カテゴリー: Essays in English

食事の途中に、なぜ咽せる

年に2回の高校時代のクラス会

八十歳を過ぎ、第一線から退き、時間的なゆとりができたこともあり、クラス会（がらくた会）が毎年2回開催されるようになりました。

私たちの時代は一クラス55名ほどでした。毎回10名以上の出席者があります。Iくんがメーリングリストを管理し、20名に連絡してくれます。メルアドを持たない一名の男だけには電話での連絡だそうです。大半は関西エリア在住者で、毎回２〜3名の首都圏在住者も参加しています。

目は霞、耳は遠い連中ばかりですが、脚は達者で、公共交通機関を独りで利用し、みなさん集まります。口だけは70年前と変わらず、勝手に喋りまくっています。岡崎からはじめて参加したYくんは、自分の短歌が新年の歌会始で佳作に選ばれ、宮内庁からの表彰状の写真を披露してくれました。クラスメートとして嬉しい限りです。

食事の途中になぜ咽せる

高齢者の食事会では、話が盛り上がってくると、必ず誰かが咽せます。私自身も何度かその息苦しさと恥ずかしさを経験しています。完全に気道が閉塞しているわけではないので、じっと耐え忍ぶだけです。

Tくんが咽せている横で、咽せるをテーマに互いの経験談で盛り上がりました。突然、気道と食道の関係について、話が私に振られました。食事の席で、言葉だけで、しかも解剖用語を使わずに、簡潔に説明するのはなかなか難しいものです。その場では、咽せ防止対策法に話を逸らせました。

下図は喉の構造ですが、舌の付け根にある喉頭蓋という弁が、食物が喉に来ると，気道を閉ざしてくれるのです。高齢になると、この喉頭蓋の反射的な働きが鈍り、また周辺の筋肉も衰え、反応が鈍るのが誤嚥の原因です。

高齢者の咽せ防止（誤嚥予防）対策

食事について

    • 会話や笑いながらの食事は禁物です。急いで食べると咽せやすくなります。焦らずゆっくり食べること。
    • 食事中は背筋を伸ばし、やや前傾姿勢にすると、気道が閉じやすく誤嚥を防げます。横になっての食事は禁物です。
    • 食後もすぐ横にならず、30分ほど座位を保つことで逆流性誤嚥を防げます。
    • 一口量を少なくする：一口が多いと誤嚥リスクが高まります。

寝る前のルーチン

  • 口周りの筋肉強化:「アー・イー・ウー・エー」発声を、毎晩寝る前に4回繰り返す。
  • 寝る前の口腔ケアや頭部を少し高くする枕の使用も有効です。

思いつくままに、自らの体験を踏まえ紹介しました。お達者に。2025.4.16.

An International Student from Indonesia Becomes a Professor at His Alma Mater

We have received news that for the second consecutive generation, Dr. Sutomo has been appointed as a professor of pediatrics at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

The inauguration ceremony was held on the 18th, and as it was also accessible via Zoom, I had the opportunity to attend. All attendees at the venue wore academic dress, complete with mortarboards, following the traditional European academic attire, making the event a highly solemn occasion. It was fascinating to witness the fusion of Indonesian and European cultures.

Developmental, Behavioral, and Social Pediatrics

It is exciting to see that he specializes in Developmental, Behavioral, and Social Pediatrics, one of the most socially needed fields in pediatric medicine worldwide. I look forward to his contributions as a leader in this field, not only in Indonesia but also on the global stage, including developed countries.

Kobe University School and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM)

The relationship between the Kobe University School of Medicine and the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) School of Medicine runs deep, dating back to the 1970s.

During my active years, I had the opportunity to study alongside four international students—Prof. Surjono, Prof. Boutiman, Prof. Purnomo, and Prof. Sunartini—who all earned their Doctor of Medicine degrees at Kobe University and went on to play central roles in the advancement of medicine in their home country.

Unfortunately, they have all passed away. I sincerely hope that Prof. Sutomo will carry on their legacy and continue their contributions to the field.

2025.2.20.

Attending a Wedding Ceremony in Nepal

On December 3, I departed Kansai Airport with my daughter, Mayuko. After spending two nights in Bangkok, we finally arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal. There is a time difference of 3 hours and 15 minutes. I was able to attend the wedding ceremony of the son of my close Nepali friend, Professor Pokharel. After an 8-day trip, I safely returned to chilly Japan on the morning of December 10.

Nepali weddings are held over three days.

The first day is hosted by the groom’s side, the second day by the bride’s side, and the third day is the main event hosted jointly by both families.

Each family has over 100 members, and including acquaintances like us, there were over 500 attendees, making it a truly grand celebration. From Japan, there were six participants: Professor Hideki Yamamoto and his wife from AMDA Japan, who contributed to the establishment of a children’s hospital in Nepal, and two members of Mr. Pokharel’s host family from his time studying in Japan.

On the first day, the ceremony was held at the Pokharel residence and was attended only by the groom’s side. Around the numerous gifts from the bride’s side, children joyfully danced, and everyone ate heartily and enjoyed lively conversations.

The second day was hosted by the bride’s side and took place at a hotel. In the garden, a band played Nepali folk music, while various rituals continued endlessly from morning to night. One particularly interesting ritual involved washing the bride’s feet, where relatives took turns sprinkling water over her feet. It seemed to symbolize the bride leaving her parental home and moving into her husband’s household.

The third-day ceremony took place in the evening in a hotel garden, attended by many guests. Later in the evening, a banquet was held in a large hall with round tables, similar to Japanese weddings. However, unlike Japanese receptions where speeches are made on stage with a microphone, here everything was conducted face-to-face in a more personal manner, which made the event quite lengthy. Despite being the main ceremony, the groom and bride had already been introduced earlier, making the atmosphere relaxed and lively.

This tradition of celebrating weddings with such large gatherings shows that the family system is still deeply rooted in Nepali society. That said, the bride and groom, both studying in the United States, were set to return there just two days after the wedding. In 10 years, Nepali wedding customs might change significantly.

December 11, 2024

‘Child support’, not ‘Child-rearing support’

Japan ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994, which established four rights for children: the right to life, the right to grow, the right to protection, and the right to participate. However, there has been a lack of interest in this convention within Japan, and children have long been treated as ‘children’ and have struggled to become the ‘main actors’ in society.

‘Child support’, not ‘Child-rearing support’

My Expectations for the Child and Family Agency Starting from April, the ‘Basic Act on Children’ was newly enforced, explicitly guaranteeing the ‘rights of children,’ and the Child and Family Agency was established. This law aims to create a child-friendly society and is considered one of the top priorities of the current administration, giving rise to high expectations.

In our country so far, when it comes to child policies, it seems that they have been addressed as part of measures for an ultra-aging society and as economic measures to secure the workforce. Even with the enactment of the Basic Act on Children, if it continues to be treated as part of measures to combat declining birthrates, it cannot be called a truly child-centered society.

Personally, I hope that policies focusing on ‘child support’ rather than ‘child-rearing support’ will be implemented.

April 9, 2023.

Struggles with ChatGPT: Part 3

Why does the text generated by ChatGPT feel natural, like human writing?

The text generated by ChatGPT often feels natural, resembling human writing rather than something explicitly produced by a computer.

Since the emergence of AI, I have been aware that deep learning, a model based on neural networks, is employed. However, AI responses have typically felt very much like computer-generated answers.

I was curious about the mechanism behind the naturalness of the text generated by ChatGPT and wanted to learn more. While out and about, I stopped by a bookstore and noticed a stack of introductory books on ChatGPT.

Flipping through the pages, I came across a chapter titled, “Why does the text feel natural, like human writing?” Here’s an excerpt from that chapter:

A model called “fine-tuning”

The reason behind this is said to be the incorporation of a model called “fine-tuning” in ChatGPT. By fine-tuning the conversational data between users and AI, it has become capable of producing more natural conversations.

The text generated by ChatGPT is not structured in the same way as human thinking. It simply processes a vast amount of training data to probabilistically generate “plausible answers.”

The text created by ChatGPT is not guaranteed to be correct.

If there is insufficient information in its database or if it is bombarded with a large amount of misinformation, it can generate incorrect sentences, leading to confusion in the world.

We, as humans, must continue our intellectual training to ensure that we do not fall behind computers.
May 31, 2023.

Struggles with ChatGPT: Part 2

I attempted to translate the recent ten or so articles in my blog, using ChatGPT. When it comes to coherent arguments, it instantly translates and delivers concise English.

Sometimes, the text can exceed 1,000 characters. In such cases, it may take a few minutes to translate or it may not provide an answer. However, if the argument of the text remains consistent, it can successfully translate longer passages into English.

It feels more like receiving a check on my Japanese rather than a translation.

Occasionally, I find myself putting down thoughts as they come to mind. While there may be some relevance, I end up addressing two topics in a single sentence. When I write, I intend for it to be the “turning point” in the composition’s structure, but if it goes too far, it can become difficult for readers to understand.

After considering it for some time, the AI determines the excessive part as unnecessary in the “turning point” and removes it, leaving behind a clear and polished text.

From now on, I will be more mindful of refining my Japanese writing.

2023.5.28.

 

Having a dream of becoming a pilot

In the astronaut selection test conducted by JAXA on March 5, 2023, two individuals were chosen from over 4,000 applicants. One of them is Ayu Yoneda, a 28-year-old surgeon, who has the possibility of becoming the first Japanese to set foot on the moon. It’s truly envy-inducing.

Having a dream of becoming a pilot

After the war, civilian aircraft operations resumed at Itami Airport when I was in fifth grade. As I looked up at the sky from the grassy field near the airport, I felt a thrilling sensation as the planes landed with a thunderous roar, as if my whole body was being drawn in. My home is over two hours’ walk from the airport, but sometimes I would hitch a ride on a cart and spend the entire day from morning to dusk, never getting tired of watching. At that time, I had a dream of becoming a pilot in the future, but I never even considered becoming an astronaut.

Date: April 26, 2023.

 

Voyager, an unmanned probe, travels leisurely.

NASA’s unmanned probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, were launched in the autumn of 1977 and have been on a journey to the edge of the universe for the past 45 years.

At the dawn of the space boom

The world’s first artificial satellite was a lightweight one launched by the Soviet Union in October 1957, weighing only 83.6 kilograms. The beginning of manned space activities was marked by the Soviet Union’s first manned spacecraft, Vostok 1, on April 12, 1961. Yuri Gagarin, an Air Force pilot, successfully orbited the Earth in 108 minutes and reached an altitude of 300 km, captivating people around the world with his expression, “The Earth is blue.

The first human lunar landing

On July 16, 1969, the American spacecraft Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center and became the first mission to land humans on the Moon and successfully bring back lunar samples to Earth. I still vividly remember the exhibition of the “Moon Rock” at the 1970 Osaka Expo, where many people gathered.

Voyager’s successive visits to Jupiter and Saturn

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched in the autumn of 1977, eight years after the Apollo 11 lunar landing. After the launch, they visited Jupiter in about two years and then visited Saturn one year later.
Originally, the mission was to explore these two planets.The plan did not include visiting Uranus and Neptune due to the excessive cost. However, when Voyager 2 arrived at Saturn, its instruments were functioning sufficiently, leading to a decision to head towards the exploration of Uranus.

The two Voyagers, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, passed by Jupiter (Photos 1 and 2) and Saturn (Photos 5 and 6), capturing close-up photographs for the first time (quoted from Nikkei Science, January 2023 issue).

I had memories of the beautiful photos sent back by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 during their exploration of Jupiter and Saturn, but there hasn’t been much news about their journey since then, and it was somewhat forgotten.

Currently, Voyagers are peacefully traveling unknown world through interstellar space

Subsequently, Voyager 2 made a visit to Uranus in January 1986 and Neptune in August 1989. Currently, both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have left the heliosphere and are peacefully traveling through interstellar space, controlled by their instruments, over a distance of 20 billion kilometers, aiming for even more distant unknown worlds.

It’s incredibly romantic and astonishing. I look forward to hearing more from the edge of the universe.

March 20, 2023.

Let’s get along forever in space.

Countless artificial satellites dart through space.

Humanity has launched numerous artificial objects into space, such as satellites, space probes, and space stations. The first satellite ever launched was the famous Sputnik 1 in 1957. As of December 2021, there were over 12,000 registered artificial satellites, and in recent years, it is said that over 1,000 new satellites are added each year.

The International Space Station: A Joint Project of Five Countries

The International Space Station is the largest artificial satellite orbiting the Earth in low orbit. Its average altitude is about 400 km, and it takes less than 4 hours to travel from Earth to the satellite. It completes approximately 15.5 orbits around the Earth in a day and can sometimes be seen as a slow-moving point among the stars, even with the naked eye.

This inhabitable artificial satellite, the International Space Station, is a joint project involving the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe, and Canada. While conflicts between nations persist on Earth, it seems that they get along well in space.

In recent years, there has been much discussion about space stations on the Moon, and it is also desirable for cooperation to take place there.

Date: April 26, 2023.

 

At the dawn of the space age

The world’s first artificial satellite was a lightweight one launched by the Soviet Union in October 1957, weighing only 83.6 kilograms.

The beginning of manned space activities was marked by the Soviet Union’s first manned spacecraft, Vostok 1, on April 12, 1961. Yuri Gagarin, an Air Force pilot, successfully orbited the Earth in 108 minutes and reached an altitude of 300 km, captivating people around the world with his expression, “The Earth is blue.

The first human lunar landing

On July 16, 1969, the American spacecraft Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center and became the first mission to land humans on the Moon and successfully bring back lunar samples to Earth.

I still vividly remember the exhibition of the “Moon Rock” at the 1970 Osaka Expo, where many people gathered.

2023.3.20.