Maintaining energy balance is a complex physiological function whose dysregulation can lead to obesity and associated metabolic disorders. The bioamine serotonin (5HT) is an important regulator of ...energy homeostasis, with its central and peripheral pools influencing energy status in opposing ways. Using sublines of rats with constitutionally increased (high-5HT) or decreased (low-5HT) whole-body 5HT tone, we have previously shown that under standard diet constitutionally higher 5HT activity is associated with increased body weight, adiposity, and impaired glucose homeostasis. Here, we investigated the response of 5HT sublines to an obesogenic diet. Consistent with previous findings, high-5HT animals fed a standard diet had poorer metabolic health. However, in response to a high-fat diet, only low-5HT animals increased body weight and insulin resistance. They also showed more pronounced changes in blood metabolic parameters and the expression of various metabolic genes in hypothalamus and adipose tissue. On the other hand, high-5HT animals appeared to be protected from major metabolic disturbances of the obesogenic diet. The results suggest that constitutionally low 5HT activity is associated with higher susceptibility to harmful effects of a high-energy diet. High-5HT subline, which developed less adverse metabolic outcomes on hypercaloric diets, may prove useful in understanding metabolically healthy obesity in humans.
Rat inferior caval vein (ICV) ligation (up to the right ovarian vein (ROV)) commonly represents a recapitulation of Virchow: with ligation leading to vessel injury, stasis, thrombosis and hemodynamic ...changes. We revealed that BPC 157’s therapy collectively attenuated or counteracted all these events and the full syndrome.
We applied BPC 157 (10 μg, 10 ng/kg) as an early regimen or as a delayed therapy. Assessment includes gross assessment by microcamera; microscopy, venography, bleeding, blood pressure, ECG, thermography, MDA and NO-level in plasma and ICV, and gene expression.
Direct vein injury, thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, prolonged bleeding were all counteracted. Also, rapid presentation of collaterals and redistribution of otherwise trapped blood volume (bypassing through the left ovarian vein (LOV) and other veins), with venous hypertension, arterial hypotension and tachycardia counteraction were shown. BPC 157-rats presented raised plasma NO-values, but normal MDA-values; in ICV tissue reverted low NO-values and counteracted increased MDA-levels. Altered expression of EGR, NOS, SRF, VEGFR and KRAS in ICV, ROV and LOV revealed increased or decreased levels, while some genes continuously remained unchanged.
As a new insight, BPC 157 application largely attenuated or even completely eliminated all consequences of ICV ligation in rats.
A schematic depicting the mode of action of BPC 157 during ICV in rats.
BPC 157 Cytoprotection (cytoprotection concept in damaged stomach interpreted as endothelium recovery toward epithelium recovery 1involves controlling functions of two defensive systems, prostaglandins (PGs)-system (BPC 157 counteracts large scale of toxicity induced by NSAIDs, both COX 1-blockers and COX –blockers 4)and NO-system (5; 6; 7) (in addition to preserve endothelium maintenance (a common point for all cytoprotective agents to induce stomach cytoprotection 1), BPC 157 induces NO-release from stomach tissue homogenates 11). With major vessel essential obstruction, such as ICV, this particular endothelium protection should be generalized toward particular activation of blood vessels, seen once obstructed, with particular collateral vessels recruitment to bypass obstruction. Rapidly activated bypassing loop (LOV and other collaterals) and ligation-stop effectively bypassed may be likely related to the BPC 157 ability to interact with NO-system in different models and species and modulate its function as seen in particular with the counteraction of L-NAME-hypertension as well as counteraction of L-arginine-hypotension (5; 6; 7; 11). Likely along with the proposed involvement of the defensive systems, PGs-system and NO-system in BPC 157 endothelium protection in cytoprotection (1; 4; 5; 6; 7; 11), should be the effects of the BPC 157 on bleeding disorders (13; 34; 35), providing prevention and reversal of thrombosis after abdominal aorta anastomosis 13 as well as counteraction of prolonged bleeding and thrombocytopenias after amputation and anticoagulants (heparin, warfarin, aspirin) application, thought to be NO-system related (34; 35), and thereby, in ICV rats BPC 157 did not affect clotting parameters, thereby, attenuated thrombocytopenia and bleeding upon injury. Finally, further attention merits the evidence that with BPC 157 administration in rats which underwent ligation of ICV, these beneficial effects were combined with the altered EGR, NOS, SRF, VEGR and KRAS: increased (EGR, NOS, SRF, KRAS) or decreased (EGR, VEGFR, PLCɣ), while AKT1 remained unchanged in the ICV, as well as in the ROV and LOV. Consequently, particular pathways with both local and systemic relevance could be suggested. Of note, in ischemic colitis model induced by two ligations on left colic artery and vein, upon BPC 157 administration ligation-stops were effectively bypassed, interconnected loop of intestinal arcade vessels presented particular collateral vessels recruitment to bypass obstruction 36. Display omitted
Brown adipose tissue (BAT), an important regulator of thermogenic and metabolic processes, is considered a promising target to combat metabolic disorders. The neurotransmitter and hormone serotonin ...(5HT) is a major modulator of energy homeostasis, with its central and peripheral pools acting in opposing ways. To better understand how individual variations in 5HT homeostasis influence the thermogenic functionality of BAT, we used a rat model consisting of two sublines with constitutively increased (high-5HT) or decreased (low-5HT) whole-body 5HT tone, developed by selective breeding for platelet 5HT parameters. We have shown that animals with constitutively low 5HT activity maintained at a standard housing temperature (22 °C) have greater interscapular BAT (iBAT) mass and higher iBAT metabolic activity (as evidenced by measurements of iBAT temperature and glucose uptake), accompanied by increased iBAT mRNA expression of key thermogenic genes, compared to animals with high 5HT tone. In response to further thermogenic challenges-intermittent cold exposure or treatment with a β
-adrenergic agonist-5HT sublines show several functional and molecular differences linking constitutively low endogenous 5HT tone to higher BAT activity/capacity. Overall, the results support a role of 5-HT in the control of BAT thermogenesis They also suggest that individuals with lower 5HT activity may be more sensitive to β3-adrenergic drugs.
Scrotal thermography is a diagnostic method for varicocele. In short, there are five diagnostic thermographic criteria for varicocele, i.e., pattern of scrotal thermographic image indicative of ...varicocele, temperature at pampiniform plexus ≥34 C°, temperature difference between left and right pampiniform plexus ≥0.5 C°, enhancement of image during Valsalva maneuver, and temperature at pampiniform plexus ≥ temperature at ipsilateral thigh. Three or more positive signs are indicative of varicocele. The aim of this report is to present the use of digital thermography as a diagnostic method to evaluate the outcome of varicocele repair. We present a case of a student diagnosed with varicocele grade III, and assessed preoperatively and followed up postoperatively by scrotal thermography. According to thermographic indicators, our patient was positive for varicocele diagnosis before surgical treatment. Three months after varicocele repair, the patient did not show positive thermographic indicators of varicocele while physical examination and color Doppler ultrasound were equivocal. This case report suggests that infrared digital thermography of scrotum could be very valuable for monitoring patients in the period after surgery for varicocele, however, it should be confirmed in a larger number of patients.
Abstract
Background and Purpose: Forest fires are a universal problem that both confronts and confounds many countries. Such fires not only destroy large amount of natural resources, but also ...destroys wildlife and their natural habitat, wreaks general havoc on ecosystems and creates environmental pollution. For all that, fire fighting is one of today’s most important matters for natural and environmental resource protection and preservation.
Material and Methods: The growing concern regarding environmental
devastation of this kind is the underlying reason for the development of modern fire-detection system. Forest-fire automatic detection is a complex problem that involves substantial amount of various sensorial information and data. Furthermore, the reliability of automatic detection systems is still a significant issue in the domain. This paper presents a scheme of an integrated system for early detection of forest fires. The system uses a telecommunication
network to link several components for cooperative detection.
The perception system is based on a network of sensorial stations and central stations. The sensorial stations collect data including infrared and visual images and meteorological information. The central stations exchange data to perform distributed analysis. An implementation of the system has been carried out at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, Centre for Informatics and Computing. The paper includes some experiments carried out in the Natural Park of island Mljet and Molat (Croatia) (1).
Results: This paper proposes a new distributed intelligent system for reliable forest-fire detection based on the integration of information from several distributed sensors and sources of information.
Potential use of thermography for more effective detection of breast carcinoma was evaluated on 26 patients scheduled for breast carcinoma surgery. Ultrasonographic scan, mammography and thermography ...were performed at the University Hospital for Tumors. Thermographic imaging was performed using a new generation of digital thermal cameras with high sensitivity and resolution (ThermoTracer TH7102WL, NEC). Five images for each patient were recorded: front, right semi-oblique, right oblique, left- semi oblique and left oblique. While mammography detected 31 changes in 26 patients, thermography was more sensitive and detected 6 more changes in the same patients. All 37 changes were subjected to the cytological analysis and it was found that 16 of samples were malignant, 8 were suspected malignant and 11 were benign with atypia or proliferation while only 2 samples had benign findings. The pathohistological method (PHD) recorded 75.75% malignant changes within the total number of samples. Statistical analysis of the data has shown a probability of a correct mammographic finding in 85% of the cases (sensitivity of 85%, specificity of 84%) and a probability of a correct thermographic finding in 92% of the cases (sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 79%). As breast cancer remains the most prevalent cancer in women and thermography exhibited superior sensitivity, we believe that thermography should immediately find its place in the screening programs for early detection of breast carcinoma, in order to reduce the sufferings from this devastating disease.
Biomedical applications of thermography has been increased over the past fifty years. As it is completely non-invasive technique its use has been useful in the medical research as sensitive ...diagnostic method for different clinical and experimental levels. Thermography gives us valuable information about temperature differences of different parts of a human skin. Thus nervous system, metabolic or vascular disorders, cancer, arthritis, pain syndromes, soft tissue injuries and among others virus infections may be monitored comparing changes in thermal differences. As infection and inflammation can emerge in the any part of the human body causing temperature changes thermography presents valuable tool for repeatable monitoring that will not harm the patients. In case of cancer the increase in regional skin surface temperature is related to venous convection and thus also produces heat on the skin surface, but based on different biochemical processes. Despite decades of thermography use in biomedicine there are some specific requirements that emerge every so seeking for good and applicable solutions. The sensitivity of thermography gives us possibility to notice almost every change in the body in their early beginning but the standards for interpretation are still missing. It is so because recognition of the difference between inflammations and beginning of carcinogenesis can be very demanding. Further, existing standards are often susceptible to personal interpretation and thus can lead to misinterpretation. We suggest that some solutions are required for improving the diagnostic strength of thermography. So, further intensive researches in thermography application with creating specific data bases that can be used as algorithms are needed.
Thermography is a noninvasive, nondestructive method of scanning that does not require physical contact between measuring device (camera) and scanned object. Inflammation of peripheral joints, close ...to skin surface, is the dominant type of presentation of rheumatoid arthritis, a systemic immunological disease. Due to that, those joints are suitable for infrared thermal scanning. Considering the changes of the bones in the affected joints, as a control group, apart from healthy subjects, study was conducted on patients with osteoarthritis as well. This paper investigated thermographic images of both hands of healthy subjects, patients with rheumatoid arthritis and patients with osteoarthritis. On thermal images obtained, temperature of certain regions was analyzed. Basic statistical analyses (minimum, maximum, standard deviation, mean, and variance) were performed. It was concluded that heat distribution over the skin surface during an immunological inflammatory reaction depends on the affected joint and on the intensity of the disease and given drug therapy. There is a statistically significant difference in finger and metacarpophalangeal joint mean temperature values on ventral and dorsal sides for both healthy patients and patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Also, there is a statistically significant difference of mean temperature values between the aforementioned patient groups, making the use of thermography a possible method of differentiating normal subjects and rheumatoid arthritis subjects and osteoarthritis subjects from each other.
All objects emit infrared radiation at differing levels, depending on their temperature. Infrared thermal imaging is the technique of producing an image from infrared radiation. This thermal image ...represents two-dimensional distribution of the infrared radiation emitted by object displaying the object's temperatures. High performance computing data centres deploy high-density blade servers that have high power and cooling requirements. Thermal management techniques are needed in different levels to ensure data centre's reliability and economical operating cost. Appropriately designed and accurate temperature monitoring is essential for every thermal management techniques. Infrared thermal imaging can provide a fine-resolution thermal image of blade systems deployed in data canter. This paper outlines an application of infrared thermal imaging in blade based data centres. For this purpose thermal monitoring of computer cluster at the blade-level is conducted using infrared thermal imaging monitoring system at the blade enclosure-level.
