畑 豊

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) has progressed rapidly, resulting in a great improvement in the clinical pregnancy ratio. When applying the protocol of piezo intracytoplasmic sperm injection (Piezo-ICSI), it is very important to puncture the zona pellucida and the oocyte cytoplasmic membrane without rupturing the oocyte cytoplasmic membrane. Previous studies have shown that the poor extensibility of the oocyte cytoplasmic membrane might be closely related to rupture. However, no consensus has been reached regarding how the quality of the oocyte for extensible ability or rupture possibility affects the surfaces of the oocyte on the microscopic frames. We conducted this study to provide evidence that artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are superior for predicting the tendency of oocyte rupture before puncturing on Piezo-ICSI. To inspect it, we provided a retrospective trial of 38 rupture oocytes and 55 nonruptured oocytes. This study marked the highest accuracy of 91.4% for predicting oocytes rupture using the support-vector machine method of machine learning. We conclude that AI technologies might serve an important role and provide a significant benefit to ART.

RESEARCH QUESTION: One of the problems during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure is unintentional membrane rupture (UMR), which often predisposes to subsequent oocyte degeneration. Can the ICSI Position Detector (IPD) be useful in identifying the optimal puncture location to prevent UMR during ICSI? DESIGN: A total of 709 mature oocytes were included. Conventional ICSI was carried out and images were recorded by IPD; these were analysed retrospectively. RESULTS: Inseminated oocytes were retrospectively grouped according to the IPD, irrespective of whether oolemma was punctured at an area in which UMR is likely (non-appropriate group) or unlikely (appropriate group). In the appropriate group, rates of UMR (5.3% versus 18.2%) and degeneration (2.5% versus 8.7%) were significantly lower than those of the non-appropriate group, whereas rate of fertilization (87.1% versus 69.7%) was significantly higher than those of the non-appropriate group, respectively (P < 0.001). These differences remained even after propensity score matching to adjust for potential differences in characteristics between appropriate and non-appropriate groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that the IPD is useful to identify the optimal puncture location to circumvent UMR during the ICSI procedure, resulting in reduced UMR and oocyte degeneration, thereby, generating more embryos available for transfer or cryopreservation.

It has recently been shown that the aging population is refractory to the maintenance of swallowing function, which can seriously affect quality of life. Singing and vocal training contribute to mastication, swallowing and respiratory function. Previous studies have shown that singers have better vocal cord health. No consensus has been reached as to how vocal training affects swallowing ability. Our study was designed to establish evidence that singers are statistically superior at inducing the swallowing reflex. To test our hypothesis, we undertook a clinical trial on 55 singers and 141 non-singers (mean age: 60.1 ± 11.7 years). This cross-sectional study with propensity score matching resulted in significant differences in a repetitive saliva swallowing test among singers: 7.1 ± 2.4, n = 53 vs. non-singers: 5.9 ± 1.9, n = 53, p < 0.05. We conclude that singing can serve an important role in stabilizing the impact of voluntary swallowing on speech.

<title>Abstract</title>Corticokinematic coherence (CKC) between magnetoencephalographic and movement signals using an accelerometer is useful for the functional localization of the primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1). However, it is difficult to determine the tongue CKC because an accelerometer yields excessive magnetic artifacts. Here, we introduce a novel approach for measuring the tongue CKC using a deep learning-assisted motion capture system with videography, and compare it with an accelerometer in a control task measuring finger movement. Twelve healthy volunteers performed rhythmical side-to-side tongue movements in the whole-head magnetoencephalographic system, which were simultaneously recorded using a video camera and examined using a deep learning-assisted motion capture system. In the control task, right finger CKC measurements were simultaneously evaluated via motion capture and an accelerometer. The right finger CKC with motion capture was significant at the movement frequency peaks or its harmonics over the contralateral hemisphere; the motion-captured CKC was 84.9% similar to that with the accelerometer. The tongue CKC was significant at the movement frequency peaks or its harmonics over both hemispheres. The CKC sources of the tongue were considerably lateral and inferior to those of the finger. Thus, the CKC with deep learning-assisted motion capture can evaluate the functional localization of the tongue SM1.

Correct assessment of the bone healing process is required for the management of limb immobilization during the treatment of bone injuries, including fractures and defects. Although the monitoring of bone healing using ultrasound poses several advantages regarding cost and ionizing radiation exposure compared with other dominant imaging methods, such as radiography and computed tomography (CT), traditional ultrasound B-mode imaging lacks reliability and objectivity. However, the body structures can be quantitatively observed by ultrasound frequency-based methods, and therefore, the disadvantages of B-mode imaging can be overcome. In this study, we created a femoral bone hole model of a rat and observed the bone healing process using the quantitative ultrasound method and micro-CT, which provides a reliable assessment of the tissue microstructure of the bone. This study analyzed the correlation between these two assessments. The results revealed that the quantitative ultrasound measurements correlated with the CT measurements for rat bone healing. This ultrasound frequency-based method could have the potential to serve as a novel modality for quantitative monitoring of bone healing with the advantages of being less invasive and easily accessible. Impact statement Bone healing monitoring with ultrasound is advantageous as it is less invasive and easily accessible; however, the traditional B-mode method lacks reliability and objectivity. This study demonstrated that the proposed ultrasound frequency-based monitoring method can quantitatively observe bone healing and strongly correlates with the computed tomography measurements for rat bone healing. This method has the potential to become a reliable modality for monitoring bone healing.

Enhanced conformational sampling, a genetic-algorithm-guided multidimensional virtual-system coupled molecular dynamics, can provide equilibrated conformational distributions of a receptor protein and a flexible ligand at room temperature. The distributions provide not only the most stable but also semistable complex structures and propose a ligand-receptor binding process. This method was applied to a system consisting of a receptor protein, 14-3-3ε, and a flexible peptide, phosphorylated myeloid leukemia factor 1 (pMLF1). The results present comprehensive binding pathways of pMLF1 to 14-3-3ε. We identified four thermodynamically stable clusters of MLF1 on the 14-3-3ε surface and free-energy barriers among some clusters. The most stable cluster includes two high-density spots connected by a narrow corridor. When pMLF1 passes the corridor, a salt-bridge relay (switching) related to the phosphorylated residue of pMLF1 occurs. Conformations in one high-density spot are similar to the experimentally determined complex structure. Three-dimensional distributions of residues in the intermolecular interface rationally explain the binding constant changes resulting from the alanine mutation experiment for the residues. We also performed a simulation of nonphosphorylated peptide and 14-3-3ε, which demonstrated that the complex structure was unstable, suggesting that phosphorylation of the peptide is crucially important for binding to 14-3-3ε.

<sec> <title>Aims:</title> The purpose of this study was to classify complicated uterine movements obtained by MRI scanner and investigate the relationship between uterine peristalsis and female infertility. </sec> <sec> <title>Methods:</title> Uterine movements are classified into six fundamental movements by their motility form and directions. Computer simulation of the uterine movements is performed. </sec> <sec> <title>Results:</title> Comparison results between the real MRI images and the simulated images showed that any five in our dataset uterine movement was successfully reproduced by a combination of these six fundamental movements. The point and surface vibration model appropriately mimicked the movements with the propagation velocity of 0.68 [mm/sec]. </sec> <sec> <title>Conclusion:</title> By analyzing six fundamental movements using data from 26 MRI scans, it was found that two fundamental movements were identified as candidate factors for female infertility. </sec>

We introduced a conformational sampling method in an earlier report: The multi-dimensional virtual-system coupled molecular dynamics (mD-VcMD) enhances conformational sampling of a biomolecular system by computer simulations. Herein, new sampling method, a subzone-based mD-VcMD, is presented as an extension of mD-VcMD. Then, the subzone-based method is extended further using a genetic algorithm (GA) named the GA-guided mD-VcMD. In these methods, iterative simulation runs are performed to increase the sampled region gradually. The new methods have the following benefits: (1) They are free from a production run: i.e., all snapshots from all iterations are useful for analyses. (2) They are free from fine tuning of a weight function (probability distribution function or potential of mean force). (3) A canonical ensemble (i.e., a thermally equilibrated ensemble) is generated from a simple procedure. A thermodynamic weight is assigned to each snapshot. (4) Selective sampling can be performed for particularly addressing a poorly sampled region without breaking the proportion of the canonical ensemble if the poorly sampled conformational region emerges in sampling. By applying the methods to a simple system that involves an energy barrier between potential-energy minima, we demonstrated that the new methods have considerably higher sampling efficiency than the original mD-VcMD does.