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.

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.

To clarify the core competencies developed through postgraduate clinical training, we analyzed the conditions of our residency program with qualitative research methods. Seven residents (6 first-year residents and 1 second-year resident) answered a questionnaire and underwent semistructured interviews about postgraduate training. We also worked with the residents as “participant observers” of the treatment team. We found that residents often had trouble formulating diagnostic/treatment plans and tended to rely excessively on laboratory data to make decisions. We attribute these problems to a lack of practice in questioning expectations. We hypothesized that mitate-ryoku, the ability to describe the course of a patient's illness, is an extremely important clinical competency. According to the hypothesis, we tried to listen to the residents' description and to discuss it logically as colleagues. The residents described the patients expected condition over the next few days, considering both data and information they obtained from interviews and physical examinations. They adapted their ideas through logical discussion and were thus able to make acceptable decisions by themselves.

The present study was primarily designated as “Chino-Japanese cooperative study on physical fitness of junior track and field athletes” (1989) . The participants were male and female track runners of both countries ranging in age from 13 to 17 years.
Skeletal age and stature for each sex and athletic event for the present series were compared between the two countries. The data of the present series were then compared with the earlier series, that is, the reference data derived from “Chino-Japanese cooperative study on physical fitness of children and youth” (1986) .
Regarding the mean skeletal age of reference data (13 to 17 yrs.), the Japanese are more advanced (0.6 years in boys; 0.5 years in girls) than the Chinese, respectively. On the other hand, for the mean stature, the Chinese are taller (1.92cm in boys; 2.16cm in girls) .
In the present series, the mean differences for skeletal age between the two countries show a tendency to be smaller than those in the reference data (0.38 years for boys and 0.39 years for girls in 100m runners; 0.15 years for boys in 1500m runners and girls in 800m runners), respectively.
Although the mean differences of skeletal age between the two countries are becoming smaller, the stature of the Chinese boys and girls are getting taller than the Japanese (6.9cm in boys and 5.60cm in girls in 100m runners) . The mean differences are not so great as in 100m runners, however, it is 2.50cm in boys of 1500m runners and 4.05cm in girls of 800m runners.
Comparison of the athletic records between the two countries was made and in general little difference was found. The Chinese records are more complete than the Japanese and show statistically significant difference particularly in 17 years old.
In conclusion, the Chinese junior track runners seem to mature later skeletally or biologically than the Japanese, even though they are already taller than the Japanese. As a natural result, more gain in stature and more improvement in the athletic records will be expected for them. Otherwise some differences between the two countries in the process of sampling of the present study could be questioned.

The evaluation of muscular power function has been mainly limited to dynamic contraction, but force-time parameters in static explosive contraction may be useful. The purpose of this study was to examine the trial-to-trial differences of exertion pattern and the reliability of the force-time parameters in the development phase of static maximal explosive grip (SEG) using seventy healthy young male subjects (age 18.8±2.3yr) . In SEG measurement, subjects were instructed to exert maximal isometric force with a dominant hand as fast and forcefully as possible. Data was collected from two trials with 3 minutes rest between trials. Eleven variables (time to fixed level, average force, integrated area, maximal rate of force development, and equivalent for mechanical power parameter) were selected as force-time parameters.
The reliability of maximal grip strength (MAX) was very high (ICC=0.944, p<0.05) . In the above-stated instruction condition, the trial-to-trial difference expanded from 0.1- 0.4 sec, then re-duced in the vicinity of MAX during SEG exertion. Significant differences, however, were not found at any exertion time and reproducibility of SEG exertion pattern was very high between the two trials. The trial-to-trial reliability in all force-time parameters was significant (ICC=0.346-0.878, p<0.05) .
Reliability of the parameters measuring the earlier phase (about 0.1-0.5 sec) was low or moderate (ICC<0.7), while reliability of the parameters measuring the MAX vicinity tended to be high. The MAX relationship to force-time parameters in the MAX vicinity is high, but is low or moderate for the other parameters. It was suggested that the force-time parameters in the vicinity of MAX in SEG exertion might be useful for evaluating static power function in a clinical setting.

OBJECTSWe carried out an investigation to clarify the real state of indoor air pollution by chlorpyrifos (termiticide) and exposure to chlorpyrifos of residents by measuring its urinary metabolite 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) as an exposure index, such as biological monitoring.

METHODSThe investigation was conducted in 43 individual houses with termiticide application (whether the termiticide was chlorpyrifos is uncertain) and 3 control houses without any termiticide application in Kagawa, Japan. Urine samples were collected from 46 healthy adult residents of the aforementioned houses.

RESULTSChlorpyrifos in indoor air in the control houses was not detected (ND<1 ng/m(3), n=3), while 41 of 43 houses with termiticide application showed 1-350 ng/m(3). Although the chlorpyrifos concentrations in these 41 houses did not exceeded the indoor air quality guideline of 1000 ng/m(3), but 3 houses were higher than the guideline 100 ng/m(3) for children in Japan. Urinary TCP concentrations of 0.1-7.8 ng/mg·creatinine were detected in 41 residents from the 41 houses where chlorpyrifos had been detected. The chlorpyrifos concentration and the urinary TCP revealed a positive correlation (r=0.5468, p<0.01, n=41).

CONCLUSIONSThe immediate health hazard from air born chlorpyrifos in the examined houses was negligible, but the findings suggest that it is necessary to monitor chemicals which may contaminate indoor air and to assess the risk of prolonged exposure to such chemicals. The measuring of urinary metabolite TCP of chlorpyrifos via biological monitoring would be useful, allowing comprehensive evaluation of the exposure to chlorpyrifos in indoor air.

BACKGROUND: The best approach to reduce congenital cytomegalovirus infection (cCMVi) is to practice behaviors that reduce cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission during pregnancy. Expanding awareness and knowledge of CMV is expected to result in increased practice of preventative behaviors. To this end, it is necessary to understand current awareness and knowledge of CMV. METHODS: This web-based cross-sectional survey assessed the awareness and knowledge of cCMVi among pregnant women and the general public in Japan. Participants aged 20-45 years (pregnant and non-pregnant women, and men) were identified from a consumer panel. Study outcomes (all participants) included awareness of cCMVi and other congenital conditions. Among those aware of cCMVi, outcomes included knowledge of CMV transmission routes, long-term outcomes of cCMVi, and behaviors to prevent CMV transmission during pregnancy. Outcomes limited to pregnant women included the practice of preventative behaviors and opinion on how easy it is to implement these behaviors. The data of the pregnant group (pregnant at the time of the survey) were compared with those of the general group (non-pregnant women and men). RESULTS: There were 535 participants in the pregnant group and 571 in the general group. Awareness of cCMVi was generally low (pregnant, 16.1%; general, 10.2%). Pregnant participants were significantly more aware of most congenital conditions than those in the general group, including cCMVi (P = 0.004). Knowledge about CMV/cCMVi was limited; there were no significant differences between the two groups for 24 of the 26 knowledge questions. A small proportion (one third or less) of pregnant women practiced behaviors to prevent the transmission of CMV, though most (73.3-95.3%) pregnant women who were aware of cCMVi considered such behaviors easy to implement. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness and knowledge of CMV/cCMVi is low among pregnant women in Japan; the level of knowledge is similar to that among the general public. This needs to be improved. Most pregnant women considered behaviors to prevent CMV transmission easy to perform, which indicates that effectively educating pregnant women regarding the long-term outcomes of cCMVi, CMV transmission routes, and preventative behaviors will contribute to a reduced incidence of cCMVi. TRIAL REGISTRATION UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000041260 .
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/prevention & control* ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Internet ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women