An unexplored tin oxide crystal phase (Sn3O4) was experimentally synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. After tuning the often‐neglected parameters for the hydrothermal synthesis, namely the ...degree of filling of the precursor solution and the gas composition in the reactor head space, an unreported X‐ray diffraction pattern was discovered. Through various characterization studies, such as Rietveld analysis, energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, and first‐principles calculations, this novel material was characterized as orthorhombic mixed‐valence tin oxide with the composition SnII2SnIVO4. This orthorhombic tin oxide is a new polymorph of Sn3O4, which differs from the reported conventional monoclinic structure. Computational and experimental analyses showed that orthorhombic Sn3O4 has a smaller band gap (2.0 eV), enabling greater absorption of visible light. This study is expected to improve the accuracy of hydrothermal synthesis and aid the discovery of new oxide materials.
A previously unreported orthorhombic Sn3O4 polymorph was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method and characterized carefully by empirical and calculational methods.
•We performed large-scale universal PCR screening for SARS-CoV-2.•Patients who were asymptomatic before admission and their attendants were screened.•Universal PCR screening may be useful for ...detecting SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.
Universal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; i.e., the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening before admission has been adopted by several hospitals to prevent nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 transmission from asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic patients. However, screening usefulness remains unclear because it depends on the regional COVID-19 prevalence, and only a few large-scale studies have been reported. Here we describe the universal PCR screening performed in our hospital before admission of more than 12,000 patients and their attendants to evaluate the usefulness of the screening.
We retrospectively described the universal PCR screening results for asymptomatic patients and their attendants before planned admissions at a hospital in Tokyo, Japan, from August 3, 2020, through March 31, 2021. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected at an in-hospital PCR center.
In total, 12,133 persons (11,859 asymptomatic patients and 274 attendants) underwent PCR screening; nine (0.07%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
Universal PCR screening may be useful for the advanced detection of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients with or without symptoms, which can be a potential source of nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
•Cycle threshold values were associated with the time to negative qPCR of SARS-CoV-2.•Olfactory and taste disorders occurred after development of fever and sore throat.•Fever and olfactory and taste ...disorders were correlated with higher viral burden.•Assessment of olfactory and taste disorders may be important to prevent transmission.
This study investigated, using cycle threshold (Ct) qPCR values, the association between symptoms and viral clearance in 57 patients with asymptomatic/mild SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with olfactory/taste disorders (OTDs) exhibited lower qPCR Ct values and longer time to negative qPCR than those without OTDs, suggesting an association between OTDs and high viral burden.
Understanding the factors that influence people's decisions regarding vaccination is essential to promote vaccination. We aimed to clarify the motivations for receiving booster vaccines. We conducted ...a paper-based questionnaire distributed during January-February 2022 involving students and faculty staff who received the first COVID-19 vaccination at the mass vaccination program during June-September 2021 at Keio University. A total of 1725 participants were enrolled, and all completed the survey. Among these, 64.9% reported a significant adverse event (AEs) affecting daily life after the second vaccine. "Fear of severe COVID-19 illness" (72.6%) was the most common reason for getting vaccinated, followed by "concern of infecting others" (68.4%) and "fear of COVID-19 infection itself" (68.3%). Television emerged as the most influential source of information (80%), followed by university information (50.2%) and social networking sites (42.8%). Multivariate analysis revealed "fear of severe COVID-19 illness", "fear of COVID-19 infection itself", and "trust in the efficacy and safety of the vaccines in general" were significantly correlated with willingness to receive paid vaccinations. The severity of AEs and source of information were not related to participants' willingness to receive booster vaccinations. Participants with positive reasons for vaccination were more likely to accept a third dose.
Biologic medications have dramatically improved the treatment outcomes of immunological inflammatory diseases, but their immunosuppressive effects put patients at risk for tuberculosis (TB). We ...investigated the risk factors for developing TB in patients treated for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) who also had experience of using biologic medications. At Keio University Hospital, we retrospectively investigated patients treated with anti-mycobacterial drugs before or concurrently with biologic medications from January 2012 to August 2020. Patients in the ‘follow-on cases group’ who had a positive TB screening test after initiating biologic medications and subsequently started LTBI treatment were excluded. We researched and compared the patient characteristics for TB and non-TB patient groups. Of the 146 eligible patients, 5 (3.4%) developed TB. The incidence rate was 600/100000 person-years. There were no significant differences between TB and non-TB patient groups in the history of TB, interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA), duration of biologic medication therapy, LTBI treatment periods, concomitant use of calcineurin inhibitors or anti-rheumatic drugs. The percentage of patients who received prednisolone at a dose of ≥15 mg for more than 1 month was higher in those who developed TB than in those who did not (40.0 vs. 7.1%, p = 0.054); however, this difference was not statistically significant. Regular monitoring of TB is necessary for long-term concomitant use of high prednisolone doses during and after the administration of biologic medications.
In the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic era, it is essential to rule out COVID-19 effectively to prevent transmission in both communities and medical facilities. According to previous ...reports in high prevalence areas, CT screening may be useful in the diagnosis of COVID-19. However, the value of CT screening in low prevalence areas has scarcely been reported.
This report examines the diagnostic efficacy of CT screening before admission to a hospital in Tokyo. We conducted a retrospective analysis at Keio University Hospital from April 6, 2020, through May 29, 2020. We set up an outpatient screening clinic on April 6 for COVID-19, administering both PCR with nasopharyngeal swabs and chest CT for all patients scheduled for surgery under general anesthesia.
A total of 292 asymptomatic patients were included in this study. There were three PCR-positive patients, and they all had negative CT findings, which revealed that both the sensitivity and positive predictive value of CT (PPV) were 0%. There were nine CT-positive patients; the specificity and the negative predictive value (NPV) were 96.9% and 98.9%, respectively.
CT screening was not useful in low prevalence areas at this time in Tokyo, even with the inclusion of the most prevalent phase. Given that the utility of CT screening depends on disease prevalence, the criteria for performing CT screening based on the prevalence of COVID-19 should be established.
A health-economic evaluation related to COVID-19 is urgently needed to allocate healthcare resources efficiently; however, relevant medical cost data in Japan concerning COVID-19 are scarce.
This ...cross-sectional study investigated the healthcare cost for hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 2021 at Keio University Hospital. We calculated the healthcare costs during hospitalization using hospital claims data and investigated the variables significantly related to the healthcare cost with multivariable analysis.
The median healthcare cost per patient for the analyzed 330 patients was Japanese yen (JPY) 1,304,431 (US dollars ~ 11,871) (interquartile range: JPY 968,349-1,954,093), and the median length of stay was 10 days. The median healthcare cost was JPY 798,810 for mild cases; JPY 1,113,680 for moderate I cases; JPY 1,643,909 for moderate II cases; and JPY 6,210,607 for severe cases. Healthcare costs increased by 4.0% for each additional day of hospitalization; 1.26 times for moderate I cases, 1.64 times for moderate II cases, and 1.84 times for severe cases compared to mild cases; and 2.05 times for cases involving ICU stay compared to those not staying in ICU.
We clarified the healthcare cost for hospitalized COVID-19 patients by severity in a Japanese university hospital. These costs contribute as inputs for forthcoming health economic evaluations for strategies for preventing and treating COVID-19.
Abstract
A 77-year-old Japanese man with disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease due to anti-interferon-gamma autoantibodies received rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, ...vincristine, and prednisolone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy because of non-Hodgkin lymphoma complication. The hepatobiliary nodules due to MAC resolved with R-CHOP and multidrug antimycobacterial treatment. R-CHOP could serve as an alternative adjunctive therapy for patients with anti-interferon-gamma autoantibodies.
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are an attractive material for photonic applications due to their nonlinear optical properties, such as the nonlinear saturable absorption and high third order nonlinearity. ...However their utilization has been hindered by the lack of flexibility on the device design which rises from the current methods of Carbon nanotube deposition within the optical system. A suitable approach to solve this problem is to embed the CNTs in an optical material from which complex devices such as optical waveguides or optical fibers can be fabricated. Here, we propose a novel method to fabricate Carbon nanotube-doped poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) composites in which the Carbon nanotubes are dispersed in the methyl-methacrylate (MMA) monomer solution prior to and during the polarization process. This method allows the bundle separation and dispersion of the CNT in a liquid state without the need for solvents, hence simplifying the method and facilitating the fabrication of volume CNT-PMMA. Volume fabrication makes this technique suitable for the fabrication of CNT-doped polymer fibers. In this paper, we also analyzed the merits of adding dopants such as diphenyl sulfide (DPS) and benzyl benzoate (BEN) to the CNT-PMMA composite and we observed that DPS plays the role of CNT dispersion stabilizer that can improve the device performance. The CNT-PMMA composite was employed to implement passive mode-locked laser.
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