Issue of Multicultural People in Globalizing Japan: (Cultural) Identity, Mental Health and “Ibasho”

The number of multicultural people has increased over many years with the globalization of the world economy. Japan is no exception. Ibasho is a Japanese unique concept and means one’s place where one feels secure, comfortable, and accepted. There are very few studies on ibasho among people with multicultural backgrounds. Suzuki (2018) refers to relationships among identity/cultural identity formation, mental health (including subjective well-being) and ibasho. In this paper, we examined the relationship among mental health, identity and ibasho with a focus on ibasho in the case of two groups of people with multicultural backgrounds: International students (N = 105) living in Japan, from 30 countries (Study 1) and Japanese-Indonesian young people (N = 10) living in Indonesia (Study 2). In Study 1, a questionnaire survey and interviews were conducted, and in Study 2, multiple interviews were carried out. In both studies, the analysis was mainly qualitative in nature. The results showed that there was the relationship among ibasho, mental health, and (cultural) identity, and creating ibasho was very useful to support for cultural identity formation of multicultural people as well as to maintain their mental health

Study on the Effect of Atomic Bomb Radiation on Thyroid Function

The thyroid function of 6112 cases directly exposed to the atomic bomb within 1.5 km (exposed group) and of 3047 cases directly exposed beyond 3.0 km from the hypocenter (control group) was analyzed and the following results were obtained. 1) The frequency distribution curves of TSH values of both groups closely resembled each other in males, but the curve of the exposed group deviated to the right due to high TSH values. In females, the distribution width of TSH values of the exposed group was wide with a low peak and when compared to the control group, the curve was remarkably deviated to the right due to TSH values. 2) The frequency of hypothyroidism was 1.22% in males of the exposed group and 0.35% in males of the control group, while in females it was 7.08% and 1.18%, respectively, showing a significantly higher rate in the exposed group in both sexes. By exposure dose, the frequency was 1.03% in males of the 1-99 rad group and with increase of exposure dose the frequency elevated, being 3.67% at exposure dose of 200 rad or more. In females, the frequency was 6.23% and 7.76%, respectively, showing a significantly higher frequency when compared to the control group. 3) The prevalence rate of positive MCHA among the cases of hypothyroidism was 16.4% in males of the exposed group and 88.9% in males of the control group, while in females the prevalence was 25.3% and 63.3%, respectively, showing a remarkably low rate in the exposed group

小児救急トリアージにおける家族看護の特徴

2010年度の診療報酬改正により小児救急トリアージに加算が算定され、多くの医療機関で小児救急トリアージが導入された。本研究では、小児救急トリアージ場面における家族看護の特徴を明らかにすることを目的とした。小児救急トリアージを実践している看護師9名にトリアージの参加観察を基にインタビューを行い、家族看護に関するインタビュー内容を抽出し分析した。結果、21コード、3カテゴリーの家族看護の特徴が抽出された。トリアージ看護師は、救急を受診する子どもの家族に不安や緊張があることを念頭におき、《家族の話しを傾聴してトリアージ》を展開し、トリアージ中の《声かけに配慮して家族の動揺を軽減》していた。また、子どもの緊急度が低い場合には、家族に《家庭看護を具体的に指導》し、看護師が、家族の緊張を緩和しながら家族が安心して帰宅でき、病児を看られるように支援していることが明らかになった。小児救急トリアージ場面における家族看護の特徴として、家族の状況を支持的に受け止め、共感的に関わり、緊急度の低い子どもの家族には、トリアージ中に、病児を看るための具体的な方法を厳選して指導していることが示唆された

Population Dynamics of Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota in the Mixing Front of River and Marine Waters

A transect from the Tomoe River Mouth through Shimizu Port to Suruga Bay, Japan, was examined between 2005 and 2009 to reveal the population dynamics of Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota in an estuary environment. Crenarchaeota tended to increase in abundance in waters deeper than 100 m compared with Euryarchaeota, and comprised 11% of total direct counts. Archaeal abundance was highest in the Tomoe River Mouth, with a strong negative correlation between surface euryarchaeal abundance and salinity (P<0.001). The diversity index for the phylotypic archaeal community in the mouth was three times higher than that at sites St1-1m and St1-10m in the estuary, and OTUs represented most of the OTU groups at the sites. Three of the seven total OTUs, which comprised 83.6% of the 140 sequenced clones in the estuary, were related to the OTUs in the mouth with similarities higher than 97%. A significant proportion of the archaeal community appears to be derived from the Tomoe River. The two dominant phylotypes of the archaeal community in Shimizu Port, belonging to MGI and MGII, occurred ubiquitously.publishe

A population-based urinary and plasma metabolomics study of environmental exposure to cadmium

Background: The application of metabolomics-based profiles in environmental epidemiological studies is a promising approach to refine the process of health risk assessment. We aimed to identify potential metabolomics-based profiles in urine and plasma for the detection of relatively low-level cadmium (Cd) exposure in large population-based studies. Method: We analyzed 123 urinary metabolites and 94 plasma metabolites detected in fasting urine and plasma samples collected from 1,412 men and 2,022 women involved in the Tsuruoka Metabolomics Cohort Study. Regression analysis was performed for urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), plasma, and urinary metabolites as dependent variables, and urinary Cd (U-Cd, quartile) as an independent variable. The multivariable regression model included age, gender, systolic blood pressure, smoking, rice intake, BMI, glycated hemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, alcohol consumption, physical activity, educational history, dietary energy intake, urinary Na/K ratio, and uric acid. Pathway-network analysis was carried out to visualize the metabolite networks linked to Cd exposure. Result: Urinary NAG was positively associated with U-Cd, but not at lower concentrations (Q2). Among urinary metabolites in the total population, 45 metabolites showed associations with U-Cd in the unadjusted and adjusted models after adjusting for the multiplicity of comparison with FDR. There were 12 urinary metabolites which showed consistent associations between Cd exposure from Q2 to Q4. Among plasma metabolites, six cations and one anion were positively associated with U-Cd, whereas alanine, creatinine, and isoleucine were negatively associated with U-Cd. Our results were robust by statistical adjustment of various confounders. Pathway-network analysis revealed metabolites and upstream regulator changes associated with mitochondria (ACACB, UCP2, and metabolites related to the TCA cycle). Conclusion: These results suggested that U-Cd was associated with metabolites related to upstream mitochondrial dysfunction in a dose-dependent manner. Our data will help develop environmental Cd exposure profiles for human populations