Survey on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients with Parkinson's Disease and Their Caregivers in Japan.

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed the lives of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and their caregivers. This study aimed to investigate changes in patient behavior and PD symptoms and their effect on caregiver burden resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Methods: This nationwide, observational, cross-sectional survey included patients with self-reported PD and caregivers (members of the Japan Parkinson's Disease Association). The primary objective was to evaluate changes in behaviors, self-assessed PD symptoms, and caregiver burden from pre-COVID-19 (February 2020) to post-national state of emergency (August 2020 and February 2021). Results: Responses from 1883 patients and 1382 caregivers from 7610 distributed surveys were analyzed. Mean (standard deviation) age of patients and caregivers was 71.6 (8.2) and 68.5 (11.4) years, respectively; 41.6% of patients had a Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scale of 3. Patients (>40.0%) reported decreased frequency of going out. Most patients (>70.0%) reported no change in treatment visit frequency, voluntary training, or rehabilitation and nursing care insurance services. Symptoms worsened for approximately 7-30% of patients; the proportion with HY scale 4-5 increased from pre-COVID-19 (25.2%) to February 2021 (40.1%). Aggravated symptoms included bradykinesia, walking, gait speed, depressed mood, fatigue, and apathy. Caregivers' burden increased because of patients' worsened symptoms and reduced time going out. Conclusion: Control measures during infectious disease epidemics should consider that patients' symptoms may worsen; therefore, patient and caregiver support is needed to reduce burden of care.

Impact of Local Drug Delivery of Minocycline on the Subgingival Microbiota during Supportive Periodontal Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of adjunct local minocycline administration on the microbiological parameters of subgingival plaque samples in the residual periodontal pockets. Ten chronic periodontitis patients under a supportive periodontal therapy regimen were recruited. After subgingival debridement, either 2% minocycline gel, Periocline™, (Test Group) or a placebo (Control Group) was administered to the selected sites once a week for three weeks. Subgingival plaque was collected at baseline, and at four weeks and eight weeks. The microbiological composition was analyzed by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. In the Test Group, α-diversity (evenness) decreased compared to the baseline (p = 0.005) and was lower compared to the control group at four weeks (p = 0.003). The microbial community composition between the two groups was significantly different at four weeks (p = 0.029). These changes were attributable to a decrease in the bacteria associated with periodontitis and an increase in the bacteria associated with periodontal health. Additionally, the improvement in bleeding on probing continued at eight weeks; however, there were little microbial effects of 2% minocycline gel observed at eight weeks. The control group demonstrated no change throughout the eight-week experimental period. Thus, local minocycline administration can change the subgingival microbial community of residual periodontal pockets.

Lack of effect of aerobic physical exercise on endothelium-derived nitric oxide concentrations in healthy young subjects.

Previous experimental research showed an attenuated vasoconstrictor response after acute exercise. This study aims to determine the effect of aerobic physical exercise on the endothelium-derived circulating nitric oxide (NO) concentrations among healthy young persons. A total of 10 subjects (5 men and 5 women) aged 21-28 were examined for the difference in concentrations of serum and plasma NO metabolites (NOx) before and after a single bout of aerobics, in which they performed cycling exercises at a constant workload corresponding to 90% of the subject-specific anaerobic threshold. A paired t-test resulted in no statistically significant differences between pre- and post-exercise concentrations of serum or plasma NOx. It is suggested that the acute effect of aerobic exercise on the vasoconstrictor/vasodilator response is not mediated by an increase in the endothelial NO release.

Dichloro(4,4'-dialkyl-2,2'-bipyridine-kappa2N,N')platinum(II), where alkyl is pentyl and heptyl.

Dichloro(4,4'-dipentyl-2,2'-bipyridine-kappa2N,N')platinum(II), [PtCl2(C20H28N2)], adopts a discrete pi-pi stacking structure, where the alkyl chains are located in a random manner. In contrast, dichloro(4,4'-diheptyl-2,2'-bipyridine-kappa2N,N')platinum(II), [PtCl2(C24H36N2)], forms a layer structure comprised of alkyl chain layers and paired coordination sites, as observed for analogous complexes with longer alkyl chains.

Synthesis and photophysical properties of EuS nanoparticles from the thermal reduction of novel Eu(III) complex.

EuS nanoparticles were synthesized by the thermal reduction of single source precursor (SSP), (PPh4)[Eu(S2CNEt2)4].2H2O, under microwave irradiation. The average size of the EuS nanoparticles was found to be 8 nm (3-16 nm in size). The organic products on the EuS surface were observed by using FT-IR, NMR, and MS analyses. We have found that these are resulted from the chemical reactions of SSP and cover the nanocrystal surface. A thermal reaction of SSP gave EuS nanoparticles and the organic product (*SCN(Et)2). The organic product would make a dimmer, (Et)2NC(S)-(S)CN(Et)2, by the couping of the radicals formed in the thermal reaction and/or thiopolymer in the solution through the polymerization of the radicals. The effective surface modification by the organic products led to protection of the EuS surface, resulting in the formation of the strongly luminescent EuS nanoparticles at room temperature (emission peak = 350 nm, fwhm = 58 nm, emission quantum yield = 27 +/- 5%).