This study has been conducted to prove health awareness, through people, who have applied to take a bone mass density examination. The outcome has been discussed in this paper between two groups of one is younger than 40 years old and the older group, due to the characteristics of this examination. The older group has higher awareness to their own health recognition than its younger ones. The older group, who has more anxious to their illnesses, is likely to take an action for healthy practice.

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This research examined the influence of social support on public health nurses experiencing job stress and burn-out which is characteristic of human service workers. Forty-four public health nurses in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture responded to the question-naires which measured their job stressors, burn-out, and social support. The result indi-cated that emotional support and affirmative support from family members and / or colleagues reduced the interpersonal stress at the workplace. Since these types of stress ware associated with high levels of burn-out, social support was supposed to have an effect on preventing burn-out. It was also suggested that affirmative support from colleagues was signifi-cantly effective.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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Mastoparan T(MT), one of the mastoparan family, and five mastoparan T analogs designed by N-terminal three residues-replacement of MT to Gly-Leu-Ala(GLA-MT), a deletion of N-terminal three residues(MT-GG-11)and Gly residue(s)-replacement at the position 5 and / or 8(GLA-MT-AG, GLA-MT-GA and GLA-MT-GG)were synthesized in a liquid phase manual manner. Catecholamine releasing activity of these synthetic peptides for adrenal chromaffin cells were investigated. GLA-MT had about two times as much as the releasing activity of MT and was the most active molecule of all the mastoparan T analogs. GLA-MT-GG had almost no releasing activity, but increased twice catecholamine releasing activity of mastoparan after pretreatment of adrenal chromaffin cells by the peptide at a high concentration. The circular dichroism difference spectra of synthetic peptides in the presence of trifluo-roethanol or Ca^2+-calmodulin, and these biological activities such as the binding activity to calmodulin-Sepharose 4B and erythrocyte ghost, and hemolytic activity were also examined. Mastoparan stimulates guanine nucleotide exchange by guanosine 5'-triphosphates-binding proteins, which is an initial event of signal transduction to the cytoplasm. It was suggested that the potent active mastoparan analogs would be able to be synthesized as a useful tool for the elucidation of transduction mechanism or the related disorders.

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The relationship between cognitive social support and quality of life(QOL)in the elderly at institutions was investigated in 26 institutions(15 special protective care homes for the aged and 11 health institutions for the aged)by which cooperation was obtained for the research in 3 prefectures of the Kanto district. The subjects of the research were 147 of the elderly at these institutions, who were evaluated not to be applicable to"The criteria for screening of dementia", which was established by the Research Group for Dementia Sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare, by the staff of the institutions. The subjective QOL was determined according to the PGC morale scale(short edition). The cognitive social support was investigated in tenns of total 20 items that took into considera-tion aspects of acceptances and offers regarding support as the means and emotional support, which are observed in the relationsship between the cognitive social support and the elderly at institutions, and negative aspects regarding acceptances. Sex and age were investigated as the fundamental attributes. The elderly at institutions had a mean morale score of 6.18 points(6.16 points for males and 6.19 points for females), and there was no statistical sex difference. An offer of emotional support(standardized regression coefficient, 0.186)and a negative support(standardized regression coefficient, -0.350)correlated with morale. These results suggest that the theory for the influence of social support on the subjective QOL is established among the elderly at institutions as well.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the construct validity of the Latack's Coping Questionnaire. The subject were 1, 145 female caring professionals at nursing homes for the aged, Okayama prefecture, ranging age from 20 to 64. Recent studies by Latack, et al(1987)and Leiter(1991)suggested that Latack's Coping Questionnaire was constructed with two-factor structure(control, escape). On the present study, construct validity of the questionnaire was performed with covariance structure analysis, using a two-factor oblique model and a second-order factor model. As a results, the proposed models by Latack, et al and Leiter proved to be a poor fit of the data. Then, we reconstructed a three-factor model(control, escape, using social support)and a two-factor model except social support factor, referring to recent studies about factorial model of coping scale. Further analyses tested the two models by specifying an oblique model and a model with second-order factor, respectively. As a results, the two-factor oblique model except social support factor fitted. Although social support has been considered important on coping strategy, our results indicated that the construct validity can be supported by excepting the social support factor. Issues con-cerning the conceptualization and measurement of coping were discussed.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the factorial invariance of the revised Latack's Coping Questionnaire. The subject were 1, 157 caring professionals at nursing homes for the aged, Okayama prefecture(81 male, 1, 076 female), ranging age from 18 to 64. Factorial invariance of the revised Questionnaire was performed with simultaneous factor analyses hold for two set of samples across gender, age , with or without qualifications, educational background, years as care professional, years at present job, using a two-factor(control, escape:23-item)oblique model. As a results, the models fitted of all condition of the data with equality constraints for all parameters. It showed factorial invariance and further understanding about the construct validity of the revised Latack's Coping Questionnaire. Next, factor means were estimated in simultaneous factor analyses in order to clarify relationships between coping and demographic variables. The results indicated that above 40 years old sample was estimated 021 units above in control score and 0.12 units below in escape score beside the other. The qualified sample was estimated 0.21 units below in escape score beside the other. These findings represented the characteristics of coping strategy referring to age difference and with or without qualifications.

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Research was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practice(KAP)of smoking among students of Tokyo Metropolitan University of Health Sciences. Students were categorized as ever-smoker or nonsmoker;and ever-smokers were further cat-egorized as ever-smoker(100 cigarettes or more)and ever-smoker(less than 100 cigarettes), current smoker and ex-smoker. Ever-smokers and nonsmokers were then compared to determine significant differences in health knowledge, perceptions of smoking, attitudes towards tobacco control education, policy and other measures, and smoking practice. Although, in the area of health knowledge, no significant differences were found between the two categories, concerning smoking-related perceptions and attitudes, significant differences emerged. Further research is needed in determining the factors or influences that shape these contrasting perceptions and attitudes. Such information will be of assistance in formu-lating appropriate tobacco control measures for the future.

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The adolescent ego development was measured by the sentence completion test based on the theory of the ego development established by J.Loevinger, and the validity and reliability of the test and of the values of the rating of the test results were assessed. After the preliminary study in 19 fourth-term students of the department of physical therapy of a college of allied medical sciences, the ego development was measured before and after the general practical apprenticeship during indivdiual's college days in the fiscal 3rdyear in 117 5th-to 8th-term students(32 men:mean age, 22.7 years;85 women:mean age, 21.2 years). Stages of the ego development were determined as the results of the comprehensive rating [total protocol ratings]on the basis of the values of rating of each question item. The rating was independently performed by two examiners. The ego development was measured in groups and in a short time. The use of the manual of rating, which was prepared in the preliminary study, increased the inter-examiner accordance rate in terms of the results of rating by two examiners and allowed coherent rating. As a result of the factor analysis of the values of rating of 27 items, the high trend toward one factor with high coefficient of Cronbach's alpha was confirmed. These results showed the reliability of the rating from a viewpoint of consistency.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factorial invariance of the Parenting Strain Index or PSI to ascertain the cross-validation of this scale. Two hundred ninety-three mothers in Shizuoka prefecture whose children attend private nursery schools and 342 mothers with children going to day care centers for the disabled participated in this study. The questionnaire consisted of age and educational background of a mother, the number of children, family structure, family income, type of residence and PSI. The second-order factor model was adopted for a factorial structure model, with"appraisal of negative emotions"and"appraisal of limitation on social activities"as first-order factors, and"parenting strain"as a second-order factor. By using the confirmatory simultaneous factor analysis, the sec-ond-order factorial model was found to be the most suitable for our data.Results suggested the factorial invariance of PSI and thus supported the cross-validation of this scale.

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Mastoparan(MP), a tetradecapeptide from wasp venom, acts as a secretagogue and stimulates catecholamine(CA)release from adrenal chromaffin cells. On the relationship between the structure and CA releasing activity from chromaffin cells of MP or MP fragments, we have previously reported that the active site of MP for CA release was located on each side at the N-terminal or Cterminal, N-terminal tetrapeptide(INLK-NH_2;N-4)and C-terminal tetrapeptide(KKIL-NH_2;C-4)of MP had no CA releasing activity but inhibited ACh-or MP-stimulated CA release, MP fragments(N-4, C-4)inhibited nicotine-or carbamyl-choline-stimulated CA release but not histamine-, bradykinin-or angiotensin II-induced secretion, and MP fragments selectively inhibited nicotinic agonists-stimulated CA release by attacking the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor(nAChR)on the site(s)other than ACh. Further, it was reported that N-terminal three amino acid residues-substituted mastoparan T enhanced it's original CA releasing activity. In this study, we newly synthesized thirteen N-4 analogs and tested their inhibitory activities toward nAChR.It was shown that(1)hydro-phobic or basic amino acid-substituted N-4 enhanced it's original activity to inhibit nAChR, (2)LLLK-NH_2 had about six times as much as the inhibitory activity of N-4 and was the most potent inhibitory peptide of all the N-4 analogs. From the relationship between the structure and inhibitory activity of N-4 analogs toward nAChR, the site(s) on nAChR attacked by N-4 are suggested to be made up of hydrophobic amino acids and acidic amino acids. These newly synthesized peptides are expected to be a powerful medicine for the nAChR-related disease.

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It seems that not only for the muscle power but also the posture, trunk angles and the alignment of supine etc.would affect the work efficiency. We studied the work efficiency quantitatively measuring power of"lifting-work". Sixty-five healthy individuals aged from 18 to 69 participated in this study to investigate the hypothesis that the trunk angles limit the upper limbs motion. The training system PRIMUS was used as a simulated"lifting-work"in this study. The results were as follows;(1)The limitation of the trunk angles caused the power down of the"lifting-work"all over the aged group, (2)Aged thirty showed the enough power in spite of the limitation of the trunk, (3)It was confirmed that the posture would be considered more carefully for the"lifting-work"efficiency.

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Accurate dosimetry for small field in stereotactic irradiation has some problems and fall short of the standard, because the lateral components of secondary electrons for small field are not in equilibrium. It has previously been shown that broad beam dose-calculation models for high-energy x-rays can account for transport of secondary electrons by introducing the electron disequilibrium factor. Measurements of the electron disequilibrium factor were performed at four different beam qualities. We assume that the electron disequilibrium factor can be separated into longitudinal and lateral components, which depend on depth Z and field radius R, respectively, such that E(Z, R)=E_Z(Z)E_R(R). In the results, the E_Z(Z)-factor decreases sharply with decrease of the depth in water, and the E_R(R)-factor decreases with decrease of the field size.

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Annular pancreas is a rare condition that results when histologically normal pancreas tissue encircles the second portion of the duodenum. Computed tomographic(CT)and magnetic resonance(MR)imaging findings of a patient with annular pancreas associated with common bile duct calculus were reported. MR cholangiopancreatography(MRCP)was very useful in diagnosis of annular pancreas.

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