‘Elastic length’ of the female urethra—initial measurements

An elasticity parameter known as the elastic length of the urethra was derived from a theory of flow presented in a previous article. The suggestion was made that a consideration of this parameter could be relevant to an understanding of the flow of urine through the urethra. The present short paper presents an account of initial measurements of the elastic length for two females. It seems likely that we cannot neglect the elastic length when considering flow through the urethra.     

Local blood flow and metabolism of the tongue before and during panting in the dog

Summary The effects of hyperthermia on blood flow and oxygen consumption of the tongue were investigated in anesthetized dogs. For comparison, blood flow through the skin and deep muscle of the hind leg was also measured in some animals. Increasing blood temperature revealed a biphasic response of lingual blood flow. At 41°C blood temperature respiratory frequency was twice that of control and there was a reduction of lingual blood flow, while resistance of the lingual bed was increased significantly. The arterio-venous oxygen difference (AVDO₂) of lingual blood was markedly increased at this level and the of the tongue was like-wise significantly greater than control. At 41.9°C, the steep increase of respiratory frequency was accompanied by a marked fall in lingual resistance as evidenced by a four-fold increase of lingual blood flow. The systemic AVDO₂ rose at this temperature, while the lingual AVDO₂ fell dramatically. There was no further increase of lingual . At both temperature levels the blood flow through the skin did not change substantially, while the deep muscle blood flow slightly increased. The mean arterial pressure showed a progressive fall during hyperthermia. It is assumed that the decrease of lingual blood flow at elevated blood temperature without panting is due to a redistribution of cardiac output to areas other than the tongue. The increase of lingual blood flow without an additional increase of lingual during panting may be explained solely as a mechanism for heat dissipation. The fact that the decrease of lingual resistance was demonstrated in immobilized animals concomitant with high frequency phrenic burst activity suggests that the decrease of lingual resistance and panting may be induced by a common central integrating mechanism.     

S100A8, S100A9 and the S100A8/A9 heterodimer complex specifically bind to human endothelial cells: identification and characterization of ligands for the myeloid-related proteins S100A9 and S100A8/A9 on human dermal microvascular endothelial cell line-1 cells

The natural ligands of the S100 EF hand proteins S100A8 and A9 [myeloid-related proteins 8 and 14] have long been searched for in order to further the understanding of the role of the S100A8/A9-expressing monocyte subpopulation in progressing inflammatory processes. We demonstrate that S100A8, S100A9 and the S100A8/A9 heterodimeric complex bind to human dermal microvascular endothelial cell line (HMEC)-1 with an increasing binding capacity progressing from S100A8 < or = S100A9 < or = S100A8/A9. Similar results were obtained in the apolipoprotein E knockout mouse model, where preferably recombinant S100A9 but no S100A8 bound to the endothelium of the aorta ascendens. The binding of the S100A8/A9 heterodimer complex to activated HMEC-1 is specific as demonstrated by a dose-responding and satiable binding curve and the competition of FITC-labeled versus unlabeled protein. The protein character of the binding site was proven by treatment with trypsin. S100A8/A9 binding to HMEC-1 is inducible by lipopolysaccharide and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and in the presence of calcium. A 163-kDa protein was isolated from a cell lysate of activated HMEC-1 cells using an affinity-chromatography protocol. The endothelial cell-associated ligand proteins isolated by the use of the S100A9 monomer and the S100A8/A9 dimer were subjected to mass spectrometry for protein identification. Clearly, alpha(2)-macroglobulin was identified as a binding partner for the S100A9 monomer, whereas no protein could be identified from the database for the ligand of the S100A8/A9 dimer.     

Molecular and biological analysis of echovirus 9 strain isolated from a diabetic child

The full-length infectious cDNA clone was constructed and sequenced from the strain DM of echovirus 9, which was recently isolated from a 6-week-old child at the clinical onset of type 1 diabetes. Parallel with the isolate DM, the full-length infectious cDNA clone of the prototype strain echovirus 9 Barty (Barty-INF), was constructed and sequenced. Genetic relationships of the sequenced echo 9 viruses to the other members of the human enterovirus type B species were studied by phylogenetic analyses. Comparison of capsid protein sequences showed that the isolate DM was closely related to both prototype strains: Hill and Barty-INF. The only exception was the inner capsid protein VP4 where serotype specificity was not evident and the isolate DM clustered with the strain Hill and the strain Barty-INF with echovirus 30 Bastianni. Likewise, the nonstructural protein coding region, P2P3, of isolate DM was more similar to strain Hill than to strain Barty-INF. However, like echovirus 9 Barty, the isolate DM contained the RGD-motif in the carboxy terminus of capsid protein VP1. By blocking experiments using an RGD-containing peptide and a polyclonal rabbit antiserum to the alpha(v)beta(3)-integrin, it was shown that this molecule works as a cellular receptor for isolate DM. By using primary human islets, it was shown that the isolate DM is capable of infecting insulin-producing beta-cells like the corresponding prototype strains did. However, only isolate DM was clearly cytolytic for beta-cells. The infectious clones that were made allow further investigations of the molecular features responsible for the diabetogenicity of the isolate DM.     

Orthofix-微型外固定器治疗Bennett骨折31例

目的分析应用Orthofix-微型器治疗第一掌骨基底部Bennett骨折的临床疗效。方法收集2009年1月~2013年1月我院31例采用Orthofix-微型器治疗的第一掌骨基底部Bennett骨折患者。记录患者年龄、性别等基线资料,以及术后上肢臂、肩、手功能调查量表(Disabilities of the arm,shoulder and hand,DASH)评分,随访终末期采用指总关节活动度(Total action movement,TAM)评分。结果随访6~24个月,平均14.4月,手术时间为18~40分钟,平均29.1分钟,术中出血量10~30m L,平均14.5m L。术后3月、术后6月及终末期DASH评分之间比较,差异均有统计学意义(0.05)。随访终末期,其中26例解剖复位,5例骨折对线良好,TAM评分优22例,良7例,差2例。随访期间未发生桡神经浅支损伤、钉道感染等并发症。结论 Orthofix-微型外固定器治疗Bennett骨折操作简单、疗效满意。     

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma arising in a recurrent chordoma

Summary We present the case of a sacrococcygeal chordoma which recurred 15 years after the radical removal as a soft tissue tumor in the gluteal musculature. This tumor consisted of two parts: a chordoma without symptoms of aggressive cellular proliferation and a malignant fibrous histiocytoma. During the following 4 years several local recurrences of the malignant fibrous histiocytoma occurred in the gluteal musculature. The patient finally died of lung metastases. No chordoma tumor tissue was found in the lungs, in the gluteal musculature or in the sacrococcygeal bone area. Histology including electron microscopy revealed no proof of a transition of chordoma into malignant fibrous histiocytoma. It must be assumed that the secondary soft tissue tumor originated from residual chordoma cells which were implanted during the operation of the primary tumor. It remains unclear whether the malignant fibrous histiocytoma arose from mesenchymal stromal cells within the chordoma or directly from primitive neuroectodermal chorda cells which possess the ability to differentiate into a variety of cell types including mesenchymal cells.     

白细胞介素—1对大鼠下丘脑室旁核Fos癌蛋白和CRF的诱导作用

将白细胞介素-1(IL)注入大鼠侧脑室,用Fos癌蛋白抗体免疫组化法检测了下丘脑室旁核的激活神经元:大量位于含促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子(CRF)相应区域的室旁核小细胞部神经元呈Fos免疫强阳性。Fos和CRF的免疫双染色显示了许多Fos免疫阳性神经元也呈CRF免疫阳性。此外,在IL-1注射动物中,CRF的免疫阳性显著加强,提示CRF合成增加。     

人体熵流的数学模型

伊·普利高津的耗散结构理论中，有一个著名的总熵变公式ｄｓ＝ｄｓｅ＋ｄｓｉ把上述公式用于人体研究，国内外尚未见报导。在前人对人体热力学系统研究的基础上，本文建立了一个人体熵流的数学模型，为进一步展开研究，提供了有力工具并奠定了可靠的理论基础。     

Retinal projection to the nucleus of the optic tract in the cat as revealed by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase

Retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase injected iontophoretically into the nucleus of the optic tract of cats revealed that the direction-selective cells in this pretectal nucleus receive direct retinal projections from small retinal ganglion cells, the so-called gamma-cells. These cells from a horizontal band on the contralateral retina. Few labeled cells are found in the ipsilateral temporal retina. The input from the contralateral retina is 10 times more numerous than from the ipsilateral one. In both retinae the highest concentration of labeled cells is near the area centralis.