Factors affecting dozing among university nursing students and relevance of hidden insomnia

University students dozing in class is a common problem. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between dozing in class and lifestyle habits or attitudes from the perspective of hidden insomnia among university nursing students. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 321 nursing students and 300 replies were obtained (93.5% return rate). Hidden insomnia was evaluated with the Hidden Insomnia check sheet developed by the Sleep Improvement Committee. Students who usually, sometimes, or occasionally dozed in class accounted for 26%, 28.3%, and 41.3% of the respondents, respectively. Fatigue was the most common reason for the students dozing in class. The percentage of nursing students with hidden insomnia was a high 96.7%, but a significant relationship was not found between dozing in class and hidden insomnia. On the other hand, a significant relationship was found between dozing and the duration of nocturnal sleep, frequency of lateness/absence, interest in the class, and unwillingness to attend university. The present findings showed that dozing in class was common among university nursing students. As measures to reduce dozing by nursing students, changing the awareness of the students and alleviation of fatigue are important, as well as improvement of the class content and/or teaching methods

Black Holes, q-Deformed 2d Yang-Mills, and Non-perturbative Topological Strings

We count the number of bound states of BPS black holes on local Calabi-Yau three-folds involving a Riemann surface of genus g. We show that the corresponding gauge theory on the brane reduces to a q-deformed Yang-Mills theory on the Riemann surface. Following the recent connection between the black hole entropy and the topological string partition function, we find that for a large black hole charge N, up to corrections of $O(e^{-N})$, $Z_{BH}$ is given as a sum of a square of chiral blocks, each of which corresponds to a specific D-brane amplitude. The leading chiral block, the vacuum block, corresponds to the closed topological string amplitudes. The sub-leading chiral blocks involve topological string amplitudes with D-brane insertions at 2g-2 points on the Riemann surface analogous to the $\Omega$ points in the large N 2d Yang-Mills theory. The finite N amplitude provides a non-perturbative definition of topological strings in these backgrounds. This also leads to a novel non-perturbative formulation of c=1 non-critical string at the self-dual radius.Comment: 56 pages, 4 figures, harvmac; minor changes, references and acknowledgments adde

Change in brain plasmalogen composition by exposure to prenatal undernutrition leads to behavioral impairment of rats.

Epidemiological studies suggest that poor nutrition during pregnancy influences offspring predisposition to experience developmental and psychiatric disorders. Animal studies have shown that maternal undernutrition leads to behavioral impairment, which is linked to alterations in monoaminergic systems and inflammation in the brain. In this study, we focused on the ethanolamine plasmalogen of the brain as a possible contributor to behavioral disturbances observed in offspring exposed to maternal undernutrition. Maternal food or protein restriction between gestational day (GD) 5.5 and GD 10.5 resulted in hyperactivity of rat male adult offspring. Genes related to the phospholipid biosynthesis were found to be activated in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), but not in the nucleus accumbens or striatum, in the offspring exposed to prenatal undernutrition. Corresponding to these gene activations, increased ethanolamine plasmalogen (18:0p-22:6) was observed in the PFC using mass spectrometry imaging. A high number of crossings and the long time spent in the center area was observed in the offspring exposed to prenatal undernutrition and was mimicked in adult rats via the intravenous injection of ethanolamine plasmalogen (18:0p-22:6) incorporated into the liposome. Additionally, plasmalogen (18:0p-22:6) increased only in the PFC, and not in the nucleus accumbens or striatum. These results suggest that brain plasmalogen is one of the key molecules to control behavior and its injection using liposome is a potential therapeutic approach for cognitive impairment.Significance Statement:Maternal undernutrition correlates to developmental and psychiatric disorders. Here, we found that maternal undernutrition in early pregnancy led to hyperactivity in rat male offspring and induced gene activation of phospholipid-synthesizing enzyme and elevation of ethanolamine plasmalogen (18:0p-22:6) level in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Intravenous injection of ethanolamine plasmalogen (18:0p-22:6) incorporated into the liposome maintained crossing activity and was circumscribed to the center area for a long time period, in prenatally undernourished offspring with aberrant behavior. Furthermore, the amount of ethanolamine plasmalogen (18:0p-22:6) increased in the PFC of the rat after injection. Our result suggests that brain plasmalogen is one of the key molecules to control behavior and that its injection using liposome is a potential therapeutic approach for cognitive impairment

Evaluating staging laparoscopy indications for pancreatic cancer based on resectability classification and treatment strategies for patients with positive peritoneal washing cytology

Abstract Introduction The prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in patients with positive peritoneal washing cytology (CY1) is poor. We aimed to evaluate the results of staging laparoscopy (SL) and treatment efficacy in CY1 patients based on a resectability classification. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 250 patients with PDAC who underwent SL before the initial treatment between 2017 and 2023 at the University of Toyama. Results The breakdown of cases by resectability classification was resectable (R):borderline resectable (BR):unresectable locally advanced (UR‐LA) = 131:48:71 cases. The frequency of CY1 increased in proportion to the degree of local progression (R:BR:UR‐LA = 20:23:34%), but the frequencies of liver metastasis or peritoneal dissemination were comparable (R:BR:UR‐LA = 6.9:6.3:8.5%). Most CY1 patients received gemcitabine along with nab‐paclitaxel therapy. The CY‐negative conversion rates (R:BR:UR‐LA = 70:64:52%) and conversion surgery rates (R:BR:UR‐LA = 40:27:9%) were inversely proportional to the degree of local progression. Comparing H0P0CY1 factors for each classification, patients with H0P0CY1 had significantly more pancreatic body or tail carcinoma and tumor size ≥32 mm in R patients, whereas in BR patients, duke pancreatic monoclonal antigen type 2 (DUPAN‐2) ≥ 230 U/mL was a significant factor. In contrast, no significant factors were observed in UR‐LA patients. Conclusion The CY1 rates, CY‐negative conversion rates, and conversion surgery rates varied according to local progression. In the case of R and BR, SL could be considered in patients with pancreatic body or tail carcinoma, large tumor size, or high DUPAN‐2 level. In UR‐LA, SL might be considered for all patients

Solitary and Synergistic Effects of Different Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Phospholipid Moieties on Rat Behaviors

Glycerophospholipids have hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties. Previous studies suggest that phospholipids with different moieties have different effects on rodent behavior; however, the relationship between chemical structures and behavioral effects remains unclear. To clarify the functions of phospholipid moieties, we injected male rats with phospholipids with different moieties and conducted behavioral tests. Exploratory activity was reduced by phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)(18:0/22:6) but not PE(18:0/18:0) or PE(18:0/20:4). Conversely, exploratory activity was increased by plasmanyl PE(16:0/22:6), which harbors an alkyl–ether linkage, but not by phosphatidylcholine (PC)(16:0/22:6) or plasmanyl PC(16:0/22:6). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)(22:6) and an alkyl–ether linkage in PE were thus postulated to be involved in exploratory activity. Anxiety-like behavior was reduced by plasmenyl PC(18:0/20:4), which harbors a vinyl–ether linkage, but not by PC(18:0/20:4) or plasmanyl PC(18:0/20:4), suggesting the anxiolytic effects of vinyl–ether linkage. The activation of social interaction was suppressed by PE(18:0/18:0), PE(18:0/22:6), PC(16:0/22:6), plasmanyl PE(16:0/22:6), and plasmanyl PC(16:0/22:6) but not by PE(18:0/20:4), plasmenyl PE(18:0/20:4), or plasmanyl PC(18:0/22:6). DHA may suppress social interaction, whereas arachidonic acid(20:4) or a combination of alkyl–ether linkage and stearic acid(18:0) may restore social deficits. Our findings indicate the characteristic effects of different phospholipid moieties on rat behavior, and may help to elucidate patterns between chemical structures and their effects