Articles

Cohabitation with farm animals in urban households with and without occupational farm work: associations between participation in educational activities and good hygiene practices in at-risk households cohabiting with farm animals

This study was performed to investigate patterns of cohabitation with farm animals in urban households in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, with regard to animal-to-human disease transmission. We al...

Authors: Phoupasong Somphou, Takehito Takano and Keiko Nakamura

The relationships of sleep duration and mental health with electrocardiographic findings: a retrospective-cohort study in Okinawa, Japan

Sleep disorders and psychological stress have become major concerns as health risks in modern Japanese society. Chronic sleep deprivation could lead to physical and mental exhaustion, which could affect the ci...

Authors: Kaoru Ichikawa, Tomoko Matsui, Tooru Tsunoda, Koji Teruya, Takamoto Uemura, Nobuo Takeda, Hiroteru Okamoto and Shinji Fukazawa

Changes in pancreatic cancer mortality, period patterns, and birth cohort patterns in Japan: analysis of mortality data in the period 1968–2002

The 5-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is known to be lower than that for cancer at any other site in the body, and the proportion of pancreatic cancer deaths among all cancer deaths has been increasi...

Authors: Takayuki Seino, Hiroto Nakadaira, Kazuo Endoh and Masaharu Yamamoto

Decrease in the prevalence of smoking among Japanese adolescents and its possible causes: periodic nationwide cross-sectional surveys

To assess trends in smoking prevalence among Japanese adolescents and to analyze possible causal factors for the decrease in smoking prevalence observed in a 2004 survey.

Authors: Yoneatsu Osaki, Takeo Tanihata, Takashi Ohida, Hideyuki Kanda, Yoshitaka Kaneita, Masumi Minowa, Kenji Suzuki, Kiyoshi Wada and Kenji Hayashi

Correlation between the arsenic concentrations in the air and the SMR of lung cancer

To verify whether the concentrations of arsenic (As) and its compounds in the air (referred to here as arsenic concentrations) affect the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) associated with lung cancer.

Authors: Masaharu Yoshikawa, Kazuo Aoki, Naoyuki Ebine, Masahiro Kusunoki and Akihiro Okamoto

Bacterial quality of drinking water stored in containers by boat households in Hue City, Vietnam

To examine the bacterial quality of drinking water stored in containers by boat households in the river basin of Hue City, and associated factors.

Authors: Kaoruko Seino, Takehito Takano, Nguyen K. L. Quang, Masafumi Watanabe, Tomoko Inose and Keiko Nakamura

Breast-feeding rates and related maternal and infants’ obstetric factors in Japanese twins

The aims of the present study are to describe the secular trend of breast-feeding rates in Japanese twins in comparison with the general population, and then to clarify the maternal and infants’ obstetric fact...

Authors: Syuichi Ooki

Environmental change, climate and population health: a challenge for inter-disciplinary research

Authors: Anthony J. McMichael

Abstracts from Nippon Eiseigaku Zasshi (Japanese Journal of Hygiene) vol.63 no.1

Authors:

Development of an assessment sheet for fall prediction in stroke inpatients in convalescent rehabilitation wards in Japan

We conducted a study to develop an assessment sheet for fall prediction in stroke inpatients that is handy and reliable to help ward staff to devise a fall prevention strategy for each inpatient immediately up...

Authors: Youichi Nakagawa, Katsuhiko Sannomiya, Makiko Kinoshita, Tsutomu Shiomi, Kouhei Okada, Hisayo Yokoyama, Yukiko Sawaguti, Keiko Minamoto, Chang-nian Wei, Shoko Ohmori, Susumu Watanabe, Koichi Harada and Atsushi Ueda

The relationship between long-term changes in plasma B-type natriuretic peptide levels and electrocardiographic findings

Changes in B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and electrocardiographic (ECG) findings in an adult Japanese population were measured over a 5-year period, and the statistical relationships between these were eval...

Authors: Shinji Fukazawa, Koji Teruya, Takamoto Uemura, Tomoko Omine, Tomoko Matsui, Nobuo Takeda, Hiroteru Okamoto, Kaoru Ichikawa, Kosuke Tsuchida, Rieko Takemae, Momoo Matsuda and Tooru Tsunoda

Learning behavior in rat offspring after in utero and lactational exposure to either TCDD or PCB126

We studied and compared the possible effects of in utero and lactational exposure to 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) or 3, 3′, 4, 4′, 5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) on learning behavior in offspring...

Authors: Rieko Hojo, Masaki Kakeyama, Yoshika Kurokawa, Yasunobu Aoki, Junzo Yonemoto and Chiharu Tohyama

Positive effects of a qigong and aerobic exercise program on physical health in elderly Japanese women: an exploratory study

To determine the effects of a 12-week qigong and aerobic exercise program on the physical well-being of relatively healthy elderly Japanese women.

Authors: Takeshi Sakata, Qiming Li, Michio Tanaka and Fumihiro Tajima

Factors associated with serum total homocysteine level in type 2 diabetes

The aim of this study was to investigate the determinants of serum total homocysteine level (tHcy) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) according to sex.

Authors: Yumi Masuda, Akira Kubo, Akatsuki Kokaze, Masao Yoshida, Nobuki Fukuhara and Yutaka Takashima

The association of the number of comorbidities and complications with length of stay, hospital mortality and LOS high outlier, based on administrative data

With greater concern for efficient resource allocation and profiling of medical care, a case-mix classification was applied for the per-diem payment system in Japan. Many questions remain, one of which is the ...

Authors: Kazuaki Kuwabara, Yuichi Imanaka, Shinya Matsuda, Kiyohide Fushimi, Hideki Hashimoto, Koichi B. Ishikawa, Hiromasa Horiguchi, Kenshi Hayashida and Kenji Fujimori

Competition or complement: relationship between judo therapists and physicians for elderly patients with musculoskeletal disease

Among the complementary and alternative medical services available in Japan, only judo therapists are covered under the national health-insurance program without a referral from a physician. Many orthopedists ...

Authors: Mariko Nishikitani, Satoshi Inoue and Eiji Yano

Electronic submission will be available from April 2008 with online system Editorial Manager^®

Authors:

Selenium: its role as antioxidant in human health

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element, and its low status in humans has been linked to increased risk of various diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. In recent years, Se research has attracted tre...

Authors: Ujang Tinggi

Air pollution and population health: a global challenge

“Air pollution and population health” is one of the most important environmental and public health issues. Economic development, urbanization, energy consumption, transportation/motorization, and rapid populat...

Authors: Bingheng Chen and Haidong Kan

Pathology of mesothelioma

The incidence of mesothelioma has been gradually increasing in Japan, and the underlying factor for this is considered to be the increase in the amount of asbestos imported into Japan between 1960 and 1975. Me...

Authors: Kouki Inai

Current therapies for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a highly lethal tumor derived from mesothelial cells, and its global incidence is increasing because of widespread exposure of numerous individuals to asbestos in the last 50 years. Mesotheliom...

Authors: Takashi Nakano

Molecular biology of malignant mesothelioma

Human malignancies develop via a multi-step that involves the accumulation of several key gene alterations with associated genetic and epigenetic events. Although malignant mesothelioma (MM) has been demonstra...

Authors: Yoshitaka Sekido

Diagnostic tumor marker of asbestos-related mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is an aggressive tumor arising from the mesothelium, and is usually associated with previous exposure to asbestos. The incubation period of the tumor may be described as 30–40 years, and the progn...

Authors: Okio Hino and Masahiro Maeda

Asbestos and malignant mesothelioma: foreword

Authors: Takemi Otsuki

Immunological alterations found in mesothelioma patients and supporting experimental evidence

It is common knowledge that exposure to asbestos causes asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, not only in people who have had long-term contact with asbestos in...

Authors: Yoshie Miura, Yasumitsu Nishimura, Megumi Maeda, Shuko Murakami, Hiroaki Hayashi, Kazuya Fukuoka, Takumi Kishimoto, Takashi Nakano and Takemi Otsuki

Low back pain deprives the Japanese adult population of their quality of life: a questionnaire survey at five healthcare facilities in Japan

To estimate the degree to which low back pain (LBP) deprives the Japanese adult population of their quality of life (QOL) in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs).

Authors: Machi Suka and Katsumi Yoshida

Overweight male personnel of the Japan Self-Defense Forces with body mass indices of 23.0–24.9 and obesity-related metabolic disorders

To assess the validity of the criterion of overweight for Asian people that is recommended by Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization.

Authors: Hidenari Sakuta and Takashi Suzuki

Applications of CYP-450 expression for biomonitoring in environmental health

Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) are one of the first steps in the metabolism of xenobiotics, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are bioactivated into carcinogens. As such, changes in CYP expression...

Authors: Ho-Sun Lee and Mihi Yang

Moving into the future with EHPM

Authors: Yasuhito Yuasa

Frontiers in epigenetics medicine: foreword

Authors: Yasuhito Yuasa

Epigenetics in congenital diseases and pervasive developmental disorders

Epigenetics is an intrinsic mechanism that alters gene function – not by altering DNA sequences, but by chemically modifying the DNA and chromosomal histone proteins. Epigenetics is involved in genomic imprint...

Authors: Takeo Kubota

Epigenetic abnormalities in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure

Epigenetics refers to the heritable regulation of gene expression through modification of chromosomal components without an alteration in the nucleotide sequence of the genome. Such modifications include methy...

Authors: Hiroyuki Mano

Association of glycemic profiles with whole blood polyamine among middle-aged Japanese men: colorimetric assay using oat and barley seedling polyamine oxidase

Polyamines have long been known to have an insulin-like action, but their antiglycating effect has only recently attracted the attention of researchers. The aim of our investigation was to determine the whole ...

Authors: Takaaki Kondo, Kanami Yamamoto, Akiko Kimata, Jun Ueyama, Yoko Hori and Kenji Takagi

DNA methylation: a marker for carcinogen exposure and cancer risk

Cancers arise as a consequence of multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations. Many genes aberrantly methylated in cancers have been identified in recent years, and their use in cancer diagnosis and therapy is...

Authors: Takeshi Nakajima, Shotaro Enomoto and Toshikazu Ushijima

Epidemiological approach to nosocomial infection surveillance data: the Japanese Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System

Surveillance of nosocomial infection is the foundation of infection control. Nosocomial infection surveillance data ought to be summarized, reported, and fed back to health care personnel for corrective action...

Authors: Machi Suka, Katsumi Yoshida and Jun Takezawa

Epigenetics in mood disorders

Depression develops as an interaction between stress and an individual’s vulnerability to stress. The effect of early life stress and a gene–environment interaction may play a role in the development of stress...

Authors: Patrick O. McGowan and Tadafumi Kato

Association of serum NO _x level with clustering of metabolic syndrome components in middle-aged and elderly general populations in Japan

The aim of this study was to determine whether the serum nitrite plus nitrate (NO _x ) level correlates with biomarkers that are known components of the metabolic syndrome (Me...

Authors: Jun Ueyama, Takaaki Kondo, Ryota Imai, Akiko Kimata, Kanami Yamamoto, Koji Suzuki, Takashi Inoue, Yoshinori Ito, Ken-ichi Miyamoto, Takaaki Hasegawa and Nobuyuki Hamajima

Keynote lecture in the 13th Japanese Society of Immunotoxicology (JSIT 2006)

Silica and silicates may disturb immune functions such as autoimmunity and tumor immunity, because people who are exposed to the materials sometimes develop autoimmune and malignant diseases, respectively. Alt...

Authors: Takemi Otsuki, Yoshie Miura, Megumi Maeda, Hiroaki Hayashi, Shuko Murakami, Maolong Dong and Yasumitsu Nishimura

Risk of transmission of airborne infection during train commute based on mathematical model

In metropolitan areas in Japan, train commute is very popular that trains are over-crowded with passengers during rush hour. The purpose of this study is to quantify public health risk related to the inhalatio...

Authors: Hiroyuki Furuya

Incidence and outcome of sepsis in Japanese intensive care units: The Japanese nosocomial infection surveillance system

To determine the incidence of sepsis in Japanese intensive care units (ICUs) and to evaluate the impact of sepsis on mortality and length of stay (LOS).

Authors: Machi Suka, Katsumi Yoshida and Jun Takezawa

Behaviors and perceptions of Japanese tourists affecting diarrheal illness and health care need assessment: A questionnaire study

To measure the prevalence rate of, and determine the association between food and drink related behaviors and diarrheal illness among Japanese tourists, and assess their health care needs.

Authors: Nawarat Suwannapong, Nopporn Howteerakul and Chaweewon Boonshuyar

Glutaraldehyde exposure and its occupational impact in the health care environment

Despite the search for effective and less toxic substitutes, glutaraldehyde (GA) remains one of the few substances capable of high-level instrument disinfection in modern health care. Workers commonly affected...

Authors: Derek R. Smith and Rui-Sheng Wang

Globalization and emerging governance modalities

This paper explores the possibilities for global governance effectively dealing with the international transmission of disease. First, zoonotic regulation and control pose a special case for public health agen...

Authors: Deane Edward Neubauer

Emerging zoonotic diseases: An opportunity to apply the concepts of nidality and one-medicine

The use of animals as sentinels of human disease revolves around the concept of nidality. That is, an agent of disease occupies a particular ecologic niche and alterations in that niche will change the functio...

Authors: John R. Herbold

Control of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Singapore

A Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak occurred in Singapore from February to May 2003. A high vigilance for the disease, frequent and regular temperature monitoring, early case identification and...

Authors: Kwai Pen Chan

Lessons learned from international responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

In early February 2003, a previously unknown disease causing severe pneumonia was recognised. This disease which is now known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is believed to have had its origins in ...

Authors: Hitoshi Oshitani

Advocacy, promotion and e-learning: Supercourse for zoonosis

This paper discusses the history of emerging infectious diseases, risk communication and perception, and the Supercourse lectures as means to strengthen the concepts and definition of risk management and globa...

Authors: Gino C. Matibag, Manabu Igarashi, Ron E. La Porte and Hiko Tamashiro

Disease ecology and the global emergence of zoonotic pathogens

The incidence and frequency of epidemic transmission of zoonotic diseases, both known and newly recognized, has increased dramatically in the past 30 years. It is thought that this dramatic disease emergence i...

Authors: Bruce A. Wilcox and Duane J. Gubler

HIV/AIDS prevention in China: A challenge for the new millennium

China’s first HIV infection was officially reported in 1985 and by the end of 1996, there may have been up to 200,000 people affected nationwide. In 2001, this figure probably exceeded 600,000. By 2003, the pr...

Authors: Derek R. Smith, Ning Wei, Peter A. Leggat and Rui-Sheng Wang

Association between APACHE II score and nosocomial infections in intensive care unit patients: A multicenter cohort study

To examine whether nosocomial infection risk increases with APACHE II score, which is an index of severity-of-illness, in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Authors: Machi Suka, Katsumi Yoshida and Jun Takezawa