CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENTS OF COSMIC-RAY INTENSITY WITH MULTI-DIRECTIONAL MUON TELESCOPE 50 M.W.E. UNDERGROUND AT MATSUMOTO

A multi-directional muon telescope having an area of 8m² was constructed in a tunnel with a vertical depth of approximately 50 m. w. e. at Matsumoto. Continuous measurements of cosmic-ray intensity have been made since April 7, 1971. A preliminary report is presented concerning the underground site, experimental apparatus, and its arrangement, as well as some examples of experimental data obtained, and analyzed results of cosmic-ray daily variation. Counting-rates are 6 x 10⁴/hr of vertical component for 8 m² area at a depth of ～50 m. w. e., and 3.4 x 10⁴ /hr of N-component at ～42 m. w. e., 0.85 x 10⁴ /hr of S-component at ～92 m. w. e. for each of 6 m² area, 1. 1 x 10⁴ /hr of E-component at ～65 m. w. e., and 1. 55 x 10⁴ /hr of W-component at ～53 m.w.e. for each of 4m² area, inclined at 40° to the vertical. It is found that the observed phases of diurnal and semidiurnal vectors for five components are indicative of the extraterrestrial nature of the daily variation. The observation thus may provide an important information on the modulation of cosmic-ray intensity variation.Article信州大学教養部紀要. 第二部, 自然科学 6: 9-30(1972)departmental bulletin pape

Matsushiro Underground Cosmic-Ray Observatory (2S0 m. w. e. Depth) and the Observation of High Energy (r1012 /!V) Cosmic Ray Intensity Variation

A new underground cosmic-ray observatory was opened in Matsushiro, Nagano City, Japan on March 22, 1984, and a multi-directional muon telescope has been installed at an effective vertical depth of 220 m. w. e. underground. The telescope consists of 50 plastic scintillation detectors totally, arranged in two layers of 25 detectors each and has 17 directional channels of observation. We have made the continuous observation of the intensity variation of cosmic ray muons (median primary energies of detection d1012 eV) since that date. The intensity has been recorded every hour, and the average muon countingrates are; ～8.7×10t counts per hour for a wide-angle vertical telescope (two-fold coincidence between upper and lower arrays of detectors) and ～2.0×10t counts per hour for a vertical component-telescope, for example. In the present report, we describe briefly the underground observatory of Matsushiro and its surroundings, including the underground tunnel, the muon detector, the multi-directional telescope constructed and some of its related characteristics. We also present some of the observed intensity variations of cosmic ray muons for a full five-year period from April 1984 through March 1989 and discuss preliminarily the analyzed results of them in solar and sidereal time.Article信州大学理学部紀要 24(1): 1-46(1989)departmental bulletin pape

Management of Multiple Primary Lung Cancer in Patients with Centrally Located Early Cancer Lesions

BackgroundPatients with centrally located early lung cancer (CLELC) are often heavy smokers with a considerably high risk of multiple primary lung cancer (MPLC) lesions; treatment strategies for such patients must preserve the cardiopulmonary function.MethodsBetween July 2004 and July 2008, patients with CLELC underwent photodynamic therapy (PDT) using NPe6, second-generation photosensitizer at Tokyo Medical University Hospital. Among these patients, we retrospectively analyzed MPLC, which was treated by surgery plus PDT or PDT alone and examined the effectiveness of PDT, and we propose a treatment strategy for patients with MPLC.ResultsA total of 64 patients with CLECL received NPe6-PDT, and MPLCs were found in 22 patients (34.4%) using sputum cytology and a bronchoscopical examination using autofluorescence bronchoscopy. Among these 22 patients, 10 patients underwent surgery for primary lung cancer and underwent NPe6-PDT for the treatment of secondary primary CLELC, one patient underwent PDT for CLELC as a primary lesion followed by an operation for peripheral-type lung cancer as a secondary primary lesion, and 11 patients underwent PDT alone for MPLC lesions (28 lesions) that were roentgenographically occult lung cancers. Among these 22 patients with MPLC including peripheral-type lung cancers, which were resected by surgery, all 39 CLELC lesions exhibited a complete response after PDT, and all patients were alive.ConclusionsFor patients with lung cancer with a long-term history of smoking, careful follow-up examinations after surgical resection are needed considering the incidence of metachronous primary lung cancers. PDT can play an important role for the treatment strategy for MPLC

Utility of a simplified ultrasonography scoring system among patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A multicenter cohort study

ABSTRACT: We aimed to evaluate the utility of a simplified ultrasonography (US) scoring system, which is desired in daily clinical practice, among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving biological/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).A total of 289 Japanese patients with RA who were started on tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, abatacept, tocilizumab, or Janus kinase inhibitors between June 2013 and April 2019 at one of the 15 participating rheumatology centers were reviewed. We performed US assessment of articular synovia over 22 joints among bilateral wrist and finger joints, and the 22-joint (22j)-GS and 22-joint (22j)-PD scores were evaluated as an indicator of US activity using the sum of the GS and PD scores, respectively.The top 6 most affected joints included the bilateral wrist and second/third metacarpophalangeal joints. Therefore, 6-joint (6j)-GS and -PD scores were defined as the sum of the GS and PD scores from the 6 synovial sites over the aforementioned 6 joints, respectively. Although the 22j- or 6j-US scores were significantly correlated with DAS28-ESR or -CRP scores, the correlations were weak. Conversely, 6j-US scores were significantly and strongly correlated with 22j-US scores not only at baseline but also after therapy initiation.Using a multicenter cohort data, our results indicated that a simplified US scoring system could be adequately tolerated during any disease course among patients with RA receiving biological/targeted synthetic DMARDs