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Background: The number of football teams in senior categories has increased. As outdoor sports entail players being exposed to sunlight, playing football may contribute to maintaining vitamin D stores and body mineral density while preventing osteoporosis. This study aimed to determine the bone mineral density and vitamin D levels in middle-aged premenopausal female football players. Methods: Participants were premenopausal females in their 40s. We evaluated bone mineral density of the second to the fourth lumbar vertebrae and femoral neck, serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-OHD) levels, which is an indicator of vitamin D stores, and body composition. In addition, we administered a questionnaire survey on exercise habits and lifestyle. Ninety-two participants were categorised into three groups: the football group (n = 27), volleyball group (n = 40), and non-exercise group (n = 25). Results: Bone mineral density was higher in the football and volleyball groups than in the non-exercise group (P < 0.01). The volleyball group had a significantly higher bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and femoral neck than the non-exercise group (P < 0.01). The football group had a significantly higher bone mineral density of the femoral neck than the non-exercise group (P < 0.01). Although the football group had played fewer years than the volleyball group (P < 0.01), serum 25-OHD levels were the highest in the football group and were significantly higher than those in the volleyball and non-exercise groups (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Middle-aged premenopausal football players had higher body vitamin D levels and bone mineral densities than non-active females. These results suggest that playing football may contribute to the prevention of osteoporosis. Trial registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000054235. 2024/04/23. Retrospectively registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research has developed a fabricating process of thin‐strain sensor by utilizing wafer‐level‐packaging (WLP) techniques. The thickness of sensor makes thinner, its performance is able to highly increase. However, the thinner sensor was fragile, and so it was difficult to handle in post processes. Thus, a thin sensor with lid by utilizing WLP techniques, which is tough to break even when handled, is proposed in this research. More than 250‐µm‐deep grooves were fabricated around the lid by deep reactive ion etching. After the lid substrate was bonded on the sensor substrate with a resin, the sensor and lid substrates were respectively polished to 50 and 200 µm thickness. The lids were released along the grooves, and the 50‐µm‐thick strain sensors were able to be fabricated by utilizing WLP techniques. This sensor was used as a diaphragm to measure pressure. The sensors were assembled on a stainless steel housing without breakage. The performance of the developed sensor was almost showed with a conventional pressure sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have increasingly concentrated on loneliness in the workplace as a crucial factor influencing the mental health of employees and the viability of telework. In contrast, the current understanding of the strategies mitigating workplace loneliness and how leaders utilize their behaviors to impact followers' loneliness remains limited. Since servant leadership values the emotional needs of followers and displays a high level of empathy, this study investigated the direct and indirect effects of servant leadership on workplace loneliness. In this study, 267 employees (mean age = 31.5 years) from 28 provinces in China were recruited to participate in this survey. We proposed that servant leaders motivate their own empathic communication and other followers' empathic communication to reduce lonely followers' workplace loneliness. This research further examined the relationship between the leader's and colleagues' empathic communication, and the two jointly mediate the connection between servant leadership and followers' workplace loneliness. We constructed a serial mediation model to examine the relationships between servant leadership, leader's empathic communication, colleagues' empathic communication, and workplace loneliness. The results indicate that servant leadership creates a cycle of empathy and provides insights into building a culture of empathy to improve employee well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gall‐forming insects induce various types of galls on their host plants by altering gene expression in host plant organs, and recent studies have been conducted for gene expression in galls. However, the evolutionary trajectories of gene expression patterns and the resulting phenotypes have not yet been studied using multiple related species. We investigated the speciation and the diversification process of galls induced by four closely related aphid species (Hormaphidini) on a host plant species (Hamamelis japonica) by examining the phylogenetic congruence between the geographical divergences of aphids and the host plant, and by comparing their gene expression patterns and resulting phenotypes. Phylogenetic analysis of aphids and the host plant showed that geographical isolation among host plant populations has interrupted gene flow in aphids and accelerated the speciation process. The concentration of phenolics and the complexity of the internal structure of galls were correlated with the expression levels of genes for the biosynthesis of phenolics and morphogenesis respectively. These results suggest that the expression levels of genes for the biosynthesis of phenolics and morphogenesis have evolutionarily increased in galls accelerated by the speciation process of aphids due to the distribution change of the host plant, leading to the related phenotypic evolution. Our study showed the evolutionary process of phenotypic traits in galls in the wild from both gene expression and actual phenotype levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract1. Cynomolgus monkeys and human FcRn transgenic mice are generally used for pharmacokinetic predictions of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). In the present study, the application of the common marmoset, a small nonhuman primate, as a potential animal model for prediction was evaluated for the first time.2. Canakinumab, adalimumab, and bevacizumab, which exhibited linear pharmacokinetics in humans, were selected as the model compounds. Marmoset pharmacokinetic data were reportedly available only for canakinumab, and those for adalimumab and bevacizumab were acquired in-house.3. Four pharmacokinetic parameters for a two-compartment model (i.e., clearance and volume of distribution in the central and peripheral compartments) in marmosets were extrapolated to the values in humans with allometric scaling using the average exponents of the three mAbs. As a result, the observed human serum concentration–time curves of the three mAbs following intravenous administration and those of canakinumab and adalimumab following subcutaneous injections (with an assumed absorption rate constant and bioavailability) were reasonably predicted.4. Although further prediction studies using a sufficient number of other mAbs are necessary to evaluate the versatility of this model, the findings indicate that marmosets can be an alternative to preceding animals for human pharmacokinetic predictions of therapeutic mAbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the previous machine-learning study that the number of hydrogen-bonding acceptor (NHBA) is important index for the hole mobility of organic semiconductors, seven dithienobenzothiazole (DBT) derivatives 1a-g (NHBA = 5) were designed and synthesized by one-step functionalization from a common precursor. X-ray single-crystal structural analyses confirmed that the molecular arrangements of 1b (the diethyl and ethylthienyl derivative) and 1c (the di(n-propyl) and n-propylthienyl derivative) in the crystal are classified into brickwork structures with multidirectional intermolecular charge-transfer integrals, as a result of incorporation of multiple hydrogen-bond acceptors. The solution-processed top-gate bottom-contact devices of 1b and 1c had hole mobilities of 0.16 and 0.029 cm2 V-1s-1, respectively., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Abnormal coronary microcirculation is linked to poor patient prognosis, so the aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic relevance of basal microvascular resistance (b-IMR) in patients without functional coronary stenosis.Methods and Results: Analyses of 226 patients who underwent intracoronary physiological assessment of the left anterior descending artery included primary endpoints of all-cause death and heart failure, as well as secondary endpoints of cardiovascular death and atherosclerotic vascular events. During a median follow-up of 2 years, there were 12 (5.3%) primary and 21 (9.3 %) secondary endpoints. The optimal b-IMR cutoff for the primary endpoints was 47.1 U. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis demonstrated worse event-free survival of the primary endpoints in patients with a b-IMR below the cutoff (χ 2 =21.178, P<0.001). b-IMR was not significantly associated with the secondary endpoints (P=0.35). A low coronary flow reserve (CFR; <2.5) had prognostic value for both endpoints (primary endpoints: χ 2 =11.401, P=0.001; secondary endpoints: (χ 2 =6.015; P=0.014), and high hyperemic microvascular resistance (≥25) was associated only with the secondary endpoints (χ 2 =4.420; P=0.036). Incorporating b-IMR into a clinical model that included CFR improved the Net Reclassification Index and Integrated Discrimination Improvement for predicting the primary endpoints (P<0.001 and P=0.034, respectively)., Conclusions: b-IMR may be a specific marker of the risk of death and heart failure in patients without functional coronary stenosis.

The surface treatment of glass-ceramic-based materials, namely, lithium disilicate glass (IPS e.max CAD), feldspar porcelain (VITABLOCS Mark II), and a polymer-infiltrated ceramic network (VITA ENAMIC), using aqueous fluoride solutions and their influence on luting agent bonding were investigated. Six experimental aqueous fluoride solutions were applied to these materials, and their effects were assessed by surface topological analysis. The obtained results were compared using non-parametric statistical analyses. Ammonium hydrogen fluoride (AHF) etchant demonstrated the greatest etching effect. Subsequent experiments focused on evaluating different concentrations of the AHF etchant for the bonding pretreatment of glass-ceramic-based materials with a luting agent (PANAVIA V5). AHF, particularly at concentrations above 5 wt%, effectively roughened the surfaces of the materials and improved the bonding performance. Notably, AHF at a concentration of 30 wt% exhibited a more pronounced effect on both etching and bonding capabilities compared to hydrofluoric acid.

The Long-Term Care Insurance System, revised in 2015, obliged utmost efforts to enforce community-based care meetings to establish the Community-based Integrated Care System. In Toyoake in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, the"Multidisciplinary Joint Care Conference,"a monthly community-based care meeting, has been held since April 2016. All participants have an equal relationship since no advisors are appointed. This conference is designed to share helpful knowledge about methods that can be applied in similar future cases instead of just reviewing the support methods used in previous cases. Continuing to hold this conference is expected to yield various satisfactory outcomes. Exchanging knowledge with experts in different fields has led to technology transfer among professions. Furthermore, sharing knowledge in areas where information was insufficient has allowed individuals to determine what they could contribute from their standpoint. They have cogitated about selecting cases and how the host progressed the conference. Because local governments' employees are often reshuffled, accurately taking over duties from their predecessors is a significant concern. As a result, to reduce such risks, the municipality decided to cooperate and manage the conference with a local university engaged in solving local problems. An online provision system was established early to continue conducting the meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, this system is beneficial in accepting observation members from municipalities and professionals nationwide. We aspire to continue engaging in the Multidisciplinary Joint Care Conference. This allows individuals connected to the communities to share strategies and methods for achieving their goals and unite as a single problem-solving team.