Purpose : This study aimed to determine factors associated with continued breastfeeding, based on mothers' reflections on their experiences of breastfeeding for 1 year following the birth of their babies. Subjects : The sample comprised 10 mothers who had given birth at a birth center and had continued to breastfeed for 1 year. Methods : This was a qualitative descriptive study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using an interviewer-guided approach. Data were qualitatively and inductively analyzed and then categorized. This study was approved by the ethical review board of the institution that the researchers belonged to. Results/Discussion : Factors associated with continued breastfeeding included （a） regarding breastfeeding to be natural;（ b） being watched over by specialists who recommend breastfeeding; （c） breastfeeding support from the birth of their baby till 4 months of age; and （d） understanding of the importance of breastfeeding by family members. Results also suggested that mothers’ thoughts on breastfeeding, the presence of experts who recommend breastfeeding, and the understanding of family members were necessary for continued breastfeeding. It appears that guidance from persons close to mothers during the first few months of motherhood is of particular importance for continued breastfeeding.

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A scale for assessing stress in nurses involved in psychiatric care was developed based on the perspective of stress recognition. Seventeen items designed for assessing stress related to psychiatric care were developed based on previous studies and used in a survey. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted by using data without missing values （N＝ 281）, which extracted four factors: “Therapeutic contact,” “Insufficient knowledge and skills,” “Negative attitudes of patients,” and “Cooperation with other professions.” Construct validity of the scale that consisted of the above factors was examined by using confirmatory factor analysis. The second-order factor model with the above factors as first-order factors fitted the data, which statistically supported the construct validity of the scale based on its factor structure. It is suggested that the newly developed scale would have a significant value for investigating factors related to stress experienced by nurses providing psychiatric care.

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There are few studies that have examined the aspects influencing the effects of a long-term care prevention program. In this study, we investigated the influence of the physical function at the end of an exercise class on the effects of a long-term care prevention program. Participants were 23 community-dwelling elderly in the “A” ward of the Tokyo Metropolitan. All participants completed an exercise class. Their certification of the longterm care insurance （certified or not） was investigated at 1.5 to 2.0 year after the class. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between physical fitness levels at the end of the class and the certification. In addition, the 5-m usual walking time was strongly associated with the certification （odds ratio 2.853, 95％ confidence interval: 1.094－ 7.440, P ＝ 0.032）. According to the ROC curve analysis, the cut-off value of the 5-m usual walking time was revealed to be 4.96 sec. The walking ability is considered to be a strong predictor of future ADL and the risk of dependence on long-term care services. This study indicates that to elongate the healthy life expectancy, the walking speed should be maintained under 1 m/ sec.

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Head trauma accidents caused by falling indoors have been reported. The purpose of this study is to evaluate quantitatively the protective effect of a headband against head impact caused by falls by using computer simulation. Firstly, four types of movements of falls resulting from faint, slip, trip and step down were simulated by using a whole body numerical model and four regions of bruises on the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital region were chosen as the impact condition of the head. Secondly, the posture, translational and rotational velocity just before the collision of the head were input to a finite element human head model to simulate the collision motion of the head against the floor. A headband model made from EVA （ ethylene-vinyl acetate） foam is constructed, and two kinds of floor （ tile and wooden flooring ） are assumed and modeled. For each scenario of falls, head collisions with and without headband were simulated and the risk of fracture, cerebral contusion and concussion was calculated from the obtained mechanical responses during head collision. As a result, the use of the headband generally reduced the risk of head injury in indoor fall accidents, even though there are differences in protection effect depending on the postures of falling and the type of floor.

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