Effects of sirsasana (headstand) practice on autonomic and respiratory variables.

The present study had two aims: (1) To assess heart rate variability (HRV) along with non-specific autonomic measures (used in earlier studies), before and after two minutes of the head stand. (2) To compare changes in two categories of subjects, i.e., those who practiced the headstand in a traditional way (without any support) and those who used the support of the wall (a present day adaptation). The subjects were forty male volunteers (age range 19 to 36 years), with twenty subjects under each category. The following changes were significant after the practice, compared to values at baseline. (i) Both categories had an increase in the power of the low frequency component (LF) and a decrease in the high frequency component (HF) of the HRV spectrum, increased LF/HF ratio, and decreased heart rate. (ii) Subjects who practiced the head stand with the support of a wall showed reduced finger plethysmogram amplitude suggesting increased sympathetic vasomotor tone. (iii) Practicing the headstand without support was associated with an increase in the skin conductance level, suggestive of increased sympathetic sudomotor tone. Hence, both categories showed similar changes in the HRV components though changes in sympathetic vasomotor and sudomotor activity were different. These changes suggest sympathetic activation, irrespective of the method of practice.     

Maplets for correspondence-based object recognition.

We present a correspondence-based system for visual object recognition with invariance to position, orientation, scale and deformation. The system is intermediate between high- and low-dimensional representations of correspondences. The essence of the approach is based on higher-order links, called here maplets, which are specific to narrow ranges of mapping parameters (position, scale and orientation), which interact cooperatively with each other, and which are assumed to be formed by learning. While being based on dynamic links, the system overcomes previous problems with that formulation in terms of speed of convergence and range of allowed variation. We perform face recognition experiments, comparing ours to other published systems. We see our work as a step towards a reformulation of neural dynamics that includes rapid network self-organization as essential aspect of brain state organization.     

微波快速过氧化物酶染色法与灌注法用于微循环形态学研究之比较

以健康Ｗｉｓｔａｒ大白鼠为材料，对微波快速内源性过氧化物酶染色与灌注法显示微血管的方法进行了对比研究。结果，过氧化物酶组织化学法具有不用灌注，操作简单，所用时间短，对血管无扩张、破裂等人为改变的特点，保持了微血管真实的自然形态和管径大小，可以定量或半定量地判定组织器官活体时的血液循环状况。可以用于人及动物的大脑、脊髓、皮肤、耳及食管等组织内微血管形态学研究和定量分析。并对过氧化物酶显示微血管的原理和微波辐射促进染色的原理及特点进行了分析、讨论。     

Serum creatine kinase B subunit in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

We determined the serum levels of the creatine kinase B subunit (CK-B) by an enzyme immunoassay method in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and benign renal diseases. Eighteen of 76 patients with RCC (24%) had elevated serum CK-B levels. The positive rates were 29% in stage I, 13% in stage II, 15% in stage III, and 27% in stage IV. In all 9 patients whose serum CK-B levels were serially measured and had been elevated before operation, the CK-B levels were reduced to the normal range after nephrectomy. These findings indicate that serum CK-B is a useful biomarker for monitoring the clinical course for a limited number of RCC patients, but is not a marker for diagnosis and staging. Concentrations of CK-B in RCC tissues were significantly lower than those of normal kidney. A high rate of cell turnover in tumor tissues might entail the higher level of serum CK-B in patients with RCC.     

格林—巴利综合征患者血清和脑脊液中的抗硫脂抗体

探讨抗硫脂抗体与格林－巴利综合征（ＧＢＳ）的关系。方法采用固相酶联免疫吸附法对急性期ＧＢＳ患者血清和脑脊液（ＣＳＦ）中抗硫脂ＩｇＧ和ＩｇＭ抗体进行检测。结果ＧＢＳ患者血清和ＣＳＦ中抗硫脂ＩｇＧ及ＩｇＭ抗体的阳性率均明显高于正常对照组；血清中抗硫脂ＩｇＭ抗体滴度与标本收集时患者发病天数呈负相关（Ｐ＜０．０５），而血清中抗硫脂ＩｇＧ抗体滴度与临床分级（Ｐ＜０．０１）、ＣＳＦ中抗硫脂ＩｇＧ抗体滴度（Ｐ＜０．０１）呈正相关；血清中抗硫脂ＩｇＧ或ＩｇＭ阳性的ＧＢＳ患者，体检时有不同程度的感觉障碍患者为５６％，而血清中抗硫脂抗体阴性患者仅为１６％，两者之间差异有显著意义（Ｐ＜０．０５）。结论抗硫脂抗体可能在ＧＢＳ的病理过程中起重要作用     

神经梅毒的临床特征与诊断分析

目的：分析神经梅毒的分型和临床特征及提供早期诊断依据。方法：回顾性分析经临床和实验室检查确诊的18例神经梅毒病人的有关临床资料。结果：神经梅毒的临床特征包括：(1)急性、亚急性起病为主；(2)临床以间质型，尤其是以脑卒中起病常见，症状元特异性；(3)血清学检查以梅毒螺旋体血凝试验(TPHA)及快速血浆反应素试验(RPR)特异性较高；(4)脑脊液检查表现为压力增高(42．9％)、蛋白增高(81．2％)及细胞数增高(56．3％)；(5)头颅CT、MRI表现与高血压、动脉硬化所致脑梗死不同，为多发、散在病灶。结论：神经梅毒早期误诊率高，临床表现与分型密切相关，实验室及影像学检查是诊断的重要依据。     

The correlation of ureaplasma urealyticum infection with infertility

Summary. A prevalence study of Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) infection of the male genital tract was carried out in Shanghai between March 1992 and June 1995. Significantly higher frequency of UU infection was found among infertile males (549/1416) as compared to fertile controls (34/375). Examination of 8 specimens each from infertile men and fertile subjects by electron microscopy, immunogold and immunofluorescence techniques, demonstrated adhesion of Ureaplasma urealyticum to the membrane of spermatozoa and exfoliated germ cells. In addition, gold particles on Ureaplasma urealyticum were found to be adhered to the sperm surface in 4 of the 8 samples. Strong specific anti-UU fluorescence was detected in 6 of 8 samples, mainly on the midpieces and post-acrosomal regions of the spermatozoa.
To further study the effects of Ureaplasma urealyticum on fertility, 47 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were infected artificially with Ureaplasma urealyticum serotype 8 (T960). Morphological changes in the seminiferous tubules were observed 3–5 weeks after inoculation in the sacrificed animals. Dramatic impairment of spermatogenesis of both testes was found in 11 rats. Mating experiment confirmed infertility in 12 of 40 rats. Offsprings of the infected rats were significantly smaller than those of controls in terms of prenatal weights and birthweights.