A monitoring plan of residual antibiotics in food of animal origin was conducted in Vietnam from 2012 to 2013. Meat samples were collected from slaughterhouses and retail stores in Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. A total of 28 antibiotics were analyzed using a LC-MS/MS screening method. Sulfonamides, fluoroquinolones, and tilmicosin were detected in some of the samples. Sulfaclozine and fluoroquinolones were mainly detected in chicken samples, and sulfamethazine was mainly detected in pork samples. High levels of sulfonamide residues, ranging between 2500 and 2700 μg/kg sulfaclozine and between 1300 and 3600 μg/kg sulfamethazine, were present in two chicken and three pork samples, respectively. Tilmicosin was detected at ranges of 150-450 μg/kg in 10 chicken samples. Positive percentages were 17.3, 8.8, and 7.4% for chicken, pork, and beef, respectively, for an average of 11.9%. The results suggest an appropriate withdrawal period after drug administration had not been observed in some livestock.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is known as an endocrine disruptor and often is found in landfill leachates. Removal of BPA by green alga, Chlorella fusca, was characterized, because we previously found that various phenols were well removed by this strain, including BPA. Chlorella fusca was able to remove almost all BPA in the concentration range from 10 to 80 microM for 168 h under continuous illumination at 18 W/m2. At the low light intensity of 2 W/m2, 82% of 40 microM BPA was removed, and only 27% was removed in the dark. Moreover, C. fusca could remove 90% of 40 microM BPA under the 8:16-h light:dark condition, which was almost as high as that under the continuous-light condition. The amount of BPA contained in the cells was less than the amount of BPA removed from the medium. Monohydroxybisphenol A was detected as an intermediate of BPA degradation. Moreover, estrogenic activity that originated from BPA in the culture medium also completely disappeared. Based on these results, BPA was finally degraded to compounds having nonestrogenic activity. Therefore, C. fusca can be considered a useful organism to remove BPA from landfill leachates.

In this study the experiences with carcinomas of the pancreas, ampulla of Vater, terminal comma bile duct, and duodenum found in a series of 3,610 patients collected from 57 major Japanese institutions was compiled over a 26 year period. The results were analyzed as to the success of resectional and palliative surgery for the various lesions. The most common lesion was carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Unifortunately, only 18.3% of these patients were resectable with a 25.3% mortality. Carcinoma of the body and the tail was the second most frequent lesion, and it also exhibited a low resection rate. Carcinomas of the ampulla and the terminal common bile duct and duodenal regions were the most favorable for resection; usually pancreatoduodenectomy with an overall mortality of 20.8%. As a result of the large number of pancreatectomies performed, there was also a large number of postoperative complications, the most frequent being leakage at an anastomotic line. Hemorrhage also occurred frequently. Distal pancreatectomies were reserved for carcinoma of the body and the tail of the pancreas, and the most common postoperative complication of this procedure was hemorrhage. There were only 45 total pancreatectomies among the 973 resections being performed most frequently in patients with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Again, the most frequent postoperative complication was hemorrhage, followed by anastomotic leakage. The long term survivals following resection for these lesions were each poor. The best mean survival time was 22.7 months for carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater. Patients having resections for carcinoma of the head of the pancreas had a mean survival time of 12.3 months. At 5 years there were few survivors and most of them were patients who had undergone resections for carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater.

AimThere are no effective, tolerable, and established medications for preventing delirium in critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). We investigated whether suvorexant was effective in preventing ICU delirium.MethodsThis randomized controlled study evaluated 70 adult patients (age ≥20 years) admitted to the mixed medical ICU of the Tokyo Medical University Hospital (Tokyo, Japan) between May 2015 and February 2017. Patients were randomized using a sealed envelope method to receive either suvorexant (n = 34; 15 mg for elderly patients and 20 mg for younger adults) or conventional treatment (n = 36) for a 7‐day period. The primary outcome was delirium incidence based on the definition in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.ResultsNo significant between‐group differences were observed in the demographic or clinical characteristics. Kaplan−Meier estimates revealed that time to delirium onset was significantly longer in the suvorexant group than in the conventional group (P < 0.05).ConclusionSuvorexant might be effective in preventing delirium in ICU patients.

Antibiotic residues in aquatic products in Vietnam were investigated. A total of 511 fish and shrimp samples were collected from markets in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Thai Binh (TB), and Nha Trang (NT) from July 2013 to October 2015. The samples were extracted with 2% formic acid in acetonitrile and washed with dispersive C18 sorbent. Thirty-two antibiotics were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Of the 362 samples from HCMC, antibiotic residues were found in 53 samples. Enrofloxacin was commonly detected, at a rate of 10.8%. In contrast, samples from TB and NT were less contaminated: only 1 of 118 analyzed samples showed residues in TB and only 1 of 31 showed residues in NT. These differences were attributed to the local manufacturing/distribution systems. To understand the current status of antibiotic use and prevent adverse effects that may be caused by their overuse, continual monitoring is required.