Search

Objectives: To analyze demographic, health-related behaviors, eating habit and knowledge associated with vegetable intake. Methods: Secondary analyses using the dataset from the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2003. Food intake data measured by the food-weighing method in one-day and a questionnaire assessed the dietary intake and health-related behaviors, eating habit and knowledge. This study was made in Japan. The data of 1742 men and 2519 nonpregnant/ nonlactating women, aged 20-69 years, energy intake between percentiles 1 and 99 were included. Vegetable intake was analyzed according to the Japanese vegetable recommendation (≥ 350 g/day) after age adjustment. Results: Average of VI was 307 g/day in men and 297 g/day in women. Only 35% of men and 31% of women met the recommended amount of vegetable intake. Japanese from city areas, aged 60-69 years, had the highest vegetable intake and subjects from metropolitan areas had the lowest vegetable intake. Depending on the age groups, risks for low vegetable intake in Japanese were found in subjects with skipping meals, alcohol intake and history of smoking. Conclusions: To increase vegetable intake, it is necessary to provide more nutritional education and lifestyle-related diseases education. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2009.88; published online 26 August 2009 Keywords: behaviors; vegetable intake; Japan, Introduction There is strong and consistent epidemiological evidence that vegetable intake (VI) is beneficial to health, decreasing the risk for a range of chronic diseases and many cancers (Mozaffarian et [...]

The authors report here experimental results relating X-ray interaction location and event splitting. The X-ray interaction location can be localized at subpixel scale using the mesh technique. The authors found that the center of gravity of the split event is well-correlated with the X-ray interaction location. They analyzed the data using two models for the charge cloud shape: one is the rectangular model and the other is the Gaussian model. Although the authors could not distinguish between these models, they measured a root mean square charge cloud size of 1 to 2 [[micro]meter] for X rays of Y-L (1.9 keV), Ag-L (3.0 keV), and Ti-K (4.5 keV). When the X rays enter near the pixel boundary, the charge splits into adjacent pixels, allowing determination of the X-ray interaction location with an accuracy of 1.5 to 2.2 [[micro]meter]. The authors, therefore, expect that the X-ray CCD can function as an X-ray imager with subpixel resolution, which will be especially useful in applications involving very high spatial resolution optics. Index Terms - Charge-coupled-device, charge cloud shape, mesh experiment, subpixel resolution.

We present here a measurement at sub-pixel resolution of the X-ray detection efficiency of the CCD detector on board the ASCA satellite. A mesh placed in front of the CCD restricted the interaction position of the X-ray inside the CCD pixel. We clearly show that all the primary charge is collected in one pixel when the X-ray interaction is sufficiently far from the pixel boundary. Conversely, some photo-ionized charge is collected in neighboring pixels when the X-ray interacts near the pixel boundary. We also obtained the thickness of various elements gate structure, and measure channel stop dimensions. From these data, we can obtain more accurate estimates of the X-ray responsivity of the CCD.

A charge cloud produced by an X-ray photon in a charge coupled device (CCD) has a finite size. The size can be measured using a mesh experiment: the X-ray interaction position is restricted with subpixel precision by using the small mesh holes. This enables us to measure the charge cloud shape produced by an X-ray photon in the CCD. We measured charge cloud size for A1-K X-rays and for Mo-L X-rays. At both energies, we find the charge cloud shapes to be elongated perpendicular to the charge transfer direction. We confirmed the symmetric shape of the mesh hole both by SEM photography and by an experimental technique, and conclude that the elongation of the charge cloud shape is not an artifact of the experimental setup. We then applied an image restoration technique to directly measure the actual hole shape from the X-ray data. The inferred hole size is bigger than the geometrical shape due to diffraction of the incident X-rays by the mesh holes. We conclude that the distortion of the charge cloud shape is due to the asymmetry of the electric field in the CCD.

Objective: There is an increasing concern of anaemia in Japanese women, but no national trend data has existed to date. We analysed long-term national trends of anaemia in adult women.Design: Secondary analyses of 15 consecutive cross-sectional nationwide surveys conducted during the period 1989-2003. Analyses were based on 5-year intervals (1989-1993, 1994-1998, 1999-2003).Setting: Japan.Subjects: The subjects included the National Health and Nutrition Survey of Japan (NHNS-J) population. Analyses were based on 50 967 non-pregnant/non-lactating women aged 20 years and over, with complete data sets. We stratified subjects into six age groups (20-29 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, 50-59 years, 60-69 years and 70+ years), and three age groups (20-49 years, 50-69 years, 70+ years) for analyses on residential areas (metropolitan, cities and towns).Results: Decreases in trends of mean haemoglobin values (intravenous) were significant in all age groups. Changes in the prevalence of anaemia were significant only in women aged 30-39 and 40-49 years. Anaemia (haemoglobin < 12.0 g dl-1) increased from 16.8% to 20.6% in women aged 30-39 years, and from 20.2% to 26.9% in women aged 40-49 years, respectively. Prevalence was highest in women aged 70 years and older in all times, but no significant change was observed.Conclusions: Haemoglobin values have declined significantly in all ages in the last 15 years. Anaemia was especially significant in women aged 30-39 years and 40-49 years. Our findings suggest that a large number of young women in Japan are at risk of anaemia, so continuous monitoring and controlling efforts of this trend are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to establish the methodology of a population strategy for improving cardiovascular risk factors, we have planned the High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion Study (HIPOP-OHP study). This study is a nonrandomized control trial in approximately 6500 participants in six intervention and six control companies. Our population strategy is based on three factors, nutrition, physical activity, and smoking. For each factor, a researcher's working team was organized and has been supporting the intervention. A standardized method to obtain comparable data has also been established. In the baseline survey, urinary sodium excretion in male subjects was higher, and urinary potassium excretion was lower in both genders in the intervention group compared to the control group. The prevalence of hypertension for both genders was also higher in the intervention group. Male subjects in the intervention group had higher serum total cholesterol than controls, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was lower in both genders in the intervention group compared to the control group. These differences were reflected by our finding that the predicted relative risk of coronary heart disease for male subjects was significantly higher in the intervention group (relative risk, RR: 1.17; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI.: 1.09, 1.25) and significantly lower in the control group (RR: 0.93; 95% CI.: 0.89, 0.98) compared to a model Japanese population. Similar results were observed in the female subjects. Taken together, these findings indicate that it is possible to compare trends of predicted relative risk for coronary heart disease between two groups.Journal of Human Hypertension (2004) 18, 475-485. doi:10.1038/sj.jhh.1001680 Published online 29 January 2004 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]