Changes In Physiological Indices Research Articles

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis in callus derived from HBsAg-transgenic tomato mutant

Guan, Z.-j., Guo, B., Huo, Y.-l., Guan, Z.-p., Dai, J.-k. and Wei, Y.-h. 2012. Short Communication: Organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis in callus derived from HBsAg-transgenic tomato mutant. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92: 747-756. In the process of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) gene transformation, a transgenic cherry tomato (Lycopersivon esculentum Mill.) mutant N244 was occasionally obtained. Based on its obvious variation in ploidy and phenotypic characteristics, morphogenesis and development in the mutant in vitro were studied by cytological analysis and ultrastructural examination. The adventitious shoot primordia first emerged in the mutant N244 leaf explants after 14 d of culture, and the somatic embryo pathway developed after 35 d. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy further indicated that during the explant's development, there were significant changes in morphology and quantity of some organelles in N244 callus cells. On the 7th day of culture, there was little cytoplasm and few organelles, except for a large number of dense lipid bodies in the mutant callus cells. In the later stage, the changes in chloroplasts, Golgi bodies and mitochondria showed obvious difference between N244 callus cells and the control. In addition, changes in physiological indexes (growth rate, soluble protein content, and antioxidant enzyme activities) at different development stages further revealed morphogenic variation of organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis in N244 callus. The growth rate of the mutant N244 was less rapid than that of the control during its callus differentiation, and the soluble protein content of N244 callus decreased from the explant's cultivation stage until the 28th day of culture. The mutant N244 had distinct differences in variation tendency of superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase activities compared with the control at every stage of callus development. These findings provide the first report of simultaneous shoot organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis of transgenic mutant and help us to understand the development mechanism of transgenic plant mutant in vitro.

Retrospective analysis of related factors for patients with weaning difficulties in medical intensive care unit

To explore the related factors of difficult-to-wean patients in medical intensive care unit (MICU). A retrospective analysis was performed for 112 patients placed on mechanical ventilation. There were 63 males and 49 females with a mean age of (58 ± 26) years. Their primary diseases included acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) (n = 27), pneumonia (n = 20), asthma (n = 12) and neuromuscular diseases (n = 8). Basic admission profiles, underlying diseases, accompanying diseases and pre-weaning changes in physiological indicators were recorded. They were divided into 2 groups: successfully-weaned group and different-to-wean group. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors correlated with the difficult withdrawal of mechanical ventilation. There were 27 (24.1%) difficult-to-wean patients on mechanical ventilation in MICU. Some underlying diseases had statistical significance in both groups, including AECOPD (χ(2) = 6.238, P = 0.028), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (χ(2) = 5.232, P = 0.025) and neuromuscular disease (χ(2) = 14.635, P = 0.007). The ratios of difficult-to-wean patients were 9/27, 2/6 and 6/8 respectively. There was statistical significance of pre-admission and pre-weaning oxygenation index between two groups (t = 2.183, 2.162, P < 0.05). Zubrod score at pre-weaning was also significantly different between two groups (t = 9.037, P < 0.05). Logistic regression indicated that the patients with severe heart failure (OR = 5.781), psychological disorders (OR = 4.654), obstructive sleep apnea (OR = 4.012), AECOPD (OR = 3.617) and neuromuscular diseases (OR = 2.885) were more vulnerable to weaning difficulties. The major risk factors of difficult-to-wean patients in MICU include severe heart failure, psychological diseases, obstructive sleep apnea, neuromuscular disease and AECOPD. And oxygenation and self-care capability may also affect weaning significantly.

The Effects of Music as Therapy on the Overall Well-Being of Elderly Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis

In this study, the authors explored the use of music during hemodialysis (HD) as a complementary therapy to improve overall well-being in elderly patients. The authors recruited a convenience sample of 88 patients on maintenance HD from a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan and randomly assigned them to either an experimental group (n = 44) or a control group (n = 44). In the first week, participants in the experimental group created their own music playlists. During the second week, these participants listened to music from their own playlists during each HD session (three times/week). The authors evaluated the effects of music as therapy by assessing its impact on perceived stressors and adverse reactions during HD (HD Adverse Reactions Self-Assessment Scale and HD Stressor Scale [HSS]) and measuring changes in physiological indices during the course of the music listening. After 1 week of the use of music as therapy during HD, the authors noted significant reductions in the frequency and severity of adverse reactions during dialysis and in scores on the HSS, p < .001. The authors also observed significantly decreased respiratory rate and significantly increased finger temperature and oxygen saturation, p < .001, during the same period. In conclusion, listening to music during HD may promote overall patient well-being. It may thus serve as a complementary form of therapy that facilitates care and delivery of adequate dialysis and thus improves overall patient well-being in the long run.

Dynamic Determinants of Longevity and Exceptional Health

It is well known from epidemiology that values of indices describing physiological state in a given age may influence human morbidity and mortality risks. Studies of connection between aging and life span suggest a possibility that dynamic properties of age trajectories of the physiological indices could also be important contributors to morbidity and mortality risks. In this paper we use data on longitudinal changes in body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, pulse rate, blood glucose, hematocrit, and serum cholesterol in the Framingham Heart Study participants, to investigate this possibility in depth. We found that some of the variables describing individual dynamics of the age-associated changes in physiological indices influence human longevity and exceptional health more substantially than the variables describing physiological state. These newly identified variables are promising targets for prevention aiming to postpone onsets of common elderly diseases and increase longevity.

Psychological elements in car-following models: Mental workload in case of incidents in the other driving lane

Estimations of parameter values of car-following models show considerable differences between individuals and experiments. These differences may be caused by a different effect of external circumstances on mental workload of drivers. This effect may especially play a considerable role in case of driving under adverse conditions (e.g. evacuations, adverse weather conditions, road works and incidents on the freeway). These adverse conditions have shown to have a substantial impact on traffic flow operations. In this regard a driving simulator experiment was performed as to what extent an incident in the other driving lane influences physiological indicators as well as subjective estimates of mental workload as well as longitudinal driving behavior. Also was investigated whether current car-following models, represented by the Intelligent Driver Model and the Helly model, adequately incorporate longitudinal driving behavior under these circumstances using a calibration approach for joint estimation. From the results followed that perception of incidents in the other driving lane lead to significant changes in physiological indicators of mental workload as well as in longitudinal driving behavior. Through the estimation approach was indicated that the Intelligent Driver Model as well as the Helly model how show substantial changes in parameter values as well as that these models less adequately incorporate longitudinal driving behavior in case of incidents in the other driving lane.

Changes in physiological indicators associated with salt tolerance in two contrasting cashew rootstocks

In order to identify salt tolerance indicators, several physiological variables were evaluated in two contrasting cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) rootstocks in response to salt stress. The tolerant CCP 09 genotype showed better growth performance after two weeks under a large range of NaCl salinity (50, 100, 150 and 200 mM). The NaCl treatments induced a significant drop in transpiration as a consequence of an increased stomatal resistance in both genotypes. No significant differences in Na+, Cl, and K+ concentrations were found in both roots and leaves regardless of rootstocks. The tolerant genotype exhibited lower relative water content and less negative leaf osmotic potential as compared with the sensitive genotype and, therefore, these variables could not be related to salt tolerance. Salt stress caused more significant changes in protein and amino acid concentrations in roots than in leaves. Among the physiological indicators, leaf membrane damage was closely associated with the differences in salt tolerance between the two cashew genotypes. Furthermore, under NaCl salinity the tolerant rootstock showed greater ability to accumulate compatible organic solutes (amino acids, proline and soluble sugars) in leaves in addition to maintaining the soluble sugar concentration in roots as compared with the sensitive rootstock.

Assessing canopy PRI for water stress detection with diurnal airborne imagery

A series of diurnal airborne campaigns were conducted over an orchard field to assess the canopy Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) as an indicator of water stress. Airborne campaigns over two years were conducted with the Airborne Hyperspectral Scanner (AHS) over an orchard field to investigate changes in PRI, in the Transformed Chlorophyll Absorption in Reflectance Index (TCARI) normalized by the Optimized Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (OSAVI) (TCARI/OSAVI), and in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as function of field-measured physiological indicators of water stress, such as stomatal conductance, stem water potential, steady-state fluorescence, and crown temperature. The AHS sensor was flown at three times on each 2004 and 2005 years, collecting 2 m spatial resolution imagery in 80 spectral bands in the 0.43–12.5 μm spectral range. Indices PRI, TCARI/OSAVI, and NDVI were calculated from reflectance bands, and thermal bands were assessed for the retrieval of land surface temperature, separating pure crowns from shadows and sunlit soil pixels. The Photochemical Reflectance Index, originally developed for xanthophyll cycle pigment change detection was calculated to assess its relationship with water stress at a canopy level, and more important, to assess canopy structural and viewing geometry effects for water stress detection in diurnal airborne experiments. The FLIGHT 3D canopy reflectance model was used to simulate the bi-directional reflectance changes as function of the viewing geometry, background and canopy structure. This manuscript demonstrates that the airborne-level PRI index is sensitive to the de-epoxidation of the xanthophyll pigment cycle caused by water stress levels, but affected diurnally by the confounding effects of BRDF. Among the three vegetation indices calculated, only airborne PRI demonstrated sensitivity to diurnal changes in physiological indicators of water stress, such as canopy temperature minus air temperature (Tc–Ta), stomatal conductance (G), and stem water potential (ψ) measured in the field at the time of each image acquisition. No relationships were found from the diurnal experiments between NDVI and TCARI/OSAVI with the tree-measured physiological measures. FLIGHT model simulations of PRI demonstrated that PRI is highly affected by the canopy structure and background.

Longitudinal deteriorations in patient reported outcomes in patients with COPD

Goals of effective management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) include relieving their symptoms and improving their health status. We examined how such patient reported outcomes would change longitudinally in comparison to physiological outcomes in COPD. One hundred thirty-seven male outpatients with stable COPD were recruited for the study. The subjects health status was evaluated using the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire (CRQ). Their dyspnoea using the modified Medical Research Council (MRC) scale and their psychological status using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were assessed upon entry and every 6 months thereafter over a 5-year period. Pulmonary function and exercise capacity as evaluated by peak oxygen uptake (VO2) on progressive cycle ergometry were also followed over the same time. Using mixed effects models to estimate the slopes for the changes, scores on the SGRQ, the CRQ, the MRC and the HADS worsened in a statistically significant manner over time. However, changes only weakly correlated with changes in forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV(1)) and peak (VO2). We demonstrated that although changes in pulmonary function and exercise capacity are well known in patients with COPD, patient reported outcomes such as health status, dyspnoea and psychological status also deteriorated significantly over time. In addition, deteriorations in patient reported outcomes only weakly correlated to changes in physiological indices. To capture the overall deterioration of COPD from the subjective viewpoints of the patients, patient reported outcomes should be followed separately from physiological outcomes.

High-fibre pelleted rations decrease water intake but do not improve physiological indexes of welfare in food-restricted female broiler breeders

1. A 3 × 2 factorial experiment was conducted with three diets and two lines of broiler breeder females to evaluate the contribution of low-energy rations for improving the welfare of feed-restricted birds during rearing. Experimental diets were fed from 6 to 16 weeks of age and were created by diluting a conventional grower (Control) ration containing 11·0 MJ ME/kg with 200 (8·8 MJ ME/kg) or 400 (6·6 MJ ME/kg) g oat hulls/kg using Optimoist to facilitate the pelleting process. Welfare was assessed by changes in behaviour and physiological variables at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age. Birds were fed restricted quantities of feed to meet recommended body weight targets. 2. There was a decrease in the proportion of observations of drinking and an increase of preening in birds fed on the two experimental diets compared with the control. There was a linear decrease in litter moisture and the number of litter changes with increasing diet dilution, and water intake at 12 weeks was higher in the control than in the two experimental diets. There were no changes in physiological indexes of welfare (heterophil–lymphocyte ratio, plasma corticosterone and antibody responses) associated with the dietary treatments. 3. There were no important differences in the growth, behaviour or physiological responses to dietary treatment between the two lines of broiler breeders. Changes with age were similar to those reported in other experiments. 4. It was concluded that low-energy pelleted diets would improve litter conditions but not improve indexes of welfare in feed-restricted broiler breeders.

Changes in Physiological Indicators and Behavioral Responses Induced by Pinealectomy in Rainbow Trout (Salmo irideus)

Changes in Physiological Indicators and Behavioral Responses Induced by Pinealectomy in Rainbow Trout (Salmo irideus)

Light-dependent Changes in Physiological Indices and Behavior Activity of the Rainbow Trout Salmo irideus

Light-dependent Changes in Physiological Indices and Behavior Activity of the Rainbow Trout Salmo irideus

Changes in physiological indices of smolting during seaward migration of wild coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch

Wild juvenile coho salmon ( Oncorhynchus kisutch) were captured in traps or by seining during the course of parr–smolt transformation and migration from a small coastal stream in Oregon. Physiological measurements indicated that gill (Na+K)-ATPase specific activity was significantly greater in migrants than in non-migrants, but there was no significant difference in kidney (Na+K)-ATPase specific activity in the two populations. Glycogen concentrations and triglyceride concentrations were significantly lower in migrant populations than in non-migrants. Guanine concentrations tended to be lower in non-migrant fish than in migrant fish after May. There were no significant differences in plasma thyroxine or tri-iodothyronine concentrations between migrant and non-migrant fish. The decrease in energy storage compounds supports the hypothesis that migration is caused by an ionic imbalance during smolting, but the lack of changes in kidney (Na+K)-ATPase specific activity during smolting of wild fish does not support this hypothesis or the results from studies with laboratory reared coho salmon.

Human Stress Recovery during Exposure to Geranium Visual Stimuli

Evaluating human psychophysiological responses to plant visual stimuli provides a clearer understanding of factors within plant environments that enhance or maximize recovery from stress. Advances in physiological monitoring technology allow continuous recording and more-refined data collection of human responses to environmental stimuli. The objective of this study was to compare effects on stress recovery by exposures to geranium visual stimuli following an induced stressor, by measuring changes in physiological indicators and emotional states. One-hundred-fifty college students were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: red-flowering geraniums, non-flowering geraniums, or no geraniums. Each student viewed a 10-min film of a stressful human situation following a 5-min baseline, then was exposed to an assigned treatment setting during a 5-min recovery period. Continuous physiological measurements were taken of brainwave activities (EEG), skin conductance (EDR), and finger skin temperature. Self-rating scores of subjects' feelings were taken using the Zuckerman Inventory of Personal Reactions. Comparisons among treatment groups will be discussed based on gender and other demographic factors.

On the Mechanisms of Retardation of Aging and Inhibition of Mammary Tumorigenesis by Energy Restriction in SHN/C3H F1 Female Mice.

Although it has long been known that energy restriction (ER) inhibits tumors and retards aging in rats and mice, its mode of action remains unknown. In rodents, ER alters the rate of age-related changes in physiological indices. Thus, it affects a broad array of age-sensitive parameters. However, present evidence does not indicate which parameters are primary contributors to the deceleration of aging. Compared to fasting or short-term underfeeding, little is known about the metabolic effects of long-term, life-prolonging ER. We thus investigated the effects of ER on hepatic enzyme activities, including drug-metabolizing enzymes and antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase. The catalase activity was found to be higher in ER mice than in control mice both at 12 and 24 months of age. In accord with the high catalase activity, lipid peroxidation in liver was much less in ER mice than in age matched control mice. beta-Naphthoflavone, known to induce P-450 related enzymes and xanthine oxidase, was given (ip) to increase lipid peroxidation. The ER was found to inhibit lipid peroxidation after beta-naphthoflavone treatment. It was, therefore, concluded that long-term life-prolonging ER increases antioxidant defence, supporting indirectly the free radical theory of aging. It is well known that ER delays puberty in rodents and has a profound influence on serum hormone levels, including those of prolactin (PRL) and thyroid hormones. However, it remains unknown how these effects are produced by ER. We therefore investigated the effects of ER on the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas and on the pituitary-ovarian axis. In the islets of Langerhans, ER was found to increase the density of alpha-cells significantly both in 11- and 67-week-old mice. In the pituitary gland in ER mice, the cellular density of PRL-producing cells diminished significantly while that of growth-hormone-producing cells did not. One of the modes of action of ER on the endocrine system is thus concluded to be mediated by changing cellular population. Since ER decreased PRL-producing cells and PRL plays a key role in mammary tumorigenesis, we investigated whether ER decreased the gene expression of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in SHN/C3H mice. The SHN strain, which was found to have a new MMTV provirus locus, mtv-4, was used in the study.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Sexuality in Older Women

A host of biological and psychosocial factors play an important role in age-related changes of female sexuality. The most important of these are the availability of a sexually active partner and presence of concurrent illnesses. Some of the age-related changes in physiological indicators of sexual function, such as vaginal blood flow, are the result of estrogen deficiency, and as such are essentially reversible. Despite the inherent limitations of many studies in female sexuality, a significant degree of objective measurements has been reported in the literature. Future research should focus on developing appropriate techniques for quantitative estimation of sexual response in women. The need for love and sexual intimacy does not diminish with age, and sexual history should be part of the clinical evaluation of older patients.