Determinant factors of the difference between self-reported weight and measured weight among Japanese.

Objectives: To assess the difference between self-reported and measured weight values in Japanese men and women and to determine the underlying determinants of the differences between self-reported and measured values.

Methods: The data were collected from 363 general Japanese individuals aged 16-88 years living in Kumamoto prefecture. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire designed for this study with self-reported weight and height values.

Relationship between lifestyle and lifestyle-related factors in a rural-urban population of Japan.

Objective: To clarify the actual state of residents' lifestyle in a mixed rural-urban area in Japan, and to investigate the relationship between residents' lifestyle and lifestyle-related factors.

Methods: The Japanese version of Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II), lifestyle-related factors developed through group work with residents of Town A, and demographic variables were used to evaluate 1176 community residents' lifestyles and associated factors.

Results: Factor analysis revealed that there were 4 factors related to healthy lifestyle.

Community factors to promote parents' quality of child-nurturing life.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of community factors in parents' quality of child-nurturing life (QCNL).

Methods: We developed a questionnaire to evaluate the degree of QCNL and determine the structural factors related to QCNL as community factors related to parents' QCNL derived from focus group interviews and the Delphi technique. The questionnaire also included the battery of the self-rating depression scale and Tsumori-Inage Infant's Developmental Test.

Assessment of health-promoting lifestyle profile in Japanese university students.

Objectives: This descriptive study of 314 students was conducted to determine whether there were any relationships of their demographic variables with a health-promoting lifestyle profile.

Methods: The Japanese version of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) questionnaire was used to investigate students' lifestyles. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple comparison procedures using the Scheffe test were conducted to identify significant differences among university year (first, second, etc.

Policy framework for formulating environmental management strategy for sustainable development of tanneries in India.

Objectives: The leather industry is one of the main examples of industries which play an important role in the Indian economy in terms of exports and employment opportunities, while being blamed for environmental pollution. The objective of this study was to find the advances or improvements in the Japanese leather industry which are not found in typical leather industries in developing countries. We examined the Japanese leather industry in this context because Japan is a developed country in which tanning processes have been a traditional business from ancient times, and also the leather industry has played an important role in the process of economic development of Japan.

A comparative study of health-promoting lifestyles in agricultural and non-agricultural workers in Japan.

Objectives: To clarify the difference in health-promoting lifestyles between agricultural and non-agricultural workers in Japan, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 627 residents living in a town with a mixed rural-urban population.

Methods: The subjects were divided into 8 groups by job (agricultural and non-agricultural), age (young and old), and gender (male and female). To evaluate the subjects' lifestyles, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) was applied.

An intervention study to promote self-improvement of lifestyle in a Japanese community: a new health support program.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of two health support programs developed to improve the lifestyle of community residents through exercise, nutrition-based health education, and group dynamics.

Methods: A total of 171 subjects were selected from community residents showing an abnormal result in at least one metabolic syndrome-related laboratory test. The subjects were divided into two groups: a group participating only in the 5-month initiation program (i.

Applying the social cognitive perspective to volunteer intention in China: the mediating roles of self-efficacy and motivation.

When predicting volunteer intention, much attention is paid to the volunteer organization environment (VOE). Given that self-efficacy and motivation have emerged as important predictors of volunteer intention, we adopted a combination of ideas of Bandura's social cognitive theory and Ajzen's theory of planned behavior integrating VOE, self-efficacy and motivation to examine their effects on volunteer intention and to determine whether self-efficacy and motivation mediate the relationship between VOE and volunteer intention. The subjects of this study consisted of 198 community health volunteers in Shanghai city, China.

Quality of life associated with perceived stigma and discrimination among the floating population in Shanghai, China: a qualitative study.

The floating population refers to the large and increasing number of migrants without local household registration status and has become a new demographic phenomenon in China. Most of these migrants move from the rural areas of the central and western parts of China to the eastern and coastal metropolitan areas in pursuit of a better life. The floating population of China was composed of 121 million people in 2000, and this number was expected to increase to 300 million by 2010.

The role of the ribosomal protein S19 C-terminus in Gi protein-dependent alternative activation of p38 MAP kinase via the C5a receptor in HMC-1 cells.

We have demonstrated that an alternative C5a receptor (C5aR) ligand, the homodimer of ribosomal protein S19 (RP S19), contains a unique C-terminus (I(134)-H(145)) that is distinct from the moieties involved in the C5a-C5aR interaction. To examine the role of I(134)-H(145) in the ligand-C5aR interaction, we connected this peptide to the C-terminus of C5a (C5a/RP S19) and found that it endowed the second binding moiety of RP S19 (L(131)DR) with a relatively higher binding affinity to the C5aR on a human mast cell line, HMC-1. In contrast to the C5aR, the second C5aR C5L2 worked as a decoy receptor.

Description of environmental determinants of quality of life in children with intellectual disability in Japan using the Delphi technique.

Objectives: The present study aimed to define the framework of an environment conducive to the well-being of children with intellectually disability (CID).

Methods: A questionnaire composed of 31 items was developed through literature review. Then a 2-round Delphi survey was conducted with 3 different panels: health professionals (HPs), parents of CID, and teachers.

Development of an assessment sheet for fall prediction in stroke inpatients in convalescent rehabilitation wards in Japan.

Objective: We conducted a study to develop an assessment sheet for fall prediction in stroke inpatients that is handy and reliable to help ward staff to devise a fall prevention strategy for each inpatient immediately upon admission.

Methods: The study consisted of three steps: (1) developing a data sampling form to record variables related to risk of falls in stroke inpatients and conducting a follow-up survey for stroke inpatients from their admission to discharge by using the form; (2) carrying out analyses of characteristics of the present subjects and selecting variables showing a high hazard ratio (HR) for falls using the Cox regression analysis; (3) developing an assessment sheet for fall prediction involving variables giving the integral coefficient for each variable in accordance with the HR determined in the second step.

Results And Discussion: (1) Subjects of the present survey were 704 inpatients from 17 hospitals including 270 fallers.

Toxicity study of the volatile constituents of Myoga utilizing acute dermal irritation assays and the Guinea-pig Maximization test.

Myoga is a fragrant plant which is the special product of Japan and is cultivated throughout Japan. According to our earlier investigation (unpublished data) of myoga cultivators in Japan, 8 of 35 cultivators experienced contact dermatitis in the harvest season. The purpose of this study was to assess the allergenicity of myoga and its major volatile components.

Effect of estradiol on heme biosynthetic pathway in lead-poisoned rabbits.

Objectives: To clarify the effect of the female hormone estradiol (Est) on heme biosynthesis in lead-poisoned rabbits, parameters indicating lead exposure, such as free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP) level and δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALA-D) activity, were determined.

Methods: Twenty-six male Japanese white rabbits (body weight (BW), 3kg) were divided into four groups: I (control), II (Est), III (Pb), IV (Est+Pb). About 3 weeks after castration, Est (3 mg/kg of BW) was injected intramuscularly, and 2 weeks thereafter, lead (1.

[Analysis of relationship between birth weight by gestational age and decreasing birth weight in Kumamoto Prefecture, 1979-1997].

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate possible factors associated with the recent decrease in birth weight in Kumamoto Prefecture between 1979 and 1997.

Methods: Vital statistics on birth between 1979 and 1997 were obtained from the records of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japan, on the basis of which, infants were divided into low-birth weight (LBW: <2500 g) group and the normal-birth-weight (> or =2500 g) group, and the proportions of birth and birth weights by gestational age (from 22 to 42 weeks) of both groups between 1979 and 1997 were compared.

Results: For the normal-birth-weight group, the peaks of the proportions of birth and birth weights by gestational age in 1997 shifted to early gestation, compared with the peaks in 1979.

Synthesis and characterization of Fe(III) and Pb(ll) complexes with 3-hydroxypyridine-2(1H)-thiones.

Two kinds of 3-hydroxypyridine-2(1H)-thiones were synthesized. The visible (VIS) spectroscopic analysis indicated that 3-hydroxy-1-methylpyridine-2(1H)-thione (4a) and 3-hydroxy-1-(2-hydroxyethyl)pyridine-2(1H)-thione (4b) formed stable 3:1 Fe(III) complexes. The stability constant of the 4b-Fe(III) complex was estimated from the competitive reaction with EDTA and was found to be 36.

Behavior and lifestyle factors related to quality of life in junior high school students.

Objectives: To analyze actual conditions of the quality of life (QOL) in junior high school students, we developed a questionnaire based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model, and we conducted a survey by using this questionnaire.

Methods: We conducted a workshop organized with 29 specialists on school health and community health to develop the questionnaire. The QOL outcome was assessed by the QOL Profile-Adolescent Version (QOLPAV).

Quantification of α-methylene-λ-butyrolactone extracted from different parts ofAlstroemeria wilhelmina and evaluation of it's antigenicity using the guinea-pig maximization test.

To detect the type of contact dermatitis caused due to the handling ofAlstroemeria wilhelmina, 1% α-methylene-λ-butyrolactone (α-MBL) dissolved in physiological alien and a five-fold diluted saline solution of original extracts of flowers, leaves and stems of the flower were applied to guinea-pigs for extracts were applied to the animals as the challenge treatment in compliance with the guinea-pig maximization test (GMT). As a consequence, not only primary irritant dermatitis was observed, but also delayed type allergic contact dermatitis due toAlstroemeria wilhelmina was observed. α-MBL determined in the extracts using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was found to be the biochemical material cause of the contact dermatitis.