Details of a Researcher - Ikaga, Toshiharu

Papers - Ikaga, Toshiharu

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Perception of feeling cold in the bedroom and sleep quality.

Odgerel Chimed-Ochir, Shintaro Ando, Shuzo Murakami, Tatsuhiko Kubo, Tomohiro Ishimaru, Yoshihisa Fujino, Toshiharu Ikaga

Nagoya journal of medical science (NAGOYA UNIV, SCH MED) 83 ( 4 ) 705 - 714 2021

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Accepted, ISSN 00277622

Sleep disorders are drawing the attention of both medical and public health concern worldwide. In Japan, research suggests that one fifth of adults do not receive appropriate sleep and 40% of adults sleep less than 6 hours a day, and sleep rates are decreasing further year by year. Many studies show that cold indoor environments negatively affect sleep comfort and quality. Whereas these studies have focused on the effects of low bedroom temperature, few studies have focused on the effect of perception of coldness. Indoor temperature is typically much lower in Japan than in other countries. Therefore, the current study aimed to identify the effect of perception of bedroom coldness on sleep quality among Japanese adults. After controlling for covariates of age, presence of current disease and pain, smoking and consumption of alcohol (Model 1), participants who sometimes, often or always felt cold in the bedroom exhibited 0.57 (95% CI=0.32-0.83, p=<.0001), 1.08 (95% CI=0.82-1.35, p<.0001) or 2.25 (95% CI=1.83-2.67, p<.0001) higher PSQI scores compared to the group which didn't feel cold in bedroom. Our findings suggest keeping the bedroom thermal environment above a minimum limit as recommended by the World Health Organization or other organization during colder, winter nights when feeling cold during sleep. Additional deficiencies in the housing infrastructure, air quality issues due to the use of a heater, and micro bed environment need to be holistically addressed. Sleep quality can be improved by certain level via providing thermally comfortable sleeping environment.

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Intervention study of the effect of insulation retrofitting on home blood pressure in winter: a nationwide Smart Wellness Housing survey.

Wataru Umishio, Toshiharu Ikaga, Kazuomi Kario, Yoshihisa Fujino, Tanji Hoshi, Shintaro Ando, Masaru Suzuki, Takesumi Yoshimura, Hiroshi Yoshino, Shuzo Murakami

Journal of hypertension (Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)) 38 ( 12 ) 2510 - 2518 2020.12

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Accepted, ISSN 0263-6352

OBJECTIVE: The WHO's Housing and health guidelines (2018) listed 'low indoor temperatures and insulation' as one of five priority areas, and indicated insulation retrofitting to help mitigate the effect of low indoor temperatures on health. However, there is still not enough evidence for the effect of insulation retrofitting based on an objective index. METHODS: We conducted a nonrandomized controlled trial comparing home blood pressure (HBP) between insulation retrofitting (942 households and 1578 participants) and noninsulation retrofitting groups (67 households and 107 participants). HBP and indoor temperature were measured for 2 weeks before and after the intervention in winter. To examine the influence of insulation retrofitting on HBP, we used multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The analyses showed that indoor temperature in the morning rose by 1.4°C after insulation retrofitting, despite a slight decrease in outdoor temperature by 0.2°C. Insulation retrofitting significantly reduced morning home SBP (HSBP) by 3.1 mmHg [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.5-4.6], morning home DBP (HDBP) by 2.1 mmHg (95% CI: 1.1-3.2), evening HSBP by 1.8 mmHg (95% CI: 0.2-3.4) and evening HDBP by 1.5 mmHg (95% CI: 0.4-2.6). In addition, there was a dose-response relationship between indoor temperature and HBP, indicating the effectiveness of a significant improvement in the indoor thermal environment. Furthermore, there was heterogeneity in the effect of insulation retrofitting on morning HSBP in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive occupants (-7.7 versus -2.2 mmHg, P for interaction = 0.043). CONCLUSION: Insulation retrofitting significantly reduced HBP and was more beneficial for reducing the morning HSBP of hypertensive patients.

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Disparities of indoor temperature in winter: A cross-sectional analysis of the Nationwide Smart Wellness Housing Survey in Japan.

Wataru Umishio, Toshiharu Ikaga, Yoshihisa Fujino, Shintaro Ando, Tatsuhiko Kubo, Yukie Nakajima, Tanji Hoshi, Masaru Suzuki, Kazuomi Kario, Takesumi Yoshimura, Hiroshi Yoshino, Shuzo Murakami

Indoor air (Wiley) 30 ( 6 ) 1317 - 1328 2020.11

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Accepted, ISSN 09056947

The WHO Housing and health guidelines recommend a minimum indoor temperature of 18°C to prevent cold-related diseases. In Japan, indoor temperatures appear lower than in Euro-American countries because of low insulation standards and use of partial intermittent heating. This study investigated the actual status of indoor temperatures in Japan and the common characteristics of residents who live in cold homes. We conducted a nationwide real-world survey on indoor temperature for 2 weeks in winter. Cross-sectional analyses involving 2190 houses showed that average living room, changing room, and bedroom temperatures were 16.8°C, 13.0°C, and 12.8°C, respectively. Comparison of average living room temperature between prefectures revealed a maximum difference of 6.7°C (Hokkaido: 19.8°C, Kagawa: 13.1°C). Compared to the high-income group, the odds ratio for living room temperature falling below 18°C was 1.38 (95% CI: 1.04-1.84) and 2.07 (95% CI: 1.28-3.33) for the middle- and low-income groups. The odds ratio was 1.96 (95% CI: 1.19-3.22) for single-person households, compared to households living with housemates. Furthermore, lower room temperature was correlated with local heating device use and a larger amount of clothes. These results will be useful in the development of prevention strategies for residents who live in cold homes.

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Impact of Cold Indoor Temperatures on Overactive Bladder: A Nationwide Epidemiological Study in Japan

Ishimaru T, Ando S, Umishio W, Kubo T, Murakami S, Fujino Y, Ikaga T

Urology (Urology) 145 60 - 65 2020.11

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 00904295

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between overactive bladder (OAB) and indoor temperatures in the living room and bedroom. METHODS: Questionnaire data and indoor temperature measurements were obtained from a baseline survey collected during the winter months from November 2014 to March 2019. We performed multiple logistic regression to assess the relationships between OAB and indoor temperatures in the living room and bedroom. RESULTS: The prevalence of overactive bladder was 16.4% among 4782 participants living in 2453 dwellings. The odds of having OAB were higher for participants whose average living room temperature at bedtime was lower than 12°C than for those whose average bedtime living room temperature was at least 18°C (adjusted odds ratio = 1.44, 95% confidence interval: 1.03-2.00). No association was observed between bedroom temperature and OAB. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that thermal comfort in the living room—but not in the bedroom—may improve OAB symptoms. Additionally, using sufficient bedding may prevent cold bedrooms from having a negative impact in terms of OAB. Future studies should focus on housing interventions and education regarding lifestyle modification in patients with OAB.

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ECO-EFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT BY INDUSTRY FOR JAPANESE MUNICIPALITIES NATIONWIDE BASED ON GROSS REGIONAL PRODUCT AND ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

YAMASAKI Junya, IKAGA Toshiharu, ITSUBO Norihiro

Journal of Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) (Architectural Institute of Japan) 85 ( 776 ) 745 - 755 2020.10

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 13480685

In the environmental accounting of local governments in Japan, it is considered important to introduce the concept of eco-efficiency into the assessment of each industry and administrative division. Therefore, in this study, eco-efficiency assessment by industry was conducted uniformly for all Japanese municipalities based on two indicators: economic value and environmental load. For these, the respective indicators were gross regional product (GRP) and amount of environmental damage, as defined in a previous study. That study quantified annual environmental loads in Japanese municipalities within the framework of the endpoint-type life cycle impact assessment method "LIME2 (Life-Cycle Impact Assessment Method Based on Endpoint Modeling 2)". In this method, assessment results are calculated in monetary units called the "Eco-index Yen" (unit: Japanese yen) and environmental loads of several impact categories are integrated, such as "global warming" and "land use, " based on environmental conditions and knowledge unique to Japan. Another indicator, eco-efficiency, was defined as a division of monetary units (GRP divided by amount of environmental damage), as calculated for wide regions and individual municipalities in Japan in order to discuss their situation from the perspective of economics and the environment. Based on reliable, verifiable, and comparable statistical information, each index value was calculated for all industries throughout Japan in 2015: GRP was 2.28 million yen/capita, environmental damage was 32.6 thousand yen/capita, and eco-efficiency was 69.8. The assessment results of all municipalities were placed on a map to visualize the regionality of eco-efficiency, which revealed industry trends nationwide. For example, the eco-efficiency of "manufacturing" showed a trend that reflected the major local products in each area. The eco-efficiency value tended to be higher in areas that had active automobile and electronic component industries because these products produced relatively large benefits compared with their environmental loads. Next, the study focused on 21 large municipalities, including government-designated cities, located in representative urban areas in Japan. The results showed that the eco-efficiency of many industries in most of the 21 municipalities exceeded the national average. This suggests that the eco-efficiency of each industry tends to be higher in more densely populated cities in Japan. This hypothesis is potentially important for discussing "centralization of city functions" from the perspective of industry structure. Verification of this hypothesis will be investigated in the future. Taken together, these results indicate that it has become possible to quantify the real situation of each industry throughout Japan for both individual municipalities and regions. No studies to date have quantified the eco-efficiency of each industry in all Japanese municipalities monetarily and uniformly—this study is the first to provide an example from each industry throughout Japan in the field of environmental science.

Comprehensive fungal community analysis of house dust using next-generation sequencing

Izawa K, Kubosaki A, Kobayashi N, Akiyama Y, Yamazaki A, Hashimoto K, Konuma R, Kamata Y, Hara-Kudo Y, Hasegawa K, Ikaga T, Watanabe M

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health) 17 ( 16 ) 1 - 11 2020.08

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 16617827

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Fungal community analyses in homes have been attracting attention because fungi are now generally considered to be allergens. Currently, these analyses are generally conducted using the culture method, although fungal communities in households often contain species that are difficult to culture. In contrast, next-generation sequencing (NGS) represents a comprehensive, labor-and time-saving approach that can facilitate species identification. However, the reliability of the NGS method has not been compared to that of the culture method. In this study, in an attempt to demonstrate the reliability of this application, we used the NGS method to target the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) in the fungal genome, conducted fungal community analyses for 18 house-dust samples and analyzed fungal community structures. The NGS method positively correlated with the culture method regarding the relative abundance of Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium and yeasts, which represent the major fungal components found in houses. Furthermore, several genera, such as Malassezia, could be sensitively detected. Our results imply that the reliability of the NGS method is comparable to that of the culture method and indicates that easily available databases may require modifications, including the removal of registrations that have not been sufficiently classified at the genus level.

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Development of an environmentally friendly PV/T solar panel

Terashima K, Sato H, Ikaga T

Solar Energy (Solar Energy) 199 510 - 520 2020.03

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 0038092X

© 2020 The Authors A possibility of developing an environmental-friendly photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar panel, which can shut high temperature radiation within a panel box, was experimentally confirmed. The panel has a decompression-boiling heat collector, which can absorb heat from the PV module and can keep the air and the cover glass inside the panel box at lower temperature by using lower boiling temperature of working fluid under vacuum condition. The panel also has an emboss-processed cover glass, which can totally reflect the high temperature heat radiation from the PV module within the panel box. The experimental results using a single PV/T system showed that it could keep the heat radiation temperature from the PV/T solar panel surface around 45 °C even in summer; it provided the hot water at least 60 °C by controlling the flow-rate; and it produced 71.3% of solar energy in total as electricity and 40 °C heat, in summer, Yokohama, Japan. Highly efficient utilization of solar energy with small environmental heat-load would be possible by using the proposed PV/T system.

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DEVELOPMENT OF WORK ENVIRONMENT SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR IMPROVEMENT OF WORKERS' WORK EFFICIENCY AND HEALTH PROMOTION

ABE Yuko, SHIRAISHI Yasuyuki, HAYASHI Tatsuya, IKAGA Toshiharu, ANDO Shintaro

AIJ Journal of Technology and Design (Architectural Institute of Japan) 26 ( 62 ) 191 - 196 2020.02

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 13419463

In recent years, not only the residence but also the effort of health promotion by improving the social environment including the working and the regional environment has attracted attention. This paper introduces a subjective assessment tool of the work environment, referred to as "CASBEE- Office Health Checklist". This tool is an assessment tool for workers themselves to evaluate satisfaction for office environment where workers spend a lot of time. By using this tool, people are aware of factors that affect health and intellectual productivity, and it is expected that they can conduct health management strategically, which leads to environmental improvement.

Annual Nationwide Environmental Impact Assessment of Japanese Municipalities by Type of Business within the Endpoint-type LCIA Method "lIME2"

Yamasaki J, Ikaga T, Itsubo N

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science) 410 ( 1 ) 012067 - 012067 2020.01

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 17551307

© 2020 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. This study attempts a comprehensive environmental impact assessment, within the context of annual operations by type of business in each division of Japanese municipality, based on the LCIA (Life Cycle Impact Assessment) method. LIME2 (Life-Cycle Impact Assessment Method Based on Endpoint Modeling 2) is an example of an endpoint-type LCIA method developed in Japan. Annual environmental impacts of municipalities nationwide are assessed by LIME2 from the perspective of environmental damage, indexed to the Japanese yen. Here, this index is referred to as the "Eco-index Yen". The availability of necessary inventory data in each category is surveyed from statistical information published by governments. From the assessment results based on these conditions, the annual damage amount of all Japanese municipalities taken together is 4.63 trillion yen. The assessment result of each municipality is converted into indicators per capita and per GRP (Gross Regional Product). These results are displayed on a map of Japan to visualize regional characteristics nationwide by type of business, across different types of industries, including the residential and transportation sectors. As described in this study, these results provide a first step toward constructing a new methodology for comprehensive environmental impact assessment of administrative units.

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ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS IN 42 COUNTRIES WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF GLOBAL-SCALE LCIA METHOD "LIME3"

YAMASAKI Junya, IKAGA Toshiharu, ITSUBO Norihiro

Journal of Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) (Architectural Institute of Japan) 85 ( 767 ) 67 - 77 2020

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Accepted, ISSN 13480685

A global standard method for measuring environmental loads in administrative divisions has not been officially established for environmental accounting at the local government level. As a consequence, environmental accounting has not been adopted by local governments as widely as private companies around the world. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is one aspect of research in the field of life-cycle assessment, whereby environmental loads throughout the life cycle of products and services are measured in a quantitative way. Research in which environmental loads are determined according to geographical location has become more and more important. This study therefore focused on administrative divisions in 42 countries, most of which are OECD members, and attempted to quantify the annual environmental loads emitted within each division in the year 2015, using the global-scale LCIA method. For this, this study leveraged the assessment theory Life-Cycle Impact Assessment Method Based on Endpoint Modeling 3 (LIME3). This method is able to calculate assessment results in monetary units while integrating the environmental loads of several impact categories, such as climate change and land use, based on environmental conditions and environmental science. Using statistical information that was reliable, verifiable, and comparable, this study calculated environmental loads in administrative divisions in 42 countries. The total environmental damage amount for the 42 countries was calculated to be 5.22 trillion USD. The top five amounts were land use (1.76 trillion USD), water consumption (1.36 trillion USD), forest resource consumption (0.70 trillion USD), climate change (0.52 trillion USD), and fossil fuel consumption (0.50 trillion USD). When the damage amounts were divided by the area or population of each division, the average amount per unit area for all Territorial level 2 (TL2) regions was calculated to be 67,300 USD/km2 (area-weighted average), and the average of amount per capita was calculated 1,250 USD/capita (population-weighted average). These damage amounts per unit area and per capita were placed on a world map according to impact category to visualize the regionality of environmental loads worldwide. The amount per unit area for most categories showed a trend similar to population distribution around the world, and the values for land use also showed a trend indicative of local agricultural activity in some countries. In particular, the amount per capita for climate change as well as the total of all categories showed a contrasting trend to the amount per unit area, and the value tended to be relatively lower in densely populated areas around the world. The variation coefficient for the damage amounts per unit area and per capita was calculated for each region in order to statistically capture the disparities of environmental loads according to impact category. The disparities of environmental loads that were deeply related to housing, such as climate change and waste, tended to be narrow among TL2 regions worldwide. From these results, this study revealed environmental impacts around the world from the perspective of several categories, thus providing information useful for making decisions about international environmental policies.

PERCEIVED INDOOR TEMPERATURE AND CHANGE IN NURSING CARE LEVEL IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING ELDERLY:A field survey on the effect of winter indoor thermal environment on care requirements: Part 3

ONO Mari, IKAGA Toshiharu, NAKAJIMA Yukie, HOSHI Tanji

Journal of Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) (Architectural Institute of Japan) 85 ( 769 ) 197 - 204 2020

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 13480685

The number of people needing nursing care more than doubled from 2000 to 2014, and medical expenses tend to increase yearly, in part because of the high demand for in-home care. Because elderly spend most of their time at home, the indoor thermal environment of their houses is important. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived indoor temperature and the change in required care level among the elderly. Participants were 126 community-dwelling elderly aged 65 years or older using rehabilitation facilities in Osaka, Kochi, and Yamanashi Prefectures in Japan. A standardised questionnaire survey and indoor temperature measurements were conducted in winter to assess housing characteristics. Nursing care records from rehabilitation facilities were collected by photographing them with a camera. Spearman's rank test was conducted to assess the correlations between perceived indoor temperature, as indicated in responses to the questionnaire survey, and room temperatures measured in the living room, bedroom, and dressing room of participants. The total score from the CASBEE health checklist had the highest correlation coefficient. Participants were divided into a cold group and a warm group according to their total scores of perceived indoor temperature. The average perceived room temperature in the living room, bedroom, and dressing room was significantly lower in the cold group than in the warm group. When we compared the nursing care level in the latest survey with that from one year earlier, we found no change in most participants. The chi-square test was used to analyse the relation between perceived indoor temperature and change in required care level. We found that participants in the cold group were more likely to need a higher nursing care level than those in the warm group, at the 1% level of significance (p<0.01) Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted by using change in care level as an objective variable. Perceived indoor temperature was significant at the 5% level of significance, and the adjusted odds ratio was 2.84 (95% CI: 1.16−6.98, p<0.05). This can be interpreted as meaning that the likelihood of the change in nursing care level from "same or lower" to "higher" was 2.84 times greater when the perceived indoor temperature changed from "warm" to "cold", indicating a high risk in the cold group that their level of nursing care would increase. The results suggest that maintaining a warm room temperature in winter helps to prevent an increase in the required nursing care level in community-dwelling elderly.

A NEW PROPOSAL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING OF JAPANESE MUNICIPALITY WITH THE FRAMEWORK OF ENDPOINT-TYPE LCIA METHOD "LIME2":Calculation of Environmental Conservation Effects in Yokohama City from 2000 to 2015

YAMASAKI Junya, IKAGA Toshiharu, ITSUBO Norihiro

Journal of Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) (Architectural Institute of Japan) 85 ( 769 ) 225 - 235 2020

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 13480685

In recent years, Japanese businesses have been increasingly adopting the practice of environmental accounting, which is the reporting of the firm's environmental impacts in monetary terms. However, whereas private companies can make use of the Environmental Accounting Guidelines 2005 published by the Ministry of the Environment, no official environmental accounting guidelines have been provided by the government of Japan for public agencies, such as local governments. Thus, this study focused on Japanese municipalities, and proposed a unified methodology based on the endpoint-type LCIA method LIME2 (Life-Cycle Impact Assessment Method Based on Endpoint Modeling 2) for calculating the effects of environmental conservation, which is one item used by administrative divisions in Japan for environmental accounting. In a previous study, we conducted an annual environmental impact assessment of Japanese municipalities nationwide within the framework of LIME2. This study integrates the knowledge gained from that study with the basic tenets of the Environmental Accounting Guidelines 2005, and furthermore contributes unique ideas on interpreting the assessment results. The Environmental Accounting Guidelines 2005 state that the effects of environmental conservation should be calculated by subtracting the environmental load of base period from the environmental load of the current period. Accordingly, in this study the environmental conservation effect of a given administrative division was determined by taking the difference in the environmental impact assessment results of that municipality between two different years. In addition, two principles were proposed for assessing the location of environmental loads related to administrative divisions: territorial occurrence and territorial benefit. This study furthermore proposed that environmental loads from all Japanese municipalities expressed in monetary terms in accordance with LIME2 shall be called the "damage amount on environmental assets," and that local governments should take responsibility for reducing their damage amounts evenly. The assessment indicators for calculating environmental load were tentatively selected based on the inventories provided by LIME2 as well as the availability of statistical information at the municipal level. When the methodology was applied to the city of Yokohama, the total damage amounts for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 were calculated as 96.1, 99.6, 97.6, and 97.2 billion yen, respectively, with the total environmental conservation effect over 15 years calculated as -1.07 billion yen. Because some LIME2 assessment categories are related to certain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations—including Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), Goal 13 (Climate Action), and Goal 15 (Life On Land)—this study attempted to apply the assessment results of Yokohama to the framework of the SDGs. The results showed that the damage amounts related to Goals 9 and 15 decreased by 4.51 and 0.862 billion yen, respectively, and the damage amounts related to Goals 3, 12, and 13 increased by 5.58, 0.889, and 8.75 billion yen, respectively, over 15 years. These results indicate that the actual environmental loads of certain administrative divisions in Japan can be expressed in monetary terms, thereby providing primary knowledge necessary for developing standardized environmental accounting guidelines for Japanese municipalities.

ANNUAL NATIONWIDE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF JAPANESE MUNICIPALITIES WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ENDPOINT-TYPE LCIA METHOD "LIME2" (PART 2): VISUALIZATION OF TEMPORAL CHANGES

YAMASAKI Junya, IKAGA Toshiharu, ITSUBO Norihiro

Journal of Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) (Architectural Institute of Japan) 85 ( 77 ) 523 - 533 2020

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 13480685

In Japan, a unified system for measuring environmental loads in administrative areas has not been officially established. In a previous study, the authors focused on Japanese minimum administrative divisions (municipalities) and quantified the annual environmental loads attributable to each division in the year 2015 using the LCIA method. For this, the study leveraged the assessment theory of the Life-Cycle Impact Assessment Method Based on Endpoint Modeling 2 (LIME2). This method is able to calculate assessment results in monetary units via the so-called "Eco-index Yen" (unit: Japanese yen) while integrating the environmental loads of several impact categories, such as "Climate change" and "Land use". Based on this, the present study sought to conduct the same assessment for each year from 2000 to 2015, and visualize the temporal changes in environmental loads within all Japanese municipalities by impact categories and by type of business. Using statistical information that was reliable, verifiable, and comparable, the total environmental damage amount for the whole of Japan was calculated to be 8.40, 8.47, 7.50, and 7.41 trillion yen in 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015, respectively. This indicates that damage amounts were generally on a downward trend throughout the 16-year period. Focusing on impact categories, the damage amounts for five categories, "Photochemical ozone, " "Resources consumption, " "Acidification, " "Atmosphere pollution, " and "Waste (domestic), " decreased every five-year period. Focusing on the type of business, the damage amounts for "Primary Industries (Agriculture, etc.)" and "Secondary Industries (Manufacturing, etc.)" decreased every five-year period, and the damage amount for "Tertiary Industries (Service industry, etc.)" began to decline in 2005. This suggests that damage amounts reflect the effects of environmental policies and the activities of industries over time around the country. Next, the temporal changes in damage amounts were placed on a map of Japan to visualize patterns across municipalities. In overall terms, declining damage was discerned across many municipalities between 2005 and 2010. This tendency was particularly pronounced in the "Climate change" and "Atmosphere pollution" impact categories and the "Construction" and "Manufacturing" industries. This likely reflects not only local environmental policy interventions, but also the global financial crisis that began in 2008. From these results, it became possible to visualize the change over time in environmental loads based on social factors related to each period in Japan. This study provides information that can be used for making decisions about environmental policies, as well as primary knowledge needed to develop standardized environmental accounting guidelines for Japanese municipalities.

Verification of Work Environment Subjective Assessment Tool for Improving Work Efficiency and Health Promotion

ABE Yuko, SHIRAISHI Yasuyuki, HAYASHI Tatsuya, IKAGA Toshiharu, ANDO Shintaro, FUJINO Yoshihisa

Transactions of the Society of Heating,Air-conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan (The Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning & Sanitary Engineers of Japan) 45 ( 278 ) 27 - 35 2020

Research paper (scientific journal), Accepted, ISSN 0385-275X

In recent years, along with the residence, the efforts toward health promotion by improving the social environments, including the working and regional environments, have attracted considerable attention. Owing to the significant amount of time spend by office workers in the workplace, the ideal modification of their working environment and work habits could potentially improve their intellectual productivity and physical health. However, to the best of our knowledge, the optimal environmental improvements have not yet been identified. Therefore, we developed CASBEE-OHC, an objective workplace evaluation tool. To verify the effectiveness of the revised CASBEE-OHC, we conducted a WEB questionnaire regarding the health and psychological status of workers in addition to their general environment. First, the relationship between the degree of dysfunction in labor and the environments (working environment, residence, and community) in which the office workers stay was analyzed. Next, the influence of the confounding factors were examined via multiple regression analysis on the subjective work efficiency and logistic regression analysis on the degree of dysfunction in labor. The following results were obtained; 1) The correlation analysis results stated that the degree of dysfunction in labor and work efficiency of workers are influenced by both the work environment and their general environment, such as residences and communities. Additionally, the health status was found to be signficantly affected by the residential environments. Furthermore, a high CASBEE-OHC score (better office environment) indicated a lower WFun score (i.e., the degree of dysfunction in labor), thereby implying higher subjective work efficiency. 2) Based on multiple regression analysis, it was confirmed that the working environment and age of workers, influenced the work efficiency. The results of logistic regression analysis suggested that the risk of high degree of labor impairment increased when the surrounding environment, including the office space, was bad. Furthermore, regarding the WFun and Pittsburgh scores, the AOR comparison between models suggested that the residential environments mildly affect labor dysfunction, while the office environments have a significant impact at higher altitudes. Thus, the importance of the maintenance of other surrounding environments was demonstrated.

Verification of Work Environment Subjective Assessment Tool for Improving Work Efficiency and Health Promotion

ABE Yuko, SHIRAISHI Yasuyuki, HAYASHI Tatsuya, IKAGA Toshiharu, ANDO Shintaro, FUJINO Yoshihisa

Transactions of the Society of Heating,Air-conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan (The Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning & Sanitary Engineers of Japan) 45 ( 278 ) 27 - 35 2020

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Accepted, ISSN 0385-275X

Heatstroke management during the COVID-19 epidemic: recommendations from the experts in Japan

Yokobori Shoji, Kanda Jun, Okada Yohei, Okano Yuichi, Kaneko Hitoshi, Kobayashi Tatsuho, Kondo Yutaka, Shimazaki Junya, Takauji Shuhei, Hayashida Kei, Hifumi Toru, Fujita Motoki, Moriya Takashi, Yagi Masaharu, Yamaguchi Junko, Oda Yasutaka, Shiraishi Shinichiro, Wakasugi Masahiro, Shimizu Keiki, Miyake Yasufumi, Yokota Hiroyuki, Yaguchi Arino, Shimazu Takeshi, Asami Masahiro, Hamaguchi Jun, Ishihara Tadashi, Kawagishi Toshiomi, Igarashi Yutaka, Hirano Yohei, Nakae Ryuta, Arakawa Yuki, Miyamoto S

ACUTE MEDICINE & SURGERY (WILEY) 7 ( 1 ) 2020

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Accepted, ISSN 2052-8817

Fever and hyperthermia are the main symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and heatstroke, and it is difficult to distinguish them. There is a need to discuss safe prevention and medical treatment for heatstroke. In view of the above issues, the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine "Committee on heatstroke and hypothermia" established a "Working group on heatstroke medical care given the COVID-19 epidemic" jointly with the Japanese Society for Emergency Medicine that focuses on emergency medical personnel, including paramedics and nurses, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, an academic society of infectious disease, and the Japanese Respiratory Society, an academic organization on respiratory diseases. The precautions for prevention of heatstroke this summer during the coronavirus epidemic was summarized in "Proposals on heatstroke prevention based on the COVID-19 epidemic" as follows and was issued on 1 June, 2020. Based on the above, we have determined that guidance in clinical practice is necessary not only from the viewpoint of heatstroke prevention, but also medical treatment. As such, we have created this guidance in the form of supplementary recommendations.

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Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Relationship Between Home Blood Pressure and Indoor Temperature in Winter: A Nationwide Smart Wellness Housing Survey in Japan.

Wataru Umishio, Toshiharu Ikaga, Kazuomi Kario, Yoshihisa Fujino, Tanji Hoshi, Shintaro Ando, Masaru Suzuki, Takesumi Yoshimura, Hiroshi Yoshino, Shuzo Murakami

Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) (Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)) 74 ( 4 ) 756 - 766 2019.10

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 0194911X

Mortality due to cardiovascular disease rises sharply in winter. Known as excess winter mortality, this phenomenon is partially explained by cold exposure-induced high blood pressure. Home blood pressure, especially in the morning, is closely associated with cardiovascular disease risk. We conducted the first large nationwide survey on home blood pressure and indoor temperature in 3775 participants (2095 households) who intended to conduct insulation retrofitting and were recruited by construction companies. Home blood pressure was measured twice in the morning and evening for 2 weeks. The relationship between home blood pressure and indoor temperature in winter was analyzed using a multilevel model with 3 levels: repeatedly measured day-level variables (eg, indoor ambient temperature and quality of sleep), nested within individual-level (eg, age and sex), and nested within household level. Cross-sectional analyses involving about 2900 participants (1840 households) showed that systolic blood pressure in the morning had significantly higher sensitivity to changes in indoor temperature (8.2 mm Hg increase/10°C decrease) than that in the evening (6.5 mm Hg increase/10°C decrease) in participants aged 57 years (mean age in this survey). We also found a nonlinear relationship between morning systolic blood pressure and indoor temperature, suggesting that the effect of indoor temperature on blood pressure varied depending on room temperature range. Interaction terms between age/women and indoor temperature were significant, indicating that systolic blood pressure in older residents and women was vulnerable to indoor temperature change. We expect that these results will be useful in determining optimum home temperature recommendations for men and women of each age group. Clinical Trial Registration- URL: http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index.htm. Unique identifier: UMIN000030601.

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Analysis of the Influence of Lung Function Decline on Brain Function using Brain Healthcare Quotient

Watanabe H, Fukunaga K, Ikaga T, Mitsukura Y

IECON Proceedings (Industrial Electronics Conference) (IECON Proceedings (Industrial Electronics Conference)) 2019-October 5353 - 5357 2019.10

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 9781728148786

© 2019 IEEE. In this paper, we used Brain Healthcare Quotient (BHQ) to analyze the influence of lung function on brain function. A large-scale survey was conducted for the purpose. In the measurement survey, magnetic resonance images were acquired, and BHQ was calculated and used as brain function. As lung function, we measured forced vital capacity (FVC) and calculated forced expiratory volume 1.0 sec (FEV1.0%). As a result of analysis, it became clear that the decrease in FEV1.0% affects GM BHQ and that the decrease in lung function also affects brain function by using BHQ.

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Eco-efficiency assessment of Japanese municipalities based on environmental impacts and gross regional product

Yamasaki J, Ikaga T, Itsubo N

Sustainability (Switzerland) (Sustainability (Switzerland)) 11 ( 15 ) 4045 - 4045 2019.08

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 20711050

© 2019 by the authors. Governments at different levels need to appreciate the environmental impacts of socioeconomic activities within their boundaries. They also need to decide relevant environmental policies after carefully examining future pathways based on the relationship between the environment and the economy. This study focuses on Japanese basic administrative divisions (i.e., municipalities) and attempts to quantify the annual environmental efficiency of processes and socioeconomic activities within each of these divisions using life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) concepts. A key element of the LCIA is the integration of different environmental loads across various impact categories, such as global warming, air pollution, and land use, and their representation through a simple indicator. First, we conduct annual environmental impact assessments for all Japanese municipalities based on reliable, verifiable, and comparable statistical information. Next, we estimate the environmental efficiency of socioeconomic activities within each division by dividing the gross regional product (GRP) with the environmental damage amounts calculated through LIME2, an LCIA-based tool tailored for Japan. Assessment results for each municipality are visualized on maps of Japan in order to highlight the spatial distribution of the values for each indicator. The findings of this study can aid local, regional, and national governments in Japan to inform environmental policy design and decision-making at different spatial levels.

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Relationship between perceived indoor temperature and self-reported risk for frailty among community-dwelling older people

Nakajima Y, Schmidt S, Fänge A, Ono M, Ikaga T

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health) 16 ( 4 ) 613 - 613 2019.02

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, ISSN 16617827

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This study investigated the relationship between perceived indoor temperature in winter and frailty among community-dwelling older people. This cross-sectional study included 342 people 65 years and older in Japan. Participants answered questions about demographics, frailty, housing, and perceived indoor temperature in winter. Participants were grouped based on perceived indoor temperature (Cold or Warm) and economic satisfaction (Unsatisfied or Satisfied). Differences in the frailty index between perceived indoor temperature groups and economic satisfaction groups were tested by using ANCOVA and MANCOVA. An interaction effect showed that people in the Cold Group and unsatisfied with their economic status had significantly higher frailty index scores (F(1, 336) = 5.95, p = 0.015). Furthermore, the frailty index subscale of fall risk was the specific indicator of frailty that accounted for this significant relationship. While previous research has shown the risks related to cold indoor temperature in homes, interestingly among those who reported cold homes, only those who were not satisfied with their economic situation reported being at increased risk for frailty. This highlights the potential importance of preventing fuel poverty to prevent frailty.

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