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In 2014 the first synthesis of a transactinide carbonyl complex – seaborgium hexacarbonyl – was reported. This was achieved in gas-phase chemical experiments in a beam-free environment behind the recoil separator GARIS. Extending this work to heavier elements requires more efficient techniques to synthesize carbonyl complexes as production rates of transactinide elements drop with increasing atomic number. A novel approach was thus conceived, which retains the benefit of a beam-free environment but avoids the physical preseparation step. The latter reduces the yields for products of asymmetric reactions such as those used for the synthesis of suitable isotopes of Sg, Bh, Hs and Mt. For this a series of experiments with accelerator-produced radioisotopes of the lighter homologues W, Re and Os was carried out at the tandem accelerator of JAEA Tokai, Japan. A newly developed double-chamber system, which allows for a decoupled recoil ion thermalization and chemical complex formation, was used, which avoids the low-efficiency physical preseparation step. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of this newly developed method using accelerator-produced short-lived radioisotopes of the 5d homologues of the early transactinides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The distribution of body mass in populations of Western countries differs from that of populations of East Asian countries. In East Asian countries, fewer people have a high body mass index than those in Western countries. In Japan, the country with the highest number of older adults worldwide, many people have a low body mass index. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the association between a low body mass index and mortality in patients with sepsis in Japan. Methods: We conducted this retrospective analysis of 548 patients with severe sepsis from a multicenter prospective observational study. Multivariate logistic regression analyses determined the association between body mass index and 28-day mortality adjusted for age, sex, pre-existing conditions, the occurrence of septic shock, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores. Furthermore, the association between a low body mass index and 28-day mortality was analyzed. Results: The low body mass index group represented 18.8% of the study population (103/548); the normal body mass index group, 57.3% (314/548); and the high body mass index group, 23.9% (131/548), with the 28-day mortality rates being 21.4% (22/103), 11.2% (35/314), and 14.5% (19/131), respectively. In the low body mass index group, the crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for 28-day mortality relative to the non-low body mass index (normal and high body mass index groups combined) group were 2.0 (1.1–3.4) and 2.3 (1.2–4.2), respectively. Conclusion: A low body mass index was found to be associated with a higher 28-day mortality than the non-low body mass index in patients with sepsis in Japan. Given that older adults often have a low body mass index, these patients should be monitored closely to reduce the occurrence of negative outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bundled measures have been recommended to reduce the risk of central venous catheter (CVC)-related bloodstream infection. However, the importance of each procedure involved in CVC insertion/management for preventing catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) has not been thoroughly assessed. We aimed to analyze the effectiveness of maintenance antisepsis at the CVC insertion site in reducing the CRBSI risk through comparing the use of 0.05% chlorhexidine to 1% chlorhexidine. In the South Miyagi Medical Center, Japan, 372 patients with a CVC who had undergone antisepsis maintenance using 0.05% chlorhexidine swabs 12 months prior to implementing 1% chlorhexidine swabs, and 344 patients at 12 months post-implementation of 1% chlorhexidine swabs, were followed prospectively for the development of CRBSI and signs of infection, and their data compared. Post-implementation of the 1% chlorhexidine swabs, the CRBSI rate decreased from 3.64/1000 catheter-days to 1.77/1000 catheter-days. The risk of CRBSI decreased to 0.465 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.216–1.001). Furthermore, the risk of CRBSI ≥20 days after CVC insertion decreased to 0.200 (95% CI: 0.049–0.867); however, we found no difference between 0.05% and 1% chlorhexidine use within 19 days of CVC insertion. The increased number of patients with insertion site tenderness after implementing 1% chlorhexidine indicated a possible adverse effect of chlorhexidine. Maintenance antisepsis with 1% chlorhexidine decreased the risk of developing CRBSI ≥20 days after CVC insertion, indicating the effectiveness of antisepsis with 1% chlorhexidine. Our data highlight the importance of maintenance antisepsis in reducing the rate of late-phase CRBSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the leading cause of viral encephalitis with high mortality and morbidity in Asia. In Japan, however, the active recommendation of JE vaccine was retracted in 2005 because of the potential risk of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. We aimed to determine the recent incidence of childhood-onset JE after the domestic change of vaccination policy in Japan, and to analyze the clinical features of affected children. Methods A retrospective nationwide survey was conducted for pediatric patients with JE in Japan from 1995 to 2015. The national surveillance system was used to identify the pediatric patients with JE. Follow-up questionnaires were sent to analyze their clinical and neuroimaging profiles. Results Among a total of 109 patients registered to the national surveillance, 10 (9%) were less than age 15 years. The annual incidence rate of childhood-onset JE was higher during 2005–15 than that during 1995–2004 (4.3 × 10–3 vs 1.1 × 10–3 per 100000, respectively; P =.04). Endemic regions overlapped with prefectures that farmed pigs harboring antibodies against JE virus with high prevalence. Detailed clinical data were collected from 9 patients. None of them died, but 5 of 9 patients (56%) had neurological sequelae after recovery. One patient who was partially vaccinated with 2 doses of JE vaccine fully recovered from a coma. The age of 3 years or less was associated with unfavorable neurological prognosis. Conclusions Our data provide evidence for the importance and prophylactic effect of the JE vaccine in young children in the endemic area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis (IM) is usually on serologic tests. The responses of anti-Epstein–Barr virus (anti-EBV) antibodies are weak in infants. The authors encountered some IM infants in whom anti-EBV antibodies were undetectable during early stage, although EBV genome was found in their blood. The aim of the present study was therefore to clarify the frequency of anti-EBV-antibody negative IM cases. Methods: The EBV serostatus of 104 IM children diagnosed on Sumaya criteria was retrospectively studied. The EBV genome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was measured. Results: The anti-viral capsid antigen-IgM (anti-VCA-IgM)-positive rate in the acute phase was only 25% in infants but 80% in patients ≥4 years of age. Twenty percent of the infants were negative for all anti-EBV antibodies and required repeated serologic tests. For infants, the significant rise in anti-VCA-IgG was the most sensitive marker. Three seronegative infants with IM symptoms, with circulating EBV genome during acute phase, were eventually considered as having IM on anti-VCA-IgG seroconversion thereafter. Conclusions: To diagnose IM in infants the serologic test alone in the acute phase is not sensitive enough. It is proposed that the EBV genome be evaluated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells when infants presenting with IM symptoms are negative for anti-EBV antibodies during the acute phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compares visual assessments for color fastness in Japan, Thailand, and Hong Kong, China, and examines the relationship between the visual and the instrumental assessment. Assessment of staining; Change in color.

Background Although a number of studies have reported on the association between obsessional personality features as measured by the Munich Personality Test (MPT) “Rigidity” scale and depression, there has been no examination of these relationships in a non-clinical sample. Methods The dimensional scores on the MPT were compared between subjects with and without lifetime depression, using a sample of employed Japanese adults. The odds ratio for suffering from lifetime depression was estimated by multiple logistic regression analysis. To diagnose a lifetime history of depression, the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, Lifetime version (IDDL) was used. Results The subjects with lifetime depression scored significantly higher on the “Rigidity” scale than the subjects without lifetime depression. In our logistic regression analysis, three risk factors were identified as each independently increasing a person's risk for suffering from lifetime depression: higher levels of “Rigidity”, being of the female gender, and suffering from current depressive symptoms. Conclusion The MPT “Rigidity” scale is a sensitive measure of personality features that occur with depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study replicated the factor structure of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), and explored the relationships of PBI scores to demographic variables. We investigated the association between parental bonding in the parents measured by the PBI, and lifetime history of depression in their children assessed by the Inventory to Diagnose Depression Lifetime version (IDDL) in a volunteer sample of 239 Japanese workers. In factor analyses with varimax rotation (two-factor solution), the PBI items for both parents showed clear bimodality, and the total variance explained by the two factors was similar to that found in previous Western studies. Subjects with a lifetime history of depression reported a significantly lower score on maternal care than did those without a lifetime history of depression. Without requiring 2 weeks symptom duration on the IDDL, low maternal care was also related to a history of depression. The relationships between PBI scores and age, education, sex of respondent, and sex of parent differed in part from those in Western subjects. These results suggested the following: (1) child-rearing behaviors in non-Western cultures can be, similarly to those in Western cultures, described with the PBI; (2) parental styles, as measured by the PBI, may be associated with depression in non-Western subjects; and (3) sociodemographic influences on PBI scores may be different in subjects with different cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempted to determine whether patients with major depression and panic disorder could be differentiated by personality features, measured by the Munich Personality Test (MPT). One of the six MPT personality dimensions, `rigidity', was developed in relation to the `melancholic type of personality', which may be a specific personality feature of depressive subjects. We therefore hypothesized that the MPT might be sensitive to possible personality differences between patients with major depression and panic disorder. Sixty-six patients with major depression and 27 patients with panic disorder, taken from consecutive intakes at an outpatient unit, were compared in terms of six personality dimensions of the MPT. The results demonstrated that rigidity could significantly differentiate the two patient groups, even after the possible confounding effects on the personality assessments were statistically partialled out. The MPT was suggested to be powerful for describing distinctive personality features of depressive subjects from anxiety subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine whether the features of multiple personality disorder (MPD) in Japan are similar to those in North America, although a wide disparity exists in the prevalence of MPD between the two areas. In order to describe the features of MPD in Japan, we obtained clinical data from MPD case reports, including two of our own cases, published in Japanese academic journals and compared it with the data from other countries. The cases in Japan differed significantly from those in North America in the mean number of personalities and prevalence of sexual and/or physical abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article compares color assessments of automotive exteriors at four locations in China, Thailand and Japan. This study employed painted panels of twelve colors, thirty sensory words and fifteen pairs of emotion variables. It also used reference figures of nine cars that included four styling categories, namely sedans, compacts, sport utility vehicles and sports cars. The results of like–dislike tests revealed that basic automotive exterior colors, such as black, white and red, were highly preferred across locations. However, geographical differences are apparent in the preference for some non-basic colors. To elucidate these geographical differences, a Chi-square test and principal component analysis were performed on the data on emotion variables. The results revealed both similarities and differences in color preferences among the four locations. Color preferences were similar in Hong Kong and Shanghai when simply evaluated by color samples. However, similar preferences for automotive exterior colors were observed in Hong Kong, Kyoto and Bangkok, but not in Shanghai. These results suggest that there is fluctuation in the emotion evoked by a color when the color is considered in the context of automotive exteriors. Therefore, this study indicates that automotive sales can be secured in the global marketplace by creating a single palette of exterior colors based on similar color preferences across countries. However, these results also indicate that preparing market-specific automotive-color line-ups can be an effective marketing strategy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Early identification of individuals at risk of functional impairment after trauma is crucial for the timely clinical decision-making and intervention to improve reintegration into the society. This study aimed to develop and validate models for predicting new-onset functional impairment after trauma using predictors that are routinely collected within 2 days of hospital admission., Methods: In this multicenter retrospective cohort study of acute care hospitals in Japan, we identified adult patients with trauma with independence in carrying out activities of daily living before hospitalization, treated in the intensive or high-dependency care unit, and survived for at least 2 days between April 2008 and September 2023. The primary outcome was functional impairment defined as Barthel Index ≤60 at hospital discharge. In the internal validation data set (between April 2008 and August 2022), using the routinely collected 129 candidate predictors within 2 days of admission, we trained and tuned the four conventional and machine learning models with repeated random subsampling cross-validation. We measured the performance of these models in the temporal validation data set (between September 2022 and September 2023). We also computed the importance of each predictor variable in our model., Results: We identified 8,529 eligible patients. Functional impairment at discharge was observed in 41% of the patients (n = 3,506/8,529). In the temporal validation data set, all four models showed moderate discrimination ability, with areas under the curve above 0.79, and extreme gradient boosting showing the best performance (0.83). In the variable importance analyses, age was the most important predictor, followed by consciousness, severity score, cervical spinal cord injury, mild dementia, and serum albumin level at admission., Conclusion: We successfully developed early prediction models for patients with trauma with new-onset functional impairment at discharge that achieved high predictive performance using routinely collected data within 2 days of hospital admission., Level of Evidence: Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level III., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

The chemical characterization of the heaviest elements at the farthest reach of the periodic table (PT) and the classification of these elements in the PT are undoubtedly crucial and challenging subjects in chemical and physical sciences. The elucidation of the influence of relativistic effects on their outermost electronic configuration is also a critical and fascinating aspect. However, the heaviest elements with atomic numbers Z ≳ 100 must be produced at accelerators using nuclear reactions of heavy ions and target materials. Therefore, production rates for these elements are low, and their half-lives are as short as a few seconds to a few minutes; they are usually available in a quantity of only a few atoms at a time. Here, we review some highlighted studies on heavy actinide and light transactinide chemical characterization performed at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency tandem accelerator facility. We discuss briefly the prospects for future studies of the heaviest elements.

Purpose: Disseminated intravascular coagulations (DIC), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and acute kidney injury (AKI) are major organ dysfunctions that occur in patients with sepsis. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of these organ dysfunctions on mortality in patients with severe sepsis., Material and Methods: A prospective observational study was performed in 10 ICUs to obtain data from patients with severe sepsis. Multivariate analyses to examine in-hospital mortality were performed., Results: Data of 573 patients were analyzed. In-hospital mortality rate was 19.4% (111/573). The incidences of DIC, ARDS, and AKI were 58.4%, 18.7%, and 41.7%, while the associated mortality rates were 28.9%, 36.4%, and 31.8%, respectively. In multiple regression model, DIC (odds ratio 2.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.45-5.27) and AKI stage 3 (odds ratio 1.98, 95% CI 1.07-3.63) were significantly associated with higher in-hospital all-cause mortality. DIC (hazard ratio 2.58, 95% CI 1.53-4.55) and AKI stage 3 (hazard ratio 1.73, 95% CI 1.07-2.80) were also significantly associated with longer survival durations. However, severe ARDS was not associated with these outcomes., Conclusions: DIC and AKI are frequent complications in patients with severe sepsis. In this study, DIC, and AKI stage 3 were independent risk factors of in-hospital mortality., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is one of the leading causes of neonatal bacterial infections. Population-based surveillance of GBS-related invasive diseases among newborns and infants from 10 prefectures in Japan was performed between 2007 and 2012. The characteristics of cases and isolated GBS are described in this study. The incidence rate of GBS-related invasive diseases was 0.13 per 1,000 live births. Analysis of GBS samples obtained from 60 invasive cases showed that the most frequent serotypes were III (48.3%), Ia (30.0%), and Ib (10.0%). All isolates were susceptible to penicillin G, ampicillin, cefotaxime, imipenem, and panipenem. However, 14, 2, and 7 isolates were resistant to erythromycin, clindamycin, and both erythromycin and clindamycin, respectively. Multilocus sequence typing revealed that GBS sequence type (ST) 23, ST17, and ST335 caused higher incidences of meningitis. These data show that serotypes III, Ia, and Ib together caused more than 80% of invasive infections in Japanese infants, and that GBS strains are still susceptible to β-lactam antibiotics.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genotypes can be distinguished based on gene sequence differences in EBV nuclear antigens 2, 3A, 3B, and 3C, and the BZLF1 promoter zone (Zp). EBV subtypes and BZLF1 Zp variants were examined in Japanese patients with infectious mononucleosis, chronic active EBV infection, and EBV-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. The results of EBV typing showed that samples of infectious mononucleosis, chronic active EBV infection, and EBV-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis all belonged to EBV type 1. However, sequencing analysis of BZLF1 Zp found three polymorphic Zp variants in the same samples. The Zp-P prototype and the Zp-V3 variant were both detected in infectious mononucleosis and chronic active EBV infection. Furthermore, a novel variant previously identified in Chinese children with infectious mononucleosis, Zp-V1, was also found in 3 of 18 samples of infectious mononucleosis, where it coexisted with the Zp-P prototype. This is the first evidence that the EBV variant distribution in Japanese patients resembles that found in other Asian patients. The expression levels of 29 chronic active EBV infection-associated cellular genes were also compared in the three EBV-related disorders, using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis. Two upregulated genes, RIPK2 and CDH9, were identified as common specific markers for chronic active EBV infection in both in vitro and in vivo studies. RIPK2 activates apoptosis and autophagy, and could be responsible for the pathogenesis of chronic active EBV infection., (Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Although slow/no-reflow is a serious problem complicating primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and is associated with a poor prognosis, its efficacious treatment remains problematic. We compared the acute, in-hospital and long-term (1 year) effects of nitroprusside (NTP) with those of nicorandil (NC) on the slow/no-reflow phenomenon. Forty-nine of 442 consecutive patients with AMI who underwent primary PCI complicated by slow/no-reflow and who received intracoronary NTP (n = 25) or NC (n = 24) administration were studied. Both NTP and NC induced significant improvements in coronary flow, with increases in TIMI flow grade from 1.64 ± 0.62 to 2.74 ± 0.36 (p < 0.001) and 1.60 ± 0.86 to 2.23 ± 0.91 (p < 0.001), and in corrected TIMI frame count from 37.8 ± 15.1 to 13.7 ± 7.1 (p < 0.001) and 30.8 ± 20.7 to 19.3 ± 17.9 (p < 0.001), respectively. The degree of improvement in TIMI flow grade (post-pre/pre) and TIMI frame count (pre-post/pre) showed that NTP was more effective than NC (NTP vs. NC: 0.88 ± 0.79, 0.37 ± 0.37, p = 0.008; 0.59 ± 0.23, 0.36 ± 0.27, p = 0.003, respectively). Congestive heart failure did not tend to last beyond 3 days after onset in the NTP group, which was more than in the NC group, during hospitalization (1/25, 4/24, p = 0.143, respectively). At the 1-year follow-up, the NTP group tended to show more improvement than the NC group in MACE (5/25, 9/24, p = 0.175, respectively). NTP is a more effective treatment for slow/no-reflow associated with PCI in patients with AMI and may improve long-term clinical outcomes compared with NC.

We have developed a Japanese version of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), devised by Blatt et al., for assessing depression-prone personality and examined the questionnaire's reliability (test-retest reliability and internal consistency) and validity. To examine the questionnaire's validity, we evaluated its factorial validity and discriminant power for depression (i.e., construct validity). To test the construct validity of the DEQ with and without depression proneness, the scores on the DEQ subscales were compared between subjects with and without a lifetime history of major depressive disorder (MDD). The Inventory to Diagnose Depression, Lifetime version (IDDL), was used to identify lifetime depression. The reliability tests showed that the Japanese version has reliability almost similar to that of the original version. While the self-criticism has good reliability, the dependency appears to have only modest reliability. In the comparisons between subjects with and without lifetime histories of major depression, the former had significantly higher scores on the self-criticism dimension of the DEQ than did the latter, suggesting that the Japanese version of the DEQ, especially the self-criticism, may have the ability to distinguish individuals with lifetime depression from normal controls. We conclude that the DEQ is an acceptable instrument for assessing the depression-prone personality.