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Kazumasa Oura,1 Ryo Itabashi,1 Takashi Omoto,2 Mao Yamaguchi Oura,1 Tetsuro Kiyokawa,1 Eisuke Hirai,1 Tetsuya Maeda1 1Division of Neurology and Gerontology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan; 2Department of Pharmacy, Iwate Medical University Hospital, Iwate, JapanCorrespondence: Kazumasa OuraDivision of Neurology and Gerontology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, 2-1-1 Idaidori, Yahaba-Cho, Shiwa-Gun, Iwate, 028-3695, JapanTel +81-19-613-7111Fax +81-19-907-6933Email koura@iwate-med.ac.jpPurpose: The effectiveness of Electronic Medication Packaging devices for monitoring drug adherence has been widely reported. However, conventional devices are expensive for routine use and cannot confirm whether the medication was administered. We aimed to determine, in a pilot and feasibility study, the impact of introducing a new medication support device, the Pletaal Assist System®, to monitor and improve cilostazol adherence for stroke prevention at an outpatient clinic.Patients and Methods: We assessed consecutive patients treated with cilostazol for > 3 months at our stroke outpatient clinic from January 2018 to March 2020. The adherence rate was assessed as follows: (the number of pills prescribed minus the number of remaining pills)/the number of pills prescribed. We compared the adherence rates before, during, and after Pletaal Assist System® usage, respectively.Results: Overall, 25 patients (median age, 68.5 years; range, 51– 86 years; male, 64%) were enrolled. All participants were prescribed cilostazol (100 mg) twice a day. There was no significant difference in the adherence rate among the three periods. However, in 10 patients with adherence rate below 100%, the adherence rate during Pletaal Assist System® usage was higher than before usage (99.5% vs 95%, p=0.04), and the rate after using the Pletaal Assist System® tended to be lower compared to the rate during usage (99.5% vs 96%, p=0.05).Conclusion: Our preliminary evidence suggest that the Pletaal Assist System® could further improve cilostazol adherence in outpatients with poor drug adherence and may reduce the risk of recurrent strokes by improving adherence of patients with a history of stroke.Keywords: medication adherence, antiplatelet drug, stroke, electronic medication packaging

Hiroyuki Ito, Mariko Abe, Shinichi Antoku, Takashi Omoto, Masahiro Shinozaki, Shinya Nishio, Mizuo Mifune, Michiko ToganeDepartment of Diabetes, Metabolism and Kidney Disease, Edogawa Hospital, Tokyo, JapanBackground: The effects of switching from prandial premixed insulin therapy (PPT) injected three times a day to basal plus two times bolus insulin therapy (B2B) on glycemic control and quality of life were investigated in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods: The clinical course was prospectively observed during the first 16 weeks after switching to B2B (insulin glargine plus insulin glulisine before breakfast and dinner) in 27 subjects previously treated with PPT using 50/50 premixed insulin. The Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) was administered at the start and end of the study.Results: The glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level (8.3%±1.8% to 8.2%±1.1%) and the DTSQ score did not change between the start and end of the study. An improvement in HbA1c level was found in nine (33%) subjects. The change in HbA1c showed a significant negative correlation with baseline HbA1c, and was significantly better in patients with a baseline HbA1c >8.0% than in those with an HbA1c ≤8.0% (−0.9±2.0 versus 0.3±0.6, respectively, P=0.02). The change in DTSQ score representing treatment satisfaction was significantly greater in patients whose HbA1c level was improved than in those in whom it was not (2.7±3.6 versus −0.8±3.5, P=0.04).Conclusion: B2B was noninferior to PPT with regard to HbA1c levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. B2B should be considered particularly for subjects whose glycemic control is poor despite PPT.Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin therapy, basal plus two times bolus insulin therapy, prandial premixed insulin therapy, Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire

Cross sections of 7Be, 22Na and 24Na for geo-chemically and cosmochemically important elements were measured at incident neutron energies of 287 and 370 MeV. The cross sections were measured in target exposed to high-energy monoenergetic neutrons at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We investigated whether verapamil (VR), a known chemosensitizing agent of P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance, could enhance the preventative effect of doxorubicin (Adriamycin, ADM) on both intravesical recurrence and disease progression after transurethral resection (TUR) of superficial bladder cancer.Methods: The patients were randomized into two groups: one group received an intravesical instillation of ADM (30 mg) plus VR (15 mg) after TUR of superficial bladder cancer (19 times over 1 year), and the other group received ADM alone on the same treatment schedule. The nonrecurrence rate, the incidence of disease progression at the first recurrence and the side effects were compared over a median follow-up of 38.5 months.Results: Of the 226 patients registered, 157 were evaluable. No significant differences were observed in the patients' characteristics between the two groups. Although the incidence of disease progression at the first recurrence was not significantly different between the two groups, the ADM plus VR instillation group did show a significantly higher nonrecurrence rate than the ADM-only instillation group, and such significance persisted even when any possible bias was allowed for in a multivariate analysis. In terms of side effects, the incidence and severity of bladder irritation symptoms were not significantly different between the two groups.Conclusions: Intravesical instillation chemotherapy with ADM plus VR was found to have a significantly greater beneficial effect than with ADM alone for preventing recurrence after TUR of superficial bladder cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]