Internet Addiction Among Employed Adults

Background: The prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) among employed adults has not been reported using a large sample. To clarify the actual status of addictive Internet use among employed adults, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and the risk factors of IA and at-risk IA among employed adults in Japan. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed all junior and senior high school personnel in Shimane Prefecture, a rural area in Japan. Eligible participants included 3,211 junior and senior high school personnel (1,259 men and 1,952 women). Participants completed a questionnaire on their activities and factors related to Internet use. Results: The prevalence of IA and at-risk IA was 0.03% and 4.82%, respectively. Furthermore, game playing was shown to be the Internet activity most closely associated with at-risk IA. Conclusions: This study showed that around 5% of school personnel in a rural area in Japan are at risk for developing addiction to the Internet and that using the Internet for game playing is related to at-risk IA. Our results suggest that employed adults should be instructed to use the Internet properly

Fifteen-year trends of Obesity in Five-Year-Old Children in Fukushima, Japan : A joinpoint regression analysis of data from 2006 to 2020

departmental bulletin pape

Two Cases of Nivolumab Re-Administration after Pneumonitis as Immune-Related Adverse Events

Nivolumab is a recently approved medication for the treatment of unresectable malignant melanoma. Many immune-related adverse events (irAEs) associated with nivolumab have been reported, such as pneumonitis, hepatitis, dermatitis, and thyroiditis. Prednisolone can effectively treat irAEs. However, it is unclear how or if nivolumab should be administered to patients after they have experienced an irAE. Herein, we show 2 patients who underwent pneumonitis as irAE. Case 1 demonstrated a cryptogenic organizing pneumonia pattern in the CT scan and case 2 had a diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) pattern. Oral corticosteroids improved chest shadow of CT scan in both cases. However, when nivolumab was re-administrated, case 1 demonstrated no symptoms, but case 2 demonstrated pneumonia again. From our cases, it is difficult to re-administrate nivolumab for the patients with pneumonitis which shows a DAD pattern in CT, even if oral corticosteroids improve their symptoms

Further studies on an eleventh case of heavy (Hgamma1) chain disease--clinical studies

An eleventh case of heavy (Hgamma1) chain disease (Yok), surviving for more than 10 years and still living showed clinical and pathological findings similar to cases described in the past. The patient was given only glucocorticosteroids, ACTH, antibiotics and gamma globulin, as specific drugs. Precipitation arcs besides the major ones formed by albumin and Fc fragment were disclosed by immunoelectrophoresis. The existence of these minor components were confirmed with antigen-antibody crossed electrophoresis and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. They did not form precipitation arcs with the other antigens available and they appeared in the same fractions of IgG on gel filtration suggesting their having higher molecular weight than the major ones. In addition to these findings, the clinical course of the patient is described.</p

Further studies on an eleventh case of heavy (Hgamma1) chain disease--biosynthetic studies

In vitro quantitative biosynthetic studies were carried out on bone marrow cells obtained from an eleventh case with gamma heavy chain disease. The findings indicate that neither cytoplasmic nor extracellular degradation was responsible for the presence of the gamma heavy chain fragment in serum. The absence of a covalent-bound light chain was also confirmed.</p

Further studies on an eleventh case of heavy (Hgamma1) chain disease--physico-chemical studies

An abnormal protein with similar antigenic properties to Fc fragments of IgG, was found in the serum and urine of an eleventh case of heavy (Hgamma1) chain disease (Yok). This protein was purified with ammonium sulfate precipitation and by column chromatography of DEAE cellulose, CM cellulose and Sephadex G-200. The purity of the protein obtained was 98.5%. It was crystallized easily, forming thin hexagonal plates of various sizes. The chemical compositions and physical properties of the protein including viscosity, partial specific volume, diffusion constant, sedimentation constant, frictional ratio, extinction coefficient and iso-ionic point are reported.</p

タニガワハンノキ群落の成立と衰退

[論文] Articl

Efficacy of mizoribine pulse therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who show a reduced or insufficient response to infliximab

The efficacy of infliximab, a chimeric antibody against tumor necrosis factor-α used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), tends to decrease as patients develop human antichimeric antibody against infliximab (HACA). The clinical study reported here was designed to evaluate the efficacy of mizoribine (MZR) pulse therapy in patients who show a reduced or insufficient response to infliximab. Ten RA patients who had active arthritis despite infliximab therapy were treated with MZR pulse therapy at a dose of 100 mg MZR and methotrexate (MTX) and the disease activity assessed at baseline and at weeks 4–8, 12–16, and 20–24. The dose was increased to 150 mg in those patients who showed an insufficient response to MZR. The mean 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) at weeks 12–16 and 20–24 of therapy was significantly lower than that at baseline. A moderate or good European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) response was achieved in seven patients (70%) at weeks 12–16 and in five patients (50%) at weeks 20–24. The dose of 150 mg MZR was effective in one of the three patients who showed an insufficient response to pulse therapy with 100 mg MZR. Based on these results, we propose that MZR pulse therapy should be attempted before the patient is switched to other biologics

A case of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma with malignant phenotypes induced by ZEB1-associated epithelial-mesenchymal transition

A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Imaging and pathological studies revealed NSCLC, not otherwise specified (NOS), at clinical stage T3N1M0 stage IIIA. We started radiotherapy alone because of obstructive pneumonia and end-stage renal disease, but the tumors progressed rapidly and resulted in death due to air obstruction by pharyngeal metastasis. The cancer was diagnosed as pleomorphic carcinoma in an autopsy. Viable lung tumor cells, which were resistant to radiotherapy, and the pharyngeal metastasis had mesenchymal phenotypes and expressed ZEB1 but not SNAI1. These observations indicated that ZEB1-associated epithelial-mesenchymal transition has malignant features including resistance to radiotherapy and aggressive metastatic potential. ZEB1-associated EMT may be an important mechanism to understand the pathophysiology of pleomorphic carcinoma