Analysis of Problems in Family Nursing at Intensive Care Unit of O University Hospital

O大学病院のICUにおける家族看護のあり方を検討するため,過去の記録から入室患者の特性と家族の状況を把握し,課題を明らかにした｡128例の看護記録を資料に,患者の入室理由,入室期間,転帰の状況を分類し,入室期間別の家族の言動等から,家族看護の必要性について検討した｡また,家族に対する看護実践を,家族に関する情報の記載の有無から評価した｡その結果,ICU入室患者の9%が死亡退院で,そのうち受け持ち看護師の決まっていない入室後3日以内に死を迎えた患者の家族へのフォローが充分に行えていなかったこと,また,14日以上の長期入室患者の家族には,全事例に家族に関する情報が 記載されており,看護師が家族の気持ちや疲労感,患者への回想などの語りを捉えていたことが明らかとなった｡今後は,短期間で死亡の転帰となった家族へのグリーフケアや,長期入室患者の家族に対する継続看護の評価が必要である。To study family cares at an intensive care unit (ICU) in O University Hospital, we clarified problems existing in the family cares by grasping patients' character and their family conditions in reference to patients' past records. On the basis of the nursing records of 128 patients, the patients were classified according to reasons for their stay in ICU, their staying period, and how they had left ICU to examine the necessity for family cares mainly from the point how families' sentiment and behaviors differed depending on patients' staying period in ICU. Nursing practice for family cares was evaluated in consideration of whether information about patients' families had been recorded or not. As a result, nine percents of the patients studied had left ICU by death and in case patients died within 3 days in ICU, no nurses in charge of them had been assigned to or no sufficient follow-up cares had been given to their families, while families' information of all the patients staying in ICU for more than 14 days was recorded, which indicated that nurses could share the information with patients' families to understand them. This research showed the importance not only of giving grief cares to the families who had lost their important person after a short stay in ICU, but also of evaluating continuous cares for families with patients in ICU for a long time, suggesting the need for some revision of the present care system to give mental as well as physical cares to both patients and their families regardless of staying period in ICU

An easy-to-implement, non-invasive head restraint method for monkey fMRI

Tanaka R., Watanabe K., Suzuki T., et al. An easy-to-implement, non-invasive head restraint method for monkey fMRI. NeuroImage 285, 120479 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120479.Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in behaving monkeys has a strong potential to bridge the gap between human neuroimaging and primate neurophysiology. In monkey fMRI, to restrain head movements, researchers usually surgically implant a plastic head-post on the skull. Although time-proven to be effective, this technique could create burdens for animals, including a risk of infection and discomfort. Furthermore, the presence of extraneous objects on the skull, such as bone screws and dental cement, adversely affects signals near the cortical surface. These side effects are undesirable in terms of both the practical aspect of efficient data collection and the spirit of “refinement” from the 3R's. Here, we demonstrate that a completely non-invasive fMRI scan in awake monkeys is possible by using a plastic head mask made to fit the skull of individual animals. In all of the three monkeys tested, longitudinal, quantitative assessment of head movements showed that the plastic mask has effectively suppressed head movements, and we were able to obtain reliable retinotopic BOLD signals in a standard retinotopic mapping task. The present, easy-to-make plastic mask has a strong potential to simplify fMRI experiments in awake monkeys, while giving data that is as good as or even better quality than that obtained with the conventional head-post method

Hybrid Brachytherapy of Cervical Cancer

High-dose-rate brachytherapy by remote afterloading is now performed under three-dimensional image guidance by CT or MRI. Three-dimensional image-guided brachytherapy in cervical cancer disclosed that the traditional intracavitary brachytherapy by Manchester method cannot deliver an adequate dose to the large tumor with resulting local recurrence. To improve the local control rate, combined interstitial and intracavitary (hybrid) brachytherapy can increase the dose to the large parametrial involvement without increasing the dose to the rectum and bladder. Whether hybrid brachytherapy can be performed safely on a multi-institutional basis remains to be studied. From 2015, phase I/II study of hybrid brachytherapy was launched in Japan, and it was revealed that hybrid brachytherapy can be performed safely and with a high quality of radiation dose distribution in a multi-institutional study. In Japan, the number of patients undergoing hybrid brachytherapy in cervical cancer is rapidly rising. Education and clinical trial are very important to establish hybrid brachytherapy in the management of cervical cancer

播州織の高付加価値化の提案による地場産業の活性化に関する包括的研究

　本研究は播州織の高付加価値化と北播磨の地場産業を対象事例とした実践的研究によって、地場産業の活性化を促す包括的な手法を考察することを目的とする。　播州織は従来の受託加工型から産地自ら製品を開発・提案する市場開発型産地へと構造的変換が求められている。本研究は2015 年度兵庫県COEプログラム推進事業（F／S調査ステージ研究）ならびに2016・17 年度同事業（応用ステージ）から継続している研究成果を基盤とし、播州織の高付加価値化の可能性を技術的価値・経済的価値・社会的価値の三つの視点から新たな研究調査を行った。　技術的価値は技術の更新を意味し、素材次元から完成品次元までの専門技術の連携化を調査した。次に経済的価値は市場の更新を意味し、海外マーケットも視野に入れるためラグジュアリーブランドのニーズ把握と販路開拓の可能性を探った。社会的価値は意味の更新として、エシカルデザインの社会的役割について調査を実施した。研究調査と同時に、綿を使用する播州織であることから、大学の教育プログラムとして綿の栽培を行った。そして、播州にて織物のワークショップも実施した。播州織の高付加価値化と地域の活性化を促す統合的な手法の構築および考察を行った。This field study aims to reveal the integrated ways to activate local industries through the example of the high-added values of Banshuori grown in Kitaharima. The production of Banshuori grown in Kitaharima is undergoing a series of structural changes from the conventional order-made process to market developing business model with independent domestic development and proposal. This research is based on the research results that have continued from the 2015 Hyogo Prefecture COE Program Promotion Project (FS Survey Stage Study) and the 2016/17 Project (Application Stage). A new research urvey was conducted on the possibility of the high added-value of Banshuori from three viewpoints: technical value, economic value and social value. Technical value refers to the improvement of technology, collaborative investigations were done on specialized technologies from raw materials to the end products. As economic value implies the renewal of the market, we then looked at the needs of luxury brands and explored the possibility of developing sales channels taking the global market into consideration. Social value means the change of the meaning of the item and thus the social role of the craft in ethical design was investigated. Along with the investigation, cotton, a material in Banshuori grown in Kitaharima, was also inculcated in university as an educational program. Additionally, a Banshuori workshop was held in Banshu. The study investigated possible integrated ways to establish high added values on Banshuori, as well as its association with the activation of the community

CCR6+ MCAM+ Th17 Cell Numbers Increase in Patients with Psoriasis and Correlate with Disease Severity

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated disease in which the interleukin (IL)-23/IL-17 axis plays a key role in the inflammatory cascade. We recently reported that co-expression of CCR6 and melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) in effector memory CD4 T cells (TEM) of peripheral blood might be a useful marker for T helper (Th) 17 cells. In this study, we monitored changes in TEM expressing CCR6 and MCAM using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score during anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy. We also studied CCR6+ MCAM+ Th17 cells histologically in skin biopsy samples from psoriasis patients. In psoriasis patients treated with anti-TNF therapy, the PASI score and the percentage of CCR6+ MCAM+ TEM cells in the blood changed almost in parallel. In immunohistochemical analyses, the proportions of IL-17+ T cells and MCAM+ T cells in the lesional skin of severely psoriatic patients were significantly higher than in mildly psoriatic patients (P<0.05), and the number of IL17+ T cells correlated with the PASI score (r=0.400, P<0.05). Taken together, these results indicate that CCR6+ MCAM+ Th17 cells in peripheral blood and lesional skin might play an important role in the pathology of psoriasis

Nature and Clinical Outcomes of Acute Hemorrhagic Rectal Ulcer

Acute hemorrhagic rectal ulcer (AHRU) is a relatively rare disease that can lead to massive hematochezia. Although AHRU is a potentially life-threatening disease, its characteristics and clinical course are not fully understood. In this study, the clinical features were compared between AHRU and lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) from other causes (non-AHRU). Then, risk factors for all-cause in-hospital mortality in patients with AHRU were identified. A total of 387 consecutive adult patients with LGIB who were managed at two tertiary academic hospitals in Akita prefecture in Japan were retrospectively enrolled. Subjects were divided into AHRU and non-AHRU groups according to the source of bleeding. Regression analyses were used to investigate significant associations, and the results were expressed as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). AHRU was found as the bleeding source in 72 (18.6%) of the patients. In comparison to non-AHRU, having AHRU was significantly associated with in-hospital onset, age > 65 years, and systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg. The AHRU group had a significantly higher in-hospital mortality rate in comparison to the non-AHRU group (18.0% vs. 8.3, p = 0.02), and hypoalbuminemia (<2.5 g/dL) was significantly associated with in-hospital mortality in the AHRU group (OR, 4.04; 95%CI, 1.11-14.9; p = 0.03). AHRU accounts for a substantial portion (18.6%) of LGIB in our area, where the aging rate is the highest in Japan. Since AHRU is a potentially life-threatening disease that requires urgent identification and management, further studies to identify robust risk factors associated with serious clinical outcomes are required

Usefulness of the CHAMPS score for risk stratification in lower gastrointestinal bleeding

We have recently developed a simple prediction score, the CHAMPS score, to predict in-hospital mortality in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. In this study, the primary outcome of this study was the usefulness of the CHAMPS score for predicting in-hospital mortality with lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB). Consecutive adult patients who were hospitalized with LGIB at two tertiary academic medical centers from 2015 to 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. The performance for predicting outcomes with CHAMPS score was assessed by a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, and compared with four existing scores. In 387 patients enrolled in this study, 39 (10.1%) of whom died during the hospitalization. The CHAMPS score showed good performance in predicting in-hospital mortality in LGIB patients with an AUC (95% confidence interval) of 0.80 (0.73-0.87), which was significantly higher in comparison to the existing scores. The risk of in-hospital mortality as predicted by the CHAMPS score was shown: low risk (score = 4), 37.1%. The CHAMPS score is useful for predicting in-hospital mortality in patients with LGIB