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Biomedical subjects

K Tarumi

Publications and source records attributed to K Tarumi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Characteristics of health counselling in the workplace via e-mail.

This study was conducted to examine how health counselling via electronic mail (e-mail health counselling) was used in the workplace. The definition of health counselling employed in this study was 'any assistance to an individual seeking to solve any health problem'. A total of 2119 health counsellings conducted at a Japanese company's head office (700 employees) in 1997 and 1998 was used for the analysis, which compared four health counselling methods: e-mail, face-to-face, telephone and ordinary mail. This study distinguished four main characteristics of e-mail health counselling. First, the most and second most frequently used counselling methods were face-to-face and telephone counselling, at 70 and 15%, respectively, with e-mail health counselling ranked third at 13%. e-mail counselling was the second most frequently used method for employees in their 20s and 30s, while it ranked third among those over 40. Only 6% of employees in their 50s used e-mail counselling. Secondly, the proportion of mental health issues treated via e-mail counselling was significantly higher, at 26%, than for other counselling methods, which was at or below 10% for each of the other methods. Thirty-two per cent of all mental health counselling was conducted via e-mail. Thirdly, compared with face-to-face counselling, e-mail counselling dealt with more health issues related to primary prevention than with those related to secondary or tertiary prevention. Fourthly, compared with face-to-face counselling, e-mail counselling dealt more with health issues of third parties. These results suggest that e-mail health counselling may be useful in reaching people other than those targeted by the remaining counselling methods.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

A signal detection approach to the combined effects of work stressors on alcohol consumption.

OBJECTIVE: To test the relationship between work stress and alcohol consumption and the efficacy of signal detection analysis in a work stress-alcohol consumption study. METHOD: The study was part of a Work Site Health Project, which included a stress reduction program, at a manufacturing company in Osaka, Japan. The study design was a cross-sectional survey. The participants were Japanese male whitecollar workers (N = 457; 30 to 50 years old) in the head administrative office of a large manufacturing company. Measurements consisted of demographic variables of the workers (age, marital status, manner of living and Type A personality), work stress measures, working hours and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Of eight independent variables, six significant predictors of heavy alcohol consumption were identified in the first signal detection analysis. Of these six variables, job demand and skill discretion were work-stress-related measures. In the second multiple regression analysis, skill discretion and job demand were significant predictors of alcohol consumption among the workers in two of the seven subgroups categorized by the first signal detection analysis. CONCLUSIONS: It was revealed that work stress did relate to alcohol consumption. However, the effect of the work stress upon alcohol consumption was limited to specific types of workers with multiple specific attributes. It was also inferred that the signal detection approach is an effective approach to the work stress alcohol consumption relationship.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The number of steps taken by flight attendants during international long-haul flights.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have revealed that female cabin attendants on long flights are most likely to have health problems. Since health problems can be related to workload and work stress and since the number of steps taken by an employee during a work shift can be an objective measure of the work load of cabin attendants, it is necessary to evaluate the predictors of the number of steps. METHODS: We used pedometers worn by 118 female flight attendants to study the number of steps during flights and its predictors during long international flights. RESULTS: The mean number of steps during 636.53 (SD = 129.11 )-minute flights was 10,742.85 (SD = 3,547.17). The crude number of steps per minute was 16.88, and the adjusted number of steps per minute was 14.04. Flight length and the number of sleeping hours worked (i.e., between midnight and 6:00 am) were significant predictors of the number of steps. CONCLUSION: Although it is implied that flight duration and night flight increase the work load of flight attendants, we need to consider psychological aspects to evaluate the overall effects of their jobs on work stress and health.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed2000

Work stressors and alcohol consumption among white-collar workers: a signal detection approach.

OBJECTIVE: Previous findings regarding the relationship between work stress and alcohol consumption are inconsistent and inconclusive. One of the primary reasons for the inconsistency of the findings is that simple models, such as multiple regression analysis or analysis of variance (ANOVA), have been conventionally adopted in studies examining the relationship between work stressors and alcohol consumption. Since higher order interactions of multiple work stressors, which lead to heavy alcohol consumption, might not be fully uncovered within the framework of a multiple regression analysis or ANOVA, another approach to exploring the interactions of work stressors is presented in this study. METHOD: A signal detection analysis method was used to evaluate higher order interactions of work stress variables and to obtain basic information on 465 Japanese male white-collar workers. RESULTS: Of 11 work stressor or work position variables, four significant predictors of heavy alcohol consumption were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Two procedures were successfully performed in this study: (1) evaluating several higher order interactions of work stressors associated with heavy alcohol consumption, and (2) obtaining basic information to permit dividing the subjects into subgroups for further analysis using models and independent variables unique to each subgroup.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Work stressors, drinking with colleagues after work, and job satisfaction among white-collar workers in Japan.

Although previous studies have examined the buffering effects of social support and coping style on the relationship between stress and alcohol consumption, they have typically relied on analysis of variance (ANOVA) or regression analysis. In addition, few studies have examined the potential stress-buffering effects of drinking with coworkers after work on the relationship between job stress and job dissatisfaction. In the present study, using a signal detection analysis, we evaluated the interactions of drinking with coworkers after work and work-stressor variables among Japanese white-collar workers (n = 397) in 1997. The analysis was performed for two groups of subjects divided based on their status in the company. This was necessary because in Japan the obligations to drink socially increase with one's rising status in the company. In both the "staff members and lower-level managers" and "middle-level and higher-level managers' groups, an interaction between work-stressor variables and drinking variables was observed. The findings imply that drinking with coworkers after work ameliorated the sense of job dissatisfaction, but only among those subjects who already had lower levels of work stressors. For subjects with high levels of work stressors, attitudes toward drinking with coworkers were unrelated to job satisfaction levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

An inquiry into the causal relationship among leisure vacation, depression, and absence from work.

Depression is one of the most prevalent psychological health problems in occupational settings. Through literature review and the experience of previous investigations, it is now presumed that depression could mediate the association between workload and absence from work. In order to examine the above relationship, a follow-up investigation was conducted using male white-collar employees. The authors have been examining the association between work-related factors and employee health for some years, and vacation has become recognized as one of the important candidates for alleviating psychological problems in the workplace. In July 1996, the chance of leisure vacations within the past year and the presence of depression were examined by a self-administrated questionnaire. The subjects were followed-up for the rest of the year and absence from work was monitored. By analyzing 357 eligible subjects aged 20-59 years, the causal association between leisure vacation, depression, and absence from work was examined. Through correlation and log-linear analysis, the following findings were explored: The decrease of leisure vacation chances was correlated with the presence of depression, and depression contributed to an increase in the absence from work after adjustment was made for possible confounding factors. Leisure vacation could be independent of other work-related factors such as working hours, and it seemed to be significant to investigate positive effects of leisure vacation on psychological well-being in the workplace.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1999

CTLA4IgG treatment induces long-term acceptance of rat small bowel allografts.

BACKGROUND: CTLA4 immunoglobulin (Ig)G that binds to B7 effectively inhibits the signaling of CD28/CTLA4-B7 pathway and induces antigen specific T cell unresponsiveness in vitro and in vivo. Using CTLA4IgG, we examined induction of long-term graft survival and the mechanism of maintenance of tolerance in rat allogeneic small bowel transplantation. METHODS: Small bowels of Brown-Norway rats (RT1n) were heterotopically transplanted into Lewis rats (RT1l). Recipients were treated with an i.p. injection of either CTLA4IgG or control IgG for 7 days. RESULTS: Long-term survival was observed in rats treated with CTLA4IgG, whereas control rats died within 16 days after transplantation. To examine whether a tolerant state was established in long-term survival rats, secondary transplantation was performed using small bowels of Brown-Norway rats or ACI (RT1b) rats. It was demonstrated that small bowels of Brown-Norway rats were accepted; however, those of ACI rats were rejected within 10 days. Serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-4 were maintained at >50 microg/ml for 7 days after transplantation in rats treated with CTLA4IgG but <15 microg/ml in control rats. IL-2 concentration was reduced to half in CTLA4IgG-treated rats compared with that in control recipients. Serum IFN-gamma in CTLA4IgG-treated recipients increased after transplantation and was not distinguishable from that of control recipients during the first 7 days after transplantation. Conclusion. We demonstrated that CTLA4IgG treatment alone for 7 days induced a long-term donor specific tolerance in rat allogeneic small bowel transplantation. The induction of long-term acceptance of small bowel allografts by CTLA4IgG is not caused by simply the shift of anti-alloimmune responses from Thl to Th2 cytokine production.

Abatacept↗
PubMed1998

Prevention of small intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat by anti-cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant monoclonal antibody.

The function of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC), which is the rat counterpart to human growth-related gene product belonging to the CXC chemokine subgroup, is based principally on neutrophil-specific chemotactic activity. In addition, we previously reported that plasma CINC was elevated during the period of small intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury, and that there was a correlation between the degree of mucosal damage and the peak level of CINC after reperfusion, suggesting that CINC may play a major role in neutrophil infiltration into the rat small intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury site. Thus, we investigated whether administration of anti-CINC monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) reduces small intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury. Small intestine was subjected to ischemia for 3 h by occlusion of the anterior mesenteric artery with an atraumatic vascular clump. After infusion of anti-CINC mAbs or isotype-matched mAbs, the intestine was subjected to reperfusion. The pretreatment with anti-CINC mAbs attenuated ischemia-reperfusion injury in the small intestine, in association with the reduction of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and myeloperoxidase production, and resulted in the prolongation of survival. It is concluded that CINC plays an important role in the onset of rat small intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury. In addition, blocking the action of CINC, namely, the neutrophil chemotactic activity, may be useful in preventing ischemia-reperfusion injury in the small intestine.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Downregulation of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant and prolongation of rat liver allograft survival by interleukin-10.

We investigated whether the administration of recombinant human interleukin-10 (rhIL-10) regulates the production of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC) and improves graft survival in rat orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx). Allograft recipients received injections of rhIL-10 at doses of 2, 10, 20, or 50 micrograms/kg/day. The allograft recipients that received rhIL-10 at 10 or 20 micrograms/kg/day showed a slight but significant prolongation of graft survival to 13.0 +/- 0.4 and 13.8 +/- 0.3 days, respectively, compared with 9.6 +/- 0.2 days in untreated allografts. Conversely, the administration of high-dose rhIL-10 shortened the allograft survival. In the rhIL-10 treatment groups, the mean serum and tissue levels of CINC at every time point after OLTx were reduced significantly compared with those in the no-treatment group. The mean peak neutrophil counts in the peripheral circulation (PC) of the groups given rhIL-10 at 10, 20, or 50 micrograms/kg/day from the samples obtained 12h after reperfusion were decreased significantly compared with the no-treatment group. Furthermore, the mean peak neutrophil counts in the PC of the groups given rhIL-10 at 10 or 20 micrograms/kg/day from the samples obtained between postoperative days (PODs) 7 and 10 were decreased significantly compared with the no-treatment group. The magnitude of liver damage and leukocyte infiltration in the rhIL-10-treated allografts on PODs 1 and 7 was reduced compared with that of untreated allografts. Our data indicate that the administration of rhIL-10 downregulates CINC production during the period of reperfusion injury and acute cellular rejection after OLTx, and prolongs liver allograft survival, suggesting that IL-10 therapy is potentially beneficial in OLTx.

Animals↗