Gene-gene Interaction Between EPAS1 and EGLN1 in Patients with High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema

Article信州医学雑誌 63(3):157-165 (2015)journal articl

EFFECTS OF TAI CHI EXERCIE ON ATTENTION IN HEALTHY ELDERLY SUBJECTS AS MEASURED BY NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY DURING THE STROOP TASK

Background: To our knowledge，there is no study that has examined the effect of Tai Chi exercise(Tai Chi) on attention function using functional brain imaging methodologies. Recent developments in near-infrared spectroscopy(NIRS) have enabled non-invasive clarification of brain functions by measurement of hemoglobin concentrations as cerebral blood volume. So, in the present study, we examined the effects of Tai Chi in the healthy elderly as measured by NIRS during the Stroop task. Methods: Twelve healthy elderly subjects participated in the present study after giving consent. The relative concentrations of oxyhemoglobin(oxy-Hb) were measured with frontal probes every 0.1 sec during the Stroop color-word task, using 24-channel NIRS machines. Results: The Stroop task scores after the Tai Chi term were significantly higher than those before the Tai Chi term. There were no significant differences in the mean oxy-Hb changes between the conditions before and after Tai Chi. Conclusions: Our study suggested that Tai Chi promoted attention function in healthy elderly subjects, and maintained oxy-Hb concentration changes in healthy elderly subjects

EFFECTS OF TAI CHI EXERCISE ON THE HEALTHY ELDERLY AS MEASURED BY EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS

Aim: Tai Chi exercise could be recommended as a mental training method to ameliorate cognitive function, especially attention function. Event-related potentials(ERPs) are commonly used as physiological measures of cognitive function as they are easily measured and nor-invasive. However, to our knowledge, there is no report to indicate Tai Chi's effect on cognitive function using ERPs. Therefore, in the present study we examined the effects of Tai Chi exercise on the healthy elderly as measured by ERPs. Methods: Eight healthy elderly subjects participated after giving consent. Based on the guidelines for evoked potential measurement, mismatch negativity(MMN) and P300 were obtained by auditory odd-ball tasks. We measured both MMN and P300 in the conditions before and after the Tai Chi term. Results: The MMN amplitudes after the Tai Chi term tend to be greater than those before the Tai Chi term at Fz and Cz. The P300 latency after the Tai Chi term was significantly shorter than that before the Tai Chi term at Pz. Conclusion: MMN and P300 might be sensitive tools for measuring the effects of Tai Chi exercise on the healthy elderly

A Systematic Survey of Protoclusters at z∼3−6z\sim3\mathrm{-}6 in the CFHTLS Deep Fields

We present the discovery of three protoclusters at $z\sim3\mathrm{-}4$ with spectroscopic confirmation in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Legacy Survey Deep Fields. In these fields, we investigate the large-scale projected sky distribution of $z\sim3\mathrm{-}6$ Lyman break galaxies and identify 21 protocluster candidates from regions that are overdense at more than $4\sigma$ overdensity significance. Based on cosmological simulations, it is expected that more than $76\%$ of these candidates will evolve into a galaxy cluster of at least a halo mass of $10^{14}\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$ at $z=0$. We perform follow-up spectroscopy for eight of the candidates using Subaru/FOCAS, KeckII/DEIMOS, and Gemini-N/GMOS. In total we target 462 dropout candidates and obtain 138 spectroscopic redshifts. We confirm three real protoclusters at $z=3\mathrm{-}4$ with more than five members spectroscopically identified, and find one to be an incidental overdense region by mere chance alignment. The other four candidate regions at $z\sim5\mathrm{-}6$ require more spectroscopic follow-up in order to be conclusive. A $z=3.67$ protocluster, which has eleven spectroscopically confirmed members, shows a remarkable core-like structure composed of a central small region (Mpc}) and an outskirts region ($\sim1.0\,\mathrm{physical\>Mpc}$). The Ly$\alpha$ equivalent widths of members of the protocluster are significantly smaller than those of field galaxies at the same redshift while there is no difference in the UV luminosity distributions. These results imply that some environmental effects start operating as early as at $z\sim4$ along with the growth of the protocluster structure.Comment: 25 pages, 6 tables, 25 figures, accepted for publication in Ap