Investigating Eating Behaviors and Symptoms of Oral Frailty Using Questionnaires

A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate eating behavior and the subjective symptoms of oral frailty, and to examine the relationship between them. A total of 744 subjects with ages over 65 years were included. The questionnaire comprised 18 question items indicating eating behavior and seven question items indicating oral frailty. All items were assessed according to 4 grades on a scale of 1 (not applicable) to 4 (applicable). The total score of oral frailty gradually increased with age. Regarding the scores for “eating recognition” and “eating habits”, no changes were observed, however the scores for “eating action” demonstrated a decreasing tendency with age and the scores of ≥ 85 years age group was significantly lower than the 65–69, 70–74, and 75–79 years age groups. As a result of multiple regression analysis, among the significant independent variable, the scores of “I do not chew foods well” under the category of “eating action” showed the highest standard partial regression coefficients for dependent variable of symptoms of oral frailty. The significant association was found between the eating behavior and subjective symptoms of oral frailty, and this study suggests that the good chewing habit might be an important criterion for the prevention of oral frailty

Cascade between oral function and physical frailty

Background: No report has yet examined the impact of oral hypofunction on physical frailty in relation to intra‐relationships of physical frailty assessment items. The purpose of this study was to verify the potential of a clinical cascade between oral hypofunction and physical frailty, and especially to support the hypothesis that the influence of oral hypofunction on physical frailty is greater than the intra‐relationships among elements of physical frailty, and that sex differences significantly affect these relationships. Methods: The participants were 272 older adults (101 men and 171 women; mean age 75.1 ± 7.5 years). Maximum occlusal force (MOF) and oral dryness (OD), as indicators of oral hypofunction, and grip strength (GS) and walking speed (WS), as indicators of physical frailty, were measured. Mutual relationship of four variables was verified using covariance structure analysis. Results: In men, three paths from MOF to WS and GS and from WS to GS were confirmed, and those from MOF to WS and from WS to GS were found to be significant (p < 0.01). In women, three paths from MOF to WS and GS and from WS to GS were also confirmed, as with the men, and those from MOF to WS and from MOF to GS were found to be significant (p < 0.01). Model adaptability was shown to be good for both men and women. Conclusion: The results suggest our hypothesis was verified, and it is expected that the early detection of oral hypofunction, that is, MOF, may be important for assessing physical frailty, especially in women

Plate : persistent memory management for nonvolatile main memory

Over the past few years, nonvolatile memory has actively been researched and developed. Therefore, studying operating system (OS) designs predicated on the main memory in the form of a nonvolatile memory and studying methods to manage persistent data in a virtual memory are crucial to encourage the widespread use of nonvolatile memory in the future. However, the main memory in most computers today is volatile, and replacing highcapacity main memory with nonvolatile memory is extremely cost-prohibitive. This paper proposes an OS structure for nonvolatile main memory. The proposed OS structure consists of three functions to study and develop OSs for nonvolatile main memory computers. First, a structure, which is called plate, is proposed whereby persistent data are managed assuming that nonvolatile main memory is present in a computer. Second, we propose a persistent-data mechanism to make a volatile memory function as nonvolatile main memory, which serves as a basis for the development of OSs for computers with nonvolatile main memory. Third, we propose a continuous operation control using the persistent-data mechanism and plates. This paper describes the design and implementation of the OS structure based on the three functions on The ENduring operating system for Distributed EnviRonment and describes the evaluation results of the proposed functions

オーラルフレイルと身体的フレイルに関連する実態調査

本研究では身体的フレイルとオーラルフレイルに着目し，被験者自身が自覚する兆候の実態をアンケート調査を用いて検討した。アンケート調査に同意が得られた1,214名を対象とした。本研究は徳島大学病院臨床研究倫理審査委員会の承認を得て行った。身体的フレイルに関連する質問項目として，体重，疲労感，握力，活動量，歩行速度に関する5項目を，オーラルフレイルに関連する質問項目として，咀嚼や嚥下機能に加えて，残存歯，唾液，舌の機能に関する7項目を設定した。質問項目は4段階で評価させ，得点が高いほど虚弱傾向が強くなるように設定した。身体的フレイルに関連する総得点は，男女ともに60歳代が最も低く90歳代が最も高い値を示し，女性の場合60歳代の得点は70歳代と比較して有意に低い値を示した。オーラルフレイルに関連する総得点は身体的フレイルの得点と比較して，年齢階級が上がるごとに漸増する傾向が認められた。オーラルフレイルに関連する質問項目に関しては，一様の増加傾向を示す項目が多かったが，そのなかでも食べこぼし，嚙めない食べ物に関する項目の得点において，虚弱傾向を示す3点，4点を示す被験者数はともに50～60歳代間で有意に増加した。以上の結果より，オーラルフレイルにとっては50～60歳代が一つの重要な年代であり，特に「食べこぼし」や「嚙めない食べ物」に関する評価は重要である可能性が示唆された。In this study, a questionnaire survey was performed to investigate subjective symptoms focusing on physical frailty and oral frailty. A total of 1,214 subjects were enrolled with prior consent. The study was conducted with the approval of the Ethics Committee of Tokushima University Hospital（No. 2404）. Five questions, comprising weight loss, exhaustion, physical activity, walking speed and grip strength, for physical frailty were asked to assess physical frailty；seven questions, comprising symptoms on mastication, swallowing, remaining teeth, saliva and tongue, were asked to assess oral frailty. All questions were evaluated on a scale of 1 to 4, with a higher score representing greater functional decline. The total score for physical frailty was lowest in the 60s and highest in the 90s for both males and females, and the score for females in their 60s was significantly lower than that for females in their 70s. On the other hand, the total score for oral frailty gradually increased with age. Scores for most questions regarding oral frailty increased with age. Especially, scores of 3 or 4 for symptoms indicating a frail condition, such as spilled food and chewing difficulty, uniformly increased until the 90s, and significant differences were found between the 50s and 60s. The results suggest that the important age for oral frailty might be the 50s to 60s and that an assessment of spilled food and chewing difficulty might be significant

ARG098, a novel anti-human Fas antibody, suppresses synovial hyperplasia and prevents cartilage destruction in a severe combined immunodeficient-HuRAg mouse model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The anti-human Fas/APO-1/CD95 (Fas) mouse/human chimeric monoclonal IgM antibody ARG098 (ARG098) targets the human Fas molecule. The cytotoxic effects of ARG098 on cells isolated from RA patients, on normal cells <it>in vitro</it>, and on RA synovial tissue and cartilage <it>in vivo </it>using implanted rheumatoid tissues in an SCID mouse model (SCID-HuRAg) were investigated to examine the potential of ARG098 as a therapy for RA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>ARG098 binding to each cell was analyzed by cytometry. The effects of ARG098 on several cells were assessed by a cell viability assay <it>in vitro</it>. Effects on the RA synovium, lymphocytes, and cartilage were assessed <it>in vivo </it>using the SCID-HuRAg mouse model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>ARG098 bound to cell surface Fas molecules, and induced apoptosis in Fas-expressing RA synoviocytes and infiltrating lymphocytes in the RA synovium in a dose-dependent manner. However, ARG098 did not affect the cell viability of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of RA patients or normal chondrocytes. ARG098 also induced apoptosis in RA synoviocytes and infiltrating lymphocytes in the RA synovium <it>in vivo</it>. The destruction of cartilage due to synovial invasion was inhibited by ARG098 injection in the modified SCID-HuRAg mouse model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>ARG098 treatment suppressed RA synovial hyperplasia through the induction of apoptosis and prevented cartilage destruction <it>in vivo</it>. These results suggest that ARG098 might become a new therapy for RA.</p

Extraction of cellulose-synthesizing activity of Gluconacetobacter xylinus by alkylmaltoside.

This study reinvestigated the synthesis of cellulose in vitro with a well-known cellulose-producing bacterium, Gluconacetobacter xylinus. Alkylmaltoside detergents, which are more frequently used in recent structural biological researches, are uniquely used in this study to solubilize cellulose-synthesizing activity from the cell membrane of G. xylinus. Activity comparable to that previously reported is obtained, while the synthesized cellulose is crystallized into a non-native polymorph of cellulose (cellulose II) as well as the previous studies. In spite of this failure to recover the native activity to synthesize cellulose I microfibril in vitro, the product is a polymer with a degree of polymerization greater than 45 as determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS). It was thus concluded that the established protocol can solubilize cellulose-synthesizing activity of G. xylinus with polymerizing activity