Effects of Long-term Physical Training in Women : Training Effects upon Maximal Oxygen Uptake, Body Composition, Physical Characteristics and Blood

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of intensity upon the aerobic work capacity, body composition, physical characteristics, and boold of women through long-term physical training, when the total amount of work was kept\u27approximately constant for each subject. Seven sedentary adult females, aged 23 to 40 years, participated in a 44-week tarining experiment. They trained on a bicycle ergometer at 60-65% VO2max during the first 13 (15) weeks (T60), at 75-80% V^^・O_2max during the next 18 (16) weeks (T75) and at 90-95% V^^・O_2max during the final 13 weeks (T90). The total amount of work and frequency were 9000-12000kpm a day, and 2-4 days per week, kept approximately constant for each subject through training, respectively. Mean V^^・O_2 max, expressed in 1/min and per body weight, significantly increased by degrees with two levels up of training intensity, despite keeping constant the total amount of work through the 44-week training. Mean V^^・O_2max per LBM also significantly increased except during, T75. V^^・O_2 max, VE and O_2 pulse, expressed per LBM, showed a significant relationship (partial correlation coefficient keeping the effect of age constant) between their initial values and the total gain (%) after 44 weeks training. The final values of V^^・O_2 max, except an obese subject, after the entire training period attained over the level of +2SD of Japanese active females and were highly correlated with age (p<0.01). On the other hand, the interindividual differences were observed in the response to training intensity in V^^・O_2 max through the 44-week training. That is, two lean subjects improved most of the total gain during T60, another three did more than half of that during T90 and the other one increased by degrees in accordance with the levels up of intensity. Theextremely obese subject could not increase so much. Mean body weight, body fat, and lean body mass did not show any significant change. Mean data of circumferences showed no significant change, whereas some mean data of skin fold thickness (supra iliac, thigh and calf) showed significant decrease following the 44-week training. GOT and GPT of serum enzymes decreased significantly, whereas the other data of blood showed no significant change. Essencially no change occurred in all data for the control group. It was concluded that the increase of intensity without the increase of total amount of work was effective to the improvement of V^^・O_2max, and the susceptibility for intensity was different for each individual. Furthermore, the improvement of V^^・O_2 max with long-term and effective training was significantly related with the initial level based on lean body mass, and the attainable level was significantly limited by age

Hydrolyzed eggshell membrane immobilized on phosphorylcholine polymer supplies extracellular matrix environment for human dermal fibroblasts

We have found that a water-soluble alkaline-digested form of eggshell membrane (ASESM) can provide an extracellular matrix (ECM) environment for human dermal fibroblast cells (HDF) in vitro. Avian eggshell membrane (ESM) has a fibrous-meshwork structure and has long been utilized as a Chinese medicine for recovery from burn injuries and wounds in Asian countries. Therefore, ESM is expected to provide an excellent natural material for biomedical use. However, such applications have been hampered by the insolubility of ESM proteins. We have used a recently developed artificial cell membrane biointerface, 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine polymer (PMBN) to immobilize ASESM proteins. The surface shows a fibrous structure under the atomic force microscope, and adhesion of HDF to ASESM is ASESM-dose-dependent. Quantitative mRNA analysis has revealed that the expression of type III collagen, matrix metalloproteinase-2, and decorin mRNAs is more than two-fold higher when HDF come into contact with a lower dose ASESM proteins immobilized on PMBN surface. A particle-exclusion assay with fixed erythrocytes has visualized secreted water-binding molecules around the cells. Thus, HDF seems to possess an ECM environment on the newly designed PMBN-ASESM surface, and future applications of the ASESM-PMBN system for biomedical use should be of great interest

Changes in Duration and Intensity of the World’s Top-Level Badminton Matches: A Consideration of the Increased Acute Injuries among Elite Women’s Singles Players

The purpose of this study was to clarify whether there have been any specific changes in the characteristics of the world&rsquo;s top-level women&rsquo;s singles badminton matches compared to men&rsquo;s singles matches after the current badminton scoring system was implemented in 2006. We compared the characteristics of the matches between the Super Series tournaments in 2007 and 2017. Match duration increased as the rally and rest times increased in both men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s singles matches. Specifically, in women&rsquo;s singles, it was suggested that a further increase in physical demands because of the increased number of shots per second may have resulted in longer rest time in proportion to rally time. Moreover, increases in match duration (final eight, 53.3 &plusmn; 6.6 min; early rounds, 42.1 &plusmn; 3.6 min; P &lt; 0.05) and number of shots per rally (final eight, 10.4 &plusmn; 1.2; early rounds, 8.7 &plusmn; 1.1; P &lt; 0.05) in women&rsquo;s singles were more prominent in the final eight rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) than in the early rounds (rounds 1 and 2). The recent changes in characteristics of the world&rsquo;s top-level badminton matches may account for the increased acute injuries that are frequently observed in elite women&rsquo;s singles players. Thus, appropriate training programs are crucial to effectively improve performance and prevent injuries among elite badminton players

Body burdens of cesium-137 and potassium-40 in twenty-one members of the wintering party of the 16th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition 1975

In this study, body burdens of cesium-137 and potassium-40 were measured using a human counter with 21 members of the 16th wintering party. The purposes of these measurements were (1) to observe the radioactive pollution in Japan and Antarctica through the human body, and (2) to estimate the effect of the Antarctic living on the body composition. The results obtained in the present study were as follows; 1) The mean value of body burdens of ^Cs increased from 1.20 to 1.69 nCi (p<0.05) in the case of six traverse members of the Yamato Mountains, while there was no significant difference in the case of fifteen base members. 2) The mean value of body weights increased significantly (p<0.01) after the Antarctic living and accordingly the total body potassium increased significantly (p<0.05), while the body fat remained unchanged

Body Burdens of Cesium-137 and Potassium-40 in Twenty-One Members of the Wintering Party of the 16th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition 1975

The radioactive nuclides in human body are roughly classified into two categories. The one is naturally existed radioactive nuclides, and the other is radioactive nuclides of fallout from the nuclear fission of a large scale such as tests of nuclear weapon. In the present study, body burdens of Cesium-137 and Potassium-40 were measured using a human counter with twenty-one members of the 16th wintering party. The purposes of those measurements were (1) to observe the radioactive pollution in Japan and Antarctica through the human body, and (2) to estimate the effect of the Antarctic living on the work capacity through the change in body composition, since natural potassium which exists mostly in the active tissues of the human body contains ^K in a constant ratio (0.012%). There was no individual difference in ^Cs content among the members who live in various parts of Japan. Its mean value was 1.40±0.43 (nCi) and the lowest among the values obtained for Japanese during the last decade. The aerobic work capacity of the members which was estimated from the total body potassium was almost the same with the ordinary healthy men. After the members have returned to Japan the second measurements will be needed for further discussion and conclusion

Analysis of the αB-crystallin domain responsible for inhibiting tubulin aggregation

The cytoskeleton has a unique property such that changes of conformation result in polymerization into a filamentous form. αB-Crystallin, a small heat shock protein (sHsp), has chaperone activities for various substrates, including proteins constituting the cytoskeleton, such as actin; intermediate filament; and tubulin. However, it is not clear whether the “α-crystallin domain” common to sHsps also has chaperone activity for the protein cytoskeleton. To investigate the possibility that the C-terminal α-crystallin domain of αB-crystallin has the aggregation-preventing ability for tubulin, we constructed an N-terminal domain deletion mutant of αB-crystallin. We characterized its structural properties and chaperone activities. Far-ultraviolet (UV) circular dichroism measurements showed that secondary structure in the α-crystallin domain of the deletion mutant is maintained. Ultracentrifuge analysis of molecular masses indicated that the deletion mutant formed smaller oligomers than did the full-length protein. Chaperone activity assays demonstrated that the N-terminal domain deletion mutant suppressed heat-induced aggregation of tubulin well. Comparison of chaperone activities for 2 other substrates (citrate synthase and alcohol dehydrogenase) showed that it was less effective in the suppression of their aggregation. These results show that αB-crystallin recognizes a variety of substrates and especially that α-crystallin domain binds free cytoskeletal proteins. We suggest that this feature would be advantageous in its functional role of holding or folding multiple proteins denatured simultaneously under stress conditions

Self-recognition of one's own fall recruits the genuine bodily crisis-related brain activity.

While bipedalism is a fundamental evolutionary adaptation thought to be essential for the development of the human brain, the erect body is always an inch or two away from falling. Although the neural mechanism for automatically detecting one's own body instability is an important consideration, there have thus far been few functional neuroimaging studies because of the restrictions placed on participants' movements. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural substrate underlying whole body instability, based on the self-recognition paradigm that uses video stimuli consisting of one's own and others' whole bodies depicted in stable and unstable states. Analyses revealed significant activity in the regions which would be activated during genuine unstable bodily states: The right parieto-insular vestibular cortex, inferior frontal junction, posterior insula and parabrachial nucleus. We argue that these right-lateralized cortical and brainstem regions mediate vestibular information processing for detection of vestibular anomalies, defensive motor responding in which the necessary motor responses are automatically prepared/simulated to protect one's own body, and sympathetic activity as a form of alarm response during whole body instability