Search

Poor posture in young adults and middle-aged people is associated with neck and back pain which are among the leading causes of disability worldwide. Training posture maintenance muscles and learning about ideal posture are important for improving poor posture. However, the effect of using both approaches simultaneously has not been verified, and it is unclear how long the effects persist after the intervention. Forty female university students were randomly and evenly assigned to four groups: physical function improvement training, posture learning, combination, and control groups. Four weeks of intervention training was conducted. Postural alignment parameters were obtained, including trunk anteroposterior inclination, pelvic anteroposterior inclination, and vertebral kyphosis angle. Physical function improvement training for improving crossed syndrome included two types of exercises: "wall-side squatting" and "wall-side stretching". The posture learning intervention consisted of two types of interventions: "standing upright with their back against the wall" and "rolled towel". A multiple comparison test was performed after analysis of covariance to evaluate the effect of each group's postural change intervention on postural alignment. Only the combination group showed an effective improvement in all posture alignments. However, it was found that a week after the 4-week intervention, the subjects' postures returned to their original state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a serious disease burden and poses a tremendous public health challenge worldwide. Here, we report a comprehensive epidemiological and genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 from 63 patients in Niigata City, a medium-sized Japanese city, during the early phase of the pandemic, between February and May 2020. Among the 63 patients, 32 (51%) were female, with a mean (±standard deviation) age of 47.9 ± 22.3 years. Fever (65%, 41/63), malaise (51%, 32/63), and cough (35%, 22/63) were the most common clinical symptoms. The median C t value after the onset of symptoms lowered within 9 days at 20.9 cycles (interquartile range, 17–26 cycles), but after 10 days, the median C t value exceeded 30 cycles (p < 0.001). Of the 63 cases, 27 were distributed in the first epidemic wave and 33 in the second, and between the two waves, three cases from abroad were identified. The first wave was epidemiologically characterized by a single cluster related to indoor sports activity spread in closed settings, which included mixing indoors with families, relatives, and colleagues. The second wave showed more epidemiologically diversified events, with most index cases not related to each other. Almost all secondary cases were infected by droplets or aerosols from closed indoor settings, but at least two cases in the first wave were suspected to be contact infections. Results of the genomic analysis identified two possible clusters in Niigata City, the first of which was attributed to clade S (19B by Nexstrain clade) with a monophyletic group derived from the Wuhan prototype strain but that of the second wave was polyphyletic suggesting multiple introductions, and the clade was changed to GR (20B), which mainly spread in Europe in early 2020. These findings depict characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the early stages in local community settings during February to May 2020 in Japan, and this integrated approach of epidemiological and genomic analysis may provide valuable information for public health policy decision-making for successful containment of chains of infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molecular conformations, packing structures and intermolecular interactions of homopentapeptides from achiral α-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib), ArSO2-(Aib)5-OMe (Ar = p-tolyl, p-bromophenyl and p-methoxyphenyl), have been investigated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The peptides were folded in 310-helical conformations consisting of two or three consecutive ten-atom intramolecular hydrogen-bonded β-turns of type III or III′. In the packing mode, left-handed (M) and right-handed (P) 310-helical molecules formed linear network structures with head-to-tail type intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Two types of network structures consisting of homochiral sequences (⋯M⋯M⋯M⋯ or ⋯P⋯P⋯P⋯) and heterochiral sequences (⋯M⋯P⋯M⋯P⋯) were obtained depending on the functional groups or substituents of the peptides. Interestingly, peptide 1a which has a p-tolyl group crystallized differently when using a different crystallization medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We investigated whether early initiation of hemoperfusion with a polymyxin B cartridge (PMX) after the diagnosis of septic shock could improve the clinical outcome. Methods: A prospective, open-labeled, multicenter cohort study was performed at intensive care units in Japan. 41 patients received PMX within 6 h after the diagnosis of septic shock (early group) and 51 patients were treated after 6 h (late group). Results: The early group had a significantly shorter duration of ventilator support and also had a lower catecholamine requirement. PMX was effective for improvement of hypotension, hypoperfusion, the sequential organ failure assessment score, and pulmonary oxygenation regardless of the timing of its initiation. The 28-day mortality rate did not differ between the two groups. Conclusions: Early initiation of PMX shortened the duration of ventilator support and also reduced the catecholamine requirement, so early treatment of septic shock should achieve a better outcome. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezoelectric control of thermally induced vibrations of rectangular and circular plates exhibiting strain-rate damping is investigated. The plates consist of a thermoelastic structural layer bonded to two outer piezothermoelastic layers. Electric pulses are applied to the piezoelectric layers in order to suppress the vibration. The initiation and termination times of the pulse voltages are calculated according to a procedure similar to a method proposed earlier by the authors; amplitudes of the pulses are determined by various control strategies, including those based on speed feedback. Numerical results are presented for aluminum/PZT ceramic plates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with control of thermally induced vibration in a composite beam with damping effect. The beam consists of a central thermoelastic structural layer and two outer piezothermoelastic layers. The thermoelastic vibration in the beam is suppressed by the superposition of electroelastic vibration. The electroelastic vibration is repeatedly excited through application of electric potential differences across the piezoelectric layers. The initiation and termination times of the applied electric pulses are determined by a method similar to the optimization procedure developed previously by the authors. The amplitudes of the applied electric pulses are determined using a control method based on speed feedback. Numerical results for an aluminum/PZT ceramic beam are illustrated graphically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The induction of CYP1A1 by 3-methylcholanthrene occurs in neonatal but not in adult rabbits. The expression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and AhR nuclear translocator (Arnt) mRNAs is seen even in adult rabbits. The CYP1 A1 inducibility does not seem to be regulated by DNA methylation, known to inhibit the transcription of a gene(s). Preliminary experiments suggest that a constitutive factor(s) in adult liver nuclear extracts is bound to the core sequence of rabbit xenobiotic-responsive element (XRE). The sequence of rabbit XRE overlaps with that of the upstream stimulatory factor 1 (USF1)-binding site. The AhR/Arnt-mediated activation of XRE-TK/Luc reporter gene in RK13 cells is blocked by transfection with a USF1 expression vector. These results indicate that the XRE of the rabbit CYP1A1 gene is recognized by the basic helix-loop-helix proteins to regulate the expression of CYP1A1 in both an agonistic (AhR/Arnt) and an antagonistic (USF1) manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Induction of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase by aryl hydrocarbons occurs only in neonatal rabbits and not in adult rabbits [Kahl, G. F., Friederich, D. E., Bigelow, S. W., Okey, A. B. & Nebert, D. W. (1980) Dev. Pharmacol.. Ther. l, 137-162]. In the present study, we isolated cDNA clones encoding aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (Arnt) from adult rabbits. The deduced amino acid sequences of rabbit AhR and Arnt showed 80% and 94% identities with those of human AhR and Arnt, respectively. Rabbit AhR mRNA was predominantly expressed in the lung and liver. in contrast, rabbit Arnt mRNA was expressed at almost the same level in all tissues except for the heart liver, and small intestine. Gel shift analysis showed that the AhR · Arnt complex could bind to the consensus xenobiotic-responsive element, which indicates that AhR expressed in adult rabbit livers possessed binding activity to the consensus xenobiotic-responsive element in vitro, although aryl hydrocarbons did not induce the activity of AHH in adult rabbits. We propose that the incapability of adult rabbits to induce cytochrome P-450 1A1 (CYP1A1) is caused by factors other than AhR and Arnt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]