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Measuring skeletal muscle mass index using bioelectrical impedance analysis or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry is challenging for home care patients and those with implanted devices. Contrastingly, ultrasound measurement of skeletal muscle mass is a simple and non-invasive method. We aimed to investigate quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area measured using a newly developed ultrasonic muscle imaging system to serve as a diagnostic tool for sarcopenia. The cross-sectional study including 510 independent adults aged 65 years and older (180 men; median age, 75 years) was performed between October 2021 and December 2022. Quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area of the dominant leg was measured, and the average value was analyzed for correlation with body composition indices measured using the bioelectrical impedance analysis method, muscle strength and physical performance tests. Quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area showed a good correlation with skeletal muscle mass index (R = 0.78, P  < 0.001), handgrip strength (R = 0.70, P  < 0.001), and knee extension strength (R = 0.68, P  < 0.001). This study demonstrated that quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area using a newly developed ultrasonic system shows a strong correlation with skeletal muscle mass index and muscle strength. These findings suggest that this system could be an alternative to bioelectrical impedance analysis for the diagnosis of sarcopenia.

Premature babies are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for several weeks and are generally placed under high medical supervision. The NICU environment is considered to have a bad influence on the formation of the sleep-wake cycle of the neonate, known as the circadian rhythm, because patient monitoring and treatment equipment emit light and noise throughout the day. In order to improve the neonatal environment, researchers have investigated the effect of light and noise on neonates. There are some methods and devices to measure neonatal alertness, but they place on additional burden on neonatal patients or nurses. Therefore, this study proposes an automatic non-contact neonatal alertness state classification method using video images. The proposed method consists of a face region of interest (ROI) location normalization method, histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) and gradient feature-based feature extraction methods, and a neonatal alertness state classification method using machine learning. Comparison experiments using 14 video images of 7 neonatal subjects showed that the weighted support vector machine (w-SVM) using the HOG feature and averaging merge achieved the highest classification performance (micro-F1 of 0.732). In clinical situations, body movement is evaluated primarily to classify waking states. The additional 4 class classification experiments are conducted by combining waking states into a single class, with results that suggest that the proposed facial expression based classification is suitable for the detailed classification of sleeping states.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of walking training “Interval Walking Training (IWT)” on oral health status. Participants were divided into two groups: an exercise intervention group and a non-intervention group (control). The intervention group consisted of 59 subjects (20 males, 39 females) aged 50 years or older who participated in the IWT program in Matsumoto from 2019 to April 2022. The control group consisted of 33 subjects (14 males and 19 females) aged 50 years or older who have visited Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital and agreed to participate in the study. The intervention group underwent walking training (interval walking training) for at least 5–6 months. The walking training consisted of five sets of fast walking above 70% peak aerobic capacity for walking (VO2peak) for 3 min, followed by 3 min of slow walking at ~40% VO2 peak per day for more than four days/week. The oral health status was evaluated for the number of teeth, occlusal force, salivary occult blood, masticatory performance, and tongue pressure. A total of 57 participants were analyzed in the intervention group (18 males and 39 females, age: 66.7 ± 0.8 (mean ± S.E.) years) and 33 participants in the control group (14 males and 19 females, age: 74.5 ± 1.1 (mean ± S.E.) years). There were no significant differences in gender, salivary occult blood, tongue pressure, masticatory performance, or occlusal force between the two groups at the start of the intervention (p = 0.36, p = 0.48, p = 0.42, p = 0.58, and p = 0.08, respectively by unpaired t-test or χ2 test). On the other hand, there were significant differences in age and BMI, with a trend toward lower age and higher BMI in the intervention group (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively, by unpaired t-test). In terms of rate of change, the intervention group showed a significant increase in occlusal force (F = 4.5, p = 0.04, ANCOVA) and a significant decrease in BMI (F = 7.3, p = 0.009, ANCOVA). No significant differences were observed in the other measured items. It was found that walking training in both middle-aged and older people does not only affect the physical aspect of weight loss but may help maintain and improve the occlusal force.