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OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have used selective recall and descriptive dietary record methods, requiring considerable effort for assessing food and water intake. This study created a simplified lifestyle questionnaire to predict habitual water intake (SQW), accurately and quickly assessing the habitual water intake. We also evaluated the validity using descriptive dietary records as a cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: First, we used crowdsourcing and machine learning to collect data, predict water intake records, and create questionnaires. We collected 305 lifestyle-related questions as predictor variables and selective recall methods for assessing water intake as an outcome variable. Random forests were used for the machine learning models because of their interpretability and accurate estimation. Random forest and single regression correlation analysis were augmented by the synthetic minority oversampling that trained the model. We separated the data by sex and evaluated our model using unseen hold-out testing data, predicting the individual and overall habitual water intake from various sources, including non-alcoholic beverages, alcohol, and food. RESULTS: We found a 0.60 Spearman's correlation coefficient for total water intake between the predicted and the selective recall method values, reflecting the target value to be achieved. This question set was then used for feasibility tests. The descriptive dietary record method helped to obtain a ground-truth value. We categorized the data by gender, season, and source: non-alcoholic beverages, alcohol, food, and total water intake, and the correlation was confirmed. Consequently, our results showed a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.50 for total water intake between the predicted and the selective recall method values. CONCLUSIONS: We hypothesize that dissemination of SQW can lead to better health management by easily determining the habitual water intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rat basophilic leukaemia cells (RBL-2H3) were analyzed by in air micro-PIXE analysis to investigate the relationship between the distribution of dements and histamine release in immune system RBL-2H3 cells were sensitized with monoclonal immunoglobuline E (IgE) and stimulated with antigen In the stimulated cells, it is understood that the level of Ca2+ increases in cytoplasm and then the degranulation or the release of chemical mediators occur. In this study, stimulated RBL-2H3 cells with antigen and control cells were analyzed. After the stimulation, the Na in the cells was increased. Moreover some stimulated cells showed the characteristic distribution of sulfur that is not accompany with the distribution of phosphorus. In the same measurement, the aggregations of Na, Ca, Fe, and Zn were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to develop a method for monitoring water pollution caused by dissolved sulfides and other harmful elements by means of PIXE offering the advantage of multielemental nature, high sensitivity and speed of analysis for a wide variety of samples. Sulfide ions dissolved in an aqueous sample were converted to insoluble CuS compounds and then collected on a thin organic filter suitable as a hacking toil for PIXE measurements. The standard method for scavenging CuS precipitate is founded on an investigation of the pH-dependence of the recovery of dissolved sulfides and the calibration curve covering the concentration range from 10 to 1000 ppb. The recovery-factor of CuS showed a maximum value at around pH 8 although it changed with the intrinsic pH of samples. The recovery factor for pH adjusted to 7.50 was kept constant in a wide concentration range of sulfide ions from 10 to 1000 ppb. The concentration of tens of ppm sulfur compound was detected in both drain water from the industrial waste disposal and in peripheral agricultural water, hut the fraction of dissolved sulfide was only about 1%. The low concentration of dissolved sulfides was discussed from the viewpoint of the oxidation condition originated from the soluble and insoluble components detected in samples by PIXE analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since biological or biomedical studies by nuclear microscopy are limited by irradiation damage, we developed an in-air system in order to cool down the biological samples by convection. The behavior of the beam extraction window is an important parameter of our system. Then, we investigated the behavior of a polyethylene teraphtalate (PET) thin-film used as beam extraction window during in-air irradiation by STIM (Scanning Transmission Ion Microscopy) and RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry) methods. We found that it is better to flow helium than air atmosphere because in-air irradiation enhances the degradation of the PET film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A drawn, helically grooved, low carbon, induction heat-treated prestressing steel has been developed and used extensively in Japan for over 10 years. This steel has unique physical and bond characteristics. Over 430,000 metric tons of this type of steel have been used to date in Japan, mostly in prestressed concrete cylinder piles. The paper describes the bond characteristics of the steel determined by pullout tests, bond transmission tests, and flexural bond tests. The tests indicate that for an 11 mm bar of this type, bond characteristics are similar to a 7/16 in. seven-wire strand which has comparable ultimate strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic absorption spectra of NH4(NH3) n ( n=1-6) were measured in the energy region of 4500–14000 cm-1. The spectra were assigned to the transition derived from a 3 p2F2-3 s2A1 Rydberg–Rydberg transition of NH4. A drastic decrease of excitation energy from the transition of NH4 (15062 cm-1) down to 5800 cm-1 for NH4(NH3)4 cluster was observed, while there was no clear difference for n=4, 5, and 6. Successive binding energies of NH4(NH3) n in the 3 p-type state determined from the spectra were found to decrease monotonically with increasing n, in a similar manner to those of a positive ion, NH4 +. The drastic spectral change was ascribed to spontaneous ionization of NH4 in ammonia clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercurrent events and estimands play a key role in defining the treatment effects of interest precisely. Sometimes the median or other quantiles of outcomes in a principal stratum according to potential occurrence of intercurrent events are of interest in randomized clinical trials. Naïve analyses such as those based on the observed occurrence of the intercurrent events lead to biased results. Therefore, we propose principal quantile treatment effect estimators that can nonparametrically estimate the distribution of potential outcomes by principal score weighting without relying on the exclusion restriction assumption. Our simulation studies show that the proposed method works in situations where the median or quantiles may be regarded as the preferred population-level summary over the mean. We illustrate our proposed method by using data from a randomized controlled trial conducted on patients with nonerosive reflux disease., (© 2024 Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Statistics in Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In middle to late 2023, a sublineage of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron XBB, EG.5.1 (a progeny of XBB.1.9.2), is spreading rapidly around the world. We performed multiscale investigations, including phylogenetic analysis, epidemic dynamics modeling, infection experiments using pseudoviruses, clinical isolates, and recombinant viruses in cell cultures and experimental animals, and the use of human sera and antiviral compounds, to reveal the virological features of the newly emerging EG.5.1 variant. Our phylogenetic analysis and epidemic dynamics modeling suggested that two hallmark substitutions of EG.5.1, S:F456L and ORF9b:I5T are critical to its increased viral fitness. Experimental investigations on the growth kinetics, sensitivity to clinically available antivirals, fusogenicity, and pathogenicity of EG.5.1 suggested that the virological features of EG.5.1 are comparable to those of XBB.1.5. However, cryo-electron microscopy revealed structural differences between the spike proteins of EG.5.1 and XBB.1.5. We further assessed the impact of ORF9b:I5T on viral features, but it was almost negligible in our experimental setup. Our multiscale investigations provide knowledge for understanding the evolutionary traits of newly emerging pathogenic viruses, including EG.5.1, in the human population., (© 2024 The Author(s). Microbiology and Immunology published by The Societies and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

In late 2023, several SARS-CoV-2 XBB descendants, notably EG.5.1, were predominant worldwide. However, a distinct SARS-CoV-2 lineage, the BA.2.86 variant, also emerged. BA.2.86 is phylogenetically distinct from other Omicron sublineages, accumulating over 30 amino acid mutations in its spike protein. Here, we examined the virological characteristics of the BA.2.86 variant. Our epidemic dynamics modeling suggested that the relative reproduction number of BA.2.86 is significantly higher than that of EG.5.1. Additionally, four clinically available antivirals were effective against BA.2.86. Although the fusogenicity of BA.2.86 spike is similar to that of the parental BA.2 spike, the intrinsic pathogenicity of BA.2.86 in hamsters was significantly lower than that of BA.2. Since the growth kinetics of BA.2.86 are significantly lower than those of BA.2 both in vitro and in vivo, the attenuated pathogenicity of BA.2.86 is likely due to its decreased replication capacity. These findings uncover the features of BA.2.86, providing insights for control and treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests J.I. has consulting fees and honoraria for lectures from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. K. Sato has consulting fees from Moderna Japan Co., Ltd. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and honoraria for lectures from Gilead Sciences, Inc., Moderna Japan Co., Ltd., and Shionogi & Co., Ltd., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Circulation of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB has resulted in the emergence of XBB.1.5, a new Variant of Interest. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that XBB.1.5 evolved from XBB.1 by acquiring the S486P spike (S) mutation, subsequent to the acquisition of a nonsense mutation in ORF8. Neutralization assays showed similar abilities of immune escape between XBB.1.5 and XBB.1. We determine the structural basis for the interaction between human ACE2 and the S protein of XBB.1.5, showing similar overall structures between the S proteins of XBB.1 and XBB.1.5. We provide the intrinsic pathogenicity of XBB.1 and XBB.1.5 in hamsters. Importantly, we find that the ORF8 nonsense mutation of XBB.1.5 resulted in impairment of MHC suppression. In vivo experiments using recombinant viruses reveal that the XBB.1.5 mutations are involved with reduced virulence of XBB.1.5. Together, our study identifies the two viral functions defined the difference between XBB.1 and XBB.1.5., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Solid and sensitive infectious disease surveillance systems need to be developed and implemented to prevent and control epidemics. Although statutory national infectious disease surveillance systems have been developed in many countries, some challenges remain, such as their limited timeliness, representativeness, and sensitivity, as well as the fact that they cannot capture all local outbreaks that occur in small communities. To overcome these limitations, local community-based infectious disease surveillance systems that meet local needs and can operate with constrained resources need to be developed, especially in remote and rural low-resource areas. This study aimed to develop, implement, and evaluate a voluntary and unique local community-based ophthalmology sentinel surveillance system in Isa city (OSSS-Isa), a remote rural area in Japan., Methods: For the development of OSSS-Isa, one hospital in Isa city assumed a leading role and developed a network with all medical institutions - 20 hospitals and clinics in the local community, including two ophthalmology clinics - as sentinel reporting sites. Surveillance was conducted on a weekly basis from Monday to Sunday. The collection, aggregation, and reporting of the surveillance data were implemented promptly on the same day, Monday, using a paper-based form and fax. For the evaluation of OSSS-Isa, the study followed the updated guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to select the evaluation criteria and develop a questionnaire. The questionnaires were then distributed to 20 hospitals and clinics, with the responses evaluated on a five-point Likert scale., Results: For the implementation of OSSS-Isa, the system issued alerts twice to the networked hospitals and clinics when signs of an increase in the prevalence of a target infectious eye disease appeared in Isa city. After the alerts, the number of cases decreased in the community. Regarding the evaluation survey, physicians from 18 hospitals and clinics responded to the questionnaire (response rate 90%). In contrast to flexibility, more than 75% of the respondents gave high ratings to simplicity, data quality, acceptability, timeliness, and stability in evaluating OSSS-Isa, with the mean score for these evaluation criteria higher than 3.67., Conclusion: The present results indicate that OSSS-Isa has high simplicity, data quality, acceptability, timeliness, and stability, which is highly embedded with the local healthcare providers in Isa city. OSSS-Isa contributed to the early and accurate detection of signs of infectious eye disease outbreaks emerging in a small remote rural local community. The success factors seem to include its simple well-designed implementation methods, good external factors, and active human factors suited to the characteristics of the small remote rural community. The OSSS-Isa initiative appears to be a meaningful practical example of successful health advocacy by healthcare providers by developing a system at the local social level while going beyond the boundaries of routine medical practice. If voluntary small-scale surveillance systems can complement statutory large-scale ones and work together locally, nationally, and internationally, it might be possible to detect small, unusual happenings that occur in the community, such as emerging infectious diseases, and thereby help avert global outbreaks.

Microbubble testing using transcranial Doppler (TCD) is an important screening tool for diagnosing paradoxical cerebral embolism with high-risk PFO. However, little is known about the association between the microbubble test by TCD and the features of high-risk PFO evaluated by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). We studied 101 consecutive patients at Showa University, from April 2019 to October 2020, who underwent both TCD and TEE with a sufficient Valsalva maneuver and who were strongly suspected by neurologists as cryptogenic stroke. According to the appearance of microbubbles as high-intensity transient signals (HITS), the TCD grade was stratified into three categories based on the criteria (A: none, no HITS, B: small; 1-10 HITS, and C: large; > 10 HITS, or an uncountable number of HITS). Among patients with RLS through the PFO in TEE, high-risk morphological features of PFO for cerebral embolism were evaluated as follows: (1) tunnel height, (2) tunnel length, (3) total excursion distance of the atrial septum into the right and left atrium, (4) existence of Eustachian valve or Chiari network, (5) angle of PFO from the inferior vena cava, and (6) large shunt (20 or more microbubbles). Of 101 patients (TCD grade; Group A = 49, Group B = 26, Group C = 26), RLS through PFO was detected in 37 patients (grade A = 8, grade B = 6, grade C = 23) by TEE. Among PFO-positive patients, tunnel height, length, total excursion distance into the right and left atria, angle of PFO from the inferior vena cava, and frequency of large shunt in TEE were significantly larger in grade C than in grade A and B (p < 0.05). Additionally, grade C patients had significantly more forms of high-risk PFOs than those in grades A and B when the six features of high-risk PFO were compared. A multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that the tunnel length of PFO and the presence of large shunt in TEE were independently associated with large HITS in TCD (odds ratio: 1.18 and 49.5, 95% confidence interval 1.043-1.337 and 10.05-244.3, p = 0.0086 and p < 0.0001, respectively). In conclusion, the existence of a large HITS detected by TCD may have a screening advantage in predicting the high-risk morphologies of PFO that can cause paradoxical cerebral embolism., (© 2022. Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature.)

The mammarenavirus Lassa virus (LASV) causes a life-threatening acute febrile disease, Lassa fever (LF). To date, no US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-licensed medical countermeasures against LASV are available. This underscores the need for the development of novel anti-LASV drugs. Here, we screen an FDA-approved drug library to identify novel anti-LASV drug candidates using an infectious-free cell line expressing a functional LASV ribonucleoprotein (vRNP), where levels of vRNP-directed reporter gene expression serve as a surrogate for vRNP activity. Our screen identified the pan-ErbB tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib as a potent inhibitor of LASV vRNP activity. Afatinib inhibited multiplication of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) a mammarenavirus closely related to LASV. Cell-based assays revealed that afatinib inhibited multiple steps of the LASV and LCMV life cycles. Afatinib also inhibited multiplication of Junín virus vaccine strain Candid#1, indicating that afatinib can have antiviral activity against a broad range of human pathogenic mammarenaviruses., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: School refusal occurs in about 1-2% of young people. Anxiety and depression are considered to be the most common emotional difficulties for children who do not attend school. However, at present, no definitive treatment has been established for school refusal, although interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy have been used. This paper reports a protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness yoga intervention for children with school refusal., Methods: This study is a multicenter, exploratory, open cluster-randomized controlled trial. This study will recruit children aged 10-15 years with school refusal. After a 2-week baseline, participants for each cluster will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: with or without mindfulness yoga for 4 weeks. Mindfulness yoga will be created for schoolchildren for this protocol and distributed to the participants on DVD. The primary outcome is anxiety among children with school refusal using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale-Children., Discussion: For this study, we developed a mindfulness yoga program and protocol, and examine whether mindfulness yoga can improve anxiety in children with school refusal. Our mindfulness yoga program was developed based on the opinions of children of the same age, and is a program that children can continue to do every day without getting bored. In this way, we believe that we can contribute to the smooth implementation of support to reduce the anxiety of children with school refusal, and to the reduction of the number of children who refuse to go to school., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Amitani, Amitani, Owaki, Monuki, Adachi, Kawazu, Fukumoto, Suzuki, Yoshimura, Mizuma, Nishida, Watanabe, Hirose, Funakoshi, Ota, Murotani and Asakawa.)

Background: The purpose of this study was to develop an objective, content-valid, and reliable assessment method for Kampo medicine using an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for the assessment of clinical competence in Kampo medicine., Methods: We developed a blueprint followed by a list of 47 assessment items and three task scenarios related to clinical competence in Kampo medicine. An eight-member test committee checked the relevance of the assessment items on a Likert scale. We calculated a content validity index and content validity ratio, and used the Angoff method to set the passing threshold. We trained a total of nine simulated patients with three assigned to each scenario. We conducted an OSCE for 11 candidates with varying medical abilities, and conducted three stations per person, which were evaluated by one evaluator in one room by direct observation. We used video recordings to test the inter-rater reliability of the three raters. We used the test results to verify the reliability of the assessment chart., Results: The inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [2,1]) was 0.973. The reliability of the assessment chart for each scenario (Cronbach's α) was 0.86, 0.89, and 0.85 for Scenarios 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The reliability of the assessment chart for the whole OSCE (Cronbach's α) was 0.90., Conclusions: We developed a content-valid new OSCE assessment method for Kampo medicine and obtained high inter-rater and test reliabilities. Our findings suggest that this is one of the most reliable evaluation methods for assessing clinical competence in Kampo medicine., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The increasing burden of tick-borne orthonairovirus infections, such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, is becoming a global concern for public health. In the present study, we identify a novel orthonairovirus, designated Yezo virus (YEZV), from two patients showing acute febrile illness with thrombocytopenia and leukopenia after tick bite in Hokkaido, Japan, in 2019 and 2020, respectively. YEZV is phylogenetically grouped with Sulina virus detected in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Romania. YEZV infection has been confirmed in seven patients from 2014-2020, four of whom were co-infected with Borrelia spp. Antibodies to YEZV are found in wild deer and raccoons, and YEZV RNAs have been detected in ticks from Hokkaido. In this work, we demonstrate that YEZV is highly likely to be the causative pathogen of febrile illness, representing the first report of an endemic infection associated with an orthonairovirus potentially transmitted by ticks in Japan., (© 2021. The Author(s).)