Urine tests, which are performed routinely as specimens can be collected without inflicting pain on patients at all, give plenty of information about health conditions quickly thanks to the recent advances in techniques for urinalysis. Nonetheless, the constituents of urine are liable to change, and so prompt examination is necessary. In the case of inpatients, it sometimes happens that examinations begin several hours after specimen collection. Behind this, there is no time frame set for collecting urine specimens which makes it difficult to deliver specimens to the examination room without delay.　　In this study, we investigated longitudinal changes in the contents of urine specimens voided by inpatients under some specific conditions. Furthermore, we examined the effects of those intestinal bacteria (E.coli, Proteus), which are often detected in urine, on glycosuria, and the changes in nitrite reduction reaction.　　Our findings showed that urine specimens containing such physiological and pathological factors as to influence urine tests were particularly subject to change with the passage of time. Therefore, when there is a need to preserve the specimens, chilled storage using a lidded container is required. It was slso found that between E -coli and Proteus in the urine a considerable difference was noted in time-dependent change of glycolysis and nitrite reduction reaction.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for diagnostic evaluation of the breast was performed in 61 patients who visted the Breast Clinic of our hospital and were suspected to have malignant tumors by physical examination and mammography between January and December 1999. In 58 patients undergoing histological diagnostic tests (8 with benignancy and 50 with breast cancer), we compared the imaging characteristics and the time-signal intensity curves acquired by dynamic imaging between benign and malignant lesions, and evaluated the usefulness of analyzing enhancement patterns on contrast MRI. Contrast MRI revealed strong tumor enhancement in all patients; the mean time required for the signal intensity to reach a peak was about 7 min in patients with benign tumors and about 2 min in those with breast cancer. Peripheral ring enhancement was observed in 40 of the 50 patients with breast cancer (80.0%), while such enhancement was not noted in any of the patients with benign tumors.
Although diagnosis of breast disease by imaging has primarily relied on mammography and ultrasonography, the pattern of contrast enhancement on dynamic MRI also appears to be useful for determining the treatment method of breast tumors.