New scientific article

J Occup Health. 2010 Oct 7;52(5):294-301. Epub 2010 Aug 6.

Effect of a two-hour training on physicians' skill in interpreting Pneumoconiotic chest radiographs.
Ngatu NR, Suzuki S, Kusaka Y, Shida H, Akira M, Suganuma N.
Department of Environmental Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Kohasu, Okocho, Nankoku-shi, Kochi, Japan. drngatu_roger@yahoo.fr
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Occupational lung diseases have specific radiographic manifestations not always well known by physicians. In Japan, asbestos-related diseases became a public health concern after the "Kubota Shock", when a number of workers and residents living nearby a manufacturer of asbestos-made ducts developed mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure. This preliminary intervention trial evaluated the effect of two-hour training on inexperienced physicians' skill in interpreting pneumoconiotic chest radiographs.
METHODS: One hundred-two Japanese physicians participated in two reading-tests, using 12 radiographs, before and after the two-hour training with ILO/ICRP and Japan Pneumoconioses Study Group (JPSG) reading materials. Physicians had to check for the presence or absence of small opacity and pleural plaque consistent with pneumoconiosis. Sensitivity and specificity equal or greater than 70% were considered good, 50 to 69% acceptable and less than 50%, poor.
RESULTS: Post-training improvements in physicians' skills were seen. For small opacity, there was an increase in the proportion of physicians with good specificity, from 42% to 60%. For pleural plaque, the proportion of physicians with good specificity and good sensitivity increased, from 60% to 67% and from 18% to 25%, respectively. Also, significant improvements were observed in overall sensitivity for pleural plaque, from 46% to 60% (p<0.0001), and specificity for small opacity, from 65% to 73% (p<0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that two-hour participatory training may enhance physicians' skill in interpreting pneumoconiotic chest radiographs. There are countries without any pneumoconiosis screening program despite the WHO/ILO call for worldwide cooperation in eliminating it. Although the two-hour course cannot replace the five-day ILO workshop, such a program would be useful in areas with environmental or occupational exposure to dust.
PMID: 20697183 [PubMed ]

Special reception of research grants recipients from a Japanese sponsor, Okayama, Japan

From July 9 to July10,we took part in a special event in Okayama, Japan, where 37 recipients
of the 2010 research grants from a japanese sponsor gathered.
It was wonderful to meet so many researchers from different Japanese Universities. A special
grant certificate was given to each recipient and I was granted to take a picture with the boss. I was accompamied by one of our unversity staff, Dr Hirota Ryoji.

Visit at Kochi Health Sciences Center, biggest hospital in the Town, 7July 2010

Last week, I and two undergraduate students from Hawaii University have visited the KHSC hospitals here in Kochi, Japan. We were welcomed by the president of the hospital who introduce to us different departments of thismedical setting.

Some recent articles (quelques articles recents) 2009-2010 (1)

Anti-inflammatory Effects of Limonene from Yuzu (Citrus junos Tanaka) Essential Oil on Eosinophils
Ryoji Hirota 1 , Ngatu Nlandu Roger 1 , Hiroyuki Nakamura 1 , Hee-Sun Song 1 , Masayoshi Sawamura 1 , and Narufumi Suganuma 1
1 Authors Hirota, Roger, and Suganuma are with Dept. of Environmental Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Kohasu, Oko, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8505, Japan. Author Nakamura is with Dept. of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Kanazawa Univ. Graduate School of Medical Science. Author Song is with Dept. of Food and Nutrition, Kwang Ju Health College. Author Sawamura is with Major of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kochi Univ. Direct inquiries to author Hirota (E-mail: hirotar@kochi-u.ac.jp).
Copyright © 2010 Institute of Food Technologists®
KEYWORDS
limonene • monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) • nuclear factor (NF) kappa B • p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) • reactive oxygen species (ROS) • yuzu (Citrus junos Tanaka) essential oil
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Yuzu (Citrus junos Tanaka) has been used as a traditional medicine in Japan. We investigated in vitro anti-inflammatory effects of limonene from yuzu peel on human eosinophilic leukemia HL-60 clone 15 cells. To examine anti-inflammatory effects of limonene on the cells, we measured the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), nuclear factor (NF) kappa B, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). We found that low concentration of limonene (7.34 mmol/L) inhibited the production of ROS for eotaxin-stimulated HL-60 clone 15 cells. 14.68 mmol/L concentration of limonene diminished MCP-1 production via NF-kappa B activation comparable to the addition of the proteasomal inhibitor MG132. In addition, it inhibited cell chemotaxis in a p38 MAPK dependent manner similar to the adding of SB203580. These results suggest that limonene may have potential anti-inflammatory efficacy for the treatment of bronchial asthma by inhibiting cytokines, ROS production, and inactivating eosinophil migration.
MS 20090713 Submitted 7/26/2009, Accepted 1/10/2010.
DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01541.x

Our recent volunteer and academic trip to Congo DRC,Africa (recent sejour humanitaire et academique au Congo RDC)

From October25 to November6, 2009 we had some volunteer and academic activities in Lubumbashi, Kinshasa and Matadi (Bas-congo). We gave conferences, attended the 2nd conference on Occupational safety and health in Lubumbashi, have visited the school built by the N.G.O. LIPS and gave another conference,in collaboration with WHO, in Matadi-city, Bas-congo province. The opporunity was given to us to start a new research projects with our Congolese counterpart on the field of occupational health, on "Needlestick and sharp injuries among congolese healthcare workers in hospitals", and "Cassava miller's lung" which is one Occupational Lung disease caused by hypersensitivity to dust. Cassava and corn flour may cause a kind of pneumoconiosis but there is a paucity of information and data on its effects in human's lung.

Our presentation at the OSH conference in Lubumbashi was about the "Training of doctors in pneumoconiosis chest radiographs interpretation", a study carried out in Japan in which 102 japanese doctors took part.

(Du 25 octobre au 6Novembre 2009, nous avons sejourne en RDC ou nous avons realise quelques activites academiques et humanitaires a Lubumbashi, Kinshasa et Matadi, province du Bas-congo. Nous avons donne une conference a l'Universite de Lubumbashi et pris part aux 2e journnees congolaises de sante et securite au travail . Nous avons egalement visite l'ecole que notre O.N.G. LIPS, Ligue pour la Promotion de la Sante, a construite dans le cadre du projet Heiwa Mura (village de Paix) qui comprend les volets sante,education et agriculture.

Nous avons egalement anime une conference a Matadi, en collaboration avec OMS/Bas-congo, sur les Accidents Exposant au sang chez les personnels de soins en milieu hospitalier. C'etait une occasion de lancer deux projets d'etude,en collaboration avec des chercheurs congolais, a savoir sur "la situation des AES dans les hopitaux congolais" et " le Poumon du meunier africain ou l'Asthme professionnel du aux poussieres de Manioc/Mais",deux themes dont les donnees statistiques ou publications manquent a ce jour,surtout pour le deuxieme).

Teaching activity

One of the activities I really like is teaching. A teacher's best rewards is the rich experience of realizing that his lesson is understood to the extent that students can "master" in what they learned, even become better then him/her. Roger

LIPS SCHOOL PROJECT

LIPS school project started in the 2005 with the financial support of the Italian cooperation in Congo DRC. An area of 5 Ha was bought at the rural zone of PASA near Kinshasa.There was no school, no health center in the area.We already built some classes with the rest of fund received from the Italian cooperation; but there is still a need to build more classes. The elementary school students are studying in morning and junior highschool in afternoon,but we would like to have them study from morning to afternoon if we have more classes.

A part from the school, we are growing crops,vegetables in the commnity farm which is in the same area and this year a mobile clinic project will start in order to offer primary healthcare to villagers.In the future, we plan to build a health center there. Improving the literacy rate, the community heath status and families income is the main purpose of this project that we call the "Congo-Heiwa Mura Project" or Peace Village Project. If well implemented,this Heiwa Mura Project will be a model of development initiative to be established in many other rural areas of the country.