AIM:To investigate the mechanism of action of thermal cutaneous stimulation on the gastric motor inhibition. METHODS:The gastric tone of 33 healthy volunteers (20 men, mean age 36.7 ± 8.4 years) was assessed by a...AIM:To investigate the mechanism of action of thermal cutaneous stimulation on the gastric motor inhibition. METHODS:The gastric tone of 33 healthy volunteers (20 men, mean age 36.7 ± 8.4 years) was assessed by a barostat system consisting of a balloon-ended tube connected to a strain gauge and air-injection system. The tube was introduced into the stomach and the balloon was inflated with 300 mL of air. The skin temperature was elevated in increments of 3℃ up to 49℃ and the gastric tone was simultaneously assessed by recording the balloon volume variations expressed as the percentage change from the baseline volume. The test was repeated after separate anesthetization of the skin and stomach with lidocaine and after using normal saline instead of lidocaine. RESULTS:Thermal cutaneous stimulation resulted in a significant decrease of gastric tone 61.2% ± 10.3% of the mean baseline volume. Mean latency was 25.6 ± 1.2 ms. After 20 min of individual anesthetization of the skin and stomach, thermal cutaneous stimulation produced no significant change in gastric tone. CONCLUSION:Decrease in the gastric tone in response to thermal cutaneous stimulation suggests a reflex relationship which was absent on individual anesthetization of the 2 possible arms of the reflex arc:the skin and the stomach. We call this relationship the"cutaneo-gastric inhibitory reflex". This reflex may have the potential to serve as an investigative tool in the diagnosis of gastric motor disorders, provided further studies are performed in this respect.展开更多
The world is experiencing aging of its population. Age-specific incidence rates of cancer are higher and cancer is now recognized as a part of aging. Treating older patients can be challenging. The clinical behavior o...The world is experiencing aging of its population. Age-specific incidence rates of cancer are higher and cancer is now recognized as a part of aging. Treating older patients can be challenging. The clinical behavior of some tumors changes with age and the aging process itself brings physiological changes leading to decline in the function of organs. It is essential to identify those patients with longer life expectancy, potentially more likely to benefit from aggressive treatment vs. those that are more vulnerable to adverse outcomes. A primary determination when considering therapy for an older cancer patient is a patient's physiologic, rather than chronologic age. In order to differentiate amongst patients of the same age, it is useful to determine if a patient is fit or frail. Frail older adults have multiple chronic conditions and difficulties maintaining independence. They may be more vulnerable to therapy toxicities, and may not have substantial lasting benefits from therapy. Geriatric assessment(GA) may be used as a tool to determine reversible deficits and devise treatment strategies to mitigate such deficits. GA is also used in treatment decision making by clinicians, helping to risk stratify patients prior to potentially high-risk therapy. An important practical aspect of GA is the feasibility of incorporating it into a busy oncology practice. Key considerations in performing the GA include: available resources, patient population, GA tools to use, and who will be responsible for using the GA results and develop care plans. Challenges in implementing GA in clinical practice will be discussed.展开更多
We design a grey wolf optimizer hybridized with an interior point algorithm to correct a faulty antenna array. If a single sensor fails, the radiation power pattern of the entire array is disturbed in terms of sidelob...We design a grey wolf optimizer hybridized with an interior point algorithm to correct a faulty antenna array. If a single sensor fails, the radiation power pattern of the entire array is disturbed in terms of sidelobe level（SLL） and null depth level（NDL）, and nulls are damaged and shifted from their original locations. All these issues can be solved by designing a new fitness function to reduce the error between the preferred and expected radiation power patterns and the null limitations. The hybrid algorithm has been designed to control the array＇s faulty radiation power pattern. Antenna arrays composed of 21 sensors are used in an example simulation scenario. The MATLAB simulation results confirm the good performance of the proposed method, compared with the existing methods in terms of SLL and NDL.展开更多
文摘AIM:To investigate the mechanism of action of thermal cutaneous stimulation on the gastric motor inhibition. METHODS:The gastric tone of 33 healthy volunteers (20 men, mean age 36.7 ± 8.4 years) was assessed by a barostat system consisting of a balloon-ended tube connected to a strain gauge and air-injection system. The tube was introduced into the stomach and the balloon was inflated with 300 mL of air. The skin temperature was elevated in increments of 3℃ up to 49℃ and the gastric tone was simultaneously assessed by recording the balloon volume variations expressed as the percentage change from the baseline volume. The test was repeated after separate anesthetization of the skin and stomach with lidocaine and after using normal saline instead of lidocaine. RESULTS:Thermal cutaneous stimulation resulted in a significant decrease of gastric tone 61.2% ± 10.3% of the mean baseline volume. Mean latency was 25.6 ± 1.2 ms. After 20 min of individual anesthetization of the skin and stomach, thermal cutaneous stimulation produced no significant change in gastric tone. CONCLUSION:Decrease in the gastric tone in response to thermal cutaneous stimulation suggests a reflex relationship which was absent on individual anesthetization of the 2 possible arms of the reflex arc:the skin and the stomach. We call this relationship the"cutaneo-gastric inhibitory reflex". This reflex may have the potential to serve as an investigative tool in the diagnosis of gastric motor disorders, provided further studies are performed in this respect.
基金supported in part by Beatrice & Samuel A Seaver Foundationby the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer and Aging Research Program
文摘The world is experiencing aging of its population. Age-specific incidence rates of cancer are higher and cancer is now recognized as a part of aging. Treating older patients can be challenging. The clinical behavior of some tumors changes with age and the aging process itself brings physiological changes leading to decline in the function of organs. It is essential to identify those patients with longer life expectancy, potentially more likely to benefit from aggressive treatment vs. those that are more vulnerable to adverse outcomes. A primary determination when considering therapy for an older cancer patient is a patient's physiologic, rather than chronologic age. In order to differentiate amongst patients of the same age, it is useful to determine if a patient is fit or frail. Frail older adults have multiple chronic conditions and difficulties maintaining independence. They may be more vulnerable to therapy toxicities, and may not have substantial lasting benefits from therapy. Geriatric assessment(GA) may be used as a tool to determine reversible deficits and devise treatment strategies to mitigate such deficits. GA is also used in treatment decision making by clinicians, helping to risk stratify patients prior to potentially high-risk therapy. An important practical aspect of GA is the feasibility of incorporating it into a busy oncology practice. Key considerations in performing the GA include: available resources, patient population, GA tools to use, and who will be responsible for using the GA results and develop care plans. Challenges in implementing GA in clinical practice will be discussed.
基金supported by the Ministry of Higher Education(MOHE)the Research Management Centre(RMC)+2 种基金the School of Postgraduate Studies(SPS)the Communication Engineering Department,the Faculty of Electrical Engineering(FKE)Universiti T¨ekùnolóogi Malaysia(UTM)Johor Bahru(Nos.12H09 and 03E20tan)
文摘We design a grey wolf optimizer hybridized with an interior point algorithm to correct a faulty antenna array. If a single sensor fails, the radiation power pattern of the entire array is disturbed in terms of sidelobe level（SLL） and null depth level（NDL）, and nulls are damaged and shifted from their original locations. All these issues can be solved by designing a new fitness function to reduce the error between the preferred and expected radiation power patterns and the null limitations. The hybrid algorithm has been designed to control the array＇s faulty radiation power pattern. Antenna arrays composed of 21 sensors are used in an example simulation scenario. The MATLAB simulation results confirm the good performance of the proposed method, compared with the existing methods in terms of SLL and NDL.
