Science
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Lactic acidosis, a clinical syndrome caused by the accumulation of lactic acid, is characterized by lactate concentration in blood greater than 5 mM. Therapy usually consists of intravenous sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), but resultant mortality is greater than 60 percent. The metabolic and systemic effects of NaHCO3 therapy of hypoxic lactic acidosis in dogs were studied and compared to the effects of sodium chloride or no therapy. ⋯ Despite the infusion of NaHCO3, both arterial pH and bicarbonate concentration decreased by a similar amount in all three groups of dogs. Additional detrimental effects of NaHCO3 were observed on the cardiovascular system, including decreases in cardiac output and blood pressure that were not observed with either sodium chloride or no treatment. Thus there is evidence for a harmful effect of NaHCO3 in the treatment of hypoxic lactic acidosis.
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In response to low-frequency sounds (less than 1.0 kilohertz) auditory nerve fibers in the treefrog, Eleutherodactylus coqui, discharge at a preferred phase of the stimulus waveform which is a linear function of the stimulus frequency. Moreover, the slopes of the phase-versus-frequency functions (equivalent to the system time delays) systematically increase as the characteristic frequency of the fibers decreases. These neurophysiological observations, coupled with the known tonotopy of the amphibian papilla suggest that a traveling wave occurs in the inner ear of frogs despite the absence of a basilar membrane. Electrical tuning may contribute to these characteristic frequency-dependent delays.