Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

N Tajima

Publications and source records attributed to N Tajima.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

[Diagnostic imaging of "body packers"].

Drug smuggling by intra-abdominal concealment, so called "body packing," has recently increased, even in Japan. Because of fatal drug intoxication and other adverse side effects, it is important to make a radiological diagnosis of body packers as soon as possible. A retrospective analysis of the images of plain abdominal radiography, computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US) was performed in twenty-three body packers to evaluate the imaging characteristics of three drugs (cannabis, cocaine and heroin). Cannabis (16 patients) and cocaine (5 patients) packages were demonstrated as well-demarcated rectangular-shaped high-density shadows surrounded by gas halo ("double condom sign") in abdominal plain radiographs and CT. Heroin packages (2 patients) were demonstrated as obscure shadows and were difficult to identify on plain radiographs, because they resembled stool masses. US was performed in one cannabis patient because of the refusal of radiological examination, and packages were demonstrated as round echogenic structures with dorsal echo extinctions. In conclusion, abdominal plain radiography, CT and US represent valuable diagnostic modalities in the assessment of body packers.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1997

[Assessment of cerebral circulation using echo planar imaging--basic analysis in quantitating the mean transit time, cerebral blood flow, and cerebral blood volume].

The mean transit time (MTT), cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral blood volume (CBV) using echo planar imaging (EPI) in 22 aged volunteers were measured based on moment analysis and gamma variate method. The first peak of signal intensity curve (p delta R2.) and the area under the curve after the first peak (AUC) were calculated according to the height over area method, as a convenient quantification. Then, MTT, CBF, and CBV were compared with AUC/p delta R2, p delta R2, and AUC, respectively. There was a good correlation between each other parameter (r = 0.67 - 0.92, every p < 0.001). The slow upward slope and the low peak height, however, caused a larger error between each other parameter.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMed1997

[Application of Internet technology in public health].

Recent advances in telecommunication technology have been enormous. Application of this technology in public health has the potential to markedly improve global health through better surveillance and information systems. With this assumption the GHNet was established in 1994 by representatives from academia, WHO, Pan American Health Organization, the World Bank, NASA, IBM, and AT & T. The GHNet consists of seven components: 1) promotion of networking with the Internet among people in public health; 2) disease tele-monitoring; 3) distance learning system with the internet; 4) connection of non-governmental health organizations; 5) training cyberdocs who are educated in both public health and telecommunications; 6) establishment of an electronic scientific research server; and 7) a home page on the World Wide Web (WWW). In order to effectively incorporate the Internet into the field, connectivity and knowing how to use it are of critical concern. More and more facilities are connected to the Internet in Japan. However, few courses teaching how to utilize the Internet are provided for people in this field. An Internet training course for people in public health was held as joint venture of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Health Network (GHNet) on October 31, 1996, at the 55th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Public Health. Most of the participants for the course were from local public health departments and very few had previous experience with the Internet before the course. During this course participants learned how to use e-mail, how to find health resources on the WWW, how to construct a home page, and how the Internet could be utilized to improve public health, with their computers actually hooked to the Internet. From this experience, we found that this kind of course is feasible and beneficial and hope that this course would serve as a model for training people in public health.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed1996

Socioeconomic and behavioural risk factors for mortality of individuals with IDDM in Japan: population-based case-control study. Diabetes Epidemiology Research International (DERI) US-Japan Mortality Study Group.

The aim of this population-based, one-to-one matched-pair case-control study was to evaluate the factors concerning the markedly increased risk for dying among Japanese subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) from a social and behavioural perspective. The study was based on the population-based cohort of IDDM subjects in the Diabetes Epidemiology Research International Mortality Study. We studied 90 cases who died and 90 living control subjects, selected from the rest of the cohort, who were matched for sex, birth year, year of diagnosis and duration of diabetes. Socioeconomic and behavioural status were surveyed through a questionnaire. Conditional logistic regression analyses based on 55 respondent pairs revealed that the better educated patients (year of completing education: odds ratio = 0.66) who kept the same physician (number of times a patient changed physician: odds ratio = 2.77) and who attended a clinic specializing in diabetes (attendance at university hospital clinic: odds ratio = 0.18) injecting insulin several times a day (number of injections, odds ratio = 0.31) and more frequently attending the clinic (> or = 12 times per year, odds ratio = 0.23) were at substantially lower risk of death. The results begin to profile the patients with the highest risk of dying who could be identified earlier and undergo intervention treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

A major improvement in the prognosis of individuals with IDDM in the past 30 years in Japan. The Diabetes Epidemiology Research International Study Group.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the time trends of mortality among individuals with IDDM in Japan. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A historical prospective study of two independent population-based cohorts composed of individuals who were diagnosed between 1965 and 1969 (1960s cohort) and between 1975 and 1979 (1970s cohort), which included 286 IDDM patients (onset age < 18 years) for the 1960s cohort and 779 patients for the 1970s cohort, was performed. After 10 years of observation, mortality status and causes of deaths between the two cohorts were compared. RESULTS: The age-adjusted mortality rate per 100,000 person-years of the 1960s cohort was 754 (95% CI, 471-1,141); in contrast, that of the 1970s cohort was only 196 (95% CI, 107-329) (P < 0.001). The standardized mortality ratio of the 1960s cohort was 1,432 (95% CI, 898-2,161), and that of the 1970s cohort was 489 (95% CI, 267-821). Analyses of the causes of deaths revealed a marked decline in recent years in the number of deaths by acute complications and renal disease. CONCLUSIONS: A major decline in the mortality of diabetic children in Japan may be attributed to the dramatic changes in the quality of care and medical infrastructure that occurred after the mid-1970s.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[3D contrast MR angiography of lower extremity : additional imaging with subtraction].

Immediately after pelvic contrast MRA, subtraction MRA with additional administration of contrast agent was performed for evaluation of the femoropopliteal artery. Mask images were taken with three- dimensional spoiled GRASS (24/6.9/40 degrees), followed by contrast images with 7.5 - 10 ml of Gd-DTPA. The subtracted images provided excellent depiction of the arteries without the disruption of overlapping from the venous system or surrounding tissues. Seven lesions of arterial occlusion or stenosis were pointed out by subtraction MRA in the nine lesions confirmed with IADSA. Subtraction MRA is feasible for long segment imaging of the lower extremities with Gd-DTPA.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[The effects of insulin and glucose on the utilization of non-esterified fatty acid in the resting rat skeletal muscle].

The present study was undertaken to clarify the effects of insulin and glucose on the utilization of non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) in the resting rat skeletal muscle using the perfusion technique. The 24hr-starved and non-starved rat hind limbs were perfused for one hour with the perfusion mediums containing 1mM palmitate and various concentrations of glucose and insulin, and sampling was performed to calculate the clearance of NEFA (F value). In the absence of glucose, the F value of the starved rat hind limb was less than that of the non-starved rats, independently of insulin concentrations (0 and 125 microU/ml) in the perfusion medium (p < 0.02). Moreover, there was no influence of insulin on the F value in both the starved and the non-starved groups. In the presence of 13.9mM glucose, there were no statistically significant differences in the F value without insulin between the non-starved and starved groups. However, the F value was increased in the presence of 62.5 or 125 microU/ml insulin, compared with that in the absence of insulin (p < 0.001), although when the insulin concentration was elevated to 500 microU/ml, it was decreased. Both in the non-starved and the starved groups independently of insulin concentrations, the F value in the glucose-added condition was increased, compared with that in the absence of glucose. These results indicated that the utilization of NEFA in the resting rat skeletal muscle was facilitated by the moderate supply of glucose, although it was suppressed by the presence of abundant glucose.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Markedly increased renal disease mortality and incidence of renal replacement therapy among IDDM patients in Japan in contrast to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. Diabetes Epidemiology Research International (DERI) U.S.-Japan Mortality Study Group.

The aim of this study was to evaluate factors related to the markedly increased risk of dying from diabetic renal disease in Japanese insulin-dependent diabetic patients compared to those in the USA. The study was based on two population-based cohorts consisting of 1374 cases from Japan and 995 cases from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, who were diagnosed between 1 January 1965 and 31 December 1979. The living status and dialysis experience were determined as of 1 January 1990. The duration-adjusted renal-failure-related mortality rates in the Japanese cohort and the USA cohort were 277.2 and 130.9 per 100,000 person-years, and the duration-adjusted incidence rates of dialysis were 564.9 and 295.6 per 100,000 person-year, respectively. After adjustment for sex, age at onset, calendar year of onset, and duration of diabetes, individuals with insulin-dependent diabetes in the Japanese cohort were still 2.4-fold more likely to receive dialysis compared to those in the USA cohort. Ten of the 36 renal-failure-related deaths in the Japanese cohort had never been treated by dialysis, while all renal-failure-related deaths in the USA cohort had been treated by dialysis. Survival after initiation of dialysis in the Japanese cohort was virtually the same as the USA cohort. These data suggest that a greater frequency of diabetic end-stage renal disease and reduced access to acceptance at dialysis underlie much of the excess of diabetic renal deaths in Japan.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Ascertainment corrected prevalence rate (ACPR) of leukopenia in workers exposed to benzene in small-scale industries calculated with capture-recapture methods.

ACPRs of leukopenia in peripheral blood of workers exposed to benzene in small-scale industries are calculated using capture-recapture methods. The results from two figures with 6-month apart demonstrate that the ACPR in workers exposed to benzene is 36.81(29.14-44)%, significantly higher than that of control 12.71(7.20-18.22)% (P < 0.05), with a relative risk of 2.9. The prevalences of 4 cross-sectional investigations in exposure group calculated with routine method are 18.73%, 26.37%, 27.93%, and 36.76% respectively; in controls, 8.38%, 6.85%, 7.94%, and 15.00% respectively and all fall in the range of 95% CI of ACPR. It is suggested that the methods of calculating ACPR by capture-recapture methods is simple, feasible and efficient, with the results more precise than with traditional methods.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[MR angiography of the venous system of lower extremities with gadolinium-enhanced fast spoiled GRASS].

MR angiography (MRA) of the venous system of the lower extremities was carried out in 10 patients with varicose veins using the Gd-DTPA-enhanced Fast Spoiled GRASS (FSPGR) method. The quality of imaging of the popliteal vein (n = 20), calf deep vein (n = 20), varicose vein (n = 12), and femoral vein (n = 6) were assessed in terms of four categories: excellent, good, marginally adequate and nondiagnostic. Nineteen popliteal veins, seventeen calf deep veins, and nine varicose veins were judged as excellent or good. All femoral veins were evaluated as excellent. Enhanced FSPGR was useful for the preoperative evaluation of patients with varicose veins.

Femoral Vein↗
PubMed1994

Epidemiology of type 1 (insulin-dependent) and type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus in Japanese children.

The overall annual IDDM incidence rates by area in Japan for 1985-1989 for children 0-14 years of age at diagnosis were from 1.65 to 2.07 per 100,000. The incidence in males and females did not show any temporal trends during the period between 1980 and 1989. The prevalence of IDDM was about 1 per 10,000. The clinical features at diagnosis among Japanese IDDM children identified during the 2-year period between 1979 and 1980 were as follows. Fourteen percent of the cases were in coma and 12% of the cases were asymptomatic at diagnosis. There is a suggestion that slow onset IDDM is often seen in Japan. In these children, the decline of serum CPR levels and the prevalence of ICA (islet cell antibodies) over the course of diabetes was slower than in those with an abrupt onset classical IDDM. During the period from 1975 through 1990 the incidence rates of NIDDM in school children showed as much as an approximate 1.5-fold increase along with a similar increase in the prevalence of obesity. About eighty percent of these NIDDM children were obese. A predominance of female children developing diabetes was seen in both type of diabetes, IDDM and NIDDM, in Japan. Non-obese type NIDDM in children was more common in females than in males. It is interesting to note that the mean height of Japanese children with IDDM was not different from the national average, but children with NIDDM were significantly taller than the national average.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Complications and prognosis of children with IDDM.

There was a marked reduction in the prevalence of complications in, and mortality status of, Japanese children with IDDM in the past 20 years. It is apparent that the improvement in medical treatment as well as social circumstance surrounding childhood diabetes in recent years contributed greatly to this change. However, when one compares Japanese data with those for Europe or the U.S., the present status is not yet satisfactory. In order to prevent the early development of diabetic complications followed by premature death associated with IDDM, an evenly distributed high-level medical system throughout Japan is required in addition to tight control of diabetes and patient education. Moreover, a population-based ongoing IDDM registry should be established from which risk factors for the progression of complications could be identified.

Adolescent↗