Influence of a home-based exercise program on the urine pH in elderly female subjects: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial

Background

A low urine pH is a characteristic metabolic feature of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of a 12-week home-based bench step exercise on the urine pH status of elderly female subjects.

Methods

The current study is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which 59 postmenopausal female subjects were randomized to either the exercise group (n?=?29) or the control group (n?=?30). The subjects in the exercise group were instructed to perform home-based exercises using a bench step at the anaerobic threshold (AT), with a goal of performing ≥140 min/week at home for 12 weeks. The subjects in the control group were instructed to not change their normal lifestyle. Urine was collected after overnight fasting, and the urine pH was measured using a urinary test strip. The inter-group-differences at baseline and the pre-post changes within groups were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon’s signed-rank test, respectively. Additionally, the difference in the post-intervention urine pH levels of the two groups, adjusted for the pre-intervention values (the estimated effect size) and the precision (95% confidence intervals) were investigated using an analysis of covariance.

Results

The pre-post comparison of the urine pH data using Wilcoxon’s signed-rank test showed a significant increase in the urine pH levels of the exercise group (p?<?0.05); there was no significant change in the urine pH levels of the control group. However, the estimated effect size (0.15) was small and the confidence interval straddled 0 (?0.25–0.55).

Conclusions

Based on the results of the current secondary analysis of an RCT, we could not clearly conclude that exercise has a beneficial effect on the urine pH. Further well-designed RCTs should be conducted to determine whether aerobic exercise is truly able to ameliorate urine acidification.

Trial registration

The study was retrospectively registered in the University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) as “Effect of step exercise on aerobic fitness and progression of atherosclerosis in the elderly” under the registration number UMIN 000026743 (the date of registration: March 28, 2017).

     

A Place for Every Tool and Every Tool in Its Place: Cognitive Integrative Perspective for Coherence on the New Frontier of Mind and Body Practice

There is currently a growing research and clinical knowledge base regarding the application of Eastern traditions, especially mindfulness and other forms of meditation, to direct practice. As we incorporate new tools for intervention into our toolkit, it is important to expand our theoretical framework so that we can know when to utilize these tools, how their mechanism fits with the tools we already have, and what kinds of change or outcomes we should expect from utilizing them. These new tools are powerful across many experiences of distress, but clear guidelines are necessary to maximize their benefit. Berlin’s cognitive-integrative perspective provides a framework that allows for reflective understanding and application of mind/body/spirit that is consistent with social work values and what we currently know about the underlying science of mind. Using concrete examples from direct practice, this paper will lay out the framework that is consonant with Siegel’s interpersonal neurobiology, discussed in this volume, and also firmly rooted in the person-in-environment perspective that is characteristic of social work.     

When caregiving ends: the course of depressive symptoms after bereavement

This study describes depressive symptoms among caregivers following bereavement and connects these trajectories to earlier features of caregiving using life course and stress process theory. Data are from a six-wave longitudinal survey (five years) of spouses and adult children caring for someone with Alzheimer's Disease. The analytic subsample (N = 291) is defined by death of the care-recipient after the baseline interview. A latent class mixture model is used to identify distinctive clusters of depressive symptoms over time. Of the four trajectories identified, three represent stable symptom levels over time, with two-thirds being repeatedly symptomatic (medium symptom levels), compared to two smaller groups of repeatedly asymptomatic (effectively absent of symptoms) and repeatedly distressed (severe symptoms). In contrast, about one in five caregivers experiences improved emotional well-being over time, the temporarily distressed, who progress from severe to moderate symptom levels. Caregivers with few symptoms before bereavement tend to maintain these states afterwards, but emotionally distressed caregivers tend to become more distressed. Role overload before bereavement substantially increases the odds of following an unfavorable trajectory afterwards, whereas self-esteem and socioemotional support play protective roles. These results demonstrate that caregivers are not uniform in their emotional responses to bereavement, but follow several distinct trajectories. These trajectories are linked to their previous experiences as caregivers, in particular exposure to stressors and access to resources. These findings suggest that intervention during caregiving may facilitate adaptation following death of a loved one.     

Comparing Long-Term Care Recipients in Urban and Rural Municipalities in Japan and Sweden

Japan and Sweden both have national systems of long-term care (LTC) and face similar challenges. This study compared various indicators of disability in LTC recipients in nine large urban, midsize urban, and rural municipalities in both countries. The aim was to establish whether urban-rural differences exist and whether they follow similar patterns in Japan and Sweden. It was found that LTC recipients in large urban municipalities in both countries were on average significantly less disabled than those from the other types of municipalities, regardless of the indicator for disability. Fewer persons in large urban municipalities live in extended families, which may increase the propensity to apply for LTC. The number of older people living alone in Japan is increasing, which means that the formal LTC system will come under increased pressure.     

Selective Amnesia: Memory and History of the Urfalli Syrian Orthodox Christians

This article analyzes how a community of Syrian Orthodox Christians (Urfallis), who were forced to emigrate from Urfa to Aleppo in 1924, reconstruct their collective history. These displaced Christians maintain silence about two important events in their history. The reason for their emigration and their participation in the Syrian nationalist movement during the 1930s are either wiped from their memories or deliberately concealed. This selective amnesia is conditioned largely by the complex relationship between the ruling elite, whether French or Syrian, and ordinary Urfallis. The process of historical reconstruction suggests that the ambivalent position of these Christians, which stems from their religious affiliation and immigrant origin, makes them design alternative narratives in order to adapt to the changing political situation whilst they establish a secure position for themselves within Syrian society.     

从食用肉类市场看1910年代的殖民城市青岛

德国在胶州湾登陆后,投巨资建成了被誉为东亚第一的近代屠宰厂。对德国来说,如何确保驻军充足而又卫生的食品供应,是当时的重要问题。后来青岛的食用畜肉业就引起了俄国、美国、日本的极大关注。日本军队占领青岛之后,屠宰厂也被置于其管辖之下。急于推行近代化、军国化的日本政府鼓励肉食,畜产资源引起更大关心。美国也欲在亚洲寻求给马尼拉政厅的肉类供给,就这样,每年有大量的冷冻牛肉出口到菲律宾的马尼拉,供应给当地的美国军队。获得了日本和美军这两大销路的青岛牛肉出口,其规模远远超过了德国统治时期。北洋一带因此损失大量耕牛,价格同时暴涨,农户买不起耕牛,影响农事至深。中国政府要禁止出口耕牛却禁不了。支撑近代屠宰厂(肉类加工厂)的畜牛的生产和消费,其结构竟然如此脆弱,就这一点来讲,青岛的肉类加工产业,是传统和近代被强行嫁接在一起的结果。果真如此,中国方面不断抗议畜产资源被蚕食,也是理所当然的。     

How to Detect Altruists: Experiments Using a Zero-Acquaintance Video Presentation Paradigm

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior - In this study, we investigated the cognitive processes and nonverbal cues used to detect altruism in three experiments based on a zero-acquaintance video...     

Designing Response Categories of Agreement Scales for Cross-national Surveys in East Asia: The Approach of the Japanese General Social Surveys

The existing cross-national surveys use various types of scales including 2-point, 3-point, 4-point, and 5-point scales, and the translations of response statements vary depending on responsible organizations even within the same country. This paper examines how differences in response categories of the agreement scale may impact the distribution of responses in cross-national surveys and reports the strategies for designing the agreement scale for the East Asian Social Survey (EASS) project. Among the four EASS countries and region, the response pattern of the Japanese is somewhat different from that of Taiwanese, Korean, and Chinese people; the Japanese prefer to give a mid-point or close-to-the-middle response instead of a definite expression of agreement or disagreement. Social surveys in Japan often handle this tendency by avoiding the use of strong adverbs and excluding mid-point and off-scale options from agreement scales. Based on examinations of existing surveys results and conducting pretests, the following strategies to ensure procedural equivalence as well as interpretive equivalence in the EASS project were contrived: (i) The agreement scale was designed to have a sufficient variability in response distributions for all countries and the region; a 7-point scale with the adverb "strongly" at both ends and a mid-point was adopted. (ii) The translations of response statements as well as questions for all teams were carefully checked and adjusted through several languages.