Comparison of Accuracy Among Pedometers from Five Japanese Manufacturers

The reliability of commercially available pedometers is not known in detail. Therefore, the present study examines the accuracy and reliability of the FS500 (Acos), HJ301 (Omron), EX700 (Yamax), FB727 (Tanita) and TW600 (Citizen) pedometers to count steps and measure energy expenditure at various walking speeds. Twenty individuals (age, 32.5 ± 15.3 years; body mass index, 22.0 ± 1.6 kg/m2) walked at three speeds for 6 min. Step-counts and energy expenditure determined by each pedometer were compared with actual values. All five pedometers accurately measured steps at all speeds, but tended to underestimate expended calories to within 50% of the actual amount of energy expenditure. The correlation coefficients (R) between actual energy expenditure and pedometer values were between 0.74 and 0.87. Thus, feedback about energy expenditure is somewhat inaccurate. In contrast, step counts are very accurate, and thus pedometers are useful tools with which to indicate daily exercise levels.ArticleThe Open Sports Sciences Journal .6:56-61(2013)journal articl

Comparative survey of go/no-go results to identify the inhibitory control ability change of Japanese children

This research, conducted in 1998 and 2008, uses go/no-go data to investigate the fundamentals of cognitive functioning in the inhibitory control ability of Japanese children. 844 subjects from kindergarten to junior high school participated in go/no-go task experiments. Performance of go/no-go tasks, which are frequently used to investigate response inhibition, measures a variety of cognitive components besides response inhibition. With normal brain development, the ability to inhibit responses improves substantially in adolescence. An increase over time in the error rate during the go/no-go tasks of subjects of the same age indicates that these processes are not functioning properly. Comparisons between the 1998 and 2008 data revealed several differences in error rates. In 2008, there were increases in the number of errors in groups from each age range. The comparison also revealed that overall error rates peaked at later ages in the 2008 subjects. Taken together, these results show changing conditions in the inhibitory function of the prefrontal cortex. However, the reason for these changing conditions remains unclear. While a lifestyle questionnaire revealed several differences in factors such as bedtimes and hours spent watching TV, analysis did not reveal a significant correlation.ArticleBioPsychoSocial Medicine.8(1):14(2014)journal articl

Comparison of cortical activation during Mahjong game play in a video game setting and a real-life setting

The purpose of this study was to compare the hemodynamic changes that occur during Mahjong game play in virtual and real-life settings. Fourteen healthy right-handed men (average age ± standard deviation; 36.7 ± 14.9 years) played: 1) a Mahjong solitaire game on a video console against virtual rivals; 2) a Mahjong game against human opponents without conversation; and 3) a Mahjong game against human opponents with conversation. We measured oxygenated hemoglobin concentration at 44 locations over both hemispheres during Mahjong game play in each setting using near-infrared spectroscopy. The increase in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration at several locations, including Broca’s area, the somatosensory cortex, the somatosensory association cortex, the supramarginal gyrus part of Wernicke’s area, the primary and auditory association cortex, the angular gyrus part of Wernicke’s area, and the associative visual cortex was greater during game play in the real-life settings than during game play in the video game setting. There were no significant differences during game play in real-life settings without and with conversation. Each cortical area correlated with broad or specific areas. The common correlation areas were found at Angular gyrus part of Wernicke’s area of left hemisphere during real-life settings without and with conversation, but not during game play in a video game setting. These results suggest that the brain responds differently to game play in real world and virtual world settings, and indicate that comparison of games played in the virtual world and the real world may be an effective model to enhance understanding of the effects of video game on the brain.ArticleBiochemistry & Analytical Biochemistry.4(2):164(2015)journal articl

Comparison of cortical activation during subtraction in mental calculation and with a calculator

Several studies have shown that various types of cognitive processing exist and exert different effects on brain activity. However, when a subject performs the same task, whether the task involves processing or not, such as in mental calculation or with a calculator, the different influences on the brain remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the influence of cortical activation when performing mental calculation and using a calculator have different effects on the brain. Fifteen healthy, right-handed participants (mean age, 26.3 ± 8.5 years; 12 men, 27.7 ± 9.0 years; 3 women, 20.6 ± 1.1 years) were recruited as subjects. We measured oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) levels while subjects performed subtraction tasks by mental calculation or using a calculator (3 min each). Measurements were made at the frontal lobe and temporal lobe. In both lobes, oxy-Hb level was significantly increased during mental calculation. Locations showing significantly increased oxy-Hb in mental calculation were the prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobe and supramarginal gyrus in the temporal lobe. These results suggest that the brain responds differently to tasks in mental calculation and using a calculator. We hypothesized that using the electronic calculator needs fewer neural networks than performing mental calculation. In recent years, thanks to the development of machines, many tasks have been automated, making our lives easier and more convenient. Our results may provide one example that the developments of modern technology influence brain function.ArticleBiochemistry & Analytical Biochemistry.4(3):185(2015)journal articl

The effectiveness of a health promotion program using the International Organization for Standardization in Klongyong and Nikhompattana, Thailand

ArticleAsian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research 13(3): 187-192, (2020)journal articl

Effectiveness of Two Types of Exercises before Classes on Inhibitory Function

The purpose of this study is to find an effective solution to the status quo, children cannot concentrate on the class and behave irrationally; they are emotionallyunstable and sometimes interrupt the class and even go away from the class. This is the case recently seen in the most primary schools in Japan. To solve this issue, the author, a teacher in a public primary school, found out an effective impact caused by the physical activities, called GO/NO-GO task, in order to investigate prefrontal cortex development in Japanese children through two types of exercises before classes. As a result, a faster response time and higher accuracy rate for GO/NO-GO tasks were observed. Based on this, since the accuracy rate after the two types of exercises in this study were significantly higher than those after the control activity and reading, it is suggested that two types of exercises were effective in improving inhibitory function.ArticleJournal of Child and Adolescent Behaviour.4(2):284(2016)journal articl

Comparison of Accuracy Among Pedometers from Five Japanese Manufacturers

The reliability of commercially available pedometers is not known in detail. Therefore, the present study examines the accuracy and reliability of the FS500 (Acos), HJ301 (Omron), EX700 (Yamax), FB727 (Tanita) and TW600 (Citizen) pedometers to count steps and measure energy expenditure at various walking speeds. Twenty individuals (age, 32.5 ± 15.3 years; body mass index, 22.0 ± 1.6 kg/m2) walked at three speeds for 6 min. Step-counts and energy expenditure determined by each pedometer were compared with actual values. All five pedometers accurately measured steps at all speeds, but tended to underestimate expended calories to within 50% of the actual amount of energy expenditure. The correlation coefficients (R) between actual energy expenditure and pedometer values were between 0.74 and 0.87. Thus, feedback about energy expenditure is somewhat inaccurate. In contrast, step counts are very accurate, and thus pedometers are useful tools with which to indicate daily exercise levels.ArticleThe Open Sports Sciences Journal .6:56-61(2013)journal articl

Systematic retinotopic reaching error vectors in unilateral optic ataxia

International audienc

The effectiveness of a health promotion program using the International Organization for Standardization in Klongyong and Nikhompattana, Thailand

Aim: This study aimed to appropriately establish a healthcare program in Thailand that acquired ISO 9001 certification; QC14J0022 (the International Organization for Standardization, ISO) improved problems and inspected the program’s effectiveness. Furthermore, we are making this ISO health promotion widely available in Asian countries and are making an international contribution. Method: We implemented a 9-month health program in Klongyong and a 6-month health program in Nikhompattana, Rayong, Thailand. This program assessed findings from pedometry, anthropometry, physical fitness, and brain function tests. Results: In Klongyong, the average number of walking and exercise steps was 3471.3, and in Nikhompattana, the average number of walking and exercise steps was 4695.5. The pre- and post-health program results in Klongyong showed significant differences in blood pressure, hand grip strength, the 10-meter obstacle walk and the 6-minute walk. In Nikhompattana, there were significant differences in hand grip strength and sit-and-reach flexibility as well as the brain function tests. The pre- and post-health program results in Klongyong and Nikhompattana showed significant differences in the total number of “forgets”. Conclusions: The findings from before and after the health program in Nikhompattana suggest that the increased physical activity during the course of the program may have led to improved brain function results

The effectiveness of a Japanese style health program: comparison between Minowa, Japan and Rayong, Thailand

Aim: This study aimed to appropriately establish a Japanese style healthcare program under the ISO9001:2008 (ISO: International Organization for Standardization) in Minowa, Japan and Rayong, Thailand to improve problem areas and inspect its effectiveness. Furthermore, we want to make this health promotion through ISO widely available in Asian countries and to make an international contribution. Method: We implemented a 6-month health program in the c Rayong city, Thailand, and a 12 month health program in the Minowa town, Japan. This study assessed findings from pedometry, anthropometry and blood pressure measurements, physical fitness, blood chemistry, and brain function tests. Results: The comparisons were made using interaction effects between the participants in Rayong and Minowa. They showed significant differences in the 10-m obstacle walk, the 6-minute walk, HDL, the reverse and reverse differentiation time, the total number of forgets, the total number of mistakes, and the total number of brain function errors. Conclusions: To improve the brain function in participants from Rayong through this health education program, measures such as increasing the number of steps, adding muscular strength/stretching exercises, and home training every day is suggested