The author are of the opinion that, for the human two-footed upright walking, the bending (grasping) reflex movement of the sole must be developed. Considering the fact that the formation of the big-toe angle appears in the process of getting skilled in the bending (grasping) reflex movement, the author collected the sole replicas from 1, 546 schoolchildren, and observed them continuously; the author studied the relation of the said movement to the bodily growth and the big-toe angle and obtained the following results. 1) The formation of the big-toe angle is related to the bending (grasping) reflex movement of the big-toe and the second toe, and is accelerated by the development of the movement in the childhood up to the 4th grade in primary school (11 years of age). 2) The appearance of the big-toe angle is influenced by the height and weight of a child, but the relation was not so clear in the male. 3) The Rohrer's index is stable in the 3rd and the 4th grades in primary school both in the male and the female, and during the period the formation of the big-toe angle differs by sex. 4) Among the factors contributing to the formation of the big-toe angle, the body weight is the largest; the big-toe angle will appear when the body weight is beyond the weight-supporting capacity of the sole: that is, the increase of the weight-loading in the unit sole area (1 cm2) causes the formation of the big-toe angle. From the above results, it is pointed out that the big-toe angle closely relates to the increase of the body weight. In the female, the relation is especially clear and the formation of the angle increases the weight-loading capacity of the sole; in the male the foot is strengthened by the increase of the physical strength, and thus the relation is not so clear.

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Agriculture, as an occupation, differs from other occupations in the following respects. First, agricultural works often involve not only farmers but their family members such as wives, children and their old parents even. Secondly, agricultural labor is out-door and seasonal, using a variety of chemicals for agricultural purposes. Their life-style is somewhat conservative and different from others in many respects including their eating habits (Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1977). Thirdly, agriculture is mostly a hereditary occupation, and thus they are very likely natural-born people of their resident districts. It may be important to disclose the cancer incidence or mortality of farmers and their families, who can be regarded to be a characterized population as described above. The importance of this study can be emphasized not only by the fact that agricultural households occupied one-sixth of Japanese total population, but also by the promising possibility of finding some important clues to the study of causes and/or prevention of human cancers. In fact, some cancers have been found to be agriculture-associated; e.g., positive association of stomach cancer (Hirayama, 1971), gallbladder and bile ducts cancer (Tominaga et al., 1979); negative one of colon cancer (Haenszel et al., 1980). Additionally, recent studies in Saitama prefecture revealed that liver (Sasaba and Kubo, 1982) and esophageal cancers showed high odds ratios in farmers and their families. Here the high risk of liver cancer was observed in a restricted area of Saitama. The purpose of the present study is then to analyze the cancer deaths among agricultural households (farming families) in comparison with non-agricultural ones, and to offer useful information and/or suggestion for the research of cancer-related factors in agricultural environments. This study is focused on the farming families of about four million population living in Kanto area, where the climate, geology and soil are rather uniform. The results on Kanto area is compared with those obtained for the whole of Japan, and hence the characteristics of Kanto farming families in cancer deaths will be remarked. In the analysis of cancer deaths, we consider a number of cancer sites and estimated the risk of agricultural life-style for each site, since the agricultural life is characterized not only in an occupational aspect but in many other aspects of living circumstances. We have to examine or confirm the association of those cancers with agriculture which have been suggested so. The examination on many other cancers may also add a new aspect to the traditional concept on this association. It is also meaningful to analyze the agespecific cancer risks of agricultural households. This further analysis answers the two questions: which age group of agricultural households shows a specially high or low risk of cancer; in which ages of the agricultural households the agriculture-linked factor(s) causing a high or low risk of cancer affects on them. The latter is estimated in terms of so-called multistage theory using some reasonable assumptions.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate factors relating to hypertension and the management of hypertension in juvenile populations. A cardiovascular health survey was conducted among 12, 000 university students in Saitama Prefecture. This report is based on the findings of the survey. The results are as follows: 1. The distribution curves for this population, for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, are similar to the Gauss distribution curve. The distribution curves for the seniors, for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, shift to the left, as compared with the curves of the freshmen. 2. Using data obtained in the follow-up survey, the blood pressure of incoming freshmen was correlated with blood pressure in the senior year. Of the students who were in the hypertensive group as freshmen, 35% were still categorized as hypertensive in their senior year. This statistic suggests the possibility that high blood pressure may be fixed from an early stage. 3. ECG findings for 18 year old university students were interpreted, and the frequency distributions were compared with those of junior and senior high school students, and adult populations, as established by the Minnesota code criteria. ECG findings for our population were intermediate in value. 4. According to the mean and standard deviation of the SBP and the DBP, the subjects were classified into 4 groups for examination of distinguishing characteristics. The groups are the hypertensive group (2 SD or more above the mean); borderline hypertensive group (between 1 and 2 SD above the mean); normotensive group (within mean plus or minus 1 SD); hypotensive group (more than 1 SD below the mean). i. In terms of body weight, the Body Mass Index of the hypertensive group is high when compared to the other groups. ii. There is a high frequency of hypertension in the family histories of the hypertensive group. iii. We discovered in ECG diagnosis that the hypertensive group and the borderline hypertensive group showed 1-high voltage and ST-T change more often than the normotensive and the hypotensive groups. 5. In the third year follow up study, we compared the group which maintained high blood pressure with the group which maintained a normotensive status. We found a high frequency of hypertension in the family histories of the hypertensive group. The students in this hypertensive group tended to be overweight both as freshmen, and, at the time of the follow up study, as juniors. This hypertensive group also showed 1-high voltage and ST-T change readings more often.

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