Around ten percent of most recent Cochrane reviews included outcomes in their literature search strategy and were associated with potentially exaggerated results: A research-on-research study

[Objectives] To assess the proportion of the recent Cochrane reviews that included outcomes in their literature search strategy, how often they acknowledged these limitations, and how qualitatively different the results of outcomes included and not included in the search strategy were. [Design and Setting] We identified all the Cochrane reviews of the interventions published in 2020 that used a search strategy connecting outcome terms with “AND.” Reviews were defined as acknowledging the limitations of searching for outcomes if they mentioned them in the discussion. We compared the characteristics of outcomes included and not included in the search strategy. [Results] Of the 523 Cochrane reviews published in 2020, 51 (9.8%) included outcomes in their search strategy. Only one review acknowledged it as a limitation. Forty-seven (92%) assessed outcomes not included in the search strategy. Outcomes included in the search strategies tended to include a larger number of studies and show their effects in favor of the intervention. [Conclusions] Around ten percent of the recent Cochrane reviews included outcomes in their search, which may have resulted in more outcomes significantly in favor of the intervention. Reviewers should be more explicit in acknowledging the potential implications of searching for outcomes

The impact of continuity correction methods in Cochrane reviews with single-zero trials with rare events: A meta-epidemiological study.

Meta-analyses examining dichotomous outcomes often include single-zero studies, where no events occur in intervention or control groups. These pose challenges, and several methods have been proposed to address them. A fixed continuity correction method has been shown to bias estimates, but it is frequently used because sometimes software (e.g., RevMan software in Cochrane reviews) uses it as a default. We aimed to empirically compare results using the continuity correction with those using alternative models that do not require correction. To this aim, we reanalyzed the original data from 885 meta-analyses in Cochrane reviews using the following methods: (i) Mantel-Haenszel model with a fixed continuity correction, (ii) random effects inverse variance model with a fixed continuity correction, (iii) Peto method (the three models available in RevMan), (iv) random effects inverse variance model with the treatment arm continuity correction, (v) Mantel-Haenszel model without correction, (vi) logistic regression, and (vii) a Bayesian random effects model with binominal likelihood. For each meta-analysis we calculated ratios of odds ratios between all methods, to assess how the choice of method may impact results. Ratios of odds ratios <0.8 or <1.25 were seen in ~30% of the existing meta-analyses when comparing results between Mantel-Haenszel model with a fixed continuity correction and either Mantel-Haenszel model without correction or logistic regression. We concluded that injudicious use of the fixed continuity correction in existing Cochrane reviews may have substantially influenced effect estimates in some cases. Future updates of RevMan should incorporate less biased statistical methods

Fast flickering aurora within traveling current vortices

第6回極域科学シンポジウム[OS] 宙空圏11月16日（月）　国立極地研究所１階交流アトリウ

High-speed stereoscopy of aurora

第6回極域科学シンポジウム[OS] 宙空圏11月16日（月）　国立極地研究所 2階 大会議

Comparison of antioxidative effects between radon and thoron inhalation in mouse organs

Radon therapy has been traditionally performed globally for oxidative stress-related diseases. Many researchers have studied the beneficial effects of radon exposure in living organisms. However, the effects of thoron, a radioisotope of radon, have not been fully examined. In this study, we aimed to compare the biological effects of radon and thoron inhalation on mouse organs with a focus on oxidative stress. Male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 15 groups: sham inhalation, radon inhalation at a dose of 500 Bq/m3 or 2000 Bq/m3, and thoron inhalation at a dose of 500 Bq/m3 or 2000 Bq/m3 were carried out. Immediately after inhalation, mouse tissues were excised for biochemical assays. The results showed a significant increase in superoxide dismutase and total glutathione, and a significant decrease in lipid peroxide following thoron inhalation under several conditions. Additionally, similar effects were observed for different doses and inhalation times between radon and thoron. Our results suggest that thoron inhalation also exerts antioxidative effects against oxidative stress in organs. However, the inhalation conditions should be carefully analyzed because of the differences in physical characteristics between radon and thoron

Compound auroral micromorphology: ground-based high-speed imaging

Auroral microphysics still remains partly unexplored. Cutting-edge ground-based optical observations using scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) cameras recently enabled us to observe the fine-scale morphology of bright aurora at magnetic zenith for a variety of rapidly varying features for long uninterrupted periods. We report two interesting examples of combinations of fine-scale rapidly varying auroral features as observed by the sCMOS cameras installed at Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR), Alaska, in February 2014. The first example shows that flickering rays and pulsating modulation simultaneously appeared at the middle of a surge in the pre-midnight sector. The second example shows localized flickering aurora associated with growing eddies at the poleward edge of an arc in the midnight secto

対談 : 即興演奏とコミュニケーション

2001年7月7日(日)に行われた京都女子大学児童学科公開講座では, 打楽器奏者の片岡祐介氏を講師に招き,対談「音楽療法と創造性」を行なった。片岡氏は, 1997年から2000年まで, 岐阜県音楽療法研究所の研究員をつとめ, ピアノ, ドラムセット, 民族楽器, シンセサイザーなど様々な楽器を駆使し, 現代音楽, フリージャズ, テクノ, ハウスなど様々な音楽語法を柔軟に組み合わせ, 対象者と音楽的なコミュニケーションを成立させていく独自の手法を展開している。本稿では, 公開講座での片岡氏との対談を掲載することにした (野村誠)

Neonatal Fc receptor induces intravenous immunoglobulin growth suppression in Langerhans cell histiocytosis

The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) plays a role in trafficking IgG and albumin and is thought to mediate intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy for certain diseases. IVIG can be used for the treatment of human Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH); however, the mechanism remains unclear. The expression and function of FcRn protein have not been studied in LCH, though the expression of FcRn messenger RNA (mRNA) have been reported. In this report, we confirmed the expression of FcRn in 26 of 30 pathological cases (86.7%) diagnosed immunohistochemically as LCH. The expression was independent of age, gender, location, multi- or single-system, and the status of BRAFV600E immunostaining. We also confirmed the expression of FcRn mRNA and protein in the human LCH-like cell line, ELD-1. FcRn suppressed albumin consumption and growth of IVIG preparation-treated ELD-1 cells, but not of IVIG preparation-untreated or FcRn-knockdown ELD-1 cells. In addition, FITC-conjugated albumin was taken into Rab11-positive recycle vesicles in mock ELD-1 cells but not in FcRn-knockdown ELD-1 cells. IVIG preparation prolonged this status in mock ELD-1 cells. Therefore, ELD-1 recycled albumin via FcRn and albumin was not used for metabolism. Our results increase our understanding of the molecular mechanism of IVIG treatment of LCH