The purpose of this study was to examine the moisture permeability properties of materials used for total surface bearing (TSB) socket with a silicone liner, a combination of Silicone Suction Socket or Icelandic Roll-On Silicone Socket (ICEROSS^®) and an acrylic plastic sheet(Degaplast^®), patella-tendon bearing (PTB) socket, a combination of Pe-Lite^® and Degaplast, and wooden socket made of poplar. Moisture permeability of the socket materials was measured as the diminution of water in a container after 12 hours in a climatic chamber. Eight containers with their open, top side were uncovered (no material) or sealed with one of the socket materials; the experiment was repeated four times. One-way analysis of variance followed by Bonferroni's test was applied to examine the differences in moisture permeability. Moisture permeability levels were as follows: no material, 85.9 ± 1.3g; poplar, 4.3 ± 0.4g; Silicone Suction Socket, 1.1 ± 0.2g; ICEROSS, 1.0 ± 0.2g; Pe-Lite, 0.8 ± 0.1g; 3S + Degaplast, 0.8 ± 0.1g; ICEROSS + Degaplast, 0.8 ± 0.2g; and Pe-Lite + Degaplast, 0.8 ± 0.1g. There were significant differences between the uncovered container and the others, and between poplar and the others (P<0.05). We concluded that the TSB socket with a silicone liner is not superior to the PTB socket with regard to moisture permeability, and that it is necessary to develop a new prosthetic socket that allows heat release and drainage of sweat.

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To clarify the risk of Toxoplasma gondii infection among slaughterhouse workers, we investigated Toxoplasma antibody in workers and swine in the meat center of Kitakyushu City and discussed the result from the standpoint of working conditions. Among 67 slaughterhouse workers, 22 were positive for Toxoplasma antibody (positive rate, 32.8%), while among 208 swine, 19 were positive (positive rate, 9.1%). When classified by ages of workers, positive rates in workers were 0% at the age of 30 or less and around 40% at the age of 31 and over. Especially, positive rate became as high as 66.7% in workers aged 61 and over. Positive rates for Toxoplasma antibody in workers classified by duration of employment were 25% for 5 years or less and 41.5% for 6 years and over. Moreover, there was no difference in positive rates of Toxoplasma antibody between swine slaughterers (positive rate, 32.4%) and cattle slaughterers (33.9%). Although overall positive rate of Toxoplasma antibody in slaughterers was higher, positive antibody in younger slaughterers or that of shorter duration of employment was considerably low In addition, since positive rate of Toxoplasma antibody in swine brought to the slaughterhouse has decreased remarkably in comparison to the previous study, risk of toxoplasmosis in slaughterhouse workers also seemed to have decreased.

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The objective of this study was to determine what items were important for satisfaction in the daily life of elderly Japanese people living at home. The subjects consisted of 996 persons living in Yahatanishi Ward, Kitakyushu City, Japan, two percent of residents aged 60 years or over, who were randomly selected from the official register of voters. A questionnaire was sent to the subjects to determine their profiles and asking them to select the five items they considered most important for satisfaction in daily life from 35 predetermined items. The items with a significant difference using a χ² test between age groups, gender, place of residence, living conditions and level of disability were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. The top five items selected were "good health" (86%), "social security and pension (47%), "self-care independence" (45%), "marital satisfaction" (34%), and a "good relationship with relatives" (33%). Logistic regression analysis showed gender, age group, living conditions, and level of disability significantly affected the preference for selection of 12 items. Men or younger persons regarded "health" and a "good relationship with a spouse" as very important, whereas women, older persons, or persons with a disability considered "self-care independence" and the "ability to walk" as important. The items selected for satisfaction in daily life and the order of preference yield important information about rehabilitative and social welfare services for elderly persons living at home.

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The hepatic milk spots of pigs are chronic interstitial hepatitis, and are caused by the migration of pig ascarid worm, Ascaris suum, into the liver. A large number of livers are condemned in meat inspection centers as defective food once they are found to have developed milk spots, and thus the economic loss is great. Eggs of Ascaris suum from 120 caecum feces of slaughtered pigs were detected by the nylon mesh filtration (Makiya) technique and they were related to the condemnation data of the milk spot livers in Kitakyushu Municipal Meat Inspection and Control Center from April 2000 to February 2001. The condemnation rate was continuously more than 50% at some particular pig farms, the average rate being as high as 73% during this period. Liver milk spots and Ascarid infection from some 200mg of caecum feces sampled with the template of the filtration technique were compared. As a result, a close agreement was observed between the two kinds of positive data, and a significant correlation was expected between the average egg density (EPG) of sampled pigs and the prevalence rate of milk spots of the same groups. These results proved that this filtration technique can be used as an effective inspection method for detecting milk spot liver.

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Fortunetelling is being practiced throughout contemporary Japanese society. The fortunetelling is, so to speak, one of ‘social facts’. Though we usually see such a scene, we do not understand it from the viewpoint of Sociology. To find a clue in the sociological study of fortunetelling, the fortuneteller is one of the important elements. That is, the foruneteller is an expert who controls the art and knowledge of fortunetelling. In order to analyze fortunetelling sufficiently, we first need to clarify the characteristics of the fortuneteller. The purpose of this paper is to show what characteristics the fortuneteller has, in terms of two distinctions: the first parameter of distinction is the ‘ground' which legitimatizes fortunetelling; and the second is the ‘opportunity’ which channels people into fortunetelling. The ‘ground’ rests on either ‘inspiration (revelation)’ or ‘body of art and knowledge (hereafter knowledge)’. And the ‘opportunity’ rests on either ‘voluntary’ or ‘compulsion’. In analyzing the fortuneteller according to ‘inspiration’ / ‘knowledge’ and ‘voluntary’ / ‘compulsion’, the type of fortuneteller who has the characteristics of both ‘knowledge’ and ‘voluntary’ is prominent. Why is such a type prominent? I answer this question by analyzing the relationship between the characteristics of the fortuneteller and the social structures.

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To assess whether the survival of patients who underwent surgical resections for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) improved, we examined the time trends for surival after operation. A total of 851 consecutive patients with NSCLC who underwent surgical resections between 1979 and 2000 were retrospectively reviewed by 3 groups according to year of the operation: the early period (from 1979 to 1986, n=138), the middle period (from 1987 to, 1993, n=288), and the late period (from 1994 to 2000, n=425). There were 606 men and 245 women with a mean age of 65.4 years. The histologic type included 453 adenocarcioma, 282 squamous cell carcinoma, and 63 large cell carcinome. The pathologic stage included 203 stage ⅠA, 171 stage ⅠB, 21 stage ⅡA, 117 stage ⅡB, 180 stage ⅢA, 123 stage ⅢB, and 36 stage Ⅳ diseases. The mean age at the middle and late periods showed a significant increase compared with the early period. There were no significant histologic differences among the three periods. The ratio of patients with stage ⅠA disease increased significantly at the middle and late periods compared with the early period. The 5-year survival rate of the 851 patients was 43.7%, and the median survival was 44.8 months. The 5-year survival rates at the early, the middle, and the late periods were 33.3%, 44.2%, and 45.8%, respectively, with significant improvement at the middle and late periods compared with the early period. The overall 30-day operative mortality was 2.2% (19/851): 8.7% (12/138) at the early period, 1.4% (4/288) at the middle period, and 0.7% (3/425) at the late period, showing significant decrease during the middle and late periods compared with the early period. The postoperative prognosis of patients with resected NSCLC during the later periods had a better survival, which was caused by an increase in the ratio of patients with stage ⅠA disease, and a decrease in the rates of operative mortality.

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To determine the best way to reduce medical expenses of the elderly, we analyzed the aged outpatients' receipts covered by the Health and Medical Service Law for the Aged at one health insurance society in Fukuoka prefecture. We used 312 medical receipts during July, 1997. The proportion of frequency of each medical service was 89.7% for medications, 45.8% for laboratory tests and 26.3% for procedures. The proportion of expenses of each medical service was 38.3% for medications, 20.0% for examinations and 12.1% for laboratory tests. Medication is considered as one of the main causes of increasing medical expenses. As a result of multiple regression analysis, the number of consulting days, urinary and genital disorder, the number of diseases, home care, laboratory tests and prescriptions for outside pharmacies were detected as statistically significant factors associated with medical expenses. There was a concentration of medical expenses, i.e. about 10% of higher rank receipts consumed around 40% of total outpatients' expenses and included 6 of 10 home medical care receipts. One of the causes of expensive outpatients' medical expenses was medication. The separation of dispensary and prescription of drugs does not contribute to the reduction of medical expenses. In the higher rank of the expenses group, compared with the lower rank of the expenses group, the consulation days were longer, the number of diseases was greater and the proportions of expenses for procedures and home care were larger. Medical expenditures for patients receiving home medical care were higher than those of others, but home care should be compared with admissions. Beacause the insurance societies are now facing financial difficulties in Japan, analyzing the data of medical receipts is very important. During our analysis, we had to make an enormous effort to combine two data sources, because the receipts were made separately by clinics and pharmacies. It is strongly suggested that a computerized information system with a standardized format for clinics and pharmacies be developed.

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Since the first patient with antithrombin deficiency was reported, various hereditary thrombophilia have been discovered. However, we experienced a family line of multiple thrombosis in which known hereditary thrombophilia were all refuted. Case 1 died of inferior vena cava thrombosis at the age of 56 days. Case 2, the elder sister of Case 1, developed deep vein thrombosis of the left leg at age 2. She was started on warfarin but contracted deep vein thrombosis of the right leg at the age of 7. In the family of these cases there have been another five cases of thrombosis, spanning three generations, giving a total of seven cases. Six of the cases developed at an early age, below 50 years. Antithrombin, protein C, protein S, heparin cofactor Ⅱ, soluble thrombomodulin, plasminogen, α₂ plasminogen inhibitor, and tissue factor pathway inhibitor were measured but there were no abnormalities, nor was there any resistance to activated protein C. The onset of thrombosis in this family is becoming younger with the passing of generations, and clinical symptoms have been showing a worsening tendency.

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We installed Linux and FreeS/WAN on a PC/AT compatible machine to make an IPSec router. We measured the time of ping/ftp, only in the university, between the university and the external network. Between the university and the external network (the Internet), there were no differences. Therefore, we concluded that CPU load was not remarkable at low speed networks, because packets exchanged via the Internet are small, or compressions of VPN are more effective than encoding and decoding. On the other hand in the university, the IPSec router performed down about 20-30% compared with normal IP communication, but this is not a serious problem for practical use. Recently, VPN machines are becoming cheaper, but they do not function sufficiently to create a fundamental VPN environment. Therefore, if one wants a fundamental VPN environment at a low cost, we believe you should select a VPN router on Linux.

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Case 1
Aiichiro HIGURE (Department of Surgery 1, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health)

Case 2
Koji KAMADA (Department of Radiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health)

Case 3
Mitsuo TASHIRO (Third Department of Internal Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health)

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