Job Demands,Job Resources,and Job Performance in Japanese Workers: A Cross-sectional Study

This study investigated the cross-sectional association of job demands (i.e., psychological demands) and job resources (i.e., decision latitude, supervisor support, co-worker support, and extrinsic reward) with job performance. A total of 1,198 workers (458 males and 740 females) from a manufacturing company in Japan completed a self-administered questionnaire that included the Job Content Questionnaire, Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire, and demographic survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, decision latitude (β=0.107, p=0.001) and extrinsic reward (β=0.158, p<0.001) were positively and significantly associated with job performance while supervisor support (β=−0.102, p=0.002) was negatively and significantly associated with job performance. On the other hand, psychological demands or co-worker support was not significantly associated with job performance. These findings suggest that higher decision latitude and extrinsic reward enhance job performance among Japanese employees.     

Development of a Short Version of the New Brief Job Stress Questionnaire

This study was aimed to investigate the test-retest reliability and validity of a short version of the New Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (New BJSQ) whose scales have one item selected from a standard version. Based on the results from an anonymous web-based questionnaire of occupational health staffs and personnel/labor staffs, we selected higher-priority scales from the standard version. After selecting one item with highest item-total correlation coefficient from each scale, a 23-item questionnaire was developed. A nationally representative survey was administered to Japanese employees (n=1,633) to examine test-retest reliability and validity. Most scales (or items) showed modest but adequate levels of test-retest reliability (r>0.50). Furthermore, job demands and job resources scales (or items) were associated with mental and physical stress reactions while job resources scales (or items) were also associated with positive outcomes. These findings provided a piece of evidence that the short version of the New BJSQ is reliable and valid.     

Do Workaholism and Work Engagement Predict Employee Well-being and Performance in Opposite Directions?

This study investigated the distinctiveness between workaholism and work engagement by examining their longitudinal relationships (measurement interval=7 months) with well-being and performance in a sample of 1,967 Japanese employees from various occupations. Based on a previous cross-sectional study (Shimazu & Schaufeli, 2009), we expected that workaholism predicts future unwell-being (i.e., high ill-health and low life satisfaction) and poor job performance, whereas work engagement predicts future well-being (i.e., low ill-health and high life satisfaction) and superior job performance. T1-T2 changes in ill-health, life satisfaction and job performance were measured as residual scores that were then included in the structural equation model. Results showed that workaholism and work engagement were weakly and positively related to each other. In addition, workaholism was related to an increase in ill-health and to a decrease in life satisfaction. In contrast, work engagement was related to a decrease in ill-health and to increases in both life satisfaction and job performance. These findings suggest that workaholism and work engagement are two different kinds of concepts that are oppositely related to well-being and performance.     

Nicotine dependence and smoking cessation after hospital discharge among inpatients with coronary heart attacks

This study focuses on the predictability of two alternative questionnaires for nicotine dependence, i.e., the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ) and the Tobacco Dependence Screener (TDS), each of which represents a different aspect of dependence, among patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Twenty-nine male inpatients that had been newly diagnosed as CHD were followed up for 30 weeks after hospital discharge. The baseline information included age, number of cigarettes per day, years of smoking, disease type (angina pectoris [AP] or acute myocardial infarction [AMI), whether they had received a briefing on smoking cessation, the FTQ, and the TDS. At 30 weeks after hospital discharge, 19 (66%) were abstainers. The group with a high TDS score (of 6 or greater) was significantly less likely to quit smoking than the group with a low TDS score (p=0.046). The FTQ score was not significantly different between the abstainers and non-abstainers. The subjects with AP were significantly less likely to quit smoking than those with AMI (p=0.021). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that belonging to the high-TDS group and being diagnosed as AP were significantly associated with failure in smoking cessation (p<0.05). The present study suggests that the TDS may have higher predictability than the FTQ concerning smoking cessation among CHD inpatients.     

Effect of P-Glycoprotein Modulator,Cyclosporin A,on the Gastrointestinal Excretion of Irinotecan and Its Metabolite SN-38 in Rats

Purpose. The purpose of this work was to investigate the role of the hepatic and intestinal P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter /multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (cMOAT/MRP2) on both biliary excretion and intestinal exsorption of irinotecan hydrochloride (CPT-11) and its metabolite, SN-38, in the lactone and carboxylate forms. Cyclosporin A (CsA) was used to modulate P-gp and cMOAT/MRP2. Methods. The transcellular transport of CPT-11 and SN-38 was examined by using LLC-PK1 derivative cell lines transfected with murine mdr1a both in the absence or in the presence of CsA. The excretions of the compounds through the biliary and intestinal membrane routes were investigated by in situ perfusion technique. Results. Basolateral-to-apical transport of CPT-11 lactone in L-mdr1a cells was significantly decreased by CsA (10 M). The trans- cellular transport of SN-38 lactone showed similar behaviors as those of CPT-11 lactone. The biliary excretion and the intestinal exsorption of both forms of CPT-11 and SN-38 were significantly inhibited when the drug was co-administered with CsA. Conclusions. The transports of CPT-11 and SN-38 via the biliary route seem to be essentially related with cMOAT/MRP2, whereas those of both compounds via the intestinal membrane seem to be related with P-gp.     

Instructing females to wipe their vulva after bowel movements is unnecessary to prevent cystitis: a short research report

In Japan, females are often taught to wipe their vulva from front to back (FTB) after bowel movements in order to prevent cystitis. In this report, we studied whether vulva care after bowel movements in females is a risk factor for simple cystitis. Moreover, we evaluated factors affecting the method of vulva care after bowel movements in females. We recruited 274 females for this study. We analysed the correlations between the style of vulva care, restroom habits and patient characteristics. In addition, we evaluated the correlation between the incidence of cystitis and the style of vulva care after bowel movements. There were no significant differences in the presence of coexisting diseases (P = 0·766), activities of daily living (ADL's) (P = 0·203), body mass index (BMI) (P = 0·174) or restroom style (P = 0·512). However, a significantly greater number of elderly subjects reported wiping from back to front (P = 0·023). In the cystitis group, 48 females (28%) reported wiping the vulva from back to front after bowel movements. In the control group, 29 females (28%) reported wiping the vulva from FTB after bowel movements. There were no significant differences between these two groups (P = 0·988). Our data demonstrated that instructing females to wipe their vulva from FTB after bowel movements is unnecessary for the purpose of preventing cystitis.