Objective: Hypertriglyceridemia or elevated serum triglyceride (TG) is a leading risk factor for developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases.This clinical study was designed to test the potential of polyphenol-rich extract from Rosa rugosa petals (PE) for improving hypertriglyceridemia and other types of dyslipidemia. Methods: An open-label clinical study was conducted on 19 male and female adult subjects with elevated serum TG (120–399 mg/dL), who were intervened the study diet containing (in a daily dose) 200 mg of PE once daily for sss4 weeks.The serum levels of TG and cholesterols were measured at baseline and week-4.The efficacy was evaluated by comparing the measurements at these two timepoints. Results: A significant decrease (P < 0.05) in serum TG, as well as in serum total cholesterol and non HDL-cholesterol, and a marginally significant decrease (P = 0.070) in serum LDL-cholesterol were observed, while serum HDL-cholesterol was virtually not changed.The study diet was well tolerated without any untoward side effect. Conclusions: The PE-containing diet appears to have benefits in improving hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia.

A 59-year-old woman has presented symptoms of fatigue since January 1996. Atypical coarctation due to aortitis syndrome had been diagnosed 8 years earlier. Her upper-limb blood pressure was 200mmHg and antihypertensive drugs were administered. An aortogram showed severe stenoses of the aorta at the level of the diaphragm and renal artery. A computed tomogram showed extensive calcification of the aorta below the origin of the left subclavian artery. She underwent a bypass operation with a 16-mm-diameter prosthetic graft from the ascending aorta to the infrarenal abdominal aorta. She has progressed well after the bypass and her upper-limb blood pressure is almost normal.

The collagen gel droplet-embedded culture drug sensitivity test (CD-DST) identifies effective anticancer drug using resected tumor specimen, enabling tailor-made chemotherapy for a rare tumor. We report a case of the patient with leiomyosarcoma originating in the inferior vena cava, to which CD-DST was applied. This application has not been previously reported to the best of our knowledge. A 61-year-old woman consulted a nearby hospital because of abdominal pain. Computed tomography revealed an inferior vena cava tumor. The tumor was resected with the inferior vena cava, which was reconstructed with a 16 mm ePTFE graft. The tumor was diagnosed as leiomyosarcoma histopathologically. CDDP, VP-16, ADR, and VDS were CD-DST showed the tumor to be sensitive. Her postoperative course has been good without recurrence of tumor for 6 months, and the results of CD-DST may be helpful for chemotherapy strategy in case of recurrence.

In Japan, awareness has increased in recent years of the importance of evaluating clinical educators. In Europe and North America, the Objective Structured Teaching Evaluation (OSTE), which employs standardized students, multiple stations, video recording, and scoring by multiple observers, is used to evaluate clinical educators. We report on the implementation of an OSTE in Japan.1) Ten clinician-educator physicians participated in the OSTE, which comprised 5 stations and included standardized residents. The stations were video-recorded, and the educators were assessed by 7 different evaluators.2) The educators were evaluated with a checklist and a 5-point scale. We assessed the reliability and validity of the checklist and analyzed the background characteristics of the clinician educators.3) The factors most closely associated with high ratings on the checklist and the 5-point scale were: having a history of attendance at a seminar for clinician-educators, having greater than 5 years experience as an educator, and not being an internist. There was no interobserver variability among the evaluators.4) The generalizability of the checklist was 0.81, and its reliability index was 0.83. The correlation coefficient between the total scale score and the checklist score was 0.8. 5) Although biases by participants were identified, our project suggests that the OSTE could be used in Japan to objectively evaluate the teaching skills of clinician-educators. Further research on the OSTE in Japan is warranted.

A 10-year-old girl with heart murmur immediately after birth was found to have a ventricular septal defect (VSD). Although she had been followed up for an insignificant shunt, funnel chest became apparent and was referred to our hostpital at the age of 10. She was 133 cm in height, 25.7 kg in weight with a body surface area of 0.99 m². The VSD was the muscular outflow type with a Qp/Qs of 1.1, defect of 2.5 mm in diameter, and pulmonary artery pressure of 24/10/15 mmHg. Pectus excavatum was apparent with a CT index of 2.99. The preceding surgery for one was likely to interfere with the subsequent surgery for the other. Therefore we decided on concomitant surgery for both. Under median sternotomy, cardiopulmonary bypass was established and the VSD was closed with a patch. After the pericardium was sutured and closed, a tape was carefully passed through the chest wall under the guidance of direct vision and digital palpation. A metal bar was inserted guided by the tape, reversed with a rotator, appropriately shaped with a hand bender, and was fixed to the chest wall with the stabilizer bars at both ends. The sternum was sutured with 1-0 polyester sutures and two sternum pins made of particulate hydroxyapatite and poly-L lactide. The postoperative course was uneventful. After 2 years, the excavatum was adequately corrected and the bar was successfully removed under general anesthesia. Although the comorbidity of VSD and funnel chest is rare, concomitant surgery for both can be safely carried out and may be considered as an option for treatment.

PURPOSE: Plasma neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) levels are associated with several neural disorders. We previously reported that neurotrophins were released from salivary glands following acute immobilization stress. While the salivary glands were the source of plasma neurotrophins in that situation, the association between the expression of neurotrophins and the salivary gland under chronic stress conditions is not well understood. In the present study, we investigated whether NT-3 levels in the salivary gland and plasma were influenced by chronic stress. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Expressions of NT-3 mRNA and protein were characterized, using real-time polymerase chain reactions, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and immunohistochemistry, in the submandibular glands of male rats exposed to chronic stress (12 h daily for 22 days). RESULTS: Plasma NT-3 levels were significantly increased by chronic stress (p<0.05), and remained elevated in bilaterally sialoadenectomized rats under the same condition. Since chronic stress increases plasma NT-3 levels in the sialoadenectomized rat model, plasma NT-3 levels were not exclusively dependent on salivary glands. CONCLUSION: While the salivary gland was identified in our previous study as the source of plasma neurotrophins during acute stress, the exposure to long-term stress likely affects a variety of organs capable of releasing NT-3 into the bloodstream. In addition, the elevation of plasma NT-3 levels may play important roles in homeostasis under stress conditions.
Animals ; Male ; Neurotrophin 3/*blood/genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stress, Physiological/*physiology ; Submandibular Gland/*metabolism

Noxious stimuli in the esophagus activate nociceptive receptors on esophageal mucosa, such as transient receptor potential, acid-sensing ion channel and the P2X family, a family of ligand-gated ion channels responsive to ATP, and this generates signals that are transmitted to the central nervous system via either spinal nerves or vagal nerves, resulting in esophageal sensation. Among the noxious stimuli, gastric acid and other gastric contents are clinically most important, causing typical reflux symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation. A conventional acid penetration theory has been used to explain the mechanism of heartburn, but much recent evidence does not support this theory. Therefore, it may be necessary to approach the causes of heartburn symptoms from a new conceptual framework. Hypersensitivity of the esophagus, like that of other visceral organs, includes peripheral, central and probably psychosocial factor-mediated hypersensitivity, and is known to play crucial roles in the pathoegenesis of nonerosive reflux disease, functional heartburn and non-cardiac chest pain. There also are esophagitis patients who do not perceive typical symptoms. This condition is known as silent gastroesophageal reflux disease. Although the pathogenesis of silent gastroesophageal reflux disease is still not known, hyposensitivity to reflux of acid may possibly explain the condition.
Adenosine Triphosphate ; Central Nervous System ; Chest Pain ; Esophagitis ; Esophagus ; Gastric Acid ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Heartburn ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Ion Channels ; Ligand-Gated Ion Channels ; Mucous Membrane ; Nociceptors ; Sensation ; Spinal Nerves

Recently, in addition to standard surgical operations, reduction therapy (endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic gastrectomy) is indicated for early gastric cancer. However, the indication should be limited to the casesof early gastric cancer without lymph node metastases.
During the past 25 years, we have surgically treated 2, 246 cases of early gastric cancer. The percentage of lymph node metastasis in 1, 242 mucosal cancer cases was 1.8% and that in 1, 004 submucosal cancer cases was 16.9%. In the mucosal cancer cases, lymph node metastasis did not occur in the depressedtumors with a diameter of less than 10mm and the elevated tumors with a diameted of less than 20mm. In the submucosal cancer cases, lymph node metastasis did not occur in the elevated tumors less than 10mm in diameter. So, the cases of gastric cancerof these types require the reduction therapy.
However, in the mucosal cancers that have been diagnosed during the last 5 years, the percentage of preoperative correct diagnosis as for thedepth of invasion was 69.4%. In the submucosal cancers, the rate was 60.1%. Many of the cases diagnosed incorrectly had ulcers in the lesion. As for the infiltration type, INFβ and γ were noticeable in these cases. As for the histological type, most of the cases wereof the undifferentiated type.
Moreover, if should be noted, the percentage that the histological type of preoperative ensoscopic biopsy specimens agrees with that of postoperative ones is 50-60% except for tubl of mucosal cancers.

Introduction : We initiated an ambulatory care training program at five community hospitals in Nagasaki, including hospitals on remote islands, for the residents of Nagasaki University Hospital. We examined the educational effect of the ambulatory care training program in meeting the achievement targets for clinical training.
Methods : The study included all residents (n=49) working in Nagasaki University Hospital in 2012. Following completion of the ambulatory care training program, the residents answered a questionnaire on the number of patients and their symptoms, inaddition to a self-assessment, and assessment by their supervisor.
Results : The mean number of patients seen was 3.29 persons / training session. The number of symptoms to be encountered, which are established by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, was positively correlated with the total number of patients seen. Although residents initially had a low rating of self-assessment on diagnosis or treatment, this rating tended to increase with time. The gap in levels on assessment of history taking, diagnosis, or treatment by residents versus those by the supervisors reduced with time in the program.
Conclusion : Our ambulatory care training program is an effective program for meeting the achievement targets in clinical training for residents.