Effects and safety of mechanical bathing as a complementary therapy for terminal stage cancer patients from the physiological and psychological perspective: a pilot study.

Objective: In palliative care hospitals in Japan, mechanical bathing is conducted to maintain cleanliness. However, the physiological and psychological influence of mechanical bathing on patients has not been sufficiently studied. The objective of this study was to assess, using physiological and psychological indices, the effects of mechanical bathing care for patients in the terminal stage of cancer.

Oral nutrition or the ability to speak: the choice faced by a cancer survivor.

Patients with head and neck cancer often suffer from breathing, speaking, and eating deficits, which negatively affect their quality of life. These patients are often observed to repeatedly contract aspiration pneumonia, resulting in prolonged hospital stays. To help prevent aspiration pneumonia, enteral nutrition is often provided.

Dominance hierarchy-dependent behavioural plasticity of crayfish avoidance reactions.

Crayfish showed avoidance reactions when mechanical stimulation was applied to their tailfan. The response pattern of the avoidance reaction was dependent on crayfish size. Small crayfish showed an escape-like dart response while larger crayfish displayed a defensive-like turn response.

Factors predicting requirement of high-dose transdermal fentanyl in opioid switching from oral morphine or oxycodone in patients with cancer pain.

Objectives: To identify predictive factors requiring high-dose transdermal fentanyl in opioid switching from oral morphine or oxycodone to transdermal fentanyl in patients with cancer pain.

Methods: The participants were 76 hospitalized terminal cancer patients who underwent opioid switching from oxycodone or morphine sustained-release tablet to transdermal fentanyl at our hospital between January 2009 and June 2010. The conversion dose was calculated as transdermal fentanyl (25 μg/h)/oral morphine (60 mg) or oxycodone (40 mg)=1.

Nitric oxide modulates local reflexes of the tailfan of the crayfish.

Electrical stimulation of sensory neurons that innervate receptors on the tailfan of crayfish evokes a reflex response of motor neurons that produce movements of the blades of the tailfan, the uropods. We analyzed the modulatory effects of nitric oxide (NO) on the spike frequency of the reflex response. Bath application of L-arginine and SNAP, which elevate endogenous and exogenous NO levels, increased the frequency of the evoked response, whereas the application of L-NAME and PTIO, which reduce NO levels, decreased the frequency of the response.