This study was investigated to evaluate effects of rowing exercise on health promotion and disease prevention for older people by comparing regularly rowing-trained older men（RT）with age-matched less trained men（LT）．RT had higher aerobic capacity and muscle power of leg extension associated with larger leg muscle mass than LT. These results suggest that rowing could be categorized as an exercise mode with both aerobic and resistance. RT had less risk factors related to the metabolic syndrome which has been characterized as higher abdominal fat deposit, higher blood glucose, higher blood pressure, and blood lipid abnormalities, than LT. In conclusion, this study suggests that regularly performed rowing exercise could have beneficial effects on health promotion and lifestyle related diseases prevention for older people.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the requirement of exercise wear for the elderly. The elderly physiology（i.e. rotation angle of shoulder and elbow joint）was reproduced by joint supporters. Ten subjects within the age range of twenty - twenty three years dressed four exercise wears of different types and evaluated easiness of dressing. And the dressing motion was measured by three dimensional image processing. From the result, it was found that（1）the elderly tool reproduced the elderly physiology within the generation of seventy - eighty years,（2）the sleeve fabric of exercise wear influenced largely on subjective easiness of dressing for the elderly,（3）in comparing the requirement time of dressing between young condition and supposed elderly condition among the four samples, the pullover type and the zipper type with long sleeves increased 28% and 5.8%,（4）the muscular activation of pullover type with long sleeves were larger than that of zipper type with long sleeves. exercise wear、elderly、three dimensional image processing、elderly tool

The figure feature of the lower part of the bodies of middle-aged and elderly men and women was analyzed for the walking wear design which the dynamic fitness was pursued. By the principal component analysis of the data measured from 1992 to 1994, it became clear that the figure feature of the middle-aged and elderly men and women fat deposited around the waist, the abdomen and the hip compared with the younger age group, and was thick overall. So the subjective who is within the 30% from the center of all principle component scores from the 1st principle component to the 4th principle component was made the standard model. In order to catch the walking feature of the middle-aged and elderly persons, we took VTR photography and analyzed the walking posture outside doors. Moreover, we took the pictures of walking movement by tread Mil, analyzed movement by MMpro2DDA and found the ease amount necessary to the lower part of the body clothes. We took the picture of the person for each of subjective men and women who showed the figure feature near the standard model using non-contact three-dimensional measurement equipment, transformed these into regular size and made the standard solid nude model. The dynamic ease amount was added to the pattern of the standard solid nude model and the movement correspondence type middle-aged and elderly waist standard model was produced.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of cooling of proximal region of gastrocnemius muscle on electromyographic（EMG）activities during calf-raising exercise. Eight men and women performed calf-raising exercise every two seconds for twenty-five repetitions with or without cooling. Cooling was applied for the proximal region of the gastrocnemius. During the cooling, skin temperature was measured from the proximal and distal region of the lateral gastrocnemius muscle. Surface EMG activities were recorded from the proximal and distal lateral gastrocnemius（LGpro and LGdis, respectively），proximal and distal medial gastrocnemius（MGpro and MGdis, respectively）and soleus（Sol）muscles during the calf-raising exercise. Skin temperature of LGpro, i.e. cooling region, significantly decreased; however, no change was found in LGdis after 30 min cooling. In all tested regions, EMG activities in the cooling condition were significantly higher than those in the control condition. The relative EMG activity changes in cooling condition to the control condition were significantly higher in MGpro than MGdis; however, no significant difference were found between LGpro and LGdis. These results suggest that cooling of the proximal region of the gastrocnemius muscle induces significant changes in neuromuscular activities in cooled regions as well as non-cooled region and that these changes would be strategy to avoid fatigue during required task.

The present study was designed to investigate the association of serum advanced glycation end-products（AGEs）with body fat, glucose and lipid metabolism in obese young subjects and to examine the effects of instruction in improvement in diet and physical activity on the formation and accumulation of serum AGEs in 6 months. Forty-six young obese students（21±3.0yr, body weight: 83.2±18.1kg, BMI: 28.9±5.4kg/m2, body fat: 23.5±10.4kg）were recruited into the present study. Serum total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting glucose, insulin, adiponectin, leptin and reactive oxygen metabolite（ROMs）levels were determined in all participants. Insulin resistance was assessed using Homeostasis Model Assessment（HOMA）-index. AGEs（3-DG, Pentosidine, and CML）were also evaluated in plasma by immunoassay. Six months after instruction, the measurement was repeated. Positive correlations of serum CML levels with HOMA-index（p=0.029）and with reactive oxygen metabolite levels（p=0.005）were observed. Six months after instruction, body weight, BMI, body fat, fasting glucose, plasma ROMs were significantly reduced in subjects who could be followed up（n=8）. Especially, positive correlations of decrease in CML levels with decrease in %body fat（p=0.007）were observed. These data indicate the presence of formation of circulating AGEs associated with latent insulin resistance and systemic oxidative stress in young obese adolescents without evident diabetes. And, in an early stage of life in obese subjects, life style modification（healthy diet and exercise training）might result in reduction in circulating AGEs formation accompanied with improvement in body composition and insulin resistance, possibly leading to prevention of the development of arteriosclerosis.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of fabric constructive factor of brasserie on functional mobility and comfort in a cyclic movement. The shape of the back panel（curve and straight），the material of back panel（two-way, power net and satin net），the hem tape material（hard and soft），the width of the hem tape（wide and narrow）were compared to examine the effect of constructive factor of brasserie back panel. We made up 24 type brasseries in all. The dislocation between the skin and the back panel part of brasserie in the movement was measured by using a three dimensional motion capture device. The clothing pressure and subjective feeling of comfort and dislocation feeling were also obtained under the same condition. Results were as follows. The amount of the dislocation during the action was influenced by the back panel material in the significant level. The amount of the dislocation was most deeply influenced in the case of two-way material of back panel. The shape of back panel affected a little. The clothing pressure during the action was also influenced by the back panel and hem tape materials. There was a good linear relation between the dislocation feeling and the comfort feeling in the action. The result indicated that the subject preferred the hard type brasserie which had less dislocation in the action.

To examine whether acute dynamic exercise could improve brain cognitive function and whether the changes in cerebral blood flow of the frontal brain might be associated with improved cognitive function, a Stroop color-word test（SCWT）was performed in 10 adults before and after ergometer exercise at 20%, 40%, and 60% of the maximum voluntary performance. In SCWT, the subjects were asked to answer a displayed color of a word, which meant "the different color". The total time and number of errors for 50-100 SCWT trials were recorded as index of the cognitive function. We measured the concentration of oxy-hemoglobin（Oxy-Hb）in the frontal brain using near-infrared spectroscopy to monitor local cerebral blood flow. The 40%- and 60%-exercise for 15 min shortened the total time for SCWT and increased Oxy-Hb, though 20%-exercise did not alter them. The number of errors was not altered by any intensity of exercise. The increase in Oxy-Hb started 5 min after the onset of exercise and was sustained during and after exercise. These results suggest that acute dynamic exercise at a moderate intensity for a period of 15 min is able to improve brain cognitive function and the improved cognitive function may be associated with increased cerebral blood flow of the frontal brain.

In this study, we have investigated the multiple effects of the environmental condition, physical characteristics, and swimwear condition on children's thermal sensation（TS）during elementary school swimming class, and evaluated the standard condition for wearing thermal swimsuit. Sixth-grade elementary school children（n=68）participated in a swimming class 8 times. Multiple regression analysis was performed to make estimation equation of TS. The following two regression equations were developed. The equations contain 3 predictors of water temperature（Tw）, swimwear condition（Suit）, and physical characteristics（surface area per body weight: SA/BW or BMI）．（TS = 0.58Tw + 1.21Suit -126.2SA/BW -11.3, TS = 0.58Tw + 1.21Suit +0.139BMI -17.8）． The thermally comfortable area was indicated by the estimated equations. Based on these equations, we suggested functional equations expressed by Tw and physical characteristics for wearing thermal swimsuit（Tw = 217.3SA/BW + 18.6, Tw = -0.24BMI + 29.9）．

The present study aimed to investigate the changes in the mechanical and metabolic properties of human muscle and tendon during the menstrual cycle in vivo. The subjects were young healthy women（n = 8, age 22.5±0.9 years）with a normal menstrual cycle. Cycle phases were divided into the menstrual,（when estradiol and progesterone concentrations were low）ovulatory（when estradiol was elevatated and progesterone was low），and luteal（when progesterone was elevated）．Measurements included maximal isometric voluntary contraction（MVC），muscle thickness（using ultrasonography），muscle activation level（using interpolated twitch method），tendon stiffness（using ultrasonography），blood volume and oxygenation of muscle and tendon（using near-infrared spectroscopy）in knee extensors and plantar flexors. No significant changes in MVC, muscle thickness and activation level during the menstrual cycle. Similarly, there were no significant differences in the tendon properties（maximal tendon elongation and stiffness）among the three phases. These results suggested that the changes in female steroid hormones during the menstrual cycle did not affect the mechanical and metabolic properties of human muscle and tendon.

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation has been recognized to affect the peripheral oxygen delivery system with increasing blood rheology. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation could improve aerobic capacity in young women. Female college students and teachers were divided into an aqua aerobic training group, a land aerobic training group, and a non aerobic training group. Half of the subjects of each group were given an intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, while the other half of each group were not. The level of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid in erythrocyte membrane significantly increased in the subjects who were given n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in the aqua aerobic training group, as compared with the subjects who did neither aqua aerobics, nor land aerobics, but were only given an intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid. As far as the level of maximal oxygen uptake（VO_2max）was concerned, this was seen to increase far more significantly in the subjects who were given n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in the aqua aerobic training group than in the subjects in any other of the groups. These results suggest that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation might have a beneficial effect in improving aerobic capacity.

Our aim in this study was to examine the relationship between physical ability / walking ability / body composition and the fractal scaling index（α）which was derived from the walking rhythms of the 26 healthy elderly subjects by using detrended fluctuation analysis. α was regarded as an index to show the stability of the gait in previous studies. In the present study, α was correlated with agility and adjustability components of the physical ability. It was also correlated with the distance subjects could walk in 3 minutes in shuttle stamina walk tests. The results implied that the improvement of agility and adjustability might be useful for preventing the elderly from accidental falls, and for maintaining the ability to walk for a long time and over long distance. In addition, the elderly with higher α had the tendency that they had less fat and more muscle. Our research suggests that improving some physical abilities like agility, adjustability and flexibility in daily life and light exercise will improve the stability of gait and may be useful for preventing falls.

In the design of working environment, only the function and the efficiency of manufacturing equipments are considered to device maximum efficiency, and the human characteristics of workers are neglected, then the working troubles will be occurred caused by increasing of the working load and decreasing of the working efficiency. Therefore, it is required to take care of the human characteristic for the design of good working environment. Recently, various digital human models have been studied and developed, which are utilized for the design of the working environment good for workers and the product gently for customers. Therefore, the digital human model, which can be express the human characteristics as much as possible, is required for the design and the evaluation of the working environment. In this study, the digital human model, which can evaluate the arm posture, the influence of each muscular power and muscular fatigue by integrating bi-articular muscle and muscular fatigue models, is developed.

Dynamics-based force sensor using accelerometers which measures forces and joint torques has been developed. In this study we have applied this method to hammer throw training aid integrating small sensors, signal processing, short-range wireless transmission, wearable data logger and biofeedback training system. The purpose of this study was to establish methods for the measuring of rotational movement and the biofeedback training system of hammer throwing players in training. Microelectromechanical systems（MEMS）accelerometers were chosen as the sensor platform because they are unobtrusive, have wide bandwidth. In this system, a wireless data logger was developed as a wearable device to replace cables and reduce constraint caused by wearing cables. The transmitted data were given as biofeedback information over a speaker through signal processing and voltage to frequency conversion.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the optimal weight reduction program for dietary and exercise therapy. We tested about the rate of weight reduction arranged by voluntary wheel running protocol that will effect on the cellularity of adipocyte and secretion of adipocytokines. Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty（OLETF）rats, an animal model of hyperphagia and obesity, was used in this study（n=12, 19-week-old at the end of experiment）．The rats were randomly assigned to either the 2（17 to 19-week-old, everyday）or 4（15 to 19-week-old, about every two day）weeks voluntary exercise or control group. The exercise frequency and duration were arranged, and all rats weighed about 85% of control rats at the end of experiment. Compared to 2 weeks exercise, 4 weeks exercise promoted the downsizing of adipocyte and provided a weak reduction in the value of blood adiponectin concentration. These results suggested that the low frequency and long duration exercise therapy is more effective for the cellularity of adipocyte and maintenance of blood adiponectin concentration compared to the high frequency and short duration exercise therapy.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of repeated intermittent normobaric hypoxia on exercise performance and stress response. Twelve-male collegeate long distance runners and triathlets were divided into a normoxic（N, n=6）or a hypoxic group ［two 7-night blocks of hypoxia, interspersed with 7-nights of normoxia（H, n=6）］. H group subjects stayed in a normobaric hypoxic room（15.4% O₂; 2500m）in a for 10-12h a day at night. During the experimental period, subjects were undergone the submaximal treadmill running and hematological tests. Submaximal running efficiency was measured at the intensities of 50% and 80% of V_O2max predetermined during baseline test. Also, resting erythrocyte parameters, white blood cell subsets and stress hormones were measured before（pre）and 1st, 3rd and 7th day at each series. Erythrocyte was stimulated by hypoxia. RBC, Hb and Hct were not significantly changed by hypoxia. After experimental period, exercise efficiency of H group was not significantly improved by repeated LHTL, but blood lactate concentration at both intensities was tendency to decrease from the pre-values in H group. WBC subsets and epinephrine and norepinephrine as stress hormone were increased by hypoxia. From these results, it was concluded that repeated intermittent normobaric hypoxia was stimulate the erythrocyte, but did not enough to improve to the exercise efficiency. Also, Stress responses as WBC subsets and stress hormone may be relate the improvement of submaximal exercise efficiency in athletes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the effect of photocatalysis-plated garment influenced the sweat malodor caused by exercise in the heat. Eight healthy male subjects performed two exercise and heat stress trials who wore T-shirts coated by titanium dioxide and apatite（TDA），or wore normal T-shirts（CON）．Each trial was consisted of the 20 min. running at 60%HRmax, and the 30min. seated rest. Testing was done in a room maintained at 30℃ and 70% relative humidity. Before and after the trial, the odor of T-shirts was analyzed by an electronic nose. The odor index（indicating odor quantity）in the TDA did not change after the trial, but that in the CON increased（p<0.01）．The intensity of smell representation（indicating odor quality）for hydrogen sulfide and organic acid system in the CON increased after the trial, but there was no change in the TDA（p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively）．These results shows that the titanium dioxide and apatite coating inhibit the malodor from the T-shirts caused by exercise in the heat.

In earlier studies of postural control system, electrical stimulation had been almost used as a disturbance to vestibular system. In this study, to consider whether an electrical stimulation method can be used as a support system for postural maintenance of human quiet standing, we developed the interferential current（IFC）stimulation device. We examined effects of IFC stimulation on center of pressure（COP）trajectory during one leg quiet standing with opened-eyes in the following conditions: 1）without stimulation, 2, 3, 4）IFC stimulations with 40, 60, 80 % sensation threshold intensities. We calculated four parameters relative to postural sway, which were corresponded to a variance of COP sway in mediolateral（ML）and anteroposterior（AP）directions（ML SD and AP SD）as“sway degree”in each direction, an area of 95% confidence ellipse for COP distribution as“swept area”and a COP trajectory path length in unit time as“average velocity”．As a result, ML SD and swept area were significantly decreased during the applied IFC stimulation at 80% sensation threshold intensity. On the other hand, AP SD and average velocity were not changed by IFC stimulation. These results suggest that IFC stimulation at sensation-subthreshold intensity may enhance a sensitivity of position sensing of knee joint. We confirmed that IFC stimulation at sensation-subthreshold intensity was effective support method for postural maintenance, especially postural sway in ML direction, during one leg quiet standing in healthy young adults using our prototype IFC stimulation device.

Sapporo lifestyle study is a community-based, prospective, randomized controlled study to improve coronary risk profile by therapeutic lifestyle change（TLC）consisting of exercise and dietary modification for 12 months. Three hundred and sixteen（316）eligible residents（male 111, female 205）aged 40 to 69 years without symptom were recruited with informed consent, and allocated into 3 groups such as 105 control（A），106 exercise intervention（B），and 105 exercise with dietary intervention group. Brisk walking（near 3 METs）for 150 minutes a week was introduced for B and C groups, and a nutritional intervention consisting of appropriate energy intake for ideal body weight, increased n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid（PUFA）up to 2.9g a day and additional 2.0 g increase of fiber intake a day, was instructed for C group in training sessions. All participants were estimated body composition, lipid profile, physical fitness, and nutritional status（by diet history questionnaire made in Japan NIH）at the beginning and end of the study, and monitored on daily physical activity by pedometer during the study. Computerized randomization by minimization method was successful, resulting in no significant differences of major risk factors. Total of 249 residents（A: 87, B: 78, C: 84）were followed up for 12 months（follow-up rate 79%）．B and C group had significant increased brisk walking than that of A group. Lipid profile was improved in all groups. Above all, HDL-C levels increased by 0.31, 2.47 and 3.62 mg/dl in A, B and C groups（P<0.05），respectively. Although intakes of total energy and cholesterol per 1,000 kcal a day were reduced in all groups, n-3 PUFA per 1,000 kcal is significantly increased in only C groups（P<0.05）．

Introduction: Following a traumatic noxious event, pathologic pain sometimes occurs. Pathologic pain sometimes impairs motor function of the affected limb, but the underlying mechanisms of the motor dysfunction are still unclear. In this study, we focused on the relationship between pathologic pain and higher brain function-associated motor function. Methods: Under the light or dark conditions, six patients with pathologic pain in their upper limb were asked to perform two-way pointing between three visual targets and their nose by their index finger of the affected and unaffected limb. We evaluated the response time during the respective pointing movements and inaccuracy of the pointing trajectories. To analyze these data statistically, we used 3-way ANOVA for three factors [ laterality（affected or unaffected）×condition（light or dark）×two-way task（go-task from their nose to targets or back-task from targets to their nose]. Results: Regarding the response time, there was no significance among three factors. There was a significant interaction of the inaccuracy of pointing trajectories between two factors（laterality and condition）（p<0.01）．Other factors revealed no significance. Discussion: In the dark condition, the patients performed the pointing task on the basis of proprio-motor reference frame. On the other hand, in the light condition, the patients performed the task on the basis of not only proprio-motor reference but also visuo-motor reference. Considering that the patients showed almost accurate pointing trajectories in the dark, the peripheral motor system（e.g., muscle, joint, and bone）would not be impaired. Further, the visuo-motor reference of the affected limb would interfere with the intact proprio-motor reference and thereby the eye-hand coordinative linkage of the affected limb is impaired. Conclusions Our finding suggest that pathologic pain concerns with motor dysfunction of the affected limb, which is dependent on the higher brain function.

We examined whether increased blood flow during acute exercise would change human skin-gas nitric oxide（NO）or not. Nine healthy male students（21.2±1.9 years; mean±SD）volunteered as the subjects, and none of them were smokers. The subjects performed the repetitive wrist flexion-extension exercise at 25% maximal voluntary contraction at a pace of a time per second until voluntary exhaustion. The skin-gas samples were obtained by covering the non-dominant hand for 3min with a polyfluorovinyl bag in which pure nitrogen gas was introduced, and collected in a sampling bag at rest and after exercise（2-5, 12-15, 22-25 min）．The skin-gas NO concentration was measured by a chemiluminescence analyzer. The peripheral blood flow in the skin surface of the middle fingertip and blood pressure were measured at rest and after exercise（0, 10, 20 min）．The mean（±SD）time to exhaustion of the repetitive wrist flexion-extension exercise for the subjects was 131.1±28.5 sec. The peripheral blood flow in the skin surface of the middle fingertip significantly increased immediately after the exercise compared to the resting values（p<0.01），no significantly higher levels were remained 10 and 20 min after the exercise. Similarly, the skin-gas NO concentrations significantly increased immediately after the exercise compared to the resting values（p<0.01），although no significant change was observed 12-15 and 22-25 min after the exercise. These results suggest that the repetitive wrist flexion-extension stimulates vascular endothelial NO production by increases in shear stress during the exercise and increases skin-gas NO concentrations.

Japan currently has approximately 27,000 centenarians who are 100 years old or older. Women account for around 85 percent of this group. Japan has the world's highest longevity rate. What is the secret to the Japanese' long-lasting health? The answer may be in their dietary habit, physical exercise and positive attitude toward life. Thus, centenarians serve as a prime example of successful aging. On the other hand, longevity is associated not only with environment factors but also with genetic factors. PURPOSE: To examine of this hypothesize, we sequenced 192 complete mitochondrial DNA（mtDNA）of unrelated Japanese individuals stratified into two equal sized groups by the phenotypes: centenarians and healthy controls. METHODS: Each phenotype had 96 samples over 12 known haplogroups: A, B, C, F, M*, M7a, M7b, D4, D5, G, N9a, and N9b. RESULTS: The frequency of mitochondrial haplogroups D5 and M7b in centenarians was significantly higher than that in controls. On the other hand, the frequency of mitochondrial haplogroup M* in centenarians was significantly lower than that in controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms were associated with longevity. There is possibility that some mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms are important as candidate genes for physical fitness.

We studied prospectively the relationship between the bone mineral density（BMD）， bone metabolic marker（BMM）and the practice volume, condition and over use injuries（stress fracture etc）in long distance runners of women（55 women）in a college. The group in stress fracture showed significantly higher U-NTxCr than non injured group. Amount of U-NTxCr in the women runners who suffered stress fracture was normal at non injured period, but some runners showed high U-NTxCr just before suffering stress fracture. It suggested that BMM may become early markers about diagnosis of stress fracture.

This study examined how muscle ischemia influence tissue oxygen kinetics and a recruitment pattern of muscle fiber in the same intramuscular distal and proximal part of vastus lateralis. We measured changes in near-infrared spectroscopy（NIRS）and in surface EMG during knee extension movement at 10, 30 and 50%MVC in cuff ischemia and non-cuff ischemia conditions. Four adult male subjects were examined. Deoxygenation during knee extension was higher in distal part than in proximal part at 10%MVC with and without cuff ischemia. Cuff ischemia during muscle contraction influences tissue oxygen kinetics, but a recruitment pattern of muscle fiber is not necessarily influenced.