後の第6節においては、指示詞「彼」が語用的なレベルにおいては「他称詞」として用いられることを論じ、この現象は次の第3章へと繋がるものである、ということを示した。第3章では、古代漢語における人称代名詞及び人称詞の問題を論じた。まず第1節においては、前章と同じく上古漢語の『孟子』について、人称代名詞の概観について述べた。第2節では、「其」が先行詞を持つ場合と持たない場合について論じ、「其」が人称に拘らない「代替代名詞」であることを論証した。第3節と第4節では、『論語』と他の文献との歴史的な違い、『楚辞』と北方文献との方言間による違いについて論じた。最後の第5節では、人称代名詞よりも広い概念「人称詞」を、『遊仙窟』の呼称について論じた。第4章では、古代漢語の次に位置する、早期白話における指示人称表現の展開について論じた。まず1節では、早期白話の絶対数の少なさ、そしてどの文献を使用するかを論じた。第2節では、第2章第5節で述べた古代漢語の疑問指示代名詞が、早期白話ではどのように展開されるかを論じた。第3節では、「敦煌変文」の指示詞の特に「此個」について、そして最後の第4節では、第3章第5節で述べた人称詞が、『大唐三蔵取経詩話』ではどのような呼称で使用されるかについて論じた。以上の論証によって、古代漢語がどのようにしてそれ以前の言語から発達し、またそれが以降の早期白話へと繋がっていったかについて、今回調査し得る限りの具体資料に基づいて解明しようとした。この分野の研究は、時期区分の設定や文献資料の選択が恣意的になされていることが多い。その意味で本論文は、新たな方向性を目指すものと認めることができると思う

Current status of ground-based optical observations for short-wavelength infrared aurora and airglow emissions in Northern Europe

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OS] Space and upper atmospheric sciences, Wed. 4 Dec. /Entrance Hall (1st floor) at National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR