The aim of our study was to identify the factors associated with intention to return (ITR) in residents of Tomioka town, Fukushima Prefecture. We contacted approximated 8000 residents aged 20 years or older who lived in Tomioka. We invited them to take part in a written survey on ITR. In all, 1749 residents’ replies were included in the analysis. We asked about ITR in former residents of Tomioka town. We also asked about relevant factors and about risk perception in relation to the health effects of radiation exposure. Of those contacted, 469 (26.8%) had an ITR. Logistic regression analysis revealed that being male (OR = 1.6, 95% Cl: 1.24–1.96, P < 0.001), the anticipation of improving shopping in the town (OR = 1.5, 95% Cl: 1.26–1.67, P < 0.001) and requests for individual consultation with experts on the health effects of radiation (OR = 2.7, 95% Cl: 2.10–3.48, P <0.001) were associated with the ITR (+), and living with children under 18 years of age (OR = 0.7, 95% Cl: 0.51–0.95, P = 0.023), reluctance to drink tap water (OR = 0.5, 95% Cl: 0.36–0.69, P < 0.001) and anxiety regarding genetic effects of radiation in the next generation (OR = 0.6, 95% Cl: 0.45–079, P <0.001) were associated with the ITR (-) to Tomioka town, independent of other covariates. To allay the anxieties of residents who have an ITR to their hometown, careful risk communication, including information on the potential effects of radiation on health, is important.

This study aimed to assess the effects of a multicomponent exercise program on physical function and muscle mass in older adults with sarcopenia or pre-sarcopenia. Moreover, we aim to standardize the exercise program for easy incorporation in the daily life of community-dwelling older adults as a secondary outcome. A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted with individuals (≥60 years) who had sarcopenia or pre-sarcopenia (n = 72). Participants were randomly assigned to the exercise and control groups. The exercise program consisted of 12 weekly 60-min sessions that included resistance, balance, flexibility, and aerobic training. Outcome measures were physical function and muscle mass. Assessments were conducted before and immediately after the intervention. Among the 72 participants (mean age: 75.0 ± 6.9 years; 70.8% women), 67 (93.1%) completed the trial. Group-by-time interactions on the chair stand (p = 0.02) and timed “up and go” (p = 0.01) tests increased significantly in the exercise group. Although the exercise group showed a tendency to prevent loss of muscle mass, no significant interaction effects were observed for cross-sectional muscle area and muscle volume. The 12-week exercise program improved physical function in the intervention group. Although it is unclear whether the program is effective in increasing muscle mass, a multicomponent exercise program would be an effective treatment for physical function among older adults with sarcopenia.

Twelve high schools in Japan (of which six are in Fukushima Prefecture), four in France, eight in Poland and two in Belarus cooperated in the measurement and comparison of individual external doses in 2014. In total 216 high-school students and teachers participated in the study. Each participant wore an electronic personal dosimeter 'D-shuttle' for two weeks, and kept a journal of his/her whereabouts and activities. The distributions of annual external doses estimated for each region overlap with each other, demonstrating that the personal external individual doses in locations where residence is currently allowed in Fukushima Prefecture and in Belarus are well within the range of estimated annual doses due to the terrestrial background radiation level of other regions/countries.

Team job crafting, which refers to designing the task, relational, and cognitive aspects of a job, is thought to be beneficial for nurses working in the ward. There are no scales to assess team job crafting among nurses. This study aimed to develop and examine the reliability and validity of a scale to measure team job crafting. Based on literature reviews and interviews, potential items were created. A total of 293 nurses working on 19 wards in two hospitals in Japan were asked to complete a questionnaire twice. A series of exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were conducted to select the final items. For convergent validity, multilevel correlations were calculated. Cronbach's α and intra‐class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated for reliability. A total of 190 participants responded to the baseline survey and 152 responded to the retest. The EFAs yielded a three‐factor structure comprising 13 items. The three factors are task crafting considering the team's growth, cognitive crafting for members' respect and reflection of meaningfulness of work, and relational crafting for smooth information sharing. Cronbach's α ranged from .810 to .831, and test–retest ICCs ranged from 0.571 to 0.710. At the individual level, team job crafting had small‐to‐moderate correlations with individual levels of job crafting, job control, supervisor support, co‐worker support, job satisfaction, workplace social capital, and work engagement. The ICC of the team job crafting scores of 0.125 indicated meaningful variation across wards. At the ward‐level, nonsignificant but strong correlations were found with workplace social capital, job satisfaction, and psychological distress. This scale showed acceptable levels of reliability and validity. It would be useful in monitoring and improving team job crafting to increase team members' well‐being and performance.