Star wars episode 7

I went to a movie theater with my children to watch Star wars episode 7

It was exciting because of the exceptional CGIs. On top of that, I understand that the saga is getting thicker and thicker. I cannot wait for the next episode.

It is new year's eve today, so we are going to have a big meal with my parents and my brother's family.

How nice today is, although I will have to work at my hospital as a duty doctor tomorrow or new year's day..

Anyway, thank this year for everything that occurred around me. May the force be with you and me.

Bowling

My two children and I enjoyed bowling this evening.

This is my first time in about 10 years. Actually, I did not play bowling myself, but my daughter and son did 2 games of bowling.

Their scores were not good, about 70 points per game, but seems interested in bowling probably because the rule was easy to master and the dynamic motion of balls and 10 pins was exciting to them.

I am looking forward to playing bowling with my kids again in the near future.

Vegitable intakes

I am not a picky eater. I love fish, meet, as well as vegetables. On this point, I have to thank my parents because they never allowed me to avoid some kinds of ingredients for my good health.

I do not mean to insist the importance of vegetables, which are usually least favorable food for children and adolescents.

I do not think that I have enough vegetable intakes because it is not a easy task to prepare fresh vegetables. Recently, I sometimes drink a vegetable juice instead of eating.

It is very convenient and handy, but not tasty. It would be appreciated if I could take a small, tasty pill that includes a lot of vegetable ingredients inside.

OMG

I remember this blog just before I go to bed.

When I started this blog, I decided to submit every day whatever it is. This is why I try to write something, although I almost fall asleep.

I love sleeping because I always have a dream during sleep and remember what it was after getting up.

So, I promise tomorrow I would submit a blog about the dream I would have tonight.

My son's work

All of a sudden, my younger son came to me and asked, "Dad, are you OK?"


I said, "It's OK," although I was not sure what he was asking. Then, he picked up a blue pen from his pocket, and started drawing something on the back of my left hand.

A few minutes later, I found that he tried to draw Doraemon, a famous cartoon character.

I was so impressed because his behavior was not only cute but also the Draemon he drew was really cute.

Unfortunately, it seems like that he used an oil-based pen to draw it, so it never disappeared after taking a bath. However, it would be OK because I am always proud of my kids.

My concern is why he drew Draemon on my hand, but I am still unaware.

My birthday

I am stuffed.

Today is the day after Christmas as well as my birthday. My three children and I had a big meal that my wife cooked for us. It was so delicious as usual.

My elder son gave me a coin folder. My younger son's present was a small, smoked glass, which I used tonight to drink a red wine.

On top of that, I got rubber bands from my daughter. These goods are what I have been wanting to have at work. They are usually put on fingers and really helpful when I check a pile of reports.

I guess you could say that I am very happy. I really hope so. Thanks, every body.

Codes

I did it. I had been suffering from writing a specific program without success. This morning, however, I have finally completed this tough task.

What I wanted to do is to write codes that keep the status of radiobuttons even when you move to another page. I tried to do it with a jquery of cookie, but did not succeeded in it.

I changed my way and happily did it with a technique called localstrage.

What is the fantastic moment when it comes to writing codes is when I see my program working as I though it would. The moment occurred early in this morning. That made me so really excited and, no wonder, made my day

I guess, the more the task is tough, the more you can have fun.

School reports

The second term was finished at elementary school that my two children attend.

They went back home with their school reports. After having dinner, I checked them and found some subjects better than the first term, altough some were worse.

As usual, I praised my kids because they went to school every day. I have to admit that it is important to get good grades at school, but what is more important is not to be absent from school.

I want them to know that they have to thank for their good health.

National holiday

Today is a national holiday in Japan, the birthday of the Japanese Emperor.

I have never forgotten his birthday because it is a day before Christmas day and 3 days before my birthday, December 26th. As a child, I did not like my birthday since it was in the middle of a winter vacation, but now, it does not matter to me because I have no winter vacation, although we do not have to work around the year end.

I did not go out today. One reason is it has been raining since early in the morning. Another reason is I had a bunch of things to do. I spent more than 10 hours writing codes for a website of cardiopulmonary exercise or CPX.

A sedentary life style is not good for my health, so I played a lot with my daughter and the younger son indoors.

I am so satisfied with the national holiday.

365

The other day, I attended a local scientific meeting that is held twice a year, early summer and late autumn.

When I arrived at the conventional center, I put my coat in the cloakroom and got this blue plate, as shown in the left, in exchange for my clothes.

I was a little glad to have this plate because its number said 365, which is the same days as a year. Of course, I know it would not make any sense but, when I think positive, it could make my day. Actually, my presentation at the conference was better than I would expect.

To look on the bright sides of things is what I really want my three kids to have in the future.

Water vs. Tea

Most Japanese drink tea (not always green tea), instead of water, during meals. In my case, alcoholic beverages more commonly come with dinner, though.

Recently, my 12-year-old daughter has started to drink water at the table. She said that water is good because it keeps her teeth whiter. She added that avoiding drinking tea is common sense among her friends. As expected, my two sons do not accept the concept.

I am not sure if there is evidence to show the association of drinking water with darkening teeth, although the relationship is intuitive. If so, a red wine would be more tightly connected to change in color of teeth, because my teeth look dark after having dinner with red wine.

I may know the answer 10years later, when I compare the color of teeth between my three children.

Wedding party

Today, I attended a wedding party for my ex-colleague. He got married to a beautiful pianist. Congratulations.

When I was young, I attended a lot of wedding parties, but this was for the first time in five or six years. The ceremony was way much better than I though it would be. I had a lot of fun with a good food and drink as well as talks with my friends.

What was best is the mood of the ceremony was so good. I am sure that they would be a good couple.

CPX

CPX means cardiopulmonary exercise, which is a medical test to examine the cause of shortness of breath.

CPX test is clinically important but unlikely to be popular in Japan, probably because it is not easy for medical staff to interpret the results of CPX test.

Some textbooks have been available to learn CPX, but these books did not work well while I was struggling to learn. So many variables and graphs associated with CPX analysis made me confused.

From my bad experience, I decided a few days ago to create a website where the non-experienced are able to learn about CPX more easily and efficiently. Needless to say, it is for free.

It would take me several months to complete, but I will not give up.
If sounds intesting to you, visit here and enjoy the process of creating the website.

AME HO

I have heard that one of my favorite podcasts, American Hot Topics or AME HO, won the best podcast award on iTunes in 2015.

Congratulations!

This podcast releases one episode a week, where you can enjoy sophisticated conversations between Jun, who is Japanese and an English learner, and Aaron, an American who teaches English at a college in Japan.

I started to listen to the podcast several months ago. One good thing about the AME HO is that the topics are really attracting. On top of that, the English that the two guys speak sounds fun to me, although it is a little hard to follow.

What surprises me most is Aaron's ability to understand the Japanese that Jun speaks, where there are so may slang words and difficult expression even to native Japanese people, but Aaron seems to catch what Jun says.

Newspaper

I am worrying...
It may be a small thing, but it has bothered me.

Yesterday, I wrote in my blog, "I read the newspaper." This simple sentence is what makes me feel uneasy. The point is I do not know if "the" is necessary before "newspaper".

When I try to express such a situation, there can be three ways as follows.
 A: I read the newspaper.
 B: I read a newspaper.
 C: I read newspaper.

I know that a word of newspaper is a countable noun, thus sentence C sounds unnatural to me. I believe that my guess is right.

My feeling says what is right is sentence A, although I can not explain the reason well. It would be fantastic if I could choose the right sentence without thinking one year later.

Door-to-balloon time

Have you ever heard of a phrase called "door-to-balloon time"? This is the time interval between patient's arrival and the start of angioplasty using balloons in the case of heart attack.

It is no secret that time matters in the management of acute myocardial infarction. The shorter the door-to-balloon time is, the better the outcome is, because myocardium starts dying gradually and steadily since the culprit lesion of the coronary artery is occluded.

Actually, in the medical insurance in Japan, the hospital income is higher with a door-to-balloon time of 90 minutes or shorter than over 90 minutes among patients with acute myocardial infarction.

By the way, bed-to-door time, which is the period between I get up and leave home in the morning, is also important to me. Since there have been so many things to do on my plate, I have to go to my office as early as could. My bed-to-door time is usually about 20 minute, when I change my clothes, blush my teeth, and shave my face.

I am sorry that I do not have enough time to eat breakfast and read the newspaper.

mmHg and mm Hg

Which do you prefer?

A: Your blood pressure is 140/80 mmHg.
B: Your blood pressure is 120/70 mm Hg.

I am not talking about the blood pressure but the unit of blood pressure (i.e., mmHg versus mm Hg). The two ways to describe the unit of blood pressure may be minimal; the former has no space between mm and Hg, whereas there is a space in the latter.

I believe that most doctors consider mmHg common, but let me explain the basis of the unit, mmHg. As you know, mm means millimeter and Hg is a symbol of a chemical material, mercury. I am still wondering if the combination of two different staffs makes any sense? Don't you think they look more academic when separated?

Actually, in the New England Journal of Medicine, which is the top journal in the field of clinical medicine, "mm Hg" is adopted instead of "mmHg", although almost all other medical journal use a unit of mmHg when it comes to blood pressure. 

Tombstone-like ECG

Some electrocardiograms or ECGs have another name that has nothing to do with cardiology.

Here is a good example. This ECG was obtained in the acute phase of anterior myocardial infarction. You can see significant ST-segment elevation in leads V1 to V6.

Take a close look at the shape of ST-T segments especially in V2 or V3 lead. Don't you think that it looks something familiar to you?

Fish? No. thumb? Wrong. Roof? Non.

Believe it or not, it is often described as tombstone-like. Do you agree? Dose that make any sense to you?

For me, it is not the name that counts, because this kind of ECG indicates an medical emergency. I have to perform angioplasty, as soon as possible, to save the patient who is suffering from a critically ill condition

Agar

My young, 8-year-old son never gets tired of a video game called Agar.

Basically, in Agar, you are a gelatinous colloid or an agar. The rule is very simple, so-called the jungle law. You need to eat other agars to grow up. The game is ceaseless and will finish when you are eaten by another agar.

The point is a good balance of the game; the bigger you are, the slower you move. That means the game is fun regardless of your size.

You can download the app from Apple store and play it for free. The game may be available from Google play.

Give it a try if you are interested in the world of Agar, but try not to waste your time because you may be addicted, like my son.

My ECG

Take a look at this electrocardiograpy or ECG, and tell me your diagnosis.

This ECG is mine. I do not mean that it is in my collection. This is an ECG of my heart.

My diagnosis is left ventricular high voltage. Some consider it left ventricuar hypertrophy or LVH, but I recommend that a diagnosis of LVH be done when accompanied with ST-T chanages.

Echocardiography is considered in the case of LVH, but not always for left ventricular high voltage, given the sensitivity and specificity of ECG.

Maybe funny, but I have never checked my heart using echocardiography although I am a cardiologist.

120 versus 140 mmHg

Recently, an interesting research about blood pressure has been released in the New England Journal of Medicine.

This large, randomized, clinical trial or the SPRINT trial was performed to determine the most appropriate target for systolic blood pressure to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients without diabetes.

The trial was stopped before the initial plan because a systolic blood pressure of <120 mmHg, as compared with less than 140 mmHg, was associated with significantly lower rates of cardiovascular events and death from any cause.

Although we have to pay attention to side effects related to intensive blood-pressure control, such as hypotension or acute renal injury, the results of the SPRINT trial may affect the guidelines of blood-pressure control among selected patients.

You can access the full text at this link.

Movie GIF

This is a picture, not a movie, although you see the image moving. The format is so-called Movie GIF.

I do not know much about the way on how to compile images into an animation, however it is no wonder that Movie GIF is useful when you create a website because of its simplicity.

It is a little bit tough to handle movie files, as compared with image files, on the Internet. Program codes can get more complicated because computers clearly differentiate a image file from a movie file.

By the way, this icon of three people with their arms around each other's shoulders reminds me of my three children, who are really getting along well so far. I hope they help out each other even after they grow up.

Multitasking

I am not good at multitasking, although I think that I have the ability to focus on something.

It is said that women are better than men in terms of multitasking. Some researchers say that it may be due to anatomical and functional differences in the brain between men and women.

The brain is composed of two parts, the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. Women seem to have a tighter connection between the two parts than do men, although I am not sure if this concept has been established among experts.

I am not familiar with the field of the brain, but the idea makes sense to me because my wife has a good ability to multitask. She is able to reply to my asking even during her daily chores. On the other hand, while I am doing something at home, I can not appropriately respond to her questions.

Some people say that mother's circumstances make women more competent in multitasking. However, multitasking abilities have been with my wife before she became a mother, I think.

To be lefty

I am a right-handed person. The rest members of my family are right-handed, as well.

Several months ago, I started to brush my teeth using my left hand. It was not easy task and my gum often was injured because of my rough brushing. However, I have been getting used to it little by little, and now, I have no difficulty brushing my teeth with my left hand.

In my opinion, left-handed persons tend to look cool. It is unclear whether my lefty preference is associated with Keanu Reeves, a leading actor in my favorite movie, the Matrix.

You may ask me what has happened to me with the new skill (i.e.,  left-handed teeth-brushing). Does my family start to think that I look cooler than ever before?

Off course not, but to obtain a new technique, whatever it is and whether it is practical or not, satisfies me because I really love learning something new.

This may also be the reason why I started this blog.

Weird ECG

Take a look at the electrocardiogram (ECG) below. Maybe, you think that it is normal, but...

You would intuitively feel kind of weird with this ECG, wouldn't you? If so, I think youｒ feeling is right. You have a good sense of ECG interpretation.

Today, I showed this ECG to some young doctors, and none of them made the correct diagnosis although they appeared to think that it was not normal.

After I told them that it was an artificial ECG for the maintenance of a system, they were surprised but soon realized and accepted the answer.

I cannot explain well the reason why the ECG makes us feel uncomfortable but I am sure that it looks weird

A sphere

What in the world is this unusual object?

I found it at the station, where I changed my trains. When getting close to the round staff, I understood that it was made of wood. It seemed like that it was composed of lots of logs.

The panel under this object said that it is a work that was created by a Korean artist and that came to first in a competition held several years ago.

I like it because the concept of this artwork is exceptional. Each peace appears to be connected with each other, but any nail was not seen on the surface.

I am really curious about the way to connect wood logs in a shape of sphere. For me, this object looks like a puzzle rather than an art.

Code green

I am reading e-mails in my office at around 7 am, when a sudden announcement brakes the peace and quite atmosphere of the early morning.

It says, "Code green, code green, 4th floor." This is an emergency call in my hospital, meaning something that needs help with a lot of medical staff developed on the 4th floor.

I stop surfing the Internet and rush to the ward. I find someone undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and of course, immediately join to the support team.

After confirming the successful attempt and his recovery to normal vital signs, I come back to my desk. A monitor of my PC is showing the same as the page I was watching before I left.

I start to read my e-mails again, as if nothing happened.

This story may sound unrealistic but is not a fiction. It is my routine and I am used to such situations.

Fantastic scribbling

I found a sheet of A4 paper with pictures on the table in the living room.
I fell in love with it at first sight. No explanation is required, I believe.

No wonder, my 8-year-old son drew the 12 Minions. I guess he is also smiling at the right bottom corner.

They are really cute, aren't they?

PS
Later, my son insisted that the smiling face at the right bottom was not him but Mam, saying, "I love her very much."

Image formats

There are so many different kinds of image formats available. JPEG, GIF, and PNG are representatives on the Internet, although EPS or TIFF files are commonly required when submitting an article to medical journals.

Basically, every format is usable but I want you to know the differences between JPEG, GIF, and PNG. The knowledge will help you with creating your homepage. Let me share my understanding of these three formats with the readers of my blogs.

First, JPEG has a good balance of image quality and file size. Unless your image requires specific functions, the choice of JPEG will not go wrong.

Second, GIF is characteristic of movie, because one GIF file is able to contain more than one image inside. Movie GIFs, which have a function of animation, are recognized as a image file by computers.

Finally, PNG is useful in some situations because it has no background color. It means that a PNG file may be suitable to every website regardless of what color is used.

BGM

I usually listen to music while I am doing something with my PC.

My genre includes a lot of different kinds: rock, pop, classical, etc. Piano music is, however, best for me at work because it never affects my quality of work. Furthermore, it may boost or enhance my job.

I used to use CDs as a source of background music or BGM, but recently tons of sources are available online for free.

In this context, ABC Piano would be really good. I think that you would never regret it as long as classical music is your thing.

The problem is that my PC sometimes has a short freeze while this free content is working on background. It remains unclear if this small trouble is limited in my situation or could occur in other situations.

Water to eat

I drink water every day but I have never eaten water until today.

My son and I was hanging out at the mall in my neighborhood, where there were many people gathered in a small booth. The sign in front of the stand said, "Try to eat water. Amazing!"

The water put in a small balloon was on sale there. My son and I got it with curiosity and ate it together after removing the balloon.

The water was beautiful but actually had no taste; it was like a plain jelly without sugar. My son had only one tenth of the high-viscosity water and the rest was what I had to eat without chewing.

I think that the idea "EAT WATER" sounds fun but not practical because it cost two dollars per serving of about 50 ml.