The impact of social support on acculturative stress, depression, and life satisfaction among Japanese immigrant women in Canada

Various aspects of social support appear to interact with acculturative stress, depression, and life satisfaction for Japanese post-war immigrant women. This study examined 1) the acculturation and level of stress experienced by Japanese immigrant women, 2) the mental well-being in relation to bouts of depression, 3) the life satisfaction, 4) the social support networks, and 5) the degrees to which perceived social support work to moderate the acculturative stress and depression and enhance life satisfaction in Canada. One hundred and twenty-one Japanese immigrant women, who immigrated to Canada after World War II, and living in Southern Ontario, were taken as the study sample. Multiple regression analysis was employed to predict levels of acculturative stress, depression, and life satisfaction based on the demographic and immigration-related variables. The results of the analysis showed that two variables, levels of English proficiency and current feelings about the decision to immigrate, were significant predictors for acculturative stress, depression, and life satisfaction. Perceived social support and communication with husbands were tested and revealed to be a significant buffering effect on acculturative stress, depression, and life satisfaction. Analysis of social networks revealed that about half of the study sample had only friends of Japanese cultural background. English proficiency appeared to be a recurring theme affecting the process of acculturation and levels of partnership with husband, other family members, and individuals of the broader social network. It was also a critical key to achieving upward mobility in occupations, expanding social networks, and obtaining greater life satisfaction in Canada. Research results suggest needs for bilingual counselling and referral services to deal with women’s physical and mental health problems, and their family affairs related to acculturation. For future human services, information on availability of counselling and referral services both in Japanese and English need to be circulated among Japanese speaking community

Evolution of X-ray irradiation during the 1999–2000 outburst of the black hole binary XTE J1859 + 226

X-ray irradiation in X-ray binaries is thought to control the behaviour at the outer disc, which is observable mainly at optical wavelengths. It is generally parametrized phenomenologically, but it can also be predicted from theoretical models of irradiated discs and their coronae/winds. We test these models using five multiwavelength Hubble Space Telescopeand quasi simultaneous Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) data sets from the black hole binary XTE J1859 + 226. These show how the reprocessed optical emission changes during outburst as the source fades from the very high/intermediate state at ∼0.4LEdd down through the high/soft state towards the transition to the hard state at ∼0.02LEdd. The models are able to reproduce the small change in reprocessing efficiency as the source flux decreases by a factor of two, and the spectrum softens from the very high/intermediate state to the bright high/soft state. However, the low luminosity high/soft state as well as the transition spectrum show more complex behaviour that is not well described by current models. We suggest the disc geometry has changed drastically during the outburst, probably due to tidal forces, and that the disc is no longer in steady state at the late stage of the outburst

Attitudes Toward Persons With Disabilities Among Japanese Social Work Students

The Modified Issues in Disability Scale (MIDS) was implemented on 194 social work students in Japan in order to assess their attitudes toward people with disabilities. Findings indicate that students do not hold strong prejudicial attitudes. Results also show gender differences and a lack of knowledge and experiences regarding disability issues among students

Pathophysiology of Tumor Neovascularization

Neovascularization is essential to the process of development and differentiation of tissues in the vertebrate embryo, and is also involved in a wide variety of physiological and pathological conditions in adults, including wound repair, metabolic diseases, inflammation, cardiovascular disorders, and tumor progression. Thanks to cumulative studies on vasculature, new therapeutic approaches have been opened for us to some life-threatening diseases by controlling angiogenesis in the affected organs. In cancer therapy, for example, modulation of factors responsible for tumor angiogenesis may be beneficial in inhibiting of tumor progression. Several antiangiogenic approaches are currently under preclinical trial. However, the mechanisms of neovascularization in tumors are complicated and each tumor shows unique features in its vasculature, depending on tissue specificity, angiogenic micromilieu, grades and stages, host immunity, and so on. For better understanding and effective therapeutic approaches, it is important to clarify both the general mechanism of angiogenic events and the disease-specific mechanism of neovascularization. This review discusses the general features of angiogenesis under physiological and pathological conditions, mainly in tumor progression. In addition, recent topics such as contribution of the endothelial progenitor cells, tumor vasculogenic mimicry, markers for tumor-derived endothelial cells and pericytes, and angiogenic/angiostatic chemokines are summarized

Association between masticatory ability and oral functions

Mastication is the process of breaking ingested food with the teeth and mixing it with saliva to form a mass that is easy to swallow. However, few studies have reported on oral functions, such as occlusal force, tongue pressure, and mastication. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between masticatory function and oral functions, such as occlusal force and tongue pressure. In this study, there were 113 patients (41 men and 72 women; mean age, 68.4 ± 11.3 years) who visited dentists at the Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan between April 2015 and November 2018. Masticatory function of the patients was evaluated using a masticatory ability test system. In addition, occlusal force was measured using a pressure-sensitive film and the maximum tongue pressure was measured with a tongue pressure measuring device according to a conventional method. The relationship of masticatory ability with occlusal force and tongue pressure was examined using multivariate analysis while considering patients? age, gender, and the number of remaining teeth. Masticatory ability was significantly related to occlusal force, maximum tongue pressure, age, body mass index, the number of remaining teeth, and occlusal contact area (p< 0.05). Multiple regression analysis identified that masticatory ability was significantly associated (p< 0.05) with occlusal force and maximum tongue pressure. Masticatory ability was significantly associated with occlusal force and maximum tongue pressure, indicating that the large muscle mass in the oral cavity is indispensable for improving masticatory function

Health consciousness and cervical cancer screening rates in HPV-unvaccinated girls: comparison from HPV-recommended and HPV-recommendation-suspended program periods

In Japan, the vast majority of females between 13 and 24 are now unvaccinated for HPV and thus unprotected from HPV-caused cervical cancer. We analyzed the differences among these unvaccinated females regarding their understanding of the HPV vaccine, its role in cervical cancer prevention, and their need for cervical cancer screening–based on whether they refused vaccination when their government’s recommendation for HPV vaccination was still in effect (vaccination-recommended group)–or during the last 7 years, while the government suspension was in effect (recommendation-suspended group). The vaccination-recommended group understood more about the HPV vaccine and the best timing for HPV vaccination than the recommendation-suspended group (p < .0001 and p = .002, respectively). We found that girls in the vaccination-recommended group had more chances to talk with the family about cervical cancer and they were more afraid of acquiring the disease (p < .0001 and p < .0001, respectively). The girls in the recommendation-suspended group tended to feel more inhibited from talking about cervical cancer with friends and acquaintances (p = .0262). The cervical cancer screening rate of the vaccination-recommended group was significantly higher (p = .014)