The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships between trunk sway (TS) and the motion of center of pressure (COP) during quiet upright stance. Eight young healthy subjects (averaged 24±6.7 years) including 3 females were recruited for this study. By comparing TS with COP, we found that TS is moving in phase with COP both in lateral and sagittal plane. On the basis of observations that the COP-TS error signal is very similar to the changes of friction between the feet and floor. We also found that the friction is the impetus of trunk sway obeying the Newton's law. Then, a dynamic model between TS and COP can be identified. The results showed that TS and the motion of COP are in accordance with a specific differential equation. Supporting TS is v and COPS is u, then u can be expressed as : u=-Hm/k v+hv, where H, k, h are constants, m is the body mass. The simulation results fitted the experimental findings very well. The results suggested that TS instead of COP is a promising index for human standing ability assessment.

Masked obesity is the presence of obesity based on percent body fat (%BF) when the body mass index (BMI) shows an absence of obesity. To examine the relationship between masked obesity and arteriosclerosis risk factors, we compared both serum lipid levels and the prevalence of hyperlipidemia in male and female high school freshmen with and without masked obesity. Subjects consisted of 403 male and 326 female high school students aged 15∼16 years. Of these, 34(8.4%) males and 36(11.0%) females had masked obesity, defined as 17≤BMI<23.60 and %BF≥25% in males, and 17≤BMI<24.17 and %BF≥30% in females, while the remaining 300 males and 246 females were not obese, having 17≤BMI<23.60 and %BF<25% and 17≤BMI<24.17 and %BF<30%, respectively. For both sexes, serum total-cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), triglycerides and the arteriosclerotic index (AI) were significantly higher (p<0.05∼0.01) in those with masked obesity. And many of the subjects with masked obesity had abnormal levels of TC, LDLC and AI, compared with those who were not obese (p<0.05∼0.01). Additionally, we compared both serum lipid levels and the prevalence of hyperlipidemia between subjects with masked obesity and control groups with the same BMI values. As a result, subjects with masked obesity had high serum lipid levels and a prevalence of hyperlipidemia. These results support the existence of masked obesity and suggest that masked obesity is associated with increased serum lipid levels, and thus could be a risk factor for arteriosclerosis in male and female high school freshmen.

Keeping upright stance is important to other complex motions like locomotion and running for human beings. The mechanism of balance-keeping control in upright standing is still unknown. This study was conducted to analyze the body sway by using a simple PID (proportional, integral, derivative) control model and to investigate the influence of vision on its gains. Ten healthy subjects took part in the study. The upright body was modeled as one-link inversed pendulum model. While determining the model parameters according to subject's physical statue, the gain of PID parameters, (K_P, K_D, K_I are gains of proportion, derivative, and integral respectively.) could be estimated. Four kinds of visual patterns, (three for central visual field stimulation, one is eyes closed) were designed for visual stimulation. The results showed that the gain of K_D was decreased significantly in eyes closed (131.5±37.6 Nms/rad in eyes open and 90.4±26.0 Nms/rad in eyes closed, p<0.001), and, K_P, K_I were not changed. The results suggested that the PID control model was a promising means for individual balance ability analysis and that the visual effect on balance-keeping control in upright standing was analogized to a damper in the mechanical system.

The positional relation between the point Jingei and the bifurcation of the common carotid artery was investigated with dissection of the neck after inserting a needle into the bilateral Jingei, using nineteen Japanese cadavers. We determined first the position of the point Futotsu as a point in the sternocleidomastoid lying about 10cm lateral to the laryngeal prominence along the neck wrinkle, and defined the location of Jingei in the cadavers as the mid-point between the laryngeal prominence and Futotsu mentioned above. The common carotid artery shows a dilatation, termed the carotid sinus, at its point of division into the external and internal carotid arteries. The needle did not prick the carotid sinus in all of the thirty-eight cases of insertion; it pricked the common carotid artery at a lower level than the carotid sinus in four of these cases, and in the other cases the needle did not prick the vessel, but rather a portion of the neck medial to the vessel at the lower level, similarly as in the former cases. The points of division of the common carotid arteries of the cadavers dissected were all located at a considerably higher level than the laryngeal prominence; the average level was 32.8mm higher than the prominence on the left, with maximum and minimum values of 52 and 11mm, respectively, and 29.9mm upper on the right (maximum and minimum values: 45 and 8mm). Furthermore, it was suggested that the insertion of a needle at the level of the hyoid bone has a higher possibility of reaching the carotid sinus than that at the level of the laryngeal prominence in acupuncture of the sinus.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether exercise training cardiac adaptation exists in student rugby athletes, to define an adaptive pattern and to observe the student rugby athletics cardiac adaptive process. Subjects consisted of 42 male senior high school student rugby athletes, who participated in sports in junior high school, and a control group of sedentary students from the same senior high school who were matched for age. Student athletes were measured once a year over a three-year period. Left ventricular internal dimension at the end-diastole (LVIDd) and left ventricular posterior wall thickness at the end-diastole (PWT) were both measured by echocardiography. Because all subjects were growing adolescents, allometric scaling data (which is LVIDd/BSA^0.5 and PWT/BSA^0.5) was used for comparison, to preclude the effect of differences in body size on LVIDd and PWT. Cross-sectional comparisons of athletic students with controls were conducted for each of the three senior high school grades, respectively. The data of student athletes during the three-year study was used for longitudinal comparisons. The results of cross-sectional comparisons showed that LVIDd/BSA^{0, 5} in a student athlete group consisting of the three grades combined was greater than the corresponding control group (P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively) . PWT/BSA^0.5 in the athletic group was greater than the control group for the third grade level (P<0.05) . The results of the longitudinal comparison revealed that no significant differences were present in LVIDd/BSA^0.5 during the three-year investigation (P>0.05, respectively) . PWT/BSA^0.5 at the second and third grade level were obviously greater than at the first grade level (P<0.05, respectively) ; however, no dif. ference between the second and third grade levels existed. The results of this present study suggest that regular rugby exercise training during senior high school obviously induced left ventricular posterior wall thickening in the athletic students. An enlarged left ventricular cavity was observed at the first grade level of senior high school and did not significantly change during three years of senior high school.

A 32-year-old woman was referred to our hospital during the 35th week of pregnancy because of chest pain and dyspnea. The cesarean section was performed and a healthy infant was delivered. On the 16th hospital day, she developed heart failure. Echocardiograms revealed protrusion of the mitral valve into the left atrium in systole, vegetation and worsening of mitral regurgitation. CT showed splenic infarction. Mitral valve replacement was performed after inflammatory findings were improved by antibiotics. We reported here a case of infective endocarditis during the perinatal period.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of short-term living and training at an altitude of 1, 300 to 1, 800 m on physiological responses of high school elite endurance athletes. Fifteen male and seven female senior high school elite athletes, aged from 15 to 18, from three different sports (cross-country skiing, long-distance running and endurance cycling), participated in our study. The short-term (6 days) altitude exposure did not elicit abnormal responses of body tempera-ture, body weight, blood pressure or urine samples. There were also no significant changes in blood parameters examined before and after altitude exposure. Resting heart rate (HR) increased at altitude and presented an initial peak value followed by a steady decline on the following days of altitude exposure. Blood lactate concentration and exercise peak llR examined by submaximal 20-m shuttle run test decreased after the ascent to altitude and still showed lower values at postaltitude than at prealtitude. We conclude that 6-day living and training at an altitude of 1, 300 to 1, 800 m elicits positive decrements of exercise blood lactate and exercise peak HR as well as adaptive changes of resting IlR for these high school elite endurance athletes, which are probably related to an attenuation of muscle glycogen utilization and alterations in the autonomic neural system taken at altitude.

This present study was conducted among the nine centers of Akita prefectural Welfare Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives. This applied to women over 30 years of age, and carried out following to the standard method of the Japan Cancer Society.
The total of women examined by the first screening from April 1983 to January 1985 amounted to 15903, of which the number of women over 60 years of age was only 7 per cent of the total. According to the type of screening, the number of women slightly more in the center screening than in the local screening. However, in both types of screening, the number of women examined by the combination method, for example, anemia or uteric cancer, was much higher than that of the mass screening for breast cancer alone.
The second screening rates indicaded a marked difference of 0.4 to 21.7 per cent depending on the location of the center. The over-all average for the second screening was 3.8 per cent. As a result of the second screening, breast cancers were detected in 12 cases (0.07%). The breast cancer detection rate increased with age. It is notable that the breast cancer detection rate for women over 60 years of age was 5 times higher than for women over 40 years of age. Among other diseases detected in the second screening were mastpathy (233 cases), fibroadenoma (15 cases), mastitis (40 cases) and others.
As far the stage distribution and screening history for detected breast cancers, 60 per cent of all cancer cases were diagnosed as stage I, and 70 per cent were the initial screening. Seven out of 12 cases were aware the breast lump themselves before the first screening. From this point of view, it was suggested that every women should be educated in order to perform selfexamination.