Dokkyo Medical University

Aim: The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, caused an accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). The damage caused by the combination of earthquake, tsunami, and radiation required mass evacuation of the local population. The evacuation to shelters is well known, but the grief that disaster victims experienced is not widely known. This paper considers the reasons for the lack of acknowledgment of the grief of disaster victims following the disaster.

We aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the second version of the Brief Evaluation of Psychosis Symptom Domains (BE-PSD-V2.0) and its correspondence with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale (CGI-S) scores. This cross-sectional study was conducted at 18 institutes in Japan. We performed correlational analyses to test the convergent and divergent validity of the BE-PSD-V2.0. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The equipercentile equating method was employed to examine the linking of the BE-PSD-V2.0 with the PANSS and the CGI-S. A total of 353 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were included. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients between the BE-PSD-V2.0 item scores and their corresponding PANSS factor scores ranged from 0.64 to 0.86, indicating sufficient convergent validity. These specific correlation coefficients were consistently the highest among all item-to-factor comparisons, indicating sufficient divergent validity. In 34 patients, ICCs for the BE-PSD-V2.0 itemand total scores ranged from 0.60 to 0.94, showing sufficient inter-rater reliability. Conversion tables were established between the BE-PSD-V2.0 total score and the PANSS total score, between the BE-PSD-V2.0 total score and the CGI-S score, and between the BE-PSD-V2.0 item scores and their corresponding PANSS factor scores. A correspondence between symptomatic remission criteria using the PANSS and BE-PSD-V2.0 was confirmed. The BE-PSD-V2.0 possesses sufficient psychometric properties and corresponds to the PANSS and CGI-S. It is a sound and reliable brief rating scale for assessing symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and its established conversion correspondences facilitate score interpretation within existing clinical paradigms for both clinical practice and research.

Our previous study in hamsters indicated that progesterone (P) induces enhancement of spermatozoal hyperactivation, while 17β-estradiol (Eβ) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) suppress this enhancement. Since P has also been shown to enhance hyperactivation of rat spermatozoa in another study conducted by our team, we examined the effects of Eβ and GABA on the P-enhanced hyperactivation of rat spermatozoa in the present study. Our results showed that Eβ suppressed P-enhanced hyperactivation in a dose-dependent manner through an estrogen receptor. In contrast, GABA did not affect P-enhanced hyperactivation. Instead, 5-500 fM GABA significantly enhanced spermatozoal hyperactivation, and this GABA-induced enhancement of hyperactivation was associated with a GABAA receptor. In conclusion, P-enhanced hyperactivation of rat spermatozoa was suppressed by Eβ although it was not suppressed by GABA. Moreover, low concentrations of GABA enhanced rat spermatozoal hyperactivation.

Hemodynamic force (HDF) analysis using vector flow mapping (VFM) enables noninvasive assessment of intraventricular pressure differences (IVPDs). In this study, we evaluated the apical suction from late systole to early diastole in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) with or without left ventricular aneurysm (LVA), validated against simultaneous left atrial-LV pressure measurements. A total of 37 participants were evaluated: 11 healthy controls, 11 patients with IHD without LVA, and 15 with LVA. VFM-derived IVPDs were quantified as IVPD recoil (late systole) or IVPD RF (early diastole). Patients with LVA showed markedly reduced IVPD recoil and the combined parameter (IVPDVFM recoil + RF) compared with those with IHD, indicating impaired apical suction. IVPD RF and the combined parameter (IVPDVFM recoil + RF) correlated with transmitral E-wave (r = 0.54, P < 0.01 and r = 0.45, P = 0.03); the combined parameter (IVPDVFM recoil + RF) showed significant correlation with catheter-derived simultaneous pressure differences (r = 0.40, P < 0.05). These findings demonstrate that VFM identifies loss of apical suction in LVA and reflects impaired LA-LV driving force. VFM offers a practical noninvasive tool for evaluating diastolic suction beyond Doppler indices and may improve physiological assessment in post-infarction LV remodeling.

<title>Abstract</title> Purpose This study was conducted to confirm the actual opioid conversion ratios (CRs) and opioid rotation ratios (ORRs) in clinical practice in Japan. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted between March 7th to 20th, 2024, targeting palliative care physicians and pharmacists in the following three societies: Japanese Society for Palliative Medicine, Japanese Society for Pharmaceutical Palliative Care and Sciences, and Japanese Association of Supportive Care in Cancer. The primary endpoint was to determine the CRs and ORRs used by participants, which were measured in the survey. Results 433 responses (68.1% physicians and 31.9% pharmacists) were received. 30.3% conducted &gt; 30 opioid rotations in the past 6 months. For most CRs and ORRs obtained from all the participants, values for the median, first quartile, third quartile, and mode were consistent. Among groups of professions and number of opioid rotations frequency, there were no differences in the median opioid ratios involving morphine, hydromorphone and oxycodone. However, there were significant differences in the ORRs involving intravenous (IV) fentanyl, specifically in the rotation ratios between IV fentanyl and IV morphine. Conclusion There was great consistency in the CRs and ORRs used by physicians and pharmacists in palliative care in Japan. This would suggest that education on the ratios is well established for medical professionals in Japan.

Odontogenic tumors are neoplasms that develop in the jawbone and are derived from cells involved in odontogenesis. Most odontogenic tumors are benign neoplasms, but some lesions are locally invasive and likely to recur. Odontogenic tumors are diagnosed by clinical, imaging and histopathological findings, but these vary and it can be difficult to make a definitive diagnosis. Advances in genetics and molecular biology have led to identification of genetic abnormalities involved in development and progression of odontogenic tumors, and may be useful for diagnosis. Clinically, identification of molecules related to tumorigenesis and cell differentiation in odontogenic tumors may improve the accuracy of diagnosis. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of whole exons of SMO, BRAF, PTCH1 and GNAS genes in patients with odontogenic diseases is useful for differential diagnosis and tumor identification in odontogenic diseases. In fact, we detected several mutations in odontogenic tumors as well as in odontogenic cysts histopathologically. We would like to propose that diagnosis of odontogenic tumors may require a combination of histopathology and genetic mutation analysis.

Background: The majority of cleft palate patients have been reported to suffer from otitis media with effusion (OME). The improvement of velopharyngeal function (VPF) after palatoplasty might be evidence for the improvement of the function of the Eustachian tube. The improvement of the function of Eustachian tube by palatoplasty has been reported to be effective for the treatment of OME simultaneously with the insertion of a ventilation tube into the tympanic membrane. There are only a few reports that clearly show the association between improvement of VPF and improvement of OME after palatoplasty. In this study, we discussed whether the improvement of VPF after palatoplasty in cleft palate patients with OME improved OME. Methods: Twenty-six patients with cleft palate were included in the study. We retrospectively extracted the information of cleft type, gender, surgical technique, and presence of OME risk factors from electronic medical records. We also investigated the recurrence of OME and the improvement level of VPF at 36 months postoperatively. OME was assessed based on the otolaryngologist's findings in electronic medical records, with a good prognosis group with no symptom of OME, or a recurrence group with prolonged or recurrent OME. Results: At 36 months after palatoplasty, 19 of 23 patients (82.6%) were in the OME good prognosis group and four (17.4%) were in the OME recurrence group. The rate of patients with recurrent OME did not differ significantly by the degree of improvement of VPF. This study indicated that clear association between other risk factors for OME and OME recurrence could not be shown. Conclusion: We observed that most patients with cleft palate who underwent palatoplasty showed a good prognosis for OME at 36 months after surgery. However, further studies are needed to investigate the impact of different surgical techniques on the improvement of OME and the degree to which VPF improves, as well as the effect of each OME risk factor.