Spectral analysis was applied to investigate whether the system for control of heart rate (HR) is influenced by exercise intensity. Five healthy males performed incremental exercise on an electrically braked cycle ergometer until exhaustion. The work rate was increased at 12 W/min following 2 min of exercise at a constant load of 20 W. HR was measured every second from R-R intervals. The power spectrum was calculated every 10 s using the FFT method for 64 consecutive data points. Power spectra during 20 W exercise showed a similar pattern to those in previous reports on resting HR perturbations, Although interindividual differences were observed for the spectrum patterns related to exercise intensity, there was a characteristic pattern revealing dissipation of the spectral power above a frequency of 0.2 Hz for all subjects. This pattern was not maintained for more than 1 min in any of the subjects, and was followed by a semirandom pattern whose magnitude varied among the subjects. These results support the hypothesis that the cardiac pacemaker is influenced by exercise intensity, presumably due to sympatho-vagal interaction with the respiratory control system.

Influence of sulphur hot spring water upon wound healing of rat skin was studied. To provide local inflammation, croton oil was injected intradermally into a previously shaved area of rat abdominal skin. Those rats were taken bath with sulphur hot spring water at 37°C for 10min a day, every second day. The increased ratio of hexosamine to hydroxyproline was observed in skin necrotized with croton oil at 4th day, because of increases in hexosamine and decreases in hydroxyproline concentrations with inflammation. After that, hexosamine and hydroxyproline concentrations of necrotic skin returned to control, uninjured levels in 10 days. In bathing with sulphur hot spring water, changes in hexosamine and hydroxyproline concentrations of necrotic area did not alter to bathing with deionized water and to non-bathing of rats.
Although influence of bathing with sulphur hot spring water was examined on glutathione metabolism in rat liver and kidney, it was observed that reduced glutathione concentration, and GSH-reductase, GSH-peroxidase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase activities unchanged in liver and kidney for the bathing period of 14 days.

The effect of oral administration of sulphur hot spring water on chronic liver damaged rat was studied. The liver damaged rats were produced by injection of carbon tetrachloride (150l of CCl₄ per 100g of body weight) twice a week. Sulphur hot spring water was administrated ad libitum as drinking water throughout experimental period. At 40 and 88 days, rats were sacrificed for histological and biochemical examinations.
When tap water was administrated to CCl₄-poisoning rats for 88 days, extensive vacuolar degeneration of parenchymal cells were observed in liver. While in administration of sulphur hot spring water, there were mild vacuolar degeneration in parenchymal cells of liver.
Although GSH content and GSH-peroxidase activity of liver unchanged in CCl₄-poisoning, and were unaffected with administration of sulphur hot spring water, GSH-reductase activity increased with administration of sulphur hot spring water for 88 days. The increased lipoperoxide and hydroxyproline in liver with CCl₄-poisoning were slightly lowered by administration of hot spring water.
In plasma, furthermore, LDH, GPT and GOT activities which increased markedly by CCl₄-poisoning decreased strikingly by administration of hot spring water at 88 days. Whereas ALP, CE and LAP activities little changed by CCl₄-poisoning, and were scarcely affected with administration of hot spring water. Among other plasma components, though total cholesterol and cholesteryl ester levels decreased by CCl₄-poisoning, those levels were not sustained with sulphur hot spring water administration.

An 8-year-old girl had been found to have a congenital ventricular septal defect (VSD), based on the presence of a cardiac murmur from birth. She had a history of infective endocarditis and lung abscess when she was 2 years old. Mild aortic regurgitation was revealed by an echocardiogram in August 2004. Right-heart catherization revealed a step up in the oxygen saturation of the right ventricle, aortography showed a deformity of the noncoronary cusp and mild aortic regurgitation, and Doppler color-flow echocardiography detected progression of aortic regurgitation. The patient underwent surgical repair of the VSD with a cardiopulmonary bypass. Following direct suturing combined with pledgets for perimembranous VSD, infusion of cardioplegia revealed the aneurysmal sac extruding from the wall of the right atrium. The final diagnosis was an aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva from the noncoronary aortic sinus into the right atrium (type IV of Konno). The aneurysm was sutured by polyethylene strings with pledgets. The postoperative course was uneventful, and echocardiography performed before discharge showed no deformity of the sinus of Valsalva and trivial aortic regurgitation which was less than before surgery. She was discharged on the 7th postoperative day.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect between cyclists and noncyclists of pedal rates on ankle, knee, and hip joint torque during pedaling exercises. Six male cyclists (CY) and seven male noncyclists (NC) pedaled at 40, 60, 90 and 120 rpm with a power output of 200 W. The lower limb was modeled as three rigid segment links constrained to plane motion. Based on the Newton-Euler method, the equation for each segment was constructed and solved on a computer using pedal force, pedal, crank, and lower limb position data to calculate torque at the ankle, knee, and hip joints. The average planter flexor torque decreased with increasing pedal rates in both groups. The average knee extensor torque for CY decreased up to 90 rpm, and then leveled off at 120 rpm. These results were similar to NC. The average knee flexor torque in both groups remained steady over all pedal rates. The average hip extensor torque for CY decreased significantly up to 90 rpm where it showed the lowest value, but increased at 120 rpm. For NC, the average hip extensor torque did not decrease at 90 rpm compared with 60 rpm, and was significantly higher than CY at 120 rpm (CY : 28.1 ± 9.0 Nm, NC : 38.6 ± 6.7 Nm, p<0.05) . The average hip flexsor torque for NC at 120 rpm increased significanly from 90 rpm, and was significantly higher than CY (CY : 11.6±2.9 Nm, NC : 22.6±11.8 Nm, p<0.05) . These results suggest that it would be better for cyclists to select a pedal rate of between 90 to 110 rpm to minimize joint torque, and, as a result, reduce peripheral muscle fatigue.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective and comparative study. PURPOSE: We assessed surgical treatment outcomes in patients with thoracic myelopathy due to ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF), and OLF combined with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) or vertebral fracture (VF) at the same level. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: OLF and OPLL cause severe thoracic myelopathy. Osteoporotic VF commonly occurs at the thoracolumbar junction. There have been no investigations of thoracic myelopathy due to OLF and VF. METHODS: Forty patients were divided among three groups: the OLF group (n=23): myelopathy due to OLF, the OLF+OPLL group (n=12): myelopathy due to OLF and OPLL, and the OLF+VF group (n=5): myelopathy due to OLF and VF. We recorded OLF, OPLL, and VF sites and operative procedures. Each patient’s neurological status, according to the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, and walking ability were evaluated pre- and postoperatively. RESULTS: Patients in the OLF+OPLL group were significantly younger than those in the other two groups. The preoperative JOA score was significantly lower in the OLF+VF than OLF group. The final JOA score was significantly lower in the OLF+VF than OLF and OLF+OPLL groups. The JOA score recovery rate was significantly lower in the OLF+VF than OLF group. Final walking ability was significantly worse in the OLF+OPLL and OLF+VF groups than in the OLF group and significantly worse in the OLF+VF than OLF+OPLL group. CONCLUSIONS: Thoracic myelopathy due to OLF+VF occurs primarily in older females, who also exhibit worse preoperative and postoperative neurological status, and worse walking ability, than patients with thoracic myelopathy due to OLF or OLF+OPLL.