Local temperature-sensitive mechanisms are important mediators of limb tissue hyperemia in the heat-stressed human at rest and during small muscle mass exercise.

Limb tissue and systemic blood flow increases with heat stress, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that heat stress-induced increases in limb tissue perfusion are primarily mediated by local temperature-sensitive mechanisms. Leg and systemic temperatures and hemodynamics were measured at rest and during incremental single-legged knee extensor exercise in 15 males exposed to 1 h of either systemic passive heat-stress with simultaneous cooling of a single leg (n=8) or isolated leg heating or cooling (n=7). Systemic heat-stress increased core, skin and heated leg blood (Tb) temperatures, cardiac output and heated leg blood flow (LBF, 0.6 ± 0.1 l.min(-1); P0.05). Increased heated leg deep tissue BF was closely related to Tb (R(2) = 0.50; P0.05), despite unchanged systemic temperatures and hemodynamics. During incremental exercise, heated LBF was consistently maintained ~ 0.6 l.min(-1) higher than that in the cooled leg (P<0.01), with LBF and vascular conductance in both legs showing a strong correlation with their respective local Tb (R(2) = 0.85 and 0.95, P<0.05). We conclude that local temperature-sensitive mechanisms are important mediators in limb tissue perfusion regulation both at rest and during small-muscle mass exercise in hyperthermic humans.The invasive study was partially funded by Gatorade Sports Science Institute, PepsiCo

The Collagen Chaperone HSP47 Is a New Interactor of APP that Affects the Levels of Extracellular Beta-Amyloid Peptides

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive decline of cognitive function that represents one of the most dramatic medical challenges for the aging population. Aβ peptides, generated by processing of the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP), are thought to play a central role in the pathogenesis of AD. However, the network of physical and functional interactions that may affect their production and deposition is still poorly understood. The use of a bioinformatic approach based on human/mouse conserved coexpression allowed us to identify a group of genes that display an expression profile strongly correlated with APP. Among the most prominent candidates, we investigated whether the collagen chaperone HSP47 could be functionally correlated with APP. We found that HSP47 accumulates in amyloid deposits of two different mouse models and of some AD patients, is capable to physically interact with APP and can be relocalized by APP overexpression. Notably, we found that it is possible to reduce the levels of secreted Aβ peptides by reducing the expression of HSP47 or by interfering with its activity via chemical inhibitors. Our data unveil HSP47 as a new functional interactor of APP and imply it as a potential target for preventing the formation and/or growth amyloid plaques

Assessing the queuing process using data envelopment analysis:an application in health centres

Queuing is one of the very important criteria for assessing the performance and efficiency of any service industry, including healthcare. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is one of the most widely-used techniques for performance measurement in healthcare. However, no queue management application has been reported in the health-related DEA literature. Most of the studies regarding patient flow systems had the objective of improving an already existing Appointment System. The current study presents a novel application of DEA for assessing the queuing process at an Outpatients’ department of a large public hospital in a developing country where appointment systems do not exist. The main aim of the current study is to demonstrate the usefulness of DEA modelling in the evaluation of a queue system. The patient flow pathway considered for this study consists of two stages; consultation with a doctor and pharmacy. The DEA results indicated that waiting times and other related queuing variables included need considerable minimisation at both stages

A Case of Congenital Bilateral Absence of Elbow Flexor Muscles: Review of Differential Diagnosis and Treatment

A 1-year-old boy presented to us with congenital inability to flex his elbow. He had bilaterally absent biceps brachii and brachialis muscles, a rare condition. We performed pedicle latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flaps to the left and right volar upper arm at 21 and 24 months of age, respectively, to create elbow flexors. By 4 years of age, he had excellent elbow flexion bilaterally with strength grade in excess of 4.5. In addition to discussing our patient’s treatment options, we discuss other potential causes of weak elbow flexion when faced with this clinical dilemma

The effect of foreign ownership on SMEs performance: An efficiency analysis perspective

Efficiency analysis, Non-parametric approaches, Bootstrap techniques, Foreign owned firms, SMEs’ performance, L25, C61, C67,