Intrarenal distribution of125I-polyvinyl pyrrolidone and51Cr-labelled red cells in hydropenic and polyuric rabbits

Summary The intrarenal volumes of distribution of¹²⁵I-polyvinyl pyrrolidone and⁵¹Cr-labelled red cells have been examined in rabbits under conditions of severe hydropenia and starvation-induced polyuria, and in rabbits under control conditions. The PVP space was significantly reduced, and the ratio [red cell space]:[red cell space + PVP space] significantly elevated, in the outer cortex of kidneys of hydropenic rabbits, and in the papilla of polyuric rabbits. It is suggested that the former may in some manner result from a reduction in the total cortical vascular space, whereas the latter reflects variations of medullary and appillary interstitial tonicity under these conditions.     

Three‐Dimensional Reconstruction of the Optic Canal‐Based on Multislice Helical CT: A Comparison Analysis with Skull Dissection of 40 Postmortem Cases

Decompression operation of the optic canal via the nasal path under endoscope is widely used, but it is both a challenging and controversial method. Unsatisfactory results were largely associated with otolaryngologists' limited understanding of the real anatomical situations of the optic canal before operation. To provide otolaryngologists with the real situations and data preoperation, multislice helical CT was used to reconstruct the images of the optic canal. Using multislice helical CT‐aided three‐dimensional reconstructive methods in combination with direct anatomic measurement, we dissected and analyzed the shape of the optic canal and its anatomic relationship with the adjoining structures in 40 intact postmortem skull samples. The In‐Space technique clearly showed the structure and the related region of the optic canal. The virtual endoscopy technique showed superbly the spatial appearance and topography of the inner optic canal and also gave the inner structure of the optic canal optically. There was no statistic difference in three‐dimensional reconstructive data with that obtained by anatomical measurements and thus can be used to directly instruct the clinic operation. These results demonstrate that a combined In‐Space technique with virtual endoscopy can accurately define the subtle structure and the related region of the optical canal. In conclusion, multislice helical CT‐based three‐dimensional reconstruction is of important value for clinical operations. Anat Rec, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

负压封闭吸引对糖尿病溃疡愈合的促进作用

目的 在"创而床准备(WBP)"理论指导下,观察负压封闭吸引局部处理糖尿病溃疡的疗效.方法 收集2000年1月至2005年1月间收治的27例糖尿病溃疡患者作对照组,2005年1月至2007年6月的8例糖尿病溃疡患者为试验组.两组患者均经常规系统的治疗,试验组在创面的黑、黄期采用清创后负压吸引治疗.观察两组创而各分期间的演进情况.比较两组手术Ⅰ期修复率、入院首次及实施负压治疗后1、2、3周创面细菌学检查结果 .观察各期创面组织标本的HE染色和黄、红两期Ⅰ、Ⅲ型胶原纤维苦味酸-天狼猩红染色结果 及对其含量进行图像分析.结果 试验组患者创面各分期的演进速度、于术Ⅰ期修复率均优于以照组(100%比46%,P<0.05).治疗2周后试验组创面末检出致病菌,对照组检出率为66.7%(P<0.05).HE染色显示试验组各期间的演进类似于急性创面愈合过程,且试验组黄期Ⅰ、m型胶原总含量为12.28%,对照组为24.77%(P<0.01).结论 基于WBP方案的负压吸引治疗能促进糖尿病溃疡的创面愈合过程.     

Factors affecting the size of the detour effect in the kinaesthetic perception of Euclidean distance

Three experiments investigated the mechanisms by which we estimate Euclidean distances on the basis of kinaesthetic cues. In all experiments, blindfolded participants followed straight and curvilinear paths with a stylus. Then, with a straight response movement, they estimated the distance between the end-points of the previously explored path. Experiment 1 was designed to validate the hypothesis—made on the basis of results from a previous study—that errors in the kinaesthetic estimations of distances (detour effect) originate from the difficulty to decompose the displacement vector into relevant and irrelevant components, which would become more severe at points of inflection. Using elliptic paths (no inflections), we demonstrated that errors are indeed reduced considerably. The role of the orientation of the work plane was investigated in Experiment 2 in which the same paths used in our previous study were oriented in the frontal rather than the horizontal plane. The results indicate that the detour effect is independent of the orientation. Moreover, despite the asymmetry that gravity introduces between upward and downward movements, errors in the two directions are almost identical. Experiment 3 addressed two issues. First, we demonstrated that introducing a delay between the exploration of the path and the response did not alter significantly the pattern of errors. By contrast, we demonstrated that errors are severely reduced when the number of paths to be explored is reduced by half. The results of the three experiments are discussed within the context of current theories of sensori-motor coding.     

房间隔缺损患者行经封堵术后右心室容量及血浆心钠素的变化

目的:观察房间隔缺损(ASD)封堵术后右心室容量及血浆心钠素(ANP)的变化。方法:对23例成功行经导管ASD封堵术的患者,分别于封堵术前、术后3天取静脉血,采用放射免疫法测定血浆ANP浓度;并于术前、术后3天行心脏三维超声心动图检查,测量右心室腔容量;并对ANP与肺动脉压(PAP)、右心室腔容量、右室射血分数进行相关分析。结果:ASD封堵术后3天血浆ANP浓度较术前明显降低(101.89±35.80ng/Lvs153.46±74.55ng/L,P<0.01);封堵术后3天右心室容量较术前明显缩小,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),相关分析显示:ASD患者血浆ANP浓度与PAP(r=0.74)、右心室舒张末期容量(r=0.50)、收缩末期容量(r=0.50)分别呈正相关(P均<0.05)、与右室射血分数呈负相关(r=-0.38,P<0.05)。结论:ASD封堵术后血浆心钠素浓度明显降低,右心室腔明显缩小。     

Stage of palate closure as one indication of “liability” to cleft palate

A new inbred mouse strain, SW/Fr, developed from a random-bred SW stock has a 6% incidence of spontaneous cleft palate without cleft lip. SW/Fr mice close their palates comparatively late in development. After cortisone treatment, the mean of the distribution (mean time to reach palate stage 5) is shifted towards later gestational ages. There is no change in the variance of the distribution. These data lend further support to the hypothesis that cleft palate in mice may fit a model where a continuous distribution is separated into discontinuous parts by a developmental threshold, and that time of palate closure is an important component of liability to cleft palate.     

European vestibular experiments on the Spacelab-1 mission: 7. Ocular counterrolling measurements pre- and post-flight

Summary The static ocular counterrolling (OCR) of the four scientific crew members in the first Spacelab mission was measured during baseline-data-collection before and after the flight of SL-1. It was presumed that the modification of otolithic responses during spaceflight will be reflected in specific changes of the OCR-gain on the first days after recovery. The magnitude of OCR was determined analysing colour-transparencies of subjects right eyes that were produced in different positions of lateral body tilt. In general, one subject did not show any changes at all; three subjects exhibited a significant decrease of OCR-gain after exposure to weightlessness, whereby differences could be found between the responses for small and large angles of lateral body tilt. Moreover, asymmetrical effects of OCR-gain were found between body tilt to the left and tilt to the right side. Two subjects already demonstrated such an asymmetry before the flight with the higher gain on left-tilt (or right eye up), and three subjects exhibited left-right asymmetries after the spaceflight with the higher gain tilting to the right (or right eye down). A possible correlation between these vestibular asymmetries and space-sickness susceptibility is discussed.     

Scanning electron microscopic investigations of the human umbilical artery intima

Summary Umbilical cord arteries were investigated using a scanning electron microscope using different methods of preparation: Perfusion of one artery under pressure from a 100 cm water column caused artefacts and the preparatory work took at least 10 min after delivery. To shorten this time fully patent umbilical cords were double clamped and fixed immediately after birth. However, the removal of blood after fixation caused the endothelial layer to be lost. Therefore umbilical cords were double clamped, snap frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen until preparation. The endothelial lining of the fully patent umbilical artery at birth is composed of longitudinally arranged, spindleshaped cells, connected by cellular junctions. The basement membrane contains numerous gaps. Because of these gaps postnatal vasoconstriction causes herniation of the subendothelial myofibroblasts forming subendothelial vacuoles. The vacuoles produce displacement of the endothelial cell cytoplasm towards the vascular lumina resulting in protuberances and blebs on the endothelial cells. Rupture of vacuoles leads to crater-like injuries.Beneath the basement membrane a thin layer of myofibroblasts is arranged longitudinally. Oblique or transversely ordered bundles of myofibroblasts are interposed at wide and irregular intervals. These transverse bundles are able to trigger localized contraction rings called folds of Hoboken, the initial stage of postnatal arterial closure.     

Acute effects of light and darkness on sleep in the pigeon (Columba livia)

In addition to entraining circadian rhythms, light has acute effects on sleep and wakefulness in mammals. To determine whether light and darkness have similar effects in birds, the only non-mammalian group that displays sleep patterns comparable to mammals, we examined the effects of lighting changes on sleep and wakefulness in the pigeon. We quantified sleep behavior (i.e., bilateral or unilateral eye closure) in pigeons maintained under a 12:12 LD cycle, and immediately following a change from a 12:12 to a 3:3 LD cycle. During both LD cycles, sleep was most prevalent during dark periods. During the 3:3 LD cycle, darkness had the greatest sleep promoting effect during the hours corresponding to the subjective night of the preceding 12:12 LD cycle, whereas light suppressed sleep across circadian phases. As previously suggested, the light-induced decrease in sleep in the subjective night might be partly mediated by the suppression of melatonin by light. Although the sleep promoting effect of darkness was modulated by the circadian rhythm, sleep in darkness occurred during all circadian phases, suggesting that darkness per se may play a direct role in inducing sleep. In addition to the effects of lighting on behavioral state, we observed an overall bias toward more right eye closure under all lighting conditions, possibly reflecting a response to the novel testing environment.     

Visual responses with and without fixation: neurons in premotor cortex encode spatial locations independently of eye position

 The ventral premotor cortex (PMv) of the macaque monkey contains neurons that respond both to visual and to tactile stimuli. For almost all of these “bimodal” cells, the visual receptive field is anchored to the tactile receptive field on the head or the arms, and remains stationary when the eyes fixate different locations. This study compared the responses of bimodal PMv neurons to a visual stimulus when the monkey was required to fixate a spot of light and when no fixation was required. Even when the monkey was not fixating and the eyes were moving, the visual receptive fields remained in the same location, near the associated tactile receptive field. For many of the neurons, the response to the visual stimulus was significantly larger when the monkey was not performing the fixation task. In control tests, the presence or absence of the fixation spot itself had little or no effect on the response to the visual stimulus. These results show that even when the monkey’s eye position is continuously changing, the neurons in PMv have visual receptive fields that are stable and fixed to the relevant body part. The reduction in response during fixation may reflect a shift of attention from the visual stimulus to the demands of the fixation task. Received: 8 April 1997 / Accepted: 16 July 1997