Female University Students (female + university_student)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


EFFECT OF A SOYBEAN PRODUCT ON SERUM LIPID LEVELS IN FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2004
Kyoko Takahashi
SUMMARY 1.,A dietary intervention study targeting female students by using cake containing soybean protein and isoflavone was conducted. Female students (n = 120) were divided into three Groups (A, 6.26 g of soybean protein and isoflavone at 50 mg/day; B, 1.36 g soybean protein and isoflavone 50 mg; and C, a wheat puff as placebo). Intervention period was 4 weeks. The ratio of hypercholesterol in each group indicated a high value; A: 25%, B: 17.9% and C: 24.4%. 2.,Total cholesterol as well as the rate of hypercholesterolemia decreased in Group A. The average total cholesterol significantly reduced (P < 0.001) from 242 ± 17 to 220 ± 25 mg/dL in Group A. 3.,Dietary intake of soy protein for 4 weeks could be effective in reducing CHD risk among Japanese female students with a high plasma cholesterol level. [source]


Individual differences in allocation of funds in the dictator game associated with length of the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor RS3 promoter region and correlation between RS3 length and hippocampal mRNA

GENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2008
A. Knafo
Human altruism is a widespread phenomenon that puzzled evolutionary biologists since Darwin. Economic games illustrate human altruism by showing that behavior deviates from economic predictions of profit maximization. A game that most plainly shows this altruistic tendency is the Dictator Game. We hypothesized that human altruistic behavior is to some extent hardwired and that a likely candidate that may contribute to individual differences in altruistic behavior is the arginine vasopressin 1a (AVPR1a) receptor that in some mammals such as the vole has a profound impact on affiliative behaviors. In the current investigation, 203 male and female university students played an online version of the Dictator Game, for real money payoffs. All subjects and their parents were genotyped for AVPR1a RS1 and RS3 promoter-region repeat polymorphisms. Parents did not participate in online game playing. As variation in the length of a repetitive element in the vole AVPR1a promoter region is associated with differences in social behavior, we examined the relationship between RS1 and RS3 repeat length (base pairs) and allocation sums. Participants with short versions (308,325 bp) of the AVPR1a RS3 repeat allocated significantly (likelihood ratio = 14.75, P = 0.001, df = 2) fewer shekels to the ,other' than participants with long versions (327,343 bp). We also implemented a family-based association test, UNPHASED, to confirm and validate the correlation between the AVPR1a RS3 repeat and monetary allocations in the dictator game. Dictator game allocations were significantly associated with the RS3 repeat (global P value: likelihood ratio ,2 = 11.73, df = 4, P = 0.019). The association between the AVPR1a RS3 repeat and altruism was also confirmed using two self-report scales (the Bardi,Schwartz Universalism and Benevolence Value-expressive Behavior scales). RS3 long alleles were associated with higher scores on both measures. Finally, long AVPR1a RS3 repeats were associated with higher AVPR1a human post-mortem hippocampal messenger RNA levels than short RS3 repeats (one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA): F = 15.04, P = 0.001, df = 14) suggesting a functional molecular genetic basis for the observation that participants with the long RS3 repeats allocate more money than participants with the short repeats. This is the first investigation showing that a common human polymorphism, with antecedents in lower mammals, contributes to decision making in an economic game. The finding that the same gene contributing to social bonding in lower animals also appears to operate similarly in human behavior suggests a common evolutionary mechanism. [source]


Binge Drinking Affects Attentional and Visual Working Memory Processing in Young University Students

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 11 2009
Alberto Crego
Background:, Binge Drinking (BD) typically involves heavy drinking over a short time, followed by a period of abstinence, and is common among young people, especially university students. Animal studies have demonstrated that this type of alcohol consumption causes brain damage, especially in the nonmature brain. The aim of the present study was to determine how BD affects brain functioning in male and female university students, during the performance of a visual working memory task. Methods:, Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded, with an extensive set of 32 scalp electrodes, in 95 first-year university students (age range 18 to 20 years), comprising 42 binge drinkers (BD) and 53 controls, in a visual "identical pairs" continuous performance task. Principal components analysis was used to identify and analyze the N2 (negative waveform with a latency around 200 to 300 ms related to attentional processes) and P3 (positive waveform with a latency around 300 to 600 ms related to working memory processes) components of the ERPs. Results:, In the matching condition of the task, the N2 component in central and parietal regions was significantly larger in the BD than in the control group. In the control group, the P3 component was larger in the matching than in the nonmatching condition in the frontal, central, and parietal regions, whereas the BD group did not show any significant differences between conditions in any region. Conclusions:, The results of this study confirm the presence of electrophysiological differences between young university student binge drinkers and controls during the execution of a visual task with a high working memory load. The larger N2 in the BD group suggests higher levels of attentional effort required by this group to perform the task adequately. The absence of any differences in the P3 component in the different conditions (matching and nonmatching stimuli) in the BD group suggests a deficiency in the electrophysiological differentiation between relevant and irrelevant information, which may reflect some impairment of working memory processes. [source]


Season of birth contributes to variation in university examination outcomes

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2006
Martin Fieder
Epidemiological studies show that birth season influences a wide range of biological parameters such as growth, reproduction, mental illnesses, dyslexia, personality, and success in school. The present study is aimed at examining birth season's relationship to examination marks achieved at a university in a very large contemporary sample of male and female undergraduate students. We find that female university students born in spring and summer achieve better marks than those born in autumn and winter. Male students born in spring receive worse marks than those born in other seasons of the year. Furthermore, we find a birth-week periodicity in examination results of female students, with highest examination results for those born in May. We suppose that biological mechanisms might explain part of the observed effects. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 18:714,717, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Intensity of Nordic Walking in young females with different peak O2 consumption

CLINICAL PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNCTIONAL IMAGING, Issue 5 2009
Toivo Jürimäe
Summary The purpose of this cross - sectional study was to determine the physiological reaction to the different intensity Nordic Walking exercise in young females with different aerobic capacity values. Twenty-eight 19,24-year-old female university students participated in the study. Their peak O2 consumption (VO2 peak kg,1) and individual ventilatory threshold (IVT) were measured using a continuous incremental protocol until volitional exhaustion on treadmill. The subjects were analysed as a whole group (n = 28) and were also divided into three groups based on the measured VO2 peak kg,1 (Difference between groups is 1 SD) as follows: 1. >46 ml min,1 kg,1 (n = 8), 2. 41,46 ml min,1 kg,1 (n = 12) and 3. <41 ml min,1 kg,1 (n = 8). The second test consisted of four times 1 km Nordic Walking with increasing speed on the 200 m indoor track, performed as a continuous study (Step 1 , slow walking, Step 2 , usual speed walking, Step 3 , faster speed walking and Step 4 , maximal speed walking). During the walking test expired gas was sampled breath-by-breath and heart rate (HR) was recorded continuously. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were asked using the Borg RPE scale separately for every 1 km of the walking test. No significant differences emerged between groups in HR of IVT (172·4 ± 10·3,176·4 ± 4·9 beats min,1) or maximal HR (190·1 ± 7·3,191·6 ± 7·8 beats min,1) during the treadmill test. During maximal speed walking the speed (7·4 ± 0·4,7·5 ± 0·6 km h,1) and O2 consumption (30·4 ± 3·9,34·0 ± 4·5 ml min,1 kg,1) were relatively similar between groups (P > 0·05). However, during maximal speed walking, the O2 consumption in the second and third groups was similar with the IVT (94·9 ± 17·5% and 99·4 ± 15·5%, respectively) but in the first group it was only 75·5 ± 8·0% from IVT. Mean HR during the maximal speed walking was in the first group 151·6 ± 12·5 beats min,1, in the second (169·7 ± 10·3 beats min,1) and the third (173·1 ± 15·8 beats min,1) groups it was comparable with the calculated IVT level. The Borg RPE was very low in every group (11·9 ± 2·0,14·4 ± 2·3) and the relationship with VO2and HR was not significant during maximal speed Nordic Walking. In summary, the present study indicated that walking is an acceptable exercise for young females independent of their initial VO2 peak level. However, females with low initial VO2 peak can be recommended to exercise with the subjective ,faster speed walking'. In contrast, females with high initial VO2 peak should exercise with maximal speed. [source]