| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Namkoong, H, et al.
(author)
-
DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19
- 2022
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 609:7928, s. 754-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge1–5. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2,393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3,289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Wang, QBS, et al.
(author)
-
The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force
- 2022
-
In: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 13:1, s. 4830-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection.
|
|
| 5. |
- Niemi, MEK, et al.
(author)
-
- 2021
-
swepub:Mat__t
|
|
| 6. |
- Kanai, M, et al.
(author)
-
- 2023
-
swepub:Mat__t
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
- Kou, I, et al.
(author)
-
A multi-ethnic meta-analysis confirms the association of rs6570507 with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
- 2018
-
In: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 8:1, s. 11575-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common type of spinal deformity and has a significant genetic background. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) identified several susceptibility loci associated with AIS. Among them is a locus on chromosome 6q24.1 that we identified by a GWAS in a Japanese cohort. The locus is represented by rs6570507 located within GPR126. To ensure the association of rs6570507 with AIS, we conducted a meta-analysis using eight cohorts from East Asia, Northern Europe and USA. The analysis included a total of 6,873 cases and 38,916 controls and yielded significant association (combined P = 2.95 × 10−20; odds ratio = 1.22), providing convincing evidence of the worldwide association between rs6570507 and AIS susceptibility. In silico analyses strongly suggested that GPR126 is a susceptibility gene at this locus.
|
|
| 11. |
|
|
| 12. |
- Ogura, Y, et al.
(author)
-
An international meta-analysis confirms the association of BNC2 with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
- 2018
-
In: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 8:1, s. 4730-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a common spinal deformity with the prevalence of approximately 3%. We previously conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using a Japanese cohort and identified a novel locus on chromosome 9p22.2. However, a replication study using multi-population cohorts has not been conducted. To confirm the association of 9p22.2 locus with AIS in multi-ethnic populations, we conducted international meta-analysis using eight cohorts. In total, we analyzed 8,756 cases and 27,822 controls. The analysis showed a convincing evidence of association between rs3904778 and AIS. Seven out of eight cohorts had significant P value, and remaining one cohort also had the same trend as the seven. The combined P was 3.28 × 10−18 (odds ratio = 1.19, 95% confidence interval = 1.14–1.24). In silico analyses suggested that BNC2 is the AIS susceptibility gene in this locus.
|
|
| 13. |
- Pirozhkov, A. S., et al.
(author)
-
Diagnostic of laser contrast using target reflectivity
- 2009
-
In: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 94:24
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using three different laser systems, we demonstrate a convenient and simple plasma based diagnostic of the contrast of high-power short-pulse lasers. The technique is based on measuring the specular reflectivity from a solid target. The reflectivity remains high even at relativistic intensities above 10(19) W/cm(2) in the case of a high-contrast prepulse-free laser. On the contrary, the specular reflectivity drops with increasing intensities in the case of systems with insufficient contrast due to beam breakup and increased absorption caused by preplasma.
|
|
| 14. |
- Koga, H., et al.
(author)
-
Development of an Oral Rehabilitation Robot
- 2008
-
In: Gerontechnology. - Eindhoven. - 1569-111X. ; 7:2, s. 142-142
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is well known that the massage therapy is useful for the rehabilitation of various diseases. Althoughvarious apparatus have been developed for the massage of the torso and limbs, a machineto perform precise massage therapy to maxillofacial region is not developed yet.Therefore, we developed a robot system that provides massage therapy to the maxillofacialregion. The name of our newly developed robot was WAO-1. WAO-1 has been designedto perform appropriate massage to the patients with dry mouth. System descriptionThe mechanism of WAO-1 consists of two main parts: robot arms and the plungerdevice. The robot arms consist of two 6-DOF (degrees of freedom) manipulators used tocontrol the movement of the plunger device attached to the end-effector of each manipulator(Figure 1). The plunger device is the only part of the robot having direct contact withthe patient face. In order to control the motion of the plungers attached at each arm ofWAO-1, a position control system is implemented. The control system of WAO-1 is composedby a Massage Pattern Generator and Virtual Compliance Control1. Method Anevaluation experiment of WAO-1 is performed. In this experiment, WAO-1 provides themassage to 6 healthy volunteers (without any maxillofacial disorders). Each subject isprovided the massage to its parotid gland for 2 minutes. In order to confirm the effectivenessof the massage provide by WAO-1, the production of saliva was considered as aperformance index. This index is measured by using the Saxon test2; which is a standardmethod to confirm the effectiveness of the massage therapy. Results and discussionThe average production of saliva was increased by 0.63 g after providing the massage. Byanalyzing the collected data with a t-test, we found a significant difference (p < 0.05). Thusthe effectiveness of the massage to the parotid gland by WAO-1 is confirmed. On theother hand, when the doctor gives the massage to the parotid gland of the people, productionof saliva increases 1.4 g (average of 6 people). Therefore, the effect of WAO-1’s massageis less than that of doctor’s massage. We developed a robot system (WAO-1) whichcan massage the face. We think clinical trial is necessary to collect the data to certify theeffectiveness of robotic massage. The goal of this study is to establish robot massagetherapy as physiotherapy.
|
|
| 15. |
- Koga, H., et al.
(author)
-
Development of an Oral Rehabilitation Robot for Massage Therapy
- 2007
-
In: Information Technology Applications in Biomedicine, 2007. ITAB 2007. 6th International Special Topic Conference on. - : IEEE. - 9781424418671 - 9781424418688 ; , s. 111-114
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is well known that the massage therapy is useful for the rehabilitation of various diseases. Although various apparatus have been developed for the massage of the torso and limbs, a machine to perform precise massage therapy to maxillofacial region is not developed yet. Therefore, we developed a robot system that provides massage therapy to maxillofacial region. The name of our newly developed robot was WAO-1. WAO-1 has been designed to perform appropriate massage to the patients with dry mouth, etc. WAO-1 is composed by two 6-degree of freedom arms with plungers attached at the end-effectors. The massage is applied to the patient by controlling the force and position of the plunger (virtual compliance). As a preliminary step of the clinical application, a simulation therapy of robotic massage to stimulate salivary flow from parotid gland was performed. The dynamic force on patient's head during the massage using WAO-1 was evaluated. The results suggested that WAO-1 could perform equivalent massage to human hand. We expect that WAO-1 will be useful to provide massage therapy to several patients with oral health problems. This will aim in reducing the therapy costs due to the need of human efforts when long-time therapies are needed
|
|
| 16. |
|
|
| 17. |
|
|
| 18. |
- Noh, Y., et al.
(author)
-
Development of an Airway Management Training System that Embeds an Array of Sensors on a Conventional Mannequin
- 2007
-
In: Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2007. IROS 2007. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on. - 9781424409129 - 9781424409129 ; , s. 1296-1301
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Airway management is provided by emergency medical technicians or anesthetists in order to save unconscious patients who are unable to breathe. Even though it is a basic technique, many accidents may occur when the procedure is not provided followed. In order to avoid any risks to patients, emergency medical technicians are required to practice airway management using training devices such as mannequins; which are designed to accurately reproduce the human anatomy. However, such training devices do not provide any quantitative information about the learning progress of trainees (passive training). For that purpose, we have proposed the development of a airway management training system which is designed to embed array of sensors so that quantitative information of trainees' performance can be acquired. In this paper, we are presenting the Waseda-KyotoKagaku airway No. 1 (WKA-1). The WKA-1 consists of three different kinds of array of sensors which are embedded into a conventional mannequin. In order to embed the array of sensors, we have simplified the design of some of the simulated organs (upper airway, oral cavity, tongue and teeth) of the mannequin. A set of evaluation parameters were proposed based on the information collected through the sensors. A set of experiments were proposed to experimentally verify the effectiveness of the proposed evaluation parameters to quantitatively detect differences among different levels of skills (anesthetists and unskilled persons).
|
|
| 19. |
|
|
| 20. |
|
|
| 21. |
|
|
| 22. |
|
|
| 23. |
|
|
| 24. |
|
|
| 25. |
|
|
