Burden of Family Care-Givers and the Rationing in the Long Term Care Insurance Benefits of Japan

Long Term Care Insurance introduced in Japan in 2000 is rapidly turning into a system of rationed benefits due to financial difficulty. Based on our survey of 2500 family care-givers and the Zarit Care-Giver Burden Index, we have examined how these changes are affecting their subjective burden, following Kishida's seminary work. We have found evidence that (a)rationings in short-term-stays, day-services, or home-helper services, (b)disruptive or anti-social behaviors of the elderly, and (c)care-giver's own sleeping disorders are substantially adding to their burden. We have also found (d)a causal relationship where a higher burden is resulting in poor self-reported health.Long-term Care Insurance, Burden Index of Care-Givers, Rationning

Fundamental Study of Tandem Electron Beam Welding for Nuclear Fusion and Fission Reactors

As the important part of the life extension program for nuclear fission reactors and that of the maintenance scheme of blanket of fusion reactors, repair welding technique of neutron damaged materials is recognized to be one of the most urgent subjects to be established. This work provides the potentiality and the critical issues of "Tandem electron beam welding technique" when it is applied to heavily neutron damaged materials. Where mechanical property degradation due to the displacement damage and helium production from (n, α) reaction makes it very difficult to produce sound welded joint. This paper presents the preliminary results to see the elementary characteristics of the welded joints produced by Tandem electron beam welding technique. Not only for the stainless steel nor high-nickel alloys, also for stainless steel to high-nickel alloy welded joints were studied. The tandem electron beam welding was done at JWRI, Osaka University. By optimizing the drilling effect from the leading electron beam and the weld defect suppression effect from the secondary electron beam , weld defect free welded joints were obtained with the excellent joint strength and ductility. The weld bead shape and penetration characteristics are also provided. The present results are quite promising to apply "Tandem electron beam welding" to heavily neutron damaged metallic structures and components

Examination of the Causality Relationship between Psychological Distress and Social Participation in Elderly People: A Pilot Study

Few studies have considered the causal relationship between psychological distress and social participation in elderly people. Here we investigated this relationship based on an initial survey and a follow-up survey. In 2016, a survey was distributed to 86 participants. A follow-up survey of 80 of those participants was performed in 2017. We adopted the following variables: psychological distress and social participation as represented by the Kessler psychological distress scale and social participation scores, respectively. By using cross-lagged and synchronous effects models, we found that the 2016 Kessler psychological distress scale had a significant influence on the 2017 social participation scores (standardization factor=−0.221, p=0.020) and the 2017 Kessler psychological distress scale significantly influenced the 2017 social participation scores (standardization factor=−0.345, p=0.039). The results suggest that psychological distress may affect social participation one year later

Influence of epoch length on measurement of light physical activity in the elderly: A technical analysis

Aims: To clarify how epoch lengths of accelerometers affect measurement of physical activity in elderly people. Methods: The data was based on 70 elderly people (72.6 ± 5.4 years) living in Japan between 2017 and 2018. Furthermore, we used data obtained from triaxial accelerometers that the subjects wore for more than 10 hours every day for 7 days. We evaluated light physical activity (2.9 Mets or less) and further grouped it into sedentary behaviour (SB, 1.5 Mets or less) and Light Intensity Physical Activity (LIPA, between 1.6 and 2.9 Mets). We also compared 10-second epoch lengths (ELs) to 60-second ELs (%) by Bayesian estimation. Results: In 2017 and 2018, SB at 10-second ELs was longer than at 60-second ELs (55.5 vs. 50.4% in 2017; 55.7 vs. 48.9% in 2018); however, LIPA at 10-second ELs was shorter than at 60-second ELs (35.0 vs. 42.3% in 2017; 35.0 vs. 44.5% in 2018). The Bayesian factor varied between 3.0x1012 and 3.2x1024. The robustness of the Bayesian factor was confirmed by the robustness check. Furthermore, effect sizes were between |1.68| and |3.00|. Conclusion: ELs of the accelerometer may affect measurement of physical activity in elderly people. Thus, SB at 10-second ELs may be longer than at 60-second ELs and may be the reverse for LIPA.This research was supported in part by research grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (JSPS KAKENHI grant no. JP17K01851)

Improvement of Experimentally Induced Hepatic and Renal Disorders in Rats using Lactic Acid Bacteria-fermented Soybean Extract (Biofermentics™)

The effects of lactic acid bacteria-fermented soybean extract (Biofermentics™; BF) on experimental models of hepatic and renal disorders were investigated in vivo and in vitro. In rat, hepatitis induced by feeding of deoxycholic acid (DCA, 0.5 wt/wt, n = 6) or intraperitoneal injection of d-galactosamine (GMN, 500 mg/body wt, n = 6), the increase in serum AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase) levels were inhibited significantly (P < 0.05) by feeding a diet containing 5% dried BF. Moreover, the BF-administered rat group showed lower concentrations of blood urea nitrogen and a larger amount of urine as compared with values in the control group. Pretreatment of primary cell cultures of rat hepatic and renal cells with BF prior to exposure to dichromate (K2Cr2O7) resulted in a marked decrease of dichromate-induced cytotoxicity as evaluated by the leakage of lactate dehydrogenase The levels of dichromate-induced lipid peroxidation, as monitored by malondialdehyde formation, were also reduced by pretreatment of hepatocytes with BF. These results suggest that BF may play a role in hepatic and renal disorders, and may be useful for maintaining health in humans as well

Inraoperative and Histological Visualization of Disrupted Vulnerable Plaques following Diagnostic Angiography of Moderate Carotid Stenosis

Background. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) remains an important tool for diagnosis of carotid stenosis but is associated with risk for periprocedural complications. This is the first report of direct intraoperative and histolopathologic visualization of DSA-related carotid plaque disruption. Case. A 64-year-old man diagnosed to have a 60% right carotid stenosis received diagnostic DSA for therapeutic decision-making. He developed transient left hand numbness and weakness immediately after the procedure. Intraoperative imaging during carotid endarterectomy revealed a fragile plaque with sharp surface laceration and intraplaque hemorrhage at the bifurcation. Microscopy of the specimen demonstrated a large atheromatous plaque with fibrous hypertrophy and intraplaque hemorrhage filled with recent hemorrhagic debris. Conclusion. The visualized carotid lesion was more serious than expected, warning the danger of embolization or occlusion associated with the catheter maneuvers. Thus the highest level of practitioner training and technical expertise that ensures precise assessment of plaque characteristics should be encouraged

Immunoreactivity profiling of Anti-Chinese hamster ovarian host cell protein antibodies by isobaric labeled affinity purification-mass spectrometry reveals low-recovery proteins

We evaluated the immunoreactivity profiles of eight commercial anti-host cell protein (anti-HCP) antibodies from different host animals and their antigens used for immunization by an isobaric labeled affinity purification-mass spectrometry (AP-MS) method. As a result, 34 proteins with high abundance but low recovery from harvest cell culture fluid were identified. Since they are likely to be underestimated in biopharmaceutical quality assessment, the features common to these proteins were investigated. Compared to other immunoprecipitated HCP proteins, proteins exhibiting lower molecular weight (ΔMW = -14600), lower isoelectric point (ΔpI = -0.86), and lower hydrophobicity (ΔGRAVY = -0.13) were enriched. This AP-MS method provides important information for HCP control strategies using immunological methods and is expected to contribute to the development of safe biopharmaceutics