Sacral (S1) herpes zoster

Anca Chiriac,1–3 Anca E Chiriac,4 Adrian Naznean,5 Cosmin Moldovan,6 Cristian Podoleanu,7 Simona Stolnicu81The Department of Dermato-Physiology, Apollonia University, Iaşi, Romania; 2Department of Dermatology, Nicolina Medical Center, Iaşi, Romania; 3“P. Poni’’ Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Iaşi, Romania; 4Department of Epidemiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy " Grigore T Popa", Iaşi, Romania; 5The Department of Foreign Languages, The University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Tîrgu Mureș, Tîrgu Mureș, , Romania; 6The Department of Applied Simulation in Medicine, The University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Tîrgu Mureș, Tîrgu Mureș, Romania; 7The Department of Cardiology, The University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Tîrgu Mureș, Tîrgu Mureș, Romania; 8The Department of Pathology, The University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Tîrgu Mureș, Tîrgu Mureș, RomaniaAbstract: Herpes zoster usually affects the thoracic and lumbar vertebra (T3–L3), while sacral herpes zoster has been very rarely reported. We present a very rare case of herpes zoster involving S1 dermatome in a 35-year-old healthy man who presented aching pain and typical herpes zoster eruption on the lateral aspect of the calcaneus, lateral plantar area and dorsal aspect of digits III and IV.Keywords: herpes zoster, S1, pain, sacral zoste

Adaptive temperature regulation in the little bird in winter : predictions from a stochastic dynamic programming model

Several species of small birds are resident in boreal forests where environmental temperatures can be −20 to −30 °C, or even lower, in winter. As winter days are short, and food is scarce, winter survival is a challenge for small endothermic animals. A bird of this size will have to gain almost 10% of its lean body mass in fat every day to sustain overnight metabolism. Birds such as parids (titmice and chickadees) can use facultative hypothermia, a process in which body temperature is actively down-regulated to a specific level, to reduce heat loss and thus save energy. During cold winter nights, these birds may decrease body temperature from the normal from 42 ° down to 35 °C, or even lower in some species. However, birds are unable to move in this deep hypothermic state, making it a risky strategy if predators are around. Why, then, do small northern birds enter a potentially dangerous physiological state for a relatively small reduction in energy expenditure? We used stochastic dynamic programming to investigate this. Our model suggests that the use of nocturnal hypothermia at night is paramount in these biomes, as it would increase winter survival for a small northern bird by 58% over a winter of 100 days. Our model also explains the phenomenon known as winter fattening, and its relationship to thermoregulation, in northern birds