Do Carpets Alleviate Stress?

Background: Owing to increased complexity in the evolution of society, stress has become an important public health problem, and is responsible for more than 30 types of diseases. Most of the research on stress conducted to date has focused on physical and psychological aspects; however, there are very few reports about the association between psychological stress and elements within the residential environment, such as the home, room, and furniture. Therefore, in this study, we focused on the effects of indoor flooring in the residential environment on stress, as flooring is a feature that the human body is in contact with for long periods of time.

Non-synonymous FGD3 Variant as Positional Candidate for Disproportional Tall Stature Accounting for a Carcass Weight QTL (CW-3) and Skeletal Dysplasia in Japanese Black Cattle.

Recessive skeletal dysplasia, characterized by joint- and/or hip bone-enlargement, was mapped within the critical region for a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) influencing carcass weight; previously named CW-3 in Japanese Black cattle. The risk allele was on the same chromosome as the Q allele that increases carcass weight. Phenotypic characterization revealed that the risk allele causes disproportional tall stature and bone size that increases carcass weight in heterozygous individuals but causes disproportionately narrow chest width in homozygotes.

Doctor-patient communication: a comparison between telemedicine consultation and face-to-face consultation.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare doctor-patient communications in clinical consultations via telemedicine technology to doctor-patient communications in face-to-face clinical consultations.

Method: Five doctors who had been practicing internal medicine for 8 to 18 years, and twenty patients were enrolled in this study; neither doctors nor patients had previous experience of telemedicine. The patients received both a telemedicine consultation and a face-to-face consultation.

Appropriate cut-off value of 13C-urea breath test after eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection in Japan.

Background And Aim: A cut-off value of 2.5 per thousand for the 13C-urea breath test (UBT) is recommended in Japanese persons, based on the result of a multicenter trial in patients prior to treatment for eradication of Helicobacter pylori. The cut-off value of 2.

Genetic polymorphism of CYP2A6 gene and tobacco-induced lung cancer risk in male smokers.

Cytochrome P450 2A6 (CYP2A6) is the principal enzyme involved in the metabolic activation of tobacco-specific nitrosamines to their ultimate carcinogenic forms and metabolism of nicotine. We investigated the effects of the CYP2A6*4, an entire CYP2A6 gene deletion-type polymorphism, on lung cancer risk and daily cigarette consumption in Japanese male smokers via a hospital-based case control study. The frequency of the CYP2A6*4 variant was compared in 370 lung cancer patients and 380 control smokers.