Numerical simulations of debris drift from the Great Japan Tsunami of 2011 and their verification with observational reports.

A suite of five ocean models is used to simulate the movement of floating debris generated by the Great Japan Tsunami of 2011. This debris was subject to differential wind and wave-induced motion relative to the ambient current (often termed "windage") which is a function of the shape, size, and buoyancy of the individual debris items. Model solutions suggest that during the eastward drift across the North Pacific the debris became "stratified" by the wind so that objects with different windages took different paths: high windage items reached North America in large numbers the first year, medium windage items recirculated southwest toward Hawaii and Asia, and low windage items collected in the Subtropical Gyre, primarily in the so-called "garbage patch" area located northeast of Hawaii and known for high concentrations of microplastics. Numerous boats lost during the tsunami were later observed at sea and/or found on the west coast of North America: these observations are used to determine optimal windage values for scaling the model solutions. The initial number of boats set adrift during the tsunami is estimated at about 1000, while about 100 boats are projected to still float in year 2018 with an e-folding decay of 2 to 8 years.

Identifying Pelagic Habitat Hotspots of Neon Flying Squid in the Temperate Waters of the Central North Pacific.

We identified the pelagic habitat hotspots of the neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) in the central North Pacific from May to July and characterized the spatial patterns of squid aggregations in relation to oceanographic features such as mesoscale oceanic eddies and the Transition Zone Chlorophyll-a Front (TZCF). The data used for the habitat model construction and analyses were squid fishery information, remotely-sensed and numerical model-derived environmental data from May to July 1999-2010. Squid habitat hotspots were deduced from the monthly Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) models and were identified as regions of persistent high suitable habitat across the 12-year period. The distribution of predicted squid habitat hotspots in central North Pacific revealed interesting spatial and temporal patterns likely linked with the presence and dynamics of oceanographic features in squid's putative foraging grounds from late spring to summer. From May to June, the inferred patches of squid habitat hotspots developed within the Kuroshio-Oyashio transition zone (KOTZ; 37-40°N) and further expanded north towards the subarctic frontal zone (SAFZ; 40-44°N) in July. The squid habitat hotspots within the KOTZ and areas west of the dateline (160°W-180°) were likely influenced and associated with the highly dynamic and transient oceanic eddies and could possibly account for lower squid suitable habitat persistence obtained from these regions. However, predicted squid habitat hotspots located in regions east of the dateline (180°-160°W) from June to July, showed predominantly higher squid habitat persistence presumably due to their proximity to the mean position of the seasonally-shifting TZCF and consequent utilization of the highly productive waters of the SAFZ.

Numerical simulation on the long-term variation of radioactive cesium concentration in the North Pacific due to the Fukushima disaster.

Numerical simulations on oceanic (134)Cs and (137)Cs dispersions were intensively conducted in order to assess an effect of the radioactive cesium on the North Pacific environment with a focus on the long-term variation of the radioactive cesium concentration after the Fukushima disaster that occurred in March 2011. The amounts of (134)Cs and (137)Cs released into the ocean were estimated using oceanic monitoring data, whereas the atmospheric deposition was calculated through atmospheric dispersion simulations. The highly accurate ocean current reanalyzed through a three-dimensional variational data assimilation enabled us to clarify the time series of the (134)Cs and (137)Cs concentrations in the North Pacific. It was suggested that the main radioactive cesium cloud due to the direct oceanic release reached the central part of the North Pacific, crossing 170°W one year after the Fukushima disaster. The radioactive cesium was efficiently diluted by meso-scale eddies in the Kuroshio Extension region and its concentration in the surface, intermediate, and deep layers had already been reduced to the pre-Fukushima background value in the wide area within the North Pacific 2.5 years after the Fukushima disaster.

Synchronous triple lung cancers after treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: metachronous quadruple cancers.

After chemotherapy and radiotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma during a one-year period, a 66-year-old man developed synchronous triple lung cancers in both lungs. Of the three resected tumors, one was advanced large cell carcinoma with neuroendocrine morphology, and the other two were early squamous cell carcinoma without lymph node metastasis. Although he received repeated chemotherapy for lung cancer, the patient died of hepatic failure due to multiple liver metastases. Autopsy revealed disseminated metastasis of the large cell carcinoma with neuroendocrine morphology throughout the entire body, but no recurrence of malignant lymphoma or squamous cell carcinoma was found. To our knowledge, this is the first report of triple lung cancers occurring after treatment for malignant lymphoma.

[A case of unification anomalies of the superior vena cava and absence of the left brachiocephalic vein with dilated azygos and hemiazygos veins].

We report a case of dilated azygos vein simulating a tumor in the posterior mediastinum. The patient was a 47-year-old male who was found to have anomalies of unification of the superior vena cava and absence of the left brachiocephalic vein. He was admitted to our hospital because chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans showed a well-circumscribed oval mass 2.5 cm in diameter, behind the bifurcation of the trachea. This lesion, which was markedly enhanced in chest CT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MR angiography (MRA) was diagnosed as a dilated azygos vein. An enlarged hemiazygos vein and collaterals were also recognized. Upon digital subtraction venography of both upper extremities, the right atrium and the left brachiocephalic vein could not been distinguished from the superior vena cava and the infraclavicular vein, respectively. Collaterals entering the azygos and hemiazygos veins were, however, recognized. It was considered that MRA and disital subtraction venography were very useful for confirmation of the diagnosis in this case.

[Critical pathways in chemotherapy for lung cancer].

Differences of critical pathway in cancer chemotherapy from its protocol are the unification of the treatment, setting of the treatment goal and its provision for the patient. By the uniform treatment at least in the same hospital and the variance analysis of side effects with chemotherapy, the scientific and objective evaluation of treatment outcome and toxicities is possible. It is also useful for the consideration in the aspect of the ethics with the exhibition of the treatment by the provision of critical pathway for the patient. Therefore, critical pathway in chemotherapy for lung cancer is the useful tool to establish the clinical practice guidelines based on both scientific and ethical evidences in addition to the improvement of the patient satisfaction and the promotion of the team medical treatment.