Objective: To explore how rural physicians practicing in the remote islands of Okinawa, Japan experience and manage their negative emotions.

Materials and Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with doctors who had worked in a clinic on a remote island in Okinawa prefecture for 2 years. The interviews were conducted using an Internet video conferencing system, and were recorded and transcribed. The transcribed data were then analyzed using the Steps Coding and Theorization method as a framework.

Results: All four participants were male. The mean interview time was 61 minutes. In the category of induction of negative emotions, we extracted five themes: differences in recognition between rural physicians and patients, invasion of professionalism, suppression by one’s role as a rural physician, discordance with multiple occupations, and relationships with unfamiliar hospital physicians. In the category of controlling negative emotions, we also extracted five themes: time flow, reflection, acceptance of islanders’ characteristics, and growth through their role.

Conclusion: Rural physicians in the remote islands of Okinawa experienced negative emotions in relation to patients, other islanders, and medical staff. They deepened their understanding of the islanders, including the cultural background, over time and through discussion and reflection with other medical professionals. In this way, they realized their potential for growth and how to control negative emotions. Thus, rural physicians may be able to effectively control their negative emotions through recognizing temporal changes in human relations and their own adaptation to the remote island life.

Introduction: Currently, there are no studies on changes in health problems due to population aging in Japan. This study was conducted to estimate the changes by comparing the present health problems using the International Classification of Primary care second edition (ICPC-2) with a previous study.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective open cohort study on a rural island in Okinawa. We classified health problems of all patients using ICPC-2, and compared the data with a previous study using the International Classification of Health problems in Primary care-2 defined (ICHPPC-2 defined) from 1990.

Result: The total number of visits to the clinic was 4660 per year (age 0-14 years, n=828; age 15-64, n=2146; age 65 or older, n=1688). In 2015, the frequency of musculoskeletal, skin and general, and unspecified problems was higher. The number of health problems contained within the top 50% of all health problems, which is an indicator of the comprehensiveness of practice, was higher in the previous study.

Conclusion: The present study suggested that orthopedic and dermatological disorders increased, and greater comprehensiveness of practice is needed.

In order to investigate an effective therapy on paraquat poisoning, acute toxicity studies were performed using mice as experimental animals.
According to the mechanisms of paraquat toxicity, which is caused by superoxide radical and singlet oxygen geneation with subsequent initiation of membrane damaging process of ipid peroxidation ascorbic acid and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were injected intravenously to paraquat-poi-soned mice. The therapeutic effects of the two reagents against the paraquat toxicties were monitored using both mortality rates and boby weight changes of the mice for 10 days expeimental period.
No significant differences of the mortality rates were observed between the ascorbic acid injected group and the control group. On the contrary, the mortality rate of the paraquat poisoned mice treated with SOD was higher than that of the control group, suggesting the toxicities of H₂O₂ produced by SOD and Superoxide. This finding is to be taken consideration as a warning against a single use of SOD as a therapy for paraquat poisonig cases.

A 24-year-old woman had been injured in an automobile accident. The chest X-ray showed widening of the mediastinum and computed tomography showed mediastinal hematoma around the aortic arch. Aortic rupture was suspected, so we performed aortography, which revealed pseudoaneurysm of the descending aorta. Moreover, she also had splenic rupture and pelvic fracture. She underwent an emergency operation 4 hours after the accident. Medial tear of the descending aorta was replaced with a graft under temporary bypass without heparin. Simultaneously, splenectomy was performed. Her postoperative course was uneventful. We consider that temporary bypass without heparin is a useful method during repair of the descending aortic rupture due to trauma.

Background/Aims: Esophageal motility disorders (EMDs) contribute to the pathophysiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease. However, the causes of EMDs and their impact on gastroesophageal reflux disease-associated symptoms remain unknown. This study aims to elucidate clinical features associated with various types of EMDs in patients with heartburn symptoms. Methods: Of the 511 patients who underwent high-resolution manometry, 394 who were evaluated for heartburn symptoms were examined. Patients subjected to high-resolution manometry were classified into 4 groups: outflow obstruction group, hypermotility group, hypomotility group, and normal motility group. Symptoms were evaluated using 3 questionnaires. Patient characteristics and symptoms for each EMD type were compared with those of the normal motility group. Results: Of the 394 patients, 193 (48.9%) were diagnosed with EMDs, including 71 with outflow obstruction, 15 with hypermotility, and 107 with hypomotility. The mean dysphagia score was significantly higher in each of the 3 EMD groups compared with those with normal motility. The mean acid reflux and dyspepsia scores were significantly lower in the outflow obstruction group (P < 0.05). The mean body mass index and median Brinkman index were significantly higher in the hypermotility group (P = 0.001 and P = 0.018, respectively), whereas the mean diarrhea and constipation scores were significantly lower in the hypomotility group (P < 0.05). Conclusions The results of our study indicate that different EMDs have distinct characteristics. Cigarette smoking and high body mass index were associated with esophageal hypermotility. Assessment of the dysphagia symptom scores may help identify patients with EMDs.

Background/Aims: Esophageal motility disorders (EMDs) contribute to the pathophysiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease. However, the causes of EMDs and their impact on gastroesophageal reflux disease-associated symptoms remain unknown. This study aims to elucidate clinical features associated with various types of EMDs in patients with heartburn symptoms. Methods: Of the 511 patients who underwent high-resolution manometry, 394 who were evaluated for heartburn symptoms were examined. Patients subjected to high-resolution manometry were classified into 4 groups: outflow obstruction group, hypermotility group, hypomotility group, and normal motility group. Symptoms were evaluated using 3 questionnaires. Patient characteristics and symptoms for each EMD type were compared with those of the normal motility group. Results: Of the 394 patients, 193 (48.9%) were diagnosed with EMDs, including 71 with outflow obstruction, 15 with hypermotility, and 107 with hypomotility. The mean dysphagia score was significantly higher in each of the 3 EMD groups compared with those with normal motility. The mean acid reflux and dyspepsia scores were significantly lower in the outflow obstruction group (P < 0.05). The mean body mass index and median Brinkman index were significantly higher in the hypermotility group (P = 0.001 and P = 0.018, respectively), whereas the mean diarrhea and constipation scores were significantly lower in the hypomotility group (P < 0.05). Conclusions The results of our study indicate that different EMDs have distinct characteristics. Cigarette smoking and high body mass index were associated with esophageal hypermotility. Assessment of the dysphagia symptom scores may help identify patients with EMDs.

Background: A 30-60 min rest after exercising is generally recommended before taking a bath. Although this was considered an appropriate bathing method, effects of pre-bath rest on recovery from exercise fatigue remain unclear. Here, we aimed to examine the effects on fatigue recovery of pre-bath rest after a workload, with the focus on changes in lactic acid levels. Methods and Results: Ten healthy adult men increased their blood lactic acid levels through a treadmill workload performed in accordance with the Bruce method, then took either a 60-min post-workload rest followed by a 10-min full-immersion 38°C bath (Experiment A) or a 10-min full-immersion 38°C bath followed by a 60-min rest (Experiment B). Body temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, and blood lactic acid level were measured at three time points: before workload (Test 1), after workload (Test 2), and after bathing/resting (Test 3). Decreases and percent decreases in blood lactic acid levels were calculated by comparing Test 3 results with Test 2 results. These calculated values and the measured values in three tests were compared between Experiment A and Experiment B using paired-t test. There were no significant differences in maximum systolic blood pressure, maximum diastolic blood pressure, maximum workload attained, and maximum pulse rate measurements between Experiment A and Experiment B. Differences in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure measurements in Tests 1, 2, and 3 were not significant. The pulse rates measured at the final measurement (Test 3) were significantly higher in Experiment A than in Experiment B (90.4 ± 18.2 bpm vs 79.6 ± 11.6 bpm, p = 0.04). No significant differences were observed in other measurement timings. The body temperature measurements at the final measurement were slightly higher in Experiment A than in Experiment B (36.4 ± 0.4 vs 36.1 ± 0.3°C, p = 0.05). No significant differences were observed in other measurements. Blood lactic acid levels before workload (Test 1) were significantly higher in Experiment A (6.6 ± 4.7mmol/L) than in Experiment B (2.0 ± 1.4 mmol/L, p = 0.02), but those at other measurement points (Test 2 and Test 3) were similar. Neither decreases nor percentage decreases in blood lactic acid levels differed between Experiment A and Experiment B. Conclusions: Resting before a post-exercise bath did not change the decreases or percent decreases in blood lactic acid levels after bathing at 38°C, suggesting negligible effects of pre-bath resting on recovery from exercise fatigue.