Development and Initial Psychometric Validation of the COVID-19 Pandemic Burden Index for Healthcare Workers.

Background: The burden of COVID-19 on healthcare workers (HCWs) is reported to be increasing, yet the psychometric scales now in use evaluate only single aspects; few measure the pandemic-specific burden on HCWs comprehensively.

Objective: To develop a scale to quantify the physical, mental, and socioeconomic burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on HCWs.

Design: Scale development and cross-sectional survey.

Validity and Reliability of the Japanese Version of the Florida Patient Acceptance Survey.

Background And Purpose: Patient acceptance of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) is one of the factors influencing clinical outcomes. This study aimed to develop a Japanese version of the Florida Patient Acceptance Survey (FPAS; a measure of acceptance of ICDs), examine its reliability and validity, and test instrument reliability and ability to generate valid data in a new population.

Methods: 122 outpatients with ICD, cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRTD) completed the FPAS, the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey developed for the Medical Outcomes Study, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

Discordance between subjective and objective evaluations of cognitive function in old Japanese patients with heart failure.

Objectives: Although cognitive impairment is common among patients with chronic heart failure (HF), the accuracy with which caregivers can recognize it is unknown. This study aimed to examine the degree to which subjective and objective evaluations coincide.

Methods: Cognitive function was evaluated subjectively and objectively in 184 hospitalized patients aged 65 or older (82 ± 7.

Measurement of respiratory function using whole-body plethysmography in unanesthetized and unrestrained nonhuman primates.

Extended term, continuous measurement and observation of drug responses were performed to examine the feasibility of a custom-made whole-body plethysmograph for measuring respiratory function in unanesthetized, unrestrained monkeys. Using this apparatus, respiratory function (respiration rate, tidal volume, and minute volume) was observed for 23 hr in unanesthetized, unrestrained cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). The respiration rate, tidal volume, and minute volume in the light period (7:00 to 19:00) reached approximately 30% to 50% higher values than in the dark period (19:00 to 7:00), thus clearly exhibiting circadian variation in the cynomolgus monkey respiratory functions.

Phthalate esters reveal skin-sensitizing activity of phenethyl isothiocyanate in mice.

Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) is a constituent of edible cruciferous vegetables and has received attention due to its potential cancer chemopreventive activity. Although its protein-binding activity is known, PEITC has not been studied as a contact sensitizer. We previously demonstrated that phthalate esters, including dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-n-propyl phthalate (DPP), enhance skin sensitization in a fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-induced contact hypersensitivity mouse model.

Effects of phthalate esters on dendritic cell subsets and interleukin-4 production in fluorescein isothiocyanate-induced contact hypersensitivity.

Phthalate esters with short alkyl chains, such as di-ethyl (DEP), di-n-propyl (DPP), and di-butyl phthalate (DBP), have adjuvant effects on an FITC-induced contact hypersensitivity mouse model. The adjuvant effects of DPP and DBP are associated with enhanced trafficking of FITC-presenting CD11b(+) dendritic cells (DC). DEP has relatively weak activity as to FITC-positive cell migration.

Influence of local treatments with capsaicin or allyl isothiocyanate in the sensitization phase of a fluorescein-isothiocyanate-induced contact sensitivity model.

Background: In fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-induced contact hypersensitivity models, dibutyl phthalate has been empirically used as a solvent ingredient. We have demonstrated that dibutyl phthalate has an adjuvant effect through the facilitation of trafficking FITC-presenting dendritic cells (DC) from the skin to draining lymph nodes. Here we investigated the effects of local pretreatment with substances that are capable of desensitizing sensory neurons in the sensitization phase.