Quality of life and physical/psychosocial factors in children and adolescents with orthostatic intolerance

Background　Orthostatic intolerance (OI), which is common in children and adolescents, negatively impacts their quality of life (QOL) due to physical symptoms that limit work, school, and daily activities. The purpose of this study is to explore the association of physical and psychosocial factors with QOL scores in children and adolescents with OI. Methods　A cross sectional observational study was conducted. The study participants included 95 Japanese pediatric patients of age 9-15 years who were diagnosed with OI from April 2010 to March 2020. The QOL scores and the QOL T-scores of children with OI assessed using the KINDL-R questionnaire at the initial visit were compared with conventional normative data. The associations of physical and psychosocial factors with the QOL T-scores were examined using multiple linear regression. Results　Pediatric patients with OI had significantly lower QOL scores than healthy children in both elementary (50.7 +/- 13.5 vs. 67.9 +/- 13.4, p Conclusions　These results suggest that the assessment of QOL, including both physical and psychosocial aspects, especially school factors, needs to be implemented earlier in children and adolescents with OI

In Vitro versus In Vivo Phase Instability of Zirconia-Toughened Alumina Femoral Heads: A Critical Comparative Assessment

A clear discrepancy between predicted in vitro and actual in vivo surface phase stability of BIOLOX (R) delta zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) femoral heads has been demonstrated by several independent research groups. Data from retrievals challenge the validity of the standard method currently utilized in evaluating surface stability and raise a series of important questions: (1) Why do in vitro hydrothermal aging treatments conspicuously fail to model actual results from the in vivo environment? (2) What is the preponderant microscopic phenomenon triggering the accelerated transformation in vivo? (3) Ultimately, what revisions of the current in vitro standard are needed in order to obtain consistent predictions of ZTA transformation kinetics in vivo? Reported in this paper is a new in toto method for visualizing the surface stability of femoral heads. It is based on CAD-assisted Raman spectroscopy to quantitatively assess the phase transformation observed in ZTA retrievals. Using a series of independent analytical probes, an evaluation of the microscopic mechanisms responsible for the polymorphic transformation is also provided. An outline is given of the possible ways in which the current hydrothermal simulation standard for artificial joints can be improved in an attempt to reduce the gap between in vitro simulation and reality

Shift of symbiont communities in Acropora tenuis juveniles under heat stress

Ocean warming is a major threat to coral reefs, leading to an increasing frequency and amplitude of coral bleaching events, where the coral and its algal symbiont associations breakdown. Long-term change and resilience of a symbiont community in coral juveniles is thought to be one of the most important aspects for determining thermal tolerance of the coral holobionts; however, despite its importance, they are not well documented in both under elevated temperature and even under natural condition. Here we investigated changes in symbiont communities in juveniles of the coral Acropora tenuis under controlled heat stress conditions (30 °C, 31/32 °C) and natural variations in seawater temperatures (19–30 °C) for up to four months. Compared with the ambient temperature conditions, coral survival rates were higher when exposed to 30 °C, but survival rates decreased when exposed to 31/32 °C. Symbiodinium types A3, C1, and D1-4 were detected in the juveniles under all thermal conditions; however, in higher water temperatures (31/32 °C), both the prevalence of D1-4 Symbiodinium and the number of juveniles harboring only this type of symbiont increased after two to four months later. In contrast, colonies at lower temperatures (30 °C and ambient) harbored multiple clades of symbionts over the same experimental period. These results highlight the flexibility of the coral–Symbiodinium symbiosis for juvenile A. tenuis under variable thermal conditions. In particular, the benefit of the preferential association with type D1-4 can be considered as a response when under heat-stress conditions, and that could help corals to cope with ocean warming

Seriatopora diversity preserved in upper mesophotic coral ecosystems in Southern Japan

Coral reefs worldwide are facing increasing stress due to drastic changes in their environment. Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) have been considered as a potential refuge from several major stressors, such as warm-water bleaching events. However, their role as a subsequent source of larvae remains unclear for many species, particularly as genetic differentiation of corals over depth has frequently been observed. In 1998 and 2001, two severe bleaching events around Okinawa Island in Japan resulted in major changes to the shallow reefs, including the local "extinction" of species such as Seriatopora hystrix at Sesoko Island. However, recently this species was found to be present in abundance at mesophotic depths in the area, despite no clear signs of recovery being observed in the adjacent shallow waters. Here, we assessed the genetic diversity of Seriatopora from this deep population and provide a comparison with populations from shallow to mesophotic depths in other parts of the Ryukyu archipelago, to understand their depth specificity and their importance in genetic diversity conservation of affected shallow populations. High levels of genetic diversity were observed in both shallow and mesophotic Seriatopora populations for both the nuclear (internal transcribed spacer 2, ITS2) and the mitochondrial (hypervariable open reading frame, ORF) markers, with no clear partitioning of haplotypes over depth or across locations in the archipelago. Both ITS2 and ORF suggest the presence of potential cryptic species and the discrepancy between the markers could reflect hybridization or incomplete lineage sorting. Although associated endosymbionts (Symbiodinium spp.) all shared the same mitochondrial haplotype (cytochrome oxidase subunit 1, COI), the nuclear ribosomal ITS2 revealed slight potential habitat partitioning between the genotypes, with a small decrease of C59 Symbiodinium types below 10 m depth and a mirrored increase in C1/C78a-related types. The relative absence of depth-specific host lineages and the substantial overlap between shallow and deep Symbiodinium types indicate that Okinawan MCEs may act as a refuge preserving genotypic diversity of bleaching-sensitive coral such as Seriatopora, and on the long-term may have the potential to contribute to shallow-water recolonization of this species

Evaluating the Coping Behavior of Children with Psychosomatic Disorders under Frustrating Situations Simulated Using the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study

Psychosomatic disorders are influenced by psychosocial factors such as interpersonal relationships. Coping behaviors, especially in frustrating situations, reflect a patient’s ability to cope with stress, and it is important to assess these behaviors for the treatment of psychosomatic diseases. This study aimed to clarify the interpersonal relationships and coping behaviors of pediatric patients with psychosomatic diseases during frustrating situations simulated using the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration study. This retrospective study included 126 patients (41 male, 85 female) with an average age of 12.9 (6-16) years who were consulted at the Department of Pediatric Psychosomatic Medicine at Okayama University Hospital from 2013 to 2018 and underwent the P-F study. Each score was compared with a standardization sample. The mean group conformity rating did not differ significantly between the participants and healthy children. Compared with healthy children, those with psychosomatic diseases were less likely to explain their perspective. The children with psychosomatic disorders responded to frustrating situations in a sensible and age-appropriate manner. However, they were less likely to respond by explaining their perspective to protect themselves

In Vitro versus In Vivo Phase Instability of Zirconia-Toughened Alumina Femoral Heads: A Critical Comparative Assessment

A clear discrepancy between predicted in vitro and actual in vivo surface phase stability of BIOLOX®delta zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) femoral heads has been demonstrated by several independent research groups. Data from retrievals challenge the validity of the standard method currently utilized in evaluating surface stability and raise a series of important questions: (1) Why do in vitro hydrothermal aging treatments conspicuously fail to model actual results from the in vivo environment? (2) What is the preponderant microscopic phenomenon triggering the accelerated transformation in vivo? (3) Ultimately, what revisions of the current in vitro standard are needed in order to obtain consistent predictions of ZTA transformation kinetics in vivo? Reported in this paper is a new in toto method for visualizing the surface stability of femoral heads. It is based on CAD-assisted Raman spectroscopy to quantitatively assess the phase transformation observed in ZTA retrievals. Using a series of independent analytical probes, an evaluation of the microscopic mechanisms responsible for the polymorphic transformation is also provided. An outline is given of the possible ways in which the current hydrothermal simulation standard for artificial joints can be improved in an attempt to reduce the gap between in vitro simulation and reality