Effects of eating dinner alone on overweight in Japanese adolescents: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: The decrease in the frequency of family meals among Asian youth is often lamented. In Japan, adolescents who eat breakfast alone might have an unhealthy diet, which increases the risk of overweight or obese. However, there are few studies on the relationship between eating dinner alone and overweight in Japanese adolescents. Here, we investigated if eating dinner alone is associated with being overweight in Japanese adolescents of each sex. METHODS: The participants consisted of 890 seventh graders (12-13 years of age) from the junior high schools of Ina, Japan who were recruited from 2011 to 2012. Information about eating dinner alone was obtained using a self-reported questionnaire, which was given to each participant. The participants were classified into the following three groups: does not eat alone, eats alone 1-2 times/week, or eats alone ≥3 times/week. A logistic regression model was used to examine the relationship between eating dinner alone and being overweight. The height and weight of each participant were measured. Childhood overweight status was defined using the body mass index cutoff points proposed by the International Obesity Task Force. RESULTS: When compared with girls who did not eat dinner alone, a significantly increased odds ratio (OR) was observed among girls who ate dinner alone ≥1 time/week (adjusted OR = 2.78; 95% confidence interval = 1.21-6.38). In contrast, there was no statistically significant difference between eating dinner alone and being overweight among boys. CONCLUSION: The present study found that eating dinner alone is associated with being overweight among adolescent girls in this community in Japan. Therefore, reducing the frequency of eating dinner alone might contribute to decreasing the risk for becoming overweight or obese among adolescent girls.

Impact of Japan's State of Emergency Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic on Trends in Diabetes Care: A Descriptive and Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the impact of Japan's state of emergency on trends in diabetes care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. DESIGN: A descriptive and retrospective study. SETTING: Showa University Hospital, Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with diabetes who received medical treatment from 2018 to 2020. Determinants of interest: Number of patients with diabetes visiting the hospital per week. To examine the impact of the Japan's state of emergency, the number of hospital visitations by patients with diabetes was summarized from 28 weeks of data for each year, from calendar week 8 to calender week 35. RESULTS: Compared with the mean of 2018 and 2019, no significant difference was found between the three periods (before, during, and after the state of emergency). However, the numbers of patients from both inside and outside Tokyo increased at 7 weeks after the state of emergency was lifted. CONCLUSIONS: A significant increase in the numbers of patients with diabetes was seen compared with the same period in 2018 and 2019, suggesting that the state of emergency may have hindered diabetes care. Therefore, patients with diabetes should receive continuous follow-up regarding their diabetes care, keeping a close eye on relvent measurements.

Measurement of Volatile Fatty Acids in Silage through Odors with Nanomechanical Sensors.

The measurement of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) is of great importance in the fields of food and agriculture. There are various methods to measure VFAs, but most methods require specific equipment, making on-site measurements difficult. In this work, we demonstrate the measurements of VFAs in a model sample, silage, through its vapor using an array of nanomechanical sensors-Membrane-type Surface stress Sensors (MSS). Focusing on relatively slow desorption behaviors of VFAs predicted with the sorption kinetics of nanomechanical sensing and the dissociation nature of VFAs, the VFAs can be efficiently measured by using features extracted from the decay curves of the sensing response, resulting in sufficient discrimination of the silage samples. Since the present sensing system does not require expensive, bulky setup and pre-treatment of samples, it has a great potential for practical applications including on-site measurements.

Effects of fermentative quality of corn silage on lactation, blood metabolites, and rumen fermentation in dairy cows.

We investigated the effect of fermentation quality of corn silage on dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield, ruminal fermentation, methane (CH4 ) emissions, and plasma metabolites in lactating cows. Six lactating Holstein cows were used in a 2 × 2 crossover design with two dietary treatments containing high quality corn silage with lower pH (high group) or low quality corn silage with higher pH (low group). The cows were fed partial mixed ration (PMR containing 50%DM of each corn silage) ad libitum plus 0.7 kg/day of concentrates at milking. The DMI of cows in the low group (24.8 kg/day) tended to be lower (p < 0.10) than that in the high group (26.8 kg/day). The dietary treatment did not affect milk yield or milk fat, protein, or lactose concentrations. The ruminal acetic acid proportion of the low group was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of the high group. The CH4 emission per DMI of the low group tended to be higher (p < 0.10) than that of the high group. The plasma concentration of the total cholesterol (TCHO) and the activity of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase of the low group were significantly higher than those of the high group.

Impact of the state of emergency on trends in the care of three major diseases at Showa University Hospital, Japan: a retrospective and descriptive study.

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the trends in patient consultations for three major diseases (cancer, heart disease, and stroke) at Showa University Hospital, Japan during the state of emergency for the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: The present study was a retrospective and descriptive study of Showa University Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Subjects were patients who had received medical treatment at Showa University Hospital and were diagnosed from 2017 to 2020. To examine the impact of the state of emergency, the number visits to hospital by the top three causes of death or other diseases were summarised from 21 weeks of data, from week 8 to week 28, for each year. Results: Compared to the average of the previous 3 years, a comparison of the three periods before and after the state of emergency showed a V-shaped curve in 2020, with a large drop in the number of cancer patients during the state of emergency, both from within Tokyo and from outside the city. Conclusions: This study showed a long-term decrease in cancer patient visits to Showa University Hospital since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the previous 3 years. It is also possible that medical care that would have been available may not have been provided due to the state of emergency, so it is necessary to follow up patients while keeping a close eye on measures other than infectious diseases.

Seven-day services in surgery and the "weekend effect" at a Japanese teaching hospital: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Hospitals deliver 24-h, 7-day care on a 5-day workweek model, as fewer resources are available on weekends. In prior studies, poorer outcomes have been observed with weekend admission or surgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 7-day service at a hospital, including outpatient consultations, diagnostic examinations and elective surgeries, on the likelihood of the "weekend effect" in surgery. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent surgery between April 2014 and October 2016 at an academic medical centre in Tokyo, Japan. The main outcome measure was 30-day in-hospital mortality from the index surgery. The characteristics of the participants were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test or the chi-squared test as appropriate. Logistic regression was used to test for differences in the mortality rate between the two groups, and propensity score adjustments were made. RESULTS: A total of 7442 surgeries were identified, of which, 1386 (19%) took place on the weekend. Of the 947 emergency surgeries, 25% (235) were performed on the weekend. The mortality following emergency weekday surgery was 21‰ (15/712), compared with 55‰ (13/235) following weekend surgery. Of the 6495 elective surgeries, 18% (1151) were performed on the weekend. The mortality following elective weekday surgery was 2.3‰ (12/5344), compared with 0.87‰ (1/1151) following weekend surgery. After adjustment, weekend surgeries were associated with an increased risk of death, especially in the emergency setting (emergency odds ratio: 2.7, 95% confidence interval: 1.2-6.5 vs. elective odds ratio: 0.4, 95% confidence interval: 0.05-3.2). CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing emergency surgery on the weekend had higher 30-day mortality, but showed no difference in elective surgery mortality. These findings have potential implications for health administrators and policy makers who may try to restructure the hospital workweek or consider weekend elective surgery.

Eating quickly is associated with waist-to-height ratio among Japanese adolescents: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Central obesity, based on waist circumference (WC), has more adverse effects on health than general obesity, determined by body mass index. To date, eating quickly has been reported to be risk factors for overweight/obesity among children, adolescents, and adults. In contrast, there are few studies on the relationship between fast eating and central obesity among adolescents, particularly in Japan, where WC is not commonly measured in junior high schools. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between eating quickly and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), an index of central obesity, among adolescents in Japan. METHODS: Study subjects were 2136 seventh-grade school children (12 or 13 years of age) from Ina town junior high schools in Japan, between 2004 and 2009. Measurements of height, weight, and WC were performed, and information about eating habits was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. A logistic regression model was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) for WHtR ≥ 0.5. RESULTS: Eating quickly significantly increased the OR for WHtR ≥ 0.5 in boys (OR: 2.05, 95 % CI: 1.31-3.23) and girls (2.09, 1.15-3.81). When compared with the "not eating quickly and not eating until full" group, the OR for WHtR ≥ 0.5 in the "eating quickly and eating until full" group was 2.67 (95 % CI: 1.50-4.73) in boys and 2.59 (1.17-5.73) in girls, whereas that in the "eating quickly and not eating until full" group or the "not eating quickly and eating until full" group was not statistically significant regardless of sex. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that eating quickly was associated with WHtR ≥ 0.5, and "eating quickly and eating until full" had a substantial impact on WHtR ≥ 0.5 among adolescents. This study suggests that modifying fast eating to a slower pace may help prevent central obesity among adolescents.

Resources for business continuity in disaster-based hospitals in the great East Japan earthquake: survey of Miyagi Prefecture disaster base hospitals and the prefectural disaster medicine headquarters.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify advance measures for business continuity taken by disaster base hospitals involved in the Great East Japan Earthquake. METHODS: The predisaster situation regarding stockpiles was abstracted from a 2010 survey. Timing of electricity and water restoration and sufficiency of supplies to continue operations were investigated through materials from Miyagi Prefecture disaster medicine headquarters (prefectural medical headquarters) and disaster base hospitals (14 hospitals) in Miyagi Prefecture after the East Japan earthquake. RESULTS: The number of hospitals with less than 1 day of stockpiles in reserve before the disaster was 7 (50%) for electricity supplies, 8 (57.1%) for water, 6 (42.9%) for medical goods, and 6 (42.9%) for food. After the disaster, restoration of electricity and water did not occur until the second day or later at 8 of 13 (61.5%) hospitals, respectively. By the fourth postdisaster day, 14 hospitals had requested supplies from the prefectural medical headquarters: 9 (64.3%) for electricity supplies, 2 (14.3%) for water trucks, 9 (64.3%) for medical goods, and 6 (42.9%) for food. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of supplies needed to continue operations in disaster base hospitals following the disaster clearly indicated that current business continuity plans require revision.