Search results for "STIMULATION"
showing 10 items of 2192 documents
Distortion product otoacoustic emissions in healthy newborns: normative data.
1995
Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) offer an alternative to transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) as an audiological test. The former can be used as a screening technique, and may also provide frequency-specific information about the functional state of the cochlea. We recorded DPOAE in a group of healthy newborns to establish the Characteristics of a DPOAE “audiogram” (DP-gram) in this population. The DP-gram can be obtained with characteristics quite similar to those observed in adults, with two sharp peaks of maximum amplitude at F2 frequencies of 2 kHz and 5-6 kHz, and a decline in DPOAE amplitude in mid frequencies. The results confirm the limitations of DPOAE r…
Il Protocollo RE4BES per il potenziamento delle abilità cognitive, emotive e sociali di un bambino con disturbo dello spettro autistico
2020
The study reports an intervention study on a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The intervention was conducted using some activities included in the RE4BES protocol, a collection of guidelines for the implementation of educational robots intervention for children and young people with special educational eeeds. To assess the efficacy of the intervention, an A-B-A quasi-experimental design was used, in which the involved child was repeatedly evaluated before, during and after treatment. The results showed that robotics activities produced significant changes in his fine motor skills, verbal and preverbal skills, social reciprocity and emotional expression. Furthermore, it was possible to o…
Melatonin levels in Parkinson's disease: Drug therapy versus electrical stimulation of the internal globus pallidus
1997
The objective of our work was to measure plasma melatonin levels in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) following electrical stimulation of the internal globus pallidus (GPi), and to compare these levels with groups of PD patients under drug therapy and healthy controls. The levels of melatonin were measured twice daily at 1000 and 1200. The GPi stimulation at 130 Hz lowered melatonin levels, while no changes were observed in the absence of stimulation. The melatonin levels from healthy subjects were lower than those observed in PD patients. The melatonin levels from PD patients under drug therapy were also measured during the night (2000-2400-0400) and at 0800 in order to observe their …
Targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor system to prevent ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
2008
BACKGROUND: Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) typically occurs when ovaries are primed with FSH/ LH and subsequently exposed to hCG. The ultimate pathophysiological step underlying this clinical picture is increased vascular permeability (VP). METHODS: A search of the literature was carried out using PubMed and the authors’ files. RESULTS: In rodents and humans, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) mRNA increases during ovarian stimulation. With the administration of hCG, the expression of each rises to a maximum. Expression of VEGF/VEGFR-2 mRNAs correlates with enhanced VP, with both peaking 48 h following an injection of hCG. Imm…
In vitro synthesis of dopamine and noradrenaline in the isolated rat pineal gland: day-night variations and effects of electrical stimulation.
1989
: Isolated rat pineal glands were incubated in vitro in a medium containing [I4C]dopamine or [14C]tyrosine, and the tissue contents of l4C-labelled and total dopamine and noradrenaline were determined by HPLC followed by electrochemical detection and scintillation spectrometry. During incubation with [l4C]dopamine, the labelled amine accumulated in pineal glands and was partially converted into [l4C]noradrenaline. Nomifensine, a neuronal amine uptake blocker, largely inhibited the accumulation of [l4C]dopamine and the formation of [14C]noradrenaline. These experiments demonstrated dopamine β-hydroxylase activity in the sympathetic nerves of the pineal gland. During incubation with [14C]tyro…
In vitro effects of estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone on 5-methoxyindole content, cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate synthesis, and norepin…
1986
To examine the effects of estradiol, testosterone, or progesterone on cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (AMP) accumulation, 5-methoxyindole levels, and norepinephrine (NE) release by the female guinea pig pineal complex, samples of the deep, intermediate, or superficial portions of the complex were incubated in vitro with varied concentrations of either hormone. Exposure for 10 minutes to physiological amounts of estradiol (10 nM) or to 100 microM NE increased significantly cyclic AMP levels to the same extent in the three pineal regions. A maximal effect on cyclic AMP accumulation was observed at 100-nM concentrations of estradiol, with a tendency to return to basal levels at 1-10 micro…
Concentrations of ovarian proteohormones as biological markers for the outcome of assisted reproductive technology
2002
Objective: To assess whether the ovarian proteohormones inhibin A and B, pro-alpha-C and activin A could act as direct biological markers of a poorer or better response to ovulation induction or clinical conception through assisted reproductive technology (ART). Methods: Seventy-seven women who underwent ART were included in the study and were divided into two groups: (i) 46 women with sonographically documented follicular maturation; and (ii) 36 women who demonstrated inadequate follicle development. Blood samples were analyzed for inhibin A, inhibin B, pro-alpha-C, activin A and estradiol (E2) at day 3 of stimulation with recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (rFSH) after pituitary dow…
Circadian rhythm and effects of light on cAMP content of the dwarf hamster suprachiasmatic nucleus
1998
The present study was conducted in the dwarf hamster (Phodopus sungorus) to investigate whether a circadian rhythm is present in the content of the second messenger cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the endogenous clock in mammals. In animals held under light/dark conditions (LD), we observed high levels at the end of the light phase and low levels during the night in frozen SCN punches. In animals held in continuous dark, a similar rhythm was seen although a second peak was present in the subjective day. In senile hamsters under LD, the decrease of cAMP levels at the light transition was not seen. These data, obtained for the first time from …
Pituitary resistance to thyroid hormone action with preserved circadian rhythm of thyrotropin in a postmenopausal woman.
1992
We assessed the 24-h behavior of circulating TSH and the dopaminergic control on TSH release in a postmenopausal woman, who had elevated levels of serum thyroid hormones and an inappropriately high concentration of serum TSH, indicating pituitary resistance to thyroid hormone action. The patient was found to have a daily profile of serum TSH similar to that of normal subjects, except for the persistently elevated 24 h levels, suggesting that alterations in thyroid hormone negative feedback control did not affect substantially circadian TSH rhythm. The acute administration of a dopamine antagonist drug (metoclopramide) resulted in a markedly elevated peak of serum TSH, similar both in the mo…
Development of day-night rhythmicity in "synaptic" ribbon numbers in the pinealocytes of posthatch chicks kept under either natural photoperiodic con…
1991
: Pineal synaptic ribbons (SR) undergo characteristic changes over a period of 24 hr under natural photoperiodic conditions in various vertebrates, being low in number during daytime and elevated at night. During posthatch development of chicks, the rhythmicity of SR numbers is reported to appear at the age of about 2 weeks. Because the influence of external light during the growth phase of chicks on the development of day-night rhythmicity in SR numbers is unknown, we studied day-night differences in SR numbers in the pinealocytes of chicks at the posthatch ages of 15, 17, and 19 days; chicks had previously been kept under natural photoperiodic conditions or continuous illumination. Under …