Farmer's lung is a form of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which is manifested mainly as an occupational disease among dairy farmers exposed to organic dusts from moldy hay and compost in silos and lofts. In Europe and America, it has been known for many years. In Japan, it frequently occurs in Hokkaido, Iwate and Hokuriku districts during winter months from November to March. The culprit antigens are spores of actinomycetes thermophilus such as Micropolyspora faeni and Thermoactinomyces vulgaris. In recent years, various preventive measures have been taken. For instance, in order to prevent hay from heating by fermentation and the thermophile from thriving, farmers desiccate hay as much as possible and keep it in air-tight plastic containers. The result is a notable decrease in the prevalence rate of this ailment. Nonetheless, with graying the rural population, pulmonary fibrosis caused by chronic exposure to low levels of organic dust is posing a grave health problem in the dairy farming communities. As a prophylactic measure against chronic fibrotic lung disease, there is a need to implement a comprehensive heath control program consisting of continual sanitary checkups at workplace and counseling at an early stage in addition to periodic health examinations. Another health threat which has more recently loomed up in the dairy farming communities is environmental pollution.

The purpose of this study was to explore the burden of introducing LCP-J in two wards（medical oncology and respiratory medicine）in Tohoku University Hospital. We administered audit evaluations about dying cancer patients and interviewed 2 doctors and 8 nurses regarding LCP-J intervention. LCP-J was used for 22 patients（38％）, and no significant difference in infusion, potent opioid analgesic and sedative medication within last 48 hours were seen between users and nonusers. Responses were categorized into［confirm directions about dying care among health care professionals］, and［training in dying care in a structured way］as usefulness facets of the LCP-J, and［difficulty in assessment of dying］,［burden of health care professionals］, and［difficulty using LCP-J without knowledge and training in dying care］as burdens of the LCP-J. We explored the burden of LCP-J in general wards, and found that use of the LCP-J could need education in dying care and backup of the palliative care team.

Objective: The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score is a useful tool in defining the clinical conditions and describing the acute morbidity of patient populations with critical illness. This study was performed to assess the usefulness of the SOFA score in predicting the prognosis among cardiac or thoracic aortic postoperative patients. Methods: In total, 123 patients who entered the intensive care unit after a cardiac or thoracic aortic operation from August 2019 to December 2020 were retrospectively investigated. The SOFA score cut-off value from the admission day to postoperative day 3 calculated in the first 60 patients (derivation group) was validated in the latter 63 patients (validation group). Additionally, the Japan SCORE cut-off value calculated in the derivation group was validated in the validation group. Results: The perioperative mortality rate, in-hospital mortality rate and hospital transfer rate were 4.9, 7.3, and 13.2%, respectively. A SOFA score cut-off value of ≥7 for prediction of in-hospital mortality resulted in a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 81% on postoperative day 2, followed by high sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 95% on postoperative day 3. A SOFA score cut-off value of ≥6 for prediction of hospital transfer resulted in a sensitivity of 57% and a specificity of 67% on postoperative day 2. Conclusion: The SOFA score on postoperative day 2 provides good discriminatory power for in-hospital mortality among cardiac or thoracic aortic postoperative patients. The SOFA scoring system could be useful for predicting short-term prognosis of patients who undergo cardiac or thoracic aortic surgery.

Retrograde myocardial protection plays an important role in cardiac surgery and is widely used. We herein report a rare cardiac surgical case complicated with small coronary sinus ostium in which the cannula of retrograde cardioplegia could not be inserted. A 58 years old man was referred for the treatment of regurgitation and aortic regurgitation. Preoperative ECG gated computed tomography (CT) showed that the orifice of the largest coronary sinus was located in the right atrium with a diameter of only 4 mm with an other 3 smaller orifice in the right atrium and ventricle, which appeared to make it difficult to perform retrograde myocardial protection. The operative finding was consistent with the preoperative CT finding and mitral valve repair and aortic valve replacement were performed using only selective antegrade myocardial protection. We should bear in mind that small coronary ostium exists and preoperative assessment of the size of coronary sinus might be important.

BACKGROUND: Pretesting is the key to understanding how the intended audience will react to the message. Resistant reactions affect message processing or can lead to undesirable boomerang effects. The objective of this study was to develop a rating scale for measuring active (reactance) and passive (disengagement) resistance to persuasive health messages. METHODS: Six candidate items (3 items for disengagement and 3 items for reactance) were generated based on literature review. A web-based survey was conducted among Japanese adults aged 25-64 years to verify the reliability and validity of the 6-item resistance scale. Participants were asked to rate one of the advance care planning (ACP) promotion messages. All scale items were scored on a 1-to-5 point Likert scale and they were averaged to produce the resistance score. RESULTS: Explanatory factor analysis revealed a two-factor solution that agreed with the disengagement and reactance domains, respectively. Correlation coefficients between each set of items ranged between 0.30-0.69. Cronbach alpha (0.86) indicated satisfactory internal consistency of the set of items. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of the two-factor model with CFI = 0.998, SRMR = 0.011, and RMSEA = 0.041. The resistance score showed a moderate positive correlation with negative emotional responses (displeasure γ = 0.55, anger γ = 0.53) and was significantly inversely related to the persuasiveness score (γ = -0.50). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio for ACP intention per 1-point increase in the resistance score was 0.47 (95% confidence interval 0.40-0.56) with adjustment for the persuasiveness score. CONCLUSION: The 6-item resistance scale exhibited adequate reliability and validity for measuring audience resistance when applied to the ACP promotion messages in Japanese people. The scale will be useful for pretesting health messages to make them more acceptable to the intended audience. TRIAL REGISTRATION Not applicable; this is not a report of intervention trial.
Adult ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Humans ; Intention ; Middle Aged ; Persuasive Communication ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Obesity associated with unhealthy diet and lack of exercise is shown to contribute to the onset and/or aggravation of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes, thus placing affected individuals at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Plasma adiponectin levels are decreased in obesity, which causes insulin resistance and diabetes. Therefore, we identified adiponectin receptors (AdipoRs) as the therapeutic target. It was suggested that, similarly to caloric restriction and exercise, activation of the AdipoRs may have the potential not only to improve lifestyle-related diseases but to contribute to prolonged the shortened lifespan on a high caloric unhealthy diet. To this end, we have identified "AdipoRon" as an adiponectin receptor agonist. Indeed, AdipoRon ameliorated diabetes associated with obesity as well as to increase exercise endurance, thus prolonging shortened lifespan of obese mice fed on a high fat diet. Additionally, we have recently determined the crystal structures of the human AdipoRs. The seven-transmembrane helices of AdipoRs are structurally distinct from those of G-protein coupled receptors. It is expected that these findings will contribute not only to the elucidation of the AdipoR-related signal transduction but to the development and optimization of AdipoR-targeted therapeutics for obesity-related diseases such as diabetes.
Adiponectin ; Animals ; Caloric Restriction ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diet ; Diet, High-Fat ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Mice ; Mice, Obese ; Obesity* ; Plasma ; Receptors, Adiponectin ; Signal Transduction

We herein report an extremely rare cardiac tumor of lymphatic malformation in 77-year-old man. The computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a mass from the lateral side of the left atrium to the lateral and posterior wall of the left ventricle among intrapericardial adipose tissue involving the left coronary artery. We performed partial resection of the tumor for definitive diagnosis under cardiopulmonary bypass. The histological finding was cardiac lymphatic malformation and was considered to be benign. There was no evidence of the growth of any cardiac tumor during the one-year follow up.

Background/Aims: Although risk factors of reflux esophagitis (RE) have been investigated in numerous cross-sectional studies, little is known about predictive factors associated with future onset of RE. We investigated time courses of clinical parameters before RE onset by a longitudinal case-control study using health checkup records. Methods: We used health checkup records between April 2004 and March 2014 at 9 institutions in Japan. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate associations of baseline clinical parameters with RE. The time courses of the clinical parameters of RE subjects were compared with those of non-RE subjects by the mixed-effects models for repeated measures analysis or longitudinal multivariate logistic analysis. Results: Initial data were obtained from 230 056 individuals, and 2066 RE subjects and 4132 non-RE subjects were finally included in the analysis. Body mass index, alanine aminotransferase, smoking, acid reflux symptoms, hiatal hernia, and absence of atrophic gastritis at baseline were independently associated with RE. The time courses of body mass index, fasting blood sugar, triglyceride, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, percentages of acid reflux symptoms, feeling of fullness, and hiatal hernia in the RE group were significantly worse than in the non-RE group. Conclusions The RE group displayed a greater worsening of the clinical parameters associated with lifestyle diseases, including obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and fatty liver for 5 years before RE onset compared with the non-RE group. These results suggest that RE is a lifestyle disease and thus lifestyle guidance to at-risk person may help to prevent RE onset.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is a controversy about the availability of invasive treatment for esophageal/gastric varices in patients with Child-Pugh class C (CP-C) end-stage liver cirrhosis (LC). We have evaluated the validity of invasive treatment with CP-C end-stage LC patients. METHODS: The study enrolled 51 patients with CP-C end-stage LC who had undergone invasive treatment. The treatment modalities included endoscopic variceal ligation in 22 patients, endoscopic injection sclerotherapy in 17 patients, and balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) in 12 patients. We have investigated the overall survival (OS) rates and risk factors that contributed to death within one year after treatment. RESULTS: The OS rate in all patients at one, three, and five years was 72.6%, 30.2%, and 15.1%, respectively. The OS rate in patients who received endoscopic treatment and the BRTO group at one, three, and five years was 67.6%, 28.2% and 14.1% and 90.0%, 36.0% and 18.0%, respectively. The average of Child-Pugh scores (CPS) from before treatment to one month after variceal treatment significantly improved from 10.53 to 10.02 (P=0.003). Three significant factors that contributed to death within one year after treatment included the presence of bleeding varices, high CPS (≥11), and high serum total bilirubin levels (≥4.0 mg/dL). CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that patients with a CPS of up to 10 and less than 4.0 mg/dL of serum total bilirubin levels may not have a negative impact on prognosis after invasive treatment for esophageal/gastric varices despite their CP-C end-stage LC.
Balloon Occlusion ; Bilirubin ; Endoscopy ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; Ligation ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver ; Prognosis ; Risk Factors ; Sclerotherapy ; Varicose Veins

We herein report a rare case of unruptured, giant left coronary sinus of Valsalva aneurysm and discuss surgical pitfalls associated with sinus of Valsalva aneurysms. A 63-year-old man was referred to us for clinical diagnosis and surgical treatment of a huge mass in the mediastinum. Enhanced computed tomography (CT) imaging revealed that the mass was a left coronary sinus of Valsalva aneurysm with a diameter of 74×57 mm ; moreover, the left coronary artery originated from the aneurysmal wall. In addition, echocardiography showed moderate aortic regurgitation (AR) caused by dilatation of the aortic annulus. Based on these findings, the Bentall procedure was selected for the Valsalva aneurysm and significant AR. The orifice of the aneurysm was 15×15 mm in size, and the aortic wall of the left coronary sinus was relatively thin. The left main trunk was injured due to severe adhesion between the trunk and the aneurysm ; therefore, vein patch repair was performed with a saphenous vein graft. Since the aortic annulus of the left coronary cusp was fragile, proximal anastomosis of the composite graft to the lesion had to be placed in the fibrous continuity between the aortic and mitral valves. With respect to the proximal anastomosis at the aortic annulus of the left coronary cusp, the suture line was covered with a bovine pericardium patch as there were no remnants of the normal aortic wall. The postoperative course was uneventful, and postoperative CT revealed complete resection of the aneurysm with no evidence of stenosis of the left main trunk.