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Purpose: Persistent vegetative state is a form of wakefulness without awareness. This report describes a dental appliance for the treatment of sleep breathing disorders in this condition. The device can be easily inserted and removed by the patient's family or nurse. Materials and Methods: A 19-year-old woman had been in a persistent vegetative state since having hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy because of cardiopulmonary arrest. Although she exhibited a sleep-wake cycle and normal respiration, she had sleep apnea and snoring, and produced snoring-like sounds even in an awake state. A three-piece device with Herbst attachments was fabricated to treat the symptoms. Overnight sleep studies were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the appliance. Results: The device could be handled by the patient's family. Snoring was satisfactorily reduced after insertion of the device. Sleep apnea, desaturation, and minimal oxygen saturation were markedly improved. Conclusion: If the family of a persistent vegetative state patient wishes to treat sleep-disordered breathing, the appliance may be helpful as an alternative to relieve the symptoms. The device could be applied for sleep apnea patients who experience difficulties using other types of oral appliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the existence of the relative age effect, a biased distribution of birth dates, in Japanese professional baseball players born from 1911 to 1980. Japan applies a unique annual-age grouping for sport and education, which is from April 1 to March 31 of the following year. Thus, athletes were divided into four groups based on their month of birth; quarters Q1 (April-June), Q2 (July-September), Q3 (October-December), and Q4 (January-March of the following year). There were statistically biased distributions of birth dates among players born in the 1940s and subsequent decades (medium effects), and similar (but small) relative age effects were observed among players born in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s. The magnitude of the relative age effect changed with time, and socio-cultural factors such as international competition and media coverage may have contributed greatly to this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the existence of the relative age effect, a biased distribution of birth dates, in Japanese professional baseball players born from 1911 to 1980. Japan applies a unique annual-age grouping for sport and education, which is from April 1 to March 31 of the following year. Thus, athletes were divided into four groups based on their month of birth; quarters Q1 (April-June), Q2 (July-September), Q3 (October-December), and Q4 (January-March of the following year). There were statistically biased distributions of birth dates among players born in the 1940s and subsequent decades (medium effects), and similar (but small) relative age effects were observed among players born in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s. The magnitude of the relative age effect changed with time, and socio-cultural factors such as international competition and media coverage may have contributed greatly to this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]