In order to evaluate postgraduate medical education (PGME) in Japan, residents and supervisors of all the postgraduate teaching hospitals (128 university hospitals and 216 non-university hospitals designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare) were surveyed. The purposes of this study were, 1) to compare the goals of PGME set by residents and the achievements of PGME by residents in university hospitals and non-university hospitals, 2) to compare the goals of PGME between residents and supervisors, 3) to identify how clinical skills and knowledge related to the behavioral sciences and social medicine are stressed on PGME. Residents and supervisors received a newly developed questionnaire consisting of 41 items concerning clinical skills and knowledge. The items were divided into four categories: 17 basic areas, 9 allied areas, 12 areas related to the behavioral sciences and social medicine, and 3 areas related to clinical research. The response rate was 52.3% for university hospitals and 75.5% for non-university hospitals. The results are 1) residents in non-university hospitals scored at higher levels than residents in university hospitals for 14 items concerning goals and 11 items of achievements, mainly basic clinical skills and knowledge, 2) there was an incongruence between residents and supervisors for 23 items concerning goals, 3) clinical skills and knowledge related to the behavioral sciences and social medicine were not as highly stressed as other areas of clinical skills and knowledge. This study suggests that more effort is needed to create or improve the system of PGME, especially in university hospitals.

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A direct injection method is described for the determination of bromide ions in plasma and urine by ion chromatography.
After being diluted 10-20 times with eluent, the sample was directly injected into an ion chromatograph equipped with amperometric detection. Calibration curves were obtained in the range of 0.05 to 5μg/ml of bromide ions. The coefficient of variation was calculated to be in the range of 1.3-9.4% for 10 repeated measurements and recovery was over 93%.
The correlation between analytical results by the proposed method (Y) and those by a spectrophotometric method (X) of 169 urine samples in fumigators was expressed by the equation Y=0.952+1.012X (correlation coefficient (r): 0.952). On the other hand, the correlation between analytical results by the proposed method (Y) and those by neutron activation analysis (X) of 47 total-blood samples in fumigators was expressed by the equation Y=1.070+0.841X (correlation coefficient (r): 0.931). The correlation between analytical results by the proposed method (Y) and those by neutron activation analysis (X) of 40 plasma samples in healthy workers was expressed by the equation Y=0.633+0.871X (correlation coefficient (r): 0.955).
The proposed method is much more practical than other methods such as the spectrophtometric method and neutron activation analysis in epidemiological studies, because the proposed method is highly accurate and reproducible over longer periods.
The proposed method is useful in biological fluid monitoring of bromide ions.

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We investigated the condition of the liver in a total of 5486 subjects (3889 males and 1597 females) who received adult-disease screening examinations.
The following results were obtained.
1. Fatty liver was found in 13.9% of the males and 3.8% of the females with a male/female ratio of about 3.7 to 1. In males, the prevalence of fatty liver was lower in those in their 20's than in any other age ranks, while there was little difference in the age range from the 30's to the 50's. In females, the prevalence sharply increased in those in their 50's.
2. The percentage of fatty liver increased with the obesity index in both males and females.
3. With respect to alcohol drinking, the prevalence of fatty liver was not affected by the presence or absence of alcohol drinking, the daily drinking quantity and total drinking quantity.
4. Of those screened for adult disease, 14.7% of the males and 2.7% of the females had abnormal liver function, with a male/female ratio of about 5.4 to 1. In both males and females, the prevalence of fatty liver was higher in those who had abnormal rather than normal liver function.

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Application of Holter electrocardiography to an exercise test for heart function is useful in the group examination of school children.
The circulatory responses to a step test among obese boys and girls and control were as follows:
1. Four cases of arrhythmia were detected, of whom 2 cases were discovered during exercise. ST-segment depression of 0.1mV or more during and after exercise was recognized in 29 cases, 27 of the junctional- and 2 of the sagging slope, with a higher percentage in obese girls than in normal girls.
2. Serial ECG records during the procedure, performed for all children with the same single-step test, showed differences in the circulatory responses among the test groups. The load was estimated to be 76-86% of the maximal heart rate predicted by Cummings, with obese and girl groups being higher than other groups. The comparison revealed that the heart rate (HR) responses to exercise done by the boys increased faster than those by the girls at 1 minute after exercise. There were differences between obese and control and between boys and girls in HR at recovery, and also in HR before and 4 minutes after exercise between two sexs, which findings agree with other reports.
3. Concerning anthropometric factors, either the skinfold thickness or the obesity index was related to the HR at the peak of the exercise as well as immediately after it and to the half time. By contrast, the arm muscle diameter was found unrelated to the HR.
Using this method, applied these combination of Holter ECG and step test to a group examination, we got ECG data for 254 subjects, 97.5% of which were suitable for analysis. We found this method to be effective for detecting ECG changes and for determining HR responses to exercise. This method is safe, simple, and inexpensive and is applicable to examinination not only for school children but also for different population groups, for the estimation of circulatory responses.

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Using the national health insurance bills covering the one-year period from January through December 1987, the morbidity figures for respiratory diseases, conjunctivitis and dermatitis were compared among four local districts; Ushine, Kaikata, Kunugibaru and Shinjo, in the city of Tarumizu. The former two districts are 10km south-east of Mt. Sakurajima supposedly experience higher volcanic ash exposure compared to the latter two located 10 to 15km from this volcano. Results obtained are as follows;
1) Age-adjusted rates of patients' consultations and existing patients were apparently higher in the Ushine and Kaikata districts than in the Kunugibaru and Shinjo districts for non-infectious or infectious respiratory diseases and the common cold. For the rates of other diagnostic categories of disease, i. e., rhinitis, other respiratory diseases, conjunctivitis and dermatitis, a difference between the districts was not clearly noted. These figures are suggestive of an association of volcanic air pollution with an increased number of outpatient consultations for respiratory problems.
2) Variations of monthly clinical consultations for patients with diagnoses of non-infectious or infectious respiratory diseases and the common cold showed a seasonality, being highest in winter and lowest in summer, while another seasonality, highest in summer and lowest in winter, was proved in the variation of monthly clinical consultations for patients with dermatitis. Few or no stable seasonalities were shown in the variations of monthly clinical consultations for patients with the other diseases, studied, rhinitis, other respiratory diseases and conjunctivitis. In addition, the variations in the monthly averages of sulfur dioxide concentrations showed a stable seasonality with the highest peak in winter and the lowest in summer but there was no stable seasonality in the monthly variations of total suspended particles at the place in Arimura for which air pollution data were available. These facts suggest that in the area exposed to volcanic air pollution, the seasonal variation in the number of monthly clinical consultations for respiratory problems is partly modified by the exposure levels of sulfur dioxide rather than total suspended particles, although no adjustments were made for climatologic factors.
3) A few patients diagnosed as having “pneumoconiosis” were found in the Ushine and Kaikata districts. However, it is difficult to interpret these cases without information about occupational and other risk factors for the development of pneumoconiosis.

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Levels of MEP in medaka eggs and the effects of MEP on hatchability were investigated. When medaka eggs were exposed to MEP-containing water, the eggs contained more MEP the higher the MEP concentration of the water, the more advanced the stage of development, and the longer the exposure. The MEP contents accumulated in the eggs were reduced to 2-19% after they were transferred to dechlorinated tap water for 96h. There was a significant correlation between the MEP concentration in the water and the MEP content in the eggs.
When medaka eggs in an early stage of development were exposed to 4ppm MEP for 96h or 64ppm MEP for 6h and were then placed in dechlorinated tap water until hatching, their hatching rates became significantly lower than those of the control, and abnormal fry occurred frequently.
This experiment clarified that increases of MEP in medaka eggs were greatly affected by the MEP concentration in the water, and that the hatching rate was reduced and abnormal fry increased, even though the eggs contained the MEP only temporarily.

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Four groups of rats, with 5 animals in each, were fed a diet to which 1, 2, 4 or 8ppm of methylmercury (MeHg) were added while another group of 5 rats was fed a diet containing no MeHg as a control. Moreover, each rat was daily supplied the same volume of these diets. During the experimental period of 40 days, body weights of the rats were daily checked individually. On day 40, expired air of the rats was collected to analyse for ethane and pentane production, and then the rats were sacrificed to obtain the liver, kidneys, brain and plasma. Thio-barbituric acid (TBA)-reactants in the selective organs and plasma were measured to investigate the effects of MeHg on lipid peroxidation. Further, gaschromatographic analyses of fatty acids were carried out on the samples of the selective organs and plasma to examine the effects of MeHg on lipid metabolism. Results obtained were as follows:
1. The fifth day after the experiment started, the growth rates of the groups fed a diet containing MeHg (the MeHg groups) were higher than those of the control group. Moreover, the growth rates tended to increase with increases of MeHg concentrations in food from days 25 to 32 of the experimental period. Furthermore, the weights of the kidneys increased with increases in MeHg concentrations in food.
2. The amounts of expired ethane and pentane did not increase proportionally with increases in MeHg concentrations in food but those of expired ethane and pentane were higher in the MeHg groups than in the control group.
3. Higher concentrations of TBA-reactants in the liver, kidneys and brain, and plasma, except for the liver of the group fed a diet with 1ppm of MeHg added, were observed in the MeHg groups when compared to the control group. The concentrations of TBA-reactants in the kidneys increased with increases in MeHg concentrations in food.
4. The concentrations of polyenic acid of the ω-3 series (ω-3) in plasma and those of the ω-6 series (ω-6) in the liver increased, while those of monoenic acids in the kidneys decreased with increases in MeHg concentrations in food. In the organs and plasma, except for in the brain, the correlation coefficients between the concentration of polyenic acid and the concentration of the reference TBA-reactants were not significant.
5. The ratios of linolate/arachidate both in plasma and in the liver, monoenic acids/saturated acids in the kidneys, and arachidate/docosatetraenoate in the brain were decreased with increases in MeHg concentrations in food, while those of ω-3/ω-6 in plasma were increased with that factor.
6. The possible induction of lipid peroxidation and the changes of fatty acid composition in the organs and plasma by methylmercury was discussed in relation to the mechanism by which the development of neurological disturbance in MMC poisoning might occur.

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In this study, it is supposed that the human recognition system for odor intensity can be classified into systems of physiological intensity and sensory intensity. The former is the intensity based on the physiological response to olfaction, the latter is the intensity dependent on psychological properties such as odor qualities and odor hedonics.
The purpose of this study is to make clear the relationship between physiological intensity and sensory intensity. In this paper, therefore, the quantitative relationships between all physiological intensities of odorous compounds were evaluated in experimental subjects by means of the sensory similarity test, and the impacts of the odor hedonics on the sensory intensity were examined based on the correlations between the measured sensory intensities and the hedonics of all subjects.
As a result, it was confirmed that a linear relation was established between the psychological impacting factor α, which was the ratio of the sensory intensity to the physiological intensity, and odor hedonics. It was also estimated that methylamine had a maximum physiological intensity and ethyl isobuthyrate a minimum one based on the equivalent sensory intensity.

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The anti-mutagenic effects of human saliva were examined by the umu-test. The SOS-inducible DNA-damaging activity of AF-2 was markedly decreased by pre-treatment with human fresh saliva. The anti-mutagenic activity of human saliva was retained even after the filtration (0.45μm). This activity was also observed after 24hr-storage at 10°C or -12°C. These results were consistent with previous reports using Ames tests. Significant differences in the activity, however, were observed between sample donors and between experiments with the same sample donor. Further analyses of the effects of the factors contained in saliva as well as the effects of life-styles, including dietary-habits of sample donors will be necessary.

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The effects of cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) on the humoral immune response were studied by two indexes of specific IgM antibody production against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and polyclonal IgG antibody production in the spleens of mice intraperitoneally injected with cobalt chloride or nickel chloride.
An experiment for the effect of both metals on specific IgM production was carried out by measuring IgM plaque-forming cells in the spleens of mice intraperitoneally injected with both metal salts using 1/10, 1/100 or 1/200 of LD₅₀ for i. p. injection three times every other day and were immunized with SRBC on the day of the last injection of each metal salt. The other experiment for the effect of both metals on polyclonal IgG production was done by measuring, on days +3 or +6 in relation to the last injection of metal salts, polyclonal IgG-forming cells in the spleens of mice injected with both metal salts using 1/10 or 1/100 of LD₅₀ for i. p. injection three times every other day by the reverse plaque-forming method.
The following results may be drawn from this study:
1. Co may cause changes in the homeostasis of humoral immune response even more than affecting the immune system with immunotoxicity as antigenicity.
2. On the other hand, Ni may have antigenicity even more than an acting as immunomodulator influencing the immune system.

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The author conducted an experimental study of the cell differentiation inducibility of some environmental chemical substances which currentry draw attention because of their influences on the human body, using an azaguanine-resistant PCC4 cell line, a clone derived from mouse teratocarcinoma OTT 6050. Cells in monolayer culture or suspension culture were exposed to the test substances and the survival and morphological changes of the cells were determined.
It was extremely rare that embryonal carcinoma cells exposed and cultured in a monolayer showed differentiation in the control group, with the rate of both epithelial cell-like and fibroblast-like morphological changes being less than 1%. Cells cultured in normal medium following exposure and incubation in suspension culture showed various patterns of differentiation according to the type and concentration of the test substance.
In the cell groups exposed to mono, di-methylformamide, fibroblast-like differentiation was observed most frequently, while little or no epithelial differentiation was seen. These findings were in contrast to those observed in the cell groups exposed to mono, di-methylacetamide.
For dimethyl sulfoxide it is considered that there is a relatively limited range of optimal concentration for differentiation induction within the concentration range which is free from cell toxicity. Polybrene and diethylene glycol were proven to have low differentiation inducibility.
As to the differentiation induction potency of extracts (tar) of granules in exhausts from light-duty (4 cylinder) and heavy-duty (6 cylinder) diesel engines, no concentration-response relation was seen for the differentiation inducibility of light-duty tar and no constant tendency was observed for heavy-duty tar. However, for epithelial differentiation both light-duty tar and heavy-duty tar showed dose-response relations.
It is currently difficult to interpret completely the significance of differentiation inducibility. However, from the viewpoint of the effect on genes it is doubtlessly not unrelated to mutation, carcinogenecity and aging. It will be useful therefore, to perform this kind of experiment in the future also on selected environmental chemical substances.

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A five-year study of persons aged 65 years and over in a Japanese rural area was conducted to examine associations of health practices and the social aspects of life with mortality. Age- and sex- related changes in the associations were examined. For health practices, constipation among men aged 75 years and over, and never or not annually receiving checkups among women aged 75 years and over were associated with increased mortality risk after adjustment for the initial subjective health status. In contrast to no associations between the social aspects of life and mortality among women aged 65-74 years, social aspects of life were more predictive of mortality than subjective health status and health practices among women aged 75 years and over. In this group, having neither a job nor a family role, membership in a group for the elderly while participating only in group tours and/or lecture meetings or without attending any of the regular activities, and infrequent contact with friends were associated with increased mortality. Among men, increased mortality risk was associated with membership in a group for the elderly while participating only in group tours and/or lecture meetings in the 65-74 year-old group.

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