Electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectrum changes induced by pleasant music (2-min. fractions of 6 samples of music [famous classical and commercially available “αmusic” at 10-sec. intervals]) were investigated in relation to changes in 16 kinds of psychosomatic feelings. Subjects were 42 healthy young people aged 18-25yrs. Ttwo major components, “pleasant & relaxed” and “calm”, were extracted through principal component analysis of the feeling changes, both of which were related to the “relaxation effects” of the music. These component scores were not related to the changes of EEG powers in the δ, θ, α and β frequency components in 6 regions (frontal, parietal and occipital regions of the left and right hemispheres), when examined separately.
However, the change of the total δ power for all the regions was significantly associated with both the “pleasant & relaxed” and “calm” component scores. The association between the total θ power change and “calm” score was found to be insignificant if the type-A personality variable was added to their regression model. On the other hand, the α-peak frequency was inversely related to the decrease of the “calm” score in the left occipital region (LO). The reduction of the α-peak power in the LO was also significant, and was associated not with the α-peak frequency changes but inversely with the “calm” score, although these α-component changes were not shown to be modified by the personality.
Thus, the present study suggests, as a preliminary finding, that the “relaxation effects” of pleasant music can be associated with the EEG power spectrum component changes, especially with the change in the total θ power and possibly with that in the α power in the occipital, and the frequency shift of the peak in the α-range. Some of the associations were also shown to vary for the type-A personality, suggesting a clue to relating the personality to a differential stress-related psychosomatic trait, although the physiological significance of the changes in the low-frequency component range as well as those in the α-frequency component, which are obtained through FFT, should be further clarifed.

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The relationships among daily physical activity, physical fitness and the risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) were studied comparing 477 premenopausal women (36.1±7.6yr) and 178 naturally postmenopausal women (56.7±5.8yr). The results were as follows.
1) No relationship between physical fitness and daily activity level was found in either groups.
2) In premenopausal women, daily activity was associated with blood pressure, triglycerides (TG) and blood sugar only in the low-fitness group. But there was no relation between risk factors and the level of daily activity in the high-fitness group.
3) In postmenopausal women, the low-fitness group showed increasing TC/HDLC and decreasing HDLC associated with the low daily activity. TC, LDLC and TC/HDLC were lower in the high-fitness-with-high-daily-activity group than in the high-fitness-with-low-daily-activity group.
4) In both groups, the levels of TG and TC/HDLC were lower in the high-fitness group than in the low-fitness group. This suggests that serum lipids have a closer relation to fitness than to daily activity.
These results indicate that the relationships among daily activity, physical fitness and CHD risk factors are different in menopausal status, and that daily activity is one of the most important factors to reduce CHD risk factors, especially in unfit or postmenopausal women.

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We report a comparative study of the Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR) for circulatory system diseases and diet in a rural town and a fishing town in Kyoto Prefecture. SMR was assessed during the 5-year period from 1983 through 1987, and compared with the standard age- and sex-adjusted demographic and mortality statistics compiled by the National Census Bureau of Japan in 1985. A food frequency questionnaire in which the respondents evaluated their food consumption during the previous 1-year period was used to assess diet. The questionnaire was administered during February 1989 in the rural town and during February 1990 in the fishing town. In comparison with the standard statistics, SMR was higher in the rural town and lower in the fishing town. The inhabitants of the fishing town more frequently consumed low-fat and low-sodium foods, such as fish, potatoes, tofu, and green, yellow and other vegetables, and less frequently consumed high-fat and high-sodium foods, such as meat, fried food, pickles, than did the inhabitants of the rural town. The residents of the fishing town also consumed a greater variety of foods in one week. The two towns differ in geography and economic structure, and their inhabitants have different life-styles and eating habits. The lower SMR for circulatory system diseases in the fishing town may be related to the greater consumption of fish and vegetables with lower meat and salt intake, as well as the balanced of diet.

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Geographical differences in the seasonal variation in mean birth weight (MBW) were examined by a traditional time series analysis based on the birth data of 47 different prefectures in Japan for the period from January 1974 to December 1983.
The general pattern on the seasonality in MBW has two peaks in spring and autumn, and two troughs in summer and winter.
There is a general trend in the seasonality with the autumn-peak-dominant pattern observed in the northern part of Japan (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kita-Kanto) giving way to the spring-peak-dominant pattern in the southwest.
Another interesting finding is that there is high statistical significance as a general tendency, in the seasonality among immensely populated prefectures such as Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka, and Fukuoka, while in the case of scarcely populated rural prefectures, the time series fluctuates almost randomly.
Some socio-cultural and biometeorological hypotheses were evaluated to explain these results.

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This study was carried out to examine the effects of forced running exercise on the immune functions of male ICR mice. Mice aged 4 weeks were divided into two groups: a non-exercise group (control) and a group given forced running exercise (exercise group). The exercise applied was forced running at 15m/min on a flat floor without any slope for 60min a day. The duration of exercise was 5 days per week for 12 weeks.
The results obtained were as follows:
1) After 12 weeks of forced running exercise, the weight of the anterior tibialis muscle and succinate dehydrogenase activity in the anterior tibialis muscle increased significantly (p<0.01) in the exercise group compared with the control group. A tendency for thymus weight to increase was shown in the exercise group, and liver and spleen weights were significantly (p<0.01) greater than in the control group.
2) The potentiation of phagocytic function of the reticulo-endothelial system, examined by the carbon clearance method, was seen in the exercise group.
3) The ability of peritoneal macrophages (Mφ) to phagocytose latex beads significantly increased (p<0.01) in the exercise group. The acid phosphatase activity of peritoneal Mφ remained in both groups. However, lactate dehydrogenase activity of peritoneal Mφ significantly increased (p<0.01) in the exercise group compared with the control group.
4) The proliferation of splenocytes induced by Con A in the exercise group significantly increased (p<0.01) compared with the control group.
These results suggested that endurance training could enhance immune functions and might also intensify the function of the host defense system in mice.

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We investigated age-related changes in the capacity for tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production in young and aged inbred C3H/He mice by injecting them with OK-432, a biological response modifier (BRM). An intravenous injection of 0.4mg of OK-432 was found to induce TNF production and two consecutive injections of 2KE of OK-432 induced much higher TNF production.
Both the single and two consecutive injections of OK-432 induced significantly higher TNF production in aged mice than in young ones. Furthermore, the TNF-productive response to the two consecutive injections of OK-432 seemed to increase with aging. Male mice tended to show a marginally higher TNF-productive response than females. The mechanism by which aged mice have a higher capacity for TNF production is not clear. The following possibilities are conceivable. 1) Macrophages which are major TNF producer cells may be activated in aged mice. 2) Specific T cells which are cross-reactive to antigenic determinants in OK-432 may be increased in number in aging mice and activate macrophages effectively to produce TNF when stimulated by OK-432. In general, immunological functions tend to decline with aging. Our present results, however, suggest that by using an appropriate BRM we may be able to induce higher TNF production in the aged. This might lead to effective prevention and therapy for tumors, which increase in incidence with age.

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This study examined alterations in the degree of exposure to cold and the pulmonary arterial pressure in awake, catheter-implanted rats. Seven male Wistar rats weighing 280 to 300g were used. Two special hand-made catheters were inserted into the pulmonary artery and the level of the aortic arch, respectively. Each animal was exposed once to each of four cold temperatures, i. e. 5, 0, -5 and -10°C, and 25°C temperature. Acute cold exposures produced significant increases in pulmonary arterial pressure (p<0.05). Pulmonary arterial pressure and the ratio of pulmonary arterial pressure to systemic arterial pressure increased gradually with exposure to decreasing temperatures (p<0.05). These results indicate the possible significance of greater cold exposure in the increased occurrence of high altitude sickness, such as high altitude pulmonary edema. Further work is necessary to investigate the direct relation between cold-induced pulmonary arterial pressure increments and high altitude pulmonary edema.

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We measured the contents of aluminum and manganese in tea leaves and tea infusions by means of various standardized infusion conditions, and by using flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and investigated the influence of infusion conditions on the elution of aluminum and manganese into the tea infusions. Furthermore, we tried to estimate the daily intake of aluminum and manganese due to drinking tea infusions. The content of aluminum in tea leaves was 1420μg/g in case of wulong tea, 576μg/g in black tea, and 520μg/g in green tea. The content of manganese was 1440μg/g in the case of wulong tea, 670μg/g in green tea, and 535μg/g in black tea. The concentration of aluminum in tea infusions was 1.49-5.58μg/ml in wulong tea, 0.90-4.92μg/ml in green tea, and 0.64-4.35μg/ml in black tea. The concentration of manganese was 1.75-6.67μg/ml in green tea, 0.94-4.04μg/ml in wulong tea, and 0.78-3.24μg/ml in black tea. The ratio of the molar concentration of aluminum to that of manganese was 1-2: 1 In tea leaves, and 1-5: 1 in tea infusions. In the case of elevated-temperature infusion, increases of the concentrations of aluminum and manganese in tea infusions were recognized. By repeating infusion three times according to the standard method for ingredient analysis of food, 18-29% of the total content of aluminum in tea leaves was eluted, and 12-29% of the total content of manganese was eluted. It was found that there were some components that were easy and others that were difficult to elute in both aluminum and manganese compounds. Almost all contents of aluminum and manganese that were easily eluted were eluted by the first and second infusion. Aluminum was easily eluted in case of black tea, while manganese was easily eluted in the case of green tea. From the tea infusions of 500ml, the estimated intake of aluminum was 1.4-2.1mg/day, and that of manganese was 1.2-2.9mg/day, and they were estimated to be 31-47% of aluminum intake and 32-79% of manganese intake from food.

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The effect of one-shot or repeated treatment with methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) on lipid peroxidation and cytochrome P-450 in mouse liver was examined. One-shot treatment at the 500mg/kg dose level caused a transient decrease in leukocyte number after 24h. An increased level of lipid peroxide was observed in the liver homogenates 24h after one-shot treatment and four weeks of repeated 200mg/kg treatment.
The hepatic cytochrome P-450 content increased after one and four weeks of repeated treatment (50, 200mg/kg). On the other hand, the treatment did not affect glutathione content and glutathione-S-transferase activity. These results indicate that MTBE treatment caused lipid peroxidation in the liver homogenate and induction of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 content.

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We examined the relationship between the ambulatory variability and the laboratory reactivity of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) in 21 male college students. The mean increase during the waking period from that during sleep was defined as variability 1, and the standard deviation of the ambulatory measurements during waking was defined as variability 2. The reactivity to laboratory tests was measured by the pretask-to-task increase in variables. The high SBP variability 1 group showed a significantly higher reactivity of SBP and noradrenaline in the bicycle exercise test (70w). This suggests the possibility that SBP variability 1, can be predicted by increased reactivity to a mild limb exercise test. The high HR variability 1 group, and the high SBP variability 2 group showed significantly lower reactivity of stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO) in the cold face test. Thus, parasympathetic responses such as trigeminal-brainstem-vagal pathway function or baroreflex sensitivity seemed to be reduced in these groups. The high DBP variability 2 group showed significantly lower DBP reactivity in the cold face test, and low noradrenaline reactivity in the mental arithmetic test, which indicated a reduced α-adrenergic response in this group. No other significant differences in reactivity to the laboratory mental stress tests were found between the variability 1 and variability 2 groups.

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