Shinichi Tokuno

Publications (18) View all

• Article: Airport quarantine inspection, follow-up observation, and the prevention of pandemic influenza.

  Masanori Fujita, Hiroki Sato, Koki Kaku, Shinichi Tokuno, Yasuhiro Kanatani, Shinya Suzuki, Nariyoshi Shinomiya
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  ABSTRACT: After a report of H1N1 novel influenza in Mexico and North America, Japan conducted onboard quarantine inspections from late April 2009. The detection rate in border quarantine inspection is low due to incubation period and thus inspection is considered to be ineffective in blocking the entry of influenza. However, little is known about the concomitant effects of such inspection, such as increased traceability, upon secondary transmission. Epidemiological data were collected from the web sites of the Department of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan. The number of weekly patients with H1N1 pandemic influenza in eight districts of Japan was summarized. The number of patients who passed through quarantine inspection at the airports was also calculated. A person with overseas travel history was defined as a person who had a flight only from the United States, Canada, or Mexico and passed through the quarantine inspection (according to the quarantine policy of the Japanese government). The numbers were adjusted for the population of each district and expressed as the number of patients per one million people. Despite Kanto district having the largest population, the number of patients with H1N1 novel influenza was relatively small. The total number of cases in each district correlated inversely to the percentage of cases with airport quarantine inspection. Quarantine inspection at the airports, follow-up observation by local authorities, and overall concomitant efforts may have contributed to secondary infection control in Japan.
  Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine 08/2011; 82(8):782-9. · 0.88 Impact Factor
• Article: Hemoglobin vesicle improves recovery of cardiac function after ischemia-reperfusion by attenuating oxidative stress in isolated rat hearts.

  Jun Nakajima, Motoaki Bessho, Takeshi Adachi, Tadashi Yamagishi, Shinichi Tokuno, Hirohisa Horinouchi, Fumitaka Ohsuzu
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  ABSTRACT: Hemoglobin vesicle (HbV) could be a useful blood substitute in emergency medicine. The aim of this study was to clarify the effects of HbV on cardiac function after ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) ex vivo. Isolated rat hearts were perfused according to the Langendorff method. An ischemia-reperfusion group (n = 6) was subjected to 25 minutes of global ischemia and 30 minutes of reperfusion. HbV (hemoglobin, 0.33 g/dL) was perfused before ischemia-reperfusion for 10 minutes (HbV group, n = 6). Hemodynamics were monitored, and tissue glutathione contents were measured. The redox state of reactive thiols in cardiac tissues was assessed by the biotinylated iodoacetamide labeling method. Left ventricular developed pressure was significantly recovered in the HbV group after 30 minutes of reperfusion (56.3 ± 2.8 mm Hg vs. ischemia-reperfusion group 27.0 ± 8.0 mm Hg, P < 0.05). Hemodynamic changes induced by HbV were similar to those observed when N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester was perfused for 10 minutes before ischemia-reperfusion (L-NAME group). The oxidized glutathione contents of cardiac tissues significantly decreased, and biotinylated iodoacetamide labeling of thiols was maintained in both the HbV and the L-NAME groups. HbV improved the recovery of cardiac function after ischemia-reperfusion in isolated rat hearts. This mechanism is dependent on functional protection against thiol oxidation.
  Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology 07/2011; 58(5):528-34. · 2.83 Impact Factor
• Article: Current Status of Preparedness for Blast Injuries in Japan

  Akira FUSE, Tetsu OKUMURA, Shinichi TOKUNO, Daizoh SAITOH, Hiroyuki YOKOTA
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  ABSTRACT: In recent years, blast injuries worldwide have primarily been caused by explosions of improvised explosive devices detonated in terrorist attacks. The most common mechanism of injury among U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan war is explosions. Blast injuries are complicated, being compounded by injuries caused by blast waves in addition to penetrating and blunt trauma. Moreover, maintaining safety and security is a major concern in providing medical care and requires an understanding of blast physics and blast injury pathophysiology, especially in cases of blast lung injury (BLI) and blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI). In this paper, we present our review of the current status of preparedness for blast injuries, which was conducted with the cooperation of the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan and the Japan Self Defense Force. Based on this review, we created two action card systems and a medical record system in Japanese for blast injuries: “Survival Cards for Explosive Events for the First-on-scene Responder,” Survival Cards for Explosive Events for Medical Staff Providing Prehospital and Hospital Medical Care,” and the “Medical Records System for Blast Injuries.” These were developed with reference to reparedness guidelines issued by the United States and European countries and are available on the Cabinet Office website. As the next step, guidelines for the treatment of blast injuries should be established and full-scale drills should be conducted as preparedness activities.
  JMAJ. Japan Medical Association Journal. 01/2011; 54(5):310–317.
• Conference Proceeding: Usage of emotion recognition in military health care

  S. Tokuno, G. Tsumatori, S. Shono, E. Takei, G. Suzuki, T. Yamamoto, S. Mituyoshi, M. Shimura
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  ABSTRACT: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and suicide are major psychiatric problem in both military and civilian situation. These mental diseases combine with emotion change. Recently, the technology of emotion recognition has been developed rapidly and highly. Therefore, we investigate if the emotion recognition by natural speaking voice could detect the emotion change which would occur when exposing mental stress. We used "Sensibility technology ST Emotion" (AGI Japan Inc.) for emotion voice analysis system. This system determines emotional elements as including anger, joy, sorrow, and calmness. It also measures feeling of excitement. Voice data were collected from the personnel of military medical corps participating in a special stressful mission. The voice data were divided into two groups depending on participating period. Some subject's feelings during experimental period were changed. There is a tendency that "joy" of long stay group (Group L) is lower than short stay group (Group S) and "sorrow" of Group L is higher than Group S. The result suggested that the techniques of emotion recognition may be used for screening of mental status in military situation. However, further development is necessary for practical use.
  Defense Science Research Conference and Expo (DSR), 2011, Singapore; 01/2011
• Article: Pulmonary blast injury in mice: a novel model for studying blast injury in the laboratory using laser-induced stress waves.

  Yasushi Satoh, Shunichi Sato, Daizoh Saitoh, Shinichi Tokuno, Ben Hatano, Tadasuke Shimokawaji, Hideo Kobayashi, Kunio Takishima
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  ABSTRACT: Primary blast injury is produced by shock waves. Blast injuries to lungs are extremely critical threats to survival, but their etiology is largely undefined. The majority of animal models for these injuries use explosive or complex experimental settings, limiting the laboratory study of blast injury. The aim of this study was to establish a small-animal model for blast injuries, using laser-induced stress waves (LISWs) with high controllability, high reproducibility, and easy experimental settings. LISWs were used to produce isolated pulmonary blast effects in mice. An LISW was generated by the irradiation of an elastic laser target with 532-nm nanosecond laser pulses of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Histopathological evaluations of damage to lung tissue were conducted to estimate the relevance between peak pressure and trauma intensity. Blood pressure, heart rate, and percutaneous oxygen saturation were monitored for 60 minutes. We could flexibly control the peak pressure of the shock wave by varying the laser energy. Non-lethal doses of LISWs caused pulmonary contusions with alveolar hemorrhages depending on peak pressure. Pulmonary contusion was observed only in areas that were exposed to LISWs, allowing study of isolated injuries without concomitant ones. These injuries caused decreased blood pressure, heart rate, and percutaneous oxygen saturation, immediately after LISW exposure. Mice exposed to thoracic LISWs showed pathologic and physiologic changes similar to those seen in other studies in this area, and in clinical practice. Our newly developed model allows fine management of trauma intensity, and concomitant injuries of the exposed animals were limited. This novel mouse model of blast injury using LISWs is suitable for detailed studies of blast lung contusion and other blast injuries in the laboratory.
  Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 04/2010; 42(4):313-8. · 2.75 Impact Factor