Medicine & Healthcare Public health

An Osaka Metropolitan University-led team report on the development of a highly selective isolation medium CT-PS-XR-MacConkey agar for efficient isolation of E. albertii.

SS 705 provides a first-of-its-kind Singapore-developed assessment to test the effectiveness of antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral potency, as well as durability of surface disinfectants and coatings.

Effective treatment of gastric cancer-bacterial infections begins with understanding differing clinical methods

Popular milk and dairy products in Egypt show over 25% prevalence of E. coli

Amylase and mucin decrease the effects of ozonated water

Development of a low-cost, easy-to-use tool for assessing the lack of essential nutrients

Warnings against saturated fat on heart health need to be revisited as flaws were revealed in the seminal 1950s studies on which these warnings were based, according to new research coming out of the Ateneo de Manila University.

Pathogenic system found on plasmid can lead to severe food poisoning symptoms

The study’s findings highlight the urgent need for comprehensive regulation, including a potential ban on flavored tobacco products and the adoption of plain packaging to curb their appeal.

By targeting multiprotein molecule, antibody inhibits bacteria’s growth, pathogenicity

Incidence, risk factors found for pulmonary aspergillosis, an invasive fungal infection of lungs, among COVID-19 patients

A pioneering study titled “Causal effect of video gaming on mental well-being in Japan 2020-2022,” published in Nature Human Behaviour, has conducted the most comprehensive investigation to date on the causal relationship between video gaming and mental well-being. This research, the first to demonstrate this relationship using real-life data, challenges commonly held views about the effects of gaming.

Researchers develop method to calculate the probability of a fall for older adults

Novel real-time PCR method might become diagnostic tool targeting emerging bacterium responsible for food poisoning outbreaks

Researchers at Osaka University analyzed data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study and found that socioeconomic status (SES) transitions affect dementia risk. Specifically, upward SES mobility is greater associated with reduced dementia risk and extended healthy aging with dementia-free lifespan, while downward mobility increases risk. The study of 9,186 participants found that lifestyle, comorbidities, and social factors mediate this relationship, highlighting the importance of SES in cognitive health and preventing dementia.

Researchers undertook a study of older adults to examine the connection between a sense of economic insecurity and a person’s participation in social activities.

MozzHub, a user-friendly dengue hotspot detector, could significantly assist the management and control of dengue.

The researchers from Osaka University showed how two psychological factors, belief in just deserts (BJD) and human rights restrictions (HRR), differ across countries. BJD tended to be higher in Japan and lower in the UK, whereas HRR was higher in China and lower in Japan. Public health messages for high-HRR individuals could potentially be used effectively to reduce disease-related discrimination and prejudice.

In recent years, an emerging zoonotic pathogen called E. albertii, transmitted by wild animals such as raccoons, has garnered attention due to its remarkable similarities to several strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli), including O157, and its potential to cause severe illness, particularly in children. A research group at Osaka Metropolitan University has developed a novel culture medium that allows for the selective cultivation of E. albertii from raccoon fecal samples. This enabled the successful isolation of E. albertii even from samples with very low quantities of this bacterium. Their findings are expected to further elucidate the bacteriological characteristics of E. albertii and to contribute to the control of foodborne illnesses.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers conducted a 5-year claims-based study of 655 non-frail or pre-frail older adults who were certified as having low care needs to investigate the relationship between the risk of frailty and two types of care services. The results showed that users of community-based adult care services had a 40% reduced risk of developing frailty compared to non-users. This suggests that utilizing appropriate support and services can prevent the progression of frailty.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have developed an AI model that accurately estimates a patient’s age, using chest radiographs of healthy individuals collected from multiple facilities. Furthermore, they found a positive relationship between differences in the AI-estimated and chronological ages and a variety of chronic diseases, such as hypertension, hyperuricemia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In the future, it is expected that AI biomarkers will be developed to predict life expectancy, estimate the severity of chronic diseases, and forecast surgery-related risks.

Researchers from Osaka University found that patients with persistently high levels of urinary albumin excretion in the long term are at high risk of new-onset heart failure. Preventive treatment associated with the lowering of urinary albumin excretion levels in these patients could reduce the risk of later heart failure or mortality.

A joint research group at Osaka Metropolitan University conducted a survey on prevalence of obesity and factors associated with low obesity among 423 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 living in Harare, Zimbabwe. The results revealed that 15.8% were obese or overweight. The study also revealed that 27.1% of the participants had low obesity awareness, which was significantly related to parents/guardians' lack of formal education and insufficient knowledge about eating habits.

App leads to better birth preparation for pregnant women

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, in particular, lower the prognosis of ischemic strokes by causing inflammation in the brain.

Researchers from Osaka University have found that repeated high-dose treatment, known as pulse therapy, with the steroid methylprednisolone reduces in-hospital deaths in COVID-19 patients who receive invasive mechanical ventilation, but not in patients who don’t receive invasive mechanical ventilation. These findings were only possible using appropriate statistical methods to remove bias from the data, which originally seemed to show that the opposite was true. These results can improve patient treatment and reduce COVID-19-related deaths worldwide.

An Osaka University study investigated how the COVID-19 onset and media coverage affected hand hygiene compliance. Voluntary use of hand sanitizer in a hospital rose from 5% in December 2019 to 70%+ by August 2020. In the same period, TV coverage reached 7.7 hours/day on a national broadcaster. The study’s simulations found a significant relation between TV coverage and hand hygiene compliance, though no correlation between compliance and newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Researchers from Osaka University have shown sex-specific differences in the immune response to COVID-19 infection. By identifying and analyzing the immune cell population in COVID-19 patients, they showed that infection results in a reduced ratio of circulating follicular T regulatory (cTfr) cells to a network of antibody-producing proteins, correlated with dysregulated antibody production. This cTfr cell reduction is more significant in males, providing cellular evidence for the observed association between increased risk and male sex.

Researchers from Osaka University compared the sensitivity of rapid antigen tests (RATs) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 using data produced by the Japan Professional Football League. They found the comparative sensitivity of RATs for Omicron was not affected by the duration from the onset of symptoms to testing.

Researchers led by Osaka University demonstrated the role of endothelial cell-specific protein Roundabout4 (Robo4) in the reduction of vascular permeability and mortality in mouse models of severe infection. The research team identified a drug inhibitor that increased Robo4 expression and reduced mortality in sepsis and SARS-CoV-2 mouse models of infection. These findings may aid in the development of drugs to reduce the mortality rate of severe infectious diseases.