Investigation of thyroid cancer cases that were not detected in the Thyroid Ultrasound Examination program of the Fukushima Health Management Survey but diagnosed at Fukushima Medical University Hospital

The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011, and its subsequent Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, prompted implementation of the Thyroid Ultrasound Examination (TUE) program as a part of the Fukushima Health Management Survey. The purpose of this program is to support residents of Fukushima Prefecture, and to analyze the health effects of the released radionuclides. Regardless of relatively high participation rates and a well-planned diagnostic flow, it is conceivable that not all thyroid cancer cases can be detected by the TUE program. The aims of the present study were to identify and characterize these "outside" cases, targeting patients at Fukushima Medical University (FMU) Hospital. As of June 30, 2017, we have successfully identified 11 outside cases. These corresponded to 5.7% of the 194 subjects who were identified as having thyroid cancer or suspected thyroid cancer in the TUE program. Although the outside subjects of other institutes were not investigated, the present study may have identified the majority of outside subjects in Japan, considering that FMU Hospital treats a large number of thyroid cancer subjects. Furthermore, the characteristics of the 11 subjects were not different from those of the subjects identified in the TUE program. These findings confirm that the TUE program was able to identify subjects of thyroid cancer adequately and sufficiently

Psychosocial support for the examinees and their families during the secondary confirmatory examination: Analyses of support records at first visit

Background and Purpose The Thyroid Ultrasound Examination (TUE) program is conducted as part of the Fukushima Health Management Survey. Following the established criteria, examinees are called in for a secondary confirmation examination, which may induce high anxiety related to a thyroid cancer for both the examinees and their families. Therefore, Fukushima Medical University created the Thyroid Support Team to reduce anxiety. The purpose of this study is to analyze the psychosocial support for examinees and their families through two types of records, and to clarify the current issues and determine future directions of support. Materials and methods We analyzed 223 records of support for the first visit of examinees who attended the secondary confirmatory examination, conducted at Fukushima Medical University from September 2018 to March 2019. Results During the first visit, frequent topics and questions brought up by the examinees and their families were about the "Thyroid Ultrasound Examination (TUE) program" and "Examination findings". The Thyroid Support Team members assisted them by "Responding to questions", "Confirming the doctor's explanation" and "Providing information". The percentage of people with high anxiety decreased in both examinees and their family members after the examination. The level of anxiety was lower among those who had already taken the secondary confirmatory examination. Family members' anxiety was significantly higher than that of the examinees, and anxiety levels were highly correlated between examinees and their families. Conclusion The psychosocial support for examinees and their families was important in reducing their anxiety. Currently there are changes in social conditions and various opinions concerning the TUE. Thus, careful explanation and the need for decision-making supports for the examinees and their families increased. Also, we should take into account the aging of the examinees and expanding the available psychosocial support

The effect of sanctions on the evolution of cooperation in linear division of labor

The evolution of cooperation is an unsolved research topic and has been investigated from the viewpoint of not only biology and other natural sciences but also social sciences. Much extant research has focused on the evolution of cooperation among peers. While, different players belonging to different organizations play different social roles, and players playing different social roles cooperate together to achieve their goals. We focus on the evolution of cooperation in linear division of labor that is defined as follows: a player in the i-th role interacts with a player in the i + 1-th role, and a player in the n-th role achieves their goal (1 <= i < n) if there are n roles in the division of labor. We take the industrial waste treatment process as an example for illustration. We consider three organizational roles and B-i is the i-th role. The player of B; can choose two strategies: legal treatment or illegal dumping, which can be interpreted as cooperation or defection (i = 1-3). With legally required treatment, the player of B-j pays a cost to ask the player of Bj+1 to treat the waste (j = 1, 2). Then, the cooperator of Bj+1 pays a cost to treat the waste properly. With illegal dumping, the player of Bi dumps the waste and does not pay any cost (i= 1-3). However, the waste dumped by the defector has negative environmental consequences, which all players in all roles suffer from. This situation is equivalent to a social dilemma encountered in common-pool resource management contexts. The administrative organ in Japan introduces two sanction systems to address the illegal dumping problem: the actor responsibility system and the producer responsibility system. In the actor responsibility system, if players in any role who choose defection are monitored and discovered, they are penalized via a fine. However, it is difficult to monitor and detect the violators, and this system does not work well. While, in the producer responsibility system, the player in B-1 is fined if the player cannot hand the manifest to the local administrative organ because the players of B-i (i=1-3) who choose defection do not hand the manifest to the player of B-1. We analyze this situation using the replicator equation. We reveal that (1) the three-role model has more empirical credibility than the two-role model including B-1 and B-3, and (2) the producer responsibility system promotes the evolution of cooperation more than the system without sanctioning. (3) the actor responsibility system does not promote the evolution of cooperation if monitoring and detecting defectors is unsuccessful. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

中・高年齢の剣道愛好者における剣道稽古に関する意識・実態調査[2] : 剣道の海外普及に対する考え方を中心にして

This paper talks of the second part of a survey research about elderly kendo players\u27 and their concerns. The first part of the analysis was previously presented in the Soka University Bulletin of The Faculty of Education, No.48. The total number of subj

Determination of Trace Amounts of Antimony and Boron in High-Purity Iron and Steel by Isotope Dilution/Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry *

The highly sensitive and precise determination method for trace amounts of Sb and B in high-purity iron and steel has been established by the isotope dilution/Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. For the determination of Sb, the iron matrix was separated by anion-exchange chromatography using Dowex I-X8 in hydrofluoric acid solution, and the isotope ratio ( 121 Sb/ 123 Sb) of the HNO 3 /H 2 O 2 eluate was measured by ICP-MS. The isobaric interference of 123 Te was corrected by subtracting the intensity of 123 Te obtained by the relative intensity of 123 Te and 125 Te. For the determination of B, after the treatment of sulfuric acid-phosphoric acid fuming for the complete decomposition of boron nitride, B was separated by the anion-exchange chromatography using Amberlite IRA-743 at pH 8. The CyDTA was added to prevent the hydrolysis of iron. The isotope ratio ( 11 B/ 10 B) of the HCl eluate was measured by ICP-MS. By these methods, Sb and B in the range of µg/g to sub-µg/g could be determined with good precision. The limit of detection is 5.8 ng/g for Sb and 16 ng/g for B in steel

An Application of Motor Evoked Potential (MEP) Method to Analyzing Human Motor Learning

Until recently, drastic approach of motor learning in intact humans was not possible. The introduction of noninvasive techniques to stimulate the motor cortex in the present review permitted the testing and investigation of cortical motor outflow related to mechanisms in human motor learning. Human mapping studies, previously performed only during surgical procedures on patients with neurological disorders, can now be done with minimal discomfort. In the present brief review, therefore, we have attempted to introduce and review to use mapping techniques and to study the neurophysiological mechanisms of human motor learning. In particular, we surveyed modulation of cortical motor output during the acquisition of new motor skills and discussed neuronal plasticity that underlies improvement of voluntary movement in the brain

Intussusception of Rectosigmoid Colon Cancer Mimicking a Pedunculated Tumor

Intussusception in adults is a rare phenomenon involving the colon in approximately 20% of cases. A 65-year-old man was hospitalized with anorexia, anemia, dehydration, and melena. Digital rectal examination revealed a palpable mass approximately 5 cm from the anal verge. The mass moved between the rectosigmoid colon and the rectum below the peritoneal reflection during radiographic examinations and during sigmoidoscopy. We strongly suspected a rectosigmoid pedunculated tumor and performed a low anterior resection. Intraoperatively we observed intussusception of the rectosigmoid colon with easy manual reduction. The tumor was palpable in the rectosigmoid colon. The postoperative course was uneventful. This case illustrates intussusception of a rectosigmoid type 1 colon adenocarcinoma mimicking a pedunculated tumor