Effects of prevention of afferentation of the development of the chick optic lobe

BONDY, S. C., M. E. HARRINGTON AND C. L. ANDERSON. Effects of prevention of afferentation on the developmentof the chick optic lobe. BRAIN RES. BULL. 3(5) 411–413, 1978.—The effects of unilateral extirpation of the right optic cup of the three-day incubated chick embryo upon the rate of synthesis and the stability of DNA in the non-innervated optic lobe, have been studied. This surgical procedure prevents innervation of the optic lobe contralateral to the removed eye, while the other optic lobe is normally innervated by retinal ganglion cells of the remaining eye. At the 20th day of incubation, the DNA content of the non-innervated lobe was below that of the paired lobe receiving normal innervation. This deficiency of cell number was caused by two events; death of an excess number of neurons formed early in embryogenesis and a reduced rate of glial proliferation in the later stages of incubation.     

The effect of age of onset of PD on risk of dementia

Background Dementia occurs in the majority of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Late onset of PD has been reported to be associated with a higher risk for dementia. However, age at onset (AAO) and age at baseline assessment are often correlated. The aim of this study was to explore whether AAO of PD symptoms is a risk factor for dementia independent of the general effect of age. Methods Two community-based studies of PD in New York (n = 281) and Rogaland county, Norway (n = 227) and two population-based groups of healthy elderly from New York (n = 180) and Odense, Denmark (n = 2414) were followed prospectively for 3–4 years and assessed for dementia according to DSM-IIIR. All PD and control cases underwent neurological examination and were followed with neurological and neuropsychological assessments. We used Cox proportional hazards regression based on three different time scales to explore the effect of AAO of PD on risk of dementia, adjusting for age at baseline and other demographic and clinical variables. Findings In both PD groups and in the pooled analyses, there was a significant effect of age at baseline assessment on the time to develop dementia, but there was no effect of AAO independent of age itself. Consistent with these results, there was no increased relative effect of age on the time to develop dementia in PD cases compared with controls. Interpretation This study shows that it is the general effect of age, rather than AAO that is associated with incident dementia in subjects with PD. Received in revised form: 22 December 2005     

广西农村壮族妇女精神分裂症患者生活质量状况调查

目的研究农村壮族妇女精神分裂症患者的生活质量及影响因素。方法前瞻性的队列研究。采用随机分层抽样法分为农村壮族妇女精神分裂症组、农村汉族妇女精神分裂症组、农村正常妇女对照组,应用“世界卫生组织生存质量测定报告”(WHOQOL-100)及PANSS量表调查其生活质量和疾病的严重程度。结果农村壮族妇女精神分裂症患者生活质量明显低于农村汉族妇女精神分裂症患者,影响其生活质量的相关因素是生活环境及精神支柱/个人信仰。结论经济贫困、环境条件、缺乏有效的医疗服务和社会保障是农村壮族妇女精神分裂症患者生活质量低的关键。因此,建立农村壮族社区精神卫生服务网络势在必行。     

帕金森病运动症状进展分析

目的分析帕金森病(PD)患者运动症状进展特点。方法采用PD统一评分量表(UPDRS)Ⅲ对912例PD患者进行评估。结果与病程1年的患者比较,除病程1~2年的患者外,其他病程患者的UPDRSⅢ评分、强直分、姿势或步态异常分、轴性症状总分、言语分、步态分显著升高(均P0.05),病程5~6年及14年患者的震颤分,病程5~6年、7~8年、9~13年、14年患者的运动迟缓分、姿势分显著升高(P0.05~0.01)。轴性症状进展速度高于UPDRSⅢ评分。结论 PD患者病程早期UPDRSⅢ评分进展快,震颤症状进展独立于其他症状,轴性症状评分较UPDRSⅢ更敏感地反映疾病加重趋势。     

Frequency of accumulation of filaments in adaxonal cytoplasm of Schwann cells of myelinated fibers of rat spinal roots

Summary The frequency of accumulation of 6-nm filaments in the adaxonal cytoplasm of Schwann cells in the 6th lumbar dorsal and ventral roots was evaluated in 4-, 8-, 26- and 45-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats. The frequency was higher in 4- and 8-week-old (growing) rats than in 26- and 45-week old (mature) rats, and also higher in ventral than in dorsal roots in 4-, 8- and 26-week old rats. There were no clusters on certain groups of myelinated fibers according to the size of transverse axonal area, in both the ventral and dorsal roots. Therefore, this accumulation may reflect certain functions of the adaxonal cytoplasm of Schwann cell during natural growth and maturation of the axon and myelin sheath.     

Function of circle of Willis

Nearly 400 years ago, Thomas Willis described the arterial ring at the base of the brain (the circle of Willis, CW) and recognized it as a compensatory system in the case of arterial occlusion. This theory is still accepted. We present several arguments that via negativa should discard the compensatory theory. (1) Current theory is anthropocentric; it ignores other species and their analog structures. (2) Arterial pathologies are diseases of old age, appearing after gene propagation. (3) According to the current theory, evolution has foresight. (4) Its commonness among animals indicates that it is probably a convergent evolutionary structure. (5) It was observed that communicating arteries are too small for effective blood flow, and (6) missing or hypoplastic in the majority of the population. We infer that CW, under physiologic conditions, serves as a passive pressure dissipating system; without considerable blood flow, pressure is transferred from the high to low pressure end, the latter being another arterial component of CW. Pressure gradient exists because pulse wave and blood flow arrive into the skull through different cerebral arteries asynchronously, due to arterial tree asymmetry. Therefore, CW and its communicating arteries protect cerebral artery and blood–brain barrier from hemodynamic stress.     

《绵阳市社会心理服务工作管理办法》解读

2018年,国家卫生健康委员会等10部委联合发布《关于印发全国社会心理服务体系建设试点工作方案的通知》,四川省绵阳市被列为全国第一批试点地区。绵阳市人民政府依据《中华人民共和国精神卫生法》等相关法律法规和文件精神,结合前期调查研究和社会心理服务工作的试点实际,编制出台了《绵阳市社会心理服务工作管理办法》,并于2021年12月25日起施行。本文围绕社会心理服务的相关概念、办法总则、重点内容、保障措施等方面进行解读,以期为社会心理服务工作的规范、持续和有效开展提供参考。     

The origins of innervation of the esophagus of the dog

This study defined the origins of extrinsic efferent and afferent innervation of the normal canine esophagus. When all the layers of the wall of the 3 esophageal regions (cervical, thoracic and abdominal) were injected with horseradish peroxidase (HRP), labeled nerve cells were found in the nucleus ambiguus (NA) and parasympathetic nucleus of X (PX) of the brainstem. Most labeled cells in the NA were located in the compact column (retrofacial nucleus) while labeled cells in the PX were located in separate rostral and caudal areas. There was no somatotopic organization in either the NA or PX. Labeled sympathetic postganglionic neurons were found in the cranial cervical, middle cervical, cervicothoracic, thoracic sympathetic trunk and celiacomesenteric ganglia. The HRP injection of the esophageal wall labeled sensory cell bodies in the glossopharyngeal, proximal and distal vagal, and C2-T6 spinal ganglia. There was no discernible pattern of distribution of labeled cells in the autonomic or sensory ganglia. When the HRP injections were confined to the mucosa-submucosa layers of the thoracic esophagus, a small number of labeled cells were identified in the NA; however, no labeled cells were found in the NA when injections were confined to the mucosa-submucosa of either the cervical or abdominal esophageal regions. With these confined injections, the labeled nerve cells appeared in the rostral part of the PX. Thus, it appeared that the internal tunics of the esophagus (i.e., the mucosa and submucosa) were innervated by neurons in the rostral PX while the muscular tunic was innervated by neurons in the caudal PX and the rostral NA. After mucosa-submucosa injections, labeled sympathetic neurons appeared in the same ganglia that were identified after whole wall injections and these had a similar random distribution. These injections also labeled neurons in the glossopharyngeal, proximal vagal, and distal vagal ganglia, but unlike the whole wall injections there was no labeling in the spinal ganglia. This suggested that the labeled cells of the spinal ganglia seen after whole wall injections conveyed impulses from the tunica muscularis and serosa.     

Modelling of movement of the lamprey: Control of oscillators

This article discusses the control methods of the central pattern generator (CPG). First a control model of the CPG is presented using 2 oscillators, and we suggest that phasic modulation to the CPG by means of phasic information is effective for controlling the phase difference between oscillators. Next, two models for controlling the CPG of a lamprey are proposed. One model describes a control system from the brain stem, in which the reticulospinal neurons control the CPG by receiving feedback signals and sending control signals to the neck region of the CPG. The other is a model for learning an localized control system to generate a desired motor pattern. By means of these models, a role of the efference copy is suggested.