Daily torpor: When heart and brain go cold - Nonlinear cardiac dynamics in the seasonal heterothermic Djungarian hamster

Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) acclimated to short photoperiod display episodes of spontaneous daily torpor with metabolic rate depressed by ∼70%, body temperature (

Accretion of Chaplygin gas upon black holes: Formation of faster outflowing winds

We study the accretion of modified Chaplygin gas upon different types of black hole. Modified Chaplygin gas is one of the best candidates for a combined model of dark matter and dark energy. In addition, from a field theoretical point of view the modified Chaplygin gas model is equivalent to that of a scalar field having a self-interacting potential. We formulate the equations related to both spherical accretion and disc accretion, and respective winds. The corresponding numerical solutions of the flow, particularly of velocity, are presented and are analyzed. We show that the accretion-wind system of modified Chaplygin gas dramatically alters the wind solutions, producing faster winds, upon changes in physical parameters, while accretion solutions qualitatively remain unaffected. This implies that modified Chaplygin gas is more prone to produce outflow which is the natural consequence of the dark energy into the system.Comment: 21 pages including 7 figures; published in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Prevalence, evaluation and management of overactive bladder in primary care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patients with overactive bladder (OAB) are under-diagnosed in the primary care setting. Primary care physicians (PCP) approach to the patient and appropriate patient disclosure may contribute to under-diagnosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An outpatient primary care setting was used to determine the prevalence and characteristics of OAB. Patients who visited the family medicine outpatient clinic were invited to answer a self-administered questionnaire. It included questions on evidence of lower urinary tract symptoms (modified Overactive Bladder-Validated 8-question Screener [OAB-V8]), relevant medical and surgical history, and demographic data. Relationship between OAB and other independent variables were analyzed using chi-square and risk ratio (RR) analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 325 questionnaires distributed, 311 were returned completed. Patients ranged from 18 to 97 years, the majority women (74.0%) and African American (74.3%). OAB was present in 60.5% of men and 48.3% of women (<it>p </it>= 0.058). OAB was significantly associated with obesity (BMI > = 30) in women (<it>p </it>= 0.018, RR = 1.72), specifically obese premenopausal women (age < 55 years) (<it>p </it>= 0.011, RR = 1.98).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>OAB prevalence is more than double and higher in men than previously reported. The relative risk for OAB is significantly greater in obese premenopausal women.</p

A comparison of photographic, replication and direct clinical examination methods for detecting developmental defects of enamel

Different methods have been used for detecting developmental defects of enamel (DDE). This study aimed to compare photographic and replication methods with the direct clinical examination method for detecting DDE in children's permanent incisors

Long-Term Surgical Recurrence, Morbidity, Quality of Life, and Body Image of Laparoscopic-Assisted vs. Open Ileocolic Resection for Crohn’s Disease: A Comparative Study

PurposeSeveral studies have compared conventional open ileocolic resection with a laparoscopic-assisted approach. However, long-term outcome after laparoscopic-assisted ileocolic resection remains to be determined. This study was designed to compare long-term results of surgical recurrence, quality of life, body image, and cosmesis in patients who underwent laparoscopic-assisted or open ileocolic resection for Crohn's disease.MethodsSeventy-eight consecutive patients who underwent ileocolic resection during the period 1995 to 1998 were analyzed; 48 underwent a conventional open approach in the Academic Medical Centre (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and 30 underwent a laparoscopic-assisted approach in the Leiden University Medical Centre (Leiden, The Netherlands). Primary outcome parameters were reoperation and readmission rate. Secondary outcome parameters were quality of life, body image, and cosmesis.ResultsThe two groups were comparable for characteristics of sex, age, and immunosuppressive therapy. Seventy-one patients had a complete follow-up of median 8.5 years. Resection for recurrent Crohn's disease was performed in 6 of 27 (22 percent) and 10 of 44 (23 percent) patients in the laparoscopic and open groups, respectively. Reoperations for incisional hernia were only performed after conventional open ileocolic resection (3/44 = 6.8 percent). Quality of life and body image were comparable, but cosmesis scores were significantly higher in the laparoscopic group.ConclusionsDespite small numbers, we found that surgical recurrence and quality of life after laparoscopic-assisted and open ileocolic resection were comparable. Incisional hernias occurred only after open ileocolic resection, and laparoscopic-assisted ileocolic resection resulted in a significantly better cosmesis

The relationship between hypoxia exposure and circulating cortisol levels in social and solitary African mole-rats: An initial report

Hypoxemia from exposure to intermittent and/or acute environmental hypoxia (lower oxygen concentration) is a severe stressor for many animal species. The response to hypoxia of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis), which culminates in the release of glucocorticoids, has been well-studied in hypoxia-intolerant surface-dwelling mammals. Several group-living (social) subterranean species, including most African mole -rats, are hypoxia-tolerant, likely due to regular exposure to intermittent hypoxia in their underground bur-rows. Conversely, solitary mole-rat species, lack many adaptive mechanisms, making them less hypoxia-tolerant than the social genera. To date, the release of glucocorticoids in response to hypoxia has not been measured in hypoxia-tolerant mammalian species. Consequently, this study exposed three social African mole-rat species and two solitary mole-rat species to normoxia, or acute hypoxia and then measured their respective plasma gluco-corticoid (cortisol) concentrations. Social mole-rats had lower plasma cortisol concentrations under normoxia than the solitary genera. Furthermore, individuals of all three of the social mole-rat species exhibited signifi-cantly increased plasma cortisol concentrations after hypoxia, similar to those of hypoxia-intolerant surface -dwelling species. By contrast, individuals of the two solitary species had a reduced plasma cortisol response to acute hypoxia, possibly due to increased plasma cortisol under normoxia. If placed in perspective with other closely related surface-dwelling species, the regular exposure of the social African mole-rats to hypoxia may have reduced the basal levels of the components for the adaptive mechanisms associated with hypoxia exposure, including circulating cortisol levels. Similarly, the influence of body mass on plasma cortisol levels cannot be ignored. This study demonstrates that both hypoxia-tolerant rodents and hypoxia-intolerant terrestrial laboratory-bred rodents may possess similar HPA-axis responses from exposure to hypoxia. Further research is required to confirm the results from this pilot study and to further confirm how the cortisol concentrations may influence responses to hypoxia in African mole-rats

Time domains of hypoxia responses and -omics insights

The ability to respond rapidly to changes in oxygen tension is critical for many forms of life. Challenges to oxygen homeostasis, specifically in the contexts of evolutionary biology and biomedicine, provide important insights into mechanisms of hypoxia adaptation and tolerance. Here we synthesize findings across varying time domains of hypoxia in terms of oxygen delivery, ranging from early animal to modern human evolution and examine the potential impacts of environmental and clinical challenges through emerging multi-omics approaches. We discuss how diverse animal species have adapted to hypoxic environments, how humans vary in their responses to hypoxia (i.e., in the context of high-altitude exposure, cardiopulmonary disease, and sleep apnea), and how findings from each of these fields inform the other and lead to promising new directions in basic and clinical hypoxia research