Toward understanding the anisotropic point spread function of Suprime-Cam and its impact on cosmic shear measurement

We examined the anisotropic point spread function (PSF) of Suprime-Cam data utilizing dense star field data. We decomposed the PSF ellipticities into three components, the optical aberration, atmospheric turbulence, and chip-misalignment in an empirical manner, and evaluated the amplitude of each component. We found that, for long-exposure data, the optical aberration has the largest contribution to the PSF ellipticities, which could be modeled well by a simple analytic function based on the lowest-order aberration theory. The statistical properties of PSF ellipticities resulting from the atmospheric turbulence were investigated by using the numerical simulations. The simulation results are in a reasonable agreement with the observed data. It is also found that the optical PSF can be well corrected by the standard correction method with a polynomial fitting function. However, for the atmospheric PSF, its correction is affected by the common limitation caused by sparse sampling of PSFs due to a limited number of stars. We also examined the effects of the residual PSF anisotropies on Suprime-Cam cosmic shear data. We found that the shape and amplitude of the B-mode shear variance are broadly consistent with those of the residual PSF ellipticities measured from the dense star field data. This indicates that most of the sources of residual systematic are understood, which is an important step for cosmic shear statistics to be a practical tool of the precision cosmology.Comment: 17 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

The relationship of car driving and bicycle riding on physical activity and social participation in Japanese rural areas

Limited transportation leads to restriction of activity. However, few studies have paid attention to the effect of the type of transportation. This study focused on car driving and bicycle riding and aimed to examine the association of these transportation methods with physical activity and social participation in Japanese older adults. This cross-sectional study included 374 Japanese older adults living in a rural area. Physical activity was evaluated using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly. The data on transportation mode and 4 types of social participation were obtained from a self-reported questionnaire. An analysis of covariance and a multivariate Poisson regression analysis were conducted to evaluate associations. The sample comprised 304 participants who usually drive a car and 106 who regularly ride a bicycle. Although there was no significant association between car driving and physical activity, bicycle riding showed positive association with leisure time activity (p = .009), household activity (p = .001), and total physical activity (p community association (PR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.11–2.77) and volunteer activities (PR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.08–2.43). These results suggested that car driving and bicycle riding have different effects on physical activity and social participation.本文pdf：タイトル表記無

Impact of Body Mass Index on Survival of Pancreatic Cancer Patients in Japan

The impact of body mass index (BMI) on postoperative survival in Japanese patients with pancreatic cancer is unclear. We examined the relationship between preoperative BMI and the prognosis of Japanese patients who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer to determine whether BMI affects these patients’ prognosis. Of the patients who underwent pancreatectomy between January 2004 and August 2015 at our institution, 246 were pathologically diagnosed with pancreatic tubular adenocarcinoma; the cancer was located in the pancreatic head (n=161) and in the body and tail (n=85). We classified the patients by BMI: underweight (n=22), normal weight (n=190), and overweight/obese (n=34) groups. We retrospectively analyzed medical records for patient characteristics, lesion location, disease stage, postoperative complications, chemotherapy, and prognosis. Lesion location, disease stage, postoperative complications, and chemotherapy were not significantly different among the BMI groups. The median survival times were as follows (days): all patients, 686; underweight, 485; normal weight, 694; and overweight/obese, 839. In a multivariate analysis, after adjusting for competing risk factors, low BMI was associated with an increased risk of death (normal weight: HR 0.58, p=0.038; overweight/obese: HR 0.54, p=0.059). High BMI was not found to be a postoperative factor for poor prognosis in Japanese pancreatic cancer patients

Evaluation of maslinic acid with whole-body vibration training in elderly women with knee osteoarthritis

PurposeMaslinic acid (MA) is a component derived from a natural olive-based extract known to have pharmacological functions that include suppressing inflammation. This study examined how MA, in conjunction with whole-body vibration training (WBVT), can improve knee and muscle function in elderly women with knee osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsThe study was a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized intervention study that enrolled individuals with knee pain. Participants were 26 females aged 65–85 years with knee OA. They performed WBVT and ingested either 16.7 mg of MA or a placebo daily for 20 weeks. We compared the effect of WBVT with placebo (WBVT/P) and WBVT with MA (WBVT/MA) in participants with various degrees of knee OA (Kellgren and Lawrence (K-L) grade) using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score and isokinetic dynamometer measurements to evaluate knee and muscle function with two-way ANOVA.ResultsBased on the results of two-way ANOVA analysis of muscle function measurements, there was significant interaction (time × group) (P = 0.03) in the “isokinetic extension peak torque” domain for severe OA (K-L grade ≥ 3). The simple main effect of time in the WBVT/MA group (P = 0.04) contributed to this interaction. The JOA score for WBVT/MA supported the main effect of group as having a significant correlation in the “pain on walking” (P = 0.04) and “range of motion” (P < 0.01) domains. Participants with severe knee OA in the WBVT/MA group improved in these domains, whereas the WBVT/P group had few positive results.ConclusionsParticipants with severe OA who ingested MA in conjunction with WBVT improved their knee and muscle function. This study suggests that ingesting the anti-inflammatory supplement MA while participating in WBVT, elderly women can reduce knee OA and improve their knee muscle strength

The Associations Between Smoking Habits and Serum Triglyceride or Hemoglobin A1c Levels Differ According to Visceral Fat Accumulation

Background: Whether smokers and former smokers have worse lipid profiles or glucose levels than non-smokers remains unclear.Methods: The subjects were 1152 Japanese males aged 42 to 81 years. The subjects were divided according to their smoking habits (nonsmokers, former smokers, and current smokers) and their visceral fat area (VFA) (<100 cm2 and ≥100 cm2).Results: The serum triglyceride (TG) levels of 835 males were assessed. In the VFA ≥100 cm2 group, a significantly greater proportion of current smokers (47.3%) exhibited TG levels of ≥150 mg/dL compared with former smokers (36.4%) and non-smokers (18.8%). The difference in TG level distribution between former smokers and non-smokers was also significant. However, among the subjects with VFA of <100 cm2, the TG levels of the three smoking habit groups did not differ. The serum hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels of 877 males were also assessed. In the VFA <100 cm2 group, significantly higher proportions of current smokers (17.9%) and former smokers (14.9%) demonstrated HbA1c levels of ≥5.6% compared with non-smokers (6.3%). In contrast, in the VFA ≥100 cm2 group, significantly fewer former smokers displayed HbA1c levels of ≥5.6% compared with non-smokers and current smokers. Furthermore, the interaction between smoking habits and VFA was associated with the subjects’ TG and HbA1c concentrations, and the associations of TG and HbA1c concentrations and smoking habits varied according to VFA.Conclusions: Both smoking habits and VFA exhibited associations with TG and HbA1c concentrations. The associations between smoking habits and these parameters differed according to VFA

Change in hand dexterity and habitual gait speed reflects cognitive decline over time in healthy older adults: a longitudinal study

[Purpose] There is a relationship between physical and cognitive functions; therefore, impairment of physical function would mean cognitive decline. This study aimed to investigate the association between change in physical and cognitive functions. [Subjects and Methods] Participants were 169 healthy community-dwelling older adults who attend the survey after three years from baseline (mean age, 72.4 ± 4.8 years). Grip strength, one-leg standing balance, five-times-sit-to-stand test, timed up and go, 5-m habitual walk, and a peg-moving task were used to evaluate physical performance. Five cognitive function tests were used to assess attention, memory, visuospatial function, verbal fluency, and reasoning. Cognitive function was defined as the cumulative score of these tests. [Results] At baseline, five-times-sit-to-stand test, timed up and go, and hand dexterity were independently associated with cognitive function. In longitudinal analyses, changes in habitual walking speed and hand dexterity were significantly associated with change in cognitive function. [Conclusion] Deterioration of specific physical function, such as hand dexterity and walking ability, may be associated with progression of cognitive decline. Decreasing extent of daily functions, such as hand dexterity and walking ability, can be useful indices to grasp changes in cognitive function

運動支援ボランティア育成を柱とした包括的介護予防システムの構築とその波及効果

科学研究費助成事業 研究成果報告書：基盤研究(B)2013-2015課題番号 : 2528221

Segmental extracellular-to-intracellular water resistance ratio and physical function in older adults

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association between whole-body (WB), arm, and leg extracellular-to-intracellular water resistance (Recw/Ricw) ratios and various physical functions of each segment and muscle mass using segmental multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis. Methods: In total, 988 community-dwelling older adults were included in the analysis. Physical function was assessed using hand grip, 5-repetition sit-to-stand, 5-m habitual walk, Timed Up and Go, and single-leg balance with eyes open tests. Each segmental Recw/Ricw ratio and muscle mass were assessed at 5 and 250 kHz resistances using a segmental multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis device. Pearson's correlation between the segmental Recw/Ricw ratio and muscle mass and physical function was calculated, and the difference in correlation coefficients was tested using Bonferroni correction. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted using physical function as the dependent variable and the segmental Recw/Ricw ratio as the independent variable, adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, and segmental muscle mass. Results: WB and leg Recw/Ricw ratios were significantly positively correlated with good hand grip performance, gait speed, mobility, balance, and standing power (p < 0.05), after adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, and muscle mass. Furthermore, the leg Recw/Ricw ratio was positively associated with lower extremity physical function compared with WB and arm Recw/Ricw ratios and muscle mass (p < 0.01). Conversely, WB muscle mass was more strongly related to grip strength than WB, arm, and leg Recw/Ricw ratios (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The Recw/Ricw ratio is useful for identifying older adults with worse physical function. The Recw/Ricw ratio allows for easy and timely screening of older adults with worse physical function in clinical settings