Effects of sciatic neurectomy on the femur in growing rats: Application of peripheral quantitative computed tomography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

The effects of unilateral sciatic neurectomy (USN) on the development of the femur were studied in 15 growing Wistar-derived rats (age, 5 weeks). The rats were divided into four groups: USN-operated group (right femur), USN-nonoperated group (left femur), sham-operated group (right femur), and sham-nonoperated group (left femur). Bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content (BMC), bone area, periosteal circumference, and endosteal circumference were measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and the mineral/matrix ratio was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The USN-operated group showed a significant decrease in cortical BMC, bone area, and periosteal circumference compared with the other groups (P < 0.05). The cortical BMD did not vary significantly between the groups. In the cancellous bone, the USN-operated group showed a significant decrease in BMD and BMC at the metaphysis compared with the other groups (P < 0.05). The mineral/matrix ratio of the cortical bone did not differ significantly between the USN-operated and USN-nonoperated groups. These results suggest that in cortical bone, USN inhibits periosteal bone formation but has no significant effect on the mineral/matrix ratio of cortical bone in femurs. In cancellous bone, USN induces bone loss at the metaphysis. Received: Nov. 19, 1998 / Accepted: Feb. 12, 1999     

Early nocturnal blood pressure changes in diabetic autonomic neuropathy assessed by Fourier series

The 24 h periodic pattern of blood pressure was studied in 44 patients with diabetes mellitus (14 type 1, 30 type 2; mean duration of disease 6.5 ± 1.8 years) in good metabolic control but with abnormal cardiovascular reflex responses; of these 21 were normotensive and 23 hypertensive. All had abnormal responses to at least two out of four tests: deep breathing, lying to standing, Valsalva manoeuvre and postural hypotension. Two sex- and agematched groups, consisting of 20 normotensive and 20 hypertensive diabetic patients without dysautonomia, were studied as controls. Each patient underwent ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for at least 24 h, using an auscultatory automatic device. Data were analysed using the sum of three periodic functions (Fourier partial sum). In the diabetic normotensive groups, the absolute blood pressure fell to its night-time minimum more rapidly, and increased to its morning maximum more slowly, in those with abnormal cardiovascular reflexes than in the controls (nightly blood pressure decrease –5.8/–4.7 vs. –3.8/–4.0 mmHg/h; increase 4.7/3.6 vs. 5.9/6.1 mmHg/h). The same behaviour was found in both hypertensive groups but the amplitude of the differences was more marked (blood pressure nocturnal decrease –7.7/–7.1 vs. –4.3/–3.9 mmHg/h; increase 3.2/2.1 vs. 5.8/4.3 mmHg/h). This analysis of 24 h ambulatory blood pressure data may be of value in diagnosis and evaluation of autonomic deficits.     

“Real time” measurement of endogenous dopamine release during short trains of pulses in slices of rat neostriatum and nucleus accumbens : role of autoinhibition

Summary Release of endogenous dopamine elicited in slices of rat neostriatum or nucleus accumbens by a single electric pulse or by trains of 4 or 10 pulses was examined using fast cyclic voltammetry.Single electric pulses gave rise to a marked and transient increase in the extracellular concentration of dopamine in the neostriatum (by 0.43 mol/l) and nucleus accumbens (by 0.39 mol/l). The overflow elicited by subsequent pulses delivered at a frequency of 0.2 Hz caused separate but much smaller peaks of dopamine concentration, whereas the overflow elicited by subsequent pulses delivered at 1 Hz caused only a shoulder in the descending limb of the peak due to pulse 1. Four pulses at 5 Hz produced a monophasic response that was higher than the single pulse-evoked peak. Nomifensine 1 mol/l greatly increased and prolonged the evoked overflow of dopamine. In the absence of nomifensine, metoclopramide 0.3 mol/l did not change the response to a single pulse or 4 pulses delivered at 0.2 Hz but increased the response to 4 or 10 pulses at 1 Hz and to 4 pulses at 5 Hz. In the presence of nomifensine, metoclopramide increased the response to a single pulse as well as, to a greater extent, the response to 4 pulses at 0.2 Hz and 4 pulses at 1 Hz. Sulpiride 1 mol/l produced effects similar to those of metoclopramide in the neostriatum in the presence of nomifensine. During trains of pulses at 0.2 or 1 Hz, metoclopramide and sulpiride did not increase (or increased only slightly in the presence of nomifensine) the initial peak that reflected dopamine overflow elicited by pulse 1, but increased greatly the subsequent peaks (0.2 Hz) or the sholder (1 Hz) that reflected the overflow due to the subsequent pulses.The study demonstrates the release of dopamine in the neostriatum and nucleus accumbens with high temporal resolution so that, at least at low frequency, the release elicited by each pulse in a train can be recognized. As previously concluded from experiments with ³H-dopamine, single pulses elicit a large release whereas subsequent pulses delivered at 0.2 to 5 Hz elicit much smaller release. Presynaptic autoinhibition develops immediately after pulse 1 in trains of appropriately spaced pulses. However, it is only partly responsible for the marked fall in release after pulse 1; other, unknown factors contribute to the decline.The experiments were carried out at the Department of Pharmacology, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, UK, while N.L. was a visiting scientist Send offprint requests to N. Limberger at the above address     

Regional differences in evoked dopamine efflux in brain slices of rat anterior and posterior caudate putamen

Summary Fast cyclic voltammetry using carbon fibre microelectrodes in rat brain slices, was used to investigate regional differences in electrically-evoked dopamine (DA) efflux at 10 different sites in the anterior caudate putamen (aCPu) and 10 sites in the posterior caudate putamen (pCPu). For each site DA overflow was evoked by both single pulse (1P) stimulation and by trains of 25 pulses applied at a frequency of 50 Hz (25P/50 Hz). Peak DA efflux evoked by 1P was about 58% greater in the aCPu (0.19 mol/l DA) than in the pCPu (0.12 mol/l DA), but showed no mediolateral variation in either region. Peak DA efflux evoked by 25P/50 Hz relative to 1P efflux also varied between the two regions; the aCPu contained predominantly low ratio (25P/50 HZ: 1P) sites ranging from 1.47 to 3.71, whereas in the pCPu these ratios were higher, ranging from 2.73 to 9.40, and were particularly high in the dorsomedial region of the pCPu. Efflux detected in low ratio sites of the aCPu showed little dependence on the frequency (10 to 500 Hz), or the number of pulses (5 to 20) in a train. By contrast DA efflux evoked in high ratio sites of the pCPu responded in a pulse and frequency dependent manner, the maximum ratio (approximately 8 times 1P) being at 20P/20 Hz. Interestingly the frequency response relationship obtained in the pCPu resembled the profile observed in the nucleus accumbens (NAc).Voltammetric evidence and experiments with selective reuptake blockers indicated that only DA was measured in our studies and 5-HT did not significantly contribute to the frequency dependent pattern of efflux detected in high ratio sites of the pCPu, where striatal 5-HT concentrations are highest. Experiments with the selective D₂ receptor antagonists metoclopramide or (–)sulpiride revealed that under our experimental conditions, DA efflux in the aCPu was not modulated by DA autoreceptor activation. By contrast, autoreceptor modulation did occur in high ratio sites of the pCPu at stimulations lasting longer than approximately 1000 ms.These observations support the concept that the caudate putamen is heterogeneously organised with respect to the frequency characteristics of evoked DA release. The factors controlling frequency dependent release under these conditions may be a function of A10 innervation, since high ratio release sites occur in areas where the density of such innervation is greatest, for example, the dorsomedial pCPu. This is supported by the observation that high ratio release sites are also found in the NAc, which receives dopaminergic fibres predominantly from an A10 region. However, the involvement of different regionally distributed transmitters acting on presynaptic receptors involved in the regulation of dopamine release, or differences between nerve terminals in striosomes and matrix, cannot be excluded. Send offprint requests to S. J. Trout at the above address     

包裹在脂质体内部胰岛素的二级结构

目的以单纯胰岛素为对照，采用傅立叶红外光谱（Fourier transform infrared， FTIR）研究包裹在脂质体内部胰岛素二级结构的变化。方法分别对单纯胰岛素、胰岛素与空白脂质体混合物（样品I）及包裹胰岛素的脂质体（II）样品进行测定。结果样品I和样品II中胰岛素的FTIR谱图形状与单纯胰岛素相比基本一致，仅α-螺旋百分比略有下降（由36.09%分别下降到31.68%和31.45%），β-折叠百分比略有增加（由47.83%分别增加到53.29%和51.36%）。样品I和样品II中胰岛素的二级结构无明显差别（α-螺旋百分比为31.68%和31.45%，β-折叠百分比为53.29%和51.36%）。结论包裹在脂质体内部胰岛素的二级结构与单纯胰岛素相比无明显变化。     

快中子加光子照射小鼠胸腔后心肌的病理改变

目的：观察快中子、光子及快中子光子混合射线照射小鼠胸腔后心肌的病理改变。方法：168只小鼠被随机分为中子组、光子组、混合线组（快中子加光子）。分别照射等效快中子、光子及快中子加光子混合射线,每个剂量点均在照射后第3，14和28天分别取6只小颈处死，开胸取出心脏后用10％福尔马林固定，常规切片HE染色后在光镜下观察。结果：在照射后第3、14天和28天，3组小鼠心肌的病理改变基本一致，无显著差异。结论：快中子加光子混合射线照射小鼠胸腔后， 不会加重心肌放射损伤，对临床应用混合射线治疗胸部肿瘤有一定的指导意义。     

基于小波变换极大模的多模医学图像融合

多模态医学图像融合由于其对医学临床诊断的意义已引起广泛的关注,基于图像边缘特性的融合方法逐渐成为研究的重点。本文提出了一种基于离散二进小波变换的多尺度边缘检测和图像融合的方法,实现了特征级图像融合。不同于以往的从极大模值点直接重建图像,本文的算法利用极大模值点建立有效的融合规则,然后从融合的小波系数重构信号。融合图像的交互信息和峰值信噪比等检测指标表明此方法优于传统融合算法。     

CR医学图像的小波阈值去噪算法研究

提出一种CR医学图像的小波阈值去噪算法．对含噪图像进行小波分解得到图像的小波系数，采用文中提出的阈值算法对系数进行去噪处理，根据处理后的系数重建CR图像。实验结果表明该方法能有效的去除CR图像的噪声．较好的保留医学诊断所需要的图像细节。     

基于小波变换纹理分析的医学图像检索

根据医学图像的特点．提出了一种基于哈尔小波变换纹理分析的图像检索方法．并与基于共生矩阵的纹理识别方法进行比较和分析。据此．实现了一个图像检索原型系统。实验证明．本方法具有良好的检索效果。     

"太白七药"植物群的X射线衍射Fourier指纹图谱鉴别研究

目的应用X射线衍射Fourier指纹图谱法,鉴定陕西独特药用植物群———“太白七药”。方法采用粉末X射线衍射Fourier指纹图谱鉴定法,对陕西独特药用植物群中12个“太白七药”中药材的样品进行实验、分析。结果获得了“太白七药”中的荞麦七、桃儿七、朱砂七、凤尾七、红毛七、纽子七、铁牛七、羊角七、盘龙七、葫芦七、蝎子七、灯台七共12种药材的X射线衍射Fourier指纹图谱。结论粉末X射线衍射Fourier指纹图谱鉴定法可用于“太白七药”植物群中药材的鉴别。