Well-trained young swimmers seem to have different physical characteristics as compared with non-athletes of the same age group. The purpose of this study was to determine physical characteristics of well-trained young competitive swimmers from a standpoint of differences in training, sex, and growth and development. A total of 47 boy and girl swimmers and 124 untrained boys and girls were selected as subjects.
All swimmers began to swim regularly in an elementary school age and continued hard swimming training for at least 2 years. A battery of 53 parameters representing each physical domain such as physique, muscular strength, flexibility, neuromuscular function, cardio-respiratory function, were selected to examine subject's physical characteristics. The following results were found : boy swimmers have less body fat, superior physique, mascular strength, flexibility, agility, and also superior cardio-respiratory function as compared with untrained boys. Also girl swimmers have almost the same physical characteristics except for physique and general static strength. Boy swimmers possess larger stature and bone width, and superior muscular strength and cardio-respiratory function as compared with girl swimmers. A similar sex difference is found in non-athletes. High school swimmers have more solid body mass, and superior dynamic and static strength, relating to an achievement of swimming speed, than junior high school swimmers.

For the purpose of determining appropriate exercise prescription for middle and elderly men without exercise habit, when they begin daily exercise intending to improve their aerobic work capacity, the effects of 10 minute walking on a horizontal treadmill at the speeds of 80m/min, 100m/min and 120m/min on the respiro-circulatory functions and blood ingredients and so on were compared. Four healthy men aged 44-72 served as the subjects. They showed no particular abnormality in medical check and various tests at rest.
Treadmill walking, of course, augmented oxygen intake, pulmonary ventilation and tidal volume according to the walking speed, and the augmentation was especially marked in case of 120m/min. The heart rate continued to increase during walking in case of 120m/min. The index (heart rate×pulse pressure) adopted as a relative indication of cardiac output presented no marked difference between 80m/min and 100m/min, but the value in case of 120m/min was about twice as much as those in cases of 80m/min and 100m/min. Moreover, the oxygen removal was appreciably lower in case of 120m/min than those in cases of 80m/min and 100m/min. Changes in blood contents of several substances were also marked in case of 120m/min, and the increase of lactate was especially striking. Urine tests revealed general tendencies of decrease in urine volume, decline of pH, and slight increase in excretion VMA, 17OHCS and 17KS.
The above-mentioned findings seem to suggest that 10 minute walking at the speed of 100m/min is to be most preferable in case of exercise prescription for healthy middle and elderly aged men in order to improve their aerobic work capacity, because walking at that speed causes sufficient and appropriate augmentation of metabolism and activities of respiro-circulatory functions.
Additional remarks: the present study was carried out on the basis of the experiences of 20 minute jogging corresponding to 2/3 VO₂ max made by middle aged men 5 days a week for 5-6 years.

Well-trained young swimmers seem to have different physical characteristics as compared with non-athletes of the same age group. The purpose of this study was to determine physical characteristics of well-trained young competitive swimmers from a standpoint of differences in training, sex, and growth and development. A total of 47 boy and girl swimmers and 124 untrained boys and girls were selected as subjects.
All swimmers began to swim regularly in an elementary school age and continued hard swimming training for at least 2 years. A battery of 53 parameters representing each physical domain such as physique, muscular strength, flexibility, neuromuscular function, cardio-respiratory function, were selected to examine subject's physical characteristics. The following results were found : boy swimmers have less body fat, superior physique, mascular strength, flexibility, agility, and also superior cardio-respiratory function as compared with untrained boys. Also girl swimmers have almost the same physical characteristics except for physique and general static strength. Boy swimmers possess larger stature and bone width, and superior muscular strength and cardio-respiratory function as compared with girl swimmers. A similar sex difference is found in non-athletes. High school swimmers have more solid body mass, and superior dynamic and static strength, relating to an achievement of swimming speed, than junior high school swimmers.

As well known, the adreno-sympathetic hormone - catecholamine - plays an important role in maintaining the stability of “milieu interieur”. Accordingly, a marked change may occur in catecholamine secretion in case of prolonged strenuous exercise such as marathon race where is required remarkable augmentation of cardiovascular functions. The authors had an opportunity of examining the physiological functions of all the participants in the First Tokyo International Women Marathon Race held on November 18, 1979, and collected urine samples from them before and after the race to evaluate the physiological load of the race in each woman participant by changes in urinary excretions of catecholamine metabolite (VMA) and some other substances.
As for the subjects of examinations, 19 foreign runners were 31.1 years of age on the average (ranging from 20 to 48 years) and their average Rohrer's Index was 119.0, while 33 Japanese runners were 27.8 years of age on the average (ranging from 18 to 42 years) and their average Rohrer's Index was 125.8. The urine samples at rest were collected at 8 a.m. on the day before the race after more than 10 hours fasting, and the samples after running were collected in 30 minutes after finishing the race. Just after the collections, the authors made determinations of the urine volume and pH and qualitative tests for sugar, protein, occult blood, Keton bodies and bilirubin. Then the determinations of VMA were made by Pisano's method. The resulte obtained were compared among six groups classified by the performance, viz., the order of the arrival. The classification was made as follows : 1) 1-5, 2) 6-10, 3) 11-15, 4) 16-20, 5) 21-25 and 6) 26-46. The comparison was also made between the foreigners and the Japanese.
Results:
Although there could be no significant correlation between the performance and the age or physique, the Rohrer's Index was smallest in Group 1) and largest in Group 6) .
The qualitative urine tests disclosed no marked change due to the running but protein less than 300 mg/dl was detected in the urine after running in 31 out of 40 runners. This fact seems to suggest that their physiological loads were considerably heavy. The urine volume on the average showed a decrease from 41.5 ml/hr at rest to 16.3 ml/hr after running, viz., 60.7 % decrement. The decrement was 53.2 % in the foreigners while it was 65.3 % in the Japanese. The urine volume was rather larger in Groups 5) and 6) than in the others. The urine pH on the average showed a decrease from 6.4 at rest to 5.6 after running, viz., 12.5 % decrement, and the decrement was 6.9 % in the foreigners while it was 14.9 % in the Japanese. Regarding the relation between the performance and the urine pH, there could be noted a tendency, the upper the ranking of the group, the smaller the change in pH.
The urinary excretion of VMA on the average of all the runners showed a striking increase from 155.8 mg/hr at rest to 383.1 mg/hr after the running. The increase due to running was 121.4 % in the foreigners while it was 144.1 % in the Japanese. Regarding the relation between the performance and the VMA excretion, Group 1) showed no increase in the excretion on the average, while the other groups generally showed 100 % - 200 % increase in the excretion.
On the basis of the above-mentioned findings, it was presumed that the physiological load of the marathon race was heavier in the Japanese runners than in the foreign runners, and in the lower ranking groups than in the upper ranking groups of the performance. In other words, the foreigners who showed excellent performance seemed to be highly adapted to the prolonged strenuous exercise by training and to have a regulatory mechanism of metabolism so efficient as to cope with heavy physiological load by small increase in catecholamine secretion.

A number of investigators have been concerned with the anthropometric as well as physical characteristics of sumo wrestlers during the past several decades. However, none have attempted to determine body density and percent body fat by the most accurate technique of hydrostatic or underwater weighings. Thus, a precise quantification of body density and percent body fat for the wrestlers has not yet been obtained. Ogawa et al. (1972) have predicted the body composition of sumo wrestlers from a formula which added the triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses. As the regression equation used in this instance was based on samples of normal young men, it may not have great predictive accuracy when used on the exceptional population of very stout athletes.
The purposes of this study were : (1) to assess the validity of percent body fat estimation by skinfold thickness measurement when compared to the hydrostatic weighing criterion method ; (2) to determine the interrelationships between anthropometric variables for use in the clear assessment of the physical characteristics of ‘Shindeshi’ sumo wrestlers ; and (3) to thereby develop a formula that would reliably predict percent body fat using skinfold thicknesses and/or anthropometric measurements in this exceptional population. The interrelationships between anthropometric and body composition variables were investigated using 35 Shindeshi sumo wrestlers, aged 15-20 years (X=16.5±1.5) .
The results of the present study can be summarized as follows.
1. The Shindeshi in the present study possessed physiques more developed than those tested in the past, as evidenced by Rohrer's and Ponderal Indices which were approximately 180 and 26.2, respectively. The development of body weight was particularly notable (i.e., over 100kg) .
2. Percent body fat for the Shindeshi was remarkably higher than that of a normal population of the same age, with approximately seventy percent of the Shindeshi possessing more than 20% body fat and less than 1.05000 body density.
3. Body density and height correlated negatively and insignificantly with almost all the variables. In contrast, correlations of body weight, circumferences, and all other variables were, in most cases, high and positive, with body weight correlating least with height. The skinfold measurement correlating best with % body fat was that taken at the thigh site (r=0.898) . The circumference measurements correlating best with % body fat were obtained at the thigh (r=0.888 and 0.831) and the abdomen (r=0 885) parts.
4. Of the six formulae for estimating % body fat, Sloan's correlated best with % body fat as determined by densitometry, and best approximated the mean value of 24.5%. However, all of the equations underestimated the measured % body fat of the Shindeshi.
5. When an exceptional population is being investigated, estimation of % body fat should be done with a population specific equation to ensure predictive accuracy. The following multiple regression equation (r=0.963) should, therefore, be utilized for estimation of % body fat in sumo wrestlers.
Y=0.2488x₁+0.6172x₂-14.3962 where x₁ and x₂ are abdomen circumference and skinfold thickness at thigh, respectively.

OBJECTIVEIn this study, we examined the characteristics of depression determination using four representative self-rating depression scales (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS; Self-rating Depression Scale, SDS; Center for Epidermiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D; and Carroll Rating Scale, CRS) applied to Japanese community-dwelling elderly.

METHODSSubjects were 563 community-dwelling independent elderly living in twelve prefectures (330 males, 68,9±6.3 yr; 233 females, 68.1±5.8 yr).

RESULTSDepression rates determined using SDS (45.8%) and CES-D (68.6%) were higher than those determined using GDS (5.7%) and CRS (14.7%). Although correlations of depression scale scores among the four scales were significant and comparable (r: 0.61 (GDS vs. SDS, p<0.01) to 0.78 (SDS vs. CES-D, p<0.01)), the agreement in depression determination varied among scales (kappa coefficients: 0.05 (GDS vs. CES-D, p>0.05) to 0.46 (SDS vs. CES-D, p<0.01)).

CONCLUSIONSSimilarities in depression determination were found between GDS and CRS, and between CES-D and SDS. Depression rates determined on the basis of cut-off point for each scale were higher for CES-D and SDS than for GDS and CRS. Depression determination using a four-point rating scale may overestimate a slightly depressive symptom, compared with that using a two-point scale.

Objective: The worldwide spread of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 led to a lack of information even at Japanese pharmacies, which are at the forefront of community medicine. Therefore, the Kyoto University Graduate School of Public Health Pharmacy Information Group has developed information materials related to COVID-19 for pharmacies0and released them on the COVID-19 countermeasure website, which was launched in haste. However, these days in the information society, the amount of information distributed is explosively expanding. Therefore, it is not possible to reach the target people just by publishing the countermeasure website. Therefore, we set up a public relations team to carry out publicity activities for pharmacists and analyzed the effectiveness of these activities by focusing on changes in the number of page views (PV) on the countermeasure website.Methods: PV and public relations(Facebook, industry media , e-mail) activities during the first 18 days(EARLY period), which is half of the total PV, and the remaining 164 days(MIDDLE period), covering 182 days from the day before the countermeasure website was opened. The changes in quantity were compared. Furthermore, we also compared the changes in the level of interest in the new coronavirus during the target period using Google Trends.Results: PV was remarkably large in the EARLY period, and the amount of public relations activity was generally concentrated in the EARLY period and PV. The number of searches for related words on Google Trends was almost the same as PV except for some. Conclusion: The study revealed the importance of establishing a pandemic countermeasure website for pharmacists at an appropriate time and conducting intensive public relations activities in the early stages.

Objective：To investigate the purposes, reasons, and issues of Real World Data (RWD) utilization by data source among pharmaceutical companies in Japan. In this study, we focus on RWDs such as Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Personal Health Records, and registries, which are expected to be utilized in the future. Design：Web based-questionnaire surveyMethods：This questionnaire survey was conducted on 68 companies affiliated with Clinical Evaluation Expert Committee in Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association from January 18th to February 14th in 2022. In principle, the survey covered four divisions (Clinical development, Pharmacovigilance, Medical Affairs, Health Economics & Outcomes Research) of each company, and other cross-functional divisions were also acceptable to answer. Results：［Background］ Of 40 companies out of 68 companies, 102 respondents were responded to this survey. Overall, 75 respondents (73.5％) have “experienced in utilization of RWD”, and 12 (11.8％) have “experienced in considering utilization of RWD”. ［Utilization by RWD Type］ By data source, hospital-based claim data was the most frequently used (65 cases, 63.7％), followed by insurance-based claim data (61 cases, 59.8％), surveys (38 cases, 37.3％), and EMR (36 cases, 35.3％) in experienced RWD utilization. Conclusion：This study revealed the current status and issues related to the utilization of each type of RWDs in Japan. It is expected that data linkage among multiple RWDs and data standardization enable further utilization of RWDs in future.

Objective：To investigate the purposes, reasons, and issues of Real World Data (RWD) utilization by data source among pharmaceutical companies in Japan. In this study, we focus on RWDs such as Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Personal Health Records, and registries, which are expected to be utilized in the future. Design：Web based-questionnaire surveyMethods：This questionnaire survey was conducted on 68 companies affiliated with Clinical Evaluation Expert Committee in Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association from January 18th to February 14th in 2022. In principle, the survey covered four divisions (Clinical development, Pharmacovigilance, Medical Affairs, Health Economics & Outcomes Research) of each company, and other cross-functional divisions were also acceptable to answer. Results：［Background］ Of 40 companies out of 68 companies, 102 respondents were responded to this survey. Overall, 75 respondents (73.5％) have “experienced in utilization of RWD”, and 12 (11.8％) have “experienced in considering utilization of RWD”. ［Utilization by RWD Type］ By data source, hospital-based claim data was the most frequently used (65 cases, 63.7％), followed by insurance-based claim data (61 cases, 59.8％), surveys (38 cases, 37.3％), and EMR (36 cases, 35.3％) in experienced RWD utilization. Conclusion：This study revealed the current status and issues related to the utilization of each type of RWDs in Japan. It is expected that data linkage among multiple RWDs and data standardization enable further utilization of RWDs in future.