The use and perceived usefulness of information sources among Japanese overseas tourists

This investigation into the use and perceived usefulness of information among Japanese outbound travellers reports on the findings of a survey conducted with over 1,200 Japanese travellers. The research examines information use by travellers about a range of travel components including restaurants, attractionsand accommodation at both the before and during travel phases. It was found that travel guidebooks were the most heavily used source of information and their usefulness was evaluated as one of the highest during both phases. Using correspondence analysis, it is shown that while travel guidebooks were used heavily for finding out about most travel components, the only component that did not show significant reliance on information from travel guidebooks at either the prior to or during travel phases was accommodatio

Guidebook use by Japanese tourists: a qualitative study of Australia inbound travellers

This qualitative investigation into guidebook use reports on in-depth interviews conducted with 26 Japanese individuals and one couple who had visited Australia during the five previous years. Focussing on the stages before, during and after travel the research framework was based on Vogt and Fesenmaier’s model of information needs (1998). It was found that functional needs were the dominant influences during the prior to travel phase, with some non-functional needs, (hedonic, aesthetic, and innovation) also being influential. During the travel phase, only functional needs were evident. Some respondents were identified as being deliberate non-users of guidebooks. The variable “tourist type” was found to be helpful for distinguishing between users and non-users and for identifying those with functional needs. The use of guidebooks by those whose needs are both functional and non-functional may be unaffected by this variable. When the attitudes of those who actively dislike guidebooks and those who hesitate to use them are aggregated, a view emerges of guidebooks as a symbol of standardised tourism

The investigation of the thermal effect of contact lens wear

Since their introduction over 70 years ago, corneal contact lenses have continued to be improved in design and are safely used all over the world. Nevertheless, there is still some risk of infection, especially in soft contact lens (SCL) wearers. In comparison, rigid gas permeable lenses are less likely to cause a serious eye disease than SCL, including both traditional and silicone hydrogel lenses (SiHCL). Two possible reasons for this may be the difference in the tear exchange rate beneath the lens while on the eye, and the influence of lens material on the ocular surface temperature (OST) during the lens wear. This thesis investigates these two factors. Firstly, an in vitro model of the ocular surface was developed to investigate the effect of lens thermal conductivity amongst lens types, and the effect of the existence of the tear film on any subsequent temperature change. The experiment confirmed the successful use of an infrared camera to measure OST change, and also found that the tear film and the water content of the lens were factors in the OST over a lens surface. Secondly, the effect of the tear film on the OST was examined in human eyes. This study confirmed the in vitro study results and the importance of replenishing the lens water content and limiting tear evaporation. Finally, the dynamic changes in OST during lens wear were recorded with different lens types. The OST was measured at the central and peripheral lens, and the conjunctiva. This is the first study to compare the effect of RGP and SCL wear on OST in the same subjects. Once again, similar results emphasising the importance of tear exchange and water content were found, but no effect from tear exchange beneath the lens was observed. In summary, this thesis presents important findings about the influence of both the quality of the tear film and the type of contact lens on the OST. Also it demonstrated the usefulness of ocular thermography to investigate ocular surface changes during lens wear non-invasivel

Evaluation of the coulter counter Model Sr

An automatic blood analyser, Coulter Counter Model Sr(CC-SR) was recently introduced in our hospital. This blood analyser is able to provide simultaneous measurements of seven blood parameters, i.e. WBC, REC, Hgb, Hct, MCV, MCH, MCHC, and also produces the results within 40 seconds from aspiration of the sample into the instrument. The performance and precision of this blood analyser have been clitically evaluated by comparing the results obtained from the previous blood cell counter, the Coulter Counter Model Dn (CC-DN), a haemoglobinometer, and a high speed centfugal separator. The results are as follows: 1) The precision and liniarity for readings and dilutions on WBC, RBC, Hgb and Hct by the use of the CC-SR is satisfactory. 2) Good correlation between the measurements by whole blood analysis procedure and micro sample analysis procedure is recognized. 3) The amount of carryover from one sample to the next is negligible for practical purpose. 4) High correlation factors are obtained between the measurements by the CC-SR method and former methods: i. e. 0.99 for WBC, 0.93 for RBC, 0.99 for Hgb and 0.99 for Hct. 5) For these reason, it can be said that CC-SR is more useful successive instrument to measure WBC, RBC, Hgb, Hct than the CC-DN and other above mentioned instruments

FFC Ceramic Water(TM) Enhances Plant Apyrase Activity

The FFC ceramics(TM) from FFC Japan Co., Ltd. are now widely used in the fields of agriculture, fishery and food industry in Japan. Recently the FFC ceramic beads-based technology has been also applied to meet several environmental problems including pollution in sea, lakes and rivers. In this study the FFC ceramic water was tested for effect on plant enzyme, potato apyrase (EC 3.6.1.5; ATP-diphosphohydrolase), which hydrolyses nucleoside triphosphate (NTP) and -diphosphate (NDP) to produce corresponding nucleoside monophosphate (NMP) and inorganic phosphate (Pi). Addition of the FFC ceramic water to the enzyme reaction mixture markedly enhanced ATP-hydrolyzing activity, when used as ATP as substrate. However, the concomitant presence of Ca(2+) chelator, EGTA (O,O'-bis(2-aminoethyl)ethyleneglycol-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid) with the FFC ceramic water, completely abolished the enzyme activation. In fact, exogenous calcium ion such as CaSO4 mimicked the FFC ceramic water. These results indicate that apyrase activation by the FFC ceramic water largely depends on calcium ions. On the other hand, when the FFC ceramic water prepared from "used" ceramics was tested for the apyrase activity, the enhanced effect on apyrase was decreased compared to the FFC ceramic water from "new" ones. This result, consistent with our present data covering concentration of calcium ions and conductivity, indicates that long and/or successive usage of the ceramic beads results in decrease of contents of released minerals, especially calcium ions. The apyrase-based enzyme assay presented here is probably applicable to estimate and quantify the effect of FFC ceramic water.本報は，FFC セラミックス(TM)（㈱エフエフシー・ジャパン）で調製した FFC セラミック水（FFC 水）の植物アピラーゼ（EC 3.6.1.5）の活性に及ぼす直接的な作用について調べたものである．FFC 水はアピラーゼがもつ ATP加水分解活性を促進し，その作用は反応液への添加量に依存した．先の無機元素分析結果から，FFC 水に含まれる主要な塩類はCa(2＋)であることが判明している．そこで，Ca(2＋)キレート剤EGTAを反応液へ加え，その影響について調べたところ，FFC 水による活性化作用は消失することが明らかとなった．また，FFC 水と類似の作用は，硫酸カルシウム，塩化カルシウムまたは硝酸カルシウムの添加で認められ，陰イオンの種類によって明確な違いはなかった．これらの結果から，FFC 水が植物アピラーゼに及ぼす活性化作用の一因は，セラミックスから遊離する Ca(2＋)に依存しているものと推察された．一方，アピラーゼ活性を指標として，使用済のセラミックスから調製した FFC 水の効果について検討したところ，未使用からの水と比べて，カルシウム濃度ならびに活性化作用の顕著な低下が認められた．このことは，継続的な使用によってセラミックスから遊離する塩類，特にカルシウムの溶出量が大きく変わることを意味し，アピラーゼを用いた本検定が，FFC 水の効果を定量的に確かめる方法の一つとして利用できると考えられた．以上，これらの結果を総合して，FFC水の植物酵素への直接的作用，ならびに植物への施用によって効果が現れる耐病性獲得作用との関連について考察した

Metastatic Breast Cancer to the Stomach Resembling Early Gastric Cancer

Breast cancer metastases to the stomach are very rare. As characteristics of breast cancer metastases to the stomach, metastases of lobular carcinoma, mainly with signet ring cells, are frequently observed, and they are often difficult to distinguish from a primary gastric cancer with signet ring cells. Moreover, because no characteristic symptoms are shown and they involve a submucosal lesion, it is difficult to make a radiographic diagnosis. However, if a gastric lesion is observed after breast carcinoma surgery, differentiation between a gastric primary lesion and a metastatic lesion is very important in order to determine treatment. We encountered a case that was diagnosed as early gastric cancer discovered using an endoscope 2 years after surgery and which was found to be breast cancer metastasis to the stomach by gross cystic disease fluid protein (GCDFP) and cytokeratin (CK) 7/20 immunostaining of the biopsy tissue. Here, we report our findings of this unique case

Complete Genome Sequence of Pseudomonas amygdali pv. tabaci Strain 6605, a Causal Agent of Tobacco Wildfire Disease

Pseudomonas amygdali pv. tabaci strain 6605 is the bacterial pathogen causing tobacco wildfire disease that has been used as a model for elucidating virulence mechanisms. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of P. amygdali pv. tabaci 6605 as a circular chromosome from reads using a PacBio sequencer

Endometrial Metastasis from Breast Cancer during Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy

It is well-known that tamoxifen increases the risk of endometrial cancer. Although metastasis to the uterus from breast cancer is uncommon, there have been some case reports on uterine metastasis. If an endometrial abnormality is detected, the differential diagnosis of whether the uterine tumor is metastatic or primary is very important to determine the course of treatment. We herein report a case in which we detected a uterine tumor during follow-up after treatment with tamoxifen, and demonstrate that GCDFP-15 is useful in diagnosing metastatic uterine tumors arising from breast cancer