Purpose : This preliminary study was aimed to investigate potentially beneficial changes in prescription of antibiotics by use of Gram staining in an otorhinolaryngology outpatient clinic.
Methods : This study was done in a single clinic. Changes in the type and amount of antibiotics prescribed, in addition to the clinical outcomes prior to and following introduction of Gram staining, were analyzed retrospectively.
Results : Following introduction of Gram staining in 2005, the costs for antibiotics per person per year decreased to about one-fifth. The number of prescriptions per 100 patients decreased from 20.9 in 2006 to 3.6 in 2012 for macrolides, from 7.9 in 2005 to 2.4 in 2012 for third-generation cephalosporins, and increased from 1.6 in 2004 to 3.9 in 2012 for penicillins. In addition, for every 50 pediatric cases of acute sinusitis, the number of patients to whom no antibiotics were prescribed increased 9-fold and the number of patients to whom 2 or more types of antibiotics were prescribed decreased from 26 to 9 cases, while the mean period in days until resolution was shortened by 6 days.
Conclusion : The results of this pilot study suggest that the use of Gram staining for diagnosis and prescription of antibiotics in an otorhinolaryngology outpatient clinic may lead to significantly improved antibiotic prescription practices. Further study through proper controlled studies are felt to be neceesary.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the energy expenditure and the level of physical performance in preschool-age children. Seventy-six boys (5-6 years of age) had motor performance tests (25 m run, soft-ball throw, standing-long-jump, Zig-Zag run, upright handstand jog time, sit-and-reach, one-leg-balance) . Twenty boys were divided into two groups. One consisted of ten boys as the superior group and the other ten boys as the inferior group in results of the motor performance tests.
Energy expenditure was calculated from oxygen intake measured by each child's HR-VO₂ regression equation in a treadmill running test and 24-hour heart rate measurement by monitoring recorder. Daily energy uptake was estimated from the weight and kind of food recorded by their parents.
Energy expenditure in kindergarten, at home and in one day for the superior group were found to be higher than those for the inferior group. Energy uptake in the superior group showed a significant-ly higher value than that in the inferior group. It can be concluded that the children of the superior group appeared to be more active, since test and monitoring measurements showed they had more energy expenditure and energy uptake.

Seven years ago, we began the “Toride Project” which aimed at organized care, mainly on based a low-protein diet (LPD), for chronic renal failure patients. This project cumulatively involved 486 patients, and 219 of them have been followed up at our hospital.
In this paper, we report the 12 patients who had before shown progressive deterioration of renal function and turned out stable (less than 5% change) in creatinine clearance (Ccr) for 12-54 months after involved in the project. Their diseases were chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN; 10 cases) and nephrosclerosis (NSC; 2 cases), and the mean Ccr was 20.9±1.3 (SE) ml/min (16-32 ml/min). All of them carried out the well maintained LPD (0.62±0.02 g/kg/day), and showed relatively low urinary protein excretion (UPE; 0.4±0.2g/day). In contrast, 10 other cases (CGN; 9, NSC; 1) showed persistent deterioratiom of renal function even if they continued the LPD (0.60±0.02 g/kg/day). They significantly showed higher UPE (1.6±0.3 g/day, p<0.05) than the 12 cases mentioned above. Moreover, frequent examination revealed that the day-to-day change in their protein intake was more widely distributed (coefficient of variation; 19.5±1.3% vs 10.8±0.6%, p<0.05).

Background/Aims: Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D)-like symptoms frequently occur in patients with quiescent Crohn’s disease (CD). To investigate the factors underlying IBS-D-like symptoms in patients with quiescent CD, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the clinical features and intestinal environment in those patients. Methods: We performed a prospective observational study of 27 patients with quiescent CD (CD activity index [CDAI] ≤ 150; C-reactive protein ≤ 0.3 mg/dL). The presence and severity of IBS-D-like symptoms, health-related quality of life, disease-specific quality of life, andstatus of depression and anxiety were evaluated. The level of intestinal permeability, fecal calprotectin and organic acids and the profiles of gut microbiome were analyzed. Results: Twelve of the 27 patients with quiescent CD (44.4%) had IBS-like symptoms, and these patients showed a significantly higher CDAI, IBS severity index and anxiety score than those without. The inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire score was significantly lower in the patients with IBS-D-like symptoms. There were no significant differences in small intestinal/colonic permeability or the levels of organic acids between the patients with and without IBS-D-like symptoms. Fusicatenibacter was significantly less abundant in the patients with IBS-D-like symptoms whereas their fecal calprotectin level was significantly higher (384.8 ± 310.6 mg/kg) than in patients without (161.0 ± 251.0 mg/kg). The receiver operating characteristic curve constructed to predict IBS-D-like symptoms in patients with quiescent CD using the fecal calprotectin level (cutoff, 125 mg/kg) showed a sensitivity and specificity of 73.3% and 91.7%, respectively. Conclusion Minimal inflammation is closely associated with the development of IBS-D-like symptoms in patients with quiescent CD.