There have been an apparent trend in the decline of back-lift strength of young people during recent years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cause-effect relationship of such a trend using young peoples and university students. In order to examine the characteristics of activities in the lumber back muscles during various physical activities, the surface electromyography (EMG) was obtained from the trapezius, latissimus dorsi, and elector spinae muscles for individuals with poor back-lift strength (5 male children and 4 university male students) and individuals with relatively strong back-lift strength (5 male children and 2 male university students) . The children with poor back-lift strength had significantly less EMG activities in both the trapezius and elector spinae muscles during the measurement of back-lift strength using a dynamometer than the strong back-lift strength children. The former children also had a less EMG activities in elector spinae muscle and a greater EMG activities in trapezius muscle during cycling the bicycle elgometer. Such a trend became more distinct when the load was increased. The university students with poor back-lift strength had a less EMG activity in the elector spinae muscle during the measurement of back-lift strength than those with strong back-lift strength. During running, there was not a distinct difference in the EMG activities of the muscles in the back between the poor and strong strength students. However, as the running speed increased, a greater EMG activity in the trapezius muscle or the latissimus dorsi muscle were observed for the poor back-lift strength students than the stronger back-lift strength students.
These results indicated that the individuals with poor back-lift strength relied more on the upper portion of the back muscle group than the lower portion of the back muscle group during both static and dynamic activities, suggesting that the trend in the decline of back-lift strength of children and students was due to a lack of opportunity to use the lower back muscles in the daily physical activities.

The electromyographic (EMG) activities of the back and thigh muscles while pedaling a bicycle ergometer at different load levels (300, 450, 600 and 750 kpm/min) and during walking and running at top speed up and down a staircase were investigated in children classified as physically less and more active than average. Each child underwent a battery of physical fitness tests to determine his physical fitness level relative to the national standard. Although the physiques of the inactive and active children did not differ, there were considerable differences between their back-lift, grip and knee-extension strengths, and the maximum anaerobic power, and 50-m dash performances of the two groups. The EMG data for each of the different tasks over selected periods (bicycle pedaling: 5 complete revolutions, staircase task: 5 stepping cycles) under different workload conditions were full-wave rectified and integrated (IEMG) . Under low workload conditions (ergometer tasks at 300 and 450 kpm/min and walking up and down stairs), the mean IEMG values (mIEMG) of all the muscles tested did not differ significantly in the inactive and active children. However, for all the higher workload tasks (pedaling at 600 kpm/min and running up and down stairs), the mIEMG values of the erector spinae muscles in the inactive children were significantly lower than those of the active children, and the difference increased gradually as the workload increased. This trend was even more marked when normalized mIEMG values were used. When the children ran up and down stairs at top speed, the inactive group had lower thigh, gluteus maximus and erector spinae muscle mIEMG values than the active group, and the difference between the normalized mIEMGs of the erector spinae muscles of the two groups showed a particularly strong statistical significance (P<0.01) when running both up and down stairs. As a similar trend was observed when the workload was maintained at a high level for the bicycle pedaling task, we concluded that at least part of the difference between the muscular activities of the two groups of children demonstrated when they carried out the running task was attributable to differences in the development of the muscle fibers and neuronal mechanisms of the erector spinae muscles.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of combined aerobic and resistance training circuit on daily physical activity, motor function, and health-related QOL among community-dwelling women aged over 65. Of 102 subjects recruited from the local community, 60 met the inclusion criteria. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups: intervention and control. The intervention group was asked to participate in 60 minutes of combined aerobic and resistance training circuit three times a week for 3 months, while the control group was asked to participate in a study circle once a month for 3 months. Daily physical activity was measured by an activity monitor, and questionnaire, physical functioning, and health related QOL were measured before and after intervention. Daily physical activity as measured by the activity monitor increased significantly in the intervention group but not in the control group, although daily physical activity as measured by questionnaire did not significantly differ between groups. Distance walked over 6 minutes significantly increased in the intervention group than in the control group. No significant difference was found in health related QOL between groups. We conclude that combined aerobic and resistance training circuit is effective for increasing daily activity in community-dwelling older women and for enhancing physical function.

Objective To investigate the relation of 11C-methionine (11C-MET) uptake with cell proliferation and angiogenesis in human brain gliomas .Methods For 30 cases of newly diagnosed glioma patients ,positron emission tomography (PET ) examina-tion with 11C-MET was performed ,and the maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of 11C-MET was measured .Expression of Ki-67 and CD34 antigens was examined by immunohistochemistry method in the same glioma samples ,both Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67 LI) and microvessel density (MVD) were measured .Results Both 11C-MET SUVmax and Ki-67 LI increased significantly with glioma pathological grade ascending (P=0 .000 ,P=0 .000) ,and which in malignant glioma tissues were significantly higher than those in benign glioma tissues as well (P=0 .000 ,P=0 .000);however ,there were not significant differences in MVD among different grades of gliomas (P=0 .831) as well as between high and low malignant gliomas (P=0 .370) .11 C-MET SUVmax was significantly positively correlated with Ki-67 LI (P= 0 .000) ,however ,there were not significant correlations between 11C-MET SUVmax and MVD (P=0 .154) as well as between Ki-67 LI and MVD (P=0 .842) .Conclusion 11C-MET uptake and cell prolif-eration activity can better reflect the pathological grades and malignant degrees of gliomas .

Physical performance measures, such as gait speed, one-legged stance and hand-grip strength, are known as assessment measures of motor function and predictors for adverse health outcomes, and widely used for assessing motor function in preventive programs for long-term care or screening of frail elderly. However, there is no standard assessment sheet for feedback of the results. In the present study, an assessment sheet on physical performance measures for community-dwelling older adults was developed. A pooled analysis of data from six cohort studies, including urban and rural areas was conducted as part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Longitudinal Interdisciplinary Study on Aging. The pooled analysis included cross-sectional data from 4683 nondisabled, community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older. Quintiles were derived according to age and sex group for six physical performance measures, i.e., hand-grip strength, one-legged stance, and gait speed and step length at both usual and maximum paces. The assessment sheets, which indicated the physical performance level according to age and sex, were developed by fitting third order polynomial curves to the data. The reference values in the present assessment sheet were considered to be derived from better represented community-dwelling older adults by using more large-scale population-based cohort data than that in the previous study. The assessment sheet should be useful for feeding back results on physical performance measures to elderly individuals and help them better understand their own physical performance levels.

BACKGROUND: Wood is a valuable material for interiors, and the psychophysiological relaxation effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wood chips and essential oils have been reported. However, few studies have identified the odors in full-scale wooden environment, and also, differences in gender have not been clarified. In this study, we aimed to confirm the effects of VOCs emitted from interior wood walls in both human male and female participants. METHODS: We used Japanese cedar timber and analyzed VOCs in the experimental rooms with and without Japanese cedar timber by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The physiological effects were measured using neuroendocrinological and immunological parameters in saliva. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the subjective responses to each odor in the experimental rooms. RESULTS: The main compound emitted from Japanese cedar timber was δ-cadinene, and the total volume of VOCs in the wood condition (presence of VOCs emitted from Japanese cedar) was 282.4 (μg/m). Significant differences between genders in salivary parameters were shown that there were decreases of α-amylase in wood condition and increases of cortisol in the control (absence of VOCs) condition in female participants compared to male participants. The results demonstrated that VOCs in the experimental room with Japanese cedar timber tend to suppress the activation of the sympathetic nervous activity and non-VOCs of Japanese cedar in the control room increase cortisol in female participants. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that an indoor environment with wood interior materials has the potential to be useful for health management, especially women's health.
Adult ; Air Pollutants ; analysis ; Air Pollution, Indoor ; adverse effects ; analysis ; Cryptomeria ; chemistry ; Female ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; metabolism ; Male ; Saliva ; chemistry ; Salivary alpha-Amylases ; metabolism ; Sesquiterpenes ; analysis ; Sex Factors ; Volatile Organic Compounds ; adverse effects ; Wood ; chemistry ; Young Adult