Cancellous Bone Structure in the Growing and Aging Lumbar Spine in a Historic Nubian Population

There is abundant data on cancellous bone in the aging human spine, but little relating to the growing vertebral cancellous bone in childhood and adolescence. The purpose of this study was to map vertebral cancellous bone in a growth and age series of historic skeletal samples and to make comparisons with data published on recent material. Lumbar vertebral bodies were collected from 65 skeletons (0–60 years) from a medieval Nubian population. Ethnohistoric information was collected to interpret conditions that might have influenced bone structure and metabolism. The cancellous bone was studied three dimensionally, using stereophotography and scanning electron microscopy and morphometrically by performing a semiautomatic structural analysis on digitized backscattered electron images of polymethacrylate-embedded material. The cancellous bone structure in the children consisted mainly of a densely packed, uniform network of small rodlike trabeculae. The greatest bone volume fraction with small, more platelike trabeculae was observed during adolescence. In young adults, larger platelike trabeculae were present in the central zone and smaller trabeculae in the superior and inferior zones, as described for modern skeletal material. Structural changes associated with aging were observed much sooner than in modern man. By the estimated age of approximately 50–60 years, the predominant architectural elements were slender rarified rods in both sexes. The ethnohistorical data suggest that this was essentially a black African population of physically active peasants, not likely to suffer Vitamin D insufficiency or deficient calcium intake. Thus an earlier onset of the biological age changes in cancellous bone found in modern populations was probably prevalent. Received: 1 March 1996 / Accepted: 31 December 1996     

An anisotropy of human tactile sensitivity and its relation to the visual oblique effect

Summary The ability of humans to detect striated stimuli on the distal phalanges was found to be highly anisotropic. Observers were much more sensitive to stripes presented in the proximal-distal orientation than to stripes in any other orientation. This tactile anisotropy was contrasted with the well-known visual anisotropy in which sensitivity is greatest for stripes at the horizontal and vertical orientations. We suggest that both the tactile anisotropy and the visual anisotropy are caused by corresponding anisotropies in the distribution of preferred orientations of orientation-selective neurons with in the respective modalities.     

Hyperexcitability associated with localizable lesions in epileptic patients

Intracellular recordings from neurons were carried out in cortical slices obtained from tissue removed from patients suffering from intractable seizures. The patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of an anatomical abnormality that could be imaged preoperatively. The lesion or its surround was the presumptive epileptogenic area. The tissue removed from the patients without lesions was removed either for biopsy purposes or for access to epileptic tissue and was not considered epileptogenic. All neurons from patients without an imageable lesion, and some (19%) from patients with an imageable lesion, responded to orthodromic stimuli with a sequence of synaptic excitation followed by inhibition; these properties resembled those of normal rodent cortical slices. Different responses, classified as abnormal, were observed in 81% of the neurons in tissue specimens obtained near lesions. The most common was prolonged synaptic excitation with no noticeable inhibition, even at high stimulus strengths. In three resections, long latency all-or-none depolarization shifts were observed that resemble the classic paradoxical depolarization shift seen in in vivo extracellular recordings. Loss of specific inhibitory systems within the cortex may contribute in part to these abnormal responses.     

Time course of the effects of diazepam and lorazepam on perceptual priming and explicit memory

The effects of diazepam and lorazepam on explicit memory and perceptual priming were studied 50, 130 and 300 min after drug administration. Sixty healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to one of five parallel groups (placebo, diazepam 0.2 or 0.3 mg/kg, lorazepam 0.026 or 0.038 mg/kg). The corresponding doses of benzodiazepines exerted a similar negative effect on explicit performance. Lorazepam markedly impaired priming performance, whereas the effect of diazepam was intermediate between that of placebo and that of lorazepam 0.038 mg/kg. The impairment was maximal at the theoretical peak plasma concentration. Contamination by explicit memory could account for the decrease in priming performance observed in the diazepam groups.     

Human cyclovergence as a function of stimulus frequency and amplitude

Summary By the use of scleral search coils a continuous record of human cyclovergence was obtained while two identical 80° textured patterns, presented dichoptically, oscillated in the frontal plane in counterphase through 1, 3 and 6° of cyclorotation at frequencies between 0.05 and 2 Hz. The amplitude and gain of the response decreased exponentially with increasing stimulus frequency. As stimulus amplitude increased, response amplitude also increased but gain was highest for low-amplitude cyclorotations. For an amplitude of 1° and a frequency of 0.05 Hz the gain reached 0.87 for two subjects. The phase lag increased from a few degrees at a frequency of 0.05 Hz to over 100° at a frequency of 2 Hz. These results suggest that cyclovergence is designed to correct for small, slow drifts in the stereoscopic alignment of the images in the two eyes. Although the disparity in the textured display was not interpreted as slant, it provided a strong stimulus for cyclovergence. The cyclovergence caused a transfer of cyclodisparity into a superimposed vertical line, which was then perceived as slanting in depth.     

羊膜负载骨髓间充质干细胞与表皮细胞对放创性皮肤损伤促愈合研究

目的探讨治疗放创性全厚皮肤缺损创面的方法及效果. 方法贵州小香猪8只,每只背部脊柱两侧均有放创性全层皮肤缺损圆形创面(Ф3.67cm)各3个,共48个创面.将经处理的人羊膜(human amniotic mambrane, HAM)分别负载自体骨髓间充质干细胞(mesenchymal stem cells, MSCs)和表皮细胞,移植到其左侧24个创面作为实验组(A组);以单纯无种植细胞的HAM敷盖其右侧前16个创面(B组);以单纯油纱布敷盖其右侧后8个创面(C组).B、C作为对照组.观察移植后1～3周内各组创面愈合、肉芽组织生长及上皮化等情况,并进行创面组织HE染色及vWF免疫组织化学检测.用图像分析法测算各组各时间点创面平均面积(cm2),并计算其愈合百分率. 结果 C组于伤后 22～23天愈合,B组于伤后19～21天愈合;A组于伤后15～17天愈合,较B、C组分别提前6～7天和5～6天,愈合质量好.移植15～17天,A组与B、C组创面平均残留面积及愈合面积百分率比较,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.01). A组创面的新生上皮已完全覆盖整个创面,肉芽组织生长旺盛,肉芽组织中vWF、成纤维细胞和毛细血管含量丰富,可见胶原沉积;B、C组创面仍见许多炎性细胞浸润,肉芽组织中vWF、成纤维细胞和毛细血管含量少,胶原沉积不明显. 结论 HAM负载自体MSCs和表皮细胞植入对放创性全厚皮肤缺损创面有较好的促愈合作用,愈合质量较高.     

重组人生长激素在体外对人直肠癌细胞株HR8348增殖的影响

目的　探讨重组人生长激素 (rhGH )在体外对人直肠癌细胞增殖的影响。方法　实验分为对照组、rhGH组、奥沙利铂 (L OHP)组和rhGH +L OHP组 4组 ,利用体外细胞培养、MTT比色技术及流式细胞仪等方法 ,测定不同浓度的rhGH对人直肠癌细胞株HR83 48细胞倍增时间、细胞抑制率、细胞周期、增殖指数 (PI)和DNA抑制率的影响。结果　rhGH在体外不促进HR83 48细胞的分裂增殖 ,rhGH组与对照组比较 ,以及rhGH +L OHP组与L OHP组比较 ,其差异均无统计学意义 (P>0 .0 5 ) ;rhGH +L OHP组与对照组比较及rhGH +L OHP组与对应的rhGH组配对比较 ,细胞倍增时间明显延长 ,细胞抑制率增加 ,阻滞于G0 ～G1期的细胞数增加 ,S期和G2 ～M期细胞明显减少 ,PI明显降低 ,DNA抑制率显著升高 (P<0 .0 1,S期P<0 .0 5 )。结论　rhGH在体外不促进直肠癌细胞的分裂增殖。     

新时期我国人学研究综述

改革开放以来 ,我国的人学研究有两条发展道路 :一是执政党的指导思想中以人为本、促进人的全面发展的观念日益清晰。二是学界围绕人道主义与异化问题、人的本质与人的价值问题、人的现代化、人的主体性等问题把对人学问题的研究逐步推向深入 ,二者相互促进 ,使人学作为一门独立的学科展现出广阔的发展前景。进入新的世纪 ,我国人学研究的重点转向人的全面发展 ,学术界就人的全面发展的丰富内涵以及在社会主义初级阶段如何从发展先进生产力、进行制度创新、加强先进文化建设、扩大交往等方面促进人的全面发展进行了全方位的深入的探讨。同时 ,学术界提出要高度关注“马克思的问题域” ,处理好发展社会主义市场经济与促进人的全面发展的关系。另外 ,学术界还从人与环境、人的实践的自发性与自觉性的关系等方面尝试总结关于人的发展的规律 ,这从一个更高的层面推进了我国的人学的研究     

Labeling efficacy of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles to human neural stem cells: comparison of ferumoxides, monocrystalline iron oxide, cross-linked iron oxide (CLIO)-NH2 and tat-CLIO.

OBJECTIVE: We wanted to compare the human neural stem cell (hNSC) labeling efficacy of different superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), namely, ferumoxides, monocrystalline iron oxide (MION), cross-linked iron oxide (CLIO)-NH(2) and tat-CLIO. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hNSCs (5 x 10(5) HB1F3 cells/ml) were incubated for 24 hr in cell culture media that contained 25 microg/ml of ferumoxides, MION or CLIO-NH(2), and with or without poly-L-lysine (PLL) and tat-CLIO. The cellular iron uptake was analyzed qualitatively with using a light microscope and this was quantified via atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The visibility of the labeled cells was assessed with MR imaging. RESULTS: The incorporation of SPIONs into the hNSCs did not affect the cellular proliferations and viabilities. The hNSCs labeled with tat-CLIO showed the longest retention, up to 72 hr, and they contained 2.15+/-0.3 pg iron/cell, which are 59 fold, 430 fold and six fold more incorporated iron than that of the hNSCs labeled with ferumoxides, MION or CLIO-NH(2), respectively. However, when PLL was added, the incorporation of ferumoxides, MION or CLIO-NH(2) into the hNSCs was comparable to that of tat-CLIO. CONCLUSION: For MR imaging, hNSCs can be efficiently labeled with tat-CLIO alone or with a combination of ferumoxides, MION, CLIO-NH(2) and the transfection agent PLL.     

输精管结扎干扰前列腺增生过程的机制探讨——精浆睾酮双氢睾酮的放射免疫测定

本文应用放射免疫测定的方法检测了13例输精管结扎后(平均15.3年,平均年龄50岁)的男性精浆双氢睾酮和睾酮的浓度,另取同年龄组男性13例作为对照。结果表明,精浆睾酮在结扎组(374.54p/ml)和正常对照组(315.64Pg/ml)中没有明显差异,而结扎组精浆中双氢睾酮(46.21pg/ml)却明显低子对照组(184.27pg/ml(p<0.01)。作者认为,输精管结扎对精浆DHT有长期影响,这可能是其对前列腺增生过程产生抑制作用的原因之一。