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Octopamine potentiates intracellular Na+ and Cl- reductions during cell volume regulation in Limulus exposed to hypoosmotic stress.

The biogenic amine octopamine (OCT) appears to be involved in cell volume regulation in the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, during hypoosmotic stress. OCT is present in relatively large amounts (160 nmoles/g dry wt) in the cardiac ganglion. Furthermore, OCT is released from the isolated ganglion during exposure to hypoosmotic media. This release is reflected in the elevation of blood OCT concentrations from basal levels of 4 X 10(-9) M reaching 1.2 X 10(-8) M within 72 h of exposure of animals to hypoosmotic media. The circulating OCT potentiates the hypoosmotically-induced reductions of intracellular Na+ and Cl- by a ouabain-sensitive mechanism which complements the main ion regulating (ouabain-insensitive) mechanisms utilized during cell volume recovery.

Animals↗

Salvage of a malpositioned anterior odontoid screw.

STUDY DESIGN: Description of surgical technique with case correlation. OBJECTIVE: This article presents an alternative approach to anterior odontoid screw salvage in a patient with established nonunion. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Type II odontoid fractures are often treated surgically because of their risk of nonunion. Anterior odontoid screw fixation offers stable fixation without loss of atlantoaxial motion. Treatment failure may occur despite adequate screw placement but is more likely when fixation is inadequate. The traditional solution is a posterior fusion. In selected cases the surgeon may want to revise the anterior instrumentation with the hope of retaining as much C1-C2 motion as possible. METHODS: A 43-year-old man presented 16 months after Type II odontoid fracture treated by anterior odontoid screw fixation. He had neck pain, instability, and a pseudarthrosis confirmed on radiographs. The screw was excessively long, piercing the C3 vertebral body and providing inadequate fixation. To avoid posterior fusion, a modified anterior approach was used. An entry point was selected 10 mm lateral to the midline, along the anterior rim of the C2 vertebral body. A large-diameter lag screw was then passed to the tip of the fragment. An angled curette was introduced into the fracture gap through the interval between the odontoid and the C1 ring. Autogenous bone was packed into the gap and along the old screw tract. RESULTS: At the 2-year follow-up the patient had a solid union with no neck pain, no headaches, no radicular symptoms, and excellent range of motion. The approach is described. CONCLUSION: In properly selected patients an anterior revision approach can provide a better outcome than posterior cervical fusion. This modified approach allows placement of an adequate fixation screw in a vertebra damaged by previous screw failure.

Adult↗

Trauma, disease and collateral damage: conflict in cimicids.

The bed bugs and bat bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) are unusual in being a gonochorist (separate male and female genders) taxon with obligate traumatic insemination. Males of all the species in this family have a lanceolate paramere (intromittent organ) which they use to pierce the female's body wall and inseminate directly into her haemocoel, despite the presence of a functional female genital tract. Mating is tightly linked to the feeding cycle in Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug. In this paper, I examine key aspects of the reproductive anatomy and behaviour of C. lectularius that underpin the nature of the conflict over mating rate in this species. I then examine the consequences of traumatic insemination for female fitness and examine potential mechanisms that might underpin those costs. Finally, the collateral consequences of the male reproductive tactic on other males of C. lectularius and the African bat bug, Afrocimex constrictus are examined.

Animals↗

Injuries caused by garfish in Papua New Guinea.

Garfish, which are found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean areas, have a long, spear-like beak with two marrow jaws and small pointed teeth. They often make sudden leaps while swimming, particularly when attracted by bright lights. In Papua New Guinea people often fish from canoes using a light at night, and serious injuries may be caused by a fish jumping and its beak piercing part of the body. The surface wound may appear deceptively small and innocent, but if the wound is on the chest or abdomen the beak may have penetrated sufficiently deeply to cause internal injuries, and death may result. Patients may have to be admitted to hospital for removal of the beak, which may remain embedded in a limb.

Adult↗

Diurnal variation of intensive running in food-deprived rats.

Manipulation of the food supply can induce either intense hyperactive wheel running or a fatal activity anorexia in rats that is strongly analogous to that seen in humans. The abnormal behaviour is accompanied by alterations in the diurnal pattern of activity. As part of a detailed study of hyperactivity and anorexia, spontaneous wheel running by male rats was studied under three conditions: ad libitum feeding; restriction to 15 g of food per day; and restriction to a single 90-min meal per day. Ad libitum fed rats increased their running at the rate of 440 +/- 60 m/day per day, stabilizing after day 10 at 6045 +/- 3010 m/day. The running occurred in short bursts throughout the dark period and at the beginning of the light period. Rats restricted to 15 g/day increased their running at the significantly greater (p < 0.001) rate of 1230 +/- 120 m/day per day, reaching 12 200 +/- 4 090 m/day by day 10 and thereafter stabilizing at 13 600 +/- 4 160 m/day. The running was initially triphasic and confined to the dark period but eventually progressed to a biphasic pattern. The rats restricted to a single 90-min access period to food each day showed an even greater rate of increase in running, attaining 1930 +/- 288 m/day per day (p < 0.02 vs. 15 g/day group). These animals decreased eating and decompensated by day 4. The diurnal pattern of activity was disturbed from day 1 of the protocol, and by day 4 the rats ran essentially continuously throughout the daily cycle. The sensitivity to hyperactivity is a function of the severity of food restriction in this animal model of hyperactivity. It is paralleled by a marked disturbance of the diurnal pattern of activity, suggesting that the hyperactivity is related to a basic central nervous system dysfunction.

Animals↗

Mental disorders and the symbolic function of therapeutic rites in the Réunion Island Hindu environment.

This article describes two therapeutic rituals in the Hindu milieu on Réunion Island--walking on fire and piercing parts of the body in the Feast of Cavedy--to underscore the cultural representation of madness and the symbolic function of these rites in treatment. Madness is considered to be the result of a rupture of genealogy through denial of the founder, and of psychic-somatic unity, which leads the afflicted person to develop a fantasy of immortality. The two therapeutic rituals aim at reestablishing the debt to the founding ancestor by the symbolic reactualization of the original chaos, and at restoring the genealogy through a relationship between the penitent and the officiant, which brings the subject to accept his human condition as a mortal being.

Adult↗

Hypnotic susceptibility in kavadi carriers in Singapore.

A group of fourteen Hindu devotees, who participated in a religious ceremony involving piercing of tongue and body by metal skewers, and the carrying of 'kavadis' were examined to ascertain their hypnotisability, and to compare their experiences during hypnosis and a trance. They were found to have a low mean score of 3.85 on the Revised Stanford Profile Scales of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Those who have higher scores had experiences during the religious ritual which appeared to be similar to those in the hypnotic state.

Adolescent↗

[Injuries caused by garfish in New Caledonia and its dependencies].

Garfish, which are found in the Indo-Pacific ocean areas, have a long spear-like beak with two narrow jaws and small pointed teeth. They often make sudden leaps while swimming, particularly when attracted by bright lights or when frightened by boats or by one of their predators, mainly in warm seasons. Serious injuries may be caused by a fish jumping and its beak piercing part of the body. The surface wound may appear deceptively small and innocent but if the wound is on the chest or abdomen the beak may have penetrated sufficiently deep to cause internal injuries and death may result. Patients may have to be admitted to the hospital for removal of the beak which may remain embedded in a limb.

Adult↗

Clinicopathological characteristics of tongue piercing: an experimental study.

BACKGROUND: This study attempts to remedy the situation that no morphological studies exit of tongue piercing. METHODS: The tongues of eight Beagles were pierced with titanium implants. The animals were then divided into four groups: 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month and 3 months for clinical-photographic and histopathological studies. RESULTS: Group I: clinically, erythema at both orifices and, microscopically, granulation tissue covering the surface of the canal and infiltrates of polynuclear neutrophils. Group II: persistence of erythema and of the granulation tissue, with the edges of the epithelium showing signs of regeneration. Group III: granulation tissue alternating with fibrosis; epithelium covering the sides of the canal. Group IV: fibrosis substituting the granulation tissue and almost complete re-epithelialization of the canal. All groups, except group I, numerous foreign body-type granulomas. CONCLUSIONS: Tongue piercing provokes fibrous reparation with almost total re-epithelialization of the perforated zone and foreign body-like granulomatous inflammation.

Animals↗

[Complications following eyebrow piercing].

BACKGROUND: Piercing as a new form of "body art" is becoming more frequent in western industrialised countries and has achieved a certain social acceptance. Materials used are mainly surgical steel and, less frequently due to higher costs, titanium, gold, silver and niobium. The current literature reports complications such as infections, swellings, allergies, wound healing problems, dental damage and hepatitis following piercing in oral and facial regions. PATIENT: A 22-year-old nurse underwent piercing of her right eyebrow 4 months previously. While piercing of her tongue and nipples had not caused any problems, she first complained of a local inflammation about 3 months after the piercing procedure, which healed spontaneously. Now she complained again about pain, pressure, redness and swelling of her right cheek and face. A dermatologist had recommended tea compresses. On her first visit she presented with a solid, movable, tender, cherry-size swelling of the lateral third of the right eyebrow, a redness of the eyelid and a large swelling of the cheek. Following a systemic antibiotic therapy she underwent surgery and the inflammatory tissue was removed. Histologically, muscle tissue and a piercing canal were visible as well as histiolymphocytotic infiltrates with epitheloid and solitary giant cells. CONCLUSIONS: With an increasing frequency of piercing, the number of complications in the field of ophthalmology is also likely to increase. Considerable costs may arise for the social health care system depending on the severity of the complications.

Adult↗

Neoplastic embryoid bodies of embryonal carcinoma C44 as a source of blastocele-like fluid.

There is a cytotoxic activity in blastocele fluid that kills embryonal carcinoma cells with trophectodermal potential but spares those with embryonic potential. This activity is present when programmed cell death occurs in the inner cell mass (ICM), and the ICM loses its trophectodermal potential. Because of the paucity of blastocele fluid, cystic embryoid bodies of embryonal carcinoma C44 were examined ultrastructurally and in tissue culture to determine if they corresponded to late blastocysts and if their fluid corresponded to blastocele fluid. No trophectoderm was demonstrated in the embryoid bodies, but embryonal carcinoma and endoderm were present, leading to the conclusion that the embryonal carcinoma corresponded to late ICM that had expressed endodermal potential. As a result the cyst fluid might have contained the toxic activity of blastocele fluid. The cyst fluid of C44 embryoid bodies did contain a soluble, low-molecular-weight, cytotoxic activity that preferentially killed embryonal carcinoma cells with trophectodermal potential while sparing those with embryonic potential. Enough of this fluid was available to determine the chemical nature of this toxic activity.

Animals↗

[Piercing and its infectious complications. A public health issue in France].

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES: Piercing, an act that modifies the body, has progressed considerably in France over the last few years. The population involved has grown and become more diversified. Performed with a solid needle or a catheter, a wide variety of anatomic localizations are concerned, particularly the nose, ears, and navel. The shape of the "rings", generally made of surgical steel, niobium or titanium, varies greatly. Wound healing by epithelialisation can take up to several months. INFECTIOUS RISK: Between 10% and 20% of all piercings lead to a local infection. The most commonly found causal agests are Staphylococcus aureus, group A Streptococcus and Pseudomonas sp. These germs can cause severe life-threatening complications even in common localizations (earlobe). Viral transmission is another risk (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis delta, HIV). A few cases of fatal fulminant hepatitis have been described immediately after piercing. SAFETY MEASURES: Generally performed under less than desirable sanitary conditions, safety measures are needed for piercing. Among professional "piercers", a certain number have emphasized the need for providing their clients with safer services. The prevention of infection risk should be a priority for all. Work along this line has been done in the United States and Canada. In light of the impact on public health, it is important to rapidly develop guidelines and regulations for piercing in France. Both professional piercers and health care workers should participate in developing these safety measures in order to assure their implementation.

Cosmetic Techniques↗

Effect of short-term prefeeding and body weight on wheel running and responding reinforced by the opportunity to run in a wheel.

A biobehavioural analysis of activity anorexia suggests that the motivation for physical activity is regulated by food supply and body weight. In the present experiment, food allocation was varied within subjects by prefeeding food-deprived rats 0, 5, 10 and 15 g of food before sessions of lever pressing for wheel-running reinforcement. The experiment assessed the effects of prefeeding on rates of wheel running, lever pressing, and postreinforcement pausing. Results showed that prefeeding animals 5 g of food had no effect. Prefeeding 10 g of food reduced lever pressing for wheel running and rates of wheel running without a significant change in body weight; the effect was, however, transitory. Prefeeding 15 g of food increased the animals' body weights, resulting in a sustained decrease of wheel running and lever pressing, and an increase in postreinforcement pausing. Overall the results indicate that the motivation for physical activity is regulated by changes in local food supply, but is sustained only when there is a concomitant change in body weight.

Animals↗

The anesthetic agent as an extra-integumentary foreign body in the respiratory tract. A new theory of general anesthesia.

Two cases are cited of patients who sometimes exhibited a condition of temporary unconsciousness which proceeded to spontaneous recovery without harmful sequelae. This type of cerebral arrest is frequently called general anesthesia:however, these patients had not received any drugs. What they did have was an irritant in the respiratory passages as shown by coughing. Three cases of general anesthesia are described wherein the duration of the phenomenon appeared to be partly due to the presence of an extra-integumentary foreign body, confined to the respiratory passages. In this trio there was evidence that the drugs did not affect the patients in any unusual way, whatever their effects on whichever side of the alveolar walls. Many anesthetic agents act like unabsorbable foreign bodies, in that they enter and leave the body unchanged, despite the fact that they do pierce the integument. Of course, almost everything, except inspirable and expirable air, but including anesthetic agents, is a foreign body in the respiratory tract. On the basis of these considerations, I suggest that one way, in which general anesthetic agents work, is an extra-integumentary foreign bodies, causing Reflex Coma by irritating or stimulating the trigger points in the walls of the respiratory tract, thereby arresting the cerebrum.

Anesthesia, General↗