Wards Of Tokyo Research Articles

Trimester-Specific Association of Maternal Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and its Components With Birth and Placental Weight in Japan.

We investigated which trimester of exposure to PM2.5 and its components was associated with birth and placental weight, and the fetoplacental weight ratio. The study included 63,990 women who delivered singleton term births within 23 Tokyo wards between 2013 and 2015. Each day, we collected fine particles on a filter, and analyzed their chemical constituents, including carbons and ions. Trimester-specific exposure to each pollutant was estimated based on the average daily concentrations. Over the third trimester, sulfate exposure tended to be inversely associated with birth weight, and decreased placental weight (difference for highest vs lowest quintile groups = -6.7 g, 95% confidence interval = -12.5 to -0.9). For fetoplacental weight ratio, there was no relationship. Sulfate exposure over the third trimester may reduce birth weight, particularly placental weight.

Active Measure Models and Rules of Local Governments for Reuse of Vacant Houses in Tokyo Wards Area

Active Measure Models and Rules of Local Governments for Reuse of Vacant Houses in Tokyo Wards Area

Exposure to chemical components of fine particulate matter and ozone, and placenta-mediated pregnancy complications in Tokyo: a register-based study

BackgroundMaternal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was associated with pregnancy complications. However, we still lack comprehensive evidence regarding which specific chemical components of PM2.5 are more harmful for maternal and foetal health.ObjectiveWe focused on exposure over the first trimester (0–13 weeks of gestation), which includes the early placentation period, and investigated whether PM2.5 and its components were associated with placenta-mediated pregnancy complications (combined outcome of small for gestational age, preeclampsia, placental abruption, and stillbirth).MethodsFrom 2013 to 2015, we obtained information, from the Japan Perinatal Registry Network database, on 83,454 women who delivered singleton infants within 23 Tokyo wards (≈627 km2). Using daily filter sampling of PM2.5 at one monitoring location, we analysed carbon and ion components, and assigned the first trimester average of the respective pollutant concentrations to each woman.ResultsThe ORs of placenta-mediated pregnancy complications were 1.14 (95% CI = 1.08–1.22) per 0.51 μg/m3 (interquartile range) increase of organic carbon and 1.11 (1.03–1.18) per 0.06 μg/m3 increase of sodium. Organic carbon was also associated with four individual complications. There was no association between ozone and outcome.SignificanceThere were specific components of PM2.5 that have adverse effects on maternal and foetal health.

Lunch Interrupted! COVID-19 and Japan’s School Meals

On April 22,2020 a crowd gathered at the Fujikata Racetrack in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, Japan With the anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic swirling about them, citizens ventured from their homes donning facemasks Once at the racetrack they formed a "socially distant" line and waited for the gates to open Residents were not waiting to see a race Rather, they had come to do their grocery shopping While nearby city markets and green grocers were still open for business, these citizens had come in hopes of snagging a bargain and also supporting their community This was not your typical farmers' market the produce was gathered from unfulfilled school lunch orders With schoolyards shuttered due to the pandemic, the fresh ingredients ordered months ago had nowhere to go, and rather than let the food go to waste, the community and local government intervened Even with the schools closed, school lunch helped to unite a community

Determinants of the Implementation of Home Evaluations among Patients with Fall-Related Fractures at a Convalescent Rehabilitation Ward in Tokyo: A Cross-Sectional Study

Home adaptations are integral for inpatients with fall-related fractures, especially during discharge. However, it is unclear as to how patient-implemented home evaluations can be prioritized with limited professional rehabilitation resources. This study examines the associations between predisposing, enabling, and needs factors with the implementation of home evaluations in the eastern district of Tokyo. Being a female and lower comprehension in cognitive function was significantly associated with the implementation of home evaluations. It may be necessary to consider patients’ cognitive function when deciding who to target for housing evaluations and to seek strategies to best estimate their needs.

An age-period-cohort analysis of the difference in smoking prevalence between urban and non-urban areas in Japan (2004-2019).

OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to conduct an age-period-cohort (APC) analysis of smoking prevalence trends in urban and non-urban areas in Japan.METHODSData on smoking prevalence from 2004 to 2019 were extracted from the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan. Government ordinance-designated cities and special wards in Tokyo were defined as urban areas. The respondents ranged from 20 years to 79 years old, and were grouped in 5-year intervals. Cohorts were defined for each age group of each year, and those born between 1925-1929 and 1995-1999 were examined. We calculated the estimated smoking prevalence for each age, period, and cohort, as well as the smoking prevalence ratio of non-urban areas compared with urban areas from the APC analysis results.RESULTSThe magnitude of the decrease in the period effect on smoking prevalence was larger in urban areas than in non-urban areas for both men and women. The smoking prevalence ratio for non-urban areas compared with that of urban areas was above 1 for men at most time points, except in the older age groups. In addition, the prevalence ratio between the areas decreased, particularly as age increased. For women, the smoking prevalence ratio in non-urban areas compared to urban areas was below 1 until cohorts born in the 1970s, but the trend reversed thereafter.CONCLUSIONSThe results of this study suggest that further smoking control and cessation measures are necessary, particularly for older cohorts in urban women and for younger ages in non-urban men.

タピオカブームにおける台湾茶飲料店の立地展開:ー2013〜2019年の東京都区部ー

タピオカブームにおける台湾茶飲料店の立地展開:ー2013〜2019年の東京都区部ー

Research on local governmental restrictions for ball play in block parks

This research aims to clarify the local governmental restrictions on ball play in urban parks and identify management problems. We sent 399 questionnaires to top 8 populated cities in each of 47 prefectures of Japan and 23 wards of Tokyo, 276 local governments responded. The result is as follows:1) 60% of responded local governments have restrictions on ball play, among them 40% in certain parks individually and 20% in all parks “unifiedly”. The bigger the city, the more restriction rate for ball play it has, and overall growth is provided by the increasing share of individual restrictions. In Tokyo, the unified restriction rate is significantly higher compared to other cities. 2)We identified two sources of the local governmental ball play restriction in urban parks: first - direct request from the neighborhood, second - inheritance of the restriction from the previous government. 80% of government do not know when the ball play was prohibited. 3) Once ball play is restricted, there is no case showing the change back to “non-restricted” state. About 90% of governments do not plan to change their current policy. 4) We identified that there is no clear method of decision-making regarding the ball play, including documentation.

Effects of exposure to chemical components of fine particulate matter on mortality in Tokyo: A case-crossover study

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is composed of a variety of chemical components, and the dependency of the health effects of total PM2.5 on specific components is still under discussion. We hypothesised that specific PM2.5 components are responsible for the health effects, and investigated the association between PM2.5 components and mortality in 23 Tokyo wards. We obtained mortality data from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for the period from April 2013 to March 2017. At a monitoring site within the study area, we collected daily samples of PM2.5 on a filter, and determined the daily mean concentrations of total carbon (organic carbon and elemental carbon) and ions such as nitrate and sulphate. A case-crossover design was employed, and a conditional logistic regression model was used to estimate the strength of the association. Over the study period, we identified 280,460 total non-accidental deaths, and the average daily mean concentration of total PM2.5 was 16.0 (standard deviation = 8.9) μg/m3. We observed a positive association of total PM2.5 with total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality. After adjustment for total PM2.5 and its components associated with mortality in the single-component models, the percentage increase per interquartile range (2.3 μg/m3) increase in the average total carbon concentration of the case- and previous-day was 2.1% (95% confidence interval = 1.0 to 3.1%) for total mortality. Carbon elements were associated with respiratory but not cardiovascular mortality. Our results suggest that specific components of PM2.5 account for its adverse health effects.

Tokyo and New York: A Study in the Contrasting Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outcomes.

It is still not known why cases of coronavirus disease 2019 during the first wave in Tokyo have fallen without lockdown restrictions. People with low socioeconomic status are not dominant among coronavirus disease 2019 patients in Tokyo in contrast with New York, where the opposite demographics have been in play. Thus, we set out to examine the association between socioeconomic status and the rate of coronavirus disease 2019 infections using public data from Tokyo. We obtained data from each of the 23 wards of Tokyo, showing population size, density, age, sex, number of graduates, income, and hospital attendance numbers. Coronavirus disease 2019 infections were gathered for 2 separate days: April 9, 2020, when new daily coronavirus disease 2019 infections were at their peak during the first wave in Japan; and May 9, 2020, to observe any changes in incidence over the preceding month. The primary outcome was set as the number of coronavirus disease 2019 infections per 100,000 population. None. By conducting simple linear regression modeling, the incidence of cases on April 9 was associated significantly with four variables: population age greater than 65 years (%), university rate, hospital, and income. Using these four variables, multivariate linear regression analyses demonstrated that only income remained significant (p = 0.006 at April 9 and p = 0.03 at May 9). This indicates that the highest case numbers were dominant in high-income areas, and affected fewer patients in districts in the low-income areas. The result of the current study is exactly opposite to the data from New York. This may be considered one of the main reasons why the rate of death and new patients of coronavirus disease 2019 has been so low in Tokyo. That is, appropriate hygienic status, free access to hospital by ambulance, and universal health insurance system may contribute to the outcome in such low-income areas.

COVID-19 in the 23 Wards of Tokyo from April 6th to June 14th, 2020

Novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) has been spreading worldwide after the outbreak in Wuhan, China since December in 2019, and it caused pandemic. As of 15th, June in 2020, in Southeast Asia, the infection of 334 people and none of the death in Vietnam, and in East Asia, 17,439 people were infected and the death of 929 in Japan. In Tokyo, 5,619 (32.2% of all Japan) and 316 people have been infected and dead by COVID-19, respectively. We focused on infection of the virus in Tokyo's 23 wards in Tokyo metropolitan area from April 6th to June 14th. The peak of the infection in the 23 wards of Tokyo was confirmed in the third week in April in 2020, and then the number of the coronavirus infections decreased. The 23 wards can be separated clearly such as Zone 1, 2 and 3 by infectious incidence: Zone 1 downtown, Zone 2 inside of JR-Yamanote Line, and Zone 3 residential areas. The infection was markedly higher in Minato-ku and Sinjuku-ku, at the downtown of Tokyo. On the other hand, the number of infections were higher among young generation and lower among elder generation in the fourth week in April, hereafter the profile has been changed as elder aged infections increased in a V-shaped curve. The initial increase of male infected with the virus in April was due to infection of business commuters of 20s to 70s. After the Tokyo Metropolitan Government declared a state of emergency, the number of people infected decreased, being different for each ward in Tokyo. When bars and clubs were closed, the number of the infected people in Minato-ku at downtown and residential areas was decreased. These results suggest that working persons infected with the novel coronavirus spread the virus at home and social area. Therefore, social distance is required for protection of the infection spreading.

Central Tokyo’s Low Response Rate to the 2015 Population Census and Its Related Factors

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of “unreported” cases in the Population Census of Japan caused by nonresponses to the survey. Subsequently, this has led to data reliability challenges. In light of this problem, the factors related to the low response rate of the 2015 Population Census in the central Tokyo area are examined in the present study. An online survey was conducted among individuals residing in the three Special Wards of Tokyo to inquire about their responses (submitted or not submitted) to the previous census. The statistical analyses demonstrated that particularly in central Tokyo, middle-aged (35–49 years) people and those who did not own a single-family residence were more likely to be nonrespondents, while most of the other characteristics were similar to the results reported in a previous nationwide study. However, further studies are required to fully understand the high rates of unreported cases in central Tokyo.

A Study on Present Distribution Characteristics of War-damaged Trees in 23 Wards in Tokyo

Seventy-four years after the end of World War II, nearly all traces of the War have disappeared, and few living memories remain because of the increasing age of the survivors. However, living war-damaged trees with green leaves can still be found despite their surfaces being carbonized, conveying traces of the War to the present day. We have previously determined the morphological characteristics and existing state of war-damaged trees in the Joto 3 wards in Tokyo, which was devastated by the Tokyo air raid. The present study expanded on that survey by analyzing the distribution of war-damaged trees in 23 wards in Tokyo. We found that war-damaged trees (i) were mostly concentrated around shrines or temples, with rates of 61.5%; (ii) occurred in the vicinity of burnt areas, with rates of 70%; and (iii) were intensively distributed in 5 out of 134 survey points, with rates of 46.5%. Furthermore, among 474 surveyed trees that had the morphological features of war-damaged trees, 200 were considered to have been war-damaged based on the reports of witnesses or presence of materials and a further 150 were likely to have been war-damaged based on the situation.

Budget impact analysis reveals walk-in fingertip HbA1c testing in community pharmacies could provide a significant long-term reduction in public expenditure.

In Japan, a new opportunistic community-based walk-in HbA1c testing program at pharmacies was enabled in 2014. An economic evaluation of this program from societal perspective has previously been published. This study examines the effect of a subsidy program for walk-in HbA1c-testing at community pharmacies in Japan on public health care expenditure by conducting a budget impact analysis from payer's perspective. The study focused on Adachi Ward in Tokyo, where a pioneering subsidy program was implemented. It examined the budget impact of the subsidy program over a 15 years. The total subsidy paid by the local authority during the first year was 2909 USD. Public expenditure remained positive for the first five years before becoming negative in the sixth year, eventually resulting in savings of 221,000 USD in the 15th year. The cost of treating type 2 diabetes that is detected early is offset by a reduction in expensive treatments for complicated cases. Subsidizing walk-in fingertip HbA1c testing in community pharmacies is likely to result in a significant reduction in public expenditure over the mid-to long term. Our result suggests that a similar strategy in other areas could also have a potentially favorable budget impact.

Delineating urban park catchment areas using mobile phone data: A case study of Tokyo

Urban parks can offer both physical and psychological health benefits to urban dwellers and provide social, economic, and environmental benefits to society. Earlier research on the usage of urban parks relied on fixed distance or walking time to delineate urban park catchment areas. However, actual catchment areas can be affected by many factors other than park surface areas, such as social capital cultivation, cultural adaptation, climate and seasonal variation, and park function and facilities provided. This study advanced this method by using mobile phone data to delineate urban park catchment area. The study area is the 23 special wards of Tokyo or tokubetsu-ku, the core of the capital of Japan. The location data of over 1 million anonymous mobile phone users was collected in 2011. The results show that: (1) the park catchment areas vary significantly by park surface areas: people use smaller parks nearby but also travel further to larger parks; (2) even for the parks in the same size category, there are notable differences in the spatial pattern of visitors, which cannot be simply summarized with average distance or catchment radius; and (3) almost all the parks, regardless of its size and function, had the highest user density right around the vicinity, exemplified by the density-distance function closely follow a decay trend line within 1–2 km radius of the park. As such, this study used the density threshold and density-distance function to measure park catchment. We concluded that the application of mobile phone location data can improve our understanding of an urban park catchment area, provide useful information and methods to analyze the usage of urban parks, and can aid in the planning and policy-making of urban parks.

Geographical Profiles of COVID-19 Outbreak in Tokyo: An Analysis of the Primary Care Clinic-Based Point-of-Care Antibody Testing.

Introduction: The primary care clinic plays a major role in triage for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), where seroprevalence in the setting of primary care clinic remains less clear. As a point-of-care immunodiagnostic test for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the serosurvey represents an alternative to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to measure the magnitude of COVID-19 outbreak in the communities lacking sufficient diagnostic capability for PCR testing. Methods: We assessed seropositivity for the SARS-CoV-2 IgG between April 21 and May 20, 2020, at 2 primary care clinics in Tokyo, Japan. Results: The overall positive percentage of SARS-CoV-2 IgG was 3.83% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.76-5.16) for the entire cohort (n = 1071). The 23 special wards of central Tokyo exhibited a significantly higher prevalence compared with the other areas of Tokyo after classification by residence (P = .02, 4.68% [3.08-6.79] vs 1.83 [0.68-3.95] in central and suburban Tokyo, respectively). In central Tokyo, the southern area showed the highest seroprevalence compared with the other areas (7.92% [3.48-15.01]), corresponding to the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 patients by PCR test reported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Conclusion: The seroprevalence surveyed in this study was too low for herd immunity, suggesting the need for robust disease control and prevention. A regional-level approach, rather than state- or prefectural-level, could be of importance in ascertaining detailed profiles of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Age-Related Trends in the Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes among Japanese and White and Black American Adults.

To compare the prevalence of poor glycemic control in probability samples of Japanese and American adults, and to determine the association with their somatic phenotypes. Blood samples and anthropometric measures were obtained from 382 Japanese, 32-79 years of age, randomly selected to reflect the 23 wards of Tokyo. HA1c values were compared to 1215 Americans, 35-86 years of age, from a national study across the 48 continental states, along with an over-sampling of African-Americans from one city (www.midus.wisc.edu). Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-hip ratio (WHR) were also assessed. Many Japanese now have high HA1c approaching Caucasian-American levels, although elevated HA1c (>6.5%, 48 mmol/mol) is not nearly as prevalent as among African-Americans. Significant age-related trends were evident in both countries, with poor glycemic control occurring at younger ages in males and rarely found until old age in Japanese women. Japanese had higher HA1c levels at BMIs of 23-25, in contrast to Americans with Type 2 diabetes who more typically had a BMI over 30. Central adiposity predicted HA1c levels better than BMI, a relationship also apparent at a smaller WHR in Japan. The prevalence of high HA1c in Tokyo almost rivals white Americans, but those statistics are dwarfed by the 37% of Afr-Amer adults identified with Type 2 diabetes. Elevated HA1c was more common in men, reflecting central adiposity, but poor glycemic control was also widespread among overweight Afr-Amer women. Type 2 diabetes was higher among older Japanese, when more women succumb. Overall, the findings highlight the societal and clinical challenges posed by demographic trends in both countries.

An Investigation into the Relationship Between Land Surface Temperatures and Heat Stroke Incident Rates in the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo

An Investigation into the Relationship Between Land Surface Temperatures and Heat Stroke Incident Rates in the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo

Interdisciplinary Design of Vital Infrastructure to Reduce Flood Risk in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward

Engineering for flood resilience of dense coastal regions often neglects the resultant impact on urban design quality. Vital subsurface infrastructure such as hydraulic systems, water networks, civil construction, transport, energy supply and soil systems are especially important in shaping the urban environment and integrating resilience. However, the complexity and resource intensive nature of these engineering domains make it a challenge to incorporate them into design measures. In the process of planning, this impedes proactive collaboration between the design and engineering communities. This study presents a collaborative design engineering exercise undertaken to find spatial solutions to flood-prone Edogawa ward in Tokyo, Japan. The team included urbanists, hydraulic engineers, water resource managers, and landscape architects. Hydraulic engineering solutions were combined with spatial planning methods to deliver two alternative strategies for the chosen site. Each alternative was then evaluated for its urban design quality and effectiveness in reducing flood risk. The exercise highlighted that successful design requires comprehensive interdisciplinary collaboration to arrive at a sustainable bargain between hard and soft measures.

Interactive mapping for geographically weighted correlation in big census data

Abstract. Census data are widely available in many countries and are useful in describing socio-economic structures in a map at an administrative unit level. Multiple variables in census data can be investigated, however, selecting a large number of variables often leads to confusion and makes it difficult to discern which should be considered. Correlation analysis is often applied to measure the degree of association of a pair of variables, while a correlation matrix is used to summarize relationships amongst multiple variables at the same time. Although both provide important metrics, the spatial configuration of the data is not taken into account. For the purpose of mapping, it is often of interest to highlight the correlative relationship between a pair of variables across space in order to deal with any spatial heterogeneity hidden in the data. In this sense, geographically weighted correlation and partial correlation analyses have been proposed to map spatial variations of correlations in a spatial data set. The geographically weighted approach uses a moving-window kernel running across geographical space and calculates a statistical model or summary statistic with distance-decayed weighted data. The critical issue of mapping such correlation relationships amongst multiple variables is the large number of resultant maps produced. If we are interested in correlations amongst 100 variables, the correlation matrix has the dimension of 100 by 100, while 4,950 correlation maps are produced when we investigate local correlation relationships. Furthermore, the degree of scale (localness) which is an important parameter to understand the local correlative relationship should be explored. To this end, the purpose of this study is to build an interactive mapping system for visualizing spatial variations of correlative relationships amongst multivariate variables in big census data. This system is built on Shiny in R and an R package for calculating the geographically weighted correlation and partial correlation coefficients across multiple variables (https://github.com/naru-T/GWpcor) is implemented behind this system for analyses. We use the national census data set for 2005 with 204 variables regarding socio-economic structures in 23 wards in Tokyo with 3,134 administrative units as a case study. The system implements geographically weighted correlation and partial correlation analyses with varying scale parameters and produces an interactive spatial surface of the correlation coefficient. We demonstrate how our interactive mapping system enables users to achieve quick visualization of correlative relationships amongst multivariate census data which can be selected and changed easily from pull-down lists (Figure 1). Such a user-friendly interactive mapping system proposed in this study will help those who need to understand the spatial relationships of the data that is being mapped. This study is supported by ROIS-DS-JOINT (006RP2018).