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The consultation rate for uterine cervical cancer screening in Japan is markedly low in comparison with other developed countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate the trends in uterine cervical cancer screening during regular company checkups and to identify potential problems. Questionnaires were sent to occupational health physicians through Sansuiken (Alumni Association of the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan). Overall, 127 valid responses showed that Papanicolaou (Pap) tests are conducted in 100 companies (79%). The detailed information from 50 of the 100 responses was analyzed. Mandatory cervical cancer screenings are performed at just 6 companies (12%). Pap test are started at 30 years of age at 9 of 49 companies, and only 18 of 49 companies (37%) start Pap tests for employees at 20 years old. Of the 86,695 women, 31,294 (36%) received cervical cancer screening. Abnormal Pap test results were detected in 3.0%. Although cervical cancer screening rates have slightly increased compared to our previous studies (17% in 2004, 23% in 2008), it remains at a low level. Complete examinations with colposcopy and punch biopsy were carried out in 70% (61 of 87 women) of those with an abnormal Pap test. Twelve of 26 companies had no information about detailed examination results. It is important to note that cervical cancer incidence and mortality are increasing among young women in Japan. Occupational physicians and health nurses should manage female health education and care at the workplace, by including uterine cervical cancer screening in the growing female working population.

The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to enable all people to receive health services, and has proposed effective coverage (EC) as an index for this aim. EC refers to "the fraction of potential health gain that is actually delivered to the population through the health system, given its capacity," and is used to indicate the percentage of the population whose diseases are well controlled among those who require treatment or are receiving treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of occupational health services on EC. We hypothesized that occupational health services provided to employees by full-time occupational health practitioners, such as occupational physicians and occupational health nurses, improve EC for hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia compared to those services provided by part-time occupational health practitioners. We conducted a cross-sectional study to analyze the results of general medical examinations, personnel information, and medical expense claims in fiscal year 2011. A total of 91,351 male employees at a company group participated in the study. The EC for hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia was measured and compared between the employees in workplaces with occupational health practitioners (OH group) and the employees in workplaces without occupational health practitioners (non-OH group). The EC for hypertension and diabetes mellitus was significantly greater in the OH group than in the non-OH group (aOR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.20 - 1.66 for hypertension; aOR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.17 - 2.00 for diabetes mellitus), while the EC for hyperlipidemia was comparable (aOR: 1.11, 95% CI: 0.92 - 1.34). Occupational health services provided by full-time occupational health practitioners greatly improve health management after a medical examination.

To clarify the subjective and objective impacts of a change in a 12-h shift schedule, involving a reduction in the number of crews, on workers at an electronic parts production company. Forty-two workers participated in this study. Subjective indicators (e.g. questionnaires) and objective indicators [e.g., psychomotor vigilance task (PVT)], as well as an activity monitor-based sleep assessment, were measured during a > 1-year period that encompassed the shift schedule change. The study outcome was a comparison of work-related injury rates measured 1 year before and after the change in shift schedule. After the shift schedule change, questionnaire scores regarding work-related burdens and PVT performance parameters, including mean response time and number of lapses, increased significantly. However, we also observed divergences in the trends of the subjective and objective measures 1 year after the change. Despite these variations in both types of measures, we observed no significant differences in work-related injury rates measured before and after the shift schedule change. This study revealed that a reduction in the number of crews in a 12-h shift schedule has a negative impact on the subjective and objective indicator after the change in shift schedule; only indicators of alertness did not recover at 1 year after the change. Assessments of the workers’ performances and the regular implementation of health and safety programs for more than 1 year are needed to maintain workers’ health after the change in shift schedule.

Objective The current study aimed to quantify the overall sickness absence and sickness presence in five Japanese companies. Methods Two indicators were calculated: worktime lost rates and average working days lost per employee per annum. Results In total, 1.1% of working days per annum were lost due to sick leave. The average number of annual sick-leave days per employee was 2.58. Sickness presence accounted for a total worktime loss of 6.55% and an average of 15.36 work days lost per employee per annum. Overall, employees lost 7.65% of their total working days, or an average of 17.92 days were lost per employee per annum, due to sickness leave and sickness presence combined. Conclusion Sickness-absence rate among Japanese workers is quite lower than other countries; however, sickness presence is more critical than absenteeism, which is in line with other countries.

A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, non-motile, catalase-negative and facultative anaerobic strain, L88T, was isolated from suan-tsai, a traditional Taiwanese fermented mustard green. Comparative analyses of 16S rRNA, pheS and rpoA gene sequences demonstrated that strain L88Twas a member of the genus Lactobacillus . On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, the type strains of Lactobacillus acidifarinae (98.2 % similarity), Lactobacillus namurensis (98.1 %), Lactobacillus zymae (98.1 %) and Lactobacillus spicheri (96.8 %) were the closest neighbours to this novel strain. The average nucleotide identity, digital DNA‒DNA hybridization and average amino acid identity values between L88T and its closest relatives were lower than 80, 30 and 90 %, respectively. Phenotypic and genotypic test results demonstrated that strain L88T represents a novel species of the genus Lactobacillus , for which the name Lactobacillus suantsaii sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is L88T (=BCRC 12945T=NBRC 113535T).

We have been developing a monolithic active pixel sensor, ``XRPIX``, for the Japan led future X-ray astronomy mission ``FORCE`` observing the X-ray sky in the energy band of 1-80 keV with angular resolution of better than 15``. XRPIX is an upper part of a stack of two sensors of an imager system onboard FORCE, and covers the X-ray energy band lower than 20 keV. The XRPIX device consists of a fully depleted high-resistivity silicon sensor layer for X-ray detection, a low resistivity silicon layer for CMOS readout circuit, and a buried oxide layer in between, which is fabricated with 0.2 $\mu$ m CMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. Each pixel has a trigger circuit with which we can achieve a 10 $\mu$ s time resolution, a few orders of magnitude higher than that with X-ray astronomy CCDs. We recently introduced a new type of a device structure, a pinned depleted diode (PDD), in the XRPIX device, and succeeded in improving the spectral performance, especially in a readout mode using the trigger function. In this paper, we apply a mesh experiment to the XRPIX devices for the first time in order to study the spectral response of the PDD device at the subpixel resolution. We confirmed that the PDD structure solves the significant degradation of the charge collection efficiency at the pixel boundaries and in the region under the pixel circuits, which is found in the single SOI structure, the conventional type of the device structure. On the other hand, the spectral line profiles are skewed with low energy tails and the line peaks slightly shift near the pixel boundaries, which contribute to a degradation of the energy resolution., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, , Conference proceedings for PIXEL2018

Fifteen bifidobacterial strains were obtained from faeces of Rousettus aegyptiacus; after grouping them by RAPD PCR only eight were selected and characterized. Analysis of 16S rRNA and of five housekeeping (hsp60, rpoB, clpC, dnaJ, dna G) genes revealed that these eight strains were classified into five clusters: Cluster I (RST 8 and RST 16T), Cluster II (RST 9T and RST 27), Cluster III (RST 7 and RST 11), Cluster IV (RST 19), Cluster V (RST 17) were closest to Bifidobacterium avesanii DSM 100685T (96.3%), Bifidobacterium callitrichos DSM 23973T (99.2% and 99.7%), Bifidobacterium tissieri DSM 100201T (99.7 and 99.2%), Bifidobacterium reuteri DSM 23975 T (98.9%) and Bifidobacterium myosotis DSM 100196T (99.3%), respectively. Strains in Cluster I and strain RST 9 in Cluster II could not be placed within any recognized species while the other ones were identified as known species. The average nucleotide identity values between two novel strains, RST 16T and RST 9T and their closest relatives were lower than 79% and 89%, respectively. In silico DNA–DNA hybridization values for those closest relatives were 32.5 and 42.1%, respectively. Phenotypic and genotypic tests demonstrated that strains in Cluster I and RST 9T in Cluster II represent two novel species for which the names Bifidobacterium vespertilionis sp. nov. (RST 16T = BCRC 81138T = NBRC 113380T = DSM 106025T ; RST 8 = BCRC 81135 = NBRC 113377) and Bifidobacterium rousetti sp. nov. (RST 9T = BCRC 81136T = NBRC 113378T = DSM 106027T) are proposed.

Taxonomic studies of strain PAGU 1678T , an obligately anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium isolated from biobreeding rat feces, were performed. This strain has been demonstrated to have the ability to exacerbate pathosis in a mouse model of dextran sulfate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene showed high homology with Paraclostridium bifermentans. To clarify the correct taxonomic position of strain PAGU 1678T , a comparative taxonomic study using P. bifermentans PAGU 2008T (═JCM 1386T ) and the closely related bacterial species P. benzoelyticum PAGU 2068T (═LMG 28745T ) was carried out. Despite the close similarity of 16S rRNA gene sequences, DNA-DNA hybridization between strain PAGU 1678T and P. bifermentans PAGU 2008T was 60.03% on average, average nucleotide identity was 96.17%, and it was shown to have different genomic sequences. Biochemically, strain PAGU 1678T could be differentiated from P. bifermentans PAGU 2008T by H2 S production. Furthermore, strain PAGU 1678T was characterized by the presence of two phospholipids with different polarity on polar lipid analysis. In addition, strain PAGU 1678T differed from P. bifermentans PAGU 2008T in findings on whole-cell protein analysis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. On the basis of these biochemical and genetic characteristics, a novel subspecies of P. bifermentans with the name Paraclostridium bifermentans subsp. muricolitidis subsp. nov. is here proposed, with PAGU 1678T (═CCUG 72489T ═NBRC 113386T ) as the type strain, which automatically creates P. bifermentans subsp. bifermentans subsp. nov. JCM 1386T (═ATCC 638T ═DSM 14991T ).

We have been developing monolithic active pixel sensors for X-rays based on the silicon-on-insulator technology. Our device consists of a low-resistivity Si layer for readout CMOS electronics, a high-resistivity Si sensor layer, and a SiO$_2$ layer between them. This configuration allows us both high-speed readout circuits and a thick (on the order of $100~\mu{\rm m}$) depletion layer in a monolithic device. Each pixel circuit contains a trigger output function, with which we can achieve a time resolution of $\lesssim 10~\mu{\rm s}$. One of our key development items is improvement of the energy resolution. We recently fabricated a device named XRPIX6E, to which we introduced a pinned depleted diode (PDD) structure. The structure reduces the capacitance coupling between the sensing area in the sensor layer and the pixel circuit, which degrades the spectral performance. With XRPIX6E, we achieve an energy resolution of $\sim 150$~eV in full width at half maximum for 6.4-keV X-rays. In addition to the good energy resolution, a large imaging area is required for practical use. We developed and tested XRPIX5b, which has an imaging area size of $21.9~{\rm mm} \times 13.8~{\rm mm}$ and is the largest device that we ever fabricated. We successfully obtain X-ray data from almost all the $608 \times 384$ pixels with high uniformity., Comment: 5 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Conference Record of IEEE NSS-MIC 2018

Intravascular treatment is known as one of effective treatment methods for cerebral aneurysms. One problem of this therapy is that an intravascular treatment device unexpectedly moves and a tip of the device strongly contacts on a vessel wall. This unexpected movement of the device causes vascular injury. In actual treatment, 2D X-ray image is used. It is difficult for an operator to estimate 3D position of the device from the 2D X-ray image. In this study, we propose estimation methods for 3D position of devices using a X-ray image and a 3D blood vessel model. At the first step of estimation procedure, a 3D position of X-ray image, a 3D blood vessel model and X-ray source (Xs) are determined by 2D/3D registration method. The actual 3D position of the device tip (P) is placed on the straight line between Xs and P. Moreover, its position is limited within the 3D vessel model. From characteristics, the 3D position of the device tip is estimated. In this study, two methods to estimate the 3D position of the device are proposed. First: A closest point to the straight line from the center line of the blood vessel model is defined as the position in 3D space of the guidewire (one-point estimation method). Second: A mean value of points on the straight line inside the blood vessel model is defined as the position in 3D space of the guidewire (average estimation method). The accuracy of estimation methods depends on angle of X-ray irradiation. In this study, the relationship between the accuracy of estimation methods and the angle of X-ray irradiation. The estimation accuracy was investigated using numerical calculation. In the case of a simple blood vessel shape, the error of the estimation was proportional to the angular difference between an ideal and an actual. The errors of the estimated arc length parameter at the ideal angle of X-ray irradiation were 0.002 mm and 0.078 mm, respectively. This result shows that this method is effective for simple blood vessel shape. In future work, other factors to affect the accuracy are also investigated.

著者人数: 193名(所属. 宇宙航空研究開発機構宇宙科学研究所 (JAXA)(ISAS): 堂谷, 忠靖; 海老沢, 研; 林, 克洋; 飯塚, 亮; 井上, 芳幸; 石田, 学; 石川, 久美; 岩井, 将親; 国分, 紀秀; 小山, 志勇; 前田, 良知; 満田, 和久; 中川, 貴雄; 尾崎, 正伸; 佐藤, 悟郎; 佐藤, 理江; Simionescu, Aurora; 菅原, 泰晴; 高橋, 忠幸; 竹井, 洋; 田村, 隆幸; 田中, 靖郎; 冨田, 洋; 辻本, 匡弘; 上田, 周太朗; 渡辺, 伸; 山崎, 典子; 内田, 悠介), Accepted: 2018-09-30, 資料番号: SA1180351000

We have been developing a new type of X-ray pixel sensors, "XRPIX", allowing us to perform imaging spectroscopy in the wide energy band of 1-20 keV for the future Japanese X-ray satellite "FORCE". The XRPIX devices are fabricated with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor silicon-on-insulator technology, and have the "Event-Driven readout mode", in which only a hit event is read out by using hit information from a trigger output function equipped with each pixel. This paper reports on the low-energy X-ray performance of the "XRPIX6E" device with a Pinned Depleted Diode (PDD) structure. The PDD structure especially reduces the readout noise, and hence is expected to largely improve the quantum efficiencies for low-energy X-rays. While F-K X-rays at 0.68 keV and Al-K X-rays at 1.5 keV are successfully detected in the "Frame readout mode", in which all pixels are read out serially without using the trigger output function, the device is able to detect Al-K X-rays, but not F-K X-rays in the Event-Driven readout mode. Non-uniformity is observed in the counts maps of Al-K X-rays in the Event-Driven readout mode, which is due to region-to-region variation of the pedestal voltages at the input to the comparator circuit. The lowest available threshold energy is 1.1 keV for a small region in the device where the non-uniformity is minimized. The noise of the charge sensitive amplifier at the sense node and the noise related to the trigger output function are ~$18~e^-$ (rms) and ~$13~e^-$ (rms), respectively., Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in NIMA, proceedings of the 12th International "Hiroshima" Symposium on the Development and Application of Semiconductor Tracking Detector (HSTD12)

Corrigendum to Characterization of Bifidobacterium species in feaces of the Egyptian fruit bat: Description of Bifidobacterium vespertilionis sp. nov. and Bifidobacterium rousetti sp. nov.

This paper reports on the development of on-chip pattern processing in the event-driven silicon-on-insulator pixel detector for X-ray astronomy with background rejection purpose. X-ray charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors, well-established pixel detectors used in this field, has proven that classification of detected events considering their spatial pattern is effective for particle background rejection. Based on the current architecture of our device and from the CCD images obtained in space, we first established a design concept and algorithm of the pattern processor to be implemented. Then, we developed a new device, including a prototype pattern-processing circuit. Experiments using X-ray and beta-ray radioisotopes demonstrated that the pattern processor properly works as expected, and the particle background rejection is realized in an on-chip fashion. This function is useful, especially in a limited-resource system such as the CubeSat.

This paper reports the spectroscopic performance improvement of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) pixel detector for X-ray astronomy, by introducing a double-SOI (D-SOI) structure. For applications in X-ray astronomical observatories, we have been developing a series of monolithic active pixel sensors, named as "XRPIXs," based on SOI pixel technology. The D-SOI structure has an advantage that it can suppress a parasitic capacitance between the sensing node and the circuit layer, due to which the closed-loop gain cannot be increased in our conventional XRPIXs with a single-SOI (S-SOI) structure. Compared to the S-SOI XRPIX, the closed-loop gain is doubled in the D-SOI XRPIX. The readout noise is effectively lowered to 33% (16 e− (rms)), and the energy resolution at 6.4 keV is improved by a factor of 1.7 (290 eV in FWHM). The suppression of the parasitic capacitance is also quantitatively evaluated based on the results of capacitance extraction simulation from the layout. This evaluation provides design guidelines for further reduction of the readout noise.

Tropical cyclones expose river basins to heavy rainfall and flooding, and cause substantial soil erosion and sediment transport. There is heightened interest in the effects of typhoon floods on river basins in northeast Japan, as the migration of radiocaesium-bearing soils contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident will affect future radiation levels. The five main catchments surrounding FDNPP are the Odaka, Ukedo, Maeda, Kuma and Tomioka basins, but little quantitative modelling has been undertaken to identify the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes across these basins. Here we address this issue and report catchment-scale modelling of the five basins using the GETFLOWS simulation code. The three-dimensional (3D) models of the basins incorporated details of the geology, soil type, land cover, and used data from meteorological records as inputs. The simulation results were checked against field monitoring data for water flow rates, suspended sediment concentrations and accumulated sediment erosion and deposition. The results show that the majority of annual sediment migration in the basins occurs over storm periods, thus making typhoons the main vectors for redistribution. The Ukedo and Tomioka basins are the most important basins in the region in terms of overall sediment transport, followed by the other three basins each with similar discharge amounts. Erosion is strongly correlated with the underlying geology and the surface topography in the study area. A low permeability Pliocene Dainenji formation in the coastal area causes high surface water flow rates and soil erosion. Conversely, erosion is lower in an area with high permeability granite basement rocks between the Hatagawa and Futaba faults in the centre of the study area. Land cover is also a factor controlling differences in erosion and transport rates between forested areas in the west of the study area and predominantly agricultural areas towards the east. The largest sediment depositions occur in the Ogaki and Takigawa Dams, at the confluence of the Takase and Ukedo Rivers, and at the Ukedo River mouth. Having clarified the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes, these results can assist the ongoing task of monitoring radioactive caesium redistribution within Fukushima Prefecture, and contribute to the design and implementation of measures to protect health and the environment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Objectives This study aimed to identify the practical abilities required by nonspecialist occupational physicians and specify the priorities for training programs. Methods A practical abilities list was developed through a focus group meeting of specialists. We created a survey questionnaire and asked three groups, namely, occupational physicians, occupational health nurses, and health officers, to rate the importance of each practical ability. Results The mean scores for all 45 items were greater than 4, i.e., in the middle of the 7-point Likert scale, for all the three groups. The occupational physicians' responses had a correlation with the other groups' responses. However, there were differences with regard to some practical abilities between the three groups. Five practical abilities from the top quartile were marked "A" by all the three groups: "Submit opinions on fitness for duty and work accommodation on the basis of data from health examination," "Respect employee privacy," "Submit opinion on fitness for duty and work accommodation on the basis of data from face-to-face interviews with employees," "Submit opinions on fitness for duty and work accommodation on the basis of data from health surveillance," and "Implement face-to-face interviews for employees who have worked overtime and evaluate the subjects' conditions including mental and physical health status, degree of accumulated fatigue, and depression." Conclusions This study resulted in a rank-ordered list of 45 practical abilities that are required by nonspecialist occupational physicians. This result may be useful to review and redesign the existing training program for nonspecialist occupational physicians.

Objectives We developed a standardized cost estimation method for occupational health (OH) services. The purpose of this study was to set reference OH services costs and to conduct OH services cost management assessments in two workplaces by comparing actual OH services costs with the reference costs. Methods Data were obtained from retrospective analyses of OH services costs regarding 15 OH activities over a 1-year period in three manufacturing workplaces. We set the reference OH services costs in one of the three locations and compared OH services costs of each of the two other workplaces with the reference costs. Results The total reference OH services cost was 176,654 Japanese yen (JPY) per employee. The personnel cost for OH staff to conduct OH services was JPY 47,993, and the personnel cost for non-OH staff was JPY 38,699. The personnel cost for receipt of OH services-opportunity cost-was JPY 19,747, expense was JPY 25,512, depreciation expense was 34,849, and outsourcing cost was JPY 9,854. We compared actual OH services costs from two workplaces (the total OH services costs were JPY 182,151 and JPY 238,023) with the reference costs according to OH activity. The actual costs were different from the reference costs, especially in the case of personnel cost for non-OH staff, expense, and depreciation expense. Conclusions Using our cost estimation tool, it is helpful to compare actual OH services cost data with reference cost data. The outcomes help employers make informed decisions regarding investment in OH services.

OBJECTIVES: To study the occupational safety and health systems used for emergency response workers in the USA, we performed interviews with related federal agencies and conducted research on related studies. METHODS: We visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the USA and performed interviews with their managers on the agencies' roles in the national emergency response system. We also obtained information prepared for our visit from the USA's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In addition, we conducted research on related studies and information on the website of the agencies. RESULTS: We found that the USA had an established emergency response system based on their National Incident Management System (NIMS). This enabled several organizations to respond to emergencies cooperatively using a National Response Framework (NRF) that clarifies the roles and cooperative functions of each federal agency. The core system in NIMS was the Incident Command System (ICS), within which a Safety Officer was positioned as one of the command staff supporting the commander. All ICS staff were required to complete a training program specific to their position; in addition, the Safety Officer was required to have experience. The All-Hazards model was commonly used in the emergency response system. We found that FEMA coordinated support functions, and OSHA and NIOSH, which had specific functions to protect workers, worked cooperatively under NRF. These agencies employed certified industrial hygienists that play a professional role in safety and health. NIOSH recently executed support activities during disasters and other emergencies. DISCUSSION: The USA's emergency response system is characterized by functions that protect the lives and health of emergency response workers. Trained and experienced human resources support system effectiveness. The findings provided valuable information that could be used to improve the occupational safety and health function in the Japanese system. Language: en

Labor and Social Security Attorneys (LSSAs) advise their clients about occupational mental health, but the competencies necessary in this field are not clear to them. We standardized the necessary competencies as a counseling guide for LSSAs, and we also designed a related discussion training program. These competencies were summarized in a brainstorming session at a research conference comprised of physicians, an occupational health nurse, LSSAs, an instructional design expert, and a management consultant, and then a training program (lasting 9 hours 30 minutes) was developed. Nineteen trainees who were introduced by members of the research conference collectively completed a seven-question written test, both before and after the training, in order to assess its effectiveness. Sixteen trainees who completed the training were surveyed, with a recovery rate of 100%. The necessary competencies that they identified were: information about circular notices from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare; behavior such as the gathering of information; and dealing with the reinstatement of employees. The scores were subjected to the Wilcoxon signed-rank test in order to evaluate the training, and the answers from the pre-training were compared with those from the post-training. A significant difference (P < 0.05) was seen for each question. These results show the effectiveness of the developed training program for the learning of the competencies necessary for LSSAs.

Objectives In Japan, employee fitness for work is determined by annual medical examinations. It may be possible to reduce the variability in the results of work fitness determination, particularly for situation, if there is consensus among experts regarding consideration of limitation of work by means of a single parameter. Methods Consensus building was attempted among 104 occupational physicians by employing a 3-round Delphi method. Among the medical examination parameters for which at least 50% of participants agreed in the 3rd round of the survey that the parameter would independently merit consideration for limitation of work, the values of the parameters proposed as criterion values that trigger consideration of limitation of work were sought. Parameters, along with their most frequently proposed criterion values, were defined in the study group meeting as parameters for which consensus was reached. Results Consensus was obtained for 8 parameters: systolic blood pressure 180 mmHg (86.6%), diastolic blood pressure 110 mmHg (85.9%), postprandial plasma glucose 300 mg/dl (76.9%), fasting plasma glucose 200 mg/dl (69.1%), Cre 2.0mg/dl (67.2%), HbA1c (JDS) 10% (62.3%), ALT 200 U/l (61.6%), and Hb 8 g/l (58.5%). Conclusions To support physicians who give advice to employers about work-related measures based on the results of general medical examinations of employees, expert consensus information was obtained that can serve as background material for making judgements. It is expected that the use of this information will facilitate the ability to take appropriate measures after medical examination of employees.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to develop an information gathering check sheet to efficiently collect information necessary for Japanese companies to build global occupational safety and health management systems in overseas business places. METHODS The study group consisted of 2 researchers with occupational physician careers in a foreign-affiliated company in Japan and 3 supervising occupational physicians who were engaged in occupational safety and health activities in overseas business places. After investigating information and sources of information necessary for implementing occupational safety and health activities and building relevant systems, we conducted information acquisition using an information gathering check sheet in the field, by visiting 10 regions in 5 countries (first phase). The accuracy of the information acquired and the appropriateness of the information sources were then verified in study group meetings to improve the information gathering check sheet. Next, the improved information gathering check sheet was used in another setting (3 regions in 1 country) to confirm its efficacy (second phase), and the information gathering check sheet was thereby completed. RESULTS The information gathering check sheet was composed of 9 major items (basic information on the local business place, safety and health overview, safety and health systems, safety and health staff, planning/implementation/evaluation/improvement, safety and health activities, laws and administrative organs, local medical care systems and public health, and medical support for resident personnel) and 61 medium items. We relied on the following eight information sources: the internet, company (local business place and head office in Japan), embassy/consulate, ISO certification body, university or other educational institutions, and medical institutions (aimed at Japanese people or at local workers). CONCLUSIONS Through multiple study group meetings and a two-phased field survey (13 regions in 6 countries), an information gathering check sheet was completed. We confirmed the possibility that this check sheet would enable the user to obtain necessary information when expanding safety and health activities in a country or region that is new to the user. It is necessary in the future to evaluate safety and health systems and activities using this information gathering check sheet in a local business place in any country in which a Japanese business will be established, and to verify the efficacy of the check sheet by conducting model programs to test specific approaches.

Review of health issues of workers engaged in operations related to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant: Koh Hiraoka, et al. Occupational Health Training Center, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to summarize the lessons learned from the experience in protecting the health of workers engaged in operations following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). METHODS: We reviewed all types of scientific papers examining workers’ health found in Medline and Web of Sciences as well as some official reports published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and other governmental institutes. RESULTS: The papers and reports were classified into those investigating workers at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini NPPs, workers engaged in decontamination operations in designated areas, and other workers. Regarding workers at the NPPs, many efforts were made to establish an emergency‐care and occupational health system. Risk management efforts were undertaken for radiation exposure, heat stress, psychological stress, outbreak of infectious diseases, and fitness for work. Only a few reports dealt with decontamination workers and others; however, the health management of these workers was clearly weaker than that for workers at the NPPs. CONCLUSIONS: Many lessons can be learned from what occurred. That knowledge can be applied to ongoing decommissioning work and to future disasters. In addition, it is necessary to study the long‐term health effects of radiation exposure and to accumulate data about the health of workers engaged in decontamination work and other areas.

Simulation of the watershed-scale fate and transport of radionuclides is required in order to predict the consequences of contamination redistribution. Integrated watershed modeling is a suitable technique for this task, but it requires fully coupled investigation of radionuclide behavior in surface water, suspended sediment and subsurface aquifers. We developed a novel simulator for computing the spatiotemporal redistribution of fallout radionuclides in watersheds. The simulator was applied to an actual reservoir basin contaminated by fallout radionuclides from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011. As a result, the simulated 137Cs concentration in bottom sediment showed a reasonably close match with the measurement data. The distribution coefficient of 137Cs consistent with the latest measurement data was identified as being at least 400,000?L/kg, and it was estimated that more than 90% of the total 137Cs distributed in the fallout remains in the catchment area. We propose a new simulator to assess environmental impact of fallout radionuclide.Simulation treats surface and subsurface fully coupled hydrological processes.Spatiotemporal variation of the deposited 137Cs can be successfully reproduced.Deposited 137Cs is predominantly transported with the suspended sediment.Results indicate that most of the deposited 137Cs remains within the catchment.

We have been developing event driven X-ray Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) pixel sensors, called "XRPIX", for the next generation of X-ray astronomy satellites. XRPIX is a monolithic active pixel sensor, fabricated using the SOI CMOS technology, and is equipped with the so-called "Event-Driven readout", which allows reading out only hit pixels by using the trigger circuit implemented in each pixel. The current version of XRPIX has lower spectral performance in the Event-Driven readout mode than in the Frame readout mode, which is due to the interference between the sensor layer and the circuit layer. The interference also lowers the gain. In order to suppress the interference, we developed a new device, "XRPIX6E" equipped with the Pinned Depleted Diode structure. A sufficiently highly-doped buried p-well is formed at the interface between the buried oxide layer and the sensor layer, and acts as a shield layer. XRPIX6E exhibits improved spectral performances both in the Event-Driven readout mode and in the Frame readout mode in comparison to previous devices. The energy resolutions in full width at half maximum at 6.4 keV are 236 $\pm$ 1 eV and 335 $\pm$ 4 eV in the Frame and Event-Driven readout modes, respectively. There are differences between the readout noise and the spectral performance in the two modes, which suggests that some mechanism still degrades the performance in the Event-Driven readout mode., 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in NIMA on September 27, 2018

Taxonomic studies of strain PAGU 1678

The ejecta kinematics of supernova remnants (SNRs) is one of crucial clues to understand the explosion mechanism of type Ia supernovae (SNe). In particular, the kinematic asymmetry of iron-peak elements provides the key to understanding physical processes taking place in the core of the exploding white dwarfs (WDs) although it has been poorly understood by observations. In this paper, we show for the first time the asymmetric expansion structure in the line-of-sight direction of Fe ejecta in Kepler's SNR revealed by spectral and imaging analysis using the Chandra archival data. We found that the K$\alpha$ line centroid energy and line width is relatively lower ($, Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ

X-ray Imaging Spectrometers (XIS) are the X-ray CCD cameras onboard Suzaku. They were operated in orbit from 2005 to 2015 and produced lots of findings with their good energy resolution and low non X-rat background. Precise calibration including the 10 eV accuracy in the energy scale reinforced them. Nevertheless, there has been a unresolved calibration issue in the spectral response around the Si-K edge (1.839 keV) appearing as systematic residuals up to 10%. The residual is negative peaking at 1.85 keV in the front illuminated (FI) sensors and positive peaking at 1.8 keV in the back illuminated (BI) sensor for X-ray sources dominated by continuum X-ray emission. Various attempts to eliminate these residuals by changing response parameters or quantum efficiency models have been insufficient. In this paper, we revisit this problem by focusing on the relation between incident X-ray energy and pulse height. We introduce a jump in that relation at the Si-K edge by modifying the , and optimize its value so as to minimize the residuals in the fit of the X-ray spectra for the black hole binary LMC X-3, a source dominated by continuum emission. We find the introduction of a jump significantly reduces the residuals. The optimized jump values are +4:2 channel, +4:0 channel, and -3:1 channel, corresponding to 15.3 eV, -11:3 eV, and 14.6 eV, for XIS0, XIS3 (FI), and XIS1 (BI), respectively. The direction of the jump is opposite for the FI and for the BI. We revise the response matrices generator so as to include the jump for each XIS sensor, and apply it to the X-ray spectra of the Perseus cluster of galaxies which has various emission lines in the spectra, and the blazar PKS2155-304 which was observed various epoch in the Suzakuoperation. We confirm the residuals are significantly reduced for these sources, too. We finally suggest the jump at Si-K edge in the energy and pulse height relation is qualitatively explained, if some of charges are lost in course of charger collection to the electrode of the CCD in the depletion later, and its amount is large for larger travel length in the depletion layer. If this explanation is correct, the Si-K edge problem and its solution presented in this paper is not specific only for the SuzakuXIS but also for other X-ray CCDs.

We have developed SOIPIXs based on the CMOS SOI technology for the future X-ray astronomical satellite. SOIPIXs has the event trigger output function implemented in each pixel offers microsecond time resolution and its event trigger function enables to separate celestial X-rays and non-X-ray background by combining the anticoincidence system and to reduce the non-X-ray background that dominates the high X-ray energy band above 5-10 keV. A fully depleted SOIPIXs with a 300-500 um thick depletion layer and back illumination offers wide band coverage of 0.3-40 keV. In order to use XRPIXs in space environment, to investigate the radiation hardness of XRPIXs is important because semiconductor detectors such as XRPIXs and CCDs are damaged by interacting with many cosmic rays which are composed primarily energy protons in orbit. The damage causes the increase of dark current and the degradation of the performance such as the energy resolution of XRPIXs. To evaluate the radiation hardness of XRPIXs, we have carried out the radiation damage test at the heavy ion medical accelerator (HIMAC) in Japan. For this experiment, we used the XRPIX2b-FZ (Takeda et al, 2015) which was the front illuminated XRPIX with 300um thick depletion layer. XRPIX2b-FZ has 144 x 144 pixels and the pixel size is 30um x 30 um. We installed XRPIX2b-FZ in the vacuum chamber and cooled it around -80 C degree. The proton beam flux was much strong for our purpose of this experiment, we set the 3 um thick Au film as a scatterers in the cubic flange in front of vacuum chamber in order to reduce the beam flux. We introduced the scattered proton beam to the two direction of the downstream of the beam line, and one was irradiated to XRPIX2b-FZ in the vacuum chamber and the other was irradiated to the faraday cup connected to the cubic flange to monitor the scattered beam flux. We also obtained the total doze of proton beam using the faraday cup. We irradiated the proton beam to XRPIX2b-FZ until the total irradiation dose reached 10 krad while increasing the irradiation dose and evaluated the performance such as leak current, gain and energy resolution using X-ray from 109 Cd after the proton irradiation of 1 rad, 400 rad, 1 k rad, 4 k rad, and 10 krad. From above experimental results, we found that the gain and the energy resolution was degraded by 0.2 % and 10 % respectively with 400 rad whose equivalent time in orbit was 3.5 years, and the gain and energy resolution became worse by 0.8 % and 32 % respectively after irradiation of 4k rad. We investigated the reason of the degradation of the energy resolution and found the degradation was mainly caused by the increasing the read out noise. We also found the number of bad pixels clearly increased by about 10 times after the irradiation of 10 krad.

X-ray Astronomy Recovery Mission (XARM) scheduled to be launched in early 2020’s carries two soft X-ray telescopes. One is Resolve consisting of a soft X-ray mirror and a micro calorimeter array, and the other is Soft X-ray Imaging Telescope (Xtend), a combination of an X-ray mirror assembly (XMA) and an X-ray CCD camera (SXI). Xtend covers a field of view (FOV) of 38′ × 38′ , much larger than that of Resolve (3′ × 3 ′ ) with moderate energy resolution in the energy band from 0.4 keV to 13 keV, which is similar to that of Resolve (from 0.3 keV to 12 keV). Simultaneous observations of both telescopes provide complimentary data of X-ray sources in their FOV. In particular, monitoring X-ray sources outside the Resolve FOV but inside the Xtend FOV is important to enhance the reliability of super high resolution spectra obtained with Resolve. Xtend is also expected to be one of the best instruments for low surface brightness X-ray emissions with its low non X-ray background level, which is comparable to that of Suzaku XIS. The design of Xtend is almost identical to those of Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) and Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) both on board the Hitomi satellite. However, several mandatory updates are included. Updates for the CCD chips are verified with experiment using test CCD chips before finalizing the design of the flight model CCD. Fabrication of the foils for XMA has started, and flight model production of the SXI is almost ready.

FORCE is a 1.2 tonnes small mission dedicated for wide-band fine-imaging x-ray observation. It covers from 1 to 80 keV with a good angular resolution of $15"$ half-power-diameter. It is proposed to be launched around mid-2020s and designed to reach a limiting sensitivity as good as $F_X (10-40~{\rm keV}) = 3 \times 10^{-15}$~erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ keV$^{-1}$ within 1~Ms. This number is one order of magnitude better than current best one. With its high-sensitivity wide-band coverage, FORCE will probe the new science field of "missing BHs", searching for families of black holes of which populations and evolutions are not well known. Other point-source and diffuse-source sciences are also considered. FORCE will also provide the "hard x-ray coverage" to forthcoming large soft x-ray observatories., On SPIE Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018:Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. 14 Pages, and 4 Figures

The ASTRO-H mission was designed and developed through an international collaboration of JAXA, NASA, ESA, and the CSA. It was successfully launched on February 17, 2016, and then named Hitomi. During the in-orbit verification phase, the on-board observational instruments functioned as expected. The intricate coolant and refrigeration systems for soft X-ray spectrometer (SXS, a quantum micro-calorimeter) and soft X-ray imager (SXI, an X-ray CCD) also functioned as expected. However, on March 26, 2016, operations were prematurely terminated by a series of abnormal events and mishaps triggered by the attitude control system. These errors led to a fatal event: the loss of the solar panels on the Hitomi mission. The X-ray Astronomy Recovery Mission (or, XARM) is proposed to regain the key scientific advances anticipated by the international collaboration behind Hitomi. XARM will recover this science in the shortest time possible by focusing on one of the main science goals of Hitomi,“Resolving astrophysical problems by precise high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy”.1 This decision was reached after evaluating the performance of the instruments aboard Hitomi and the mission’s initial scientific results, and considering the landscape of planned international X-ray astrophysics missions in 2020’s and 2030’s. Hitomi opened the door to high-resolution spectroscopy in the X-ray universe. It revealed a number of discrepancies between new observational results and prior theoretical predictions. Yet, the resolution pioneered by Hitomi is also the key to answering these and other fundamental questions. The high spectral resolution realized by XARM will not offer mere refinements; rather, it will enable qualitative leaps in astrophysics and plasma physics. XARM has therefore been given a broad scientific charge: “Revealing material circulation and energy transfer in cosmic plasmas and elucidating evolution of cosmic structures and objects”. To fulfill this charge, four categories of science objectives that were defined for Hitomi will also be pursued by XARM; these include (1) Structure formation of the Universe and evolution of clusters of galaxies; (2) Circulation history of baryonic matters in the Universe; (3) Transport and circulation of energy in the Universe; (4) New science with unprecedented high resolution X-ray spectroscopy. In order to achieve these scientific objectives, XARM will carry a 6 × 6 pixelized X-ray micro-calorimeter on the focal plane of an X-ray mirror assembly, and an aligned X-ray CCD camera covering the same energy band and a wider field of view. This paper introduces the science objectives, mission concept, and observing plan of XARM.

We have been developing the X-ray silicon-on-insulator (SOI) pixel sensor called XRPIX for future astrophysical satellites. XRPIX is a monolithic active pixel sensor consisting of a high-resistivity Si sensor, thin SiO$_2$ insulator, and CMOS pixel circuits that utilize SOI technology. Since XRPIX is capable of event-driven readouts, it can achieve high timing resolution greater than $\sim 10{\rm ~\mu s}$, which enables low background observation by adopting the anti-coincidence technique. One of the major issues in the development of XRPIX is the electrical interference between the sensor layer and circuit layer, which causes nonuniform detection efficiency at the pixel boundaries. In order to reduce the interference, we introduce a Double-SOI (D-SOI) structure, in which a thin Si layer (middle Si) is added to the insulator layer of the SOI structure. In this structure, the middle Si layer works as an electrical shield to decouple the sensor layer and circuit layer. We measured the detector response of the XRPIX with D-SOI structure at KEK. We irradiated the X-ray beam collimated with $4{\rm ~\mu m\phi}$ pinhole, and scanned the device with $6{\rm ~\mu m}$ pitch, which is 1/6 of the pixel size. In this paper, we present the improvement in the uniformity of the detection efficiency in D-SOI sensors, and discuss the detailed X-ray response and its physical origins., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Instrumentation

Studying the crisis management systems of other developed countries has been effective in clarifying what the position and roles of occupational health and safety functions should be in the crisis management system in Japan. In addition to previous studies on the US system, we studied the UK system. We gathered relevant information by visiting the headquarters of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), as well as obtaining information available via the internet. In the UK, the crisis management system was developed based on the Civil Contingencies Act of 2004, which regulated the system of planning and actual correspondence. The system was established with a framework that is consistent at both the national and local levels regardless of the type of crisis. The HSE has health and safety experts involved in all aspects and levels of the crisis management system. The HSE and ONR also assist in emergency planning for serious accidents involving chemical and radioactive substances. We observed the following three common features for ensuring the health and safety of crisis responders in the US and UK: 1) establishing an all-hazard model, a common crisis response system for all types of crisis, 2) ensuring functions to protect the health and safety of workers in a crisis at the national and local levels, 3) ensuring provision of expertise on health and safety for effective management during a crisis. These findings should be used to improve the system in Japan.

OBJECTIVES The stress check program has been part of annual employees' health screening since 2015. Employees are recommended, but not obliged, to undergo the stress check offered. This study was designed to examine the factors associated with stress check attendance. METHODS A total of 31,156 Japanese employees who underwent an annual health examination and a stress check service at an Occupational Health Service Center in 2016 participated in this study. Data from the annual health examination and stress check service included stress check attendance, date of attendance (if implemented), gender, age, workplace industry, number of employees at the workplace, and tobacco and alcohol consumption. Data were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS The mean rate of stress check attendance was 90.8%. A higher rate of stress check attendance was associated with a lower duration from the annual health examination, age ≥30 years, construction and transport industry, and 50-999 employees at the workplace. A lower rate of stress check attendance was associated with medical and welfare industry and ≥1,000 employees at the workplace. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide insights into developing strategies for improving the rate of stress check attendance. In particular, stress check attendance may improve if the stress check service and annual health examination are conducted simultaneously.