As older adults in an early stage (prefrailty) of frailty may return to a healthy state, it is necessary to examine the prevention of prefrailty. In this context, the number and types of social participation activities associated with physical prefrailty in community-dwelling older adults have remained relatively unexplored. This cross-sectional study investigates this issue by analyzing 616 participants living in Okinoshima, Shimane, a rural area of Japan, in 2019. Frailty was assessed using the 5-item frailty phenotype (unintentional weight loss, self-reported exhaustion, weakness, slow walking speed, and low physical activity). Data on social participation were obtained using a questionnaire based on participants’ level of involvement with volunteer groups, sports clubs/groups, neighborhood associations, religious organizations/groups, and community elderly salons; their answers were categorized as “yes” if they answered “several times per year or more” and “no” if they answered “never.” Binominal logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of prefrailty by the number or types of social participation activities, adjusted for gender, age, body mass index, smoking, medication-taking, educational attainment, working status, and living arrangement. Of the 616 participants, 273 (44.3%) and 28 (4.5%) had prefrailty and frailty, respectively. The analysis showed that the number of social participation activities was significantly associated with lower odds of prefrailty (OR = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.74–0.94). Regarding the types of social participation, sports clubs/groups were associated with lower odds of prefrailty (OR = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.31–0.73). Participation in neighborhood associations was associated with prefrailty/frailty (OR = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.37–0.86). These results suggest that increasing the number of social participation activities or involvement in sports clubs/groups and neighborhood associations may be important to prevent physical prefrailty in the older population.

Objective: An open-label noncontrolled study was conducted in subjects with increased oxidative stress burden to evaluate the mental and physical effects of antioxidant astaxanthin. Methods: Of 35 healthy postmenopausal women, 21 with high oxidative stress (diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites; d-ROM) were selected, and 20 (55.7±4.8 years old, BMI 22.1±3.9) were included in the study, after excluding 1 dropout. In subjects orally treated with astaxanthin (Fuji Chemical Industry) at a daily dose of 12 mg for eight weeks, Anti-Aging QOL Common Questionnaire, somatometry, hematological examination/urinalysis, oxidative stress test, and vascular function tests (cardio ankle vascular index, CAVI; ankle brachial pressure index, ABI; fingertip acceleration pulse wave; flow-mediated dilation FMD) were performed before and four and eight weeks after the start of the study. Results: After eight-week treatment with astaxanthin, significant improvement was observed in 5 of 34 physical symptoms listed in the common questionnaire, including "tired eyes", "stiff shoulders", "constipation", "gray hair", and "cold skin", and in 3 of 21 mental symptoms, including "daily life is not enjoyable", "difficulty in falling asleep", and "a sense of tension". In addition, systolic (118.0±16.4 mmHg at baseline, -4.6%, p=0.021) and diastolic blood pressure (74.1±11.7 mmHg at baseline, -6.9%, p<0.001) significantly decreased. In the vascular function test, CAVI, fingertip acceleration pulse wave, and FMD did not change, but ABI significantly increased from 1.06±0.10 at baseline to 1.10±0.06 at Week 8 (+3.7%, p=0.030). In the oxidative stress test, d-ROM did not change, but BAP significantly increased (+4.6%, p=0.030). In biochemical examination, AST (-19.2%, p=0.044), LDH (-6.4%, p=0.006), and HbA1c (-3.2%, p<0.001) significantly improved. Although IGF-I and insulin did not change, DHEA-s (-15.1%, p<0.001), cortisol (-22.8%, p=0.002), and adiponectin (-14.1%, p=0.003) decreased. No serious adverse event occurred during or after the study. Conclusion: Results show that astaxanthin may enhance antioxidant capacity (increase BAP), reduce lower limb vascular resistance (increase ABI), decrease blood pressure, and improve physical symptoms in women with high oxidative stress. Abstractwas different from conventional studies involving healthy subjects alone. In addition, this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of astaxanthin on a comprehensive basis from the viewpoint of anti-aging medicine 2) rather than focusing on certain tissues/organs.

Although GTC might reduce cholesterol levels, the present randomized control trial suggests that GTC supplementation in active older participants did not significantly affect cardiovascular risk markers. Future studies should identify more effective combinations of GTC supplementation and physical activity.

Potassium titanate, K 2 TiO 3 , with a chain structure of TiO 5 polyhedra was exfoliated in an aqueous nitric acid solution of pH ≤ 1 and Tyndall scattering due to the colloid formed by the exfoliation was observed. The colloidal particle size measured by dynamic light scattering was approximately 300 nm. Stripe pattern observed in transmission electron microscopy for the aggregated grains after their drying suggested the TiO 5 chains were exfoliated in acid solution. X-ray absorption showed that the coordination polyhedron around Ti 4+ changed from a square pyramid in K 2 TiO 3 powder to a distorted octahedron formed with the additional hydronium ions in the acidic solution.4

In this study, planar metal double-gate (DG) p-channel (p-ch) junctionless polycrystalline germanium thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated on a spin-coated polyimide (PI) substrate via metal-induced crystallization (MIC) using copper (Cu) and an aluminum-induced lateral metallization source-drain. The maximum nominal mobility, which was calculated from transconductance under the simultaneous operation of the top and bottom gates, was 32 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , and an on/off ratio of 2 × 10 3 was achieved owing to the Cu-MIC poly-Ge film, low parasitic resistance of the source-drain, and the fully depleted channel. Moreover, the performance of the DG Cu-MIC poly-Ge TFT did not drastically degrade once the PI had been peeled off the glass substrate. The proposed poly-Ge TFT can be used to fabricate p-ch TFTs on plastic substrates.

In order to provide anthropometric reference data of body composition of Japanese, values measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) were summed. METHODS: Healthy subjects leading a conventional lifestyle (4,365 males and 5,970 females) were selected. Their height and body weight were measured. Body fat amount, body fat percentage, lean body mass, water content, total muscle mass, bone mass, upper arm muscle mass, forearm muscle mass, thigh muscle mass, lower leg muscle mass, and quadriceps muscle mass were measured using BIA (Physion-XP or MD, Physion Co., Ltd., Kyoto) and weight-bearing index (WBI, quadriceps muscle maximal strength/body weight) was calculated. RESULTS: Body fat amount showed an upward curve which plateaued in the age range of 40 to 79 years in both sexes. lean body mass and water content decreased after 50 years in both sexes. Bone mass decreased from the 80's in males and 60's in females. Total muscle mass, upper arm muscle mass, forearm muscle mass, thigh muscle mass, and quadriceps muscle mass decreased from the 50's to 60's in both sexes. The extent was more prominent in males. Lower leg muscle mass was nearly constant in males and females. WBI gradually decreased from the 30's in both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: To date, large-scale body composition data of healthy Japanese subjects have not been available. Application of the present data to assessment of nutrition status in various daily clinical diseases and to training and rehabilitation are expected in the future.For the development of anti-aging medicine, establishment of diagnostic or assessment methods for the extent and risk factors of aging is urgent. This requires collecting and providing anthropometric data concerning sexual differences and changes accompanying aging. To date, the authors have so far organized and reported various Japanese anthropometric data. In "Japanese Anthropometric Reference Data (JARD) 2001", nine reference items from healthy subjects (2,738 males, 2,754 females) (height, body weight, BMI, upper arm circumference, lower leg circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, subscapular skinfold thickness, upper arm muscle circumference, and upper arm plane dimension) were presented. 1) Standard values for mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, beryllium, and aluminum content in the hair of healthy Japanese subjects (2201 cases in males, 3645 cases in females) were presented. 2) The purpose of the present paper was to provide standard anthropometric data of the Japanese body composition measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Although many types of BIA equipment are used today to assess body composition both domestically and abroad, we used Physion-XP or MD (Physion Co., Ltd., Kyoto). 3,4) The values of skeletal muscle volume obtained using these models correlated well with those obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study focused on sexual differences and changes accompanying aging in muscle mass. Our results will be helpful background data for functional-age assessment of the muscula...

We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study to assess the anti-glycation effect of mixed herbal extract (MHE) in individuals with pre-diabetes mellitus. MHE was produced using hot water extraction from Anthemis nobilis (Roman chamomile), Crataegus oxyacantha (hawthorn berry), Houttuynia cordata (dokudami), and Vitis vinifera (grape leaf). We also assessed whether MHE showed favorable effects on one's quality of life (QOL). Design: The subjects consisted of 26 volunteers (male: 21; female: 5; age: 50.5 ± 8.5 years) with pre-diabetes mellitus (HbA1c: 5.5-6.7%). They were divided into two groups, the Test Group (13 subjects, age: 52.8 ± 8.2 years) and the Control Group (12 subjects, age: 49.3 ± 7.8 years). The Test Group was administered 1,200 mg of MHE (solid substance) per day for 8 weeks. The Control Group was administered a placebo. Results: The inter-group analysis using the Anti-Aging QOL Common Questionnaire (AAQol) showed that the score for the parameters, "muscular pain/stiffness", "headache", "easily angered", "reluctance to talk with others", "memory lapse", and "inability to readily make judgments" was significantly improved in the Test Group (p < 0.05). In terms of sugar metabolism, no significant variation was observed in fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, glycoalbumin, and insulin. A significant variation was not observed in the Test Group with regard to 3-deoxyglucosone (3DG), an intermediate of glycation, and N ε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) and pentosidine, advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), in blood after 8 weeks. However, in the subjects with HbA1c of equal to or higher than 5.9%, the subclass inter-group analysis showed that the supplementation of MHE significantly inhibited (p < 0.05) an increase of CML in the Test Group, while CML increased in the Control Group. There was no significant variation in the Test Group regarding the oxidative stress markers, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and isoprostane in urine. The skin elasticity index (R2) obtained by using the cutometer started to decrease significantly in the Control Group after 4 weeks (p < 0.05), while the index showed a tendency that the skin elasticity was successfully maintained in the Test Group. There was no adverse event which was associated with the test product. Conclusion: These results suggest that MHE may improve the symptoms related to QOL as well as inhibit the generation of CML, one of AGEs, in individuals with abnormal sugar metabolism. Furthermore, the 8 weeks supplementation of MHE was considered to be safe.

The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire to conveniently assess the diurnal preferences of physical activity (PA) in Japanese university students. A total of 219 subjects completed our novel Morningness-eveningness Exercise Preference Questionnaire (MEEPQ). The MEEPQ consisted of 30 items (15 items for the morning and the same 15 items for the evening) rated on a 5-point Likert scale concerning their preference for participating in PA in the morning and evening. The morning score (MS) and evening score (ES) were determined by summing each of the respective 15 items. The internal consistency and construct validity were assessed, and a factor analysis was conducted. To examine the external validity of the MEEPQ, participants wore an accelerometer for seven consecutive days to measure their PA levels objectively. Finally, the test-retest reliability was evaluated at a one-month interval. The MEEPQ showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.896) and construct validity (morning KMO = 0.913, evening KMO = 0.875). A factor analysis showed a three-factor structure involving Physical Wellness (MEEPQ-W), Psychological Well-Being (MEEPQ-P) and Exercise Barrier (MEEPQ-B). The percent of variance was largest for MEEPQ-W in the morning (45.2%) and MEEPQ-P in the evening (40.8%). Test-retest showed that MEEPQ scores had fair repeatability. Significant and positive associations between scores and objectively measured PA levels were found in the MS and 6–9 AM PA and in the ES and 6–9 PM and 9 PM– 0 AM PA (all p<0.05). In summary, the novel MEEPQ showed relatively good agreement and thus can be used for Japanese university student samples. In the MEEPQ, three factors (the physical wellness, psychological well-being and exercise barrier) contributed to a morning or evening PA preference. The summed scores were significantly associated with the objectively measured PA levels in both the morning and evening. Therefore the MEEPQ appears to be a suitable tool for assessing diurnal PA preferences.