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ABSTRACTPsychological well-being (PWB) encompasses the positive aspects of mental health, such as hedonic wellbeing (experience of enjoyment and pleasure), eudaimonic wellbeing (experience of self-actualization), and life satisfaction (global evaluation of quality of life). Japanese teachers suffer from poor PWB with a high incidence of mental health problems. Despite the potentially significant impact of poor Japanese teachers’ PWB on their students’ PWB, these associations have remained largely unexplored. The present study investigated if teacher PWB has any relationship with student PWB and if teacher-student relationship, students’ abilities for resilience, and classroom climate mediate the teacher and student PWB relationship, with 46 teachers and 1,256 children aged 8–12 years from Japanese schools. A multilevel mediation analysis revealed an indirect positive relationship between Japanese teacher life satisfaction and Japanese student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing mediated by students’ abilities for resilience. There was no relationship between teacher and student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Nonetheless, the findings still imply that promoting teacher life satisfaction may contribute to the promotion of student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Future researchers could investigate if a school-based intervention targeted at both Japanese teachers and students would more effectively promote PWB among students than would such interventions aimed only at students.

A layered oxytelluride, Ba2ZnO2Ag2Te2, which consists of alternating stacks of ZnO2and Ag2Te2layers with Ba ions in between, has been synthesized via high-pressure reaction. At ambient temperature, it contains discrete [ZnO2]2–linear units similar to Ba2ZnO2Ag2Se2(Cmca), meaning that the unusual linear coordination around zinc center is stable even when a greater tensile strain is applied by the sandwiched Ag2Te2layers in addition to barium ions. Upon heating, this compound undergoes an order–disorder phase transition from orthorhombic (Cmca) to tetragonal (I4/mmm) system at 350 K, transforming the ZnO2lattice in linear coordination into a lattice with disordered oxide ions, suggesting the presence of cis/transcoordination coexistence as well as correlated disorder.

ABSTRACTThe practice of neuroscience-informed psychotherapy (NIP) that aims to refine the existing practice of psychotherapy is a recent topic in psychotherapy research. The researcher interviewed 25 Japanese psychotherapists and investigated the presence, benefits and needs of NIP and the potential barriers that may hinder the learning of NIP. A thematic analysis identified that the practice of NIP is currently limited in Japan due to limited learning opportunities. However, a minor proportion of Japanese psychotherapists practice NIP and experienced benefits, such as developing confidence in performing psychotherapy and effectively guiding clients to normalize problems. NIP may benefit psychotherapists in Japan and other Asian countries as psychotherapy in Japan and other Asian countries share many characteristics influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and Westernization.

Surface microstructures impart various useful properties to objects, for example, improving optical characteristics, wettability, and sliding properties. It is well known that biomimicking relief structures are effective in making such properties arise and have been studied to be applied to various devices. Furthermore, they are expected to be utilized not only for improving a particular property but also for adding more complex functions on a device's surface by fabricating different multi-functional structures on a single surface in the future. However, to begin with, artificially fabricating such biomimicking special functional relief is difficult. One typical feature of biomimicking surfaces is the dual-scale structure, the smaller one of which is less than 200 nm. Moreover, in the case of realizing the more complex devices, it is necessary to fabricate various forms as changing process conditions dynamically. In this study, we proposed and developed a flexible evanescent wave interference lithography system as a novel fabrication method, which allows us to realize the fabrication of sub-half-wavelength complex relief structures. Firstly, we theoretically analyzed the fundamental behavior of the fabricated structure and found that the proposed concept has the potential to realize one of the target complex structures. Secondly, we developed the proposed system with high process flexibility, in which the number of beams, the azimuth angles, and the polarization can be simply manipulated. Finally, we validated the concept of the designed system by some experiments, where we fabricated dual-scale structures with 840-nm and 190-nm fringe patterns simultaneously.

Studies on magnetic oxyhydrides have been almost limited to perovskite-based lattices with corner-sharing octahedra with a M–H–M (M: transition metal) angle of θ ∼ 180°. Using a high-pressure method, we prepared BaCrO2H with a 6H-type hexagonal perovskite structure with corner- and face-sharing octahedra, offering a unique opportunity to investigate magnetic interactions based on a θ ∼ 90° case. Neutron diffraction for BaCrO2H revealed an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order at TN∼ 375 K, which is higher than ∼240 K in BaCrO3–xFx. The relatively high TNof BaCrO2H can be explained by the preferred occupancy of H–at the face-sharing site that provides AFM superexchange in addition to AFM direct exchange interactions. First-principles calculations on BaCrO2H in comparison with BaCrO2F and BaMnO3further reveal that the direct Cr–Cr interaction is significantly enhanced by shortening the Cr–Cr distance due to the covalent nature of H–. This study provides a useful strategy for the extensive control of magnetic interactions by exploiting the difference in the covalency of multiple anions.

•Multidrug-resistant Enterobacter roggenkampiiOIPH-N260 was isolated in Japan.•This isolate had two resistance plasmids, with one encoding blaIMP-1and blaGES-5.•The other plasmid was a mcr-9- and blaCTX-M-9-encoding IncHI2 plasmid.•IS26 mediated insertion of unique blaIMP-1structure into IncP6 plasmid.•Diffusion of resistance genes via insertion and plasmid transfer is a critical issue.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology which predominantly affects medium- and small-sized muscular arteries. Histopathologic studies of KD vasculitis lesions have demonstrated characteristic T cell infiltration and an abundance of CD8+T cells; however, the contribution of cytotoxic lymphocytes to KD vasculitis lesions has not been identified. Here, we histopathologically and immunohistochemically examined infiltrating inflammatory cells, particularly cytotoxic protein-positive cells, such as granzyme B+cells and TIA-1+cells, in KD vasculitis lesions. Three autopsy specimens with acute-phase KD were observed and contained 24 vasculitis lesions affecting medium-sized muscular arteries, excluding pulmonary arteries. Infiltrating neutrophils in vasculitis lesions were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining, and monocytes/macrophages and lymphocytes were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The predominant cells were CD163+monocytes/macrophages and CD3+T cells. CD8+T cells, granzyme B+cells, and TIA-1+cells were also observed, but CD56+natural killer cells were rare. To the best of our knowledge, the current study is the first histopathologic report confirming the infiltration of inflammatory cells with cytotoxic proteins in vasculitis lesions in patients with KD. Cytotoxic T cells may play a role in the development of vasculitis lesions in KD patients.

Using a high-pressure synthesis method, we prepared the layered oxychalcogenide Ba2CoO2Ag2Te2(space group: I4/mmm) with alternating stacks of CoO2and Ag2Te2layers, separated by Ba atoms. The CoO2plane is greatly extended (Co–O = 2.19 Å on average) due to tensile strain from adjacent Ag2Te2layers, causing displacement of oxide anions. Layered cobaltates with trans-CoO4X2(X = chalcogen, halogen) coordination feature large spin–orbit coupling, which is linearly scaled by the tetrahedral factor of dCo–X/dCo–O. However, applying this relation to Ba2CoO2Ag2Te2yields a magnetic moment of ∼4 μB, which is nearly twice the experimentally observed value of 1.87(17) μB. This result, along with a reduced Néel temperature (TN= 60 K), originates from the off-centered position of otherwise under-bonded oxide anions, which changes the crystal field splitting of Co d orbitals.

Interaction between the gut microbiome and host plays a key role in human health. Here, we perform a metagenome shotgun-sequencing-based analysis of Japanese participants to reveal associations between the gut microbiome, host genetics, and plasma metabolome. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) for microbial species (n = 524) identifies associations between the PDE1Cgene locus and Bacteroides intestinalisand between TGIF2and TGIF2-RAB5IFgene loci and Bacteroides acidifiaciens. In a microbial gene ortholog GWAS, agaEand agaS, which are related to the metabolism of carbohydrates forming the blood group A antigen, are associated with blood group A in a manner depending on the secretor status determined by the East Asian-specific FUT2variant. A microbiome-metabolome association analysis (n = 261) identifies associations between bile acids and microbial features such as bile acid metabolism gene orthologs including baiand 7β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Our publicly available data will be a useful resource for understanding gut microbiome-host interactions in an underrepresented population.

This study aimed to identify (i) which practice‐based research agendas had the highest priority among patients and (ii) whether priorities varied significantly with patient age and gender. We conducted a cross‐sectional questionnaire survey of 482 patients from 11 outpatient dental practices. The patients were shown 31 items concerning practice‐based research questions and asked to select the three items in which they were most interested. We generated a rank order of the 31 items. Subsequently, the 31 items were categorised into 10 groups, and we performed subgroup analyses according to age and gender using chi‐square tests. “Age‐specific care to maintain oral health (n= 86)” was rated as the most interesting research question. When data were analysed according to age, patients less than 40 years old rated “Orthodontic treatment”, “Esthetic dental care” and “Topical fluoride application” as interesting questions significantly more frequently than did patients 40 years old or older (P< 0.01)?, while patients 40 years old or older rated “Regular dental check‐ups”, “Dental implant”, “Diet and food” and “Social health insurance” as more interesting than did patients less than 40 years old (P< 0.05). When data were analysed according to gender, female patients rated the questions on aesthetic dental care as more interesting than did male patients (P< 0.01), whereas male patients rated questions on toothbrushing as more interesting than did female patients (P< 0.05). Patients assessed “Age‐specific care to maintain oral health” as the highest priority among a broad range of research topics. This study also quantified patient priorities for research agendas according to age and gender group. Designing future research with these priorities in mind will promote patient‐centred evidence.

Rattling phenomena have been observed in materials characterized by a large cage structure but not in a simple ABO3-type perovskite because the size mismatch, if it exists, can be relieved by octahedral rotations. Here, we demonstrate that a stoichiometric perovskite oxide NaWO3, prepared under high pressure, exhibits anharmonic phonon modes associated with low-energy rattling vibrations, leading to suppressed thermal conductivity. The structural analysis and the comparison with the ideal perovskite KWO3without rattling behavior reveal that the presence of two crystallographic Na1 (2a) and Na2 (6b) sites in NaWO3(space group Im3̅) accompanied by three in-phase WO6octahedral (a+a+a+) rotations generates an open space Δ ∼ 0.5 Å for the latter site, which is comparable with those of well-known cage compounds of clathrates and filled skutterudites. The observed rattling in NaWO3is distinct from a quadruple perovskite AA′3B4O12(A, A′: transition metals) where the A (2a) site with lower multiplicity is the rattler. The present finding offers a general guide to induce rattling of atoms in pristine ABO3perovskites.

By focusing on the automatic visual change detection process, the present study attempted to clarify neural processing relevant to the exogenously driven perceptual alternation (ePA) of a bistable image. In our recent electroencephalographic study, the oddball paradigm was adopted to the continuous presentation of a bistable image to record visual mismatch negativity (vMMN, a relative enhancement in the brain response to a deviant over a repetitively presented standard, reflecting the visual change detection process and prediction error to the deviant over the standard). In terms of interindividual differences in behavioral and neural data, a correlation was reported previously between the enhancement of vMMN and facilitation of perceptual alternation, suggesting the involvement of the visual change detection process in ePA. However, the vMMN recorded was expected to be confounded by neural adaptation to the repetitively presented standard; thus, it currently remains unclear whether visual change detection not dependent on neural adaptation, reflected in a ‘genuine vMMN’, is relevant to ePA. To examine this issue, the present study used a new stimulation paradigm, based on the so-called equiprobable paradigm, to mitigate neural adaptation. The results showed that a genuine vMMN significantly emerged and correlated with an increase in the proportion of perceptual alternation across participants. This supports the involvement of the automatic visual change detection process, not dependent on neural adaptation, in facilitating perceptual alternation. The present results provide a deeper understanding of the involvement of the visual change detection process in ePA.

A diamond spin chain system, one of the one-dimensional frustrated lattices, is known to exhibit novel properties, but experimental studies have been exclusively confined to materials with a single spin component. Here, we report on the synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties of a new diamond chain compound Cu2FePO4F4(H2O)41composed of mixed-spins of Cu2+(S= 1/2 × 2) and Fe3+(S= 5/2). Compound 1crystallizes in the space group C2/cof the monoclinic crystal system with a= 7.7546(4) Å, b= 12.1290(6) Å, c= 9.9209(6) Å, β = 105.29(1)°, and Z= 4. DC magnetization, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and heat capacity measurements revealed an antiferromagnetic order at 11.3 K with a small ferromagnetic component. It is suggested that ferrimagnetic diamond chains are arranged in an antiferromagnetic fashion (i.e., [...Fe(↑)-2Cu(↓↓)-Fe(↑)...] and [...Fe(↓)-2Cu(↑↑)-Fe(↓)...]) within the abplane to cancel net magnetization, and the spin orientation of the diamond chains changes alternately along the caxis due to the magnetic anisotropy, leading to a noncollinear spin order. Furthermore, another anomaly is observed in the heat capacity at around 3 K, suggesting a successive magnetic transition or crossover due to competing magnetic interactions.

•A Japanese nationwide study of admissions and disability changes in MS and NMO.•Admissions decreased in MS, while NMO admissions increased.•Disability in both MS and NMO patients improved over time.•NMO awareness and development of MS therapy may contribute.

Introduction:As Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy gains advantage in the management of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), accumulating evidence shows that it frequently accompanies cardiac dysfunction. Previous retrospective studies indicated the potential involvement of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) in cardiac dysfunction after CAR-T therapy, but no prospective study has reported the time course of cardiac dysfunction and its association with prognosis. Purpose: To prospectively examine the sequential changes in cardiac markers over time after CAR-T therapy and to clarify their association between the grade of CRS, cardiac markers, and prognosis.  Methods:In this prospective study, 30 DLBCL patients who underwent CAR-T therapy were enrolled. Before and after the treatment, the level of cardiac biomarkers and echocardiographic index were sequentially collected. We classified all patients into two groups according to the severity of CRS after CAR-T therapy, namely Low-CRS group (CRS<2) and High-CRS group (CRS≧2). Cardiac biomarkers, echocardiographic index, and long-term survival prognosis were further analyzed in both groups.  Results:The average age of participants was 59.6 years, and 9 (30%) were female. The number of patients in Low- and High-CRS group was 13 and 17, respectively. At the baseline before CAR-T therapy, there were no significant differences in cardiac parameters between two groups. In High-CRS group, NT-proBNP levels were significantly increased on day 3 and 7 compared to the baseline and were significantly higher than Low-CRS group at both timepoints, whereas troponin T level did not show any differences. Likewise, in High-CRS group, GLS was significantly decreased on day 7 and 14 compared to the baseline and recovered toward baseline on day 28. GLS and EF did not show significant differences between Low- and High-CRS groups throughout the follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that there was no significant difference in long-term survival prognosis according to the severity of CRS.Conclusion:   This study revealed that CAR-T therapy induced transient changes in NT-proBNP level and GLS especially in High-CRS group in the first 2 weeks, but they did not predict the long-term prognosis.

Objective Using a prospective observational design, we assessed adverse events (AEs) after COVID-19 vaccination in Japanese patients.Methods Two doses of the mRNA-1273 (SPIKEVAX®) or BNT162b2 (COMIRNATY®) vaccine were administered to participants aged 12 to 18 years, and AEs after each dose were recorded for 14 days. Data on the duration and nature (local vs. systemic) of AEs were collected using a questionnaire. Sex-based differences in AE frequency were also analyzed.Results After the first and second doses, 152 and 135 vaccinees were enrolled, respectively. After the first dose, fever (>37.1°C) occurred in 38.9% of males and 50.0% of females, whereas local pain occurred in 89.8% and 97.7% of males and females, respectively (only SPIKEVAX® was used as the first dose). After the second dose, fever (>37.1°C) occurred in 77.8% and 82.6% of males vaccinated with COMIRNATY® and SPIKEVAX®, respectively, and 82.6% of females (all received SPIKEVAX®). The local pain rates in these groups were 80.6%, 76.3%, and 100%, respectively. After the second dose, local pain, fever (>38.1°C) and headache were significantly more common in female participants, and the median symptom duration was 3 days.Conclusions AEs were more frequent after the second dose and in females.

A quaternion representation is often used to describe the attitude of a rigid body type spacecraft since it does not have any singular point whereas the conventional Euler angle description intrinsically has one. However, the dynamical equation with quaternions become more complicated than those described by Euler angles. The scope of this paper is to provide a basis of modeling and control of those systems using port-Hamiltonian system formulation to remove some of those difficulties in control of those systems. A stabilization procedure based on passivity based control is proposed and a sufficient condition for artificial potential energy are derived for a class of simple systems with quaternions.

Compressional wave velocities (Vp) in quartz aggregate were measured to quantify the effect of pore fluid (H2O) on Vp at high pressure-temperature (P-T). Ultrasonic measurements were conducted on dry and wet quartz aggregate from room temperature to 500°C at 0.5 GPa using a piston cylinder apparatus. The experiment showed a 4% decrease in measured Vp in quartz aggregate with increasing H2O content to 1 wt.%, whereas the temperature derivative of Vp (?Vp/?T?=?-2.8 to -4.9?×?10-4km s-1°C-1) in wet quartz aggregate remained almost the same as for the dry quartz aggregate (?Vp/?T?=?-5.2?×?10-4km s-1°C-1). Our high-pressure, high-temperature experiments show that a small amount of pore fluid (0.4 to 1.0 wt.% H2O) can significantly reduce Vp under the P-Tconditions of the middle crust.

Muon capture isotope detection (MuCID) is a non-destructive detection (assay) of composite and impurity nuclear isotopes by measuring $\gamma$ rays following muon capture reaction products. Several nuclear isotopes are produced by muon capture reactions such as ($\mu$, $xn \gamma$) with $x = 0$, 1, 2, 3, and so on, and some of them are radioactive isotopes. The isotopes of the interest are identified by measuring $\gamma$ rays characteristic of the reaction products by means of high-sensitivity Ge detectors. Composite and impurity nuclear isotopes of the orders of microgram--nanogram and ppm--ppb are investigated. The feasibility and the sensitivity of MuCID were shown experimentally by using $\mu$ capture reactions on Mo isotopes at MuSIC in RCNP. MuCID is used to study nuclear isotopes of astro-nuclear and particle physics interests and those of geological and historical interests.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and related substances are a class of environmental pollutants with suspected toxic effects on reproductive and developmental processes. This study investigated a hypothesis that maternal exposure to TCDD damages gonadotropin-regulated steroidogenesis in fetal gonads to imprint defects in sexual behavior as well as the maturation of gonadal tissues. Oral administration of 1 microg/kg TCDD to pregnant Wistar rats at gestational day (GD) 15 attenuated the expression of luteinizing hormone (LH), a regulator of gonadal steroidogenesis, in the pituitaries of male and female fetuses at GD20. TCDD treatment also reduced the fetal expression of testicular and ovarian steroidogenic proteins, including steroidogenic acute-regulatory protein. These changes in pituitary and gonadal proteins were fetus-specific, and this seems not to be because of the greater delivery of TCDD to the brain of fetuses than adults. This is because a reduction in LH production was not reproduced even although TCDD was administered intraventricularly to adult rats. Direct supplementation of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG), an LH-mimicking hormone, to TCDD-exposed fetuses at GD17 restored the reduced expression of gonadal steroidogenic proteins. Maternal exposure to TCDD delayed the development of gonadal tissues in male and female pups and impaired their sexual behavior. However, eCG treatment at the fetal stage again restored not only tissue maturation but also many of the behavioral defects that occurred at adulthood. These results demonstrate that TCDD disrupts steroidogenesis in fetuses by targeting pituitary gonadotropin production and imprints demasculinization in males and defeminization in females in terms of their copulatory behavior.

Introduction:Detecting high-risk patients for early rehospitalization is crucial in heart failure patient care. An association of albuminuria with cardiovascular events is well known. However, its predictive impact on rehospitalization for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) remains unknown.Hypothesis:The aim of this study was to clarify the utility of urine albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR) in ADHF patients.Methods:Two hundred and sixty consecutive patients who were admitted due to ADHF between December 2017 and April 2019 were enrolled. Further investigated were 140 patients from whom UACR was measured with spot urine samples on admission. The association between UACR and rehospitalization due to HF during 1 year after discharge was evaluated.Results:The mean age of 140 participants was 77.6 years and 55% were men. Only 18% (n=25) of patients presented with normoalbuminuria (UACR&lt:30mg/g·creatinine), whereas 59% (n=83) and 23% (n=32) showed microalbuminuria (UACR30-300mg/g·creatinine) and macroalbuminuria (UACR&gt:300 mg/g·creatinine), respectively. The level of UACR on admission was correlated with the risk of subsequent rehospitalization due to HF (p=0.017). The Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that the best cut-off values for the UACR and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels to predict ADHF rehospitalization were 50 mg/g·creatinine and 824 pg/ml, respectively. When the patients were divided into four groups using both cut-off values, the individual predictive impacts of UACR and BNP on rehospitalization were comparable. In the patients with both elevated UACR and BNP levels, the rehospitalization rate due to HF was higher than those with elevated BNP levels alone (p=0.041).Conclusions:The UACR is useful, when combined with BNP levels, to predict the risk for HF rehospitalization.

Introduction:As Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy gains its clinical advantage in the management of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), accumulating evidence shows that it often accompanies cardiac dysfunction. Previous retrospective studies indicated the involvement of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) in cardiac dysfunction after CAR-T therapy, but their association is not fully investigated. Therefore, we designed a prospective study to clarify the association between the grade of CRS and cardiac dysfunction in the DLBCL patients after CAR-T therapy.Methods:In this prospective study, 14 DLBCL patients who underwent CAR-T therapy from July 2020 to May 2021 were enrolled. Before and after CAR-T therapy, we collected the levels of troponin T (TnT) as a marker for myocardial damage, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) as markers for systolic function, and E/e’ and left atrial volume index (LAVI) as markers for diastolic function. We classified all patients into two groups according to the severity of CRS after CAR-T therapy, namely the low-CRS Group (CRS<3) and the high-CRS Group (CRS≧3). The markers for cardiac injury and dysfunction were further analyzed in both groups.Results:Average age was 56.4 years and 7 patients (50%) were female. The number of patients in the low-CRS and high-CRS Group were 11 and 3, respectively. Before CAR-T therapy, there were no differences in cardiac function between the two groups. From the hyper-early phase of CAR-T therapy, the increase of TnT, E/e’ and LAVI from the baseline were significantly larger in the high-CRS Group compared to the low-CRS Group (P=0.023, 0.039, and 0.024, respectively). Subsequently, the decrease of GLS from the baseline became significantly larger in the high-CRS Group compared to the low-CRS Group (P=0.049). These results indicated that cardiac dysfunction after CAR-T therapy occurred in the order of myocardial damage, diastolic dysfunction, and systolic dysfunction.Conclusion:We for the first time demonstrated the association between high-grade CRS and cardiac dysfunction after CAR-T therapy through a prospective study.

The Stability of the Oxidative Stress Marker, Urinary 8‐hydroxy‐2'‐ deoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG), when Stored at Room Temperature: Yuki Matsumoto, et al. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health—We examined the stabilities of urinary 8‐hydroxy‐2'‐deoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG) stored at room temperature (25°C) for 24 h or at −80°C for 800 days. Subjects were 19 males and 17 females aged 23–58 yr for the 24‐h study, and 9 males and 4 females aged 24–54 yr for the 800‐day study. We obtained information on the subjects by questionnaires and interviews. The level of urinary 8‐OHdG was measured by HPLC using two‐step separations. There were no significant changes of amount of urinary 8‐OHdG under either storage conditions. We conclude that urine samples can be stored at 25°C and below for 24 h, when the research purpose includes the determination of urinary 8‐OHdG. Urinary 8‐OHdG was also stable for over two years when stored at −80°C.

The Stability of the Oxidative Stress Marker, Urinary 8-hydroxy-2’- deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), when Stored at Room Temperature: Yuki Matsumoto, et al. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health—We examined the stabilities of urinary 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) stored at room temperature (25°C) for 24 h or at -80°C for 800 days. Subjects were 19 males and 17 females aged 23–58 yr for the 24-h study, and 9 males and 4 females aged 24–54 yr for the 800-day study. We obtained information on the subjects by questionnaires and interviews. The level of urinary 8-OHdG was measured by HPLC using two-step separations. There were no significant changes of amount of urinary 8-OHdG under either storage conditions. We conclude that urine samples can be stored at 25°C and below for 24 h, when the research purpose includes the determination of urinary 8-OHdG. Urinary 8-OHdG was also stable for over two years when stored at -80°C.

Analysis of Urinary Metabolites of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Incineration Workers: Masayoshi Ichiba, et al. Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Saga Medical School—Incineration workers are exposed to various pyrolysis products of organic materials, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this study, the exposure of incineration workers to PAHs was evaluated by measuring urinary metabolites of pyrene and naphthalene. The concentrations of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1OHP), a metabolite of pyrene, and 2-naphthol (2NP), a metabolite of naphthalene, were measured among 100 workers in 4 different types of incinerators, both before and after their work shifts. These incinerators were two old types, one modern type and one outdoors. The medians of urinary 1OHP of before and after the work shifts obtained from all workers were 0.067 and 0.044 µg/gCr, respectively; and the medians of urinary 2NP were 7.5 and 10.0 µg/ gCr, respectively. A significant increase of 2NP after the work shift was found at one old incinerator. A significant decrease of metabolites was found at the other old incinerator. Significant correlations were found between urinary metabolites and cigarettes smoked per day. The effect of smoking on urinary metabolite levels was also important. Significant correlations were found between urinary 1OHP and 2NP levels in all workers. In multiple regression analysis smoking habit and incinerator type were found as significant factors. The improvement of the work environment, through decreasing exposure to both tobacco smoke and hazardous work shift-related substances, should be an occupational health aim.

Analysis of Urinary Metabolites of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Incineration Workers: Masayoshi Ichiba, et al. Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Saga Medical School—Incineration workers are exposed to various pyrolysis products of organic materials, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this study, the exposure of incineration workers to PAHs was evaluated by measuring urinary metabolites of pyrene and naphthalene. The concentrations of urinary 1‐hydroxypyrene (1OHP), a metabolite of pyrene, and 2‐naphthol (2NP), a metabolite of naphthalene, were measured among 100 workers in 4 different types of incinerators, both before and after their work shifts. These incinerators were two old types, one modern type and one outdoors. The medians of urinary 1OHP of before and after the work shifts obtained from all workers were 0.067 and 0.044 µg/gCr, respectively; and the medians of urinary 2NP were 7.5 and 10.0 µg/ gCr, respectively. A significant increase of 2NP after the work shift was found at one old incinerator. A significant decrease of metabolites was found at the other old incinerator. Significant correlations were found between urinary metabolites and cigarettes smoked per day. The effect of smoking on urinary metabolite levels was also important. Significant correlations were found between urinary 1OHP and 2NP levels in all workers. In multiple regression analysis smoking habit and incinerator type were found as significant factors. The improvement of the work environment, through decreasing exposure to both tobacco smoke and hazardous work shift‐related substances, should be an occupational health aim.

Six new illudoid sesquiterpenes, russujaponols A−F (1−6), were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Russula japonicaHongo. Their structures were established primarily by 2D NMR experiments, and the structure of the main compound, russujaponol A (1), was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis of its benzoate (1a). Russujaponol A (1) suppressed invasion of human fibrosarcoma (HT1080) cells into Matrigel in a concentration-dependent manner and caused 63% inhibition at 3.73 M.

We demonstrated the multimerization of plasmids harboring carbapenemase genes, and multimeric plasmids of various discrete sizes existed in a host bacterial cell of Escherichia coli. Plasmid multimerization along with increased copy numbers of carbapenemase genes resulted in enhanced carbapenemase resistance, which was readily accelerated by an overnight preexposure to meropenem. This mechanism may lead to treatment failure in clinical settings after the initiation of antimicrobial therapy.

Japanese children manifest social-emotional difficulties due to increased absenteeism and bullying incidents at schools. Mental health services using evidence-based practices within school systems aim to promote mental health and well-being; therefore, there is a need to develop a well-being assessment scale for Japanese children. This study examined the reliability and validity of a child well-being scale adapted from the Stirling Children's Well-being Scale (SCWBS) for Japanese children, namely the J-SCWBS. It was verified for Japanese contexts in accordance with the guidelines concerning cross-cultural adaptations of self-report measures. Participants consisted of primary school children, aged 6–12 years. The results confirmed the scale's reliability and validity and its efficacy in assessing children's well-being within Japanese contexts.

Background:Poor survival rate in patients with connective tissue disease (CTD) who presented borderline pulmonary hypertension (PH) was reported. However, there are few reports on the factors for predicting prognosis in CTD patients with borderline PH.Aim:The purpose of this study was to investigate which echocardiographic parameters predict prognosis in CTD patients with borderline PH.Methods:The study was designed as a retrospective cohort study of 799 consecutive CTD patients who visited our hospital and received transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) between 2013 and 2018. Among them, we enrolled 66 patients who received TTE examinations twice and had borderline PH defined as estimated mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) by TTE greater than 20 but less than 25 mmHg. These patients were divided into three groups according to mPAP at follow-up TTE; the increase group (mPAP ? 25mmHg), the no-change group (20 < mPAP < 25 mmHg), and the decrease group (20 ? mPAP). We investigated differences among three groups in 4 echocardiographic right ventricular parameters; PVR, acceleration time (AcT), TAPSE, and RVFAC. PVR was calculated by following formula: PVR = TRV/TVIRVOT?10+ 0.16 .Results:Mean age was 59.8 years old and median duration between first and second TTEs were 474days. Five patients were categorized into the increase group, 31 patients into the no-change group, and 30 patients into the decrease group. Baseline mPAP showed no significant differences among three groups. Significant increase in PVR at baseline in the increase group was observed compared to the no-change group and the decrease group (p=0.0046). Whereas, there were no significant differences among three groups in the values of AcT (p = 0.135), TAPSE (p = 0.596), RVFAC (p = 0.497) at baseline TTE.Conclusion:PVR calculated by echocardiography was already increased at baseline in the increase group. Echocardiographic PVR is a useful marker to detect worsening PH in CTD patients with borderline PH.

Background:Urine albumin excretion (UAE) is known to be a predictor of adverse cardiovascular events. Recent study has been reported that excess UAE in community-dwelling adults is associated with hospitalization of heart failure (HF). However, the role of UAE in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) patients is not yet elucidated.Purpose:The aim of this study was to clarify the utility of UAE in ADHF patients.Methods:We retrospectively assessed 218 patients admitted to our hospital because of ADHF between December 2017 and December 2018. One hundred twenty patients were excluded due to the lack of urine albumin data either on admission or at discharge. Finally, 98 patients were enrolled in this study. We collected urinalysis, laboratory, and echocardiographic data both on admission and at discharge. The urine albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) was measured from spot urine samples.Results:Average age was 77.2 years old and 60 patients (61.2 %) were male. Forty-two patients (42.9%) had diabetes mellitus and 78 (79.6%) patients had hypertension. Echocardiographic examinations on admission showed that average left ventricular ejection fraction was 42.2 %. Mean serum level of creatinine was 1.03 mg/dl. Mean UACR on admission and at discharge were 147.2 mg/gCr and 46.5 mg/gCr, respectively. On admission, 27 patients (27.3%) presented with macroalbuminuria (UACR?300mg/gCr) and 59 patients (59.6%) with microalbuminuria (UACR between 30 and 299mg/gCr). We observed 18 patients (18.4%) with macroalbuminuria and 40 patients (40.8%) with microalbuminuria at discharge. The incidence of HF was significantly higher in patients with macroalbuminuria on admission (p=0.045). However, there was no significant association between HF re-hospitalization and albuminuria at discharge (p=0.366).Conclusion:Increased UAE on admission was observed in approximately 90 % of ADHF patients and was more associated with HF re-hospitalization than UAE at discharge. Enhanced UAE on admission may be a new potential prognostic marker for HF worsening in ADHF patients.

Background:Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is a common cardiac involvement and is increasing in the world. Many studies were performed using ASE guideline; however, almost studies excluded elderly patients because most of them had several comorbidities. There were few reports on LV diastolic dysfunction in elderly patients.Purpose:The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of LV diastolic dysfunction in very elderly patients.Method:We screened 15,576 patients aged ? 20 who had LV ejection fraction ? 40% between January 2016 and September 2018, retrospectively. We excluded 6,714 patients who either missed any of constituents for diagnosis of LV diastolic dysfunction in ASE guideline or received prior surgical operation for mitral or aortic valve. Finally, we enrolled 8,862 patients in this study. We used the cutoff value of each echocardiographic parameter based on ASE guideline; E/e` > 14, e` < 7cm/m, TRV > 2.8m/s and LAVI > 34 ml/m2. LV diastolic dysfunction was diagnosed if more than half of the parameters met these cutoff values. We divided the patients into three groups according to their age; the very elderly group (85 years and over), the elderly group (65-84 years), and the young group (-64 years).Result:Average age was 68.8 years old and 4,373 patients (50%) were female. Number of female patients were 482 (56%) in the very elderly group, 2,540 (47%) in the elderly group, and 1,443(55%) in the young group. Percentage of patients with LV diastolic dysfunction were 44% (382 patients) in the very elderly group, 20% (1,099 patients) in the elderly group and 5% (126 patients) in the young group. In addition, patients who fulfilled all four cutoff values were 74 (8.6%), 150 (2.8%) and 11 (0.4%), respectively. Approximately 90% of patients in the very elderly group had e` of less than 7.0cm/s.Conclusion:The prevalence of LV diastolic dysfunction was much higher in very elderly patients than in elderly patients or in young patients.

A bacterium which was isolated from pond water and identified as Enterobacter cloacae produced a viscous extracellular polysaccharide when it was grown aerobically in a medium containing sucrose as a sole source of carbon. The maximum molecular weight of the polysaccharide was about 9.0×105. The polysaccharide was composed of fucose, galactose, glucose, and glucuronic acid in a molar ratio of 2:3:2:1, but the molecular weight and the molar ratio of the sugar component were different from those of the polysaccharide produced by the same species reported elsewhere.

First-principles calculation predicts a large negative to positive change in the intrinsic perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) on the order of 107erg/cm3of a W/Fe(001) multilayer upon reducing the in-plane lattice constant. This PMA arises at the W/Fe interface, and the second interfacial W site plays an important role. To experimentally verify this theoretical prediction, we have grown W/Fe/W(001) epitaxial trilayers on Cr(001) underlayers. By varying the W layer thickness, the in-plane lattice constant of W can be widely controlled, and the large change in PMA from negative to positive is successfully demonstrated.

A synthetic dual-function operon with a bistable structure was designed and successfully integrated into the bacterial genome. Bistability was generated by the mutual inhibitory structure comprised of the promoters Ptet and Plac and the repressors LacI and TetR. Dual function essential for cell growth was introduced by replacing the genes (i.e., hisC and leuB) encoding proteins involved in the biosynthesis of histidine and leucine from their native chromosomal locations to the synthetic operon. Both colony formation and population dynamics of the cells carrying this operon showed that the cells survived starvation and the newly formed population transited between the two stable states, representing the induced hisC and leuB levels, in accordance with the nutritional status. The results strongly suggested that the synthetic design of proto-operons sensitive to external perturbations is practical and functional in native cells.

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