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Byline: Kazuya Tatsumi, Yusaku Matsunaga, Yuichi Miwa, Kazuyoshi Nakabe Flow characteristics in a peristaltic pump, which can be applied to Micro Total Analysis Systems (μ-TAS), were numerically investigated. For the present computational analysis, we assumed a simple sinusoidal wave pattern to simulate the peristaltic motion of flexible channel wall and applied the Immersed Boundary method to the treatment of the wall boundary. The effects of the parameters such as the amplitude and velocity of the peristaltic motion upon the flow characteristics and pump performance were evaluated in the present paper. Saw-toothed or trapezoidal wall patterns were also calculated to examine the potentiality of the pumping flow rate increase.

This cross-sectional study from January 2012 to December 2012 aimed to examine the sex-specific association between serum uric acid (SUA) levels/hyperuricemia and hypertension among Japanese patients. SUA level, medical histories, and lifestyle-related items were collected from 85,286 of 136,770 participants. Among those with hyperuricemia, the median age was 46 years and 97% were men, which was significantly different than those without hyperurecemia (44 years and 56%, respectively; P<.01). Hyperuricemia was 1.79 times more likely in hypertensive men than normotensive men and almost six times more likely in hypertensive women (odds ratio=5.92 and adjusted odds ratio=1.33 for men and adjusted odds ratio=1.81 for women) after multivariate analysis. SUA quartiles positively correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressures in both sexes. Hyperuricemia and SUA levels were significantly associated with hypertension in both sexes. These findings underscore the importance of maintaining normal SUA levels to manage and prevent hypertension. Better management of SUA as well as blood pressure may have potential in preventing future cardiovascular disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: From 2007, competitive bidding for procurement became widely employed by the Japanese Government, and health check providers for government workers are selected every year by this method. Deterioration of health check quality due to excessive price competition is a serious concern. The National Federation of Industrial Health Organization (Zeneiren) conducted an investigative research on the contracting of health check providers and occupational physicians in workplaces in 2015-2016 in an effort to prevent low-cost but low-quality health checks. The report of the research is available on the homepage of Zeneiren. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the report, and deterioration of health check quality due to dumping by and switching of health check providers is discussed from economic and legal viewpoints., Method: Information was obtained from articles in print and on the Internet., Results: A questionnaire survey of health check providers revealed that excessive discounts due to both competitive bidding and demand from companies commissioning health checks occurred on a routine basis, and some providers were concerned about worsening business conditions in the future. In a separate questionnaire survey of occupational physicians, it was discovered that they were able to evaluate the quality of health checks, whereas administrative officials responsible for selecting the providers were seldom able to adequately evaluate the health check quality, resulting in contracting providers of questionable quality, which in turn caused considerable dissatisfaction on the part of occupational physicians. Moreover, when health check providers were switched, the reporting format of health check results changed. The physicians did not favor such a change because of the considerably increased workload involved in coordinating past and current data and the risk of decreased occupational health service quality., Discussion: Dumping makes the management of health check providers very difficult and is a cause of loss of social capital. If health check providers of good quality withdraw from the market, the supply of high-quality health checks decreases. This corresponds to external diseconomy caused by dumping on the part of the health check providers and loss of social surplus (economic surplus)., Conclusions: To avoid deterioration of occupational health service due to low-quality health checks and changes in the reporting format, occupational physicians must actively engage in the selection of health check providers of good quality.

Objective: To describe the 10-year changes in the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in Japanese workers., Methods: Annual health examination data between 2001 and 2011 were collected from the Tokyo Health Service Association. The data covers an average 119,956 (73,842 male and 46,114 female) workers at 1,159 worksites each year. The prevalences of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and smoking were calculated in 5-year age groups for each year. Overall prevalence estimates were adjusted for age using the indirect method., Results: For male workers, the crude prevalences of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and smoking were 26.9%, 19.0%, 22.7%, 6.9%, and 49.4%, respectively, in 2001, and 28.5%, 19.9%, 26.6%, 5.9%, and 34.4%, respectively, in 2011. The age-adjusted prevalence of hypercholesterolemia has increased over the 10-year period. Especially among those aged 50 years or over, significant increasing trends were found for obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes. For female workers, the crude prevalences of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and smoking were 10.4%, 7.1%, 19.1%, 1.7%, and 16.6%, respectively, in 2001 and 11.6%, 7.4%, 16.7%, 1.7%, and 10.3%, respectively, in 2011. The age-adjusted prevalence of hypercholesterolemia has decreased over the 10-year period. Especially among those aged 40-59 years, a significant decreasing trend was found for hypercholesterolemia. Smoking prevalence showed a steady decrease among both male and female workers., Conclusions: Overall cardiovascular risk prevalence of Japanese workers has remained almost unchanged over the 10-year period, but there is a significant increasing trend in the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia among male workers. Male workers aged 50 years or over are identified as a subgroup requiring special attention, whose cardiovascular risk prevalence is increasing.