In the mesic temperate forest stands in southwestern Japan, seven plant communities were set up to observe both productive and reproductive phenology of the component species, and were discussed from the viewpoint of vegetation dynamics.
Phenological data of all the component species at 12 plots of these seven communities were obtained 23 times during March to December, 1976. The phenological events were recorded by using the following phases.
Productive phenology: (1) Buds swelling to buds burst (for woody plants only), (2) Leaf expanding, (3) Photosynthetic period, (4) Colouring of leaves to leaf fall.
Reproductive phenology: (1) Pre-flowering, (2) Flowering, (3) Unripe fruits and seeds, (4) Ripe seed and dispersal. The duration of Fl-Fr period was defined as the period full flowering to full fruiting.
The phenological spectra of the 113 species in seven communities were drawn based on the above-mentioned phases. From these phenograms, a duration of photosynthetic period, a duration of Fl-Fr period, flowering and fruiting patterns and fruiting percentage in the floristic composition were summarized in every community for purposes of comparison.
Prolongation of photosynthetic period of a community was recognized in the secondary succession leading to the climax, Fagus-Lindera community. Secondary forests and a mantle community have a longer duration of Fl-Fr period. Flowering and fruiting pattern seemed to be in convergence toward the climax forest. In the communities with a dark floor, fruiting percentage in floristic composition decreased, which is a fact ascribable to the shortage of sunlight in a community. Each community had a particular aspect of phenology reflecting its successional stage of the respective community.

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There is a traditional balneotherapy called “Jikanyu”in Kusatsu, which is located in the central portion of Japan on the slope of the volcano Mt. Shirane. This therapy includes bathing in hot spring water with strong acidity. The water temperatures reach 47 to 48°C. Many individuals suffering from skin diseases, including eczema, dermatitis, and psoriasis visit this area.
The aim of this study is to clarify the immunological effects of balneotherapy, treating both healthy subjects and psoriatic patients to “Jikanyu” therapy.
Seven healthy subjects and three psoriatic patients took the “Jikanyu” three times a day over three successive weeks. Subsets of T-cells and response to PHA or Con A were used as immunological parameters. The results obtained were as follows.
1) Total count of peripheral blood lymphocytes in the healthy group decreased significantly after serial bathing while it increased significantly to a normal level in the psoriatic group.
2) Total count of T-cells in the healthy group decreased significantly after serial bathing, showing a slight reduction in the OKT 4 to OKT 8 ratio. In addition, there was a reduced level of total T-cells and helper T-cells in the psoriatic group before bathing. These numbers increased to normal levels after serial bathing, and amelioration of the psoriatic lesions was observed.
3) No significant changes in response to PHA or Con A were observed in the healthy group. These examinations were not carried out in the psoriatic group.

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To study some physiological reactions and the thermal sensation during exercise under wind at various air temperatures, five healthy male subjects, dressed in shorts, were exposed to a work load of bicycle ergometer pedalling (50 rpm) at fifty percent of V_O2max for thirty minutes. The room conditions were set at three different ambient temperatures: 20, 25 and 300°C, under two wind velocities: 0.1 m/s and 5.0 m/s.
The results were as follows;
1) Increase of the heart rate during exercise under 5.0 m/s wind was inhibited with a fall of the air temperature.
2) With the increase of the air velocity, a rise of the rectal temperature during exercise at 20°C became smaller.
3) During exercises under 0.1 m/s and 5.0 m/s wind velocities, the relations between the rectal temperature and the thermal sensation were observed.
4) It was shown that the local and the total thermal sweating rates during exercises under 0.1 m/s wind at 20 and 25°C decreased due to 5.0 m/s wind, although they did not at 30°C.
5) Thermal sweating was caused when the degree of thermal sensation was equivalent to“Slightly warm”.

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Histological changes were examined in the brown adipose tissue (BAT) of the coldacclimated rats on the 1 st, 3 rd, 7 th, and 14 th day after streptozotocin (STZ) treatment to investigate the effect of insulin deficiency on BAT cells. The staining techniques employed in the present study consisted of hematoxylin-eosin, oil red O, Sudan BB, and silver impregnation. Plasma insulin levels were measured by immuno-reactive assay. The damage of β cells in islets of Langerhans were evaluated by histological examinations. The results showed that a marked accumulation of neutral fat in BAT cells was observed on the 1 st, 3 rd, and 7 th day after STZ treatment. On the 3 rd diabetic day, the degree of fat deposit was the most remarkable. However, such fat accumulation was not observed on the 14 th day after STZ treatment. Plasma insulin levels were constantly low through the experimental period after STZ treatment.

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In an air-conditioned room at 20-22°C, two series of experiments were performed on 20 male students at Kobe University in the winter. In the first seriers of experiments, they dipped their left middle fingers up to the base in ice water for 30 minutes. In the second series, they put their left hand up to the wrist in a cold chamber at -10°C with wind velocity of 20 cm/sec for 30 minutes. The skin temperature of the finger tip was measured continuously with a copperconstantan thermocouple. Measurements were made on the basis of following items; the skin temperature at the first rise (TFR), time for the first skin temperature rise (TTR), mean skin temperature during the cold exposure (MST), the lowest skin temperature during the cold exposure (LT) and recovery time (RT) . In both series of experiments, the skin temperature before cold exposure (TB) was correlated well with the above items. When TTR and RT were shorter, TFR, MST and LT became higher with rise in TB. Similar results were obtained in cold air and in ice water. However, individual data for each item varied more from each other in cold air than in ice water, and they felt cold pains less frequently in cold air. Therefore, we can study in more detail hunting reactions in cold air than in ice water.

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Fifteen male students at Kobe University were served as subjects. Experiments were carried out around 3 p.m. They were requested not to eat any food and to rest at least for 2 hours prior to the experiment. They took a rest on a chair for 30 minutes at room temperature controlled to 20-22°C. Then, they put their left hand up to the wrist with the palm downward and with fingers extended slightly in the cold chamber at -10°C. The skin temperature of the palmar surface of the distal phalanx of the middle finger was measured continuously with a copperconstantan thermocouple; the measurements were made for 5 minutes at room temperature, for 30 minutes in cold exposure and again for 20 minutes at room temperature.
Results were follows. The skin temperature at the first rise (TFR) was the highest in the summer and was the lowest in the winter (P<0.01) . Mean skin temperature (MST) and the lowest skin temperature (LT) during the cold exposure showed results similar to the above (P<0.001) . However, time for the first temperature rise (TTR) did not vary significantly at all seasons. When the skin temperature before cold exposure was the same, TFR and MST were the highest in the summer. But TTR had no seasonal variation. Subjects complained of cold pain when MST was below 15°C. The results of hunting reactions were obtained more clearly in the following sequence of seasons; Summer>Autumn>Spring>Winter.

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The Setouchi District is generally thought to have a milder climate from the viewpoint of average climatology. In fact, however, the district sometimes experiences more sultry climate in summer and colder climate in winter than do both sides of the Pacific Ocean and the Japan Sea. In summer especially, Yunagi (evening calm) is so famous in Western Japan that we are apt to feel considerably hotter and stuffier psychologically too.
The author tries to express Yunagi's Sultriness (YS) as follows.
YS =P1+P2+P3+P4
where P1, P2, P3 and P4 mean physical factors, pollution by anthropogenic heat, physiological climate and psychological climate respectively. It could be concluded that YS is intensified by the urban temperature, as observed in Hiroshima, Okayama and other cities, and that YS is apparently recongnised by the hourly change of the Discomfort Index.

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