地理信息系统和遥感在人类健康和流行病学中的应用

近年来,地理信息系统与遥感技术在公共卫生与流行病学中的应用越来越广泛,而且进展迅速。该文综述了其在绘制危险环境地图以及建立疾病预警系统方面的应用以及面临的问题。     

可插入式循环心律监测仪的临床应用及护理(附一例报告)

目前,可插入式循环心律监测仪是一个高诊断率且寿命较长的皮下无电极心律监测仪.它可提供边续14个月的监测,由此大增加了捕获有显著症状的心律失常的机会.     

Studies of natural allele effects in mice can be used to identify genes causing common human obesity

Although genes causing rare Mendelian forms of human obesity have provided much useful information about underlying causes of obesity, these genes do not explain significant proportions of common obesity. This review presents evidence that animal models can be used to uncover subtle genetic effects on obesity and can provide a powerful rigorous compliment to human association studies. We discuss the advantages of animal models of obesity, various approaches to discovering obesity genes, and the future of mapping and isolating naturally occurring alleles of obesity genes. We review evidence that it is important to map naturally occurring obesity genes using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, instead of mutagenesis and knockout models because the latter do not allow study of interactions and because naturally occurring obesity alleles can interfere with cloning from mutagenesis projects. Because a substantial percentage of human obesity results from complex interactions, the underlying genes can only be identified by direct studies in humans, which are still very difficult, or by studies in mice that begin with QTL mapping. Finally, we emphasize that animal model studies can be used to prove that a specific gene, only associated with obesity in humans, can indeed be the underlying cause of obesity in mammals.     

Model of reentrant ventricular tachycardia based on infarct border zone geometry predicts reentrant circuit features as determined by activation mapping

BACKGROUND: Infarct border zone (IBZ) geometry likely affects inducibility and characteristics of postinfarction reentrant ventricular tachycardia, but the connection has not been established. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine characteristics of postinfarction ventricular tachycardia in the IBZ. METHODS: A geometric model describing the relationship between IBZ geometry and wavefront propagation in reentrant circuits was developed. Based on the formulation, slow conduction and block were expected to coincide with areas where IBZ thickness (T) is minimal and the local spatial gradient in thickness (DeltaT) is maximal, so that the degree of wavefront curvature rho proportional, variant DeltaT/T is maximal. Regions of fastest conduction velocity were predicted to coincide with areas of minimum DeltaT. In seven arrhythmogenic postinfarction canine heart experiments, tachycardia was induced by programmed stimulation, and activation maps were constructed from multichannel recordings. IBZ thickness was measured in excised hearts from histologic analysis or magnetic resonance imaging. Reentrant circuit properties were predicted from IBZ geometry and compared with ventricular activation maps after tachycardia induction. RESULTS: Mean IBZ thickness was 231 +/- 140 microm at the reentry isthmus and 1440 +/- 770 microm in the outer pathway (P <0.001). Mean curvature rho was 1.63 +/- 0.45 mm(-1) at functional block line locations, 0.71 +/- 0.18 mm(-1) at isthmus entrance-exit points, and 0.33 +/- 0.13 mm(-1) in the outer reentrant circuit pathway. The mean conduction velocity about the circuit during reentrant tachycardia was 0.32 +/- 0.04 mm/ms at entrance-exit points, 0.42 +/- 0.13 mm/ms for the entire outer pathway, and 0.64 +/- 0.16 mm/ms at outer pathway regions with minimum DeltaT. Model sensitivity and specificity to detect isthmus location was 75.0% and 97.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Reentrant circuit features as determined by activation mapping can be predicted on the basis of IBZ geometrical relationships.     

知识地图在中医药信息领域的应用设想

在“信息爆炸”的现代社会，信息数量的成倍增长为知识的利用与管理带来严峻的挑战。中医药在现代化过程中，数量庞大的古籍、数据、文献等的数字信息化同样面临如何利用、管理的问题。本文将展示一种高效、便捷、可视化的知识管理模式——知识地图，并就其如何在中医药信息领域合理应用与实践，提出了一些前期的思路与设想。     

Neural control of vocalization in bats: mapping of brainstem areas with electrical microstimulation eliciting species-specific echolocation calls in the rufous horseshoe bat

Summary 1. The functional role of brainstem structures in the emission of echolocation calls was investigated in the rufous horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus rouxi, with electrical low-current microstimulation procedures. 2. Vocalizations without temporal and/or spectral distortions could be consistently elicited at low threshold currents (typically below 10 A) within three clearly circumscribed brainstem areas, namely, the deep layers and ventral parts of the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (SC), the deep mesencephalic nucleus (NMP) in the dorsal and lateral midbrain reticular formation and in a distinct area medial to the rostral parts of the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus. The mean latencies in the three vocal areas between the start of the electrical stimulus and the elicited vocalizations were 47 msec, 38 msec and 31 msec, respectively. 3. In pontine regions and the cuneiform nucleus adjacent to these three vocal areas, thresholds for eliciting vocalizations were also low, but the vocalizations showed temporal and/or spectral distortions and were often accompanied or followed by arousal of the animal. 4. Stimulus intensity systematically influenced vocalization parameters at only a few brain sites. In the caudo-ventra1 portions of the deep superior colliculus the sound pressure level of the vocalizations systematically increased with stimulus intensity. Bursts of multiple vocalizations were induced at locations ventral to the rostral parts of the cuneiform nucleus. No stimulus-intensity dependent frequency changes of the emitted vocalizations were observed. 5. The respiratory cycle was synchronized to the electrical stimuli in all regions where vocalizations could be elicited as well as in more ventrally and medially adjacent areas not yielding vocalizations on stimulation. 6. The possible functional involvement of the vocal structures in the audio-vocal feedback system of the Dopplercompensating horseshoe bat is discussed.Abbreviations AP pretectal area - BIC brachium of the inferior colliculus - CM mamillary body - CTm medial trapezoid body - CUN cuneiform ncl - HYP hypothalamus - IC (rp) inferior colliculus (rostral pole) - IP interpeduncular ncl. - LL (v, i, d) lateral lemniscus (ventral, intermediate, dorsal) - MGB medial geniculate body - NMP deep mesencephalic nucleus - NR red nucleus - P pons - PAG periaqueductal gray - PC cerebral peduncle - PO pons oralis - RD raphe dorsalis - RRF retrorubral field - RTP ncl. reticularis pontis - SC (s, i, d) superior colliculus (superficial, intermediate, deep) - SG suprageniculate ncl - SN substantia nigra - 3 ncl. of the oculomotor nerve     

A Field-Compatible Method for Interpolating Biopotentials

Mapping of bioelectric potentials over a given surface (e.g., the torso surface, the scalp) often requires interpolation of potentials into regions of missing data. Existing interpolation methods introduce significant errors when interpolating into large regions of high potential gradients, due mostly to their incompatibility with the properties of the three-dimensional (3D) potential field. In this paper, an interpolation method, inverse-forward (IF) interpolation, was developed to be consistent with Laplace's equation that governs the 3D field in the volume conductor bounded by the mapped surface. This method is evaluated in an experimental heart–torso preparation in the context of electrocardiographic body surface potential mapping. Results demonstrate that IF interpolation is able to recreate major potential features such as a potential minimum and high potential gradients within a large region of missing data. Other commonly used interpolation methods failed to reconstruct major potential features or preserve high potential gradients. An example of IF interpolation with patient data is provided to illustrate its applicability in the actual clinical setting. Application of IF interpolation in the context of noninvasive reconstruction of epicardial potentials (the inverse problem) is also examined. © 1998 Biomedical Engineering Society. PAC98: 8710+e, 0260Ed     

Transcranial magnetic stimulation: new insights into representational cortical plasticity

In the last decade, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used increasingly as a tool to explore the mechanisms and consequences of cortical plasticity in the intact human cortex. Because the spatial accuracy of the technique is limited, we refer to this as plasticity at a regional level. Currently, TMS is used to explore regional reorganization in three different ways. First, it can map changes in the pattern of connectivity within and between different cortical areas or their spinal projections. Important examples of this approach can be found in the work on motor cortex representations following a variety of interventions such as immobilization, skill acquisition, or stroke. Second, TMS can be used to investigate the behavioural relevance of these changes. By applying TMS in its "virtual lesion" mode, it is possible to interfere with cortical function and ask whether plastic reorganization within a distinct cortical area improves function. Third, TMS can be used to promote changes in cortical function. This is achieved by using repetitive TMS (rTMS) to induce short-term functional reorganization in the human cortex. The magnitude and the direction of rTMS-induced plasticity depend on extrinsic factors (i.e. the variables of stimulation such as intensity, frequency, and total number of stimuli) and intrinsic factors (i.e. the functional state of the cortex targeted by rTMS). Since conditioning effects of rTMS are not limited to the stimulated cortex but give rise to functional changes in interconnected cortical areas, rTMS is a suitable tool to investigate plasticity within a distributed functional network. Indeed, the lasting effects of rTMS offer new possibilities to study dynamic aspects of the pathophysiology of a variety of diseases and may have therapeutic potential in some neuropsychiatric disorders. Electronic Publication     

Localization of yeast glucoamylase genes by PFGE and OFAGE

Summary Chromosomes of two closely related yeast strains, the amylolytic Saccharomyces diastaticus and the non-amylolytic Saccharomyces cerevisiae, were resolved by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and orthological field alteration gel electrophoresis (OFAGE). Electrophoretic karyotypes of these two strains are identical. Sixteen cloned Saccharomyces genes of known chromosomal location were used to identify individual chromosomes by Southern hybridization analyses. The Southern blots were reprobed with a cloned fragment of the STA2 glucoamylase gene of S. diastaticus. STA2 exhibits homology to STA1 and STA3 as well as the sporulation-specific glucoamylase (SGA) gene from both Saccharomyces strains. The three unlinked, homologous genes, STA1 (DEX2, MAL5), STA2 (DEX1) and STA3 (DEX3) encoding the extracellular glucoamylase isozymes GAI, GAII and GAIII in S. diastaticus were then assigned to chromosomes IV, II and XIV, respectively. The SGA gene, encoding an intracellular glucoamylase in both S. diastaticus and S. cerevisiae, was assigned to chromosome IX. Electrophoretic mapping of the STA and SGA genes is at present the only way to localize these genes, since glucoamylase repressor gene(s) (STA10, INH1 and/or IST2) are present in most laboratory strains of S. cerevisiae and the SGA phenotype is only detectable during sporulation.     

皮肤角朊细胞与表皮干细胞双向电泳图谱的建立及差异分析

目的 建立皮肤角朊细胞与表皮干细胞的双向电泳图谱,并分析二者表达蛋白质的差异,为进一步研究体外调控表皮十细胞的增殖、分化提供线索.方法酶消化法获取单个表皮细胞悬液.Ⅳ型胶原快速贴壁法分选表皮干细胞.利用舣向电泳技术(2-DE)建立两种细胞的蛋白质表达图谱,并用Imagemaster 2D elite 5.0软件分析两种细胞的差异表达蛋一点.结果两种细胞的2-DE蛋白表达谱具有良好的重复性和可比性.皮肤角朊细胞与表皮干细胞的电泳图谱平均蛋白质点数分别为(982 ±18)个和(930 ±15)个,匹配点数为(850±13)个和(798±11)个,匹配率是86.56%和85.81%;两种细胞蛋白质间匹配点数是(886 ±8)个,匹配率是76.98%.找到差异蛋白点11个,其中只在表皮下细胞中表达或高表达的有8个;只在皮肤角朊细胞中表达或高表达的有3个.结论利用双向电泳法得到了分辨率较高儿重复性好的皮肤角朊细胞与表皮干细胞蛋白质组图谱,且二者存在有一定的差异.