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Introduction The number of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients is increasing steadily in Japan, and it is expected that patient groups and patient education will improve the quality of life of patients and IBD care. The 1st Kurume University IBD Center educational lecture was held and a questionnaire survey was administered at this lecture. Methods We asked 78 participants to answer a questionnaire survey on the occasion of the 1st Kurume University IBD Center educational lecture. Results We obtained responses from 56 (71.8%) participants; 31 (55.4%) had IBD [21 (37.4%) had ulcerative colitis (UC) and 10 (17.9%) had Crohn's disease (CD)]. Most participants were female (37, 66%). The age range with the highest number of participants was 40 to 69 (27, 48.2%). Most had heard about this educational lecture through "notification by the patient's doctor" 23 (41.1%). A total of 30 (53.6%) of participants answered "good" about the lecture content, while 50 (89.7%) of participants answered "very good" and "good" about the impression of this lecture. Meanwhile, 10 (32.3%) of patients were interested in patient groups. The percentage of patients who were interested in patient groups was higher in patients with CD 4 (66.7%) than those with UC 2 (33.3%). Conclusion We held the 1st Kurume University IBD center educational lecture. Further studies are needed to assess whether educational lectures and/or patient groups can improve patients' quality of life (QOL) and IBD care in our hospital.

Rietveld refinements were performed on synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction patterns of Li1.05Mn2O4−δ, Ni- and Ti- doped Li1.05Mn2O4−δ to investigate the structural changes in conjunction with the non-adiabatic small polaron-hopping behavior. Samples with and without substitution were confirmed to belong to the Fd 3 ¯ m space group of the cubic system. The lattice parameters a and the oxygen positional parameters u decreased with increasing Ni content, and increased with increasing Ti content. In Ni-doped samples, M−O bond lengths (M: transition metal at the 16d site) were shorter and O-M-O angles were larger than those of Li1.05Mn2O4−δ. The local distortion in MO6 octahedra decreased as a result of Ni substitution. The less distorted MO6 octahedra enhanced the overlap of the Mn 3d and O 2p wave functions. This may explain why the polaron-hopping energies WH of Li1.05Mn2−xNixO4−δ (x ​= ​0.2 and 0.3) are smaller than that of Li1.05Mn2O4−δ. Ti substitution kept the increase of M−O bond length small. The O-M-O angle decreased slightly compared to that of Li1.05Mn2O4−δ, but barely changed with increasing Ti content. Structural changes in MO6 octahedra by Ti substitution were too small to affect the overlap of the Mn 3d and O 2p wave functions. This explains why the hopping energies WH of Li1.05Mn2−xTixO4−δ remained unchanged. Ni and Ti have different ionic radii from Mn. Thus, substitution of Ni and Ti modify the lattice distortion, and consequently induced a gradual increase in the self-trapped polaron’s energy, i.e., the activation energy of thermopower ES.

Samples of Li 1.05 Mn 2 O 4-δ , Li 1.05 Mn 1.5 Ni 0.5 O 4-δ , and Li 1.05 Mn 1.0 Ni 0.5 Ti 0.5 O 4-δ were prepared by a solid-state reaction technique and ultimately refined to a space group Fd −3 m of spinel structure by the Rietveld method using synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction data. Comparison of lattice constants suggested that Ni-substitution increased the covalency in the bonding of MO 6 (M: metal ion at 16 d site) octahedrals, but Ni/Ti co-substitution decreased the covalency of M–O bonds and introduced structural distortion. Electrical conductivity measurements by a four-probe method resulted in the determination that electrical conduction (within all samples) exhibits a nonadiabatic hopping process at high temperatures. The activation energies of Li 1.05 Mn 2 O 4-δ and Li 1.05 Mn 1.5 Ni 0.5 O 4-δ were found to be of similar values. The Ni/Ti co-substituted sample of Li 1.05 Mn 1.0 Ni 0.5 Ti 0.5 O 4-δ , on the other hand, showed the highest activation energy among all the measured samples. Substitution reduced the electrical conductivity relative to Li 1.05 Mn 2 O 4-δ ; furthermore, both the substituted samples (Li 1.05 Mn 1.5 Ni 0.5 O 4-δ and Li 1.05 Mn 1.0 Ni 0.5 Ti 0.5 O 4-δ ) were found to exhibit functional independence from oxygen partial pressure ( P O2 ).

Spinel Li1.05Mn2O4−δ substituted with Ni and Ti were fabricated via a solid-state reaction technique. The Rietveld refinement of synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data confirmed an Fd 3 ‾ m space group of spinel structure for all synthesized materials. Variation in the lattice parameter and M-O distances (M: transition metal at 16d site) due to the dopant content indicated that Ni substitution enhanced the overlap in Mn 3d wave functions and Ti substitution induced structural distortion. Electrical conductivity measurements based on a four-probe method were conducted at high temperatures, demonstrating that both the Ni- and Ti-substituted samples exhibited the same non-adiabatic small-polaron hopping mechanism as that of the non-substituted LiMn2O4. Thermopower measurements were performed at high temperatures via a steady-state technique. All samples with and without substitution were characterized as n-type semiconductors and their Seebeck coefficients were thermally activated. The electrical conductivities and the Seebeck coefficients decreased with increasing Ni content, whereas they were less affected by Ti substitution. The activation energies of electrical conductivity Eσ and thermopower ES were derived from the experimental results and were used to calculate the hopping energies, WH. Ni substitution initially reduced WH but substantially increased WH when Ni ​= ​0.5. In contrast, Ti substitution had a major effect on only ES. Variation in carrier density and structural distortion following the substitution for Mn exerted a large influence on the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficients of the doped materials.

The incidence of traffic accidents in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) is high in the USA. However, the characteristics of patients, including dietary habits, differ between Japan and the USA. The present study investigated the incidence of traffic accidents in CLD patients and the clinical profiles associated with traffic accidents in Japan using a data-mining analysis. A cross-sectional study was performed and 256 subjects [148 CLD patients (CLD group) and 106 patients with other digestive diseases (disease control group)] were enrolled; 2 patients were excluded. The incidence of traffic accidents was compared between the two groups. Independent factors for traffic accidents were analyzed using logistic regression and decision-tree analyses. The incidence of traffic accidents did not differ between the CLD and disease control groups (8.8 vs. 11.3%). The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that yoghurt consumption was the only independent risk factor for traffic accidents (odds ratio, 0.37; 95% confidence interval, 0.16-0.85; P=0.0197). Similarly, the results of the decision-tree analysis showed that yoghurt consumption was the initial divergence variable. In patients who consumed yoghurt habitually, the incidence of traffic accidents was 6.6%, while that in patients who did not consume yoghurt was 16.0%. CLD was not identified as an independent factor in the logistic regression and decision-tree analyses. In conclusion, the difference in the incidence of traffic accidents in Japan between the CLD and disease control groups was insignificant. Furthermore, yoghurt consumption was an independent negative risk factor for traffic accidents in patients with digestive diseases, including CLD.

Loss of appetite is frequently seen and is a main factor affecting quality of life (QOL) in patients with advanced cancer. The etiology for loss of appetite in patients with cancer is multifactorial. The sensory properties of food are factors regulating appetite. Changes in taste, smell and texture of foods influence food intake. The appearance of the food is also a notable factor in sensory-specific satiety. We described a 46-year-old Japanese woman with multiple metastatic liver tumors. Although there was no obvious factor for loss of appetite, she suffered from a loss of appetite and subsequent malnutrition. In order to improve the appearance of food, we reduced the diet to 1,000 kcal/day from 1,500 kcal/day. On the new diet, the patient's appetite significantly increased and patient's nutritional status was improved. Eating whole diet was an important achievement and increased in mental aspects of QOL. Arrangement for the appearance of food may be a simple and nontoxic therapeutic strategy for patients with cancer suffering a loss of appetite.

Liver cirrhosis is frequently accompanied by malnutrition and hypoalbuminemia, which in turn commonly induces ascites in patients with liver cirrhosis. Ascites leads to abdominal distention and appetite loss, resulting in a deteriorated quality of life (QOL). Administration of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA)-rich supplements reduces hepatic encephalopathy and malnutrition. In addition, BCAAs by themselves up-regulate albumin synthesis through an increase in Fisher's ratio. Thus, in patients with liver cirrhosis, BCAA-rich supplements seem to be effective at reducing ascites and improving the QOL. Here, we report the case of a 58-year-old Japanese man with liver cirrhosis with severe ascites and peripheral edema. The hepatic function of the patient was classified as Child-Pugh grade C. To reduce protein-energy malnutrition, BCAA-rich supplements were administered as a late evening snack as part of a regimen including 2000 kcal/day (32.5 kcal/kg/day) of total energy and 83.5 g/day (1.3 g/kg/day) of total protein intake. Eight weeks after admission, ascites and edema had decreased. Nutritional status also improved from the time of admission to discharge; the serum BCAA level increased from 365.4 to 450.2 µmol/l. Furthermore, the ratio of BCAAs to tyrosine (BTR) increased from 1.70 to 3.65. We also evaluated the effects of nutritional therapy on the patient's QOL using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey upon admission and at discharge. All subscores showed marked improvement and reached a level greater than the Japanese norm with nutritional treatment. In conclusion, BCAA supplementation not only reduced ascites, but also improved the QOL in a patient with liver cirrhosis.