It is difficult to cool children with high fever by the conventional method because they cannot keep quiet in the bed, playing briskly or clinging on to their mother's bosom. We have devised new cooling methods available in any posture of the children. Cooling agents were packed into a rucksack or vest to cool the back, or into a rag doll to cool the axilla. The effectiveness of these devices was examined. The mothers of the patients at the age of 1 to 3 selected one of the three cooling methods randomly. As a result, the rucksack type were the vest type were accepted by their children for many hours, and were effective in lowering bode temperature in 65% of the cases. The mothers also seemed to like the new cooling methods. They commented that their children are free from restraint and the cooling devices are conveniently invisible for them.

In athletes, repeated intensive exercise is considered to depress the immune system. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of yogurt fermented with Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris FC (L. cremoris FC) on salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in long-distance runners (high school students) during a 5 day intensive training program. Fourteen subjects were divided into 2 groups: a yogurt fermented with L. cremoris FC intake group and a milk intake group (control group). Each subject consumed yogurt or milk for 5 days during the intensive training. Salivary samples were obtained on days 1 and 5, and SIgA secretion and cortisol levels were measured. In addition, the mood of each subject was evaluated using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire. Our study suggested that L. cremoris FC intake increases SIgA secretion. In addition, there might be a significant suppression in the increase of salivary cortisol levels caused by exercise mainly, but there was no effect on mood. These results suggest that L. cremoris FC intake may have health benefits by enhancing oral immune function mediated by SIgA.

BACKGROUND: Lead is a toxic metal abundant in the environment. Consumption of food contaminated at low levels of lead, especially by small children and pregnant women, raises a health concern. METHODS: Duplicated food portions and drinking water were collected over 3 days from 88 children and 87 pregnant women in Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan. Participants were recruited in this study between January 2014 and October 2015. Dust was also collected from their homes. Lead concentrations were measured and consequent oral lead exposure levels were estimated for this population at high risk to environmental toxicants. Lead concentrations of peripheral and cord blood, taken from children and pregnant women, and were also analyzed. RESULTS: Lead concentrations in food, drinking water, and house dust were low in general. Oral lead exposure to lead was higher for children (Mean ± SEM; 5.21 ± 0.30 μg/kg BW/week) than in pregnant women (1.47 ± 0.13 μg/kg BW/week). Food and house dust were main sources of lead contamination, but the contribution of house dust widely varied. Means ± SEM of peripheral and cord blood lead concentrations were 0.69 ± 0.04 μg/dL and 0.54 ± 0.05 μg/dL, respectively for pregnant women and 1.30 ± 0.07 μg/dL (peripheral only) in children. We detect no correlation between smoking situations and blood lead concentration in pregnant women. CONCLUSION We conclude that oral lead exposure levels for Japanese children and pregnant women were generally low, with higher concentrations and exposure for children than for pregnant women. More efforts are necessary to clarify the sources of lead contamination and reduce lead exposure of the population at high risk even in Japan.