Journal of Physiological Anthropology最新文献

Background: Stunting in early life is associated with increased morbidity and mortality among children under 5, as well as impaired health and educational and economic performance in later life. However, few studies have investigated risk factors associated with stunting using nationwide representative data in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The present study investigated the association of the household wealth index with stunting among children under 5 in Lao PDR using data from the Lao Social Indicator Survey II (LSIS II).

Methods: The present cross-sectional study used secondary data from the LSIS II in 2017. The survey used multi-stage stratified cluster sampling, covering all 18 provinces with 1170 clusters (village), resulting in a sample size of 23,400 households. The final analysis included 11,339 (weighted) children under 5. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to examine associated factors.

Results: Risk factors significantly associated with stunting were no health insurance coverage, minority ethnic groups, having ≥ 7 family members in the household, a poor household wealth index, having ≥ 2 children under 5 in the household, living in rural areas, living in the southern part, and low birth weight. Among them, household wealth index was significantly associated with stunting, independent of other socioeconomic risk factors.

Conclusions: The household wealth index was significantly associated with child stunting. Given the high prevalence of stunting in Lao PDR, there may be a need for the government to implement programs to improve household socioeconomic status in order to address stunting in Lao PDR.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among Japanese female university students. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with physical and mental health problems, including sleep disorders. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and sleep and mental health problems among Japanese female university students.

Methods: Participants were 224 female university students. Blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for vitamin D assessment. Mental health was assessed using the K6. Sleep-wake status as a factor related to mental health was assessed using the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and Munich ChronoType Questionnaire. Loneliness was assessed using the Three-Item Loneliness Scale. Factors predicting mental health problems with a K6 score ≥ 5 were explored using the Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher's exact probability test, and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis.

Results: The median (interquartile range) serum 25(OH)D concentration was 14.5 (11.8-18.3) ng/mL. Of the participants, 80.8% had vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL), and 26.3% had severe vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D < 12 ng/mL). In total, 41.1% had mental health problems with a K6 score of ≥ 5. Although there was no significant association between vitamin D deficiency and sleep-wake problems, vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent among those with K6 scores ≥ 5 (P = 0.02). Compared to those with K6 < 5, those with K6 ≥ 5 had significantly higher Loneliness and AIS scores (P < 0.001), greater social jetlag (P = 0.03), shorter sleep duration on weekdays (P = 0.03), and lower serum 25(OH)D concentration (P = 0.02). In the CART analysis, the algorithm was set in the order of Loneliness score ≥ 6, AIS score ≥ 7, social jetlag ≥ 150 min, and serum 25(OH)D concentration < 14 ng/mL, and the target accuracy (95% confidence interval: CI) was 76.5 (70.3-81.9)%, and sensitivity and specificity (95% CI) were 62.2 (51.4-72.2)% and 86.3 (79.2-91.6)%, respectively.

Conclusions: Loneliness, insomnia symptoms, social jetlag, and vitamin D deficiency were associated with mental health problems among Japanese female university students.

Background: Perceptual load is a major determinant of visual attentional selection patterns, and dynamic stimuli are salient bottom-up distractors. The present study investigated how dynamic stimuli, presented under different perceptual loads, impact the process of visual attentional selection.

Methods: Fourteen participants (8 females and 6 males) were measured on task performance (reaction time and correctness) and event-related potentials while searching for visual exploratory task in a perceptual load paradigm.

Results: In terms of behavioral performance, longer reaction times were required for the visual exploratory task under high perceptual load, whereas a trend suggestive of attentional capture reversal emerged under low perceptual load. Regarding ERP components, the P1 amplitude was more positive in the response to dynamic stimuli, while the N1 amplitude was more negative when dynamic stimuli were absent. The P3 amplitude was more positive in the presence of dynamic stimuli than in their absence and was also more positive under low perceptual load than under high perceptual load.

Conclusions: This study found that N1 and P1 components were more sensitive to dynamic stimuli and insensitive to perceptual loads, while the P3 component effectively assessed both perceptual loads and dynamic stimuli. These variations reflect differential attentional allocation. Based on these findings, adapting interface displays according to gaze direction and perceptual load level can inform the design of user interfaces, such as those in navigation systems, educational materials, and assistive devices.

Trial registration: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Chiba University Graduate School of Engineering (acceptance number: R4-20, Acceptance date: March 22, 2023).

Background: Sleep deprivation and irregular sleep patterns can adversely affect physical and mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a naturalistic opportunity to examine how reduced social time restrictions influence sleep behavior. This study aimed to investigate both group-level and individual-level changes in sleep patterns among Japanese university students before and during the pandemic and to explore how individual characteristics may contribute to these changes.

Methods: Twenty-two female university students wore waist-worn actigraphy devices for approximately 16 weeks in both 2019 and 2020. Objective sleep data were collected alongside questionnaire assessments of chronotype, personality traits, and subjective sleep feeling.

Results: In total, 4,432 valid days of actigraphy data were analyzed. Compared with the pre-pandemic year, sleep timing was delayed by approximately 20 min for bed-in time and 40 min for bed-out time in 2020. Time in bed (TIB) increased by about 20 min, while total sleep time (TST) remained largely unchanged. Sleep efficiency declined, but subjective sleep feeling remained stable. Individual-level analyses revealed substantial variability: 9 of 22 participants showed significant changes in TST, with both increases and decreases observed. Increased TIB was associated with later bed-out time, shorter baseline sleep duration, and lower neuroticism. A later bed-in time was associated with reduced TST.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that while social time restrictions can influence sleep timing and duration, the effects vary considerably across individuals. Earlier bedtimes may be more effective than simply extending TIB in promoting adequate sleep. Furthermore, individual characteristics such as personality traits may play a role in sleep adaptation under changing social contexts. Given the diversity of responses observed, both group- and individual-level perspectives are essential for understanding sleep behavior in real-world settings.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a biomarker of systemic inflammation, but its relationship with MetS and its components remains unclear. This study investigates the association between hs-CRP and MetS in a representative Korean population.

Methods: Using data from the 2022 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), we analyzed 4,823 adults. MetS was defined according to revised NCEP-ATP III criteria. Multivariate analyses were conducted, adjusting for confounders such as sex, age, income, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and waist circumference.

Results: Among the study population, 1,784 participants (37.0%) were diagnosed with MetS. hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in individuals with MetS (1.06 mg/L vs. 0.79 mg/L, p < 0.001) and increased with the number of MetS components (p for trend < 0.001). Significant associations were observed between hs-CRP and all MetS components. However, after adjusting for waist circumference, these associations lost statistical significance.

Conclusion: This study confirms a strong association between hs-CRP and MetS, primarily influenced by central obesity. The findings highlight abdominal obesity as a key contributor to systemic inflammation in MetS. Further longitudinal studies are needed to explore the causal relationship and underlying mechanisms.

Introduction: Exposure to short-wavelength light (i.e., blue light) has been shown to enhance cognitive function in humans. While most prior studies have focused on visuospatial working memory, the effects of blue light on auditory working memory, particularly tasks involving the phonological loop, remain underexplored. This study investigated both the during- and post-exposure effects of blue light on auditory memory performance.

Methods: Fifteen healthy university students (13 males, 2 females; 21.47 ± 1.06 years old) participated in a randomized crossover design. Each participant was exposed to three lighting conditions for approximately 20-min: blue (λ_max = 476 nm, illuminance = 21.84 lx, 13.8 log photons/s-1.cm-2, melanopic EDI = 169.68 lx), amber (λ_max = 580 nm, illuminance = 61.65 lx, 13.5 log photons/s-1.cm-2, melanopic EDI = 2.87 lx) and dim light (baseline; illuminance < 5.00 lx). Each session was separated by a one-week washout period. To mitigate order effects, the sequence of light conditions was randomized across participants. The modified version of the Sternberg working memory task was performed during light exposure and after a 10-min break (i.e., During- vs Post-exposure phase). The accuracy, reaction time, subject anxiety and subject sleepiness were measured.

Results: In the post-exposure phase, blue light significantly improved accuracy compared to amber (p < 0.01, d = 0.66) and dim light (p < 0.01, d = 0.67). No significant differences were observed during exposure or in reaction time across three light conditions. Anxiety levels were significantly higher during blue light exposure (vs. amber: p = 0.013, d = 0.96; vs. dim: p = 0.027, d = 0.83), while sleepiness remained unchanged.

Conclusions: Blue light exposure may enhance auditory working memory accuracy with a delayed effect, independent of vigilance or processing speed. While these findings are promising, the observed effects are preliminary and require validation in larger and more diverse populations.

Background: Papuan people inhabiting the island of New Guinea are the most ancient population living outside Africa, having resided in the region for at least 50,000 years. The arrival of Austronesian speakers and other group from mainland Asia around 3000 years or so created a peculiar genetic mixture, particularly in lowland/coastal areas. We investigated the anthropometric and blood chemical differences alongside the population structure of the ABCG2 rs2231142 genetic variant of West Papuans from lowland/coastal and highland areas to understand metabolic risk differences between these two populations.

Results: We studied West Papuan students from lowland/coastal areas (n = 78, 45 males, 33 females) and from highland areas (n = 65, 40 males, 25 females). We found the following: (1) The lowland/coastal Papuans were taller, with lower BMI, central obesity, and triceps. Contrarily, highland Papuans have a more gynoid body shape, with higher WC, HC, WHR, and WHtR. The skinfolds were significantly thicker in women from the highlands. (2) There was actually a negative correlation between BMI and central adiposity with UA and FBG to those from the highlands. The lowland/coastal Papuans indicated an Asian-type metabolic traits, with higher fasting glucose levels at lower BMI and lower central adiposity. (3) UA concentration and DBP were strongly correlated with obesity of the Papuans from lowlands/coasts and not in the Papuans from highlands. (4) There was a striking difference in the ABCG2 rs2231142 > T allele frequency in those from the lowlands/coasts (22%) compared to those from the highlands of West Papua (7%). The T variant in the latter is all heterozygous.

Conclusions: The higher adiposity and thicker skinfolds observed in highland Papuans are thought to be adaptive responses to the high-altitude environment, enabling greater adipose tissue expandability and energy storage capacity while maintaining metabolic homeostasis. In contrast, the lowland/coastal Papuans exhibit an Asian metabolic phenotype, which is more prone to metabolic derangements at lower adiposity. Our findings on the population distribution of the ABCG2 rs2231142 > T variant support the idea that its presence in the Papuan highlands is through demic diffusion of the variant from ISEA, indicating that the two populations are separate entities displaying differences in metabolic risks.

Background: Respiratory modulation is generally observed in the inferior vena cava (IVC). If similar respiratory modulation exists in peripheral superficial veins, it would be possible to dilate the vein diameter by respiratory control. This may improve the success rate of venipuncture in clinical practices. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the respiratory modulation in peripheral superficial veins.

Methods: This study included 21 healthy female volunteers (mean age 21.8 ± 0.9 years). Participants performed spontaneous breathing (SB) and paced breathing (PB). B-mode ultrasound imaging was used to continuously monitor the cutaneous veins of the left elbow fossa for 50 s.

Results: Vein diameter demonstrated a clear modulation consistent with paced breathing, and the amplitude of vein diameter modulation was greater at 10 s-PB than at 3 s-PB. Additionally, PB affected the baseline of modulation (mean vein diameter). The baseline exhibited the largest diameter in SB, followed by 3 s-PB and 10 s-PB. The baseline for SB and 10 s-PB demonstrated a statistically significant difference (p = 0.03). Respiratory modulation was confirmed in peripheral superficial veins; however, tonic change in baseline diameter was dominant over phasic modulation. Even when vein diameter was most dilated at 10 s-PB, the diameter at that time was smaller than the mean diameter at SB.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the peripheral superficial vein diameter exhibited respiratory modulation, similar to the IVC. Although respiratory modulation of the IVC has been well documented in previous studies, the present findings provide novel evidence of this phenomenon in the peripheral superficial veins. Additionally, this study identified tonic changes in the mean vein diameter, which were more dominant than phasic modulations. Furthermore, the mean vein diameter during SB was greater than the maximum diameter observed during 10 s-PB. These findings suggested that PB for 50 s during venipuncture did not enhance venous access.

Background: Dietary fiber (DF) is beneficial for preventing constipation, and the metabolites produced by gut microbiota fermentation are suggested to positively influence on depression and sleep. Additionally, constipation has been reported to affect mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study aimed to increase DF intake and examined its effects on daily DF and β-G consumption using two types of waxy barley (WB), rich in DF with varying β-glucan (β-G) content. Additionally, this study examined the effects of WB consumption on defecation, sleep, mental health, and HRQoL.

Methods: A randomized double-blind parallel-group comparison study was conducted on 68 young Japanese women, using Kirarimochi (Group K) as common WB cultivar and Fukumi Fiber (Group F) as high-β-G WB cultivar. Participants consumed WB rice for 4 weeks, targeting 3 g/day of β-G (48 g/day of WB). We estimated the intake of WB and DF including β-G from the daily records. Defecation was evaluated through daily records and Rome IV criteria-based surveys. Sleep, mental health, and HRQoL were evaluated using PSQI-J, J-PHQ-9, and SF-36, respectively.

Results: Both groups consumed about 40 g/day of WB. DF and β-G intakes from barley were 6.3 g/2.5 g in Group K and 10.7 g/4.3 g in Group F. Regarding defecation, both groups showed increases defecation days, defecation frequency and stool amount, with no differences between groups. Regarding sleep, Group F showed a decrease (improvement) in the PSQI global score, with improvements noted between groups. Regarding mental health, both groups showed decreases (improvements) in the PHQ-9 score, with Group F showing improvement between groups. Regarding HRQoL, summary scores showed improvements: physical health in Group K and mental health in Group F.

Conclusion: To increase β-G intake, high-β-G WB cultivars are effective; however, WB cultivars overall can potentially serve as excellent sources of DF. Effects on defecation may be expected not only from high-β-G WB but also from common WB with β-G intake below the target of 3 g/day. Although high β-G WB may have more beneficial for sleep and mental health, additional studies are required.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a site of non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) in mammals. Since the rediscovery of BAT in adult humans, there has been a remarkable advance in human BAT researches, revealing the significant roles of this thermogenic tissue in cold-induced NST and cold adaptation. Cold stress influences BAT in various time spans: acute cold exposure promptly activates BAT to induce NST, which contributes to immediate maintenance of body temperature. Prolonged cold exposure recruits BAT, resulting in increased capacity of NST and improved cold tolerance. Such BAT adaptation not only occurs in the exposed individual but also is passed on to the next generation, probably via the paternal lineage. As such, BAT plays a role in acute, chronic, and transgenerational adaptation to cold environment in humans.