In this study, the axial compression loading tests were conducted with different spacing of tie bars and the synthetic surface shape of UFC panel using UFC・RC composite column members by focusing on ...the synthetic surface shape of UFC panel used as a permanent formwork type for a structural member. Axial compression loading experiments of a composite structure with different spacing of tie bars and the synthetic surface shape of UFC panel were verified by the effects on axial compressive properties and failure modes. As a result, the axial compressive load capacity and failure modes of RC column specimens and UFC・RC composite column specimens differed due to the difference in the spacing of tie bars. In addition, the shear resistance of the synthetic surface and the adhesion with a core-concrete were improved by increasing the concrete area ratio in the synthetic surface shape of UFC panel. Therefore, it became obvious that the composite structure resists axial compressive forces in an integrated manner due to the improved shear resistance and adhesion.
To investigate whether the development of postnatal, late-onset refractory hypotension, referred to as late-onset circulatory collapse, was associated with an increased risk of developing cerebral ...palsy (CP) at 3 years of age in extremely preterm infants.
In this historical cohort study, infants who were born at 22-27 weeks of gestation from 2008 to 2012 in the Neonatal Research Network of Japan were eligible. The study sample consisted of 3474 infants (45.6% of 7613 potentially eligible infants) who were evaluated at 36-42 months of age. Late-onset circulatory collapse was defined as a clinical diagnosis of late-onset circulatory collapse requiring treatment with corticosteroids. We compared the neurodevelopmental outcomes between infants with and without late-onset circulatory collapse.
Late-onset circulatory collapse was diagnosed in 666 of the infants studied. Infants with late-onset circulatory collapse had a higher incidence of CP than those without late-onset circulatory collapse (18.0% vs 9.8%; P < .01). In multivariable logistic analysis, late-onset circulatory collapse was independently associated with CP (aOR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.13-2.04) and developmental quotient score of <50 (OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.23-2.72).
Late-onset circulatory collapse may be a relatively common event occurring in extremely preterm infants and an independent risk factor for CP at 3 years of age.
We demonstrate that the critical thickness for Ge-rich strained SiGe layers can be drastically increased by a factor of more then two by means of growth on mesa-patterned Ge-on-Si. The Si0.2Ge0.8 ...layer grown on sub-millimeter mesa Ge-on-Si is fully strained and free from ridge roughness, while the same Si0.2Ge0.8 layers grown on unpatterned Ge-on-Si and a Ge substrate are partially strain-relaxed with the surface covered by high-density ridge roughness. This demonstrates that the proposed patterning method can provide thick and stable strained SiGe films as promising templates for realization of strained SiGe-based optoelectronic and spintronic devices.
Antihypertensive drugs have been of significant interest to the pharmaceutical industry due to increasing sales opportunities in a global market. The financial relationships between pharmaceutical ...companies and the Japanese Society of Hypertension (JSH) have a possible influence on clinical practices in Japan. This study examined the distribution of pharmaceutical payments made to the authors of the revised Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension (JSH2019) and the transparency of the Conflict of Interest disclosure that each author made.We retrospectively obtained publicly available data regarding payments made by Japanese pharmaceutical companies to all authors of the JSH2019 in 2016. We also collected data on individual financial disclosure of JSH2019 authors to investigate whether their self-reported financial relationship with companies were compliant to the financial disclosure policy of JSH2019.The total and mean payment values reported by pharmaceutical companies were $4,246,436 and $21,447, respectively. Of the 198 authors, 171 (86.4%) authors received at least 1 payment. Of 74 authors required to disclose their conflict of interest (COI) the authors, one-third failed to follow the COI policy covering the clinical guidelines.Major pharmaceutical companies selling antihypertensive drug products in the Japanese market had a significant financial connection with the JSH2019 authors. Financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and authors or Japanese medical societies are raising significant concerns about the credibility of clinical guidelines and the potentially biases and undue influences that they may cause, especially with respect to adverse prescription patterns.
Abstract
Aims
Heart failure (HF) is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). This study sought to demonstrate the incidence of SCD within a multicentre Japanese registry of HF ...patients hospitalized for acute decompensation, and externally validate the Seattle Proportional Risk Model (SPRM).
Methods and results
We consecutively registered 2240 acute HF patients from academic institutions in Tokyo, Japan. The discrimination and calibration of the SPRM were assessed by the c-statistic, Hosmer–Lemeshow statistic, and visual plotting among non-survivors. Patient-level SPRM predictions and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) benefit ICD estimated hazard ratio (HR), derived from the Cox proportional hazards model in the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT) was calculated. During the 2-year follow-up, 356 deaths (15.9%) occurred, which included 76 adjudicated SCDs (3.4%) and 280 non-SCDs (12.5%). The SPRM showed acceptable discrimination c-index = 0.63; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.56–0.70, similar to that of original SPRM-derivation cohort. The calibration plot showed reasonable conformance. Among HF patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF; < 40%), SPRM showed improved discrimination compared with the ICD eligibility criteria (e.g. New York Heart Association functional Class II–III with EF ≤ 35%): c-index = 0.53 (95% CI 0.42–0.63) vs. 0.65 (95% CI 0.55–0.75) for SPRM. Finally, in the subgroup of 246 patients with both EF ≤ 35% and SPRM-predicted risk of ≥ 42.0% (SCD-HeFT defined ICD benefit threshold), mean ICD estimated HR was 0.70 (30% reduction of all-cause mortality by ICD).
Conclusion
The cumulative incidence of SCD was 3.4% in Japanese HF registry. The SPRM performed reasonably well in Japanese patients and may aid in improving SCD prediction.
Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are important in advancing the quality of medical care. Financial relationships between physicians and pharmaceutical companies may influence clinical practice. In ...accordance with the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association guidelines for transparency, pharmaceutical company payments to physicians have been disclosed since 2013. The distribution of pharmaceutical company payments among CPG authors in Japan has not been studied.
To determine the characteristics and distribution of payments made by pharmaceutical companies to authors of oncologic CPGs in Japan and to assess the transparency of policies associated with conflict of interest (COI) disclosures in CPGs.
This retrospective cross-sectional study of 326 authors from 6 prominent oncologic CPGs from Japan included annual payment data for 2016 from 78 pharmaceutical companies during varying times from January 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017.
Amount and proportion of payments made by pharmaceutical companies to the authors; amount and proportion of payments made to the authors of each guideline; and information on policies for disclosing COIs in CPGs (Japanese yen were converted to US dollars based on the February 20, 2019 exchange rate of 110 yen per 1 US dollar).
Of 326 eligible authors, 255 (78.2%) received payments from pharmaceutical companies in 2016. The total number of payments was 3947, and the total amount was $3 444 193 (¥378 861 220), including $2 696 777 for speaking, $181 944 for writing, $554 381 for consulting, and $11 091 for unclear fees. The median payment amount was $3233 (interquartile range IQR, $506-$10 873), and the mean (SD) payment amount was $10 565 ($20 059); 84 authors (25.8%) received more than $10 000. The largest proportions of CPG authors receiving at least 1 payment were those for gastric carcinoma (92%) and colorectal carcinoma (92%). The median payment was highest for authors of colorectal carcinoma guidelines ($7781; IQR, $2506-$18 633), whereas it was lowest for authors of pancreatic carcinoma guidelines ($2207; IQR, $304-$9240). Only breast carcinoma CPGs published the authors' individual COI disclosure in an identifiable matter; guidelines for lung, colorectal, pancreatic, and hepatocellular carcinomas disclosed the financial relationships between the authors and companies anonymously; and the gastric carcinoma CPGs did not have a COI disclosure section.
Most oncologic CPG authors received payments from pharmaceutical companies, and COI disclosure methods appeared to be insufficient. Given the possibility of bias in guideline content if authors have any financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, CPGs from Japan may require improved transparency.
In this paper we are concerned with Sobolev embeddings for Riesz potentials of functions in Musielak-Orlicz-Morrey spaces over non-doubling measure spaces. We deal with the boundedness of the ...generalized maximal operators, Sobolev's inequality, Trudinger's inequality and continuity for Riesz potentials of variable order. We prove the results in full generality: our function spaces will cover Morrey spaces, variable Lebesgue spaces as well as Lebesgue spaces with a Radon measure μ. Also, we can readily handle function spaces on metric measure spaces. Our results will cover the ones in our earlier paper Sawano Y, Shimomura T. Sobolev embeddings for Riesz potentials of functions in non-doubling Morrey spaces of variable exponents. Collect. Math. 2013;64:313-350. We shall show that the Trudinger exponential integrability is available in our generalized setting, whose counterpart on Lebesgue spaces was not considered in Mizuta et al. Maximal functions, Riesz potentials and Sobolev embeddings on Musielak-Orlicz-Morrey spaces of variable exponent in R
n
. Rev. Mat. Complut. 2012;25:413-434.
Financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and physicians can bias the conduct, findings, and reporting of clinical trials. In Japan, the valsartan scandal was a significant event: all ...5 key articles on the valsartan clinical trials were retracted after the revelation of data falsification. Consequently, the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association issued transparency guidelines, and pharmaceutical payments have been publicly disclosed since 2013. However, the distribution of payments from pharmaceutical companies among authors involved in the valsartan scandal after its revelation has not been studied to date.
To identify the characteristics and distribution of payments from pharmaceutical companies to researchers involved in the valsartan scandal in Japan by using a comprehensive payment database.
This retrospective cross-sectional study, conducted from January 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017, used information on payments from 78 pharmaceutical companies to 50 authors of 5 articles retracted after the valsartan scandal: the Kyoto Heart Study, Jikei Heart Study, SMART (Shiga Microalbuminuria Reduction Trial), VART (Valsartan Amlodipine Randomized Trial), and Nagoya Heart Study. Payments from companies to physicians were analyzed during the period from January 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017.
The main outcomes were the amount and proportion of payments made by pharmaceutical companies to authors, and the forms of these payments.
Of 50 eligible authors, 30 (60%) received payments from pharmaceutical companies in 2016. The payments in the Japanese yen totaled ¥67.15 million (US $590 896) and the mean (SD) payment was more than ¥1.34 million (¥3.01 million) (US $11 817 $27 292). Five authors (10%) received more than ¥5 million (US $44 000) and 3 authors (6%) received more than ¥10 million (US $88 000). The total payments to the corresponding author of each article was ¥29 million (US $255 307), accounting for 43.2% of the total payments. Regarding forms of the payments, lecture fees accounted for 81.3% of the total payment (¥54.56 million).
Many authors involved in the valsartan scandal received payments from the pharmaceutical industry. Although whether such payments to these authors have decreased since the scandal is unclear, the findings appear to demonstrate that their financial relationships with the industry are still prominent. The findings of the study appear to support the need to encourage more transparency in such relationships because misconduct can occur within unclear relationships.
We shall deal with the boundedness and weak-type boundedness for the generalized fractional integral operators on generalized Orlicz-Morrey spaces
of the second kind over non-doubling metric measure ...spaces in this paper. We also discuss a necessary condition for the boundedness of the generalized fractional integral operators.
Skeletal muscle atrophy occurs rapidly as a result of inactivity. Although there are many reports on changes in gene expression during the early phase of muscle atrophy, the patterns of up-and ...downregulated gene expression after long-term and equilibrated muscle atrophy are poorly understood. In this study, we comprehensively examined the changes in gene expression in long-term denervated mouse muscles using RNA-Seq. The murine right sciatic nerve was denervated, and the mice were housed for five weeks. The cross-sectional areas of the hind limb muscles were measured using an X-ray CT system 35 days after denervation. After 28 d of denervation, the cross-sectional area of the muscle decreased to approximately 65% of that of the intact left muscle and reached a plateau. Gene expression in the soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles on the 36th day was analyzed using RNA-Seq and validated using RT-qPCR. RNA-Seq analysis revealed that three genes-
, and
-were upregulated and one gene-
-was downregulated in the soleus muscle; additionally, four genes-
,
,
, and
-were upregulated and one gene-
-was downregulated in the EDL muscle (FDR < 0.05). Among these genes,
, one of the long non-coding RNAs, was significantly upregulated in both the muscles. These findings indicate that
could be a candidate gene for the maintenance of atrophied skeletal muscle size and an atrophic state.
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