Normal values of flash visual evoked potentials in rabbits: Differences between the sexes and the eyes

BACKGROUND: The wave form, latency and wave amplitude of visual evoked potentials (VEP) are obviously affected by the stimulative parameters, physiological status of the subjects and anesthetics, thus there are greater normal variations and individual differences. The features of flash VEP (F-VEP) are to be observed. OBJECTIVE: To observe and compare the differences of F-VEP latencies and wave amplitudes between eyes in rabbits, and investigate the correlation with sex and the side of eyes. DESIGN: A comparative animal experiment. SETTING: Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Chinese PLA. MATERIALS: The experiment was carried out in the neurophysiological laboratory of the Institute of Neurosciences, General Hospital of Chinese PLA from September 2004 to February 2005. Thirty big-ear rabbits of clean degree, 15 males and 15 females, weighing 2.0-2.5 kg, were provided by the animal center of the General Hospital of Chinese PLA. METHODS: Viking-IV perioperative monitor and flash stimulator for special use were applied. The rabbits were anesthetized with intramuscular injection of compound ketamine. The recording electrode was placed at 3 mm anterior to exoccipital tuberosity (onion, Oz), and the reference electrode was placed at the ear edge of the same side. The stimulative frequency was 1.9 Hz, and the amplifier was 50 μV; The range of wave filter was 5 Hz for high pass and 100 Hz for low pass; The average overlapping was 200 times, and the analytical time was 250 ms. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison of F-VEP wave forms; F-VEP latencies and wave amplitudes. RESULTS: All the 30 rabbits were involved in the analysis of results. ① Comparison of F-VEP wave forms in rabbits: The F-VEP waves mainly manifested as positive-negative-positive (PNP). The F-VEP manifestations to light stimulations were extremely similar between left and right eyes, and the wave amplitudes of both eyes were obviously increased. ② Determinations of F-VEP latencies and wave amplitudes: There were no significant differences in the latencies and wave amplitudes of F-VEP between the two groups (P > 0.05), the latencies of P1, N1 and P2 waves of left eye were (32.59±2.01), (43.85±4.35) and (66.20±8.13) ms, respectively, and the wave amplitudes of P1, N1 and P2 waves of left eye were (16.45±10.22), (7.93±3.56) and (17.62±8.18) μV. F-VEP latencies were stable with small changes, whereas amplitudes had greater changes. CONCLUSION: ① The latency and wave amplitudes F-VEP were stable with good repetition. ② The latencies and wave amplitudes had no significant differences between males and females, as well as between left and right eyes. Further investigation should be undertaken on the animal and clinical field.

Normal reference value of forced vital capacity of Chinese younger women and geographical factors

Objective To supply a scientific basis for standardizing the normal reference value of forced vital capacity(FVC)of Chinese younger women.Methods We studied the relationship between the normal reference value of 21767 samples of FVC of younger women and eight geographical factors in 157 areas in China.Results It was found that the correlation between geographical factors and the normal reference value of FVC of younger women was quite significant(F=5.884,P=0.000).By adopting the method of mathematical regression analysis,one regression equation was inferred:=3.146+0.00006919X1+0.01315X4-0.006966X6+0.09524X8±0.254.In the above equation,is the normal reference value of younger women’ FVC(L);X1 is the altitude(m);X4 is the annual mean air temperature(℃);X6 is the annual mean relative humidity(%);X8 is the annual mean wind speed(m/s);0.254 is the value of the residual standard deviation.Conclusion If geographical values are obtained in a certain area,the normal reference value of FVC of younger women in this area can be obtained by using the regression equation.Furthermore,according to the geographical factors,China can be divided into eight regions:Northeast China Region,North China Region,Shanxi-Shaanxi-Inner Mongolia Region,middle and lower reaches of the Yangzte River Region,Southeast China Region,Northwest China Region,Southwest China Region,and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Region.

STUDYING THE FOCAL VALUE OF ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS BY NORMAL FORM THEORY

We present a new method to calculate the focal value of ordinary differential equation by applying the theorem defined the relationship between the normal form and focal value,with the help of a symbolic computation language M ATHEMATICA,and extending the matrix representation method.This method can be used to calculate the focal value of any high order terms.This method has been verified by an example.The advantage of this method is simple and more readily applicable.the result is directly obtained by substitution.

Correction of Left Ventricular Doppler Echocardiographic Measurements for Physiological Variances Using a Novel Optimized Multivariable Allometric Model in Healthy Chinese Han Adults

Most left ventricular(LV)Doppler measurements vary significantly with age and gender,making it necessary to correct them for physiological variances.We aimed to verify the hypothesis that different Doppler measurements correlate nonlinearly with different biometric variables raised to different scaling factors and exponents.In this work,a total of 23 LV Doppler parameters were measured in 1224 healthy Chinese adults.An optimized multivariable allometric model(OMAM)and scaling equations were developed in 70%of the subjects(group A),and the reliability of the model and equations was verified using the remaining 30%of the subjects(group B)as well as 183 overweight subjects(group C).The single-variable isometric model(SVIM)with body surface area(BSA)as a scaling variable was used for comparison.Before correction,all 23 LV Doppler parameters correlated significantly with one or more of the biometric variables.In group B,gender differences were found in 47.8%(11/23)of the parameters and were eliminated in 81.8%(9/11)of the parameters after correction with OMAM.The successful correction rate with OMAM was 100%(23/23)in group B and 82.6%(19/23)in group C.New reference values for corrected Doppler measurements independent of biometric variables were established.The SVIM with BSA successfully corrected none of the 23 parameters.In conclusion,different LV Doppler parameters allometrically correlated with one or more of the biometric variables.The novel OMAM developed in this study successfully corrected the effects of the physiological variances of most biometric variables on Doppler measurements in healthy and overweight subjects,and was found to be far superior to the SVIM.However,whether the OMAM equations can be applied to other ethnicities,obese subjects,and pathological conditions requires further investigation.

Location of Tibetan earthquakes──a nonlinear approach by a simplex optimized technique

An advanced earthquake location technique presented by Prugger and Gendzwill (1988) was introduced in this paper. Its characteristics are: 1) adopting the difference between the mean value by observed arrival times and the mean value by calculated travel times as the original reference time of event to calculate the traveltime residuals, thus resulting in the 'true' minimum of travel-time residuals; 2) choosing the L1 norm statistic of the residuals that is more suitable to earthquake location; 3) using a simplex optimized algorithm to search for the minimum residual value directly and iteratively, thus it does not require derivative calculations and avoids matrix inversions, it can be used for any velocity structures and different network systems and can solve out hypocentral parameters (λ, ,h) rapidly and exactly; 4) original time is further derived alone, so the trade-off between focal depth and original time is avoided. All these prominent features make us obtain more accurate Tibetan earthquake locations in the rare network condition by using this method. In this paper, we examined these schemes for our mobile and permanent networks in Tibet with artificial data sets,then using these methods, we determined the hypocentral parameters of partial events observed in the field work period of this project from July 1991 to September 1991 and the seven problematic earthquakes during 1989 - 1990. The hypocentral location errors may be estimated to be less than 3. 6 km approximately. The events with focal depth more than 40 km seem to be distributed in parallel to Qinghai-Sichuan-Yunnan arc structural zone.

Extracting the interference components of normal modes in shallow water waveguide using singular value decomposition method

The normal mode interference characteristic in shallow water waveguide is a valu- able topic in the fields of underwater acoustic. A method for extracting the interference components of normal modes from broadband acoustic propagation data recorded by a single hy- drophone without any prior information is present in this paper. First, a Hermitian matrix is formed by the power spectral density. Second, a singular value decomposition （SVD） is performed on the Hermitian matrix to obtain the orthonormal eigenvectors, which are proportional to the interference components of normal modes. The fundamental equations of the new extracting method are derived based on normal mode and waveguide invariant theory. And the validity of the present method is verified by the numerical simulation and experimental results. In addition, the extracted results of normal-mode interference components are intended to be used for passive ranging of broadband sources.