Correlation between aerobic threshold and cardiopulmonary response to exercise onset in patients with myocardial infarction

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the correlation between aerobic threshold (AT) and cardiopulmonary response at the start of exercise in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Subjects and Methods: Thirty-one male patients with MI underwent a sub-maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test with expiratory gas analysis to determine their peak oxygen uptake (V̇O₂) level, using Ramp protocol. Results: The patients demonstrated an extended time constant (TC) and decline in AT in this study. Extended TC suggested impaired cardiac function due to reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), as well as an LVEF of 59.8% on average. However, there was no significant correlation between TC and AT. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were 0.56 between AT and area under the oxygen uptake curve (V̇O₂AUC), -0.22 between TC and V̇O₂AUC, and -0.23 between AT and TC. Conclusion: V̇O₂AUC is representative of oxygen utilization and is correlated with AT in patients with MI.首都大学東京学位論文 乙第192号 副論

Microscopic synchrotron X-ray analysis of mercury waste in simulated landfill experiments

Mercury enters into the environment or waste streams because it is present as an impurity in natural minerals. Mercury must be appropriately managed as an hazardous waste. In this study, a waste layer of artificial mercury sulfide mixed with incinerator ash and sewage sludge compost in a simulated landfill experiment for 5 years was analyzed using microscopic synchrotron X-ray to obtain basic knowledge of mercury behavior in a landfill. Mapping by synchrotron X-ray revealed the distribution of mercury-containing particles in the waste layer. In most cases, the movement of mercury sulfide was not considered significant even within a microscopic range; however, water flows could enhance the movement of mercury sulfide particles. When disposing of mercury sulfide, “concentrated placement” or solidification, rather than mixing with other wastes, was more effective at preventing mercury leaching in lysimeters. The chemical form of mercury sulfide in each lysimeter was confirmed by X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis, which showed that most of the mercury was present as metacinnabar and had not undergone any changes, indicating that it was extremely stable. The microscopic synchrotron X-ray analysis proved very useful for studying the behavior of mercury waste in a simulated landfill experiment

心機能低下を伴う心不全例における嫌気性代謝閾値の予測因子

首都大学東京, 2019-03-25, 博士（理学療法学）, 乙第192号首都大学東

脳性麻痺患者における整形外科的手術後の身体機能変化の満足度に関連する要因

[Background] The recognition of required treatments for cerebral palsy (CP) patients, including orthopedic surgery, differs according to region. This study was performed to identify factors associated with satisfactory changes in physical function after orthopedic surgery. [Methods] 358 patients were selected for the questionnaire survey. The following information was collected: gender, primary disease, age of initial surgery, total procedural count, operated sites, satisfaction of postoperative rehabilitation frequency, ideal amount of postoperative rehabilitation sessions per week, frequency of voluntary home training per week, satisfaction of the timing of surgery and the current satisfaction with the changes in physical function after the orthopedic surgery. We classified the patients into the satisfied and dissatisfied group according to satisfactory changes in physical function after the surgery. We performed unpaired t-tests and chi-square tests to determine the variables that differed significantly between the groups. Variables with a p value of <0.2 were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. [Results] The logistic model was revised and summed up to two potential predictors of postsurgical satisfaction with physical function: satisfaction with the frequency of postoperative rehabilitation sessions and the orthopedic surgery of the hip (distinction hit ratio, 75.4%). [Conclusions] This study demonstrated that the frequency of postoperative rehabilitation and history of hip surgery seemed to be related to the satisfaction with the changes in physical function after orthopedic surgery.首都大学東京学位論文 副論

早産児に対する修正6か月までの継続的な枕の使用が頭部変形と神経発達に与える影響

東京都立大

障害を抱える児童の地域における参加に影響を与える因子の検討

東京都立大

Characterization of sulfur-compound metabolism underlying wax-ester fermentation in Euglena gracilis

Euglena gracilis is a microalga, which has been used as a model organism for decades. Recent technological advances have enabled mass cultivation of this species for industrial applications such as feedstock in nutritional foods and cosmetics. E. gracilis degrades its storage polysaccharide (paramylon) under hypoxic conditions for energy acquisition by an oxygen-independent process and accumulates high amount of wax-ester as a by-product. Using this sequence of reactions referred to as wax-ester fermentation, E. gracilis is studied for its application in biofuel production. Although the wax-ester production pathway is well characterized, little is known regarding the biochemical reactions underlying the main metabolic route, especially, the existence of an unknown sulfur-compound metabolism implied by the nasty odor generation accompanying the wax-ester fermentation. In this study, we show sulfur-metabolomics of E. gracilis in aerobic and hypoxic conditions, to reveal the biochemical reactions that occur during wax-ester synthesis. Our results helped us in identifying hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as the nasty odor-producing component in wax-ester fermentation. In addition, the results indicate that glutathione and protein degrades during hypoxia, whereas cysteine, methionine, and their metabolites increase in the cells. This indicates that this shift of abundance in sulfur compounds is the cause of H2S synthesis

Clinical Utility of Germline Genetic Testing in Japanese Men Undergoing Prostate Biopsy

Background: Multiple common variants and also rare variants in monogenic risk genes such as BRCA2 and HOXB13 have been reported to be associated with risk of prostate cancer (PCa); however, the clinical setting in which germline genetic testing could be used for PCa diagnosis remains obscure. Herein, we tested the clinical utility of a 16 common variant-based polygenic risk score (PRS) that has been developed previously for Japanese men and also evaluated the frequency of PCa-associated rare variants in a prospective cohort of Japanese men undergoing prostate biopsy. Methods: A total of 1336 patients undergoing first prostate biopsy were included. PRS was calculated based on the genotype of 16 common variants, and sequencing of 8 prostate cancer-associated genes was performed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction based target sequencing. PRS was combined with clinical factors in logistic regression models to assess whether addition of PRS improves the prediction of biopsy positivity. Results: The top PRS decile was associated with an odds ratio of 4.10 (95% confidence interval = 2.46 to 6.86) with reference to the patients at average risk, and the estimated lifetime absolute risk approached 20%. Among the patients with prostate specific antigen 2-10 ng/mL who had prebiopsy magnetic resonance imaging, high PRS had an equivalent impact on biopsy positivity as a positive magnetic resonance imaging finding. Rare variants were detected in 19 (2.37%) and 7 (1.31%) patients with positive and negative biopsies, respectively, with BRCA2 variants being the most prevalent. There was no association between PRS and high-risk rare variants. Conclusions: Germline genetic testing could be clinically useful in both pre- and post-PSA screening settings