Period Measurement of AGB Stars in the Outer Galactic Disk

Light variation of the 47 AGB star candidates in the outer Galactic disk has been monitored at I-band for 5 years. Periods were determined well for 18 of them and less reliably for the other 25. The average period of the objects is then 500 days. According to the period-luminosity relation, the mean luminosity of the sample stars is 10000 \LO. Based on the absolute luminosity derived from the period-luminosity relation and the apparent luminosity from the observation, the distances to the objects are determined. The distances calculated are slightly greater than those obtained previously on the assumption of constant luminosity of 8000 \LO. In addition, SiO maser emission was detected for most of the observed objects so that their radial velocities were known accurately. With the assumption of circular rotation in the Galactic disk, the rotation curve and Oort's constants were derived.Comment: 13 pages including 4 tables, and 13 postscript figures. Accepted for PASJ (Publication of the Astronomical Society of Japan

Successful Management of an Elderly Patient with Dementia Using a Dual Gastric Tube After Surgical Treatment of Gastroduodenal Ulcer

We describe a technique which was employed for simultaneous drainage and enteral nutrition using a dual gastric tube from a gastrostomy for postoperative management of a gastroduodenal ulcer. Gastrostomy was performed and a 18 Fr. gastric drainage tube was inserted into the body of the stomach intraoperatively. A second tube was inserted into the jejunum through the gastric tube postoperatively. Use of the gastric tube for drainage and the second tube for feeding enabled an early start of enteral nutrition without consideration of the gastric condition. The technique is simple and could be beneficial for patients who experience complications such as minor leakage and severe pylorus stenosis, particularly those in older age group with dementia

A New Navigation System for Minimally Invasive Total Knee Arthroplasty

A computer-assisted navigation system to be used for total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) was reported to improve the accuracy of bone resection and result in precise implant placement, but the concomitant surgical invasion and time consumption are clinical problems. We developed a computed tomography (CT)-based navigation system (NNS) to be used for minimally invasive TKA. It requires only the reference points from a small limited area of the medial femoral condyle and proximal tibia through a skin incision to obtain optical images. Here we evaluated the usefulness and accuracy of the NNS in comparison with the commercially available BrainLAB image-free navigation system (BLS). In a clinical experiment, the registration times obtained with the NNS tended to be shorter than those obtained with the BLS, but not significantly so. The NNS group tended to be in the extended position in the sagittal plane of the distal femur within 3 degrees, and the BLS group showed rather flexed deviation in the sagittal plane of the anterior femur

Discordance between hyposalivation and xerostomia

Individuals with an objective decrease in salivary flow (objective dry mouth) may not be aware of subjective dry mouth (xerostomia). However, no clear evidence exists to explain the discordance between subjective and objective dry mouth. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of xerostomia and decreased salivary flow among community-dwelling elderly adults. In addition, this study assessed several potential demographic and health status determinants of the discrepancy between xerostomia and reduced salivary flow. The 215 participants in this study were community-dwelling older people aged 70 years and above who underwent dental health examinations between January-February 2019. Symptoms of xerostomia were collected in the form of a questionnaire. The unstimulated salivary flow rate (USFR) was measured by a dentist using visual inspection. The stimulated salivary flow rate (SSFR) was measured using the Saxon test. We identified 19.1% of participants as having mild-severe USFR decline with xerostomia and 19.1% as having mild-severe USFR decline without xerostomia. Additionally, 26.0% of participants had low SSFR and xerostomia, and 40.0% had low SSFR without xerostomia. Except for the age trend, no factors could be associated with the discordance between USFR measurement and xerostomia. Furthermore, no significant factors were associated with the discordance between the SSFR and xerostomia. However, females were significantly associated (OR = 2.608, 95% CI = 1.174–5.791) with low SSFR and xerostomia, as compared to males. Age was a factor that was also significantly associated (OR = 1.105, 95% CI = 1.010–1.209) with low SSFR and xerostomia. Our findings indicate that approximately 20% of the participants had low USFR without xerostomia, and 40% had low SSFR without xerostomia. This study showed that age, sex, and the number of medications may not be factors in the discrepancy between the subjective feeling of dry mouth and reduced salivary flow

Two rare cases of adult-onset phalangeal microgeodic syndrome with magnetic resonance imaging-proven bone edema transiently occurring in winter

We report two rare cases of adult-onset phalangeal microgeodic syndrome (PMS), which commonly develops in children. Both cases were Japanese women, with case 1: 60. years old and case 2: 58. years old. They developed swelling and stiffness in their fingers in winter, and their symptoms disappeared without any treatment in summer. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of bilateral hands showed diffuse bone edema of the middle and proximal phalanges in winter, but the abnormal findings also disappeared in summer. The specific abnormalities observed on MRI were very useful for the diagnosis of PMS. Interestingly, they appeared in winter and disappeared in summer in parallel with the symptoms

Reevaluation for clinical manifestations of HTLV-I-seropositive patients with Sjogren’s syndrome

Background: The aim of the study was to reassess the prevalence and characteristics of human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated Sjogren\u27s syndrome (SS) and SS in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM) based on the American European Consensus Group (AECG) criteria in HTLV-I endemic area, Nagasaki prefecture. Methods: The 349 patients who underwent a minor salivary gland biopsy (MSGB) for suspected SS were retrospectively classified by AECG classification criteria and divided with or without anti-HTLV-I antibody. Results: The HTLV-I data-available 294 patients were investigated. One hundred-seventy patients were classified as SS and 26.5 % were HTLV-I-seropositive. We have included 26 patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM) and 38.5 % were classified as having SS. The prevalences of ANA and anti-SS-A/Ro antibody of HAM + SS were significantly low compared to the HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers (AC) with SS and the HTLV-I-seronegative SS patients, although lacrimal dysfunction tended to be high in HAM + SS and significantly high in AC + SS patients compared with the patients with HTLV-I-seronegative SS. The focus scores of MSGB in the HAM + SS patients were similar to those of the AC + SS patients and the HTLV-I-seronegative patients with SS. Among the MSGB-positive patients, there was a low prevalence of ANA in the HAM + SS patients. Similar results were obtained in case of anti-SS-A/Ro or SS-B/La antibody. Conclusion: In HTLV-I endemic area, high prevalence of anti-HTLV-I antibody among SS as well as the characteristics of HAM + SS and AC + SS was still determined by AECG classification criteria