Comparative double-blind trial of KN-7 tablet and Robaveron injection in the treatment of neurogenic bladder

37施設で, 神経因性膀胱233例を対象に, ロバベロン注射剤を標準薬とし, KN-7錠剤の経口投与による排尿障害に対する有用性を, 二重盲検群間比較試験で比較検討した.解析対象例はKN-7群108例, ロバベロン群107例である.KN-7群は1日6錠投与した.改善度の効果判定では改善以上K群40.7%, R群38.7%, やゝ改善以上それぞれ76.9%, 72.6%と有意差はなかった.臨床所見中改善の良かった項目は, 尿意, 残尿感, 尿失禁, 排尿までの時間, 排尿時間, 尿勢-排尿力と尿線中断の改善などで, これらの改善以上はK群35.8%, R群30.8%で, 有意差はなかった.副作用はK群0.9%, R群6.8%, K群が有意に少なかった.両剤とも主として下痢で, R群ではその他頭痛, 頻脈, 肝機能障害, 発熱感などを少数例認めた.臨床検査値ではGOT, GPTの上昇が2例あった.有用度有用以上はK群46.3%, R群45.8%で有意差はなかった.疾患別では, 末梢神経疾患, 膀胱の性状では弛緩性, 時期では12ヵ月以内の例で特に改善率が高かった.以上から, KN-7錠剤は, ロバベロン注射剤に比べ, 同等の効果が期待でき, 安全性も高く, 長期投与あるいは外来患者の治療にも適するThe clinical effectiveness, safety and usefulness of KN-7 tablet as a new oral application of the prostatic extract, on urinary dysfunction of neurogenic bladder were compared with those of Robaveron injection by the double-blind test method. In the study, 2 tablets t.i.d. and a shot of intramuscular injection 1 ml a day were given successively for 3 weeks. A total of 233 cases were reported from 37 facilities belonging to the KN-7 Clinical Research Group. Some of them were excluded or dropped out. The number of cases used for analysing the effectiveness, safety and usefulness were 214, 232 and 215, respectively. There was no bias between the two groups with a significant homogeneity in the background. In the overall clinical effectiveness, the effective rate including excellent, moderate and slightly effective was 76.9% with KN-7 and 77.4% with Robaveron. In the clinical usefulness, the rate of usefulness of slightly useful or above was 75.0% with KN-7 and 75.7% with Robaveron. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the clinical effective and useful rates at a significant level of 5%. Side effects were observed in 1 of the 114 (0.9%) patients given KN-7 and 8 of the 118 (6.8%) patients given Robaveron. The incidence of adverse reactions with KN-7 was significantly lower than that with Robaveron. Based on the results, it was concluded that KN-7 tablets, 2 tablets t.i.d., would be as effective and useful as a Robaveron injection 1 ml daily and safer than the latter in the treatment of neurogenic bladder

Observation results by the TAMA300 detector on gravitational wave bursts from stellar-core collapses

We present data-analysis schemes and results of observations with the TAMA300 gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse events. In analyses for burst gravitational waves, the detection and fake-reduction schemes are different from well-investigated ones for a chirp-wave analysis, because precise waveform templates are not available. We used an excess-power filter for the extraction of gravitational-wave candidates, and developed two methods for the reduction of fake events caused by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis schemes were applied to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. As a result, fake events were reduced by a factor of about 1000 in the best cases. The resultant event candidates were interpreted from an astronomical viewpoint. We set an upper limit of 2.2x10^3 events/sec on the burst gravitational-wave event rate in our Galaxy with a confidence level of 90%. This work sets a milestone and prospects on the search for burst gravitational waves, by establishing an analysis scheme for the observation data from an interferometric gravitational wave detector

PROBLEM OF THE PERINATAL MEDICAL SYSTEM IN NARA PREFECTURE

We investigated actual conditions and needs of maternal and neonatal transportation in Nara Medical University Hospital, Prefectural Nara Hospital, and National Nara Hospital in the period 1996.4-1997.3. Approximately 25% of the cases were transported to other facilities in other prefectures. We estimate that the number of cases requiring admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was about 270 in this period. If all the cases go to one facility, we need 31 beds in NICU. As a result of our investigation, more than 12 beds of NICU are needed in Nara Medical University Hospital, or Prefectural Nara Hospital. Efforts to develop perinatal medical care system in Nara Prefecture are necessary

Global Positioning System Observation before and after the Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake of January 17, 1995, Japan

The Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake (MJMA7.2), that took place on January 17th, 1995, in Kobe and Awaji area, caused tremendous disasters in the areas. After the earthquake, the Japanese University Consortium for GPS Research (JUNCO) deployed more than 30 GPS receivers around the hypocentral area to find co-seismic and to monitor post-seismic crustal deforma-tions related to the earthquake. Data have been archived first by on-site recordings and later by tele-communcations at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto Universsty. Temporary dense array terminated by the end of March, 1995. Further temporary occupa-tions were conducted in May, 1995, in November, 1995, and in March, 1996, as well as long term continuous monitorings at selected several sites. The monitorings ended in August, 1996. Co-seismic offsets were observed at several sites around the source area. The largest offsets amounted to 45cm at Iwaya site which is about 4 km east of the Nojima fault. These data were used for simultaneous inversion together with strong motion data to clarify slip dis-tribution on the buried rectangular faults. Post-seismic deformations were also found at all of sites. They mostly showed temporal decay and amounted to 2 to 3 cm. The largest one was observed at Iwaya site. The areal distri-bution of post-seismic displacement vectors seems to indicate afterslip on the fault planes, but not the areal visco-elastic readjustments. Relaxation processes at Iwaya and Kawaragi sites were fitted by a logarithmic curve. Application of a theory on the mechanics of afterslip based on the constitutive relationship of a fault surface indicated that the fitting give reasonable es-timate on the frictional rate parameter or the thickness of velocity-strengthning layer of the earth's surface. Assuming that the constitutive parameter is ranging from 0.001 to 0.005 based on the results of rock experiments, thicknesses of velocity-strengthning layer at Iwaya and Kawaragi were estimated to be ranging between 500m and 2 km, which is consistent with other seismological data. Monitoring of fault offsets using real-time kinematic GPS (RTK-GPS) were also conducted at two baselines crossing the Nojima fault and the Arima-Takatsuki tectonic line, respectively. Though significant deformation was not observed, it showed a potential capability of real time monitorings of ground deformations in a few centimeter accuracy