Medical Application of Nonwoven Fabrics - Intra-abdominal Spacers for Particle Therapy

The authors aimed to introduce a medical application for nonwoven fabric as spacers in particle therapy. Particle therapy, exhibiting more focused effects on target tissues, has emerged as a promising treatment modality. However, close proximity of tumor tissue and adjacent organs makes delivery of curative doses to the tumor difficult because severe radiation morbidities might occur. A method using surgically placed GORE-TEX sheets as a spacer has been reported. Although this method provides for separation of adjacent organs, the material is not resorbed. To overcome these anatomical and therapeutic difficulties, and to deliver effective radiation doses to treat upper abdominal tumors, we have developed a nonwoven fabric spacer composed of bioabsorbable suture material. The absorbable polyglycolic acid (PGA) spacer had water-equivalent, biocompatible, and thickness-retaining properties. Although further evaluation is warranted in a clinical setting, the PGA spacer may be effective to block particle beams and to separate normal tissues from the radiation field. These findings suggest that the nonwoven-fabric PGA spacer might become a useful device in particle therapy

Topographic Survey of the Kaidahara Tumulus No. 29 in Kisa, Miyoshi City <Research and Studies at the Department of Archaeology: Research Note>

The Kaidahara Tumulus No. 29 is a scallop-shaped burial mound located near the Kisacho area of Miyoshi City, Hiroshima prefecture. As part of field training for the twenty-fourth annual class of archaeology majors at the Hiroshima University School of Letters, we conducted a topographic survey of the area with the aim of creating a detailed survey map of this mound, and to clarify the ranking of Kaidahara tumulus No. 29. The results of this survey indicated that this tumulus is a scallop-shell kofun burial mound, 29 m in length and was constructed in the middle of the 6th century CE. Additionally, we proposed the hypothesis that this tumulus was constructed using the same mound-building techniques as in the case of the Kaidahara tumulus No. 20. Further, we discovered a trend in the scallop-shaped tumuli of the region upstream of the Basen River, whereby, over time, the size of square shaped mounds grew in relation to the round ones

Clinical Outcome of Patients with Pelvic and Retroperitoneal Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma : A Retrospective Multicenter Study in Japan

This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the clinical outcomes of patients with pelvic and retroperitoneal bone and soft tissue sarcoma (BSTS). Overall, 187 patients with BSTS in the pelvis and retroperitoneal region treated at 19 specialized sarcoma centers in Japan were included. The prognostic factors related to overall survival (OS), local control (LC), and progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated. The 3-year OS and LC rates in the 187 patients were 71.7% and 79.1%, respectively. The 3-year PFS in 166 patients without any distant metastases at the time of primary tumor diagnosis was 48.6%. Osteosarcoma showed significantly worse OS and PFS than other sarcomas of the pelvis and retroperitoneum. In the univariate analyses, larger primary tumor size, soft tissue tumor, distant metastasis at the time of primary tumor diagnosis, P2 location, chemotherapy, and osteosarcoma were poor prognostic factors correlated with OS. Larger primary tumor size, higher age, soft tissue tumor, chemotherapy, and osteosarcoma were poor prognostic factors correlated with PFS in patients without any metastasis at the initial presentation. Larger primary tumor size was the only poor prognostic factor correlation with LC. This study has clarified the epidemiology and prognosis of patients with pelvic and retroperitoneal BSTS in Japan

Toxic species as a threat to children

U vrtićkim dvorištima u kojima borave predškolska djeca možemo naći otrovne i opasne vrste. Svakodnevno djeca dolaze u kontakt s tim vrstama zbog njihove boje i izgleda. Vrlo je važno da djecu učimo prepoznavanju otrovnih vrsta. Već s trogodišnjacima i četverogodišnjacima možemo početi detaljnije proučavati prirodu te ih naučiti koje su biljke jestive, a koje otrovne. Trebamo imati na umu da djeci trebamo otrovne vrste prikazati na zanimljiv način jer će ona jedino tako zaista shvatiti opasnost tih vrsta. Primjerice, odgojitelji u vrtiću mogu realizirati aktivnost na tu temu sa sadržajima koji će zainteresirati djecu. Djeca trebaju boraviti u vrtu i na svježem zraku, bez obzira na to nalazi li se neka otrovne vrsta u blizini, samo uz veliku dozu opreza i odgovornosti prema djeci. Kao i odgojitelji u vrtiću, tako i roditelji kod kuće trebaju učiti djecu da ne diraju sve ono što je lijepo jer to može biti vrlo opasno. Također, i u domovima se susrećemo s otrovnim kućnim biljkama. Otrovne biljke bi trebalo zamijeniti biljkama koje nisu otrovne, a ne zaostaju po dekorativnim vrijednostima. Iz toga zaključujemo, da se oko nas nalazi mnogo otrovnih vrsta, uključujući biljke, gljive i životinje. One su najopasnije za djecu koja ne znaju razlikovati otrovne od jestivih vrsta stoga vrlo je važna uloga odgojitelja u vrtiću i roditelja kod kuće koji trebaju djeci ukazati na moguće opasnosti te ih trebaju educirati kako bi djeca znala kako se trebaju ponašati u susretu s otrovnim vrstama. Važno je da znaju da nepoznate plodove ne smiju jesti