We discuss pattern formation in three-dimensional gels with cylindrical shapes during their shrinking such as volume phase transition. A Ginzburg–Landau theory is given for the pattern formation in shrinking gels. A characteristic feature in shrinking gels is the dense layer formed around the gel surface in the early stage of phase transition. This layer reduce considerably permeation of solvent and the shrinkage practically stops. We introduce the external osmotic pressure and the external elastic stress acting on the gel surface in order to take account of the effect of the layer. Patterns are classified according to the anisotropy and the incompressibility of gels by the linearized stability analysis of the theory. It appears that the external stress term suppresses the growth of the fluctuation with short wavelength. The results obtained by a numerical calculation for the evolution of patterns are also shown.
Little is known about the epidemiological characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Japan. This is a retrospective observational study of COVID-19 patients; study was conducted from February 1 to May 31, 2020. We used publicly collected data on cases of COVID-19 confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. We described the patient characteristics. The Cox proportional-hazards model was applied to evaluate the association between factors (sex, onset month, age group, city of residence) and mortality, and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals were estimated. During the study period, 5.7% (1782/31,152) of individuals who underwent PCR testing for COVID-19 showed positive results. Among 244 patients with information on symptoms, the most common symptom was fever (76.6%), followed by cough (44.3%). Of the 1782 patients, 86 patients died. Compared with those aged 0–59 years, higher mortality was observed among those aged 60–69 years (HR: 12.02 [3.37–42.93]), 70–79 years (HR: 44.62 [15.16–131.30]), 80–89 years (HR: 68.38 [22.93–203.89]), and ≥90 years (HR: 144.71 [42.55–492.15]). In conclusion, in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, the most common symptom was fever, and older adults had higher mortality among COVID-19 patients.
Background: Detailed prospective evaluation of cigarette smoking associated with pancreatic cancer risk in large Asian populations is limited. The aim of this study was to examine this association in a Japanese population, with a particular focus on evaluating sex differences.Methods: We performed a pooled analysis of 10 populationbased cohort studies. We calculated study-specific HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Cox proportional hazards regression, and then estimated summary HRs by pooling these estimates with a random effects model.Results: During 4,695,593 person-years of follow-up in 354,154 participants, 1,779 incident pancreatic cancer cases were identified. We observed an increased pancreatic cancer risk for current smoking compared with never smoking in both males [HR (95% CI), 1.59 (1.32-1.91)] and females [HR (95% CI), 1.81 (1.43-2.30)]. Significant risk elevations for former smoking and small cumulative dose of 20 pack-years (PY) were observed only among females, regardless of environmental tobacco smoke exposure. Trend analysis indicated significant 6% and nonsignificant 6% increases in pancreatic cancer risk for every 10 PYs in males and females, respectively. Risk became comparable with never smokers after 5 years of smoking cessation in males. In females, however, we observed no risk attenuation by smoking cessation.Conclusions: This study supports the well-known association between smoking and pancreatic cancer and indicates potential sex differences in a Japanese population. Quitting smoking would be beneficial for pancreatic cancer prevention, especially in males.Impact: Pancreatic cancer risk is increased with cumulative smoking exposure and decreased with smoking cessation, with potential sex differences.
In vivo measurements of vessel diameter, latex injections, and acrylic-cast studies indentified the middle uterine arteries as the main source of blood supply to the pregnant sheep uterus. Collateral circulation stemmed from the dorsal uterine arteries, and the ovarian arteries, and small cervical branches derived from the external iliac arteries (in decreasing order of importance). These morphological observations were related to estimates of collateral flow obtained during isolated, in situ perfusion of the pregnant sheep uterus carried out through the cannulated middle uterine arteries. Collateral blood flow was estimated from the shift of the flow-pressure curve produced by inflation of a balloon catheter advanced into the aorta below the renal arteries. Middle uterine artery flow to one horn increased from 162 +/- 23 ml/min in midgestation to 323 +/- 44 ml/min near term. Collateral uterine blood flow did not change significantly: 82 +/- 15 ml/min in midterm, 74 +/- 9 ml/min near term. Collateral flow consituted a larger fraction of inflow to the horn containing the fetus in 9 of 10 single pregnancies.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic affects the emergency medical service (EMS) system, little is known about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prognosis of emergency patients. This study aimed to reveal the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the EMS system and patient outcomes. We included patients transported by ambulance who were registered in a population-based registry of patients transported by ambulance. The endpoints of this study were the incident number of patients transported by ambulance each month and the number of deaths among these patients admitted to hospital each month. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using a Poisson regression model with the year 2019 as the reference were calculated. A total of 500,194 patients were transported in 2019, whereas 443,321 patients were transported in 2020, indicating a significant decrease in the number of emergency patients transported by ambulance (IRR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.88–0.89). The number of deaths of emergency patients admitted to hospital was 11,931 in 2019 and remained unchanged at 11,963 in 2020 (IRR: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.98–1.03). The incidence of emergency patients transported by ambulance decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but the mortality of emergency patients admitted to hospital did not change in this study.
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