Reasons for the preference of clinic visits to self-medication by common cold patients in Japan.

Background: Many Japanese visit medical institutions for common cold treatment, which can cause congestion in these institutions and an increase in medical expenses, although the common cold can be treated sufficiently through self-medication. Therefore, to elucidate the reasons individuals with common colds do not use over-the-counter (OTC) medication, we conducted an investigation using a self-administered inquiry sheet to determine reasons for clinic visits and for the avoidance of OTC medication.

Methods: The study was of patients with self-diagnosed common cold symptoms using an anonymous self-report questionnaire.

Radiotherapy for liver cancer.

In recent years, radiotherapy for liver cancer has accomplished much technical progress. The history of radiotherapy for liver cancer shows an endeavor to overcome the problem of how to raise the irradiation dose to lesions while suppressing the unnecessary irradiation dose to normal liver tissue. With the appearance of treatment using X-ray radiotherapy represented by three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy and particle beam therapy using proton beams and carbon ion beams, radiotherapy has become a safe and effective treatment option for liver cancers.

Detecting latitudinal and altitudinal expansion of invasive bamboo and (Poaceae) in Japan to project potential habitats under 1.5°C-4.0°C global warming.

Rapid expansion of exotic bamboos has lowered species diversity in Japan's ecosystems by hampering native plant growth. The invasive potential of bamboo, facilitated by global warming, may also affect other countries with developing bamboo industries. We examined past (1975-1980) and recent (2012) distributions of major exotic bamboos ( and ) in areas adjacent to 145 weather stations in central and northern Japan.

Hemodynamic collapse due to the stenosis of four pulmonary veins in a patient with mediastinal tumor.

Cardiogenic shock can occur due to compression of the four pulmonary veins and the left atrium by a mediastinal tumor. Steroid infusion can be a temporary alternative therapy before obtaining a definite diagnosis and performing an intervention with stents to dilate the pulmonary veins.

Comparison of clinical characteristics in patients with type 2 diabetes among whom different antihyperglycemic agents were prescribed as monotherapy or combination therapy by diabetes specialists.

Aims/introduction: We compared clinical characteristics in patients with type 2 diabetes for whom different antihyperglycemic agents were prescribed as monotherapy or combination therapy by diabetes specialists in Japan.

Materials And Methods: Prescription data for 2005, 2008 and 2011 from diabetes specialists' patient registries identified variables related to prescription of different antihyperglycemic agents.

Results: A total of 33,251 prescriptions in 2005, 25,119 in 2008 and 20,631 in 2011 were analyzed.

Incremental dynamical downscaling for probabilistic analysis based on multiple GCM projections.

A dynamical downscaling method for probabilistic regional-scale climate change projections was developed to cover the inherent uncertainty associated with multiple general circulation model (GCM) climate simulations. The climatological increments estimated by GCM results were statistically analyzed using the singular vector decomposition. Both positive and negative perturbations from the ensemble mean with the magnitudes of their standard deviations were extracted and added to the ensemble mean of the climatological increments.

Polypharmacy as a risk factor for hospital admission among ambulance-transported old-old patients.

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between polypharmacy and hospital admission in ambulance-transported old-old patients.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of consecutive old-old patients (aged ≥ 85 years) transported by ambulance to a community teaching hospital between April and December of 2013. Patients with out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest were excluded.