A longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the influence of instructions with exercise and nutrition on the bone mineral density (BMD) and physical fitness of middle-aged and elderly women for a year. Lumbar vertebrase BMD and physical fitness (strenght, flexibility, agility, balance and functional fitness) were examined before and the one-year period. Based on variation in BMD between the beginning and of the year, the subjects were divided into an increased group, an immutable group and a decreased group. The variation in BMD was correkated significatly with changes in weight and total intake of a calcium supplement. In the increased group, the calcium intake after the instruction period was significantly higher than that before the period, and there were no differences in the other two groups. No significant differences in the quantity of milk intake among the three groups were observed after the instruction period. The quantity of calcium supplement intake of the increased group was significantly greater than those of the other two groups. The isometric leg force and onset time of motor response included a significant improvement with all groups, and jumping reaction time was significantly advanced with the increased group and the immutable group. Functional fitness, except for a test of hand work with a peg board, showed significant improvements with all groups. These results suggested that the quantity of calcium supplement intake influenced lumbar vertebrae BMD.

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From the time of entering school, the growth measurements of 274 junior high school boys and 137 high school boys were taken every consecutive year for a period of three years. Concurrently the height and chest measurements of 1, 134 high school boys was examined along with their newly purchased uniform size. This data plus HQL (Research Institute of Human Engineering For Quality Life) data (13 year olds-493 boys, 14 year olds-467, 15 year olds-379, 16 year olds-841, 17 year olds-780, 18 year olds-531) totaling 3, 491 high school boys' height and chest measurements were used as the basis for indepth examination. The results are presented below. 1) The JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) average physique measurements of the chest in both junior and senior high school boys were found to be undersized. This was especially the case for high school chest sizes. Therefore, the predetermined JIS sizing system for boys' garments has been found to be unacceptable. 2) About 82% of junior high school students showed a height growth rate of 10-20cm over a three year span. Among high school boys approximately 93% showed growth of up to 5cm over three years. 3) About 76% of junior high school students reported 4cm-9cm in volume of chest growth while approximately 88% of high school students reported chest increase of up to 4cm. 4) Currently school uniforms are purchased with the future growth of the student in mind, however, research results here show the sizing to be improper. 5) New sizes for high school boys' uniforms have been proposed. Results of analysis of the newly proposed sizes for high school boys' uniforms show a 91.9% rate of adaptable fit.

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The objective of the present paper is to investigate two characteristics; task performance and muscular load during both skill and post-skill processes for the pen-tablet input system with the mouse input system on the PC. A total of five right-handed subjects with at least a year of experience in PC-use and without any history of the pen-tablet use participated in the study. Two computer-drawing tasks (straight-line drawing task and polygon tracing task) for evaluating the system were designed. Dependent measures included performance parameters such as duration time to complete each drawing and error rates, and surface electromyography (EMG). When the pen-tablet system was being used, low amplitudes of EMGs for the biceps brachii, the flexor digitorum superficialis, and the extensor digitorum were found, whereas EMG for the trapezius appeared to be high. On the first day, the performance with the mouse was much higher than the performance with the pen-tablet system in terms of error rates and the number of completed trials. However, the performance with the pen-tablet system exceeded the performance with the mouse from the second day on, and subjects performed better with the pen-tablet system than with the mouse. The overall results imply that the skill process for the pen-tablet system was very short and the subjects felt comfortable to use the new system in general and physiological measures supported the subjective reports by the subjects as well.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between preferred speed and the resting frontal EEG asymmetry of alpha-1 (8-l0Hz) and alpha-2 (10-13Hz), P300 amplitude and latency, as well as mood states (liveliness, well being, and concentration). The task consisted of a continuous forearm rotational movement, which 18 female subjects performed. The frontal EEG asymmetry of alpha-1 had a significant positive correlation with self-selected preferred speed (r=0.5, p< .05). This result suggests that frontal neural activity may have an influence on the selection of preferred speed, while greater relative left frontal activation is associated with the selection of faster speed.

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