Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

Experts to share the lessons learnt from COVID-19 first wave – News-Medical.Net

Dec 18 2020

The Physiological Society and the Intensive Care Society have come together to host an exciting three-day virtual conference this week, which will review the challenges of understanding the pathophysiological changes occurring throughout the body following COVID-19 infection.

The conference will share current knowledge and thinking across many physiological systems, showcase the symbiotic relationship between physiology and critical care, and help set the agenda for research to identify future treatments and therapies.

Just one year ago, no one could have predicted that the world would be experiencing one of the largest pandemics in history, yet we near the end of 2020, with nearly 70 million cases and over 1.5 million deaths caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

This virus spreads rapidly through the population with consequences for all ages, and especially for those with underlying conditions, such as Type II diabetes.

In the body, there are far-reaching effects beyond the respiratory system, with neurological, cardiovascular, and renal damage prominent amongst the symptoms.

It became clear from an early stage that an understanding of the pathophysiology underlying organ system damage was critical to drive appropriate clinical intervention as dogma from previous pandemics was dismissed in many situations.

This conference, just one year on from the early cases reported in Wuhan, brings together the multi-professional intensive care community with physiologists and clinicians, who have been working symbiotically, to consider what lessons have been learned from the frontline of treatment and scientific discovery in controlling this pandemic.

It is unique in enabling the voices from physiology and intensive care to come together in discussing the challenges of identifying future therapies, the importance of rehabilitation and what questions remain unanswered.

Each session is focused on one organ system, with specialist talks leading into extended discussion from expert panel members. It is critical to consider manifestations during the various stages of infection, with an emphasis on the mechanisms underlying each of these.

Using clinical cases to illustrate and the methodological approaches such as imaging to inform on the extent of damage to the different organs, it is then possible to reflect on current treatments, those that have been discarded and those that show promise.

This conference is therefore of topical interest to the all intensive care professionals, physiologists, clinicians, and healthcare practitioners at all stages of their career to understand how we move forward in our understanding of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients affected by such pandemics.

This fascinating meeting reflects to the close collaboration between physiologists and clinicians that was established to understand and battle the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath. It should of great interest to both the scientific and health care communities.

Professor Mike Tipton, University of Portsmouth, UK

The Physiological Societys Chair of Conferences Committee Professor Sue Deuchars, University of Leeds, UK:

This is a pertinent time, as we reach the peak of the second wave of the pandemic and the advent of the first vaccine, to consider what we have learnt from the numerous research papers, clinical case studies and unique discussions between physiologists and clinicians. The consideration of the many aspects of damage to different organ systems is critical to moving forward with treatment and rehabilitation.

Absolutely delighted to be collaborating with The Physiological Society to bring together both sides to understand the lessons learnt from the first wave. Physiologists have played an integral part in managing COVID- 19 and this truly showcases how important it is that we can reflect together to understand how to better care for our patients in the future.

Dr Stephen Webb, President, Intensive Care Society

Intensive Care Societys Conference Director and Intensive Care Consultant, Dr Steve Mathieu said:

Im really excited that the Intensive Care Society is collaborating with The Physiological Society. We are bringing experts in physiology together with health care professionals, scientists and researchers to help share knowledge and lessons learned about COVID. This will help us to improve our understanding of pathophysiology and how this can then be used to directly benefit our critically ill patients at the bedside.

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Experts to share the lessons learnt from COVID-19 first wave - News-Medical.Net

Physiology

Using computational models for better thermoregulation in the ICU – Advanced Science News

Models that can predict and help us to understand the body's thermal state could help optimize temperature management strategies in a clinical setting.

Image credit: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Regulation of body temperature or thermoregulation is an important function and is vital for maintaining health. In mammals, various temperature-controlling biological mechanisms are crucial for sustaining thermal equilibrium, i.e., the balance between the rate of heat production and the rate of heat loss, for which countless organisms have evolved characteristically flexible mechanisms and behavioural adaptations.

Deviations from normal core body temperatures are in general harmful, but there are also circumstances in which they can be beneficial. For instance, an elevated body temperature during fever can help fight off pathogens. In a clinical setting, the precise regulation of body temperature in the form of targeted temperature management is an instrumental part of hospital intensive care. Lowering the bodys core temperature to 32-34 C (mild hypothermia) to counteract severe hyperthermia that develops after successful resuscitation from cardiac arrest, for example, has been a part of therapeutic guidelines for almost two decades and has helped save many lives. Mortality rates improve with thermoregulation in these patients. The therapies also provide better neurological outcomes by protecting the brain against lack of oxygen and reduced perfusion.

While potentially lifesaving, inducing changes in body temperature in a clinical environment is difficult and associated with many secondary changes in physiology that can be detrimental, such as a profound lowering of the heart rate, increased urine output, and changes in electrolyte concentrations. With temperature management also come numerous additional therapeutic and diagnostic procedures (e.g., emergency coronary catheterization, CT scans, insertion of vascular catheters), all of which are time sensitive.

Additional challenges arise from variability in patient response as well as the fact that a variety of different methods to achieve temperature reduction exist, such as intravenous infusion of cold fluids, cooling blankets, endovascular cooling catheters, among others. Each of these has its benefits as well as drawbacks but predicting how a patient will respond and what the best course of action is can be difficult to predict. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to find new and even better temperature management techniques.

In recent years, computational bioheat models have been proposed to better understand the underlying bio-thermal processes and to predict changes in a patients thermal state. In these models, the human body is typically represented by two interacting systems of thermoregulation: the controlling active system, which represents the human bodys regulatory responses (e.g., vasoconstriction, vasodilation, shivering, sweating, and metabolic heat production) and the controlled passive system (e.g., thermal interactions between the body and the environment).

Many models available today are based on a composite model of the human body that consists of several cylinders representing the head, the corpus, and the upper and lower extremities. Heat exchange occurs between different body segments via blood flow and also within the segments by means of different heat transfer processes between the core, skin and blood.

Biothermal models of the human body are becoming increasingly comprehensive and an ambitious goal would be to combine a real-time and easy-to-use measuring device with a computational thermal model that is tailored to individual patients and can be used to predict and precisely regulate patients temperature changes during a hospital stay. The hope is that they will also aid in the design of special-purpose devices to control the delivery of thermal energy to targeted regions and to improve the treatment of diseases such as the delivery of therapeutics in cancer patients. This method is also known under the name temperature-controlled drug release.

One potential and promising example is the release of molecules from mesoporous silica nanoparticles that can be intravenously administered and react to an external heat stimulus (e.g., magnetic field). Especially in combination with advances in smart bio-measurement technologies, such interdisciplinary approaches have great potential for optimizing temperature management strategies in a variety of clinical settings. This is another example of how interdisciplinary endeavors at the interface of physiology, clinical research, biometrics, and biophysical modelling can lead to novel and innovative solutions.

Written by:

Kristijan Skok, General Hospital Graz II, Location West, Institute of Pathology, Gstinger Strae 22, 8020 Graz, Austria and University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Taborska ulica 8, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

Maja Duh, University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Koroka cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

Andra Stoer, University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Taborska ulica 8, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

Andrej Markota, University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Taborska ulica 8, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia and University Medical Centre Maribor, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Ljubljanska 5, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

Marko Gosak, University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Koroka cesta 160, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia and University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Taborska ulica 8, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

Reference: Kristijan Skok et al., A Journey from Physiology to Computational Models and the Intensive Care Unit, WIREs Systems Biology and Medicine (2020). DOI: 10.1002/wsbm.1513

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Using computational models for better thermoregulation in the ICU - Advanced Science News

Physiology

Princess the Reindeer Gets Royal Treatment at Good Zoo – Wheeling Intelligencer

WHEELING For the fourth straight year, the public has the opportunity this holiday season to meet one of Santas reindeer and the zookeepers who train it during a unique 30-minute Reindeer Encounter at the Oglebay Good Zoo.

Good Zoo Director Joe Greathouse said while the Reindeer Encounter experience is offered year-round, it is obviously extremely popular throughout the Christmas season. He said the zoo typically averages between 125 to 150 sessions just over the holiday season.

About 50 percent of the guests are from here in the Ohio Valley region and about 50 percent come in and are staying at the resort, Greathouse explained.

Greathouse said the zoo offers the Reindeer Encounter year-round because its good for the reindeer to have that continued interaction with guests. The zoo is currently booked up with appointments through Christmas Day.

The vast majority that we book are typically at the beginning of the Festival of Lights through the end of Festival of Lights, Greathouse said.

While all patrons have the option of viewing the reindeer Princess at the outdoor exhibit, which includes a small sheltered area, signing up for the actual encounter includes a 30-minute small group session in which separate rates apply.

Those signing up for the encounter not only have the opportunity to learn about reindeer in general, they also have the opportunity to do some hands-on activities with the reindeer, such as feeding her as zoo employees offer assistance.

The zookeeper leading the experience will talk about the physical characteristics of reindeer and talk about their natural habitats.

Reindeer, also known as caribou, are a member of the deer family.

In addition to North America they are native to the arctic, tundra, evergreen forests of northern Europe and Asia. They are the only species of deer in which the male and female both possess antlers.

Good Zoo Senior Program Keeper Courtney Snyder, who leads all education programs at the zoo said the Reindeer Experience has been very popular with all ages.

Everyone loves reindeer, Snyder commented. She said while young children are most in awe of the reindeer, its surprising how adults are very interested in the physiology and stories behind the animal.

While they are booked through Christmas, encounters are offered daily throughout the Festival of Lights season at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m.

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Princess the Reindeer Gets Royal Treatment at Good Zoo - Wheeling Intelligencer

Physiology

Are sports hurting the climate? (And other awkward questions) – Stuff.co.nz

Professor Jim Cotter stops to think carefully about what hes going to say.

He wants it to come across the right way. Plus, its tricky asking tough questions about sport, the sacred cow of New Zealand society.

But its time: I don't really don't want to put blame anywhere because in many ways they're trying to do the right thing, says the Otago University environmental exercise physiologist.

Yet when Cotter was asked to deliver a keynote address at the Sports and Exercise Science Conference last month, he found there was only one thing he wanted to talk about: climate change.

Specifically, are high performance sports hurting the very conditions we rely on for a healthy life? And for those sitting on the couch watching from home, are our sedentary lifestyles leaving us more vulnerable as the planet warms up?

READ MORE:* New Transport Minister promises to 'get moving quickly' to cut emissions* Round the Bays: How not to go backwards in your training this festive period* New Zealanders are fat and in denial about it, says survey

It seems counterintuitive to have a dig at sports. After all, when people think of sports, they often think of being outside in the fresh air, wild and free, running around at a park: what could be better for the environment?

But Cotter says, whoa, hold on a second theres a lot more to it than that.

In elite sport, there are things which have become accepted norms that he thinks need seriously reconsidering: altitude training and overseas competitions, for instance.

Even in kids sports: do parents really need to be dropping their kids off for lengthy warm-ups?

And, as a society, he says, its time to think about how the way we live is diminishing our ability to cope with climate change.

In the process of us making a built, protected environment were making the real environment more extreme, and we're also making ourselves less resilient, says Cotter.

We're going towards a train wreck, and we know it's happening.

Supplied

A Cotter family adventure at Mt Titiroa, with Professor Jim Cotter's children Lucy, Hamish, and Grace. Cotter grew up on the West Coast, where he developed a love for the outdoors.

You could say that Cotter's connection to the environment is coursing in his veins. He grew up in Rotomanu, in the wilds of the West Coast; a childhood filled with grazed knees from scrambling through the bush and wet hair from floating down the river on tractor tyre inner tubes.

We were free to explore, which was acutely dangerous, probably, but it gives you a capability, mentally as much as anything. You just relish in that freedom, and your parents literally didnt know where you were as long as you were home for dinner.

Cotter studied for a science degree at Otago, majoring in physiology and physical education, before completing a doctorate in environmental physiology at the University of Wollongong. He landed a job at the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation where he investigated how people cope with adverse environmental conditions, a field of research he has kept up for the past two decades.

Cotter has been back at Otago University for almost 20 years, during which time hes also sustained his love of the outdoors and competing himself. He was an original at the first Kepler Challenge, a 60 km mountain race over the Great Walk in Fiordland, and fondly remembers early Coast to Coast races, just for the adventure of it.

Other favourite outdoor memories include taking on traverses of the Southern Alps, especially being a useful part of a small, well-functioning group negotiating through some pretty amazing places.

Supplied

Cotter's daughter, Grace, on a family adventure at Ball Pass, Aoraki. For the past few decades he has studied how humans cope in extreme environments.

For someone who has enjoyed a life of fitness, then, you can sense a tinge of sadness from Cotter about the decline in the countrys fitness levels. He cites figures from the Dunedin longitudinal multidisciplinary study that show how much fitness has slipped. Fathers are about 20 per cent fitter than their sons, and mothers are about 35 per cent fitter than their daughters that's one generation.

As well as the health impacts of declining fitness and increasing weight (at the moment, theres one person in the world dying every eight seconds from Covid-19 theres one person every six seconds dying from Type Two diabetes alone), he worries about how we are becoming less conditioned to cope with climate change.

There are physical benefits of fitness your body is more efficient at coping with heat, for instance but theres a mental benefit too.

Fitter people have more mental resilience, he says. In one study of this, endurance athletes, team sport players and sedentary people held their arms in ice-cold water to see how long they could last.

After two minutes, 90 per cent of the endurance athletes still had their arms in the water, whereas only half of the other two groups did. That either tells you endurance athletes are stupid or theyre stubborn, he laughs, or theyre mentally resilient. Cotter believes its the third option.

James Allan/Getty Images

Jim Cotter says fitness helps build mental resilience.

And resilience is going to come in handy as climate change unfolds with fitness, youve got the capacity to tolerate more.

How do we build resilience? Choosing to bike to work or not turning the air conditioner on. Its not only our physical capabilities its what were prepared to put up with.

Meanwhile, the environment weve built for ourselves is not helping us in our ability to react and adapt.

Our constructed environment insidiously removes transiently useful stresses. What does he mean by this? By making things too easy for our bodies, they dont learn how to deal with the stresses of heat, for instance.

We don't have thermal stress because if it gets hot, we turn the air conditioner on, if it gets cold, we put a heater on. We don't expend physiological costs to move against gravity because we make the remote controls open our doors.

We make it easy for us and in the process, it decays what we are.

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Sports teams travel the world for competitions but is all that flying the right thing to do?

In his speech to the conference, his early slides made their way through those impacts of fitness and mental resilience topics where, in the most part, there are choices to be made for individuals.

Then it came to the touchier topic: how high performance sport is coping with, and impacting, climate change.

Again, as he speaks, he emphasises he doesnt want to put the boot in, like some thuggish oaf on the rugby field. His preference is to start a conversation, not blow the whistle.

After all, there is plenty at stake for sports themselves. Already, scientists are warning about the impact of climate change on cricket, for instance not just because of increasing temperatures, or loss of topsoil, but raising the question whether increased pressure on resources will lead to conflict in some regions. You cant play a test match in a warzone.

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Scientists are already warning about the impact of climate change on the future of sports, including cricket.

Sports organisations, Cotter says, talk about sustainability, but Im asking them to think about whether theyre prioritising this stuff enough.

Were living in the age of decadence. And sport, I think, is part of that decadence.

International competition, for instance, has teams flying around the world, stomping large carbon bootprints around the planet. Again, its not about blame academics are just as bad. We travel the world, and we dont necessarily need to.

But hes calling on sports to reconsider their priorities. Covid taught sports that it was possible to have virtual races, for instance, athletes competing in their home countries and comparing results. Its not the same as racing side-by-side, no, but maybe every second championship could be virtual and then youve immediately halved your footprint.

And when it comes to flying teams around the world, maybe they need to reconsider how big a squad they take, including support staff. Saving just one flight would make a significant reduction in the cost to the environment.

But Cotter is not interested in lecturing sports and their administrators. As a member of the sports science community, he says, he and his colleagues are here to help.

If he has a plea, its that sports listen to the science.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Many endurance athletes head to high altitude areas to try to help their bodies boost their oxygen-carrying capacity but is that a good idea?

Take altitude training, for instance. For decades, athletes in endurance sports have put great stock on going to high altitudes for training camps to gain the benefits of boosting the oxygen-carrying capacity of their blood.

And yet, says Cotter, studies have established that many athletes dont get any benefit from being at altitude its a gene response issue and there are tests that can be done at sea level to see who will or wont gain from being in the mountains.

Weve known this for 20 years, and we still dont even do the basic testing before we send a whole team off to the other side of the world. Its destructive in two respects: ones on the planet, and ones on the individuals adaptability.

If teams want the benefit of being in camp, why not send them to Whngarei instead of Europe or Colorado?

Besides, he says, in a paper published this year scientists showed it was possible to get the same blood-boosting effect without having to go to altitude: by micro-dosing with carbon monoxide.

Before people react to carbon monoxide, Cotter points out, if we live in a city, we have carbon monoxide in our blood.

So, whats he saying, instead of heading for the hills, go sit in traffic?

Cotter laughs. You might say, micro-dosing with carbon monoxide is not ethical. But is this ethical, flying to the other side of the world? Especially when many athletes will get no physiological benefit.

Look, I dont know the answers to these things. But he thinks its important to ask the questions, and think about them.

Otherwise, we just go along with the accepted norms, even when theyre unproven.

This sets Cotter off on another example: warm-ups. Teams and individual athletes build up their warm-up routines which can often take an hour or more.

Supplied

Professor Jim Cotter encourages New Zealanders to get out in the wild outdoors to not only build fitness but to build empathy for the natural environment.

But Cotter says, as far as the body is concerned, this is unnecessary. We've been doing studies on muscle temperature response to exercise and it takes about two minutes to warm a muscle up. We think even for very high intensity using all energy systems at maximum you probably need about six minutes.

Six minutes. Think about that next time you have to be at a ground an hour-and-a-half before kick-off to drop someone off.

Cotter points out this causes fuel pollution and road congestion. As the driver, you dont want to sit there and wait for an hour-and-a-half, so you go away and come back.

Coaches will say, but hang on, players need to get their heads in the game, too thats a part of warm-up. But is that because youve created the expectation that you need to spend an hour warming up? says Cotter.

In the meantime, he says, players unnecessarily burn fuel their muscles will need during the match or race, and kill their enthusiasm.

Joseph Johnson/Stuff

Town planners can create environments that make it easier for people to choose to exercise.

Cotter is conscious of killing peoples enthusiasm. Its why he doesnt want to turn people away from the problems of climate change by bashing their heads over it.

And why he thinks that, as a country, we need to find ways for people to become fitter, and to exercise and compete in a way that has a lower environmental impact.

We have to do something that works with the environment and utilises it, doesnt damage it, and develops empathy for it.

To that end, he says, its not coaches, athletes or scientists who will have the biggest impact.

The most important people are the people who create an environment where people will exercise: so that's city planners.

We can't afford not to prioritise active lifestyles because we simply won't have the health budget to deal with what's coming, and we have climate change we have to engage.

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Are sports hurting the climate? (And other awkward questions) - Stuff.co.nz

Physiology

Tips for staying healthy and managing stress over the holidays – William & Mary News

by Adrienne Berard | December 18, 2020

As we head into the holidays, W&M News spoke with Dr. Elizabeth De Falcon to learn about ways relieve stress and practice self-care over winter break, to strengthen our collective immune systems. Dr. De Falcon is a practicing physician with William & Marys Health Services. She is a licensed pediatrician and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In the simplest terms, stress is just your body's reaction to any change that requires response. So, it could be anything: a mental strain, a physical strain or even an emotional strain. Honestly, it's different for every person. What stresses me out may not stress you out, but if were talking about physiology, then our stress response would be mostly the same.

Without going into the specific names of all the different parts of your brain, it's just that your brain perceives stress or danger or threat. Then it sends out a signal from what is essentially the command center of your brain to the rest of your body, through the nervous system. Then the nervous system starts acting on a fight or flight response and all these different neurotransmitters and hormones get released. All these different substances start flowing through your body just to get you prepared to respond to that stressor.

A lot of times, you're not even aware of it. Most of the time the threat comes and goes, and as the threat goes away, the stress response decreases. Think of a car whizzing past you on the street. Its stressful for a second, but the feeling is very short-lived. Its important to understand that not all stress is bad. It serves an important biological purpose. The stress response has been vital to our survival and evolution. When the saber-toothed tigers were hunting us down, our bodies learned how to respond to that.

If you translate that to now, lets say you're taking a test and you feel a little bit stressed. You're supposed to have a certain level of stress, because its your bodys way of motivating you to focus on something important. After the test is done, theres this sigh of relief because that stress is gone and your body just goes back to a kind of homeostasis where it's feeling ok.

But sometimes that stress hangs around for a little while. Thats when you start running into problems. You may find that even though the threat is gone, youre not feeling better. You may be experiencing increased heart rate and breathing or generally feeling edgy all the time. Thats a sign that you're bumping over into a low-level, acute stress or chronic stress state.

Thats when we start to think about cortisol. Youve probably heard about cortisol as a stress hormone. In the moment, it actually helps your body boost its immune system and decrease inflammation, but if it's there for a long time, then you start to get into different problems.

I always tell people to seek medical help if they start seeing signs of chronic stress. Some of the red flags would be that you feel in a low mood all the time. You may stop hanging out with your friends or your family. You're just kind of retreating and not interested in the things you used to be interested in. You may be sleeping too much or too little. Some people experience physical symptoms. They have an upset stomach or heartburn or headaches, because their blood pressure is up. They might feel a knot in their chest. All of those things could be signs that you're experiencing anxiety, so you would definitely want to see your doctor at that point.

It comes down to the basics of general healthy living. For example, if youve not been on a good sleep schedule over the semester, you really need to prioritize getting on a healthy sleep scheduleand make it a realistic schedule that you can keep doing once we get back on campus. If you were not addressing your dietary needs during the semester, start to incorporate healthy, nutrient-dense types of foods into your diet.

Also, exercise is super important. Just from a perspective of improving your cardiovascular health and improving your circulation, regular exercise will help get all those immune cells pumped around your body. You don't want to smoke and try to minimize your alcohol intake.

Then, of course, what weve all been focused on over these last nine month is taking steps to minimize infections. So, being very diligent about washing your hands, keeping your distance from pretty much anyone who doesn't live in your house, and wearing a mask if you have to go out and about.

When you have a healthy immune system, when it's functional, you don't even know it's there. It's protecting you from things that are trying to kill you, viruses and bacterial infections, but you arent even aware of it.

But just like a car runs out of gas when left idling, if you are not fully addressing the things that boost your immune system, eventually that car will run out of gas and then that leads to a whole host of problems. You might start noticing that you're getting more colds or struggling to get over minor illnesses. Thats really just because when your stress response is revved up all the time, it has the opposite effect on your health and it starts down-regulating your immune system.

This is something I always recommend to my patients: practice gratitude. Its such a simple, easy thing that anyone can do. It doesn't have to be complicated. Just get a little notebook, or even make mental notes, and focus on three things that you're grateful for in a day. No matter how crummy the day is, there's always something that we can find that we can be grateful for.

Studies show that if you practice gratitude, there are positive changes in your brain that actually change your outlook on things. Along those lines, the Wellness Center has all kinds of wonderful mindfulness, meditation and exercise resources available online. They make it really easy to access, so Id also recommend trying out some of those offerings.

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Tips for staying healthy and managing stress over the holidays - William & Mary News

Physiology

How and why microbes promote and protect against stress – Newswise

Newswise More than half of the human body is not actually human: The body hosts approximately 100 trillion microbes. These bacteria, yeast and viruses, which make up the human microbiome, affect more than physical health. They also influence behavior and emotions.

Some microbes prosper when the body is under stress, while other microbes contribute to buffering the body against stress. Athena Aktipis, associate professor of psychology at Arizona State University, used evolutionary theory to examine the reciprocal relationship between microbes in the human body and stress. The paper was published in BioEssays on December 7.

Microbes have access to physiological systems that can give them the power to stress us out, and there is evidence that contributing to the human bodys stress response serves their evolutionary goals, Aktipis said. This means that microbes can potentially change our physiology to keep the stress response going, ensuring their access to resources so they can proliferate. One example of a microbe that can benefit from host stress is the bacterium E. coli. We call microbes like these stress microbes, and the microbes that can provide resilience against stress, like some species of Lactobacillus, resilience microbes because there is evidence that they affect our physiology in these ways, possibly for their own evolutionary benefit.

Tug-of-war

Stress-loving microbes both contribute to and benefit from the physiological changes that happen in the human body in response to stress, such as high blood glucose levels, increased permeability of the intestines and suppressed immune system responses. These microbes use what evolutionary biologists call a fast life history strategy. Organisms with fast life histories benefit from big bursts of resources, like the increase in blood sugar that happens when people experience stress, and also replicate quickly and in the case of microbes without regard for their host. But the body only benefits from the stress response in specific situations, like escaping danger. In other situations, the body does not benefit from the stress response, setting up a figurative tug-of-war between host and microbe.

All organisms have their own evolutionary interests, and different resources and environments lead to optimal survival and reproduction. What is best for the host is not always what is best for the microbe, and we think this is what might be going on with some pathogenic stress microbes. Sometimes the host response can lead to escalation of the conflict, which can lead to chronic inflammation as the hosts immune system tries in vain to deal with microbes that are causing a problem in the body. Stress can encourage this kind of dysregulated environment in the host that allows some microbes to thrive, Aktipis said.

Not all microbes in the microbiome benefit from a stressed host. Many do better in a stable environment, relying on a slow life history strategy that prioritizes surviving over reproducing. Microbes like these both alter and benefit from physiological processes that help protect the host from stress. Some, like Lactobacillus reuteri, contribute to increased production of the hormone oxytocin, which is associated with feeling calm and connected with others.

Microbes alter host behavior whether it be by promoting stress or contributing to resilience against it in ways that increase the odds they will be able to reproduce, Aktipis said. The composition of our microbiomes influences us in myriad ways: It can change the way we feel in terms of stress and our mental health and influence how we respond to the world around us. But it is a two way street; the way we behave - including what we eat, whether we exercise, and how we manage our stress - also affects the composition of our microbiomes. By changing our behavior, we can affect which microbes are thriving inside us.

Diego Beltran, a psychology graduate student, also contributed to the paper.

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How and why microbes promote and protect against stress - Newswise

Physiology

Noninvasive Imaging Effectively Shows Variations in Renal Blood Flow – Newswise

Newswise Rockville, Md. (December 16, 2020)Renal blood flow changes throughout the day in tandem with the bodys circadian clock, with increasing flow during daytime hours and decreasing flow in the evening and into the night. Researchers made the findings using noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques in healthy people, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology. The study also revealed that although circadian variation influenced renal blood flow over the course of the day, it did not affect renal oxygenation in either men or women. The article has been chosen as an APSselect article for December.

Numerous conditions are known to cause renal injury, including diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune diseases and infections. Until now, imaging diagnostics of renal function were often performed using invasive techniques with methods based on ionizing radiation.

MRI is a non-ionizing imaging modality undergoingfast development. A number of noninvasive MRI techniques now make it possible to study different aspects of renal physiology, said corresponding researcher Per Eckerbom, MD, of Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden. MRI scans combining multiple of these noninvasive techniques provide a lot of important information.

Researchers believe the noninvasive MRI techniques used in this study will be a powerful tool of the future to detect renal disease at an early stage and to develop better treatments. Understanding circadian variations and possible differences between the sexes is one key to do so.

Read the full article, Circadian variation in renal blood flow and kidney function in healthy volunteers monitored with noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging, published in the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology.It is highlighted as one of this months best of the best as part of the American Physiological Societys APSselect program. Read all of this months selected research articles.

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: To schedule an interview with a member of the research team, please contact the APS Communications Office or call 301.634.7314. Find more research highlights in our Newsroom.

Physiology is a broad area of scientific inquiry that focuses on how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function in health and disease. The American Physiological Society connects a global, multidisciplinary community of more than 10,000 biomedical scientists and educators as part of its mission to advance scientific discovery, understand life and improve health. The Society drives collaboration and spotlights scientific discoveries through its 16 scholarly journals and programming that support researchers and educators in their work.

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Noninvasive Imaging Effectively Shows Variations in Renal Blood Flow - Newswise

Physiology

ACIST Medical Systems announces distribution partnership with Medis Medical Imaging – DOTmed HealthCare Business News

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ACIST Medical Systems, Inc., a Bracco Group Company, today announced a formal distribution partnership with Medis Medical Imaging to co-market in North America. This partnership is focused on Quantitative Flow Ratio (QFR), a novel, non-invasive angiography-based physiologic assessment of the presence and extent of coronary artery disease. Headquartered in Leiden, Netherlands, Medis has been developing innovative post-processing software for the quantification of cardiovascular images for over 30 years, with QFR as their latest innovative product.

"This strategic collaboration expands our portfolio and enables ACIST to better support the evolving needs of our customer. This partnership solidifies ACIST's position as the preferred physiology partner of choice with the ability to offer both invasive and non-invasive approaches to support the clinical utility that physiology provides," said Brad Fox, President and CEO, ACIST Medical Systems, Inc.

The partnership promotes an innovative, proven alternative to invasive assessment of coronary physiology.

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According to Morton Kern MD, Chief of Cardiology and interventional cardiologist at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System, California, "QFR represents a significant advance for assessment of coronary artery disease in the cath lab. Like other angiographically derived FFR systems, QFR will let the angiographer see the physiologic impact of the stenoses within a vessel of interest and make an informed decision on whether to stent or not without the need of a pressure wire or adenosine. While still in early clinical use, QFR and other angio-derived FFR systems will become a dominant method in the coming years by improving the patient experience and simplifying PCI decision-making."

The QFR analysis is performed during the interventional procedure and can streamline workflow in the cath lab while driving economic value. Unlike traditional invasive assessments, including FFR and iFR, the QFR analysis output is co-registered with the angiogram and automatically identifies and prioritizes any functionally significant coronary obstructions. QFR provides the healthcare professional with more extensive and quantitative physiologic imaging results to support the patient's diagnosis and better inform the patient's treatment.

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ACIST Medical Systems announces distribution partnership with Medis Medical Imaging - DOTmed HealthCare Business News

Physiology

A Complete Guide to Birds, the Reason We Dream and Other New Science Books – Scientific American

What Is a Bird? An Exploration of Anatomy, Physiology, Behavior, and Ecologyedited by Tony D. WilliamsPrinceton University, 2020 ($35)

Many housebound quarantiners have recently discovered a newor renewedinterest in birds. Through windows overlooking gardens or fire escapes and in small parks or dense woods, birds occupy nearly every habitat on earth and are our constant, if sometimes unnoticed, companions. This welcoming compendium is part coffee-table book and part deep dive into the science of ornithologythe team of biologist-authors, edited by biology professor Williams, elucidates all things bird: from their evolution and anatomy to their social and migration patterns. Even casual bird-watchers will be drawn into the fascinating mechanisms of feather coloring of house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) or the science that gives the bill of a helmet vanga (Euryceros prevostii) its unmistakable blue.

When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleepby Antonio Zadra and Robert StickgoldW. W. Norton, 2021 ($27.95)

Dreams feel significant while they are happening, but do they have any scientific relevance? Sleep researchers Zadra and Stickgold propose their own framework for dreams' purpose in the brain, detailing the history of dream research and lessons learned. Dreaming acts as a memory-processing mechanism, they write, exploring images and thoughts weakly associated with moments from the previous day. Scientists have used compelling methods to probe dreams' inner workings: for example, dreamers can signal via eye movements to observers while their dreams are in progress to help researchers measure the length of dream actions. The book wields dreamy anecdotes and complex neuroscience to try to grasp the importance of these phantasms. Sarah Lewin Frasier

Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Realityby Frank WilczekPenguin Press, 2021 ($26)

To see the world through the lens of physics we must be born again, physicist Wilczek writeswe have to lose our preconceptions and approach the universe with the same open-minded curiosity and acceptance as a baby first learning about her surroundings. In this overview of modern physics, Wilczek describes the known and the unknownwhat scientists have managed to learn about reality and what they still struggle to explain. In 10 chapters covering space, time, matter, energy and other basic concepts, he tells the stories behind the major players and turning points in the development of physical knowledge. The result is a lucid and riveting narrative of the fundamentalswhat Wilczek calls the central messages of modern physics, which are not just facts about how the world works but also the style of thought that allowed us to discover them. Clara Moskowitz

The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Womenand Women to Medicineby Janice P. NimuraW. W. Norton, 2021 ($27.95)

In the mid-19th century the view of most male physicians was that women did not have the intellect or emotional fortitude to be their colleagues. Despite this skepticism, Elizabeth Blackwell was accepted by the Geneva Medical College in New York State and in 1849 became the first woman in America to obtain a medical degree. Writer Nimura uses an extensive collection of journal entries and letters to trace Blackwell's trailblazing journey through medical school and her further training in the U.S. and abroad. Her younger sister, Emily, followed in her footsteps and became a doctor in 1854. In 1857 the sisters established the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Childrenthe first hospital staffed by women and intended to offer both care for women and training for future women doctors.

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A Complete Guide to Birds, the Reason We Dream and Other New Science Books - Scientific American

Physiology

Brock prof named Canada Research Chair in Tissue Remodelling and Plasticity – ThoroldNews.com

Including Fajardo, Brock University currently haseight Canada Research Chairs, with more expected to be announced in 2021

NEWS RELEASEBROCK UNIVERSITY*************************Muscles comprise up to half of our body and, in the case of the heart, provide us with the essence of life.

Our muscles are truly vital at every timepoint of our lives, saysAssistant Professor of Kinesiology Val Fajardo, who was announced as Brock Universitys newest Canada Research Chair inTissue Remodelling and Plasticity throughout the Lifespan on Wednesday, Dec. 16.studies how muscles change in form and function over the course of a lifetime.

Were trying to optimize muscle health and physiology to improve whole body health under conditions of aging, spaceflight, obesity, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and heart disease, he says.

Tissueplasticity refers to long-term changes to the function and appearance of cells. This process in turn fuels muscle plasticity in which muscles modify their structures and functions in response to environmental demands.

Muscles are remodelled by favourable physiologicalchangesarising from things like exercise and goodnutrition, which enhance muscle function. With aerobic exercise training, for example, muscles will alter their metabolism allowing them to perform better and fatigue lessMuscles are also remodelledthroughpathological or unfavourable changes brought about by disease, aging and physical inactivity, which can impair muscle and whole-body health.

Understanding what causes the good changes in muscle is important, because then maybe we can tap into that when things go bad, says Fajardo.

Can we hack into the cellular code so that muscles adapting poorly to changes can now adapt well? he says.

Fajardo and his team are particularly interested in a protein called calcineurin, which regulates calcium and largely drives muscle plasticity.

They are studying various proteins and interventions that can alter calcineurin signalling including other proteins such as calmodulin, the SERCA pump, and an enzyme called glycogen synthase kinase 3 or GSK3 for short.

GSK3 is particularly important as it is associated with muscle and bone deterioration. Current research in the Fajardo lab is looking at how GSK3 levels differ in muscle specimenson Earth and in outer spaceas a way of unlocking strategies to slow bone and muscle loss in aging humans.

We are studying ways to block GSK3 to improve musculoskeletal health along with cardiovascular health and metabolism, he says.

GSK3 has been implicated in several diseases and conditions. In addition to its role in muscle plasticity, Fajardo and a team of experts, includingAssistant Professors of Health Sciences Rebecca MacPherson, Adam MacNeil, Terrance Wade and Deborah OLeary and Professors of Kinesiology Brian Roy, Wendy Ward and Panagiota (Nota) Klentrou are studying the role of GSK3 in cognitive health, obesity and diabetes, immune cell function, and mediating the effects of regular exercise.

What if stopping GSK3 can mimic and amplify some of the beneficial effects of exercise not only in muscle but across several other organs in the body? says Fajardo.

Exercise is crucial to mitigating diseases and other debilitating medical conditions. Fajardo says studying the cellular mechanisms that occur during exercise can lead to the development of medicines that could perhaps help those unable to exercise.

Fajardo says he feels honoured and extremely lucky to be named a Canada Research Chair.

I am here in large part because of the training I received from Brock University, he says.

Fajardo completed his undergraduate degree in 2009 and masters degree in 2012 at Brock under the supervision of Professor of Health Sciences, Paul LeBlanc before completing his PhD at the University of Waterloo.

This CRC recognizes Dr. Fajardos breakthrough work, strong productivity and research output in the field of muscle physiology, particularly in the cellular-level repair and remodelling of skeletal and cardiac muscles, says Brock Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon. His work has tremendous implications for the health of all Canadians, particularly those living with diseases, chronic conditions and injuries, and the elderly.

TheCanada Research Chairs Programinvests up to $295 million per year to attract and retain some of the worlds most accomplished and promising minds. Chairholders aim to achieve research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences.

Including Fajardo, Brock University currently haseight Canada Research Chairs, with more expected to be announced in 2021.

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Brock prof named Canada Research Chair in Tissue Remodelling and Plasticity - ThoroldNews.com