The supply center of the Atsumi Hospital handles medicines, medical supplies, slips, stationery, daily necessities, resterilized things, laundries, linen and washing beds among many others. The center is striving to raise the efficiency of the flow of materials within the hospital and undertakes logistics management single-handed. In January 2003, one copier and one lithographic unit out of the total four duplicating and printing machines in the hospital were removed to the suppy center. Since then, the center has been responsible for handling these machines for individual users. How effective this office meanagement system was in saving time, cutting down on costs and increasing the degree of satisfaction felt by employees was examined as part of TQM activities.Between June 2003, when the advance booking system was adopted for the use of the two machines, and January 2004, it was found that the monthly reservation ratio averaged out 38.3%. A questionnaire survey also found that many menbers of the staff were satisfied as they could make good use of time. As regards cost reduction, the monthly rental for the copying machine was curtailed to ¥57,000. This was made possible as members of the supply center made proper use of the copier and lithography.
Copying Processes ; Economic supply ; Agent ; Central ; Hospitals

The beta-glucans derived from yeast cell walls have been reported for having many immunomodulatory activities in vivo and in vitro. In this study, Aureobasidium-derived soluble branched (1,3-1,6) beta-glucan (Sophy beta-glucan) was checked for natural killer (NK) activity and for the production of IFN-gamma and IL-4 in Leishmania amazonensis infection. The main experiment was performed with a group of female C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice, orally supplemented with 5% of Sophy beta-glucan and infected with promastogotes of L. amazonensis (1 x 10(7)) into the footpad. Increase in the footpad thickness with time was observed in BALB/c mice in spite of the oral Sophy beta-glucan supplement, but it was less in C57BL/6 mice. The difference in overall mean footpad thickness between 'infection only' versus 'infection + glucan' groups was statistically significant (P < 0.001). High NK activity in C57BL/6 than BALB/c mice was observed in 'glucan only' group compared to the control group and also in 'infection + glucan' group compared to 'infection only' group. The difference in the NK activity among these groups was significant (P < 0.05). The IFN-gamma level increased at weeks 7 and 8 post-infection in C57BL/6 mice and was significantly high in 'infection + glucan' group compared to the 'infection only' group (P < 0.05). IL-4 levels did not increase up to detectable levels throughout the study. The results led a conclusion that Sophy beta-glucan enhances NK activity and cellular immunity in L. amazonensis-infected mice.
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Ascomycota/*chemistry ; Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic ; Female ; Foot/pathology ; Glucans/administration & dosage/*isolation & purification/pharmacology/*therapeutic use ; Immunologic Factors/administration & dosage/*isolation & purification/pharmacology/*therapeutic use ; Interferon-gamma/biosynthesis ; Interleukin-4/biosynthesis ; Killer Cells, Natural/drug effects/*immunology ; Leishmania mexicana/*immunology ; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/*drug therapy/immunology/pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Severity of Illness Index ; Time Factors