Background: Patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) have impaired exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, the factors that influence the reduction in exercise capacity are unclear. We investigated the associations between exercise capacity and clinical variables and predictors of exercise capacity.

Methods: In total, 150 patients with NTM-PD participated in the study. We assessed incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT), peripheral muscle strength, body mass index (BMI), disease duration, pulmonary function, dyspnea and HRQOL.

Results: The mean ISWT distance (ISWD) was 443 m. A univariate analysis showed a significant correlation between ISWD and BMI, pulmonary function, handgrip force, age, disease duration, dyspnea, and HRQOL. A multiple regression analysis showed that ISWD was significantly associated with age, pulmonary function, handgrip force, and dyspnea.

Conclusions: The present study is the first to identify the relationship between ISWD and clinical variables and predictors of ISWD in patients with NTM-PD.

Localization of 63 ‍kDa subunit of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT2), a key enzyme in the first step of sphingolipid biosynthesis, was investigated by immunohistochemistry of postmortem human brain tissues of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and healthy controls. SPT2 was localized in cell bodies, apical dendrites, and nuclei of neurons in the control group. Whereas, SPT2 was strongly immunolabeled in neuropil threads, dystrophic neurites in senile plaques, and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (iNFTs) in AD brains of surviving neurons. Double immunofluorescence staining showed dual labeling of iNFTs for SPT2 and tau. Similar results were obtained in reactive astrocytes for a combination of SPT2 and glial fibrillary acidic protein. SPT2 labeling was also dense in axons stained for highly phosphorylated neurofilament protein. These suggest a role for SPT2 in the disease-specific pathology, including the formation of iNFTs, in AD.

In recent years, soft robot gloves have been introduced as self-help devices for reinforcing grip strength in daily life, such as for stroke patients, and may be effective in sports such as golf. The biomechanics of golf swings have been researched previously. Support for golfers with disabilities remains poorly documented with existing studies focusing on athletes. This study presents kinematic data for the use of a soft robot glove on one hand in a golf swing performed with a seven-iron assuming recreational golf for a disabled person with post-stroke left hemiplegia. Two healthy right-handed men with no golf experience volunteered for participation, and a Vicon motion capture system with two force plates, one for each foot, recorded kinematic data. The launch marker recorded the club head speed, while the horizontal foot distance and vertical floor reaction forces were extracted at the impact phase. Swings with a soft robotic glove on the left hand showed a significantly increased head speed and floor reaction force of the pivot foot at the impact phase. Wearing a soft robotic glove also reduced hand muscle fatigue (Borg CR-10 scale 4 to 2 or 3) while maintaining good swings. In addition, measurements using a simulator showed that swinging with a soft robotic glove on the left hand significantly improved head speed and estimated distance in left hemiplegic patients after stroke (male, right-handed, Brunnstrom stage upper limb V, finger IV). In conclusion, the soft robotic glove can be an effective grip-assisted device for hemiplegic golfers and should be investigated in future case series studies.

The present Japanese anatomical names of human body parts have been deeply influenced by the Kampo (traditional Chinese and Korean) Medicine. When this Kampo medicine was introduced to Japan, the classical Chinese terminology of human body based on the Kampo Medical Philosophy was also imported. Although Norinaga Motoori, the great Japanese historian in the Edo period, wrote in his commentary book of the Kojiki, namely Kojiki-den, that “Most Japanese people of the ancient time must call all the internal organs as one same word of ‘Kimo’, we can actually find the distinctive original Japanese names of each major organs, such as liver, kidney, spleen etc. in the classical dictionary compiled in Heian-period. In this study, the author collects the original Japanese name (Yamato Kotoba) of each internal organ in the Japanese classical documents, especially the ancient dictionaries complied in the Heian and Kamakura periods. These collected words of the internal organs were classified according to the several anatomical organ systems mostly used by the present anatomical textbooks, and also added some comments from the anatomical and linguistic viewpoint. This study would contribute to the understanding of the ancient Japanese language and the concept of the ancient Japanese people to the human body.