223 research outputs found

    What Emerges from a Comparison with the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France: Is the Japanese Bureaucracy of Lackey-Type Relations, Infinite Range of Work, and Posting without Application Sustainable?

    Get PDF
    Translated from “Bei/Ei/Dku/Futsu tono hikakukara ukabi agarumono: Kashin-gata, Muteiryo, Jinji-ichinin no Nihongata wa ijikano ka (Tokushu Kanryo no Botsuraku) (What Emerges from a Comparison with the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France: Is the Japanese Approach of Lackey-Type Relations, Infinite Range of Work, and Posting without Application Sustainable?), ” Chuokoron, May 2023, pp. 58-65. (Courtesy of Chuo Koron Shinsha) [June 2023

    Earthquake-Induced Potentiation of Acute Risk Factors in Hypertensive Elderly Patients: Possible Triggering of Cardiovascular Events After a Major Earthquake

    Get PDF
    AbstractObjectives. We sought to investigate the potentiation of acute risk factors after the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake (7.2 on the Richter scale).Background. The frequency of cardiovascular events increases just after a major earthquake, but the causative factors have not been fully investigated.Methods. We studied the changes in cardiovascular risk factors in 42 elderly outpatients with well-controlled hypertension living near the epicenter (Awaji-Hokudan districts) 7 to 14 days after the earthquake when the major felt-aftershocks persisted. They all experienced the highest stress grading of 6 (catastrophic stress) according to the DSM-III-R. To study the hemostatic profile and endothelial cell state, we measured the blood pressure (BP), hematocrit and lipid profiles as well as fibrinogen, a marker of fibrin turnover (d-dimer), fibrinolytic factors (plasmin-alpha2–plasmin inhibitor complex [PIC], tissue-type plasminogen activator [t-PA] antigen and t-PA inhibitor [PAI] activity) and an endothelial cell-derived marker (von Willebrand factor [vWF]).Results. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures and other variables increased after the earthquake. Before and after the earthquake, the median (25th to 75th percentiles) systolic BP was 152 (range 142 to 164) and 170 mm Hg (range 161 to 178), respectively (p < 0.0001), and the diastolic BP was 83 (range 79 to 88) and 91 mm Hg (range 84 to 96), respectively (p < 0.0001). Of blood viscosity determinants, hematocrit was 38.1% (range 40.7% to 35.9%) and 39.7% (range 42.9% to 38.3%), respectively (p < 0.001), and fibrinogen 316 (range 272 to 360) and 335 mg/dl (range 307 to 391), respectively (p < 0.05). Von Willebrand factor was 128% (range 74% to 148%) and 148% (range 100% to 178%), respectively (p < 0.01); d-dimer was 410 (range 285 to 633) and 560 ng/ml (range 391 to 888), respectively (p < 0.0001); and PIC was 0.74 (range 0.58 to 0.91) and 0.75 μg/ml (range 0.58 to 1.1), respectively (p < 0.05). In contrast, lipid profiles did not change after the quake. When the patients were classified into the high stress and moderate stress groups according to the degrees of damage to their house and injury to family members, the levels of fibrinogen, vWF, PIC and t-PA antigen were increased only in the former group, whereas BP, hematocrit and d-dimer levels were increased in both groups. These abnormalities of acute risk factors, except for vWF, were transient and decreased to prequake levels by 4 to 6 months after the quake.Conclusions. Earthquake-induced stress seems to induce transient increases in BP, blood viscosity determinants and fibrin turnover and to prolong endothelial cell stimulation. The potentiation of these acute risk factors might contribute to the occurrence of cardiovascular events just after a major earthquake in elderly subjects with hypertension.(J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;29:926–33)© 1997 by the American College of Cardiolog

    Heat-Stress Responses Differ among Species from Different ‘Bangia’ Clades of Bangiales (Rhodophyta)

    Get PDF
    Acknowledgments: We are grateful to Hiromi Nakao from Betsukai Fishery Cooperative, Shyoichi Itakura from the Hiyama Fisheries Extension Office, Yoshitomo Hamaya from the Esashi Branch of the Fisheries Co-operative Association of Hiyama, and Hidehiko Sasaki from the Main Branch of the Fisheries Co-operative Association of Hiyama for permission and support in collecting seaweed on Kamomejima Island in Esasi. We also thank Ryunosuke Irie for technical assistance in phylogenetic analysis, Chengze Li for the maintenance of ‘Bangia’ sp. ESS2, and Yuji Hiwatashi for technical assistance in microscopic observation. Ho Viet Khoa was supported by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. Puja Kumari is an International Research Fellow supported by JSPS with Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan (Standard). We also thank Hiroyuki Mizuta for permission of Ho Viet Khoa to study in the Miyagi UniversityPeer reviewedPublisher PD

    Falls in community‐dwelling prefrail older adults

    Full text link
    Frailty has been established as a risk factor for falls, and prefrailty also seems a risk; however, few studies have focused on the association between falls and each of the five components of frailty proposed by Fried. In the present study, we sought to elucidate the association between prefrailty and falls, and moreover, the association of frailty component with falls. Participants were community‐dwelling older people who had cognitive complaints but not dementia (N = 447, male 54.6%). Prefrailty was defined as exhibiting one or two of the five Fried criteria. Frail individuals were excluded. Background characteristics were compared between the prefrail and robust groups, and multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the associations between fall history within the past year and factors that were significantly different between the groups. We also performed logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age, education and gender to assess associations with frailty components. We found that prefrailty was associated with fall history. Depressed mood was also significantly associated with fall history. Among the five frailty criteria, exhaustion was significantly associated with falls. Prefrailty, especially the criteria of exhaustion, and depressed mood were associated with fall history.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153214/1/hsc12845_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153214/2/hsc12845.pd

    Role of Inflammatory Mediators in the Pathogenesis of Epilepsy

    Get PDF
    Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic brain disorders worldwide, affecting 1% of people across different ages and backgrounds. Epilepsy is defined as the sporadic occurrence of spontaneous recurrent seizures. Accumulating preclinical and clinical evidence suggest that there is a positive feedback cycle between epileptogenesis and brain inflammation. Epileptic seizures increase key inflammatory mediators, which in turn cause secondary damage to the brain and increase the likelihood of recurrent seizures. Cytokines and prostaglandins are well-known inflammatory mediators in the brain, and their biosynthesis is enhanced following seizures. Such inflammatory mediators could be therapeutic targets for the development of new antiepileptic drugs. In this review, we discuss the roles of inflammatory mediators in epileptogenesis

    Nazım Hikmet'in vatan hainliği

    Get PDF
    Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya Adı: Nazım Hikmet. Not: Gazetenin "Tersi Yüzü" köşesinde yayımlanmıştır.İstanbul Kalkınma Ajansı (TR10/14/YEN/0033) İstanbul Development Agency (TR10/14/YEN/0033
    corecore