The objective is to evaluate the tidal level’s relationships to the onset of labor and the premature rupture of the fetal membranes (PROMs) in pregnant women. This study is a retrospective analysis of 313 spontaneous full-term deliveries over a one-year period at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, T Hospital, Ibaraki, Japan. The average of the tidal level at onset of labor is significantly higher than the average tidal levels over the whole of 2010 (p=0.006). We did not find any significant relationship between the average of the tidal level at PROMs and the average tidal levels over the whole of 2010, between the number of the onset of labor and changes in the tide level, or between the number of PROMs and changes in the tide level. We concluded that when the tidal level is high, the onset of labor tends to occur more frequently. Therefore, we can presume that the gravitational pull of the Moon influences the onset of labor in pregnant women on the Earth.

Since students who would like to study Kampo medicine more have no opportunity to communicate each other in Northern Japanese Universities, we newly started joint study conferences held by medical students in 2013. The objectives of this paper are to report on these annually held student-based Kampo study conferences in the Hokkaido and Tohoku areas, and the ways each university studies Kampo medicine. In the conference, the students reported on their club activities. Then they studied the history of Kampo medicine and simulation of abdominal diagnosis, and performed group work on case reports together. The number of student participants in these conferences has tripled over 3 years from 18 to 58 (for a total of 111 participants). All members were satisfied with the content. And this reflects medical students' need for a wider perception of Kampo medicine, rather than a limited one gained in their university club activities. We hope this conference will play a major role in other nationwide student-based Kampo study conferences in the years to come.