Archaeoglobus (A.) fulgidus is a hyperthermophilic, anaerobic, sulfate-reducing archaeon. Although the polar lipid composition of various archaea has been reported, no information has been available for A. fulgidus polar lipids. The present paper reports the results of lipid component parts analysis applied to the archaeon. Lipid component parts analysis is a simplified analytical method developed by the authors to obtain a rough outline of information about the polar lipid of a species of a microorganism. Unfractionated total lipid is subjected to several chemical degradation procedures to release lipid component parts (core lipids, glycolipid sugars and phospholipid polar head groups), which are identified by appropriate chromatography. Archaeol and caldarchaeol were found as core lipids along with an unknown core lipid. The major glycolipid sugars were galactose and mannose. A trace amount of glucose was also detected. The phosphodiester-linked polar head groups of phospholipids were inositol and ethanolamine. The presence of these lipid components is consistent with the occurrence of polar lipid-synthesizing enzymes detected by a BLAST search of the whole genome sequence of the organism. An amino group containing phospholipid was found for the first time in an archaeon other than methanogenic archaea.

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Furfural, a colorless liquid used in solvent-extraction processes, petroleum refining and as a rubber additive, has been assigned an occupational exposure limit of 2.5 ppm by the Japan Society for Occupational Health, but an administrative control level for furfural has not been established. In order to conduct effective occupational health management in workplaces where furfural is used, we measured furfural concentrations in working environments and collected urine samples to measure furoic acid levels (one of the principal metabolites), which act as a biomarker of exposure to furfural. The measurements of airborne concentrations in a working environment where furfural or a solution containing furfural was handled were made in 2004. Workers answered a questionnaire on working conditions, urine samples were collected at the end of the workshift, and furoic acid in the urine was measured by gas chromatography/flame ionization detector (GC/FID). The ambient concentrations of furfural during the period were 2.1 ppm in a mixer room and 1.6 ppm in a filling room. The mean concentrations of furoic acid in the workers' urine were 7.7 ± 7.8 mg/g-creatinine in summer and winter, respectively (normal range: 3－60 mg/g-creatinine). The average exposure to furfural per month calculated by multiplying the concentration in the working environment by working hours for a month was 86.4 ± 108.6 ppm hours/months (mean ± standard deviation) (range; 0－336 ppm hours/month). The relationship between average exposure to furfural and furoic acid in the urine was analyzed by simple linear regression analysis and a positive correlation was found. These findings suggest that furoic acid in urine is useful for biological monitoring of exposure to furfural, and that the measurement of both furfural in the environment and furoic acid in the urine are beneficial in occupational health management of furfural.

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To reveal the influence of chronic moderate smoking on physical fitness and local muscle oxygenation profile, we compared the oxygen uptake (VO₂), CO₂ output, respiratory rate, minute ventilation and blood lactate accumulation between six moderate smokers and ten non-smokers during incremental exercise. In order to know the difference of the peripheral oxygen supply to the muscles between the two groups, oxygenation profiles based on the changes of oxygenated hemoglobin (O₂Hb) in the right vastus lateralis muscles were observed using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). The intensity of incremental exercise using a bicycle ergometer was from 10 W to 80% of the maximum heart rate (80%HR_max) of each subject. There were no significant differences between the two groups in VO₂ and work rate at the level of 2 mmol/ℓ lactate or 80%HR_max(P＜0.05). However, as to the local muscle oxygenation profile during exercise, 5 out of the 6 smokers showed a decrease of O₂Hb throughout the incremental exercise, but 8 out of the 10 non-smokers showed a gradual increase of O₂Hb throughout the exercise. In conclusion, our results suggest that chronic moderate smoking might cause a change of local muscle oxygenation profile during incremental exercise, even if the smokers have shown no decrease in physical fitness.

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Nasal symptoms of allergic rhinitis, such as watery rhinorrhea, sneezing and nasal obstruction, are thought to result in reduction in quality of life (QOL). In this study, we evaluated the QOL scores of patients suffering from allergic rhinitis, using the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36). One hundred twenty six patients with allergic rhinitis who visited the department of otolaryngology of UOEH and affiliated hospitals from April, 2003 to March, 2004 were enrolled in this study. Each symptom of allergic rhinitis was shown to degrade the RQLQ scores. In particular, nasal obstruction and severity of the disease strongly related to the RQLQ scores. All the SF-36 scores of allergic rhinitis patients were lower than those of standard Japanese. Nasal obstruction was severer, and ocular symptoms were milder in the perennial group than in the seasonal group. The QOL scores of emotional aspects were significantly different between generations. The QOL score of social functioning increased, and that of mental health decreased with age. These results clearly indicate that nasal symptoms of allergic rhinitis cause degradation of QOL in daily and social lives. It would be interesting and necessary to evaluate QOL disturbance and loss of working efficiency in workers with allergic rhinitis in further studies.

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The relation between stress, stress coping behavior and job satisfaction was investigated for psychiatric nurses who work in the northern part of Kyushu and the Chugoku district of Japan. As a result, the people with high job satisfaction had a tendency for the stress coping ability to be high, the daily stress of the people with low job satisfaction was high, and a relation with the character which is the individual characteristic was also seen. In the relation between stress management factor and job satisfaction, those who can have change of action by a hobby, amusement, etc., those with a strong tolerance to stress and the people with social support showed a tendency for job satisfaction to be high. The people especially with a high degree of satisfaction with their professional status showed the tendency for the stress management factor to be high. On the contrary, the people with a high stressor of daily hassles showed the tendency for job satisfaction to be low. Moreover, anger, nervousness and the people with a tendency to take a Type A action pattern showed the tendency for job satisfaction to be low. From these findings, it is suggested that a stressor or not only coping behavior but character tendency is related to job satisfaction.

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The process of parental acceptance of a child's disability is complex and involves a myriad of factors, including the nature of the child's disability, factors related to the parents and societal factors. Despite the type of disability and the severity of that disability often being the most significant factors related to the process of acceptance, the majority of previous studies have combined multiple disabilities into a single category. For example, the point at which parent and child begin to live together with a disability marks a "beginning." The nature and timing of this beginning differs depending on the disability and thus has a large impact on the process of acceptance. Moreover, despite acceptance patterns diverging between sexes, the majority of previous studies have sampled only mothers and not fathers. Future research needs to use a more detailed analysis of disability type and its severity, and examine the modality of telling a patient and his or her family of a disability. Further studies also need to sample both mother and father, and consider the familial and social aspects of the process of parental acceptance.

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Although the relationship between lifestyle and subjective symptoms has been reported in the general population, relatively few studies have looked at the link between these two in workplace. To investigate the relationship between lifestyle and subjective symptoms, a cross-sectional study was carried out using data from 4,540 workers aged 20－69 years old in a food products company. The subjective symptoms with a prevalence of more than 10% in either males or females were selected as dependent variables: fatigue, dropsical swelling of hands or feet, stiff neck or shoulders, backpain, deterioration of eye sight, dizziness, diarrhea and constipation. We used a multiple logistic regression model to calculate the odds ratio(OR) and 95% confidence interval(CI) for each subjective symptom according to lifestyle: regular physical activity, proper sleeping, nine hours or less of work, having breakfast, having a nutritionally balanced diet, no smoking and moderate drinking of alcohol. We adjusted for age and type of occupation by gender. The findings confirmed the relationship between smoking and alcohol drinking and subjective symptoms in both genders. In addition, proper sleeping was likely to prevent musculoskeletal symptoms in females.

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A 54 year old man was brought to our hospital by ambulance. He had been injured by falling heavy steel. An examination was performed, and he was diagnosed as having sinking skull, acute extradural hematoma, trauma of the right eye, right eye laceration, injury of the optic canal (right blind), and multiple fractures. Open fractures were observed in the right ring finger and little finger. Simple fractures were observed in the zygomatic bone nasal bone and maxillary bone. An emergency operation (external skeletal fixation, taxis of the skull and maxillary bone, extradural hematoma depletion, suture of right eyelid) was performed. His life was saved by consistent team treatment from preoperation to postoperation. He was discharged from our hospital on foot at 45 days after the operation.

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