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Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is a toxic gas, and considerable research has been conducted for its control and removal from industrial wastewater and sewage water. However, no simple and practical technology is available for degrading H 2 S in situ at tunnel constructing sites. On May 11, 2020, an H 2 S blowout accident occurred in underground soil at a residential sewer-tunnel construction site in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, filling the tunnel with high concentrations of H 2 S gas, causing the fatality of one worker owing to emphysema. River water flowing near the site was immediately introduced into the tunnel to trap the H 2 S gas, generating 652-m 3 water that contained high concentrations (120 mg/L) of dissolved H 2 S in the tunnel. To safely and quickly remove H 2 S in situ, the contaminated water was treated with high-density oxygen and ozone nanobubbles (O 2 /O 3 -HDNBs) generated using the ultrafine pore method. Consequently, H 2 S was removed from the contaminated water in 3 days. This is the first successful application of O 2 /O 3 -HDNB technology for the in situ oxidation of H 2 S in environmental water at a construction site. This study reports the practical application of this advanced technology and the system performance., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A 75-year old man had been diagnosed at 42 years of age as having polycythemia vera and had been monitored at another hospital. Progression of anemia had been recognized at about age 70, and the patient was thus referred to our center in 2008 where secondary myelofibrosis was diagnosed based on bone marrow biopsy findings. Hematemesis due to rupture of esophageal varices occurred in January and February of 2011. The bleeding was stopped by endoscopic variceal ligation. Furthermore, in March of the same year, hematemesis recurred and the patient was transported to our center. He was in irreversible hemorrhagic shock and died. The autopsy showed severe bone marrow fibrosis with mainly argyrophilic fibers, an observation consistent with myelofibrosis. The liver weighed 1856 g the spleen 1572 g, indicating marked hepatosplenomegaly. The liver and spleen both showed extramedullary hemopoiesis. Myelofibrosis is often complicated by portal hypertension and is occasionally associated with gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to esophageal varices. A patient diagnosed as having myelofibrosis needs to be screened for esophageal/gastric varices. Myelofibrosis has a poor prognosis. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully decide the therapeutic strategy in consideration of the patient's concomitant conditions, treatment invasiveness and quality of life.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to investigate gender differences in age-related changes of left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) geometries and functions throughout the entire adult age range using the Japanese Normal Values for Echocardiographic Measurements Project (JAMP) study database., Methods and Results: Seven hundred healthy volunteers (aged 20-79 years) underwent 2-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography. The subjects were stratified into 6 different age groups and then stratified by gender in each age group. LV diastolic function was assessed from pulsed wave Doppler measurements of mitral early (E) and late (A) inflow velocities and tissue Doppler measurements of mitral early (e') and late (a') annular velocities. LV volume decreased and LV mass increased with age to a similar extent in both men and women. Furthermore, for subjects <50 years, women had significantly greater E, E/A ratio and e' than men, but these parameters were similar between genders in subjects >50 years. In addition, there was a significant interaction between age and gender that affected the differences in E, e' and E/e' among the groups (P<0.03, P<0.01, and P<0.03, respectively; ANOVA). There were no gender differences in age-related changes in RV parameters., Conclusions: Gender differences were found in age-related changes in LV diastolic function in a healthy population. Gender differences should be considered for optimal diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease.

Background: Normal values for echocardiographic measurements and the relationship between these parameters and age in a large Japanese population are still unknown., Methods and Results: A total of 700 healthy Japanese aged 20-79 years underwent 2-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography at collaborating institutions. The respective mean values obtained in men and women were as follows: septal wall thickness, 0.9+/-0.1 and 0.8+/-0.1 cm; posterior wall thickness, 0.9+/-0.1 and 0.8+/-0.1 cm; left ventricular (LV) diastolic diameter, 4.8+/-0.4 and 4.4+/-0.3 cm; LV systolic diameter, 3.0+/-0.4 and 2.8+/-0.3 cm; LV diastolic volume, 93+/-20 and 74+/-17 ml; LV systolic volume, 33+/-20 and 25+/-7 ml; LV ejection fraction, 64+/-5 and 66+/-5%; maximum left atrial (LA) volume, 42+/-14 and 38+/-12 ml. Aortic root diameter, LV wall thickness, and LV mass slightly increased with age, whereas indexed LA volume did not vary with age. Diastolic parameters assessed by mitral inflow and mitral annular velocities declined with age, as previously reported., Conclusions: Normal values of echocardiographic measurements in a large Japanese population are reported for the first time; several systolic and diastolic parameters varied with age. These results provide important reference values that should be useful in routine clinical practice as well as in clinical trials.