On the Shift from Anticipatory Heart Rate Deceleration to Acceleratory Recovery: Revisiting the Role of Response Factors

The influence of inducing motor responses of low and high force at different times in the cardiac cycle was examined. A handgrip response was used which allowed the separation of response initiation from response completion. Based on earlier work, we expected initiation, rather than completion, to initiate poststimulus cardiac acceleration. We also thought that preparation for a high force response might alter preparatory changes of interbeat interval differently from preparation for a low force response. Fifteen college-aged male subjects performed a warned reaction time task in which a visual stimulus signalled a handgrip requiring either a high or a low force to close. NoGo trials in which an inhibit signal was presented occurred on 12% of the trials. Stimuli occurred either on the R-wave of the electrocardiogram or 300 ms later. Reaction speed was varied in different trial blocks by rewarding response times of 200 ms (+/- 50 ms), 300 ms, or 400 ms. Results based on the timing of response initiation were essentially identical to those based on the timing of response completion. High force relative to low force was associated with both earlier response initiation and earlier cardiac acceleration. Force did not alter preparatory cardiac deceleration. Force and response speed did, however, alter the level of heart rate after response occurrence. Thus, response initiation (or an earlier response process) appears to induce a cardiac acceleration whose level is influenced by the speed and force of the motor response.     

Publication Guidelines for Heart Rate Studies in Man

Publication guidelines are provided for the collection, quantification, and analysis of heart rate data.     

Description of Heart-Rate Variability Data in Accordance With a Physiological Model for the Genesis of Heartbeats

A survey is presented of techniques which transform heart-rate variability data into a signal that is both visually informative and accessible for analysis. The Instantaneous Heart-Rate (IHR) signal is introduced, i.e. the signal having the value of the heart rate (inverse interbeat interval) during the interval concerned. The IHR signal differs from the standard Delayed Heart-Rate (DHR) signal, which is always one beat late. The relationship is discussed between the different representation methods and the Integral Pulse Frequency Modulation (IPFM) model, the latter being a physiologically plausible model for the transformation of a continuous input signal (e.g., nervous influence on the cardiac pacemaker) into a series of events (heartbeats). It is shown that when the IHR signal is used as input of the IPFM model, the event series from which the signal was derived appears at the output. Hence, if the IPFM model is accepted as a model of the pacemaker, the IHR signal may be considered as an approximation of the neural (sympathetic and parasympathetic) influence on the pacemaker. In addition we show that the appearance of the IHR signal is less affected by trigger errors or extrasystoles than the standard DHR signal. It is concluded that the most attractive time-domain representation of physiological event series consists of the IHR signal, because this signal, being conceptually and computationally simple, is consistent with the IPFM model.     

Effects of the intertrial interval on taste-aversion learning in rats

Variations in the intertrial interval (ITI) between two taste-aversion conditioning trials indicated that more saccharin-aversion learning occurs with longer ITIs (Experiments 1, 2 and 4). Two conditioning trials separated by 35 min did not produce stronger taste aversions than a single saccharin-lithium pairing; however, stronger conditioning was evident when the two trials were administered with a 3-day intertrial interval. Independent evaluation of saccharin and lithium exposure as possible sources of proactive and retroactive interference suggested that poor conditioning at short ITIs occurs because lithium treatment during Trial 1 interferes with conditioning during Trial 2 (Experiment 2). Assessments of the unconditioned suppression of activity (Experiments 3) and novel-fluid intake (Experiment 4) indicated that drug treatment was effective during both conditioning trials regardless of the intertrial interval. Furthermore, with a 35-min ITI (but not with a 3-day ITI) drug treatment in Trial 1 persisted long enough to summate with the unconditioned responses to drug treatment in Trial 2. These findings are consistent with the idea that with short ITIs the lingering effects of the US from Trial 1 overshadow or mask the CS flavor in Trial 2, and this interferes with the conditioning that Trial 2 would otherwise produce.     

基于真实头模型的EEG参考电极标准化技术

目的 :研究基于真实头模型的参考电极标准化技术并验证它的有效性。方法 :基于真实头模型的等效源技术 ,建立了由以头表某点或平均电位为参考点的实际记录近似得到以无穷远点为参考的记录的方法。由于无穷远点的电位可假设为常数零 ,因此可称该方法为真实头模型的参考电极标准化技术 (REST)。对真实头模型全空间内任意位置的源的实际头表记录进行REST处理 ,然后计算经REST处理后的近似记录与以无穷远点为参考的记录之间的相对误差 ,以此检验该技术的有效性。结果 :对于真实头模型REST是有效的 ,尤其对重要的表层皮质区域更为有效 ,它的应用可以降低因非零的参考电位而引入头表记录的干扰。结论 :采用参考电极标准化技术能得到更真实的脑电 (EEG)记录 ,从而可能对脑电的应用产生重要的影响。     

Transcutaneous electrical stimulation and vibration of neck muscles in neglect

Four neglect patients without visual field defects, one with a lesion of the right basal ganglia and three with a right, predominantly parietal lesion, were examined with a cancellation and a copying task before, during and after neck muscle vibration, during transcutaneous electrical stimulation of neck muscles and during vibration of hand muscles on the left side. In all patients, neck muscle vibration improved task performance, while transcutaneous electrical stimulation and hand vibration had little or no effect. The present results demonstrate that the effect of neck muscle vibration cannot be explained as arousal and activation due to unspecific sensory stimulation on the contralesional side of the body. They rather argue for the assumption that the compensatory effect of neck muscle vibration on neglect is an effect induced by the predominant activation of afferent Ia nerve fibres and their specific contribution to the central representation of egocentric space.     

一种新型18°×4扇形网织红细胞计数窥盘

目的研制一种新型18°×4扇形网织红细胞计数窥盘。方法使用安瓿刀在玻片上刻制,再与国际血液学标准化委员会(ICSH)推荐的Miller窥盘进行网织红细胞对比分析。结果新型网织红细胞计数窥盘和ICSH推荐的Miller窥盘的准确度是一致的,但新型网织红细胞计数窥盘的精密度显著优于ICSH推荐的Miller窥盘。其参考范围也与其他报道一致。结论新型网织红细胞计数窥盘做法简单,不需特殊设备,值得推广应用。     

Assessing the effect of posture change on tactile inhibition-of-return

If a peripheral target follows an ipsilateral cue with a stimulus-onset-asynchrony (SOA) of 300 ms or more, its detection is delayed compared to a contralateral-cue condition. This phenomena, known as inhibition-of-return (IOR), affects responses to visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli, and is thought to provide an index of exogenous shifts of spatial attention. The present study investigated whether tactile IOR occurs in a somatotopic vs an allocentric frame of reference. In experiment 1, tactile cue and target stimuli were presented to the index and middle fingers of either hand, with the hands positioned in an uncrossed posture (SOA 500 or 1,000 ms). Speeded target detection responses were slowest for targets presented from the cued finger, and were also slower for targets presented to the adjacent finger on the cued hand than to either finger on the uncued hand. The same pattern of results was also reported when the index and middle fingers of the two hands were interleaved on the midline (experiment 2), suggesting that the gradient of tactile IOR surrounding a cued body site is modulated by the somatotopic rather than by the allocentric distance between cue and target.     

Time interval from human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) injection to follicular rupture

The aim of this study was to estimate the time interval fromhuman chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) injection to follicularrupture. Furthermore, it was observed whether there was anyeffect on the pregnancy rate if the insemination was performedat the time of follicular rupture. In a programme of intrauterineinsemination 37 consecutive cycles in 32 patients were monitoredafter stimulation with clomiphene citrate. HCG was administeredby i.m. injection when a leading follicle of at least 18 mmin diameter was observed sonographically. All patients weremonitored by sonography with 1 h intervals from 32 h after HCGinjection until the first rupture of a follicle. Inseminationwas performed immediately after the first follicular rupture.The pregnancy rate was 16% (5/32). In 66%, the largest folliclewas the first to rupture. The mean time interval from HCG administrationto first follicular rupture was 38.3 h (SEM = 0.54; range =34–16). Our findings support the concept that ovulationoccurs about 38 h after HCG administration. The pregnancy ratewas within the normal range, although insemination was performedat the time of follicular rupture. The largest follicle wasnot always the first to rupture     

Probiotic Supplementation and High-Intensity Interval Training Modify Anxiety-Like Behaviors and Corticosterone in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity Mice

Evidence supports the role of exercise training and probiotics on reducing obesity. Considering the relationship between obesity and high-fat diet with anxiety indices, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of probiotic supplementation and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on anxiety-like behaviors, corticosterone and obesity indices in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity mice. Thirty male adult C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into five groups: (1) Control with normal diet (CON), (2) High-fat diet (HFD), (3) HFD + exercise training (HT), (4) HFD + probiotics supplement (HP) and (5) HFD + exercise training +probiotics (HTP). Exercise training consisted of 8 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) programs. Probiotics supplement included 0.2 mL Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG. Anxiety-like behaviors were measured by open field (OF) and Elevated plus maze (EPM). OF and EPM tests, visceral fat mass (VFM) measurement, and blood sampling for corticosterone were performed after the intervention. Bodyweight was measured at different stages during the intervention. HFD regime in C57BL/6 mice increased bodyweight, VFM, and serum corticosterone levels and anxiety-like behaviors (p < 0.05). HIIT, probiotic and their combination, decreased bodyweight, VFM, and serum corticosterone levels and improved anxiety-like behavior in the HFD mice (p < 0.05). The effect of a combination of HIIT and probiotic on most of the anxiety indices was more than each one separately (p < 0.5). HIIT and probiotic supplements separately or above all in combination, may have beneficial effects in reducing obesity and anxiety indices.