We monitored 30 laboratory hemostatic parameters in an attempt to better comprehend alterations in coagulation and fibrinolysis in 10 patients with hematological malignancies subjected to autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT). These parameters were assessed before and just after high-dose conditioning chemotherapy, on days 1,7,14 and 28. Although, clinical manifestations associated with fibrino-coagulation disorders never occurred, including veno-occlusive disease, a statistically significant increase was seen in 7 of 30 parameters, compared to values seen before conditioning chemotherapy. These were subdivided into early and late phase parameters. The early phase parameters, which increased during the first day after the conditioning chemotherapy was given, then returned to baseline values, included protein C., plasma tissue factor and tissue-plasminogen activator. The late phase parameters, which increased over baseline values during days 7 to 28, included free-protein S, fibrinogen, plasmin-α2-plasmin inhibitor complex and soluble-thrombomodulin. The increase of early phase parameters, as produced by the liver and by endothelial cells, may reflect tissue damage by conditioning chemotherapy. Late phase parameters increased in parallel with C-reactive protein, which suggests a correlation with the degree of inflammation, such as the presence of infective disease during neutropenia. These subclinical alterations in coagulation and fibrinolysis which take on a biphasic pattern during the course of APBSCT should be kept in mind by the attending physicians during therapy.
This study aimed to clarify the trends of injury occurrence in the Japan national swim team for 15 years and to evaluate the effectiveness of the lumbar injury prevention project. It also aimed to verify the incidence of swimming-related injuries among swimmers by sex, age and swimming style.The target group comprised 488 swimmers who participated in the Olympics, Asian Games and Universiade from 2002 to 2016; we compiled data for the total number of injuries in each body part. The lumbar injury prevention project started in 2008 and included two components (deep trunk muscle exercises and evaluation of lumbar disc degeneration using MRI). We analysed the prevalence of lumbar injury before (2002-2008) and after (2009-2016) implementation of the lumbar injury prevention project by χ2 test. We compared age, sex and swim strokes between the injured and non-injured groups by χ2 test and unpaired t-test.The most common injury site was the lower back, followed by the shoulder and knee. The lumbar injury prevalence was significantly lower after implementation of the prevention project (23.5% vs 14.8%; p<0.05). Shoulder injuries were common in backstroke swimmers. The injury rate was significantly higher in female than in male swimmers. The injured group was significantly older than the non-injured group.Lumbar injury prevention intervention might be effective to prevent lower back injury in swimmers. Injury risk factors included female and old age; younger female athletes should prevent the development of injuries as they mature.
PURPOSE: The lack of physical activity among children is a global issue that requires attention. It has been suggested that a relationship exists between the lifestyles of children at an early age and that of parents. We quantified physical activity relationships among preschool children and their fathers and mothers. METHODS: Forty-seven children (kindergarten level: aged 6.11 ± 0.267 years) and their parents (fathers: aged 43.1 ± 4.83 years, mothers: aged 41.1 ± 4.29 years) participated in this study. Each participant wore an activity tracker on the waist during waking hours to measure step counts and time of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The data were divided into work/school day and day off and evaluated accordingly. Partial correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the physical activity relationships between children and fathers or mothers. RESULTS: For the work/school days, there was a significant positive correlation of step count between children and mothers (children: 15,800 ± 2,560 steps; mothers: 9,450 ± 2,590 steps, r = 0.322, p < 0.05) and a nonsignificant correlation between children and fathers (8,820 ± 2,990 steps, r = 0.249). For the days off, there was a significant positive correlation of step counts between children and fathers (children: 11,700 ± 3,520 steps, fathers: 8,190 ± 2,790 steps, r = 0.473, p < 0.01) but no significant correlation between children and mothers (10,000 ± 2,530 steps, r = 0.096). There was a significant positive correlation in MVPA time for days off between children and fathers (children: 74.5 ± 25.9 min, fathers: 51.0 ± 22.5 min, r = 0.487, p < 0.01) but no significant correlation between children and mothers (55.9 ± 16.9 min, r = 0.075). There were no significant correlations in MVPA time for work/school days between children and fathers (children: 97.5 ± 23.8 min, fathers: 59.8 ± 18.3 min, r = 0.503) and between children and mothers (56.9 ± 13.7 min, r = 0.131). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the children may have spent time with their mothers on work/school days, and with their fathers on days off. Thus, an increase in fathers’ physical activities may lead to a corresponding increase in the physical activities of some children with modern Japanese lifestyles.
[Purpose] Therapeutic exercise for chronic low back pain is one of the most important conservative treatments. Recently, lumbar stabilization exercise focused on deep trunk muscles has attracted considerable attention. This study investigated the effectiveness of lumbar stabilization exercises for treating CLBP. [Subjects] The subjects were 18 patients with CLBP. CLBP was defined as pain that persisted for more than 3 months. [Methods] The therapeutic exercises involved the abdominal drawing-in maneuver (hereafter referred to as "drawing-in") and prone kneeling (hereafter referred to as "hand-knee"). The exercises were performed during a 3-month intervention period. Pain was evaluated using a Visual Analog Scale (hereafter referred to as "VAS"), while quality-of-life (hereafter referred to as "QOL") was estimated using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association Back Pain Examination Questionnaire (hereafter referred to as "JOABPEQ"). Pain and QOL were assessed prior to the intervention (T0), and at one (T1), three (T3), and six months (T6) after the intervention. The Steel-Dwass test was used to investigate differences between values prior to and after performance of the therapeutic exercise regime. Significance was defined as p<0.05. [Results] The median low back pain value was significantly improved at T3 and T6 compared to T0. At T1, patients reported significant improvement in the lumbar functions score in comparison with T0. This change was still observed at T3 and T6. At T3, scores of all items had significantly increased. At T6, the changes in low back pain score and walking ability score were no longer significant, however their tendencies remained. [Conclusions] These results suggest that performance of lumbar stabilization exercises is an effective method for improving comfort and QOL of patients with CLBP.
A 35-year-old man with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (follicular small cleaved, B cell, stage IVB) received double myeloablative chemotherapy with syngeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). Although platelet recovery was delayed until day 29 after the second transplantation, thereafter trilineage hematopoietic reconstitution was achieved. The evaluation after PBSCT did not detect any residual tumor. The patient was in good health until day 138, when his platelet count suddenly began falling; on day 150, it had fallen to 1.5 x 10(4)/microliter, and the patient was re-admitted for treatment. The bone marrow was normocellular with a normal count and megakaryocyte structure. Other examinations, including serological tests and computed tomography of the neck, chest, abdomen, and retroperitoneum, did not indicate a recurrence of NHL or reveal the cause of thrombocytopenia. The patient's platelet-associated IgG (PAIgG) level was at 70.9 ng/10(7) platelets (normal range: 9-25 ng/10(7) platelets); a diagnosis of thrombocytopenia due to an autoimmune mechanism such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) was made. Prednisolone therapy increased the platelet count and reduced the PAIgG level. Thrombocytopenia with an ITP-like mechanism rarely occurs more than 100 days after autologous or syngeneic stem cell transplantation, and should be taken into consideration as a late complication of PBSCT.
Summary. The presence of serum or contaminant cells may alter clonal development of haematopoietic progenitor cells in vitro. To investigate the pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), marrow progenitor cells from 13 MDS patients were highly purified using monoclonal antibodies including CD34 and immunomagnetic microspheres. The cells positive for CD34 in the purified cells were in the range from 87% to 98%. These purified cells were cultured in serum‐free medium with individual colony stimulating factors (CSFs) to investigate whether CD34 + cells from MDS patients have abnormal responses to individual CSFs. Dose response experiments with the purified CD34 + cells and recombinant human macrophage‐CSF (rM‐CSF), granulocyte‐CSF (rG‐CSF), granulocyte/macrophage‐CSF (rGM‐CSF), interleukin‐3 (rIL‐3) or erythropoietin (rEP) were performed in serum‐free fibrin clots in 11 patients. Five patients showed a diminished response to rG‐CSF and one patient to rEP. In the remaining six patients the purified CD34 + cells did not respond to a stimulation of any individual CSFs. The results indicate that the progenitor cell growth abnormalities in these disorders involve a defect in the capacity of progenitor cells to respond to stimulation with G‐CSF, and present direct evidence for the manner in which myelodysplastic CD34 + cells are impaired.
BACKGROUND Maintenance of good health and a healthy lifestyle have significant impacts on the lives of university students. However, university students are prone to engage in risky health behaviors, resulting in impaired health status. Electronic health (eHealth) literacy is an important factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. However, no studies have assessed the eHealth literacy levels and the associated lifestyle behaviors among university students in Japan. OBJECTIVE The purposes of this study were to clarify the eHealth literacy level, the participant characteristics associated with eHealth literacy, and the association of eHealth literacy with lifestyle behaviors of students in a Japanese university. METHODS A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of 3183 students at a national university in Japan was conducted. eHealth literacy was quantified using the Japanese version of the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). The association between participant characteristics (gender, school year, department of study, and living status) and eHEALS score was assessed using <i>t</i> tests. Additionally, the associations of eHealth literacy with lifestyle behaviors (exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, etc.) were evaluated using logistic regression analyses. RESULTS The mean eHEALS score was 23.6/40 points. The mean eHEALS score for students in medical departments was 27.0/40 points, which was 2.9 points higher than that of nonmedical students (<i>P</i><.001). Similarly, the graduate school participants had higher scores than the undergraduate students. The proportion of participants who exercised regularly was higher in the high eHEALS score group than in the low score group, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.39 (<i>P</i><.001). CONCLUSIONS The eHealth literacy level of university students in Japan was comparable to that of the general Japanese population. Graduate students, as well as those in medical departments, had higher eHealth literacy. Furthermore, students with higher eHealth literacy had better exercise routines.
