A cross-sectional study of 174 men and 153 women of Bengalee ethnicity was undertaken to compare levels of adiposity, central body fat distribution and blood pressure. The mean age of both the sexes were similar (men=20.1 years; women=20.0 years). Significantly more women (n=42, 27.5%) were overweight (body mass index, BMI≥25.0 kg/m²) as compared with men (19, 10.9%). Men were significantly taller and heavier. They also had significantly greater mean waist (WC) and mid upper arm (MUAC) circumferences compared with women. On the other hand, women had significantly (p<0.001) greater mean BMI, biceps (BSF), triceps (TSF) and subscapular (SSF) skinfolds. The mean values of systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP) and mean arterial (MAP) blood pressure were significantly greater among men. These significant differences existed even after controlling for BMI. Regression analyses revealed that sex had significant effect on all these variables even after controlling for BMI. Correlation studies showed that WC was found to be much more strongly correlated than BMI with SBP, DBP and MAP, in both sexes. However, when the effect of WC (along with BMI) was also controlled for, there was no significant sex difference in blood pressure.

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The effects of bathroom thermal conditions on physiological and subjective responses were evaluated before, during, and after whole-body bath (W-bath), half-body bath (H-bath) and showering. The air temperature of the dressing room and bathroom was controlled at 10°C, 17.5°C, and 25°C. Eight healthy males bathed for 10 min under nine conditions on separate days. The water temperature of the bathtub and shower was controlled at 40°C and 41°C, respectively. Rectal temperature (Tre), mean skin temperature (Tsk), blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), body weight loss and blood characteristics (hematocrit: Hct, hemoglobin: Hb) were evaluated. Also, thermal sensation (TS), thermal comfort (TC) and thermal acceptability (TA) were recorded.
BP decreased rapidly during W-bath and H-bath compared to showering. HR during W-bath was significantly higher than for H-bath and showering (p<0.01). The double products due to W-bath during bathing were also greater than for H-bath and showering (p<0.05). There were no distinct differences in Hct and Hb among the nine conditions. However, significant differences in body weight loss were observed among the bathing methods: W-bath>H-bath>showering (p<0.001). W-bath showed the largest increase in Tre and Tsk, followed by H-bath, and showering. Significant differences in Tre after bathing among the room temperatures were found only at H-bath. The changes in Tre after bathing for H-bath at 25°C were similar to those for W-bath at 17.5°C and 10°C. TS and TC after bathing significantly differed for the three bathing methods at 17.5°C and 10°C (TS: p<0.01 TC: p<0.001). Especially, for showering, the largest number of subjects felt “cold” and “uncomfortable”. Even though all of the subjects could accept the 10°C condition after W-bath, such conditions were intolerable to half of them after showering.
These results suggested that the physiological strains during H-bath and showering were smaller than during W-bath. However, colder room temperatures made it more difficult to retain body warmth after H-bath and created thermal discomfort after showering. It is particularly important for H-bath and showering to maintain an acceptable temperature in the dressing room and bathroom, in order to bathe comfortably and ensure warmth.

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The purpose of this research was to identify the relationship between task performance and menstrual cycle. The difference of performance on menstrual cycle phase was investigated. The task was the mental arithmetic task which involved the non-sequential and higher order cognitive processes. The duration of the experiment was twenty minutes. Two-way analysis of variance by repeated-measures design was used to examine the differences in task performance between phases and temporal variations. Results showed that there was a significant difference in correct input time during temporal variations though there was no significant difference between phases. Moreover, the relationships between phases and intra-individual variations in task performance were examined using coefficient of variance (CV). CVs were plotted in three dimensions to examine the relationships between intra-individual variations and phases. Based on CVs, the subjects who showed differences were classified into two groups: those with a small difference in three phases and those with a difference every phase. The phase which indicated large CV changed with individuals.

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A large inter-individual variation is seen in muscle fascicle length of the athletes but the reasons for this phenomenon are unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether genetic factors contribute to the variances in muscle architectural characteristics. Nine monozygous twin pairs (3 males and 6 females), mean age 23 years (range 17–40) were studied. Fascicle length, pennation angle, and muscle thickness of the medial (MG) and lateral (LG) gastrocnemius muscles were measured in vivo by B-mode ultrasound. In the LG muscle intrapair resemblance (P<0.01) for fascicle length (r=0.98), pennation angle (r=0.94) and muscle thickness (r=0.86) were observed. In MG muscle, however, there was no intrapair resemblance for fascicle length (r=0.66, P>0.05), although pennation angle (r=0.73, P<0.05) and muscle thickness (r=0.86, P<0.01) were significant. Mean percent intrapair difference in LG and MG muscles were 1.8% and 5.1% for fascicle length, 11.3% and 12.3% for pennation angle and 12.4% and 9.9% for muscle thickness, respectively. There is intrapair difference between muscle thickness and pennation angle in both MG (r=0.69, P<0.05) and LG (r=0.70, P<0.05) muscles. However, no significant correlation was observed for intrapair difference between muscle thickness and fascicle length in both muscles (MG, r=0.46; LG, r=0.40). It appears that genetic predisposition is the predominant factor for the determination of muscle fascicle length. However, a lack of intrapair resemblance in MG fascicle length raises the possibility that fascicle length may be further influenced by external environmental factors such as physical training.

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