Physiological Aspect Research Articles

Type 2 diabetes patients' and providers' differing perspectives on medication nonadherence: a qualitative meta-synthesis.

BackgroundPoor adherence to medication regimens increases adverse outcomes for patients with Type 2 diabetes. Improving medication adherence is a growing priority for clinicians and health care systems. We examine the differences between patient and provider understandings of barriers to medication adherence for Type 2 diabetes patients.MethodsWe searched systematically for empirical qualitative studies on the topic of barriers to medication adherence among Type 2 diabetes patients published between 2002–2013; 86 empirical qualitative studies qualified for inclusion. Following qualitative meta-synthesis methods, we coded and analyzed thematically the findings from studies, integrating and comparing findings across studies to yield a synthetic interpretation and new insights from this body of research.ResultsWe identify 7 categories of barriers: (1) emotional experiences as positive and negative motivators to adherence, (2) intentional non-compliance, (3) patient-provider relationship and communication, (4) information and knowledge, (5) medication administration, (6) social and cultural beliefs, and (7) financial issues. Patients and providers express different understandings of what patients require to improve adherence. Health beliefs, life context and lay understandings all inform patients’ accounts. They describe barriers in terms of difficulties adapting medication regimens to their lifestyles and daily routines. In contrast, providers' understandings of patients poor medication adherence behaviors focus on patients’ presumed needs for more information about the physiological and biomedical aspect of diabetes.ConclusionsThis study highlights key discrepancies between patients’ and providers’ understandings of barriers to medication adherence. These misunderstandings span the many cultural and care contexts represented by 86 qualitative studies. Counseling and interventions aimed at improving medication adherence among Type 2 diabetes might become more effective through better integration of the patient’s perspective and values concerning adherence difficulties and solutions.

Impaired cell envelope resulting from arcA mutation largely accounts for enhanced sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide in Shewanella oneidensis.

Oxidative stress is one of the major challenges that Shewanella encounter routinely because they thrive in redox-stratified environments prone to reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, letting alone that ROS can be generated endogenously. As respiration is the predominant process for endogenous ROS, regulators mediating respiration have been demonstrated and/or implicated to play a role in oxidative stress response. In our efforts to unveil the involvement of global regulators for respiration in the oxidative stress response, we found that loss of the Arc system increases S. oneidensis sensitivity to H2O2 whereas neither Fnr nor Crp has a significant role. A comparison of transcriptomic profiles of the wild-type and its isogenic arcA mutant revealed that the OxyR regulon is independent of the Arc system. We then provided evidence that the enhanced H2O2 sensitivity of the arcA mutant is due to an increased H2O2 uptake rate, a result of a cell envelope defect. Although one of three proteases of the ArcA regulon when in excess is partially accountable for the envelope defect, the major contributors remain elusive. Overall, our data indicate that the Arc system influences the bacterial cell envelope biosynthesis, a physiological aspect that has not been associated with the regulator before.

Reducing the gaps in our understanding of the global terrestrial carbon cycle.

Reducing the gaps in our understanding of the global terrestrial carbon cycle.

MOTIVASI PESERTA SENAM AEROBIK DI ERISTY MANAGEMENT KOTA SEMARANG TAHUN 2013

Motivation to be studied by the researchers is the aspect of physiological needs , safety needs aspects , aspects of social needs , esteem needs aspects, and aspects of actualization needs. The approach used in this study uses a qualitative research approach which means it will explain a phenomenon that occurs in aerobics participants. Data collection methods used in this study is a questionnaire survey method, observation and documentation. Methods of data analysis using descriptive percentages. The results of the analysis of research data, the level of motivation of participants overall aerobic Eristy Management Semarang in 2013 are as follows : 1) the physiological aspect as much as 86 % or some 52 people with a very good category, 2) security aspect as much as 81 % or 49 people with the good category, 3) the social aspect as much as 76 % or 46 people with either category, 4) Aspects of the award as much as 76 % or 46 people with a good category, 5) Aspects of actualization as much as 76 % or 46 people with both categories . The conclusion is the motivation of participants in the aerobic exercise Eristy Management Semarang in 2013 is due to physiological needs, amounting to 86 % or 52 people. The aerobics participants have very high motivation to maintain a healthy body and fitness..

IMPROVEMENT OF CONDITIONS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT THROUGH ERGONOMICS INTERVENTION IMPROVED PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTS QUALITY OF DODOL WORKERS AT PENGLATAN VILLAGE BULELENG RESIDENCY

The success of production is largely determined by the conditions and working environment that will affect the comfort, safety and health of workers. Conditions and working environment did not ergonomic ally designed causing dodol workers in the Penglatan village  Buleleng cannot work optimally. Thus, there should be conducted an ergonomic intervention on conditions and working environment of dodol worker by designing dodol mixer, organizational and working environment with ergonomics interventions through the application of appropiate technology and SHIP concepts approaches. This study was an experimental study with Randomized Pretest and Posttest Control Group Design. This design was a parallel design with number of sample 34 people who were divided into 2 groups they are control and experiment group. Control group that works with the original conditions and working environment totaling 17 peoples and 17 others as the treatment group that works with conditions and working environment that has been improved base on ergonomics. Data were analyzed with a significance level of 5%. The research result showed that there was a decrease in work load between the control and the experiment group 17,11%, decrease in CVL 42,14%, ECPM value was higher than that of ECPT, decrease in musculoskeletal 37,35%, and the tiredness level was34,11%. Work productivity increased from physiological aspect 67,11%, and from economic aspect 179,73%. Based on investment evaluation, NVP value in 5 years was Rp.54.414.450,-, PBP values was 0,26 years less than 5 years and RoI value 19,6% higher than bank interest rate 14%. Laboratory test result showed that there was improvement of dodol quality based on SNI requirement. It was concluded that the improvement of conditions and working environment with ergonomics interventions through the application of TTG and approach of SHIP can improve performance by decreased workload categories, decreased musculoskeletal complaints, decreased fatigue and increase the workers income levels and improve the dodol quality.

Physiological Role of Endocannabinoid Hydrolyzing Enzymes in Brain Development and Neurodegeneration

Endocannabinoids (eCBs) such as 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and N-arachidonoylethanolamide (AEA) are important lipophilic mediators for transducing in signals organizing neuronal wiring in brain development, tuning retrograde signaling during synaptic transmission, or regulating neuroinflammation. e-CB hydrolyzing enzymes such as monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) are key enzymes that integrate with the eCB receptors (CBR) in a distinct or cooperative manner for signaling in these diverse processes. Recently, MAGL and α/β hydrolase domain-containing protein 6 (ABHD6) have been highlighted as the primary brain 2-AG hydrolases, categorized as Ser hydrolase with a unique α/β-hydrolase fold, although FAAH preferentially hydrolyzes AEA. Brain MAGL was originally noticed as an enzyme involved in the modulation of synaptic retrograde signaling through termination of eCBR signaling by 2-AG hydrolysis, but recent elegant studies have revealed new aspects of its function in the generation of arachidonoic acid (AA) or other molecular signals that induce neuroinflammation. ABHD6 is important for 2-AG homeostasis and controls synaptic plasticity by downregulating 2-AG accumulation and efficacy at CBRs or the GABAA receptor. ABHD12 has recently been reported to hydrolyze lysophosphatidylserine in vivo, and ABHD12 knockout mice exhibit a neurologic phenotype similar to that of patients possessing inborn mutation in ABHD12, leading to the neurodegenerative disease PHARC (polyneuropathy, hearing loss, ataxia, retinosis pigmentosa, and cataract). Here we review the recent progress in understanding the mechanisms underlying CBR signaling and e-CB hydrolyzing enzymes from a physiological aspect, with emergence of attractive avenues as therapeutic targets for several neurodegenerative diseases.

Sport injuries in enduro riders: a review of literature.

enduro is an off road motorcycling event. It is a fast, exciting adventure sport with increasing numbers of participants and competitions. we performed search of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, and Embase databases using the following keywords 'Enduro injuries', 'off-road motorcycle injuries' and 'Enduro sport'. We identified four studies which described the physiological characteristic of enduro riders and the injury pattern sustained by these athletes. hands, wrists and forearms are the predominant areas of overuse in enduro riders. The extremities are the most injured parts in enduro. However, 98% of these injuries are mild to moderate with abbreviated injury scale grades 1 and 2. there is paucity of published data on enduro injuries. In depth understanding of the physiological aspect of enduro riders with close monitoring of injuries is needed to promote safety measures in enduro and to reduce risk factors of injury which in turn can help to make enduro a safe alternative to the other dangerous motorcycling sports.

White adipose tissue reference network: a knowledge resource for exploring health-relevant relations.

Optimal health is maintained by interaction of multiple intrinsic and environmental factors at different levels of complexity—from molecular, to physiological, to social. Understanding and quantification of these interactions will aid design of successful health interventions. We introduce the reference network concept as a platform for multi-level exploration of biological relations relevant for metabolic health, by integration and mining of biological interactions derived from public resources and context-specific experimental data. A White Adipose Tissue Health Reference Network (WATRefNet) was constructed as a resource for discovery and prioritization of mechanism-based biomarkers for white adipose tissue (WAT) health status and the effect of food and drug compounds on WAT health status. The WATRefNet (6,797 nodes and 32,171 edges) is based on (1) experimental data obtained from 10 studies addressing different adiposity states, (2) seven public knowledge bases of molecular interactions, (3) expert’s definitions of five physiologically relevant processes key to WAT health, namely WAT expandability, Oxidative capacity, Metabolic state, Oxidative stress and Tissue inflammation, and (4) a collection of relevant biomarkers of these processes identified by BIOCLAIMS (http://bioclaims.uib.es). The WATRefNet comprehends multiple layers of biological complexity as it contains various types of nodes and edges that represent different biological levels and interactions. We have validated the reference network by showing overrepresentation with anti-obesity drug targets, pathology-associated genes and differentially expressed genes from an external disease model dataset. The resulting network has been used to extract subnetworks specific to the above-mentioned expert-defined physiological processes. Each of these process-specific signatures represents a mechanistically supported composite biomarker for assessing and quantifying the effect of interventions on a physiological aspect that determines WAT health status. Following this principle, five anti-diabetic drug interventions and one diet intervention were scored for the match of their expression signature to the five biomarker signatures derived from the WATRefNet. This confirmed previous observations of successful intervention by dietary lifestyle and revealed WAT-specific effects of drug interventions. The WATRefNet represents a sustainable knowledge resource for extraction of relevant relationships such as mechanisms of action, nutrient intervention targets and biomarkers and for assessment of health effects for support of health claims made on food products. Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12263-014-0439-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Reflective Thinking on EFL Classroom Discourse

This study investigates eight TEFL pre-service teachers’ reflective thinking on their classroom discourse in a middle school in China. The data comes from reflective journals, interviews and classroom observations. Three major themes emerge from the journals: physiological aspect, interpersonal aspect and pedagogical aspect of discourse. Moreover, the features of their reflective thinking on classroom discourse are explained. It is concluded that conceptualization is the most prominent feature. Additionally, the study finds out three influential factors on the focuses and features of pre-service teachers’ reflective thinking: lack of teaching experience, lack of knowledge on students and teachers’ identity dilemma.

Prioritizing factors associated with thermal stresses imposed on workers in steel and iron casting industries using the Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity analysis.

The aims of this study were to develop approaches for monitoring and prioritizing factors associated with thermal stresses imposed on workers in iron and steel casting industries, and to eventually purpose effective control strategies. The whole study was completed in the furnace areas of two steel casting and two iron casting plants, where the air temperature (Ta), radiant temperature (Tr), air velocity (Va) and partial water vapor pressure (Pa) were measured continuously during two consecutive work cycles. Simultaneously, the metabolic rates (M) of all workers in the furnace area were also measured. Using the WBGT as an index for screening purposes, our results suggest that all furnace area workers in both types of casting plants might experience severe heat stress. The predicted heat strain (PHS) model proposed by ISO 7933 was further adopted for detailed analysis from the physiological aspect. Through use of the Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity analysis, both M and Tr were found to be the two most important factors associated with workers' thermal hazard. Therefore, two effective control strategies were suggested, including reducing workloads of workers and reducing radiant heat transmitting from furnaces to workplace environments. The approach developed in the present study would be beneficial to many other industries for initiating strategies to avert the thermal hazard imposed on workers.

Maturation stages of fruit development and physiological seed quality in Physalis peruviana

In fleshy fruits such as the Physalis, in which the seeds are the main form of propagation, there is disagreement about the appropriate physiological stage for harvesting in order to obtain high-quality seeds. The objective of this study was to determine the stage of maturation of Physalis peruviana, using the colouration of the fruit and calyx, and relative to the physical aspect of the fruit and the physiological aspect of the seeds. The following five stages of maturation were studied: green calyx and fruit (A); green calyx and yellow fruit (B); yellowish-green calyx and yellow fruit (C); straw-coloured calyx and yellow fruit (D); straw-brown calyx and intensely yellow fruit (E). Physical evaluations were determined using the diameter, length and dry-weight of the fruit, and the 1000-seed weight and water content. The physiological characteristics of the seeds were determined by germination testing, seedling dry weight, germination speed index, seedling emergence in the field and emergence speed index. In Physalis peruviana, the diameter, length and dry weight of the fruit increased with the increase in physiological maturity. The maturation stage did not affect the percentage of germination or seed vigour in Physalis peruviana.

Triple-aspect monism: physiological, mental unconscious and conscious aspects of brain activity.

Brain activity contains three fundamental aspects: (a) The physiological aspect, covering all kinds of processes that involve matter and/or energy; (b) the mental unconscious aspect, consisting of dynamical patterns (i.e., frequency, amplitude and phase-modulated waves) embodied in neural activity. These patterns are variously operated (transmitted, stored, combined, matched, amplified, erased, etc), forming cognitive and emotional unconscious processes and (c) the mental conscious aspect, consisting of feelings experienced in the first-person perspective and cognitive functions grounded in feelings, as memory formation, selection of the focus of attention, voluntary behavior, aesthetical appraisal and ethical judgment. Triple-aspect monism (TAM) is a philosophical theory that provides a model of the relation of the three aspects. Spatially distributed neuronal dendritic potentials generate amplitude-modulated waveforms transmitted to the extracellular medium and adjacent astrocytes, prompting the formation of large waves in the astrocyte network, which are claimed to both integrate distributed information and instantiate feelings. According to the valence of the feeling, the large wave feeds back on neuronal synapses, modulating (reinforcing or depressing) cognitive and behavioral functions.

Complication and management of intestinal stomas: In Indian perspective

Introduction Complications associated with stomas are frequent and run the gamut from the technical, mechanical, physiological and psychological aspect. The impact of these complications ranges from simple inconvenience to life-threatening situations [1].

Deqi Sensation in Different Kinds of Acupuncture

The current issue is the 2013 issue which includes 21 interesting papers. Acupuncture stimulation elicits Deqi, a composite of unique sensations that is essential for clinical efficacy according to traditional Chinese medicine. In recent years, clinical trials of acupuncture have paid increasing attention to the evocation of Deqi. The physiological mechanism that produces the effect of Deqi has also been explored in several studies but is not well understood. As mentioned above, this special issue contains 21 papers, of which two papers are related to the characterization of the Deqi during acupuncture treatment. Deqi sensation often occurs during acupuncture treatment and is believed to be important for a successful acupuncture therapy. So far there exist no questionnaires for children. E. Anders et al. created a sentence based questionnaire for children on the basis of the Southampton Needle Sensation questionnaire (SNSQ). Three papers study the interaction between Deqi and acupuncture by neuroimaging technology. They provide evidence to understand neural mechanism underlying acupuncture. Four papers are related to the physiological mechanism of Deqi. These papers describe current knowledge in understanding of Deqi from a physiological aspect. Three reviews are related to the recent advances in Deqi and acupuncture effects. The current evidence base is not solid enough to draw any conclusion regarding the predicative value of natural Deqi for clinical efficacy or the therapeutic value of manipulation-facilitated Deqi. Six papers focus on Deqi in manual acupuncture compared with other types of acupuncture, of which 4 papers introduce the influence of the Deqi sensation by suspended moxibustion stimulation. Two papers adopt randomized controlled clinical trial and multicenter prospective cohort design to compare the clinical effectiveness of Deqi sensation. Deqi should be taken into account in clinical trials, and more researches are required to understand the underlying mechanisms, as described in this special issue. Cun-Zhi Liu Gerhard Litscher Fan-Rong Liang Jian Kong Lin-Peng Wang Lu Wang

Evaluation of the effects of a new intravaginal gel, containing purified bovine colostrum, on vaginal blood flow and vaginal atrophy in ovariectomized rat.

IntroductionVaginal dryness due to vaginal atrophy is a common complaint of postmenopausal women, interfering with sexual function and quality of life. Hormone replacement therapy is the only effective therapy but with known risks that leave unmet medical needs. A new product, ZP-025 vaginal gel, containing purified (dialyzed lyophilized) bovine colostrum, has been developed for the treatment of vaginal dryness secondary to vaginal atrophy.AimThe study aims to investigate the effects of intravaginal application of ZP-025 on vaginal atrophy using an animal model.MethodsOvariectomized female Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Three weeks after surgery, rats were divided into four groups and treated for 4 weeks (twice a day) with placebo or ZP-025 at low (0.5%) or high (2.3%) concentrations of colostrum; in the control group, rats did not receive any treatment. Changes in vaginal blood flow due to pelvic nerve stimulation were assessed by laser Doppler flowmetry and vaginal tissue was collected for histological assay.Main Outcome MeasuresThe main outcome measures were vaginal blood flow before and after pelvic nerve stimulation and histology of vaginal epithelium.ResultsTreatment with ZP-025 to ovariectomized rats induced an increase of vaginal blood flow parameters (vascular capacitance, amplitude and area under the curve of the response) in response to pelvic nerve stimulation compared with control group, statistically significant at 2.3%. Vaginal epithelium showed a physiological estrous cycle aspect in treated animals, with at least five cell layers vs. one or two cell layers in control rats. As expected from a topical formulation, systemic effects on body weights and uterine wet weights were not observed with application of ZP-025.ConclusionsIn this study, the new product ZP-025, containing purified colostrum, was shown to have beneficial effects on vaginal atrophy in ovariectomized rats, improving vaginal hemodynamics and thickness of vaginal epithelium. Vailati S, Melloni E, Riscassi E, Behr Roussel D, and Sardina M. Evaluation of the effects of a new intravaginal gel, containing purified bovine colostrum, on vaginal blood flow and vaginal atrophy in ovariectomized rat. Sex Med 2013;1:35–43.

Sleep hygiene behavior among Balinese adolescent

Introduction: Sleep hygiene is very important for predicting the quality and quantity of sleep in adolescent students. Studies in recent years showed the number of adolescents who get sleep disturbances due to poor sleep behavior increase d by 72.9%, however, only a few studies explored the sleep hygiene behav iour particularly from developing country setting . The purpose of this study was to know sleep hygiene in adolescent students particularly in Bali island . Method: Design used in this study was descriptive analytic with cross-sectional approach. The population was all students of class X and XI in PGRI Negara High School. Total sample was 46 respondents. Data were collected by using modified Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale (ASHS) questionnaire and analyzed by using multiple linear regression test with a level of significance p < .05. Result: The result showed that sleep hygiene for Balinese adolescents in terms of physiological aspect to have enough category ( 50%) and the cognitive aspect showed less category ( 71.74%). M ost students have sleep hygiene behavior with good category ( 41.32%) on the emotional aspect and t he sleep environment aspect on less category ( 45.65%). The sleep hygiene behavior of daytime sleep aspect having enough category ( 50%) and the sleep stability aspect on less category ( 43.48%). Discussion and conclusion: It can be concluded that most of Balinese adolescents has sleep hygiene with less to moderate category . Further studies should be done to improve sleep quality through nursing intervention .

Vyana Vata – The Mahajava

Vyana Vata is described as Mahajava which is highly powerful. Therefore it keeps the Rasa Dhatu in circulation continuously and always throughout the life. Vyana Vata with its swift action performs all the functions in the body. All the three Doshas residing in Hrdaya contribute directly or indirectly to the functioning of the body; but vyana vata has a unique role in carrying out the functions throughout the body while residing in hrdaya . Any obstruction to vyana vata leads to a disease that affects the whole body. Vitiation of vyana vata hampers its functions as well as nutrition and movements of the body. Therefore treatment should aim at understanding vyana vata and to correct the root cause. The paper describes the physiological, pathological and treatment aspects of vyana vata in accordance with the contemporary view. The physiological aspect includes the location, functions and dependency of other sub types of Vata to Vyana Vata which is discussed along with its contemporary understanding. The pathological aspect deals with causes for vitiation and symptoms seen and the general line of treatment modality applied. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

Healthcare quality in a fragmented society: the Lebanese model

Quality of health care is largely dependent on a holistic approach to human person (HP). In Lebanon, the medical field, including neurology, seems to be ignorant to the integrity of the human person. The objective of this study is to provide an insight to the importance of reintegrating the HP in the medical field attempting to offer a basis for scientists interested in carrying out similar research in face of the complete lack of studies in Lebanon. This requires the contribution of various health care support systems to bring the topic into public dialogue allowing for a reassessment of the issue. The method utilized included semi-structured interviews, seminars and open discussion panels hosting a variety of representatives from society avoiding medical corporatism. These revealed a contradiction between ideological understanding of the importance of the value of the human person and practical application of this value. Most people who participated in the study acknowledged the importance of catering to the human in suffering as a whole focusing on the physiological aspect of illness but equally so on the spiritual, psychological and mental. However, those same people acknowledged that the situation in Lebanon was not considerate to the principle of unity of human person. The reasons for this discrepancy had their socio-economic and cultural roots and hindered the quality of care delivered to suffering individuals. This cannot be ratified except when all those concerned with medical care acknowledge the problem and show a willingness to deal with it through taking necessary positive action.

Investigation of the change in marker geometry during respiration motion: a preliminary study for dynamic-multi-leaf real-time tumor tracking

BackgroundThe use of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is rapidly increasing. Presently, the most accurate method uses fiducial markers implanted near the tumor. A shortcoming of this method is that the beams turn off during the majority of the respiratory cycle, resulting in a prolonged treatment time. Recent advances in collimation technology have enabled continuous irradiation to a moving tumor. However, the lung is a dynamic organ characterized by inhalation exhalation cycles, during which marker/tumor geometry may change (i.e., misalignment), resulting in under-dosing to the tumor.FindingsEight patients with lung cancer who were candidates for stereotactic radiotherapy were examined with 4D high-resolution CT. As a marker surrogate, virtual bronchoscopy using the pulmonary artery (VBPA) was conducted. To detect possible marker/tumor misalignment during the respiration cycle, the distance between the peripheral bronchus, where a marker could be implanted, and the center of gravity of a tumor were calculated for each respiratory phase. When the respiration cycle was divided into 10 phases, the median value was significantly larger for the 30%-70% respiratory phases compared to that for the 10% respiratory phase (P<0.05, Mann–Whitney U-test).ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that physiological aspect must be considered when continuous tumor tracking is applied to a moving tumor. To minimize an “additional” internal target volume (ITV) margin, a marker should be placed approximately 2.5 cm from the tumor.

Oxidative stress is associated with aluminum toxicity recovery in apex of pea root

Although many studies on the mechanism of Al toxicity and tolerance have been conducted independently, events occurring during the recovery process from Al injury is limited. This study was to investigate Al toxicity recovery mechanism focusing in morphological and physiological aspect. We investigated the mechanisms underlying Al toxicity recovery in terms of oxidative stress using the pea root apex as a model system. The accumulation of reactive oxygen species was remarkably high in the root under continued Al treatment but decreased in the recovering root. The superoxide anion exuded in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) showed a similar tendency with respect to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. A similar pattern of lignin content and superoxide dismutase activity was observed among the treatments, while the increased peroxidation in the root under continued Al treatment did not decline with recovery treatment. A longitudinal section of the root under continued Al treatment showed the accumulation of superoxide anion, lignin and peroxide (H2O2) at the epidermal and outer cortex region where the Al induced injuries, including ruptures, are detected. Oxidative stress is associated with the mechanism of Al toxicity recovery. The recovery process might include the elongation of the central cylinder as a consequence of the oxidative stress-induced formation of the zonal region (ZR). The results further suggest a plausible role for the ZR in the programmed cell death-like function involved in Al toxicity recovery.