Relationship between Individual External Doses, Ambient Dose Rates and Individuals' Activity-Patterns in Affected Areas in Fukushima following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident.

The accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on March 11, 2011, released radioactive material into the atmosphere and contaminated the land in Fukushima and several neighboring prefectures. Five years after the nuclear disaster, the radiation levels have greatly decreased due to physical decay, weathering, and decontamination operations in Fukushima. The populations of 12 communities were forced to evacuate after the accident; as of March 2016, the evacuation order has been lifted in only a limited area, and permanent habitation is still prohibited in most of the areas.

Evaluation of quality of life among patients with ischemic heart disease who practiced self-care activities at home after elective percutaneous coronary intervention.

The present study compares health-related QOL between patients who practiced self-care activities comprising exercise and diet at home for at least 6 months (SA group; n = 84) after elective PCI and those who did not (NA group; n = 54). Health-related (HR) QOL was measured using the SF-36 questionnaire. Scores for two mental and three physical parameters of the HRQOL were increased in the SA, but not in the NA group.

Evaluation of dose from external irradiation for individuals living in areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant accident.

In order to effectively and appropriately manage external radiation doses in the affected areas of Fukushima, it is important to identify when, where and how much exposure occurred. It is also necessary to quantitatively measure external exposure and air dose rates for different activity patterns in individuals living and working in Japanese-style buildings. The authors used a new personal dosemeter (D-shuttle) along with a global positioning system and geographical information system to relate personal dose rate with activity patterns and air dose rate.

Pre-incubation with hyaluronan reduces cellular damage after cryopreservation in densely cultured cell monolayers.

Reduction of cellular damage in densely cultured cell monolayers after cryopreservation by pre-incubation with hyaluronan (HA) was investigated. Monolayers of human dermal fibroblasts were cultured for 24 h at a density of 0.5×104 or 5×104 cells/cm2.

[Chemical profiles of methylpyrazines contained in commercially available natto].

Structures and amounts of methylpyrazines contained in commercial natto, a fermented soybean food in Japan, were determined using HPLC equipped with an acid-resistant reversed phase column, Capcell Pak C18 ACR (Shiseido). Mobile phase solvent mixtures consisted of acidic phosphate buffer solution (pH 2.0) containing 2% acetonitrile gave satisfactory results with baseline separation of the authentic specimens, such as naked pyrazine, monomethylpyrazine, 2,3-, 2,5-, and 2,6-dimethylpyrazine, trimethylpyrazine, and tetramethylpyrazine.