A Joining Process between Beryllium and Reduced-Activation Ferritic-Martensitic Steel by Plasma Sintering

To investigate the growth kinetics of the reaction layer and mechanical strength of joined materials, we joined beryllium and reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic steel (F82H) by plasma sintering under various conditions and characterized the joined region. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the thickness of the reaction layer increased with an increase in the joining time and temperature. Line analyses and elemental mapping using an electron microprobe analyser showed that the reaction layer consists of Be-Fe intermetallic compounds, including Be₁₂Fe, Be₅Fe, and Be₂Fe, with small amounts of chromium and tungsten. Owing to the time and temperature dependence of the reaction-layer thickness, the layer growth of Be-Fe intermetallic compounds obeys the parabolic law, and the activation energy for the reaction-layer growth was 116.2 kJ/mol. The bonding strengths of the joined materials varied inversely with the thickness of the reaction layer.

Influence of Antipsychotics on Functional Prognosis after Geriatric Hip Fracture

OBJECTIVE

To investigated the effects of antipsychotics on rehabilitation outcomes for geriatric hip fracture inpatients.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

The registry data from the Japan Rehabilitation Nutrition Database for analysis.

PARTICIPANTS

Of the 234 patients in the Japan Rehabilitation Nutrition Database admitted between November 2015 and March 2018, 214 met the eligibility criteria.

MEASUREMENTS

The antipsychotics were phenothiazine, butyrophenone, benzamide, and atypical antipsychotics. For hip fracture patients, the following information was registered: (a) admission data: age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index, Functional Independence Measure (FIM) at admission, medications, height, body weight, and Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form score (MNA-SF) and (b) discharge data: discharge destination, FIM at discharge, MNA-SF, and total units of provided rehabilitation therapy (one unit = 20 minutes based on the national healthcare insurance policy).

RESULTS

Thirteen patients (6.1%) were prescribed antipsychotics. According to the multiple linear regression analysis, antipsychotics negatively affected FIM efficiency (β=-0.190, 95% confidence interval, -0.652 to -0.104, p=0.007). Furthermore, on logistic regression analysis, fall during hospitalization was correlated with the use of antipsychotics (odds ratio=4.376, 95% confidence interval: 1.153 to 16.612, p=0.030).

CONCLUSION

The use of antipsychotics impaired the improvement of the activities of daily living (ADL) and increased the incidence of fall during hospitalization. Reviewing medication therapies at admission may further improve ADL.

Impact of Number of Drug Types on Clinical Outcome in Patients with Acute Hip Fracture

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to investigate the impact of the number of drug types on clinical outcomes for patients with acute hip fracture.

DESIGNS

This is a retrospective cross-sectional study.

SETTING

A hospital-based database constructed by the Japan Medical Data Center.

PARTICIPANTS

Consecutive patients exhibiting acute hip fractures on admission between April 2014 and November 2017 were included.

MEASUREMENTS

Relationships among the numbers of varying drug types of ≥6 and ≤5 as well as clinical outcomes were analyzed in 11,073 patients aged ≥65 years. The primary outcome was defined as the Barthel Index efficiency, with the secondary outcome being the length of hospital stay.

RESULTS

Median Barthel Index scores at admission and discharge were 5 (interquartile range: 5-20) and 50 (interquartile range: 20-85). The Barthel Index efficiency was significantly higher in the group having received 5 or fewer drug variations taken (1.45 ± 1.77) than in the group receiving 6 or more drug types taken (0.94 ± 1.18) during hospital stays (p < 0.001). The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the group receiving 5 or fewer drug types taken (29.9 ± 23.8) than in the group having 6 or more drug types taken (44.3 ± 30.3) during hospital stays (p < 0.001), with the latter number being independently associated with the Barthel Index efficiency and length of hospital stay.

CONCLUSIONS

Number of drug types of 6 or more were associated with lower Barthel Index efficiency and longer lengths of hospital stays.

Long-term grooming partnerships between unrelated adult females in a free-ranging group of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata)

In order to examine the presence of long-term grooming relationships among unrelated females, grooming interactions of 18 adult females (range: 16-32 years) in a free-ranging group of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) were recorded in 2003 and compared with those recorded 10 years earlier, i.e., in 1993. In 2003, on average, each female who had survived the 10 years had grooming interactions with 2.2 surviving old partners with whom she was recorded to have grooming interactions in 1993, 3.5 females related to the surviving old partners, and 4.5 unrelated females who were other than the surviving old partners or their related females. By calculating the ratio of actual grooming partners to available females in 2003, we concluded that females had a greater possibility of selecting surviving old partners as their grooming partners than other unrelated partners, and that they also had a greater possibility of selecting females related to surviving old partners than females other than surviving old partners and their related females. These findings indicate that with regard to grooming relationships, female Japanese monkeys are basically conservative, showing a tendency to concentrate their grooming interactions on closely related females and certain familiar unrelated females such as surviving old partners and some females closely related to these partners. At the same time, however, female Japanese monkeys also showed a progressive trait for grooming since they formed grooming relationships with new partners. The necessity of long-term psychological bonding for long-term grooming relationships between unrelated females is discussed in this work.

Playback experiment to test maternal responses of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to their own infant's call when the infants were four to six months old

Calls emitted by infants when the infant loses sight of its parents are useful to estimate the infant's requirement for parental care. When an Old World monkey infant loses sight of its mother it emits whistles. Therefore, it would be interesting to determine whether mothers could distinguish their own infant's whistles from the whistles of other infants. The response of each of seven Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) mothers to her own infant's whistle was compared with their responses to another infant's whistle. Matched control playback experiments were performed when the infants were four to six months old. The results showed that each mother could distinguish her own infant's whistle from that of another infant when the infants were four to six months old. Although a stricter experimental plan is required to further examine the issue, we found that the dominance rank of the infant's mother was another important factor in the female response to the infant's call. The finding suggests that females can associate a call emitted by an infant with its mother's rank, even before the infant begins to wander far from its mother.