The purpose of this study was to clarify the SOC (Sense of Coherence) and emotional state of women during the second half of pregnancy, and the relationship between these factors and maternity blues. The subjects were 56 pregnant women in good physical condition. We asked the subjects to self-rate their experiences according to scales such as the SOC and POMS (Profile of Mood States) during the second half of pregnancy, and also according to a Japanese version of Stein's self-rating maternity blues scale on the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth day after delivery. The results revealed a 21.4 % prevalence of maternity blues (12 mothers). The average SOC score was 62.5±12.9 points, which is higher than that for the general female population. The average scores for the all subscales of the POMs were within the normal range. The number of pregnant women with abnormal scores for any subscale was 19 (33.9 %). Lastly, the results of logistic regression analysis revealed that the SOC score was the only significant independent factor (the dependent variable was the occurrence of maternity blues ; the independent variables were the SOC and POMS subscale scores). The lower the SOC score, the greater was the potential of experiencing maternity blues (β= -.071,P=.049,Exp (β) =.932).

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The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between caregiving burden and psychological abuse to care-recipients with a sample of primary family caregivers of elderly with dementia. Semi-structured interview survey was administered to 300 primary family caregivers in Seoul and Busan city, Korea. In our analyses, 245 complete data was used. Structural Equation Modeling result showed that only "negative feeling" , one of the caregiving burden, was significantly associated with two factors of psychological abuse "verbal aggression" and "rejection" . This finding suggests the importance of providing family caregivers with supports focusing on their negative feeling in order to prevent psychological abuse to the care-recipients.

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The aim of this study was to clarify the present situation and issues on safety and comfortableness about utilization of the wheelchair transportation vehicles (WCTV). In this study, the answers of the questionnaire obtained from the WCTV users have been analyzed.Those who answered were 119 people, and the senior citizens of 65 years or more were occupying 79 people (66.4%). The results were as follows : (1) 11 people (9.2%) were encountered some accidents. (2) 11 people (9.2%) were encountered some Hiyari・Hatto (3) 66 people (55.5%) felt some unpleasantness under transportations. Methods of fixing the wheelchairs (WCTV User with wheelchair, wheelchairs with the WCTV body), structures of the WCTV body, the road situations, understanding and ways of assistance of drivers and persons who looks after, were problems and were related to the safety and comfortableness of the WCTV, etc.

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Constructive factors of Risk Management (RM) in Occupational Therapy (OT) departments were clarified in this study. The previous study was based on the Delphi Method and examined the consensus of 45 managerial staff and then developed the list that contained 32 RM items with the Likert technique. Participants of this study were 118 occupational therapists from 19 hospitals using a self-report type questionnaire with the Likert technique based on the previous study. The factor analysis was sued for the data from the participants about what RM items were used in OT departments. As a result, the following 4 factors were derived and those factors were considered to be constructive factors of RM in OT departments. The 4 factors were ; 1. Establishing the manuals and systems, containing protocols for emergencies and outbreaks of infectious diseases and clarification of the exchange information systems ; 2. Confirmation and sharing of information, it was needed to confirm patients' information and it was suggested that the information should be exchanged actively ; 3. Confirming vital signs, needed for adjustable RM based on each patient's condition ; and 4. Environmental adjustment within OT rooms, considering the width of hallways, keeping everything in order within the rooms and optimizing the lay-out of the rooms to allow for natural traffic flow.

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X-ray computed tomography (CT) equipment has found widespread use in onsite clinical applications, and we have been using such equipment to give students practical training in an educational setting. This approach, however, does not make it easy for students to understand the actual configuration of CT equipment or the principles behind image reconstruction. Educational sites, moreover, lack simple education-oriented experimental equipment that could help students understand the principles behind the equipment's electrical system and image processing system. In this paper, we study the construction of simulated X-ray CT equipment for educational purposes using laser light and describe a prototype of this equipment that we constructed. We built this prototype on breadboard with dimensions of 60×45cm^2 and handles attached, which makes it easy to move and store the equipment. Using this prototype, we obtained intensity data on transmitted light, performed image reconstruction, and obtained optical CT images for phantom objects. With this system, we have been able to enhance our students' understanding of CT operation principles while preventing them from being bombarded with X-rays.

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