Occupational Difficulties of Disaster-Affected Local Government Employees in the Long-Term Recovery Phase after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Modeling Analysis.

Local government officials play a central role in post-disaster community reconstruction. However, few studies have reported on the actual difficulties during a complex disaster involving a nuclear accident. A self-rated questionnaire survey was administered to a total of 583 public employees in four municipalities around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The relationship between universal occupational factors and radiation disaster-specific factors on job satisfaction and intention to leave the job due to radiation anxiety was evaluated using structural equation modeling. The results showed that interpersonal problems (ß = -0.246) and service years (ß = -0.127) were related to job satisfaction, whereas radiation-specific factors were not related to job satisfaction, and only to the intention to leave work due to radiation anxiety. A sense of coherence was associated with job satisfaction (ß = 0.373) and intention to leave work due to radiation anxiety (ß = -0.182), and it served as a moderator of the universal occupational factors and the radiation disaster-specific factors. Therefore, it is suggested that outcomes could be improved through increased stress coping capacity by providing support for relationships and radiation risk communication to public employees during the disaster recovery period.

Risk Perception of Health Risks Associated with Radiation Exposure among Residents of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.

Ten years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident on 11 March 2011. Okuma is a town hosting the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The evacuation order for Okuma was partially lifted in April 2019. To clarify factors associated with risk perceptions of radiation among the residents of Okuma, we conducted a questionnaire survey in January 2021. Our results revealed that resident anxieties regarding the health effects of radiation exposure from living in Okuma were independently associated with positive PCL-Specific score, recognition of the consultation services with radiation experts in the municipal government of Okuma, and planned request for consultation service regarding radiation exposure by radiation experts, along with being female and living with a child. It is important for radiation experts to promote periodic communication of risks with individuals on a small scale to provide accurate information about the health effects of radiation and to provide maternal and child healthcare services and support regarding child-rearing and radiation exposure, to reduce concerns about radiation exposure and facilitate healthy living and wellbeing in Okuma.

Intrathecal betamethasone for cancer pain: A study of its analgesic efficacy and safety.

BACKGROUND: A preliminary study has shown effective cancer pain relief by intrathecal betamethasone (ITB). However, further evidence is needed to support this new approach. METHODS: Cancer patients with opioid-resistant pain received lumbar intrathecal administration of betamethasone 2 or 3 mg once a week for 28 days. Immediate and short-term analgesia (using a percentage pain reduction scale and a numerical rating scale, NRS) and long-term analgesia (using NRS) were assessed. Patients were classified into two groups according to the most painful site of metastasis: vertebral column and/or surrounding nerve plexus metastases (group A) and other metastases distal from the vertebral column (group B). RESULTS: A total of 104 patients received ITB. Pain relief was observed not only in the lower half but also in the upper half of the body. The proportion of group A patients who experienced immediate analgesia was 81% (47/58), which was significantly greater than that of group B (P < 0.001). A decrease in NRS scores 1 day after ITB administration was observed in significantly more patients in group A than in group B (P < 0.001). Long-term analgesia was also recorded in a greater proportion of patients in group A than in group B in the 7-day (59%, 38/64 vs 6%, 2/33) and 28-day periods (71%, 40/56 vs 31%, 8/26) (P < 0.001). No adverse effects related to neurotoxicity were recorded. CONCLUSION: Intrathecal injection of betamethasone produced analgesia for opioid-resistant cancer pain, and may be a potent therapeutic option for intolerable pain from vertebral column and/or surrounding nerve plexus metastases.

Estradiol benzoate for preventing pregnancy in mismated dogs.

We investigated the use of a single treatment of estradiol benzoate (E2B) to prevent pregnancy in mismated dogs, including effects of dose, side effects, and mechanism of action. We used 74 female beagles aged 1-10 year. A single treatment of E2B (0.025, 0.05, 0.10, or 0.20 mg/kg; 10 dogs/dose) given 2 days after mating (5 days after ovulation) resulted in pregnancy rates of 70, 50, 10, and 0%, respectively, whereas pregnancy rate was 100% in 5 untreated (control) dogs. There were no side effects in dogs given E2B, regardless of dose. To clarify the mechanism of prevention of pregnancy, we investigated embryonic descent in the uterine tube and embryonic degeneration after treatment with 0.025 or 0.20 mg/kg of E2B; treatment delayed embryonic descent in the uterine tube and increased the incidence of embryonic degeneration. In conclusion, a single treatment of 0.020 mg/kg of E2B given 2 days after mating effectively and safely prevented pregnancy in dogs.

Voltage-dependent gating and block by internal spermine of the murine inwardly rectifying K+ channel, Kir2.1.

The mechanism of inward rectification was investigated by recording single-channel currents through an inwardly rectifying K+ channel (Kir2.1). cDNA encoding a wild-type (WT) channel, a mutant replacing Asp 172 with Asn (D172N), and a tandem tetramer WT-(D172N)2-WT, was transfected into COS-1 cells using the liposome method, and after 48-72 h single-channel currents were recorded in the inside-out configuration at 150 mM internal and external K+. Steady-state open probability of outward currents decreased with larger depolarizations. The activation curve was fitted with a single Boltzmann equation. The voltages of half-activation in the absence of spermine were +35.9 mV (WT), +55.0 mV (WT-(D172N)2-WT) and +76.7 mV (D172N). Open-time and zero-current-time histograms were constructed. The open-time histogram was fitted with a single exponential function. Two exponential functions were necessary to fit the closed-time histogram. In each channel, internal spermine at a concentration of 1-100 nM reduced the open time of the outward currents in a concentration-dependent manner and produced one blocked state without affecting the inward currents, suggesting that spermine acts as an open channel blocker. The normalized steady-state open probability-spermine concentration curve was fitted by saturation kinetics with a Hill coefficient of 1. On the assumption of the linear sequential state model, the unblock and blocking rates were estimated in each channel. Unblock rates depended on the number of D172N mutant subunits, but blocking rates did not. The results suggest that closing gates work independently of the spermine block and D172 is involved in both intrinsic gating and the spermine block.