To verify an accelerated growth phenomenon, analysis of longitudinal data is essential. In this study we used longitudinal growth data for Korean boys. A wavelet interpolation model was applied to verify annual trends in physique, and the growth pattern in Korean boys was examined. The subjects were 298 boys in the final year of high school in 1995 and 285 boys in the same year in 2007, and longitudinal growth data which were obtained from the first year of elementary school until the final year of high school based on their health examination records. The wavelet interpolation method was applied to their longitudinal growth data of height and weight in the two groups. The 2007 boys were distinctly larger (P<0.05) than the 1995 boys, and earlier growth was also confirmed. In addition, the number of mid-growth spurts (MGS) decreased from past to present. It is conjectured that this is affected by a composition in which this earlier growth leads to an earlier appearance of the maximum peak velocity in growth, which causes the MGS to shift forward and controls the number of times MGS appears.

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Our aims were to show the mental stress and physical fatigue of individual while performing resistance training (RT). We examined the effect of visual modality on RT in thirty healthy adults. Compared with not looking at a photo of a forest on RT, mental stress and physical fatigue were mitigated with looking at the photo. Reduction in muscle power output was almost the same between looking and not looking at the photo. These results suggest that visual modality can be applied to patients in rehabilitation with much stress who are performing RT.

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It is believed that people as social animals could reduce their stress through positive social interaction with others. This study investigated the effects of socially pleasant images (e.g. photos of happy families) to physiologial recovery responses in stress. The experimental results revealed that electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha power increased in the participants when watching socially pleasant images. Higher self-reported empathy (measured by Interpersonal Reactivity Index) showed greater increase in alpha power in those participants than others. This finding suggests that socially pleasant images could enhance physiological recovery responses by stimulating empathy.

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The purpose was to objectively assess the care burden on caregivers. The subjects were 21 pairs of elderly individuals, where one in each pair was a caregiver and the other a care-receiver. Based on the Japanese version of the abridged Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, the caregivers were divided into the Low- and High-Burden-Caregiver groups. On discriminant analysis, the percentage of concordant answers between the expected and actual values in the Low- and High-Burden-Caregiver groups was 90.5% with 3 significant factors of number of wake episodes, activity index, and Jikaku-sho shirabe, suggesting that care burden could be estimated from objective data.

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