The purpose of this study is to find a key to clarifying the mechanism of lactic acid production during exercise. Five healthy men performed the grip and wrist flexion exercises at different occasions. Exercise intensities were increased by 5% MVC (maximum voluntary contraction force) per minute from 10% MVC. Intracellular pH, oxygenated hemoglobin/myoglobin (Oxy-Hb/Mb), inorganic phosphate (Pi), and phosphocreatin (PCr) in forearm flexor muscles were measured by ³¹P-MRS and NIRS. The lowest Oxy-Hb/Mb concentrations during the grip and wrist flexion exercises were 40.7± 8.86% (average±SE) and 15.4 ± 2.26%, respectively. These results suggest that oxygen remain sufficient in the muscles at least during the grip exercise. Intracellular pH dropped as exercise intensity rose above 25% MVC for the grip and above 10% MVC for the wrist flexion exercise. These results support the idea that oxygen deficiency is not the only cause for lactic acid production during exercise. On the other hand, intracellular pH fell with either negative or positive relations to Pi/PCr ratio, Pi, and PCr in each exercise. These results support the suggestion that the main causes of lactic acid production during exercise are the changes in ADP, Pi, and PCr.

　　The Department of Plastic Surgery in our hospital uses compression stockings as a preventive measure against deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Elastic bandages are also used in patients with bone protrusion, skin lesions, or with no size-matched stockings. However, elastic bandages are associated with problems such as inconsistent compression force, ready loss of compression, and local skin lesions due to compression. Therefore, to address these problems, we developed a new bandaging technique by layering different types of bandages (multi-layer bandages), evaluated changes in compression using a measurement device, and examined skin condition after 6 h. On average, the compression of elastic bandages and multi-layer bandages decreased by 52% and 37.4%, respectively, after 6 h (t-test, P = 0.036). Skin wrinkles were finer with the multi-layer bandages. These results suggest that multi-layer bandages are less likely to loosen and that cast paddings prevent bandages from compressing the same local areas. However, because previous research warns of using elastic bandages as an easy way to prevent DVT, it is important to acquire accurate knowledge and master skills for bandaging with proper compression.

We evaluated regional differences of muscle O₂ dynamics between distal and proximal sites in the vastus lateralis (VL) muscle using near infrared spatial resolved spectroscopy (NIR_SRS). forty-one male subjects performed a 30 W ramp incremental bicycle exercise test until exhaustion. The NIR_SRS probes were attached on each distal and proximal site in the VL. The pulmonary O₂ uptake and heart rate were monitored continuously during the experiment. The TOI at rest was significantly higher in proximal than distal sites (65.0±5.2 vs. 69.7±4.6%, p<0.001). The TOI at exhaustion was also significantly higher in proximal than distal sites (39.5±6.7 vs. 47.5±7.6%, p<0.001). Moreover, a significant correlation was found between VO₂max and the TOI at exhaustion in each proximal and distal site in the VL. Half time reoxygenation, the time to reach a value of half-maximal recovery, was significantly slower in distal sites than proximal sites (27.1±5.6 vs. 25.0±6.1 sec, p<0.01). In conclusion, lower muscle oxygenation at exhaustion in higher VO₂max may be due to enhanced O₂ extraction in high oxidative capacity muscle. In addition, slower reoxygenation and lower muscle deoxygenation at the distal site in the VL may be explained by differences in O₂ supply and/or muscle fiber composition between distal and proximal sites.