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This paper proposes a modified stripmap synthetic aperture radar (SAR) signal processing algorithm with an X-band SAR system, using the practical measurement results of automobile-based SAR (Auto-SAR). The quality of the image is degraded due to an unexpected direction change or anisotropy of the target position in radar image measurement. To solve the quality problem, signal processing is required for the vector velocity of each range in the azimuth direction. An X-band chirp pulse system was implemented and optimized by a signal processing algorithm suitable for high resolution. The stripmap SAR images are produced in five places. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified by comparing impulse response function analysis and experimental images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Question: Are parity and the timing of menarche associated with premature and early natural menopause?Summary Answer: Early menarche (≤11 years) is a risk factor for both premature menopause (final menstrual period, FMP <40 years) and early menopause (FMP 40-44 years), a risk that is amplified for nulliparous women.What Is Known Already: Women with either premature or early menopause face an increased risk of chronic conditions in later life and of early death. Findings from some studies suggest that early menarche and nulliparity are associated with early menopause, however overall the evidence is mixed. Much of the evidence for a direct relationship is hampered by a lack of comparability across studies, failure to adjust for confounding factors and inadequate statistical power.Study Design, Size, Duration: This pooled study comprises 51 450 postmenopausal women from nine observational studies in the UK, Scandinavia, Australia and Japan that contribute to the International collaboration for a Life course Approach to reproductive health and Chronic disease Events (InterLACE).Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: Age at menarche (categorized as ≤11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 or more years) and parity (categorized as no children, one child and two or more children) were exposures of interest. Age at FMP was confirmed by at least 12 months of cessation of menses where this was not the result of an intervention (such as surgical menopause due to bilateral oophorectomy or hysterectomy) and categorized as premature menopause (FMP before age 40), early menopause (FMP 40-44 years), 45-49 years, 50-51 years, 52-53 years and 54 or more years. We used multivariate multinomial logistic regression models to estimate relative risk ratio (RRR) and 95% CI for associations between menarche, parity and age at FMP adjusting for within-study correlation.Main Results and the Role Of Chance: The median age at FMP was 50 years (interquartile range 48-53 years), with 2% of the women experiencing premature menopause and 7.6% early menopause. Women with early menarche (≤11 years, compared with 12-13 years) were at higher risk of premature menopause (RRR 1.80, 95% CI 1.53-2.12) and early menopause (1.31, 1.19-1.44). Nulliparity was associated with increased risk of premature menopause (2.26, 1.84-2.77) and early menopause (1.32, 1.09-1.59). Women having early menarche and nulliparity were at over 5-fold increased risk of premature menopause (5.64, 4.04-7.87) and 2-fold increased risk of early menopause (2.16, 1.48-3.15) compared with women who had menarche at ≥12 years and two or more children.Limitations, Reasons For Caution: Most of the studies (except the birth cohorts) relied on retrospectively reported age at menarche, which may have led to some degree of recall bias.Wider Implications Of the Findings: Our findings support early monitoring of women with early menarche, especially those who have no children, for preventive health interventions aimed at mitigating the risk of adverse health outcomes associated with early menopause.Study Funding/competing Interest(s): InterLACE project is funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council project grant (APP1027196). G.D.M. is supported by Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT120100812). There are no competing interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study is (1) to identify obesity-related lifestyle behaviour patterns of diet, physical activity, sedentary and sleep behaviours in preschool children, (2) to examine the association between identified behaviour clusters and overweight/ obesity and (3) to investigate differences in children's family environments according to clusters. Design setting and participants: A cross-sectional study on 2114 preschool children aged 3-6 years who attended childcare facilities (24 nursery schools and 10 kindergartens) in Tsuruoka city, Japan in April 2003 was conducted. Main outcome measures: Children's principal caregivers completed a questionnaire on children's lifestyle behaviours (dinner timing, outside playtime, screen time and night-time sleep duration), family environment (family members, maternal employment, mealtime regularity and parents' habitual exercise and screen time) and measurements of weight and height. Cluster analysis was performed using children's 4 lifestyle behaviours based on those non-missing values (n=1545). The X² tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) estimated cluster differences in overweight/ obesity and family environments. Results: 6 clusters were identified. Children's overweight/obesity varied across clusters (p=0.007). The cluster with the most screen time, shorter nighttime sleep duration, average dinner timing and outside playtime had the highest overweight/obesity prevalence (15.1%), while the cluster with the least screen time, the longest sleep duration, the earliest dinner timing and average outside playtime had the lowest prevalence (4.0%). Family environments regarding mealtime regularity and both parents' screen time also significantly varied across clusters. The cluster having the highest overweight/obesity prevalence had the highest proportion of irregular mealtimes and the most screen time for both parents. Conclusions: This study suggests that public health approaches to prevent children's overweight/obesity should focus on decreasing screen time and increasing night-time sleep duration. To shape those behaviours, regular mealtimes and decreasing parents' screen time within family environments need to be targeted among family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: A retrospective observational and case control study. Purpose: To identify appropriate treatment options according to the types of surgical site infections (SSI) in instrumented posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). Overview of Literature: There has been no agreement or consensus with regard to this matter. Methods: Thirty-two consecutive SSIs were included and followed for more than one year. The elapsed time to diagnosis (ETD) according to the type of SSI was analyzed. The treatment options for each type and consequent clinical results were reviewed. The risk factors of removing the implants were analyzed. Results: There were 6/32 (19%) superficial incisional, 6/32 (19%) deep incisional, and 20/32 (62%) organ/space infection cases (SII, DII, and O/SI, respectively) (p =0.002). ETD was 8.5±2.3 days in SII, 8.7±2.3 days in DII, and 164.5±131.1 days in O/SI (p =0.013). All cases of SII and DII retained implants and were treated by repeated irrigation and secondary closure. Among O/SIs, 10/20 were treated conservatively. Nine out of ten underwent posterior one stage simultaneous revision (POSSR) and in one case, the cage was removed anteriorly. Those who had ETDs longer than 3 months showed a significant risk of implant removal (p =0.008, odds ratio [OR]=40.3). The Oswestry disability index (ODI) improved from 47.3% to 33.8% in SII, from 55.0% to 32.3% in DII, and from 53.4% to 42.1% in O/SI (p =0.002). There was no difference among the three groups (p =0.106); however, there was a partial correlation between ETD and final ODI (r =0.382, p =0.034). Conclusions: Latent O/SI was the most common type of SSI in PLIF. In cases of SII and DII, early aggressive wound management and secondary closure was effective and implant removal was not necessary. In some cases of O/SI, implant removal was unavoidable. However, implant removal could be averted by an earlier diagnosis. POSSR was feasible and safe. Functional outcomes were improved; however, disability increased as ETD increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lymph node metastasis is rare in small (i.e., <10 mm) rectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). In addition to tumor size, pathological features such as the mitotic or Ki-67 proliferation index are associated with lymph node metastasis in rectal NETs. We recently treated a patient who underwent endoscopic treatment of a small, grade 1 rectal NET that recurred in the form of perirectal lymph node metastasis 7 years later. A 7-mm-sized perirectal lymph node was noted at the time of the initial endoscopic treatment. The same lymph node was found to be slightly enlarged on follow-up and finally confirmed as a metastatic NET. Therefore, the perirectal lymph node metastasis might have been present at the time of the initial diagnosis. However, the growth rate of the lymph node was extremely low, and it took 7 years to increase in size from 7 to 10 mm. NETs with low Ki-67 proliferation index and without mitotic activity may grow extremely slowly even if they are metastatic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the association between MUC5B promoter polymorphisms and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in a group of Mexican patients. Topics discussed include other genetic loci that showed polymophism association with IPF, the results of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) study showing that the polymorphism-IPF association is rare in Korean patients and the strongest genetic risk factor for IPF among non-Hispanic white population.

Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is an autosomal dominant disease that produces a variety of tumors and cysts in the central nervous system and visceral organs, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). RCC in patients with VHL disease does not frequently metastasize, therefore, the response to treatment and prognosis of metastatic RCC developed in patients with VHL disease has not been reported. Sunitinib is an oral, multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor with antiangiogenic and antitumor activity. Here, we report on four patients with metastatic RCC in VHL disease who received sunitinib and achieved partial responses that have lasted for a prolonged period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambrosia beetle, Platypus kortjoensis (Murayama), vectors the Korean oak wilt (KOW) pathogen, Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae K.H. Kim, Y.J. Choi, & H.D. Shin, in Korea, which is highly lethal to Mongolian oak, Quercus mongolica Fisch., and is considered a major threat to forest ecosystem health. We characterized the attack pattern of P. koryoensis along the lower trunk of 240 Mongolian oaks in relation to tree decline symptoms on Mt. Uam in Gyeonggi-Do Province, Korea during June-July 2009. For each tree, we recorded diameter at breast height (dbh) (DBH) and P. kortdoensis entrance hole density at two heights along the lower trunk (near groundline and at 1.5 m above groundline) and on opposite sides (downslope side and upslope side). Trees were assigned to one of three dieback classes: 1 ) apparently healthy, no or practically no wilted foliage, and no obvious platypodine frass near the base of the tree; 2) no or only partial wilting with obvious frass near the base of the tree; and 3) apparently recently killed by KOW with all foliage wilted and mostly retained with obvious frass near the base of the tree. As dieback class increased from 1 to 3, P. koryoeusis entrance hole density increased at all four trunk locations. Attack density was highest on the downslope side of the trunk near groundline, and principal component analysis indicated that this trunk location was the best indicator of tree dieback. In addition, DBH tended to increase with dieback class suggesting that larger trees were infested first. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fauna assemblages reflect their habitat relating to ecological function in an ecosystem. The functional groups are concerned with how a resource is processed by different species to provide a specific ecosystem service or function. We elucidated seasonal changes of coleopteran functional groups in forests, and evaluated their ecological roles related to available food resources. Coleopteran communities were collected weekly or biweekly using Malaise traps at nine study sites in Japanese red pine forests in Korea from late June to September 2005. Compositions of the functional groups were compared at the different sites and at sampling times with respect to taxa richness and abundance. Cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling were used to characterize spatial and temporal changes of functional groups. Herbivores and dead/live wood feeders regulating primary production in the pine forests were the dominant coleopteran groups in July, followed by detritivores and predators that dominated from July to August, resulting from the accumulation of detritus. Then, fungivores became dominant due to increased fungal biomass in the forest. Seasonal changes of coleopteran functional groups shifted from regulators of primary production to regulators of decomposition, reflecting their available food resources. In addition, abundance of detritivores and predators were dependent on total abundance of coleopterans, suggesting that these two groups reflect their habitat condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the connection between daily physical activity (PA) and the neighborhood environments (NE) of residents in Japan. The subjects were chosen through a random sampling method by sex and age in region with high and low residential density, land use mix-diversity and street connectivity. Residents' activities include cycling in female and walking in males. The study revealed that daily PA was high in women and in men, PA is high for those are into leisure walking.

Dyslipidemia accompanying metabolic syndrome(MetS) is characteristic of increases in serum triglyceride and small dense LDL particles and a decrease in HDL-cholesterol due to visceral fat accumulation and insulin resistance. An increase in LDL-cholesterol exists side-by-side with MetS. When we perform exercise and diet intervention in those with MetS, the aim of intervention is to reduce body weight. If successful body weight reduction is achieved, not only dyslipidemia accompanying MetS but also LDL-cholesterol improves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the prevalence of a past diagnosis of various diseases among 5-year age groups based on the Japan Nurses' Health Study (JNHS) cross-sectional baseline survey. Data obtained suggests that for all diseases, except ovarian cancer, the prevalence of a past diagnosis increased markedly with age and that incidence rates could be predicted based on the degree of increase in prevalence between two adjacent 5-year age groups.

The article presents a study which delineates the association between the perception of resident on the neighborhood's environments and walking time in objectively different regions of Japan. The subjects of the study were participants of health promotion program that focused on walking activity in the street. The results suggested that the perception of the neighborhood's environmental factors which correlates on walking time differs the differential regional physical environment.

Background/Aims Endoscopic surveillance after total gastrectomy (TG) for gastric cancer is routinely performed for detecting tumor recurrence or adverse effects of surgery. But, there were only a few reports for clinical benefits of endoscopic surveillance. We investigated the necessity for endoscopic surveillance after TG for gastric cancer. Methods We enrolled 388 patients with early gastric cancer and 461 with advanced gastric cancer who underwent TG with R0 resection for gastric cancer between 2011 and 2012, and received regular surveillance programs after TG including endoscopy and abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) with contrast. Results Median follow-up period of abdominopelvic CT was 52± 22.5 months and endoscopy was 53.4 23.4 months. Tumor recurrence occurred in 167 patients (19.6%). Of 167 patients, only locoregional recurrence was observed in five patients (2.9%). All only locoregional recurrence was detected by both endoscopy and abdominopelvic CT. Of detectable postoperative adverse effects by endoscopic or radiologic studies, benign stricture in the anastomotic site was observed by endoscopy in only three patients. Conclusions Endoscopic surveillance after TG with R0 resection for gastric cancer is a limited role for the oncologic outcome or postoperative adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]