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Abstract Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genes, which code key enzymes involved in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) desaturation as susceptibility genes for bipolar disorder (BD). Several quantitative changes in PUFAs suggest their involvement in BD pathogenesis. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the relationship between BD and PUFAs by conducting lipidomics covariating with the FADS gene variant (rs174550), which is associated with PUFA levels and BD susceptibility. The concentrations of 23 fatty acids were measured using plasma samples from the BD group (n = 535) and the control group (n = 107). Differences in each PUFA concentration ratio were compared between the two groups. Also, differences in each PUFA concentration ratio were compared for each genotype in rs174550. Our results showed that the BD group had significantly lower concentrations of linoleic acid (LA) (β = −0.36, p = 0.023) and arachidonic acid (AA) (β = −0.18, p = 0.013) than the control group. Concerning the effect of FADS on the PUFA concentration ratio, carriers of C-allele at rs174550 had significantly decreased γ-linolenic acid and AA concentration ratios. A previous GWAS reported that the presence of a C-allele at rs174550 increased the BD risk. This direction is consistent with the lipidomic results of the present study. In conclusion, both the FADS and BD were considered to regulate the AA concentration. Thus, as the FADS gene variant is crucial for conducting lipidomics of BD we believe that the allele frequency of FADS must be analyzed.

As the demand for realistic sensations in virtual reality (VR) environments escalates, interfaces that exploit cross-modal interactions between vision and haptics are gaining prominence. Pseudo-haptics, offering a tactile illusion without mechanical feedback devices, has emerged as a viable solution to enhance user immersion by simulating various sensations such as texture, fluid resistance, and weight. However, a potential issue in the long-term effectiveness of these illusions, particularly habituation, where the illusion diminishes after prolonged exposure, remains a concern. This study investigates whether habituation to pseudo-haptic weight illusions occurs with extended use. We conducted quantitative measurements of pseudo-haptic weight perception before and after prolonged exposure. The findings indicate a diminishing effect of pseudo-haptic weight illusion with repeated exposure, particularly among participants with high accuracy in weight perception. This study contributes important insights into the design of VR experiences, highlighting the need to consider the habituation effects when implementing pseudo-haptic illusions for weight perception.

This paper proposes a novel joint channel and data estimation (JCDE) algorithm via parametric bilinear Gaussian belief propagation (PBiGaBP) for orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) demodulation. In doubly-selective fading channels, since the Doppler shift breaks the orthogonality between subcarriers, the signal demodulation process requires estimating the path gains and data symbols from the high-dimensional signals that are multiplexed in the frequency-time (FT) domain. To obtain highly accurate channel state information (CSI) using a typical channel estimation scheme based only on reference signals, an increase in pilot overhead to suppress inter-symbol interference (ISI) is unavoidable. In addition, large-scale matrix operations based on the size of OTFS-equivalent channels also pose problems in terms of computational cost. To address these issues, we focus on the fact that OTFS demodulation can be formulated as a large-scale parametric bilinear inference (PBI) problem, and solve it using the Gaussian belief propagation (GaBP) approach, which enables an approximate implementation of the sum-product algorithm (SPA), based on the central limit theorem (CLT), to design a low-complexity and high-accuracy JCDE algorithm using short pilots. Simulation results show that the proposed PBiGaBP-based JCDE algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art (SotA) schemes and approaches the performance of idealized (genie-aided) scheme in terms of mean square error (MSE) and bit error rate (BER) performances.

Abstract Background Saccharomyces cerevisiae is ubiquitous in the gastrointestinal tract and known as brewer's or baker's yeast. We experienced a case of S. cerevisiae and Candida glabrata co-infectious bloodstream infection. It is rare to detect both S. cerevisiae and Candida species in blood cultures together. Case We treated a 73-year-old man who developed a pancreaticoduodenal fistula infection after pancreaticoduodenectomy. The patient had a fever on postoperative day 59. We took blood cultures and detected C. glabrata. Thus, we started micafungin. On postoperative day 62, we retested blood cultures, and detected S cerevisiae and C. glabrata. We changed micafungin to liposomal amphotericin B. Blood cultures became negative on postoperative day 68. We changed liposomal amphotericin B to fosfluconazole and micafungin because of hypokalemia. He got well, and we terminated antifungal drugs 18 days after the blood cultures became negative. Conclusion Co-infection with S. cerevisiae and Candida species is rare. In addition, in this case, S. cerevisiae developed from blood cultures during micafungin administration. Thus, micafungin may not be effective enough to treat S. cerevisiae fungemia, although echinocandin is considered one of the alternative therapy for Saccharomyces infections.

Abstract Backgrounds Actinomyces species are gram-positive, obligate anaerobic rods and are rare causes of cholecystitis. Because Actinomyces species are anaerobic bacteria, it is difficult for Actinomyces to survive in bile apart from A. naeslundii. We experienced a case of recurrent acute cholecystitis caused by A. odontolyticus. Case presentation A patient had been diagnosed with acute cholecystitis and treated one month before and after that, admitted to our hospital because of recurrent cholecystitis. Gram stain of the bile revealed gram-positive rods and gram-positive cocci. We found A. odontolyticus and MRSA in bile culture and MRSA in blood culture. We administered piperacillin-tazobactam and then changed it to ampicillin-sulbactam and vancomycin. The patient underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and was discharged safely. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first case of cholecystitis caused by A. odontolyticus. Cholecystitis caused by Actinomyces species is rare. In addition, we may overlook it with the low positivity of bile cultures of Actinomyces. Whenever the cholecystitis recurs without any obstruction of the biliary tract, we should search for the gram-positive rods hidden in the bile, such as A. odontolyticus, as the causative organism, even if the bile culture is negative.

Abstract A more rapid and less complicated test to diagnose pertussis is required in clinical settings. We need to detect Bordetella pertussis, which mainly causes pertussis, as early as possible, because pertussis is more likely to become severe in infants, and people around them can easily become a source of infection due to its strong infectivity. Nevertheless, methods that can detect B. pertussis rapidly and efficiently are lacking. Therefore, we developed a new immunochromatographic antigen kit (ICkit) for the early diagnosis of pertussis. The ICkit detects B. pertussis antigens in a nasopharyngeal swab without equipment and provides the result in about 15 min with a simple procedure. Additionally, a prospective study to evaluate the ICkit was conducted in 11 medical institutions, involving 195 cases with suspected pertussis. Compared with the real-time polymerase chain reaction (rPCR), the sensitivity and specificity of the ICkit were 86.4% (19/22) and 97.1% (168/173), respectively. The ICkit detected the antigen in both children and adults. Furthermore, the ICkit detected the antigen until the 25th day from the onset of cough, when rPCR detected the antigen. Thus, the ICkit demonstrated a high correlation with rPCR and would help diagnose pertussis more rapidly and efficiently.

In virtual reality (VR), there is consumer demand for underwater world experiences. To address this demand, previous studies have presented coldness to enhance the sense of presence in virtual underwater experiences. We considered that we could further improve the sense of presence and the experiential quality of underwater VR simulations by making the coldness presentation more realistic. We also considered that methods of presenting coldness continuously would have a wider application range. In this research, with reference to actual water behavior, we propose a method that presents coldness depending on whether it is moving. We conducted an experiment comparing the sense of presence between the steady-state temperatures of $24.9 \pm 1.9 \mathrm { ^{\circ}C} / 27.8 \pm 2.7 \mathrm { ^{\circ}C}$ and the proposed method, the temperature of which moves between the aforementioned temperatures as the user moves and stops. The results show that the proposed method yielded higher scores than the higher steady-state temperature in “closeness of overall sensation” and “closeness of thermal sensation”. For the lower steady-state temperature, the proposed method achieved the same sense of presence improvement while removing less heat. This extends the experiential duration. Meanwhile, for those who noticed the temperature change, the proposed method yielded higher scores than the lower steady-state temperature in “realness” and “closeness of thermal sensation”. To further improve effectiveness of the proposed method, it is important to not only change the temperature but also to notice the temperature change. This method is suitable for several virtual underwater applications, such as education and training.

BackgroundDespite the advances in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, effective treatment remains to be established to improve the quality of life and prognosis of patients with chronic coronary syndromes. This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) therapy, which we have developed as a novel non-invasive angiogenic therapy through upregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS).Methods and findingsWe conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled (RCT) pilot trial of the LIPUS therapy for patients with refractory angina pectoris. The patients who received optimal medical therapy without indication of PCI or CABG due to the lack of graftability or complexity of coronary lesions were enrolled. They were randomly divided into the LIPUS treatment group (N = 31) and the placebo group (N = 25) in a 1:1 fashion. The LIPUS therapy was performed in a transthoracic manner for 20 min for 3 sections each (mitral, papillary muscle, and apex levels) under the conditions that we identified; frequency 1.875 MHz, intensity 0.25 MPa, and 32 cycles. The primary endpoint was weekly use of nitroglycerin. Secondary endpoints included stress myocardial perfusion imaging and others. The average weekly nitroglycerin use (times/week) was decreased from 5.50 to 2.44 in the LIPUS group and from 5.94 to 2.83 in the placebo group. The changes in the average weekly nitroglycerin use were comparable; -3.06 (95% CI: -4.481 to -1.648) in the LIPUS group (PConclusionsIn the present study, the LIPUS therapy did not further ameliorate chest pain as compared with optimal medications alone in patients with refractory angina pectoris. The present findings need to be confirmed in another trial with a large number of patients. (Registration ID: UMIN000012369).

A 71-year-old man visited our hospital with dyspnea and left pleural effusion. Left pleural effusion was diagnosed as chylothorax by thoracentesis. He had no history of trauma or surgery, and there were no findings of malignant lymphoma or thrombosis. Furthermore, he was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma by computed tomography and hematological examinations, and the chylothorax was considered to be caused by liver cirrhosis. We report a review of the literature with this case since it is relatively rare for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed from chylothorax.

Abstract The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020), a Japanese-specific set of clinical practice guidelines for sepsis and septic shock created as revised from J-SSCG 2016 jointly by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, was first released in September 2020 and published in February 2021. An English-language version of these guidelines was created based on the contents of the original Japanese-language version. The purpose of this guideline is to assist medical staff in making appropriate decisions to improve the prognosis of patients undergoing treatment for sepsis and septic shock. We aimed to provide high-quality guidelines that are easy to use and understand for specialists, general clinicians, and multidisciplinary medical professionals. J-SSCG 2016 took up new subjects that were not present in SSCG 2016 (e.g., ICU-acquired weakness [ICU-AW], post-intensive care syndrome [PICS], and body temperature management). The J-SSCG 2020 covered a total of 22 areas with four additional new areas (patient- and family-centered care, sepsis treatment system, neuro-intensive treatment, and stress ulcers). A total of 118 important clinical issues (clinical questions, CQs) were extracted regardless of the presence or absence of evidence. These CQs also include those that have been given particular focus within Japan. This is a large-scale guideline covering multiple fields; thus, in addition to the 25 committee members, we had the participation and support of a total of 226 members who are professionals (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, clinical engineers, and pharmacists) and medical workers with a history of sepsis or critical illness. The GRADE method was adopted for making recommendations, and the modified Delphi method was used to determine recommendations by voting from all committee members. As a result, 79 GRADE-based recommendations, 5 Good Practice Statements (GPS), 18 expert consensuses, 27 answers to background questions (BQs), and summaries of definitions and diagnosis of sepsis were created as responses to 118 CQs. We also incorporated visual information for each CQ according to the time course of treatment, and we will also distribute this as an app. The J-SSCG 2020 is expected to be widely used as a useful bedside guideline in the field of sepsis treatment both in Japan and overseas involving multiple disciplines.

The liquid desiccant air-conditioning system allows reducing energy consumption compared to the conventional compressor-type air conditioners. In order to develop desiccant materials for air conditioners, we have investigated the dehumidification capability of quaternary ammonium Ionic Liquids (ILs) and the equilibrium water vapor pressure of aqueous solutions of these ammonium salts. Among the seven tested types of ILs, 2-hydroxy-N,N,N-trimethylethan-1-aminium dimethylphosphate ([Ch][DMPO4]) displayed the best dehumidification capability and the lowest equilibrium water vapor pressure. Furthermore, the 80% aqueous solution of [Ch][DMPO4] exhibited a less corrosive effect on four types of metals, i.e., steel (hot dip zinc-aluminum alloy plated steel), copper (C1100P), aluminum (A5052), and stainless steel (SUS: SUS304). It should be noted that this [Ch][DMPO4] is not only non-toxic but also exhibits a stable nature; the aqueous solution produced no odor after storing for over 1 year under ambient conditions.

Suitable control of the humidity can contribute to electric energy savings. However, the present dehumidification system has many weak points. The liquid desiccant air-conditioning system has recently gained growing interest from the stand point of reducing energy consumption during dehumidification. In order to find the appropriate ionic liquids (ILs) as a desiccant for the liquid desiccant air-conditioner system, we conducted a systematic evaluation of the humidification capability of 16 types of ILs. Among the tested ILs, tributyl(methyl)phosphonium dimethyl phosphate ([P4441][DMPO4]) exhibited the best dehumidification capacity and had a less corrosive effect on four types of metals as possible piping materials. It should be noted that this [P4441][DMPO4] has a very stable nature and produced no odor while conducting the experiment and storing for over 1 year at room temperature under ambient conditions. Furthermore, it was revealed that a 77% (w/w) aqueous solution of [P4441][DMPO4] worked as an efficient desiccant liquid for the liquid desiccant air-conditioner system. Keywords: Dehumidification, Liquid desiccant, Ionic liquids, Air-conditioner system, Phosphonium ILs

Objectives Domestic epidemiological studies are needed to ascertain the disease burden of bacteraemia in individual countries. This study aimed to evaluate the domestic trends in paediatric and adult bacteraemia in Japan.Setting Laboratory-based surveillance was used to obtain data from 592 hospitals located throughout Japan.Participants The study was conducted using the results of 827 780 and 3 512 524 blood culture tests obtained from children and adults, respectively, between January 2010 and December 2016.Outcome measures We analysed the temporal trends in specific bacterial species (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus agalactiae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella enterica, Haemophilus influenzae, Listeria monocytogenes and Neisseria meningitidis) detected from the blood cultures of children and adults. For children aged ≤2 years, the data were analysed for each year of age. The proportions of bacteraemia-positive results among the patients were also evaluated.Results The number of bacteraemia-positive samples over the study period was 47,125/827,855 (5.7%) in children and 959,765/3,513,885 (27.3%) in adults. S. pneumoniae was the most frequent cause of bacteraemia in children in 2010. However, after 2011, S. aureus bacteraemia was the most frequent, followed by S. pneumoniae and E. coli. E. coli bacteraemia showed significant increases in both children and adults. In children, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae bacteraemia decreased from 2010 to 2013. However, S. pneumoniae bacteraemia case numbers stabilised from 2013, whereas H. influenzae bacteraemia cases continued to decrease until 2016.Conclusion The results suggest that the introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine did not substantially affect disease occurrence. In contrast to the decreasing trends in H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae bacteraemia, S. aureus, E. coli and S. agalactiae bacteraemia showed increasing trends. These findings shed light on recent temporal trends in bacteraemia in both children and adults in Japan.

Objective: The impact of pediatric antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains largely unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the AMR for carbapenem of Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) and carbapenem use with infectious diseases consultation after the implementation of an ASP. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted at Tokyo Metropolitan Childrenâs Medical Center in Japan. The pre- and post-intervention periods were April 2010 to September 2011 and October 2011 to March 2017, respectively. The pre-intervention phase consisted of consultations with the infectious diseases service alone. The ASP was implemented during the post-intervention phase. The carbapenem resistance rates of GNB were calculated. The correlation between carbapenem resistance rates and carbapenem day of therapy (DOT) was examined. The outcome metrics were compared by average length of hospitalization, all-cause mortality, and infection-related mortality. Results: A positive correlation was observed between the carbapenem resistance rate in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and DOT (0.76, p = 0.04). The carbapenem resistance rate in P. aeruginosa (pÂ

It is considered that the road condition in the winter is one of the significant issues for the safety driving by tourists or residents. However, there are many difficulties of the V2V networks such as the transmission range of wireless networks and the noises from the automobilefs bodies. Thus, this paper introduces the Adaptive Array Antenna (AAA) controls for the vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks based the Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) in the road surveillance system. In the proposed system, the vehicles equip the AAA control systems with IEEE802.11a/b/g based the DTN, and the wireless directions are controlled by the visual recognitions with Kalman filter algorithm to make the longer and stable wireless connections for the efficiency of the DTN. The porotype system is introduced in this paper, and the results are discussed for the future studies.

Effect of heat-treatment on the pH sensitivity of uncoated stainless-steel electrodes was investigated to comprehend the pH sensitivity of metal-oxide coated stainless-steel electrodes as novel pH sensors. The pH sensitivity of stainless-steel electrodes as-received and heat-treated at 500 °C, 600 °C and 700 °C for 24 h were 91 %, 94 %, 102 % and 91 %, respectively. The pH sensitivity tended to increase with increasing heat-treatment time at a given temperature. Thus, the most suitable heat-treatment condition for the stainless-steel electrodes was 600 °C for 24 h. The austenite phase (fcc) was the main phase on the surface of the heat-treated stainless-steel electrodes. Unexpectedly, the change in the martensite phase (bcc) as the second phase with heat-treatment temperature was similar to the pH sensitivity, with the martensite phase affecting the pH sensitivity. Therefore, it appeared that the pH sensitivity of the metal-oxide coated stainless-steel electrodes was affected by the underlying stainless-steel as well as the outer metal-oxide film coating. A prototype stainless-steel tube electrode was used as a working electrode for demonstrating the depth profiling of pH. The stainless-steel tube electrode showed good performance for measuring pH depth profiles compared to commercially available glass electrodes.

Chronic left ventricular (LV) pressure overload causes relative ischemia with resultant LV dysfunction. We have recently demonstrated that low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) improves myocardial ischemia in a pig model of chronic myocardial ischemia through enhanced myocardial angiogenesis. In the present study, we thus examined whether LIPUS also ameliorates contractile dysfunction in LV pressure-overloaded hearts.Chronic LV pressure overload was induced with transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in mice. LIPUS was applied to the whole heart three times in the first week after TAC and was repeated once a week for 7 weeks thereafter (n = 22). Animals in the control groups received the sham treatment without LIPUS (n = 23). At 8 weeks after TAC, LV fractional shortening was depressed in the TAC-Control group, which was significantly ameliorated in the TAC-LIPUS group (30.4±0.5 vs. 36.2±3.8%, P

An electron beam (EB) lithography method using inedible cellulose-based resist material derived from woody biomass has been successfully developed. This method allows the use of pure water in the development process instead of the conventionally used tetramethylammonium hydroxide and anisole. The inedible cellulose-based biomass resist material, as an alternative to alpha-linked disaccharides in sugar derivatives that compete with food supplies, was developed by replacing the hydroxyl groups in the beta-linked disaccharides with EB-sensitive 2-methacryloyloxyethyl groups. A 75 nm line and space pattern at an exposure dose of 19 μC/cm2, a resist thickness uniformity of less than 0.4 nm on a 200 mm wafer, and low film thickness shrinkage under EB irradiation were achieved with this inedible cellulose-based biomass resist material using a water-based development process.

Although a significant progress has been made in the management of ischemic heart disease (IHD), the number of severe IHD patients is increasing. Thus, it is crucial to develop new, non-invasive therapeutic strategies. In the present study, we aimed to develop low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) therapy for the treatment of IHD.We first confirmed that in cultured human endothelial cells, LIPUS significantly up-regulated mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with a peak at 32-cycle (P

Abiotrophia defectiva is a type of Streptococci and is a rare cause of infectious endocarditis. The progression and outcomes of infectious intracranial aneurysms (IIAs) associated with this species are unknown due to a limited number of reported cases. A woman in her 20s with a sudden headache had a subarachnoid haemorrhage on a head CT scan. Cerebral angiography showed an aneurysm on the right middle cerebral artery. She was diagnosed with infectious endocarditis caused by A. defectiva and underwent parent artery occlusion. Despite initiating targeted antibiotic therapy, a new IIA developed and ruptured 14 days postadmission. A second parent artery occlusion was performed on the new IIA. Following 6weeks of continued antibiotic therapy, she underwent mitral valve repair and was discharged with no neurological symptoms. Endocarditis caused by A. defectiva can lead to the delayed formation of an IIA. Endovascular treatment was effective for repeated ruptured IIAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]