BACKGROUND: Since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), concerns have arisen in Japan regarding the presence of radionuclides in food. Moreover, exposure levels to ⁹⁰Sr and Pu isotopes in adults and those to ¹³⁴Cs+¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, and Pu (where Cs, Sr, and Pu are cesium, strontium, and plutonium, respectively) in children have not been examined. Therefore, this study employed a duplicate portion approach to examine dietary exposure levels of radionuclides in adults and children following the FDNPP accident. METHODS: The study spanned fiscal years 2012-2014 and was conducted in 10 prefectures: Hokkaido, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Osaka, and Kochi. The participants provided portions of their meals for two non-consecutive days and completed questionnaires on the meal items. The activity concentrations of ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, and ^239+240Pu, which are targets of standard limits for radionuclides in foods in Japan, were determined according to the Radioactivity Measurement Series. The daily intake was calculated based on the radionuclide activity concentrations in the duplicate portion samples, and the committed effective doses were estimated using dose coefficients for the ingestion of each radionuclide provided by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. RESULTS: Approximately 80 duplicate samples were obtained in each fiscal year, and 242 samples were collected. The highest summed activity concentration of ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs was 11 Bq/kg, which was recorded in Date City (child) in 2013; this level was approximately one-ninth of the standard limit for general foods (100 Bq/kg). The committed effective dose from annual ingestion of the sample described above was 74 µSv, approximately 14 times lower than the maximum permissible level of 1 mSv/y. Pu was not detected and the ⁹⁰Sr activity concentrations were similar to those before the FDNPP accident. CONCLUSIONS For the samples examined in the present study, the ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, and ^239+240Pu dietary exposure levels were considerably lower than the regulatory levels and may not pose a health risk.
Fukushima Nuclear Accident ; Cesium Radioisotopes/analysis* ; Humans ; Japan ; Dietary Exposure/statistics & numerical data* ; Adult ; Plutonium/analysis* ; Child ; Food Contamination, Radioactive/analysis* ; Strontium Radioisotopes/analysis* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Child, Preschool ; Radiation Monitoring ; Young Adult ; Adolescent ; Aged ; Radiation Exposure/analysis*

The University of Tokyo Disability Services Office and the University of Tokyo Hospital have striven to advance the inclusion of individuals with disabilities and to encourage the co-production of research as well as mental health services with peer support workers. In convergence with these endeavors, the Center for Diversity in Medical Education and Research (CDMER) was founded in 2021. The Center aims to establish an environment and culture that facilitates the participation and success of medical professionals with disabilities. For this purpose, it is essential to integrate the perspective of the social model of disability into medical education and promote co-production in the medical field, which is among the most challenging areas that can realize co-production. The Center is involved in various educational and research activities, including managing educational programs for medical students and supporting student-led research.

BACKGROUND: Building an effective casework system for child maltreatment is a global issue. We estimated the effect of household dysfunction (i.e., interparental violence, caregiver mental health problems, and caregiver substance abuse) on child maltreatment to understand how to advance the current framework of child welfare. METHODS: The sample comprised 759 children (1- to 17-year-old; mean age was 10.6; 404 boys and 355 girls) placed in temporary custody units (one of the strongest intervention of the Japanese child protection system). Caseworkers from 180 units across 43 prefectures completed questionnaires on children and their family and were asked whether a child maltreatment report had been made after cancelation of custody in a 15-month follow-up period. The relations of household dysfunction and maltreatment reports were assessed using the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: About half (48.4%) of the children had been placed in the unit because of maltreatment, and 88.3% had a history of victimization. Seventy-six cases had maltreatment reports after cancelation. We entered household dysfunction variables individually into the model, and each had a significant relationship with maltreatment reports (hazard ratios for interparental violence, caregiver mental health problem, and substance abuse were 1.69, 1.69, and 2.19, respectively) after covariate adjustment. When treating these three variables as cumulative risk score model of household dysfunction, the hazard ratio increased with increasing number of score (1.96 for score two; 2.35 for score three; score 0 as reference). CONCLUSIONS Greater household dysfunction score is a risk of maltreatment after intensive intervention. It is imperative to construct systems facilitating cooperation between child and adult service sectors and to deliver seamless services to children and families. Our findings provide child protect services with risk-stratified interventions for children at victimization risk and promote adult-focused services to be proactive in prevention or intervention for adults with perpetration risk.
Adolescent ; Caregivers ; psychology ; Child ; Child Abuse ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Child Protective Services ; statistics & numerical data ; Child, Preschool ; Domestic Violence ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Japan ; epidemiology ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Mental Disorders ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Risk Factors ; Substance-Related Disorders ; epidemiology ; etiology

We previously reported that a case of yokukansan efficaciousness for weight gain due to overeating behavior following bariatric surgery. The reason is considered that yokukansan stabilized the patient's mental state. So, we proposed that administration of oriental medicines for mental state might be a new way of treating obesity. We investigated the efficacy of mazindol, bofutsushosan or yokukansan for obese patients. We retrospectively reviewed clinical data to identify patients administered mazindol, bofutsushosan or yokukansan for treatment of obesity. The inclusion criteria were patients tolerant to medicine for 3 months, and who could be administered yokukansan for anger. A total of 107 patients met these selection criteria. After 3 months of drug administration, significantly body weight reduction was observed in either the mazindol group or yokukansan group. We also selected and analyzed patients with diabetes mellitus to clarify the efficacy of these drugs for glucose metabolism. Reduction in HbA1c was not significant in the groups. These results suggest that mental health problems are very important for the treatment of obesity. And we suggest that oriental medicine is an effective treatment for mental health in obesity patients.

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relationships between the exercise history and the bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) in female Japanese young adults using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). One-hundred twenty females, aged between 18 to 28 years, participated in the present investigation. The BMD at the lumbar spine (L-BMD), whole body BMD and BMC (WB-BMD and WB-BMC), lean body mass (LBM) and fat mass (FM) were measured by DXA. Using a self-administrered questionnaire, the exercise habits during preschool (4-6 years), primary school (7-12 years), junior high school (13-15 years), high school (16-18 years), and the current habits (>18 years) were eveluated. The L-BMD, WB-BMD and WB-BMC were significantly higher in the subjects with exercise habits during both the period of <18 years and >18 years compared with those in the subjects without an exercise history during all periods (p<0.05). In a separate analysis with the data stratified by the school age, the subjects with an exercise history during primary school, junior high school, or high school had significantly higher BMD and BMC values compared with the non-exercisers (each, p<0.05). In contrast, the BMD and BMC did not differ significantly according to either the exercise history during pre-school nor the current exercise status. A multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that the body weight, LBM, FM, age of menarche, and exercise habits during high school were significant determinants of the L-BMD, WB-BMD and WB-BMC (p<0.001). The results of the present investigation show that both the exercise history during school age and the current exercise habits affect the BMD and BMC in young adults. In particular, high school females should be encouraged to participate in the regular exercise to increase their bone health. Future studies will be needed to confirm the targeted age-group(s) for participation in sports/exercise for the improvement of bone health, including an analysis of the type and intensity of exercise/sports.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are frequently associated with clinically significant coexistent ischemic heart disease (IHD). Cardiac events are the most common cause of death after AAA repair. Preoperative coronary evaluation and revascularization have been recommended to reduce postoperative cardiac complications following AAA repair. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent AAA repair and compared operative results in patients with and without IHD. Of 388 patients who underwent elective AAA repair, 382 (98.5%) had aortography and coronary angiography for preoperative evaluation. Significant coronary artery disease was seen in 124 patients (32.5%). As a result of the evaluation, 46 patients (12.0%) were considered candidates for medical therapy, 18 for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and 60 for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). In 24 patients (6.3%) who needed CABG and had large sized AAAs (>60mm), simultaneous CABG and AAA repair were performed. In the remaining 36 patients (9.4%) who needed CABG and had medium sized AAAs (40mm<, <60mm), staged operation was performed. We performed retrospective review comparing postoperative cardiac events and operative mortality among these treatment groups. There were 5 operative deaths (5/388, 1.3%) in patients following AAA repair. There were 2 operative deaths (2/124, 1.6%) in patients with significant IHD and 3 deaths (3/258, 1.2%) without IHD. In patients with IHD, 1 patient who received medical therapy died of acute renal failure and another one who received PCI died of acute myocardial infarction. There were no operative deaths or cardiac-related events in patients who received CABG before or concomitant AAA repair. There was only 1 cardiac-related event in all patient groups following AAA repair. Coronary arteries were preoperatively evaluated in almost all patients with AAA. If IHD was significant, the treatment for the IHD preceded AAA repair. Our strategy succeeded in reducing operative mortality and cardiac-related events in patients with both AAA and IHD. If a patient with a large sized AAA (>60mm) needs CABG, one-stage operation is recommended.