Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “PHYSIOLOGY”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Complexities in ETS-domain transcription factor function and regulation: lessons from the TCF (ternary complex factor) subfamily. The Colworth Medal Lecture.

The ETS-domain transcription factor family can be divided into a series of subfamilies. Elk-1 represents the founding member of the ternary complex factor (TCF) subfamily. By focusing on the TCF subfamily, we can demonstrate the complexities that exist in the function and regulation of ETS-domain transcription factors. This article focuses on Elk-1 in detail and summarizes the functions of other TCFs. The key themes covered include the domain structure of the TCFs, the mechanisms of complex formation with serum response factor, regulation of TCFs by mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades, and transcriptional regulatory properties of the TCFs. Finally, the emerging role of the TCFs in vivo is discussed. A picture is developing indicating that, while these proteins exhibit significant sequence and functional conservation, key differences in their structure and regulation are being identified which may relate to unique functions of these proteins in vivo.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Clinical physiology: an accepted branch of physiology.

Clinical physiology is a branch of physiology particularly dealing with functional disturbances in disease (pathophysiology) and the integrated function of the human body in disease against the background of normal function in healthy subjects, suitable physiological methods for the study of patients--particularly for diagnostic purposes--as well as for research, and the education of medical students and laboratory assistants in these fields. Departments of clinical physiology in university hospitals form a bridge between basic physiology and many clinical specialties. Independent departments of clinical physiology developed early in Sweden due to the work of Professor Torgny Sjöstrand at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, and have been models of research, teaching and hospital organization which have been followed in several other countries. The International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) has recognized clinical physiology as a separate branch of physiology by approving a Commission of Clinical Physiology which has contributed to the programme of this and, we hope, future congresses, as well as promote the development of clinical physiology internationally.

Humans↗

The Pediatric Risk of Mortality III--Acute Physiology Score (PRISM III-APS): a method of assessing physiologic instability for pediatric intensive care unit patients.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a physiology-based measure of physiologic instability for use in pediatric patients that has an expanded scale compared with the Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) III score. STUDY DESIGN: Data were collected from consecutive admissions to 32 pediatric ICUs (11,165 admission, 543 deaths). Patient-level data included physiologic data, outcomes, descriptive information, and diagnoses. Physiologic data included the most abnormal values in the first 24 hours of pediatric ICU stay from 27 variables. Initially, ranges of each physiologic variable were evaluated for their association with mortality. A multi-variate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the final variables and their ranges. Integer scores reflecting the relative contribution to mortality risk were assigned to the variable ranges. RESULTS: A total of 59 ranges of 21 physiologic variables were selected. This score is called the Pediatric Risk of Mortality III--Acute Physiology Score (PRISM III-APS). Mortality increased as the PRISM III-APS score increased. Most patients have PRISM III-APS scores less than 10, and these patients have a mortality risk of less than 1%. At the other extreme, the mortality rate of the 137 patients with a PRISM III-APS score of greater than 80 was greater than 97%. CONCLUSION: The PRISM III-APS score is an expanded measure of physiologic instability that has been validated against mortality. Compared with PRISM III, PRISM III-APS should be more sensitive to small changes in physiologic status.

Acute Disease↗

Effects of physiologic pacing versus ventricular pacing on the risk of stroke and death due to cardiovascular causes. Canadian Trial of Physiologic Pacing Investigators.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that physiologic pacing (dual-chamber or atrial) may be superior to single-chamber (ventricular) pacing because it is associated with lower risks of atrial fibrillation, stroke, and death. These benefits have not been evaluated in a large, randomized, controlled trial. METHODS: At 32 Canadian centers, patients without chronic atrial fibrillation who were scheduled for a first implantation of a pacemaker to treat symptomatic bradycardia were eligible for enrollment. We randomly assigned patients to receive either a ventricular pacemaker or a physiologic pacemaker and followed them for an average of three years. The primary outcome was stroke or death due to cardiovascular causes. Secondary outcomes were death from any cause, atrial fibrillation, and hospitalization for heart failure. RESULTS: A total of 1474 patients were randomly assigned to receive a ventricular pacemaker and 1094 to receive a physiologic pacemaker. The annual rate of stroke or death due to cardiovascular causes was 5.5 percent with ventricular pacing, as compared with 4.9 percent with physiologic pacing (reduction in relative risk, 9.4 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, -10.5 to 25.7 percent [the negative value indicates an increase in risk]; P=0.33). The annual rate of atrial fibrillation was significantly lower among the patients in the physiologic-pacing group (5.3 percent) than among those in the ventricular-pacing group (6.6 percent), for a reduction in relative risk of 18.0 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 0.3 to 32.6 percent; P=0.05). The effect on the rate of atrial fibrillation was not apparent until two years after implantation. The observed annual rates of death from all causes and of hospitalization for heart failure were lower among the patients with a physiologic pacemaker than among those with a ventricular pacemaker, but not significantly so (annual rates of death, 6.6 percent with ventricular pacing and 6.3 percent with physiologic pacing; annual rates of hospitalization for heart failure, 3.5 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively). There were significantly more perioperative complications with physiologic pacing than with ventricular pacing (9.0 percent vs. 3.8 percent, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Physiologic pacing provides little benefit over ventricular pacing for the prevention of stroke or death due to cardiovascular causes.

Aged↗

Herpetological diversity along Andean elevational gradients: links with physiological ecology and evolutionary physiology.

A well-defined macroecological pattern is the decline in biodiversity with altitude. However, this decline is taxa-specific. For example, amphibians are more diverse than squamates at extreme elevations in the tropical Andes, but this pattern is reversed at extreme elevations in the southern latitudes. Several ecophysiological and evolutionary factors may be related to this difference. At high-elevations in southern latitudes temperature differs dramatically among seasons and dry soils dominate, characteristics that appear to favor lizard physiological ecology. Tropical high altitudes, in contrast, are humid and offer abundant and diverse water resources. These characteristics allow for a richer anuran community but might complicate lizard egg development through temperature and oxygen constrains. Differences in strategies of thermal adaptation might also modulate diversity patterns. The thermal physiology of anurans is extremely labile so that behavioral and physiological performance is maintained despite an altitudinal decrease in field body temperature. Lizards, in contrast, exhibit a conservative thermal physiology and rely on behavioral thermoregulation to face cold and variable temperatures. Both, lizard behavioral strategies and anuran physiological adjustments seem equally efficient in allowing ecological success and diversification for both groups in the tropics up to approximately 3000 m. At higher elevations physiological thermal adaptation is required, and lizards are ecologically constrained, perhaps at various ontogenetic stages. Patterns of biodiversity along environmental clines can be better understood through a physiological approach, and can help to refine and propose hypotheses in evolutionary physiology.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

The effects of an exercise physiology program on physical fitness variables, body satisfaction, and physiology knowledge.

This study was performed to determine the effects of an exercise physiology program on physical fitness, body satisfaction, and knowledge. A total of 161 students (mean age = 16.5 +/- 0.89 years) of the Coral Gables Senior High School served as the experimental group volunteers, whereas 33 students enrolled in a standard biology course served as the control group (mean age = 15.61 +/- 0.84 years). The experimental group received exercise physiology theory coupled with active aerobic and resistance exercise. Age (p = 0.0001) and lean body mass (p = 0.023) were the only physical characteristics significantly greater in the experimental group at pretesting. An analysis of covariance controlling for pretest values showed better results in the experimental compared with the control group for sit and reach (p = 0.008), step test, recovery heart rate (p = 0.0002), overhead press (p = 0.002), bench press (p = 0.017), leg press (p = 0.012), sit-ups (p = 0.001), body satisfaction (p = 0.0009), and physiology knowledge (p = 0.0001) at posttesting. Findings indicated that a biology curriculum integrated with exercise physiology theory and exercise activities may result in significant improvements in physical fitness, body size satisfaction, and physiology knowledge in high school adolescents.

Adolescent↗

Cognitive imagery and physiological feedback relaxation protocols applied to clinically tense young adults: a comparison of state, trait, and physiological effects.

Examined changes in targeted and general tension behaviors as well as reductions in physiological tension associated with cognitive imagery and electromyographic biofeedback relaxation procedures. Three groups of 15 female college students participated. During three weekly sessions each person received either guided cognitive imagery relaxation, frontalis muscle feedback relaxation, or a self-rest control procedure. The Anxiety Differential was administered before and after each session, while frontalis EMG, heart rate, and skin temperature were monitored continuously. A second Temperament Analysis was administered after the final session. The imagery procedure was associated with moderate reductions in physiological tension and significant reductions in state anxiety and three tension-related personality dimensions. Self-rest persons displayed lesser reductions in general tension with little physiological change. While biofeedback persons showed the largest reductions in physiological tension, they displayed only small and variable changes in state anxiety and personality dimensions. The data raise continued questions about the application of physiologically based operant relaxation procedures and support the use of cognitively mediated protocols for the treatment of specific or general anxiety behaviors.

Adolescent↗

Development of physiologically based pharmacokinetic and physiologically based pharmacodynamic models for applications in toxicology and risk assessment.

Pharmacokinetics (PK) involves the study of the rates of absorption, distribution, excretion, and biotransformation of chemicals and their metabolites. PK models can be used to reconstruct extensive time-course data sets based on a small number of kinetic parameters. These models can be used to predict the results of new experiments and integrate studies on kinetics, disposition and metabolism in various animal species [1]. The 2 main approaches that have been pursued in developing PK models are: (1) data-based compartmental modeling; and (2) physiologically based compartmental modeling. Data-based models rely on the collection of time-course concentration data and fitting these data with mathematical models. Compartments in these models do not necessarily reflect the anatomy and physiology of the animal, and the kinetic constants derived from these models do not have obvious physiological or biochemical counterparts. In physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models, compartments correspond more closely to actual anatomical structures, defined with respect to their volumes, blood flows, chemical binding (partitioning) characteristics, and ability to metabolize or excrete the compounds of interest. Because the kinetic parameters of these models reflect tissue blood flows, partitioning, and biochemical constants, these models are more readily scaled from one animal species to another [2]. PBPK models have been used to understand the disposition of chemicals in the body for almost 70 years. Their more widespread application in toxicology dates back only 15 years or so to models developed for polychlorinated biphenyls and other persistent lipophilic compounds. Quantitative applications of PBPK models in risk assessment date to the development of a number of PBPK models for methylene chloride in the mid 1980s. The burgeoning use of PBPK models in toxicology research and chemical risk assessment today is primarily related to their ability to make more accurate predictions of target tissue dose for different exposure situations in different animal species, including humans. This overview includes a discussion of the development of these PBPK models in toxicology and speculates about future applications of PBPK and physiologically based pharmacodynamic (PBPD) models in chemical risk assessment.

Animals↗

Active learning of respiratory physiology improves performance on respiratory physiology examinations.

Active involvement in the learning process has been suggested to enhance creative thinking, judgement, interpretation, and problem-solving skills. Therefore, educators are encouraged to create an active-learning environment by incorporating active-learning strategies into the class. However, there is very little documentation of the effectiveness of active-learning strategies. Furthermore, faculty are often reluctant to incorporate new strategies without documentation of the effectiveness of these strategies. To address this concern, we compared the performance of two individual classes on an identical respiratory physiology examination. One class was taught respiratory physiology using active-learning strategies. The other class was taught respiratory physiology using the traditional lecture format. The results document that students who learned using active-learning strategies did significantly better (P < 0.05) on the respiratory physiology examination than students who learned by the traditional lecture format (61 +/- 2.2 vs. 86 +/- 1.0). Thus, by actively involving students in the learning process, academic performance is enhanced.

Education, Graduate↗

The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II classification system is a valid marker for physiologic stress in the critically ill patient.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score with resting energy expenditure obtained from indirect calorimetry to determine whether the APACHE II scoring system is an accurate, objective measure of the degree of critical illness and physiologic stress between groups of patients. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University hospital, tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Seventy critically ill patients, consecutively sampled from burn, surgical, and medical intensive care units. INTERVENTIONS: Indirect calorimetric studies were performed on each patient using a metabolic cart. The acute physiologic score component of the APACHE II scoring system was determined at the time of metabolic testing, a mean of 15.9 days after hospital admission. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: True resting energy expenditure was calculated by adjusting the measured energy expenditure for diet-induced thermogenesis and fever. A predicted resting energy expenditure was calculated for each patient using the Harris-Benedict equation alone, and by using the Harris-Benedict value corrected for previously published metabolic activity factors. To eliminate differences in body composition and size, true resting energy expenditure was divided by weight, body surface area, and Harris-Benedict resting energy expenditure. Results showed no significant correlation between APACHE II scores and either the Harris-Benedict resting energy expenditure or the Harris-Benedict value corrected by metabolic activity factors. However, there was a significant (p < or = .001; r2 = .18 to .20) relationship between increasing APACHE II scores and both increasing measured and true resting energy expenditure. The true resting energy expenditure divided by body surface area, kilogram body weight, and Harris-Benedict predicted value, were all shown to be significantly (p < .01) related to APACHE II score, but showed no better degree of correlation (r2 = .12 to .23) than comparison of APACHE II score with measured or true resting energy expenditure. CONCLUSIONS: The APACHE II classification may be a valid marker of physiologic stress as demonstrated by its statistically significant (although weak) relationship with indirect calorimetric measures of energy expenditure associated with varying degrees of critical illness.

Adolescent↗

Physiological adaptations and the concepts of optimal reproductive strategy and physiological constraint in marine invertebrates.

The dominant 'demographic' theory of life history evolution supposes that different lifetime patterns of reproduction are the result of selection of alternative optimal solutions for the allocation of limited resources between somatic and reproductive functions. A number of trade-off possibilities have been recognized--those between current reproductive output and residual reproductive value and between fecundity and initial offspring size being considered especially important. Many theoretical studies assume that natural selection will favour the adoption of optimal solutions, but it has been pointed out that such solutions may not be obtainable due to design constraints and the development of physiological adaptations to specific reproductive traits which limit subsequent evolutionary potential. The validity of this idea is examined in this paper through a review of the major reproductive strategies available to marine invertebrates and the physiological adaptations associated with them. The ecologically important distinction between planktotrophic and lecithotrophic development is not necessarily associated with major physiological adaptations in the adults, but the distinction between strictly semelparous and iteroparous life histories is. This is demonstrated in a survey of the endocrinological and environmental control of reproductive processes in related organisms with contrasting modes or reproduction. Particular reference is made to the Polychaeta, in which the contrast between semelparous and iteroparous life histories is particularly marked. A similar contrast is found between cephalopoda and other mollusca, and the discussion of physiological adaptations is extended to include these groups and the Echinodermata.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Retrospective estimation and correction of physiological artifacts in fMRI by direct extraction of physiological activity from MR data.

A physiological artifact reduction method based on extracting respiratory motion and cardiac pulsation directly from functional MR data is described. In fast low angle shot (FLASH), respiratory cycles are derived utilizing the phase of the center of a navigator echo, in echo-planar imaging (EPI) from the phase of the center k-space point. Cardiac cycles are determined from projections obtained from the navigator echo (FLASH) and the center k-space line (EPI). Because direct extraction of physiological parameters eliminates the need for external monitoring, the method can be more readily implemented. Experimental results illustrate that the technique provides effective compensation for physiology-related signal fluctuations in functional MRI and performs as well as the retrospective technique using external physiological monitoring.

Artifacts↗