Dorsal and ventral dopaminergic innervation of the spinal cord: Functional implications

Several studies have demonstrated that a descending dopaminergic pathway innervates the dorsal and the intermediate gray matter of the spinal cord and have suggested that this pathway is involved in pain modulation and in the control of autonomie functions. Other studies have also demonstrated the presence of dopamine (DA) and DA metabolites as well as of DA receptors in the ventral cord. There is also evidence for the implication of DA in the control of motor functions at the spinal level. The occurrence of a dopaminergic innervation in the ventral horn has been, however, disputed until recently. But recent work has demonstrated that the motoneural cell groups in the ventral horn (lamina IX) are a target for descending dopaminergic fibers. In addition, the possibility that DA is a mediator of primary afferent fibers has also been postulated. Finally, the occurrence of dopaminergic cell bodies has been suggested in the spinal cord. This indicates that DA is probably implicated in a complex manner in spinal functions. In the present paper the possible involvement of DA in sensory and in motor functions at spinal level will be discussed in view of neurochemical observations made in polyarthritic rats, in which pain-related behavior and reduction of locomotor activity associated with a marked decrease in mobility, are observed.     

Alcohol controls and Aboriginal society: The effects of the Northern Territory restricted areas legislation

The “restricted areas” provisions of the Northern Territory Liquor Act constitute a preventative policy aimed at reducing the effects of alcohol abuse, particularly on Aboriginal communities. Under the provisions, communities can apply to be declared “dry” or semi-restricted with respect to liquor. Since their inception in 1979, the provisions have given rise to continuing controversy. This paper addresses some of the issues associated with the controversy. Patterns of alcohol consumption on “dry”, semi-restricted and unrestricted communities are compared, and the incidence of apprehension for public drunkenness before and after restricted area declarations is examined. The paper also discusses the provisions under which vehicles implicated in acts of illicit “grog-running” are forfeited to the NT Government. It is concluded that the restricted area provisions are associated with reduced levels of alcohol consumption and apprehensions for drunkenness, and are therefore beneficial in outcome. However, it is also argued that at present the provisions are flawed in that, while some aspects serve to promote community control over alcohol consumption, other elements have the effect of undermining community control and responsibility.     

一种有效去除脂血对血清多种生化指标测定干扰的方法

目的 :探讨一种去除脂血对血清生化项目测定干扰的方法。方法 :沉淀、离心沉淀去除血清中过量的乳糜微粒。结果 :该法简便去脂效果彻底 ,不影响测定结果。结论 :获得了一种满意的去脂方法     

Measuring the Quality of Hospital-based Domestic Violence Programs

OBJECTIVE: To obtain consensus among a panel of experts on performance measures useful for evaluating the quality of hospital-based domestic violence (DV) programs. METHODS: The Delphi process of consensus development was used with a panel of 18 experts including DV researchers, program planners, and advocates. Three rounds were conducted over a period of six months, with each round involving the completion of a written questionnaire. Panelists were instructed to concentrate on structure and process measures of DV program performance. Health outcome measures were not considered. During each round, panelists rated (scale of 1-5) their level of agreement with each measure, in terms of the measure's usefulness for evaluating hospital-based DV programs. Data were entered into SPSS on a personal computer and frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, and variance were computed for each measure. Consensus development was defined as a reduction in the item-specific variance from one round to the next. RESULTS: A total of 37 performance measures were agreed upon. These measures fell within nine different domains of DV program activities, including: Policies and Procedures, Hospital Physical Environment, Hospital Cultural Environment, Training of Providers, Screening and Safety Assessment, Documentation, Intervention Services, Evaluation Activities, and Collaboration. CONCLUSIONS: A number of measures have been identified as useful for evaluating hospital-based DV programs. Use of these measures should assist researchers, program planners, and administrators in assessing the quality of hospital-based DV programs.     

Quality in Clinical Practice

This paper reports the proceedings of the discussion panel assigned to look at clinical aspects of quality in emergency medicine. One of the seven stated objectives of the Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference on quality in emergency medicine was to educate emergency physicians regarding quality measures and quality improvement as essential aspects of the practice of emergency medicine. Another topic of interest was a discussion of the value of information technology in facilitating quality care in the clinical practice of emergency medicine. It is important to note that this is not intended to be a comprehensive review of this extensive topic, but instead is designed to report the discussion that occurred at this session of the consensus conference.     

State and output feedback design for robust tracking of linear systems with rate limited actuators

A design technique (Control of Uncertain Systems with Bounded Inputs, Tarbouriech S, Garcia G, (Eds), Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences, vol. 227 , Springer: Berlin, 1997; 173–186) recently proposed for stabilization of a linear system with rate‐limited actuators is utilized to design feedback laws that cause the system output to track a desired command signal. This design technique combines two design techniques recently developed for linear systems with position limited actuators, piecewise‐linear LQ control (Automatica, 1994; 30 : 403–416) and low‐and‐high gain feedback (IEEE Trans. Automat. Control, 1996; 41 : 368–378), and hence takes advantage of both design techniques, while avoiding their disadvantages. In the case that only the output is available for feedback, the performance of the state feedback law is preserved by the use of a fast observer. An open‐loop exponentially unstable fighter aircraft is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design method. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

罂硝软膏的制备及质量控制

目的 :制备罂硝软膏 ,并建立质量控制方法。方法 :以硝酸甘油、盐酸罂粟碱、双氯芬酸钾为主药研制软膏剂 ,用紫外分光光度法及酸碱滴定法分别测定硝酸甘油、盐酸罂粟碱、双氯芬酸钾3组分的含量。结果 :硝酸甘油、盐酸罂粟碱、双氯芬酸钾的平均回收率分别为100 65 %、99 86 %、100 55 %,相对标准差分别为0 4945 %、0 1719 %、0 3205 %(n=3)。结论 :该软膏制备工艺可行 ,质量可控 ,性质稳定。     

血糖水平对18F-FDG PET/CT图像质量的影响

目的 研究血糖水平对18F-脱氧葡萄糖(FDG) PET/CT图像质量的影响.方法 80例行体格检查或评价肿瘤性质的受检者,按空腹血糖水平分为9组(组间距为1mmol/L),第1组为血糖正常组,即血糖＜6.0mmol/L(10例);第2～9组血糖水平高于正常,分别为6.0～6.9mmol/L(11例),7.0～7.9mmol/L(13例),8.0～8.9mmol/L(11例),9.0～9.9mmol/L(11例),10.0～10.9mmol/L(8例),11.0～11.9mmol/L(6例),12.0～12.9mmol/L(5例),≥13.0mmol/L(5例).受检者做完PET/CT检查后,图像质量由2位有经验的医师独立判断.同时根据肝不同层面的标准摄取值(SUV)最大值(SUVmax)及SUV平均值(SUVavg)分别计算肝图像噪声.采用SPSS 12.0软件进行统计学处理.结果 (1)9组之间图像质量评分、肝噪声差异有统计学意义(P均＜0.05).将第2～9组图像质量评分、肝噪声分别与第1组进行比较,第2～7组与第1组差异无统计学意义(P均＞0.05);第8,9组与第1组比较差异有统计学意义(P均＜0.05),且评分低于第1组.(2)血糖水平与图像质量评分呈负相关(r=-0.52,P＜0.05);血糖水平与肝噪声呈正相关(SUVmax、SUVavgr值分别为0.33和0.60,P均＜0.05);SUVavg所算噪声与血糖水平的相关性优于SUVmax.结论 图像质量随血糖水平的升高而下降,血糖＜12.0mmol/L时与血糖正常者PET/CT图像质量差异无统计学意义,但当血糖水平≥12.0mmol/L时图像质量将显著下降.     

Prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and relation to glycemic control therapies at baseline in the BARI 2D cohort

Abstract   We evaluated the associations between glycemic therapies and prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) at baseline among participants in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) trial on medical and revascularization therapies for coronary artery disease (CAD) and on insulin-sensitizing vs. insulin-providing treatments for diabetes. A total of 2,368 patients with type 2 diabetes and CAD was evaluated. DPN was defined as clinical examination score >2 using the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI). DPN odds ratios across different groups of glycemic therapy were evaluated by multiple logistic regression adjusted for multiple covariates including age, sex, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and diabetes duration. Fifty-one percent of BARI 2D subjects with valid baseline characteristics and MNSI scores had DPN. After adjusting for all variables, use of insulin was significantly associated with DPN (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.15–2.13). Patients on sulfonylurea (SU) or combination of SU/metformin (Met)/thiazolidinediones (TZD) had marginally higher rates of DPN than the Met/TZD group. This cross-sectional study in a cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes and CAD showed association of insulin use with higher DPN prevalence, independent of disease duration, glycemic control, and other characteristics. The causality between a glycemic control strategy and DPN cannot be evaluated in this cross-sectional study, but continued assessment of DPN and randomized therapies in BARI 2D trial may provide further explanations on the development of DPN.