Epidemiology of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Epidemiology is the study of the frequency and distribution of diseases and factors related to the development of diseases. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a rare, chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that affects many tissues and organs, whose female-to-male incidence ratio is 6:10 for childbearing age. Its chronic intractable nature has a significant impact on medical care utilization, activities of daily living, and quality of life. However, the etiology of SLE has not yet been elucidated in detail, although genetic factors as well as environmental factors are thought to play a role in its development. In this chapter, we introduce the incidence and the prevalence of SLE as well as factors related to the development of SLE and discuss how to prevent the development of SLE

Stochastic model-based assessment of power systems subject to extreme wind power fluctuation

Extreme outliers of wind power fluctuation are a source of severe damage to power systems. In our previous work, we proposed a modelling framework, verified its usefulness via real data, and developed a model-based evaluation method of the impact of such extreme outliers. However, it has been a drawback that the obtained estimates of frequency fluctuation of power systems are sometimes excessively conservative for their practical use. To overcome this weakness, theory and methods for tightening the fluctuation estimates are investigated in this paper. This is done by applying a robust performance analysis method of a Lur'e system to the error analysis of stochastic linearization. The usefulness of our proposed method is shown through a load frequency control model

Synthesis of carbon nanotubes by microwave heating: Influence of diameter of catalytic Ni nanoparticles on diameter of CNTs

We rapidly synthesized multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by calcination of granulated polystyrene with nickel nanoparticles having different average diameter (D-Ni = 10, 20, 50 or 90 nm) under nitrogen gas at a certain temperature and time (700 degrees C, 15 min or 800 degrees C, 10 min), using a domestic microwave oven in order to systematically investigate the influence of the diameter of nickel nanoparticles on the diameter of MWCNTs. The MWCNTs synthesized here were characterized by a transmission electron microscope, a Raman spectrophotometer and a wide angle X-ray diffractometer. We found that for the calcination condition of (800 degrees C, 10 min), a relationship between the outer diameter of the resulted carbon nanotubes (D-CNT) and the diameter of catalytic nickel nanoparticles (D-Ni) can be described as a linear function, D-CNT = 1.01D(Ni) + 14.79 nm with the correlation coefficient R = 0.99, and that for the calcination condition of 700 degrees C, 15 min, D-CNT = 1.12D(Ni) + 7.80 nm with R = 0.95. Thus, we revealed that when the diameter of the catalytic nickel nanoparticles (D-Ni) increases by 1 nm, the outer diameter of the obtained MWCNTs (D-CNT) increases by about 1 nm.ArticleJOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A. 2(8):2773-2780 (2014)journal articl

Regular pulse checks for patients with non-cardioembolic stroke in rehabilitation hospitals to improve recognition and detection of atrial fibrillation (the ESCORT study): protocol for a prospective multicenter observational study

BackgroundCryptogenic stroke (CS) are heterogeneous in origin; however, most CS are embolic mechanism. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) is suspected to be a major type of CS that leads to severe cerebral infarction without anticoagulant use. Therefore, the identification of AF is vital in patients with CS. However, patients are often unaware of AF because they have no symptoms, and AF may not be detected on an electrocardiogram (ECG) or Holter ECG on admission. After patients with stroke are treated in the acute phase, they are promptly transferred to a rehabilitation hospital for functional recovery. Once the patient is transferred to a hospital, a few attempts are made to detect AF. In addition, rehabilitation therapists are considered to have insufficient awareness of the possibility of undiagnosed AF.ObjectiveThis study aimed to increase the understanding of the importance of AF detection in patients with ischemic stroke among therapists in rehabilitation hospitals and to investigate whether regular pulse screening can aid in the detection of AF. If AF was detected, we determined the rate and timing of AF detection and identified the patient characteristics.MethodsThis multicenter prospective observational study aimed to detect AF in patients with non-cardiac stroke at rehabilitation hospitals. Therapists performed pulse checks before, during, and after rehabilitation. If arrhythmia or tachycardia was detected, an ECG was performed, and the physician checked for AF. If the patient complained of chest symptoms, electrocardiography (ECG) was performed to check for AF. We investigated the characteristics, laboratory data, cognitive status, complications, such as stroke recurrence, and functional outcomes of patients with AF.ResultsThe study is in the enrollment phase. Recruitment began in September 2022 and will end in August 2023. Patients have provided written informed consent. The main results have been submitted for publication in your journal.ConclusionThe findings of this study will help identify patients with AF in rehabilitation hospitals and improve awareness among therapists

Association between sleep habits/disorders and emotional/behavioral problems among Japanese children

Actual sleep status and the association between sleep habits/disorders and emotional/behavioral problems among children in the development stage have not been fully clarified. A questionnaire survey was conducted on the sleep habits/disorders (Brief Child Sleep Questionnaire; BCSQ) and emotional/behavioral problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SDQ) of 87,548 children enrolled in ordinary classes in nine grade levels from the first grade of elementary school to the third grade of junior high school from December 2009 to April 2010. As school grade increased, children\u27s bedtimes were delayed and sleep duration was reduced by 2.0 h over the nine grade levels. Based on the BCSQ, 18.3% of children were judged to have some type of sleep disorder, and about 30% to 40% of children had sleep symptoms at bedtime, during sleep, and at wake time. Multiple regression analysis showed that emotional and behavioral problems were associated with presence of any sleep symptom, longer sleep latency, and longer awake time after sleep onset, whereas total sleep time was not. Sleep symptoms at wake time were most strongly associated with emotional and behavioral problems. Status of sleep habits/disorders should be considered when interpreting emotional/behavioral problems in school-age children

ヨウジ 4～7サイ ノ タイリョク ノ ソウゴウテキ ブンセキ キョウオウセイ オヨビ ヘイコウセイ ノ ハッタツ ト チノウ ノ カンケイ

As a part of synthetic analysis if the infant-physical fitness, (from 4 to 7 years old) I examined the relation of the development of physical cooperation and balance to the intelligence quotient. Following results were obtained : 1) The development of girls\u27 cooperation function is better than that of boys. 2) The devlopment of girls\u27 balance function is better than that of boys. 3) As to intelligence quotient, girls are more excellent than boys. (P<0.005) 4) In the relation of the physical cooperation and balance function to the intelligence, the functions of both boys and girls had some degree of relation. As to the matter of age, I found the relation of the intelligence quotient to the degree of maturity of functions was lager as children, both boys and girls, are younger

ヨウジ 4～7サイ ノ タイリョク ノ ソウゴウテキ ブンセキ キンリョク オヨビ ジュウナンセイ ノ ハッタツ ト チノウ ノ カンケイ

As a part of general analysis of the infant-physical fitness, (children from 4 to 7 years old) I examined the relation of the development of muscular, strength and pliabellty to the intelligence quotient. The results following are obtained : 1) The development of the boys\u27 muscular strength function is better than that of the girls\u27. (P<0.005) 2) The development of the girls\u27 pliability function is better than that of the boys\u27. ( P<0.01～P<0.005) 3) As to intelligence quotient, there was no significant difference between the boys\u27 and the girls\u27. 4) As to the relation of the muscular strength and pliability function to the intelligence quotieut both of the function of the boys\u27 and the girls\u27 had some degrees of relation. As to the matter of age, I found the relation of the intelligence to the degree of maturity of the functions was lager auording as children, both boys\u27 and girls\u27 are younger

ヨウジ 4～7サイ ノ タイリョク ノ ソウゴウテキ ブンセキ タイカク オヨビ シュッセイ ジュンイ ト ビンショウセイ キノウ ノ カンケイ

As a part of synthetic analysis of infant-physical fitness, (from 4 to 7 years old) the relationship of the physical characteristics and birth order to reaction time was exmained. Following results were obtained : 1) The development of older children\u27s physique was better than that of younger children (p<00.5-0.005). 2) In releation to the birth order and physique, boys of first birth were better than third birth (p<0.05-0.005); but girls of third birth were better than first birth (p<0.05-0.005). 3) In relation to the physique and speed of reaction time, side step test, standing reacton time, and response reaction time both third birth boys and third birth girls were better than first and second birth boys and girls. 4) In relation to the birth order and speed of reaction time, both third birth boys and third birth girls were better than first and second birth boys and girls (p<0.05-0.005)