Hideaki Matsuki

Controlled Trial of Worksite Health Education through Face-to-Face Counseling vs. E-mail on Drinking Behavior Modification

Controlled Trial of Worksite Health Education Through Face‐to‐Face Counseling vs. E‐mail on Drinking Behavior Modification: Ikuno Araki, et al. Department of Medicine & Occupational Health, ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha—This study examined the effectiveness of a traditional face‐to‐face health education and e‐mail health education on alcohol usage among male workers in comparison with a control group. Male workers at a manufacturing plant (N=36) who had abnormal serum γ‐GTP were stratified by age and job types, then randomized into three groups: face‐to‐face education, e‐mail education, and the control. The subjects were assessed on their knowledge about and attitude towards drinking, reported alcohol consumption, and serum γ‐GTP before the start of education and 2 months later after comparison of the education. Paired t‐test and repeated ANOVA were conducted to test the significance of changes pre and post the intervention and across groups. In the face‐to‐face group, knowledge (p=0.001), attitude (p=0.026), alcohol consumption (p=0.003) and serum γ‐GTP showed significant improvement. In the e‐mail group, only alcohol consumption showed marginal improvement (p=0.077). In the control group, no variables remarkably changed. These results indicate that the face‐to‐face health education was more effective than the e‐mail program. We discuss why the face‐to‐face approach was superior to the e‐mail approach in this study by referring to self‐monitoring, goal setting processes and timely feedback. We concluded that further studies are warranted to identify the effect of health education using e‐mails and other network tools in consideration of the above three factors.

Optimization of a real-time PCR assay to quantitate airborne fungi collected on a gelatin filter

The present study aimed to optimize a real-time PCR assay to quantitate airborne fungi collected on a gelatin filter. In particular, the study optimized conditions for the DNA extraction and real-time PCR amplification to accurately measure airborne fungal concentrations. First, time of fine bead homogenization to extract the DNA from fungal cells was optimized to maximize the DNA yield and prepare the DNA suitable for sensitive and precise quantification by a subsequent real-time PCR analysis. Second, a condition for the real-time PCR amplification was optimized to successfully amplify and quantitate the extracted fungal DNA. In particular, a dilution ratio of the DNA extracts to be introduced to PCR was optimized to achieve an appropriate balance between mitigating PCR inhibition and securing detection sensitivity. Since concentrations of airborne fungi generally observed in indoor and outdoor environments (i.e., 10(1)-10(4) CFU m(-3)) were found to be near the limit of quantification by the generally-used molecular-based detection technique in conjunction with use of gelatin filters, optimizations of these conditions were found to be crucial. Our preliminary result showed that a culture-based method underestimated concentrations of airborne environmental fungi by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude compared to those characterized by the real-time PCR assay.

Carcinogens in the indoor air of Hong Kong homes: Levels, sources, and ventilation effects on 7 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract The concentration of carcinogens in the airborne dust of 33 homes in Hong Kong was studied to identify the sources and measure the amounts of 7 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) including benzo(a)pyrene. The 24 hr samples were collected from kitchens and living rooms of working class homes and analyzed by HPLC. The mean levels of PAH in air and dust were comparatively low, with cooking fires and incense associated with significant increases, and window ventilating fans with significant decreases in PAH concentrations. Perceived pollution sources like water heaters, cigarette smoke, and stir‐fry cooking, led to reduced airborne PAH levels because human responses to these emission sources were to increase natural and mechanical ventilation. The data indicated that compensation behaviours can over‐ride the effects of emission sources, and help explain why measures of increased ventilation from open windows and doors were generally associated with higher PAH levels. The results of this study sh...

Application of the personal aeroallergen sampler to assess personal exposures to Japanese cedar and cypress pollens

We have recently developed the Personal Aeroallergen Sampler (PAAS), a passive sampler for aeroallergens. In the present study, the applicability of the PAAS for personal exposure assessments of cedar and cypress pollens was investigated by comparing with existing reference samplers. To investigate the usability of the PAAS as a personal sampler for the airborne pollens, it was compared with the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) sampler, a traditionally used active personal sampler. Overall, the result showed a good correlation between the two methods, that is, R2=0.8082, suggesting the usability of the PAAS for the personal pollen samplings. The ratio of the pollen numbers collected by the PAAS to the IOM sampler was approximately 30%, which was consistent with our previous study investigating ambient dust particles. Meanwhile, the comparability of the PAAS to the Durham sampler, the most widely used stationary pollen trap, was also assured. Furthermore, we exemplified the seasonal peak of the personal pollen exposures was not necessarily reflected by the outdoor concentrations, indicating insufficiency of the stationary outdoor monitoring to represent the personal pollen exposures. The PAAS, a simple passive method, could be used in future field studies to elucidate the detailed mechanisms of allergic airway diseases such as cedar pollinosis.

Is Chinese Incense Smoke Hazardous to Respiratory Health? Epidemiological Results from Hong Kong

Incense is a common source of indoor air pollution, especially in Asian homes where it is burned for religious reasons. In previous studies in Hong Kong, it was found to be the major source of airborne carcinogens in the home, and a significant contributor to personal exposures to nitrogen dioxide among wom en. To evaluate its effects on respiratory health, data from an air pollution cross-sectional study of 346 primary school children and their 293 non-smok ing mothers, and a lung cancer case-control study of 189 female patients and 197 district matched controls who had ever been married were analysed. No association was found between exposure to incense burning and respiratory symptoms like chronic cough, chronic sputum, chronic bronchitis, runny nose, wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, or pneumonia among the three popu lations studied: i.e. primary school children, their non-smoking mothers, or a group of older non-smoking female controls. Incense burning did not affect lung cancer risk among non-smokers, but it significantly reduced risk among smokers, even after adjusting for lifetime smoking amount. A possible expla nation for this unexpected finding is that incense burning was associated with certain dietary habits, i.e. more fresh fish, more retinol, and less alcohol, which have been associated with lower lung cancer risk in this population. These results indicate that diet can be a significant confounder of epidemiological studies on air pollution and respiratory health.

Urinary hydroxyproline to creatinine ratio as a biological effect marker for exposure to NO2 and tobacco smoke

In order to study the relationship between NO2 exposure and effects, we monitored personal NO2 exposures and the hydroxyproline to creatinine ratio in urine of about 800 women in two communities near Tokyo. Monitoring was conducted during two seasons, winter and summer 1982. The hydroxyproline to creatinine ratio (HOP:C) was determined from urine samples collected in the early morning. Daily average personal NO2 exposures (ENO2) were measured by using a filter badge. In both seasons, HOP:C was found to have significant correlation with ENO2 and active and passive smoking. In addition, subjects living near major roads had significantly higher HOP:C levels in the summer compared with those living far from them. We hypothesize that these higher HOP:C levels in the summer were due to higher air exchange rates resulting in infiltration of automobile exhaust into homes. ENO2, however, did not correlate with either the distance of the subjects house from major roads or with the amount of smoking. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that HOP:C could be predicted by personal NO2 exposures and smoking variables with a high level of confidence.

Relationships among Indoor, Outdoor, and Personal Airborne Japanese Cedar Pollen Counts

Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCP) is an important illness caused by the inhalation of airborne allergenic cedar pollens, which are dispersed in the early spring throughout the Japanese islands. However, associations between pollen exposures and the prevalence or severity of allergic symptoms are largely unknown, due to a lack of understanding regarding personal pollen exposures in relation to indoor and outdoor concentrations. This study aims to examine the relationships among indoor, outdoor, and personal airborne Japanese cedar pollen counts. We conducted a 4-year monitoring campaign to quantify indoor, outdoor, and personal airborne cedar pollen counts, where the personal passive settling sampler that has been previously validated against a volumetric sampler was used to count airborne pollen grains. A total of 256 sets of indoor, outdoor, and personal samples (768 samples) were collected from 9 subjects. Medians of the seasonally-integrated indoor-to-outdoor, personal-to-outdoor, and personal-to-indoor ratios of airborne pollen counts measured for 9 subjects were 0.08, 0.10, and 1.19, respectively. A greater correlation was observed between the personal and indoor counts (r = 0.89) than between the personal and outdoor counts (r = 0.71), suggesting a potential inaccuracy in the use of outdoor counts as a basis for estimating personal exposures. The personal pollen counts differed substantially among the human subjects (49% geometric coefficient of variation), in part due to the variability in the indoor counts that have been found as major determinants of the personal pollen counts. The findings of this study highlight the need for pollen monitoring in proximity to human subjects to better understand the relationships between pollen exposures and the prevalence or severity of pollen allergy.

Comparison of dry- and wet-based fine bead homogenizations to extract DNA from fungal spores

The present study explored DNA extraction kinetics from fungal spores, i.e., Aspergillus niger, Penicillium chrysogenum and Cladosporium sphaerospermum, by fine bead mill homogenization. In particular, the study aimed to investigate basic differences between the dry- and wet-based methods. The results showed higher initial rates of the DNA extractions by the dry-based method than by the wet-based method, due to higher collision efficiency among fine beads and fungal spores. Based on the experimental results, we constructed kinetic models. While the results by the wet-based method were fitted well with an existing first-order release-degradation model, the results by the dry-based method were not fitted well. Meanwhile, a newly constructed first-order release-degradation model, assuming a proportion of the DNA remained inside the disrupted spore cells and protected from further sheer stress, showed good correlations. The real-time PCR assays showed the PCR efficiencies of the DNA obtained by the dry-based method were higher than those by the wet-based method likely due to increased moderate fragmentation of the DNA by the dry-based method. Thus, although wet-based methods have been commonly used, dry-based methods might also be applicable to achieve efficient extraction and PCR amplification of fungal DNA.

Behavior of urinary hydroxyproline and cigarette smoking effect in silicosis.

This study was conducted through regular pneumoconiosis examination according to the law on 1, 096 employees of medium and small-sized ceramic enterprises in Tokai district in 1981-82.Interview examination with BMRC questionnaire, X-ray examination and measurement of urinary hydroxyproline to creatinine ratio (HOP ratio) were carried out in order to elucidate the relationship between silicosis and urinary HOP ratio and to demonstrate the effect of smoking on pneumo-fibrosis. Grade of silicosis was classified into five types (0 to 4) based on the Japanese Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses.In evaluating the behavior of urinary HOP ratio, when smoking factor is added in the early grade of pneumofibrosis (type 1 and type 2), collagen decomposition rate is rapidly repressed and fibroplastic conditions develop to the final grade as type 3 and type 4, although smoking itself does not seem to induce pneumofibrosis.To exclude the effects of smoking, nonsmoking group was used for measurement of HOP ratio by grade. The HOP ratio in type 0 was lowest and HOP ratio increased in the order of type 1 and type 2. The turning point was found in type 2 and their HOP ratio decreased one after another.The turning point shifted from type 2 to type 3 in the case of non-smokers without any index symptoms by BMRC questionnaire and also shifted to type 1, in the case of non-smokers with them. Shifting of turning point suggests that index symptoms also promote fibroplastic activities.

The significance of guanine in house dust and its application to epidemiological study

Abstract House dust has been incriminated as an important causative allergen in bronchial asthma. Guanine is contained in living mites and their feces. A quantitative method to determine the level of guanine in house dust was improved. Since guanine makes up 0.3% of the living mite and the guanine concentration in house dust correlates highly with the number of mite present (r=0.704), it is suggested that the guanine level in house dust could be used to as a marker of mite allergens in epidemiological study.