Hand Grip Strength Vs. Locomotor Efficiency in Sitting Volleyball Players.

The objective of this paper was to determine the relationship between hand grip strength and movement time (locomotor efficiency in a seated position using the upper and lower extremities) in sitting volleyball players. In addition, a comparison was made between the velocity curves for forward and backward locomotion. Nine male members of the sitting volleyball team participated in the study. Hydraulic and spring manual dynamometers were used to measure hand grip strength. Movement times were registered for distances of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10-m with the use of the Smart Speed System photocells. Significant relationships between hand grip strength of the left (rs=-0.78) and right (rs=-0.73) hands and the forward movement time over a distance of 1-m were found. Hand grip strength had no significant relationship with either forward movement times at other distances or backward movement times. Results suggest that hand strength is linked to locomotor efficiency of sitting volleyball players. High hand grip strength makes the start easier by pushing away from the ground with the upper limbs.

Yoga Exercise Intervention Improves Balance Control and Prevents Falls in Seniors Aged 65.

Introduction: Body balance control represents a key factor preventing falls and subsequent injuries in seniors aged 65+. Intervention based on yoga exercises seem to be effective in improving balance. Objective: The objective is to analyse and compare changes in static, dynamic, and total balance scores, changes in body composition and social indices as effects of yoga-based intervention. Methods: A total of 500 participants (234 men aged 74.5 SD±7.74 and 266 women aged 76.9 SD±7.23) were assessed using the Tinetti Balance Assessment Tool, the InBody 230 bioimpedance body composition analyser, and the SF-36 Health Survey, applied to pre and post-testing. The experimental group (n=262; 122 males; 140 females) underwent a four-week yoga-based intervention, 30 minutes daily, while the control group (n=238; 112 males; 126 females) underwent its usual daily programme at senior homes or centres. The ANOVA model, consisting of the Group, Stage, Subject and Group × Stage interaction factors, was used for data evaluation. Results: Intervention led to improvements in the static, dynamic and total balance scores in the experimental group compared to the control group. The results of SF-36 showed positive changes in the psychosocial aspects of health, such as promoting of calmness and happiness in male seniors and reducing fatigue, nervousness and depression in female seniors. The post-intervention decrease in body fat percentage and increase in muscle mass in seniors is discussed. Conclusions: The four-week yoga-based intervention had positive effects on the static, dynamic and total balance scores, body composition and social status.

Activation of Adrenal Steroidogenesis and an Improvement of Mood Balance in Postmenopausal Females after Spa Treatment Based on Physical Activity.

Spa treatment can effectively reestablish mood balance in patients with psychiatric disorders. In light of the adrenal gland's role as a crossroad of psychosomatic medicine, this study evaluated changes in 88 circulating steroids and their relationships with a consolidation of somatic, psychosomatic and psychiatric components from a modified N-5 neurotic questionnaire in 46 postmenopausal 50+ women with anxiety-depressive complaints. The patients underwent a standardized one-month intervention therapy with physical activity and an optimized daily regimen in a spa in the Czech Republic. All participants were on medication with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. An increase of adrenal steroidogenesis after intervention indicated a reinstatement of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The increases of many of these steroids were likely beneficial to patients, including immunoprotective adrenal androgens and their metabolites, neuroactive steroids that stimulate mental activity but protect from excitotoxicity, steroids that suppress pain perception and fear, steroids that consolidate insulin secretion, and steroids that improve xenobiotic clearance. The positive associations between the initial values of neurotic symptoms and their declines after the intervention, as well as between initial adrenal activity and the decline of neurotic symptoms, indicate that neurotic impairment may be alleviated by such therapy provided that the initial adrenal activity is not seriously disrupted.

The relationship between consumption of tyrosine and phenylalanine as precursors of catecholamine at breakfast and the circadian typology and mental health in Japanese infants aged 2 to 5 years.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to examine the relationship between tyrosine and phenylalanine intake at breakfast as precursors of dopamine, and scores on the Torsvall-Åkerstedt Diurnal Type Scale and of mental health in Japanese infants aged 2 to 5 years. RESULTS: An integrated questionnaire was administered to parents of 1,367 infants attending one of ten nursery schools governed by Kochi City or a kindergarten affiliated with the Faculty of Education at Kochi University (775 answers for analysis: 56.7%) in May and June 2008. Questionnaires included the Torsvall-Åkerstedt Diurnal Type Scale and questions on sleep habits (onset, offset, quality, quantity, and so on), meal habits (content and regularity of timing), and mental health (depressive states). Amount of tyrosine and phenylalanine intake was calculated based on a breakfast content questionnaire and data on the components of amino acids in foods. Infants who ingested more than 800 mg of tyrosine or phenylalanine at breakfast per meal were more morning-type than those who ingested less than 800 mg (ANOVA: P= 0.005). However, this relationship disappeared in the ANCOVA analysis (with the covariance of tryptophan intake, P= 0.894). Infants who ingested more than 800 mg of the two amino acids at breakfast showed significantly higher mental health scores (lower frequency of depressive states) than those who ingested less than 800 mg (ANOVA: P = 0.004). This relationship remained significant when ANCOVA analysis was performed with the covariance of tryptophan (ANCOVA: P= 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that tyrosine and phenylalanine ingested at breakfast are not related with circadian phase, but are relate with mental health in infants.

A tryptophan-rich breakfast and exposure to light with low color temperature at night improve sleep and salivary melatonin level in Japanese students.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies in Japan have documented an association between morning type and a tryptophan-rich breakfast followed by exposure to sunlight in children. The association may be mediated by enhanced melatonin synthesis, which facilitates sleep at night. However, melatonin is inhibited by artificial light levels with high color-temperature common in Japanese homes at night. In this study, we investigated whether a combination of tryptophan-rich breakfast and light with low color-temperature at night could enhance melatonin secretion and encourage earlier sleep times. METHODS: The intervention included having breakfast with protein- and vitamin B6 - rich foods and exposure to sunlight after breakfast plus exposure to incandescent light (low temperature light) at night (October-November, 2010). The participants were 94 members of a university soccer club, who were divided into 3 groups for the intervention (G1: no intervention; G2: asked to have protein-rich foods such as fermented soybeans and vitamin B6-rich foods such as bananas at breakfast and sunlight exposure after breakfast; G3: the same contents as G2 and incandescent light exposure at night). Salivary melatonin was measured around 11:00 p.m. on the day before the beginning, a mid-point and on the day before the last day a mid-point and on the last day of the 1 month intervention. RESULTS: In G3, there was a significantly positive correlation between total hours the participants spent under incandescent light at night and the frequency of feeling sleepy during the last week (p = 0.034). The salivary melatonin concentration of G3 was significantly higher than that of G1 and G2 in combined salivary samplings at the mid-point and on the day before the last day of the 1 month intervention (p = 0.018), whereas no such significant differences were shown on the day just before the start of the intervention (p = 0.63). CONCLUSION: The combined intervention on breakfast, morning sunlight and evening-lighting seems to be effective for students including athletes to keep higher melatonin secretion at night which seems to induce easy onset of the night sleep and higher quality of sleep.

Can breakfast tryptophan and vitamin B6 intake and morning exposure to sunlight promote morning-typology in young children aged 2 to 6 years?

This study tried to examine, from epidemiological and physiologic anthropological (Japanese culture on breakfast) points of view, the integrated effects of the amount of tryptophan and vitamin B6 intake and the following exposure to sunlight on the circadian typology and sleep habits in young Japanese children aged 2 to 6 years, using the newly-evaluated calculating system of tryptophan (Tryptophan Index 2009) and vitamin B6 intake (VitaminB6 Index 2009) at breakfast. The positive and significant correlation was shown between the Morningness-Eveningness (M-E) score and the Tryptophan Index and also the Vitamin B6 Index. This positive correlation between M-E score and amount of tryptophan intake was shown only by children who were exposed to sunlight for longer than 10min after breakfast. These results might support the following hypothesis: higher tryptophan and vitamin B6 intake at breakfast could promote the synthesis of serotonin via light stimulation in the morning in children.

Effect of birth season on circadian typology appearing in Japanese young children aged 2 to 12 years disappears in older students aged 18 to 25 years.

Several studies suggest that season of birth differentially affects the physiological characteristics of humans. Those living at relatively high latitude, such as Canada, Spain, and Italy (44°N-45°N), and born in the fall tended to be "morning-type" persons in comparison to those born in other seasons. There are relatively little data on the affect of season of birth on people residing at low latitude. Here the authors show that at low latitude, Kochi, Japan (33°N), the effect of season of birth on the morningness chronotype is confined to young children aged 1-12 yrs, disappearing in elderly persons. Only female participants aged 2-12 yrs born in the fall, especially in November, were significantly morning-typed (p < .001) in comparison to those born in the other seasons, whereas there were no such significant season-of-birth differences in morningness-eveningness preference among male participants. Moreover, both female and male participants aged 13-25 yrs showed no significant seasonal differences in morningness-eveningness preference. The small effects detected in this study might be due to smaller seasonal change in day length at the relatively lower latitude of Kochi.