OBJECTIVE The generic STarT Back 5-item screening tool (STarT-G) is used to manage chronic pain in the lower back and elsewhere. This study evaluated the validity of the Japanese version of this generic screening tool. MATERIALS AND METHODS Japanese participants between the ages of 20 and 64 years completed online surveys regarding pain. Survey reliability was assessed with internal consisten...

A growing body of research suggests that impaired bladder Cajal-like interstitial cells (ICCs) are a important component in the pathogenesis of diabetes-induced bladder dysfunction, although the molecular mechanisms have not been illustrated completely. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels in ICCs-DM were respons...

This paper introduces the concept of using an existing low-volume road design method to lower granular layers within a mechanistic-empirical ensure adequate construction platform. The DCP-DN was chosen because it has advantages over other cover-based empirical methods in this context, including utilizing full-depth measurement and requiring balanced layer profile. To implement use field Dynamic...

OBJECTIVE The Diabetes Care Protocol (DCP), a multifaceted computerized decision support diabetes management intervention, reduces cardiovascular risk of type 2 diabetic patients. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis of DCP from a Dutch health care perspective. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A cluster randomized trial provided data of DCP versus usual care. The 1-year follow-up patient dat...

BACKGROUND The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continues to increase in Japan, but the clinical characteristics of Japanese patients with HCC have not been well described. The aim of this study was to determine the frequencies and utilities of elevated a-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) levels as biomarkers in cryptogenic HCC. MATERIAL/METHODS A total of 2...

The poor mobility of organic pollutants in contaminated sites frequently results in slow remediation processes. Organics, especially hydrophobic compounds, are generally retained strongly in soil matrix as a result of sorption, sequestration, or even formation into non-aqueous-phase liquids and their mobility is thus greatly reduced. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility o...

BACKGROUND Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is an effective treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that would occasionally lead to energy malnutrition through therapeutic hypoxic stress. We aimed to clarify the correlation between the energy malnutrition after TACE and low tolerability for hypoxia of non-tumoral liver before TACE. FINDINGS We performed a prospective cohor...

Chlorinated pollutants are hardly biodegradable under oxic conditions, but they can often be metabolized by anaerobic bacteria through organohalide respiration reactions. In an attempt to identify bottlenecks limiting aerobic catabolism of 1,3-dichloroprop-1-ene (1,3-DCP; a widely used organohalide) in Pseudomonas pavonaceae, the possible physiological restrictions for this process were surveye...

Banana pith was used as precursor material to prepare carbon with and without porogens. Characterization of the carbons showed higher BET surface area (1285 m2/g) for ZnCl2-treated carbon, comparatively. Adsorption experiments were conducted to study the removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) from aqueous solutions using the carbons under varying experimental conditions. Decrease in pH increased t...

Increasing evidence reveals that a subset of proteins participates in both the autophagy and apoptosis pathways, and this intersection is important in normal physiological contexts and in pathological settings. In this paper, we show that the Drosophila effector caspase, Drosophila caspase 1 (Dcp-1), localizes within mitochondria and regulates mitochondrial morphology and autophagic flux. Loss ...