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Shohei Kuniya,1 Yusuke Miyazawa,1 Ryuichi Sawa,2 Tamaki Nara,1,3 Shuko Nojiri,1,3 Tsuyoshi Asai,4 Kanako K Kumamaru,1,3,5 Morikuni Tobita1,3 1Department of Healthcare Innovation, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Science, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan; 3Medical Technology Innovation Center, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan; 4Faculty of Rehabilitation, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan; 5Department of Radiology, Juntendo University, Tokyo, JapanCorrespondence: Morikuni Tobita, Medical Technology Innovation Center, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 1138421, Japan, Tel +81-3-3814-5672, Fax +81-3-5802-1715, Email mtobita@juntendo.ac.jpPurpose: As the number of older adults in society increases, their social roles and networks, as well as their physical function, decrease. This study aimed to clarify the association between social networks and physical function among people aged ≥ 60 years in rural Thailand.Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Photharam District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. Participants were required to be at least 60 years old and be able to walk to the health center. Social networks were surveyed using the Thai version of Lubben Social Network Scores-6. Four physical function measures, namely hand grip strength, five-times-sit-to-stand test, timed up-and-go (TUG) test, and one-leg standing, were considered. Regression analysis was conducted with Lubben Social Network Scores-6 as the dependent variable and the four types of physical function as independent variables.Results: A total of 497 older adults aged 60 years or more were enrolled; 82 were males, and 412 were females. The mean Lubben Social Network Scores-6 was 14.9 ± 5.7. Only the TUG test was associated in a single and multiple regression analysis with the Lubben Social Network Scores-6 as the dependent variable and the four physical function assessments as independent variables.Conclusion: The TUG test assessed the smoothness of normal standing and walking, which are essential physical functions for maintaining a social network and meeting people. This suggests a relationship between physical function and social network.Keywords: Lubben Social Network Scores-6, social relationship, timed up-and-go test, aging

This article describes the major components of rehabilitation services in Japan for people who are visually impaired from diabetes. These components include diabetes education and medical care, social welfare and rehabilitation services, nutrition and exercise, medication, monitoring of blood glucose, glycemic control, and the prevention of further complications. (Author)

Agro-pastoralism is the backbone for the sustenance of livelihood of people in semi-arid mountainous deserts of Ladakh, India. Livestock comprising sheep, goat, yak, donkey and horse, play an important role in human survival by providing fuel, transport, wool, milk, organic manure, meat and hide. Deficiency of fodder is the major constraint in livestock production system in this area; hence grassland vegetation available for grazing is important for livestock feeding and nutrition. The present study was aimed to evaluate grassland productivity in different villages of Leh, Ladakh. Productivity of grasslands in the study area ranged from 0.7 to 8.8 q/ha, reflecting low values and wide variability. Nutrient availability in grasses was poor, while fibre content was high. Supplementation of feed, fodder or concentrate ration is therefore essential to meet the nutritional requirements of the livestock largely dependent upon grazing in those grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major component of the educative process in the professional disciplines is the field education/preceptorship experience in which students are afforded opportunities to develop professional competence under the tutelage of a practising professional and/or a university instructor. During this time students are exposed to competing discourses about what it means to think and act as nurses, teachers, doctors and social workers. Frequently, field teaching is characterized by conflictual situations involving students, field instructors and university faculty. Such conflict is poorly understood as indicated by the lack of literature available in the professional disciplines. The purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of conflict within the context of field teaching in professional education. Pivotal to this study was the issue of making sense of the conflict that prospective nurses, teachers, social workers and doctors experience in professional education within the practice realm and how such discourses shape their professional identities, practices and ultimate social values. At issue is the social construction of meaning that takes place within professional education. This study was conducted from the perspective of four professional programs including education, medicine, nursing and social work. The researchers focused on the final year of each program at a time when students were engaged in a major field / preceptorship experience in hospitals, schools, communities and social agencies. The experiences derived from the nursing data are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We examined whether maternal body mass index (BMI) during prepregnancy is useful for prediction of maternal preeclampsia in twin pregnancies.Methods: We studied 250 dichorionic twin pregnancies and 3196 singleton pregnancies. Maternal BMI was calculated during prepregnancy in both twin and singleton pregnancies. The incidence of maternal preeclampsia was compared among three groups, low-BMI [< -1.5 standard deviations (SD)], normal-BMI, and high-BMI (> + 1.5 SD) groups, in both singleton and twin pregnancies.Results: In singleton pregnancies, the incidence of maternal preeclampsia in the high-BMI group was significantly higher than that in the normal-BMI group (p < 0.05). The relative risk by high BMI was 8.5 (95% confidence interval: 5.6-12.0). However, in twin pregnancies, no significant differences were observed in these values.Conclusions: Body mass index during prepregnancy was not useful for the prediction of preeclampsia in twin pregnancies. Mechanisms other than maternal weight may be associated with the beginning of preeclampsia in twin pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate plasma adenosine levels during normal pregnancy and to evaluate the possible roles of platelet activation and 5'-nucleotidase as causes of changes in adenosine levels.Study Design: We measured plasma adenosine levels, the platelet activation markers beta-thromboglobulin and platelet factor 4, and 5'-nucleotidase activity, which catalyzes dephosphorylation from adenosine monophosphate to adenosine, in 34 nonpregnant women and 34 women with normal pregnancies in the third trimester.Results: The mean plasma adenosine level in pregnant women was 0.59 +/- 0.08 micromol/L (mean +/- SEM), which was significantly higher than that found in nonpregnant women (0.18 +/- 0.04 micromol/L; P <.01). In pregnant women plasma beta-thromboglobulin levels, platelet factor 4 levels, and 5'-nucleotidase activity were significantly higher than in nonpregnant women (P <.05).Conclusion: The increase of plasma adenosine may be attributed at least in part to platelet activation and an increase of 5'-nucleotidase activity during normal pregnancy. This increase may be an endogenous compensatory mechanism that diminishes platelet activation and maintains vessel integrity during normal pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]