This study was intended to clarify factors that contribute to swimming performance, and to determine the extent to which these factors change with respect to junior swimmers' development. Participants were 114 boys and 130 girls, 8-18 years old, who belonged to swimming clubs. They were classified into four groups : 8-10 years, 11-12 years, 13-14 years, and 15-18 years. We selected four factors - body size, muscle strength, flexibility, and stroke efficiency - which are putatively related to swimming performance. Swimming performance was identified as standardized 50 m records. We applied simultaneous analysis of multiple groups to multiple regression models and thereby examined the relationship between those four factors and swimming performance with respect to age and sex.Stroke efficiency was the salient explanatory factor for swimming performance of swimmers of both sexes under 14 years. For the over-15 age group, muscle strength was the most effective parameter in boys, whereas body size was the most influential factor of swimming performance in girls. The influence of swimming career was small. These results suggest that stroke efficiency contributes strongly to the swimming performance in subjects who are less than 14-years-old, but that body size and muscle strength do not. For swimmers over 15-years-old, stroke efficiency was less important, but muscle strength was an important explanatory factor of swimming performance.

A 4-year-old boy was born with cyanosis and was given a diagnosis of tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia. Echocardiography showed membranous atresia of the pulmonary trunk that was connected to the left side of the ascending aorta via an aortopulmonary window 3 mm in diameter. Four major aortopulmonary collateral arteries (MAPCAs) were detected by cardiac catheterization and computed tomography angiography prior to undergoing surgery at 4 years of age. We performed one-stage complete unifocalization and definitive repair via a median sternotomy. The MAPCA supplying the left lower lobe was anastomosed to the true left pulmonary artery and the pulmonary artery trunk was augmented with an autologous pericardium patch. We then reconstructed the right ventricular outflow tract using a transannular patch and simultaneously patch-closed the VSD. The right/left ventricle pressure ratio after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass was 0.8. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged 26 days later. Seven months after the procedure, the right/left ventricle pressure ratio was decreased to 0.56 on cardiac catheterization.

A baby girl delivered at 41 weeks of gestation with persistent truncus arteriosus (PTA) and interrupted aortic arch (IAA) type A was referred to our institute for surgical intervention. Bilateral pulmonary artery banding (BPAB) proceeded through a median sternotomy at the age of 11 days to control excessive pulmonary blood flow. Thereafter, she gained weight under continuous prostaglandin E1 (PGE 1) infusion. Definitive repair proceeded at the age of 2 months. Cardiopulmonary bypass was established through a redo-median sternotomy, with two arterial cannulae (brachiocephalic artery and descending aorta). The aortic arch was reconstructed with direct anastomosis. The orifice of the pulmonary artery was removed from the arterial trunk and the defect in the aortic wall was directly closed. A ventricular septal defect was closed under cardioplegic arrest via a right ventriculotomy. The continuity from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery was made using a hand-made, extended polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) conduit with a bicusp. The sternum was left open at the end of the procedure and the chest was closed on post-operative day (POD) 3. She was weaned from mechanical ventilation on POD 4 and the postoperative course was uneventful. She was discharged on POD 49.

We report a rare case of double outlet right ventricle (DORV) with sub-pulmonary type ventricular septal defect (VSD). The great arteries were almost side-by-side, and the ascending aorta was located slightly posterior to the right of the pulmonary artery. We performed complete repair at the age of 25 days. Intra-cardiac rerouting (VSD closure) was carried out through the tricuspid valve. Arterial switch procedure was performed without the Lecompte maneuver. His postoperative course was uneventful and he was discharged 19 days after the operation without any complications.

We performed bilateral pulmonary artery banding (BPAB) through a median sternotomy on a four-day-old male infant with a double-outlet right ventricle (DORV) and interrupted aortic arch (IAA) who was delivered at 40 weeks of gestation. After urinary output improved, definitive repair was carried out 5 days later. Intra-ventricular rerouting was followed by arterial switch with the Lecompte maneuver. The aortic arch was reconstructed with direct anastomosis and the right ventricular outflow tract was augmented with a patch. The sternum was left open at the end of the procedure and the chest was closed on post-operative day (POD) 4. The patient was discharged from hospital on POD 78 after receiving treatment for pneumonia and chylothorax.

Thirty-four patients with congenital cardiac disease were studied to evaluated the role of ultrafiltration after cardiopulmonary bypass without homologous blood transfusion. We used either polypropylene microporous hollow fiber hemoconcentrator (HC-30M or 100M) or polyacrylonitrile microporous hollow fiber hemoconcentrator (PHC-500). Ultrafiltration was useful in the reduction of fluid overloading after cardiopulmonary bypass with extreme hemodilution. Thirty-two patients tolerated the procedure uneventfully without donor blood transfusion and were discharged from the hospital. The values of hematocrit, serum protein and free hemoglobin increased significantly after ultrafiltration with either type of hemoconcentrator. However the degree of concentration of blood components was significantly higher with polyacrylonitrile hemoconcentrator than those with polypropylene hemoconcentrator. These results indicated that ultrafiltration was useful for maintaining water balance after cardiopulmonary bypass without homologous blood transfusion in pediatric cardiac surgery and that polyacrylonitrile microporous hollow fiber hemoconcentrator should be employed in patients with shorter bypass time and less hemolysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the economic burden of disability of school-aged children and to evaluate the association between disabilities and household socioeconomic status, as well as the economic burden of disability and household socioeconomic status in Vietnam.
Materials and Methods: Nationally representative data for 9,882 children aged 6 to 17 years from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2006 were used. Disabilities were measured in six basic functional domains, including vision, hearing, remembering or concentrating, mobility, self-care, and communication. We evaluated the association between area, household income, educational attainment, or occupation of household head, and each difficulty. The ratio of health-care expenditure to per capita household income was compared by presence of a disability as well as household socioeconomic status.
Results: The prevalence of difficulty was 1.9% for vision and 2.3% for at least one of the other five domains. Difficulty in vision was more prevalent in the richer households (p=0.001), whereas difficulty in the other five domains was more prevalent in the poorer households (p=0.002). The ratio of health-care expenditure to per capita household income was greater than 0.05 in 4.6% of children. The adjusted odds ratio of children with difficulty in vision having a health-care expenditure share greater than 0.05 compared with children without difficulty was 4.78 (95% CI: 2.95, 7.73; p<0.001), and that for difficulty in the other five domains was 3.13 (95% CI: 2.04, 4.80; p<0.001). Among children with difficulty in at least one of the five domains other than vision, the proportion of children with a health-care expenditure share greater than 0.05 was higher among children from the poorer households (p=0.033).
Conclusions: Children with a disability spent more on health care relative to their income than those without. Visual disability was more prevalent among children from the richer households, whereas other disabilities were more prevalent among children from the poorer households.

A survey was made of the state of home care for healthy old folks and those elderly patients who have been disabled by illness or injury, and the care provided by institutions in six areas throughout the nation.
The number of healthy old people was larger in women than in men. However, men had the edgeon women in Activity Daily Living (ADL). Compared to the healthy aged people, many ill or disabled elderly patients receiving home care were found to be suffering from anemia, low cholesterol level, hypoproteinemia, and poor glucose-tolerance. The major cause of disability was cerebral apoplexy. Recently, the cases of cerebral hemorrhage have decreased in number, and the rate of death in acute stage has notability declined ; however, the incidence of cerebral infarction is on the increase among the aged.
There are limits to care for disabled elderly patients at home by the family because of the aging of their spouses and the increasing trend toward the nuclear family. Many of those who look after the sick persons are crying for expert help and services capable of coping with a sudden change in the patient's condition. Hence the need to establish a 24-hour home care providing system. It is desirable to establish old people's homes, as residential care institusion, in alignment with hospitals. This system would facilitate hospitalization in case of emergency. To execute care programs more effectively, close collaboration will be necessary among hospital, home care services, clinics, local governments, agricultural cooperatives, and neighborhood associations.

Endemic areas of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) have been reported in Japan as well as tropical Africa, Central and South America and Melanesia. The existence of two subgroups, i.e., the transcontinental and Japanese subgroups, was reported in Japan. In the present study, we provide data on the ratio of the two subgroups in each endemic area and infection foci and examine the distribution of HTLV-1 in Japan and neighboring areas. A 657 bp fragment of env region of HTLV-1 proviral genome was successfully amplified for 183 HTLV-1 positive DNA samples. The subgroup determination was done by RFLP reactions using endonucleases HpaI and HinfI. The northern part of mainland Kyushu, represented by Hirado and Kumamoto, was monopolized by the Japanese subgroup, while the transcontinental subgroup ranged from 20 to 35% in the Pacific coast areas of Shikoku (Kochi), the Ryukyu Archipelago (Kakeroma and Okinawa) and Taiwan. An interesting finding in the present study is the presence of the transcontinental subgroup in Kochi, suggesting the endemicity of the transcontinental subgroup along the Kuroshio Current.

We conducted phylogenetic analyses and an estimation of coalescence times for East Asian strains of HTLV-1. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the following three lineages exist in Japan: “JPN”, primarily comprising Japanese isolates; “EAS”, comprising Japanese and two Chinese isolates, of which one originated from Chengdu and the other from Fujian; and “GLB1”, comprising isolates from various locations worldwide, including a few Japanese isolates. It was estimated that the JPN and EAS lineages originated as independent lineages approximately 3,900 and 6,000 years ago, respectively. Based on archaeological findings, the “Out of Sunda” hypothesis was recently proposed to clarify the source of the Jomon (early neolithic) cultures of Japan. According to this hypothesis, it is suggested that the arrival of neolithic people in Japan began approximately 10,000 years ago, with a second wave of immigrants arriving between 6,000 and 4,000 years ago, peaking at around 4,000 years ago. Estimated coalescence times of the EAS and JPN lineages place the origins of these lineages within this 6,000–4,000 year period, suggesting that HTLV-1 was introduced to Japan by neolithic immigrants, not Paleo-Mongoloids. Moreover, our data suggest that the other minor lineage, GLB1, may have been introduced to Japan by Africans accompanying European traders several centuries ago, during or after “The Age of Discovery.” Thus, the results of this study greatly increase our understanding of the origins and current distribution of HTLV-1 lineages in Japan and provide further insights into the ethno-epidemiology of HTLV-1.