颌面部毛细血管瘤中凋亡相关癌基因蛋白的表达

目的：探讨毛细血管瘤自行消退的影响因素。方法：以正常皮肤为对照，采用免疫组织化学方法检测了14例毛细血管瘤组织中Ki-67、C-fos及Bcl-23种凋相关癌基因蛋白的表达。结果：毛细血管瘤组织中Ki－67及C-Fos表达明显高于对照组（P＜0．05），但未见Bcl-2的阳性表达。结论：提示凋亡相关癌基因蛋白对毛细血管瘤的消退可能具有重要作用。     

大学特困生心理问题的成因及调适

大学特困生是一个特殊群体，他们的心理状态还不稳定，容易出现一些心理问题，其成因为：心理因素、生物遗传因素、环境因素。为了消除这些心理问题必须采取积极开展心理咨询、思想政治教育、人格教育、情商教育、改变个人认知等对策。     

脊髓蛛网膜下腔内注射肾上腺素在横断脊髓大鼠中的中枢性升压效应

脊髓蛛网膜下腔内注射肾上腺素(1～4μg)引起横断脊髓的大鼠血压升高,并有量效关系,这一效应可被静脉注射神经节阻断药溴化六甲双铵(1mg)所消除。脊髓蛛网膜下腔内注射酚妥拉明(30μg)和哌唑嗪(15μg)预处理可对抗肾上腺素的作用;普萘洛尔(30μg)和育亨宾(15μg)则无效。结果提示,肾上腺素作用在脊髓内的肾上腺素能α_1受体上,具有中枢性升压作用。     

晶体蛋白基因的转录调控与其超螺旋构形的关系

本文在一个克隆化的基因组系统中,研究了DNA超螺旋结构在α-晶体蛋白基因表达中的调控作用;测定了调节基因区及其对转录过程的影响.结果显示α-晶体蛋白基因可被RF-36蛋白因子特异性激活.足迹法分析表明其调控结合区为核苷酸“-AGGGCTGGAA-”,能与特定的DNA配位体结合,例如抗Z-DNA单克隆抗体和Chiral金属复合物,此种结合表明α-晶体蛋白基因富含“GC”盒,并具有类似“Z”型的DNA构型.所获结果还提示,DNA高度有序的结构在α-晶体蛋白基因的表达调控过程中起重要作用.     

Activation of brain regions of rats during fever

The central nervous structures involved in febrile responses were investigated in conscious rats by means of the 2-deoxy-D-[14C]glucose autoradiographic technique. An intravenous injection of endogenous pyrogen prepared from rabbit white blood cells induced a significant rise in the rectal temperature of rats accompanied by a decrease in the skin temperature. According to autoradiographs, significant increases in metabolic activity were observed in the lateral preoptic area, posterior part of dorsomedial thalamus, posterior hypothalamus and the red nucleus during an induced fever. Because of the close relationship between metabolic activity and brain function, these regions are considered to compose the neural components directly or indirectly related with the febrile responses.     

Intracellular pH shifts capable of uncoupling cultured oligodendrocytes are seen only in low HCO3- solution

Electrical coupling between cultured mouse oligodendrocytes was transiently blocked when pHi was decreased below about 6.5 using the NH4+ prepulse method. This uncoupling could, however, only be achieved if the dominant pHi regulating mechanism in these cells, the Na+/HCO3- cotransporter, was blocked by lowering bath [HCO3-]. Under this condition, an NH4+ prepulse caused pHi to decrease toward the passive distribution for H+ (i.e., about pH 6.2). In the presence of normal bath [HCO3-] an NH4+ prepulse did not decrease pHi below 6.5 even when the second pHi regulating mechanism, the Na+/H+ exchanger, was blocked by amiloride, and consequently oligodendrocytes could not be uncoupled. Increasing CO2, which uncouples glial cells in situ (Connors et al: J. Neurosci. 4:1324-1330, 1984), did not uncouple cultured oligodendrocytes in the presence of normal bath [HCO3-], but did cause uncoupling in low [HCO3-] solution. These results indicate that electrical coupling between cultured oligodendrocytes is sensitive to pHi; in normal bath [HCO3-], however, the pHi regulation of these cells is so effective that standard techniques for intracellular acidification are unable to lower pHi to levels which cause the closure of oligodendrocyte gap junctions.     

Relations between slow extracellular potential changes, glial potassium buffering, and electrolyte and cellular volume changes during neuronal hyperactivity in cat brain

The aim of this investigation is to estimate the contribution of spatial glial K+ buffer currents to extracellular K+ homeostasis during enhanced neuronal activity. Neuronal hyperactivity was induced by electrical stimulation of the cortical surface or the ventrobasal thalamic nuclei of cats (5-50 Hz, 0.1-0.2 ms, two to three times threshold stimulation intensity, 5-20 s). The accompanying slow field potential changes were recorded simultaneously across the grey matter with vertical assemblies of eight micropipettes glued 300 microns apart. Using the Poisson equation, the amplitudes of the underlying current sources and sinks were calculated. The current source densities depended on the depth of recording, frequency, strength, and duration of the stimulation. Current sinks, corresponding to a removal of 0.1-0.5 mmoles of monovalent cations per liter of brain tissue and second from the extracellular space, were observed in middle cortical layers, whereas sources appeared at superficial and deeper sites. These sinks and sources might represent K+ moved across glial membranes by spatial buffer currents. The consequences of glial buffer currents of this magnitude were investigated with model calculations. It turned out that measurements of electrolyte and volume changes of the extracellular space (Dietzel et al. Exp. Brain Res. 40:432-439, 1980; Exp. Brain Res. 46:73-84, 1982) could only partially be explained by spatial buffer currents of this magnitude. Comparison of the calculated values with intracellular measurements in neurons and glial cells (Coles et al. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 481:303-317, 1986; Ballanyi et al. J. Physiol. 382:159-174, 1987) suggests that spatial buffering combines with an approximately equimolar KCl transport and, depending on the preparation, also K+/Na+-exchange across glial membranes.     

Short Communication: Pig islet xenotransplantation acceptance in a Latin‐American diabetic population

Abalovich A, Wechsler C, Lara S, Bervottini M. Pig islet xenotransplantation acceptance in a Latin‐American diabetic population. Xenotransplantation 2010; 17: 263–266. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract: Progress in porcine islet xenotransplantation has been accompanied by studies on acceptance of this new procedure by patients, health professionals or the general public. Such studies have not been done in the Latin‐American population. We conducted a questionnaire in 108 diabetes patients (insulin‐dependent, n = 53; insulin‐independent, n = 55) in a public hospital in Argentina. The questions addressed the general perception of the xenotransplant procedure and specific items related to the outcome (achieving insulin independence, improvement in metabolic control, delay in emergence of diabetic complications, need for repeat procedures, potential of transfer of infectious viruses, association with psychological problems, and anticipated success in relation to achieving a cure). Eighty‐six (79%) of the patients accepted islet xenotransplantation; this incidence was not different for insulin‐dependent or insulin‐independent patients, patients with or without complications, or patients with good or poor metabolic control. Also, over 75% of patients accepted the procedure if this is only associated with a reduction in insulin requirement, if the procedure just delays but not prevents the onset of complications, or if the procedure needs to be performed every 6 months. Fifty‐seven percent of patients indicated acceptance even if the potential transmission of a virus infection cannot be completely ruled out: this outcome was not affected by the outbreak of the H1N1 flu epidemic during the conduct of this study. Forty percent of patients indicated that living with porcine cells in their body could give psychological problems. We conclude that this population of Latin‐American diabetic patients shows a high acceptance rate of a porcine islet xenotransplantation product.     

Targeting Nursing Homes Under the Quality Improvement Organization Program's 9th Statement of Work

In the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) program's latest Statement of Work, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is targeting its nursing home activities toward facilities that perform poorly on two quality measures—pressure ulcers and restraint use. The designation of target facilities is a shift in strategy for CMS and a direct response to criticism that QIO program resources were not being targeted effectively to facilities or clinical areas that most needed improvement. Using administrative data, this article analyzes implications of using narrowly defined criteria to identify facilities that need improvement, particularly in light of considerable evidence showing that nursing home quality is multidimensional and may change over time. The analyses show that one in four facilities is targeted for improvement nationally but that approximately half of some states' facilities are targeted while other states have almost none targeted. The analyses also convey deeper limitations to using threshold values on individual measures to identify poorly performing homes. Target facilities can be among the top performers on a range of other quality measures, and their performance on targeted measures themselves may change over time. The implication of these features is that a very different group of facilities would have been chosen had the QIO program targeted other measures or examined performance at a different point in time. Ultimately, CMS has chosen a blunt instrument to identify poorly performing nursing homes, and supplemental strategies—such as soliciting input from state survey agencies and more closely aligning quality improvement and quality assurance efforts—should be considered to address potential limitations.