This article is a brief history of occupational health as well as a perspective of the occupational medical sciences in the future. The author places emphasis on the necessity of better relations of the medical sciences to an industrialized society, which has and will continue to change very rapidly. To cope with the changing environment, the author proposes a new integrated science which is termed by him "industrial ecological sciences". Industrial ecological sciences, which is a combination of human ecology, the medical sciences, economics and industrial psychology, will provide the basic principles for occupational and environmental health in the future.

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The Kitakyushu City area, in which the University of Occupational and Envionmental Health, Japan (UOEH) campus lies, is situated in the region of the evergreen broad-leaf, or laurel-leaf, forests. Our studies on relict forest stands revealed that the original forest communities in the area were Cyrtomio-Litseetum japonicae and Euonymo-Pittos-poretum tobirae in the coastl area, Arisemato ringentis-Machiletum thunbergii in the bottomland, Symploco-Castanopsietum sieboldii and Ardisio-Castanopsietum sieboldii in. foothill area, and Distylio-Cyclobalanopsietum stenophyllae, Actinodaphnetum lancifoliae and Skimmio-Cyclobalanopsietum acutae on the mountain slopes. The secondary forests in the area are Castanopsis-Cyclobalanopsis coppice of sprout origin, red-pine forest and deciduous forests of various dominants. The original forest on the UOEH campus is assumed to be Symploco-Castanopsietum sieboldii, an evergreen broad-leaf forest, some 25m high and 1m dbh in canopy trees. The secondary forest on the campus is dominated by Quercus serrata, accompanied by Rhus succedanea, Platycarya strobilacea and Castanopsis cuspidata var. sieholdii. A small wetland near the north gate is dominated by Typha angustata. Slopes on the campus, which were created by cutting-off or filling-up of the ground, are invaded by Miscanthus sinensis, Solidago altissima (alien) and many other herbaceous plants. One hundred and thirty-six species of flowering plants and eight species of ferns were recorded from the campus. Conservation problems are discussed from the standpoint of vegetation science.

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Glands of the normal human prostate obtained from young adults were extensively studied by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the normal prostate five types of the acinal cells were recognized by a surface topography; microvillar, crater, secreting, holey and bare. Microvillar cells possessed numerous micrbvilli on the apical surfaces of the cells. Secreting cells showed active secretion; bulging of the apical cell membranes. Holey cells possessed one to several small holes on the apical cell surfaces. In crater cells, their apical cell membranes were broken off. Bare cells possessed fairly smooth apical surfaces, with scant microvilli in the periphery. In general, however, there were varying numbers of microvilli in every type of cell. These findings were basically identical with those of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

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Various functions of the hand have been evaluated by quantitative expressions. However, how these normal numerical data change with various environmental and individual conditions has been scarcely reported. Here, the authors have undertaken several basic experiments. Of various functions of the hand, three indicators namely, digital temperature, vibratory sensibility and pinch strength, all of which have been utilized clinically by the authors were selected. As environmental conditions two room conditions (10℃ with 50% humidity and 30℃ with 50% humidity) were maintained. As a stress test, cold water immersions were undertaken on 21 healthy male adults (an older age group contained 10 persons and the younger age group 11 persons) at each room condition. Digital temperatures of the older age group seemed to be slightly higher than the younger age group. The immersed fingers recovered more smoothly in the 30℃ room within 40 minutes than in the 10℃ room. Pinch strengths of the immersed fingers were reduced by the immersions, significantly in the 10℃ room. Vibratory sensibilities became lowered in the immersed fingers.

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It has been known that contents of intra-cellular cyclic nucleotides, cyclic 3', 5'-adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP) and cyclic 3', 5,-guanosine monophosphate (cyclic GMP), in T-lymphocytes are closely related with cell-mediated immunity of the host since the first investigations by Lichtenstein & Margolis (1968). However, this problem has never been studied in human viral hepatitis. Therefore, we began the clinical and experimental studies on this problem. It is illustrated in this study that the intracellular cyclic-AMP content of T-lymphocyte in peripheral blood was enhanced by an addition of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) to lymphocyte culture medium. The increase-rate of lymphocytic cyclic-GMP content caused by the addition of similar mitogen was reduced in patients of chronic active hepatitis when compared with normal control. The relationship between the contents of intracellular (lymphocytes) cyclic AMP and serum levels of α₂-macroglobulin which is thought to be one component of serum inhibitors against the non-specific cell-mediated immunity in our previous data was investigated in this study, and these markers showed the parallel variation with each other in the patients of viral hepatitis. On the other hand, the high cyclic AMP content and low cyclic GMP increase-rate by an addition of mitogen to peripheral T-lymphocyte culture medium (as well as high serum α₂-macroglobulin levels) were seen in patients with chronic active hepatitis which meant a suppressed cellular immunity. In conclusion, a determination of cyclic nucleotides in T-lymphocytes is very useful to understand the involvement of them in cell-mediated immunity which is closely associated with chronicity of viral hepatitis.

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Diphenylhydantoin (DPH) is one of the most widely used antiepileptic drugs, and acts to increase the spontaneous discharge of cerebellar Purkinje cells (PC). Moreover, of extrafocal inhibitory systems within the brain only the cerebellum is said to uniformly demonstrate the inhibitory effect on epileptic seizure. Therefore the effects of DPH on the PC activity were studied. Double and tetanic stimuli of the inferior olive produced depression following the initial facilitation of PC responses. Intraperitoneal administration of DPH (50 mg/kg) provoked the facilitation to a greater extent, and especially with the tetanic stimulus the responses were facilitated progressively during the stimuli, even at the frequency of 200 Hz. The chronaxie of cerebellar Purkinje axons was not significantly changed with DPH administration. These results suggest that one of the inhibitory effects of DPH on epileptic seizure is due to the increase of PC activation produced by the facilitation of the synaptic transmission in the olivocerebellar pathway.

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Because adenosine triphosphate (ATP) has been established as the source of energy of the active sodium-potassium pump in the membrane of red blood cells (RBC), and further because it has been reported to stimulate adenylate deaminase (AMPDA) and to inhibit 5'-nucleotidase (5 Nase) in the pathway of purine metabolism, we compared the electrolyte concentrations and the activities of adenosine deaminase (ADA) and nucleoside phosphorylase (NP) in serum and RBC between a serum electrolyte disturbance and a RBC enzyme disorder: the former is seen in a hyperkalemia of a 3-year-old boy diagnosed as renal tubular acidosis (RTA) with selective defect in distal potassium excretion (who became the third reported case in the world) : the latter in a high activity of RBC ADA in siblings of hereditary spherocytosis (HS). The boy with the hyperkalemic type of distal RTA showed RBC potassium increases accompanied by serum potassium increases, i.e. hyperkalemia, and normal values in sodium-potassium ratio, which seems correlated to the active cation pump in RBC membrane. Concerning the total activity or capacity in the RBC membrane mechanism, including the active pump, the passive pump, the simple diffusion and the exchange diffusion, the most intensity of Na efflux (RBC sodium<serum sodium) and K influx (RBC potassium >serum potassium) was found in the hemolytic crisis siblings of the HS family, and transiently In the RTA boy during KCI loading. As one of the relevant enzymes believed necessary for the transport of cation and water or the permeability of RBC membrane, RBC NP in children of the HS family showed the higher activity than in their parents or in the RTA boy, whereas, as one of the unrele-vant enzymes, RBC ADA might be wasted possibly by stimulation of ATP in children of the HS family. Additionally, the results in our previous studies and in this paper enable us to speculate that ATP stimulates ADA as well as AMPDA and inhibits NP as well as 5 Nase in the purine metabolic pathway.

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An analytical method of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was investigated. PAH was separated by HPLC with UV and fluorescence detectors, using LiChrosorb RP 18 for column and acetonitril-water (9:1, v/v) as the mobile phase. In HPLC, the retention time of PAH decreased with the rise of the column temperature and flow rate. There was a linear relationship between the logarithm of the retention time and the reciprocal of absolute temperature of the column. Linear relationship was observed among the carbon numbers of PAH and/or numbers of double bond of PAH and the logarithms of their retention times. The detection limits (S/N=2) of the PAH were 0.1-0.52 ng by the UV detector and 4-55 pg by the fluorescence detector. An analytical method of a single component in a multicomponent of PAH was studied. Therefore, seven PAH were determined by careful selection of excitation and fluorescence wavelengths. This method was applied to the analysis of PAH in air-born particulate and eleven PAH were identified. Five PAH were determined by HPLC with the fluorescence detector. They were benzo (a) pyrene, benzo (k) fluoranthene, perylene, chrysene and coronene. The results suggest that HPLC with the fluorescence detector is useful for analysis of PAH in environmental material.

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A radio telemetry system to measure right atrial diameter using an ultrasonic method has been developed. This telemetry system aims at long-term or chronic measurement in research animals and finding a solution to the problem of lead maintenance which limits the reliability of measurements by the restriction of an animal's freedom. In addition, this method does not require human interventions which are apt to draw a spurious response inside of an animal's body. As a result, slow subtle changes of the right atrial diameter can be clearly recorded, making this telemetry system a useful tool for chronic physiological research.

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Although the genetic factor plays an important role in schizophrenia it is not considered a sufficient cause of the illness. Twin and family studies showed that a psychotic family member or occasionally a non-psychotic family member may exert adverse influence upon other members as a non-specific stress. Anti-cholinergic and sympathomimetic drugs and certain seasonal factors may facilitate the onset or relapse. Head injury or history of birth complications may increase susceptibility to schizophrenia.

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Nitrite ion in the biological fluids of man chiefly originates from i) nitrates which are widespread in environments and ingested as vegetable-components followed by reduction by microorganisms in alimentary tracts, and ii) nitrites which are added in foods, especially cured meat products, as a preservative or coloring agent. Besides being toxic itself, nitrite ion is well known as an active species which reacts with amines in foods under gastro-intestinal conditions to form hepatotoxic as well as carcinogenic nitrosamines. In this review, we show the fate and biological activities of nitrites in environments, foods and humans. Then we discuss, from the standpoint of bioorganic chemistry, the reactions between nitrite ion and various amines, which yield different biologically active substances-nitrosamines, triazenes, cyclization products derived from azide intermediates, or deaminated products.

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The cirrhotic mortality of Fukuoka Prefecture is approximately 20.0 (19.6-21.2) per 100,000 population in an accumulative average of 1973-1978. This corresponds to one and a half times the average of all Japan during the same period. Also, the mortality of primary liver carcinoma which is approximately two-thirds the mortality of liver cirrhosis, corresponds to one and a half times the average of the whole country during the period of time. On the other hand, alcohol consumption per capita in Fukuoka Pref. is 7.5-8.0 liters which is a little higher than the accumulative national average during the same time as above. As for the positivity of HBsAg, the range of 2.6-3.1% was recognized in 1980 which was higher than the total average of the country (1.9%). No remarkable change of other factors was noticed in association with the mortality caused by liver cirrhosis and liver carcinoma except the high concentration of iron in drinking water. In conclusion, multi-factors which include unknown causes could be involved in the onset, development and outcome of liver cirrhosis and liver carcinoma in the northern area of Kyushu island.

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Today most people die in hospitals. There are many anti-human aspects in modern hospital death, causing public controversies regarding dignified death and euthanasia. Physicians seem to be concerned only in the prolongation of life. Endless efforts of resuscitation of dying patients are not unusual. This tendency is no more than the projection of the physician's own fear of death. Traditional medicine can relieve the intractable pain of cancer patients, but provides nothing to alleviate the fear of imminent death. Care of the dying patient has opened a new field in modern medicine. Here the most important task for a physician is to have a mature attitude toward his own mortality. Sensitivity to the needs of patients should not be limited to the terminal stage. It is required always in daily practice. The first step is, as Dr. Kübler Ross said, to listen simply to the patients. Better care for dying patients depends on a reformation of medical education. We must restore humanity into our curriculum. More importance should be attached to the role of the liberal arts. The humanistic attitude of students must be introduced into the evaluation of student records in clinical training. In conclusion, every physician must continue to seek, throughout his life, for his own philosophy regarding life and death.

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[in Japanese]

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