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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

That beta-adrenoceptors mediate dilatation. Does not mean that they’re inhibitory. Just like the rest, They’re linked to G alpha S, So result in more cyclic AMP.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Trapped in the freshly laid osteoid, Some osteoblasts become osteocytes. There they sense load, Such that remodelling is slowed, In the immobile and also spaceflight.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

So that’s an end of this year’s daylight savings. It is not just an extra hour in bed. Disruption ensues, To your Zeitgeber cues, Increasing risk from chronic diseases instead.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Smooth muscle is the best type of muscle, For all of the roles that it plays. From controlling blood flow, To when you must go, And your focus, peristalsis and airways.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Isometric or isotonic contractions, Are used for muscle experimenting. Isometric depends, On being secured at both ends, And where tension’s developed but not shortening.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

The sacroplasmic reticulum, Is a skeletal muscle calcium store. Following depolarisation, The T-tubule migration, Stimulates ryanodine receptors and the outpour.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

The humble Valsalva manoeuvre, Can test autonomic control. The quickened pulse it reflects, The baroreceptor reflex, That’s triggered by the subject’s breath hold.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

With colds and with flu comes a fever, As pyrogens act from within. Your hypothalamus is told, That you’re actually cold, So physiological thermogenesis kicks in.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Once acetylcholine binds to its receptor, And its target cell signal transduced. The cholinesterase, Ensure it never outstays, And what’s left in the cleft is reduced.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Lactate ringers in hyperkalaemia, Was once contraindicated. As potassium it contains, A fear of adding fuel to the flames, So saline was preferred option instead.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Intermittent claudication, A hallmark of arterial disease. From the pain you imply, Demand can’t be met by supply, But if you stop for a rest it will ease.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

The thing about catecholamines, Is their rank order of potency. Adrenaline it’s true, Binds both alpha and beta too, But it’s beta it’ll bind preferentially.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Contusion or trauma to the testicles, Can be felt in the lower abdomen. That pain is referred, By the genitofemoral nerve, Which arises from the spinal lumbar region.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Interactions between pure actin and myosin, Aren’t regulated but actually the norm. But on filaments that are thin, The tropomyosin, Regulates when cross bridges will form.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

The phenomenon of the pudding stomach, To squeeze in dessert even though you’re full. Having dined out on salty, And a helping of umami, Something sweet offers a tasty new pull.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

As temperatures climb in a heatwave, And you look for some protection. One way to keep cool, Put your feet in a basin or pool, As it increases heat loss by convection.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

A crucial survival mechanism, Is the flexor withdrawal reflex. Noxious sensory information, Has rapid spinal integration, And sharp withdrawal avoids harmful effects.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

The joys of small vessel myography, When you don’t know whether to cry or to laugh. When the vessel’s prepared, With the upmost of care, Only to disappear, without trace, in the bath.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

An osteoblast will lay down the osteoid, Within this freshly laid bone some remain. That’s not the end of its plight, It becomes an osteocyte, And relays signals of bone stress and strain.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

The ventricular action potential, Has a long phase of calcium plateau. Because it’s still depolarised, The heart can’t be tetanised, As the tension on its way to zero.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Secondary hyperparathyroidism, Is a feature of chronic kidney disease. With the tissue depletion, There’s less 1 alpha hydroxylation, Resulting in vitamin D deficiencies.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

BNP is a marker of heart failure, That suggests excess fluid retention. Since the Frank-Starling curve, Says stroke volume’s preserved, By a RAS-induced volume expansion.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Filtration along a capillary, Is not reversed at the venous ends. In the interstitium’s place, Sits the subglycocalyx space, That’s the gradient upon which filtration depends.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

A protection for cerebral perfusion, Alpha adrenoceptors are relatively rare. So when sympathetic activation, Produces peripheral constriction, The cerebral circulation is relatively spared.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

In the principal cells of the kidney, Are important for sodium reabsorption. But this comes at a cost, That is potassium loss, So you can’t control either in isolation.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

The mechanism of reactive hyperaemia, Increased flow after a drop in perfusion. As flow increase from its nadir, There’s an increase in shear, The results in more vasodilation.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Glycine is a neurotransmitter, That results in an IPSP. Chloride influx will swell, Hyperpolarising the cell, And the further from the threshold it’ll be.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

A neuron is not like a muscle, Where it fires from each stimulation. The channels are voltage-gated, So stimuli must be summated, To build up enough excitation.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Efficient gas exchange happens, When ventilation and perfusion align. Where ventilation is poor, Vasoconstriction occurs, Redistributing blood where it’s fine.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Lead I and II should be positive, So if lead I has inverted on sight. The axis you see, Is not where it should be, As it has deviated off to the right.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Current flows away from dead tissue, To healthy tissue from that that’s infarcted. So when the heart is at rest, The ECG trace is depressed, But when depolarised it appears that it’s elevated.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction; Important in development, not just disease. With the first breath after birth, Fetal shunts will reverse, As pulmonary resistance and pressure decrease.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

An eGFR is convenient, But if it’s accuracy you want, then alas. An interpretation of filtration, From a plasma creatinine concentration, Requires some assessment of mass.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Poor perfusion occurs in angina, Where coronary arteries have been narrowed. Its treatment, as planned, Effects not supply but demand, Via the reduction in cardiac workload.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Across the cardiac cycle, The blood pressure waxes and wanes. But the blood pressure mean, Is not halfway between, As the time in each phase ain’t the same.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

The fetal response to acute hypoxia, Has two actions in the main. Femoral vasoconstriction, And cerebral vasodilation, That redistributes blood to the brain.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

A fabulous inaugural lecture. A greengrocer? What could have been? But you were physiologically inclined, So our paths intertwined, Congratulations Prof Lucy Green @looceegreen.bsky.social

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

When ascending from a deep water dive, The ascent should be managed in stages. Because when the pressure’s relieved, The gas bubbles are freed, And will lodge in inopportune places.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

When giving your valentines card, To the eyes look hard, For signs of pupil dilation. For the feeling of love, When push comes to shove, Contains components of sympathetic activation.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Oxy-haemoglobin is red, While deoxy is blue. When saturation is low, Cyanosis you’ll view.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Potassium loss with loop diuretics, Isn’t due to inhibition in ascending limb. Instead the sodium swell, At the principal cell, Drives potassium loss from within.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Nitrates for use in angina, Don’t dilate the arteries that are stenosed. Through systemic dilation, They reduce oxygen consumption, By reducing the overall workload.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Surrounding a burn there’s inflammation, And factors causing vasoconstriction, That results in reduced perfusion, And transudate. Necrosis or recovery an option? Either fate. Happy Burns Night

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

The threshold of an action potential, Is because of the voltage-gate. Once the threshold’s attained, The activation gate in unchained, And the channels transform to their “active” state.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Cold-induced peripheral cyanosis, Is a result of vasoconstriction. This produces sluggish flow, Meaning perfusion is low, Which results in a low saturation.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

In mammals the advantage of fur, Is to trap a layer of warm air. In humans this piloerection, Helps thermoregulation, Even though the fur is no longer there.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Alcohol is a mild diuretic, That produces increased urine flow. So a night on the sauce, Leads to increased fluid loss, Giving rise to a hangover don’t you know.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Once past the winter solstice, And the days they start to expand. The day/night cycle it shifts, By the suprachiasmatic nucleus, Controlled in turn by the pineal gland.

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Christopher Torrens @christophertorrens.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

The equilibrium potential of sodium, Doesn’t determine the action potential peak. Although there’s free sodium entry, It falls short just slightly, Because potassium still continues to leak.

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Reposted by Christopher Torrens

Triona Ní Chonghaile @ttclab.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Huge congratulations to the newly minted Dr. Andy Roe on his viva 🎉!! Thanks so much to examiners @crismunozp.bsky.social and Dr. Niamh Connolly (not on Blue sky!) and the chair @christophertorrens.bsky.social @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsi-research.bsky.social. Looking forward to following your 💫 career.

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