Difference of health-care associated pneumonia between large hospitals and small hospitals in Japan

Objective : Health-care associated pneumonia (HCAP) is a new category of pneumonia. We investigated differences of epidemiology, pathogens, and outcomes between HCAP patients in large hospitals and those in small hospitals. Methods : This was a retrospective observational study of patients hospitalized with HCAP from December 2009 to March 2010. HCAP was defined according to ATS/IDSA criteria. A large hospital was defined as 200 beds and a small hospital was 200 beds. Results : Of 117 patients, 61 patients were admitted to large hospitals and 56 patients were admitted to small hospitals. There was a significant difference of HCAP diagnostic criteria between the two groups. The A-DROP severity class was worse in the large hospital group than the small hospital group (P 0.05). Respiratory failure and disturbance of consciousness were more frequent in the large hospital group (P 0.05). The mortality rate was 8.2% in the large hospital group versus 1.8% in the small hospital group. Patients in the very severe A-DROP class had a high mortality rate of 33% in both groups. Conclusion : Patients with severe HCAP were more likely to be admitted to large hospitals. Patients in the very severe A-DROP class should receive intensive antibiotic therapy, but not all patients need broad-spectrum therapy

Database structure modification of internal exposure management suited for Japanese alimentation behavior

[Purpose] After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the anxieties about radiation exposure by eating food are growing. Management of internal radiation exposure by food is indicated. The authors have examined a modification of the database structure of an internal exposure management tool that is used in Belarus after the Chernobyl accident to be suited for Japanese alimentation behavior. This poster aims to solve the problem left that the method to constitute a dish is complicated. [Methods] 1) The foodstuffs and the amount of the each ingestion of dish are stored in ‘Ingredients’ table to constitute ingesting dish in the old database structure. In the new database structure, the ingestion of foodstuffs and the recipe of the dish are stored to separate table. The amount of ingested natural and artificial radionuclides are estimated by using the ingestion of foodstuffs. 2) To take into consideration of the estimation with detection limit of the radioactivity inspection, the detection limit value is stored.[Results] This database structure modification makes it easy to constitute ingesting dish reflecting Japanese alimentation behavior. Also, the data amount is up to 97% reduced. The estimation of the internal radiation considering the detection limit is enabled.[Conclusion] This modification makes it easy to constitute ingesting dish reflecting Japanese alimentation behavior. Also, the amount of data is drastically reduced. The authors built an internal exposure management tool with higher usability than the original.ECR2015(第27回欧州放射線学会議

Galectin-1 and Its Involvement in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Aggressiveness

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Despite several efforts to elucidate hepatocellular carcinoma molecular pathogenesis, it is still not fully understood. To acquire further insights into the molecular mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma, we performed a systematic functional genomic approach on human HuH-7 and JHH-6 cells. The subsequent analysis of the differentially expressed genes in human specimens revealed a molecular signature of 11 genes from which we selected the LGALS1 gene, which was overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma. The expression analysis in humans of Galectin-1 (Gal-1), the protein encoded by LGALS1, showed a Gal-1 preferential accumulation in the stromal tissue around hepatocellular carcinoma tumors. Moreover, a significant association between increased expression of Gal-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma and the presence of metastasis was observed. Interestingly, Gal-1 overexpression resulted in an increase of cell migration and invasion. In conclusion, this study provides a portfolio of targets useful for future investigations into molecular marker–discovery studies on a large number of patients and functional assays. In addition, our data provide evidence that Gal-1 plays a role in hepatocellular carcinoma cell migration and invasion, and we suggest that further studies should be conducted to fully establish the role of Gal-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma pathogenesis and evaluate Gal-1 as a potential molecular therapeutic target