Learning curve in laparoscopic left lateral hepatic sectionectomy / 中华肝胆外科杂志

Objective:To study the learning curve in laparoscopic left lateral hepatic sectionectomy.Methods:The clinical data of 62 consecutive patients who underwent left lateral hepatic sectionectomy by a single operator from February 2015 to May 2022 in General Hospital of Northern Theater Command were retrospectively analyzed. There were 22 males and 40 females, with mean ±s.d. of (50.7±11.7) years. The learning curve was depicted and evaluated by using the cumulative summation test. The general information, operation and postoperative indicators of the growth level group and the master level group were compared.Results:The average operation time of the 62 consecutive subjects was (172.9±70.1) minutes. Intraoperative blood loss was 100 (50, 200) ml. Two patients were converted to open hepatectomy. Clavien-Dindo grade I postoperative complications occurred in 20 patients (32.3%), with grade Ⅱ in 1 patient (1.6%) and grade Ⅲb in another patient (1.6%). The learning curve reached its highest point on the 20th patient by using the cumulative summation test. The study subjects were then assigned into the growth level group (patient 1-20) and the master level group (patient 21-62). The master level group had a significantly wider spread of patient age [(52.9±11.0) years vs (46.1±11.9) years], decreased operation time [(146.8±55.6) min vs (227.9±66.7) min], shortened drainage tube removal time [4(3, 5) d vs 6(4, 7) d] and decreased postoperative hospital stay [5(5, 7) d vs 6.5(4, 9) d] (all P<0.05) when compared with the growth level group. Conclusion:Left lateral hepatic sectionectomy was safe and feasible, and a single operator went through a learning curve of 20 patients before he/she could master the operation more proficiently.

An image classification method for arrhythmias based on Gramian angular summation field and improved Inception-ResNet-v2 / 生物医学工程学杂志

Arrhythmia is a significant cardiovascular disease that poses a threat to human health, and its primary diagnosis relies on electrocardiogram (ECG). Implementing computer technology to achieve automatic classification of arrhythmia can effectively avoid human error, improve diagnostic efficiency, and reduce costs. However, most automatic arrhythmia classification algorithms focus on one-dimensional temporal signals, which lack robustness. Therefore, this study proposed an arrhythmia image classification method based on Gramian angular summation field (GASF) and an improved Inception-ResNet-v2 network. Firstly, the data was preprocessed using variational mode decomposition, and data augmentation was performed using a deep convolutional generative adversarial network. Then, GASF was used to transform one-dimensional ECG signals into two-dimensional images, and an improved Inception-ResNet-v2 network was utilized to implement the five arrhythmia classifications recommended by the AAMI (N, V, S, F, and Q). The experimental results on the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database showed that the proposed method achieved an overall classification accuracy of 99.52% and 95.48% under the intra-patient and inter-patient paradigms, respectively. The arrhythmia classification performance of the improved Inception-ResNet-v2 network in this study outperforms other methods, providing a new approach for deep learning-based automatic arrhythmia classification.

Binocular summation in comitant exotropia: Change after surgery

Purpose: To assess the change in binocular summation (BiS) in comitant exotropia (XT) after strabismus surgery. Methods: This is a prospective study on 20 patients who underwent surgery for comitant XT over a one year period. Patients with sensory exotropia and nystagmus were excluded. Best?corrected visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS) of both eyes separately and together (binocularly) were recorded. BiS score was calculated as binocular score minus better eye score. BiS score at the end of 3 months was compared with the preoperative data. Results: The mean ± SD of BiS score increased from 2.95 ± 0.88 to 4.55 ± 0.68 (P?value < 0.0001) for VA (on ETDRS letters) and from 2.75 ± 0.44 to 4.5 ± 0.76 (P?value < 0.001 for CS (on Pelli–Robson chart) after surgery. Conclusion: There is significant improvement in BiS in XT after strabismus surgery. Authors recommend its inclusion in evaluation of functional outcome of XT surgery

Analysis of learning curve of minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting surgery / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To study the learning curve of minimal invasive coronary artery bypass grafting (MICS CABG) and the influence on the perioperative clinical effects by analyzing operation time. Methods    From March 2012 to November 2020, 212 patients underwent MICS CABG by the same surgeon. Among them, 59 patients (52 males and average age of 62.89±8.27 years) with single vessel bypass grafting were as a single-vessel group and 153 patients (138 males, average age of 59.80±9.22 years) with multi-vessel bypass grafting were as a multi-vessel group. Two sets of operation time-operation sequence scatter plots were made and learning curve was analyzed by cumulative summation (CUSUM) and regression method of operation time. The surgical data of each group before and after the inflection point of the learning curve were compared with the main clinical outcome events within 30 days after surgery. Results    There was no death, perioperative myocardial infarction and stroke in 212 MICS CABG patients and no transfer to cardiopulmonary bypass or redo thoracotomy. The learning curve conformed to the cubic fitting formula. In the single- vessel group, CUSUM (x operation number)=–1.93+93.45×x–2.33×x2+0.01×x3, P=0.000, R2=0.986, the tipping point was 27 patients. In the multi-vessel group, CUSUM (x)=y=2.87+1.15×x–1.29× x2+3.463×x3, P=0.000, R2=0.993, and the tipping point was 59 patients. The two sets of case data were compared before and after the learning curve and there was no statistical difference in main clinical outcomes within 30 days (mortality, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, perioperative blood transfusion rate), ventilator tube, and intensive care unit retention. Conclusion    The learning curve of MICS CABG conforms to the cubic formula, and the process transitions from single to multiple vessels bypass. To enter the mature stage of the learning phase, a certain number of patients need to be done. Reasonable surgical procedures and quality control measures can ensure the safety during the learning phase.

Sugarcane stem nodes based on the maximum value points of the vertical projection function / Identificação de nós de tronco de cana-de-açúcar com base nos pontos de valor extremos da função de projeção vertical

ABSTRACT: In order to solve the problem that the stem nodes are difficult to identify in the process of sugarcane seed automatic cutting, a method of identifying the stem nodes of sugarcane based on the extreme points of vertical projection function is proposed in this paper. Firstly, in order to reduce the influence of light on image processing, the RGB color image is converted to HSI color image, and the S component image of the HSI color space is extracted as a research object. Then, the S component image is binarized by the Otsu method, the hole of the binary image is filled by morphology closing algorithm, and the sugarcane and the background are initially separated by the horizontal projection map of the binary image. Finally, the position of sugarcane stem is preliminarily determined by continuously taking the derivative of the vertical projection function of the binary image, and the sum of the local pixel value of the suspicious pixel column is compared to further determine the sugarcane stem node. The experimental results showed that the recognition rate of single stem node is 100%, and the standard deviation is less than 1.1 mm. The accuracy of simultaneous identification of double stem nodes is 98%, and the standard deviation is less than 1.7 mm. The accuracy of simultaneous identification of the three stem nodes is 95%, and the standard deviation is less than 2.2 mm. Compared with the other methods introduced in this paper, the proposed method has higher recognition and accuracy.

RESUMO: Para resolver o problema que os nós do caule são difíceis de identificar no processo de corte automático de sementes de cana-de-açúcar, é proposto, neste artigo, um método para identificar os nós do colmo da cana-de-açúcar com base nos pontos extremos da função de projeção vertical. Em primeiro lugar, a fim de reduzir a influência da luz no processamento da imagem, a imagem de cor RGB foi convertida em imagem de cor HSI, e a imagem de componente S do espaço de cores HSI é extraída como um objeto de pesquisa. Em seguida, o método Otsu foi usado para binarizar o mapa do componente S, e a operação morfológica fechada foi usada para preencher os espaços da imagem binária, e a projeção horizontal da imagem binária foi usada para separar a cana de açúcar do fundo. Finalmente, a posição do caule de cana-de-açúcar foi preliminarmente determinada através da tomada contínua do derivado da função de projeção vertical da imagem binária, e a soma do valor pixel local da coluna de pixel suspeito foi comparada para determinar ainda mais o nódulo da cana-de-açúcar. Os resultados experimentais mostram que a taxa de reconhecimento do nó de haste única foi de 100%, o desvio padrão foi inferior a 1.1 mm. A precisão da identificação simultânea de nós de haste dupla foi de 98%, o desvio padrão foi menor que 1.7 mm. A precisão da identificação simultânea dos três nós de haste é de 95%, o desvio padrão foi inferior a 2.2 mm. Comparado com os outros métodos introduzidos neste artigo, o método proposto possui maior reconhecimento e precisão.

Subnormal Binocular Contrast Sensitivity Summation in Patients with Intermittent Exotropia

BACKGROUND: To evaluate binocular summation ratio using contrast sensitivity (CS) testing and correlation between binocular summation and stereoacuity, and control scale in intermittent exotropia (IXT). METHODS: We conducted a prospective case-control study. Thirty-seven IXT and 41 controls were evaluated with both monocular and binocular CS testing. We compared the binocular summation ratio of IXT to that of controls. Near and distance stereoacuity was assessed and office-based control scale was evaluated. We investigated correlation between binocular CS summation ratio and stereoacuity, and control scale in IXT, respectively. RESULTS: IXT had lower binocular CS summation ratio than controls at 1.5 and 3.0 cycles/degree (1.01 ± 1.02 vs. 1.62 ± 1.88 and 1.17 ± 0.96 vs. 1.86 ± 1.75, Both P < 0.05). We found significant correlation between binocular CS summation ratio at 3.0 cycles/degree and both near and distance stereoacuity (r = −0.411, P = 0.012 and r = −0.624, P = 0.005), and ratio at 1.5 cycles/degree also correlated significantly with distance stereoacuity (r = −0.397, P = 0.034) in the IXT. Binocular CS summation ratio was correlated to control scale at 1.5 and 3.0 cycles/degree (r = −0.327, P = 0.041 and r = −0.418, P = 0.028), and the ratio significantly differed in control scale groupings analysis at the same frequencies (Both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings of subnormal binocular CS summation ratio in IXT had correlation with stereoacuity and control scale suggest that binocular CS testing may be a useful method in assessing binocular visual function in IXT.

Effects of Monocular Blur on Clinical Measurements of Stereopsis and Binocular Contrast Sensitivity / Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia

Visual conditions such as anisometropia, monovision and monocular undercorrection affect the combination of visual input from both eyes. This study investigated the effects of monocular blur, in binocularly normal participants, on stereoacuity and binocular contrast sensitivity. Fifteen young adults (age range between 19 and 23 years old) with normal visual acuity and binocular vision participated in this study. Stereopsis was measured using the TNO test with a series of positive spherical lenses placed before the dominant eye. The procedure was repeated using the Titmus Stereotest on five participants as a control experiment. Monocular and binocular contrast sensitivities were also measured using the Pelli-Robson Contrast Sensitivity Chart. Blur was induced monocularly with a series of positive spherical lenses placed before the dominant eye and binocular contrast sensitivity was re-measured. Stereopsis scores decreased significantly when monocular blur was imposed. Across blur levels, absolute stereopsis scores measured with TNO test were worse than those measured with Titmus stereotest (all p < 0.05). However, the ratio of scores obtained without blur and under monocular blur appeared to be similar for both tests. Stereopsis without blur was between 6.82× to 8× better than that obtained with the highest level of imposed monocular blur. Binocular contrast sensitivity score decreased significantly with increasing level of monocular blur (p < 0.01). Binocular contrast sensitivity score without blur was 1.62× better than that obtained under binocular viewing with highest level of imposed blur. Stereopsis tests are more sensitive than measurements of binocular contrast sensitivity as an indicator of interocular acuity discrepancies which could occur in anisometropic or monovision patients. However, the choice of stereopsis test is crucial, as the TNO test appears to be more sensitive to monocular blur than the Titmus stereostest.

Secuencia de perfusion arterial reversa (TRAP) / Twin Reversed Arterial Perfusion, TRAP

Resumen:Considerada como una complicación exclusiva de gestaciones múltiples monocoriales, la secuencia de perfusión arterial reversa se caracteriza por la presencia de un feto malformado que tiene un corazón rudimentario o ausente, con una perfusión desde el gemelo estructuralmente normal hacia el feto acárdico y una mortalidad del 100% en el feto acárdico y el 50% en el feto sano. Se reporta un caso clínico de una paciente de 15 años con embarazo gemelar monocorial de 27 semanas, referida al Hospital San Juan de Dios, en donde se le dio seguimiento diario con ultrasonido y se documentó el patrón ultrasonógrafico anormal de sumación-colisión. A los 7 días de ingreso se decide la interrupción del embarazo por sospecha de coriamnioitis, naciendo un producto viable y otro polimalformado.

Abstract:Considered an exclusive complication of monochorionic gestations, the TRAP sequence is characterize by the presence of a malformed fetus with a rudimentary or absent heart, in which there is an perfusion from the structurally normal twin to the acardiac fetus and a 100% mortality in the acardiac fetus and 50% in the healthy one. We present a clinical case of a 15 years old patient with monochorionic twin pregnancy of 27 weeks, referred to Hospital San Juan de Dios, where daily monitoring with ultrasound was done and an abnormal collision-summantion pattern was documented and reported. After 7 days of admission chorioamnionitis was suspected and termination of the pregnancy was decided resulting in a viable product and another with multiple malformations.

Central Sensitization In Chronic Low Back Pain: A Narrative Review.

Objective: The aim of this narrative review is to examine the available literature related to central sensitization (CS) and altered central pain processing in chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients. Methodology: Literature was searched using many electronic databases. Additionally, reference list of most prominent articles were searched to increase the search accuracy, as much as possible. Studies which are evaluating the concept of CS in conservatively treated CLBP patients were included. Results: Results of studies evaluating the responsiveness to various types of stimuli in CLBP patients are contradictory. Some studies in CLBP patients have showed increased pain responses after sensory stimulation of body parts outside the painful region, when some other studies report no differences between patients and healthy controls. Studies evaluating the integrity of the endogenous pain inhibitory systems describe unchanged activity of this descending inhibitory system. Conversely, studies examining brain structure and function in connection with experimentally induced pain provide initial proof for changed central pain processing in CLBP patients. Also inappropriate beliefs about pain, depression and/or pain catastrophizing, may lead to the development of CS. Conclusion: Most of the literatures suggest that the CNS becomes centrally sensitized in a subgroup of patients with CLBP. However, the significance of this involvement is just starting to become clearer. This could be an active topic of future research. More studies are necessary for providing definite evidence for the clinical importance of CS.

Bilateral Cochlear Implantation for Children in Nagasaki, Japan

OBJECTIVES: The number of patients with bilateral cochlear implant (CI) has gradually increased as patients and/or parents recognize its effectiveness. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the efficacy of 29 bilateral CI out of 169 pediatric CI users, who received auditory-verbal/oral habilitation at our hearing center. METHODS: We evaluated the audiological abilities 29 Japanese children with bilateral CIs including wearing threshold, word recognition score, speech discrimination score at 1 m from front speaker (SP), 1 m from second CI side SP, speech discrimination score under the noise (S/N ratio=80 dB sound pressure level [SPL]/70 dB SPL, 10 dB) at 1 m from front SP, word recognition score under the noise (S/N ratio=80 dB SPL/70 dB SPL, 10 dB) at 1 m from front SP. RESULTS: Binaural hearing using bilateral CI is better than first CI in all speech understanding tests. Especially, there were significant differences between the results of first CI and bilateral CI on SDS at 70 dB SPL (P=0.02), SDS at 1 m from second CI side SP at 60 dB SPL (P=0.02), word recognition score (WRS) at 1 m from second CI side SP at 60 dB SPL (P=0.02), speech discrimination score (SDS) at 1 m from front SP under the noise (S/N=80/70; P=0.01) and WRS at 1 m from front SP under the noise (S/N=80/70; P=0.002). At every age, a second CI is very effective. However, the results of under 9 years old were better than of over 9 years old on the mean SDS under the noise (S/N=80/70) on second CI (P=0.04). About use of a hearing aid (HA) in their opposite side of first CI, on the WRS and SDS under the noise, there were significant differences between the group of over 3 years and the group of under 10 months of HA non user before second CI. CONCLUSION: These results may show important binaural effectiveness such as binaural summation and head shadow effect. Bilateral CI is very useful medical intervention for many children with severe-to-profound hearing loss in Japan as well as elsewhere.

Pathogenesis of Chinese Alexia (review) / 中国康复理论与实践

@#The studies of the pathogenesis of alexia in the west were based on the alphabetic writing system. Chinese is a meaningful writing system, which has its own characteristic of orthographic, semantic and phonological. In recent years, with the development of cognitive neuropsychology, the researchers have investigated the Chinese alexic patients, revealed the special clinical feature of Chinese alexia, and discussed the pathogenesis of it. This article would review the advance of Chinese alexia.

Gender Differences in Heat Pain and Temporal Summation Threshold in Normal Volunteers / 대한통증학회지

BACKGROUND: Females generally have a lower pain and temporal summation threshold than men. However, the results of studies designed to evaluate gender differences in the thresholds of heat pain and the temporal summation have been inconsistent. Newly developed device, CHEPS (Contact Heat Evoked Potential Stimulation) model of PATHWAY, have superiority on its fast rise and return time in temperature. Therefore we investigated gender differences in heat pain and temporal summation threshold. METHODS: Forty healthy volunteers (20 males and 20 females) were enrolled in this study. A thermode was applied to the volar side of each volunteer's left forearm and heat pain and the temporal summation threshold was then measured. The heat pain threshold was estimated using the staircase method by starting from 36degrees C and then increasing the temperature in 0.5degrees C increments. The temporal summation threshold was estimated by applying five successive stimulation of the same temperature starting at 2degrees C lower than the heat pain threshold and then increasing the temperature in 0.5degrees C increments. RESULTS: The mean heat pain thresholds was found to be 41.63 +/- 1.63degrees C for males and 41.60 +/- 1.84degrees C for females and the temporal summation thresholds were found to be 40.83 +/- 1.64degrees C for males and 40.77 +/- 1.93degrees C for females. The differences between males and females were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The result of this study suggested that there are no gender differences in heat pain and temporal summation threshold.

Percepção visual de contraste em humanos: evidência psicofísica para canais de freqüência angular alta / Visual contrast perception in human beings: psychophysical evidence for high angular frequency channels

O objetivo deste trabalho foi mensurar curvas de resposta ao contraste para os filtros de freqüências angulares de banda estreita de 32, 48, 64 e 96 ciclos/360º. Foram estimadas nove curvas para cada filtro com o método psicofísico de somação de resposta de supralimiar aliado ao método da escolha forçada. Participaram deste experimento seis participantes adultos com acuidade visual normal ou corrigida. Os resultados demonstraram somações máximas de limiar de contraste na freqüência de teste dos filtros de 32, 48, 64 e 96 ciclos/360º circundadas por inibições nas freqüências vizinhas às freqüências angulares de teste de cada filtro. Estes resultados são consistentes com a existência de filtros de freqüências angulares de banda estreita no sistema visual humano através do processo de somação ou inibição na faixa de freqüência angular alta.

The aim of this study was to measure narrow-band frequency response curves for four angular frequency filters. The test frequencies were 32, 48, 64 and 96 cycles/360º. Six humans observers with normal or corrected visual acuity measured nine curves for each filter, with a supra-threshold response summation psychophysical method allied with a forced-choice method. The results showed maximum summation effects at test frequency for filter frequencies 32, 48, 64 and 96 cycles/360º, as well as a strong inhibition for neighboring frequencies. These results are consistent with the existence of narrow-band angular frequency filters in the human visual system either through summation or the inhibition of specific high angular frequency ranges.

The Effect of Distraction Induced by ReliefBand(R) on the Pain Threshold and Temporal Summation Threshold / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Pain is recognized as a cognitive phenomenon, which involves the processing of information. Given that human information processing is largely restricted to a number of simultaneous tasks, many interventions and techniques have been used to modify pain perception by distracting the cognitive processing of pain. This study tested the hypothesis that the pain threshold to electrical stimuli is increased as a result of distraction using a ReliefBand(R). METHODS: Twenty volunteers were enrolled in this study. After attaching surface electrode to the medial plantar nerve territory of left foot, electrical stimuli were delivered to obtain baseline pain threshold and temporal summation threshold. After 15 minutes, while distracting with ReliefBand(R), the same parameters were obtained. RESULTS: Pain threshold and temporal summation threshold before distraction were 7.9+/-2.2 mA and 7.0+/-2.1 mA respectively. During distraction pain threshold and temporal summation threshold were increased to 9.0+/-2.4 mA and 7.8+/-2.2 mA respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Pain and temporal summation threshold to electrical stimuli were increased during distraction with ReliefBand(R). Although we applied a technique with weak distracting ability, this distracted the processing of pain perception significantly. Further research about various distraction technique will be required.

Changes of Compound Muscle Action Potentials Related to Voluntary Muscle Contraction and Alteration of Muscle Length in Peripheral Neuropathy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate waveform changes of compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) related to voluntary muscle contraction and alteration of muscle length and to evaluate the effect of peripheral neuropathy on temporal and spatial summations of CMAPs. METHOD: The influence of voluntary muscle contraction and alteration of muscle length on CMAP was studied in 37 median nerves of 21 patients with median neuropathy. RESULTS: In patients with no apparent axonopathy, temporal summation was partially disturbed without significant change of spatial summation. Shortening of muscle length or voluntary contraction produced a physiologic improvement of spatial and temporal summations. There was a decrease in temporal and spatial summations, more prominent in temporal summation, with lengthening of the muscle. In axonopathy, spatial summation was markedly deteriorated with partial reduction of temporal summation. Spatial summation was not affected by the change of muscle length or voluntary contraction. Temporal summation was improved by muscle shortening or voluntary contraction and was decreased by muscle lengthening. CONCLUSION: Peripheral neuropathy has an effects on physiological spatial and temporal summations of CMAPs. Temporal summation is preferentially decreased in cases without axonopathy. When axonopathy is apparent, spatial summation is profoundly disturbed with partial reduction of temporal summation.

Validation of the Histogram Summation Technique for Measurement Error Minimization of Respiratory Air Flow Rate / 대한의료정보학회지

The present study performed an experiment to validate the histogram summation technique developed for measurement error minimization of respiratory air flow rate2). Five sets of manual stroke operation data(MSO#1 5) of 1 [LI each were acquired at varying speeds. Selected sets of these data were used to estimate the conductance correction factors reflecting the resistance-flow character -istics. Then the correction factors were applied to different sets of the data to evaluate mean SD of the volume measurement error. When the resistance was linearly compensated without conductance correction, the relative error was 2.3% marginally within the ATS standard limit of 3%. With the histogram summation techinque applied, it has dramatically decreased down to within 1%. For a newly input flow data, the error was maintained within 1.5%. Therefore, the histogram summation techinque minimized the measurement error consistently and reproducibly. With increased number of strokes included in the correction factor estimation process, the error decreased at a rate of 0.5 [mL!S0strokesj. However, no more than 50 stroke data were necessary to keep the measurement error within 1.5%. This corresponded to only 25 MSO, thus the histogram summation technique has been demonstrated to be consistent, reproducible, and practical technique for measurement error minimization of respiratory air flow rate.

Waveform Changes of Compound Muscle Action Potentials Related to Voluntary Muscle Contraction and Alteration of Muscle Length

The influence of voluntary muscle contraction and alteration of muscle length on compound muscle action potential (CMAP) was studied in 20 healthy volunteers. The CMAPs were evoked by a supramaximal stimulation and recorded by a surface electrode array. Onset latencies were not significantly changed regardless of the muscle length and contraction. On shortening of the muscle there was a decrease in an area and duration of CMAP with no significant changes in an amplitude. During muscle contractions, there was an increase in amplitude and a decrease in area and duration. On a lengthening of the muscle with relaxation, the amplitude of CMAP decreased with an increased area and duration. During a voluntary contraction, there was a decrease in amplitude, area, and duration. The results are considered due to a peripheral factor such as an alteration of temporal or spatial summation rather than a central mechanism. We conclude that in nerve conduction studies, it is important to monitor the finger position and muscle relaxation to differentiate the waveform changes from the muscle length or contraction and those from the nerve lesions.

Respiro-circulatory responses to forearm and calf exercise performed simultaneously at an equal fraction of MVC / 体力科学

Respiro-circulatory responses to forearm and calf exercise performed simultaneously were compared with corresponding responses to forearm or calf exercise performed separately in 9 active women aged 21.1 yr on average. Handgrip exercise and plantar flexion were carried out for 60 s in a supine position at a frequency of 60 times·min<SUP>-1</SUP> and the load was adjusted to 1/3 MVC. Forearm blood flow (FBF) increased to 9.64±1.00 m<I>l</I>·100 m<I>l</I><SUP>-1</SUP>·min<SUP>-1</SUP> immediately after handgrip exercise, and calf blood flow (CBF) to 12.72±0.72 m<I>l</I>·100 m<I>l</I><SUP>-1</SUP>·min<SUP>-1</SUP> after plantar flexion. These increases in FBF and CBF were not significantly different from those after combined arm and leg exercise. Blood flow to inactive limbs showed no significant changes. Rises in systolic and diastolic blood pressure at the end of exercise were significantly higher after handgrip exercise than after plantar flexion. However, no significant difference was found in mean blood pressure among the three types of exercise. Vo<SUB>2</SUB> and HR in combined exercise were significantly higher than those during handgrip exercise, but no significant difference was found between combined exercise and plantar flexion.<BR>Thus the present results indicated that the circulation to active limbs was not restricted when exercise was performed at 1/3 MVC, and that inhibitory summation shown in the central respiro-circulatory response to increased active muscle mass could occur without restriction of the peripheral circulation to the active muscle.

Binocular Luminance Summantion in Estoropic and Exotropic Kittens

Nomal kittens showed a gradual increase from 17.6% to 25.5% of BLS with aging from the fifth week to the ninth. Young kittens showed significantly less BLS than adult ones(p<0.1). There was no significant difference in BLS between exotropic and nomal kittens or alternating and non-alternating strabismic ones. However, there was a significant difference in BLS between esotropic and nomal ones(p<0.1). These results suggested that the BLS can be used as an index for the extent of total field from both eyes.

Binocular luminance summation (BLS) in esotropic and exotropic kittens

Normal kittens showed a gradual increase from 17.6% to 25.5% of BLS with aging from the fifth week to the ninth. Young kittens showed significantly less BLS than do adult ones (p < 0.1), There was significant difference of BLS between exotropic and normal kittens or alternating and non-alternating strabismic ones. However, there was a significant diftrence between esotropic and normal ones (p < 0.1). These results suggested that the BLS can be used as a index for the extent of total field from both eyes.