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Longitudinal associations between dietary diversity and serum lipid markers in Japanese workers
Get PDFOBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the longitudinal associations between dietary diversity score and serum lipid markers in a five-year follow-up period in Japanese workers.
METHODS: This study included 745 participants aged 20–60 years in 2012–2013 without dyslipidemia at baseline who participated at least once from 2013 to 2017. Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, and dietary diversity score was determined using the Quantitative Index for Dietary Diversity. Principal component analysis was used to determine three dietary patterns: healthy, western, and sweetener. Lipid markers including total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and non-HDL-cholesterol were measured. Generalized estimating equations were used for calculating the cumulative mean of lipid profiles in the follow-up period according to the dietary diversity score at baseline with control of confounding factors.
RESULTS: Higher dietary diversity score was inversely associated with serum concentrations of LDL cholesterol (p for trend = 0.028), triglycerides (p for trend = 0.029), and non-HDL cholesterol (p for trend = 0.026) in women. The associations except for the association with serum triglycerides were robust after additional adjustment for three dietary patterns (healthy, western, and sweetener). The association with serum triglycerides disappeared after additional adjustment for a healthy pattern. There was no significant association between dietary diversity and dyslipidemia in men in the follow-up period.
CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that dietary diversity is beneficial for lipid profiles in Japanese female workers.journal articl
Recognition of target domain Japanese speech using language model replacement
No full textEnd-to-end (E2E) automatic speech recognition (ASR) models, which consist of deep learning models, are able to perform ASR tasks using a single neural network. These models should be trained using a large amount of data; however, collecting speech data which matches the targeted speech domain can be difficult, so speech data is often used that is not an exact match to the target domain, resulting in lower performance. In comparison to speech data, in-domain text data is much easier to obtain. Thus, traditional ASR systems use separately trained language models and HMM-based acoustic models. However, it is difficult to separate language information from an E2E ASR model because the model learns both acoustic and language information in an integrated manner, making it very difficult to create E2E ASR models for specialized target domain which are able to achieve sufficient recognition performance at a reasonable cost. In this paper, we propose a method of replacing the language information within pre-trained E2E ASR models in order to achieve adaptation to a target domain. This is achieved by deleting the “implicit” language information contained within the ASR model by subtracting the source-domain language model trained with a transcription of the ASR’s training data in a logarithmic domain. We then integrate a target domain language model through addition in the logarithmic domain. This subtraction and addition to replace of the language model is based on Bayes’ theorem. In our experiment, we first used two datasets of the Corpus of Spontaneous Japanese (CSJ) to evaluate the effectiveness of our method. We then we evaluated our method using the Japanese Newspaper Article Speech (JNAS) and CSJ corpora, which contain audio data from the read speech and spontaneous speech domain, respectively, to test the effectiveness of our proposed method at bridging the gap between these two language domains. Our results show that our proposed language model replacement method achieved better ASR performance than both non-adapted (baseline) ASR models and ASR models adapted using the conventional Shallow Fusion method.journal articl
Serum-Derived Macrophage-Activating Factor Exhibits Anti-Tumor Activity via M2-to-M1 Macrophage Reprogramming
No full textMany anti-tumor effects of group-specific component-derived macrophage-activating factors (GcMAFs) have been reported; however, the specific mechanisms remain unclear. Controlling tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tumor microenvironment is essential for cancer treatment. This study assessed the role of GcMAF in macrophage activation, elucidated the mechanisms by which it exerts its anti-tumor effects, and determined its effects on TAMs in the tumor microenvironment. GcMAF-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages and EMT6 breast tumor cells were co-cultured in a 0.4 µm pore cell culture insert, and gene and protein expression and cell viability were evaluated. DNA microarray analysis of GcMAF-stimulated RAW264.7 cells was conducted. The induction of M2 RAW264.7 cells by interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 was analyzed. GcMAF stimulation increased the tumor necrosis factor-α and inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA and protein levels in RAW264.7 cells but decreased the viability of co-cultured EMT6 cells. Although the details of the receptor or signal pathway of GcMAF are still unclear, these results were confirmed in the M2 RAW264.7 cells, suggesting that GcMAF exerts anti-tumor effects by inducing the differentiation of macrophages into the M1 type and reprogramming M2 macrophages to the M1 type. The anti-tumor activity of GcMAF via M2-to-M1 macrophage reprogramming could aid in developing novel cancer immunotherapies.journal articl
Time-study research on maxillofacial prosthetic treatment
No full textUnreasonable medical fees can cause problems such as increased medical costs, greater medical disparities, decreased medical standards, and physician shortages. To prevent such problems, it is important to set appropriate medical fees, ensure their proper use, and improve the efficiency of medical care. The treatment of patients with maxillofacial defects is generally more expensive compared with general prosthodontic treatment because it involves more materials and requires more frequently follow-ups for longer period. However, the actual time required for maxillofacial prosthetic treatment is unclear. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to clarify the amount of time spent treating maxillofacial prosthetic patients. We analyzed clinical data from patients undergoing routine maxillofacial prosthetic treatment, irrespective of difficulty level, at 8 university hospitals and 2 dental clinics. We also collected data from maxillofacial prosthodontists on the treatment time required for various Japanese health insurance items, including the fabrication of maxillofacial prostheses. The results revealed that some aspects of maxillofacial prosthetic treatment may take longer to perform and are more costly to perform than previously thought, suggesting the need for some adjustments to the health insurance reimbursement system. Maintaining an appropriate balance between expenditures and fees will greatly benefit patients and physicians, ensuring positive health outcomes and a healthy society.journal articl
Characteristics of Ag-doped LaMnO3 perovskite oxide and its application as a solid oxide fuel cell cathode
No full textAg-doped LaMnO3 perovskite oxides were synthesized as new cathode materials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and their phase stability, reactivity with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), electronic state of Mn, electrical conductivity, and power generation properties were investigated. La0.9Ag0.1MnO3±δ (LAM01) showed no evidence of Ag metal deposition, whereas La0.9Ag0.2MnO3±δ (LAM02) showed Ag metal deposition, suggesting that Ag dissolved in a perovskite-type structure and its solid solution limit for the La-site was 10%. LAM01 did not react with the YSZ electrolyte at 975 °C for 100 h. The electronic state of Mn was between that of the trivalent and tetravalent states at room temperature, suggesting that the Ag acceptor dopant was charge-compensated by the oxidation of Mn. Electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient measurements indicated that the main charge carrier was electron–hole. Stable power generation properties were obtained using the LAM01 cathode and indicated that the Ag acceptor was stable and was compatible with the YSZ electrolyte. Therefore, Ag-doped LaMnO3 is promising as a novel SOFC cathode.journal articl
Unveiling the association between fluoroquinolones and aortic diseases using real-world database analysis and pharmacological experiments
No full textFluoroquinolones, which are widely used antibiotics, have been linked to aortic disease, which prompted an FDA warning in 2018. Recent reports have challenged the perception that fluoroquinolones pose a significant risk for vascular diseases. This study aimed to investigate whether fluoroquinolones increase the risk of aortic diseases by focusing on the onset of aortic dissection. Levofloxacin (LVFX), a fluoroquinolone, was studied in vitro using cultured vascular cells and in vivo using a mouse model prone to aortic dissection. Risk of adverse drug events was analyzed using VigiBase, a global safety database, and a retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using the JMDC Claims database. LVFX resulted in endothelial cell injury and increased matrix metalloproteinases in vitro. However, in vivo studies showed no significant effect on elastin degradation or aortic dissection incidence. The effect of LVFX on endothelial injury was altered during the onset of dissection, exacerbating injury before onset but inhibiting it afterward. Safety database analysis showed no significant risk signals for aortic dissection associated with fluoroquinolones, which was supported by findings in the receipt database. Inconsistencies were observed in the in vitro and in vivo actions of fluoroquinolones and differences in their effects on aortic dissection and aneurysms. Despite cytotoxicity, the risk of aortic dissection was not significantly increased in clinical scenarios. Based on our findings, concerns regarding aortic diseases do not justify discontinuation of fluoroquinolone use. Further studies are needed to elucidate the conflicting actions of fluoroquinolones, taking into account background pathophysiology such as infection and inflammation.journal articl
G2A as a key modulator of carbonyl stress and apoptosis resistance in glucose-loaded cancer cells
No full textCancer cells exhibit high glycolytic activity, metabolizing glucose as their primary energy substrate. Toxic metabolites produced during glycolysis, such as methylglyoxal, induce carbonyl stress (CS), promoting inflammation and oxidative stress. The elevated glucose metabolism in cancer cells creates this toxic environment. However, little research has focused on the molecules mediating these reactions and stresses, and their role in selecting and enriching apoptosis-resistant cells. This study investigated the impact of constitutively suppressing oxidized lipid receptor G2A (GPR132) expression on the relationship between CS and oxidative stress in glucose-loaded cancer cells. G2A has recently attracted attention as a tumor promoter. However, our study shows that G2A suppression under glucose loading significantly reduces CS and associated oxidative stress, thereby enhancing cancer cell survival. This suggests a new mechanism contrary to conventional thinking, involving the acute induction of glyoxalase 1 (Glo1). G2A may thus play a role in selecting and enriching apoptosis-resistant cell populations under high glucose conditions by regulating Glo1 expression. These findings improve our understanding of the adaptive capacity of cancer cells to glucose toxicity.journal articl
A novel lower eyelid reconstruction using a skin-tarsoligamentous sling to prevent postoperative drooping deformity : Quantitative analyses using drooping index and angular difference in canthal tilt
Get PDFLower eyelid reconstruction using skin flaps sometimes results in undesirable deformities due to postoperative flap drooping. We aimed to examine the effectiveness of a novel procedure for reconstructing the skin-tarsoligamentous sling of the lower eyelid. We included 37 patients who underwent anterior lamellar reconstruction with a cheek rotation flap for full-thickness lower eyelid defect. They were divided into two groups: Group A included 19 patients who underwent tarsoligamentous sling reconstruction with a fascia lata strip and buccal mucosa grafting, and Group B comprised 18 patients who underwent skin-tarsoligamentous sling reconstruction using an additional combination of a periosteal flap and de-epithelialized triangular flap at the lateral canthal region, representing our novel approach. To evaluate the severity of postoperative deformities, we used the drooping index, the ratio of drooping compared to the healthy side, along with the angular difference in canthal tilt, obtained between the reconstructed and healthy sides, using photographs taken ≥6 months post-reconstruction. Group B demonstrated superior outcomes, with mean drooping indices of 1.13 compared to 1.33 in Group A (P = 0.031) and mean angular differences in canthal tilt of −0.73° compared to −2.45° in Group A (P = 0.021). Patient satisfaction was significantly higher in Group B than in Group A (P = 0.042). Furthermore, patients with drooping index <1.2 and an angular difference in canthal tilt ≥−1.0° exhibited higher satisfaction scores. Our novel approach to lower eyelid reconstruction using a skin-tarsoligamentous sling yielded improved aesthetic outcomes, fewer complications, and higher patient satisfaction.journal articl
A molecular mechanism for how pressure induces interdigitation of phospholipid bilayer membranes
Get PDFThe phase transition from the ripple gel phase to the interdigitated gel phase of bilayers of phosphatidylcholines (PCs) with two saturated long-chain fatty acids under high pressure was investigated by pressure-scanning microscopy, fluorometry, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. Microscopic observation for giant vesicles (GVs) of distearoyl-PC (DSPC) under high pressure showed that spherical GVs transforms significantly into warped and distorted spherical ones instantaneously at the pressure-induced interdigitation. The fluorescence intensities of amphiphilic probe Prodan and hydrophobic probe Laurdan in the dipalmitoyl-PC (DPPC) bilayer steeply decreased and increased, respectively, at the interdigitation, suggesting that the conformational change of the polar head group of DPPC molecule in the bilayer transiently occurred at the interdigitation. Further, it was found from the high-pressure DLS measurements that the size of the vesicle particles of the DPPC and DSPC transiently increases near the interdigitation pressure, whereas the chemically induced interdigitation by adding ethanol to the DSPC bilayer membrane under atmospheric pressure produce no such change in the particle size. Taking account of the critical packing parameter of the PC molecule, the above experimental results would lead us to the conclusion that the pressure-induced interdigitation is attributable to the increase in repulsive interaction between the polar head groups of the PC molecules resulting from the orientational change of the head group from a parallel alignment to a perpendicular one with respect to the bilayer surface by applying pressure, namely the transient state: it occurs when the repulsive interaction exceeds a threshold value for the balance between the repulsive interaction and the attractive interaction among the hydrophobic acyl chains.journal articl