Risk Management for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in Elderly Patients: Questionnaire for Patients Undergoing Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

More elderly patients now undergo gastrointestinal endoscopy following recent advances in endoscopic techniques. In this study, we conducted a high-risk survey of endoscopies in Japan, using a questionnaire administered prior to upper gastrointestinal tract endoscopy (UGITE), and identified anticholinergic agents and glucagon preparations as high-risk premedication. We also evaluated the cardiovascular effects of anticholinergic agents and glucagon through measurements of plasma levels of human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP) and human brain natriuretic peptide (hBNP). The subjects were 1480 patients who underwent UGITE. Nurses administered a pre-endoscopy questionnaire, questioning subjects regarding heart disease, hypertension, glaucoma, and urinary difficulties as risk factors for anticholinergic agents, and Diabetes mellitus as a risk factor for glucagon preparations. Evaluation of subjects divided into under 65 and over 65 age groups revealed that in subjects aged 65 and over, risk factors for anticholinergic agents were significantly more high than those for glucagon. Analysis of the cardiovascular effects of anticholinergic agents and glucagon, in the elderly patients showed that hANP levels were significantly higher following administration of anticholinergic agents, but the change was not significant for glucagon premedication. Taking a detailed history before UGITE with the aid of a questionnaire at the same time as informed consent is obtained, is extremely useful in terms of risk management and selection of the appropriate premedication

A Preliminary Study on Education for Disaster Risk Reduction in Thailand

This paper reports preliminary findings from the fieldwork conducted in June and September 2022 on disaster education initiatives in Thailand. Firstly, we think that in-service teacher education can off er an effective means of disseminating disaster education in Thailand. Secondly, we found that disaster risk reduction education is mostly taught in social studies at school and that evacuation drills are conducted as extracurricular activities with the support of experts. It also became clear that, unlike schools in Japan, schoolteachers and schools in Thailand do not have a specific role to play in the event of a disaster. In other words, children are considered to be part of the local community and hence, to be rescued by the local authorities. Nevertheless, the role of education in fostering disaster awareness is significant, and we hope to contribute the development of content for disaster education and in-service teacher education for the pre-school and early primary school years.本研究は，JSPS 科研費JP21KK0037の助成を受けたものです

Detection of quantitative trait loci controlling pre-harvest sprouting resistance by using backcrossed populations of japonica rice cultivars

Backcrossed inbred lines (BILs) and a set of reciprocal chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) derived from crosses between japonica rice cultivars Nipponbare and Koshihikari were used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for pre-harvest sprouting resistance. In the BILs, we detected one QTL on chromosome 3 and one QTL on chromosome 12. The QTL on the short arm of chromosome 3 accounted for 45.0% of the phenotypic variance and the Nipponbare allele of the QTL increased germination percentage by 21.3%. In the CSSLs, we detected seven QTLs, which were located on chromosomes 2, 3 (two), 5, 8 and 11 (two). All Nipponbare alleles of the QTLs were associated with an increased rate of germination. The major QTL for pre-harvest sprouting resistance on the short arm of chromosome 3 was localized to a 474-kbp region in the Nipponbare genome by the SSR markers RM14240 and RM14275 by using 11 substitution lines to replace the different short chromosome segments on chromosome 3. This QTL co-localized with the low-temperature germinability gene qLTG3-1. The level of germinability under low temperature strongly correlated with the level of pre-harvest sprouting resistance in the substitution lines. Sequence analyses revealed a novel functional allele of qLTG3-1 in Nipponbare and a loss-of-function allele in Koshihikari. The allelic difference in qLTG3-1 between Nipponbare and Koshihikari is likely to be associated with differences in both pre-harvest sprouting resistance and low-temperature germinability

Plasma-assisted CO2 and N2 conversion to plant nutrient

Colossal research on CO2 and N2 conversion using non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology has been ongoing since many years. The primary focus is on CO and NH3 production through CO2 and N2 conversion, respectively, with high conversion efficiency and low energy consumption with or without catalysts. Although in the present study, we propose that the NTP can assist in converting CO2 and N2 to plant nutrients in the form of plasma-treated/activated water. We used a homemade streamer plasma device and produced plasma-activated water (PAW) using CO2 and N2 feed gas, CO2-activated water (CAW) and N2-activated water (NAW). Later, we used CAW and NAW to treat the radish seeds and evaluate the germination rate, germination percentage, and seeding growth. To understand the chemical changes in PAW after the NTP treatment, we performed a chemical analysis to detect NO2¯, NO3¯, NH4+, and H2O2 along with the PAW pH and temperature shift. Additionally, to understand the other species produced in the gas phase, we simulated chemical reactions using COMSOL Multiphysics® software. Our results show that NOx and NHx species are less produced in CAW than in NAW, but CO2-generated PAW offers a significantly more substantial effect on enhancing the germination rate and seeding growth than NAW. Therefore, we suggested that CO and H2O2 formed during CAW production trigger early germination and growth enhancement. Furthermore, the total plasma reactor energy consumption, NO3¯ and NH4+ selective production percentage, and N2 conversion percentage were calculated. To our best knowledge, this is the first study that uses plasma-assisted CO2 conversion as a nutrient for plant growth

Lunar Phase-Dependent Expression of Cryptochrome and a Photoperiodic Mechanism for Lunar Phase-Recognition in a Reef Fish, Goldlined Spinefoot

Lunar cycle-associated physiology has been found in a wide variety of organisms. Recent study has revealed that mRNA levels of Cryptochrome (Cry), one of the circadian clock genes, were significantly higher on a full moon night than on a new moon night in coral, implying the involvement of a photoreception system in the lunar-synchronized spawning. To better establish the generalities surrounding such a mechanism and explore the underlying molecular mechanism, we focused on the relationship between lunar phase, Cry gene expression, and the spawning behavior in a lunar-synchronized spawner, the goldlined spinefoot (Siganus guttatus), and we identified two kinds of Cry genes in this animal. Their mRNA levels showed lunar cycle-dependent expression in the medial part of the brain (mesencephalon and diencephalon) peaking at the first quarter moon. Since this lunar phase coincided with the reproductive phase of the goldlined spinefoot, Cry gene expression was considered a state variable in the lunar phase recognition system. Based on the expression profiles of SgCrys together with the moonlight's pattern of timing and duration during its nightly lunar cycle, we have further speculated on a model of lunar phase recognition for reproductive control in the goldlined spinefoot, which integrates both moonlight and circadian signals in a manner similar to photoperiodic response

CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING) IV. Overview of the Project

Observations of the molecular gas in galaxies are vital to understanding the evolution and star-forming histories of galaxies. However, galaxies with molecular gas maps of their whole discs having sufficient resolution to distinguish galactic structures are severely lacking. Millimeter wavelength studies at a high angular resolution across multiple lines and transitions are particularly needed, severely limiting our ability to infer the universal properties of molecular gas in galaxies. Hence, we conducted a legacy project with the 45 m telescope of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, called the CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING), which simultaneously observed 147 galaxies with high far-infrared flux in $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O $J=1-0$ lines. The total molecular gas mass was derived using the standard CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor and found to be positively correlated with the total stellar mass derived from the WISE $3.4 \mu$m band data. The fraction of the total molecular gas mass to the total stellar mass in galaxies does not depend on their Hubble types nor the existence of a galactic bar, although when galaxies in individual morphological types are investigated separately, the fraction seems to decrease with the total stellar mass in early-type galaxies and vice versa in late-type galaxies. No differences in the distribution of the total molecular gas mass, stellar mass, and the total molecular gas to stellar mass ratio was observed between barred and non-barred galaxies, which is likely the result of our sample selection criteria, in that we prioritized observing FIR bright (and thus molecular gas-rich) galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASJ; 47 pages, 5 tables, 29 figures. On-line supplementary images are available at this URL (https://astro3.sci.hokudai.ac.jp/~radio/coming/publications/). CO data is available at the Japanese Virtual Observatory (JVO) website (https://jvo.nao.ac.jp/portal/nobeyama/coming.do) and the project website (https://astro3.sci.hokudai.ac.jp/~radio/coming/data/

A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu’s returned sample

Volatile and organic-rich C-type asteroids may have been one of the main sources of Earth’s water. Our best insight into their chemistry is currently provided by carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, but the meteorite record is biased: only the strongest types survive atmospheric entry and are then modified by interaction with the terrestrial environment. Here we present the results of a detailed bulk and microanalytical study of pristine Ryugu particles, brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Ryugu particles display a close compositional match with the chemically unfractionated, but aqueously altered, CI (Ivuna-type) chondrites, which are widely used as a proxy for the bulk Solar System composition. The sample shows an intricate spatial relationship between aliphatic-rich organics and phyllosilicates and indicates maximum temperatures of ~30 °C during aqueous alteration. We find that heavy hydrogen and nitrogen abundances are consistent with an outer Solar System origin. Ryugu particles are the most uncontaminated and unfractionated extraterrestrial materials studied so far, and provide the best available match to the bulk Solar System composition