Acceptance of Virtual Reality Simulation Training for Stoma Care by Healthcare Providers: A Pilot Questionnaire Study After Viewing Prototype Imagings.

Objectives:  Educational simulation systems using virtual reality (VR) with head-mounted devices are spreading into the medical field. We developed an innovative training system whereby experienced ostomates can share their proficient stoma self-care techniques with novice ostomates through VR simulations, enabling anytime, anywhere learning. We examined the questionnaire study to assess the acceptance of VR simulation training for stoma care by healthcare providers.

Awake functional MRI detects neural circuit dysfunction in a mouse model of autism.

MRI has potential as a translational approach from rodents to humans. However, given that mouse functional MRI (fMRI) uses anesthetics for suppression of motion, it has been difficult to directly compare the result of fMRI in "unconsciousness" disease model mice with that in "consciousness" patients. We develop awake fMRI to investigate brain function in mice, a copy number variation model of autism.

A Comparative Survival Analysis Between Evacuees and Nonevacuees Among Dialysis Patients in Fukushima Prefecture After Japan's 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Incident.

Objective: There has been little research on the health consequences of evacuation in the disaster context. A comparative analysis of survival between evacuated and nonevacuated hospital dialysis patients was conducted following Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant incident, which occurred on March 11, 2011.

Methods: The study included 554 patients (mean age: 70.

Electrodialytic in-line preconcentration for ionic solute analysis.

Preconcentration is an effective way to improve analytical sensitivity. Many types of methods are used for enrichment of ionic solute analytes. However, current methods are batchwise and include procedures such as trapping and elution.

On-line electrodialytic matrix isolation for chromatographic determination of organic acids in wine.

Chromatographic determination of organic acids is widely performed, but the matrix often calls for lengthy and elaborate sample preparation prior to actual analysis. Matrix components, e.g.

Impact of natural disaster combined with nuclear power plant accidents on local medical services: a case study of Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Objective: To elucidate the impacts of nuclear plant accidents on neighboring medical centers, we investigated the operations of our hospital within the first 10 days of the Great East Japan Earthquake followed by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.

Methods: Data were extracted from medical records and hospital administrative records covering 11 to 20 March 2011. Factual information on the disaster was obtained from public access media.

Mid-career changes in the occupation or specialty among general surgeons, from youth to middle age, have accelerated the shortage of general surgeons in Japan.

Purposes: Concerns have been raised regarding an apparent shortage of general surgeons in Japan, but the actual situation is actually not altogether clear. To clarify the trends in the number of general surgeons in Japan, we studied the number of doctors by specialty over time.

Methods: This study investigated the covered trends in the number of doctors over time, a comparison of work formats (employment in hospitals versus clinics), and the trends in the ratio of female doctors.

Cancer articles in weekly magazines: useful media to deliver cancer information to the public?

Objective: Japanese weekly magazines, which have a circulation of over 2 700 000, play important roles in communicating with the public. They offer a wide range of information, entertainment, gossip, politics and economics, and often include articles on cancer. However, cancer articles in magazines have not been systematically analyzed.

Forecasting Japan's physician shortage in 2035 as the first full-fledged aged society.

Introduction: Japan is rapidly becoming a full-fledged aged society, and physician shortage is a significant concern. The Japanese government has increased the number of medical school enrollments since 2008, but some researchers warn that this increase could lead to physician surplus in the future. It is unknown how many physicians will be required to accommodate future healthcare needs.

Electrodialytic ion isolation for matrix removal.

We report a fully automated online sample pretreatment system for ionic analytes that extracts the ionic analytes from the sample and largely removes the nonionic sample matrix and can preconcentrate the analyte. Sample pretreatment is a key analytical process; conventional pretreatment is conducted in a difficult to automate batchwise manner. The present system relies on the transport of ions induced by an electric field to a water acceptor.

Increased financial burden among patients with chronic myelogenous leukaemia receiving imatinib in Japan: a retrospective survey.

Background: The financial burden of medical expenses has been increasing for cancer patients. We investigated the relationship between household income and financial burden among patients with chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) who have been treated with imatinib.

Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 1200 patients between May and August 2009.

Age, gender, will, and use of home-visit nursing care are critical factors in home care for malignant diseases; a retrospective study involving 346 patients in Japan.

Background: We aimed to clarify the factors affecting outcomes of home care for patients with malignant diseases.

Methods: Of 607 patients who were treated in 10 clinics specialized in home care between January and December 2007 at Chiba, Fukuoka, Iwate, Kagoshima, Tochigi and Tokyo prefectures across Japan, 346 (57%; 145 men and 201 women) had malignant diseases. We collected information on medical and social backgrounds, details of home care, and its outcomes based on their medical records.

[Pattern goodness and perceptual organization].

The present study examined the relation between the manner of perceptual organization and pattern goodness. We presented regularly arranged dot patterns (Experiment 1) and randomly arranged dot patterns (Experiment 2). In both experiments, the participants were asked to evaluate the goodness of the patterns using a 7-point scale and to encircle the dots in the manner that the participants had organized them.

Data mining of mental health issues of non-bone marrow donor siblings.

Background: Allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a curative treatment for patients with advanced hematologic malignancies. However, the long-term mental health issues of siblings who were not selected as donors (non-donor siblings, NDS) in the transplantation have not been well assessed. Data mining is useful in discovering new findings from a large, multidisciplinary data set and the Scenario Map analysis is a novel approach which allows extracting keywords linking different conditions/events from text data of interviews even when the keywords appeared infrequently.

Internet-based survey on medical manga in Japan.

The more manga (Japanese graphic novels) communicate medical information, the more people are likely to be influenced by manga. We investigated through an Internet search using Google the characteristics of medical manga published in Japan, defined as those in which the main character is a medical professional and that occur in a medical setting. As of December 2008, 173 medical manga had been published.

The impact of H1N1 influenza A virus pandemic on the blood donations in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

Background: The impact of the H1N1 influenza on blood donation is unknown.

Study Design And Methods: We examined number of blood donors presenting to blood donation centers or bloodmobiles using a blood donation database of Red Cross Hyogo Prefectural Blood Center between 4 weeks before and after May 16, 2009, respectively, when the first case of H1N1 influenza was confirmed in Kobe. The numbers of blood donors per donation site (i.

[Economic burden for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia--healthcare economics and medical governance of cancer].

Due to the recent economic downturn, the economic burden of cancer patients has been further worsened. Specifically for chronic myelogenous leukemia patients, their annual income has decreased by 1, 500, 000 yen from 2000 to 2008, while the cost of their medications has increased from 1,000,000 yen to 1,200,000 yen due the advent of the new drug, Glivec, which was approved in 2001. The scores for psychological burden have increased 30% over the past 8 years before Glivec became available.