Influence of Chronic Mental Stress on Taste and Pungency Due to End-of-Semester Examination.

Mental stress is a known risk factor for lifestyle-related diseases. Previously, we reported that short-term stress sharpens the sense of taste and dulls the sense of pungency, but in this study, we examined the effects of chronic mental stress on taste and pungency by comparing normal days with end-of-semester examination days. Furthermore, the relationship between pungency measured on the tongue and the corresponding skin current value causing forearm pain was investigated.

Predicting difficulty in extending the ileal pouch to the anus in restorative proctocolectomy: investigation of a simple predictive method using computed tomography.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the ability of preoperative axial computed tomography (CT) to predict surgical difficulty in bringing the ileal pouch to the level of the anus during restorative proctocolectomy (RPC).

Method: Patients who underwent RPC with an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (or ileal pouch-anal canal anastomosis) in our institution between January 2008 and April 2014 were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups, including those in whom CT indicated potential difficulty in extending the pouch downwards (extension difficult (ED) group) and patients with no CT evidence of potential difficulty (normal group).

[Successful laparoscopic repair of delayed traumatic abdominal wall hernia].

The occurrence of traumatic abdominal wall hernia secondary to blunt trauma is uncommon, and laparoscopic repair of such hernias is very rare. A 53-year-old man, who had sustained injuries to his right thigh and right abdomen 8 months previously, visited a hospital because of a bulge in the right lateral abdomen. An abdominal computed tomography scan revealed a rupture in the lateral abdominal muscle and herniation of the cecum into the subcutaneous space.

Gap junction communication and the propagation of bystander effects induced by microbeam irradiation in human fibroblast cultures: the impact of radiation quality.

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the bystander effects of low doses/low fluences of low- or high-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation is relevant to radiotherapy and radiation protection. Here, we investigated the role of gap-junction intercellular communication (GJIC) in the propagation of stressful effects in confluent normal human fibroblast cultures wherein only 0.036-0.

A case of cell-free and concentrated ascites reinfusion therapy effective for refractory ascites in spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in a renal transplant patient.

A 58-year-old Japanese male with chronic hepatitis C underwent kidney transplantation from an unrelated donor in October 1998. In December 2004, the patient was admitted for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). Abdominal paracentesis and albumin transfusion were performed, but control of ascites was poor.