Showing papers by "Niigata University of Health and Welfare published in 2008"

Changes in Speaking Fundamental Frequency Characteristics with Aging

Abstract: Changes in speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) associated with aging were studied in a total of 374 healthy normal speakers (187 males and 187 females) from adolescent to older age groups. Participan

Effect of high-intensity intermittent swimming on postexercise insulin sensitivity in rat epitrochlearis muscle.

Abstract: A bout of prolonged aerobic exercise can enhance the sensitivity of muscle glucose uptake to insulin, and this may be mediated by activation of 5′-adenosine monophosphate–activated protein kinase (AMPK). The aim of this study was to examine whether high-intensity short-term exercise resulting in a significantly greater increase in the activation of AMPK is more effective in enhancing muscle insulin sensitivity compared with low-intensity prolonged aerobic exercise. We measured insulin sensitivity after high-intensity intermittent swimming (HIS) or low-intensity continuous swimming (LIS) exercise in rat epitrochlearis muscle. During HIS, the rats underwent eight 20-second bouts of swimming with a weight equal to 18% of body weight. The LIS rats swam with no load for 3 hours. High-intensity intermittent swimming increased (P < .05) 2-deoxyglucose uptake ∼8-fold, whereas LIS increased it (P < .05) ∼2-fold immediately after exercise compared with rested muscle. This response was associated with an increase (P < .05) in phosphorylation of AMPK Thr172 and its downstream target acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC) Ser79 in HIS (13- and 6-fold, respectively) and LIS (2.8- and 2-fold, respectively) immediately after exercise. In contrast, submaximal (30 μU/mL) insulin-stimulated 2-deoxyglucose uptake measured 4 hours after exercise was 73% and 46% higher (P < .05) in LIS and HIS, respectively, compared with rest. The HIS exercise resulted in a greater activation of AMPK compared with LIS, but insulin sensitivity was higher after LIS compared with HIS. The results suggest that HIS is not more effective in enhancing insulin sensitivity than LIS. Thus, AMPK activation immediately after exercise may not be the only factor that determines the magnitude of the exercise-induced increase in insulin sensitivity in rat epitrochlearis muscle.

Influence of food properties and body posture on durations of swallowing-related muscle activities

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine (i) whether or not textural properties of foods and body positions affect the durations of anterior tongue and suprahyoid muscle activities during swallowing, and (ii) if such changes occur, is the 'pre-peak' or the 'post-peak' duration of integrated muscle activity responsible. We used two test foods with different properties of hardness and adhesiveness. We recorded electromyograms (EMGs) from the anterior tongue and suprahyoid muscles as well as the laryngeal movement associated with swallowing in normal subjects (six men and three women; 21-30-years old). The subjects swallowed the test foods in four randomly set postures: upright, two inclined (60 degrees and 30 degrees to horizontal), and supine. None of the measured durations for the anterior tongue and suprahyoid EMGs were different among the four positions during swallowing of either food. The 'total' duration, from the start to the end of the integrated EMG, of anterior tongue activity was significantly (P<0.001, anova) longer during the swallowing of the tougher and more adhesive food than during swallowing of the other food, but the 'total' duration of suprahyoid activity was unchanged. The 'post-peak' duration of anterior tongue activity, which stretched from the peak to the end of the integrated EMG, was also significantly longer (P<0.001, anova) during swallowing of the tougher and more adhesive food. The results indicate that tougher and more adhesive foods prolong the duration, especially the 'post-peak' duration, of anterior tongue activity during swallowing in the upright, inclined and supine positions.

Survey of the current status of cancer rehabilitation in Japan

Abstract: Purpose. To elucidate the current status of cancer rehabilitation in institutions nationwide. Method. A questionnaire survey regarding the current status of cancer rehabilitation in 1693 healthcare institutions was conducted by mail. The survey first asked whether rehabilitation was being conducted for cancer patients and, in facilities in which it was being conducted, it then asked about the content of the rehabilitation, the stage of the cancer patients, etc. Facilities in which cancer rehabilitation was not being conducted were surveyed in regard to whether there was a need for cancer rehabilitation. Results. Valid replies were obtained from 1045 (62.0%) institutions and 864 (82.7%) of them conducted rehabilitation for cancer patients. A high proportion of the content of the rehabilitation was found to be related to physical function. Activities of daily living guidance and training were also found to be conducted in a high proportion. Low proportions of the facilities conducted content that was specialized for cancer. Of the 181 facilities in which rehabilitation was not being conducted for cancer patients, 171 (94.5%) replied that they felt that rehabilitation was needed for cancer patients. Conclusions. Based on the results of this fact-finding survey it will be necessary to consider strategies for popularizing and developing rehabilitation programmes for cancer patients in Japan.

Changes in salivary physiological stress markers induced by muscle stretching in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract: Psychophysiological processing has been reported to play a crucial role in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but there has been no report on modulation of the stress marker chromogranin A (CgA) resulting from muscle stretching. We hypothesized that abdominal muscle stretching as a passive operation would have a beneficial effect on a biochemical index of the activity of the sympathetic/adrenomedullary system (salivary CgA) and anxiety. Fifteen control and eighteen untreated IBS subjects underwent experimental abdominal muscle stretching for 4 min. Subjects relaxed in a supine position with their knees fully flexed while their pelvic and trunk rotation was passively and slowly moved from 0 degrees of abdominal rotation to about 90 degrees or the point where the subject reported feeling discomfort. Changes in the Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale (GSRS), State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), ordinate scale and salivary CgA levels were compared between controls and IBS subjects before and after stretching. A three-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) with period (before vs. after) as the within-subject factor and group (IBS vs. Control), and sex (men vs. female) as the between-subject factors was carried out on salivary CgA. CgA showed significant interactions between period and groups (F[1, 31] = 4.89, p = 0.03), and between groups and sex (F[1, 31] = 4.73, p = 0.03). Interactions between period and sex of CgA secretion were not shown (F[1, 3] = 2.60, p = 0.12). At the baseline, salivary CgA in IBS subjects (36.7 ± 5.9 pmol/mg) was significantly higher than in controls (19.9 ± 5.5 pmol/mg, p < 0.05). After the stretching, salivary CgA significantly decreased in the IBS group (25.5 ± 4.5 pmol/mg), and this value did not differ from that in controls (18.6 ± 3.9 pmol/mg). Our results suggest the possibility of improving IBS pathophysiology by passive abdominal muscle stretching as indicated by CgA, a biochemical index of the activity of the sympathetic/adrenomedullary system.

Naming action in Japanese : Effects of semantic similarity and grammatical class

Abstract: This study investigated whether the semantic similarity and grammatical class of distracter words affects the naming of pictured actions (verbs) in Japanese. Three experiments used the picture-word interference paradigm with participants naming picturable actions while ignoring distracters. In all three experiments, we manipulated the semantic similarity between distracters and targets (similar vs. dissimilar verbs) and the grammatical class of semantically dissimilar distracters (verbs, verbal nouns, and also nouns in Experiment 3) in addition to task demands (single word naming vs. phrase/sentence generation). While Experiment 1 used visually presented distracters, Experiment 2 and 3 used auditory distracter words to rule out possible confounding factors of orthography (kanji vs. hiragana). We found the same results for all three experiments: robust semantic interference in the absence of any effects of grammatical class. We discuss the lack of grammatical class effects in terms of structural characteri...

Changes in pancreatic cancer mortality, period patterns, and birth cohort patterns in Japan: analysis of mortality data in the period 1968–2002

Abstract: The 5-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is known to be lower than that for cancer at any other site in the body, and the proportion of pancreatic cancer deaths among all cancer deaths has been increasing in Japan. The aim of this study was to investigate pancreatic cancer mortality in the light of temporal and geographical trends in the 47 prefectures of the country between 1968 and 2002. To survey the geographical aspects of pancreatic cancer mortality, we mapped the direct age-adjusted mortality rates of persons aged 40 years and older by sex in seven 5-year periods (1968–1972 to 1998–2002). We also evaluated the changes in period and birth cohort trends using estimable functions based on the age–period–cohort models in each prefecture. During the observation period the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions had high mortality rates for both sexes. No significant increase in period trends was observed from 1973 to 2002, but significant increases in cohort trends were observed from 1913 to 1962—in two prefectures, for males, and in four prefectures, for females. The results of this study reveal a combination of time trends in pancreatic cancer mortality and changes in period or birth cohort trends. The changes in cohort trends in each prefecture were more variable than the period trends. This finding probably indicates the need for further investigation of the cohort-related factors involved in the prevalence of pancreatic cancer. Further research on mortality in the 47 prefectures needs to be conducted while taking the two time effects into account.

Carcass Composition and Skeletal Muscle Distribution in Broilers Produced under Different Nutrition Regime-2. Male Broilers Fed for Rapid Later Growth Following Severe Nutritional Restriction during Early Growth

Abstract: 1. The results of a previous experiment indicated that chicks whose growth was severely restricted through under nutrition, had the larger than normal hind limb muscles relative to wing muscles at 21 days of age (Das et al., 2008). In this study, we investigated whether the large relative size of hind limb muscle was maintained in the broilers when their growth was accelerated after 3 weeks. 2. The chicks at 21 days of age, which were reared with layer grower (LG, ME 11.92 MJ/kg, CP 170 g/kg) or pre-layer (PL, ME 11.72 MJ/kg, CP 140 g/kg) feeds, had their growth accelerated by feeding a broiler finisher (BF, ME 13.47 MJ/kg, CP 180 g/kg) diet and were then killed at 80 days of age (LGBF80d and PLBF80d groups, respectively). 3. Both broiler groups had attained an adequate body size compared with conventionally-fed chicks at 80 days of age (Nakamura et al., 2004; Roy et al., 2007). PLBF80d broilers gained more live weight (3298 g) than LGBF80d (3088 g) broilers. The carcass accounted for 84-85% of live weight and skeletal muscle made up 48% of carcass weight. 4. Total muscle weight as a percentage of carcass weight was 24% for wing muscle, 18% for hind limb mus- cle and 4.5% for cervicodorsal muscle. The size of the hind limb muscle relative to wing muscle was 75.9-76.5% and this did not differ from the value of 76.5% reported for conventionally-fed broilers (Roy et al., 2007). The high percentage of hind limb compared to wing muscle weight in LG (83.3%) and PL (96.7%) chicks at 21 days of age had returned to normal levels following stimulation of growth with the BF feed from days 22 to 80. 5. These results suggest that wing muscle growth limitation with under nutrition during the first 3 weeks post-hatching did not influence the final size of the muscle at 80 days when a BF diet was fed from days 22 to 80.

Carcass Composition and Skeletal Muscle Distribution in Broilers Produced under Different Nutritional Regimes-3. Male Broilers Showing Maximum Early Growth and Restricted Later Growth

Abstract: ., 2008a, b). In birds which show rapid growth rates in the later stage, the wing muscle recovers its superior size regardless of variation in its relative size in chicks at 3 weeks of age. It is possible that the relative size of the hind limb muscle of broilers could be increased relative to the size of wing muscle by limiting growth rate in chickens during the pre–slaughter phase. In the present study, chicks were either fed a diet which limited growth throughout the experimental period or a diet which severely limited growth after the maximum growth phase in the first 3 weeks. Since nei-ther group of broilers attained their target body weight (3 kg) by 80 days, some of the birds were reared until 95 days of age. Body size, carcass composition and skeletal muscle distribution were compared between the treatment groups and with previous data (Das

Oral perception of bolus in healthy young women.

Abstract: This study was designed to characterize oral perception of both weight and volume of boluses. A total of 80 healthy young female subjects was recruited and divided into bolus weight (n = 40) and bo...

Running Speed at Predicted Maximal Heart Rate as an Assessment of Maximal Aerobic Capacity in Trained Teenaged Runners

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the running speed (vHRmax.pred) corresponding to a HRmax predicted by the formula [220-age (yrs)], is a useful physiologic index of endurance among trained young runners in a specified age group (12-20 yrs). Correlations were analyzed between vHRmax.pred and Vo2max, vVo2max (running speed corresponding to Vo2max,), vLT (running speed at a blood lactate level of 4 mmol·L−1), vHRmax.meas (running speed at the measured HRmax), and competitive 1500 and 3000-m performance times in 43 endurance-trained, teenaged runners (25 males, 18 females).Methods: Physiological variables (Vo2, HR, and La) were measured during progressive sub-maximal and maximal treadmill running. Running speeds corresponding to Vo2max, HRmax.meas, and HRmax.pred were estimated from regressions relating each individual's running speed to Vo2 and HR.Results: With a few exceptions, gender-specific correlation coefficients were significant between Vo2max, vVo2max, vLT, vHRmax.meas, and vHRmax.pred, with values ranging from 0.41 to 0.93 (p<0.05). vHRmax.pred was a significant predictor of running performance for both 1500 and 3000-m events (r=−0.62 and −0.52 in males, and −0.66 and −0.80 in females, respectively).Conclusion: The results suggested that vHRmax.pred is a useful predictor of endurance running performance in trained teenaged runners. This fact also suggested the possibility of developing an index of endurance running performance in untrained teenagers.