Low dietary sodium intake increases central nervous system angiotensin activity, which increases basal renal sympathetic nerve activity and shifts its arterial baroreflex control to a higher level of arterial pressure. This results in a higher level of renal sympathetic nerve activity for a given level of arterial pressure during low dietary sodium intake than during either normal or high dieta...

We analyzed the characteristics of white porcelain fired at different temperatures (800, 1200, 1350℃) by measuring changes in thermal luminescence(TL) and multi-wavelength (IR, orange, green, blue, UVA) optically stimulated luminescence(OSL) signal. White 800℃ showed high intensity TL signals over a wide temperature range 100 to 400℃, whereas 1200 1350℃ peaks 210℃. Moreover, OSL 800℃, increased...

On the interpretation of temporal differences of BOLD fMRI responses to nociceptive stimulation To the Editor: We have read with interest the paper by Becerra and colleagues in the January 2004 issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology (Becerra et al. 2004). In this article the authors use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the temporal aspects of peripheral and CNS proce...

In Brazil, the test that uses test tubes filled with cold water (25ºC) and tubes filled with water heated to a temperature of 45ºC is recommended by the Ministry of Health as a way of evaluate thermal sensitivity on the injured skin of leprosy patients. The purpose of this work was to quantify the thermal stimulation applied to the skin, as well as the temperature variation of the heated water ...

In our previous studies, psychological stress was shown to enhance operant escape responding of male and female rats. The stressors that produced hyperalgesia were physical restraint and social defeat. Nociceptive input also elicits stress reactions, generating the prediction that pain would facilitate pain under certain circumstances. For example, the usual method of evaluating stress in labor...

The objective of the present study was to investigate whether oxytocinergic mechanisms may contribute to the antinociceptive effect of non-noxious, sensory stimulation. To test this hypothesis, oxytocin levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured in control rats as well as in rats exposed for 30 min to electro-acupuncture (2 Hz), thermal stimulation (40 degrees C) or vibration ...

The ability to sense temperature is vital to our life. It signals the environmental condition, reflects the physiological conditions of our own body, and generates feelings of pleasantness or unpleasantness. Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated implicit associations between physical temperature and social/emotional concepts, suggesting the processing of temperature may even influence cogn...

Local changes in surface temperature have a powerful influence on the perfusion of human skin. Heating increases local skin blood flow, but the mechanisms and mediators of this response (thermal hyperemia response) are incompletely elucidated. In the present study, we examined the possible dependence of the thermal hyperemia response on stimulation of muscarinic cholinergic receptors and on pro...