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Volume 31 (2009)
- Issue 4 Pages 311-
- Issue 3 Pages 219-
- Issue 2 Pages 131-
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Volume 31, Issue 3
Displaying 1-9 of 9 articles from this issue
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Hideyuki KOBAYASHIArticle type: Research Note
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 219-230
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSAgrin isoforms in the brain microvessels were investigated. Brain microvessels prepared from rat cerebral cortex expressed the short amino terminal (SN) isoform, which contains a transmembrane sequence of SN agrin, and the long amino terminal (LN) isoform, which contains a signal sequence for secretion of LN agrin, were detected in the microvessels. The expression of LN form mRNA in comparison with that of SN form was higher in the brain microvessels than in the cerebral cortex, indicating preferential expression of LN form agrin in the microvessels. In addition, the amino-terminal sequence of agrin expressed in the rat brain microvessels was determined by rapid amplification of 5'cDNA end (5'-RACE). The sequence contained a cluster of hydrophobic amino acids, which may form a signal sequence for secretion. Transfection of expression vector coding amino-terminal sequence of LN agrin fused with green fluorescence protein (GFP) into human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells caused expression of the protein in the cell as well as in the medium, whereas SN agrin fused with GFP expressed at the cell surface. These results show that the major form of agrin expressed in the brain microvessels is of basal lamina-associated LN agrin and suggest that LN agrin may play a role in molecular organization at the interface between the parenchyma cells and microvessels.View full abstractDownload PDF (15383K) -
Yasuji OKAI, Takahiro OKADA, Kiyoka HIGASHI-OKAI, Emiko KASAHARA, Masa ...Article type: Original
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 231-242
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSTo determine the potent immunomodulating activities of different types of Japanese rice bran, we analyzed the effects of extracts of red, brown and black rice brans on the cell proliferation and cytokine production of mouse immunocompetent cells by cell culture experiments. Methanol extracts of these rice brans showed suppressive activities against the proliferative response (³H-thymidine incorporation) of mouse spleen cells induced by concanavalin A (Con A) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the cell culture experiments. Although the black and brown rice bran extracts showed suppressive effects on the production of interferon γ (IFN γ) or interleukin 6 (IL-6) in mouse spleen cells induced by Con A or LPS, the red rice bran extract exhibited stimulatory effects on the same cytokine-producing systems. Furthermore, when the effects of these extracts on the production of macropahage-derived inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) were assayed, the red rice bran extract caused a stimulatory effect on the IL-1α production from mouse macrophages induced by LPS, but did not show a significant effect on TNF-α production. However, the brown and black rice bran extracts exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the production of IL-1α and TNF-α in the same macrophage culture experiment. A possible mechanism of the immunomodulating activities of the rice bran extracts and the immunopharmacological significance of these findings are discussed.View full abstractDownload PDF (828K) -
Tomoki FUJIO, Yasushi JYOYAMA, Shiro YASUI, Hiromi MICHITSUJI, Chikako ...Article type: Original
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 243-257
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSThe aim of this study was to verify the relationship between the cobalt oxide concentration in air and the cobalt concentration in urine. In the first study, we measured the cobalt concentration in the urine of 16 workers exposed to cobalt oxide in a Digital Video Cassette manufacturing plant at the beginning and end of their workshift during 2 working cycles. In the second study, we measured the exposure level to cobalt oxide and the cobalt concentration in urine at the end of the workshift of other 16 workers on 3 out of 5 consecutive work days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Four workers among the 16 participated twice. In the first study, the cobalt concentration in the urine increased about 1.5-3 fold during each workshift and then tended to decrease rapidly to the control value before the next workshift. In the second study, we examined the relationship between air and urine concentration using 22 samples after excluding data from workers with dust respirators. Comparing the air and urine concentrations for samples under 30μg/m³ (n=20), a significant correlation was found (r=0.76). These results indicate that most of the inhaled cobalt oxide was excreted rapidly, and a good relationship was found between air and urine concentrations at the end of the workshift when the exposure level was under 30μg/m³. Therefore, the cobalt concentration in urine at the end of a workshift can be used as an indicator of one-day exposure to cobalt oxide when the exposure is low levelView full abstractDownload PDF (1074K) -
Mitsuhiro OCHI, Kenichiro MAKINO, Futoshi WADA, Satoru SAEKI, Kenji HA ...Article type: Technical Note
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 259-263
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSWe developed a walker, the Body Weight Supported (BWS) Walker, with a device of partial suspension for patients with gait disturbance. It consists of a light frame with casters, a harness, and a winch system. One therapist alone can perform gait training safely with the BWS Walker without any additional physical load, even if a patient has severe gait disturbance, and the therapist can concentrate on evaluating and improving the patient's standing balance and gait pattern. Because the BWS Walker is less expensive, simpler, and easier to operate than other BWS systems, we believe the BWS Walker can be widely applicable in training for patients with severe and moderate gait disturbanceView full abstractDownload PDF (624K) -
Yuriko HACHIYA, Hiroyuki IZUMI, Harutoshi OGAI, Koji MORIArticle type: Original
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 265-279
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSWith the recent, rapid developments of computers, adaptation between the human being and computer is being improved. On the other hand, mental fatigue is increased by continuous, long-time use. The problem of mental fatigue is now a new focus of research. This study proposes a method of evaluating mental fatigue. In this study, we used a method to extract signals related to fatigue using Independent Component Analysis (ICA). The subjects were 10 male students. After assuming a workload of simulated visual display terminal (VDT) operation for 30min, the subjects sat in a relaxed position for 30min. In this process, we measured work performance, subjective symptoms of feelings of fatigue and physiological measures. As a result, there was a high value of the correlation coefficient between these signals and the subjective symptoms of feeling of fatigue. We suggest that by using ICA we can determine the relationship between Independent Components and subjective feelings of fatigue for those under work stress, work strain and in a state of fatigue and stress. However, further experiments are needed to obtain conclusive findings of our research.View full abstractDownload PDF (1185K) -
Hayato NAKAMURA, Toyohi ISSE, Tetsuro MATSUMOTO, Yoshiki TOKURAArticle type: Report
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 281-291
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSTo investigate the working responsibilities and intentions of industrial physicians who are graduates of University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan (UOEH), we performed a questionnaire survey in 2008 and compared the results with those of 2001. To industrial physicians belonging to a company or occupational health organization, we dispatched a questionnaire and asked them to return it with an answer. The items to investigate included their careers and working activities and their intentions to their responsibilities. We obtained the following results. 1. The dissatisfaction with salary and official position was mostly reduced to 24.7% from 29.2% and 19.7% from 29.9%. 2. The practical duty of medical examination of workers and the subsequent management was decreased to 51.5% from 74.7%, while mental health support and the advice on severe health issues such as excess work death were increased to 85.6% from 54.5% and 32.4% from 22.1%. 3. Concerning the working status of industrial physicians, the ratio of the answer of "The industrial physician duties are not positively evaluated by his or her company" was decreased to 23.1% from 32.5%. The investigation of 2008 revealed that the situation of UOEH graduated industrial physicians was substantially improved concerning the dissatisfaction with salary and official position, as compared with the study of 7 years before.View full abstractDownload PDF (1041K) -
－Comparison Between Acute and Recuperation Wards－Hironori YADA, Hiroshi ABE, Hisamitsu OMORI, Yasushi ISHIDA, Takahiko ...Article type: Report
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 293-303
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSThe aim of the present study is to identify stressors (causes of stress) for psychiatric department nurses, and to compare the differing stress variables and levels of stress encountered in the acute ward and the recuperation ward. The study uses a brief work stress questionnaire and then asks 24 questions relating to the particular stresses that nurses in a psychiatric department may encounter and the length of time they are exposed to them. Answers were obtained from 36 nurses and associate nurses in two psychiatric departments (breakdown: Hospital A psychiatric department acute ward, 11 nurses; Hospital B psychiatric department recuperation ward, 25 nurses). Each subscale was analyzed using factor analysis, and the factor scores and item score were analyzed using Two-way ANOVA. The results of this analysis show that the factor scores for recuperation ward nurses were significantly higher than those for nurses from acute ward in the "atmosphere" factor from the brief work stress questionnaire, and in all factors ("knowledge and technology in nursing", "actual caring", "fear of violence" and "directionality of work") in the subscale "Stressors among Nurses in Psychiatric Department", indicating that nurses in recuperation ward had high levels of stress.View full abstractDownload PDF (1028K) -
Yoshiko YAMASHITA, Mai HANAMIYA, Takatoshi AOKIArticle type: Report
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 305-307
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSDownload PDF (1177K) -
University of Occupational and Environmental HealthArticle type: program
2009 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 309-310
Published: September 01, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: April 11, 2017
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSDownload PDF (61K)
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