Proximal Binaural Sound Can Induce Subjective Frisson.

Auditory frisson is the experience of feeling of cold or shivering related to sound in the absence of a physical cold stimulus. Multiple examples of frisson-inducing sounds have been reported, but the mechanism of auditory frisson remains elusive. Typical frisson-inducing sounds may contain a looming effect, in which a sound appears to approach the listener's peripersonal space.

Clinical importance of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia nosocomial pneumonia due to its high mortality in hemodialysis patients.

Patients undergoing hemodialysis are immunocompromised and can suffer from pneumonia with various pathogens in nosocomial conditions. We investigated the fundamental information on the characteristics of hemodialysis inpatients and nosocomial pneumonia. We surveyed 1803 hemodialysis patients admitted to our university hospital between 2001 and 2007.

Surgical site infection risk factors identified by multivariate analysis for patient undergoing laparoscopic, open colon, and gastric surgery.

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is an important clinical indicator of quality of patient care and infection control; therefore, we aimed to assess risk factors SSI in colon and gastric surgeries.

Methods: SSI was assessed according to the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) system (1999). Risk factors examined included operative approach, operative procedure, duration of operation, diabetes mellitus (DM), body mass index (BMI), age, and sex.

Macular degeneration in a Japanese patient with aceruloplasminemia.

Purpose: To characterize the clinical features of a Japanese patient with macular degeneration in aceruloplasminemia.

Methods: The clinical features were evaluated by visual acuity measurements, fluorescein angiography, electroretinography, and kinetic visual field testing.

Results: We observed a Japanese patient with macular degeneration in aceruloplasminemia.

Surgical site infection surveillance after open gastrectomy and risk factors for surgical site infection.

Surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance was examined in gastric cancer patients who had undergone an open gastrectomy between 1997 and 2003 at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) reports and several studies have discussed SSI risk factors, but only open gastrectomy was analyzed by regression analysis. The purpose of this study was to examine these issues by performing a regression analysis for the prediction of SSI.

Introduction of the Low Vision Evaluator (LoVE) for children.

Purpose: To determine whether the Low Vision Evaluator (LoVE) can grade the visual acuity of young children with light perception and hand movement acuity into finer acuity steps and at what age reliable measurements can be obtained.

Methods: Two hundred twenty children were tested with the LoVE. Each eye was tested separately, and each stimulus magnitude (intensity x duration) was presented three times.

Axenic cultivation of Entamoeba dispar in newly designed yeast extract-iron-gluconic acid-dihydroxyacetone-serum medium.

Yeast extract-iron-gluconic acid-dihydroxyacetone-serum medium that allows axenic cultivation of Entamoeba dispar was designed based on casein-free yeast extract-iron-serum (YI-S) medium, and the usefulness of the medium was assessed. The main differences from YI-S medium are replacement of glucose by gluconic acid, addition of dihydroxyacetone and D-galacturonic acid monohydrate, and sterilization by filtration. This medium promoted the axenic growth of 5 strains of E.

Branch retinal artery occlusion: a complication of iron-deficiency anemia in a young adult with a rectal carcinoid.

We report a case of branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) in a patient with iron-deficiency anemia. Various ophthalmological and laboratory studies were performed. A 32-year-old man had a sudden decrease of vision in his left eye to counting fingers at 30 cm two days ago.