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Hypercalcemia due to parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is safely and quickly controlled with rapidly increasing evocalcet doses. Most parathyroid carcinomas are detected because of hypercalcemia due to primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Hypercalcemia becomes more severe in patients with PC than those with parathyroid adenoma or hyperplasia. Hypercalcemia often causes renal dysfunction, gastrointestinal symptoms, and psychiatric symptoms. Consequently, the serum calcium level needs to be promptly corrected. Here, we report a case of PC with remarkably persistent hypercalcemia, which we safely and quickly controlled with rapidly increasing evocalcet doses. A 77-year-old female presented with renal dysfunction. Her serum calcium (Ca) and intact parathyroid hormone serum levels were 13.9 mg/dL and 1.074 pg/mL, respectively. Her renal function worsened because of hypercalcemia due to PHPT. Technetium-99 m methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile parathyroid scintigraphic examination revealed an accumulation below the right thyroid lobe. CT examination showed a 35-mm mass. Hypercalcemia needed to be immediately corrected because of the patient’s worsening renal function. Evocalcet treatment at a gradually increasing dose of up to 20 mg over 3 weeks allowed her serum Ca level to be maintained below 11 mg/dL. Only mild nausea was observed at the beginning of the treatment. The mass was suspected as PC because the hypercalcemia was refractory to high-dose evocalcet. The patient was treated with parathyroidectomy and ipsilateral thyroidectomy. PC was diagnosed based on the pathological findings of capsular and venous invasion. The patient’s renal function improved and surgery could be safely performed by promptly correcting hypercalcemia.

Point of purchase (POP) data have been studied for many years as an important advertising tool. However, the data used for evaluation are mainly from point of sale (POS) surveys and questionnaires, and there are issues with the completeness and objectivity of the information. In addition, since most of these data are obtained after a purchase decision, consumer behavior before the purchase decision remains a black box. In this research, we used video recognition AI to analyze consumer behavior, and examined the impact of digital signage, an electronic POP item, on consumer behavior before purchasing decisions. We collected and analyzed data from over 10,000 consumers in a physical store experiment. The results showed that the POP presence promotes contact with products in the corresponding category. By using video recognition AI, we were able to quantify consumer purchasing behavior such as stopping by a shelf, looking at a shelf, and reaching for a shelf. These results suggest the possibility of customer journey management in physical stores.

This special issue focuses on the latest findings and contributions of sensory marketing. In the past decade, the number of studies on sensory marketing has increased markedly. This work has included development of theoretical implications and practical implementations. However, a problem of reproducibility has been suggested in the field of psychology, which strongly influences sensory marketing research. Additionally, revelations of research misconduct by a few researchers have partly undermined the credibility of sensory marketing research. Therefore, in this special issue, we reconsider the value and contribution of sensory marketing by presenting leading work in this area. Each of the five invited peer-reviewed studies includes excellent academic findings and practical suggestions. As such, we believe that this issue will make an important contribution to progress in research on sensory marketing.

Background/Aims Restorative proctocolectomy (RPC) with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis and handsewn anastomosis for ulcerative colitis requires pulling down of the ileal pouch into the pelvis, which can be technically challenging. We examined risk factors for the pouch not reaching the anus. Methods Clinical records of 62 consecutive patients who were scheduled to undergo RPC with handsewn anastomosis at the University of Tokyo Hospital during 1989–2019 were reviewed. Risk factors for non-reaching were analyzed in patients in whom hand sewing was abandoned for stapled anastomosis because of non-reaching. Risk factors for non-reaching in laparoscopic RPC were separately analyzed. Anatomical indicators obtained from presurgical computed tomography (CT) were also evaluated. Results Thirty-seven of 62 cases underwent laparoscopic procedures. In 6 cases (9.7%), handsewn anastomosis was changed to stapled anastomosis because of non-reaching. Male sex and a laparoscopic approach were independent risk factors of non-reaching. Distance between the terminal of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) ileal branch and the anus > 11 cm was a risk factor for non-reaching. Conclusions Laparoscopic RPC with handsewn anastomosis may limit extension and induction of the ileal pouch into the anus. Preoperative CT measurement from the terminal SMA to the anus may be useful for predicting non-reaching.

Background: Analysis of long-term clinical outcomes of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis is critical in reducing or preventing the incidence of extracolonic malignancies after initial surgery. The aim of the present study was to clarify the long-term outcomes, and establish a surveillance strategy for surgically treated familial adenomatous polyposis patients. Methods: Between January 1967 and March 2020, retrospective data were collected from 37 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis treated or monitored in our department. Occurrence of metachronous cancers, including rectal cancers and extracolonic malignancies, and other diseases was analyzed. Results: The median follow-up duration after the first surgery was 13.8 years. Initially, 16 patients underwent total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis, 18 underwent total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis, and three underwent other procedures. A secondary proctectomy was performed for 9 of the 18 patients who underwent ileorectal anastomosis. Rectal cancer was diagnosed in 6 patients who underwent ileorectal anastomosis. In addition, 5 gastric cancer, 2 duodenal cancer, 1 gallbladder cancer, and 1 thyroid cancer cases were diagnosed. The age at which the extracolonic malignancies were diagnosed was >50 years. 4 patients died due to metachronous rectal cancer, gastric cancer, or gallbladder cancer. Conclusion: Careful consideration should be paid before choosing ileorectal anastomosis as the treatment procedure for familial adenomatous polyposis patients because completion proctectomy was eventually necessary for half of the patients. Long-term surveillance, with more frequent gastric surveillance for patients over 50 years, is important for the prevention and treatment of extracolonic malignancies in familial adenomatous polyposis patients.

The diversification of devices used by consumers has drawn attention to the influence of devices on consumer behavior. This study examines the impact of device types, such as smartphones and personal computers, on consumers’ construal levels and the congruence between the device types and construal levels on consumer behavior. For this purpose, we conducted four studies: three online experiments and one field study. Study 1 showed that consumers perceive the target closer when they view it on a smartphone (vs. a PC). In Study 2, we found that consumers’ construal level becomes lower when using a smartphone (vs. a PC). In Study 3, we confirmed that the use of smartphones (vs. PCs) positively influences the evaluation of advertisements corresponding to lower construal levels. Finally, in Study 4, we examined the applicability of the findings from Studies 1 to 3 to the field of business by analyzing actual purchase data.

The Deloyers procedure is performed after extended left colectomy, enabling the reach of the proximal colon to the rectum for anastomosis while preserving sufficient blood supply. We report a case of the Deloyers procedure performed safely under indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence guidance. A 50-year-old man with obesity (body mass index, 35.7 kg/m2) and a history of diabetes underwent an extended left hemicolectomy and ultralow anterior resection of the rectum as radical resection for transverse and sigmoid colon cancers and a lower rectal neuroendocrine tumor. Reconstruction was performed by the Deloyers procedure. A necessary length of the transverse colon with reduced blood flow was additionally resected under ICG fluorescence guidance, and a transanal hand-sewn coloanal anastomosis was performed. This is the first report in which the Deloyers procedure was performed successfully with the ICG fluorescence method. ICG fluorescence may be useful when combined with the Deloyers procedure.

This special issue considers the roles, effects, and applications of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding. Over the past 15 years, these have been major themes for both business practitioners and academic researchers. Many organizations have adopted crowdsourcing and crowdfunding as part of their business processes, and many academics have discussed their effectiveness in various contexts. In this special issue, we include knowledge about these issues that explains phenomena in the real world using marketing theory. The four featured research articles provide excellent theoretical contributions and practical implications. We hope that this issue will advance research on crowdsourcing and crowdfunding in marketing.

Abstract Background We present a cellular phone-enhanced GPS tracking system (GPS mobile with CTG-001G receiver triangulation) suitable for urban carnivores, in tandem with appropriate home range analysis, as an additional tracking technology option in metropolitan settings. We conduct this proof-of-concept study working with the management of introduced invasive raccoons in Japan (and conditions implicit to this control program). Results Each tracking period averaged 17 days, and a tracking accuracy of

Background: Systemic therapy can cause loss of skeletal muscle mass in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients in the neoadjuvant and palliative settings. However, it is unknown how the body composition is changed by chemotherapy rendering unresectable CRC to resectable disease or how it affects the prognosis. This study aimed at elucidating the effects of systemic therapy on skeletal muscles and survival in stage IV CRC patients who underwent conversion therapy. Methods: We reviewed 98 stage IV CRC patients who received systemic therapy in our hospital. According to the treatment setting, patients were divided into the conversion, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), and palliation groups. The cross-sectional area of skeletal muscles at the third lumbar level and changes in the skeletal muscle index (SMI), defined as the area divided by height squared, during systemic therapy were compared among patient groups. The effects of these parameters on prognosis were analyzed in the conversion group. Results: The mean SMI increased by 9.4% during systemic therapy in the conversion group ( n = 38), whereas it decreased by 5.9% in the NAC group ( n = 18) and 3.7% in the palliation group ( n = 42, p

Many researchers and practitioners have discussed the marketing orientation in various organizations. Although marketing orientation in public organizations is a popular theme, only a limited Japanese city offices have given importance to marketing activities. In this article, we focus on Nagareyama City, which has a marketing division and implements many marketing activities. The results of interview surveys indicated that their marketing efforts have contributed to an increase in the population. Our paper indicates the challenges faced by public organizations when implementing marketing activities, the effect of the mayor’s emphasis on marketing orientation, and the diffusion of this orientation among public organizations.

Although many researchers and practitioners refer to the importance of packages at the point of purchase in marketing communications, there is limited research on the optimal amount of information that marketers should depict on packages. This study focuses on the consumer response to different packaging with various amounts of information and the moderating effect of the regulatory focus, which is an individual trait associated with product attributes. The results of Experiment 1, which used an eye-tracking method, showed that prevention-focused participants had a greater number of eye-fixations on the package than promotion-focused participants. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that participants tended to perceive information excess more strongly with an increase in the number of elements on a package. In addition, perceived information excess negatively affected the evaluations and comprehension by promotion-focused participants’. The results of Experiment 4 indicated that the high-need-for-cognition participants evaluated a package with excessive information negatively when exposed to promotion-focused advertising copy.

The purpose of this special issue is the reconsideration of what constitutes beautiful design based on a discussion of aesthetics and consumer psychology. Previous research has indicated that aesthetics is one of the important design elements because it promotes customer’s choice behavior and leads to higher customer satisfaction. In this special issue, we intend to focus not only on those simple effects but also on psychological or theoretical mechanisms (e.g., how and when does aesthetics affect consumers positively?). Four research articles featured in this issue provide excellent theoretical contributions and have broad practical implications. We hope that this issue will advance research on aesthetics and consumer psychology.

In a manufacturing industry, establishment of the mass customization which is the management system that produces a product efficiently with diversification of a customer's request is pressing need. When the demand quantity is known, the new production plan system which performs mass customization had already been presented. In this paper, when the demand quantity is unknown, we proposed the model of mass customization about production and inventory planning. A new model is formulated as a linear programming problem based on a MIN-MAX strategy. This model can be used when demand quantity is not given. In this paper, we use the particle swarm optimization which is one of the methods of optimization problem in order to solve this model.

Along with the diversification of customers' demand, there is an urgent need for a business model to realize the mass customization in automobile industry. When the volume and quantity of orders from customers is changing dynamically, it is difficult for a maker to realize both productivity and a variety of customers' specification by itself. So, we propose a new collaboration between the maker and supplier in a supply chain structure about ”load leveling” to supplier. Firstly, we describe a framework about the cost structure in accordance with ”load leveling” to the supplier and estimate the increased cost. Specially, we formulate the volume about load leveling and the maker's increased cost. Next, we derive the total increased cost estimator in the supply chain and analyze it. Finally, we get the optimal load leveling with minimum increased cost and get some information about designing the supply chain structure between the maker and supplier to realize mass customization.

We herein describe a case of Marine-Lenhart syndrome with a negative TSH receptor antibody titer. A 75-year-old female presented to our hospital with malaise, palpitations, and mild fine tremors. She did not have any signs suggestive of Graves’ ophthalmopathy, including conjunctival injection, periorbital edema, or proptosis. Her laboratory data were negative for thyroid autoantibodies, including anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, and anti-TSH receptor antibodies (TRAb). Ultrasonography of the thyroid gland revealed a tumor in the right lobe. The remaining thyroid gland had an inhomogeneous and rough texture with a high color Doppler flow. I123 scintigraphy disclosed a hot nodule in the right thyroid gland corresponding to the tumor detected on ultrasonography, suggesting Plummer disease. Furthermore, there was an increased uptake of radionuclide in the rest of the thyroid gland, despite the suppressed level of TSH and negative titer of TRAb, suggesting underlying Graves’ disease. The present findings suggested a diagnosis of Marine-Lenhart syndrome with a negative TRAb titer. Treatment with 10 mCi of radioiodine was highly effective in treating hyperthyroidism in this case. A negative TSH receptor antibody titer does not necessarily rule out the existence of Graves’ disease in patients with Plummer disease.

Salt intake is a key, but hard-to achieve target of nutrition guidance in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. In this study, we examined the influence of hypogeusia on oral salt intake in 34 HD patients (mean age: 59 years old) with dialysis vintage over 15 years. Their salt intake was calculated by Kimura’s formula (Int J Artif Organs, 1988) with pre- and post HD serum sodium concentrations and body weight gain between dialysis sessions. Hypogeusia was evaluated by gustatory tests by filter-paper disc. Average estimated salt intake was 9.5+/−2.7 g/day (160% of recommended salt intake by Japanese CKD guideline). HD patients showed lower sensitivity for salt than normal populations. Scores for salty taste were lower in patients taking less than 10 g of salt (Group L) than those taking more than 10 g (Group H). There was no difference in BMI or protein intake between these two groups. More prevalent use of spices in cooking was confirmed by dietary survey in Group L than Group H. In conclusion, enhanced salt intake in HD patients is partly due to taste disorder (less sensitive to salty taste). It may be possible to decrease enhanced salt intake by appropriate use of spices.