In the present study, 40- to 60-year-old women with climacteric symptoms were placed on a 12-week structured education and exercise program to ascertain the effects of this program on climacteric symptoms, quality of life (QOL), and attitude towards exercise. A total of 35 women served as subjects. Twenty women were enrolled in an educational and exercise program that involved learning about menopause and participating in physical activity at least three times a week (Group E). For comparison, the other 15 women did not participate in this program and were instructed to refrain from exercising during study period (Group C). The effects of the 12-week interventional program on climacteric symptoms, QOL, and attitude towards exercise were thereby investigated. The program demonstrated significant effects on climacteric symptoms in terms of Kupperman index and psychosomatic symptoms, especially paresthesia and nervousness. In other words, climacteric symptoms improved significantly in Group E. Furthermore, scores for QOL and attitude towards exercise improved in Group E after the 12-week program; however, these trends did not reach statistical significance. Hence, the 12-week structured education and exercise program was shown to be effective in alleviating climacteric symptoms.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a safety hat on thermal responses and work efficiency under a high temperature environment. Five healthy male subjects participated in the repeated ‘Rest’ and ‘Exercise’ periods in order to compare a safety hat without holes (annoted as ‘without hole’) and a safety hat with holes (annoted as ‘with hole’) in a climatic chamber of 30°C, 50%RH.
The main findings are as follows: (a) the core temperature (tympanic temperature) and heart rate showed significantly lower levels in the subjects who are under the ‘with hole’ condition than those who are under the ‘without hole’ condition; (b) the forehead skin temperature was significantly higher in the subjects who are under the ‘without hole’ condition than those who ar uder the ‘with hole’ condition; (c) blood pressure was significantly lower in the ‘with hole’ condition; and (d) sweat rate which was measured by weight loss before and after the experiment was higher in the ‘without hole’ condition; and (e) work ability which was measured by a grip strength dynamometer was higher in the ‘with hole’ condition.
Making a hole in the safety hat, designed for proper ventilation and hygiene, is practical in letting out heat and decreasing the physiological burden under a hot working environment. The safety hat with holes is useful in maintaining the homeostasis of the body temperature by releasing body heat efficiently and it is meaningful to keep the working efficiency.

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Body sizes at birth are important clinical indicators widely used for evaluation of prenatal growth. Japan had significant socioeconomic improvement around the 1960s, and these environmental changes may influence physiologically prenatal growth. Furthermore, in Japan, measurements of size at birth for birth certificates are weight and height. Thus, we can refer to annual data on weight and height, but not on head and chest circumference at birth. In this study we measured the weight, height, and head and chest circumference at birth among 6,563 Japanese singleton healthy infants, annually in 1962 and 1988, and examined secular trends of these anthropometric measurements. The boys consistently exceeded the girls in all four variables. Birth weight and height increased significantly from the 1960s to '70s, but did not differ between the '70s and '80s in both boys and girls. Secular trends of head and chest circumference were different from them. In both boys and girls, head and chest circumference increased significantly from the '60s to the '70s, but decreased significantly from the '70s to the '80s. No difference of head circumference during the '60s and '80s was found, but the difference of chest circumference was found. Size at birth was likely to increase from the '60s to '70s in Japan. These findings suggest that the environmental changes such as socioeconomic improvements influence the prenatal growth.

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The effects of habitual cigarette smoking on cardiorespiratory responses to sub-maximal and maximal work were evaluated in nine adult nonsmokers and nine smokers with a mean age of 33 yr. A maximal treadmill test was followed by three tests at 45, 60 and 75% of each subject's VO₂max. Compared to nonsmokers, the habitual smokers had a non-significantly lower VO₂max in L/min and per lean body mass (9 and 6%, respectively), but had higher %fat (p<0.01), resulting in a significantly lower VO₂max per kg body wt (13%, p<0.03). Maximal exercise ventilation (V_E) was 16% lower in smokers. During sub-maximal work at equivalent exercise stress levels in the two groups, the V_E/VO₂ ratio was higher in smokers by an average of 11% because VO₂ was lower and the respiratory exchange ratio values were significantly elevated in smokers at 75% of VO₂max. Blood lactate concentrations in smokers were higher as workloads increased and O₂ pulse (VO₂/HR) was significantly lower throughout, indicating reduced O₂ extraction, probably due to carbon monoxide. The resting HR was significantly higher in smokers and the HR recovery following all three submaximal exercises was significantly slower in smokers. These results show that detrimental cardiorespiratory effects of chronic cigarette smoking in apparently healthy individuals are evident at moderate exercise levels as reduced gas exchange efficiency in lungs and muscles.

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