Development and validation of the Cancer Knowledge Scale for the general population: An item response theory approach.

Objective: To develop and validate a new measure of cancer knowledge for members of the general population who have never been diagnosed with cancer.

Methods: Initially, 20 items were generated to measure cancer knowledge. After expert refinement and cognitive interviews, 11 items remained and were completed by 1,076 adults with no history of cancer.

Cancer disclosure to friends: Survey on psychological distress and perceived social support provision.

Objective: To determine the factors associated with the degree of distress experienced by patients with cancer before disclosing their cancer diagnosis to a friend and their perceptions of social support upon disclosure.

Methods: Adult patients with cancer participated in a cross-sectional Internet-based survey on their behaviour when disclosing their diagnosis to a selected friend, degree of distress before this disclosure and perceived social support upon disclosure.

Results: Of 473 eligible respondents, around half were middle-aged (40-59 years) and around half were men.

Urinary concentrations of organophosphorus insecticide metabolites in Japanese workers.

A recent development in analytical chemistry has enabled us to monitor systemic organophosphorus insecticide (OP) exposure at individual levels. At present, however, limited data are currently available on urinary OP metabolite levels worldwide. The purpose of this study was to assess urinary dialkylphosphate (DAP) concentrations in Japanese workers.

Study profile on baseline survey of Daiko Study in the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study (J-MICC Study).

The Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study (J-MICC Study) is a long-term cohort study to investigate the interactions among genotypes, lifestyles, and lifestyle-related diseases, especially cancer. This article reports the outline of the baseline survey of the Daiko Study, one site of the J-MICC Study. That survey was conducted between June 9, 2008 and May 31, 2010 at the Daiko Medical Center of Nagoya University in Nagoya, Japan.

Toxicokinetics of pyrethroid metabolites in male and female rats.

The toxicokinetic characteristics of 3-phenoxybenzyl alcohol (3PBAlc) and 3-phenoxybenzaldehyde (3PBAld; metabolites of pyrethroid [PYR] after 25mg/kg, single intravenous administration), were investigated in male and female rats. The systemic clearance (Cl) of 3PBAlc in females (0.403±0.

Association of UGT1A1 Gly71Arg with urine urobilinogen.

Bilirubin is glucoronized by uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyl transferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) mainly in the liver, and excreted into bile. The conjugated form is metabolized into the unconjugated form, and then into urobilinogen by bacteria in the intestine. Unconjugated bilirubin and urobilinogen are absorbed into the blood stream.

Beta-glucuronidase activity is a sensitive biomarker to assess low-level organophosphorus insecticide exposure.

Acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activities in blood are widely used as the biomarkers for organophosphorus insecticide (OP) exposure. In the present study, we conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate plasma beta-glucuronidase (BG), a sensitive biomarker candidate for OP exposure, BChE activities and urinary dialkyl phosphates (DAPs), OP metabolites. We assessed the relationship between these biomarker levels in the following groups: 32 controls (control), 21 pest control operators and their co-workers who had not sprayed OPs within 3 days prior to sample collection (PCO1), and 21 pest control operators who sprayed OPs within those 3 days (PCO2).

Relationship between dietary habits and urinary concentrations of 3-phenoxybonzoic acid in a middle-aged and elderly general population in Japan.

Objectives: The ingestion of pesticides in the daily diet is assumed to be the main modality of pesticide exposure for most people. A widely used class of pesticides in agricultural or residential settings is pyrethroid. We have examined the relationship between the intake frequency of selected items of vegetables and fruits and urinary metabolites of pyrethroid pesticides in a healthy general population.

Comparison of urinary concentrations of 3-phenoxybenzoic acid among general residents in rural and suburban areas and employees of pest control firms.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the levels of urinary 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA) among general populations in rural and suburban areas and employees of pest control firms to evaluate the differences in the level of environmental or occupational pyrethroid (PYR) pesticides to which those populations are exposed.

Methods: Spot urine specimens were collected from male residents in a rural area (n = 143) and male residents in a suburban area (n = 66) in August of 2005 and 2007, respectively. Male employees of pest control firms, who also provided their urine specimens at the time of a health-checkup in August 2007, were classified either as sprayers (n = 14) or as non-sprayers (n = 16) according to the presence of spraying during the pre-checkup week.

Multilevel analyses of effects of variation in body mass index on serum lipid concentrations in middle-aged Japanese men.

For the effective use of the annual workplace health checkup data, we tried to perform multilevel analyses to explore whether the year-to-year weight variation causes any concurrent effects on the lipid profiles among middle-aged Japanese workers. Subjects were 1939 healthy male workers 40-59 in age from whom serial data of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) were collected during health checkups conducted in the years 1997-2000. The effects of body mass index (BMI) on serum concentrations of those lipids were investigated by statistical analysis with multilevel modeling to distinguish multiple levels of information with individual repeated measurements within individuals.

Use of waist circumference and ultrasonographic assessment of abdominal fat distribution in predicting metabolic risk factors in healthy Japanese adults.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association of abdominal fat thickness with obesity-associated metabolic risk factors. A total of 186 men and 350 women aged 30-78, who were voluntary participants in a community-based health screening program, were examined for body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and WC-stature ratio (WCSR). Using the ultrasonographic method, the maximum thickness of the preperitoneal fat layer (Pmax) and the minimum and maximum thicknesses of the subcutaneous fat layer (Smin and Smax) in the abdominal region were measured and the abdominal wall fat index (AFI=Pmax/Smin) was calculated.

Urinary excretion of 3-phenoxybenzoic acid in middle-aged and elderly general population of Japan.

Limited data are available on the background levels of exposure to synthetic pyrethroid (PYR) in Japan, despite their frequent application for agriculture and indoor extermination and possible effects of chronic and/or low-dose PYR exposure on human health. This study was conducted to describe the level and distribution of one of the major PYR metabolites, 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA), in urine samples collected from a general population in Japan. The subjects were 535 individuals (184 men and 351 women; 61.

Involvement of multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (ABCC2/Mrp2) in biliary excretion of micafungin in rats.

The drug transporter, multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (ABCC2/Mrp2), is known to play important roles in excretion of various drugs. In the present study, we investigated whether Mrp2 is involved in the transport of micafungin, a newly developed antifungal agent. When Sprague-Dawley rats received an intravenous injection of micafungin (1 mg/kg) in combination with cyclosporine, the cyclosporine significantly delayed the disappearance of micafungin from plasma and decreased the systemic clearance and volume of distribution at steady-state of micafungin to 54% and 65% of the corresponding control values, respectively.

Lack of effect of aerobic physical exercise on endothelium-derived nitric oxide concentrations in healthy young subjects.

Previous experimental research showed an attenuated vasoconstrictor response after acute exercise. This study aims to determine the effect of aerobic physical exercise on the endothelium-derived circulating nitric oxide (NO) concentrations among healthy young persons. A total of 10 subjects (5 men and 5 women) aged 21-28 were examined for the difference in concentrations of serum and plasma NO metabolites (NOx) before and after a single bout of aerobics, in which they performed cycling exercises at a constant workload corresponding to 90% of the subject-specific anaerobic threshold.

Association of glycemic profiles with whole blood polyamine among middle-aged Japanese men: colorimetric assay using oat and barley seedling polyamine oxidase.

Objectives: Polyamines have long been known to have an insulin-like action, but their antiglycating effect has only recently attracted the attention of researchers. The aim of our investigation was to determine the whole blood polyamine concentration in a healthy population in order to examine its relationship with glycemic profiles.

Methods: The study cohort comprised 622 men aged 40-59 who participated in a health checkup program conducted in 1997, when they underwent measurements of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), insulin (FPI), and fructosamine as glycemic indices.

Association of serum NO( x ) level with clustering of metabolic syndrome components in middle-aged and elderly general populations in Japan.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether the serum nitrite plus nitrate (NO( x )) level correlates with biomarkers that are known components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methods: Serum NO( x ) levels were measured using a commercial kit in 608 Japanese men and women between the ages of 39 and 85 years. Multivariate adjustments for age, smoking status, alcohol consumption and exercise were made in the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).