Temperature gradient between the rectum and the anal canal: Evidence against the role of temperature sensation as a sensory modality in the anal canal of normal subjects

SummaryThe catabolism of human fragment D, (FgD), obtained by plasmin digestion of fibrinogen has been investigated in normal subjects and patients with liver cirrhosis and the results compared with those obtained for fibrinogen (Fg). Fg was labelled with I-125 and Fg D with I-131 using the chloramine T method. The plasma disappearance curves of both labelled proteins fitted a two exponential curve. In controls the plasma clearance rate of Fg D was greater than that of Fg as shown by the marked difference between the half-lives of these two tracers: 8,9 and 83,5 hours for Fg D and Fg respectively. The fractional catabolic rate of Fg D was 3.38 times the plasma pool per day. In nine patients with liver cirrhosis, catabolism of Fg was not modified. In contrast, catabolism of Fg D was significantly reduced with a half life of 13.0 hours and a low fractional catabolic rate. These results suggest the role of the liver in the catabolism of Fg D in man.

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The Social Networks of Older Schizophrenia Patients

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610297004237 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 81-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

◽

Shirley J. Semple ◽

Thomas L. Patterson ◽

William S. Shaw ◽

Igor Grant ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Service Providers ◽

Family Relationship ◽

Family Members ◽

Treatment Compliance ◽

Normal Subjects ◽

Instrumental Support ◽

Formal Service ◽

Frequency Of Contact ◽

Interpersonal Difficulties

There is a paucity of research that examines the role of family members and friends in the lives of older schizophrenia patients. This study compared 66 middle-aged and elderly outpatients with 31 normal comparison subjects. Five dimensions of social network were assessed: (a) family composition, geographic proximity, and frequency of contact; (b) instrumental support; (c) emotional support and interpersonal difficulties; (d) role of friends; and (e) use of formal service providers as sources of support and assistance. As compared with normal subjects, the schizophrenia patients were less likely to be married, less likely to have children, more likely to live alone, and had fewer friendships. The patients were, however, similar to comparison subjects on the following family-relationship variables: frequency of contact, instrumental support received, presence of a family confidant, and extent of interpersonal difficulties. These findings do not support the stereotype of older schizophrenia patients as being estranged from family members. The need for developing interventions that use key family members to interface with service providers and to monitor treatment compliance and continuity of care is discussed.

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Diet in Rheumatoid Arthritis versus Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Any Differences?

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13030772 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 772

Author(s):

Alessia Alunno ◽

Francesco Carubbi ◽

Elena Bartoloni ◽

Davide Grassi ◽

Claudio Ferri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Musculoskeletal Diseases ◽

Normal Subjects ◽

Experimental Models ◽

Systemic Lupus ◽

History Of ◽

Indirect Action

In recent years, an increasing interest in the influence of diet in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) led to the publication of several articles exploring the role of food/nutrients in both the risk of developing these conditions in normal subjects and the natural history of the disease in patients with established RMDs. Diet may be a possible facilitator of RMDs due to both the direct pro-inflammatory properties of some nutrients and the indirect action on insulin resistance, obesity and associated co-morbidities. A consistent body of research has been conducted in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), while studies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are scarce and have been conducted mainly on experimental models of the disease. This review article aims to outline similarities and differences between RA and SLE based on the existing literature.

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The Susceptibility of Healthy People to COVID-19 Infection and the Role of ACE2

Journal of Iranian Medical Council ◽

10.18502/jimc.v4i3.7212 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mehdi Kushkestani ◽

Mohsen Parvani ◽

Bakhtyar Tartibian ◽

Rasoul Eslami

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Normal Subjects ◽

Definitive Treatment ◽

Activity Levels ◽

Cost Effective Approach ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Physical Activity Levels ◽

Ace2 Gene

The COVID-19 virus has caused many deaths of people worldwide since the pandemic began. However, no definitive treatment for this infection has been discovered so far. It has been shown that comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are associated with an increased risk of SARS-COV-2 infection. Interestingly, SARS-COV-2, like SARS-COV, uses the ACE2 gene to enter the host cell. Also, changes or imbalance in ACE2.ACE can affect SARS-COV-2 susceptibility, related outcomes and mortality. Regarding the crucial role of ACE2 protein in COVID-19 infection, the effect of different factors such as age, BMI, physical activity levels, nutritional status, altitude, as well as blood group was assessed on the level of this protein. Further, to our knowledge, no study has been conducted to examine factors that increase or decrease the risk of COVID-19 and its related severity and outcome in normal subjects emphasizing the pivotal role of ACE2. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the involved mechanisms of ACE2 protein and other risk factors causing infection in different situations and finally, to introduce a safe, accurate, and cost-effective approach to prevent SARS-COV-2 infection and hard clinical outcomes in normal subjects.

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The role of sensory modality in age-related distraction

10.26481/dis.20130919mg ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

M.J.S. Guerreiro

Keyword(s):

Sensory Modality ◽

Age Related

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The role of vision on postural strategy evaluated in patients affected by congenital nystagmus as an experimental model

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-1999-9606 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 445-451

Author(s):

S. Di Girolamo ◽

W. Di Nardo ◽

A. Cosenza ◽

F. Ottaviani ◽

A. Dickmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visual System ◽

Postural Control ◽

Visual Stimulus ◽

Postural Balance ◽

Visual Cues ◽

Normal Subjects ◽

Congenital Nystagmus ◽

Dynamic Posturography ◽

Normal Controls

The role of vision in postural control is crucial and is strictly related to the characteristics of the visual stimulus and to the performance of the visual system. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of chronically reduced visual cues upon postural control in patients affected by Congenital Nystagmus (CN). These patients have developed since birth a postural strategy mainly based on vestibular and somatosensorial cues. Fifteen patients affected by CN and 15 normal controls (NC) were enrolled in the study and evaluated by means of dynamic posturography. The overall postural control in CN patients was impaired as demonstrated by the equilibrium score and by the changes of the postural strategy. This impairment was even more enhanced in CN than in NC group when somatosensorial cues were experimentally reduced. An aspecific pattern of visual impairment and a pathological composite score were also present. Our data outline that in patients affected by CN an impairment of the postural balance is present especially when the postural control relies mainly on visual cues. Moreover, a decrease in accuracy of the somatosensory cues has a proportionally greater effect on balance than it has on normal subjects.

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Active head movements facilitate compensation for effects of prism displacement on dynamic gait12

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-2006-161-203 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 16 (1-2) ◽

pp. 29-33

Author(s):

Kim R. Gottshall ◽

Michael E. Hoffer ◽

Helen S. Cohen ◽

Robert J. Moore

Keyword(s):

Head Movement ◽

Sensory Modality ◽

Normal Subjects ◽

The Body ◽

Head Movements ◽

Head Motion ◽

Control Group ◽

Entire Body ◽

Group 3 ◽

Group 2

Study design: Four groups, between-subjects study. Objectives: To investigate the effects of exercise on adaptation of normal subjects who had been artificially spatially disoriented. Background: Many patients referred for rehabilitation experience sensory changes, due to age or disease processes, and these changes affect motor skill. The best way to train patients to adapt to these changes and to improve their sensorimotor skills is unclear. Using normal subjects, we tested the hypothesis that active, planned head movement is needed to adapt to modified visual input. Methods and measures: Eighty male and female subjects who had normal balance on computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) and the dynamic gait index (DGI), were randomly assigned to four groups. All groups donned diagonally shift lenses and were again assessed with CDP and DGI. The four groups were then treated for 20 min. Group 1 (control group) viewed a video, Group 2 performed exercise that involved translating the entire body through space, but without separate, volitional head movement, Group 3 performed exercises which all incorporated volitional, planned head rotations, and Group 4 performed exercises that involved translating the body (as in Group 2) and incorporated volitional, planned head motion (as in Group 3). All subjects were post-tested with CDP and DGI, lenses were removed, and subjects were retested again with CDP and DGI. Results: The groups did not differ significantly on CDP scores but Groups 3 and 4 had significantly better DGI scores than Groups 1 and 2. Conclusions: Active head movement that is specifically planned as part of the exercise is more effective than passive attention or head movements that are not consciously planned, for adapting to sensorimotor change when it incorporates active use of the changed sensory modality, in this case head motion.

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Impairment of osmotically stimulated AVP release in patients with primary polydipsia

AJP Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpregu.1993.265.6.r1247 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 265 (6) ◽

pp. R1247-R1252 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. M. Moses ◽

B. Clayton

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Insipidus ◽

Arginine Vasopressin ◽

Plasma Osmolality ◽

Normal Subjects ◽

Urine Concentration ◽

Published Data ◽

Posterior Pituitary ◽

Primary Polydipsia ◽

Number Of Factors

The secretion of arginine vasopressin (AVP) from the posterior pituitary is primarily and finely regulated by the osmolality of plasma. Even though a number of factors alter osmolality-induced release of AVP, there are no published data in humans that have addressed the role of chronic overhydration on this phenomenon. To address this problem we have identified eight patients with primary polydipsia using criteria not involving measurement of AVP, and have subjected them to standardized infusions of hypertonic saline. These patients had less AVP in both plasma and urine in relation to plasma osmolality than was found in normal subjects. In addition, their rate of rise of plasma and urine AVP was less than in normal subjects. Their osmotic threshold for AVP release may have been higher than normal. These data demonstrate that chronic overhydration in humans downregulates the release of AVP in response to hypertonicity. This phenomenon may explain the impairment of urine concentration in patients with primary polydipsia and emphasizes the basis of the difficulty that may occur clinically in differentiating between patients with primary polydipsia and partial central diabetes insipidus.

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