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Be a Good and Reliable Co-Driver
Citation: SATO, N. Be a Good and Reliable Co-Driver JAS4QoL 2021, 7(1) 2 online at: https://as4qol.org/jwsWt
Categories: Volumes, > Volume 7, Journal Articles, > Wisdom Notes
Tags: Wisdom Note, Co-driving, Driving, Etiquette, SATO; Noriko
Chief Executive Officer, Imex Japan Co Ltd, 22-8 Shimomidori-cho, Shinchiku, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8425, Japan
For drivers to enjoy driving a vehicle, whether they are maneuvering forward or negotiating a curve, he/she should be free to steer, slow down, accelerate, and brake without the distraction of uneccessary noises or disturbances around them. At the same time, a person driving a car is often accompanied by companions, friends, or family members. In such situations, there is usually a so-called “co-driver” in the seat next to them.
All in all, co-drivers will greatly help facilitate the driver’s task by adhering to the following guidelines.
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It is Not Easy to Find a Clean and Functional Public Toilet in Many Countries: Lessons to Learn from Japan
Citation: SATO, N.; ISHII, E. It is Not Easy to Find a Clean and Functional Public Toilet in Many Countries: Lessons to Learn from Japan JAS4QoL 2022, 8(1) 1 online at: https://as4qol.org/xAJT1
Categories: > Volume 8, Volumes, Journal Articles, > Wisdom Notes
Tags: Social Infrastructure, ISHII; Erina, Public Toilets; Japan, History, Wisdom Note, SATO; Noriko
Imex Japan Co. Ltd., 3F Imex Japan Building, 22 Shimomidori-cho, Shichiku, KitaKu, Kyoto 603-8425, JAPAN
Traveling in Europe, the United States, and most countries in Asia, it is always a painful and embarrassing moment when nature calls. For people living in Japan especially, the situation maybe unbearable when a language barrier arises as well. All these come back to the one and one only question: Why are public toilets or washrooms not readily available outside Japan? The answer to this question goes back to the 19th century when a well-meaning reformer, Augustus Gardner spoke out in 1862: “Any man, and far more, any woman may walk from one end of this city to the other, in the most dire torture, without finding the relief to the necessities of the body, without such indecent exposure of the person as would render the individual liable to arrest and fine by the civic authorities.”
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Churg-Strauss Syndrome or Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA): A Case Study of Using Steroid Combined with Functional Food for Treatment
Citation: NAKYAMA; Tomoharu, FOONG; Anthony FW Churg-Strauss Syndrome or Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA): A Case Study of Using Steroid Combined with Functional Food for Treatment JAS4QoL 2022, 8(1) 2 online at: https://as4qol.org/uDcpC
Categories: > Volume 8, Volumes, Journal Articles, > Case Reports
Tags: Steroids, Churg-Strauss Syndrome, Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis, EGPA, Case Report, NAKYAMA; Tomoharu, Functional Foods, FOONG; Anthony FW
NAKAYAMA; Tomoharu 1 , FOONG; Anthony FW 2
1 Nakayama Clinic, 8-251-1, Kita-Itami, Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture 664-0831 JAPAN; (drnakayama888@nike.eonet.ne.jp)
2 Imex Japan Co. Ltd. 3F, Imex Japan Bldg, 22 Shimomidori-cho, Shichiku, Kita-Ku, Kyoto 603-8425 JAPAN
A female patient, who complained of weight loss, suffered from pain with occasional numbness and tingling sensations in joints/muscles of her upper/lower extremities, and her abdominal regions, and suffered from general weakness with fatigue on a daily basis. Clinic visits revealed that she had Churg-Strauss syndrome1* or eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA)*. Early clinical data showed high C-reactive protein (CRP: 5.1mg/dL) levels and eosinophil counts (9.2%), which improved to within normal ranges (CRP: <0.2 mg/dL; eosinophil counts: 3-5%) with 5-yr steroid treatment (prednisolone: 35 mg daily). However, EGPA-related signs and symptoms, AMY (amylase), and other blood and metabolic indexes registered unfavorable readings despite persistent steroid treatment. Her physical and biochemical conditions improved in a time-dependent fashion after combining steroid administration with complementary intake of functional food 3eMulti, which contained natural ingredients (such as docosahexaenoic acid, pecah beling leaf, pandan leaf, mangosteen peel extracts, nattokinase, lycopene, and beehive propolis) with multivariant purposes such as potent antioxidation, favorable blood vascular and cell-function properties. After 9-months of daily intake of the aforementioned functional food in addition to continuous steroid treatment, she recovered completely from the physical and biochemical deficits. To date, she has been enjoying good quality of life (QoL), with above-mentioned combination treatment continuing without any adverse effects. When medications alone are insufficient to treat an idiopathological disease, a combination of medication and functional food intake (particularly with effect-complementary ingredients) may improve the patient’s condition so they may be able to accommodate or normalize the pathological condition. This may lead to a more wholesome, in terms of QoL, living conditions for patients suffering from intractable disease.
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Wonders from Nature in The Tropical Southeast Archipelago: Health from Jungles and Bushes
Citation: FOONG; Anthony FW Wonders from Nature in The Tropical Southeast Archipelago: Health from Jungles and Bushes JAS4QoL 2022, 8(1) 3 online at: https://as4qol.org/p6097
Categories: > Volume 8, Volumes, Journal Articles, > Mini Reviews
Tags: “blackface general”, vanilla grass, Strobilanthes crispus, pecah beling, Pandanus amaryllisfolius Roxb. Mangosteen, pandan, Mini Review, Garcinia mangostana, fragrant screwpine, FOONG; Anthony FW
1 Imex Japan Co. Ltd. 3F, Imex Japan Bldg, 22 Shimomidori-cho, Shichiku, Kita-Ku, Kyoto 603-8425 JAPAN (78imexfw@gmail.com)
There are thousands of plant species in the tropics: many, though, cannot survive in the temperatures and environments either too far north or south or on soils unfriendly to the typical tropical species. From these tropical plant species can be derived ingredients and extracts that provide holistic cures and heal many diseases that modern medicines often cannot treat.
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Hidden Curriculum in the Pharmacy Education: A Comparison of the Six-Year Curriculum With the Former Four-Year Curriculum
Citation: KOBAYASHI, Aya; KOBAYASHI, Yasuna Hidden Curriculum in the Pharmacy Education: A Comparison of the Six-Year Curriculum With the Former Four-Year Curriculum JAS4QoL 2023, 9(1) 1 online at: https://as4qol.org/Pprb9
Categories: > Volume 9, Volumes, Journal Articles, > Full Papers
Tags: interview, pharmacist, hidden curriculum, Full Paper, pharmacy education, questionnaire, KOBAYASHI; Aya, KOBAYASHI; Yasuna
KOBAYASHI; Aya, KOBAYASHI; Yasuna
Department of Pharmacy Education, Showa University School of Pharmacy, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8555, Japan (ayakoba408@pharm.showa-u.ac.jp)
This study investigated the “hidden curriculum” that exists side-by-side with the formal pharmacy education in the daily life of pharmacy students. Specifically, it focuses on whether pharmacy students acquire through extracurricular activities and during daily school life while attending the pharmacy schools constitute helpful learning that assists them in becoming pharmacists who make positive contributions to society and healthcare. We have also sought to determine which specific extracurricular activities and habits, etc., served to bolster their self-awareness as pharmacists. We conducted questionnaires and interviews and investigated the characteristic “hidden curriculum” these individuals experienced as students at pharmacy schools. Information gathered from a questionnaire revealed that the number of positive responses to the question: “In regard to extracurricular activities experienced in the time you were at a pharmacy school, did what you had learned help you as a pharmacist?” was 63.3% in the former four-year (4Yr) and 71.3% in the six-year (6Yr) cohorts. Based on information compiled from individual interviews, reasons why “extracurricular activities” were helpful as pharmacists were assigned to the categories of “identity,” “professionalism,” “peer effects,” “recognition of others.” It became clear that their extracurricular activities were of great importance to their work and attitudes as pharmacists, as they grew in self-responsibility and self-awareness as pharmacy professionals. The reason for this outcome is that the daily exposure to those experiences while in pharmacy school molded them into pharmacists without them being consciously aware of it. The study results make clear that extracurricular activities during student life were helpful as pharmacists. We conclude that the “hidden curriculum” played key role in the process of building self-awareness and a sense of responsibility required for pharmacists.
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A New Drug Design: Substances Excreted from The Body Serve as Deterrents Against Insect Bites
Citation: SATO, Erina; FOONG, Anthony FW A New Drug Design: Substances Excreted from The Body Serve as Deterrents Against Insect Bites JAS4QoL 2023, 9(1) 2 online at: https://as4qol.org/tlN6K
Categories: > Volume 9, Volumes, Journal Articles, > Wisdom Notes
Tags: Aedes aegypti, AA mosquitoes, drug design, dengue fever, Wisdom Note, FOONG; Anthony FW, Quality of Life, SATO; Erina
SATO; Erina * , FOONG; Anthony FW
A New Drug Design: Substances Excreted from The Body Serve as Deterrents Against Insect Bites
R&D for Product Development, Imex Japan Co. Ltd., 3F Imex Japan Building, 22 Shimomidori-cho, Shichihku, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8425, Japan 78imexfw@gmail.com
Many succumb to dengue, malaria, Zika, and yellow fever in tropical Asia and Africa. Dengue per se may cause hemorrhagic fever in 100-400 million people a year, although 80% of cases are mild or asymptomatic (according to World Health Organization). Of the carriers for these diseases, mosquitoes – Aedes aegypti (AA) species – is among the most rampant, common, and difficult to handle, because it is adapting, mutating, and evolving to become more resistant to the hitherto effective pyrethroid-based chemicals such as permethrin. As a result, many people have become infected with above-mentioned diseases, thereby severely lowering quality-of-life (QoL) of the affected. Recent surveys by a Japanese research team (KASAI Shinji et al.) in certain parts of Asia and Ghana have demonstrated growing region-dependent resistance to insecticides of some mosquito strains (recent 1000-fold vs previous 100-fold resistance): viz., insecticide levels that would normally kill 100% of mosquitoes in a sample will now kill ca. 7% of the insects. AA mosquitoes are the most troublesome species as these are the most common carriers for above-mentioned diseases.
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The Diversity of Quality of Life Found at an Academic Conference Cruise in 2018
Citation: HIOKO, C. The Diversity of Quality of Life Found at an Academic Conference Cruise in 2018 JAS4QoL 2019, 5(1) 2 online at: https://as4qol.org/9TxfJ
Categories: > Volume 5, Journal Articles, > Full Papers
Tags: Full Paper, Conference Cruises, HIOKI; Chizuko, ICQoL2018, Quality of Life
The Diversity of Quality of Life Found at an Academic Conference Cruise in 2018
Research Institute of Traditional Asian Medicine, Kindai University School of Medicine 377-2 Ohno-Higashi, Osaka-sayama, Osaka 589-8511, JAPAN (chioki@med.kindai.ac.jp)
I recently took part in the International Conference and Cruise on Quality of Life 2018 Cruise (ICQoL-2018) (departing from and returning to Singapore). Cruise-Conferences of this sort provide a suitable venue and an entirely unique atmosphere for the exchange of information and findings among researchers. As described by Foong, while on board, participants enjoyed a variety of entertainment and interactions with other participants, while being able to maintain good health and privacy while feeling at home. In the conference, as a member of the Academic Society for Quality of Life, I gave a presentation entitled: “Kampo (traditional medicine) helps us to control our mind and body through the endocrine, nervous and immune system.”
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It is difficult know whether the behavior of individual participants on a given moment on a cruise is a manifestation of the typical customs and values in their home country. However, if one is given the leisure and space to spend a 7-day cruise with them on the same boat at sea, and interact in and out as a group, one can come to feel less sensitive and conscious of the gap between of one’s own existence/life and that of other people. Thinking about QoL as a member of Academic Society for Quality of Life, I came to realize that cruising may be a useful way to discover the national characters of people from other countries.
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Japan's growing aging population and a shortage of local working staff has led to necessary employment of nursing care workers from foreign countries, especially those who have grown up in Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, for elderly care.6 Caregivers are required to help care for the physically handicapped or incapable elderly in all aspects of daily life in order to maintain and improve their QoL. However, both of these—the care-giver and the care-receiver—are humans with feelings. The improvement of the QoL of not only the person who receives care, but also the person who is providing care must be considered. In short, for this human-human relationship to maintain in good balance, and for the interdependent system to be workable, an effort to acknowledge and accept each other's lifestyle and values should be exercised. A balance in Ki between the parties should be healthily circulated.
We may find that the quality of life is a degree of happiness that each person evaluates and measured individually. Happiness in life may be gained by devising a way of life derived from learning various patterns of behavior and thinking from the people surrounding us.
Furthermore, not only in the area of elderly care, if the upheaval of the society and the natural environment continues, there will be times when multilateral assistance is needed never more than now.
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Development and Evaluation of a Community Consumer Education Program for Parents and Children
Citation: SUZUKI, M. Development and Evaluation of a Community Consumer Education Program for Parents and Children JAS4QoL 2021, 7(1) 1 online at: https://as4qol.org/6PMMS
Categories: Volumes, > Volume 7, Journal Articles, > Mini Reviews
Tags: Mini Review, community consumer education program, consumer education image-map, parent-child dialogue, SUZUKI; Mihoko
Development and Evaluation of a Community Consumer Education Program for Parents and Children
R&D Department, Imex Japan Co Ltd, 22-8 Shimomidori-cho, Shinchiku, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8425, Japan (mihoyuki2014@gmail.com)
Although the Consumer Education Promotion Act in Japan stipulates that "Education deepens the understanding of participation in planning for consumers forming a society," the goals for consumers – especially for elementary school children and their parents – have not been well established. A "community consumer education program" was developed, implemented, and evaluated according to the "image-map" framework for the consumer education system. Participant surveys using questionnaire in this study revealed that the program helped children to develop clear awareness of the issue of food waste at home and in society, developing a greater concern for the socially vulnerable. Adults were motivated to learn more about ethical consumption and developed improved awareness of the social consequences of consumption. Parent-child communication via this program enabled adults and children to learn from each other.
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