Comparison of the effects of external focus of attention with metaphor and internal focus of attention on temporal changes in seating pressure during sitting motion in community-dwelling elderly people.

[Purpose] This study aimed to clarify the optimal method of attention focus in which temporal changes in the seating pressure can induce effective sitting motion in order to prevent osteoporotic vertebral fractures in the elderly. [Participants and Methods] This study included 101 community-dwelling elderly people. The participants were seated in a chair with a force plate under two conditions: external focus of attention with metaphor and internal focus of attention. We evaluated and analyzed the seating pressure by using the force plate and the sitting motion with a three-dimensional motion capture system. The unit time sitting pressure value and the trunk forward tilt angle were calculated and compared between the two conditions. [Results] The unit time sitting pressure value was significantly smaller in the external condition than the internal condition. The trunk forward tilt angle was significantly greater in the internal condition than the external condition. [Conclusion] This study demonstrated that external focus of attention with metaphor can induce a sitting motion with a slower temporal change in sitting pressure than the internal focus of attention. We concluded that external focus of attention with metaphor may be an effective instruction to prevent osteoporotic vertebral fractures in the elderly.

Post-marketing surveillance study of trifluridine/tipiracil in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The novel oral nucleoside antineoplastic agent trifluridine/tipiracil was approved for metastatic colorectal cancer in Japan in March 2014. In this post-marketing surveillance study, we investigated the safety and efficacy of trifluridine/tipiracil in a real-world setting, particularly haematological drug reactions classified according to the baseline renal and hepatic functions. METHODS: We investigated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who received trifluridine/tipiracil during the first four treatment cycles prospectively. The patients typically received 35 mg/m2 trifluridine/tipiracil twice daily on days 1-5 and 8-12 every 28 days. The primary objective was to assess the safety of trifluridine/tipiracil, but its efficacy was also evaluated. RESULTS: Between July 2014 and June 2016, 860 patients were enrolled in the study, and the safety and efficacy of trifluridine/tipiracil were evaluated in 823 patients. Adverse drug reactions occurred in 89.7% of the patients. The most common adverse drug reactions were decreased white blood cell count (67.0%) and neutrophil count (63.9%). Haematological drug reactions of grade ≥3 were observed in 41.7% of the patients with normal renal function; 50.3, 65.6 and 78.9% of the patients had mild, moderate and severe renal impairments, respectively. Hepatic impairment was not associated with a higher incidence of haematological drug reactions. The median overall survival was 8.4 months, with a 1-year survival rate of 33.7%. CONCLUSION: This post-marketing surveillance study further confirmed the safety and tolerability profile of trifluridine/tipiracil observed in a clinical study setting.

Development of a novel non-contact and quick-response detector for boron in coal fly ash based on thermal neutron absorptiometry.

Coal fly ash (CFA), a by-product from coal-fired power plants, has many applications. However, there are concerns that the trace elements in CFA-based materials may contaminate groundwater. Therefore, many methods have been developed to rapidly measure these trace elements in CFA in order to management and/or screening their leachability. However, satisfactory methods to measure boron alone have not been reported. In this study, we developed an instrument for the non-contact analysis of boron in CFA samples. This simple instrument consisted of a sealed neutron source, a moderator, a proportional counter, and a signal processing device. The analysis method, based on thermal neutron absorptiometry, can rapidly measure the boron content within five minutes without pre-treatment. We applied the developed equipment to over 200 CFA samples, and excellent correlation was obtained between the proposed and traditional methods. These results indicated that the developed equipment is useful for managing and/or screening boron in CFA.