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T Muraoka

Publications and source records attributed to T Muraoka.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Involvement of the noradrenergic system in performance on a continuous task requiring effortful attention.

To determine the effects of noradrenergic neuronal activity on performance in continuous tasks requiring effortful attention, the performance of 23 male students in the Uchida-Kraepelin test (UKT) was examined. The UKT requires continuous arithmetic addition of single-digit figures for 25 min. The relationship of performance with saliva levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (sMHPG) was analyzed. Saliva samples were taken before, during and after test performance, and sMHPG levels determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. There was no significant change in mean sMHPG as a result of test performance. However, when initial effort was calculated, defined as number of items completed during the 1st min subtracted from the average completed per minute in the 1st and the 2nd halves (blocks) of the test, significant correlations with sMHPG (p = 0.0002 for the 1st block and p < 0.0001 for the 2nd block) were found. Thus the data indicate that noradrenergic neuronal activity affects the performance on continuous tasks requiring effortful attention.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

In vivo muscle fibre behaviour during counter-movement exercise in humans reveals a significant role for tendon elasticity.

Six men performed a single ankle plantar flexion exercise in the supine position with the maximal effort with counter movement (CM, plantar flexion preceded by dorsiflexion) and without counter movement (NoCM, plantar flexion only) produced by a sliding table that controlled applied load to the ankle (40 % of the maximal voluntary force). The reaction force at the foot and ankle joint angle were measured using a force plate and a goniometer, respectively. From real-time ultrasonography of the gastrocnemius medialis muscle during the movement, the fascicle length was determined. The estimated peak force, average power, and work at the Achilles' tendon during the plantar flexion phase in CM were significantly greater than those in NoCM. In CM, in the dorsiflexion phase, fascicle length initially increased with little electromyographic activity, then remained constant while the whole muscle-tendon unit lengthened, before decreasing in the final plantar flexion phase. In NoCM, fascicle length decreased throughout the movement and the fascicle length at the onset of movement was longer than that of the corresponding phase in CM. It was concluded that during CM muscle fibres optimally work almost isometrically, by leaving the task of storing and releasing elastic energy for enhancing exercise performance to the tendon.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Mechanical properties of tendon and aponeurosis of human gastrocnemius muscle in vivo.

Load-strain characteristics of tendinous tissues (Achilles tendon and aponeurosis) were determined in vivo for human medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle. Seven male subjects exerted isometric plantar flexion torque while the elongation of tendinous tissues of MG was determined from the tendinous movements by using ultrasonography. The maximal strain of the Achilles tendon and aponeurosis, estimated separately from the elongation data, was 5.1 +/- 1.1 and 5.9 +/- 1.6%, respectively. There was no significant difference in strain between the Achilles tendon and aponeurosis. In addition, no significant difference in strain was observed between the proximal and distal regions of the aponeurosis. The results indicate that tendinous tissues of the MG are homogeneously stretched along their lengths by muscle contraction, which has functional implications for the operation of the human MG muscle-tendon unit in vivo.

Achilles Tendon↗
PubMed2001

Muscle fiber and tendon length changes in the human vastus lateralis during slow pedaling.

Muscle fascicle lengths of vastus lateralis (VL) muscle were measured in five healthy men during slow pedaling to investigate the interaction between muscle fibers and tendon. Subjects cycled at a pedaling rate of 40 rpm (98 W). During exercise, fascicle lengths changed from 91 +/- 7 (SE) to 127 +/- 5 mm. It was suggested that fascicles were on the descending limb of their force-length relationship. The average shortening velocity of fascicle was greater than that of muscle-tendon complex in the first half of the knee extension phase and was less in the second half. The maximum shortening velocity of fascicle in the knee extension phase was less than that of muscle-tendon complex by 22 +/- 9%. These discrepancies in velocities were mainly caused by the elongation of the tendinous tissue. It was suggested that the elasticity of VL tendinous tissue enabled VL fascicles to develop force at closer length to their optimal length and kept the maximum shortening velocity of VL fascicles low during slow pedaling.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Administration of opiate receptor antagonist inhibits mucosal atrophy of the gut in fasting rats.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether the opiate mu receptor antagonist naloxone would prevent atrophy of the gut in 24-h-fasted rats. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 76, body weight 200-225 g) were catheterized in the jugular vein on Day 0. The rats were fed standard rat chow for 4 days. On Day 4, the diet was changed to the standard liquid diet, and the rats were allowed free access to the liquid diet. On Day 7, the rats were randomized into five groups: (1) free fed, (2) free fed plus naloxone, (3) pair fed, (4) fasting, (5) free fed plus morphine, (6) fasting plus naloxone. Either naloxone (0.16 mg/kg/h) or morphine (0. 21 mg/kg/h) was continuously infused via venous catheter for 24 h. On Day 8, 24 h after fasting or free feeding, the animals were sacrificed. RESULTS: Twenty-four hours of fasting caused atrophy of the jejunum and elevated morphine levels in the brain (free fed, 931. 3 +/- 122.3 fmol/g, vs fasting, 1419.0 +/- 150.0, P < 0.05). Morphine infusion reduced villus height, mucosal weight, and protein content in jejunum as compared with the free fed rats receiving saline. Administration of naloxone caused an increase in villus height (fasting, 587.0 +/- 25.8 microm, vs fasting plus naloxone, 670.0 +/- 17.4, P < 0.05), mucosal weight (fasting, 17.4 +/- 1.8 mg/cm, vs fasting plus naloxone, 22.6 +/- 1.9, P < 0.05), and protein content (fasting, 13.5 +/- 0.7 microg/cm, vs fasting plus naloxone, 16.7 +/- 0.6, P < 0.05) in jejunum. CONCLUSION: Mucosal atrophy of the jejunum is caused by endogenous opioid in fasting rats.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Automated enzymatic measurement of adenosine deaminase isoenzyme activities in serum.

We developed a simple, rapid, and automated method for simultaneous measurement of adenosine deaminase (ADA, EC 3.5.4.4) isoenzymes in human serum, based on their apparent difference in Ki values for erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine (EHNA) as inhibitor. Serum ADA was partially purified by CM-Sephadex, gel-filtration, and affinity chromatography into two types of isoenzymes, designated ADA1 (300 kDa) and ADA2 (120 kDa). Because ADA2 has a higher Km for adenosine and higher Ki values for EHNA than does ADA1, the activity of ADA1 is almost completely inhibited by EHNA at 0.1 mM (analytical recovery 4.1%), whereas ADA2 is practically unaffected (analytical recovery 94.8%) by that concentration of EHNA. We measured the activities of ADA2 and total ADA in the presence and absence of 0.1 mM EHNA. ADA1 activities were calculated by subtracting the activity of ADA2 from that of total ADA. The mean within-assay CV was 5.7% for ADA1 and 2.7% for ADA2. The interassay CV was 2.8% for ADA1 and 3.1% for ADA2. Results of the present method correlated well (r = 0.9026 for ADA1, 0.9438 for ADA2) with those of the ion-exchange chromatography method. The upper limits of the reference intervals, as calculated from data for 320 healthy donors, are 7.2 U/liter for ADA1, and 14.6 U/liter for ADA2. This method is suitable for analysis of large numbers of samples in clinical laboratories for routine monitoring of the activities of ADA isoenzymes in serum.

Adenine↗
PubMed1989

[Effect of salazosulfapyridine and its metabolites on immunocompetent cells].

Long-term administration of SASP does offer clinical benefit and has a demonstrable disease modifying effect in rheumatoid arthritis, though its mode of action remains obscure. We have studied the in vitro effects of SASP and its metabolites, that is SP, ASA, AcSP and AcASA, on the blast-formation of lymphocytes, the cytotoxic activity of NK cell, the phagocytosis and H2O2 production of monocyte and the fMLP-induced chemotaxis and superoxide anions production of PMNs. We have obtained the following results: (1) the blast-formation of lymphocytes by PHA and Protein A was significantly inhibited by SASP, but not by the metabolites; (2) the cytotoxic activity of the NK cell was inhibited by SP and AcSP, but not by SASP, ASA and AcASA; (3) on monocyte, SP, AcSP and AcASA inhibited phagocytosis, and all of drugs had no effect on the production of H2O2; (4) on PMNs, SASP, SP and ASA significantly inhibited fMLP-induced chemotaxis, and SASP and all of its metabolites significantly inhibited a release of superoxide anions by stimulation of fMLP and PMA; (5) SASP and ASA scavenged superoxide radical at the concentration comparable to clinical doses. In vivo, the above effects may be exhibited in proportion to each blood concentrations of drugs. In particular, it appears that SASP, SP and AcSP play an important role in the therapeutic efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis.

Chemotaxis, Leukocyte↗
PubMed1988

A pitch-synchronous analysis of hoarseness in running speech.

A method of pitch-synchronous acoustic analysis of hoarseness requiring a voice sample of only four fundamental periods is presented. This method calculates a noise-to-signal (N/S) ratio, which indicates the depth of valleys between harmonic peaks in the power spectrum. The spectrum is calculated pitch synchronously from a Fourier transform of the signal, windowed through a continuously variable Hanning window spanning exactly four fundamental periods. A two-stage procedure is used to determine the exact duration of the four fundamental periods. An initial estimate is obtained using autocorrelation in the time domain. A more precise estimate is obtained in the frequency domain by minimizing the errors between the preliminary calculated power spectrum and the predicted spectrum spread of a windowed harmonic signal. Analysis of synthesized voices showed that the N/S ratio is sensitive to additive noise, jitter, and shimmer, and is insensitive to slow (8 Hz) modulation in fundamental frequency and amplitude. An analysis of pre- and postoperative voices of six patients with benign laryngeal disease showed that the N/S ratio for vowel /u/ in running speech consistently improved after surgery for all subjects, in agreement with their successful therapeutic results.

Hoarseness↗
PubMed1987

Factors influencing the prognosis of wheezy infants.

Forty-eight wheezy infants were followed up for 25 to 44 months. These infants were classified into three groups: those with asthma (developed asthma later), the wheezy group (had successive wheezing episodes), and the non-wheezy group (grew out of the wheezy episodes). Serum IgE levels at the first visit were not significantly different in the three groups, but the frequency of exposure to cigarette smoke was higher in the asthma and wheezy groups than in the nonwheezy group.

Asthma↗
PubMed1985

The promotion of drug rectal absorption by water absorption.

The promotion of the rectal absorption of antipyrine by sodium taurocholate (TC-Na) or sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA-Na) has been examined by in-situ recirculating perfusion in the rat. These promoters significantly increased water influx, efflux and antipyrine absorption clearance (CLAP). Ouabain treatment significantly reduced the increase in both rectal absorption of drug and water flux. Water absorption dependent on active sodium transport may thus possibly promote the rectal absorption of poorly absorbable drugs.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Solvent drag in jejunal absorption of salicylic acid and antipyrine obtained by in situ single-pass perfusion method in rat.

The in situ single-pass perfusion method in an individual rat was developed to discuss the solvent drag in drug intestinal absorption without the individual differences. In this method the apparent water influx (influx') was used as a measure of solvent drag in the same manner as the previous paper. Consequently the sieving coefficients of salicylic acid and antipyrine in one rat are not significantly different from one but in the other are significantly smaller than one, resulting in 0.6-0.7 in average. And it was also shown that the reflection from the membrane in the solvent drag can be detected more precisely and efficiently by this method than the recirculating method in the previous paper. The D2O absorption clearance (CLD2O) was equal to net water flux as estimated theoretically when the D2O concentration in lumen was equal to that in plasma, indicating that D2O can be absorbed by water absorption even in the absence of the concentration gradient. Estimating the real water influx from the net water flux obtained under such condition, the minimal contribution ratio of the solvent drag to the total absorption clearance of salicylic acid and antipyrine was calculated to be approximately 12%.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

A sensitive spectrophotometric assay for guanase activity.

A highly sensitive and accurate spectrophotometric method was developed for determination of guanase activity with guanine as substrate. The assay is based on the oxidative coupling of 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone and N,N-diethylaniline. Xanthine formed from guanine by guanase is oxidized to uric acid and hydrogen peroxide by xanthine oxidase, and the hydrogen peroxide produced is determined by an oxidative-coupling reaction with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone and N,N-diethylaniline mediated by peroxidase. Formation of the indamine dye is greatly affected by the superoxide radical ion (O2-) and pH value. These problems can be overcome by separating the two reactions of hydrogen peroxide formation and color production and carrying out that color-producing reaction at pH 3.0. This method is very sensitive and accurate because the indamine dye has a very high molar extinction coefficient of 29,800. It can be used with various kinds of automatic analyzers such as a Hitachi, Olympus, or Technicon analyzer. Comparative studies showed that this method is more sensitive and reproducible than other methods. Furthermore, guanase activities determined by this method correlated well with those determined by the improved Ellis-Goldberg method. This method should be useful for measurement of guanase activity in banked blood for preventing transfusion hepatitis and could be valuable as a liver function test.

Aminohydrolases↗