It is necessary to develop a system of nutritional education which can be understood among schoolchildren who have not yet received a basic education. In the present study, we conducted an educational program for lower-grade schoolchildren, which contained dish selection, an agricultural experience, a cooking experience, and a lecture on digestive absorption. We evaluated the effect of this program on development by measuring taste sensitivity regarding sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes. For the baseline period, there was no significant difference between the intervention school and the control school in each variable. At follow-up periods, both the intervention and the control schools showed an increasing sense of taste. In the intervention school, development of sensitivity to the sweet, the sour, and the bitter taste was significant. In the control school, development of sensitivity to the sweet and the bitter taste was significant. The increases in the sense of the sour and the bitter tastes and the sum of the four tastes for the intervention subjects were significantly larger than comparable values for the control subjects. These results suggest that the development of taste sensitivity is affected by nutritional education for lower-grade elementary schoolchildren.

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Compared to the general population, Parkinson's disease (PD) patients have a higher risk of hip fracture and secondary osteoporosis. In the general population, it is known that physical performance is related to bone density. However, the relationship between bone density and physical performance in ambulatory PD patients has not been studied. This study investigated the relationship between bone density and physical performance in ambulatory PD patients. Fourteen ambulatory PD patients (9 men and 5 women; mean age, 67.3±7.7 years; Hoehn & Yahr stages 1–3) were enrolled. Bone density of the right calcaneus was assessed using a speed of sound (SOS) ultrasound measurement device. Disease severity was categorized using the Japanese Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Furthermore, to assess physical performance, lower extremity strength, 10 m gait time, and body sway were measured. Since SOS is strongly affected by age and gender, it was standardized by the patient's age and gender, and the t-score was calculated with the use of SOS. Significant correlations were found between the t-score and UPDRS,lower extremity strength, and 10 m gait time. When the 4 parts of the UPDRS were analyzed separately, only the correlation between part IV and the t-score was not significant. The findings of this study suggest that higher disease severity and weaker lower extremity physical performance decreased bone density in ambulatory PD patients. Therefore, in order to prevent hip fractures in ambulatory PD patients, assessing the UPDRS and lower extremity physical performance may be clinically useful.

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Deep squatting places a burden on the lower limb muscles and influences postural balance. We attempted to determine the effects of postural changes on the rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius, soleus, and extensor digitorum brevis muscles during squatting in 8 healthy male subjects. Three squatting conditions were involved: full squatting (FS), tiptoe squatting (TT), and tiptoe squatting on a 15° slope (TTS), performed randomly and recorded in a period of 4 min for each task. The influence of the squatting condition on electromyography and vertical ground reaction force parameters was examined in order to observe the effect of postural alteration on muscle activity and balance control. The results showed that the change of squatting posture from FS to TT decreased the activity of the rectus femoris and tibialis anterior muscles. FS has been suspected as a main cause of musculoskeletal complaint during prolonged squatting. In contrast, as the heel was lifted, the extensor digitorum brevis muscle increased to 39% of maximum activation. On the other hand, sway analysis at TT showed balance instability regarding the large area occupation of the center of pressure displacement. The presence of a 15° slope significantly reduced the muscular load. This simple study suggests that the inclusion of a sloping surface in daily activities that requires a squatting posture would be an effective means to reduce muscular load.

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Testosterone and estradiol levels were measured by saliva assays in 15 young men, and their relationships with different processes in a mental rotation task were elucidated. The estradiol level was positively correlated with reaction time; this effect was yielded by the slope of functions relating performance to angular disparity. These findings suggest that estrogen may inhibit the performance of a mental rotation task by affecting perception of the rotation process.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the fall risk characteristics of the elderly participating in an exercise class.
The subjects were comprised of 206 elderly Japanese aged 60 or older (37 males, 169 females) who participated in an exercise class, approved by the local government, once a week for 6 months. Physical fitness and ADL capability were evaluated by the physical fitness test of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Fall risk was evaluated using the Fall Assessment Chart. Subjects were divided into two groups, high fall risk (total fall risk score ≥5) and low fall risk (total fall risk score <5), and the percentage of subjects in the high risk group was calculated.
The percentage of subjects with a high fall risk was 15.8%, lower than the documented rate of the community-dwelling elderly in a previous study. Significant differences between fall risk groups were found in balance and ADL capabilities of walking, holding and changing posture and muscular strength. These functions also were significantly related to fall risk elements such as fall anxiety and slipping or stumbling at home in the partial correlation analyses.
Improvement of these functions during exercise class may be useful in decreasing fall risk in the elderly.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of force tremor (FT) on the mechanomyogram (MMG) recorded by a condenser microphone (MIC) and an accelerometer (ACC) for the measurement of agonist and antagonist muscles during submaximal isometric contractions. Following determination of the isometric maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), 10 male subjects were asked to perform elbow flexion and extension at 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% MVC. Surface electromyogram (EMG) and MMG of the biceps brachii (BB) and triceps brachii (TB) were recorded simultaneously using a MIC (MMG-_MIC) and an ACC (MMG-_ACC). We analyzed the root mean square (RMS) for all signals and compared the sum of the power spectrum amplitude (SPA) at 3–6 Hz and 8–12 Hz between the MMG-_MIC and the MMG-_ACC. During elbow flexion and extension, the RMS of the EMG and the MMG-_MIC of the agonist were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of the antagonist in each contraction level. The RMS of the MMG-_ACC of the antagonist showed no significant (p>0.05) difference from that of the agonist, or tended to be higher than the agonist. The SPA of the MMG-_MIC of the agonist at 3–6 Hz and 8–12 Hz tended to be higher than the antagonist in elbow flexion and extension at each contraction level. The SPA of the MMG-_ACC of the agonist and that of the antagonist showed no significant (p>0.05) difference, or the antagonist MMG-_ACC tended to be higher than that of the agonist. These results suggest the MMG detected by a MIC appears to be less affected by FT than is the ACC because of its inherent characteristic to reduce FT in simultaneously evaluated agonist and antagonist muscles by means of MMG during submaximal isometric contraction.

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The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between psychosocial stress and intraocular pressure among apparently healthy subjects. Psychosocial stress among 1,461 public school workers (883 men and 578 women) was measured using the inventory to measure psychosocial stress (IMPS) and intraocular pressure was measured using a non-contact tonometer (Topcon CT-90). After controlling for the effects of likely confounding variables such as age, body mass index (BMI), glycosylated hemoglobin, systolic blood pressure, alcohol consumption, smoking status, and exercise, partial correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were performed in order to test the hypothesis that IMPS-measured stress score was associated with intraocular pressure. IMPS-measured stress score was found to correlate positively with intraocular pressure in women after controlling for the effects of confounding variables, whereas this relationship was not found in men. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that IMPS-measured stress score was positively associated with intraocular pressure in women independent of confounding variables, but not in men. Perturbations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis associated with stress are considered to be partly responsible for an increase in intraocular pressure among people suffering from psychosocial stress. Further research is needed to elucidate the relationship between this stress-associated increase in intraocular pressure and open-angle glaucoma.

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