We investigated the association between hepatic autophagic activity and the serum levels of autophagy regulators in ovariectomized female rats. We evaluated the effects of ovariectomy on oxidative stress in female rats.

　Female rats were divided into sham-operated (n=3-6 in Group. 1-4) and ovariectomized (n=3-5 in Group. 1-4) groups. Both the groups underwent surgery. Changes in hepatic an autophagic activity marker (LC3), serum autophagy regulators (blood glucose, insulin, progesterone, and cholesterol), and an oxidative stress marker (d-ROMs) were examined at specific time points (Group. 1-4: 1, 3, 7, and 14 days) post-surgery.

　In the ovariectomized group, an increase in insulin and cholesterol levels was observed in addition to a decrease in the progesterone level. Therefore, changes in the levels of these autophagy regulators caused a decrease in hepatic autophagic activity. However, changes in the autophagy regulator levels and hepatic autophagic activity did not necessarily correlate. Furthermore, oxidative stress decreased in the ovariectomized group 14 days post-surgery (Group. 4), suggesting that decreased hepatic autophagy may decrease oxidative stress post-ovariectomy.

Objective: This study aimed to identify key observation points that enable physical therapy students to accurately identify the causes of abnormal gait through observational gait analysis.

Methods: Participants were 25 fourth-year physical therapy students who responded to a self-administered questionnaire survey regarding their analysis of simulation videos of abnormal gait. After stratifying the responses based on accurately and inaccurately reasoned (correct and incorrect, respectively) answers, the descriptive content was subjected to quantitative text analysis.

Results: In correspondence analysis, key terms associated with correct answers included “foot sole,” “toe off,” and “knee joint,” whereas incorrect answers included the terms “trunk,” “hip joint,” “normal,” and “comparison.” Co-occurrence network analysis showed that the terms “right,” “left,” and “comparison” co-occurred in both correct and incorrect responses, whereas “normal” co-occurred in only the incorrect analyses.

Conclusion: To ascertain the causes of abnormal gait, it is important to consider lateral differences and undertake comparisons with normal gait. However, for fourth-year students, lower limb peripheral movements constitute a crucial observation point in the analysis of abnormal gait.

　This study aimed to clarify the structure of assessment of postpartum depression by experienced nurses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 experienced nurses. Themes were generated by qualitative inductive analysis based on the method of Graneheim and Lundman, and then the relationships and order between the themes were examined. This study was approved by the research ethics committee of the research member’s institution.

　A total of 772 codes were extracted, generating seven themes of maternal symptoms and five themes of related factors. The mother’s symptoms included “difficulty meeting physical needs” and “strong anxiety about child-rearing,” which are predictors of postpartum depression, “increased restlessness,” “suppression of thoughts and emotions,” and “decreased motivation to rear children,” which are symptoms of postpartum depression, and “decreased self-esteem” and “suicidal ideation,” which are the most serious symptoms of postpartum depression. Related factors, including the “mother’s characteristics,” “relationships with significant others,” “perinatal progress,” “negative impact on the child,” and “depression screening results,” were assessed simultaneously with the mother’s symptoms.

　Experienced nurses were well acquainted with the points to observe and the criteria for judging postpartum depression, and made skillful assessments by taking advantage of their position as providers of ongoing support based on a trusting relationship with the mother.

　This study aimed to evaluate the text analysis capabilities of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) by analyzing interviews with registered dietitians on the websites of hospitals and healthcare facilities. These interview responses were simultaneously read by humans and GenAI, and the results were compared. This approach enabled us to gain valuable insights into the current status of registered dietitians. Findings revealed that GenAI was able to understand the context of the interview responses to a certain extent and generate text that effectively expressed the participants' opinions. However, when reading the text, GenAI tended to make excessive inferences regarding the meaning behind the context, occasionally resulting in an understanding that differed from the respondents' intentions.

　This study assessed the reproductive traits of a female skink (Plestiodon finitimus) maintained in captivity from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. This is the first study to provide detailed data regarding several reproductive traits of P. finitimus, such as clutch size, brooding behavior, incubation period, and hatchling size. These findings suggest that the reproductive ecology of P. finitimus is likely similar to that of its sister species, P. japonicus, within the previously known Japanese Plestiodon.

　To verify the effectiveness of dietary education activities that incorporate dishes from picture books into school lunches and to understand the actual situation of picture books and school-lunch contents, this study surveyed staff involved in nursery school lunches. The questionnaire results demonstrated that all but one nursery school implemented planned dietary education activities: approximately 90% aimed for “children who talk about food” and “children who want to eat and like more things.” Top foods served among the 29 school lunches were broad beans (18), pancakes (7), and homemade bread (5). Effects of dietary education activities included: “Interest in food and school lunches expanded,” “Children who did not like the food were able to eat it,” and “School lunches became a topic of conversation at home.” There was a significant correlation between the number of dietary education goals selected and the number of chosen dietary education effects. The goals and effects also aligned, suggesting that dietary education activities that incorporate dishes from picture books into school lunches effectively achieve the desired results.

　This paper aims to clarify how nutrition teachers (NTs) are currently being assigned as well as related issues by examining the example of Chiba Prefecture. NTs are not just responsible for handling school lunches-they also serve a critical role in handling the modern health problems of children. Despite this, the Act on Standards for Class Formation and Fixed Number of School Personnel of Public Compulsory Education Schools were not improved when the NTs system was established. As a result, school dietitians (SDs) currently exist alongside NTs, and some districts presently have more of the former than the latter. The prefecture of Chiba is one such example. Under this system, nutrition teacher’s license has lost its significance, and a heavy burden has been placed on both NTs and SDs. We therefore surveyed the NTs and SDs currently working in public schools in Chiba and analyzed the results. The data suggests that people with the examination experience in the past still want to transition to the NTs, and the license itself still has meaning. As for work-related stress and problems, a comparative analysis of the three groups (NTs, SDs with nutrition teacher’s license, and SDs without nutrition teacher’s license) revealed that they all feel equally burdened in many challenges, with no real difference between the three. The burden on NTs that work simultaneously for multiple schools was particularly striking. Regarding their desire for assignment policies in the future, NTs tend to wish that “Only NTs are hired for new positions,” which is different than that of SDs with nutrition teacher’s license and SDs without nutrition teacher’s license. Therefore, we can say that even though the significance of nutrition teacher’s license has remained, NTs do not feel less burdened-they actually feel a heavy burden. It is essential that the government standards be elevated for appointing NTs and SDs to reduce their sense of burden.

　Nutrition teachers (NTs) don't just manage school lunches; they also serve a critical role in responding to the health problems of individual children. However, mandatory requirements have not been established at each school because the standard number of NTs and school dietitians (SDs) defined in the Act on Standards for Class Formation and Fixed Number of School Personnel of Public Compulsory Education Schools is low. This paper aims to clarify the status and challenges of NTs and SDs by retallying the results of public surveys and creating a summary of the changes over time. It also seeks to determine why the rate of allocation for NTs and SDs has remained low by closely examining how school lunches are prepared. The results revealed that, despite some issues with the existing legal framework, each municipality has striven to assign NTs. Nevertheless, the way that school lunches are prepared has had a limiting effect on the allocation of NTs. Municipalities such as Chiba Prefecture that contain a large number of schools which independently implement their school lunches have appointed many municipality-funded school dietitian, so there is no opportunity to transition to NTs, which keeps their numbers low. Improving the central government's standards for allocating such staff is the most effective method of dealing with this. Creating chances to switch from municipality-funded school dietitian to NTs and increasing the number of new NT hires is also effective.

　The purpose of this study was to develop a training program intended to improve nursing practice skills related to comprehensive community care wards.

　The program consists of two STEPs: STEP 1: Enhancement of direct nursing care skills for patients and families, and STEP 2: Enhancement of coordination and management skills to maintain and develop the comprehensive community care system. The program consisted of on-demand lectures, preliminary learning, and group training. The program was conducted with nurses working in the comprehensive community care wards of small- and medium-sized hospitals in Chiba Prefecture. Our evaluation indices were satisfaction, applicability of the program to future nursing care, and so on.

　The fifteen participants in the study had an average of 14.6 years of nursing experience and 3.6 years of experience in comprehensive community care wards. More than 90% of the participants in both STEPs answered “yes” to the question, “Can I apply the program to my future nursing practice?” It was suggested that the exchange of information with nurses from other hospitals in both STEPs, the discussion of discharge support cases in STEP 1, and the prior learning describing the discharge support system of their own organization and the strengths and challenges of social resources in the area in STEP 2 were highly commended.

　The purpose of this study was to verify the effectiveness of a training course for mid-career public health nurses. The course had been modified to strengthen these nurses’ ability to clarify community health issues as well as to understand their growth and challenges.

　Participants who agreed to cooperate in the research were included from among those who attended this training course in 2022. A post-training questionnaire was administered to the participants, whose statements were analyzed qualitatively. The differences in mean evaluation scores between pre- and post-training on the Comprehensive Career Development Scale for Public Health Nurses (2nd version) were determined.

　There were 37 participants, of whom 78.4% indicated that they were able to make the project proposal, which included responses of “Generally.” Based on the participants’ descriptions, their willingness to improve their ability to objectively present and explain evidence had increased, as had their motivation as a mid-career public health nurse. The scale evaluation results also confirmed significant differences in the total score, subtotal scores for policy and organizational management and community health activities, and 9 out of the 26 items at the 5% level.

　The training course was deemed to have affected the nurses’ acquisition of the abilities to analyze health issues, propose projects based on evidence, and establish their identity and grow as public health nurses.

　This study aimed to clarify the actual employment situation in the second careers of experienced head nurses.

　To conduct the survey, questionnaires were mailed to 1,236 hospitals, geriatric health facilities, geriatric welfare facilities and visiting nursing stations in A Prefecture (response rate: 19.7%). The mandatory retirement age is 60 years (57%) in many facilities, indicating that there are very limited workplaces where former head nurses work in nursing management positions at other facilities after retirement.

　Facilities employing former head nurses were significantly more likely than those that did not. Hospitals have been continuously employing former nurse managers from the viewpoint of “valuable internal resources” and “securing human resources.”

　In facilities where there are no experienced nurses, there is a tendency to be reluctant to hire nurses due to a lack of understanding of the role and abilities of head nurses.

　In order for former head nurses to be effectively utilized in their second careers, it is necessary to build a system that allows employers to correctly understand their abilities.

Objective: To elucidate the difficulties experienced by novice nurses who found employment in Chiba Prefecture after completing basic nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The difficulties experienced by novice nurses hired by medical institutions in Chiba Prefecture in fiscal year 2022 or 2023 were investigated using a Microsoft Forms survey comprising a total of 104 items specified in the revised version of the Guidelines for Training New Nursing Staff, specifically 16 items relating to “basic stance and attitude”, 70 items relating to the “technical aspect”, and 18 items relating to the “managerial aspect”.

Results: A total of 554 nurses were investigated. Difficulties were commonly reported for the following items: “Understanding patient needs from physical, psychological, and social aspects”, “Ventilator management”, “Care following death”, “Coordinating assigned tasks so they can be completed on time”, and “Considering the order of priority when providing nursing care for multiple patients”.

Discussion: While the present results were generally consistent with those of a previous study on the difficulties experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic by graduates of our university who had become novice nurses, the finding that many nurses experienced difficulty with “Understanding patient needs from physical, psychological, and social aspects” was attributed to the reduction in time spent on practical training due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

　To determine the kind of support required by children with chronic diseases in preparation for entering elementary school, an investigation was conducted to elucidate the experiences of nursery school nurses in providing support to children with chronic diseases in preparation for entering elementary school. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five nursery school nurses who had experience in providing support to parents of children with chronic diseases, regarding their experiences of providing support toward the entering elementary school and their experiences of not being able to provide adequate necessary support.

　The findings of the investigation revealed that the nursery school nurses provided support to the children to encourage them to acquire self-care skills, and to the parents to take the initiative in meeting with the elementary school and related organizations. In addition, information was communicated to the school nurse, homeroom teacher, etc. directly or through the parents, and support was provided to gain the understanding of school personnel regarding the child's illness and considerations. On the other hand, they also experienced inadequate providing of support.

　These results emphasize the need to develop support methods so that both parents and nurses can work together to prepare for entering elementary school with a clear schedule in mind.

[Objective]

　The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between cognitive function and the toothbrushing behavior of older adults as evaluated by dental hygienists (DH).

[Subjects and Methods]

　The subjects were 11 participants with a mean age of 75.5 ± 5.2 years. DH evaluated the participants’ toothbrushing behavior using the Cognitive Performance Test (CPT), while occupational therapists performed the Mini-Mental State Examination-Japanese (MMSE-J) and the Allen Cognitive Level Screen-5 (ACLS-5) assessments.

　The CPT, based on Allen’s Cognitive Disabilities Model, was developed by occupational therapists and uses a 5-level scale to assess the participants’ ability to perform toothbrushing activities. The primary observation points were the duration of toothbrushing, the handling of the toothbrush and toothpaste, and actions like wiping the mouth.

[Results and Discussion]

　Seven participants were rated at CPT Level 5.0: “Capable of performing independently without problems”, while four participants were rated at Level 4.4: “Capable of correcting mistakes with instructions, with some errors”. The MMSE-J identified one participant with suspected mild dementia and two with suspected mild cognitive impairment.

　Participants with MMSE-J scores of 23 and 25 had ACLS-5 levels of 5.0 and 5.4, respectively, while their CPT levels were 4.4. These findings suggest that observing toothbrushing behavior allows DH to identify signs of cognitive decline.

[Conclusion]

　It was concluded that DH can assess cognitive function by observation of toothbrushing behavior during oral hygiene guidance. Future studies are needed to include a larger sample size and to examine the CPT, developed from the perspective of occupational therapists.

　This study aimed to investigate difficulties experienced by nursery school staff in involving parents with mental health disorders and their children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six staff members of nursery schools who cared for children whose parents had mental health disorders regarding the difficulties faced when caring for such children and involving their parents. The findings of the semi-structured interviews were then inductively analyzed. The following difficulties were revealed: “It is hard to communicate with parents due to symptoms of parent’s disease,” “Staff experiences fear owing to parents’ behavior caused by their disease,” “Arranging support system to parents is difficult,” “I do not know the way care is adjusted according to parents’ condition and treatment,” “Feeling burdened by the impact of inadequate parenting on their children,” “Avoiding and dealing with problems with other parents and children is difficult,” “Developing child care and the nursery school system are difficult because of the need to deal with parents” and “Cooperating with other organization is difficult.” Establishing opportunities for education concerning care according to the disorder and treatment, support for mental health among staff, and supporting cooperation with other organizations were suggested to improve the condition of parents and the health of children, while reducing the difficulties of nursery staff.

　As of January 17, 2023, the Council for Research Related to Improving the Abilities of Health Teachers and Nutrition Teachers (established by the director of elementary and secondary education within the Central Council for Education) published its Summary of the Discussion organizing the issues faced by nutrition teachers (NTs). The report identified that NTs are unable to provide individual guidance to children who have food-related health problems and that they lack of awareness regarding their own roles. While these are harsh criticisms, it is an important reminder that there are tasks that only an NT can perform, and it can be seen as an opportunity to review the NT training systems at universities. Therefore, this paper examines the current status of the Education Personnel Certification Act and its enforcement regulations in order to provide some basic information for reforming these courses. The results reveal that the current legal framework does not provide university students with the abilities they need to offer individual guidance. They also suggest that sufficiently cultivating these abilities will require more curricula for Class-2 licenses and certification courses in school education boards that incorporate individual guidance as a requirement, and that we should elevate the basic qualifications of Class-1 licenses to registered dietitians.

　A draft of a support tool (leaflet-type printed material) was prepared with the aim of supporting parents preparing their children with chronic diseases in preparation for entering elementary school. In order to obtain suggestions for the completion of the support tool, an investigation was conducted with nursery school nurses to determine how the draft support tool could be utilized and what improvements could be made. Seven nursery school nurses who had experience in providing support to parents of children with chronic diseases were sent a draft of the support tool in advance, and were later asked to in semi-structured interviews regarding how they thought using the draft support tool and what they thought inappropriate or lacking in its contents.

　The findings of the investigation revealed that the draft support tool was a resource that nursery school nurses could also use it to support the parents. In addition, additions and modifications to the draft support tool were identified, and suggestions were made for the completion of a support tool that can be used in common with children with chronic diseases.

　The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for sleep disorders in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

　For domestic literature, the Web version of the Japan Medical Abstracts Society (JAMAS) database was searched using the keywords “autism spectrum disorder” and “sleep”. For overseas literature, the PubMed and CINAHL databases were searched using the keywords “autism spectrum disorder” and “sleep”.

　The six selected target documents were classified into “behavioral intervention by caregivers”, ‘physical intervention’ and ‘sensory-based intervention’.

　In the category of ‘behavioural interventions by caregivers’, the effects of bedtime fading and positive routines were reported. In the category of ‘physical interventions’, the effects of music and vibration stimulation on reducing nighttime awakenings and increasing sleep duration were reported. There were no clear effects shown for ‘sensory-based interventions’ using weighted blankets. The methods of intervention for sleep disorders in children with ASD have not been fully investigated. It is necessary to consider providing assistance through a combination of intervention methods that are tailored to the individuality of the child with ASD and the sleep environment at home.