The purpose of this study was to investigate activity fitness of daily living of elderly women in Korea. The subjects were 253 elderly women ranging in age from 65 to 84 years. Twenty items related to the activity fitness of daily living were measured. The Pearson's correlation coefficients between the performance test items and age were significant (P<0.05) and the score of all items remarkably decreased with advancing age. In order to extract activity fitness of daily living, the principal component analysis was applied to the 20×20 correlation matrix. The first principal component was interpreted as fundamental activity fitness (FAF) of daily living. The results of the comparison clearly indicated that the 75-79 and 80-84 age groups were inferior in FAF of daily living. Furthermore, in order to analyze the factorial structure of these elderly women, extracted factors were rotated with normal varimax criterion. The activity fitness (AF) of daily living were categorized to 7 factors : muscular strength and movement of the whole body, flexibility, balance, coordination of upper limbs, agility of upper and lower limbs, endurance, and reaction time. Results of the comparison of AF factors showed that a decline with advancing age was significant for muscular strength and movement of the whole body. The prediction equations of FAF were developed using multiple regression analyses. Results indicated that 8 selected items from 7 factors were significant predictors of the dependent variable FAF. Equally clarified was that 3 of our 8 items could be excluded, while still yielding comparable precision in predicting FAF. On the basis of all our analyses and considering the practicability of the measurement, we recommend the equation FAFS=1.504 X₁-0.838 X₂-0.489 X₃-0.363 X₄-0.686 X₅+68.71, with an R=0.850; where FAFS=fundamental activity fitness score, X₁=arm curl, X₂ walking around two chairs in a figure 8, X₃=one foot tapping in a sitting position, X₄=sit and reach, X₅ carrying beans using chopsticks, which can predict FAF with high precision in elderly Korean women.

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Although it has been established that exercise is useful for health promotion, physical exercise may induce oxidative stress in humans. Our previous study showed that the concentration of plasma protein-bound sulfhydryl groups (p-SHs) was significantly decreased after strenuous exercise, i. e. full-marathon running and participation in an athletic training camp. Reactive oxygen species may cause oxidation of plasma proteins in vitro. To study whether moderate exercise for health promotion, e. g. jogging or walking, induces oxidative stress in human circulating blood, the authors examined the change in plasma p-SHs concentration following ergometric exercise at moderate intensity and of relatively short duration {Exercise 1: 80% ventilatory threshold (VT), 100% VT, and 110% VT; 30 min, Exercise 2 : 90% VT; 120 min} in 8 (23-28 yr; Exercise 1) and 6 males (23-28 yr; Exercise 2) respectively. The plasma p-SHs concentration did not changed significantly after Exercise 1 or 2. The data indicated that the exercise did not cause significant modification of plasma proteins, suggesting that it did not induce significant oxidative stress in the circulating blood.

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In order to obtain the basic data for the relationship between factors related to sports and bone density of high school girls, bone densities of a heel were measured, and physical characteristics and living backgrounds on exercises were surveyed. The subjects were one-hundred and forty two girls (15-18 years, mean±SD=16.5±0.84 years) of a high school in Nagano prefecture, accepted our visiting bone health check. Bone density was measured by ultrasound bone-densitometer ‘Achilles’ (Lunar) . As for the data, we obtained the stiffness index (Stiffness) with a self-registered questionnaire for the items of physical and exercise factors for the girls in puberty. High school girls who belong to a sport club have significantly higher bone density than other girls. In detail, those who do the sports which consist of mainly running or jumpping, have significantly higher bone density than others who do no sports. There also were significants on the kinds of sports, on the frequency of sports and on the duration of sports. Moreover, those who had the regular sports history have higher bone density than those who had no regular sports history, and the mean Stiffness of the group that care to do physical exercises daily was higher than those who do not care to do exercises. These results suggest that there are many kinds of factors related to sports which favourably contribute to obtain sufficient bone mass of high school girls who are in a developmental stage.

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We performed dietary guidances for 15 male elite athletes (23±3 years of age) participating a training program for vigorous endurance run. Nutrient allowances for the athletes were determined by the guidelines of Japanese Dietary Allowances (5 th ed.), considering their physical activities at the highest level IV; total energy 3, 500 kcal, protein 140g, lipid 100g, carbohydrate 510g, calcium 1, 500 mg, iron 25 mg, vitamin A 8, 000 IU, thiamine 4.0 mg, riboflabin 5.0 mg and vitamin C 200 mg per day. We also developed food group allowances for the athletes based on their nutrient allowances and current young-aged Japanese dietary styles ; cereals 400 g, potatoes and starches 60 g, sugars 20 g fats and oils 30g, pulses 120g, meats 150g, fishes and shellfishes 150g, eggs 80g, milks 600g, green and yellow vegetables 300 g, the other vegetables 350 g, fruits 400 g and algae 20 g per day. For the experimental period of 45 days, daily diets adjusted to approximate 120% of the dietary allowances were served to the athletes who were free taking snacks and drinks. Dietary guidances for the athletes were assessed by monitors of their dietary intakes, physical constitution and clinical examinations in blood. Means of the dietary intakes of the athletes were 96-99% of the dietary allowances, determined by a nutritional survey with the 24 hrs recall method. There were less changes in the physical constitution of the athletes before, during and after the experimental period; body weight 57±2 kg and body fat 8.8 ± 2.4%. Values of the clinical marks in the blood of the athletes were maintained normally for a half year including the experimental period; red blood cells 507±9×104 cells/mm3, hemoglobin 15±0.4g/dl and hematocrit 46.6±0.7%.
It is concluded that suitable nutritional guidances and managements for young-aged male vigorous endurance runners lead good in their health and physical maintenances, which may have important consequences for their physical development as elite athletes.

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Phagocytic cells, polymorphonuclear leucocytes and macrophages, play an important role in non-specific cellular immunity, which is the first line of defense against infectious diseases. The purposes of this study were to clarify the combined effects of forced exercise and sleep disturbance on non-specific cellular immunity in mature rats, and to compare the effects between forced and voluntary exercise. Non-specific cellular immunity represented by the yield of cells from bronchoalveolar lavage and the superoxide-generating capacity of alveolar macrophages was investigated using mature rats.
Male Wistar rats (11 weeks old) were divided into 5 groups:
1) Training group ; exercised on a treadmill at a belt speed of 35 m/min for 15 min/day,
2) Jet Lag group ; disturbance of the sleep cycle by day/night time shifts at 2-week intervals,
3) Training+ Jet Lag (T + J) group ; exercised on a treadmill with sleep disturbance, a model identified by our research group to simulate chronic fatigue, 4) Voluntary group ; housed with running wheels, and 5) Control group ; housed under sedentary conditions.
Body weight and food consumption measured during the experimental period showed coincidental changes. After 6 weeks of the experiment, the rats were sacrificed at the age of 17 weeks. Negative effects on non-specific cellular immunity were observed in the training group, and the rats were also slightly affected by sleep disturbance (Jet Lag group) . These negative effects seemed to be cumulative in the T+J group. In contrast, significant positive effects were observed in the voluntary group.
These results suggest that stress, forced exercise and sleep disturbance negatively affect non-specific cellular immunity, and that voluntary exercise is able to enhance immunity even if it is started after maturation.

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A study was performed to examine the effect of plasma lactate concentration on intravascular hemolysis during exercise. Seven men performed maximal and submaximal exercise on a cycle ergometer. The maximal exercise was performed as a graded exercise until exhaustion. The mean performance time of the maximal exercise was 15 min and 4 s. The submaximal exercise was performed for 30 min at 50% HRmax. Blood samples were obtained before, immediately after, and one hour after exercise. Plasma lactate concentration, hematocrit (Ht), and serum haptoglobin concentration (Hp) were measured. Hp was corrected by Ht for hemoconcentration and expressed as HpC. Plasma lactate concentration was elevated significantly (p<0.05) immediately after maximal exercise, and returned to the baseline values one hour after exercise, whereas plasma lactate concentration did not change after submaximal exercise. Hp and HpC did not change even after maximal exercise. These results suggest that the elevation in plasma lactate concentration may not affect intravascular hemolysis during exercise.

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Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 9 normal subjects engaged in a somatosensory target discrimination task. Subjects were instructed (1) to keep a mental count of each target or (2) to rotate a grip in the direction of abduction after each target stimulus using the right hand. Target stimuli were electrical pulses delivered randomly through ring electrodes to the left second digit with probabilities of 0.2, and nontarget stimuli were delivered to the left fifth digit with probabilities of 0.8.
P 100 was prominent in somatosensory tasks, and had a widespread distribution on the scalp without having any relation to kinds of tasks, therefore, P 100 reflects the sensation of somatosensory stimulation. N 140 was largest at Fz in both counting and movement tasks, so our result supported the hypothesis that N 140 is generated in the frontal lobes regions. Moreover, N 140 latency was shorter during movement than during counting. These results indicate that N 140 is related to carrying out movement. P 300 was largest at Cz during counting, and largest at Pz and C4' during movement. These results also indicate that P 300 may have multiple intracerebral generators since P300 origin differs based on the kind of tasks or stimuli. In addition, the appearance of P300 after nontarget stimuli indicates that P 300 reflects a non-selective postdecision closure of cognitive activity. In conclusion, each component of ERPs may have a specific origin and specific characteristics.

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A study was conducted to investigate the contribution of physical fitness evaluated by speed at onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA-SP), sex hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) in 12 young male endurance athletes. These athletes has a higher level and wide range of intraindividual variance (44 to 93 mg/dl) for HDL-c. The serum estradiol level was significantly and positively correlated with the level of apoprotein AI (Apo AI), and serum testosterone level was significantly and positively associated with the levels of both HDL3-c and apoprotein All (Apo All) . The SHBG level was positively associated with the levels of both HDL-c and HDL2-c. Age, certain anthropometric parameters such as percentage body fat, body mass index, and body fat distribution evaluated by waist to hip ratio, and physical fitness levels were not associated with HDL-c and other lipids and apoproteins. These results suggest that the HDL-c level in endurance athletes is strongly associated with not only male but also female hormones, and SHBG, being independent of age, body composition and physical fitnesss level.

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