Acupuncture Treatment for Dystonia

This article introduces acupuncture for dystonia, especially cervical dystonia and upper limb dystonia. In our acupuncture treatment, the meridians corresponding to the affected muscles are identified, and stimulation of the acupuncture points located on the meridians away from the affected muscles is used. Affected muscles may have problems of hypotonia as well as hypertonia. We will introduce a method of suppressing muscle tone using acupuncture points and a method of promoting muscle tone. Furthermore, since shortening of muscles and skin may affect posture abnormalities and movement abnormalities, we will also introduce the treatment. This article presents a case for our therapeutic effect

The Effects of Font Type on Reading Accuracy and Fluency in Japanese Children with Developmental Dyslexia

We administered rapid reading tasks in Japanese children (32 with typical development and 24 with developmental dyslexia), and investigated the effects of two different font types: Rounded-Gothic and Mincho style font. In the experiment, we used four kinds of stimuli: two scripts (paragraphs and random kana character non-words) in two font types (Rounded-Gothic and Mincho style font). In this experiment, the duration time, the number of errors and the number of self-corrections were measured during reading. Participants were asked which font type was easier to read. There was no significant difference in the duration time, the number of errors and the number of self-corrections between two types of fonts among the 56 participants. On the other hand, regarding subjective readability, the developmental dyslexia group reported that the Rounded-Gothic font was easier to read. There was a difference between objective and subjective readability. In this study, there was no difference in reading performance of Rounded-Gothic and Mincho style fonts in Japanese children with developmental dyslexia

Poirierite, a dense metastable polymorph of magnesium iron silicate in shocked meteorites

宇宙から飛来した隕石から新鉱物ポワリエライトを発見 --小天体の衝突過程、地球内部の変化等を探る重要な鍵に--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-01-25.A dense magnesium iron silicate polymorph with a structure intermediate between olivine, ringwoodite, and wadsleyite was theoretically predicted about four decades ago. As this group of minerals constitute the major component of shocked meteorites, constraining their transitional forms and behaviour is of potential importance for understanding impact events on their parent bodies. Here we use high-resolution transmission electron microscopy techniques and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses to identify naturally occurring examples of this mineral – recently named poirierite – in shocked chondritic meteorites. We observe nanoscale lamellar poirierite topotactically intergrown within wadsleyite, and additionally within ringwoodite as recently reported. Our results confirm the intermediate structure of poirierite and suggest it might be a relay point in the shear transformations between its polymorphs. We propose that poirierite formed during rapid decompression at relatively low temperature in retrograde shock metamorphism of the meteorites

Transcriptomic responses of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) stem to waterlogging at plantation in relation to precipitation seasonality

Global warming-induced climate change causes significant agricultural problems by increasing the incidence of drought and flooding events. Waterlogging is an inevitable consequence of these changes but its effects on oil palms have received little attention and are poorly understood. Recent waterlogging studies have focused on oil palm seedlings, with particular emphasis on phenology. However, the transcriptomic waterlogging response of mature oil palms remains elusive in real environments. We therefore investigated transcriptomic changes over time in adult oil palms at plantations over a two-year period with pronounced seasonal variation in precipitation. A significant transcriptional waterlogging response was observed in the oil palm stem core but not in leaf samples when gene expression was correlated with cumulative precipitation over two-day periods. Pathways and processes upregulated or enriched in the stem core response included hypoxia, ethylene signaling, and carbon metabolism. Post-waterlogging recovery in oil palms was found to be associated with responses to heat stress and carotenoid biosynthesis. Nineteen transcription factors (TFs) potentially involved in the waterlogging response of mature oil palms were also identified. These data provide new insights into the transcriptomic responses of planted oil palms to waterlogging and offer valuable guidance on the sensitivity of oil palm plantations to future climate changes

Hematopoietic cell-derived IL-15 supports NK cell development in scattered and clustered localization within the bone marrow

骨髄のNK細胞の分化に造血細胞が産生するIL-15が必須である --2種類の局在を示すNK細胞の新規分化モデル--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-09-20.Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells critical for protective immune responses against infection and cancer. Although NK cells differentiate in the bone marrow (BM) in an interleukin-15 (IL-15)-dependent manner, the cellular source of IL-15 remains elusive. Using NK cell reporter mice, we show that NK cells are localized in the BM in scattered and clustered manners. NK cell clusters overlap with monocyte and dendritic cell accumulations, whereas scattered NK cells require CXCR4 signaling. Using cell-specific IL-15-deficient mice, we show that hematopoietic cells, but not stromal cells, support NK cell development in the BM through IL-15. In particular, IL-15 produced by monocytes and dendritic cells appears to contribute to NK cell development. These results demonstrate that hematopoietic cells are the IL-15 niche for NK cell development in the BM and that BM NK cells are present in scattered and clustered compartments by different mechanisms, suggesting their distinct functions in the immune response

A circulating subset of iNKT cells mediates antitumor and antiviral immunity

新規の循環型iNKT細胞を発見 --抗腫瘍・抗ウイルス感染効果の高い免疫細胞療法の開発への貢献に期待--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-10-24.Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are a group of innate-like T lymphocytes that recognize lipid antigens. They are supposed to be tissue resident and important for systemic and local immune regulation. To investigate the heterogeneity of iNKT cells, we recharacterized iNKT cells in the thymus and peripheral tissues. iNKT cells in the thymus were divided into three subpopulations by the expression of the natural killer cell receptor CD244 and the chemokine receptor CXCR6 and designated as C0 (CD244⁻CXCR6⁻), C1 (CD244⁻CXCR6⁺), or C2 (CD244⁺CXCR6⁺) iNKT cells. The development and maturation of C2 iNKT cells from C0 iNKT cells strictly depended on IL-15 produced by thymic epithelial cells. C2 iNKT cells expressed high levels of IFN-γ and granzymes and exhibited more NK cell–like features, whereas C1 iNKT cells showed more T cell–like characteristics. C2 iNKT cells were influenced by the microbiome and aging and suppressed the expression of the autoimmune regulator AIRE in the thymus. In peripheral tissues, C2 iNKT cells were circulating that were distinct from conventional tissue-resident C1 iNKT cells. Functionally, C2 iNKT cells protected mice from the tumor metastasis of melanoma cells by enhancing antitumor immunity and promoted antiviral immune responses against influenza virus infection. Furthermore, we identified human CD244⁺CXCR6⁺ iNKT cells with high cytotoxic properties as a counterpart of mouse C2 iNKT cells. Thus, this study reveals a circulating subset of iNKT cells with NK cell–like properties distinct from conventional tissue-resident iNKT cells

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020)

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020), a Japanese-specific set of clinical practice guidelines for sepsis and septic shock created as revised from J-SSCG 2016 jointly by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, was first released in September 2020 and published in February 2021. An English-language version of these guidelines was created based on the contents of the original Japanese-language version. The purpose of this guideline is to assist medical staff in making appropriate decisions to improve the prognosis of patients undergoing treatment for sepsis and septic shock. We aimed to provide high-quality guidelines that are easy to use and understand for specialists, general clinicians, and multidisciplinary medical professionals. J-SSCG 2016 took up new subjects that were not present in SSCG 2016 (e.g., ICU-acquired weakness [ICU-AW], post-intensive care syndrome [PICS], and body temperature management). The J-SSCG 2020 covered a total of 22 areas with four additional new areas (patient- and family-centered care, sepsis treatment system, neuro-intensive treatment, and stress ulcers). A total of 118 important clinical issues (clinical questions, CQs) were extracted regardless of the presence or absence of evidence. These CQs also include those that have been given particular focus within Japan. This is a large-scale guideline covering multiple fields; thus, in addition to the 25 committee members, we had the participation and support of a total of 226 members who are professionals (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, clinical engineers, and pharmacists) and medical workers with a history of sepsis or critical illness. The GRADE method was adopted for making recommendations, and the modified Delphi method was used to determine recommendations by voting from all committee members.other authors: Yasuhiro Norisue, Satoru Hashimoto, Daisuke Hasegawa, Junji Hatakeyama, Naoki Hara, Naoki Higashibeppu, Nana Furushima, Hirotaka Furusono, Yujiro Matsuishi, Tasuku Matsuyama, Yusuke Minematsu, Ryoichi Miyashita, Yuji Miyatake, Megumi Moriyasu, Toru Yamada, Hiroyuki Yamada, Ryo Yamamoto, Takeshi Yoshida, Yuhei Yoshida, Jumpei Yoshimura, Ryuichi Yotsumoto, Hiroshi Yonekura, Takeshi Wada, Eizo Watanabe, Makoto Aoki, Hideki Asai, Takakuni Abe, Yutaka Igarashi, Naoya Iguchi, Masami Ishikawa, Go Ishimaru, Shutaro Isokawa, Ryuta Itakura, Hisashi Imahase, Haruki Imura, Takashi Irinoda, Kenji Uehara, Noritaka Ushio, Takeshi Umegaki, Yuko Egawa, Yuki Enomoto, Kohei Ota, Yoshifumi Ohchi, Takanori Ohno, Hiroyuki Ohbe, Kazuyuki Oka, Nobunaga Okada, Yohei Okada, Hiromu Okano, Jun Okamoto, Hiroshi Okuda, Takayuki Ogura, Yu Onodera, Yuhta Oyama, Motoshi Kainuma, Eisuke Kako, Masahiro Kashiura, Hiromi Kato, Akihiro Kanaya, Tadashi Kaneko, Keita Kanehata, Ken-ichi Kano, Hiroyuki Kawano, Kazuya Kikutani, Hitoshi Kikuchi, Takahiro Kido, Sho Kimura, Hiroyuki Koami, Daisuke Kobashi, Iwao Saiki, Masahito Sakai, Ayaka Sakamoto, Tetsuya Sato, Yasuhiro Shiga, Manabu Shimoto, Shinya Shimoyama, Tomohisa Shoko, Yoh Sugawara, Atsunori Sugita, Satoshi Suzuki, Yuji Suzuki, Tomohiro Suhara, Kenji Sonota, Shuhei Takauji, Kohei Takashima, Sho Takahashi, Yoko Takahashi, Jun Takeshita, Yuuki Tanaka, Akihito Tampo, Taichiro Tsunoyama, Kenichi Tetsuhara, Kentaro Tokunaga, Yoshihiro Tomioka, Kentaro Tomita, Naoki Tominaga, Mitsunobu Toyosaki, Yukitoshi Toyoda, Hiromichi Naito, Isao Nagata, Tadashi Nagato, Yoshimi Nakamura, Yuki Nakamori, Isao Nahara, Hiromu Naraba, Chihiro Narita, Norihiro Nishioka, Tomoya Nishimura, Kei Nishiyama, Tomohisa Nomura, Taiki Haga, Yoshihiro Hagiwara, Katsuhiko Hashimoto, Takeshi Hatachi, Toshiaki Hamasaki, Takuya Hayashi, Minoru Hayashi, Atsuki Hayamizu, Go Haraguchi, Yohei Hirano, Ryo Fujii, Motoki Fujita, Naoyuki Fujimura, Hiraku Funakoshi, Masahito Horiguchi, Jun Maki, Naohisa Masunaga, Yosuke Matsumura, Takuya Mayumi, Keisuke Minami, Yuya Miyazaki, Kazuyuki Miyamoto, Teppei Murata, Machi Yanai, Takao Yano, Kohei Yamada, Naoki Yamada, Tomonori Yamamoto, Shodai Yoshihiro, Hiroshi Tanaka & Osamu Nishid

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020)

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020), a Japanese-specific set of clinical practice guidelines for sepsis and septic shock created as revised from J-SSCG 2016 jointly by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, was first released in September 2020 and published in February 2021. An English-language version of these guidelines was created based on the contents of the original Japanese-language version. The purpose of this guideline is to assist medical staff in making appropriate decisions to improve the prognosis of patients undergoing treatment for sepsis and septic shock. We aimed to provide high-quality guidelines that are easy to use and understand for specialists, general clinicians, and multidisciplinary medical professionals. J-SSCG 2016 took up new subjects that were not present in SSCG 2016 (e.g., ICU-acquired weakness [ICU-AW], post-intensive care syndrome [PICS], and body temperature management). The J-SSCG 2020 covered a total of 22 areas with four additional new areas (patient- and family-centered care, sepsis treatment system, neuro-intensive treatment, and stress ulcers). A total of 118 important clinical issues (clinical questions, CQs) were extracted regardless of the presence or absence of evidence. These CQs also include those that have been given particular focus within Japan. This is a large-scale guideline covering multiple fields; thus, in addition to the 25 committee members, we had the participation and support of a total of 226 members who are professionals (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, clinical engineers, and pharmacists) and medical workers with a history of sepsis or critical illness. The GRADE method was adopted for making recommendations, and the modified Delphi method was used to determine recommendations by voting from all committee members.As a result, 79 GRADE-based recommendations, 5 Good Practice Statements (GPS), 18 expert consensuses, 27 answers to background questions (BQs), and summaries of definitions and diagnosis of sepsis were created as responses to 118 CQs. We also incorporated visual information for each CQ according to the time course of treatment, and we will also distribute this as an app. The J-SSCG 2020 is expected to be widely used as a useful bedside guideline in the field of sepsis treatment both in Japan and overseas involving multiple disciplines.other authors: Satoru Hashimoto,Daisuke Hasegawa,Junji Hatakeyama,Naoki Hara,Naoki Higashibeppu,Nana Furushima,Hirotaka Furusono,Yujiro Matsuishi,Tasuku Matsuyama,Yusuke Minematsu,Ryoichi Miyashita,Yuji Miyatake,Megumi Moriyasu,Toru Yamada,Hiroyuki Yamada,Ryo Yamamoto,Takeshi Yoshida,Yuhei Yoshida,Jumpei Yoshimura,Ryuichi Yotsumoto,Hiroshi Yonekura,Takeshi Wada,Eizo Watanabe,Makoto Aoki,Hideki Asai,Takakuni Abe,Yutaka Igarashi,Naoya Iguchi,Masami Ishikawa,Go Ishimaru,Shutaro Isokawa,Ryuta Itakura,Hisashi Imahase,Haruki Imura,Takashi Irinoda,Kenji Uehara,Noritaka Ushio,Takeshi Umegaki,Yuko Egawa,Yuki Enomoto,Kohei Ota,Yoshifumi Ohchi,Takanori Ohno,Hiroyuki Ohbe,Kazuyuki Oka,Nobunaga Okada,Yohei Okada,Hiromu Okano,Jun Okamoto,Hiroshi Okuda,Takayuki Ogura,Yu Onodera,Yuhta Oyama,Motoshi Kainuma,Eisuke Kako,Masahiro Kashiura,Hiromi Kato,Akihiro Kanaya,Tadashi Kaneko,Keita Kanehata,Ken-ichi Kano,Hiroyuki Kawano,Kazuya Kikutani,Hitoshi Kikuchi,Takahiro Kido,Sho Kimura,Hiroyuki Koami,Daisuke Kobashi,Iwao Saiki,Masahito Sakai,Ayaka Sakamoto,Tetsuya Sato,Yasuhiro Shiga,Manabu Shimoto,Shinya Shimoyama,Tomohisa Shoko,Yoh Sugawara,Atsunori Sugita,Satoshi Suzuki,Yuji Suzuki,Tomohiro Suhara,Kenji Sonota,Shuhei Takauji,Kohei Takashima,Sho Takahashi,Yoko Takahashi,Jun Takeshita,Yuuki Tanaka,Akihito Tampo,Taichiro Tsunoyama,Kenichi Tetsuhara,Kentaro Tokunaga,Yoshihiro Tomioka,Kentaro Tomita,Naoki Tominaga,Mitsunobu Toyosaki,Yukitoshi Toyoda,Hiromichi Naito,Isao Nagata,Tadashi Nagato,Yoshimi Nakamura,Yuki Nakamori,Isao Nahara,Hiromu Naraba,Chihiro Narita,Norihiro Nishioka,Tomoya Nishimura,Kei Nishiyama,Tomohisa Nomura,Taiki Haga,Yoshihiro Hagiwara,Katsuhiko Hashimoto,Takeshi Hatachi,Toshiaki Hamasaki,Takuya Hayashi,Minoru Hayashi,Atsuki Hayamizu,Go Haraguchi,Yohei Hirano,Ryo Fujii,Motoki Fujita,Naoyuki Fujimura,Hiraku Funakoshi,Masahito Horiguchi,Jun Maki,Naohisa Masunaga,Yosuke Matsumura,Takuya Mayumi,Keisuke Minami,Yuya Miyazaki,Kazuyuki Miyamoto,Teppei Murata,Machi Yanai,Takao Yano,Kohei Yamada,Naoki Yamada,Tomonori Yamamoto,Shodai Yoshihiro,Hiroshi Tanaka,Osamu NishidaGuideline