Development of cranial flexure and Rathke's pouch in the chick embryo

Experiments were done to investigate the cause of the cranial (mesencephalic) flexure of the chick brain during stages 10 to 14. Measurements of the length and thickness of the roof and floor of the mesencephalon gave values similar to the values obtained previously by others. The labeling index was determined in the roof and floor of the prosencephalon, mesencephalon, and rhombencephalon as a preliminary measure of cell division. The labeling index was about the same in all regions, and was high enough to suggest that most of the cells were dividing. The labeling indices did not suggest that differential growth was caused by differential rates of cell division in the roof and floor of the mesencephalon. It was found through time lapse photography that the foregut and heart remained stationary along the rostrocaudal axis, whereas the prosencephalon moved rostrally and the mesencephalon underwent flexure. Measurements suggested that the neural tube cranial to the otic primordium grew in volume exponentially at a rate consistent with the labeling index. The rostral tip of the neural tube was observed to be linked to the rostral tip of the foregut by the ectoderm that formed Rathke's pouch at the neural tube and the pharyngeal membrane (prospective stomodeum) at the foregut. As the neural tube grew in length, the link between the neural tube and the foregut did not. We suggest that because of this link, the growing neural tube had to bend around the foregut, forming the cranial flexure, and the ectoderm folded where it attached to the prosencephalon, forming Rathke's pouch. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

原位M形回肠代膀胱术42例报告

目的　评价原位M形回肠代膀胱的疗效。　方法　男性膀胱恶性肿瘤患者 4 2例 ,腹膜外切除膀胱前列腺 ,截取 4 5～ 5 0cm回肠纵行剖开后M形折叠形成贮尿囊 ,输尿管插入贮尿囊内 1cm作吻合 ,贮尿囊底部与尿道 6针吻合 ,将贮尿囊完全置于腹膜外。　结果　本组 4 2例 ,术后随访12～ 96个月 ,平均 4 4个月。白天控尿良好者 38例 (90 .5 % ) ,夜间控尿良好者 36例 (85 .7% )。术后 12个月代膀胱容量 (36 1± 4 8)ml,最大排尿压 (86 .8± 2 1.4 )cmH2 O(1cmH2 O =0 .0 98kPa) ,最大尿流率(18.4± 6 .1)ml/s,无明显输尿管梗阻及返流。未发现尿道残端复发肿瘤。　结论　腹膜外切除膀胱可减少腹腔被肿瘤污染 ,避免肠管进入盆腔而影响手术操作。插入式输尿管吻合法 ,操作简单 ,术后形成小乳头有良好的抗返流作用 ,输尿管狭窄发生率低。代膀胱置于腹膜外 ,可减少肠粘连、肠梗阻、输尿管梗阻、腹腔内感染等并发症。改良后的原位回肠代膀胱术式 ,具有手术操作简单、术后并发症少、功能良好的特点 ,代膀胱在位置、形态、容量及输尿管抗返流等方面均接近正常膀胱。     

海南省钩端螺旋体病地理流行病学研究 Ⅰ.自然地理、动物地理区划和流行概况

本文简介海南岛的自然地理、啮齿动物地理区划和社会经济（包括人口数、性别年龄分布、人工植被、耕作习惯等）与钩端螺旋体病发生或流行有关的自然因素．扼要报告自1958─1991年以来各年度该病的发病率与病死率，比较了50─90年代总的发病态势是低→高→低，并略作了分析。     

Control of tectal cell number during larval development in Rana pipiens

Cell production and cell deaths were determined in larval Rana pipiens both in control tecta and in tecta following unilateral eyeball removal in embryos and larvae. Such enucleations produce significantly reduced rates of cell division in the contralateral tecta for virtually the entire larval period (confirming studies with enucleation almost exclusively performed in embryos--Kollros: J. Exp. Zool. 123:153-187, '53, and J. Comp. Neurol. 205:171-178, '82). Significant numbers of cell deaths in all nonependymal tectal cell layers were also observed. Control cell division rates peak at stage X, while cell death peaks are reached in stages XIII-XX. Overall, about 10(6) nonependymal cells are produced in control tecta, and about 350,000 of them die by the end of metamorphosis. Control of cell numbers following enucleation is shown to depend mainly on reductions in cell division rates when the operation occurs early in development and mainly on increases in cell death rates when the operation occurs late in larval life. Such increases in death rates are invariably present within 1 day of the operation whereas the reduced division rates ordinarily require several more days to be seen. The modified rates, both of cell divisions and cell death, are limited to tectal areas to which optic nerve fibers have already extended. Maps of the positions of tectal cell divisions in many larval stages provide the basis for modifying the current dogma that tectal formation occurs as a series of newly formed mediocaudal wedges pushing previously produced wedges rostrolaterad. All such "old" wedges receive substantial cell additions for many stages, with the rate of addition decreasing rostrad earlier than caudad.     

Premature targeting of a cell division protein to midcell allows dissection of divisome assembly in Escherichia coli

Cell division in Escherichia coli requires the recruitment of at least 10 essential proteins to the bacterial midcell. Recruitment of these proteins follows a largely linear dependency pathway in which depletion of one cell division protein leads to the absence from the division site of "downstream" proteins in the pathway. Analysis of events that underlie this pathway is complicated by the fact that a protein's ability to recruit "downstream" proteins is dependent on its own recruitment by "upstream" proteins. Hence, one cannot separate the individual contributions of various upstream proteins to any specific recruitment step. Here we present a method--premature targeting--for bypassing the normal localization requirements of a cell division protein and apply it to FtsQ, a protein recruited midway through the pathway. We fused FtsQ to the FtsZ-binding protein ZapA such that FtsQ was targeted to FtsZ rings independently of proteins FtsA and FtsK, which are normally required for FtsQ localization. Analysis of the resulting ZapA-FtsQ fusion suggests that FtsQ associates with a large complex of cell division proteins and that premature targeting of FtsQ can restore localization of this complex under conditions in which neither FtsQ nor the associated proteins would normally be localized.     

How to improve microscopic images obtained with consumer-type digital cameras

AIM: Digital imaging is useful in conventional photography because it immediately provides images, and the image quality can be improved afterwards by the use of computer programs. The major disadvantages of consumer-type digital cameras mounted on microscopes are (i) unequal illumination through the image, and (ii) a coloured background. A computer program was specifically adapted and refined to improve images obtained with consumer-type digital cameras mounted on microscopes. METHODS AND RESULTS: An approach using a division operation between the specimen image and a background image leads to homogeneous illumination throughout the image, with automatically corrected brightness and white background. The correct colour spectrum is preserved by correction of the histogram. This approach was obtained from the freeware computer program 'Image Arithmetic'. In a test, three different consumer-type digital cameras (Sony, Nikon, Olympus) on different microscopes were used to obtain images of different types of histological specimens (cervical smear, bone marrow biopsy, and colonic biopsy). The computer program dramatically improved the quality of images obtained with all tested cameras. CONCLUSION: Using this approach, even low-cost digital cameras mounted on microscopes produce brilliant images with homogeneous illumination and a white background, the image quality being comparable with expensive cameras especially designed for microscopes.     

The laminar distribution of cortical connections with the tecto- and cortico-recipient zones in the cat's lateral posterior nucleus

The anterograde and retrograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin congugated to horseradish peroxidase was used to examine the laminar organization of cortical connections with the two visual zones that comprise the cat's lateral posterior nucleus. Microelectrophoretic deposits of the tracer into the principal tecto-recipient zone in the medial division of the lateral posterior nucleus revealed reciprocal connections with the following cortical fields: areas 19 and 21a, the medial and lateral banks of the middle suprasylvian sulcus, and the dorsal and ventral banks of the lateral suprasylvian sulcus, which correspond to the dorsal lateral suprasylvian and ventral lateral suprasylvian visual areas of Palmer et al. [(1978) Brain Res. 177, 237-256] and an area in the fundus of the posterior suprasylvian sulcus. In each of these cortical areas two distinct populations of cells were labeled, small pyramidal neurons in layer VI and large pyramidal cells in layer V. Overlying these backfilled cells were two bands of anterograde label, a narrow strip in layer I and a wide band centered in layer IV. Deposits of wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase confined to the striate-recipient zone in the lateral portion of the lateral posterior nucleus resulted in cortical label in areas 17, 18, 19, 20a and b, 21a, the medial and lateral banks of the middle suprasylvian sulcus, the posterior suprasylvian sulcus and in the fundus of the splenial sulcus. In all cortical areas other than 17 and 18, the laminar distribution of label was the same as that found after deposits of the tracer into the medial division of the lateral posterior nucleus. In contrast, areas 17 and 18 contained backfilled cells that were confined to layer V and anterograde label that was restricted to layer I. These findings indicate that the cortical areas that receive a direct projection from the A laminae of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus maintain a distinct laminar organization of reciprocal connections with the extrageniculate visual thalamus. Conversely, all other visual areas of the cortex share a common pattern of reciprocal connections with both the tecto- and striate-recipient zones of the lateral posterior nucleus.     

用于评价动物社交偏好程度的新方法

目的：利用一种改进的三箱社交装置评价动物的社交偏好程度,并探索该方法的可行性。方法：采用注意力缺陷多动障碍(ADHD)大鼠作为社交障碍模型动物,以同源大鼠（WKY)大鼠和Wistar大鼠作为对照组,模型组采用治疗ADHD的临床常用中成药小儿黄龙颗粒（1.88 g/kg、3.75 g/kg）灌胃给药16 d。利用改进的三箱社交箱,以待测鼠在陌生鼠侧密切交流区的时间、频次、路程及相关比例作为行为学指标,检测该方法对社交行为评价的可行性。结果：与Wistar大鼠组比较,模型组大鼠与WKY组大鼠在密切交流区域及有陌生鼠侧区域的时间显著减少（P<0.01）,其他指标如频次、路程及比例也均有不同程度减少,小儿黄龙颗粒两剂量均能增加模型大鼠上述各指标数值。结论：该方法能准确捕捉动物的社交行为特征,实现对动物社交偏好程度的全面、客观评价。