Association between interpersonal relationship among high-school students and mental health

Objectives  

Adolescents have many anxieties, and having someone to consult is important for them to maintain their mental health. This study examines: whether students have someone to consult; if they have, whether there are differences in their depressive state and in their degree of satisfaction with their school lives depending on whom they consult; and how their mental health is affected by their human relations.     

Frequency and clinical features of intraocular inflammation in Tokyo

Background:  To investigate frequencies and clinical features of intraocular inflammation (uveitis) in Tokyo, Japan.
Methods:  Records of 834 consecutive new referral patients (352 men, 482 women) examined at the Kyorin University Hospital from April 2000 to December 2007 were retrospectively reviewed.
Results:  Mean age at onset was 44.8 years for men and 47.0 years for women. By anatomical classification, 229 patients (27.4%) had anterior uveitis, 10 (1.2%) had intermediate uveitis, 183 (21.9%) had posterior uveitis and 412 (49.4%) had panuveitis. The most common diagnoses were Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease (11.0%), sarcoidosis (6.9%), acute anterior uveitis (6.5%), Behçet's disease (5.8%) and tuberculosis (4.3%). In the third and fourth decades, the most common diseases were Behçet's disease for men and VKH for women, whereas over 60 years of age, the most common diseases were VKH for men and sarcoidosis for women. Systemic corticosteroids were used in 25.5% of patients, and other immunomodulatory agents were required in 8.7% of patients.
Conclusions:  The most frequent diagnoses were sarcoidosis, VKH disease, acute anterior uveitis, Behçet's disease and tuberculosis, with Behçet's disease being common in young men and sarcoidosis being common in elderly women. One-fourth of patients received systemic corticosteroids and 8.7% of patients required other immunomodulatory agents.     

Time- and dose-dependent induction of invasive urinary bladder cancers by N-ethyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine in B6C3F1 mice

A sequential investigation of N-ethyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (EHBN) bladder carcinogenesis was performed in male B6C3F1 mice maintained ad libitum on tap water containing 0.025% EHBN for 4, 12, 20, 28 and 36 weeks. A total of 81 invasive tumors, comprising 55 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) (68%), 25 transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) (31%) and 1 adenocarcinoma (1%) were found. Of these, 23 (22 SCCs and 1 TCC) demonstrated invasion to the prostate, 3 metastasized to the lung, and 2 spread by peritoneal seeding. The anaplastic grade and extent of invasion of the SCCs significantly exceeded those of the TCCs. The results suggested a histogenetic pathway from simple dysplasia through papillary or nodular dysplasia and/or carcinoma in situ to eventual development of invasive carcinomas.     

Preliminary thermographic evaluation of new nitroglycerine tape on the peripheral circulatory disturbance in systemic sclerosis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of newly developed nitroglycerine (NTG) tape on the peripheral circulatory disturbance in systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: The finger temperature (FT) of 25 patients with SSc was monitored by thermography before the application of NTG tape to the wrist and one hour afterwards. To check the placebo effect, the change of FT with placebo tape in six patients who had shown a distinct rise in FT (>2 degrees C) with NTG tape was monitored. RESULTS: Twenty one patients with SSc had a low FT before the application of NTG tape (colder than mean-2SD of normal controls). FT was significantly raised in patients with SSc after the application of NTG tape (p<0.01). Patients with low FT showed a distinct rise in FT more often than patients with a normal FT (71% v 0%, p<0.01). FT was raised with NTG tape more than with placebo tape (4.2 (SD 1.9) degrees C v 2.2 (2.8) degrees C, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The application of NTG tape increases peripheral circulation in patients with SSc who have distinct circulatory disturbance. The application of NTG tape may improve peripheral circulatory disturbance in SSc.     

Clinical application of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy to 5 solitary kidney patients with upper urinary tract stones

We performed extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) to 5 solitary kidney patients with upper urinary tract stones (4 kidneys and 1 lower ureter) using the EDAP lithotripter LT-01 and achieved 4 complete and 1 well results. The size of stones ranged from 8 mm to staghorn and trials were 1 to 10 units. We could accomplish perfect crushing and abortion of stones in the 4 renal stone patients without any adjuvant systems as ureteral stent but nephrostomy was needed in the 1 lower ureteral stone patient developed anuria. The values of blood pressure, hematology, blood chemical constituents and urine excretion enzymes at a month after the last ESWL were not so changed compared with those of preoperation and also excretory urogram showed favorable findings. In this series decreased renal functions by ESWL were not observed. We confirmed ESWL was an effective and a safe method even in the cases of solitary kidney patients and monotherapy without any adjuvants was possible.     

Analysis of multiple primary malignant tumors including lung cancer

In our hospital, from 1984 to 1986, we have performed autopsies on 50 lung cancer cases. Ten (20%) cases were found to have multiple primary malignant tumors, ie. one quadruple, 2 triple, 7 double malignant tumors, and almost all cases with multiple primary malignancies were males more than 70 years old. A histological examination showed that seven of these had tumors of the squamous cell type. In six cases, lung cancer was the primary disease and in 5 cases both malignancies existed simultaneously. When we lysed 5 g of autopsied lung, we were able to detect more than 100 asbestos bodies in 9 cases out of ten. Further, we noticed that triple or quadruple cases showed more asbestos bodies. Thus, we suspect that nearly all cases had been affected by exposure to asbestos.     

A case of primary malignant neoplasms associated with penile cancer and prostatic cancer

A case of a 79-year-old man with penile cancer and prostate cancer is reported. The pathological study of surgical specimens disclosed well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the penis and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the prostate. This is a rare case of multiple primary malignant neoplasms associated with penile cancer and prostate cancer.