There has been little study on the effect of traffic-related air pollution on the incidence and persistence of asthma in preschool children. We evaluated the association of exposure to traffic-related air pollution with the incidence/persistence of asthma during the first 3 years of life using a population-based study.
The aim of this study was to analyze gaseous organic chemicals (GOCs) of high traffic (Nishinomiya City: 979,987 vehicles/day) and low traffic areas (Miki City: 29,338 vehicles/day) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and to evaluate general environment exposure by PAHs in GOCs. After air sampling using an OMNIPORE membrane filter (< 0.45 microm) and Porapak-QS, sorbents were extracted with solvent (dichloromethane: acetone (4:1 v/v), and analysis was carried out by GC-MS. Oxidative derivatives of diethylbenzene, such as diacethylbenzene and ethylacetophenone, were detected in GOCs. PAHs and phthalates in GOCs were measured. Pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[ghi]perylene level were significantly higher in high traffic areas. The geometric mean of pyrene was 0.76 ng/m3 for low traffic areas and 1.96 ng/m3 for high traffic areas; benz[a]anthracene was found at 0.72 ng/m3 and 1.80 ng/m3 in low and high traffic areas, respectively; benzo[a]pyrene was found at 0.87 ng/m3 and 3.60 ng/m3 in low and high traffic areas, respectively and benzo[ghi]perylene was found at 0.57 ng/m3 and 3.04 ng/m3 in low and high traffic areas, respectively. The bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) level was the highest in the detected GOCs. The geometric mean of the DEHP levels in high traffic and low traffic areas were 484.85 and 387.26 ng/m3, respectively. Adult and child DEHP exposure levels were 145.32 and 300.33 ng/kg/day, respectively, in high traffic areas. In low traffic areas, adult and child DEHP exposure levels were 116.18 and 240.10 ng/kg/day, respectively.
Thermal sprayed coatings are applied to lubricated sliding surfaces of engine components recently.Small size peelings were observed on the ceramic coated test pieces tested with a pin on disk wear tester. The mechanism of peelings was investigated.A test in which a ball was rolled on the coated surface was carried out. The test was considered to be appropriate for evaluating the peeling property of coatings for the correlation to wear test results. The rolling test results show that the peeling was not affected by the change of temperature but was strongly affected by the existence of lubricating oil. The same tendency was also observed in a cyclic loading test. Cross sectional view of tested surface shows a Hertz crack connected to a horizontal crack. Peelings can be caused by the formation of these cracks. Crack propagation is accelerated by the existence of lubricating oil. It is considered that the oil enclosed in the crack is pressurized by load and it expands the crack.
In this paper, measurements of adhesion force between several metals and sharp pyramidal diamond indenters are made under engineering conditions, including a lubricated condition. Four types of pyramidal indenters in which angle a of the opposite faces are changed in the range of 45.1 to 136° are used for the measurements. The results show that angle a markedly affects adhesion-the sharper the angle, the larger the value of adhesion force-and that the value is approximately proportional to the applied load. These results are observed under both nonlubricated and oil-lubricated conditions in air. The mechanism of adhesion between metals and sharp diamond indenters is discussed based on the observations of indentation and the results of field emission microscope analysis.
This study aimed at assessing the association between exposure to severe air pollution in the past and the subsequent transition in lung cancer mortality among persons who lived in an industrial city. Vital statistics from 1983 to 2006 and the data on air pollution measurements from 1960 to 1990 in Amagasaki City, Japan, were used. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between the standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for lung cancer and the air pollution levels in 6 wards of Amagasaki City. The associations between changes in air pollution levels and the annual SMRs were also evaluated in the light of a potential latency period. The levels of air pollution were extremely high in the 1960s, and they decreased since 1970. The SMRs for lung cancer in 1989-1993 among females for 6 wards were significantly associated with the amounts of both sulfur oxides and dust fall in the past for each ward. The positive associations were observed between the annual SMRs among females and the amounts of both pollutants when the lag time of 20-30 years was taken into account. These results suggest that severe air pollution in the 1960s in an industrial city affected the subsequent increase in lung cancer mortality.
A surgical case is described of a 40-year-old hemophilia A patient with a potent factor VIII inhibitor (40 Bethesda units) suffering from a chronic cystic haematoma in the right thigh. Surgery was performed after extensive plasmapheresis and administration of a large amount of factor VIII concentrate (42,500 U on the day of operation). During the five post-operative days, the factor VIII level was maintained above 25%, which allowed control of hemorrhage. However, two serious problems, i.e., hemolytic anemia and anamnestic response of factor VIII inhibitor titer, occurred on the 6th post-operative day. The hemolytic anemia was circumvented by administering prothrombin complex concentrate every 8 hours for 12 days until the sutures were removed. There was no bleeding although the inhibitor titer rose to 460 Bethesda units.
Abstract Recently, prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) using artificial intelligence (AI) from medical records has been reported. We aimed to evaluate GDM-predictive AI-based models using birth cohort data with a wide range of information and to explore factors contributing to GDM development. This investigation was conducted as a part of the Japan Environment and Children's Study. In total, 82,698 pregnant mothers who provided data on lifestyle, anthropometry, and socioeconomic status before pregnancy and the first trimester were included in the study. We employed machine learning methods as AI algorithms, such as random forest (RF), gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT), and support vector machine (SVM), along with logistic regression (LR) as a reference. GBDT displayed the highest accuracy, followed by LR, RF, and SVM. Exploratory analysis of the JECS data revealed that health-related quality of life in early pregnancy and maternal birthweight, which were rarely reported to be associated with GDM, were found along with variables that were reported to be associated with GDM. The results of decision tree-based algorithms, such as GBDT, have shown high accuracy, interpretability, and superiority for predicting GDM using birth cohort data.
