Pain is an unpleasant but very important biological signal for danger. Nociception is necessary for survival and maintaining the integrity of the organism in a potentially hostile environment. Pain is both a sensory experience and a perceptual metaphor for damage and it is activated by noxious stimuli that act on a complex pain sensory apparatus. However, chronic pain having no more a protective role can become a ruining disease itself, termed "neuropathic pain."
Pain is an unpleasant but very important biological signal for danger. Nociception is necessary for survival and maintaining the integrity of the o...
1 Introduction The esophagus is a relatively simple though vital organ. It consists of a two-layered muscular tube whose lumen is lined by squamous strati?ed epithelium. Beyond its role of propelling food from the pharynx to the stomach by a propulsive contraction wave representing the esophageal phase of deglutition (Conklin and Christensen 1994; Jean 2001), it is more and more recognized as a sensory organ from which a variety of respiratory and cardiovascular re?exes can be triggered, thus coop- ating with the larynx in protecting the lower airways from aspiration (Barthelemy et al. 1996;...
1 Introduction The esophagus is a relatively simple though vital organ. It consists of a two-layered muscular tube whose lumen is lined by squamous st...
1 Introduction The processing of sensory information by the central nervous system is dif?cult to understand by the complex interconnections between subcortical and cortical areas. Connections between the thalamus and cortex are largely reciprocal, with information being processed in both feed-forward (periphery to thalamus to c- tex) and feedback (corticothalamic) directions. Sensory signals reach the cerebral cortex after having made synapses in different relay stations along the sensory pa- way. Classically, excitatory and inhibitory actions have been thought to modulate sensory responses...
1 Introduction The processing of sensory information by the central nervous system is dif?cult to understand by the complex interconnections between s...
1 Introduction 1. 1 Wnts and Development The f amily of Wnt genes consists of at least 19 members in vertebrates. Wnts ha v e multiple roles during normal development and aetiology of diseases (Wodarz and Nusse 1998; Moon et al. 2002, 2004). These genes encode for glycoproteins that are released in the intercellular space, acting as intercellular mediators (Moon et al. 1997). By binding to their special receptors, the Frizzled (Fz) receptors, they are able to activate at least three different pathways: the canonical, the non-canonical and the Ca 2+ pathway (Fig. 1 ). The Wnt family has been...
1 Introduction 1. 1 Wnts and Development The f amily of Wnt genes consists of at least 19 members in vertebrates. Wnts ha v e multiple roles during no...
In this monograph the authors have emphasized a number of important concepts in mammalian kidney development. Emphasis has been put on methodology so that the reader can understand how certain results or conclusions were reached and what the optimal methods for reliable results to be obtained are. In addition, as well as descriptions of the morphology there is information on the genetic basis of the structural development. In addition much attention has been paid to how nephron number may be altered by changes in the environment of the developing kidney and to the consequences for the...
In this monograph the authors have emphasized a number of important concepts in mammalian kidney development. Emphasis has been put on methodology ...
The prostate hosts neuroendocrine cells whose origin and functional roles warrant better understanding. These cells synthesize and deliver a number of neurosecretory substances having regulative activities over growth, cell differentiation, and secretion, and might influence the development of proliferative disorders such as hyperplasia or cancer. This study demonstrates that the neuroendocrine cell population from the transition zone of the human prostate was greater than in both central and peripheral regions.
The prostate hosts neuroendocrine cells whose origin and functional roles warrant better understanding. These cells synthesize and deliver a number...
How could a structure as complex as the vertebrate brain develop from the simplest multicellular animals? Natural selection offers an impeccable mechanism for the gradual transformation of species, but even Darwin sometimes expressed doubts about the origin of highly complex structures. Following an approach that has been termed "developmental evolutionary genetics," this book seeks to establish a correspondence between embryological processes and the phylogenetic history of an organism.
How could a structure as complex as the vertebrate brain develop from the simplest multicellular animals? Natural selection offers an impeccable me...
1 Introduction Ar ticular cartilage is a specialised connective tissue with unique biological and mechanical properties which depend on the structural design of the tissue and the interactions between its unique resident cells, the chondrocytes, and the extrac- lular matrix (ECM) that makes up the bulk of the tissue (Buckwalter and Mankin 1998). Chondrocytes (Fig. 1 ) are the architects of the ECM (Muir 1995), building the macromolecular framework of the ECM from three distinct classes of mac- molecules: collagens, proteoglycans, and noncollagenous proteins. Of the collagens present in...
1 Introduction Ar ticular cartilage is a specialised connective tissue with unique biological and mechanical properties which depend on the structural...
1 Introduction The provision of nutrients and oxygen to synovial joints is essential for the ph ysiological and load-bearing functions of articular cartilage and the hom- static control of metabolism within chondrocytes, its resident cells (Mobasheri et al. 2002c; Mobasheri et al. 2006). The transport of nutrients (i. e., glucose, other h- ose and pentose sugars, amino acids, nucleotides, nucleosides and water soluble vitamins such as vitamin C) into articular chondrocytes is essential for the synt- sis of collagens, proteoglycans, and glycosaminoglycans by chondrocytes (Clark et al. 2002;...
1 Introduction The provision of nutrients and oxygen to synovial joints is essential for the ph ysiological and load-bearing functions of articular ca...
1 Introduction 1.1 Hemiballism Hemiballism or hemichorea is a rare neurological disorder, but the crucial invol- ment of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in its pathophysiology has been app- ciated for decades (Jakob 1923; Martin 1927; Glees and Wall 1946; Whittier and Mettler 1949; Carpenter and Carpenter 1951; Crossman 1987). Only recently have serious doubts come forward. Postuma and Lang (2003) have described the STN as being involved in only a minority of cases, and indicated unrecognized causes such as non-ketotic hyperosmolar hyperglycaemia and complications of human immunodeficiency...
1 Introduction 1.1 Hemiballism Hemiballism or hemichorea is a rare neurological disorder, but the crucial invol- ment of the subthalamic nucleus (STN)...
