Relationship between medical examination methods and actual conditions of life for preserving visual acuity in primary and junior high school: Verification of the current vision test

The deterioration of children’s eyesight is on the rise. Children's lives have changed in a short period of time, such as an increase in blue light due to the use of electronic devices. It is necessary to consider non-traditional content of health guidance for prevention. The accurate visual acuity test is important to examine the effects of visual acuity and environmental or living factors. We examined the accuracy of the visual acuity test with the three stage Landolt ring for children from the relationship with the eye axial length. After performing a normal detailed visual acuity test of the children and the correlation analysis with the eye axial length, we examined the distribution of the eye axis according to the results of the three-stage visual acuity test by the Landolt ring. The number of children measured eye axial length was 13. The correlation coefficient between detailed visual acuity test and eye axial length was negative. According to the results of the three-stage visual acuity test, the distribution of the eye axis is good for the right eye: the average eye axis of “A” was 23.44 mm, moderate: the average of “B” was 22.58 mm. The average of the left eye axis for “A” children is 23.34 mm, for “B” is 23.08 mm, and for “C” is 23.7 mm. The correlation coefficient between the detailed visual acuity test and the eye axial length was negative on both sides, namely a negative correlation between the visual acuity and the eye axial length. There was a possibility of not correspondence between the three-stage visual test and the eye axial length. In the case of children, it was considered that their visual performance and answers were different because of their mood and physical condition on the day

Umbilical Cord Blood as an Alternative Source of Reduced-Intensity Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Chronic Epstein-Barr Virus–Associated T or Natural Killer Cell Lymphoproliferative Diseases

AbstractChronic Epstein-Barr virus–associated T/natural killer cell lymphoproliferative diseases represented by chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection are lethal but are curable with several courses of chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Recently, we reported that reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) provided better outcomes than myeloablative conditioning because RIC was less toxic. However, it was unclear whether cord blood transplantation (CBT) works in the context of RIC. We retrospectively analyzed 17 patients who underwent RIC followed by bone marrow transplantation (RIC-BMT) and 15 patients who underwent RIC followed by CBT (RIC-CBT). The representative regimen was fludarabine and melphalan based. The overall survival rates with RIC-BMT and RIC-CBT were 92.9% ± 6.9% and 93.3% ± 6.4%, respectively (P = .87). One patient died of lung graft-versus-host disease after RIC-BMT, and 1 patient died of multiple viral infections after RIC-CBT. Although cytotoxic chemotherapy was also immunosuppressive and might contribute to better donor cell engraftment after RIC-HSCT, the rate of engraftment failure after RIC-CBT was still higher than that after RIC-BMT (not significant); however, patients who had experienced graft failure were successfully rescued with a second HSCT. Unrelated cord blood can be an alternative source for RIC-HSCT if a patient has no family donor

Genetic Predisposition to Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose—The prediction of genetic predispositions to ischemic stroke (IS) may allow the identification of individuals at elevated risk and thereby prevent IS in clinical practice. Previously developed weighted multilocus genetic risk scores showed limited predictive ability for IS. Here, we investigated the predictive ability of a newer method, polygenic risk score (polyGRS), based on the idea that a few strong signals, as well as several weaker signals, can be collectively informative to determine IS risk.Methods—We genotyped 13 214 Japanese individuals with IS and 26 470 controls (derivation samples) and generated both multilocus genetic risk scores and polyGRS, using the same derivation data set. The predictive abilities of each scoring system were then assessed using 2 independent sets of Japanese samples (KyushuU and JPJM data sets).Results—In both validation data sets, polyGRS was shown to be significantly associated with IS, but weighted multilocus genetic risk scores was not. Comparing the highest with the lowest polyGRS quintile, the odds ratios for IS were 1.75 (95% confidence interval, 1.33–2.31) and 1.99 (95% confidence interval, 1.19–3.33) in the KyushuU and JPJM samples, respectively. Using the KyushuU samples, the addition of polyGRS to a nongenetic risk model resulted in a significant improvement of the predictive ability (net reclassification improvement=0.151; P<0.001).Conclusions—The polyGRS was shown to be superior to weighted multilocus genetic risk scores as an IS prediction model. Thus, together with the nongenetic risk factors, polyGRS will provide valuable information for individual risk assessment and management of modifiable risk factors

A dehydrated space-weathered skin cloaking the hydrated interior of Ryugu

Without a protective atmosphere, space-exposed surfaces of airless Solar System bodies gradually experience an alteration in composition, structure and optical properties through a collective process called space weathering. The return of samples from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu by Hayabusa2 provides the first opportunity for laboratory study of space-weathering signatures on the most abundant type of inner solar system body: a C-type asteroid, composed of materials largely unchanged since the formation of the Solar System. Weathered Ryugu grains show areas of surface amorphization and partial melting of phyllosilicates, in which reduction from Fe3+ to Fe2+ and dehydration developed. Space weathering probably contributed to dehydration by dehydroxylation of Ryugu surface phyllosilicates that had already lost interlayer water molecules and to weakening of the 2.7 µm hydroxyl (–OH) band in reflectance spectra. For C-type asteroids in general, this indicates that a weak 2.7 µm band can signify space-weathering-induced surface dehydration, rather than bulk volatile loss

Diet and Foraging Habitat of Leach's Storm-Petrels Breeding on Daikoku Island, Japan

Leach's Storm-Petrels Oceanodroma leucorhoa (LSTP) represent one of the smallest seabirds that feed on small micronektons available only in the surface of the sea. Therefore, they may be sensitive to the change of prey abundance. Daikoku Island (42°52'N, 144°52'E) located in the coast of eastern Hokkaido is known as one of their largest colonies. Samples of diet of LSTPs on the island were collected to examine interannual differences in diet and an at sea census of these birds was conducted in waters adjacent to the island to extract information on feeding habitats. Results of analysis reveal that LSTPs fed mainly on fish, krill, amphipods and squids. Because the change in marine ecosystem derived from 1988/89 climatic regime shift, LSPTs fed on a similar range of prey items throughout the shift. This indicates to high ability of LSTPs to search and forage a range of prey items. But lower diversity of food items in 1995 and 2003 than in 1982 and 1986 points to the potential effects of the 1988/89 climatic regime shift on the variability of prey in LSTPs. Density of LSTPs on the sea surface was significantly greater in slope (200-1000m depth) and basin (> 1,000m depth) compared to the shelf (< 200m depth). Productive and predictable upward water transportation in the slope area observed in this study probably supports the energy requirements of large number of LSTPs breeding on Daikoku Island.International Symposium, "The Origin and Evolution of Natural Diversity". 1–5 October 2007. Sapporo, Japan

Redundant Roles of Tead1 and Tead2 in Notochord Development and the Regulation of Cell Proliferation and Survival▿

Four members of the TEAD/TEF family of transcription factors are expressed widely in mouse embryos and adult tissues. Although in vitro studies have suggested various roles for TEAD proteins, their in vivo functions remain poorly understood. Here we examined the role of Tead genes by generating mouse mutants for Tead1 and Tead2. Tead2−/− mice appeared normal, but Tead1−/−; Tead2−/− embryos died at embryonic day 9.5 (E9.5) with severe growth defects and morphological abnormalities. At E8.5, Tead1−/−; Tead2−/− embryos were already small and lacked characteristic structures such as a closed neural tube, a notochord, and somites. Despite these overt abnormalities, differentiation and patterning of the neural plate and endoderm were relatively normal. In contrast, the paraxial mesoderm and lateral plate mesoderm were displaced laterally, and a differentiated notochord was not maintained. These abnormalities and defects in yolk sac vasculature organization resemble those of mutants for Yap, which encodes a coactivator of TEAD proteins. Moreover, we demonstrated genetic interactions between Tead1 and Tead2 and Yap. Finally, Tead1−/−; Tead2−/− embryos showed reduced cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. These results suggest that Tead1 and Tead2 are functionally redundant, use YAP as a major coactivator, and support notochord maintenance as well as cell proliferation and survival in mouse development