Development of the Nurse Attitude Scale short form: factor analysis in a large sample of Japanese psychiatric clinical staff.

The Nurse Attitude Scale (NAS) measures nurses' Expressed Emotion. A short form of the NAS was developed and its reliability and validity examined. After performing factor analysis using 1252 samples, three factors were extracted. Cronbach's alpha for individual subscales was 0.852 for Hostility, 0.846 for Criticism and 0.645 for Positive Remarks. There was a significant correlation between individual subscales in the NAS short form and corresponding subscale in the Maslach Burnout Inventory (P < 0.001). The NAS short form seems to have acceptable reliability and validity.

Alpha-amylase production is induced by sulfuric acid in rice aleurone cells.

The hydrolytic enzyme alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) is produced mainly in aleurone cells of germinating cereals, and the phytohormone gibberellin (GA) is essential for its induction. However, in rice (Oryza sativa L.), sulfuric acid (H(2)SO(4)) induces alpha-amylase production in aleurone tissue even in the absence of GA. Here, the pre-treatment of rice aleurone cells with H(2)SO(4) and incubation in water induced alpha-amylase activity, as if the cells had been incubated in GA solution.

Efficacy of a Peer-Led, Recovery-Oriented Shared Decision-Making System: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: The effects of a comprehensive shared decision-making system based on the CommonGround approach and incorporating peer support and a computerized decision aid were investigated. METHODS: A pilot randomized controlled trial with six-month follow-up was conducted in Japan. Fifty-six outpatients with mental illness were randomly allocated to a shared decision-making system (intervention) group or treatment as usual (control) group. The implementation process and several outcomes were compared between groups. RESULTS: The core components and processes of shared decision making were observed in the intervention group more frequently than in the control group. The intervention group also reported a significantly more positive participants' view of the relationship with their doctor than the control group. The intervention did not have a significant effect on most clinical and recovery-related outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The shared decision-making system appeared to partly improve patients' perceptions of communication and relationships with doctors but did not have a significant effect on other patient-level outcomes.

Sleep-related risk of occupational injuries in Japanese small and medium-scale enterprises.

A cross-sectional study evaluated the contribution of daily sleep habits to occupational injuries. A self-administered questionnaire solicited answers about sleep, symptoms of depression, occupational injury, demographics, presence of diseases and lifestyle factors from 2,903 workers between the ages of 16-83 (mean 45) yr in small and medium-scale enterprises. Eight sleep habits were queried and dichotomized: 1) less or more than 6 hr of daily sleep, 2) taking more or less than 30 min to fall asleep (Difficulty initiating sleep; DIS), 3) awakening during sleep more or less than 3 times/wk (Difficulty maintaining sleep; DMS), 4) early morning awakening more or less than 3 times/wk (EMA), 5) definitely/somewhat difficulty waking up or not, 6) sleeping very poorly/not so well at night or not, 7) definitely/somewhat insufficient nightly sleep or not, and 8) difficulty in breathing during sleep more than once/week or less. Occupational injury was assessed by asking subjects 'Have you ever been injured during your work, including minor scratches and cuts (Yes/No)?' Both sleep and injury were assessed over the previous one year period. One-third of workers answered that they had experienced injury. Workers with sleep features of DIS, sleeping poorly at night, insufficient sleep, and insomnia had a significantly higher prevalence for injury after adjusting for multiple confounders. The findings suggest that poor nocturnal sleep habits are associated with self-reported occupational injury.

Association of sickness absence with poor sleep and depressive symptoms in shift workers.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the contribution of daily sleep habits and depressive symptoms to sickness absences of shift workers. A self-administered questionnaire that solicited answers about sleep, symptoms of depression, sickness absence, diseases/injuries, and lifestyle factors was submitted to a sample of 522 rotating shift workers between the ages of 18-59 (mean 27) yrs of an electric equipment manufacturing company. The seven features of sleep queried were daily hours of sleep, time to fall asleep, awakening during sleep, early morning awakening, sleep well at night, sufficiency of sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness at work. The responses were assessed over the subject's previous 1-yr period. Each sleep feature, except daily sleeping hours, was dichotomized by the following responses: (1) taking more than 30min to fall asleep (difficulty initiating sleep; DIS), (2) awakening during sleep almost every day (difficulty maintaining sleep; DMS), (3) early morning awakening almost every day (EMA), (4) sleeping very poorly or not so well at night, (5) definite or somewhat insufficient nightly sleep, and (6) excessive daytime sleepiness at work almost every day (EDS). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. Sickness absence was calculated by asking subjects "How many days in total have you been absent from work due to sickness, including paid vacation, in the last 1-yr period?" The responses were divided into three groups that included no (0 days) sickness absences (reference group, n=235 subjects), 1 to 4 days (short-term, n=199 subjects), and 5 days or more (long-term, n = 88 subjects). Compared to the prevalence of sleep features of the reference group, workers with short-term absence showed a significantly higher prevalence of EMA with an odds ratio (OR) of 5.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-22.0. Long-term absence was significantly associated with DMS (OR = 2.1, 95%CI 1.0-4.6), EMA (OR = 5.6, 95%CI 1.0-28.7), sleeping poorly at night (OR= 2.6, 95%CI 1.4-5.0), and high depressive symptoms (OR = 2.0, 95%CI 1.0-3.7) according to the CES-D score of >16, after adjusting for multiple confounding variables. These data point to an association between both the parameters of poor sleep and symptoms of deep depression when self-reported sickness absence is frequent. The association is particularly strong with long-term absence in male shift workers.

[Measuring workplace climate: reliability and validity of the 12-item Organizational Climate Scale (OCS-12)].

In order to investigate the reliability and validity of the short version of the 30-item Organizational Climate Scale (OCS-30; Toshima and Matsuda, 1992, 1995), a self-administered questionnaire was conducted in a sample of 819 employees of two medium-sized private companies in Japan by using the OCS-30, the Generic Job Stress Questionnaire (GJSQ), and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The OCS has two subscales, i.e., the Tradition Scale (TS) and the Organizational Environment Scale (OES). The organizational climate perceived by each worker can be grouped into four categories based on the subscale scores: low TS and high OES (Active), high TS and high OES (Governed), low TS and low OES (Disorganized), and high TS and low OES (Reluctant). Principal component analysis for the OCS-30 was submitted (varimax rotation, the number of factors = 2), and 6 items for each factor, with factor loadings greater than 0.50, were selected for the short version, which constituted the 12-item Organizational Climate Scale (OCS-12). Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients of the two subscales of the OCS-12 were acceptable; 0.63 for the TS and 0.71 for the OES. Both two subscales of the OCS-12 were significantly correlated with the GHQ-12 and many subscales of the GJSQ, which indicated the good constructive validity of the OCS-12. Among 4 types of organizational climate categorized by the OCS-12, the "Active" group showed the lowest job stress scores. It is suggested that the OCS-12 could be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing workers' perception of workplace climate.