Autonomic function measurements for evaluating fatigue and quality of life in patients with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy: a prospective longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue during radiation therapy in women with breast cancer can decrease quality of life (QOL), yet it is often underestimated and needs to be evaluated objectively. This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate fatigue and QOL of women with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy with a simple autonomic function measurement. METHODS: Women with breast cancer who underwent postoperative radiotherapy in eight cancer care hospitals in Chubu and Kinki regions in Japan were recruited between October 2021 and June 2022. The women underwent a self-administered questionnaire that included the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) and the Short Form-8 Health Survey (SF-8) and an autonomic nervous function measurement using a simple, non-invasive device before (T0, baseline), mid (T1), and at the end (T2) of treatment. RESULTS: The 57 women showed similar trends, with CFS scores and log LF/HF ratio being the highest at T0 and significantly decreasing at T1 (both p < 0.05). The log LF/HF trends differed between those with high and low baseline log LF/HF values. Women with mental component summary (MCS) score improvement (T0 to T2) had the highest log LF/HF ratio at T0 and had significantly lower log LF/HF values at T1 and T2 than at T0 (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). The change of (⊿) MCS from T0 to T1 was negatively correlated with ⊿log LF/HF from T0 to T1 (r = - 0.36, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of autonomic nerve function with a simple device is useful for objective fatigue assessment during radiotherapy. Psychological support is important as improvement in mental health helps improve autonomic nerve function and, in turn, fatigue.

Complete Genome Sequence of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans Serotype g Strain NUM4039 (JCM 30399).

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is considered to be a major etiological agent of aggressive periodontitis and includes serotype a to g strains. We herein report the first complete genome sequence of A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype g strain NUM4039. The genome is 2,382,853 bp in length with a G+C content of 44.34%.

Differentiation of banding patterns between Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus isolates in rep-PCR using ERIC primer.

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus are considered to be important bacterial species in the initiation of human dental caries. Therefore, the establishment of a reliable genotyping method to distinguish S. mutans from S. sobrinus is of central importance. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the usefulness of repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) using ERIC primer banding patterns in differentiating S. mutans and S. sobrinus. DESIGN: Five S. mutans and two S. sobrinus prototype strains and 50 clinical isolates (38 S. mutans serotype c, 4 S. sobrinus serotype d, and 8 S. sobrinus serotype g) were examined. The banding patterns of amplicons generated were compared among the prototype strains and clinical isolates, to find common bands that distinguish S. mutans and S. sobrinus. RESULTS: Multiple banding patterns were seen with all strains tested. The representative strains of S. mutans tested revealed six unique, strong bands at 2,000 bp, 1,700 bp, 1,400 bp, 1,100 bp, 850 bp, and 250 bp, whereas S. sobrinus had seven strong bands at 2,000 bp, 1,800 bp, 1,100 bp, 900 bp, 800 bp, 600 bp, and 550 bp. The band at 1,100 bp was the only band that was observed in both S. mutans and S. sobrinus. Furthermore, most clinical S. mutans isolates revealed identical banding patterns. All S. mutans had amplicons at 1,700 bp, 850 bp, and 250 bp, whereas those of S. sobrinus were at 1,100 bp, 900 bp, and 800 bp. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that using rep-PCR with the ERIC primers can distinguish between S. mutans and S. sobrinus.

Effect of base monomer's refractive index on curing depth and polymerization conversion of photo-cured resin composites.

In this study, we examined the effect of the transmitted amount of visible light through a resin composite on the curing depth and polymerization conversion. Transmitted amount of visible light was strongly dependent on the magnitude of refractive index difference that existed between the resin and silica filler. More specifically, the differences arose from the type of base monomer used. The transmitted amount of visible light exhibited a good correlation with the curing depth and Knoop hardness ratio of the bottom surface against the top surface of the resin composite. To improve the polymerization conversion of the cavity floor, it is important to reduce the refractive index difference that exists between the base resin and silica filler.