1) All students but 1 correctly typed the ABO blood groups, but only 33.2% of students and 63.9% of physicians properly performed cross-matching.
2) Most failures in cross-matching were due to the inability to detect allogeneic antibodies, but 5.2% of students and 2.9% of physicians failed to detect ABO mismatching.
3) Although laboratory practice is suggested to help students to solidify knowledge and comprehend principles, achieving an official goal of residency - gaining competence in performing and interpreting cross-matching independently - appeared difficult.

A study was conducted to clarify the effect of hyperoxia (HO) on exercise tolerance andhemodynamics in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) . The subjects were 10 patients with serious IHD who showed ischemic ST depression during low-intensity exercise testing. In all subjects, cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) was performed using two types of inhalation : normoxia (NO) and HO (O₂: 60%, N₂: 40%) . Heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), elapsed exercise duration and pressure rate product (PRP) were measured, and ECG was recorded during CPX according to the Bruce protocol. The peak oxygen uptake (VO₂peak) was calculated using the appropriate formula. These data were compared between the NO and HO groups, and the following results were obtained.
ST depressions on ECG, BP, HR and PRP after 20 min of rest showed no changes under NO. The other hand, only ST depression was improved after 20 min of rest under HO. The exercise duration in HO group was longer than in the NO group, and the VO₂peak in the HO group was higher than in the NO group. However, peak RPE showed no significant difference between the HO and NO groups. The incidence of ST depression as an endpoint of CPX showed no significant difference between the two groups. BP, HR and PRP at the CPX endpoint showed no significant differences between the HO and NO groups. In patients whose exercise duration was prolonged beyond the mean value by HO, peak HR and PRP were increased significantly. However, this tendency was not seen in patients whose exercise was prolonged for less than the mean value.
In conclusion, these results suggest that an increase in the oxygen supply to peripheral working muscles may play an important role in increasing exercise tolerance under HO in IHD patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The administration of liquid nutrients to patients is often accompanied by complications such as gastroesophageal reflux. To prevent gastroesophageal reflux, high-viscosity liquid meals are used widely, however, it still remains controversial whether high-viscosity liquid meals have any effect on the rate of gastric emptying. The present study was conducted with the aim of determining whether high-viscosity liquid meals had any effect on the rate of gastric emptying and mosapride might accelerate the rate of gastric emptying of high-viscosity liquid meals. METHODS: Six healthy male volunteers underwent 3 tests at intervals of > 1 week. After fasting for > 8 hours, each subject received one of three test meals (liquid meal only, high-viscosity liquid meal [liquid meal plus pectin] only, or high-viscosity liquid meal 30 minutes after intake of mosapride). A 13C-acetic acid breath test was performed, which monitored the rate of gastric emptying for 4 hours. Using the Oridion Research Software (beta version), breath test parameters were calculated. The study parameters were examined for all the 3 test conditions and compared using the Freidman test. RESULTS: Gastric emptying was significantly delayed following intake of a high-viscosity liquid meal alone as compared with a liquid meal alone; however, intake of mosapride prior to a high-viscosity liquid meal was associated with a significantly accelerated rate of gastric emptying as compared with a high-viscosity liquid meal alone. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that high-viscosity liquid meals delayed gastric emptying: however, mosapride recovered the delayed rate of gastric emptying by high-viscosity liquid meals.
Benzamides ; Breath Tests ; Cross-Over Studies ; Fasting ; Gastric Emptying ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Humans ; Male ; Meals ; Morpholines ; Pectins

Previous studies among middle-aged and older adults have shown that engagement in exercise with others is more strongly associated with better mental health than engagement in exercise alone. However, the applicability of such findings to workers remains unclear. This study aimed to examine whether 1) engagement in exercise with others and time spent exercising with others were associated with lower stress response and mental distress among workers, and 2) self-determined motivation toward exercise mediated these associations among workers. This was a cross-sectional study. A web-based questionnaire survey was conducted among 810 workers aged 20 to 59 years. The survey measured respondents’ engagement and time spent exercising alone and with others, self-determined motivation toward exercise, psychological and physical stress responses, mental distress, and basic factors. Basic factors were treated as covariates. The analyses of covariance showed that engagement in exercise with others was significantly associated with lower psychological and physical stress responses and mental distress, while engagement in exercise alone was not. Multiple regression analyses revealed that longer time spent exercising with others was not associated with lower psychological and physical stress responses or mental distress. Path analyses showed that mediation effect of self-determined motivation on these associations was not significant. Although dose-response associations and the mediating role of self-determined motivation were not confirmed, this study found that engagement in exercise with others was associated with lower stress responses and mental distress among workers.

We report a case of a 49-year-old woman who presented with 6-month period menopausal syndrome including excessive sweating and hot flushes in her face, chest and back. She was also frustrated with her sons, but she reflected on her own anger and wondered why she got so irritated with them. We prescribed yokukansan to her and her all symptoms improved one month later. We need to differentiate between yokukansan and kamishoyosan in the treatment of menopausal syndrome and irritation, and it may be useful to evaluate the detail of irritation in selecting formula.

In response to the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Japan, a national COVID-19 cluster taskforce (comprising governmental and nongovernmental experts) was established to support the country’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in conducting daily risk assessment. The assessment was carried out using established infectious disease surveillance systems; however, in the initial stages of the pandemic these were not sufficient for real-time risk assessment owing to limited accessibility, delay in data entry and inadequate case information. Also, local governments were publishing anonymized data on confirmed COVID-19 cases on their official websites as daily press releases. We developed a unique database for nationwide real-time risk assessment that included these case lists from local government websites and integrated all case data into a standardized format. The database was updated daily and checked systematically to ensure comprehensiveness and quality. Between 15 January 2020 and 15 June 2021, 776 459 cases were logged in the database, allowing for analysis of real-time risk from the pandemic. This semi-automated database was used in daily risk assessments, and to evaluate and update control measures to prevent community transmission of COVID-19 in Japan. The data were reported almost every week to the Japanese Government Advisory Panel on COVID-19 for public health responses.