Invisible Mutuality between Structural Inertia and Learning Disability - A Case Study of the West Japan Railway Accident 4.25 -

This article examines a case study of the JR (Japan Railways) West accident, which was the worst railway accident in Japanese history. The purpose of this research is to prevent similar accidents by focusing on organizational ‘learning disabilities’ (Garvin, 2000). We review firstly a summary of the JR accident. Secondly we review the irrational behaviour of the driver involved, which originated in the system of re-education of the JR West Company known as ‘Nikkin Kyoiku’. Thirdly, we examine the interference with organizational learning bounded by ‘structural inertia’, and finally, we review the ‘organizational disaster’ in relation to the ‘learning disability’. This research is concerned with compliance and corporate governance

Our Stolen Sustainability Unsafe Eden Contaminated by Environmental Hormones

When we speak of sustainable development in the context of modern society, what does it actually mean? Here we would like to address the issue of environmental contamination and explore the conditions required to move toward human coexistence and symbiosis with the natural environment. Studying the effect of ‘environmental hormones’ and endocrine disruptors on the ecosystem, Theo Colborn confirmed the risk of ‘brain contamination’ through the food chain and ‘bio-accumulation’. The contamination of the ecosphere by environmental hormones - an issue which no modern human can avoid - is a ‘negative legacy’ contrasting with the economic wealth brought by modern rationality. In this article, we consider the role of the environmental ethics which societies and individuals will be required to practice in the near future and examines the role of ‘environmental management’ as a preventive policy carrying the morality of the modern organization

Socio-biological Hazard and Systemic Breakdown: From the AIDS Pandemic to Viral Outbreaks

Iatrogenic HIV infection refers here to cases of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) caused by administration of blood products. Following the discovery of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1981, numerous warnings were issued by experts regarding the use of blood products. In spite of this, no switch to cryoprecipitate or other effective measures were taken, and the authorization of safe heated products was also delayed, as a result of which 40% of Japanese hemophiliacs, or some 2,000 people, fell victim. Additionally, since insufficient risk data was provided, the infection spread to partners, families, and other associates of hemophiliacs through secondary and tertiary infection. In connection, questions were asked as to the degree of responsibility of those institutions which had been involved in the outbreak and spread of the infection. The cause of the outbreak has been said to lie in the web of collusive relationships linking industry, government, and academia, and three groups in particular: the pharmaceutical manufacturers who undertook the manufacture and sale of the blood products, the former Ministry of Health and Welfare, which held approval and licensing authority over these pharmaceutical products, and the AIDS Research Group commissioned by the former Ministry of Health and Welfare. Underpinning the collusion between these three groups must have been an unwritten law recognized among them as inviolable. This points up the pressing need to reform the poor practice and customs latent in Japan’s pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and by extension the ethos and culture of Japan’s industry and organizations. This article aims additionally to analyze the iatrogenic AIDS problem from a global perspective through international comparisons of the number of people infected with HIV and also to look from a ‘sociobiological’ perspective at the possibility of viral outbreaks in the near future and the conditions that have precipitated this hazard

Reorganization of cerebellar cell suspension transplanted into the weaver mutant cerebellum and immunohistochemical detection of synaptic formation

Dissociated cells prepared from the cerebellar primordia of normal 15-day mouse embryos were grafted into the cerebellum of 1-month-old weaver mutant mice which are characterized by degeneration of cerebellar granule cells during the early postnatal period. The growth of the grafted cells was investigated at 1 month after the operation. Implanted cells were highly developed to form a large mass of tissue in the host cerebellar folia. Histological examination revealed that a trilaminar cortical structure was partially developed in certain areas of the grafted tissue. The implanted granule-like cells were labeled with [3H]thymidine which was injected into the host, suggesting that the granule-like cells actively proliferate in the host cerebellum after the transplantation. In this area, strong immunoreactivity with synapsin I was detected indicating that the dissociated granule cells of the cerebellar primordia are able to develop a synaptic organization in the weaver mouse cerebellum.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27026/1/0000014.pd

Diagnostic value of computed high b-value whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging for primary prostate cancer

Purpose: To investigate the utility of post-acquisition computed diffusion-weighted imaging (cDWI) for primary prostate cancer (PCa) evaluation in biparametric whole-body MRI (bpWB-MRI). Methods: Patients who underwent pelvic MRI for PCa screening and subsequent bpWB-MRI for staging were included. Two radiologists assessed the diagnostic performance of the following datasets for clinically significant PCa diagnosis (grade group >= 2 according to the Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System, version 2.1): bpMRI(2000) (axial DWI scans with a b-value of 2,000 s/mm(2) + axial T2WI scans from pre-biopsy pelvic MRI), computed bpWB-MRI2000 (computed WB-DWI scans with a b-value of 2,000 s/mm(2) + axial WB-T2WI scans), and native bpWB-MRI1000 (native axial WB-DWI scans with a b-value of 1,000 s/mm(2) + axial WB-T2WI scans). Systemic biopsy was used as reference standard. Results: Fifty-one patients with PCa were included. The areas under the curve (AUCs) of bpMRI(2000) (0.89 for reader 1 and 0.86 for reader 2) and computed bpWB-MRI2000 (0.86 for reader 1 and 0.83 for reader 2) were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than those of native bpWB-MRI1000 (0.67 for both readers). No significant difference was observed between the AUCs of bpMRI(2000) and computed bpWB-MRI2000 (p = 0.10 for reader 1 and p = 0.25 for reader 2). Conclusions: The diagnostic performance of computed bpWB-MRI2000 was similar to that of dedicated pelvic bpMRI(2000) for primary PCa evaluation. cDWI can be recommended for implementation in standard WB-MRI protocols to facilitate a one-step evaluation for concurrent detection of primary and metastatic PCa

Immunohistochemical studies on synapse formation by embryonic cerebellar tissue transplanted into the cerebellum of the weaver mutant mouse

Normal cerebellar tissue, obtained from 15-day-old CBA/JNCij mouse embryos, was transplanted into the cerebellum of 4-week-old weaver mice. At the 6th week after the transplantation, the grafted tissue was distinguishable from the host cerebellum, developing a trilaminar organization. The formation of synapses by the implanted granule cells was analyzed immunohistochemically with antiserum against synaptic vesicle protein, Synapsin I. Some areas in the host cerebellum as well as in the grafted tissue were intensely stained by anti-Synapsin I serum, suggesting that the implanted granule cells make synaptic contacts with the neuronal cells.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26607/1/0000148.pd

Clinical utility of the Bosniak classification version 2019:Diagnostic value of adding magnetic resonance imaging to computed tomography examination

Purpose: To assess the impact of the updated Bosniak classification (BC2019) for cystic renal masses (CRMs) on interobserver agreement between radiologists and urologists and the diagnostic value of adding MRI to CT examination (combined CT/MRI). Method: This study included 103 CRMs from 83 consecutive patients assessed using contrast-enhanced CT and MRI between 2010 and 2016. Nine readers in three groups (three radiologists, three radiology residents, and three urologists) reviewed CT alone and the combined CT/MRI using BC2019. Bosniak category was determined by consensus in each group for diagnosing malignancy, with a cut-off category of ?>= III. Interobserver agreement was assessed using Fleiss' kappa values. The effect of CT or combined CT/MRI on the diagnosis of malignancy was assessed using McNemar's test. Results: Interobserver agreement of BC2019 for CT alone was substantial for radiologists and residents, moderate for urologists (0.77, 0.63, and 0.58, respectively). Interobserver agreement of BC2019 for combined CT/MRI was substantial for all three groups (radiologists: 0.78; residents: 0.65; and urologists: 0.61). Among residents, the sensitivity/specificity/accuracy rates of combined CT/MRI vs. CT alone were 82.1/74.7/76.7% vs. 75.0/66.7/68.9%, and specificity and accuracy were significantly higher for combined CT/MRI than that for CT alone (p = 0.03 and 0.008, respectively). Similarly, sensitivity/specificity/accuracy values were significantly higher for combined CT/MRI among urologists (78.6/73.3/74.8% vs. 64.3/64.0/64.1%, p = 0.04/0.04/0.008). However, sensitivity/specificity/accuracy did not significantly differ between the two among radiologists (89.3/74.7/78.6% vs. 85.7/73.3/76.7%, p = 0.32/0.56/0.32). Conclusions: Combined CT/MRI is useful for diagnosing malignancy in patients with CRMs using BC2019, especially for non-expert readers

Systems Patholopgy of Social Organizations: Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe 3.11

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeast Japan on March 11, 2011, were unavoidable natural disasters, but we consider the subsequent breakdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plants to be a catastrophe created by avoidable human errors – an organizational disaster. We review the mistakes that have led up to the present nuclear crisis, and recommend several steps to avoid similar crises in the future. These include issues of (i) determining whether the Fukushima catastrophe was an accident or a man-made disaster? (ii) irrational decision-making due to the pathology of Japanese organizations, (iii) the business ethics of power companies running 40+ years old ageing nuclear reactors, (iv) tired management and system fatigue that administrated the hidden trouble of old reactors as social responsibility, (v) dynamics of systems pathology caused by non-rational governance or multisystem errors of disclosure for stricken area and overseas, (vi) un-homeostasis means the pathology or apoptosis that is ‘Fukushima Formula’ applying to the nuclear reactor in the world