Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the flexibility of the quadriceps femoris and the period from onset of the Osgood-Schlatter disease. Subjects: 45 patients (66 lower limbs) with Osgood-Schlatter disease participated in this study. Methods: Subjects were classified into acute-phase group (pain occurred within one month, 23 subjects, 32 lower limbs) and chronic-phase group (pain occurred over one month, 22 subjects, 34 lower limbs). As a measure of muscle flexibility of the quadriceps femoris, Heel-Buttock distance (HBD) were measured in all participants. Results: The flexibility of the quadriceps femoris within the chronic-phase group was significantly reduced flexibility (10.2 ± 6.5 cm) than in acute-phase group (4.6 ± 5.9 cm; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Patients of the OSD, even if not found a decrease in muscle flexibility of the quadriceps femoris during the acute phase, may be decrease the flexibility as time passes. Prevent the worse symptoms of OSD, it would be effective to introduce stretching from acute phase irrespective reduced flexibility in the physical therapy treatment plan.

We encountered a probable case of loiasis in a returned traveler from Central Africa. A 52-year-old Japanese woman presented to our hospital complaining of discomfort in her eyes and skin. She reported having frequently visited Central Africa over many years and having been extensively exposed to the rainforest climate and ecosystem. Although no microfilariae were found in her blood, there was an elevated level of IgG antibodies against the crude antigens of Brugia pahangi, which have cross-reactivity with Loa loa. She was treated with albendazole for 21 days, after which the antigen-specific IgG level decreased and no relapse occurred.

To study the sand fly fauna, surveys were performed atfour different leishmaniasis-endemic areas of Ecuador, during February 2013 andApril 2014. The conventional Shannon trap was modified and simplified to anewly named mini-Shannon trap for its multiple uses at different study sites,such as limited, forested and narrow spaces. The mini-Shannon, CDC light trapsand the protected human landing method were employed for sand fly collection.The species identification of sand flies was performed mainly based on themorphology of spermathecae and cibarium, after dissection of freshsamples.  In this study, therefore, onlyfemale samples were used for analysis. A total of1,480 female sand flies belonging to 25 Lutzomyia species were collected. Numbers of the female sand fliescollected by each trap were 417 (28.2%) by the mini-Shannon trap, 259 (17.5%)by CDC light trap and 804 (54.3%) by human landing. The total number of sand flies per trap collected bydifferent methods was markedly affected by study sites, probably because ofdifferent species compositions at each locality. Further, as an additionalstudy, the attractiveness of sand flies against the mini-Shannon traps poweredwith LED White-light and LED Black-light, waspreliminary tested, together with CDC light trap and human landing. In the test,a total of 426 sand flies of nine Lutzomyia species, seven man-biting and two non-man-biting species, were collected by threecapture trials during May and June 2014 in an area endemic for leishmaniasis(La Ventura). The Black-light equipped trap was relatively superior in capturenumbers to the White-light equipped one, but no significant difference wasobserved statistically between the two traps.

OBJECTIVE: Smartphone use is pervasive among youth in Japan, as with many other countries, and is associated with spending time online and on social media anywhere at any time. This study aimed to test a Japanese version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) among Japanese college students. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 602 college students in Japan. The study questionnaire consisted of questions about demographics (age, gender etc.), possession of a smartphone, internet use [length of internet use on weekdays and weekend, favorite social networking service (SNS) etc.], Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) translated into Japanese. RESULTS: There was a total of 573 respondents (180 male, 393 female) who completed the questionnaire (mean 19.3±1.3 years). LINE was the most popular social media platform (52.0%) followed by Twitter (36.3%). The overall Internet Addiction Test (IAT) score was 45.3±13.2, with 4.5% classified as having severe addiction (IAT ≥70). The mean SAS-SV scores were 24.4±10.0 for males and 26.8±9.9 for females. Based on proposed cutoff scores, 22.8% of males and 28.0% of females screened positive for smartphone addiction. The total scores of the SAS-SV and the IAT was correlated significantly. CONCLUSION As the number of smartphone users becomes higher, problems related to smartphone use also become more serious. Our results suggest that the Japanese version of SAS-SV may assist in early detection of problematic use of smartphones.

Due to the rapid pandemic of the new coronavirus infection, a state of emergency was declared in Japan in April 2020, which had a great impact on people's lives. Under these circumstances, the development of COVID‒19 Vaccine (ChAdOx1‒S［recombinant］) (VaxzevriaTM Intramuscular Injection) was started by Oxford University for the purpose of preventing COVID-19, and then AstraZeneca took over it. That vaccine was approved in the UK in December 2020. In Japan, an application for manufacturing and marketing approval was submitted in February 2021, and granted a Special Approval for Emergency for the indication of “prevention of infectious diseases caused by SARS-CoV-2” for people aged 18 or older in May 2021. For post-marketing safety measures conducted in COVID-19 pandemic, it includes the Early Post-marketing Phase Vigilance (EPPV), General Use Result Study following the priority survey (by the Scientific Research Group of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) at the initial stage of administration of the COVID-19 vaccination, Specific Use Result Study targeting vaccinated people with the special background, and the periodic submission of data about post-marketing safety information in and outside Japan. This contribution will describe the safety measures conducted by an unconventional method in the post-marketing setting. Especially, in COVID-19 pandemic, conducting EPPV via Medical Representative (MR) as usual is assumed to lead to a risk to increase the threat of infection to the overwhelmed healthcare professionals； therefore, the interactive EPPV avoiding the direct contact with the healthcare professionals was conducted on the basis of discussion with the regulatory authority prior to the approval, and would be introduced here.

To study the sand fly fauna, surveys were performed at four different leishmaniasis-endemic sites in Ecuador from February 2013 to April 2014. A modified and simplified version of the conventional Shannon trap was named “mini-Shannon trap” and put to multiple uses at the different study sites in limited, forested and narrow spaces. The mini-Shannon, CDC light trap and protected human landing method were employed for sand fly collection. The species identification of sand flies was performed mainly based on the morphology of spermathecae and cibarium, after dissection of fresh samples. In this study, therefore, only female samples were used for analysis. A total of 1,480 female sand flies belonging to 25 Lutzomyia species were collected. The number of female sand flies collected was 417 (28.2%) using the mini-Shannon trap, 259 (17.5%) using the CDC light trap and 804 (54.3%) by human landing. The total number of sand flies per trap collected by the different methods was markedly affected by the study site, probably because of the various composition of species at each locality. Furthermore, as an additional study, the attraction of sand flies to mini-Shannon traps powered with LED white-light and LED black-light was investigated preliminarily, together with the CDC light trap and human landing. As a result, a total of 426 sand flies of nine Lutzomyia species, including seven man-biting and two non-biting species, were collected during three capture trials in May and June 2014 in an area endemic for leishmaniasis (La Ventura). The black-light proved relatively superior to the white-light with regard to capture numbers, but no significant statistical difference was observed between the two traps.

Objective: The present study aims to determine the concentrations of seven trace elements [chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cesium (Cs), lead (Pb), thorium (Th), and uranium (U)] in tap, well, spring, river, and lake waters in the town of Angono, Rizal in the Philippines, consumed for drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing. In the town of Angono, both of the tap and purified tap waters produced in the refilling station are consumed as the water for drinking. Methods: Water samples from six unpurified tap, six purified taps, 10 wells, two springs, two rivers, and one lake water were obtained in October 2015. Samples were analyzed using solution nebulization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Results were evaluated for health risks of the trace elements in the water samples using WHO guideline values. The provisional WHO guideline values are as follows: Cr: 50 μg/L, As: 10 μg/L, Cd: 3 μg/L, Pb: 10 μg/L, and U: 30 μg/L. That of Cs has not been proposed yet. The WHO guideline value for the naturally occurring radioactive isotope 232Th in drinking water is 1 Bq/L, which is equivalent to 250 μg/L. Results: The concentrations of the trace elements in the tap water samples were <0.5% of the WHO guideline values, except Cs and Cd, with those of Cd being ~9% of the WHO guideline value. Purified tap waters contained the seven trace elements in lower concentrations, with the exception of Pb, which may have been added in small amounts from equipment used for water purification. The concentrations of the trace elements in water samples from the wells and springs in Angono were more variable than those of the tap waters, and these were also below the WHO guideline values. The concentrations of Cs in all water samples were <0.3 μg/L. The trace-element concentrations of the waters from Angono River and Laguna Lake were almost the same as those of the well and spring waters. Conclusion At present, the concentrations of trace elements in daily life water consumed in Angono are at safe levels.
Trace Elements