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Study Context: The question of whether relationships between valence and arousal might differ among older and younger adults has not yet been totally clarified. Previous studies focused on only age-related mean-differences, but in the current study mean differences and variance in emotional ratings for the International Affective Picture Systems (IAPS) were both examined in Japanese older and younger adults.Participants were 31 older adults (69 ± 5.17 years) and 31 younger adults (19 ± 0.77 years). Each picture was projected on the screen for about 5 s in random order and participants subsequently rated its valence from "unhappy" to "happy" and its arousal from "calm" to "exciting," using 9-point scales.Pearson's correlation analysis showed that positive and negative valence tended to be negatively correlated with arousal in both age groups. The 95% Confidence Intervals for positive arousal in older adults included those of younger adults. Arousal ratings for negative pictures were higher than those for neutral pictures, and those for neutral pictures were higher than those for positive pictures in older adults. There were no significant differences between arousal ratings for neutral pictures and positive pictures in younger adults.Older adults tended to rate the pictures as more arousing, with higher arousal ratings for negative pictures than for positive pictures, and the variance of positive arousal in older adults was the highest variance for all conditions. The results of this study suggest that older adults may be sensitive to harmful negative experiences in order to make them less aversive.

Multiple outbreaks of food poisoning associated with fresh vegetable consumptions have occurred in many countries. Numerous reports have described human pathogenic bacteria, such as Escherichia col...

Preoperative nutritional status may impact surgical outcome and prognosis. We evaluated the predictive value of Onodera's prognostic nutritional index (O's-PNI) of surgical outcome following esophagectomy in esophageal cancer patients.In total, 144 patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal cancer from April 2010 to May 2015 were evaluated, retrospectively. Eighty-four patients were enrolled in this study. O's-PNIs were calculated before surgery, discharge, and 1, 2, and 6 mo after discharge. The relationship between O's-PNI and occurrence of complications as classified by the Clavien-Dindo (C-D) classification, length of hospital stay, and survival time was investigated.The mean O's-PNI for patients with complications of more than Grade 2 by the C-D classification was 37.4, which was significantly lower than that for Grades 0 or 1 (40.5, P = 0.0094). A negative correlation was obtained between O's-PNI and hospital stay length (P = 0.0006), whereas a positive correlation was obtained for O's-PNI at 6 mo postsurgery and overall survival (P = 0.0171, P = 0.0201).O's-PNI may represent a useful indicator of the occurrence of complications and length of hospital stay, and may influence overall survival at 6 mo postsurgery. Nutritional management during the perioperative period could therefore contribute to satisfactory outcomes following esophagectomy in esophageal cancer patients.

Typhoon Chaba hit southeastern Kyushu and passed through Chugoku (western part of Japan's main island) on August 30, 2004, causing large storm surges in the Seto Inland Sea (SIS). Record-high storm tides were recorded at tide stations in Takamatsu and Uno Ports. We analyzed the tidal data and simulated this case with numerical storm surge models. The results revealed that the wind setup basically played a key role in causing the large storm surges. Since the time of the maximum storm surge (MSS) approximately corresponded to the time of high spring tide in Takamatsu, a record-breaking storm tide was observed there. However, the MSS occurred not when the typhoon was closest to the city but two hours later. We also investigated the mechanism and the degrees of contribution of the two main factors of storm surges, the inverse barometer effect and the wind setup, in each local area. The results revealed that the peak time of each effect was influenced by geographical features, as well as the wind field and th...

Contamination of agricultural soil by fecal pathogenic bacteria poses a potential risk of infection to humans. For the biosafety control of field soil, soil solarization in an upland field was examined to determine the efficiency of solarization on the inactivation of Escherichia coli inoculated into soil as a model microorganism for human pathogenic bacteria. Soil solarization, carried out by sprinkling water and covering the soil surface with thin plastic sheets, greatly increased the soil temperature. The daily average temperature of the solarized soil was 4–10°C higher than that of the non-solarized soil and fluctuated between 31 and 38°C. The daily highest temperature reached more than 40°C for 8 days in total in the solarized soil during the second and third weeks of the experiment. Escherichia coli in the solarized soil became undetectable (