Kumi Ashizawa

Relative foot size and shape to general body size in Javanese, Filipinas and Japanese with special reference to habitual footwear types

Stature, body weight, left foot length and breadth were measured on East Javanese, Filipinas in Northern Luzon, and Japanese in Tokyo. No footwear is used by the Javanese, rubber sandals are used by the Filipinas, and sneakers or leather shoes by the Japanese group. Regression lines regardless of age were obtained among these four measurements, body mass index (BMI), and relative foot breadth to foot length. The relationships between general body size and foot size/shape were examined with regard to footwear. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) in either sex, compared with the Japanese, the East Javanese have a longer foot for the same stature and body weight, and a wider foot for the same BMI and the same foot length; (2) the relationship between BMI and foot shape (breadth/length) is nearly the same in the Filipinas and the Japanese females, (3) sexual dimorphism of the foot is greater among the East Javanese than among the Japanese; (4) as body size/weight increases sexual dimorphism diminishes among the East Javanese, whereas it is more emphasized among the Japanese; (5) the appropriateness of the regression equation obtained from measurements of present-day barefoot peoples for estimation of the stature of prehistoric humans is supported.

Standard RUS skeletal maturation of Tokyo children

A total of 704 girls and 753 boys, all healthy, from 3 to 18 years of age, from Tokyo and its suburbs, were radiographed on the left hand and wrist in 1986. Their RUS (TW2) skeletal maturity was estimated, the 50th-centile skeletal maturity scores were obtained, and the smoothed RUS maturity curves were determined applying the cubic spline function to the 50th-centile scores. On this maturity curve the score at each 0.1 year of chronological age was obtained and allocated as a given RUS skeletal age. This set of scores and ages we termed the TW2-J RUS, i.e. the Japanese TW2 RUS maturity standard. Comparing this RUS standard with the British standard, the Belgian, the southern Chinese, and the northern Indian, it became clear that Japanese childrens RUS skeletal maturity progresses rapidly during puberty (after ages 9 in girls and 11 in boys), and that the maximum score difference between neighbouring age groups was observed at ages 12.5 in girls and 14.5 in boys on the spline-smoothed curve. Japanese children attain the adult stage 1 or 2 years earlier than other groups of children (at ages 15 in girls and 16 in boys).

RUS skeletal maturity of children in Beijing

Background: RUS (radius–ulna–short bones) maturity of children has been estimated in two provinces in China, but not in the capital. In order to obtain a clearer picture of skeletal maturity in China, it is indispensable to include children from Beijing in the study. Aim: The aims of this study were three-fold: (1) to establish RUS skeletal maturity of children in Beijing, (2) to compare RUS skeletal maturity in Beijing with the Tanner–Whitehouse 3 (TW3) standard and the Tokyo standard, and (3) to examine regional variation in skeletal maturity in China. Methods: Hand and wrist radiographs of 631 boys and 642 girls, aged 6–18, were obtained in Beijing in 1997, and their RUS skeletal maturity was estimated using the TW3 method. Results: RUS maturity of the Beijing children was very similar to the TW3 standard until the age of 10 years in the girls, and the age of 12 years in the boys. The girls attained full maturity at 15 years of age, matching the TW3 and Tokyo standards, while the boys reached full maturity at the age of 16 years, as in Tokyo boys, but 1 year earlier than the TW3 standards. Beijing children showed progressively more rapid bone maturation than the Harbin and Changsha children, and attained full maturation 1 year earlier, in both girls and boys. Conclusion: The RUS maturity of the Beijing children was comparable with that of Tokyo children, except for the boys between 11 and 13 years. Variability of the RUS maturation among the Chinese children was greater than that found among the TW3, Tokyo and Beijing children.

An example of variation and pattern in saltation and stasis growth dynamics

The serial data from two siblings, aged 6.6 and 7.5 years of age at the initiation of the study, measured each evening for total standing height during 365 days, are analysed by two methods to investigate the nature of the underlying growth pattern. The saltation and stasis model, designed to identify the presence of statistically significant pulses in sequential data, is compared for goodness-of-fit to first to sixth degree polynomial functions, used to investigate the presence of a slowly varying smooth continuous function in the data, and high order polynomials of the same degree of flexibility as the individuals saltation and stasis results. The saltation and stasis model is found to better-fit the experimental data than the slowly varying smooth continuous functions (p < 0.01 to 0.001). The timing characteristics of the saltation and stasis patterns are investigated and the temporal patterns are suggestive of a non-random, aperiodical deterministic system.

Daily measurements of the heights of two children from June 1984 to May 1985.

Two children, a sister and a younger brother, were measured with regard to stature, head and neck height, iliospinal height, and trunk length, every morning and evening for one year. They were 7.5 years old and 6.6 years old, respectively, on the first day of the investigation. In both children, stature and trunk length, but not the other dimensions, were longer in the morning and shorter in the evening. Almost all the years statural elongation was due to lower limb elongation, but there was a sharp upward turn in April-May which resulted from an increase in trunk length. The head and neck height curves were flat throughout the year.

Biological variables in height growth of Japanese twins: a comparison with those of singletons.

Background: Biological variables in height growth in Japanese singletons are well documented, but there has been less research on Japanese twins. Aim: The study investigated the biological variables in height growth of Japanese twins and compared them with those of Japanese singletons. Subjects and methods: Samples of 92 boys and 99 girls from monozygotic twins, and 41 boys and 38 girls from dizygotic twins born in 1960–1973, from the Twin Class in the Junior and Senior High Schools affiliated to the University of Tokyo, Japan, were considered. The Bayes modal estimation method was applied to the triphasic generalized logistic growth model (BTT model). From the fitted model, the biological variables were extracted. Results: The monozygotic twins, on average, matured earlier than dizygotic twins, but later than singletons. Until pre-adolescence, the height velocity of twin children is lower than that of singleton children. This results in the final stature of twin youths being smaller than that of singleton youths. The twins are, on average, about 2.6 cm smaller than singletons in final height only due to the lower velocity during birth to pre-adolescence. Comparing with the average final stature of dizygotic children, the boys were 3.9 cm and the girls were 2.8 cm shorter than Japanese late-maturing boys and girls, respectively. For monozygotic children, the boys were 3.8 cm and the girls were 3.0 cm shorter than the respective Japanese late-matured singleton boys and girls. Conclusion: The biological variables of twins differ significantly from those of singletons. It is important to recognize that singleton reference values do not correctly reflect the growth of twins.

Errors Occurred on Horizontal Section of a Human Trunk in Relation to the Number of Photographing Direction Using Projection-Type Moiré Topography

1. 緒 言 元来物体の平面性 を光学的に検 出す る手段 として使わ れ ていたモア レ法 は,本 来 の性質を逆 の目的に利用 して 物体の三次元測定 に応用 され て き た1)2).こ のモ アレ写 真法moire photogrammetryが 人体の測定 に応用 され るよ うにな ってか らまだ 日は浅いが,従 来人体計測 とし てはMartin法 以外 に適切 な手段が存在 しなか ったため (写真計測 もMartin法 の延長にす ぎない)骨 学 ・歯 学 ・ 臨床医学な どで多様 な測定が試行 されてい る3)~5).被服 構成学 では頸部形状 の三次元情報を得 るために 柳 沢 ら6) が 初めてモア レ写真法を導入 した. モア レ写真法 にはMeadows et al.お よび高崎が開発 した格子照射法 と,吉 澤 ・清水7)お よび鈴木 ら8)の 格子 投影法 があ り,研 究 目的や対象部位 の大 きさに よって使 い分け られ ている.し か しモア レ写真法その ものは技 術 的 に まだ完成 された ものではな く,と くに生体測定 には 多 くの解決すべ き問題が残 ってい る. 通常,モ ア レ写真法に よって人体の水平断面 を得 る場 合,前 後左右 の4方 向か ら撮影 した写真か ら図化 した個 々の曲線を接合 して輪郭線を描 く方法が とられ てきた. しか し芦沢 ・塚越9)は 石膏像頸部の水平断面 の形状が投 影型 モア レ撮影 の方向数に よって多少異なる ことを示 し た.こ れは モア レ法 の理論が本来 《物体 に無限遠か ら平 行光線を投影 した ときに...》 とい う条件 の上に成立 して いるに もかかわ らず,現 実のシステムでは平行光線にな ってい ないために生 じる現象であ って,歪 み の修正には