Practical Judgment of Workload Based on Physical Activity, Work Conditions, and Worker's Age in Construction Site.

It is important for construction companies to sustain a productive workforce without sacrificing its health and safety. This study aims to develop a practical judgement method to estimate the workload risk of individual construction workers. Based on studies, we developed a workload model comprising a hygrothermal environment, behavioral information, and the physical characteristics of workers). The construction workers' heart rate and physical activity were measured using the data collected from a wearable device equipped with a biosensor and an acceleration sensor. This study is the first report to use worker physical activity, age, and the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) to determine a worker's physical workload. The accuracy of this health risk judgment result was 89.2%, indicating that it is possible to easily judge the health risk of workers even in an environment where it is difficult to measure the subject in advance. The proposed model and its findings can aid in monitoring the health impacts of working conditions during construction activities, and thereby contribute toward determining workers' health damage. However, the sampled construction workers are 12 workers, further studies in other working conditions are required to accumulate more evidence and assure the accuracy of the models.

How Social Influence Promotes the Adoption of Mobile Health among Young Adults in China: A Systematic Analysis of Trust, Health Consciousness, and User Experience.

As mobile health (mHealth) offers several advantages in healthcare, researchers are exploring the motivational factors for its adoption. However, few studies have elucidated the complex relationship between social influence and behavioral intentions to adopt mHealth among young adults in China. This study explored the impact of social influence on young adults' behavioral intentions to adopt mHealth, the mediating roles of trust and health consciousness, and the moderating effect of mHealth user experience on the relationship between the predictors. In total, 300 valid responses were collected from a university in China, and a research model was developed. The partial least squares structural equation modeling method was used to verify the relationship between the main research variables. mHealth adoption behavioral intentions among young adults were significantly positively impacted by social influence; it indirectly increased mHealth adoption behavioral intentions by positively affecting trust and health consciousness. mHealth use weakened the positive impact of social influence on trust and health consciousness, while user experience positively moderated the relationship between health consciousness and behavioral intentions. Trust and health consciousness play important roles in the complex multivariate relationships between social influence and behavioral intentions to adopt mHealth. Future research should consider the moderating role of the mHealth user experience. These findings enrich the mHealth technology acceptance theory framework and provide specific guidance strategies for marketing mHealth applications.

Cost-effectiveness comparison between blood biomarkers and conventional tests in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis.

Dementia management has evolved with drugs such as lecanemab, shifting management from palliative care to early diagnosis and intervention. However, the administration of these drugs presents challenges owing to the invasiveness, high cost and limited availability of amyloid-PET and cerebrospinal fluid tests for guiding drug administration. Our manuscript explores the potential of less invasive blood biomarkers as a diagnostic method, with a cost-effectiveness analysis and a comparison with traditional tests. Our findings suggest that blood biomarkers are a cost-effective alternative, but with lower accuracy, indicating the need for multiple specific biomarkers for precision. This underscores the importance of future research on new blood biomarkers and their clinical efficacy.

Telemedicine Research Trends in 2001-2022 and Research Cooperation Between China and Other Countries Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Bibliometric Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Advancements in technology have overcome geographical barriers, making telemedicine, which offers remote emergency services, healthcare, and medication guidance, increasingly popular. COVID-19 restrictions amplified its global importance by bridging distances. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze Chinese and global literature data, present new global telemedicine research trends, and clarify the development potential, collaborations, and deficiencies in China's telemedicine research. METHODS: We conducted bibliometrics and network analyses on relevant documents from the Web of Science database from 2001 to 2022. Data collection was completed on October 30, 2023. Considering COVID-19's impact, 2020 was used as a baseline, dividing the data into 2 periods: 2001-2019 and 2020-2022. The development potential was determined based on publication trends. An international coauthorship network analysis identified collaboration statuses and potential. Co-occurrence analysis was conducted for China and the world. RESULTS: We identified 25,333 telemedicine-related research papers published between 2001 and 2022, with a substantial increase during the COVID-19 period (2020-2022), particularly in China (1.93-fold increase), moving its global publication rank from tenth to sixth. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia contributed 62.96% of the literature, far ahead of China's 3.90%. Globally, telemedicine research increased significantly post-2020. Between 2001 and 2019, the United States and Australia were central in coauthor networks; post-2020, the United States remained the largest node. Network hubs included the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. Keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed 5 global clusters from 2001 to 2019 (system technology, health care applications, mobile health, mental health, and electronic health) and 2020 to 2022 (COVID-19, children's mental health, artificial intelligence, digital health, and rehabilitation of middle-aged and older adults). In China, the research trends aligned with global patterns, with rapid growth post-2020. From 2001 to 2019, China cooperated closely with Indonesia, India, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. From 2020 to 2022, cooperation expanded to Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea, as well as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, Lebanon, and other African and Middle Eastern countries. Chinese keyword co-occurrence analysis showed focus areas in system technology, health care applications, mobile health, big data analysis, and electronic health (2001-2019) and COVID-19, artificial intelligence, digital health, and mental health (2020-2022). Although psychology research increased, studies on children's mental health and middle-aged and older adults' rehabilitation were limited. CONCLUSIONS: We identified the latest trends in telemedicine research, demonstrating its significant potential in China and providing directions for future development and collaborations in telemedicine research.

Promoting the social implementation of digital and mobile health: effects of regulation on user and non-user behavior in East Asia.

This study conducted policy and regulation analyses and user acceptance surveys in three East Asian countries with developed telecommunication infrastructure (China, South Korea, and Japan) to determine the most effective way to implement mobile health (mHealth). Regional differences in users' emphasis on the purpose of mHealth, including medical information referral or health management, appear to be influenced by regional regulation, thus making regulation analysis important when considering mHealth penetration strategies. Potential mHealth users have high expectations for medical information and correspondence, which is crucial for the pharmaceutical industry in terms of providing information and retaining patients. Furthermore, potential users are willing to use the system medically, which is beneficial to the pharmaceutical industry when introducing mHealth and prescriptions in combination.

Optimizing the Relationship between Regulation and Innovation in Dietary Supplements: A Case Study of Food with Function Claims in Japan.

Regulation has long been a counterpart of innovation in the health care industry, and recent cases have demonstrated that appropriately designed regulations can both coexist with and promote innovation. This study is the first study to explore how the regulatory environment affected the innovation process during the transition of the regulations for functional foods in Japan by examining quantitatively the impact of the foods with function claims (FFC) system on industry, companies, and products. Based on a dataset of Japanese dietary supplement manufacturing companies (n = 169) and their products (n = 731) in 2019, we found that companies that have newly entered the FFC system are smaller in scale than existing companies (p < 0.01, Wilcoxon rank sum test). We also found that companies with FFC products have larger revenue growth (p = 0.01). A multiple regression analysis revealed that FFC product sales increased with in-house clinical testing (coefficient: 26.8, p < 0.0001), diverse active ingredients (coefficient: 7.6, p < 0.001), and the claim of new functions (coefficient: 10.2, p < 0.05). These results suggested that the FFC system facilitated the market entry of small and mid-size enterprises and promoted the creation of high-value products through innovative company efforts.

Strategic trends of pharmaceutical companies: A growth model through regional focus and inter-regional alliances.

Pharmaceutical companies face challenges in business continuity resulting from declining research and development productivity. This study examines the relationship between two strategic pillars: region and therapeutic area, while considering company size. The results indicate that a therapeutic area focus is an effective strategy for small/medium-sized companies, whereas a regional focus is effective for larger companies. These findings highlight the limitations of the traditional global pharmaceutical model from 2004 to 2018 and aim to contribute to the future corporate strategic planning of these companies.

The gap between development and manufacturing in gene therapy: Strategic options for overcoming traps.

Gene therapy has been one of the most promising therapeutic approaches in recent years. This study analyzed a research and development (R&D) system for adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapies, and confirmed that there was a gap between the development and manufacturing capabilities. Although a start-up company that has no academic or manufacturing facilities can begin the clinical development process, it cannot successfully continue development activities without forming alliances and capital investment or, at a certain stage, without appropriate manufacturing and marketing strategies. We reviewed a series of case studies to categorize the acquisition patterns of pharmaceutical companies that are engaged in AAV gene therapy. These results provide insights into the R&D structures for AAV gene therapies from a technological management perspective.

Increasing orphan drug loss in Japan: Trends and R&D strategy for rare diseases.

Rare disease (RD) patients face significant unmet therapeutic needs worldwide. However, orphan drugs approved in the United States, but not approved or developed in Japan, have increased rapidly with recently increasing US approvals, indicating greater RD drug loss in Japan. US/EU-based startups have become key players in RD drug R&D, significantly contributing to this drug loss trend. They successfully develop drugs in the United States by combining in-licensing with in-house drug discovery. Out-licensing to Japanese companies or large pharma is critical for expansion into Japan, with successes attributed to drug innovation, target indications, and transactional capabilities. These findings highlight the need to foster partnerships with startups and cultivate an ecosystem in Japan that nurtures local startups, to address drug loss and ensure access to promising drugs.

Recent trends in interorganizational deal networks in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

While there have been trends in drug discovery from small molecules to new chemical modalities since the large mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of pharmaceutical companies in the late 2000s, trends in interorganizational deal networks have not been well addressed. We investigated the changing trends in interorganizational deals in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The results demonstrated that there have been changing trends, including a growing number of spinouts from academia and M&A in the United States and Europe. These findings indicates that the traditional network in which large pharmaceutical companies drove drug discovery output has changed, and interorganizational deals among diverse players have become more active.

Global biomarker trends in Alzheimer's research: A bibliometric analysis.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has no effective treatment, although antibody drugs targeting beta-amyloid, mainly aducanumab, have produced useful clinical results. Biomarkers can be used to determine drug regimens effectively and to monitor the effects of drugs. A concept in which biomarkers reflect disease states is emerging. Although several AD biomarker studies have been reported, measurement methods and target molecules are still being validated, and various biomarkers are being explored. This study analyzed trends in research on AD biomarkers using bibliometric methods, revealing an exponential increase in research reports in this field, with the US most active in research. Analysis of the 'Burst' biomarkers using CiteSpace revealed that networks centered on authors, rather than networks among countries, drive new research trends in this area.

A Layered Adopter-Structure Model for the Download of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps: A System Dynamics Study for mHealth Penetration.

(1) Background: Contact tracing and notification apps for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are installed on smartphones and are intended to detect contact with another person's device. A high installation rate is important for these apps to enable them to be effective countermeasures against the silent transmission of diseases. However, the installation rate varies among apps and regions and the penetration dynamics of these applications are unclear. (2) Methods: The download behavior of contact tracing applications was investigated using publicly available datasets. The increase in downloads was modeled using a system dynamics model derived from the product growth model. (3) Results: The imitation effects present in the traditional product growth model were not observed in COVID-19 contact tracing apps. The system dynamics model, without the imitation effect, identified the downloads of the Australian COVIDSafe app. The system dynamics model, with a layered adopter, identified the downloads of the Japanese tracing app COCOA. The spread of COVID-19 and overall anti-COVID-19 government intervention measures in response to the spread of infection seemed to result in an increase in downloads. (4) Discussion: The suggested layered structure of users implied that individualized promotion for each layer was important. Addressing the issues among users who are skeptical about adoption is pertinent for optimal penetration of the apps.

What is the importance of difference in LCM strategy in drug development? - Learnings from Keytruda and Opdivo.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have changed how cancer is treated. As of February 2022, six immune checkpoint inhibitors had been approved, with Keytruda and Opdivo accounting for the majority of global sales. Here, the impact of the differences in commercial success between Keytruda and Opdivo is reviewed by analyzing inter-organizational deals since their launch in 2014. Both showed a correlation between the cumulative number of indications and product sales trends, the latter crossing from 2017 to 2018. Differences in sales were due to different approaches to life cycle management by inter-organizational deals and drug development strategies, the key to commercial success.

Social Acceptance of Mobile Health among Young Adults in Japan: An Extension of the UTAUT Model.

The unprecedented development of information and communication technologies has opened up immense possibilities in the field of health care. Mobile health (mHealth) is gaining increasing attention as an important technology for solving health-related problems. Although a high rate of smartphone usage among young people in Japan has been identified, smartphone usage for health management is not high. As Japanese youth are important potential users of mHealth, it is necessary to explore theories that influence the behavioral intention of Japanese youth to adopt mHealth. This study conducted a questionnaire survey in a Japanese university and collected 233 valuable responses. This study was adapted and extended from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to measure eight constructs: health consciousness, social influence, facilitation conditions, perceived risk, trust, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and behavioral intention. Structural equation modeling was used for hypothesis testing. We found that trust, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy directly influenced the behavioral intention to use mHealth. Health consciousness and social influence indirectly influence behavioral intention through trust and performance expectancy. Facilitation conditions indirectly influenced behavioral intention through effort expectancy. This study makes a vital theoretical contribution to policymakers and product developers for the further diffusion of mHealth among young people in Japan.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Wearable Device Research Trends 2001-2022-A Study on the Reversal of Number of Publications and Research Trends in China and the USA.

In recent years, Wearable Devices have been used in a wide variety of applications and fields, but because they span so many different disciplines, it is difficult to ascertain the intellectual structure of this entire research domain. No review encompasses the whole research domain related to Wearable Devices. In this study, we collected articles on wearable devices from 2001 to 2022 and quantitatively organized them by bibliometric analysis to clarify the intellectual structure of this research domain as a whole. The cluster analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and network centrality analysis were conducted on articles collected from the Web of Science. As a result, we identified one cluster that represents applied research and two clusters that represent basic research in this research domain. Furthermore, focusing on the top two countries contributing to this research domain, China and the USA., it was confirmed that China is extremely inclined toward basic research and the USA. toward applied research, indicating that applied and basic research are in balance. The basic intellectual structure of this cross-sectional research domain was identified. The results summarize the current state of research related to Wearable Devices and provide insight into trends.

Determination of Waste Management Workers' Physical and Psychological Load: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Biometric Data.

Waste management workers experience high stress and physical strain in their work environment, but very little empirical evidence supports effective health management practices for waste management workers. Hence, this study investigated the effects of worker characteristics and biometric indices on workers' physical and psychological loads during waste-handling operations. A biometric measurement system was installed in an industrial waste management facility in Japan to understand the actual working conditions of 29 workers in the facility. It comprised sensing wear for data collection and biometric sensors to measure heart rate (HR) and physical activity (PA) based on electrocardiogram signals. Multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate significant relationships between the parameters. Although stress level is indicated by the ratio of low frequency (LF) to high frequency (HF) or high LF power in HR, the results showed that compared with workers who did not handle waste, those who did had lower PA and body surface temperature, higher stress, and lower HR variability parameters associated with higher psychological load. There were no significant differences in HR, heart rate interval (RRI), and workload. The psychological load of workers dealing directly with waste was high, regardless of their PA, whereas others had a low psychological load even with high PA. These findings suggest the need to promote sustainable work relationships and a quantitative understanding of harsh working conditions to improve work quality and reduce health hazards.

A versatile method for analysis of serine/threonine posttranslational modifications by ß-elimination in the presence of pyrazolone analogues.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of serine and threonine occur by diverse mechanisms, including phosphorylation, sulfation, and various types of sugar chain modifications, making characterization of the resulting structures very labor-intensive. Moreover, to fully understand the biological functions of PTMs, both the sites of modification and the modified structures must be analyzed. The present work describes a novel, versatile strategy in which the released O-glycan and the formerly glycosylated/phosphorylated peptide are labeled and thus amenable to further study. In this approach, glycopeptides/phosphopeptides are subjected to ß-elimination in the presence of pyrazolone derivatives (BEP), which in the same reaction labels the formerly glycosylated/phosphorylated peptide. The reaction is essentially a ß-elimination/Michael addition in which a carbon-carbon bond-forming Michael donor rather than a heteroatomic Michael donor is used. The O-glycans released upon BEP are recovered as bis-pyrazolone derivatives, without any detectable side reaction (peeling). Using this technique, the O-glycan profiles of model mucin-type glycoproteins were successfully analyzed. The BEP strategy discriminates between phosphorylated and GlcNAcylated peptides, since cleaved GlcNAc is detectable. In addition, both the released O-glycan and the formerly glycosylated peptide can be selectively labeled by different reagents via a ß-elimination reaction performed in the presence of pyrazolone and the thiol Michael donor.

Flow of a single magnetic vortex in a submicron-size superconducting Al disk controlled by radio-frequency currents.

We report the first observation of a single-vortex flow in a mesoscopic superconductor. A flow of a single vortex is successfully controlled by an rf current superimposed on a dc current, evidence of which is provided by voltage steps in current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. Irrespective of the number of vortices confined to the disk, we unambiguously observe that when a single vortex inside the disk is driven out of the disk, another vortex enters the disk similarly to two balls colliding in billiards: only one vortex passes through the Al disk at the same time in mesoscopic systems.

Regulations, Open Data and Healthcare Innovation: A Case of MSK-IMPACT and Its Implications for Better Cancer Care.

This study investigated a case of Memorial Sloan Kettering-Integrated Mutation Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets (MSK-IMPACT), a tumor profiling test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017, to examine what factors would contribute to healthcare innovation. First, we set the following three parameters to observe cases: (i) the FDA regulatory reforms, (ii) early application of new technologies, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), to both research and clinical settings, and (iii) accumulation of open data. Then, we performed a comparative analysis of MSK-IMPACT with FoundationOne CDx and Oncomine Dx Target Test, both of which were FDA-approved tumor profiling tests launched in 2017. As a result, we found that MSK-IMPACT secures neutrality as a non-profit organization, achieves the active incorporation of basic research results, and performs superiorly in clinical operations, such as patient enrollment. On the contrary, we confirmed that FoundationOne CDx was the most prominent case in terms of the number of new drugs and expanded indications approved in which the FDA's expedited approval programs were considerably utilized. Consequently, to uncover the full potential of MSK-IMPACT, it is suggested that more intersectoral collaborative activities between various healthcare stakeholders, in particular, pharmaceutical companies, for driving clinical development must be carried out based on an organizational framework that facilitates collaboration.

The Significance of Alliance Networks in Research and Development of Digital Health Products for Diabetes: Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Digital health has been advancing owing to technological progress by means of smart devices and artificial intelligence, among other developments. In the field of diabetes especially, there are many active use cases of digital technology supporting the treatment of diabetes and improving lifestyle. In the innovation ecosystem, new alliance networks are formed not only by medical device companies and pharmaceutical companies, but also by information and communications technology companies and start-ups. While understanding and utilizing the network structure is important to increase the competitive advantage of companies, there is a lack of previous research describing the structure of alliance networks and the factors that lead to their formation in digital health. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the significance of alliance networks, focusing on digital health for diabetes, in effectively implementing processes, from the research and development of products or services to their launch and market penetration. METHODS: First, we listed the companies and contracts related to digital health for diabetes, visualized the change in the number of companies and the connections between companies in each industry, and analyzed the overview of the network. Second, we calculated the degree, betweenness centrality, and eigenvector centrality of each company in each year. Next, we analyzed the relationship between network centrality and market competitiveness by using annual sales as a parameter of company competitiveness. We also compared the network centrality of each company by industry or headquarters location (or both) and analyzed the characteristics of companies with higher centrality. Finally, we analyzed the relationship between network centrality and the number of products certified or approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. RESULTS: We found the degree centrality of companies was correlated with an increase in their sales. The betweenness and eigenvector centralities of medical devices companies located in the United States were significantly higher than those outside the United States (P=.04 and .005, respectively). Finally, the degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centralities were correlated with an increase in the number of Class III, but not of Class I nor II, medical device products. CONCLUSIONS: These findings give rise to new insights into industry ecosystem for digital health and its requirement and expect a contribution to research and development practices in the field of digital health.