Bridging the chasm: Animal physiology and human psychophysics

2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (4) ◽  
pp. 2075-2075
Author(s):  
Alan Palmer
Author(s):  
E. N. Chuyan ◽  
I. S. Mironyuk ◽  
M. Yu. Ravaeva ◽  
I. V. Cheretaev ◽  
T. V. Grishina

The paper researches the effect of cobalt (АСCo2+) and zinc (АСZn2+), nickel (Ni2+) and manganese (Mn2+) acetylsalicylates in doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg on the characteristics of the rats’ cardiorespiratory system. The study was carried out on the basis of the Center for collective use of scientific equipment «Experimental Physiology and Biophysics» of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology and Biophysics of the V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. The research of the biological effect of the acetylsalicylic acid, АСCo2+, АСZn2+ , АСNi2+, АСMn2+was carried out during their intraperitoneal injection into rats in doses of 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg. Simultaneously the following characteristics of all the groups’ animals were registered: heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The pulse pressure (PP) was calculated on the basis of the SBP and DBP indices difference. BP, HR and RR of the rats were registered with the help of the system NIBP200A («BiopacSystems, Inc.», USA). The results of the current research allowed to determine that the coordinating compounds of the acetylsalicylic acid with such metals as Co, Zn, Ni2+, Mn2+ not only have more pronounced biological effect in comparison with the acetylsalicylic acid, but demonstrate new properties; the most effect on the cardiorespiratory system was achieved by АСZn2+. Thus, the results of the current research allow us to claim that the salts of the acetylsalicylates, having the metal-complexing in its molecules’ composition, have more pronounced and qualitatively new properties in comparison with the acetylsalicylic acid precursor’s properties; this makes the further search for biological and pharmaceutical activity of these coordinating compounds more perspective, as well as it makes the technology of complexingan inexpensive and highly efficient approach to the creation of new medicines. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-33-70142


Author(s):  
Caitlin N Cadaret ◽  
Dustin T Yates

Abstract Studies show that retrieval practices such as homework assignments that are completed during the encoding phase of learning benefit knowledge acquisition and retention. In addition, desirable difficulties, which are strategies that intentionally create a greater challenge during initial learning to enhance encoding and retrieval pathways, also benefit learning long term. Our objective was to determine whether weekly homework questions intended to create desirable difficulties by requiring higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) benefited students’ long-term retention of physiology concepts compared to questions designed to require lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS). Undergraduate students in a junior-level animal physiology course were presented information during weekly laboratory periods, and then required to complete retrieval practices in the form of online homework assignments 5 d after each lab. Homework questions were formatted per Bloom’s Taxonomy to require HOCS (i.e. level 4 or 5) or LOCS (i.e. level 1 or 2). Information retention was assessed the next week via performance on an in-class quiz and again at semesters’ end via performance on a final practical exam. We observed no differences in performance on the in-class quiz or final practical exam between students randomly assigned to complete homework with HOCS questions compared to LOCS questions. However, students that received homework with HOCS questions had decreased (P < 0.05) performance scores on 9 out of the 11 homework assignments compared to those receiving homework with LOCS questions. These findings indicate that desirable difficulties were not created by our HOCS homework questions because students receiving these more difficult retrieval practices did not achieve equal success on them. As a result, this attempt to create variations in cognitive demand did not enhance retention of knowledge in this study.


1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (23) ◽  
pp. 3415-3421 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.L. Daniel ◽  
M.S. Tu

Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in developing predictive models of animal movement and force generation in fluids. In a departure from past studies that have asked how prescribed motions of a propulsor (wing or fin) generate lift and thrust during swimming and flying, we are increasingly interested in predicting the propulsor's movement as well as the forces generated by it. This interest, motivated by a need to understand the control and dynamics of locomotion and its applications to robotics and animal physiology, requires that we develop integrative models and analyses of swimming and flying that incorporate neural control and muscle physiology into more traditional biomechanical studies of locomotion in fluids. This approach extends from whole-animal studies to the molecular basis of force generation. In this paper, we explore mechanical tuning from the level of the whole animal to the proteins driving force generation in muscle.


1998 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 769-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Goddard ◽  
G. J. Gaskin ◽  
A. J. Macdonald

AbstractA device for the collection of discrete blood samples from large animals has been developed to allow studies of physiology to be undertaken without the confounding effect of restraint. A microprocessor controlled unit (measuring 180 × 110 × 90 mm), weighing less than 1-2 kg, is mounted on the back of the experimental subject using a simple harness. A sampling line is connected to a previously inserted jugular vein catheter. Samples of blood (approx. 5 ml) are collected at pre-determined times following a start time which can be delayed by up to 48 h to allow the subject to recover from any effects of attachment of the sampler. The results from three studies suggest that the device offers a novel way to overcome a number of difficulties which occur when conventional methods are used to collect blood in experiments.


1978 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 557-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. WAKERLEY ◽  
M. B. TER HAAR

A.R.C. Institute of Animal Physiology, Babraham, Cambridge, CB2 4AT (Received 1 November 1977) Thyrotrophin releasing hormone (TRH) can have a stimulatory effect on the release of both prolactin and thyrotrophin (TSH; Deis & Alonso, 1973), although in the rat, supraphysiological doses of TRH are required to affect the secretion of prolactin (Burnet & Wakerley, 1976). A more important factor in the control of the release of prolactin is considered to be prolactin release inhibiting factor (PIF), which is thought to act through the catecholamine, dopamine (MacLeod, 1976). Stimuli which cause the concomitant release of TSH and prolactin are thought to have a direct effect at the hypothalamic level such that neurones releasing TRH are excited, whereas those releasing PIF are inhibited. In the present work, we have tested this hypothesis using the suckling stimulus to elicit the simultaneous release of prolactin and TSH (Blake, 1974; Burnet & Wakerley, 1976). If


mSystems ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin D. Kohl

ABSTRACTInteractions with microbial communities can have profound influences on animal physiology, thereby impacting animal performance and fitness. Therefore, it is important to understand the diversity and nature of host-microbe interactions in various animal groups (invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals). In this perspective, I discuss how the field of host-microbe interactions can be used to address topics that have been identified as grand challenges in comparative animal physiology: (i) horizontal integration of physiological processes across organisms, (ii) vertical integration of physiological processes across organizational levels within organisms, and (iii) temporal integration of physiological processes during evolutionary change. Addressing these challenges will require the use of a variety of animal models and the development of systems approaches that can integrate large, multiomic data sets from both microbial communities and animal hosts. Integrating host-microbe interactions into the established field of comparative physiology represents an exciting frontier for both fields.


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