ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EXERCISE-INDUCED FLATTENING OF FOOT ARCH AND FATIGUE OF EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC FOOT MUSCLES

We aimed to examine the associations between exercise-induced flattening of the foot arch and fatigue of extrinsic and intrinsic foot muscles. Fifteen male participants repeated 100 hops/set until they could no longer maintain the hop frequency or had completed 30 sets. The sagittal plane range of motion (ROM) of the midfoot during stance phase significantly decreased at the final set compared to the initial set (-8.8°). After the fatigue task, MRI T2 relaxation time in all measured extrinsic and intrinsic foot muscles significantly increased (17.2‒37.4%); however, only its increase in the tibialis posterior (TP) correlated with the relative change in midfoot ROM (r = 0.684). These results suggest that fatigue of TP is associated with the occurrence of flattening of the foot arch. This study provides a clinical implication that monitoring midfoot kinematics can be used to assess the condition of TP

足底腱膜の力学的・形態的特性と足部アーチの変形との関連性

早大学位記番号:新8666早稲田大

Study on Site Preference and Electronic State of Y₂(MnxFe₁−x)₁₂P₇ with the Zr₂Fe₁₂P₇-type Structure

We studied a solid-solution system of the transition-metal pnictide, Y₂(MnxFe₁−x)₁₂P₇, with the Zr₂Fe₁₂P₇-type structure, which has two kinds of transition metal sites: three tetrahedral sites and a pyramidal site. We successfully obtained polycrystalline samples of Y₂(MnxFe₁−x)₁₂P₇ in the range of 0 ≦ x ≦ 0.9. The lattice parameter along the a-axis monotonically increases with the Mn substitution, while that along the c-axis is nearly constant. ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy shows that Mn atoms prefer to occupy the pyramidal site. At x = 0.25, the site-ordered compound, Y₂Mn₃Fe₉P₇, was obtained, where Mn atoms occupy the pyramidal site and Fe atoms occupy the tetrahedral sites. The magnetization of Y₂Mn₃Fe₉P₇ exhibits an anomaly at approximately 60 K, suggesting presence of an antiferromagnetic transition, which originates from the magnetic moment of Mn at the pyramidal site

Reduction of butyric acid-producing bacteria in the ileal mucosa-associated microbiota is associated with the history of abdominal surgery in patients with Crohn’s disease

ABSTRACTFecal microbiota is a significant factor determining the cause, course, and prognosis of Crohn’s disease (CD). However, the factors affecting mucosa-associated microbiota (MAM) remain unclear. This retrospective study examined the differences in ileal MAM between CD patients and healthy controls and investigated the factors affecting MAM in CD patients to clarify potential therapeutic targets. Ileal MAM was obtained using brush forceps during endoscopic examination from 23 healthy controls and 32 CD patients (most were in remission). The samples’ microbiota was profiled using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Compared to controls, CD patients had significantly reduced α-diversity in the ileum and a difference in β-diversity. The abundance of butyric acid-producing bacteria in the ileal MAM was significantly lower in CD patients with a history of abdominal surgery than in those without. Because butyric acid is a major energy source in the intestinal epithelium, its metabolism via β-oxidation increases oxygen consumption in epithelial cells, reducing oxygen concentration in the intestinal lumen and increasing the abundance of obligate anaerobic bacteria. The suppression of obligate anaerobes in CD patients caused an overgrowth of facultative anaerobes. Summarily, reducing the abundance of butyric acid-producing bacteria in the ileal MAM may play an important role in CD pathophysiology