Observations on the digital vascular hunting reaction to cold air exposure and measurements of physical characteristics were made among male university students: 88 non-athletic; 18 tall, lean non-athletic; 26 volleyball players. Experiments were carried out at about 3 p, m. in winter. The subjects sat at rest on a chair for 30 min in a room at 22°C and inserted their left hands up to the wrist with the palm downwards into a chamber at -10°C for 30 min. The skin temperature on the center of the dorsal surface of the distal phalanx of the left middle finger was recorded continuously starting at 5 min before the cold exposure. The physical status of volleyball players was characterized by large stature, a low body fat and long fingers, while that of tall and lean non-athletic subjects was characterized by light body weight, a low body fat, and long and slender fingers. In each group, the higher the temperature before cold exposure, the higher were the skin temperature at the first temperature rise during cold exposure and the mean skin temperature during cold exposure. The mean value of the finger skin temperature during cold exposure for volleyball players at a given value of skin temperature before cold exposure tended to be lower than those for non-athletes. The mean value of the finger skin temperature during cold exposure for volleyball players was lower than that for non-athletes. Among the non-athletes, tall and lean subjects showed a lower mean skin temperature during cold exposure. The skin temperature during cold exposure tended to be lower when the length of the finger was longer and the ratio of finger girth to length was smaller. The lower mean skin temperature during cold exposure for volleyball players might result from injuries and shocks to the finger received during volleyball training.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to examine relationship between an amount of key tasks and job satisfaction among caregivers and nurses in elderly care facilities. METHODS: Questionnaires were mailed to the caring staff of elderly care facilities. After data collection (return rate 70%), information about work situations and health conditions were analyzed among 325 female workers, who were classified to 4 groups as follows; (1) caregivers under 40 years of age (2) caregivers of 40 years or over (3) nurses under 40 years of age (4) nurses of 40 years or over. RESULTS: Mean ages and length of career in caring sector were 37.2 +/- 12.2 yr and 4.5 +/- 3.0 yr for caregivers and 41.6 +/- 9.2 yr and 16.8 +/- 8.9 yr for nurses, respectively. A larger amount of care services were done on average by workers being dissatisfied with their job than by the satisfied workers in each of the 4 groups. The dissatisfied caregivers under 40 years showed significantly higher frequencies (as ratios of 1.4 - 2 to 1) in several care services such as "helping with showers or baths", "helping with eating", "changing diapers", "moving caretakers from bed or chair to wheelchair or vice versa", as compared with the satisfied caregivers under 40 years. Similarly, the 40 plus dissatisfied caregivers helped caretakers sit up in bed significantly more frequently. For nurses, on the other hand, "changing diapers" was found as the only service with a significant difference in frequency between the dissatisfied and the satisfied, but that was limited in the 40 plus age group. A frequency of "changing diapers" was associated with an increase in the risk of job dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that an appropriate amount of each key task in elderly care facilities should be set to prevent staff\'s dissatisfaction with their job from growing excessively.
Aged* ; Caregivers* ; Data Collection ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction* ; Postal Service ; Wheelchairs

Corticosteroids are used in the treatment of many diseases; however, they also induce various side effects. Dexamethasone is one of the most potent corticosteroids, and it has been reported to induce the side effect of impaired salivary gland function. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dexamethasone on mouse submandibular gland function to gain insight into the mechanism of dexamethasone-induced salivary hypofunction. The muscarinic agonist carbachol (CCh) induced salivary secretion and was not affected by short-term dexamethasone treatment but was decreased following long-term dexamethasone administration. The expression levels of the membrane proteins Na-K-2Cl cotransporter, transmembrane member 16A, and aquaporin 5 were comparable between the control and long-term dexamethasone treatment groups. The CCh-induced increase in calcium concentration was significantly lower in the presence of extracellular Ca in the long-term dexamethasone treatment group compared to that in the control group. Furthermore, CCh-induced salivation in the absence of extracellular Ca and Ca ionophore A23187-induced salivation was comparable between the control and long-term dexamethasone treatment groups. Moreover, salivation induced by the Ca-ATPase inhibitor thapsigargin was diminished in the long-term dexamethasone treatment group. In summary, these results demonstrate that short-term dexamethasone treatment did not impair salivary gland function, whereas long-term dexamethasone treatment diminished store-operated Ca entry, resulting in hyposalivation in mouse submandibular glands.
Acinar Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Calcium Signaling ; drug effects ; Carbachol ; pharmacology ; Dexamethasone ; therapeutic use ; Mice ; Muscarinic Agonists ; pharmacology ; Saliva ; metabolism ; Salivation ; drug effects ; Submandibular Gland ; drug effects ; metabolism