281 research outputs found
On the description of nature and the feeling of Kaoru, the hero in the Tale of Genji, to Uji
No full text源氏物語の宇治の自然描写は、登場人物の心情と関連している。都と宇治の環境の違い、宇治の姉妹との人間関係、描写される音楽から、薫の精神的探求を述べる。The author researches a visit made by Kaoru, the hero in the Tale of Genji, to Uji, a suburb of Kyoto. This paper analyses; 1) the differences in the atmosphere of Uji and Kyoto. 2) the interaction between Kaoru and the beautiful sisters he meets when hearing heavenly music, and 3) the effect of this encounter on the mind of the hero himself
Clinical course of focal choroidal excavation in Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease
No full textYuko Nishikawa,1–3,* Kaoru Fujinami,1,2,4,5,* Ken Watanabe,1,2 Toru Noda,1,2 Kazushige Tsunoda,1,2 Kunihiko Akiyama1,2 1Department of Ophthalmology, National Hospital Organization, Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan; 2Laboratory of Visual Physiology, National Institute of Sensory Organs, National Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan; 4Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 5UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK*These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: We describe focal choroidal excavation (FCE) in a case of Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada (VKH) disease and compare the findings with different chorioretinal conditions. A 55-year-old man was diagnosed with VKH based on panuveitis and exudative retinal detachments. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography demonstrated a dome-shaped protrusion with a nonconforming pattern at the fovea, which had been detected as a conforming pattern 1 year before the onset. The FCE pattern returned into a conforming pattern following corticosteroid therapy. These findings suggest that the natively existent FCE could be affected by pathophysiological changes of VKH as well as other chorioretinal conditions.Keywords: choroidal excavation, focal choroidal excavation, Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease, optical coherence tomograph
Emerg Infect Dis
No full textIn Japan, a 51-year-old man had minimally symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome was diagnosed 485 weeks later; characteristics included severe inflammation, cardiac dysfunction, and IgG positivity. Clinicians should obtain detailed history and examine IgG levels for cases of inflammatory disease with unexplained cardiac decompensation
Oguchi Disease With Unusual Findings Associated With a Heterozygous Mutation in the <emph type="ital">SAG</emph> Gene
No full textEvaluation of cone function by a handheld non-mydriatic flicker electroretinogram device
No full textNatsuko Nakamura,1 Kaoru Fujinami,1 Yoshinobu Mizuno,2 Toru Noda,2 Kazushige Tsunoda11Laboratory of Visual Physiology, Division of Vision Research, National Institute of Sensory Organs, 2Department of Ophthalmology, National Hospital Organization, National Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, JapanPurpose: Full-field electroretinograms (ERGs) are used to evaluate retinal function in patients with various types of hereditary and acquired retinal diseases. However, ERG recordings require relatively invasive procedures, including pupillary dilation and the use of contact lens electrodes. Thus, it would be helpful to have a simpler and noninvasive screening method. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a new, handheld, portable ERG device, RETeval™, can be used to screen patients for cone dysfunction.Patients and methods: Thirty-five eyes of 35 patients who had reduced cone responses ascertained by a conventional ERG system using contact lens electrodes were studied. The causative diseases included achromatopsia, cone dystrophy, cone-rod dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, choroidal dystrophy, autoimmune retinopathy, and Stargardt disease. The flicker ERGs were recorded with the RETeval™ under undilated conditions with skin electrodes (stimulus strength, 3.0 cd·s/m2; frequency, 28.3 Hz), and the responses were compared to that of 50 healthy eyes. The amplitudes and implicit times of the fundamental component of the flicker ERGs were analyzed in three age groups: Group A, ≤20 years; Group B, 21–40 years; and Group C, ≥41 years.Results: In all of the age groups, the amplitudes of the ERGs were significantly smaller and the implicit times significantly longer in patients with cone dysfunction than in the control eyes. All but one of the patients had flicker amplitudes lower than the mean −2.0 standard deviation of control eyes.Conclusion: The RETeval™ has a potential of being used to screen for cone dysfunction. The entire examination takes <5 minutes and does not require pupil dilatation or a contact lens electrode. Although the flicker responses do not provide information on the scotopic functions, the RETeval™ device can be used to determine which patients require additional full-field ERG testing with dilated pupils under both scotopic and photopic conditions.Keywords: RETeval™, flicker ERG, cone dysfunction, retin
Case of acute zonal occult outer retinopathy with abnormal pattern visual evoked potentials
No full textYuzhu Chai1, Hiroko Yamazaki1, Kaoru Fujinami2, Kazushige Tsunoda2, Shuichi Yamamoto31Department of Ophthalmology, Kohnodai Hospital, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Chiba, Japan; 2National Institute of Sensory Organs, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, JapanAbstract: Electrophysiological and morphological findings were studied in a case of acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) showing abnormal pattern visual evoked potentials (VEPs) at the onset and significant functional recovery in the natural course.&nbsp; A 21-year-old woman presented with acute onset of photopsia and a large scotoma in the right eye of 2 weeks duration. Her visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes with no ophthalmoscopic and fluorescein angiographic abnormalities. However, a relative afferent pupillary defect and an enlarged blind spot were found in the right eye. The pattern VEPs were severely reduced when the right eye was stimulated. The amplitudes of both rod and cone full-field electroretinographics (ERGs) were reduced in the right eye. The amplitudes of the multifocal ERGs were reduced in the area of the enlarged blind spot. Irregularities in the inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) line of the photoreceptors were observed over the nasal fovea by optical coherence tomography (OCT). The patient was followed without treatment. The enlarged blind spot disappeared in 3 months after the onset. At 5 months, reappearance of the IS/OS line was detected by OCT. At 6 months, the P100 recovered to normal values. At 1 year, the reduced full-field ERGs were almost normal size and the multifocal ERGs in the area corresponding to the enlarged blind spot were also improved. ERG findings are crucial for differentiating AZOOR from retrobulbar neuritis, especially in patients with abnormal pattern VEPs. The pattern VEPs, full-field ERGs, multifocal ERGs, and OCT images can be abnormal in the early phase of AZOOR, but they can all improve during the natural course.Keywords: AZOOR, pattern VEP, full-field ERG, multifocal ERG, OC
One-year outcome of intravitreal aflibercept injection for age-related macular degeneration resistant to ranibizumab: rapid morphologic recovery and subsequent visual improvement
No full textToshiaki Hirakata,1,2,* Kaoru Fujinami,1,3,4,* Ken Watanabe,5 Mariko Sasaki,1,3,6 Toru Noda,1,5 Kunihiko Akiyama1,5 1Laboratory of Visual Physiology, Division for Vision Research, National Institute of Sensory Organs, National Hospital Organization, Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University of Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 4UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK; 5Department of Ophthalmology, National Hospital Organization, Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan; 6Department of Ophthalmology, Tachikawa Hospital, Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan *These authors contributed equally to this work Objective: To describe the 1-year efficacy of aflibercept in Japanese patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who were resistant to ranibizumab treatment. Design: Retrospective case series. Participants: Fourteen consecutive eyes of 14 patients with AMD were enrolled who had no substantial response or developed resistance to intravitreal ranibizumab injections. Methods: All patients were subcategorized into one of two subtypes of AMD: seven patients with occult choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and seven with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). Serial intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) injections were administered. Comprehensive ophthalmic examinations, including optical coherence tomography, were conducted at baseline and at follow-up examinations at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the initial IVA injection. The best-corrected visual acuity converted to logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) and central macular thickness (CMT) at each follow-up visit were compared with the baseline values. The anatomic response was also assessed with absorption or reduction of fluid in the subretina or subretinal pigment epithelial space. Results: The logMAR best-corrected visual acuity improved significantly at 3, 6, and 12 months in the total cohort: at 3 and 6 months in patients with occult CNV and at 3 and 12 months in patients with PCV. The CMT decreased significantly at all follow-up visits in the total cohort as well as in both subtypes, except for the CMT at 6 months in PCV patients. The anatomic improvement was also demonstrated in all cases, and pigment epithelial detachments tended to be resolved more rapidly in patients with PCV than in patients with occult CNV. Conclusion: Conversion to IVA was effective in patients with AMD resistant to ranibizumab, showing rapid morphologic improvement. The logMAR visual acuity was raised significantly within 12 months, and the clinical course of visual acuity improvement may differ according to the AMD subtypes. Keywords: aflibercept, age-related macular degeneration, occult choroidal neovascularization, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, ranibizumab, resistanc
丸山薫とリルケ : 『物象詩集』の方法
No full textAlthough he was one of the representative poets of the Showa Era (1925-1989), Maruyama Kaoru has not fully attracted researchers' attention. He established a unique poetic world by "Bussho Shishu", the collection of poems of his own selection, published in 1941. He stated that his motivation to compose poems was rooted in "a tantalizing desire for objects and nostalgic emotions to them". The author assumes his method of introducing feelings into objects derived from Rainer Maria Rilke. Hori Tatsuo and Tachihara Michizo have often been regarded as the Japanese poets most strongly influenced by Rilke. In this paper, the author attempts to make clear that Maruyama Kaoru also cultivated his new lyric style under the influence of Rilke, focusing on his "Horui" and "Mizu no Kokoro".海老井英次教授退官記念号〈Special Issue〉dedicated to Professor EBII Eij
"THE STUDY ON EFFECTIVE USE OF PUBLIC MUSEUMS BASED ON DEA - Human resource development in decentralized governance"(in Japanese)
No full textWe applied Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to identify factors that increase the effectiveness of museum activities for human resource development (educational programs). We divide public museums into the following three categories: a first group which is successful in educational programs (desirable model), a second group (environmentally handicapped model) which have smaller budgets but still can function effectively if they have a large collection and are active in collaboration with other regional educational organizations such as schools, NPOs, and other museums, and a third group (developing model) which have larger budgets than the other groups but whose educational programs are unsuccessful. The last group might be revitalized through more active collaboration with other regional organizations. Also, it appears that museums without other facilities such as theatrical venues function more effectively than museums with such a broad range of facilities. Finally, we find that the efficiency of museums does not appear to be affected by whether they are under the control of the Board of Education or directly subordinate to local government.China, Saving, Income Disparity and State Ownership
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