Brief Announcement: Fast Aggregation in Population Protocols

The coalescence protocol plays an important role in the population protocol model. The conceptual structure of the protocol is for two agents holding two non-zero values a, b respectively to take a transition (a,b) -> (a+b, 0), where + is an arbitrary commutative binary operation. Obviously, it eventually aggregates the sum of all initial values. In this paper, we present a fast coalescence protocol that converges in O(sqrt(n) log^2 n) parallel time with high probability in the model with an initial leader (equivalently, the model with a base station), which achieves an substantial speed-up compared with the naive implementation taking Omega(n) time

Time-Optimal Loosely-Stabilizing Leader Election in Population Protocols

We consider the leader election problem in the population protocol model. In pragmatic settings of population protocols, self-stabilization is a highly desired feature owing to its fault resilience and the benefit of initialization freedom. However, the design of self-stabilizing leader election is possible only under a strong assumption (i.e., the knowledge of the exact size of a network) and rich computational resource (i.e., the number of states). Loose-stabilization is a promising relaxed concept of self-stabilization to address the aforementioned issue. Loose-stabilization guarantees that starting from any configuration, the network will reach a safe configuration where a single leader exists within a short time, and thereafter it will maintain the single leader for a long time, but not necessarily forever. The main contribution of this paper is giving a time-optimal loosely-stabilizing leader election protocol. The proposed protocol with design parameter ? ? 1 attains O(? log n) parallel convergence time and ?(n^?) parallel holding time (i.e., the length of the period keeping the unique leader), both in expectation. This protocol is time-optimal in the sense of both the convergence and holding times in expectation because any loosely-stabilizing leader election protocol with the same length of the holding time is known to require ?(? log n) parallel time

A new quantitative index in the diagnosis of Parkinson syndrome by dopamine transporter single photon emission computed tomography

Objective Dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography (DAT SPECT) has been widely used to diagnose Parkinson syndrome. Using the standardized uptake value (SUV) of DAT SPECT, we propose “functional dopamine transporter volume (f-DTV)” as a new quantitative index to evaluate the three-dimensional volume of functional dopamine transporters and assess its diagnostic ability in differentiating dopaminergic neurodegenerative diseases (dNDD) from non-dNDD. Methods Seventy-nine patients were enrolled (42 dNDD, 37 non-dNDD; 38 men; age, 24–88 years). We analyzed seven quantitative indices. The specific binding ratio (SBR) was calculated using a program specialized for DAT SPECT (SBR_Bolt). The SUVmax, SUVpeak, and SUVmean were calculated using a quantification program for bone SPECT. SBR_SUV was calculated by dividing striatal SUVmean by the average of background SUVmean. The cutoff value of the active dopamine transporter level was examined using three methods (threshold of 40% of SUVmax, SUV 2, and SUV 3) to calculate the active dopamine transporter volume (ADV). The f-DTV was calculated by multiplying ADV and SUVmean. We assessed the correlations between SBR_Bolt and SBR_SUV, and compared the mean value of each index between the dNDD and non-dNDD groups. The abilities of SBR_Bolt, SBR_SUV, SUVmax, SUVpeak, SUVmean, ADV, and f-DTV in differentiating dNDD from non-dNDD were determined by the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) generated by the receiver operating characteristics analysis. Results The SBR_Bolt and SBR_SUV highly correlated each other (r = 0.71). The cutoff value of the active dopamine transporter level was determined as SUV 3. All seven quantitative indices showed lower values in the dNDD group than in the non-dNDD group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p<0.05). Sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of f-DTV were slightly lower than those of SBR_Bolt (71%, 79%, and 0.81, respectively, for f-DTV, and 81%, 84%, 0.88, respectively, for SBR_Bolt). The difference in AUC between f-DTV and SBR_Bolt was not statistically significant. Conclusions This study demonstrates the utility of f-DTV as a novel quantitative index for evaluating the three-dimensional volume of functional dopamine transporters, and that f-DTV has almost the same diagnostic ability to differentiate dNDD from non-dNDD using DAT SPECT

Pain following COVID-19 vaccination

Pain at the injection site is the most frequent reaction among COVID-19 vaccine recipients, but its characteristics were not fully described yet. The purpose of this study was to investigate multiple domains of pain following BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination. We included 107 subjects undergoing primary shot of the vaccination twice into deltoid muscle with a 3-week interval. They completed 6 sessions of pain assessments, one before the first and second dose (1-0, 2-0), and 1st / 7th day after the first and second dose (1-1 / 1-7, 2-1 / 2-7). Pain visual analog scale (VAS), pain distribution, and pressure pain threshold (PPT) on deltoid muscle were evaluated in each session. The mean VAS (at rest / shoulder motion) was 6.0 / 27.6 mm at 1-1, and 12.8 / 34.0 mm at 2-1. Approximately, 90% of recipients showed localized pain within the upper arm. Percentage change of PPTs at 1-1 and 2-1 was bilaterally (ipsilateral / contralateral) decreased to 87.4 / 89.4% and 80.6 / 91.0%, which was recovered to the baseline level at 1-7 and 2-7. Temporary, mild-to-moderate intensity, localized distribution, concomitant with bilateral mechanical hyperalgesia on the deltoid muscle, were typical pain characteristics following this vaccination. These findings provide a rationale that will be informative for future recipients

Assessment of activities and the participation domain based on the ICF for the elderly requiring care

ICFの「活動と参加」の評価を通して,要介護高齢者における生活機能低下の全体像を把握することを目的に調査を実施した.要介護高齢者672名を対象に,ICFの「活動と参加」の第2レベル73項目について,「実行状況」と「能力」の両面から評価点を評価し,Item　Indexとしてそれぞれの困難度を求めた.「活動と参加」における領域ごとの比較では第5領域「セルフケア」のItem Indexが最も低くなり,「実行状況」で37.7,「能力」で34.4となった.逆に高くなったのは第6領域「家庭生活」であり,それぞれ89.6,77.7となった.本研究の結果は要介護高齢者の生活機能低下の現状と評価手段としてのICF活用の可能性を示すものである.The purpose of this study was to understand the degree of functioning and disability level in elderly requiring care through the evaluation of each domain of "activity and participation" in ICF. The study investigated 672 elderly requiring care. In the investigation, regarding the 2nd level of 73 "activity and participation" domains in the ICF, the elderly were evaluated from "performance" and "capacity", and then converted to the Item Index. Subsequently, each item was evaluated, and the degree of difficulty for both performance and capacity was determined. In the comparison of both performance and capacity, the Item Index of Chapter 5 "SELF-CARE" was the lowest, while "performance" was 37. 7, and "capacity" was 34. 4. Conversely, the Item Index of Chapter 6 "DOMESTIC LIFE" became higher: it was 89. 6 and 77. 7 respectively. The results indicate the degree of both dysfunction and disability of the elderly requiring care, and also demonstrate the possibility of the ICF as an assessment tool

大学生の午前と午後の授業中の眠気は夜間の睡眠状況と関連するか

研究論文Original Articles　本研究の目的は，大学生の授業中の眠気と夜間の睡眠状況の関連性を，午前と午後の授業時間帯別に明らかにすることであった．対象は，本学リハビリテーション学部に所属する学生137 名であった．方法は，自己記入によるアンケート調査であり，午前・午後の授業中の眠気の有無を目的変数，夜間の睡眠状況，性別，授業への興味や関心，服薬中の薬剤，うつ症状を説明変数としてロジスティック回帰分析を行った．結果，午前の授業中の眠気は，就床時間が遅く（p0.05）．授業中に眠気を感じる学生に対して，夜間の睡眠環境の整備を行うよう指導する場合があるが，午後の授業中の眠気の予防には，夜間の睡眠環境の整備のみでは効果が得られない可能性がある．　The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between sleepiness during taking classes and the nighttime sleep in university students. This study focused on sleepiness in the morning class and the afternoon class. 137 students in Seirei Christopher University, School of Rehabilitation Sciences were participated in this study. The method of this study was a selfadministered questionnaire. The statistical analysis was used as a logistic regression analysis. The objective variables were analyzed sleepiness in the morning and afternoon classes. The explanatory variables were analyzed nighttime sleep situations, sex, interests in the class, medication, and depressive symptoms. The result showed that the students who felt sleepiness in the morning class went bed significantly later (p 0.05). The professors sometimes instruct to the students who feel sleepy in class for improvement their sleep in the night. However, it may not be solved it for their afternoon class

医療療養型病床の特徴と健康関連QOLとの関係 : 単施設における予備的研究

研究論文Original article　医療療養型病床は，長期にわたる医学的管理のもと，療養生活や機能回復などを行う．リハビリテーション対象者の特徴を捉えることは，効果的な介入を行う上で重要である．リハビリテーション対象者28 名に対し，健康関連QOL と認知機能，栄養状態，ADL を横断的に調査した．結果はいずれも低値であり，ADL は最大〜中等度介助が多い傾向であった．健康関連QOL との関連では，高齢で，同居人が多い患者ほど健康関連QOL が高い値を示した．その人らしい生活を継続もしくは獲得する介入には，多職種による身体機能，摂食嚥下機能，ADL 維持向上に加え，作業療法では病棟内での役割獲得，家族とのコミュニケーションの工夫を行う必要性があることが示唆された．　In long-term care beds, patients receive long-term medical management in the form of medical care and therapy to promote functional recovery. An understanding of the characteristics of rehabilitation patients in long-term beds is important for providing effective intervention. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of the health-related quality of life, cognitive function, nutritional status, and activity of daily living (ADL) in 28 inpatients undergoing rehabilitation. The results showed that all of these values were low. With regard to ADL, patients tended to require moderate to maximum assistance. In relation to health-related quality of life, the older the patient and the more people they lived with, the higher the health-related quality of life. In addition to intervention by multidisciplinary teams to improve the physical function, swallowing function, and maintenance of ADL, the roles of occupational therapy in the ward need to be determined and ways of communicating with family members should be devised

臨床実習指導者が考えるクリニカル・クラークシップの問題点に関する文献検証

研究論文Original Articles　本研究の目的は，わが国のリハビリテーション専門職の臨床実習において，臨床実習指導者が考えるクリニカル・クラークシップの問題点を文献的に明らかにすることであった．対象論文は，医学中央雑誌とメディカルオンラインに掲載されており，キーワード検索に該当した原著論文であった．検索キーワードは，「クラークシップ」OR 「参加型」AND 「実習」とした．その結果，キーワード検索により 215 論文が抽出され，対象論文は，除外基準に該当した論文を除く5 論文であった．5 論文内の記載で多く認められたクリニカル・クラークシップの問題点は，「学生が患者の全体像を把握しにくい」，「臨床実習指導者が学生の理解度を把握しにくい」，「臨床実習指導者の負担が増加する」であった．臨床実習指導者が，なぜ上記の問題点をクリニカル・クラークシップの問題点と考えやすいのか，養成校の教員は原因を分析し，対策を講じる必要がある．　The purpose of this literature review was to clarify the issue of clinical clerkship on clinical practicum of rehabilitation professionals in Japan. The authors searched Centra Revuo Medicina Web and Medical Online. A literature review was conducted using the search term“Clerkship” OR “"On the Job Training” AND “Clinical Practicum”. In total, 215 studies were identified and 5 studies were selected and analyzed. The issue with the clinical clerkship were "It was difficult for students to understand the patients", "It was difficult for clinical educator to understand the students\u27 level of understanding”, "The burden on clinical educator increased”. The instructors in the training institutions for rehabilitation professionals need to analyze the issue of clinical clerkship and take their action