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Background: Quantitative analysis of echo intensity (EI) is a reliable method for discriminating between normal and neuromuscular disease-affected muscles in children. However, the effects of increased skeletal muscle fat mass and total body fat mass in healthy preschool children are yet to be determined. The purpose of this study was to compare the EI of skeletal muscles and local fat accumulation in healthy preschool children by gender and body shape using ultrasonography.Methods: Three- to six-year-old children (149 boys and 124 girls) without any known neuromuscular disorder were included in this cross-sectional research, during the period of 2015 to 2018 in Miyazaki prefecture, Japan. Anthropometry, body composition, and EI of the biceps brachii muscle (BB) and quadriceps femoris (RF) muscle were measured by ultrasonography. Differences in anthropometric measurements and body composition divided by two types of criteria using age and sex-specific percentiles were analyzed using two-way ANOVA (P

Abstract The doubly labeled water (DLW, 2H2 18O) method for calculating the total production of CO2 over several days is currently considered to be the most accurate technique for the measurement of total energy expenditure (TEE), and the results obtained using this method have been used to review energy requirements. Presently, there is limited data available on TEE in Japanese children. The objective of this study was to assess the TEE in pre-school Japanese children using the DLW method. We used a cross-sectional population of 140 children (69 boys and 71 girls) aged 3–6 years. TEE was measured using the DLW method over 8 days under free-living conditions. The average weights (kg) of the boys and girls were 15.6 ± 2.5 and 15.0 ± 2.1 for the 3–4 years old and 19.8 ± 3.8 and 19.6 ± 2.7 for the 5–6 years old, respectively. The corresponding TEE (kcal/day) was 1260.9 ± 357.8 and 1265.2 ± 408.0, and 1682.3 ± 489.0 and 1693.1 ± 473.3, respectively, showing a significant difference with respect to age. Furthermore, TEE per body weight (kcal/kg/day) was 83.2 ± 29.2 and 84.9 ± 26.6, and 85.4 ± 23.2 and 86.7 ± 22.6, respectively. However, when TEE was adjusted for body weight or fat-free mass, there were no age or sex differences. We conclude that in Japanese children, TEE in those aged 3–4 years was similar to the current Ministry of Health recommendations. However, TEE in children aged 5–6 years was slightly higher than the recommendations. Based on these findings, the present results obtained from a large number of participants will provide valuable reference data for Japanese children.

Background: Cambodia, as a developing country, is classified as a poor country; however, in recent years, rapid economic development has been seen in urban areas and the regional differences between the rich and the poor have been increasing. In addition, school meals have been adopted on a trial basis in rural areas, and efforts are being made to support growth and development in childhood. The purpose of this study was to examine whether differences in residential area and school meals availability have an effect on the body size and composition of schoolchildren.Methods: The subjects were 3,198 schoolchildren (1,638 boys and 1,560 girls) aged 6 to 11 years old and height, weight, and body composition measurements were taken as a cross-sectional study once a year during the period from 2017 to 2020. Differences among age and schools in residential areas were analyzed via two-way ANOVA (P

Abstract Metformin is widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and increasing numbers of studies have shown that metformin also ameliorates tumor progression, inflammatory disease, and fibrosis. However, the ability of metformin to improve non-diabetic glomerular disease and chronic kidney disease (CKD) has not been explored. To investigate the effect of metformin on non-diabetic glomerular disease, we used a mouse model of Alport syndrome (Col4a5 G5X) which were treated with metformin or losartan, used as a control treatment. We also investigated the effect of metformin on adriamycin-induced glomerulosclerosis model. Pathological and biochemical analysis showed that metformin or losartan suppressed proteinuria, renal inflammation, fibrosis, and glomerular injury and extended the lifespan in Alport syndrome mice. Transcriptome analysis showed that metformin and losartan influenced molecular pathways-related to metabolism and inflammation. Metformin altered multiple genes including metabolic genes not affected by losartan. Metformin also suppressed proteinuria and glomerular injury in the adriamycin-induced glomerulosclerosis mouse model. Our results showed that metformin ameliorates the glomerular sclerosis and CKD phenotype in non-diabetic chronic glomerular diseases. Metformin may have therapeutic potential for not only diabetic nephropathy but also non-diabetic glomerular disease including Alport syndrome.

Background: Following up children’s health at schools is crucial to ensuring their health and nutrition supply. Cambodia does not have a system for assessing the children’s growth. In this regard, WHO child growth reference might be used to assess child growth in this country. The present study aimed to compare Cambodian primary schoolchildren’s growth in three categories and assess their growth status by reference to the South-East Asian Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS) and WHO references. Methods: This is a case study of primary school children’s growth in Cambodia. Aichi University of Education in Japan conducted physical measurement in some primary schools in Cambodia in three categories: an urban school, a rural school with “school meals”, and a rural school without “school meals”. A total sample size of 9 487 primary schoolchildren was measured from 2015 to 2020. The data were analyzed by a computed formulation of LMS and SPSS statistics version 20. Results: Cambodian primary schoolchildren in the urban school were taller and heavier than those in the rural school with “school meals” and the rural school without “school meals”. The children in the rural school without “school meals” were the shortest and the lightest. The physical growth of the “schoolchildren” in Cambodia was similar to those of the pooled SEANUTS, but far below the WHO references. Conclusion: School meals have a positive influence on children’s growth. SEANUTS growth reference might be fitted to assess child growth in Cambodia, but the WHO reference is not fitted. National child growth curve and reference should be devised to accurately assess children’s growth in Cambodia.

Background: The purpose of this study was to clarify the standard values of body composition for Japanese preschool and postschool-age children according to age and gender. Methods: The population of this cross-sectional study comprised 4,289 children (2,183 boys and 2,106 girls) aged 3 to 10 years and they were assessed during the period of 2003-2018. Anthropometric variables and body composition were measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. The cut-off points for body mass index (BMI) calculated using Cole’s LMS method were set at the 25th and 75th percentile values for age and sex to provide a reference model for Japanese children. Differences among age and sex groups were analyzed by two-way ANOVA (P

Different modes of exogenous electrical stimulation at physiological strength has been applied to various diseases. Previously, we extensively demonstrated the usability of mild electrical stimulation (MES) with low frequency pulse current at 55 pulses per second (MES55) for several disease conditions. Here we found that MES with high frequency pulse-current (5500 pulse per second; MES5500) suppressed the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines induced by phorbol myristate acetate/ionomycin in Jurkat T cells and primary splenocytes. MES5500 also suppressed the overproduction of inflammatory cytokines, improved liver damage and reduced mouse spleen enlargement in concanavalin-A-treated BALB/c mice. The molecular mechanism underlying these effects included the ability of MES5500 to induce modest amount of hydrogen peroxide and control multiple signaling pathways important for immune regulation, such as NF-κB, NFAT and NRF2. In the treatment of various inflammatory and immune-related diseases, suppression of excessive inflammatory cytokines is key, but because immunosuppressive drugs used in the clinical setting have serious side effects, development of safer methods of inhibiting cytokines is required. Our finding provides evidence that physical medicine in the form of MES5500 may be considered as a novel therapeutic tool or as adjunctive therapy for inflammatory and immune-related diseases.

A seminal study recently demonstrated that bromide (Br-) has a critical function in the assembly of type IV collagen in basement membrane (BM), and suggested that Br- supplementation has therapeutic potential for BM diseases. Because salts of bromide (KBr and NaBr) have been used as antiepileptic drugs for several decades, repositioning of Br- for BM diseases is probable. However, the effects of Br- on glomerular basement membrane (GBM) disease such as Alport syndrome (AS) and its impact on the kidney are still unknown. In this study, we administered daily for 16 weeks 75 mg/kg or 250 mg/kg (within clinical dosage) NaBr or NaCl (control) via drinking water to 6-week-old AS mice (mouse model of X-linked AS). Treatment with 75 mg/kg NaBr had no effect on AS progression. Surprisingly, compared with 250 mg/kg NaCl, 250 mg/kg NaBr exacerbated the progressive proteinuria and increased the serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen in AS mice. Histological analysis revealed that glomerular injury, renal inflammation and fibrosis were exacerbated in mice treated with 250 mg/kg NaBr compared with NaCl. The expressions of renal injury markers (Lcn2, Lysozyme), matrix metalloproteinase (Mmp-12), pro-inflammatory cytokines (Il-6, Il-8, Tnf-α, Il-1β) and pro-fibrotic genes (Tgf-β, Col1a1, α-Sma) were also exacerbated by 250 mg/kg NaBr treatment. Notably, the exacerbating effects of Br- were not observed in wild-type mice. These findings suggest that Br- supplementation needs to be carefully evaluated for real positive health benefits and for the absence of adverse side effects especially in GBM diseases such as AS.

Abstract: We give an explicit formula for singular surfaces of revolution with prescribed unbounded mean curvature. Using this mean curvature, we give conditions for certain types of singularities of those surfaces. Periodicity of that surface is also discussed.

Problem Statement: Basic movement is acquired during infancy and childhood, so a variety of movement experiences are necessary during this period. In physical education classes, observational evaluation methods are used to assess a child's acquisition of movement. This method evaluates a series of movement points based on objective indicators. However, this method only evaluates the resulting external movements and the internal cognitive aspects of motor function is not assessed. When evaluating movement, it is necessary to perform both internal and external evaluations. Approach: This study examined a method for evaluating body movements from a functional perspective. The corticomuscular coherence (CMC) and intramuscular/intermuscular coherence (IMC) methods were used to evaluate the brain and nervous system, which are the basis of body movement. Purpose: This review summarizes studies that have used these evaluation methods, focusing on the examination of age-related changes. Results: CMC and performance were related, with higher CMC leading to better performance and age-related changes. The IMC showed results similar to those of the CMC, with a tendency to decrease with age and increase with development. This indicates that IMC can be used to evaluate neural function. However, since CMC evaluates neural connections between the brain and muscle and IMC evaluates neural connections between muscle and muscle, they are not exactly the same, but both are considered indicators of neural connections. Conclusions: Children can be evaluated using the IMC method, which is simple and versatile for evaluating body movements from a functional perspective. By presenting this evaluation index, we believe that it is possible to understand children's movement development from an internal perspective and show the development of movement through a child's diverse movement experiences. Thus, we believe that it can be used as an evaluation index for the development of exercise programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show a relation between sign of Gaussian curvature of a cuspidal edge and geometric invariants via singularities of Gauss maps. Moreover, we define and characterize positivity/negativity of cusps of Gauss maps by geometric invariants, and show a relation between the signs of cusps and the Gaussian curvature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Alport syndrome (AS) is a hereditary, progressive nephritis caused bymutation of type IV collagen. Previous studies have shown that activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) exacerbates other renal diseases, but whether STAT3 activation exacerbates AS pathology is still unknown. Here we aim to investigate the involvement of STAT3 in the progression of AS. Method. Phosphorylated STAT3 expression was assessed by immunoblotting analysis of kidneys and glomeruli of an AS mouse model (Col4a5 G5X mutant). To determine the effect of blocking STAT3 signaling, we treated AS mice with the STAT3 inhibitor stattic (10mg/kg i.p., three times per week for 10 weeks; n = 10). We assessed the renal function [proteinuria, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine] and analyzed the glomerular injury score, fibrosis and inflammatory cell invasion by histological staining. Moreover, we analyzed the gene expression of nephritis-associated molecules. Results. Phosphorylated STAT3 was upregulated in AS kidneys and glomeruli. Treatment with stattic ameliorated the progressive renal dysfunction, such as increased levels of proteinuria, BUN and serum creatinine. Stattic also significantly suppressed the gene expression levels of renal injury markers (Lcn2, Kim-1), pro-inflammatory cytokines (Il-6, KC), pro-fibrotic genes (Tgf-β, Col1a1, α-Sma) and Mmp9. Stattic treatment decreased the renal fibrosis congruently with the decrease of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) protein and increase of antifibrosisassociated markers p-Smad1, 5 and 8, which are negative regulators of TGF-β signaling. Conclusion. STAT3 inhibition significantly ameliorated the renal dysfunction in AS mice. Our finding identifies STAT3 as an important regulator in AS progression and provides a promising therapeutic target for AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We give criteria for cuspidal butter ies and cuspidal S-1 (cS-1 ) singularities in terms of theWeierstrass data for maximal surfaces, and also show non- existence of cuspidal S+1 (cS+1 ) singularities on maximal surfaces. Moreover, we show duality between these singularities considering the conjugate maximal surfaces each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]