Synthesis of Polysubstituted Germoles and Benzogermoles Using a Substoichiometric Amount of Diisobutylaluminum Hydride.

We developed a synthetic route to unsymmetrically polysubstituted germoles bearing different substituents from 1-hydrogermyl-4-silyl-1,3-enynes. The reaction proceeded with 0.5 equiv of diisobutylaluminum hydride. Various 2-silylgermoles including benzogermoles were obtained in good to excellent yields. 2-Germylbenzogermoles could be also successfully synthesized from 1-hydrogermyl-4-germyl-1,3-enynes under the same reaction conditions.

International Cross-Sectional Study on the Effectiveness of Okada Purifying Therapy, a Biofield Therapy, for the Relief of Various Symptoms.

Objective: To investigate whether differences exist in the effectiveness/safety of a single session of Okada Purifying Therapy (OPT), a type of biofield therapy, among those from different ethnicity/cultures, and to analyze factors associated with the outcomes in a real-world setting. Design: Pre-post test design using convenience sampling methods. Setting: Home setting. Subjects: A total of 11,303 individuals aged 16 years or older from 14 different countries (>1000 individuals each from Japan, the United States, Thailand, Chile/Peru, and <200 individuals each from Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, and France). More than 50% of the subjects were themselves OPT practitioners, and more than 50% of the treatments were administered in an environment where the practice of OPT was promoted. Intervention: Participants received a single session of OPT lasting 30 min or longer from the volunteer practitioners. They self-reported the changes in overall symptoms, physical pain, anxiety/depression, and dizziness/palpitation. Outcome measures: Improvement/exacerbation rates of each symptom and factors associated with symptom improvement were analyzed. Results: Of the participants, 77.5%, 75.6%, 78.4%, and 73.8% reported an improvement of overall symptoms, physical pain, anxiety/depression, and dizziness/palpitation, respectively. The improvement rates were consistently higher among participants from Chile/Peru than those from Japan, the United States, and Thailand (p < 0.001), and among those who had received a longer therapy (p < 0.001). Spanish/Portuguese speaking countries almost always showed high improvement rates; conversely, Japan showed a lower rate in each symptom. Participants' gender, reasons for participation, previous experience, and location of the session were also associated with the improvement of different symptoms. These findings occurred regardless of the participants' age or presence/absence of illness. In terms of safety, the exacerbation rates of symptoms were 2.8%, 2.5%, 0.8%, and 1.7%, respectively. Of those who expressed symptoms exacerbation, 71.6% recovered in a few hours. None of them needed emergency medical treatment. Conclusions: In those who were often sympathetic to OPT and/or in an authorized location, OPT was effective and safe across countries with ethnic/cultural differences; however, participants' country of residence and duration of the session were independently associated with the changes in various symptoms. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03994809).

Diisobutylaluminum Hydride Promoted Selectivity-Switchable Synthesis of Benzothiophene Oxides and Benzothiophenes via an Al-Li-Dimetalated Intermediate.

We developed an efficient and direct method for synthesis of benzothiophene oxides from 1-bromo-2-[2-(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]benzenes and thionyl chloride as an easily accessible source of the sulfinyl group. Benzothiophenes were also synthesized selectively by simply increasing the amount of thionyl chloride. These methods achieved efficient syntheses of various benzothiophene oxides and benzothiophenes. The further modification of the benzothiophene oxides obtained was also demonstrated.

The Influence of a Multimodal Health Program with Diet, Art, and Biofield Therapy on the Quality of Life of People in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the frequency of the practice of each of diet, art, and biofield therapy influences improvement in quality of life (QOL), and to examine whether the simultaneous practice of all three components increasingly improves QOL in a real-world setting. DESIGN: Pre-post-test design using convenience sampling methods. SETTING: Home setting. SUBJECTS: A total of 4681 individuals aged 16 years or older who answered the questionnaire appropriately. INTERVENTION: Participants agreed to practice the three components daily and self-evaluated the frequency of their weekly practice for three consecutive months. At the beginning and end of the study, they completed the MOA quality-of-life questionnaire (10-item MOA quality-of-life questionnaire [MQL-10]). OUTCOME MEASURES: Factors associated with the increase in MQL-10 scores for each component, and the relationship between the simultaneous practice of multiple components and the changes in MQL-10 scores were analyzed. RESULTS: Frequent practice of the diet and/or art components was associated with an increase in the term-end MQL-10 score (p < 0.001); however, receiving biofield therapy frequently was not. Participants' age, gender, and qualification as a practitioner of biofield therapy had no relationship with changes in scores, but the reasons for participation had a significant influence on changes in scores (p < 0.001). Participants who initially did not practice any components frequently but who subsequently increased the number of components and frequency of each practice had a higher likelihood of exhibiting an increase in the term-end score (p < 0.01). Participants who initially practiced all three components frequently but later decreased the number of components practiced frequently had a lower chance of increase and a higher risk of decrease in scores (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that the frequent practice of the diet and art components is associated with improvement in QOL. Simultaneous practice of diet, art, and biofield therapy is more likely to improve QOL. ( ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01927250).

A large cross-sectional, descriptive study of self-reports after biofield therapy in Japan: demography, symptomology, and circumstances of treatment administration.

BACKGROUND: Practitioners apply biofield therapy in diverse situations; however, most previously published reports investigated its efficacy in a clinical setting with a few expert practitioners administering it. OBJECTIVE: The study intended to determine the factors associated with self-reported symptom change after a single session of Okada Purifying Therapy (OPT), a form of biofield therapy, in various settings and to analyze its optimal therapeutic environments. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study used simple questionnaires. The research team trained 100 instructors of OPT to act as investigators for the study. The team recorded the initial lecture to those instructors on video, and the instructors used it to train other certified OPT practitioners in 222 locations. All investigators were volunteers. SETTINGS: The OPT sessions took place in various environments, including at MOA International Corporation's affiliated institutes, with or without clinics; at investigators' homes; and at participants' homes. PARTICIPANTS: The study involved 44 587 participants in total; all were Japanese, aged 16 or older, and suffering from physical pain, palpitation/dizziness, or anxiety/depression. INTERVENTION: The intervention involved one session of OPT lasting 30 minutes or longer administered by the volunteer practitioners. OUTCOME MEASURES: The research team evaluated the severity of symptoms before and after the intervention. The team examined (1) the self-reported change in each category of symptoms as measured after a session and (2) the adjusted odds ratio of the variables related to the outcomes. RESULTS: Of the analyzed participants, 69.7%, 67.5%, and 71.2% reported an improvement in the severity of physical pain, palpitation/dizziness, and anxiety/depression, respectively. Those rates, however, varied based on the participant's gender, the duration or location of the intervention, and the reason for participation. The improvement rate was consistently highest among female participants whose reason for participation involved a hope that OPT would relieve their symptoms or promote their health and who had received the therapy for more than 30 minutes in settings other than their own homes. This finding occurred regardless of the recipient's knowledge of the therapy or past experience of the intervention. The participant's gender, the duration of the intervention, and its location were also significant factors for marked improvements (a decrease in symptoms of 2 or 3 levels) in self-reported symptoms. In evaluating safety, the research team found that the exacerbation rates of reported symptoms were 2.5%, 1.1%, and 0.7% for physical pain, palpitation/dizziness, and anxiety/depression, respectively. None of those who expressed exacerbation of symptoms needed emergency medical treatment. No factor was associated consistently with the exacerbation. CONCLUSION: After a single session of biofield therapy, the participants' responses varied according to their gender, the duration and location of the intervention, and the reasons for participation.

Effect of biofield therapy in the human brain.

OBJECTIVES: The effects of Okada Purifying Therapy (OPT), a form of subtle energy (biofield) therapy that originated in Japan, were investigated. Electroencephalograms and the Profile of Mood States scores were measured using a crossover design during OPT and placebo sessions. PARTICIPANTS: Nineteen (19) healthy Japanese adults (mean age±standard deviation: 40.8±11.2 years; 10 females) with no previous experience of biofield therapy participated in this study. METHODS: Each session lasted 15 minutes. A single-blind, randomized design with a protocol consisting of regular cycles with eyes open followed by eyes closed was used. The power spectral value was calculated in θ (4.0-7.9 Hz), α (8.0-12.9 Hz), and ß (13.0-29.9 Hz) frequency ranges. RESULTS: The power spectral value of the α band at F(p1), F(p2), F(7), F(z), F(8), C(3), C(z), C(4), and P(z) increased significantly in the OPT session compared with the placebo session. Mood state was improved after both sessions, and no significant difference was found between the two sessions. CONCLUSIONS: OPT was more effective in increasing α waves in the frontal and central cortex than a placebo treatment.

Association of perceived stress and stiff neck/shoulder with health status: multiple regression models by gender.

It is well known that psychological stress affects health status. Stiff neck and shoulder in a broad sense is one of the major somatic complaints among Japanese. The objective was to determine how much perceived stress and stiff neck/shoulder are associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) by gender. Participants (n = 512) completed the Japanese version of Perceived Stress Scale, the SF-8 Japanese version and original questions on perceived stiff neck/shoulder. Muscle hardness around the shoulder also was measured with the muscle tension meter. The multiple regression model of the men demonstrated that perceived stress was associated with not only the mental component summary (MCS) (beta: -0.494), but also the physical component summary (PCS) (beta = -0.319) of the SF-8. Although, in the model of the women, perceived stress was also associated with MCS (beta: -0.632) more than in that of the men, stiff neck/shoulder and age group (beta: -0.231; -0.268, respectively), but not stress, were related to PCS. The subjective neck/shoulder stiffness was hardly correlated with the objective shoulder muscle hardness. This study revealed the associations between perceived stress, stiff neck/shoulder and HRQoL, and their difference by gender. The hypothesis of gender differences was discussed with a focus on kind of stressors, perception of stress, admission of negative symptoms and cause of stiff neck/shoulder.

Computer-assisted measurement of perceived stress: an application for a community-based survey.

The assessment of stress is a key issue in health promotion policies as well as in treatment strategies for patients. The aim of this study was to confirm the accessibility and reliability of computer-assisted data collection for perceived stress measurement, using the Japanese version of the Perceived Stress Scale (JPSS), within the setting of a community-based survey. There were two groups of participants in this survey. One group responded to a Web-based application, and the other to the VBA of a spreadsheet software. The total scores of JPSS were almost normally distributed. The means of total scores of JPSS were 23.6 and 23.1. These results were lower than the previous study of JPSS. Since Cronbach's alpha coefficients in both surveys were more than 0.8, high reliability was demonstrated despite a number of computer-illiterate and/or aged participants. They felt that the spreadsheet form was easier to respond to. Two components were extracted with the Varimax rotation of principal component analysis, and these were named "perception of stress and stressors" and "behavior to stress". This finding suggests that it is possible to determine sub-scales. From the viewpoint of preventive medicine, it is expected that the JPSS applications will be utilized to investigate the relationship between stress and other factors such as lifestyle, environment and quality of life.