Development and evaluation of the physical activity questionnaire for elderly Japanese: the Nakanojo study

The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Elderly Japanese (PAQ-EJ) is a self-administered physical activity questionnaire for elderly Japanese; the authors report here on its repeatability and direct and indirect validity. Reliability was assessed by repeat administration after 1 month. Direct validation was based on accelerometer data collected every 4 s for 1 month in 147 individuals age 65-85 years. Indirect validation against a 10-item Barthel index (activities of daily living [ADL]) was completed in 3,084 individuals age 65-99 years. The test-retest coefficient was high (r = .64-.71). Total and subtotal scores for lower (transportation, housework, and labor) and higher intensity activities (exercise/sports) were significantly correlated with step counts and durations of physical activity <3 and >or=3 METs (r = .41, .28, .53), respectively. Controlling for age and ADL, scores for transportation, exercise/sports, and labor were greater in men, but women performed more housework. Sex- and ADL- or age-adjusted PAQ-EJ scores were significantly lower in older and dependent people. PAQ-EJ repeatability and validity seem comparable to those of instruments used in Western epidemiological studies.     

Yearlong physical activity and health-related quality of life in older Japanese adults: the Nakanojo Study

We hypothesized that the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) would be poorer in physically inactive older adults. This was tested in a sample of 73 male and 108 female free-living healthy Japanese participants, age 65-85 years. We measured accelerometer step counts and their metabolic equivalents (METs) throughout each 24-hr period for 1 year. At the end of the year, HRQOL was assessed. Physical activity was grouped into quartiles. HRQOL was poorer in the lowest quartiles of participants with respect to both step count and duration of activity >3 METs; however, our sample showed no better HRQOL in those participants exceeding minimum standards of daily physical activity, corresponding to counts of around 5,500 and 4,500 steps/day and durations of around 13 and 14 min/day in men and women, respectively. Causation cannot be demonstrated from this cross-sectional study, but nevertheless we suggest that elderly individuals should be encouraged to meet such standards of habitual physical activity.     

Sex, age, season, and habitual physical activity of older Japanese: the Nakanojo study

The interactions of sex, age, season, and habitual physical activity were examined in 41 male and 54 female Japanese age 65-83 yr, using a pedometer/accelerometer that determined step counts and amounts of physical activity (<3 and >3 metabolic equivalents [METs]) throughout each 24-hr period for an entire year. All 3 measures were greater in men than in women. In women, age was negatively correlated with step count and activity <3 METs, but in men, it was correlated with step count and activity >3 METs. Irrespective of sex or age, all 3 activity variables were low in the winter, peaking in spring or autumn. In the summer, step counts matched the annual average, but durations of activity <3 and >3 METs were, respectively, longer and shorter than in other seasons. These findings have practical implications for those promoting physical activity for older adults.     

Work in Progress: Proposal for Comparative Studies on East Asia STS

Currently, a new STS field, East Asian Science, Technology and Society (EASTS), has been developed. However, the EASTS perspectives have not been clear. In order to develop EASTS, it is necessary to understand each other more for much active STS in East Asian Community. Thus, we examine the current situation of EASTS by conducting a network analysis on highly frequent keywords in two STS journals. The results exhibited different tendencies observed in topics and fields even between the two STS journals’ community. In East Asia, we should enhance our mutual understandings through STS, with reserving language/cultural diversity, and this is one of the challenges for East Asian STS community. So we have asked East Asian colleagues to participate in our project to figure out the characteristics of East Asian STS and asked them for suggestions and ideas for future collaboration.     

Sample size re-estimation for survival data in clinical trials with an adaptive design

In clinical trials with survival data, investigators may wish to re-estimate the sample size based on the observed effect size while the trial is ongoing. Besides the inflation of the type-I error rate due to sample size re-estimation, the method for calculating the sample size in an interim analysis should be carefully considered because the data in each stage are mutually dependent in trials with survival data. Although the interim hazard estimate is commonly used to re-estimate the sample size, the estimate can sometimes be considerably higher or lower than the hypothesized hazard by chance. We propose an interim hazard ratio estimate that can be used to re-estimate the sample size under those circumstances. The proposed method was demonstrated through a simulation study and an actual clinical trial as an example. The effect of the shape parameter for the Weibull survival distribution on the sample size re-estimation is presented.     

Meteorology on the Southern Frontier of Japan’s Empire: Ogasawara Kazuo at Taihoku Imperial University

This paper outlines some characteristics of the academic activity in the Japanese colonial setting, with special reference to meteorology on the southern colonial frontier of Japan’s Empire, through the works of Ogasawara Kazuo at Taihoku Imperial University. We first review the establishment of Japan’s overseas meteorological network and the corresponding institutionalization of meteorology in that period. We will then consider Ogasawara’s academic works at Taihoku Imperial University, and analyse how a pure scientist shifted to colonial management and justified Japan’s expansion as far as Australia and New Zealand. We will examine his moral dilemma, how he wrote his work on tropical climate, and his interpretation of Huntingtonian environmental determinism. Through the analysis of Ogasawara’s works, we are able to see at least one aspect of Japan’s colonial science, its syncretic nature and pragmatism.