Electrolyte-carbohydrate beverage prevents water loss in the early stage of high altitude training

To prevent water loss in the early stage of high altitude training, we focused on the effect of electrolyte-carbohydrate beverage (EC). Subjects were 16 male university students who belonged to a ski club. They had ski training at an altitude of 1,800m. The water (WT) group drank only water, and the EC group drank only an electrolytecarbohydrate beverage. They arrived at the training site in the late afternoon. The study started at 7 pm on the day of arrival and continued until noon of the 4th day. In the first 12 hours, 1 L of beverages were given. On the second and third days, 2.5 L of beverages were given. All subjects ate the same meals. Each morning while in fasting condition, subjects were weighed and blood was withdrawn for various parameters (hemoglobin, hematocrit, sodium, potassium and aldosterone). Urine was collected at 12 hour intervals for a total 60 hours (5 times). The urine volume, gravity, sodium and potassium concentrations were measured. Peripheral oxygen saturation and heart rate were measured during sleep with a pulse oximeter. Liquid intakes in both groups were similar, hence the electrolytes intake was higher in the EC group than in the WT group. The total urine volume was lower in the EC group than in the WT group, respectively (p 0.05). Plasma volume decreased in the WT group and increased in the EC group but a significant difference was not observed in the final value. Aldosterone concentration tended to be less in the EC group than in the WT group. Electrolyte-carbohydrate beverage in the early stage of high altitude training may be effective in decreasing urinary output and preventing loss of blood plasma volume

Basal metabolic rate and body composition of elite Japanese male athletes

The estimated energy requirement is important for adequate nutritional management in athletes. The energy requirement can be estimated from the basal metabolic rate (BMR). However, there is little data regarding the BMR of Japanese athletes. This study measured the BMR and body composition of 81 elite Japanese male athletes in different sports categories : endurance (E), strength, power and sprint (S) and ball game (B). The factors influencing the BMR were also investigated. The BMR and body composition were measured by indirect calorimetry and an air-displacement plentysmograph device (the BOD POD), respectively. The BMR per lean body mass (LBM) differed significantly among the three groups. The BMR was significantly correlated with the body weight (BW) and LBM in all groups. A multiple-regression analysis showed that the LBM was the most powerful predictor in the E and S groups, whereas the BW was the most powerful predictor in the B group. The BW appears to become an important predictor as the BW of athletes increases. Additionally, height was the second explanatory variable in the S and B groups, thus suggesting that height needs to be considered for the BMR in these groups. Therefore, the BMR in elite athletes needs to be estimated according to their body composition

A Study on The Developmental Stages of Consultation Skills of Certified Nurses in A Hospitals

本研究の目的はA 病院で勤務する認定看護師の相談能力が発達する段階と能力を発達させるための方策を明らかにすることである．A 病院に勤務する認定看護師更新審査を経験した認定看護師9 名を対象に，フォーカス・グループ・インタビューによりデータ収集し分析した．認定看護師の相談能力は4 段階にわたって発達していることが明らかになり，相談活動の実践を可能にしている能力を【自分の持つ知識や技術を惜しみなく提供する思いを持ち，手探りながら地道に相談にチャレンジする能力】【相談対象と現場の理解に基づき，自立を目指して一緒に考えながら，専門知識と技術を駆使する能力】【周りの人と協働する関係性を築き，問題の本質に迫って目標を定め，人を巻き込んで解決に向ける能力】【部署を超えた周囲との信頼関係を前提に，ポジションパワーを活用し，未知の領域に踏み込み，組織的な課題の解決に向けチャレンジする能力】と命名した．また，能力を発達させるための方策として，『姿勢』『努力』『学び』というテーマで13 個の重要カテゴリーが抽出でき，加えて，役職と活動形態は相談能力の発達に影響する要因であることが明らかになった．認定看護師専門分野にかかわらず，相談能力には質的に異なる4 つの発達段階がある可能性が示された．各発達段階で示された能力は，自身の努力と管理者支援の方向性を考える参考になると考える．departmental bulletin pape

Muscular contractions in the zebrafish embryo are necessary to reveal thiuram-induced notochord distortions

Author Posting. © The Authors, 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 212 (2006): 24-34, doi:10.1016/j.taap.2005.06.016.Dithiocarbamates form a large group of chemicals that have numerous uses in agriculture and medicine. It has been reported that dithiocarbamates, including thiuram (tetramethylthiuram disulfide), cause wavy distortions of the notochord in zebrafish and other fish embryos. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism underlying the toxicity of thiuram in zebrafish embryos. When embryos were exposed to thiuram (2-1,000 nM: 0.48-240 µg/L) from 3 hours post fertilization (hpf) (30% epiboly) until 24 hpf (Prim-5), all embryos develop wavy notochords, disorganized somites, and have shortened yolk sac extensions. The thiuram response was specific and did not cause growth retardation or mortality at 24 hpf. The thiuram-dependent responses showed the same concentration dependence with a waterborne EC50 values of approximately 7 nM. Morphometric measurements revealed that thiuram does not affect the rate of notochord lengthening. However, the rate of overall body lengthening was significantly reduced in thiuram exposed animals. Other dithiocarbamates, such as ziram, caused similar malformations to thiuram. While expression of genes involved in somitogenesis was not affected, the levels of notochord specific transcripts were altered before and after the onset of malformations. Distortion of the notochord started precisely at 18 hpf, which is concomitant with onset of spontaneous rhythmic trunk contractions. Abolishment of spontaneous contractions using tricaine, α-bungarotoxin, and a paralytic mutant sofa potato, resulted in normal notochord morphology in the presence of thiuram. These results indicate that muscle activity is necessary to reveal the underlying functional deficit and suggest that the developmental target of dithiocarbamates impairs trunk plasticity through an unknown mechanism.This work was supported by grants-in-aid for scientific research from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (T.H. and H.T.), and grant-in-aid for JSPS fellows from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (W. D.), a grant-in-aid for High Technological Research Center (Rakuno Gakuen University) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan (H.T.), Technology, cooperative research from active research in Rakuno Gakuen University 2004-7 (H.T.), and NIH/NIEHS grants ES00210 and ES03850 (RT)

Results of statistical comparisons between AUT and NT speech.

Results of statistical comparisons between AUT and NT speech.</p

Overview of the interview design of the present study.

An NT questioner and either an NT or AUT respondent participated in a single interview. The NT questioner asked the AUT or NT respondent to share their recent experiences on the following 12 topics using their episodic memory: sweetness, insults, loneliness, gloom, clients, hate, transportation, kindness, agile or prompt, ginger, attractiveness, and thoughtfulness. Then, the AUT and NT respondents reported their experience on each topic. The speech by the NT questioner directed to an AUT or NT respondent was referred to as ‘AUT-directed speech’ or ‘NT-directed speech’, respectively. The speech by an AUT or NT respondent directed to the NT questioner was referred to as ‘AUT speech’ or ‘NT speech’, respectively. AUT, autism; NT, neurotypical.</p

Correlation of frequency power of prosodic rhythm between a NT questioner and NT and AUT respondent.

Correlation of frequency power of prosodic rhythm between a NT questioner and NT and AUT respondent.</p

Scalograms depicting the amplitude modulation envelopes derived by recursive application of probabilistic amplitude demodulation.

A continuous wavelet transform was run on each amplitude modulation (AM) envelope from randomly chosen 4-s excerpts of AUT speech, NT speech, AUT-directed speech by NT persons, and NT-directed speech by NT persons. The x-axis denotes time (4 s), and the y-axis denotes the modulation rate (0.1‒40 Hz). The maximal amplitude is normalised to 0 dB. Note that the low frequency structure (<5 Hz) visible in NT and NT-directed speech is absent in AUT and AUT-directed speech. AUT, autism; NT, neurotypical.</p

Comparison of spectrogram and scalogram for a speech signal.

Comparison of spectrogram and scalogram for a speech signal.</p