A clinical study was carried out on 336 patients diagnosed with nasal allergic symptoms in Otolaryngological Clinic of Obihiro Kousei Hospital from April 1993 to July 1995. The diagnosis was made based on their history, numbers of eosinophils in the peripheral blood and nasal secretion and the results of the radioallergosorbent test (RAST).
House dust and mites were the most frequent allergens, as reported by almost all clinics in Hokkaido. On the other hand, in this Tokachi district, pollinosis allergens include birch pollinosis in 98 patients (40.8%), orchard grass pollinosis in 66 patients (27.5%), regweed pollinosis in 75 patients (31.6%) and timothy pollinosis in 77 patients (32.1%).
It seems that Pecatnres are due to the local characteristics such as cllimate, geographical features and plant distribution in the Tokachi area.

Objective: This study quantitatively analyzes the factors causing dispensing errors in community pharmacies and explores the characteristics of these factors and their order of importance.
Design and Methods: We collected data records on the contents and causes of dispensing errors as reported between April and July 2009 by a total of 320 pharmacists at 56 stores of two pharmacy chains (15 stores in Hokkaido and 41 stores in the Kansai area).  We focused on the following three types of dispensing error: 1) “measurement error”, 2) “wrong drug dispensing error” and 3) “wrong dosage form specification error”.  We conducted multiple regression analyses and discriminant analyses with occurrence frequency of each type of error as dependent variables and count frequency of each causal factor as independent variables.
Results: The result of the multiple regression analyses indicated that the primary causes of the three types of errors in order of strength of the regression coefficients were as follows.  For “measurement error”: 1) pharmacist’s wrong assumption and 2) calculation error; for “wrong dosage form specification error”: 1) insufficient confirmation of prescription and 2) pharmacist’s wrong assumption; for “wrong drug dispensing error”: 1) pharmacist’s wrong assumption and 2) insufficient confirmation of prescription.  The results of the discriminant analysis indicated that only for the discriminant coefficient between “wrong dosage form specification error” and “wrong drug dispensing error” no significant difference in the mean was found (p=0.539).
Conclusions: Results show that partly different factors cause “measurement error” as compared with the two other types of dispensing errors.  In addition, while basically the same factors were found to cause “wrong drug dispensing error” and “wrong dosage form specification error,” there was a difference in the order of importance of these factors.  This study uncovered differences in terms of causal factors affecting each dispensing error type.

The purpose of this study was to clarify some of the characteristics of race-walking, especially the relationship between walking speed and oxygen requirement, and stride in race-walking and normal walking, and to examine whether race-walking is effective for the maintenance and promotion of health.
The subjects were five male race-walkers (race-walker group) and five male college students (control group) .
The results obtained were as follows:
1. Under race-walk conditions, the highest speeds attained in the race-walker and control groups were 200-220 m/min and 160 m/min, respectively. Under normal walking conditions, however, the values were 140 m/min in both groups.
2. A lower oxygen requirement was observed at slower speed during normal walking and at a higher speed (over 130 m/min) during race-walking.
3. Oxygen requirement (ml/kg/100 m) in the race-walker group was minimal at 60-80 m/min during race-walking and at 60 m/min during normal walking. Values in the control group were minimal at 60 m/min under both walking conditions.
4. The oxygen requirement in the race-walker group was less than that of the control group under both walking conditions.
5. Under normal walking conditions, as the speed increased, both step-length and step frequency gradually increased, until step-length reached a limit of 80 cm. Thereafter, walking was maintained only by an increase in step frequency. However, in the race-walkes group, the subjects were capable of increasing their step-length further, and maintaining a higher speed (up to 220 m/min) .
6. It was suggested that race-walking is one of the most efficient exercises for maintaining and improving health.

The purpose of this study was to clarify some of the characteristics of race-walking, especially the relationship between walking speed and oxygen requirement, and stride in race-walking and normal walking, and to examine whether race-walking is effective for the maintenance and promotion of health.
The subjects were five male race-walkers (race-walker group) and five male college students (control group) .
The results obtained were as follows:
1. Under race-walk conditions, the highest speeds attained in the race-walker and control groups were 200-220 m/min and 160 m/min, respectively. Under normal walking conditions, however, the values were 140 m/min in both groups.
2. A lower oxygen requirement was observed at slower speed during normal walking and at a higher speed (over 130 m/min) during race-walking.
3. Oxygen requirement (ml/kg/100 m) in the race-walker group was minimal at 60-80 m/min during race-walking and at 60 m/min during normal walking. Values in the control group were minimal at 60 m/min under both walking conditions.
4. The oxygen requirement in the race-walker group was less than that of the control group under both walking conditions.
5. Under normal walking conditions, as the speed increased, both step-length and step frequency gradually increased, until step-length reached a limit of 80 cm. Thereafter, walking was maintained only by an increase in step frequency. However, in the race-walkes group, the subjects were capable of increasing their step-length further, and maintaining a higher speed (up to 220 m/min) .
6. It was suggested that race-walking is one of the most efficient exercises for maintaining and improving health.

A 12-year-old girl had relative graft stenosis following the reconstruction of type A interrupted aortic arch. At 25 days after birth she underwent ascending aorta-descending aorta bypass with a 7mm knitted Dacron graft, ligation of the patent ductus arteriosus and pulmonary artery banding. She had patch closure of a ventricular septal defect (VSD) as well at 20 months of age. At age 12 catheterization was carried out, because she had headache and dizziness on exertion. The pressure of the ascending aorta was 163/79mmHg and the pressure gradient between the ascending and the descending aorta was 65mmHg. Aortography revealed severe stenosis of the graft, which might have occurred according to her growth. An extra-anatomic bypass was placed between the right axillary and the right common iliac artery through the intrapleural and preperitoneal route with a 10mm Dacron graft. Six months later, the blood pressure was 108/63mmHg in the upper extremities, the pressure gradient between the upper and lower extremities was reduced to 18mmHg, and headache and dizziness had disappeared.

AIMTo construct an efficient recombinant viral vector for gene therapy.

METHODSFirst-generation adenovirus (Ad) vector was modified with the RGD peptide inserted into the fiber. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments of gene expression in different tumor cells with conventional and recombinant vectors were conducted. RT-PCR was used for detecting the expression of coxackievirus and adenovirus receptor and integrin at the surface of Meth-A cells.

RESULTSFiber-mutant adenovirus vector showed a notably enhanced gene expression in A2058, B16BL6, OV-HM, and Meth-A tumor cells compared with that of conventional ones. In vivo study carried out using Meth-A tumor-bearing mice also demonstrated that the intra-tumoral injection of recombinant adenovirus induced strong gene expression in these CAR-deficient tumor cells.

CONCLUSIONThe recombinant vector can be a promising one for effective cancer gene therapy.

Adenoviridae ; genetics ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Cell Line ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Enterovirus ; genetics ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Genetic Vectors ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Integrins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Luciferases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; Mutation ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Neoplasms, Experimental ; genetics ; pathology ; therapy ; Oligopeptides ; genetics ; Receptors, Virus ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transfection

We investigated the training system of a young cardiovascular surgeon in Japan. We presented the result of surveillance at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Cardiovascular Surgery 2019, and report here the summary.

We report the case of a 34-year-old man who was initially diagnosed with a tension-type headache after complaining of a headache and nausea. His headache worsened in severity and it was exacerbated on standing in the upright position. The patient was admitted to the hospital on suspicion of spontaneous low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure headache. Gadolinium-enhanced brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed diffuse pachymeningeal enhancement, brain sagging, cerebellar tonsillar herniation, brainstem descent and a subdural hematoma. Successful emergency surgery was undertaken.
Spontaneous low CSF pressure headache syndrome is characterized by orthostatic headache, and if such a headache worsens, clinicians should consider a subdural hematoma, a life-threatening complication of this unusual disorder.

In the areas of home medical care and self-medication, the role of the pharmacist is growing, partly as a result of Japan’s aging society and the need to reduce medical costs. In response, the Kinki University Faculty of Pharmacy implemented a physical assessment practical training seminar in order to improve the physical assessment skills of practicing pharmacists. A series of questionnaires were conducted among pharmacists to investigate their perceptions of physical assessment practical training seminars. The results of the questionnaires were analyzed using Customer Satisfaction (CS) analysis and text mining. Based on a 5-point scale (1-low∼5-high), questionnaires revealed satisfaction for physical assessment practical training seminars was 4.6±0.6 (Ave.±S.D.). CS analysis revealed that the items “lectures” and “case seminars” had the highest level of satisfaction. However, items showing low levels of satisfaction were “auscultation of respiratory sounds” and “SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation).” Results of text mining suggested a relationship between “physical assessment” and “difficult”. Analysis of the questionnaires showed a high level satisfaction with physical assessment practical training seminars, notably physical assessment practice methods. However, CS analysis and text mining indicate the finer techniques of physical assessment were difficult to acquire.