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Biomedical subjects

F Mora

Publications and source records attributed to F Mora.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Lesser curvature tubular gastroplasty with partial plication for gastroesophageal reflux: manometric and pH-metric postoperative studies.

Thirty-four patients with sliding hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux, or both were treated by lesser curvature gastroplasty with partial gastric plication, using a surgical stapler. Before operation, esophageal manometric studies were performed in 33 patients and during the early postoperative period (1 to 3 months), in 34. The esophageal pH test was performed before operation in 22 patients, shortly after discharge in 27, and later in 30 patients. The clinical results were considered satisfactory in 30 patients (88%) after follow-up ranging from 18 to 33 months (average, 23 months). Before the procedure, the abdominal compression test was positive in 25 of 30 patients (83%). In early postoperative studies it was positive in 1 out of 34 patients (3%), but in the second series of postoperative studies it was positive in 9 out of 32 (28%). After instillation of hydrochloric acid into the stomach, the esophageal pH test was considered positive in 17 out of 22 patients in preoperative studies (77%). In early postoperative studies the test was positive in 3 out of 27 patients (11%) and one year later, in 7 out of 30 (23%). The later postoperative studies showed a higher number of positive reflux tests than the early studies, 28 and 23% positive in manometric and pH tests, respectively.

Esophagogastric Junction↗
PubMed1978

New apparatus for exercising a monkey seated in a primate chair.

A new apparatus and method for exercising a monkey seated in a primate chair are described. The apparatus consists of a set of hand and foot bars mounted at either end of a rocker arm that pivots in a vertical plane. This arm is connected by a steel cable to a wooden box that houses lead weights. By simultaneously pushing the foot bar and pulling the hand bar, the monkey lifts a weight and triggers a microswitch which releases a banana-flavored food pellet into a well close to the animal's mouth. The amount of work performed is varied by changing the a) amount of weight to be lifted, b) distance the weight must be lifted, or c) number of times that the animal lifts the weight for a single reward. During 30 min of exercise, the heart rate of a given monkey rose 120 beats/min, respiratory rate 24/min, and colonic temperature 1.2 degrees C above base-line values. Total work performed in 30 min varied from 250 to 360 kpm. Major advantages of this apparatus over a treadmill or bicycle ergometer are that the animal 1) is restrained sufficiently to permit the delicate experimental manipulations and physiological measurements, 2) can be exercised strenuously in a quantitative fashion, and 3) is readily trained to perform the task in a short time.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

An immunological study of nine proteins in CSF and serum of a group of epileptic patients.

The concentrations of nine proteins, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, antitrypsin, prealbumin, transferrin, albumin, IgG, ceruloplasmin, IgA and alpha-2-macroglobulin, have been determined in the serum and CSF of two groups of patients, one control and one experimental, by an immunological method. The experimental group were patients suffering from grand mal epilepsy. The control group showed no detectable neurological disorder. In the group of grand mal epileptics, only prealbumin showed a significant elevation in CSF when compared with the control group. In contrast, the rest of the proteins are decreased with respect to the controls except for alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and transferrin. The results from this study also suggest that something more than an ultrafiltration process dependent upon molecular weight, is important in determining the concentration of some serum proteins in the CSF.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Brain self-stimulation: direct evidence for the involvement of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex.

Rats were trained to self-stimulate the medial prefrontal cortex, a region rich in dopaminergic terminals. After the region adjacent to the electrode site was labeled with [14C]dopamine, it was perfused repeatedly by means of push-pull cannulas. Electrical stimulation of this cortical area in six animals enhanced the release of dopamine and its associated metabolites in nine of 16 experiments. Thus in vivo evidence is provided that dopamine is involved in the brain self-stimulation mechanism within the frontal cortex.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Activity of neurons in the region of the substantia nigra during feeding in the monkey.

The activity of single neurons in the region of the substantia nigra of the monkey was recorded during feeding to investigate their function in ingestive behavior. It was observed that some neurons in the substantia nigra and the adjacent tegmentum altered their activity during feeding, in relation to mouth movements. The activity of these neurons was related to mouth movements in that the responses of the units were similar when the monkeys drank fluids with different tastes as long as the same movements were made, in that equally good responses could be obtained when the monkey moved his mouth to non-food objects, and in that in some units opposite responses were obtained when ipsilateral as compared with contralateral mouth movements were made. It was also shown that the responses of these units associated with mouth movements were similar when the monkeys were hungry and when they were satiated. These findings suggest that the activity of some neurons in the region of the substantia nigra is related to the execution of movements which may be involved in feeding, and that the activity of these neurons is not related to the initiation of feeding. Self-stimulation through the recording microelectrodes could be obtained just dorsal to the substantia nigra, but the neural basis of this self-stimulation is not known.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1977

Self-stimulation of the MFB or VTA after microinjection of haloperidol into the prefrontal cortex of the rat.

Haloperidol, a dopamine receptor antagonist, was microinjected in doses of 12 or 24 microng into the prefrontal cortex of the rat. Its effects on self-stimulation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) or the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) were examined. It was found that these injections failed to attenuate self-stimulation at either structure. However, when haloperidol was injected into the caudate-putamen complex, a decrease in self-stimulation occurred within these structures. These results suggest that dopamine in the medial prefrontal cortex is not necessarily a part of the neurochemical substrate underlying self-stimulation of the ventral tegmental area or medial forebrain bundle.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Diencephalic efflux of calcium ions in the monkey during exercise, thermal stress and feeding.

1. The diencephalon of the unanaesthetized macaque monkey was radio-labelled with calcium by a microinjection of 6-8 muC (45)Ca(2+) into the third cerebral ventricle through a permanently implanted cannula. Successive 5 min push-pull perfusions of the mid-line hypothalamic region with an artificial C.S.F. were carried out at a rate of 28 mul./min every 20 min. A washout curve of declining (45)Ca(2+) radioactivity was thus generated.2. When the monkey exercised strenuously on a special ;rowing machine' to obtain highly palatable banana pellets, its body temperature rose sharply. As the monkey exercised, during a sequence of push-pull perfusions, the concurrent efflux of (45)Ca(2+) ions increased markedly in the corresponding samples of diencephalic perfusate. This enhanced activity of calcium ions continued throughout a 30 min work period and persisted as long as the monkey's temperature was elevated in the interval immediately following exercise.3. Exposure of the monkey's trunk, between neck and thigh to cold air of 5 degrees C likewise augmented the amount of (45)Ca(2+) ions in the diencephalic push-pull perfusates; however, a similar exposure to air warmed to 35 degrees C failed to alter the pattern of (45)Ca(2+) efflux from the animal's diencephalon. If a fasted monkey consumed only the banana pellets but was not exercised, the level of (45)Ca(2+) in the perfusate also increased transiently, just at the onset of feeding.4. We conclude that a local change in calcium transport, binding or other cellular activity of the cation within the diencephalon could play an important role in the central mechanism underlying the set-point rise in a primate's temperature which accompanies vigorous exercise. Further, the results support the idea that this cation functions in the diencephalic control of metabolic heat production as well as in the overall processes of energy metabolism, particularly in relation to feeding.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Hypothalamic neuronal responses associated with the sight of food.

Neurones in the lateral hypothalamic region are described which alter their firing rates when a monkey looks at food. The units responded when the monkey looked at different types of food, but not at non-food objects or simple visual stimuli. The units did not respond in relation to motor movements, intense arousal, nor when a salient aversive stimulus was shown, nor in relation to eye movements, and were thus shown to be different from units in the globus pallidus which did respond in some of these control tests. The neurones did not respond to olfactory stimuli and did not respond if the animal ate in the dark. Because of these findings it is suggested that the activity of these hypothalamic neurones is associated with the sight of food. It is of interest that these neurones which respond when food is shown to a hungry animal are found in a region thought to be involved in the control of feeding.

Animals↗