Detection of an SO2 plume over Sapporo, Japan from the eruption of Mt. Kasatochi using a balloon sounding technique

During the month of August 2008, 10 ozonesondes were launched from Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan as part of a study to examine regional pollution during the Olympic period. Seven of these soundings included a second instrument with a filter designed to remove SO2 from the intake air stream. SO2 interferes with the normal chemistry of the electrochemical cell (ECC) method for ozone detection, with the net result being that each molecule of SO2 registers as minus one molecule of O3. Thus the unfiltered sonde reports [O3] - [SO2] while the filtered sonde reports [O3]. Laboratory tests prior to launch indicate that the SO2 filter is ~87% effective, while destroying little to no O3. The difference between the filtered and unfiltered readings is ~[SO2]. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique in the lower and middle troposphere by examining profiles both with and without SO2 present. Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) SO2 data (Krotkov et al., 2006, 2008) and trajectories from the NASA Goddard Trajectory model (Schoeberl & Sparling, 1995) connect the SO2 detected by our balloon borne instruments over Hokkaido, Japan 21 – 22 August to the plume from the volcanic eruption of Mt. Kasatochi 7 – 9 August

胆道閉塞における肝内大型胆管付属腺の病理形態学的変化に関する研究

金沢大学医学部附属病院本研究では胆道閉塞ラットを用い、(1)胆道閉塞時にみられる付属腺の経時的病態変化を観察する。(2)さらに胆管鋳型樹脂標本を作製して実体顕微鏡と走査電顕で観察することにより各時期の付属腺の立体構造変化をとらえる。以上2つを解明して胆道閉塞疾患における胆管付属腺の病態的意義を明確にすることを目的とした。実験モデルとして、正常ラット(A群)、1週間の胆道閉塞ラット(B群)、3週間の胆道閉塞ラット(C群)、6ヶ月の胆道閉塞ラット(D群)を作製した。各群のラットを屠殺し、総肝管から3-4次分枝までの肝内胆管を横断するホルマリン固定標本を作製した。この薄切切片をHE染色、各種の粘液染色にて観察した。一方、屠殺したラットの摘出肝を用い、総胆管より熱硬化性樹脂(MERCOX樹脂,Methyl methacrylate monomer,n-butyl methacrylateの3種混合)を注入、重合させた。肝組織を除去し完成された鋳型樹脂標本を実体顕微鏡および走査型電子顕微鏡で観察した。【結果】ラットの肝内胆管付属腺は胆道閉塞1週目(B群)ですでに増生がみられ3週目(C群)でさらに増加していた。これを鋳型樹脂標本で観察すると、高さ29.4±11mumの突出物が付属腺に相当してみられ、胆道閉塞ラットではその数の増加と延長、分岐として観察された。胆道閉塞6ヶ月目(D群)では胆管内に泥状胆石の形成がみられたが、付属腺増生の程度はC群と著変なかった。組織学的検索では増生した付属腺細胞質に正常付属腺ではみられないPAS,Alucian blue共に陽性の粘液の存在が示された。これは付属腺の増生が、量的な増加のみならず細胞の機能的変化を伴っていることを示唆すると思われた。【今後の展開】これらの付属腺の増生、変化が腫瘍性の変化を伴うか否かを検討する為に、増生した付属腺細胞のPCNA染色、ras遺伝子の変異の存在などにつき検索を進めたい。研究課題/領域番号:05770914, 研究期間(年度):1993出典：研究課題「胆道閉塞における肝内大型胆管付属腺の病理形態学的変化に関する研究」課題番号05770914（KAKEN：科学研究費助成事業データベース（国立情報学研究所）） （https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-05770914/）を加工して作

New Surgical Procedure for Pancreas Head

In this study, we demonstrate two new methods for pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). One method is the mini‐laparotomic PD by Shuriken‐shaped umbilicoplasty with the real‐time moving window‘s method. The other method is the new pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ) by punctured stent slide guiding method (PSSGM). This procedure could be performed by complete mini‐laparotomy under direct vision, and the final major wound is only 2 cm of round navel. PSSGM prevents the difference of caliber between pancreatic anastomosis and the inside out of jejunal mucosa in theory. Ten cases of mini‐lap PD were successfully performed under new PJ anastomosis. The pancreatic leakage (PL) was only one case of ISGPF grade A, and its frequency was 9% (1/11). Our mini‐lap PD by Shuriken‐shaped umbilicoplasty might be a useful way for overcoming the obstacles about safety, complication risk, cosmetic demand, and medical cost compared to laparoscopic PD. Also, our new device of PJ reconstruction by PSSGM might be an easy and useful device for the prevention of PL

Antimicrobial prescription practices for outpatients with acute respiratory tract infections: A retrospective, multicenter, medical record-based study

Antimicrobial stewardship for outpatients with acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) should be urgently promoted in this era of antimicrobial resistance. Previous large-sample studies were based on administrative data and had limited reliability. We aimed to identify current antimicrobial prescription practices for ARTIs by directly basing on medical records. This multicenter retrospective study was performed from January to December in 2018, at five medical institutes in Japan. We targeted outpatients aged >= 18 years whose medical records revealed International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes suggesting ARTIs. We divided the eligible cases into three age groups (18-64 years, 65-74 years, and >= 75 years). We defined broad-spectrum antimicrobials as third-generation cephalosporins, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, and faropenem. Primary and secondary outcomes were defined as the proportion of antimicrobial prescriptions for the common cold and other respiratory tract infections, respectively. Totally, data of 3,940 patients were collected. Of 2,914 patients with the common cold, 369 (12.7%) were prescribed antimicrobials. Overall, compared to patients aged >= 75 years (8.5%), those aged 18-64 years (16.6%) and those aged 65-74 years (12.1%) were frequently prescribed antimicrobials for the common cold (odds ratio [95% confidential interval]; 2.15 [1.64-2.82] and 1.49 [1.06-2.09], respectively). However, when limited to cases with a valid diagnosis of the common cold by incorporating clinical data, no statistical difference was observed among the age groups. Broad-spectrum antimicrobials accounted for 90.2% of the antimicrobials used for the common cold. Of 1,026 patients with other respiratory infections, 1,018 (99.2%) were bronchitis, of which antimicrobials were prescribed in 49.9% of the cases. Broad-spectrum antimicrobials were the main agents prescribed, accounting for nearly 90% of prescriptions in all age groups. Our data suggested a favorable practice of antimicrobial prescription for outpatients with ARTIs in terms of prescribing proportions, or quantitative aspect. However, the prescriptions were biased towards broad-spectrum antimicrobials, highlighting the need for further antimicrobial stewardship in the outpatient setting from a qualitative perspective

Effect of Fe Loading Condition and Reductants on CO 2

Fe-doped TiO2 (Fe/TiO2) film photocatalyst was prepared by sol-gel and dip-coating process and pulse arc plasma method. The effect of pulse number on the CO2 reduction performance with the Fe/TiO2 was investigated in this study. In addition, the effect of reductants such as H2O, H2, and NH3/H2O on the CO2 reduction performance with the Fe/TiO2 photocatalyst was also investigated. The characteristics of the prepared Fe/TiO2 film coated on a netlike glass fiber which is a base material were analyzed by SEM, EPMA, EDX, and EPMA. Furthermore, the CO2 reduction performance of the Fe/TiO2 film was tested under a Xe lamp with or without ultraviolet (UV) light. The results show that the CO2 reduction performance with the pulse number of 100 is the best with H2O and/or H2 as reductant under UV light illumination, while that with the pulse number of 500 is the best when NH3/H2O is used as reductant. On the other hand, the CO2 reduction performance with the pulse number of 500 is the best under every reductant condition without UV light illumination. The highest CO2 reduction performance with the Fe/TiO2 is obtained under H2 + H2O/CO2 condition, and the best moral ratio of total reductants to CO2 is 1.5 : 1

Comparison of Surgeon Stress and Workload between Reduced-port and Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy : A Prospective Study

Single-port laparoscopic surgery（SPLS）has attracted attention in the field of minimally invasive surgery; however, the associated technical difficulty has delayed its adoption by all surgeons. Reduced-port laparoscopic surgery might be easier to perform than SPLS, and in this prospective study, we compared surgeon stress and workload between reduced-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy（RPLC）and conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy（CLC）. Twenty consecutive patients were assigned to undergo either RPLC or CLC between July 2016 and April 2017. Two surgeons performed the operations. The differences in surgeon workload and stress between RPLC and CLC were evaluated. Patient factors and operative outcomes were not significantly different between RPLC and CLC. In the surgeon-reported Surgery Task Load Index, the task demand subscale was significantly higher for RPLC than for CLC（P＝0.005）, although the salivary amylase levels were not significantly different between RPLC and CLC. RPLC was similar to CLC with respect to surgeon stress. Considering workload, the task demand was higher in CLC than in RPLC, which therefore might be an acceptable alternative to CLC for treating benign gallbladder disease

Clinical Efficacy of Endocytoscopy for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Endocytoscopy (EC) is a contact-type optical endoscope that allows in vivo cellular observation during gastrointestinal endoscopy and is now commercially available not only in Japan but also in Asian, European Union, and Middle Eastern countries. EC helps conduct a highly accurate pathological prediction without biopsy. Initially, EC was reported to be effective for esophageal diseases. Subsequently, its efficacy for stomach and colorectal diseases has been reported. In this narrative review, we searched for clinical studies that investigated the efficacy of EC. EC seems to accurately diagnose gastrointestinal diseases without biopsy. Most of the studies aimed to clarify the relationship between endocytoscopic findings of gastrointestinal neoplasia and pathological diagnosis. Some studies have investigated non-epithelial lesions or diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease or infectious diseases. However, there are few high-level pieces of evidence, such as randomized trials; thus, further studies are needed