Pressor effects of the injection of noradrenaline into different cerebroventricular spaces in unanesthetized rats

Injection of noradrenaline (NA) into the lateral cerebral ventricle (i.c.v.) was reported to cause blood pressure increase in unanesthetized rats, blocked by i.v. injection of vasopressin antagonists. We report similar responses to NA injection into the III or IV ventricles, suggesting multiple sites of action for i.c.v. NA. These responses were blocked by i.v. pretreatment with vasopressin antagonist, suggesting a common mediation by vasopressin release into circulation. Selected ventricular spaces were occluded with Nivea^® cream plugs to identify ventricular areas responding to i.c.v. NA. III ventricle or aqueduct occlusions markedly reduced pressor responses to i.c.v. NA. Microinjection of NA into the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) caused pressor responses that were similar to those of i.c.v. NA, reinforcing the idea of a site of action in the aqueduct. IV ventricle occlusion only partially blocked the response to i.c.v. NA. The results suggest at least two sites of action for i.c.v. NA in unanesthetized rats. A primary site located in the PAG and another on the IV ventricle wall.     

Failure to demonstrate early metabolic changes in weanling growth-retarded hypophagic rats with lesions in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei

Experiment 1: Weanling male rats received bilateral electrolytic lesions in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei (DMNL rats); sham-operated animals served as controls. Rats were killed four hours and three and seven days postoperatively (post-op). Plasma was obtained and epididymal fat pads, diaphragm and liver aliquots were harvested and the in vitro incorporation of U-14C-glucose into CO2, glycogen, lipid and saponifiable fatty acids (FAs) were measured. Body weight, carcass lipid and food intake were significantly lower in DMNL rats than in controls. The only significant lesion-induced metabolic changes were hypoglycemia and greater tracer incorporation into epididymal fat pad lipid and diaphragm glycogen. Both DMNL rats and controls showed similar time courses of tracer incorporation into epididymal CO2 and FAs, diaphragm lipid and liver CO2, glycogen, lipid and FAs. Lesioned rats also showed more pronounced decreases of tracer incorporation from day 0 to day 3 in epididymal glycogen and lipid and diaphragm CO2 and glycogen. These data make it appear unlikely that very early deficits in glucose metabolism are the cause of the growth retardation seen in long-term studies with DMNL rats. The data also demonstrate considerable locus specificity, since weanling rats with ventromedial hypothalamic lesions (VMNL rats) in similar short-term studies have shown dramatic alterations in the above parameters. Experiment 2: Weanling DMNL rats and sham-operated rats were injected via tail vein with tritiated water one hour post-op. One hour after the injection they were decapitated. There were no significant differences between DMNL rats and controls in mumoles tritiated water incorporated into total liver, grams liver tissue, mg liver glycogen and ml or mg plasma glucose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Windows环境下步进电机匀加速的实现与计算机程序设计

本文主要介绍了奔腾计算机和步进电机的接口电路,提出了步进电机匀加速的控制算法,探讨了在 Windows 环境下以 Visual C++实现步进电机匀加速的实现途径和多任务环境下匀加速程序的设计方法。     

长效抗生育埋植剂CaproF体内药物释放的研究

目的对可降解长效抗生育埋植剂CaproF的体内药物释放动力学进行评价。方法将CaproF植入Wister大鼠皮下。每隔一定时间处死动物,取出埋植剂,用紫外分光光度法测药物残留量,计算单位长度埋植剂平均每日药物释放量。放射免疫法测定左炔诺孕酮(LNG)血药浓度。结果CaproF埋植剂在60、120、180、360、720d药物平均释放速率分别为(11.0±3.0)、(11.7±3.7)、(8.0±1.2)、(7.3±0.4)、(9.3±0.9)μg/(d·cm),并可维持基本恒定的血药浓度。结论左炔诺孕酮CaproF埋植剂植入体内后,平均药物释放速率达到7.6μg/(d·cm),并可维持2年的基本稳定释放。     

The effect of postural changes on body temperatures and heat balance

Early studies have demonstrated that rectal temperature (T _re) decreases and mean skin temperature (T _sk) increases in subjects changing their posture from standing to supine, and vice versa. Such changes have important implications insofar as thermal stress experiments are conducted and interpreted. However, the extent of these changes between steady-state conditions is not known. In addition, it is not known whether thermal balance is also affected by postural changes. To examine these questions, 11 healthy males were exposed to a thermoneutral air environment (28.2–28.5°C and 40% relative humidity) in various postures at rest. Body temperatures, heat losses, and metabolic rate were measured. Subjects wore shorts only and began in an upright posture (standing or sitting at an inclination of 7.5°) on a customized tilt-table. They were tilted twice, once into a supine position and then back to the original upright position. Each tilt occurred after steady state was satisfied based on the subject's circadian variation of T _re determined previously in a 4.25 h control supine trial. Times to supine steady state following the first tilt were [mean (SE)] 92.6 (6.4) and 116.6 (5.1) min for the standing and sitting trials, respectively. Times to upright steady state following the second tilt were 107.9 (11.4) and 124.1 (9.0) min. Mean steady-state T _re and T _sk were 36.87 (0.07) and 34.04 (0.14), 37.47 (0.09) and 33.48 (0.14), and 37.26 (0.05) and 33.49 (0.10) °C for supine, standing, and sitting, respectively. Thermal balance was attained in all steady-state conditions, and allowing for a decrease in the weighting factor of T _re for mean body temperature in the upright postures, it also appears that thermal balance was preserved between changes in posture. These results are consistent with no perceived changes by the subjects in their thermal comfort and skin wetness.     

Role of Relative Changes in Caval Flows for Evaluation of Right Atrial Pressure Shifts Induced by Nitroglycerin

Experiments on cats treated with nitroglycerin showed dynamic relationship between changes in caval venous flows: blood flow increased in the superior vena cava and decreased in the inferior vena cava. Blood pressure in the right atrium either decreased, or increased. No significant changes in total venous return were observed during maximum shifts in right atrial pressure, while contractility of the right ventricular myocardium usually decreased. Our findings suggest that the direction of the right atrial pressure shifts induced by nitroglycerin does not depend on venous return, but is determined by the prevalence of flow changes in the superior vena cava or inferior vena cava.     

Three-dimensional head and upper arm orientations during kinematically redundant movements and at rest

The three rotational degrees of freedom of the head and the upper arm exceed the number needed in a two-dimensional (2-D) facing or pointing task, respectively. Previous studies reported a reduction of the number of degrees of freedom from three to two, with one degree of freedom being a unique function of the other two (Donders' law). This study investigated whether three-dimensional (3-D) orientations of the head and arm are the same at rest and during movement for corresponding pointing or facing directions. Two separate experiments were performed: one focused on head orientations, the other focused on upper arm orientations. We instructed subjects to direct the nose or to point the extended arm in the direction of targets, which appeared in a quasi-random order at 2-s intervals. The head and upper arm orientations at rest were described by a 2-D surface with a scatter less than 3 or 4 degrees, respectively. Both for the arm and the head, orientations started and ended near the 2-D surface, but for a number of the target pairs, the orientations deviated from those predicted by the 2-D surface during movement in a way that was consistent and reproducible for movements between each target pair. For upper arm movements, we often found that deviations of arm orientations from the 2-D surface increased with increasing movement velocity. Such a positive correlation between deviation and movement velocity was not found for head movements. These results clearly indicate violations of Donders' law during movement and argue against several models for movement control found in the literature.     

Ramp rate of blood pressure changes does not affect aortic afferent sensitivity in anesthetized rats

To investigate whether the rate of change in blood pressure affects the sensitivity of the aortic baroreceptor afferent response, the change in aortic nerve activity (ANA) to two different rates of ramp increase in mean blood pressure (MBP), elicited by phenylephrine administration, was determined in the rat under urethane (1.5 g kg⁻¹) anesthesia. The sensitivity of the increase in ANA following a rapid (average ramp rate, 9.14 ± 0.60 mmHg s⁻¹, n = 11) or gradual (1.78 ± 0.24 mmHg s⁻¹, n = 11) increase in MBP was 2.03 ± 0.14% and 1.81 ± 0.20% of baseline mmHg⁻¹, respectively. These values were not significantly different from each other (P = 0.16). Furthermore, we found no correlation between the rate of ramp increase in MBP and the sensitivity of the increase in ANA (r = 0.24, P = 0.29, n = 22). These results suggest that, at least within the normal physiological range of MBP, the rate of the ramp change in blood pressure does not affect aortic baroreceptor afferent sensitivity in the anesthetized rat.     

Strategic control and medial frontal negativity: beyond errors and response conflict

Errors in timed choice tasks typically produce an error-related negativity (ERN) in the event-related potential (ERP). The error specificity of the ERN has been challenged by studies showing a correct response negativity (CRN). Forty-five participants engaged in a flanker task in which both compatibility between flankers and target and the probability of compatible flankers were manipulated. Correct responses elicited a CRN, the amplitude of which increased with the degree of mismatch between the presence of conflict and conflict probability, even on low-conflict (compatible) trials. The fronto-central N2 component was larger on high-conflict (incompatible) correct response trials. However, in contrast to some recent accounts, this N2 was largest for highly probable stimuli. These findings suggest revision to models of the effects of conflict on response-related negativity to account for strategic adjustments made in preparation for the response.     

Histamine excites rat lateral vestibular nuclear neurons through activation of post-synaptic H2 receptors

Through whole-cell patch recordings in brainstem slices, the effects of histamine on neuronal activity of the lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN) were investigated. Bath application of histamine elicited a concentration-dependent excitation of both spontaneous firing (n = 19) and silent (n = 7) LVN neurons. Moreover, histamine induced a stable inward current in the LVN neurons (n = 5) and the histamine-induced depolarization of membrane potential persisted in the presence of tetrodotoxin (n = 4), indicating a direct post-synaptic effect of the histamine on the LVN neurons. Selective histamine H2 receptor antagonist ranitidine effectively blocked the histamine-evoked excitatory responses on the LVN neurons (n = 4), but selective histamine H1 receptor antagonist triprolidine did not (n = 4). In addition, selective histamine H2 receptor agonist dimaprit (n = 3) rather than 2-pyridylethylamine (n = 4), a selective histamine H1 receptor agonist, mimicked the excitatory action of histamine on LVN neurons. The results demonstrate that histamine excites the LVN neurons via post-synaptic histamine H2 receptors and suggest that the central histaminergic projection arising from the hypothalamus may modulate LVN neurons activity and actively influence the vestibular reflexes and functions.