Study of K-medium : Applicability of K-medium on E. coli Detection, Comparing with That of Deso-medium (LIVING SCIENCE)

The data on detecting efficiency of E. coli on K-medium were compared with those on Deso-medium. On K-medium, considerably more E. coli colonies were found than on Deso-medium under the same condition. The results suggest the applicability of this new method to estimate the contamination of foods

冷凍食品の食品衛生学的研究 第 I 報 : 冷凍魚の VB-N の定量を中心とした鮮度判定(B. 生活科学)

鮮魚の鮮度検査の公定法に採用されているVB-Nの測定を冷凍魚に応用し, 鮮度判定指標としての適性を2つの指標の結果と関係づけつつ, 保存・解凍温度を変化させ, さらに鮮魚と比較しながら検討した。また可食性の限界点である初期腐敗点を推定することも試みた。その結果, (1)冷凍魚の鮮度判定にVB-Nを指標とすることは, 他の指標との関係においてのみ有効で, 初期腐敗点前後の鮮度判定に適当である。(2)初期腐敗点は, 比較的高温では, VB-Nの経時的変化のPatternにおける変化率の異なる点と推定され, 低温下においてはなお厳密に検討すべきである。との結果を得た

Multiple Physical Symptoms Are Useful to Identify High Risk Individuals for Burnout: A Study on Faculties and Hospital Workers in Japan

Healthcare workers have a high risk of burnout. This study aimed to investigate if the numbers of physical symptoms are associated with burnout among healthcare workers. We conducted a cross-sectional survey at a large university in Tokyo, Japan, in 2016. Participants were 1080: 525 faculties and 555 hospital workers. We investigated 16 physical symptoms perceived more than once per week and examined the association between the number of physical symptoms and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI); work-related (WBO), personal (PBO), and client-related (CBO) burnout. All CBI scores were higher among hospital workers than among faculties: WBO (43 vs. 29), PBO (50 vs. 33), CBO (33 vs. 29). Moreover, the higher the number of physical symptoms perceived, the higher the degree of burnout scores became (trend p-values < 0.001), except for CBO among faculties. Job strain (all except for CBO among hospital workers) and work-family conflict were associated with an increased risk of burnout. Being married (WBO and CBO among faculties), having a child (except for PBO and CBO among faculties), and job support (faculty and hospital workers with WBO and faculties with PBO) were associated with a decreased risk of burnout. Multiple physical symptoms might be useful for identifying high risk individuals for burnout

冷凍食品の食品衛生学的研究 第 II 報 : 冷凍魚の解凍温度と保存温度の鮮度におよぼす影響(B. 生活科学)

冷凍魚の解凍およびその後の保存温度は, 少なからず鮮度に影響するものと考える。現在, 冷凍魚の安全性を目的とした規格基準のないままに, 店頭に解凍して鮮魚のごとく見せかけて販売されている冷凍魚に注目し, 解凍および保存温度をそれぞれ5℃, 15℃, 25℃に設定, その組み合わせによる9種の実験計画をたて, 初期腐敗点に至る鮮度低下速度を分散分析法により検討した結果, 「解凍温度より保存温度の方が著しく鮮度に影響する。」との結果を得た。冷凍魚の解凍後の品質管理に対する規制措置が要望される

Effects of gaps in priorities between ideal and real lives on psychological burnout among academic faculty members at a medical university in Japan: a cross-sectional study

Background: Accumulating evidence from medical workforce research indicates that poor work/life balance and increased work/home conflict induce psychological distress. In this study we aim to examine the existence of a priority gap between ideal and real lives, and its association with psychological burnout among academic professionals. Methods: This cross-sectional survey, conducted in 2014, included faculty members (228 men, 102 women) at a single medical university in Tokyo, Japan. The outcome of interest was psychological burnout, measured with a validated inventory. Discordance between ideal-and real-life priorities, based on participants' responses (work, family, individual life, combinations thereof), was defined as a priority gap. Results: The majority (64%) of participants chose "work" as the greatest priority in real life, but only 28% chose "work" as the greatest priority in their conception of an ideal life. Priority gaps were identified in 59.5% of respondents. A stepwise multivariable general linear model demonstrated that burnout scores were associated positively with respondents' current position (P < 0.0018) and the presence of a priority gap (P < 0.0001), and negatively with the presence of social support (P < 0.0001). Among participants reporting priority gaps, burnout scores were significantly lower in those with children than in those with no children (P-interaction = 0.011); no such trend was observed in participants with no priority gap. Conclusions: A gap in priorities between an ideal and real life was associated with an increased risk of burnout, and the presence of children, which is a type of "family" social support, had a mitigating effect on burnout among those reporting priority gaps

Continuous Work Support Checklist for Female Healthcare Workers: Scale Development and Validation

Healthcare jobs are very popular among women, however in Japan, women readily quit working because of gender-role responsibilities. This study aimed to develop a workplace support checklist for women to continue to work. In 2017, we investigated 780 (female 74.8%) faculty members and healthcare professionals of one medical university in Japan. We asked them to score the extent to which they considered 35 items identified by a task team, to be related to continuous work support for female workers in healthcare. We carried out an exploratory factor analysis and extracted four domains with 16 items in all: Support for child rearing and home care (five items), Information dissemination (five items), Active promotion of women workers to higher positions (three items), and Consulting and counseling service (three items), with Cronbach\u27s alpha values ranging from 0.88 to 0.92. We found that the first three factors were generally associated with reasonably relevant characteristics of being female, in their 30s, married, and members of faculty. We also found that women with Intention to leave the workplace underscored the importance of Support for child rearing and home care and Consulting and counseling service. These results suggest that the checklist is reliable and valid

Gender Division of Labor, Burnout, and Intention to Leave Work Among Young Female Nurses in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Women in Japan face difficulties balancing work and personal life due to the gender division of labor, and medical professions are no exception. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the gender division of labor affects the intention to leave the workplace among the nursing profession. Among 328 female nurses working for three university-affiliated hospitals in Tokyo, Japan, above 70% were in their 20s and 30s and single, and agreed with the gender division of labor that men should be the breadwinner and women should assume family responsibilities. Adjusting for three types of Copenhagen burnout inventory, stepwise multivariable logistic regression models identified that being younger (all p-values < 0.05), each domain of burnout score (each p < 0.001 for work-, personal-, and client-related burnout) increased a risk of intention to leave, and high support decreased the risk (all p < 0.001). Women who agreed with the gender division of labor were more likely to have intentions to leave (p = 0.003 but this association disappeared when adjusted. The findings of study demonstrate that perceptions toward gender division of labor are not a determinant of intention to leave the workplace but the young nurses and those who scored high on burnout were the most vulnerable population

Maternal Undernutrition and Breast Milk Macronutrient Content Are Not Associated with Weight in Breastfed Infants at 1 and 3 Months after Delivery

This study examined whether maternal nutritional intake and breast milk macronutrient content influence the weight of breastfed infants. We investigated 129 healthy mothers with singleton babies born from July 2016 to December 2017 in a university hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Information was obtained by a self-administered food frequency questionnaire at 1 (valid response n = 92; mean age, 34 years) and 3 (n = 57) months after delivery. Breast milk was sampled at 1 and 3 months and the macronutrient contents were analyzed. The average pre-pregnancy body mass index and weight gain during pregnancy were 20.7 +/- 2.6 kg/m(2) and 9.6 +/- 3.7 kg, respectively. At 1 month, average maternal calorie intake was 1993 +/- 417 kcal/day, which was lower than the intake recommended by Japanese Dietary Reference Intakes for breastfeeding mothers. There were no significant differences with regard to maternal calorie and protein intake, and breast milk macronutrient content between breastfed infants with weight above and below the 25th percentile of its distribution at both 1 and 3 months. This study suggests that suboptimal calorie intake by breastfeeding mothers and breast milk macronutrient content were not associated with weight of their infants at 1 and 3 months after delivery

細菌およびヒト培養細胞に対するデヒドロ酢酸ナトリウムの影響(B. 生活科学)

食品添加物DHA-Sの, E. coliおよびS. aureusに対する静菌的効果について検討した。また培養ヒトFL-細胞の増殖に及ぼす影響を検討した。DHA-Sの作用濃度として, 0.05%および1%を設定した。1.細菌に対する静菌効果は, 1%においては完全に増殖を抑制したが, 0.05%においては極く僅かにその増殖を抑制した。但し, S. aureusに対しては, 24hrを経過した時点では静菌的効果は認められなかった。2. FL-細胞に対しては, 1%濃度においては作用後5日目において著しく増殖を阻害した。0.05%濃度においては, 増殖抑制効果は認められなかった。3.電子顕微鏡によってDHA-SのFL-細胞に対する形態学的影響を観察したが, 1%濃度においては, 退化的な細胞変性を来たし, 遂には細胞は破壊された。The toxic effects on bacteria (E. coli and S. aureus) and cultured human FL-cells of sodium dehydroacetate (DHA-S), a food preservative used in Japan for cheese, butter, and margarine, were studied. 1. DHA-S in a concentration of 1% markedly inhibited the growth of both bacterial strains after 24hr in culture. In a concentration of 0.05%, the slightly depressed growth of both strains was observed after 6hr in culture, but no significant effect on S. aureus was observed after 24hr. 2. The growth of cultured FL-cells treated with 1% DHA-S for 5min was depressed to about 5% of control at 5days after treatment. Treatment with 0.05% DHA-S had no detectable effect on the growth of FL-cells. 3. The morphologic effects of 1% DHA-S on Fl-cells were degenerative changes such as swelling of mitochondrion and fragmentations of nuclear envelope and plasma membrane