Dexmedetomidine and sleep during HFNC

Purpose : High-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy (HFNC) is a new type of non-invasive respiratory support for acute respiratory failure patients. However, patients receiving HFNC often develop sleep disturbances. We therefore examined whether dexmedetomidine could preserve the sleep characteristics in patients who underwent HFNC. Patients and Methods : This was a pilot, randomized controlled study. We assigned critically ill patients treated with HFNC to receive dexmedetomidine (0.2 to 0.7 μg / kg / h, DEX group) or not (non-DEX group) at night (9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.). Polysomnograms were monitored during the study period. The primary outcomes were total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency and duration of stage 2 non-rapid eye movement (stage N2) sleep. Results : Of the 28 patients who underwent randomization, 24 were included in the final analysis (12 patients per group). Dexmedetomidine increased the TST (369 min vs. 119 min, p = 0.024) and sleep efficiency (68% vs. 22%, P = 0.024). The duration of stage N2 was increased in the DEX group compared with the non-DEX group, but this finding did not reach statistical significance. The incidences of respiratory depression and hemodynamic instability were similar between the two groups. Conclusions : In critically ill patients who underwent HFNC, dexmedetomidine may optimize the sleep quantity without any adverse events

extubation failure due to subglottic stenosis

Background : This report describes a case of dynamic inspiratory airway collapse concomitant with subglottic stenosis in a patient who previously underwent tracheostomy that led to repeated post-operative extubation failure. Case presentation : A 43-year-old woman who had undergone tracheostomy 25 years previously was admitted to our intensive-care unit (ICU) after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. On postoperative day (POD) 0, she was extubated, but stridor was observed. We suspected upper airway obstruction and she was therefore reintubated. Before reintubation, urgent laryngotracheoscopy revealed dynamic inspiratory airway collapse and obstruction concomitant with subglottic stenosis. Preoperative computed tomography showed mild subglottic stenosis. Although intravenous corticosteroids were administered to prevent tracheal mucosal edema and a cuff leak test was confirmed to be negative, she developed extubation failure on POD6. On POD12, we performed tracheostomy to reduce mechanical irritation from the endotracheal tube. Mechanical ventilation was withdrawn and she discharged from the ICU. On POD33, her tracheostomy tube was removed and she remained clinically asymptomatic. Conclusions : We should be aware of the history of tracheostomy, especially at high tracheostomy sites, even in the absence of respiratory symptoms as risk factors for dynamic inspiratory airway collapse concomitant with subglottic stenosis contributing to repeated respiratory failure after extubation

致死的低酸素血症をきたした神経芽細胞腫Stage4Sの一乳児症例

Background : Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood. Although the prognosis of neuroblastoma is relatively good, newborns less than two months of age with stage 4S neuroblastoma may present with aggressive hypoxia and restrictive respiratory impairment due to abdominal compartment syndrome. Case presentation : Two-month-old girl, height of 63 cm and body weight of 10 kg. She was diagnosed as neuroblastoma with Stage 4S. Because she was suffered from refractory hypoxemia and restrictive respiratory impairment due to abdominal compartment syndrome induced by multiple liver metastasis and massive ascites, she was transferred to our ICU. Her trachea was intubated and ventilated with assist/controlled mode, driving pressure 22 cmH2O, positive end-expiratory pressure（PEEP）8 cmH2O, fraction of inspiratory oxygen（FIO2）1.0, but tidal volume was obtained only 3.2 mL/kg and PaO2/FIO2 ratio of 55 mmHg. Therefore, we insert esophageal sensor and monitored esophageal pressure to performed transpulmonary pressure guided PEEP titration. When we changed PEEP from 8 to 15 cmH2O so that the end-expiratory transpulmonary pressure achieving 0 to 5 cmH2O, her oxygenation（PaO2/FIO2 ratio : 55 to 178 mmHg）and respiratory compliance（1.4 to 3.0 mL/cmH2O）were dramatically improved. Her respiratory condition was further stabilized by ascites puncture and radiotherapy, and the patient was extubated successfully on the 25th ICU day. Conclusions : Although pediatric neuroblastoma with stage 4S may induce severe respiratory efficiency, the responsiveness of treatment for neuroblastoma is promising. Multimodal treatments including optimal ventilator management such as transpulmonary pressure -guided PEEP titration contributes to improved patient’s prognosis

Clinical and experimental phenotype of azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus with a HapE splice site mutation: a case report

Background: The recent increase in cases of azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus (ARAf) infections is a major clinical concern owing to its treatment limitations. Patient-derived ARAf occurs after prolonged azole treatment in patients with aspergillosis and involves various cyp51A point mutations or non-cyp51A mutations. The prognosis of patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) with patient-derived ARAf infection remains unclear. In this study, we reported the case of a patient with ARAf due to HapE mutation, as well as the virulence of the isolate.Case presentation: A 37-year-old male was presented with productive cough and low-grade fever. The patient was diagnosed with CPA based on the chronic course, presence of a fungus ball in the upper left lobe on chest computed tomography (CT), positivity for Aspergillus-precipitating antibody and denial of other diseases. The patient underwent left upper lobe and left S6 segment resection surgery because of repeated haemoptysis during voriconazole (VRC) treatment. The patient was postoperatively treated with VRC for 6 months. Since then, the patient was followed up without antifungal treatment but relapsed 4 years later, and VRC treatment was reinitiated. Although an azole-resistant isolate was isolated after VRC treatment, the patient did not show any disease progression in either respiratory symptoms or radiological findings. The ARAf isolated from this patient showed slow growth, decreased biomass and biofilm formation in vitro, and decreased virulence in the Galleria mellonella infection model compared with its parental strain. These phenotypes could be caused by the HapE splice site mutation.Conclusions: This is the first to report a case demonstrating the clinical manifestation of a CPA patient infected with ARAf with a HapE splice site mutation, which was consistent with the in vitro and in vivo attenuated virulence of the ARAf isolate. These results imply that not all the ARAf infections in immunocompetent patients require antifungal treatment. Further studies on the virulence of non-cyp51A mutations in ARAf are warranted

DECIGO pathfinder

DECIGO pathfinder (DPF) is a milestone satellite mission for DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) which is a future space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to provide us fruitful insights into the universe, in particular about dark energy, a formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and the inflation of the universe. Since DECIGO will be an extremely large mission which will formed by three drag-free spacecraft with 1000m separation, it is significant to gain the technical feasibility of DECIGO before its planned launch in 2024. Thus, we are planning to launch two milestone missions: DPF and pre-DECIGO. The conceptual design and current status of the first milestone mission, DPF, are reviewed in this article

The status of DECIGO

DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) is the planned Japanese space gravitational wave antenna, aiming to detect gravitational waves from astrophysically and cosmologically significant sources mainly between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz and thus to open a new window for gravitational wave astronomy and for the universe. DECIGO will consists of three drag-free spacecraft arranged in an equilateral triangle with 1000 km arm lengths whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry-Perot interferometer, and four units of triangular Fabry-Perot interferometers are arranged on heliocentric orbit around the sun. DECIGO is vary ambitious mission, we plan to launch DECIGO in era of 2030s after precursor satellite mission, B-DECIGO. B-DECIGO is essentially smaller version of DECIGO: B-DECIGO consists of three spacecraft arranged in an triangle with 100 km arm lengths orbiting 2000 km above the surface of the earth. It is hoped that the launch date will be late 2020s for the present

Redescription of the subterranean millipede Antrokoreana gujoensis (Diplopoda: Julida: Nemasomatidae) from central Honshu, Japan

A subterranean millipede species, Antrokoreana gujoensis Masuda, 2010, is redescribed based on specimens newly collected around its type locality, in the limestone area of Mino Terrane on Honshu Island, Japan. Males of A. gujoensis were originally described as having no penes, but nonetheless, the examined specimens clearly demonstrate that this species possesses the penes behind leg-pair 2. An emended diagnosis of this species and a key to all eight currently recognized species of Antrokoreana is provided

Taxonomic assessment of a threatened large millipede endemic to the southern Ryukyu Islands, Japan: a new species of Spirobolus (Diplopoda: Spirobolida: Spirobolidae) from the Yaeyama Islands

八重山諸島（石垣島と西表島）に生息する日本最大のヤスデであるヤエヤママルヤスデを新種記載. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-01-19.The taxonomic status of millipedes of the genus Spirobolus Brandt, 1833, referred to as “Yaeyama-maruyasude” from the Yaeyama Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, was unresolved. We assess the taxonomic status of these Yaeyama Spirobolus sp. using an integrated morphological and molecular approach, and describe them as a new species, S. akamma sp. nov., for which partial sequences of the nuclear 28S ribosomal RNA, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, and 16S ribosomal RNA markers are provided. This new species differs from continental China and Taiwan endemic congeners in anterior gonopod morphology (in having an elongate and subtriangular coxa, and a pentagonal mesal sternal process), posterior gonopod morphology (in having a coronoid prefemoral endite with rounded distal end, and an elongate telopodite), and in having four serrations on the cyphopod lateral flange