1,721,033 research outputs found
Impaired alpha cell function in conditions with cortisol deficiency
No full textPlasma immunoreactive glucagon (IRG), insulin (IRI) and blood glucose (BG) were evaluated in the fasting state and during an arginine test (ATT) in 6 subjects with untreated hypopituitarism (H), in 2 hypopituitary subjects with normal cortisol production (H + C), in 3 subjects with Addison's disease (A) and in 14 normal volunteers (N). No increase in BG was observed in H and A after arginine, mean values being significantly lower than in N. Mean fasting and arginine-stimulated IRI levels were lower in H and A than in N; postabsorptive arginine-induced IRG levels were significantly reduced when compared to N. In contrast IRG levels in the two H + C patients were within the normal range. The impaired IRG production in A and in H (but not in H + C) suggests a close relationship between alpha pancreatic function and cortisol levels
Autonomic neuropathy and cardiovascular risk factors in insulin-dependent and non insulin-dependent diabetes
No full textIn 97 IDDM and 64 NIDDM patients aged under 65 years, we evaluated the relationship between autonomic neuropathy (AN) and retinopathy, nephropathy, glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors. Diabetes duration and HbA(1) were significantly higher and; body mass index was significantly lower in IDDM patients with AN compared to those without. In NIDDM only age was significantly higher in neuropathic patients. AN was associated with retinopathy in both IDDM (chi(2) = 10, P < 0.03) and NIDDM patients (chi(2) = 14, P < 0.007), while only in IDDM albumin excretion was significantly higher in patients with AN. Blood pressure (BP) was significantly higher in both IDDM and NIDDM patients with AN compared to those without. There were no differences in smoking and serum lipids between patients with and those without AN. We performed a multiple regression analysis using autonomic score, index of cardiovascular tests impairment, as the dependent variable and age, diabetes duration, body mass index, HbA(1), albumin excretion, cholesterolemia, triglyceridemia, systolic BP, and retinopathy as independent variables. With this model in IDDM autonomic-score was only related to body mass index (r = -0.29, P < 0.05), to HbA, (r = 0.46, P < 0.001), and to systolic BP (r = 0.24, P < 0.05), while in NIDDM it was only related to systolic BP (r = 0.54, P < 0.001). In conclusion, AN was related to age in NIDDM, and to diabetes duration and glycemic control in IDDM. AN was associated with retinopathy, with nephropathy (only in IDDM), and with BP levels, but not with dyslipidemia, smoking, or obesity. Excess mortality rate observed in diabetic AN cannot be referred to an association with cardiovascular risk factors. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Effects of beta-adrenergic blockade on insulin-mediated glucose disposal in hypertensive and normotensive rats
No full textObjective To evaluate the impact of beta-adrenergic blockade in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and in their normotensive controls, Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, on whole-body glucose disposal under metabolic steady state conditions, in unrestrained and conscious animals, Method SHR (n = 13) and WKY rats (n = 12) underwent a 240 min insulinaemic clamp study with or without a superinfusion (120th to 240th minutes; second step) of propranolol. Results From 0 to 120 min (the first step) SHR showed significantly increased glucose uptake, muscle glycogen synthesis and glycogen synthase activity compared with WKY rats, When propranolol was superinfused, glucose uptake and muscle glycogen synthesis in SHR returned to levels similar to those observed in WKY rats during the first step, No significant differences were found for whole-body glycolysis in SHR and WKY in the first and second steps. Conclusion Hypertensive rats display an increased insulin sensitivity compared with controls, beta-Blockade is associated with a reduction in overall glucose metabolism in SHR, but not in WKY rats
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Visual evoked potentials after photostress in insulin-dependent diabetic patients with or without retinopathy
No full textVisual evoked potentials (VEPs) were assessed under basal conditions and after photostress in normal control subjects, in insulin-dependent diabetic patients with retinopathy (IDDPWR) and in insulin-dependent diabetic patients without retinopathy (IDDP). The VEPs recorded under basal conditions showed a P100 latency significantly higher in IDDP and IDDPWR eyes than in control eyes and in IDDPWR than in IDDP eyes (P < 0.01). N75-P100 amplitude was significantly lower in IDDP and IDDPWR eyes than in control eyes (P < 0.01). No difference was recorded in the N75-P100 amplitudes between IDDP and IDDPWR eyes. In all eyes, the VEPs recorded after photostress showed an increase in latency and a decrease in amplitude. In both IDDPWR eyes and IDDP eyes VEPs recorded at 20, 40 and 60 s after photostress showed higher mean increments in P100 latency than in C control eyes, and IDDPWR eyes showed higher mean increments in P100 latency than IDDP eyes (IDDP vs control P < 0.01, IDDPWR vs control P < 0.01, IDDPWR vs IDDP P < 0.017). The mean reductions in amplitude observed at 20, 40 and 60 s after photostress in IDDP and IDDPWR eyes were lower than in control eyes (IDDP vs control P = 0.01, IDDPWR vs control P < 0.01, IDDPWR vs IDDP P < 0.01). VEPs were superimposable on the basal VEP (recovery time) at 73.9 s in control eyes, at 88.17 s in IDDP eyes and at 113.3 s in IDDPWR eyes. VEPs after photostress in IDDP patients with normal visual acuity and no fluorangiographic signs of retinopathy may show multiple modifications. This may indicate the presence of an early functional deficiency of the central retinal layers
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