TheScientificWorldJournal
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Empathy is the ability to experience and understand what others feel without confusion between oneself and others. Knowing what someone else is feeling plays a fundamental role in interpersonal interactions. ⋯ Furthermore, awareness of a distinction between the experiences of the self and others constitutes a crucial aspect of empathy. We discuss data from recent behavioral and functional neuroimaging studies with an emphasis on the perception of pain in others, and highlight the role of different neural mechanisms that underpin the experience of empathy, including emotion sharing, perspective taking, and emotion regulation.
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TheScientificWorldJournal · Jan 2006
ReviewPeroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and shock state.
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors that are related to retinoid, steroid, and thyroid hormone receptors. Three isotypes of PPARs have been identified: alpha, beta/delta, and gamma, encoded by different genes and distributed in various tissues. ⋯ Moreover, PPARs modulate the proliferation, differentiation, and survival of immune cells. This review presents the current state of knowledge regarding the involvement of PPARs in the control of inflammatory response, and their potential therapeutic applications in several types of shock, as well as hemorrhagic, septic, and nonseptic shock.
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Study of the genetics of the malignant hyperthermia syndrome began in families in which both malignant hyperthermia (MH) episodes had been experienced and individuals had strongly positive contracture tests diagnostic of susceptibility to MH. Linkage studies associated this MH phenotype to the ryanodine receptor gene (RYR1) at chromosome 19q13.1 in many families. ⋯ Other candidate genes exist, but few MH-susceptible families have variants of these genes. Hundreds of MH-susceptible people have variants of RYR1.
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TheScientificWorldJournal · Jan 2006
Comparative StudyTherapeutical intervention, relaxation, mental images, and spirituality (RIME) for spiritual pain in terminal patients. A training program.
Therapeutic intervention involving the technique of Relaxation, Mental Images, and Spirituality (RIME) can foster the redefinition of spiritual pain in terminal patients. A training course was developed to instruct health care professionals in its use, and the results were followed up by evaluating reactions of professionals to its use in intervention with patients. Six subjects (a nurse, a doctor, three psychologists, and an alternative therapist), all skilled in palliative care, were invited to take part in the experience. ⋯ The analysis of the nature of spiritual pain revealed 6 categories and 11 subcategories. The administration of RIME revealed statistically significant differences (p < 0.0001), i.e., patients reported a greater level of well-being at the end than at the beginning of sessions, which suggests that RIME led to the redefinition of spiritual pain for these terminal patients. The training program proposed has shown itself to be effective in preparing health care professionals for the use of RIME intervention.
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TheScientificWorldJournal · Jan 2006
A simple radiological technique for demonstration of incorrect positioning of a foley catheter with balloon inflated in the urethra of a male spinal cord injury patient.
In a male patient with cervical spinal cord injury, the urinary bladder may go into spasm when a urethral catheter is removed and a new Foley catheter is inserted. Before the balloon is inflated, the spastic bladder may push the Foley catheter out or the catheter may slip out of a small-capacity bladder. An inexperienced health professional may inflate the balloon of a Foley catheter in the urethra without realizing that the balloon segment of the catheter is lying in the urethra instead of the urinary bladder. ⋯ When a Foley balloon is inflated in the urethra, abdominal ultrasonography will show an absence of the Foley balloon within the bladder. The technique described above aids in positive demonstration of a Foley balloon lying outside the urinary bladder. Such documentation proves valuable in planning future treatment, education of health professionals, and settlement of malpractice claims.