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When stroke patients consider a return to work, several difficulties are encountered regarding the promotion of support for both their health and employment due to the different perspectives of the patients, their families, and medical institutions. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has published a guideline for medical institutions and offices, but not for stroke patients or their families. As a result, patients and their families do not know how to process both medical treatments and their work after the occurrence of a stroke. We have therefore published the "Guidebook for Stroke Patients to Promote Health and Employment Support" based on the concept of the previously published "Guidebook for Cancer Patients for Promoting Health and Employment Support". This publication offers an overview of stroke and the flow from stroke onset to return to work. Patients can confirm how they should be handled at different phases of stroke. A stroke affects the patient, their family, and the individuals providing support, so this publication offers an information tool to facilitate the participation of stroke patients in society. The guide can thus be expected to contribute to an increased rate of return to work by stroke patients.

Partial observability, or the inability of an agent to fully observe the state of its environment, exists in many real-world problem domains. However, most cognitive architectures do not have a theoretical foundation that allows for a systematic approach to handling partial observability. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose a novel cognitive architecture based on the theory of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs). We focus on one of the most fundamental cognitive architectures, the blackboard architecture, and re-formulate it using the POMDP framework so that the agent can automatically decide how to use its information processing modules in partially observable environments. We propose a two-layer POMDP model for the blackboard architecture in which one layer models the dynamics of the environment and the other layer models the dynamics of the blackboard and knowledge sources within the agent. We also provide a planning method to find the optimal actions for the two-layer POMDP model based on the partially observable upper confidence bounds applied to trees (PO-UCT) algorithm. We validate the proposed architecture in both numerical and real-robot experiments.

We evaluated work intensity, exercise tolerance, and mental health among workers with heart disease and assessed the relationship between return to work (RTW) status and changes in mental health 3 months post-discharge.Patients were enrolled from 2014 to 2019. Data were collected on admission and 3 months post-discharge. Mental health was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Jobs were defined as "reasonable workload (RW)" or "over workload (OW)" based on metabolic equivalents.Twenty-six patients responded (81.3%). RTW after 3 months was higher in the RW group (100%) than in the OW group (63.6%). Mental health in the OW group significantly deteriorated compared with baseline and was higher than that in the RW group.Patients whose work intensity was higher than their exercise tolerance had worsened mental health 3 months post-discharge.

It is known to be that lactic acid bacteria induce the IL-12. IL-12 activates NK cells and promotes the production of IFN-γ. IFN-γ activates macrophages, resulting in enhanced phagocytosis and bactericidal activity. We have been investigating fermented foods that activate the immune function. For that purpose, a specific antibody is required. We tried to express IL-12p35 by the usual method, but IL-12p35 was not expressed at all. In the present study, we constructed, purified human IL-12p35 and obtained a specific antibody against IL-12p35. We also purified human IFN-γ and obtained specific antibody against IFN-γ. We have established a method for expressing poorly expressed proteins. The method we have established can be applied to the purification of poorly expressed proteins and antibody production.

Dynapenia, defined as age-related skeletal muscle strength decline, has been reported as a poor prognostic factor in patients with cardiovascular disease. Decline in skeletal muscle strength (DS), the main symptom of dynapenia, may be an important clinical indicator in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. However, the relationship between DS and postoperative pulmonary complication occurrence is unclear. Herein, we investigated the relationship between preoperative DS and postoperative pulmonary complication occurrence in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.We enrolled 125 patients who underwent cardiac surgery. DS was determined by low grip strength and quadriceps isometric strength. The patients were divided into DS and non-DS groups. The relationship between the clinical characteristics and preoperative physical function was compared, and factors associated with postoperative pulmonary complication occurrence were investigated using multivariate logistic regression analysis.There were 42 (33.6%) patients in the DS group and 83 (66.4%) patients in the non-DS group. Compared with the non-DS group, the DS group was significantly older and had a higher body mass index and Japan SCORE (operative mortality rate and major complication rate). The DS group also had a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate and preoperative Barthel index than the non-DS group. Furthermore the DS group had a significantly higher incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications and length of intensive care unit stay, and their postoperative rehabilitation was prolonged compared to the non-DS group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that DS was a determinant of postoperative pulmonary complications (odds ratio 4.26, 95% confidence interval 1.63‒11.14).We showed that preoperative DS was an independent risk factor for postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Skeletal muscle strength before cardiac surgery may be an important clinical indicator for predicting the prognosis of patients from post-surgery to discharge and for planning postoperative rehabilitation programs.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the inter- and intra-rater reliability of and minimal detectable changes (MDCs) at the 95% confidence interval in gait performance tests in patients with chronic hemiplegic stroke who can walk independently. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with chronic hemiplegic stroke (24 men, 6 women, mean age 62.5 ± 11.6 years) were enrolled. Physical therapists (mean clinical experience: 9.1 ± 9.3 years) performed the timed up and go test (TUG), 10-m walk test (10MWT), and 6-min walk test (6MWT) 1 day apart. Reliability was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman analysis. Results: The ICC was ≥0.9 for all tests, and no systematic bias was found. MDC at the 95% confidence interval was 1.9 s for the TUG, 0.16 m/s for the 10MWT, and 28.4 m for the 6MWT. Discussion: We demonstrated excellent intra- and inter-rater reliability of all tests. These results suggest that gait performance tests are reliable. Conclusion: These commonly used gait performance tests demonstrated high reliability and can be recommended to evaluate clinically meaningful improvements in patients with chronic hemiplegic stroke who can walk independently.

It is known that lactic acid bacteria induce the IL-12. The IL-12 activates NK cells and promotes the production of IFN-I³. The IFN-I³ activates macrophages resulting in enhanced phagocytosis and bactericidal activity. We have been investigating fermented foods that activate the immune function. In this study, we investigated the IL-12 inducibility of fermented foods using the specific antibody. Fermented soybean foods such as Tempeh and Natto are attracting attention in terms of nutrition, functionality, and food problems. In this study, Tempeh induced 1,080 µg/ml of IL-12, and IFN-I³ associated with the induction of IL-12 was also induced at 682 µg/ml. This was more than twice the induced intensity of PBS. On the contrary, Natto hardly induced IL-12 and IFN-I³. Tempeh also accelerated phagocytosis of the macrophage THP-1 cells. In this study, it was found that the fermented soybean-derived food, Tempeh, has a function of activating the immune function. This is the first report that Tempeh activates innate immunity. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Tempeh, a fermented soybean food induced the IL-12 and IFN-I³ production and the increase of macrophage phagocytosis in this study suggested a new function to enhance immunity. Tempeh is also expected to be effective in preventing lifestyle diseases. Fermented soybean products of Tempeh was considered to be a very useful health food for the problems of modern society such as maintaining health by eating, improving immunity, and ingesting vegetable protein due to diversifying food.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a very unstable protein. AhR binds to the molecular chaperone complex (HSP90-p23-XAP2) to maintain a stable structure in the cytoplasm. After binding to ligands, such as dioxin, AhR translocates from the cytoplasm to the nucleus with a molecular chaperone complex. The protein forms a heterodimer with Arnt after nuclear transfer, functions as a transcription factor by binding to a xenobiotic responsive element (XRE), and induces the cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1). Because of the unstable protein, expression of the full-length AhR in the E. coli expression system is very difficult. Many studies investigated AhR using AhR domains in vitro. We expressed and purified the human full-length AhR in E. coli expression system. Furthermore, specific antibodies were prepared. Purified full-length AhR could bind to ligand. In the presence of ligand, α-helix and random coil of AhR increased and β-sheet decreased on CD spectrum. Full-length AhR could bind to HSP90, XAP2 and p23 in the presence or absence of ligand. We now show the biochemical properties of full-length AhR.

Humanoid robots are expected to perform various jobs replacing human beings, but it is difficult for non-expert users to control them. To control humanoid robots easily, various motion imitation systems, in which a humanoid robot does the same motion as a human teacher, have been studied. In the present study, we make two contributions to building easy-to-use imitation systems. The first contribution is a flexible learning system that enables both synchronous real-time imitation, in which the robot imitates human motion almost immediately, and batch imitation, in which the robot’s motion is optimized more accurately after longer measurement of human motion. We use an efficient inference-based optimization method to enable both learning modes. The other contribution is an auditory user interface that accepts voice commands from the user and at the same time identifies the target person to be imitated. This enables the user to easily use the imitation system even when other people are present. Experimental results show that the proposed system can be used in both imitation modes and that it can identify the target person.

OBJECTIVE Workplace fitness programs are used to improve worker physical capacity. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of physical therapist (PT) led personal-fitness management programs (PP) on manufacturing worker physical performance assessed using a 30-second chair stand (CS-30) test. METHODS This assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial enrolled 60 manufacturing workers allocated to a workplace PP group (PPG) or control group (CG). The PPG received monthly, PT managed, individualized PP for 6 months. The CG received a 90-minute group-fitness management course once during the study period. RESULTS CS-30 significantly improved in both groups (PPG and CG, P

Gastric hyperplastic polyps are common and generally regarded as benign lesions, whereas gastric adenocarcinomas infrequently occur from gastric hyperplastic polyps. Although gastric hyperplastic polyps have received a lot of attention because of their association with malignant transformation, it remains unclear whether gastric hyperplastic polyps are neoplastic lesions that have sporadic genetic changes similar to colorectal hyperplastic polyps. We performed genome-wide analyses of two gastric adenocarcinomas with hyperplastic polyp components. The interface between "adenocarcinoma" and "hyperplastic polyp" components was fairly sharp, and the adenocarcinoma components had copy number alterations and TP53 mutations, whereas the hyperplastic polyp components had only single nucleotide polymorphisms, which were also found in adenocarcinoma components. We did not detect any somatic changes in the hyperplastic polyp components, even in genome-wide analyses, which was in contrast to the adenocarcinoma components. However, due to the small number of cases examined herein, further genetic analyses of more cases are needed.

The mechanism of reduced stroke volume index (SVi) in paradoxical low-flow, low-pressure gradient (PLFLPG) aortic stenosis (AS) remains unclarified. Guyton et al. ( 21 ) demonstrated that SVi is determined by whole body O2 consumption (V̇o2) in many subjects, including patients with heart disease. We hypothesized that reduced SVi in PLFLPG AS is associated with reduced V̇o2 by the whole body. This study investigated the relationship between V̇o2, SVi, and AS severity in patients with AS to examine the association between reduced V̇o2 and PLFLPG AS. In 59 patients (24 men and 35 women, mean age: 78 ± 7 yr old) with severe AS, SVi, AS severity, and type were evaluated by echocardiography, and V̇o2 was measured by the fraction of O2 in expired gases. SVi and V̇o2 were significantly decreased in 20 patients with PLFLPG AS compared with 39 patients with non-PLFLPG AS (30 ± 4 vs. 41 ± 7 ml/m2 and 2.4 ± 0.5 vs. 3.0 ± 0.5 ml·min−1·kg−1, respectively, P < 0.01). The SVi-to-V̇o2 ratio was not different between the two groups (13.1 ± 2.6 vs. 13.6 ± 2.1, not significant). SVi was independently correlated with V̇o2 ( r = 0.74, P < 0.01) but not with the aortic valve area index. Categorized PLFLPG AS was also significantly associated with reduced V̇o2 ( P < 0.001). PLFLPG AS is associated with reduced V̇o2 by the whole body, which may offer insights into the mechanism of PLFLPG AS. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Paradoxical low-flow, low-pressure gradient severe aortic stenosis (PLFLPG AS) is an important and problematic subtype, and its central pathophysiology with reduced stroke volume is yet to be clarified. We hypothesized and subsequently clarified that reduced stroke volume in PLFLPG AS is associated with reduced O2 consumption by the whole body. This study suggests important insights into the mechanism of PLFLPG AS and may further promote studies to investigate further mechanisms and novel treatment.

Background: New strategies are needed to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria. The restriction of iron uptake by bacteria is a promising way to inhibit their growth. We aimed to suppress the growth of Vibrio bacterial species by inhibiting their ferric ion-binding protein (FbpA) using food components. Methods: Twenty spices were selected for the screening of FbpA inhibitors. The candidate was applied to antibacterial tests, and the mechanism was further studied. Results: An active compound, rosmarinic acid (RA), was screened out. RA binds competitively and more tightly than Fe3+ to VmFbpA, the FbpA from V. metschnikovii, with apparent KD values of 8 μM vs. 17 μM. Moreover, RA can inhibit the growth of V. metschnikovii to one-third of the control at 1000 μM. Interestingly, sodium citrate (SC) enhances the growth inhibition effect of RA, although SC only does not inhibit the growth. The combination of RA/SC completely inhibits the growth of not only V. metschnikovii at 100/100 μM but also the vibriosis-causative pathogens V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus, at 100/100 and 1000/100 μM, respectively. However, RA/SC does not affect the growth of Escherichia coli. Conclusions: RA/SC is a potential bacteriostatic agent against Vibrio species while causing little damage to indigenous gastrointestinal bacteria.

The AhR binds to contain ligands, such as 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, 3-methylcholantrene, or β-naphthoflavone. The activation mechanism of AhR is not yet fully understood, but it is known that AhR associates with the molecular chaperone HSP90 in the cytoplasm. There are a few reports about the association or dissociation of AhR and HSP90, and which domain of HSP90 binds to AhR. We reported the association and activation mechanisms between HSP90 and AhR-PAS or AhR-bHLH. In the current study, we found that cisplatin inhibits the AhR activation. Although ATP and 17-DMAG have no effect on the dissociation of HSP90 from AhR, some contents of HSP90 were dissociated from AhR in the presence of cisplatin. We could detect the increase of CYP1A in the presence of 3-MC. On the contrary, the induction of CYP1A1 was inhibited in the presence of cisplatin. We couldn’t detect AhR in the HeLa cell soluble fraction in the presence of 50 μM cisplatin. In the presence of MG-132, we could detect AhR. These results suggested that AhR was dissociated from the HSP90 chaperone complex and processed during the protein proteasome degradation system in the presence of cisplatin.

Metal Hydrides (MH) can absorb large quantities of hydrogen at room temperature and ordinary pressure. Because MH can store hydrogen at a pressure less than 0.1 MPa safely and compactly, it is looked to as a method of storing hydrogen produced by electricity derived from renewable energy sources. To study this method of storing renewable energy, we made a MH tank system which could store hydrogen in the range of 1000 Nm 3 . A Mm-Ni Mn Co alloy was used for this MH tank system. MH becomes pulverized with absorbing and desorbing hydrogen, and this causes the problem of MH tank transformation owing to the partial distribution of the pulverized MH powders. Our MH material, named “Hydrage™,” was made using a technique to compose the MH powders with polymer materials without decreasing the hydrogen absorption and desorption rate. With this technique, the MH powders were immobilized, and strain on the MH tank was reduced. Furthermore, this technique enabled uniform dispersion of the MH powders, and high-density filling in MH tank was achieved relative to that attainable in a conventional MH tank. An MH tank system with a capacity of 1000 Nm 3 is 1,800 mm in width, 3,150 mm in length, and 2,145 mm in height. The system for renewable energy storage consists of 9 tanks. About 7.2 tons of MH were used in this system. This system could work at temperatures from 25 to 35° C, and its maximum hydrogen absorption and desorption rate is 70 Nm 3 /h with a medium flow rate of 30 NL/min. This type of MH tank system, which can store a large amount of hydrogen safely and compactly, has the potential to become popular with various applications in the future.