Effects of styrene exposure on vibration perception threshold.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate whether styrene can affect the vibration perception threshold (VPT) and to examine the dose-effect relationship at current and past styrene exposure levels.

Methods: VPT was examined using a Vibrometer (TM-31A) for 67 subjects exposed to styrene in a fiberglass reinforced plastic boat plant and 151 non-exposed subjects. We selected 67 age-matched controls out of the non-exposed subjects for the analyses.

Relationship between two alternative occupational stress models and arterial stiffness: a cross-sectional study among Japanese workers.

Objective: Numerous studies have reported the relationships between job characteristics and coronary heart diseases. However, there are only a few reports on the association between occupational stresses and arterial stiffness as a marker of early stage arthrosclerosis. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between occupational stress models--Siegrist's effort reward imbalance and Karasek's demand control model (DCM)--and arterial stiffness using brachial-ankle pulse-wave velocity (baPWV).

The relationship of gamma-glutamyltransferase to C-reactive protein and arterial stiffness.

Background And Aims: The relationships between gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and arterial stiffness have not been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to clarify whether serum GGT is related to CRP and arterial stiffness estimated using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).

Methods And Results: The subjects were 3412 males and 854 females.

Relationships of occupational stress to insomnia and short sleep in Japanese workers.

Study Objective: The aims of this study were to (a) examine the association between occupational stress and insomnia and short sleep in Japanese workers and (b) demonstrate the difference between 2 occupational stress models-Effort Reward Imbalance and the Demand Control Model.

Design: All data were obtained via self-administrated questionnaires and annual health checkups. Insomnia was evaluated by the Athens Insomnia Scale, and short sleep was defined as less than 6 hours sleep per day.

Relationship of beta2-microglobulin to arterial stiffness in Japanese subjects.

Beta2-Microglobulin (beta2m) is related to inflammatory diseases, but there have been few reports of a relationship between beta2m and atherosclerosis. We have examined the influence of beta2m on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) to clarify whether it is related to arterial stiffness. baPWV, beta2m, C-reactive protein (CRP), and conventional risk factors were measured in 614 males and 158 females.

Relationship of Helicobacter pylori infection to arterial stiffness in Japanese subjects.

The role of Helicobacter pylori in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis remains controversial, and the relationship between H. pylori and the early stage of atherosclerosis has not been fully investigated. We investigated the influence of H.

Influence of genetic polymorphisms of styrene-metabolizing enzymes and smoking habits on levels of urinary metabolites after occupational exposure to styrene.

Here we evaluate the influence of individual genetic polymorphisms of drug-metabolizing enzymes as well as body mass index (BMI) and lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption) on urinary metabolites after occupational exposure to styrene. Seventy-three workers exposed to styrene in a reinforced-plastics workplace were studied. The personal styrene exposure in the air and the urinary styrene metabolites mandelic acid and phenylglyoxylic acid were measured.

Visual dysfunction in workers exposed to a mixture of organic solvents.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the workers occupationally exposed to a mixture of organic solvents and their visual functions. Here the visual functions included color vision (CV), visual contrast sensitivity (CS) and visual evoked potentials (VEP). Test subjects were 182 workers at 53 furniture factories in the same industrial area of Japan.

Cranial computed tomography associated with development of functional dependence in a community-based elderly population.

Objective: To investigate whether changes at computed tomography (CT) imaging in the ageing brain are associated with future risks for functional dependence.

Subjects: 160 residents aged 69 years and older at the cranial CT and were independently living in a rural community in Hokkaido, Japan.

Methods: Cranial CT was performed between 1991 and 1993, graded for ventricular enlargement, sulcal enlargement, white matter change, and small infarction.