中学校における障害のある生徒の体育授業に関する研究 : 近畿地区の実態調査から

The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of physical education classes for junior high school students with disabilities in the Kinki Region of Japan. Valid responses were received from 80 of 200 schools targeted for the survey (collection ratio:40%). It was found that in nearly all schools physical education classes for students with disabilities were conducted while maintaining interraction with regular classes. Physical education teachers felt the significance of having students with disabilities participate in regular physical education classes, but did not actively obtain qualifications or information on adapted sports. The difficulty of practicing team sports, machine exercise, swimming, and martial arts in classes for students with disabilities was confirmed

Development, Characteristics and Durability of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

The DSSC 120 x 120 mm square sub-module with high conversion efficiency, excellent high temperature durability was fabricated using the new ruthenium-complex dye J2 which was developed by us, most appropriate Ti02 nano-particles, suited electrolyte containing iodine, the improved sealant, protective material of collecting grids. By assembling many sub-modules, large size of modules and also see-through type DSSC modules were developed. By the study of characteristics of DSSC on the incident angle of light and temperature, the advantage of DSSC has been discussed comparing with other Si solar cells

Sorafenib Prevents Escape from Host Immunity in Liver Cirrhosis Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Purpose. It has been reported that Th2 cytokines downregulate antitumor immunity, while activation of type T cells promotes antitumor immunity. The aim of this paper was to evaluate host immunity in liver cirrhosis (LC) patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC) receiving sorafenib therapy. Methods. Forty-five adult Japanese LC patients received sorafenib for aHCC between 2009 and 2011 at our hospital. Sorafenib was administered at a dose of 200–800 mg/day for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected before and after treatment. Results. Eleven patients were treated with sorafenib at 200 mg/day (200 group), 27 patients received sorafenib at 400 mg/day (400 group), and 7 patients were given sorafenib at 800 mg/day (800 group). There was no significant change in the percentage of Th1 cells after treatment in any group. However, the percentages of Th2 cells and regulatory T cells were significantly decreased after treatment in the 400 group and 800 group compared with before treatment, although there was no significant change after treatment in the 200 group. Conclusions. These results indicate that treatment with sorafenib might induce Th1 dominance and prevent the escape of tumor cells from the host immune system in LC patients with aHCC

Predictors of Persistent Postoperative Numbness Following Lumbar Fusion in Patients Older Than 75 Years: A Minimum 2-Year Follow-up

Objective To evaluate the preoperative and perioperative predictors of persistent leg numbness following lumbar fusion in patients aged ≥ 75 years. Methods This single-center retrospective study examined 304 patients aged ≥ 75 years who underwent lumbar fusion for lumbar degenerative disease (102 men, 202 women; mean age, 79.2 [75–90] years). The visual analogue scale (VAS) score for leg numbness was examined preoperatively and at 2 years postoperatively. The persistent leg numbness group included patients with a 2-year postoperative VAS score for leg numbness ≥ 5 points. The demographic data were also reviewed. A multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed for variables with univariate analysis values of p < 0.2 on univariate analysis. Results In total, 71 patients (23.4%) experienced persistent postoperative leg numbness. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that a history of lumbar decompression, longer symptom duration, and a preoperative VAS score for leg numbness ≥ 5 points were associated with greater postoperative persistent leg numbness following lumbar fusion. In contrast, other factors, such as sex, body mass index, vertebral fracture, diabetes mellitus, depression, symptom duration, dural injury, operative time, and estimated blood loss, were not. Conclusion A history of preoperative lumbar decompression, longer symptom duration, and greater preoperative VAS scores for leg numbness were preoperative predictors of persistent postoperative leg numbness following lumbar fusion in older patients. Although lumbar fusion is expected to improve leg numbness, surgeons should consider the surgical history, duration, and preoperative numbness intensity and explain the potential postoperative persistent leg numbness in advance

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target