Benefits of an accelerated climatotherapy programme for busy people: comparisons according to area and season.

An accelerated climatotherapy programme was evaluated for use with busy people in mid-mountain and flat lowland areas. A total of 43 urban residents participated in this climatotherapy programme. Participants' blood pressure, pulse rate, peripheral skin temperature and levels of salivary amylase, salivary cortisol and blood lactate were measured, and they completed the Profile of Mood Status questionnaire. In the mid-mountain area, which had a cooler environment and long uphill paths, participants' percentage of maximum pulse rate (70.01%) to estimated maximum heart rate was higher than that (59.67%) of participants in the flat lowland area, suggesting that the mid-mountain area was suitable for endurance training. At both sites, the decrease in peripheral skin temperature during the climatic terrain cure suggested that our programme was properly implemented with a cool body surface in accordance with our purpose. Negative moods improved quickly, suggesting that the forest environment and the fresh-air rest cure may have relaxed participants. In late spring and early autumn, the mood of approximately 25% of participants improved to an Iceberg profile, which is associated with positive mental states and athletic peak performance, after climatotherapy. On the other hand, the weather in early spring and late autumn was more likely to facilitate maintenance of a cool body surface during the climatic terrain cure. With the support of individualized feedback provided after the climatotherapy sessions, three participants developed regular exercise habits, serving as a good example of the effectiveness of our climatotherapy programme to elicit behavioural change.

A study of the effect of half-day climatotherapy on changes in salivary cortisol levels.

In our previous study setting, climatotherapy programme consisted of six sessions - four in the mid-mountain area and two in a flat park. For all sessions, the subjects underwent climatotherapy in the morning under slightly cool conditions. During each session, the subjects' blood pressure, pulse rate, skin temperature, blood lactate, salivary cortisol and mood profile were recorded, and meteorological data were collected at the sites. We hypothesised that exercise habits, changes in mood profile and effective temperatures during the session, and physical exertion during the climatic terrain cure would affect salivary cortisol levels. Subjects were 30 (spring) and 29 (autumn). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to examine the determinants of the change in salivary cortisol levels. In the mountain setting, salivary cortisol was elevated, even though the sessions took place in the descending phase of the circadian salivary cortisol variation; however, the post-session cortisol increase was not significant. Increased post-session salivary cortisol was significantly associated with female gender, older age, higher BMI, lower body fat, less daily physical activity, increased blood lactate, increased 'Tension-Anxiety' and 'Depression-Dejection' moods, and decreased 'Anger-Hostility' mood. The increase in cortisol may have been due to older age, a predominance of females, and the increased blood lactate due to the mountainous terrain. In the flat park, the significant decrease in postsession salivary cortisol was related to the descending circadian phase of circadian cortisol variation and the low physical demands of the sessions.

Climatotherapy in Japan: a pilot study.

Twenty-nine urban inhabitants participated in a half-day climatotherapy programme at the moderate mountain area and lowland area in the northwest part of the main island of Japan. The current study was aimed to investigate physically and mentally the objective and subjective influence of our short programme, which was a prospective pilot study of single intervention. Blood pressure was significantly descended during terrain cure at the uphill mountain path and returned after fresh-air rest cure, while there was no significant change throughout the programme at lowland flat path. Heart rate was significantly ascended and descended at both area, and more clearly changed at the mountain path. Profile of Mood Status brief form Japanese version administered before and after our half-day programme. Age adjusted T score of negative subscales, 'tension-anxiety', 'depression', 'anger-hostility', 'fatigue' and 'confusion' were significantly lower after climatotherapy at both sites. Whereas, there was no significant change concerning 'vigour' score. This short-version climatotherapy programme has been designed for people without enough time for long stay at health resort. It turned out our half-day climatotherapy programme contribute to mood status improvement. In addition, repeated practice of our short-version programme including endurance exercise with cool body shell using uphill path can be expected that blood pressure will go toward the normal range and heart rate will decrease both in usual time and during exercise. Therefore, health benefits can be expected of this climatotherapy programme.

Medical care ideals among urban and rural residents in Thailand: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Health care is generally considered to be more highly valued in urban areas than in rural areas. However, studies have reported that there is no difference in the health care values of urban and rural areas in the Kingdom of Thailand, with some studies even indicating that these values are stronger in rural areas. We, therefore, conducted interviews and implemented a qualitative investigation and analysis aimed at elucidating ideals relating to the medical environment among the Kingdom's urban and rural citizens. METHODS: The study targeted Thai citizens residing in urban and rural areas. The city of Khon Kaen, located in Khon Kaen Province in northeastern Thailand, was selected as the urban area for the study. We selected Donyang village, located in the same province, as the rural study area. In July 2014, we conducted semi-structured group interviews, applying the Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) analytical approach. RESULTS: We interviewed ten people in Khon Kaen (the urban area) and seven people from Donyang village (the rural area). Five major and distinctive themes emerged from the interviews. These were: locally appropriate standards of medical care, support for local lifestyles, satisfaction with local medical personnel, healthy lifestyles that do not rely on medical services, and desire for regional autonomy/desire to serve the region in terms of medical care. All of these themes were evident in both study areas. Thus, rather than relying on advanced medical services, both urban and rural Thai citizens expressed the desire to continue living within communities (considered as "families"), contributing to them, and tending to all of their health care needs within their communities. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed five common themes relating to forms of medical care regarded as ideal among urban and rural citizens of Thailand. Its findings could potentially have important implications for areas characterized by urban-rural inequities relating to the accessibility and utilization of medical services.

Relationships between estimation errors and falls in healthy aged dwellers.

BACKGROUND: Although fall predictions using motor ability have been well reported in elderly people, there are few reports on physical cognitive ability. OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship of the results of motor function tests that include physical cognitive ability on the ability to predict falls and to determine which test is the most appropriate. METHODS: We studied 174 community-dwelling elderly adults (mean age 75.7 ± 5.7, 41 males and 133 females), and measured grip strength, one-leg standing time (OLS), timed up and go test (TUG), functional reach test, sit and reach test, and maximal step length (MSL). The estimation error (EE), which was defined as the difference between the predicted and actual values, was calculated in all motor ability tests. Other assessments included the number of falls in the previous year, BMI, frequency of going out, Mini-Mental State Examination score, and Falls Efficacy Scale. In the baseline study, we divided the subjects into a fall group (n = 33) and a nonfall group (n = 141) and compared motor ability and EE for the two groups. During a 1-year follow-up, the nonfall group (baseline study) was assessed for the same measurements by using the same methods. RESULTS: In the baseline study, the fall group had significantly lower values of OLS and MSL. Furthermore, the fall group significantly overestimated their OLS, TUG, and MSL. In logistic regression analysis, EE of TUG (OR = 1.27) and EE of MSL (OR = 1.08) were detected as risk factors for falls. During follow-up, 11 subjects (7.8%) experienced falls. In logistic regression analysis, TUG (OR = 1.89) and EE of MSL (OR = 1.06) were detected as significant risk factors for falls. Since EE of MSL had higher values of both the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and the sum of sensitivity and specificity than EE of TUG, the nonfall group was divided into two groups with a cutoff value of 2 cm for EE of MSL. A significant distribution disparity in falls between the two groups was found during follow-up and showed a relative risk of 18.78 for EE of MSL. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that EE of MSL is a potent predictor for falls among healthy elderly adults.

Renal resistive index correlates with peritubular capillary loss and arteriosclerosis in biopsy tissues from patients with chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: The renal resistive index (RI) is a Doppler-derived measure that reportedly correlates with renal histological changes and renal disease severity and outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors related to the RI elevation in chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: Using Doppler ultrasonography, RIs were determined in 30 patients with CKD, after which they were correlated with interstitial fibrosis, arteriosclerosis, arteriolosclerosis and peritubular capillary (PTC) density. PTC-positive areas were determined based on CD34 immunostaining. Interstitial fibrosis was detected with Masson trichrome staining. All histological markers were assessed using quantitative and semi-quantitative analyses and evaluated statistically using Pearson correlation tests, unpaired t tests and stepwise multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: RI correlated positively with age (r = 0.603, p = 0.0004), systolic blood pressure (r = 0.775, p < 0.0001), diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.575, p = 0.001), interstitial fibrosis (r = 0.381, p = 0.038) and arteriosclerosis (r = 0.520, p = 0.003), and negatively with creatinine clearance (r = -0.471, p = 0.009) and CD34+ (PTC) areas (r = -0.437, p = 0.016). Patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus showed higher RIs (p < 0.05) than those without the ailments. Multivariate analysis showed PTC and arteriosclerosis to be independent variables correlating with RI (r (2) = 0.321, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report of using RI measurements to evaluate peritubular capillary loss. Our findings indicate that increases in RI are associated with both arteriosclerosis and loss of PTCs.

Asian Intensive Reader of Pneumoconiosis program: examination for certification during 2008-2020.

This study examined physicians' participation and performance in the examinations administered by the Asian Intensive Reader of Pneumoconiosis (AIR Pneumo) program from 2008 to 2020 and compared radiograph readings of physicians who passed with those who failed the examinations. Demography of the participants, participation trends, pass/fail rates, and proficiency scores were summarized; differences in reading the radiographs for pneumoconiosis of physicians who passed the examinations and those who failed were evaluated. By December 2020, 555 physicians from 20 countries had taken certification examinations; the number of participants increased in recent years. Reported background specialty training and work experience varied widely. Passing rate and mean proficiency score for participants who passed were 83.4% and 77.6 ± 9.4 in certification, and 76.8% and 88.1 ± 4.5 in recertification examinations. Compared with physicians who passed the examinations, physicians who failed tended to classify test radiographs as positive for pneumoconiosis and read a higher profusion; they likely missed large opacities and pleural plaques and had a lower accuracy in recognizing the shape of small opacities. Findings suggest that physicians who failed the examination tend to over-diagnose radiographs as positive for pneumoconiosis with higher profusion and have difficulty in correctly identifying small opacity shape.

Effects of movement music therapy with the Naruko clapper on psychological, physical and physiological indices among elderly females: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Recent interventional studies have indicated that some exercise programs have beneficial physical and immunological effects for older people. Some evidence suggests that exercise programs involving music and/or a rhythmic movement component may be particularly beneficial. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of a new type of movement music therapy (MMT) on physical, immunological, hormonal and psychosocial health parameters among older adults. METHODS: 112 elderly female subjects (average age 73.62 ± 5.50 years) who performed little habitual exercise participated in this randomized, controlled, single-blinded intervention trial. The subjects were divided into two groups which participated in different exercise programs (experimental group: MMT; control group: simple exercise program). We assessed a comprehensive range of indices before and after the interventions, which lasted a total of 8 weeks. These indices included (1) the Philadelphia Geriatric Center morale scale, (2) self-rated health status, (3) physical function tests (e.g. blood pressure, pulmonary function, body balance, gait ability, muscle endurance, muscle-strength, and functional mobility), and (4) saliva analysis for physiological function indices (e.g. secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA), chromogranin A, cortisol, and total protein). RESULTS: In comparisons between the MMT and control interventions in younger elderly subjects (≤74 years old), systolic blood pressure decreased (p = 0.02), pulmonary function improved (p = 0.05) and body balance improved (p = 0.04) in the MMT group, but not in the control group. The SIgA secretion rate of the experimental group remained significantly elevated (p = 0.02) 15 min after exercise compared with before exercise. There were no significant differences between interventions in psychosocial indices. In contrast, no significant differences were detected between interventions in any measures in the older elderly group (≥75 years old). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the MMT, even with a short (8-week) intervention period, improves physical and physiological functions to a significantly greater extent in younger elderly individuals compared with a control intervention without music.

Work-related allergy in medical doctors: atopy, exposure to domestic animals, eczema induced by common chemicals and membership of the surgical profession as potential risk factors.

PURPOSE: To investigate the risk factors associated with work-related allergy-like symptoms in medical doctors. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaire survey and CAP test were conducted among medical school students in the 4th grade of their 6-year medical course in 1993-1996 and 1999-2001. Follow-up questionnaires were sent in 2004 to the graduates. These questionnaires enquired into personal and family history of allergic diseases, lifestyle, history of allergy-like symptoms including work-relatedness and occupational history as medical doctors. Relationships between allergy-like symptoms and relevant factors were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Of 261 respondents at the follow-up survey, 139 (53.3%) and 54 (20.7%) had a history of any allergy-like symptoms and any work-related allergy-like symptoms, respectively. Female gender and family history of allergic diseases were significantly associated with any allergy-like symptoms. Personal history of allergic disease, exposure to domestic animals, eczema caused by rubber gloves, metallic accessories, or cosmetics during schooling days, and membership of the surgical profession were significant risk factors for work-related allergy-like symptoms. On the contrary, to work-related allergy-like symptoms, gender, age, and smoking status were not significantly related, and consumption of prepared foods was inversely related. CONCLUSIONS: Personal history of atopy and eczema induced by common goods and the history of keeping domestic animals may be predictors of work-related allergy-like symptoms in doctors. After graduation from medical school, physicians start with exposure to various allergens and irritants at work, which relate to work-related allergy-like symptoms, especially for surgeons.

QOL-associated factors in elderly patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Quality of life (QOL) was compared between elderly patients treated with cardiac surgery (cardiac surgery group) and general elderly nonoperated individuals (control group) to clarify differences in QOL-associated factors between the two groups. METHODS: The cardiac surgery group consisted of 82 patients aged 72.5 years at approximately 2 years after discharge, and the control group consisted of 95 elderly individuals aged 77 years living at home. QOL was measured based on interviews using two scales: disease-specific QOL and Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36) in the cardiac surgery group, and SF-36 in the control group. Associated factors included the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (TMIG) index of competence, living with one's spouse, exercise habit, and the number of past medical history items. RESULTS: There was no cardiac surgery procedure-associated significant difference in disease-specific QOL. When comparing SF-36 between groups, the physical health level was significantly lower in the cardiac surgery group, but no significant difference was noted in the mental health level. Regarding physical health level of SF-36-associated factors, mental health level was a negative factor in both groups. In the cardiac surgery group, age was a negative factor. In the control group, the TMIG index and number of past medical history items were positive and negative factors, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: As elderly people with high physical health levels after cardiac surgeries may have low mental health levels, physicians and nurses need to be aware and address this situation.

Effectiveness of a self-reporting yes/no survey for dementia screening-trial in Fukui, Japan.

Background: Early intervention for dementia patients is extremely important for the prevention of dementia. However, so far, it is not clear as to what kind of screening will be useful for the early detection of dementia. Objective: We aimed to investigate the relationship between the results of a short self-reporting yes/no survey selected in Kihon Checklist, developed by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to identify older adults who are at risk of requiring support/care, and other original items developed by Dementia Prevention Team, Fukui, Japan, and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, and determine the diagnostic efficacy of the self-reporting yes/no survey. Methods: Self-reporting yes/no surveys were conducted for 87,687 individuals aged ≥65 years, living in Fukui, Japan, and did not have Long-Term Care Insurance, Japan. According to the survey results, selected individuals were advised to visit a local hospital to be assessed with MMSE. Results: Individuals who could not make a call by looking up phone numbers and manage their own deposits and savings at the bank or automatic teller machine (ATM) had an increased risk of low MMSE score (≤23; odds ratio: 2.74 [1.89-3.97]; 95% confidence interval: 2.12 [1.46-3.07]). Conclusions: Self-reporting yes/no survey could effectively screen for dementia. Not being able to make a call by looking up phone numbers and not being able to manage their own deposits and savings at the bank or ATM are signs of dementia.

Inter-observer agreement and accuracy in classifying radiographs for pneumoconiosis among Asian physicians taking AIR Pneumo certification examination.

This study examined inter-observer agreement and diagnostic accuracy in classifying radiographs for pneumoconiosis among Asian physicians taking the AIR Pneumo examination. We compared agreement and diagnostic accuracy for parenchymal and pleural lesions across residing countries, specialty training, and work experience using data on 93 physicians. Physicians demonstrated fair to good agreement with kappa values 0.30 (95% CI: 0.20-0.40), 0.29 (95% CI: 0.23-0.36), 0.59 (95% CI: 0.52-0.67), and 0.65 (95% CI: 0.55-0.74) in classifying pleural plaques, small opacity shapes, small opacity profusion, and large opacities, respectively. Kappa values among Asian countries ranging from 0.25 to 0.55 (pleural plaques), 0.47 to 0.73 (small opacity profusion), and 0.55 to 0.69 (large opacity size). The median Youden's J index (interquartile range) for classifying pleural plaque, small opacity, and large opacity was 61.1 (25.5), 76.8 (29.3), and 88.9 (23.3), respectively. Radiologists and recent graduates showed superior performance than other groups regarding agreement and accuracy in classifying all types of lesions. In conclusion, Asian physicians taking the AIR Pneumo examination were better at classifying parenchymal lesions than pleural plaques using the ILO classification. The degree of agreement and accuracy was different among countries and was associated with background specialty training.

Pathway linking physical activity, sleep duration, and breakfast consumption with the physical/psychosocial health of schoolchildren.

The relationship between certain lifestyle habits and schoolchildren's health has previously been reported on, but the exact pathway of the effects lifestyle habits have on physical/psychosocial health (PPH) has not been investigated nor has the relative influence of different habits on schoolchildren's health. In this study, schoolchildren were recruited from a primary school in Toyama Prefecture, Japan (n = 576), and the relevant data were collected in June/July 2017. Path analysis was used to examine the relationships of lifestyle habits and physical fitness with PPH among schoolchildren in grades 1-4 and 5-6. Body weight and total fitness scores were found to be not related to the children's PPH. The pathway via which lifestyle habits influenced PPH was determined successfully. Among children in grades 1-4, sex (p < .05), age (p < .01), and breakfast intake (p < .05) were related to PPH. Among schoolchildren in grades 5-6, the duration of sleep (p < .05) was related to PPH. Thus, factors related to schoolchildren's PPH vary by school grade. The identification of the predictors of the PPH of schoolchildren should inform the design of tailored, grade-specific health promotion interventions in Japanese elementary schools.

Radiographic diagnosis of Pneumoconioses by AIR Pneumo-trained physicians: Comparison with low-dose thin-slice computed tomography.

OBJECTIVES: The Asian Intensive Reader of Pneumoconiosis (AIR Pneumo) is a training program designed to improve diagnostic skills for chest radiographies (CXRs) in accordance with the ILO/ICRP 2000. The purpose was to determine the prevalence of occupational environmental pulmonary disease findings in construction workers on thin-slice computed tomography (thin-slice CT), and to compare the diagnostic performance with CXR evaluated by AIR Pneumo-trained physicians. METHODS: Ninety-seven male construction workers underwent low-dose thin-slice CT and CXR on the same day. NIOSH B reader and a board-certified radiologist each interpreted the thin-slice CTs independently. The concordant findings on thin-slice CT were established as the reference standard and were statistically compared with CXRs. Four physicians interpreted CXRs independently according to the ILO/ICRP 2000. RESULTS: Of the 97 cases, nine showed irregular or linear opacities, and 44 had pleural plaques on thin-slice CT. Five, four, three, and two of nine cases with irregular opacity were detected by the four readers on CXRs, respectively. Sixteen, 14, 9, and 5 of the 44 cases with pleural plaques were detected by the four readers, respectively. Specificities for irregular opacities ranged from 94% to 100%, and those for pleural plaques were from 86% to 96%. CONCLUSIONS: Thin-slice CT-detected irregular opacity was found in 9.3%, whereas pleural plaque was found in 45.4% among the construction workers. Chest radiography showed acceptable performance in classifying pneumoconiotic opacities according to ILO/ICRP 2000 by the AIR Pneumo and/or NIOSH-certified physicians.

Daily magnesium intake and serum magnesium concentration among Japanese people.

BACKGROUND: The vitamins and minerals that are deficient in the daily diet of a normal adult remain unknown. To answer this question, we conducted a population survey focusing on the relationship between dietary magnesium intake and serum magnesium level. METHODS: The subjects were 62 individuals from Fukui Prefecture who participated in the 1998 National Nutrition Survey. The survey investigated the physical status, nutritional status, and dietary data of the subjects. Holidays and special occasions were avoided, and a day when people are most likely to be on an ordinary diet was selected as the survey date. RESULTS: The mean (+/-standard deviation) daily magnesium intake was 322 (+/-132), 323 (+/-163), and 322 (+/-147) mg/day for men, women, and the entire group, respectively. The mean (+/-standard deviation) serum magnesium concentration was 20.69 (+/-2.83), 20.69 (+/-2.88), and 20.69 (+/-2.83) ppm for men, women, and the entire group, respectively. The distribution of serum magnesium concentration was normal. Dietary magnesium intake showed a log-normal distribution, which was then transformed by logarithmic conversion for examining the regression coefficients. The slope of the regression line between the serum magnesium concentration (Y ppm) and daily magnesium intake (X mg) was determined using the formula Y = 4.93 (log(10)X) + 8.49. The coefficient of correlation (r) was 0.29. A regression line (Y = 14.65X + 19.31) was observed between the daily intake of magnesium (Y mg) and serum magnesium concentration (X ppm). The coefficient of correlation was 0.28. CONCLUSION: The daily magnesium intake correlated with serum magnesium concentration, and a linear regression model between them was proposed.

Assessment of physicians' proficiency in reading chest radiographs for pneumoconiosis, based on a 60-film examination set with two factors constituting eight indices.

Two hundred and thirty-three individuals read chest x-ray images (CXR) in the Asian Intensive Reader of Pneumoconiosis (AIR Pneumo) workshop. Their proficiency in reading CXR for pneumoconiosis was calculated using eight indices (X1-X8), as follows: sensitivity (X1) and specificity (X2) for pneumoconiosis; sensitivity (X3) and specificity (X4) for large opacities; sensitivity (X5) and specificity (X6) for pleural plaques; profusion increment consistency (X7); and consistency for shape differentiation (X8). For these eight indices, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Scheffe's multiple comparison were conducted on six groups, based on the participants' specialty: radiology, respiratory medicine, industrial medicine, public health, general internal medicine, and miscellaneous physicians. Our analysis revealed that radiologists had a significant difference in the mean scores of X3, X5, and X8, compared with those of all groups, excluding radiologists. In the factor analysis, X1, X3, X5, X7, and X8 constituted Factor 1, and X2, X4, and X6 constituted Factor 2. With regard to the factor scores of the six participant groups, the mean scores of Factor 1 of the radiologists were significantly higher than those of all groups, excluding radiologists. The two factors and the eight indices may be used to appropriately assess specialists' proficiency in reading CXR.

Awareness and treatment of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in Japanese workers: the High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion (HIPOP-OHP) study.

The objective of this study was to clarify the awareness and treatment status of hypertension in Japanese workers, comparing with those of hypercholesterolemia. The subjects were 6,186 workers (age 19 to 69 years), who worked at 12 workplaces in Japan and who continuously participated in the High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion (HIPOP-OHP) study at the baseline (1999 or 2000) and the subsequent year (2000 or 2001). No intervention was performed during the study period. Blood pressure and total cholesterol level were measured at baseline. Awareness and treatment status were examined by a self-administered questionnaire in the following year. Untreated subjects were defined as those were not aware of hypertension (or hypercholesterolemia) or those not taking medication and not undergoing lifestyle modification. The percentages of subjects with hypertension defined as aware were 65.7% in men and 72.7% in women, respectively. The percentages of subjects with hypercholesterolemia defined as aware were 55.7% in men and 58.6% in women, respectively. In subjects 40 years and older, the awareness rate for hypertension was significantly higher than the awareness rate for hypercholesterolemia (75.0% vs. 59.2%, p<0.001). The percentage of untreated subjects with hypertension was significantly lower than the percentage of untreated subjects with hypercholesterolemia (41.0% vs. 57.1%, p<0.001). Although Japanese workers >/=40 years old have a higher awareness of and are more often treated for hypertension than for hypercholesterolemia, there are still many unaware and untreated individuals with either disease in all age groups. It is important to increase the awareness of risk factors in individuals with positive findings for these conditions.

Historical and geographical aspects of the increasing perfluorooctanoate and perfluorooctane sulfonate contamination in human serum in Japan.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) have recently received attention due to their widespread contamination in the environment, as well as in wildlife and humans. We measured the PFOS and PFOA concentrations in historically recorded human serum samples at an age range between 20 and 59 years collected in Kyoto, 20 persons per each time point (n=100), and also the PFOS and PFOA concentrations in human serum samples at an age range between 20 and 59 years from 10 locations throughout Japan (n=200). The historical samples collected from 1983 to 1999 demonstrated that the PFOA concentrations in males and females from Kyoto have increased 4.4-fold and 4.3-fold at a rate of increase of 0.49 ng/ml/year and 0.42 ng/ml/year, respectively. In contrast, serum concentrations of PFOS reached a plateau in the late 1980s. There are also regional differences in both the PFOS and PFOA serum concentrations. The concentrations in serum [geometric mean (geometric standard deviation)] (ng/ml) in 2003-2004 ranged from 7.6(1.6) in the town of Matsuoka in Fukui prefecture to 27.8(1.6) in Kyoto city, and ranged from 2.3(1.5) in Matsuoka to 14.5(1.3) in Osaka city for PFOS and PFOA, respectively.

A flat-panel detector digital radiography and a storage phosphor computed radiography: screening for pneumoconioses.

Storage phosphor computed radiography (SR) and flat-panel detector (FPD) radiography are two types of digital X-ray utilizing different techniques. We compared these two techniques with conventional analogue chest radiograph (AR) among pneumoconiotic patients and healthy controls. Thirty individuals consisting of 20 silica-exposed ex-workers and 10 healthy controls without occupational exposure to any mineral dust were examined with chest X-ray by AR, SR and FPD. Three occupational physicians, including one NIOSH B reader, assessed the digital and conventional radiographs by the side-by-side method according to the ILO 2000 International Classification of Radiograph of Pneumoconioses (ILO/ICRP). No significant difference was shown between the subjective film qualities by AR and FPD. Inter-reader agreement of the profusion of small opacities on radiographs was high in the order of SR (kappa=0.64), FPD (kappa=0.62), and AR (kappa=0.55). The profusions of small opacity for AR and FPD by the 12-point scaled profusion of ILO/ICRP did not show a statistically significant difference, but those for AR and SR showed a significant difference. The areas under the receiver operator curves (ROC) using clinical diagnosis by a pulmonologist as the reference showed no statistically significant difference among the three radiographic techniques. FPD gives image quality as good as that of AR, and it has acceptable agreement with AR in small profusion categories, which consequently assures its application to pneumoconiosis screening. SR showed less profusion than FPD and AR, which can be fixed with image modification.