Changes in Ocular Surface Characteristics after Switching from Benzalkonium Chloride-Preserved Latanoprost to Preservative-Free Tafluprost or Benzalkonium Chloride-Preserved Tafluprost

Purpose. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of switching from Latanoprost ophthalmic solution containing a preservative to preservative-free Tafluprost ophthalmic solution or Tafluprost containing a preservative on ocular surfaces. Materials and Methods. Forty patients (40 eyes) with glaucoma (mean age: 62.0 ± 10.9 years) using Latanoprost with preservative for six months or longer were assigned either to a Tafluprost-containing-preservative group (20 eyes) or preservative-free-Tafluprost group (20 eyes). The intraocular pressure, corneal epithelial barrier function (fluorescein uptake concentration with fluorophotometer FL-500), superficial punctate keratopathy (AD classification), and tear film breakup time (TBUT) were assessed before switching and at 12 weeks after switching. Results. No significant differences in intraocular pressure were noted after switching in either group. Corneal epithelial barrier function was improved significantly after switching in both the Tafluprost-containing-preservative and the preservative-free-Tafluprost groups. There were no significant differences in AD scores after switching in the Tafluprost-containing-preservative group, but significant improvements were noted in the preservative-free-Tafluprost group. No significant differences in TBUT were noted in the Tafluprost-containing-preservative or preservative-free-Tafluprost groups after switching. Conclusion. After switching from preservative Latanoprost to Tafluprost containing-preservative or preservative-free Tafluprost, corneal epithelial barrier function was improved while the intraocular pressure reduction was retained

Semantic Scene Difference Detection in Daily Life Patroling by Mobile Robots using Pre-Trained Large-Scale Vision-Language Model

It is important for daily life support robots to detect changes in their environment and perform tasks. In the field of anomaly detection in computer vision, probabilistic and deep learning methods have been used to calculate the image distance. These methods calculate distances by focusing on image pixels. In contrast, this study aims to detect semantic changes in the daily life environment using the current development of large-scale vision-language models. Using its Visual Question Answering (VQA) model, we propose a method to detect semantic changes by applying multiple questions to a reference image and a current image and obtaining answers in the form of sentences. Unlike deep learning-based methods in anomaly detection, this method does not require any training or fine-tuning, is not affected by noise, and is sensitive to semantic state changes in the real world. In our experiments, we demonstrated the effectiveness of this method by applying it to a patrol task in a real-life environment using a mobile robot, Fetch Mobile Manipulator. In the future, it may be possible to add explanatory power to changes in the daily life environment through spoken language.Comment: Accepted to 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2023

Study on Laser Consolidation of Metal Powder with Yb fiber laser : Temperature Measurement of Laser Irradiation Area

金沢大学理工研究域　機械工学系The layered manufacturing technique is one of the most effective processes for the manufacture of prototypes, tools and functional end products. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Selective Laser Melting (SLM), in particular, are two of the most versatile techniques, able to cover a wide range of materials such as polymer, ceramic and metal powder. In this study, the monitoring method of processing temperature at laser irradiation area by two-color pyrometer is applied. In order to in-vestigate the consolidation characteristics of chromium molybdenum steel (SCM) based powder with a Yb:fiber laser, the maximum temperature at the irradiation area of a laser beam was measured under various experimental conditions. The influence of the scan conditions of a laser beam on the maximum temperature was evaluated. As a result, it was revealed that the maximum temperature during laser irradiation changed under the influence of laser power and scan speed of a laser beam. The maximum temperature increased with the increase of laser power, and decreased rapidly to al-most at room temperature for 20 ms after the laser beam passed the center of the target area. More than the unit length 5 mm, the maximum temperature during laser irradiation was not influenced by the previous laser scan

Relationship between serum isoflavone concentrations and frequency of soybean products consumption in patients with prostate cancer

Dietary consumption of high concentrations of soybean products has been suggested to reduce the risk for prostate cancer (PCa). We conducted a survey using patients with PCa to assess the relationship between serum concentrations of isoflavone aglycones and frequency of soybean products consumption in patients with PCa. We measured the serum concentrations of daidzein, genistein, glycitein, and equol in 99 PCa patients, in addition to conducting a survey using a self administrated questionnaire that included the frequencies of various food item consumptions. If serum concentrations of equol were at a value less than 0.5 ng/mL, they were classified as an equol non producer, and the other patients were classified as equol producers. As a result, serum concentrations of daidzein, genistein, and glycitein were found to be significantly correlated to each other (P<0.001). The frequency of tofu (soybean curd) consumption was significantly correlated with the serum concentration of daidzein (P<0.05). Likewise, the frequency of natto (fermented soybean) consumption was significantly correlated with the serum concentrations of daidzein, genistein, and glycitein (P<0.01). In the study there were 40 equol producers and 59 equol non producers, but none of the food items were significantly different between the equol producers and the equol non producers. We have a plan to perform a similar survey for population based controls in the future. Comparisons between the data of the PCa patients and the controls would give us more information about the role of isoflavones and equol production in regard to the risk of PCa

Status of adult outpatients with congenital heart disease in Japan: The Japanese Network of Cardiovascular Departments for Adult Congenital Heart Disease Registry

BackgroundThe Japanese Network of Cardiovascular Departments for Adult Congenital Heart Disease (JNCVD-ACHD) was founded in 2011 for the lifelong care of adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD patients). This network maintains the first Japanese ACHD registry.Methods and resultsFrom 2011 to 2019, the JNCVD-ACHD registered 54 institutions providing specialized care for ACHD patients in 32 of the 47 prefectures in Japan. The registry collected data on the disease profile for 24,048 patients from 50 institutions and the patient characteristics for 9743 patients from 24 institutions. The most common ACHDs were atrial septal defect (20.5 %), ventricular septal defect (20.5 %), tetralogy of Fallot (12.9 %), and univentricular heart (UVH)/single ventricle (SV; 6.6 %). ACHD patients without biventricular repair accounted for 37.0 % of the population. Also examined were the serious anatomical and/or pathophysiological disorders such as pulmonary arterial hypertension (3.0 %) including Eisenmenger syndrome (1.2 %), systemic right ventricle under biventricular circulation (sRV-2VC; 2.8 %), and Fontan physiology (6.0 %). The sRV-2VC cases comprised congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries without anatomical repair (61.9 %) and transposition of the great arteries with atrial switching surgery (38.1 %). The primary etiology (86.4 %) for Fontan physiology was UVH/SV. In addition, developmental/chromosomal/genetic disorders were heterotaxy syndromes (asplenia, 0.9 %; polysplenia, 0.7 %), trisomy 21 (4.0 %), 22q11.2 deletion (0.9 %), Turner syndrome (0.2 %), and Marfan syndrome (1.1 %).ConclusionsAlthough the specific management of ACHD has systematically progressed in Japan, this approach is still evolving. For ideal ACHD care, the prospective goals for the JNCVD-ACHD are to create local networks and provide a resource for multicenter clinical trials to support evidence-based practice

Influences of comorbidities on perioperative rehabilitation in patients with gastrointestinal cancers: a retrospective study

Abstract Background Older patients are more likely to have comorbidities than younger patients, and multiple comorbidities are associated with mortality in patients with cancer. Therefore, we hypothesized that a functional comorbidity index could predict the therapeutic effects of rehabilitation. Objectives In this study, we investigate whether the comorbidities influenced the execution and therapeutic effects of rehabilitation. Methods A consecutive cohort of 48 patients with gastrointestinal cancer who underwent surgery between January 1 and November 30, 2020, was analyzed. Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) scores were calculated based on data derived from medical records. The primary outcomes were ambulation status, duration (days) from the start of postoperative rehabilitation, and length of hospital stay. We investigated the relationship between CCI scores and primary outcomes. Results The CCI did not correlate with the duration of rehabilitation or the length of hospital stay. Subsequently, patients with functional recovery problems were evaluated, and we identified the conditions that were not included in the list using CCI scores. Most conditions are associated with surgical complications. Furthermore, using the Clavien-Dindo classification (CDC), we assessed the clinical features of the severity of complications. We found that the length of stay and the duration to start rehabilitation were significantly longer in the patients with higher severity of surgical complications (CDC≧III) than in those with lower severity (CDC≦II). Conclusions Treatment-related conditions may significantly impact the perioperative period more than the original comorbidities. In addition to original comorbidities, events related to surgical complications should be assessed to determine the therapeutic effects of rehabilitation in patients with gastrointestinal cancer