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[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine whether an inclination towards exercise and the level of physical activity influences quality of life (QOL) of predialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). [Subjects] The subjects were 74 predialysis CKD patients. [Method] We investigated age, gender, employment, physical activities (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), QOL (SF-36 health survey), inclination towards exercise in these individuals, and looked for relationships among the items. The patients were divided into 2 groups, namely, the high physical activity group and the low physical activity group, on the basis of the amount they exercised and the exercise standard 2006. We compared age, gender, employment, physical activity, renal function, and QOL measures between the 2 groups. [Result] There were no significant correlations between physical activities, inclination towards exercise and QOL. Notably, however, the age and mental components of QOL were significantly higher among patients in the high physical activity group than among patients in the low physical activity group. [Conclusion] These results suggest that a high level of physical activity may affect the mental component of QOL in predialysis CKD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article surveys the history of English studies and education in Japan, paying special attention to the role of literary texts and stylistics. Firstly, the role of literature and stylistics in Japan is discussed from a pedagogical point of view, including both English as a foreign language and Japanese as a native language. Secondly, the way in which stylistics has contributed to literary criticism in the country is examined, with reference to the history of literary stylistics since 1980. Finally, this article considers further applications of stylistics to language study in Japan, offering two examples: analysis of thought presentation in Yukio Mishima’s Megami (2006[1955]), and the teaching of an English poem and a Japanese haiku to Japanese EFL students. The overall aim of this article is to demonstrate that literature as language teaching material and stylistics as a critical and teaching method are significant not only in understanding English, but also in appreciating our own native language if it is not English. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]