Exploring the use of telepractice Dohsa-hou to adults with intellectual disabilities.

This study presents the application of an authentic Japanese bodywork approach Dohsa-hou to adults with intellectual disabilities who live in a care facility. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, such people remained disconnected from their families and friends, for which reason many of them experience anxiety, stress and inability to enjoy leisure activities. Given the lockdown circumstances, we decided to use for the first time in the field telepractice to provide Dohsa-hou. The results showed that participants experienced a gradual positive mood change and also expressed a desire to continue the sessions. Considering this, although further research is still needed, we assume that telepractice Dohsa-hou might be a viable substitute for the face-to-face sessions.

Investigation of the Neuropathic Pain Caused by Syringomyelia Associated with Chiari I Malformation.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Purpose: To investigate the correlation between the syrinx morphology and neuropathic pain caused by syringomyelia associated with Chiari I malformation. Overview of Literature: Neuropathic pain caused by syringomyelia is refractory and markedly impairs the patient. Methods: We examined 24 patients with neuropathic pain caused by syringomyelia associated with Chiari I malformation. We statistically analyzed the illness duration and age at surgery between patients with and without neuropathic pain. Additionally, we classified the morphology of the syringes into deviated (D), enlarged (E), central (C), and bulkhead (B) types using T2-weighted axial imaging. Moreover, we investigated the correlation between syrinx morphology and neuropathic pain. A Mann-Whitney U-test was performed to compare between the presence or absence of neuropathic pain and the presence or absence of type D syringes. Results: The median age at surgery was 27.5 years, and the median illness duration was 24 months. Among the 24 patients, 11 had preoperative neuropathic pain, one of which was free of neuropathic pain during the final follow-up period. Among patients with neuropathic pain, the syringes' preoperative morphology was type D in nine patients and types E and C in one patient each. No patient exhibited type B morphology. Among patients without neuropathic pain, the preoperative morphology of the syringes was type D in three patients, type E in seven patients, and types C and B in two patients each. For types D and E, a correlation between neuropathic pain and syrinx morphology was observed. Moreover, type D was associated with significant neuropathic pain in both preoperative and postoperative states. Conclusions: This study showed a correlation between the morphological features of the syringes and the occurrence of neuropathic pain in patients with syringomyelia associated with Chiari I malformation.

Characterization of sericin powder prepared from citric acid-degraded sericin polypeptides of the silkworm, Bombyx Mori.

Acid-degraded sericin powder (AC-SP) was prepared from aqueous solution containing citric acid-degraded sericin polypeptides of Bombyx mori. The morphological and biochemical properties of AC-SP were compared with those of alkali-degraded sericin powder (AL-SP) and hot-water degraded sericin powder (HW-SP). Based on an SEM analysis, AC-SP showed a thin film structure of 10-100 microm with good dispersity while AL-SP and HW-SP had a much larger thin film structure (<500 microm). The extract of AC-SP showed stronger trypsin inhibitor activity due to cocoon shell trypsin inhibitor (CSTI-IV) than that of HW-SP. The extract of AL-SP showed no CSTI-IV activity. It was found that AC-SP was a trypsin inhibitor complex powder and that the release of CSTI-IV from AC-SP depended on pH and ion strength. Similar powder materials were obtained when such organic acids as tartaric acid and succinic acid were used. These results suggest that the acid-degraded sericin polypeptides work as a protein matrix to which CSTI-IV may bind ionically.

Purification and identification of flavonoids from the yellow green cocoon shell (Sasamayu) of the silkworm, Bombyx mori.

Three quercetin glycosides, quercetin 5-O-beta-D-glucoside, quercetin 7-O-beta-D-glucoside, and quercetin 4'-O-beta-D-glucoside, and two kaempferol glycosides, kaempferol 5-O-beta-D-glucoside and kaempferol 7-O-beta-D-glucoside, along with their aglycones, quercetin and kaempferol, were isolated from an ethanolic extract of Sasamayu cocoon shells. The chemical structures were characterized by chemical and spectroscopic methods including UV spectrometry and HPLC-ESI-MS. The five flavonol glycosides of the shell are different structurally from those of the leaves of mulberry (Morus alba). It was suggested that potent antioxidative activity in the cocoon is mainly due to flavonoid compounds since free radical scavenging activity was found in the cocoon flavonoids identified here.