Association between Physical Activity Levels and Body Composition among Healthy Older Japanese Adults during a Snowy Winter: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Despite a long average lifespan, increased life expectancy does not guarantee higher quality of life.

Methods: To contribute in understanding some determinants of healthy life expectancies in older Japanese individuals in a snowy winter region, we investigated the indicators of health. Local residents ( = 124) in the city of Iwamizawa volunteered for health examinations from January 2016 to March 2016.

Factors Affecting Bone Mineral Density Among Snowy Region Residents in Japan: Analysis Using Multiple Linear Regression and Bayesian Network Model.

Background: As the onset of osteoporosis leads to reduced activities of daily living and may result in patients being bedridden, efforts to prevent decreased bone density are necessary. Various studies on the relationship between sex, age, nutrients, and exercise habits and bone mineral density have been conducted to date. However, for snowy region residents, the magnitude of influence of various factors affecting bone mineral density and the influence level have not been clarified.

Skin colour assessment of replanted fingers in digital images and its reliability for the incorporation of images in nursing progress notes.

Aims And Objectives: To determine whether nurses can accurately assess the skin colour of replanted fingers displayed as digital images on a computer screen.

Background: Colour measurement and clinical diagnostic methods for medical digital images have been studied, but reproducing skin colour on a computer screen remains difficult.

Design: The inter-rater reliability of skin colour assessment scores was evaluated.

Nutritional Status and Body Composition of Independently Living Older Adults in a Snowy Region of Japan.

Lifestyle diseases, which are associated with nutrition, account for 30% of elderly requiring long-term care. To increase health expectancy among Japan's rapidly aging population, we investigated the nutritional status and body composition of elderly adults living in a region subject to heavy snowfall, to identify pertinent health indicators. The dietary habits of 288 local residents aged ≥50 years were analyzed using body composition and a brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire.

Diversity changes of microbial communities into hospital surface environments.

Previous works have demonstrated considerable variability in hospital cleanliness in Japan, suggesting that contamination is driven by factors that are currently poorly controlled. We undertook 16S rRNA sequence analysis to study population structures of hospital environmental microbiomes to see which factor(s) impacted contamination. One hundred forty-four samples were collected from surfaces of three hospitals with distinct sizes ("A": >500 beds, "B": 100-500 beds, "C": <100 beds).

[The relationship between tooth eruption and ingestion of 15 food items among children aged 18-20 months].

Objectives　If children in formative stages ingest foods that are too hard or too soft, they can experience delays in oral cavity functions. Therefore, it is important for young children to receive foods of appropriate hardness in relation to their chewing ability. We investigated the relationship between the ingestion of 15 different food items and tooth eruption among children aged 18-20 months.

ATP bioluminescence values are significantly different depending upon material surface properties of the sampling location in hospitals.

Background: Our previous study into assessing hospital cleanliness in Japan by two common methods, ATP bioluminescence and the stamp agar method, revealed considerable variability in the data of both methods (BMC Research Notes, 7: 121, 2014). To investigate the reason(s) for the variability, we reanalyzed the data (n = 752) from the point of view of the material surface properties of sampling sites.

Methods: Data obtained from surfaces with unknown properties and different purposes such as floor were omitted, and the remaining data (n = 488) were used for this study.

Facilitating patients with disorders of consciousness to sit without trunk support: a qualitative study.

Aims And Objectives: This study aimed to clarify why and how clinical nurses facilitate sitting without trunk support among patients with disorders of consciousness.

Background: Recent attention has focused on encouraging patients with disorders of consciousness to sit without trunk support, but no reports describe this intervention among patients with poor awareness and physical disuse.

Design: Qualitative research design.