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Other Arm (other + arm)
Selected AbstractsEvidence from proprioception of fusimotor coactivation during voluntary contractions in humansEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2008Trevor J. Allen In experiments on position sense at the elbow joint in the horizontal plane, blindfolded subjects were required to match the position of one forearm (reference) by placement of their other arm (indicator). Position errors were measured after conditioning elbow muscles of the reference arm with an isometric contraction while the arm was held either flexed or extended. The difference in errors after the two forms of conditioning was large when the conditioned muscles remained relaxed during the matching process and it became less when elbow muscles were required to lift a load during the match (10 and 25% of maximal voluntary contraction, respectively). Errors from muscle conditioning were attributed to signals arising in muscle spindles and were hypothesized to result from the thixotropic property of passive intrafusal fibres. Active muscle does not exhibit thixotropy. It is proposed that during a voluntary contraction the errors after conditioning are less, because the spindles become coactivated through the fusimotor system. The distribution of errors is therefore seen to be a reflection of fusimotor recruitment thresholds. For elbow flexors most, but not all, fusimotor fibres appear to be recruited by 10% of a maximal contraction. [source] Combination Therapy with Digoxin and Diltiazem Controls Ventricular Rate in Chronic Atrial Fibrillation in Dogs Better than Digoxin or Diltiazem Monotherapy: A Randomized Crossover Study in 18 DogsJOURNAL OF VETERINARY INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2009A.R.M. Gelzer Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) with excessively high ventricular rates (VR) occurs in dogs with advanced heart disease. Rate control improves clinical signs in these patients. Optimal drug therapy and target VR remain poorly defined. Hypothesis: Digoxin-diltiazem combination therapy reduces VR more than either drug alone in dogs with high VR AF. Animals: Eighteen client-owned dogs (>15 kg) with advanced heart disease, AF, and average VR on 24-hour Holter > 140 beats per minute (bpm). Methods: After baseline Holter recording, dogs were randomized to digoxin or diltiazem monotherapy, or combination therapy. Repeat Holter evaluation was obtained after 2 weeks; dogs were then crossed over to the other arm (monotherapy or combination therapy) for 2 weeks and a third Holter was acquired. Twenty-four hour average VR, absolute and relative VR changes from baseline, and percent time spent within prespecified VR ranges (>140, 100,140, and <100 bpm) were compared. Correlations between serum drug concentrations and VR were examined. Results: Digoxin (median, 164 bpm) and diltiazem (median, 158 bpm) decreased VR from baseline (median, 194 bpm) less than the digoxin-diltiazem combination (median, 126 bpm) (P < .008 for each comparison). With digoxin-diltiazem, VR remained <140 bpm for 85% of the recording period, but remained >140 bpm for 88% of the recording period with either monotherapy. Serum drug concentrations did not correlate with VR. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: At the dosages used in this study, digoxin-diltiazem combination therapy provided a greater rate control than either drug alone in dogs with AF. [source] Action of a silk fabric treated with AEGISTM in children with atopic dermatitis: A 3-month trialPEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 4 2007D. Y. Koller Irritation of the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis by contact with rough fibres of synthetic or woollen clothes is well known. Therefore, it has been recommended that patients should wear cotton clothes. However, cotton also consists of rough fibres able to irritate the skin, whereas silk is characterized by smooth fibres without irritating potential. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical effect of Dermasilk®, a special silk fabric (sericin-free silk treated with AEGIS AEM5772/5 which has antibacterial properties) , in children with atopic dermatitis. A total of 22 children with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis were recruited for a study period of 3 months. All of them received three different tube-fabrics , Dermasilk, sericin-free silk fabric without AEGIS AEM 5772/5 and cotton, covering the cubital region. Patients were advised to wear the Dermasilk fabric all day long during the whole study period on one arm, whereas the sericin-free AEGIS-free silk tube had to be used during the first 2 wk only on the other arm followed by the use of the cotton tube for the rest of the study period. Evaluation of the local SCORAD score was carried out at the beginning of the study, after 2, 4, 8 and 12 wk. A significant reduction of the local SCORAD index of the Dermasilk covered arm was observed after 4, 8 and 12 wk in comparison with the cotton-covered arm score [median (quartile 1,quartile 3)] 6.5 (5,8) vs. 8 (7,9), p < 0.002; 6 (5.25,7.75) vs. 8 (7,9), p < 0.0001; and 6 (5,6) vs. 8 (7.25,10), p < 0.0001. The use of Dermasilk has a significant beneficial effect in atopic dermatitis because of the non-irritating properties of silk as well as the antibacterial capacity of AEGIS AEM 5772/5. [source] Carbohydrate restriction, prostate cancer growth, and the insulin-like growth factor axis,THE PROSTATE, Issue 1 2008Stephen J. Freedland Abstract BACKGROUND Recent evidence suggests carbohydrate intake may influence prostate cancer biology. We tested whether a no-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (NCKD) would delay prostate cancer growth relative to Western and low-fat diets in a xenograft model. METHODS Seventy-five male SCID mice were fed a NCKD (84% fat,0% carbohydrate,16% protein kcal), low-fat (12% fat,72% carbohydrate,16% protein kcal), or Western diet (40% fat,44% carbohydrate,16% protein kcal). Low-fat mice were fed ad libitum and the other arms fed via a modified-paired feeding protocol. After 24 days, all mice were injected with LAPC-4 cells and sacrificed when tumors approached 1,000 mm3. RESULTS Despite consuming equal calories, NCKD-fed mice lost weight (up to 15% body weight) relative to low-fat and Western diet-fed mice and required additional kcal to equalize body weight. Fifty-one days after injection, NCKD mice tumor volumes were 33% smaller than Western mice (rank-sum, P,=,0.009). There were no differences in tumor volume between low-fat and NCKD mice. Dietary treatment was significantly associated with survival (log-rank, P,=,0.006), with the longest survival among the NCKD mice, followed by the low-fat mice. Serum IGFBP-3 was highest and IGF-1:IGFBP-3 ratio was lowest among NCKD mice while serum insulin and IGF-1 levels were highest in Western mice. NCKD mice had significantly decreased hepatic fatty infiltration relative to the other arms. CONCLUSIONS In this xenograft model, despite consuming more calories, NCKD-fed mice had significantly reduced tumor growth and prolonged survival relative to Western mice and was associated with favorable changes in serum insulin and IGF axis hormones relative to low-fat or Western diet. Prostate 68: 11,19, 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Calcineurin Inhibitor Minimization in the Symphony Study: Observational Results 3 Years after TransplantationAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 8 2009H. Ekberg The Symphony study showed that at 1 year posttransplant, a regimen based on daclizumab induction, 2 g mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), low-dose tacrolimus and steroids resulted in better renal function and lower acute rejection and graft loss rates compared with three other regimens: two with low-doses of cyclosporine or sirolimus instead of tacrolimus and one with no induction and standard cyclosporine dosage. This is an observational follow-up for 2 additional years with the same endpoints as the core study. Overall, 958 patients participated in the follow-up. During the study, many patients changed their immunosuppressive regimen (e.g. switched from sirolimus to tacrolimus), but the vast majority (95%) remained on MMF. During the follow-up, renal function remained stable (mean change: ,0.6 ml/min), and rates of death, graft loss and acute rejection were low (all about 1% per year). The MMF and low-dose tacrolimus arm continued to have the highest GFR (68.6 ± 23.8 ml/min vs. 65.9 ± 26.2 ml/min in the standard-dose cyclosporine, 64.0 ± 23.1 ml/min in the low-dose cyclosporine and 65.3 ± 26.2 ml/min in the low-dose sirolimus arm), but the difference with the other arms was not significant (p = 0.17 in an overall test and 0.077, 0.039 and 0.11, respectively, in pair-wise tests). The MMF and low-dose tacrolimus arm also had the highest graft survival rate, but with reduced differences between groups over time, and the least acute rejection rate. In the Symphony study, the largest ever prospective study in de novo kidney transplantation, over 3 years, daclizumab induction, MMF, steroids and low-dose tacrolimus proved highly efficacious, without the negative effects on renal function commonly reported for standard CNI regimens. [source] | ||||||||||