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An increasing amount of evidence indicates that mental health conditions pose a significant challenge for post-secondary students on the autism spectrum. A review of the literature was conducted to bring greater awareness to the issue of mental health conditions of university students on the autism spectrum, to identify the impact of mental health conditions on university success, and to identify support services that can help students on the autism spectrum successfully complete their post-secondary education. Overall, 23 studies met inclusion criteria, spanning across the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Belgium, China, and Japan. Data is reported according to three categories: the frequency and/or type of mental health condition experienced by students on the autism spectrum; the impact of mental health conditions on students; and effectiveness of supports for students with mental health conditions.

The article discusses policy interventions to prevent the increase in the number of elder abuse in Japan. Some of micro- and macro-level factors contributing to elder abuse are caregiver stress, unstable family care, increasing number of elderly people with dementia, and insufficient implementation of elder care policies for addressing elder abuse. Japan enacted the Elder Abuse Prevention and Support for Caregivers of the Elderly Act in 2006 to address the increasing cases of elder abuse.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the amount of gingival display on smile aesthetics as assessed by Japanese orthodontists and dental students. A coloured photograph of a smiling female, displaying the first molar to first molar, whose upper lip was tangent to the upper gingival margin of the upper central incisors (zero point), was constructed from different subjects. Gingival displays were modified by moving the teeth within the lip frame in 1 mm increments, from −5 to 5. Using a visual analogue scale (VAS), 31 Japanese orthodontists and 55 Japanese dental students rated the attractiveness of the 11 smiles with altered gingival display.There was no significant difference when judging the effects of the gingival display on the smile attractiveness between the male and the female raters for both the orthodontists and dental students. Kruskal–Wallis tests revealed significant differences in the median aesthetic scores for both the orthodontists and dental students. For the orthodontists, the median aesthetic score increased gradually from −5 to 0 mm and then decreased from 0 to 5 mm. In particular, it decreased to become clinically significant (15 per cent VAS difference) from 0 to 3 mm. For the dental students, the median aesthetic score increased gradually from −5 to −2 mm and then decreased from −2 to 5 mm. The dental students were less tolerant of a more ‘gummy’ smile than the orthodontists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: To compare frictional resistance of the plastic preadjusted brackets ligated with the low-friction ligatures with those of the conventional elastomeric ligatures. Design: In vitro study. Setting: Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. Materials and methods: The testing model consisted of four 0.022-inch plastic preadjusted brackets for the first premolar, the canine, the lateral incisor, and the central incisor. A superelastic nickel-titanium 0.014-inch wire and a stainless steel 0.019 x 0.025-inch wire were used for this test. The brackets were either aligned or out of line by 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mm for the 0.0 14- inch wire and aligned for the 0.019 x 0.025-inch wire. The frictional forces in plastic preadjusted brackets with low-friction ligatures and conventional elastomeric ligatures were measured at a pulling speed of 0.1 mm/second. Welch t-tests were used to compare the mean differences of each testing measurement between the low-friction and the conventional elastomeric ligatures. Results: In both use of the superelastic nickel-titanium 0.014-inch wire and the stainless steel 0.0 19 x 0.025-inch wire, the brackets with the low-friction ligatures showed significantly lower frictional forces than those of the conventional elastomeric ligatures in both aligned and all misaligned brackets (P < 0.000 1). Conclusion: The study found the significantly lower frictional forces for the low-friction ligatures than those of the conventional elastomeric ligatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether there is an association between temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis/osteoarthrosis (CA) and immune system factors in a Japanese sample. Materials and Methods: The records of 41 subjects (7 men, aged 22.0 ± 3.8 years; 34 women, aged 24.8 ± 6.3 years) and 41 pair-matched controls (7 men, aged 22.1 ± 2.3 years; 34 women, aged 24.8 ± 6.4 years) based on age and gender were reviewed. Information on medical history included local or systemic diseases, details on medication type and use, and the presence of allergies and asthma. Dental history questions referred to details regarding past oral injuries. The validity of the hypothesis, defining allergies and asthma as risk factors in CA, was tested by using a logistic regression analysis. Results: The incidence of allergy was significantly higher in the TMJ CA (P = .008), with a mean odds ratio of 4.125 and a 95% confidence interval of 1.446-11.769. Conclusion: These results suggest that allergy may be a risk factor in association with TMJ CA in this Japanese sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the use of superstitious behavior by major league baseball players in the United States and Japan. The majority of professional players in both countries reported using superstitious behaviors but expressed little confidence that the behavior actually affected outcomes. Consistent with the uncertainty hypothesis, the more players believed luck affected outcomes during the game, the more they engaged in superstitious behavior. American players tended to be more superstitious than Japanese players. American players were more likely than the Japanese players to believe their superstitions aided their individual performance, whereas Japanese players were more likely than Americans to believe their superstitions helped the team performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The purposes of this study were to assess and determine the range of a well-balanced anteroposterior lip position as evaluated by orthodontic patients from a series of varying lip positions in facial silhouettes, and whether the rater's sex and age were factors in the assessment., Methods: The average profiles were constructed from 30 Japanese male and female subjects with normal occlusion. A series of 13 profiles was developed for males and females, respectively. The lips were protruded or retruded by 1-mm increments from the average profile. One hundred fifty Japanese orthodontic patients were asked to choose the top 3 most-favored, well-balanced profiles for each sex., Results: The orthodontic patients tended to prefer a slightly retruded lip position than the average facial profile for both the male and female profiles. There was no significant difference between male and female raters in selecting the top 3 most-favored profiles. In the comparison of age groups, the over 30-year-old patients significantly preferred a more retruded lip position than did the 15- to 19-year-old and the 20- to 29-year-old patients for the female profile., Conclusions: These results suggest that, when we formulate a treatment plan, we should ask the patients about lip position before we start treatment., (Copyright © 2011 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: In vivo studies have suggested Caucasians achieve lower average knee flexion than non-Western populations. Some previous studies have also suggested gender may influence condylar AP translation and axial rotation, while others report an absence of such an influence., Questions/purposes: We determined whether different ethnic and gender groups residing in the United States had different knee translations and rotations., Methods: Three-dimensional knee rotations and translations were determined for 72 healthy subjects (24 Caucasian men, 24 Caucasian women, 13 Japanese men, 11 Japanese women) from full extension to maximum flexion using a fluoroscopic technique, under in vivo, weightbearing conditions., Results: Although we observed substantial variability in all groups, small differences between groups were found, especially in deep flexion. Japanese women and men and Caucasian women achieved higher maximum flexion (153°, 151°, and 152°, respectively) than Caucasian men (146°). External rotation was higher for these three groups than for Caucasian men. The medial condyle remained more anterior for Caucasian women and all Japanese subjects than for Caucasian men, possibly leading to greater axial rotation and flexion, observed for these three groups., Conclusion: We identified small differences in maximum flexion between genders and ethnic groups. While no differences were identified in the lateral condyle translation, the medial condyle remained more stationary and more anterior for the groups that achieved highest (and similar) maximum flexion. Therefore, it may be important for future implant designs to incorporate these characteristics, such that only the lateral condyle experiences greater posterior femoral rollback, while the medial condyle remains more stationary throughout flexion.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the amount of buccal corridor has no influence on smile evaluations of Japanese orthodontists and dental students., Materials and Methods: One photograph of a smiling female, displaying first molar to first molar, was constructed. Buccal corridors were modified digitally in 5% increments, from 0% to 25% buccal corridor compared with the inner commissural width. Using a visual analog scale (VAS), 32 Japanese orthodontists and 55 Japanese dental students rated the attractiveness of six smiles with altered buccal corridors. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was conducted to compare the distributions of the median scores between the male and female raters for each of the rater groups. Differences in the median esthetic scores were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. We used 15% VAS difference to determine the clinical significance of the esthetic scores., Results: There was no significant difference in judging the effects of buccal corridors on the smile attractiveness between the male and female raters for both the orthodontists and dental students. There were significant differences in the median esthetic scores for both the orthodontists and dental students. The median esthetic score decreased to become clinically significant from 10% to 25% buccal corridor for both the orthodontists and dental students., Conclusions: The hypothesis was rejected. Both the orthodontists and dental students preferred broader smiles to medium or narrow smiles.

The aims of this study were to determine Japanese cephalometric norms in the antero-posterior and vertical dimension, and to test the hypothesis that there are racial differences in cephalometric measurements between Japanese and Caucasian norms. Radiographs were obtained from 25 healthy Japanese males (aged 25.1 +/- 2.7 years) and 24 healthy Japanese females (aged 23.6 +/- 1.3 years). Inclusion criteria were an ANB angle between 2 and 5 degrees, a normal occlusion with minor or no crowding, all teeth present except third molars, no previous orthodontic treatment, and no prosthetic replacement of teeth. Two angular and five linear measurements were constructed for the skeletal hard tissue analysis, one angular and six linear measurements for the dental hard tissue analysis, and two angular and seven linear measurements for the soft tissue analysis. The mean and standard deviations for the hard and soft tissue measurements were determined for each gender. Unpaired t-tests were used to determine the mean differences for each cephalometric measurement between the Japanese and the Caucasians. In the antero-posterior dimension, the Japanese subjects had a significantly more retruded chin position (P < 0.001), typically protruding mandibular incisors, and protruded lip positions compared with the Caucasian norms. In the vertical dimension, the Japanese had a significantly steeper mandibular plane (P < 0.01). The Japanese females had a significantly larger lower face height and increased dental height (P < 0.001). The results of this study suggest that these cephalometric measurements might be helpful to formulate treatment plans for Japanese patients.

Introduction: Soft tissue analysis is a basic tool in planning orthodontic treatment. However, the components of a well-balanced Japanese facial profile have not yet been established. The purpose of this study was to assess the most-favored or most well-balanced profile from a series of facial silhouettes with varying anteroposterior lip positions by a group of Japanese orthodontists and a group of young adult Japanese dental students., Methods: Average female and male profiles were constructed from the profiles of 30 Japanese men and women with normal occlusions. The lips in each average profile were protruded or retruded in 1-mm increments, and the 13 images were arranged with the average profile in the center. Forty two orthodontists and 42 dental students were asked to select the 3 most-favored, well-balanced profiles for each sex and rank them in order of preference., Results: Both the orthodontists and the students preferred a profile with slightly retruded lips. The dental students favored a more retruded lip position for women. The least-favored profile was the most protrusive., Conclusions: These findings suggest that Japanese orthodontists and young adults prefer a retruded profile, even though Japanese profiles have historically been characterized by more convex facial features.