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Background: Preventing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in older people is an important public health issue. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of fear regarding COVID-19 and adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures among community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted from July 15 to August 19, 2020, in 127 community-dwelling older adults ≥65 years old in Japan. A questionnaire including participants’ basic attributes (age, sex, body mass index, and family structure), levels of fear regarding COVID-19, increasing adherence to four behaviors (restrictions on going out, maintaining physical distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands) for COVID-19 prevention, and its stress levels was used. We calculated the relationship between the level of fear of COVID-19 and the level of each behavioral change using Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rs). Results: About 95% of older adults displayed fear of COVID-19. Rates of adherence to all four COVID-19 prevention measures increased to approximately 80–95%. However, about 40–55% of older adults were stressed by all behavior modifications except washing hands. The increasing level of fear regarding COVID-19 correlated positively with decreasing frequency of going out (rs=0.280, p=0.001) and increasing frequency of washing hands (rs=0.336, p, Acta medica Nagasakiensia, 66(2), pp.65-70; 2023

Concrete structures are susceptible to corrosion especially when exposed to marine environment. In order to minimize the corrosion in reinforced concrete, reduction of dissolved Oxygen (DO) in mixing water is recommended. The DO is the measurement of the amount of free Oxygen that is dissolved in water which is proportional to the corrosion rate of steel bars inside concrete. In this paper, the use of industrial waste/by-products, agricultural waste, natural minerals, and green inhibitors as additive for cement in reducing the DO level of the mixing water was explored. Candidate materials from different types of agricultural waste, industrial waste, natural minerals, and green inhibitors. The percentage difference of DO were computed for all types of materials as ash or powder or extract in room temperature. This is the percentage difference of DO level in distilled water and the solution mixed with the candidate material having a mass ratio of 3 : 2 and/or 3 : 1. Results showed that more than 90% reduction of DO level were achieved when mixed with ginger extract, ginger powder, aloe vera extract, ginger pulp, and rice hull ash. Future experimental studies using the candidate materials producing reinforced concrete specimens with high reduction of DO level in mixing water is recommended.

Background: Although the 100-mL water swallowing test (WST) is used to measure swallowing capacity (SC), volume per swallow (VS), time per swallow (TS), and the presence/absence of choking signs, the performance of each indicator is not clearly understood. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between performance in each indicator in the 100-mL WST and risk factors for dysphagia in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Participants included 304 Japanese community-dwelling older adults aged ?65 years. We investigated participant characteristics including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), medical history, number of prescribed medications, laryngeal function (maximum phonation time [MPT]), subjective dysphagia (the 10-item eating assessment tool [EAT-10]), and all indicators of the 100-mL WST. We compared each of the four indicators in the 100-mL WST and investigated their relationship with potential risk factors for dysphagia. Results: Multivariate analyses showed that age, BMI, MPT, and EAT-10 were independently associated with SC. Age, sex, BMI, and EAT-10 were independently associated with VS. BMI, MPT, and EAT-10 were independently associated with TS. Men were more likely to have choking signs in the 100-mL WST than women. Conclusions: These findings indicated that all of three quantitative indicators in the 100-mL WST may predict the risk of sarcopenic dysphagia. Moreover, the presence of choking signs in men suggested the risk of aspiration. We propose that SC and choking signs in the 100-mL WST could be a simple and useful dysphagia assessment tool for community-dwelling older people., Acta medica Nagasakiensia, 63(1), pp.1-10; 2019

Background: Although toe grip strength has been closely associated with physical performance, the association between toe grip strength and history of falls in older adults remains unclear. The purpose of our study was to investigate the associations between physical function testing, including toe grip strength and falls in the previous 12 months, in community-dwelling frail older women. Methods: Forty-eight participants aged ?65 years who were screened by a frailty checklist were included. We compared the faller group (n=18) and non-faller group (n=30) in terms of physical function including toe grip strength, hand grip strength, five-repetition sit-to-stand test, one-leg standing duration with vision, 5-meter walk test, and timed up-and-go test, as well as history of orthopedic disease. Results: Participants in the faller group had significantly weaker left toe grip strength than those in the non-faller group (p=0.009), whereas the other physical measurements were not found to be significantly different. Regarding orthopedic disease, the faller group had a significantly higher prevalence of lumbar spine and ankle joint disease compared with the nonfaller group (p=0.025 and p=0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Left toe grip strength and lumbar spine/ankle joint disease may be the most important physical function factors for predicting falls in frail older women.

Additional file 2. Intratumoral expression patterns of MCT4 and GPC3 in 44 cases of MCT4+ GPC3+ HCC.

Additional file 1. Clinicopathological data of patients with HCC.

In order to study the correlation between the cracking of rice (Oryza sativa L.) kernels and themolecular structure of the amylopectin in them, we attempted optical sum frequency generation(SFG) spectroscopy in the C-H stretching vibration region for normal and cracked japonica nonglutinousrice kernels. The samples were Koshihikari and Nipponbare. In Nipponbare, the width ofthe SFG spectrum peak at 2915 cm^-1 of the cracked rice kernels was broader than that of the normalones, while for Koshihikari there was no clear difference. The width of the 2915 cm^-1 peak issuggested to originate from the variety of the higher-order structure of the saccharide chains inamylopectin. Although this is a tentative result, this method is shown to have a potential of servingfor preventing the cracking of the rice kernels.