Fifty-nine school children at Wat Kau Khum (WKK) School, Chiang Mai Province, and 52 children and their parents under the care of the Comprehensive Child Care Clinic (CCCC), Chiang Mai University were tested for HBsAg and anti-HBc in their blood. Eighteen HBsAg-positive specimens were tested also for HBeAg and anti-HBe. Determinations of the HBV-serological markers were done by using the enzyme-linded immunosorbent assay (ELISA) . HBsAg was found in 27.0% (17/63) of the children at WKK, in 7.6% (4/53) of the children and 5.4% (3/56) of the parents at CCCC. Twenty percent (3/15) of HBsAg-positive children at WKK were HBeAg-positive. Anti-HBc was positive in 45.0% of the children at WKK and in 47.3 to 52.0% of the children and parents at CCCC, but percentages of anti-HBc positive were estimated at 86.7% for WKK and 84.6 to 93.9% for CCCC, if border-line values were referred to as positive. This means more than 50% of the study subjects had a history of HBV infection. Study on paired sera from children and parents at CCCC revealed that 92.0% (46/50) of the children from HBsAg-negative parents were free from the antigen, and 68.0% (17/25) of the children from anti-HBc-positive parents were positive for the antibody, whereas only 20.0% (1/5) of the children from anti-HBc-negative parents had the antibody.

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Serum glutamate dehydrogenase activity (SGLDH), an enzyme distributed higher in the centrilobular zone of the liver, was determined to assess liver damage among patients with acute myocardial infarction. Forty-one patients, of whom 20 had congestive heart failure, were subjected to the present study. SGLDH was elevated in 23 out of 41 patients (56.1%) . SGOT and SGPT were elevated in 100 and 73.2% of patients, respectively. In 9 patients in whom SGLDH was determined serially, the peak SGLDH elevation was observed 9h after the onset of AMI. The elevation occurred earlier than that of SGOT. There was a significant correlation between SGLDH and the magnitude of congestive heart failure according to Killip & Kimball's classification. Further, SGLDH correlated significantly with central venous pressure. It was found that episodes of lifethreatening arrhythmia also contributed to the elevation of SGLDH besides congestive heart failure and/or cardiogenic shock.
The results suggest that the measurement of SGLDH is useful in the early diagnosis of centrilobular damage in the liver due to circulatory disturbance among patients with AMI.

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Sera from 1523 persons, aged 0-72 years, were examined in Chiang Mai province and Bangkok in Thailand by the Society for Medical Research in South-East Asia, Nippon Medical School in 1977-1982. These sera were studied by the micro cell culture method to determine the polio neutralizing antibody titer using Vero cells.
1) Except in the children at CCCC (Comprehensive Child Care Clinic, Chiang Mai University), who had been 100% immunized with OPV, polio antibodies (titer≥1: 4) to type 1 virus were detected in 86.5%, antibodies to type 2 in 86.0%, and antibodies to type 3 in 80.5%. These figures correspond to those of the tropical countries.
2) Except Chiang Mai 1982 CCCC the percentages of sera with positive antibody (≥1: 4) were low (0-40%) in all three types of poliovirus at the age of 1 year old; then it rose to 100% at the age of 4 years old in type 1, 90.6% at the age of 8 years in type 2 and 66.8% at the age of 5 years in type 3. Among those who were older, the percentages ranging 75-100% were observed in each type Of polioviruses.
3) Except Chiang Mai 1982 CCCC geometric mean antibody titers (log₂ GM) of the sera with a positive polio neutralizing antibody to type 1 were 3.78 at the age of 1-12 months old, 6.00 at 1-5 years, 5.45-5.87 at older than 6 years; the mean titers in type 2 were 6.07 at 1-12 months old, 5.91 at 1-5 years old, 5.59-6.21 at older than 6 years; those in type 3 were 3.14 at 1-12 months old, 5.35 at 1-5 years old, 4.49-4.79 at 6-19 years old 4.87-6.81 at older than 20 years.
4) A significant difference of the percentage of sera with a positive antibody (≥1: 4) was not observed between 1977 and 1978 at Raming Tea Plantation, and between 1981 and 1982 at WKK. Geometric mean titer of the sera with the positive antibody against type 2 poliovirus was lower in 1978 than in 1977 in over 20 year old in Raming Tea Plantation; and it was lower in 1982 than in 1981 in the 10-16 year old age group in WKK.
5) The percentage of sera with a positive antibody from children in Chiang Mai 1977, 1978 was high, and the percentages were different in different groups of children from the highland.
6) Antibody positive rate of the children in the control group of CCCC was high in comparison with a group from the Chiang Mai suburbs who had no record of immunization with OPV. On the other hand, the geometric mean titer of the latter group was higher than the former group. This high antibody positive rate with low geometric mean titer observed in the children in the control group of CCCC reflects the effect of the OPV immunization.
7) Surveys of polio antibody in 628 serum samples from children at CCCC who had been immunized in a more intensive immunization program than that of the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, showed that the antibody positive rate against type 2 poliovirus was high and the rate of children having antibodies against all of the three types (complete protection) was also high. This immunity status corresponds to that of vaccinated people in other countries.
8) There was no significant correlation between the children in the control group of CCCC and the their parents on the polio neutralizing antibody titers.
9) After pulse OPV immunization of 25 children who had not received any artificial immunization in Chiang Mai, allof them had antibodies (≥1: 4) in their sera and the geometric mean titers of the sera with positive antibody to each type of poliovirus were significantly higher than the control group.
The percentage that showed a fourfold rise or more was significantly higher than the control group in type 2 and type 3 poliovirus.
10) A low poliovirus antibody positive rate was observed among students and teachers at the Vocational School in Chiang Mai. This might be due to the fact that 94.4% of the blood donors were females.

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Comparison was made on the influenza epidemic over the November 1983 to March 1984 period between the Tokyo area and the rest of Japan. The results obtained are summarized as follows:
1) A peak of prevalence of influenza was observed in the whole country over a period from the end of January to the beginning of February in 1984. This tendency was essentially the same as that noticed in recent years.
2) In the Tokyo area, however, such a peak was seen in December, or the 50th week, in 1983. There was a remarkable chronological difference in the appearance of such a peak between this area and the rest of Japan.
3) Virologically surveyed, the epidemic was caused by an influenza virus of Russian type A in the Tokyo area, as well as in the country at large.
The chronological difference mentioned in item 2 was studied meteorologically with the climatic conditions in the Fukuoka area as controls. As a result, the following findings were obtained:
4) Judging from the average atmospheric temperature in past years, that in the present epidemic period was unusually low in both Tokyo and Fukuoka areas. There was no significant difference in the average temperature in this period between the two areas.
5) Comparison was made on the number of days (in November and December, 1983) when the average relative humidity was less than 50% between the two areas. As a result, the number was significantly larger in the Tokyo area in these months than in the same area in both months of any other year free from an epidemic of influenza or in the Fukuoka area in the winter of 1983.
6) The number of days in January, February, and March when the average relative humidity exeeeded 60% was significantly larger in the Tokyo area in the 1983-1984 epidemic period than in any ordinary year.
The present study indicates the existence of a remarkable relationship between the number of days will less than 50% in average relative humidity and the occurrence of the the peak of prevalence of influenza.

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In an effort to elucidate the mechanism of mitochondriogenesis in the liver, the author has intended to examine a possible role of the proteases in mitochondria in regulating the mitochondrial protein metabolism. In the present experiment the existence of a proteolytic activity in the matrix of liver mitochondria of the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana, was revealed and the properties of this activity were characterized. The results obtained are as follows;
1) A proteolytic activity was found in the mitoplast lysates freed from lysosomal contamination. When the lysates were separated into the matrix and innermembrane fractions, the activity was mostly recovered from the former fraction.
2) The activity when assayed at pH 8.5 was largely inhibited by the treatment of the matrix with 1 mM iodoacetamide, suggesting that a thiol protease is responsible for the majority of this activity.
3) The activity was also inhibited by protease inhibitors such as leupeptin, antipain, chymostatin and E 64-C but not by pepstatin at all. No metal ions were found to be involved in the activity.
4) Among a variety of chemical reagents known to react with amino acid residues, iodoacetamide, dithionitrobenzoate and p-chloromercuribenzoate were effective for inhibiting the activity, while diethylpyrocarbonate and phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride were ineffective.
5) Addition of a series of hydrocarbon compounds, ethylene glycol, glycerol, Triton X-100, sodium lauryl sulfate and polyethylene glycol, to the assay mixture revealed that the activity was decreased with increasing of the chain length of the compounds, implying that the enzyme would be more active in hydrophilic than in hydrophobic environments in situ.
6) When the mitochondrial proteins, glutamate dehydrogenase, cytochrome c and cytochrome c oxidase and cytochrome c oxidase in the inner mitochondrial membrane, were subjected to hydrolysis by this activity, only purified cytochrome c oxidase was found to be degraded prominently.

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To evaluate the relationship between hemodynamics and hormonal factors as a basis for impaired glucose tolerance associated with acute myocardial infarction, blood glucose (BS), insulin (IRI), glucagon (IRG) and catecholamine (CA) were measured in 47 patients during the 48 hours after attack.
BS values were correlated closely to Killip's classification of severity according to clinical signs (r=0.632, p<0.01). A significant correlation was also observed between BS and hemodynamic parameters; i. e. there were positive linear relations between BS values and heart rate (r=0.376, p<0.01), central venous pressure (r=0.440, p<0.001) respectively, and inverse correlation between BS values and cardiac index (r=-0.366, p<0.01), stroke volume index (r=-0.470, p<0.001), respectively. According to multiple correlation analysis performed to clarify these relations, increased BS level was especially related to a reduced stroke volume index.
IRI and IRG levels were higher in patients with cardiogenic shock than patients without shock. Furthermore, both values were closely related to central venous pressure, suggesting that congestion of the liver might play an important role in the mechanism of hyperinsulinemia or hyperglucagonemia after acute myocardial infarction.
As well as BS, CA values were higher in cases with more severe pump failure and also correlated to Killip's classification (r=0.509, p<0.01) . In all cases, CA values were most closely related to heart rate. However, in cases without a history of diabetes mellitus the values were related to stroke volume index.
Calculated actual values of BS, IRI, IRG and CA which can discriminate abnormal hemodynamics from normal (increased central venous pressure and/or reduced stroke volume index), were 210mg/dl, 32iu/ml, 372pg/ml and 0.77ng/ml, respectively. In patients whose hormonal factors exceeded the discriminative values above mentioned, 80-94 per cent of cases had abnormal cardiac function and the rate of death was 36-53 pex cent.
It is suggested that abnormal hemodynamics associated acute myocardial infarction may result in circulatory disturbance of the pancreas and the liver in combination with a high level of CA, and impaired secretion and degradation of IRI, IRG or both. Such mechanisms may be important factors in the appearance of hyperglycemia in acute myocardial infarction.

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Tinea cruris, one kind of superficial dermatophyte infection, was examined by removing the skin with adhesive tape from the upper layer to the lower layer of the affected horny layer. The specimens obtained were subjected to scanning microscopic observation in order to determine the parasitic forms of fungi.
The results may be summarized as follows:
1) Long hyphae were seen in the upper horny layer with marked branching. Intervals between septa became shorter in the middle to lower horny layers. Segmentation was more marked, and arthrospores were recognized in the lower horny layer.
2) It was assumed that changes in the shape of dermatophytes in the horny layer are based on the hostparasite relationship, and fungi are present as hyphae→spores→hyphae according to the enviroment. The life cycle within the horny layer was established to perpetuate the infection.
3) Dermatophytes completely invaded the horny cell layer, or developed by building tunnels in the horny layer. However, fungi were not only found in the intercellular space.
4) After removal of the fungi invading the horny layer, grooves corresponding to the presence of the fungi could be observed, and it was assumed that fungi are not lodged tightly in the horny cells.

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[in Japanese]

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