For more than five decades after the end of the World War II, Japan articulated an official identity as a pacifist, anti-nuclear nation both domestically and in the international arena (its formidable Self Defense Force notwithstanding). Since the end of the Cold War and the first Gulf War in the early 1990s, however, the debate over revising Japan's “Peace Constitution” intensified. In particular, Article 9 of the Constitution, by which Japan renounces offensive war, has been under attack by politicians proclaiming the goal of becoming “a normal nation”, and the present Abe administration has prioritized Constitutional revision. Along with politicians and the citizenry, many intellectuals and artists have spoken against the possibility of Japan identifying itself as a “nation that wages war”–thus rejecting its assumed role as advocate of peace and foe of nuclear arms. In June 2004, Nobel Prize winner Oe Kenzaburo, along with artists and intellectuals Inoue Hisashi, Komori Yoichi, and Kato Shuichi and others, formed the Article 9 Association, which advocates “protection” or preservation of the present Constitution.

Japan Focus introduction: For more than five decades after the end of the World War II, Japan articulated an official identity as a pacifist, anti-nuclear nation both domestically and in the international arena (its formidable Self Defense Force notwithstanding). Since the end of the Cold War and the first Gulf War in the early 1990s, however, the debate over revising Japan's “Peace Constitution” intensified. In particular, Article 9 of the Constitution, by which Japan renounces offensive war, has been under attack by politicians proclaiming the goal of becoming “a normal nation”, and the present Abe administration has prioritized Constitutional revision. Along with politicians and the citizenry, many intellectuals and artists have spoken against the possibility of Japan identifying itself as a “nation that wages war”–thus rejecting its assumed role as advocate of peace and foe of nuclear arms. In June 2004, Nobel Prize winner Oe Kenzaburo, along with artists and intellectuals Inoue Hisashi, Komori Yoichi, and Kato Shuichi and others, formed the Article 9 Association, which advocates “protection” or preservation of the present Constitution.

Healthcare-associated viral respiratory infections (HA-VRIs) in a pediatric hospital decreased from 1.44 per 1000 patient days in 2019–0.43 and 0.38 in 2020–2021 during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic but increased to 1.35 in 2022. The increase in HA-VRIs in 2022 coincided with the rise in community circulation of these organisms.

The National Institutes of Health Toolbox-Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) is a tablet-based cognitive assessment intended for individuals with neurological diseases of all ages. NIHTB-CB practice effects (PEs), however, need clarification if this measure is used to track longitudinal change. We explored the test–retest PEs on NIHTB-CB performance at 3 months in young healthy adults (n = 22). We examined corrected T-scores normalized for demographic factors and calculated PEs using Cohen’s d. There were significant PEs for all NIHTB-CB composite scores and on 4/7 subtests. This work suggests the need to further assess NIHTB-CB PEs as this may affect the interpretation of study results incorporating this battery.

Caught between political allegiance to the Soviet Union and a shared history with West Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) occupied an awkward position in Cold War Europe. While other countries in the Eastern Bloc already existed as nation-states before coming under Soviet control, the GDR was the product of Germany's arbitrary division. There was no specifically East German culture in 1945—only a German culture. When it came to matters of national identity, officials in the GDR's ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) could not posit a unique quality of “East Germanness,” but could only highlight East Germany's difference from its western neighbor. This difference did not stem from the language and culture of the past, but the politics and ideology of the present: East Germany was socialist Germany.

Background: The NIH Toolbox - Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) is a computerized cognitive assessment designed for clinical research that is administered in-person. Here, we explored the feasibility and validity of a novel video-conference protocol for administering the NIHTB-CB. Since our protocol required repeated assessments, we further explored the NIHTB-CB’s practice effect. Methods: Twenty-five healthy participants completed the NIHTB-CB under two separate conditions four weeks apart. The standard condition followed the recommended administration protocol, whereas the video-conference condition had the examiner and participant in separate rooms but able to communicate over video-conference. A linear mixed-model analysis was performed to explore the fixed effect of testing condition and time on NIHTB-CB performance. Results: Across all three NIHTB-CB composite scores (total, fluid and crystallized cognition) no significant fixed effect of administration condition was found. A significant practice effect was observed for the fluid and total cognition composite scores over a 29.0 (± 2.1) day test-retest interval. Conclusions: Our novel video-conference protocol for the NIHTB-CB is equivalent to the standard protocol in healthy participants, and may provide a solution for researchers seeking to engage study participants at remote sites. If the NIHTB-CB is used longitudinally to monitor patients, corrections for repeated measures may be required.

Objectives: To examine the effect of pre-injury alcohol use, acute alcohol intoxication, and post-injury alcohol use on outcome from mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: Prospective inception cohort of patients who presented to the Emergency Department with mild to moderate TBI and had a blood alcohol level (BAL) taken for clinical purposes. Those who completed the 1-year outcome assessment were eligible for this study (N=91). Outcomes of interest were the count of post-concussion symptoms (British Columbia Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory), low neuropsychological test scores (Neuropsychological Assessment Battery), and abnormal regions of interest on diffusion tensor imaging (low fractional anisotropy). The main predictors were pre-injury alcohol consumption (Cognitive Lifetime Drinking History interview), BAL, and post-injury alcohol use. Results: The alcohol use variables were moderately to strongly inter-correlated. None of the alcohol use variables (whether continuous or categorical) were related to 1-year TBI outcomes in generalized linear modeling. Participants in this cohort generally had a good clinical outcome, regardless of their pre-, peri-, and post-injury alcohol use. Conclusions: Alcohol may not significantly alter long-term outcome from mild to moderate TBI. (JINS, 2016, 22, 816–827)

We describe trends in incidence rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients enrolled in a large northern California Health Plan, and the ratio of MRSA to methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) case counts. Between 1995 and 2010, 1549 MRSA infections were diagnosed in 14060 HIV-infected patients (11·0%) compared to 89546 MRSA infections in 6597396 HIV-uninfected patients (1·4%) (P = 0·00). A steady rise in MRSA infection rates began in 1995 in HIV-uninfected patients, peaking at 396·5 infections/100000 person-years in 2007. A more rapid rise in MRSA infection rates occurred in the HIV-infected group after 2000, peaking at 3592·8 infections/100000 in 2005. A declining trend in MRSA rates may have begun in 2008–2009. Comparing the ratio of MRSA to MSSA case counts, we observed that HIV-infected patients shouldered a greater burden of MRSA infection during most years of study follow-up compared to HIV-uninfected patients.

In the years since the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Roe v. Wade (1973), the abortion controversy has raged across America with increasing vigor. Since Ruth Bader Ginsburg's appointment solidified the Rehnquist Court's moderate bloc, holding the line on Roe's basic principle but inviting more state regulation, the conflict over abortion is likely to expand and intensify in most of the fifty states. The increased and bitter activity since the Supreme Court decided Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989), which gave state legislatures more latitude to respond to pro-life pressures, provides only a small indication of what the future may hold. Almost twenty years after Roe legalized abortion in the United States, an end to the “clash of absolutes,” as Laurence Tribe has recently called the American abortion conflict, seems nowhere in sight.

Introduction: The State University of New York at Downstate (SUNY) conducted a web-based long-distance tabletop drill (LDTT) designed to identify vulnerabilities in safety, security, communications, supplies, incident management, and surge capacity for a number of hospitals preceding the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The tabletop drill simulated a stampede and crush-type disaster at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa in anticipation of 2010 FIFA World Cup. The LDTT, entitled “Western Cape-Abilities”, was conducted between May and September 2009, and encompassed nine hospitals in the Western Cape of South Africa. The main purpose of this drill was to identify strengths and weaknesses in disaster preparedness among nine state and private hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa. These hospitals were tasked to respond to the ill and injured during the 2010 World Cup.

Methods: This LDTT utilized e-mail to conduct a 10-week, scenario-based drill. Questions focused on areas of disaster preparedness previously identified as standards from the literature. After each scenario stimulus was sent, each hospital had three days to collect answers and submit responses to drill controllers via e-mail.

Results: Data collected from the nine participating hospitals met 72% (95%CI = 69%–75%) of the overall criteria examined. The highest scores were attained in areas such as equipment, with 78% (95%CI = 66%–86%) positive responses, and development of a major incident plan with 85% (95% CI = 77%–91%) of criteria met. The lowest scores appeared in the areas of public relations/risk communications; 64% positive responses (95% CI = 56%–72%), and safety, supplies, fire and security meeting also meeting 64% of the assessed criteria (95% CI = 57%–70%). Surge capacity and surge capacity revisited both met 76% (95% CI = 68%–83% and 68%–82%, respectively).

Conclusions: This assessment of disaster preparedness indicated an overall good performance in categories such as hospital equipment and development of major incident plans, but improvement is needed in hospital security, public relations, and communications ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Introduction: Emergency preparedness experts generally are based at academic or governmental institutions. A mechanism for experts to remotely facilitate a distant hospital’s disaster readiness is lacking.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop and examine the feasibility of an Internet-based software tool to assess disaster preparedness for remote hospitals using a long-distance, virtual, tabletop drill.

Methods: An Internet-based system that remotely acquires information and analyzes disaster preparedness for hospitals at a distance in a virtual, tabletop drill model was piloted. Nine hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa designated as receiving institutions for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Games and its organizers, utilized the system over a 10-week period. At one-week intervals, the system e-mailed each hospital’s leadership a description of a stadium disaster and instructed them to login to the system and answer questions relating to their hospital’s state of readiness. A total of 169 questions were posed relating to operational and surge capacities, communication, equipment, major incident planning, public relations, staff safety, hospital supplies, and security in each hospital. The system was used to analyze answers and generate a real-time grid that reflectied readiness as a percent for each hospital in each of the above categories. It also created individualized recommendations of how to improve preparedness for each hospital. To assess feasibility of such a system, the end users’ compliance and response times were examined.

Results: Overall, compliance was excellent with an aggregate response rate of 98%. The mean response interval, defined as the time elapsed between sending a stimuli and receiving a response, was eight days (95% CI = 8–9 days).

Conclusions: A web-based data acquisition system using a virtual, tabletop drill to remotely facilitate assessment of disaster preparedness is efficient and feasible. Weekly reinforcement for disaster preparedness resulted in strong compliance.