The validity of urinary nicotine and its metabolites as a biomarker of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been investigated. After exposure to ETS, urine samples were collected from 10 subjects for the analyses of nicotine, cotinine and 3'-hydroxycotinine. The former two chemicals were detected in the urine of all subjects, and 3'-hydroxycotinine was detected in the urine of 9 subjects out of 10, indicating these three chemicals can be used as a biomarker of ETS exposure. 3'-Hydroxycotinine was not detected in the urine of one subject, suggesting that this subject may be a poor metabolizer of nicotine. In 9 subjects with 3'-hydroxycotinine excreted, the amounts of nicotine and cotinine started to increase after exposure, reached the peak at the end of the second exposure and decreased gradually. 3'-Hydroxycotinine started to be excreted into urine from 3 hours after exposure and kept the same level until 72 hours after exposure. In the urine of 72 hours after exposure, the amount of 3'-hydroxycotinine was the highest among these three chemicals.

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Although adequate assessment of exposure is needed in epidemiological studies among foundry workers, previous studies are often lacking in this aspect. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of a Chinese iron and steel company with a 14-yr follow up during 1980-1993. Exposure assessment was performed for a single job, i.e., the current job for the active worker and the longest job for the retired or deceased worker as of the end of the follow-up, which was allocated as the surrogate of lifetime job and was applied to a job-exposure matrix. Of the 147,062 cohort members, 52,394 males (43%) and 5,291 females (21%) were exposed to any of 15 hazardous factors such as dust, silica, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), CO (carbon monoxide) and heat. In 2,104 randomly selected samples, the exposure assessment of exposed workers based on a single job was found to be 12-14% lower than the real situation. This study suggests that the exposure assessment is valuable in evaluating the health effects among the foundry workers, despite some limitations such as underestimation of exposure assessment and the lack of data regarding smoking and drinking habits.

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Recent studies have shown that cytokines and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 are up-regulated in the brain of human epilepsy patients and animal models of epilepsy. We investigated the effect of inflammatory responses induced by intramuscular injection of turpentine on the epileptic phenomenon in genetically epileptic El mice. As parameters of epileptic seizure, seizure threshold (number of toss-ups to induce convulsion), duration of actual convulsion and duration of post actual convulsive period (period from the offset of convulsion to full recovery) were evaluated. The post actual convulsive period was prolonged without any change of seizure threshold or duration of actual convulsion 24 h after turpentine injection. Although pretreatment with indomethacin for one week did not change the seizure parameters, indomethacin suppressed the prolongation of the post actual convulsive period induced by turpentine. The mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6 and COX-2 in the cerebral cortex was detected by RT-PCR. There was no difference in the mRNA expression in the cerebral cortex before and 24h after seizure. The mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and COX-2 in the cerebral cortex were up-regulated 24h after turpentine injection. On the other hand, the up-regulated mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and COX-2 in the cerebral cortex after turpentine treatment were not suppressed by indomethacin. These results suggest that prostaglandins induced with COX-2 in the cerebral cortex seem to play an important role in the maintenance of the post convulsive period, but not in induction and maintenance of the actual convulsive state.

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The L-type Ca²⁺ channel has a unique kinetic property known as voltage-dependent facilitation. Many researchers have repeatedly investigated the mechanism in response to the voltage-dependent facilitation since the first observation by Fenwick et al. in 1982. Electrophysiological evaluations of voltage-dependent facilitation, however, remain inconsistent, partially because of its unclear definition. Some scientists understand it as a current augmentation by a conditioning prepulse prior to the test pulse, and others understand it as a result of the U-shape steady-state inactivation curve. We therefore investigated to identify the distinction between the voltage-dependent facilitation and the steady-state inactivation, by use of Ba²⁺ as the charge in order to avoid the other inactivation mechanism or the Ca²⁺-dependent inactivation upon this analysis. Conventional whole-cell mode patch clamp technique was applied to Chinese hamster fibroblast (CHW) cells that express the α_1c subunit alone or the α_1c subunit with the β subunit (α_1c/β) derived from rabbit heart to investigate the voltage-dependent facilitation depending on the composition of the subunits. Coexpression of the β subunit augmented α₁ subunit channel current and shifted current-voltage relation towards hyperpolarized direction. In the experiment using conventional double pulse protocol to investigate steady-state inactivation, α_1c subunit channel current and α_1c/β subunit channel current were not fully inactivated. Subtraction of the steady-state inactivation component from whole recovered current enabled us to identify the voltage-dependent facilitation component of the L-type Ca²⁺ channel. The voltage-dependent facilitation of the α₁ subunit current and the α_1c/β subunit current were identical in kinetics, and could be generated at 0 mV or depolarized potentials partially overlapped with the potential range for the steady-state inactivation of the current. These results suggest that the voltage-dependent facilitation of the L-type Ca²⁺ channel could be formed by the α_1c subunit without interaction with the β subunit, and that the range for the voltage-dependent facilitation and the steady-state inactivation overlap each other at 0 mV or more depolarized potentials up to approximately+100 mV.

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Breast cancer is a hormone responsive disease, and its proliferation and progression correlate with estrogen. Estrogen binds to estrogen receptor and induces various target genes, thus promoting proliferation of breast cancer cells. Therefore, the strategy of endocrine therapy is the blockade of estrogen action. We can use a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone agonist and aromatase inhibitor as an interruptor of supply, tamoxifen as an inhibitor of estrogen receptor, and medroxyprogesterone acetate with an anti-estrogen action. In this article, we review endocrine therapy for breast cancer patients based on recent clinical trials.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the emotions of student nurses toward children in order to apply the results to their practical training, since the opportunity for contact with children has been decreasing in recent years due to the declining birth rate. 278 student nurses completed a self-administered anonymous questionnaire that consisted of their background, such as living with children and experience of contact with children, their learning process, such as finished lectures and nursing training in child and maternal care or not, 28 items from Hanazawa's scale of emotions toward children, and 27 items for the concept of motherhood. The obtained data was analyzed using the SPSS 12.0J for Windows with the Spearman's correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test. The valid recovery was 121 (43.5%). The negative point for the concept of motherhood was significantly lower in the group that had finished nursing training in child and maternal care than in the group without such training. On the other hand, living with children and experience of contact with children did not influence their emotions toward children or concept of motherhood. The results of this study suggest that the experiences that student nurses have some deliberate and active contacts with children and mothers during their nursing training in child and maternal care have an influence on their concept of motherhood.

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We taught fourth-year students in a university about patient education using the diabetes retinopathy model in adult nursing practice. We analyzed teacher's student guidance plans and the guidance process using a clinical training education analysis form from the viewpoint of qualitative interpretation. We evaluated the degree of achievement of the students' goal for practice and the training subject. Consequently, the teacher developed training guidance as a class.

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We conducted a survey from 1999 to 2004 of female students attending a college of nursing, regarding their awareness of the municipal waste reduction policy as well as the problems caused by dioxins. The questionnaire survey showed that over the six years a majority of students supported a stricter waste-sorting policy. The students were willing to sort waste in more minute details. Only a handful of students was aware of the municipal government's waste-reduction campaign. Furthermore, the students' awareness regarding problems caused by dioxins was high, but decreased from 94.7% in 1999 to 76.5% in 2004, with more than 90.0% of the students recognizing that it is necessary to reduce the total amount of waste in order to decrease dioxin emission from incineration plants.

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The purpose of this survey questionnaire is to investigate the factors influencing how nursery school teachers perceive inclusive child day-care in K City in order to qualify what support we can provide. The questionnaire was sent to nursery school teachers with experience in inclusive child day-care in K City. Three hundred seventeen teachers provided sufficient data for analysis. The results of this survey suggest that teachers perceive inclusive child day-care to lead up to self-development and the pleasure of child-caring. On the other hand, they feel a burden of inclusive child day-care, with teachers in their 40s feeling a stronger burden than teachers in their 20s. And teachers with experience in taking care of emotionally disturbed children or teachers with experience in taking care of hearing-impaired children feel a stronger burden than teachers without experience in taking care of them. The results of our survey also suggest that it is necessary for support systems to have special knowledge about disabled children and special ways of caring, and to decrease teachers' burden or dissatisfaction with inclusive child day-care.

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