At the Municipal Ikeda Hospital, a system in which pharmacists stationed in one ward pharmacy dispense drugs to be administered by injection and injectable preparations delivered to patients' bedsides was introduced in April 2000. This system was aimed at minimizing risks related to injections. Initially, however, on , nurses played the roles of pharmacists in terms of the injections, and there were concerns over a possible rise in the incidence of errors (adverse events/near-misses) related to injections on these days compared with weekdays. Later, when planning to introduce a new holiday work system in the ward pharmacy, we took into account such factors as the number of pharmacists needed on , their duties on and the influence on weekday pharmacy activity of compensatory days-off taken by such pharmacists. In May 2004, the new holiday work system was introduced in the ward pharmacy. Under the new system, 5 pharmacists work at the ward pharmacy on . After this system was put into operation, the number of injections dispensed at the ward pharmacy averaged 230 per day, and 177 per holiday. To evaluate the validity of this system, we recently conducted a questionnaire survey of nurses at our hospital. The survey involved 139 nurses. Of these nurses, 69.1% responded that the number of incidents (adverse events/near-misses) related to dispensing injections on had decreased. Furthermore, 65.4% of the nurses reported a decrease in incidents related to the delivery and administration of injectable preparations. More than half of the nurses answered that the new system had made it easier for them to collect information on medicines and helped them provide better nursing services. When the nurses were asked to make a general assessment of the new system, 90% rated the system as “good.” The results of this survey indicate that keeping the ward pharmacy open on contributes to the promotion of the proper use of medicines, reduction of risks related to injections and improvement in the quality of medical care.

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This study focuses on the realities of annual paid vacation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses quantitative text analysis to examine the results of a questionnaire survey conducted through a research company commissioned by the author. The analysis results suggest that with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, people’s lifestyles changed significantly, and annual leave-taking behaviors also changed. However, the spread of COVID-19 did not fundamentally change behaviors relating to annual paid vacations. The impact of previous studies and the subsequent measures to promote the use of annual paid vacation still remained among workers who saw an increase in the number of annual paid vacation days used compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. While many lose sight of the purpose of annual paid vacation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this finding’s significance may be that it shows many previous studies on annual paid vacation have led to policy proposals with subsequent results that have been passed on to society.

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In Japan, there is a higher incidence of childhood obesity in the Tohoku district than in other areas. It is known that reduced physical activity is associated with increased body weight, but little is known about the physical activity patterns of children in this area. Accordingly, this study was designed to measure the physical activity of 145 children (73 boys and 72 girls) in Hashikami Town, Aomori Prefecture. Physical activity was assessed through a questionnaire as well as through two weeks of pedometer use. Boys spent more time engaging in physical activity than girls did, reporting 9.5 (0.6–22.0) versus 7.0 (1.2–21.5) hours per week [median (range)] (p=0.002). On school days, boys took an average of 13,586±4,386 (mean±SD) steps per day, while girls took 12,248±4,112; on , boys took 9,531±4,557, while girls took 9,419±4,524. There was no significant sex-based difference in the number of steps per day (F=1.197, p=0.276), but both boys and girls significantly reduced the number of steps they took on (F=116.537, p<0.001). In addition, 36 (24.8%) children reduced the number of steps they took by more than 50% on compared to school days. In general, the participants engaged in the internationally recommended amounts of physical activity. Yet their reduced level of physical activity on seems to be a matter for concern, as it is a possible cause of the higher incidence of childhood obesity in this area.

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Employing the vital statistics from January 1, 1979 to December 31, 1994 in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, we investigated the relationship between suicide (ICD 9 code, El 15) and days of the week. In one day 1.97 males and 0.98 females committed suicide on average. On Saturdays the number of suicides per day was the smallest. On Mondays it was the highest. When the days were classified into (1) a holiday, (2) the day before a holiday, (3) the day after a holiday (4) the day both before and after a holiday and (5) others, the rate of suicide was the lowest in the days before a holiday. In the days after a holiday, however, the rate was the highest. The same tendency was also noted when the subjects were classified into several subgroups from the viewpoint of ages, seasons or calender years. The time relation of seemed to have something to do with the intention to commit suicide.
J Epidemiol, 2000 ; 10 : 317-320

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The present study aims to examine what writing strategies Japanese university EFL students would exhibit when producing summaries under two different conditions. Under Condition 1, the students read an expository essay and summarized it by referring to the original essay. Under Condition 2, they read the same essay but wrote a summary without referring to the original text. Each student’s summary written under the different conditions was analyzed by considering two major summarizing strategies, that is, (1) selecting main ideas while deleting peripheral information, and (2) paraphrasing original words, phrases, and sentences. The results of the analysis showed that, when the students wrote summaries under Condition 1, they tended to include both the main and peripheral ideas; they also tended to use more syntactically complex sentences but to adhere to the expressions of the original text. However, when they produced summaries under Condition 2, they focused on the main ideas and attempted to rephrase those ideas in their own words, part of which resulted in less sophisticated expressions with more grammatical errors. These results suggest that different contexts exert different effects on the students’ summary production.

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This is a study of building power consumption data which was collected by BEMS system in university. Then these data analysis method using clustering. By data visualization of each college we identify the relationship between power consumption and school schedule of university.

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We assessed the relationship between shift work and job stress. The target subjects were 4,962 male workers (3,078 day workers and 1,884 shift workers) aged 18 to 60 yr who work in a Japanese steel company. We used the "Brief Job Stress Questionnaire", which was developed by a research group organized by the Japanese Ministry of Labour. We evaluated the effect of shift work on job stress using logistic regression analysis including age, lifestyle factors, work conditions, marital status, and living arrangements in the model. Job schedule type was significantly associated with job control, with an odds ratio of 2.22 for shift workers compared to day workers. The logistic regression analysis revealed that the odd ratios for having one or more stressor items in an unfavorable condition were significantly higher for shift workers compared to day workers. Increase in the amount of overtime and decrease in the number of led to a significant deterioration in job stress. Our study reveals that the 3-shift system of employment increases work-related stress, and that job control is low among shift workers. To reduce job stress in this occupational population, a reduction in the amount of overtime and an increase in the number of seem to be useful interventions.

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 Evaluation of impacts of congestion improvement scheme s on travel time reliability is very significant for road authorities since travel time reliability repr esents operational performance of expressway segments. In this paper, a methodology is presented to estimate travel tim e reliability prior to implementation of congestion relief schemes based on travel time variation modeling as a function of demand, capacity, weather conditions and road accident s. For subject expressway segmen ts, traffic conditions are modeled over a whole year considering demand and capacity as random variables. Patterns of demand and capacity are generated for each five minute interval by appl ying Monte-Carlo simulation technique, and accidents are randomly generated based on a model that links acci dent rate to traffic conditions. A whole year analysis is performed by comparing de mand and available capacity for each scenario and queue length is estimated through shockwave analysis for each time in terval. Travel times are estimated from refined speed-flow relationships developed for intercity expressways and buffer time index is estimated consequently as a measure of travel time reliability. For validation, estimated reliability indices are compared with measured values from empirical data, and it is shown that the proposed method is suitable for operational evaluation and planning purposes.

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In this study, the states of obesity, physical activity, and diet of 4 th-6 th graders were examined in an agricultural area of the Tohoku region, where many pupils are driven to and from school. The physique (height, weight), physical activity level (Select 2 ; Kenz), and nutritional intake were investigated in 32 elementary school pupils for one week. The subjects showed the following characteristics : 1) A high percentage of obese pupils, 2) a small number of walking steps, and 3) a lower percentage of obese pupils than non-obese pupils participating in sports activities. Therefore, efforts to increase the physical activity level are considered to be necessary for the prevention of obesity. For this purpose, in addition to administrative measures to increase exercise opportunities in the community such as the establishment of a general sports club, local movements such as encouraging pupils to walk to school may be effective.

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Objectives: This study aimed to clarify the association between long working hours and short sleep duration among Japanese workers. Methods: We selected 4,000 households from across Japan by stratified random sampling and conducted an interview survey of a total of 662 participants (372 men; 290 women) in November 2009. Logistic regression analyses were performed using “sleep duration <6 hours per day” as a dependent variable to examine the association between working hours/overtime hours and short sleep duration. Results: When male participants who worked for ≥7 but <9 hours per day were used as a reference, the odds ratio (OR) for short sleep duration in those who worked for ≥11 hours was 8.62 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.94-18.86). With regard to overtime hours among men, when participants without overtime were used as a reference, the OR for those whose period of overtime was ≥3 hours but <4 hours was 3.59 (95% CI: 1.42-9.08). For both men and women, those with long weekday working hours tended to have a short sleep duration during weekdays and . Conclusions: It is essential to avoid working long hours in order to prevent short sleep duration.(J Occup Health 2013; 55: 307-311)

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The working hours per week in Japan have been usually held the system of 48 working hours and one holiday. Recently, in some enterprises, it has been setting the system of two per week. It is interesting to observe the influences of prolonged on worker's health. In this paper, auditory thresholds were investigated from the standpoint of the biological responses in workers to the prolonged absence from their working environments. The study was made on 19 male workers aged from 16 to 20. Their noise exposure varied between one and three years, but their clinical signs and audiograms were considered to be otologically normal. The noise rating number (N.R.N) in their workshop was 90&sim;105. They took one or two per week, i.e. if they had taken one holiday in a specified week, they had to take two in the next week. Audiometric examinations were carried out in the Saturday morning, and in the next Monday morning after one holiday. In the case of two , examinations were carried out on Friday and the next Monday. The duration of the absence from noise was 40 hour in the former case, and 64 hours in the latter. Results were as follows. 1) The mean Monday morning thresholds after one holiday were lower at 1000, 2000 and 4000 cps. than those on Saturdays. 2) The mean Monday morning thresholds after two were lower at 1000, 2000, 4000 and 8000 cps. than those on Fridays. 3) The differences between thresholds at the weekend and on the next Monday were greater at 2000 and 4000 cps. in the case of two than in that of one holiday. 4) The Monday morning threshold after two was lower only at cps. than that after one holiday. The above-mentiond results showed that the influence of the prolonged on the auditory threshold was seen mainly at 4000 cps. It seems that this decrease of the threshold was brought about by the recovery of TTS during the prolonged absence from noise exposure.

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The purpose of this paper was to examine (1) clothing changing practices of women students, (2) image of four kinds of typical wears: school wears, visiting wears, everyday wears and night wears, (3) psychological effects altered by changing clothes, (4) the relationships between Sensation Seeking and the psychological effects.
The results were as follows:
1) More than half of the subjects changed night wears into visiting wears when they went out on weekdays, but they continued to wear the night wears for a few hours after rising on .
2) The results of image measurements on four kinds indicated that school wears were accepted as public; visiting wears colorful; everyday wears dynamic; night wears static.
3) In the study of psychological factors and the image, those individuals with higher scores in “enjoyment factors” tended to perceive visiting wears to be colorful and private, and those with lower scores to be colorful and public.
On the other hand, those individuals with higher scores in “mood diversion factors” tended to perceive school wears to be dynamic and plain, and those with lower scores to be static and plain.
4) Those individuals with higher levels of Sensation Seeking showed psychological comfort caused by changing their clothing.

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This study uses “Mobile Kukan Toukei™” (Mobile Spatial Statistics) to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the transitions and characteristics of population in Nagoya City. Mobile Kukan Toukei comprises statistical population data created using the operational data from mobile phone networks. Comparison of the data before and after the COVID-19 outbreak showed that the impact was remarkable in many areas in April 2020. Notably, urban areas such as Nagoya Station and Sakae showed relatively more robust recovery both on weekdays and . However, several tourist areas did not bounce back on , despite the Japanese government’s “GoTo” campaign. More visitors are perhaps coming from closer regions than distant ones as people’s attempt to minimize the risk of being infected.

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To investigate the level of walking activity among residents of the Tohoku district in northern Japan, where no widespread public transport system has been developed, winter is severe. The participants were 50 town hall employees with an average age of 43.6±10.8 (SD) years. The walking activity of each participant was assessed using a pedometer for one week in summer and one week in winter. The participants' lifestyles, including their commuting methods, were assessed using a questionnaire. Forty-six participants (92%) usually commute to work by private car. The average numbers of steps/day on workdays and were, in summer, 6,560±2,600 and 7,016±4,679, respectively, and, in winter, 5,236±2,253 and 4,770±3,039; these numbers were somewhat lower than those recorded in previous reports. We observed a significant reduction in walking during winter (F=19.016, p=0.0001), but no significant differences between workdays and (F=0.001, p=0.966). A significant correlation between BMI and steps/day (r=−0.420, p<0.01) was obtained on workdays in winter. The unexpectedly low level of these participants' physical activity, especially in winter, is probably due to the fact that most of them commute by private car, which is likely a cause of the high incidence of obesity in this district. In addition, a seasonal effect should also be considered when physical activity is assessed, especially in cold climates.

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To characterize temporal variations of live births in Japan, we analyzed data on the 1, 203, 147 births of 1998.In hospitals, with 20+ beds, the daily average of live births was significantly lower at weekends and national (mean=1, 433, SD=100)than on weekdays(mean=1, 957, SD=126).Hourly distri- butions of live births showed a single sharp peak at 1:00-2:59 pm on weekdays with a small peak at an earlier hour on Saturdays, Sundays and national .The results in clinics, with no bed or less than 20 beds, were similar to those in hospitals except on Saturdays.The difference in the daily aver- age of live births between Saturdays and weekdays was smaller in clinics than that found in hospitals, and hourly distributions on Saturdays resembled those of weekdays but not Sundays or national holi- days.Maternity homes showed no differences in the mean number of daily live births over the days of the week including national , and no clear peak of percentage distributions of hourly live births on each day of the week.The present study suggests that the weekly and hourly variations observed in hospitals and clinics are not due to a biological rhythm of labor, but to obstetric intervention in the tim- ing of delivery, either through induction of labor or elective cesarean section.J Epidemiol 2002;12:330-335.

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The shortage of pediatricians and emergency medical care for children is an issue of great concern in Japan. This study attempts to identify the problems in children's medical care and their causes. With multiple secondary data sources, we found that over 80% of outpatient pediatric services were provided by clinics, that over 95% of clinics were closed on , Sunday, and Saturday night, that among the children's illnesses respiratory ailments were dominant and were generally acute and required immediate treatment or consultation, and that the revenue rates from providing services for children were lower than those for adults. That fewer clinics are open on Saturday night, Sunday and , and workday evenings may be the main reason why it is difficult for children to find pediatric services outside of normal working hours. Lower revenue rates may be one of the key reasons why the number and rate of clinics and hospitals providing pediatric services continue to decline, and fewer physicians are willing to provide services for children. The findings in this research would provide important information of multiple dimensions for the governments to make efforts to improve pediatric services in Japan. Our proposition is to prompt pediatric specialists and internists who can treat pediatric cases in clinics to provide pediatric service systematically and alternatively at night, and to adjust the fee-for-service scales of pediatric services.

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The purpose of this study was to make clear the aspects of salivary melatonin metabolism and living conditions among school children during weekdays and the day following

. Additionally, the purpose was to examine living factors related to melatonin metabolism. The analysis samples were 47 healthy 3^rd and 4^th grade children in an elementary school. This investigation was carried out during a week in July 2009. Saliva samples were collected three times (6:30pm: evening, 9:30pm: night, 6:30am: morning) at two different periods (weekdays and the day following ). Weekdays were from Wednesday to Thursday (weekday-weekday: W-W) and the day following were from Sunday to Monday (holiday-weekday: H-W). Responses to a questionnaire about living conditions were recorded over the course of a week. The results were as follows: 1) Half of the subjects had their highest melatonin concentration at the morning measurement instead of the night measurement. 2) During the W-W period, the percentages of the subjects who had their highest salivary melatonin concentration at the night and morning measurements were not significantly different, and the mean concentrations at the night and morning measurements were also not significantly different. In contrast, during the H-W period, a majority had their highest melatonin concentration at the morning measurement, and the mean concentration was clearly higher at the morning measurement than at the night measurement. 3) Sleeping hours tended to be longer on than on weekdays. Furthermore, bedtimes and wake times were significantly later on than on weekdays. It was also found that electronic media and outdoors play hours were longer on than on weekdays, while study hours were shorter on than on weekdays. 4) Subjects whose salivary melatonin concentration had its highest value at the morning measurement had later bedtimes and wake-times, longer electronic media hours, and shorter outdoor play hours than those whose salivary melatonin concentration had its highest value at the night measurement. These findings suggest that the differences of the living conditions influence the melatonin metabolism among the children.

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