Relative Age Effect in Physical Fitness Among Elementary and Junior High School Students.

The present study investigated characteristics of the relative age effect (RAE) among a general sample of Japanese elementary and junior high school students. Japan applies a unique annual age-grouping by birthdates between April 1 and March 31 of the following year for sport and education. Anthropometric and physical fitness data were obtained from 3,610 Japanese students, including height, weight, the 50-m sprint, standing long jump, grip strength, bent-leg sit-ups, sit and reach, side steps, 20-m shuttle run, and ball throw. We examined RAE-related differences in these data using a one-way analysis of variance by comparing students with birthdates in the first (April-September) versus second (October-March of the following year) semesters. We observed a significant RAE for boys aged 7 to 15 years on both anthropometric and fitness data, but a significant RAE for girls was only evident for physical fitness tests among elementary school and not junior high school students. Thus, a significant RAE in anthropometry and physical fitness was evident in a general sample of school children, and there were RAE gender differences among adolescents.

Highly frequent and enhanced injection site reaction induced by peripheral venous injection of fosaprepitant in anthracycline-treated patients.

BACKGROUND: Fosaprepitant-associated injection site reaction (ISR) has been reported in patients treated with cisplatin, an irritant drug. We conducted this retrospective study to clarify the incidence and symptoms of fosaprepitant-associated ISR in patients treated with anthracycline. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty six patients receiving 159 injections administering doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (AC), fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide (FEC), or rituximab/cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin/vincristine/prednisolone (R-)CHOP regimen through a peripheral vein at ambulatory treatment centers reviewed for this study from patients' medical records. Incidence of ISR was compared between 24 patients with fosaprepitant injection (fosaprepitant group) and 32 patients without fosaprepitant (control group). Frequency and symptoms of ISR per injection were also compared between 61 injections with fosaprepitant and 98 injections without fosaprepitant. RESULTS: Both the ISR incidence rate per patient and per injection were significantly higher in the fosaprepitant group than in the control group (67% vs. 16%; P=0.0002, 34% vs. 8.2%; P<0.0001, respectively). By multivariate analysis, fosaprepitant injection was found to be a significant independent variable correlated with ISR risk. Symptoms observed in 61 injections of fosaprepitant were pain (n=14, 23%), erythema (n=10, 16%), swelling (n=6, 10%), and delayed drip infusion (n=6, 10%). After the observation period, no ISR occurred when the administration route was changed to central venous injection or oral aprepitant was administered despite the continuation of chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: ISR occurred more frequently and severely when fosaprepitant was injected through the peripheral vein in patients treated with anthracyclines compared to those without fosaprepitant.

Relationships between mood state, time estimation, and selected movement speed.

We investigated whether different aspects of mood state influence sense of time estimation and movement speed. Mood states were measured on the Multiple Mood Scale for 142 female undergraduate students, who were then asked to estimate the interval of time elapsed between the words "start" and "stop" spoken by a tester. Next, the same subjects were told to draw circles inside 1-cm squares printed on an A4 size sheet of paper in succession at their freely elected comfortable speed. Scores on Concentration (r=-.22, p<.01) and Being Startled (r=-.26, p<.01) each correlated significantly and negatively with time estimation, while scores on Boredom (r =.17, p <.05) had a significant positive correlation with movement speed. These results suggest that different aspects of mood state have some association with time estimation and selected movement speed. Values account for small common variance.

Effect of slow movement execution on cognitive function.

We investigated the effect of slow paced movement on cognitive function. The task movement was a dual-task performance composed of a continuous forearm rotation for the right hand and a simple reaction task for the left hand. Exp. 1 was designed to compare reaction time during performance at a slow pace to that at medium pace by 14 female undergraduate students. The mean reaction time for the left hand under the Slow Pace was significantly longer than that under the Middle Pace condition (p < .05), which showed that the subjects were required to give more attention to right-hand performance at the slow pace as it was difficult. Exp. 2 examined changes in reaction time when using the left hand that were associated with the learning of a slow paced task while using the right hand. Twenty-three female undergraduate students participated and repeated the task 6 times. The 3 sec. prior to and the 3 sec. after each auditory stimulus were used to establish rotation speed and mean coefficients of variation. The mean coefficients of variation, evaluated as within-subject variability, showed a significantly positive correlation with reaction time at Trials 1 and 6 for prestimulus and Trials 5 and 6 for poststimulus. Over successive trials participants continued performing the primary forearm task at a constant slow pace before and after receiving auditory stimuli, and this progress was related to a decrease in reaction time. Further, the sense of concentration evaluated by the subjects poststimulus was significantly higher than that prestimulus (p < .01). Performance at a constant speed, which was much slower than the ordinary or preferred speed of each subject, may have had a strong effect on their ability to remain conscious of movement execution.

Slow movement execution in event-related potentials (P300).

We examined whether slow movement execution has an effect on cognitive and information processing by measuring the P300 component. 8 subjects performed a continuous slow forearm rotational movement using 2 task speeds. Slow (a 30-50% decrease from the subject's Preferred speed) and Very Slow (a 60-80% decrease). The mean coefficient of variation for rotation speed under Very Slow was higher than that under Slow, showing that the subjects found it difficult to perform the Very Slow task smoothly. The EEG score of alpha-1 (8-10 Hz) under Slow Condition was increased significantly more than under the Preferred Condition; however, the increase under Very Slow was small when compared with Preferred. After performing the task. P300 latency under Very Slow increased significantly as compared to that at pretask. Further, P300 amplitude decreased tinder both speed conditions when compared to that at pretask, and a significant decrease was seen under the Slow Condition at Fz, whereas the decrease under the Very Slow Condition was small. These differences indicated that a more complicated neural composition and an increase in subjects' attention might have been involved when the task was performed under the Very Slow Condition. We concluded that slow movement execution may have an influence on cognitive function and may depend on the percentage of decrease from the Preferred speed of the individual.