Comparative survey of go/no-go results to identify the inhibitory control ability change of Japanese children

This research, conducted in 1998 and 2008, uses go/no-go data to investigate the fundamentals of cognitive functioning in the inhibitory control ability of Japanese children. 844 subjects from kindergarten to junior high school participated in go/no-go task experiments. Performance of go/no-go tasks, which are frequently used to investigate response inhibition, measures a variety of cognitive components besides response inhibition. With normal brain development, the ability to inhibit responses improves substantially in adolescence. An increase over time in the error rate during the go/no-go tasks of subjects of the same age indicates that these processes are not functioning properly. Comparisons between the 1998 and 2008 data revealed several differences in error rates. In 2008, there were increases in the number of errors in groups from each age range. The comparison also revealed that overall error rates peaked at later ages in the 2008 subjects. Taken together, these results show changing conditions in the inhibitory function of the prefrontal cortex. However, the reason for these changing conditions remains unclear. While a lifestyle questionnaire revealed several differences in factors such as bedtimes and hours spent watching TV, analysis did not reveal a significant correlation.ArticleBioPsychoSocial Medicine.8(1):14(2014)journal articl

The Association between Types of COVID-19 Information Source and the Avoidance of Child Health Checkups in Japan: Findings from the JACSIS 2021 Study

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can affect children’s well-being through mothers’ avoidance of health checkups for children due to media portrayal of the disease. This study investigated the association between the type of information source for COVID-19 received by mothers and the avoidance of their children’s health checkups. The study was an online-based survey, and the participants comprised 5667 postpartum women with children aged under 2 years during the study period. We analyzed the analytic sample and three groups of women with children aged 0–3 months, 4–6 months, and 6 months or older according to the timing of children’s health checkups in Japan. Among the participants, 382 women (6.7%) avoided their children’s health checkups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that mothers with children over 6 months who used magazines as an information source about COVID-19 tended to avoid their children’s health checkups (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 3.19; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.68–6.05) compared with those who did not. In contrast, those using public websites were less likely to avoid their children’s health checkups (aOR 0.58, 95% CI 0.43–0.77). This study showed that specific types of information source on COVID-19 could have varying effects on mothers’ decisions about their children’s health checkups

Association of Paternity Leave with Impaired Father–Infant Bonding: Findings from a Nationwide Online Survey in Japan

Although the number of fathers taking childcare leave is increasing, the impact of paternity leave on father–infant bonding remains to be fully investigated. This study aimed to assess the association between paternity leave and father–infant bonding among fathers with children under two years old. A cross-sectional study was performed using data from the Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey study, a nationwide online survey conducted between July and August 2021 (N = 1194). Father–infant bonding was assessed by the Japanese version of the Mother–Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS-J), which comprised two subscales (lack of affection (LA), and anger and rejection (AR)), with a higher score denoting poor bonding. Four hundred (33.5%) fathers self-reported taking childcare leave. Paternity leave was associated with higher total MIBS-J score and AR score after adjusting for covariates (coefficient 0.51; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06–0.96, coefficient 0.26; 95% CI 0.03–0.49, respectively), but not with LA score (coefficient 0.10; 95% CI −0.13–0.34). There was no trend in the association between paternity leave and total MIBS-J score by children’s age group (p for trend = 0.98). Paternity leave was associated with impaired bonding, especially with increased anger and rejection, among fathers with children under two years of age

Association of Visual Display Terminal Usage with Self-Rated Health and Psychological Distress among Japanese Office Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The aim of this study was to examine the association of the duration of visual display terminal (VDT) usage for work and non-work activities with self-rated health (SRH) and psychological distress among office workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. A cross-sectional data of 7088 office workers from a web-based, self-administered survey conducted from 25 August 2020, to 30 September 2020, was used. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied. Compared to those who used a VDT for 4–9 h for work, office workers who used a VDT for ≥10 h for work had poor SRH (odds ratio (OR): 1.65; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13, 2.41) and severe psychological distress (OR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.52, 3.28). VDT usage for less than 1 h (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.67) and 1–3 h (OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.80) for work were also associated with severe psychological distress. Stratification analysis by age showed a significant association of VDT usage for work with poor SRH among 30–64-year-olds, while a U-shape association was found between VDT usage for work and psychological distress with the younger age group (15–29 years old). During the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, the prolonged usage of VDT for work can deteriorate both general and psychological health, while moderate usage of VDT for work can reduce psychological distress

SARS-CoV-2 suppression and early closure of bars and restaurants: a longitudinal natural experiment

Abstract Despite severe economic damage, full-service restaurants and bars have been closed in hopes of suppressing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide. This paper explores whether the early closure of restaurants and bars in February 2021 reduced symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 in Japan. Using a large-scale nationally representative longitudinal survey, we found that the early closure of restaurants and bars decreased the utilization rate among young persons (OR 0.688; CI95 0.515–0.918) and those who visited these places before the pandemic (OR 0.754; CI95 0.594–0.957). However, symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 did not decrease in these active and high-risk subpopulations. Among the more inactive and low-risk subpopulations, such as elderly persons, no discernible impacts are observed in both the utilization of restaurants and bars and the symptoms of SARS-CoV-2. These results suggest that the early closure of restaurants and bars without any other concurrent measures does not contribute to the suppression of SARS-CoV-2

UV Light-Generated Superhydrophilicity of a Titanium Surface Enhances the Transfer, Diffusion and Adsorption of Osteogenic Factors from a Collagen Sponge

It is a significant challenge for a titanium implant, which is a bio-inert material, to recruit osteogenic factors, such as osteoblasts, proteins and blood effectively when these are contained in a biomaterial. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of ultraviolet (UV)-treatment of titanium on surface wettability and the recruitment of osteogenic factors when they are contained in an atelocollagen sponge. UV treatment of a dental implant made of commercially pure titanium was performed with UV-light for 12 min immediately prior to the experiments. Superhydrophilicity on dental implant surfaces was generated with UV-treatment. The collagen sponge containing blood, osteoblasts, or albumin was directly placed on the dental implant. Untreated implants absorbed only a little blood from the collagen sponge, while the UV-treated implants absorbed blood rapidly and allowed it to spread widely, almost over the entire implant surface. Blood coverage was 3.5 times greater for the UV-treated implants (p < 0.001). Only 6% of the osteoblasts transferred from the collagen sponge to the untreated implants, whereas 16% of the osteoblasts transferred to the UV-treated implants (p < 0.001). In addition, a weight ratio between transferred albumin on the implant and measured albumin adsorbed on the implant was 17.3% in untreated implants and 38.5% in UV-treated implants (p < 0.05). These results indicated that UV treatment converts a titanium surface into a superhydrophilic and bio-active material, which could recruite osteogenic factors even when they were contained in a collagen sponge. The transfer and subsequent diffusion and adsorption efficacy of UV-treated titanium surfaces could be useful for bone formation when titanium surfaces and osteogenic factors are intervened with a biomaterial