Characteristics of non-exercise activity thermogenesis in male collegiate athletes under real-life conditions

Athletes experience high total energy expenditure; therefore, it is important to understand the characteristics of the components contributing to this expenditure. To date, few studies have examined particularly the volume and activity intensity of non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) in athletes compared to non-athletes under real-life conditions. This study aimed to determine the volume and intensity of NEAT in collegiate athletes. Highly trained Japanese male collegiate athletes (n = 21) and healthy sedentary male students (n = 12) participated in this study. All measurements were obtained during the athletes' regular training season under real-life conditions. NEAT was calculated using metabolic equivalent (MET) data using an accelerometer. The participants were asked to wear a validated triaxial accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. Physical activity intensity in NEAT was classified into sedentary (1.0–1.5 METs), light (1.6–2.9 METs), moderate (3.0–5.9 METs), and vigorous (≥6 METs) intensity. NEAT was significantly higher in athletes than in non-athletes (821 ± 185 kcal/day vs. 643 ± 164 kcal/day, p = 0.009). Although there was no significant difference in NEAT values relative to body weight (BW) between the groups (athletes: 10.5 ± 1.7 kcal/kg BW/day, non-athletes: 10.4 ± 2.2 kcal/kg BW/day, p = 0.939), NEAT to BW per hour was significantly higher in athletes than in non-athletes (0.81 ± 0.16 kcal/kg BW/h vs. 0.66 ± 0.12 kcal/kg BW/h, p = 0.013). Athletes spent less time in sedentary and light-intensity activities and more time in vigorous-intensity activities than non-athletes (p < 0.001, p = 0.019, and p = 0.030, respectively). Athletes expended more energy on vigorous- and moderate-intensity activities than non-athletes (p = 0.009 and p = 0.011, respectively). This study suggests that athletes' NEAT relative to BW per day is similar to that of non-athletes, but athletes spend less time on NEAT, which makes them more active in their daily lives when not exercising and sleeping

Natural Variation in the Flag Leaf Morphology of Rice Due to a Mutation of the NARROW LEAF 1 Gene in Oryza sativa L.

We investigated the natural variations in the flag leaf morphology of rice. We conducted a principal component analysis based on nine flag leaf morphology traits using 103 accessions from the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences Core Collection. The first component explained 39% of total variance, and the variable with highest loading was the width of the flag leaf (WFL). A genome-wide association analysis of 102 diverse Japanese accessions revealed that marker RM6992 on chromosome 4 was highly associated with WFL. In analyses of progenies derived from a cross between Takanari and Akenohoshi, the most significant quantitative trait locus (QTL) for WFL was in a 10.3-kb region containing the NARROW LEAF 1 (NAL1) gene, located 0.4 Mb downstream of RM6992. Analyses of chromosomal segment substitution lines indicated that a mutation (G1509A single-nucleotide mutation, causing an R233H amino acid substitution in NAL1) was present at the QTL. This explained 13 and 20% of total variability in WFL and the distance between small vascular bundles, respectively. The mutation apparently occurred during rice domestication and spread into japonica, tropical japonica, and indica subgroups. Notably, one accession, Phulba, had a NAL1 allele encoding only the N-terminal, or one-fourth, of the wild-type peptide. Given that the Phulba allele and the histidine-type allele showed essentially the same phenotype, the histidine-type allele was regarded as malfunctional. The phenotypes of transgenic plants varied depending on the ratio of histidine-type alleles to arginine-type alleles, raising the possibility that H(233)-type products function differently from and compete with R(233)-type products

Support team and its effects on house remodeling for aged and handicapped persons

地域で生活する高齢者･障害者にとって,住宅環境の整備は必須の要件である｡津山市では在宅生活を支援する立場にある保健婦やホームヘルパー,作業療法士等保健･福祉関係者と,建築関係者が共同で支援チームをつくり住宅改造に関わってきた｡本研究では,この支援チームが関わった事例と直接関わらないで当事者と業者のみで改造を実施した事例を比較し,支援チームが関わることの効果をみた｡調査方法は,各事例の家庭を訪問して面接聞き取り調査を行った｡調査内容は調査票を用いて改造箇所,生活空間,介護量,外出の状況について尋ねた｡改造前後の変化を比較して,支援チームの効果について以下のことが明らかになった｡ 1.支援チームの関与による浴室の改造は,入浴が可能となり生活空間が広がるなど改善が認められた｡ 2.離床を目的にした玄関･廊下･居室の改造は,外出などの日常生活行動を広げ,本人のQOLを高めることに役立つ｡以上より住宅の改造が,介護者の介護負担を必ずしも直接軽減するとは限らないが,高齢者･障害者の介護の質に変化を与えることが示唆された。The maintenance and improvement of housing environments are essential for aged and handicapped persons living in a local communities. The support team consists of public health nurses, home helpers, occupational therapists and architects took part in giving an advices for house remodeling in Tsuyama City. We compared the effectiveness of the participation of the team before and after remodeling of housing environment. An interview was conducted at each cases for places of remodeling, living spaces, quantity of care and ease of going. The results are as follows ; 1. The remodeling of bathrooms, participating support team improved the living spaces to be able to take bath. 2. The remodeling of entrances and corridors for leaving beds, improved the living space and the QOL of care recipients. The results suggest that the remodeling of houses dose not always lighten care burdens for caring, but changes the quality of care for aged and handicapped persons

Related polymorphic F-box protein genes between haplotypes clustering in the BAC contig sequences around the S-RNase of Japanese pear

Most fruit trees in the Rosaceae exhibit self-incompatibility, which is controlled by the pistil S gene, encoding a ribonuclease (S-RNase), and the pollen S gene at the S-locus. The pollen S in Prunus is an F-box protein gene (SLF/SFB) located near the S-RNase, but it has not been identified in Pyrus and Malus. In the Japanese pear, various F-box protein genes (PpSFBB-α–γ) linked to the S-RNase are proposed as the pollen S candidate. Two bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contigs around the S-RNase genes of Japanese pear were constructed, and 649 kb around S4-RNase and 378 kb around S2-RNase were sequenced. Six and 10 pollen-specific F-box protein genes (designated as PpSFBB4-u1–u4, 4-d1–d2 and PpSFBB2-u1–u5, 2-d1–d5, respectively) were found, but PpSFBB4-α–γ and PpSFBB2-γ were absent. The PpSFBB4 genes showed 66.2–93.1% amino acid identity with the PpSFBB2 genes, which indicated clustering of related polymorphic F-box protein genes between haplotypes near the S-RNase of the Japanese pear. Phylogenetic analysis classified 36 F-box protein genes of Pyrus and Malus into two major groups (I and II), and also generated gene pairs of PpSFBB genes and PpSFBB/Malus F-box protein genes. Group I consisted of gene pairs with 76.3–94.9% identity, while group II consisted of gene pairs with higher identities (>92%) than group I. This grouping suggests that less polymorphic PpSFBB genes in group II are non-S pollen genes and that the pollen S candidates are included in the group I PpSFBB genes

大学生の自閉スペクトラム症傾向と心理的症状の関連における社会的カモフラージュ行動,体験の回避,概念化された自己の媒介効果の検討

departmental bulletin pape

Evaluation of an Ion-Associate Phase Formed In Situ from the Aqueous Phase by Adding Benzethonium Chloride and Sodium Ethylbenzenesulfonate for Microextraction

The concentration region at which the solvent is formed during in situ solvent formation microextraction is determined by varying the concentrations of the two components required to form a solvent. In particular, a solvent is formed in situ during ion-associate phase (IAP) microextraction by mixing an aqueous solution with an organic cation and an organic anion. In this study, benzethonium chloride (BenCl) and sodium ethylbenzenesulfonate (NaEBS) were employed as the organic cation and anion sources of model IAPs to thoroughly investigate the in situ solvent formation. Additionally, the formation of the IAPs and the solvent via centrifugation of the formed ion associates was examined. We demonstrated that ion associates are formed when the product of [EBS] and [Ben] is greater than the solubility product and [EBS] is greater than [Ben]. The highest extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was achieved with an amount of NaEBS 40 times greater than that of BenCl. A higher hydrophobicity in the IAP extraction of PAHs, estrogens, and pesticides facilitated extraction into the IAP