シュウチュウ チリョウシツ ニ オケル シュウハスウ カイセキ オ モチイタ オト カンキョウ ノ ジッタイ チョウサ

入院患者にとって病院の病室は、治療の場であると同時に療養生活の場である。病室には多くの医療機器が使用されていることで、療養の場が妨げられ、不穏状態に陥る患者も多い。特に集中治療室（ICU病棟）は、常に何らかの騒音が発生している。従来の騒音対策は、音圧レベルに着目した対策が主なものとされ、音の周波数への対策は実施されていない。そこで本研究は、ICU病棟内の騒音を測定し、その周波数分析からICU病棟の音環境の改善に向けた基礎資料を得ることを目的とした。ICU病棟内の2点（オープンフロア、 個室）に騒音計を設置した。測定項目は、騒音レベルと発生している騒音の周波数分析から得られた帯域通過音圧レベルとした。音圧レベルでは、オープンフロアは平均50dB、個室では平均80dB以上の騒音レベルであった。周波数解析では、オープンフロア、個室ともに100Hz以下の 低周波音が平均50dB以上発生していた。従って、音圧レベルに着目するだけではなく、「周波数」の観点からも療養環境の改善について、検討する必要性が見出された。For hospitalized patients, the hospital room is the place of treatment as well as the place of recuperation. As many medical devices are used in the sick room, there are many patients who are prevented from recuperating and become restlessness. Especially in the intensive care unit (ICU), some kind of noise is always generated. As the traditional measures against the noise, focusing on the sound level are mainly considered, and countermeasures against the sound frequency have not been implemented. Therefore, this study aimed to measure the noise in the ICU and to obtain basic data for improving the sound environment of the ICU from its frequency analysis. We installed a sound level meter at two points (open floor, private room) in the ICU. The measurement items were the A-weighted sound pressure level and the band levels of the noise. At the sound pressure level, the average of the open floor was 50 dB and a private room was 80 dB. In the frequency analysis, both the open floor and the private room had an average of 50 dB or more of low frequency sounds of 100 Hz or less. Therefore, not only pay attention to the sound pressure level, but also need to consider the improvement of the medical care environment from the viewpoint of "frequency"

Causes of genome instability: the effect of low dose chemical exposures in modern society.

Genome instability is a prerequisite for the development of cancer. It occurs when genome maintenance systems fail to safeguard the genome's integrity, whether as a consequence of inherited defects or induced via exposure to environmental agents (chemicals, biological agents and radiation). Thus, genome instability can be defined as an enhanced tendency for the genome to acquire mutations; ranging from changes to the nucleotide sequence to chromosomal gain, rearrangements or loss. This review raises the hypothesis that in addition to known human carcinogens, exposure to low dose of other chemicals present in our modern society could contribute to carcinogenesis by indirectly affecting genome stability. The selected chemicals with their mechanisms of action proposed to indirectly contribute to genome instability are: heavy metals (DNA repair, epigenetic modification, DNA damage signaling, telomere length), acrylamide (DNA repair, chromosome segregation), bisphenol A (epigenetic modification, DNA damage signaling, mitochondrial function, chromosome segregation), benomyl (chromosome segregation), quinones (epigenetic modification) and nano-sized particles (epigenetic pathways, mitochondrial function, chromosome segregation, telomere length). The purpose of this review is to describe the crucial aspects of genome instability, to outline the ways in which environmental chemicals can affect this cancer hallmark and to identify candidate chemicals for further study. The overall aim is to make scientists aware of the increasing need to unravel the underlying mechanisms via which chemicals at low doses can induce genome instability and thus promote carcinogenesis