Tetsuo Katsuura

Circadian Variation in Skin Blood Flow Responses to Passive Heat Stress

To examine whether there is a circadian variation in skin blood flow response to passive heat stress and maximal skin blood flow, which was measured by local warming to 42 degrees C for 45 min, we studied six men at an ambient temperature of 28 degrees C at four different times of day [0400-0700 (morning), 1000-1300 (daytime), 1600-1900 (evening), and 2200-0100 hours (night)], each time of day being examined on separate days. Heat stress at rest was performed by immersing the legs below the knee in hot water (42 degrees C) for 60 min. The esophageal temperature (Tes) at rest was significantly higher in the evening than in the morning. The maximal skin blood flow (SkBFmax) on both sites, back and forearm, did not show a significant difference among the four times of day. The variation in Tes thresholds for cutaneous vasodilation to heat stress was similar to the circadian rhythm in resting Tes. The relationship of the percentage of SkBFmax (%SkBF) with Tes was significantly lower in the morning than in the evening. The results suggest that the maximal skin blood flow during local warming does not show variation over the day, but the sensitivity of vasodilation to passive heat stress shows a circadian variation.

Effects of blue pulsed light on human physiological functions and subjective evaluation

BackgroundIt has been assumed that light with a higher irradiance of pulsed blue light has a much greater influence than that of light with a lower irradiance of steady blue light, although they have the same multiplication value of irradiance and duration. We examined the non-visual physiological effects of blue pulsed light, and determined whether it is sensed visually as being blue.FindingsSeven young male volunteers participated in the study. We placed a circular screen (diameter 500 mm) in front of the participants and irradiated it using blue and/or white light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and we used halogen lamps as a standard illuminant. We applied three steady light conditions of white LED (F0), blue LED + white LED (F10), and blue LED (F100), and a blue pulsed light condition of a 100-μs pulse width with a 10% duty ratio (P10). The irradiance of all four conditions at the participants eye level was almost the same, at around 12 μW/cm2. We measured their pupil diameter, recorded electroencephalogram readings and Kwansei Gakuin Sleepiness Scale score, and collected subjective evaluations. The subjective bluish score under the F100 condition was significantly higher than those under other conditions. Even under the P10 condition with a 10% duty ratio of blue pulsed light and the F10 condition, the participant did not perceive the light as bluish. Pupillary light response under the P10 pulsed light condition was significantly greater than under the F10 condition, even though the two conditions had equal blue light components.ConclusionsThe pupil constricted under the blue pulsed light condition, indicating a non-visual effect of the lighting, even though the participants did not perceive the light as bluish.

Comparison of thermoregulatory responses to heat between Japanese Brazilians and Japanese

Abstract 1. 1. Eight male Japanese Brazilians and 11 male Japanese volunteered for this study. Each one sat on a chair for 45 min at 40°C (r.h. 50%). 2. 2. Then, they exercised using a bicycle ergometer in a semi-reclining position for 45 min at 40% of maximal oxygen uptake. 3. 3. Thermal and comfort sensation confirmed that Japanese Brazilians felt cooler and more comfortable in 40°C environment than the Japanese. 4. 4. Oxygen uptake, sweat rate and body weight loss for both groups were not significantly different. 5. 5. Forearm blood flow and heart rate for Brazilians were significantly lower than those for Japanese. 6. 6. Skin temperature at chest region for Brazilians was found to be significantly higher than that for Japanese. 7. 7. Thus the thermoregulatory responses observed in Japanese Brazilians may be largely attributed to the climate in their native places located on the Tropic of Capricorn. 8. 8. These results may indicate that environment condition is the important factor in determining the thermoregulatory responses.

Physiological functions of the effects of the different bathing method on recovery from local muscle fatigue

BackgroundRecently, mist saunas have been used in the home as a new bathing style in Japan. However, there are still few reports on the effects of bathing methods on recovery from muscle fatigue. Furthermore, the effect of mist sauna bathing on human physiological function has not yet been revealed. Therefore, we measured the physiological effects of bathing methods including the mist sauna on recovery from muscle fatigue.MethodsThe bathing methods studied included four conditions: full immersion bath, shower, mist sauna, and no bathing as a control. Ten men participated in this study. The participants completed four consecutive sessions: a 30-min rest period, a 10-min all out elbow flexion task period, a 10-min bathing period, and a 10-min recovery period. We evaluated the mean power frequency (MNF) of the electromyogram (EMG), rectal temperature (Tre), skin temperature (Tsk), skin blood flow (SBF), concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb), and subjective evaluation.ResultsWe found that the MNF under the full immersion bath condition was significantly higher than those under the other conditions. Furthermore, Tre, SBF, and O2Hb under the full immersion bath condition were significantly higher than under the other conditions.ConclusionsFollowing the results for the full immersion bath condition, the SBF and O2Hb of the mist sauna condition were significantly higher than those for the shower and no bathing conditions. These results suggest that full immersion bath and mist sauna are effective in facilitating recovery from muscle fatigue.

Effects of a vertical console position on operator muscular stress during ultrasonic diagnosis

Ultrasound examinations tend to put sonographers in unnatural postures, which may lead to musculoskeletal disorders. In this study, we focused on the height of the operation panel of the diagnostic ultrasound system to quantitatively assess the effects of panel height (work plane height) on musculoskeletal stress during scanning in a sitting position. Eight subjects were asked to perform a simulated scanning task that involved touching nine points on the operation panel at four different panel heights. Electromyogram, left wrist joint angle, and subjective evaluation on ease of manipulation, etc., indicated that the optimum height of the operation panel during scanning in a sitting position is elbow height.

Effects of strap support in a hand-held device on the muscular activity in female workers assessed by electromyography and subjective rating

The present study evaluates the potential mitigation of physical workload when using strap support for a portable device. The experiments were designed as consecutive sessions over a 2-h period. Electromyogram signals were recorded from four muscles of six subjects. The perceived level of fatigue on the whole body as well as in the shoulder, arm, lower back and legs was assessed using Borgs CR-10 scale. All subjects were tested under eight experimental conditions. Results indicated that the biceps brachii muscle displayed significantly lower activity with strap support than without a strap. In the experiments with and without a strap, different levels of force were imposed on the various muscles, which caused changes in the distribution of the physical load. Although the role of the strap might seem evident, using strap support did not always decrease the sensation of fatigue. However, for short-term tasks, using a strap may be recommended.

Sustaining biological welfare for our future through consistent science

Physiological anthropology presently covers a very broad range of human knowledge and engineering technologies. This study reviews scientific inconsistencies within a variety of areas: sitting posture; negative air ions; oxygen inhalation; alpha brain waves induced by music and ultrasound; 1/f fluctuations; the evaluation of feelings using surface electroencephalography; Kansei; universal design; and anti-stress issues. We found that the inconsistencies within these areas indicate the importance of integrative thinking and the need to maintain the perspective on the biological benefit to humanity. Analytical science divides human physiological functions into discrete details, although individuals comprise a unified collection of whole-body functions. Such disparate considerations contribute to the misunderstanding of physiological functions and the misevaluation of positive and negative values for humankind. Research related to human health will, in future, depend on the concept of maintaining physiological functions based on consistent science and on sustaining human health to maintain biological welfare in future generations.

Effect of simultaneous exposure to extremely short pulses of blue and green light on human pupillary constriction

Background Light has various influences on all species, including humans. In natural environments, the only light source is sunlight. Humans have been evolving and adapting under such natural light environments. In modern society, illumination in the workplace has a great influence on work efficiency and the health of workers [1]. The effects of illumination are classified as visual effects and non-visual or non-image-forming (NIF) effects. Recently, a number of studies in the field of physiological anthropology have focused on the NIF effects of illumination on humans [2–8]. In 2002, melanopsin-containing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), a novel type of photoreceptor cells, were found in the mammalian retina [9, 10]. It was confirmed that ipRGCs respond to shortwavelength (blue) light of around 480 nm [9, 11, 12]. The ipRGCs in the retina of the eye affect the interlamellar nuclei of the lateral geniculate nucleus, suprachiasmatic nucleus, intergeniculate leaflet, olivary pretectal nucleus, and ventrolateral preoptic nucleus [10, 13–15] and act as the primary photoreceptors for NIF functions such as melatonin suppression [3, 6, 14, 16–18] and pupillary constriction [5, 7, 8, 14, 18–28]. Recently, it was pointed that the input from cones and rods could potentially affect the ipRGC response [11, 14, 18, 21, 29]. Most vertebrates, including fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds, have three or four types of cones and trichromatic or tetrachromatic color vision. However, in the history of evolution, mammals lost a portion of these cones and have dichromatic color vision. Some primates (catarrhines) acquired a third cone and have trichromatic color vision. Humans have three types of cones (S-cones, M-cones, and L-cones) and have trichromatic color vision [30, 31], which is rare in mammals. Figueiro et al. [29] studied the effects of blue (450 nm, 7.7 μW/cm) and green (525 nm, 21.1 μW/cm) light on melatonin suppression at night. They found that simultaneous exposure to blue and green light resulted in less melatonin suppression than monochromatic exposure to blue or green light. This effect is called the subadditive response to light [29]. Figueiro et al. [32, 33] and Revell et al. [34] also identified the subadditive effects of monochromatic and polychromatic light on melatonin suppression, suggesting that cones affected the ipRGC response. However, it remains unclear whether the subadditive response affects pupillary constriction. The response of mouse ipRGCs to a single photon was examined, and it became clear that ipRGCs have an exceptionally large and prolonged response in comparison with rods and cones [12]. However, ipRGCs are far less sensitive than rods and cones to light intensity [19, 21, 23, 35], so we hypothesized that exposure to high irradiance pulsed light might produce higher NIF function. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the effects of separate and simultaneous exposure to extremely short pulses of blue and green light at different * Correspondence: yisoomin@chiba-u.jp Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, 6-2-1, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa 277-0882, Japan Full list of author information is available at the end of the article

Ergonomic design and evaluation of new surgical scissors

The purpose of this study is to design a new surgical scissors handle and determine its effectiveness with various usability indices. A new scissors handle was designed that retains the professional grip but has the shapes of the eye rings modified to fit the thumb and ring finger and finger rests for the index and little finger. The newly designed scissors and traditional scissors were compared by electromyography, subjective evaluation and task performance in experiments using cutting and peeling tasks. The newly designed scissors reduced muscle load in both hand during cutting by the closing action, and reduced the muscle load in the left hand during peeling by the opening action through active use of the right hand. In evaluation by surgeons, task performance improved in addition to the decrease in muscle load. The newly designed scissors used in this study demonstrated high usability. Practitioner Summary: A new scissors handle was designed that has the eye rings modified to fit the thumb and ring finger. The newly designed scissors reduced muscle load and enabled active use of the right hand. In evaluation by surgeons, task performance improved in addition to the decrease in muscle load.

Physiological responses at short distances from a parametric speaker

In recent years, parametric speakers have been used in various circumstances. In our previous studies, we verified that the physiological burden of the sound of parametric speaker set at 2.6 m from the subjects was lower than that of the general speaker. However, nothing has yet been demonstrated about the effects of the sound of a parametric speaker at the shorter distance between parametric speakers the human body. Therefore, we studied this effect on physiological functions and task performance. Nine male subjects participated in this study. They completed three consecutive sessions: a 20-minute quiet period as a baseline, a 30-minute mental task period with general speakers or parametric speakers, and a 20-minute recovery period. We measured electrocardiogram (ECG) photoplethysmogram (PTG), electroencephalogram (EEG), systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Four experiments, one with a speaker condition (general speaker and parametric speaker), the other with a distance condition (0.3 m and 1.0 m), were conducted respectively at the same time of day on separate days. To examine the effects of the speaker and distance, three-way repeated measures ANOVA (speaker factor x distance factor x time factor) were conducted. In conclusion, we found that the physiological responses were not significantly different between the speaker condition and the distance condition. Meanwhile, it was shown that the physiological burdens increased with progress in time independently of speaker condition and distance condition. In summary, the effects of the parametric speaker at the 2.6 m distance were not obtained at the distance of 1 m or less.