Vaccination Education Deficits and Vaccine Hesitancy Among Healthcare Students in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background/objectives: Healthcare professionals' (HCPs') accurate knowledge of and positive attitudes toward immunization greatly influence society's acceptance of it. Early and appropriate immunization education for HCP students is vital. This study aimed to understand current immunization education and vaccine hesitancy among medical, nursing, and pharmacy students in Japan.

Parental vaccine hesitancy toward routine childhood immunizations and COVID-19 vaccines in Japan: A cross-sectional study.

Background: This study aimed to elucidate the prevalence and characteristics of parental vaccine hesitancy towards routine infant immunizations and COVID-19 vaccines in Japan.

Methods: A web-based survey was conducted among 3,227 parents of children aged 0-11 years to assess vaccine-related hesitancy for routine infant immunizations and COVID-19 vaccines for children using the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) questionnaire. Data were collected from January 18 to 25, 2023.

Pilot Study of Evaluating Attitudes toward Childhood Immunization among Healthcare Workers in Japan.

Providing appropriate immunization information during the perinatal period is important for improving immunization rates among infants and children; however, the distribution of immunization information by healthcare workers (HCWs) is not standardized in Japan. We investigated HCWs’ attitudes toward childhood immunization and factors related to vaccine hesitancy. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive survey of HCWs involved in childhood immunization in Niigata City, Japan, from November 2017 to January 2018.

High rates of vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan.

This study aimed to 1) determine the prevalence and contents of vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and 2) evaluate its association with maternal sociodemographic factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between August and December 2020 among pregnant women between 28 and 32 weeks of gestation who received antenatal care at four clinics and hospitals in Niigata City, Japan. Vaccine hesitancy was assessed using the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines survey, and associations between vaccine hesitancy and sociodemographic factors were analyzed.

Evaluation of the first Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program as a second career in Japan.

Background: The first Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program with a two-year educational period in Japan was developed in a nursing university in Tokyo in 2017 (i.e., 2017-ABSN two-year program or designated as program 1) for individuals aiming to pursue nursing as a second career.

Association Between Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction Cycle Threshold Value and Clinical Severity in Neonates and Infants Infected With Bordetella pertussis.

Background: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is highly sensitive and is thus the standard method for diagnosing pertussis. Real-time PCR is widely used because of its accuracy and the simplicity of the simultaneous cycle threshold (Ct) value, which represents the copy numbers of the target gene. Little is known of the association of Ct value with pertussis severity in neonates and infants.

ZEITLUPE enhances expression of PIF4 and YUC8 in the upper aerial parts of Arabidopsis seedlings to positively regulate hypocotyl elongation.

Microarray and genetic analyses reveal that ZTL induces the expression of genes related to auxin synthesis, thereby promoting hypocotyl elongation. ZTL is a blue-light receptor that possesses a light-oxygen-voltage-sensing (LOV) domain, an F-box motif, and a kelch repeat domain. ZTL promotes hypocotyl elongation under high temperature (28 °C) in Arabidopsis thaliana; however, the mechanism of this regulation is unknown.

Learning experiences and identity development of Japanese nursing students through study abroad: a qualitative analysis.

Objectives: This study aimed to qualitatively analyze the experiences and perceptions of students at a nursing college in Japan who studied abroad in Asia and North America, thereby identifying the full range of benefits of study abroad programs for Japanese nursing students.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative analysis of the reflection papers and free-response questionnaire items completed by 50 Japanese undergraduate nursing students who participated in 9 study abroad programs in Asia and North America. Content analysis of the data proceeded from typological and deductive to data-driven and inductive, recursively and collaboratively.

Enhancement of hypocotyl elongation by LOV KELCH PROTEIN2 production is mediated by auxin and phytochrome-interacting factors in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Auxin and two phytochrome-interacting factors, PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR4 (PIF4) and PIF5, play crucial roles in the enhancement of hypocotyl elongation in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants that overproduce LOV KELCH PROTEIN2 (LKP2). LOV KELCH PROTEIN2 (LKP2) is a positive regulator of hypocotyl elongation under white light in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study, using microarray analysis, we compared the gene expression profiles of hypocotyls of wild-type Arabidopsis (Columbia accession), a transgenic line that produces green fluorescent protein (GFP), and two lines that produce GFP-tagged LKP2 (GFP-LKP2).

Gene expression profile of zeitlupe/lov kelch protein1 T-DNA insertion mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana: Downregulation of auxin-inducible genes in hypocotyls.

Elongation of hypocotyl cells has been studied as a model for elucidating the contribution of cellular expansion to plant organ growth. ZEITLUPE (ZTL) or LOV KELCH PROTEIN1 (LKP1) is a positive regulator of warmth-induced hypocotyl elongation under white light in Arabidopsis, although the molecular mechanisms by which it promotes hypocotyl cell elongation remain unknown. Microarray analysis showed that 134 genes were upregulated and 204 genes including 15 auxin-inducible genes were downregulated in the seedlings of 2 ztl T-DNA insertion mutants grown under warm conditions with continuous white light.

Perinatal immunization education improves immunization rates and knowledge: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To determine if providing perinatal immunization education positively changes the immunization status of infants, influences the infant immunization knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of mothers and affects the intent to vaccinate children in Japan where immunization education is limited.

Methods: Pregnant women were recruited from three sites in Tokyo, Japan and were assigned to two intervention (pre- or postnatal education) groups and a control group. The immunization status of infants was assessed and a written survey was performed before and after the intervention.