1)The Keio ACLS Popularizing and Promoting Association (KAPPA) is an official student organization that promotes advanced life support techniques.
2)KAPPA has provided 29 advanced cardiac life support courses, including 20 official ICLS (immediate cardiac life support) courses of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, which have trained 314 ICLS providers and 61 ICLS instructors during the past 8 years.
3)Peer–led training among students to maintain the quality of the courses has contributed to the activities of KAPPA.

Methods: Patients with degenerative lumbar diseases, whose MRIs detected BME, were enrolled. On a T2-weighted fat-saturated MRI, BME appeared as a high-intensity region adjacent to the vertebral endplate. We calculated the contrast ratios (CRs) of BME and normal bone marrow using the signal intensities of BME, normal bone marrow, and the spinal cord. On computed tomography, we calculated Hounsfield unit (HU) values in the same area as BME, the sclerotic endplate, and normal bone marrow to assess bone density. Results: There were 16 men and 14 women, with an average age of 73.5 years. The mean CRs of BME and normal bone marrow were −0.015±0.056 and −0.407±0.023, respectively. BME’s CR was significantly higher than that of normal bone marrow (p<0.01). The HU values in the same area as BME, the sclerotic endplate, and normal bone marrow were 251.9±24.6, 828.3±35.6, and 98.1±9.3, respectively; these values were significantly different from each other (p<0.01). Conclusions The CR on MRI is a useful quantitative assessment tool for BME in patients with degenerative lumbar diseases.

Obesity-associated cancers, including colorectal cancer, are increasing in Japan with Westernized lifestyles as exemplified by reduced physical activity and increased high-fat diet. An excessive accumulation of visceral adipose tissue causes insulin resistance, oxidative stress and adipocytokine imbalance, and these factors are suggested to be involved in colorectal tumorigenesis. In this review article, we focus on the relationships between each of the individual associated conditions, especially obesity and exercise, and colorectal tumor development with targeting molecules revealed by in vivo and in vitro studies. Furthermore, the potential for colorectal cancer prevention by targeting these molecules is discussed.