Antioxidant activity of green tea extract or tea-derived polyphenols has been extensively studied. However, antioxidant activity in the non-polyphenolic fraction of green tea has been poorly analyzed. In the present study, we analyzed the antioxidant activity of the non-polyphenolic fraction of the residual green tea (Camellia sinensis) after hot water extraction using the aluminum chloride method. The non-polyphenolic fraction of residual green tea caused a significant suppression against hydroperoxide generation from oxidized linoleic acid in a dose-dependent manner. When the concentrate of the non-polyphenolic fraction was applied to a silica gel TLC plate and developed, six color spots were observed, which were considered to be chlorophylls a and b, pheophytins a and b, carotenoids, such as β-carotene and lutein according to their specific colors, Rf values of silica gel TLC and spectrophotometric properties. Among these pigments, pheophytins a and b showed relatively abundant amounts, and the second major group of the pigment was chlorophylls a and b, and carotenoids such as β-carotene and lutein indicated lower concentrations. Although all these pigments exhibited significant antioxidant activities, the ranks of suppressive activity against hydroperoxide generation were chlorophyll a > lutein > pheophytin a > chlorophyll b > β-carotene > pheophytin b. These results suggest that the non-polyphenolic fraction of residual green tea has a potent suppressive activity against hydroperoxide generation from oxidized linoleic acid, which is derived from the antioxidant activities of chlorophylls a and b, pheophytins a and b, β-carotene and lutein. This finding also implys that the combined intake of polyphenols in water-soluble fraction and antioxidative pigments in the non-polyphenolic fraction of green tea will be more efficient to prevent life style-related chronic diseases.

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This survey of 84 companies described the present status of occupational health management of VDT workers in Japan, in relation to the official Guideline (Guidelines on Occupational Health for VDT Work, 1985). The majority admitted 80% or more of their workers engage in VDT works. Four hours of VDT work per day was widely used as a criteria for the eligibility to the VDT health examination. Some specific measurement was performed at health examination among 54.8% of the companies. The most popular item was "near vision." A larger number of follow-up measures was performed with ophthalmic cases than with muscloskeletal cases. From these findings, with consideration to the results of the preceding literatures, we made 8 suggestions for the on-going revision of the Guideline: 1) including recommendation for flat panel display and portable computers, 2) widening target of VDT health education also to general workers, 3)clarification of the categorization of VDT workers, 4) offering practical measures to secure off VDT period, 5) use of subjective symptoms to screen high-risk workers, 6) supply of the latest scientific information on each measuring item, 7) periodical revision to provide state-of-the-art management, and 8) clear statement of the purpose and limitation of the Guideline.

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A 72-year-old male patient with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy who had shown recurrent episodes of drug refractory ventricular fibrillation underwent implantation of a transvenous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Ventricular fibrillation (VF) was induced by a T wave shock at the implantation. However, the ICD device with a maximum energy of 30 J failed to terminate the VF. Reversing defibrillation polarity and/or adding a defibrillation electrode lead at the site of a high superior vena cava were also ineffective. The ICD was programmed to a maximum energy of 30 J when the device sensed spontaneous VF. During the follow-up period of 5 months, two episodes of spontaneous VF were recorded from ICD telemetry, and the ICD device terminated VF successfully with the first therapy shock in both episodes. No previous reports have shown failure to terminate induced VF at implantation of the ICD with successful termination of spontaneous VF during follow-up. Careful follow-up is needed in ICD patients, especially those with very high defibrillation thresholds.

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How can one characterize modern Europe? This problem is essentially related to the meaning of modern natural science, which was developed during the scientific revolution. Then how did viewpoints change during this revolution? The answer to this question also determined the basic character of modern philosophy. Through the examination of Aristotle's geocentric theory and kinematics, I have come to believe that the defect of Aristotle's was that he concluded that a visible sense image is an actual reflection of the reality as it is. From this point of view, the traditional theory of truth called "correspondence theory" is found to be an insufficient one. Therefore, in this paper I will show that the methodological and philosophical question "How do we see reality among phenomena?" is a very important one. This question is the one Plato struggled with, and also the one which guided Kant. It may be said that this can be seen as a grope for a new metaphysics as a basic theory of reality.

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An English place adverb There basically does not refer to a place which belongs to the speaker's territory at the time of utterance. However, there is an expression, I'm There, which appears to violate this condition. I examine the usages of this expression as well as related expressions, which include a case where There indirectly identifies a place where the speaker is at the time of utterance, a case where it metaphorically refers to a "state", and an idiomatic usage meaning, "I will definitely go there."

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In order to clarify the employers' opinions regarding special health examinations and follow-up measures, we conducted a survey targeting small-scale enterprises that had less than fifty employees and no obligation to assign an occupational physician. We received 354 answers, a response rate of 49.5%. More than 60% of the employers felt that the special health examination was useful for preventing occupational diseases and for the health promotion of employees, and 83.9% of employers felt that the special health examinations were effective. On the other hand, about 30% of the employers felt that it was difficult to allocate a time and pay financial costs for special health examinations. The limited number of employees and financial restriction might prohibit them from carrying out and performing appropriate follow-up measures after the special health examination. Only 21.2% of enterprises had an occupational physician, 44.7% of employers had no information regarding the local occupational health service center, 51.4% of employers did not request an opinion related to employee's health problems after health examination. We concluded that it is important to build a social system to give employers information on where and how they may find sufficient medical resources for the effective application of the special health examination in small-scale enterprises.

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Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies were done to investigate the influence that a change in smoking habit can have on the pulmonary function. Seventeen hundred and thirty nine people (698 men, 1, 041 women), 39 years of age or order, from the population of a farming village located in the central part of Miyazaki Prefecture were examined. A population-based cohort study with a 4-time observation was done over an interval of 12 years. Forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV_1.0) were used as the index of respiratory function, and adjusted annual change of FVC and adjusted annual change of FEV_1.0 were used as a pulmonary function inspection index. There was a statistical significance in both %FVC and %FEV_1.0 to the predicted values between smokers and non-smokers at the beginning of observation. The adjusted annual change of FVC both of male- and female-smokers and the adjusted annual change of FEV_1.0 of male-smokers was higher than those of non-smokers in the longitudinal study. Percent FVC, %FEV_1.0 and the adjusted FEV_1.0 change of former male-smokers were lower than those of continuing smokers. In addition to %FVC and %FEV_1.0, annual change of FVC and annual change of FEV_1.0 were important predictors of pulmonary function related to cigarette smoking.

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As a predictor of the timing of peripheral blood stem cell harvest (PBSCH) and the yields of PBSC, the efficacy of measurement of CD34⁺ cell count in PB has been reported. However this measurement is difficult to carry out on the day of PBSCH in most general hospitals because of not having their own flow cytometry. Therefore in order to evaluate the usefulness of several clinical factors which are easily performed in general hospitals as a guide for PBSCH, we analyzed the correlation between these factors and the harvest efficiency (HE) of PBSCH. Eighty-one PBSCHs mobilized by chemotherapy with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) (n = 63) or chemotherapy alone (n = 18) were carried out in 33 patients with various malignancies. In the group of PBSCHs mobilized by chemotherapy with G-CSF, a strong correlation was observed between HE and the percentage of immature cells in peripheral WBC (IMA-%) on the harvest day (r = 0.724), and between HE and the count of immature cells in PB (IMA-Co) on the same harvest day (r = 0.629). However routine blood counts, except IMA-% and IMA-Co, and the time (days) required for hemopoietic recovery after mobilizing chemotherapy did not correlate with HE. In the group of PBSCHs mobilized by chemotherapy alone, several hematological findings (WBC count, monocyte count and %, IMA-Co, platelet count, reticulocyte-‰) on the harvest day and recovering velocity of WBC and platelet correlated with HE. These findings suggested that IMA-% and IMA-Co were the most useful factors for successful PBSCH widely mobilized by chemotherapy with G-CSF in general hospitals.

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Adhesion molecules play a major role in many biological and pathological processes and are essential to the development and construction of tissue architecture. During inflammatory processes, adhesion molecules are also pivotally involved in both cell migration and cell activation through the involvement in the two reverse directional signaling; 1) the expression or function of adhesion molecules is regulated through "inside-out" signaling which is induced by the stimulation such as cytokines, 2) adhesion molecules not only function as a glue but also transduce extracellular information into cytoplasmic organelle through "outside-in" signaling, which induces cellular activation. The concept concerning adhesion molecules would bring enormous benefits to clarify pathological processes of various inflammatory diseases and cancer metastasis as well as the new pharmacological approaches to these diseases.

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A 41-year-old Japanese woman came to our clinic complaining of multiple edematous erythemas on the trunk and legs. The eruptions recurred periodically in association with the menstrual cycle. She had received oral progesterone therapy between 24 and 34 years of age. There were no abnormal values found in the routine and hormonal examinations, including progesterone and estrogen levels in serum and urine. After an intradermal skin test with progesterone, she had no reaction after 20 minutes but a positive reaction after 48 hours.

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We report a case of acute focal bacterial nephritis (AFBN). A 30-year-old female patient visited Kyushu Rosai hospital with complaints of right flank pain and a fever 3 days duration. She was immediately admitted, but still suffered from flank pain after 3 days of antibiotic therapy. Abdominal CT scan detected a focal mass lesion in the mid portion of the right kidney. Her clinical symptoms improved after 7 days of chemotherapy, and she was discharged. The mass lesion in the kidney disappeared after one month, she remained free of symptoms, and renal function was normal when followed up nineteen months later.

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The patient was a 55-year old Japanese man, who had a traffic accident and suffered cervical cord injury in Thailand. Although he received an emergency operation and intensive care, he had respiratory paralysis and received a tracheostomy. One month after the accident, he still needed to receive mechanical ventilatory support. He and his wife hoped to return to Japan. We were asked to transport the patient from Bangkok to Tokyo. With some help from an assistance company, we could transport the patient safely from Bangkok to Tokyo on a commercial airline under mechanical ventilatory support. We experienced the several regulations and difficulties in performing medical treatment and transportation of a critical patient in a commercial airline.

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We investigated the outcome after patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) were treated in our hospital. Subjects were 51 patients with TBI (43 men, 8 women; mean age 34.9 ± 20.3 yr), who had been admitted to the department of rehabilitation in our hospital between 1980 and 2000. Data were collected retrospectively from the medical records. Most injuries were due to motor vehicle accidents. The percentage of patients who suffered impaired cognitive and behavioral functions was 86.3%. The percentage of patients who were discharged to their homes was 70.6%, but none of them could return to work. Patients who were severely disabled in their daily activities or had cognitive and behavioral disturbances were difficult to discharge. We need to establish a comprehensive rehabilitation approach to cognitive and behavioral disturbances for patients with TBI.

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