Transient improvement of urticaria induces poor adherence as assessed by Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8.

Poor adherence to medication is a major public health challenge. Here, we aimed to determine the adherence to oral and topical medications and to analyze underlying associated factors using the translated Japanese version of Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 regarding urticaria treatment. Web-based questionnaires were performed for 3096 registered dermatological patients, along with a subanalysis of 751 registered urticaria patients in this study. The adherence to oral medication was significantly associated with the frequency of hospital visits. Variables that affected the adherence to topical medication included age and experience of drug effectiveness. The rate of responses that "It felt like the symptoms had improved" varied significantly among the dermatological diseases treated with oral medications. Dermatologists should be aware that adherence to the treatment of urticaria is quite low. Regular visits and active education for patients with urticaria are mandatory in order to achieve a good therapeutic outcome by increasing the adherence

対流圏エアロゾルのキャラクタリゼーション

<p>MMS sensitivity of <i>dnaN</i> strains bearing mutations in <b>(A)</b> loop I (red), <b>(B)</b> loop II (blue) or <b>(C)</b> the central pore of the β clamp (green) was measured as described in <i>Materials and Methods</i>. This experiment was performed 4 times with 2 separate clones. Representative results shown.</p

Current status of atopic dermatitis in Japan

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common, chronic or chronically relapsing, severely pruritic, eczematous skin disease. AD is the second most frequently observed skin disease in dermatology clinics in Japan. Prevalence of childhood AD is 12-13% in mainland Japan; however, it is only half that (about 6%) in children from Ishigaki Island, Okinawa. Topical steroids and tacrolimus are the mainstay of treatment. However, the adverse effects and emotional fear of long-term use of topical steroids have induced a "topical steroid phobia" in patients throughout the world. Undertreatment can exacerbate facial/periocular lesions and lead to the development of atopic cataract and retinal detachment due to repeated scratching/rubbing/patting. Overcoming topical steroid phobia is a key issue for the successful treatment of AD through education, understanding and cooperation of patients and their guardians

Formulation and evaluation of ocean dynamics problems as optimization problems for quantum annealing machines

Recent advancements in quantum computing suggest the potential to revolutionize computational algorithms across various scientific domains including oceanography and atmospheric science. The field is still relatively young and quantum computation is so different from classical computation that suitable frameworks to represent oceanic and atmospheric dynamics are yet to be explored. Quantum annealing, one of the major paradigms, focuses on combinatorial optimization tasks. In this paper, we solve the classical Stommel problem by quantum annealing (QA) and simulated annealing (SA), a classical counterpart of quantum annealing. We cast the linear partial differential equation into an optimization problem by the least-squares method and discretize the cost function in two ways: finite difference and truncated basis expansion. In either case, SA successfully reproduces the expected solution when appropriate parameters are chosen, demonstrating that annealing has the potential. In contrast, QA using the D-Wave quantum annealing machine fails to obtain good solutions for some cases owing to hardware limitations; in particular, the highly limited connectivity graph of the machine limits the size of the solvable problems, at least under currently available algorithms. Either expanding the connectivity graph or improving the graph embedding algorithms would probably be necessary for quantum annealing machines to be usable for oceanic and atmospheric dynamics problems. While this finding emphasizes the need for hardware improvements and enhancements in graph embedding algorithms for practical applications of quantum annealers, the results from simulated annealing suggest its potential to address practical geophysical dynamics problems. As quantum calculation continues to evolve, addressing these challenges may lead to transformative advancements in ocean and atmosphere modeling

Topical tacrolimus as treatment of atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common, chronic, relapsing, severely pruritic, eczematous skin disease. The mainstays of treatment for AD are topical tacrolimus and topical steroids. Tacrolimus, a calcineurin inhibitor, not only complements existing treatment options but also overcomes some of the drawbacks of topical steroid therapy when given topically and thus meets the long-term needs of patients in preventing disease progression. Topical tacrolimus has been widely recognized in terms of its short- and long-term efficacies and safety, and it is also accepted as a first-line treatment for inflammation in AD. The recent proactive use of topical tacrolimus may emphasize a long-term benefit of this calcineurin inhibitor for AD treatment. To reduce possible long-term adverse effects, it is important to monitor its topical doses in daily clinics

A Variant of the XL Algorithm Using the Arithmetic over Polynomial Matrices (Computer Algebra : Foundations and Applications)

The title of this paper has been changed from the title of talk “Polynomial XL: A Variant of the XL Algorithm Using Macaulay Matrices over Polynomial Rings” at “Computer Algebra -Foundations and Applications”.Solving a system of multivariate polynomials is a classical but very important problem in many areas of mathematics and its applications, and in particular quadratic systems over finite fields play a major role in the multivariate public key cryptography. The XL algorithm is known to be one of the main approaches for solving a multivariate system, as well as Groebner basis approaches, and so far many variants of XL have been proposed. In this talk, we present a new variant of XL, which we name “Polynomial XL”, by using Macaulay matrices over polynomial rings

Role of the Arylhydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) in the Pathology of Asthma and COPD

The dioxins and dioxin-like compounds in cigarette smoke and environmental pollutants modulate immunological responses. These environmental toxicants are known to cause lung cancer but have also recently been implicated in allergic and inflammatory diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In a novel pathway of this response, the activation of a nuclear receptor, arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR), mediates the effects of these toxins through the arachidonic acid cascade, cell differentiation, cell-cell adhesion interactions, cytokine expression, and mucin production that are implicated in the pathogenesis and exacerbation of asthma/COPD. We have previously reported that human bronchial epithelial cells express AhR, and AhR activation induces mucin production through reactive oxygen species. This review discusses the role of AhR in asthma and COPD, focusing in particular on inflammatory and resident cells in the lung. We describe the important impact that AhR activation may have on the inflammation phase in the pathology of asthma and COPD. In addition, crosstalk of AhR signaling with other ligand-activated transcription factors such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) has been well documented

Toward Regional Characterizations of the Oceanic Internal Wavefield

Many major oceanographic internal wave observational programs of the last 4 decades are reanalyzed in order to characterize variability of the deep ocean internal wavefield. The observations are discussed in the context of the universal spectral model proposed by Garrett and Munk. The Garrett and Munk model is a good description of wintertime conditions at Site-D on the continental rise north of the Gulf Stream. Elsewhere and at other times, significant deviations in terms of amplitude, separability of the 2-D vertical wavenumber - frequency spectrum, and departure from the model's functional form are noted. Subtle geographic patterns are apparent in deviations from the high frequency and high vertical wavenumber power laws of the Garrett and Munk spectrum. Moreover, such deviations tend to co-vary: whiter frequency spectra are partnered with redder vertical wavenumber spectra. Attempts are made to interpret the variability in terms of the interplay between generation, propagation and nonlinearity using a statistical radiative balance equation. This process frames major questions for future research with the insight that such integrative studies could constrain both observationally and theoretically based interpretations