Career outcomes and satisfaction among graduates of a 4-year oral health and welfare baccalaureate program at Niigata University, Japan: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: Globally, baccalaureate programs in dental hygiene are increasingly established. In addition, in Japan, many dental hygienists (DHs) and social workers (SWs) are prematurely leaving the workforce. This study aimed to investigate the most recent employment, career outcomes, reasons for a job change, and satisfaction with the job and undergraduate curriculum among graduates of the baccalaureate program at the Department of Oral Health and Welfare (DOHW), Faculty of Dentistry, Niigata University.

Income from nutrition and oral health management among long-term care insurance facilities in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.

Objective: To determine recent insurance claim rates for, facility income from, and the roles of professionals associated with management of nutrition, oral ingestion and oral health maintenance in long-term care insurance facilities (LTCIFs) in Niigata Prefecture.

Methods: A questionnaire on current staffing, oral health professional (OHP) utilisation, and claims for insured benefits for the investigated services was mailed to all LTCIFs in Niigata Prefecture, Japan (n = 304). Claim rates for and average facility income from these benefits were calculated.

Relationship between alcohol consumption and periodontal tissue condition in community-dwelling elderly Japanese.

Objectives: To examine the associations among alcohol consumption level, dietary intake and other lifestyle factors, and periodontal condition, in community-dwelling elderly Japanese of a specific age.

Background: The relationship between alcohol consumption level and periodontitis is a controversial issue.

Methods: Participants were 438 dentate elders aged 73 years from a larger cohort survey of elders in Niigata City, Japan.

An oral health and function screening tool for nursing personnel of long-term care facilities to identify the need for dentist referral without preliminary training.

Objective: To develop and evaluate, with a dentist as gold standard, an oral health screening tool, the Oral Health Screening Tool for Nursing Personnel (OHSTNP), that assists long-term care facility nursing staff without preliminary training in identifying resident need for dentist referral.

Methods: Using an OHSTNP adapted from previous screening tools (Chalmers, J Gerontol Nurs, 2004, 30, 5; Tsukada, J Jpn Soc Dent Hyg, 2012, 7, 43), one of four nurses, one of eight caregivers and a dentist with 15 years' experience screened the oral health/function of 57 long-term care facility residents. The OHSTNP included a question on the need and reasons for dentist referral.

Changes in the Oral Moisture and the Amount of Microorganisms in Saliva and Tongue Coating after Oral Ingestion Resumption: A Pilot Study.

Background And Objective: Tube feeding has been significantly associated with a higher rate of aspiration pneumonia that is mainly related to oral microorganisms and a reduced salivary flow. Thus, the difference in the mode of nutritional intake is expected to affect the oral environment, but this has not yet been fully clarified. The purpose of this study was to investigate, in tube-fed patients, changes in the oral moisture and the counts of microorganisms in saliva and tongue coating, which occur after oral ingestion resumption.

Comprehension of Japanese oral care-related terms among caregivers and nurses, as assessed using a newly developed instrument.

Objectives: (i) To assess comprehension of oral care-related terms among caregivers and nurses working at long-term care facilities, using a newly developed test; (ii) to analyse the effect of participant characteristics on their comprehension.

Background: Effective mutual communication between dental professionals and caregivers/nurses is essential for providing information on daily oral care for institutionalised elders.

Methods: A 36-item word-knowledge test in Japanese was developed to assess comprehension of oral care-related terms.

[Promotive excretion of causative agents of Yusho by fermented brown rice with Aspergillus oryze in Yusho patients].

Forty two years have passed since the outbreak of Kanemi rice oil poisoning, namely, Yusho in the western Japan. However, even now the Yusho patients have been still suffering from several objective and subjective symptoms. In order to improve or, if possible, to cure such symptoms, the most important therapeutic treatment is considered to actively excrete the causative agents, that is, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) from the bodies of the patients and to reduce their body burdens.

RIG-I helicase-independent pathway in sendai virus-activated dendritic cells is critical for preventing lung metastasis of AT6.3 prostate cancer.

We recently demonstrated highly efficient antitumor immunity against dermal tumors of B16F10 murine melanoma with the use of dendritic cells (DCs) activated by replication-competent, as well as nontransmissible-type, recombinant Sendai viruses (rSeV), and proposed a new concept, "immunostimulatory virotherapy," for cancer immunotherapy. However, there has been little information on the efficacies of this method: 1) in more clinically relevant situations including metastatic diseases, 2) on other tumor types and other animal species, and 3) on the related molecular/cellular mechanisms. In this study, therefore, we investigated the efficacy of vaccinating DCs activated by fusion gene-deleted nontransmissible rSeV on a rat model of lung metastasis using a highly malignant subline of Dunning R-3327 prostate cancer, AT6.

Concurrent administration of intravenous systemic and intravitreal methotrexate for intraocular lymphoma with central nervous system involvement.

Intraocular lymphoma (IOL) is rare lymphoma that frequently infiltrates the central nervous system (CNS). An optimal treatment has not been established, and its prognosis is quite poor. We treated three IOL patients with CNS involvement by concurrent administration of intravenous and intravitreal methotrexate (MTX) injection.

Twenty-year changes of penta-chlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF) level and symptoms in Yusho patients, using association analysis.

Background: Recently, methods for measurement of dioxins in the blood have improved. Also, techniques for analyzing large quantities of data have been developed, such as data mining. Even in subjects with elusive characteristics, it is becoming possible to find previously unknown characteristics by checking all combinations of symptoms.

A clinical trial of kampo formulae for the treatment of symptoms of yusho, a poisoning caused by dioxins and related organochlorine compounds.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of traditional herbal medicines (Kampo) on the symptoms of Yusho. Yusho is a mass food poisoning that was caused by ingestion of rice oil contaminated with dioxins and related organochlorines in 1968. Patients with Yusho suffer from skin symptoms (acneform eruptions, liability to suppuration and pigmentation), respiratory symptoms (cough and expectoration of sputum), neurological symptoms (numbness and paresthesia of extremities), arthralgia and general fatigue, and no effective treatment has yet been developed.

Variation in half-life of penta-chlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF) blood level among Yusho patients.

Yusho (oil disease) is the name given to a food poisoning incident caused by rice bran oil that occurred in west Japan in 1968. The causative agents of Yusho are currently considered to be polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their by-products, such as dioxin like compounds. The levels of 2,3,4,7,8-penta-cholorodibenzofuran (PeCDF) are measured in the blood of Yusho patients who attend medical check-ups.

[Promotive excretion of causative agents of Yusho by intake of fermented brown rice with Aspergillus oryze in patients with Yusho --with regard to PCDFs and PCDDs].

Forty years have passed since the outbreak of Kanemi rice oil poisoning, namely, Yusho in the western Japan. However, even now the patients with Yusho have been still suffering from several objective and subjective symptoms. In order to improve or, if possible, to cure such symptoms, the most important therapeutic treatment is considered to actively excrete the causative agents, that is, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) from the bodies of the patients and to reduce their body burdens.

Cutaneous symptoms such as acneform eruption and pigmentation are closely associated with blood levels of 2,3,4,7,8-penta-chlorodibenzofurans in Yusho patients, using data mining analysis.

Background: Yusho an intoxication caused by oral dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls occurred in 1968. Patients suffered from various systemic symptoms, including general fatigue, nausea, muscular and articular pain, acneform eruptions, black comedones, cutaneous and oral pigmentation, and increased eye discharge. The major causative factor was the contamination of rice oil with 2,3,4,7,8-penta-chlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF).

Association of clinical findings in Yusho patients with serum concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated quarterphenyls and 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran more than 30 years after the poisoning event.

Background: The Yusho poisoning incident, which was caused by rice bran oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated quarterphenyls (PCQs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) generated by heat denaturation of PCB, occurred in 1968 in western Japan. Annual physical, dermatological, dental, ophthalmological and laboratory examinations were conducted for Yusho patients after the incident. From 2001, blood levels of individual PCDF congeners were also measured.

A conceptual model of the polyamine binding site of N1-acetylpolyamine oxidase developed from a study of polyamine derivatives.

We used various polyamine derivatives to study the substrate binding site of N1-acetylpolyamine oxidase (PAO) that was partially purified from rat liver. The substrate activities of acetylpolyamines indicated the presence of two anionic centers corresponding to the 1,3-diaminopropane (1,3-DAP) structure and a hydrophobic region in addition to the cleavage site of the acetamidopropyl group. Based on the results of the inhibitory activities of 1,3-DAP derivatives, we developed a conceptual model of the polyamine binding site of PAO.

Overexpression of phosphorylated-ATF2 and STAT3 in cutaneous angiosarcoma and pyogenic granuloma.

Background: Activating transcription factor-2/Activator protein-1 (AP-1), Signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 and p53 are important regulators of cellular proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation in the pathogenesis of many human tumors, but the expression of phosphorylated (p)-activating transcription factor-2 (p-ATF2), phosphorylated (p)-signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (p-STAT3) and p53 family (p63 and p73) has not been investigated in cutaneous angiosarcoma (CAS) and pyogenic granuloma (PG) so far.

Objectives: To investigate the expression of p-ATF2, p-STAT3 and p53 and its family in cutaneous vascular tumors (CAS and PG).

Methods: Paraffin-embedded specimens of 14 CAS and 19 PG were subjected to immunohistochemical staining for p-ATF2, p-STAT3, p53, p63 and p73.

Long-term effects of polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins on pregnancy outcomes in women affected by the Yusho incident.

Background: Maternal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is associated with increased proportions of spontaneous abortion and stillbirth in animal studies. In Japan in 1968, accidental human exposure to rice oil contaminated with PCBs and other dioxin-related compounds, such as polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), led to the development of what was later referred to as Yusho oil disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of maternal PCB and dioxin exposure with adverse pregnancy outcomes in Yusho women.

Formation of spermidine or norspermidine from synthetic diacetylpolyamines by acetylpolyamine oxidase in cultured cells.

Prodrugs that can readily release polyamine into cells without the problem of generating cytotoxic compound by serum amine oxidase would be extremely useful for elucidation of polyamine function. As linear polyamines with acetamide groups on both sides are thought to be stable in the presence of serum amine oxidase and produce polyamines by the catalytic reaction of acetylpolyamine oxidase (PAO), a series of diacetyltetraamines, diacetylpentaamines and diacetylhexaamines was prepared as prodrugs and tested for substrate activity against PAO, partially purified from rat liver. Of the compounds, N(1),N(15)-diacetyl-1,15-diamino-4,8,12-triazapentadecane (DA3333) and N(1),N(16)-diacetyl-1,16-diamino-4,8,13-triazahexadecane (DA3343) were found to be stable in culture medium containing newborn bovine serum, and to produce reasonable amounts of norspermidine and spermidine, respectively.

In vivo repopulation of cytoplasmically gene transferred hematopoietic cells by temperature-sensitive mutant of recombinant Sendai viral vector.

Recent clinical studies revealed 'proof of concept' of gene therapy targeting hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to treat hematopoietic disorders. However, vector integration-related adverse events of retroviral vectors have slowed progress in this field. As an initial step to overcoming this hurdle, we examined the potential of an improved cytoplasmic RNA vector, temperature-sensitive mutant non-transmissible recombinant Sendai virus (ts-rSeV/dF), for gene transfer to murine HSCs and progenitors.

Excretion of causative PCDFs congeners of Yusho by one year intake of FBRA in patients with Yusho.

Thirty-eight years have passed since the outbreak of Kanemi rice oil poisoning, namely, Yusho in the western Japan. However, even now the patients with Yusho have been still suffering from several objective and subjective symptoms. In order to improve or, if possible, to cure the such symptoms, the most important therapeutic treatment is considered to actively excrete the causative agents, that is, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) from the bodies of the patients and to reduce their body burdens.

[The past history of diseases and symptoms among the Yusho patients, and its association with blood lipid concentration of 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran].

A nation-wide questionnaire survey on the past history of diseases and symptoms was conducted in 2005. The questionnaire was administered by mail to the 1258 registered Yusho patients, inguiring about the past incidence of 15 regions of malignant neoplasm, 42 diseases, and 5 symptoms. Out of the 717 patients responded to the questionnaire, 34 patients born after the Yusho outbreak were excluded, leaving 683 patients as the study subjects.

[Relationship between blood dioxin levels and present/past clinical symptoms in Kanemi Yusho patients].

Background: Kanemi Yusho was a food poisoning incident caused by rice bran oil that occurred in western Japan, particularly in northern Kyushu, in 1968. It is difficult to determine the symptoms in patients after many years since the occurrence. Techniques for measuring blood dioxins have advanced recently.