多聚酶链反应检测细菌DNA对大鼠空、回肠吻合口瘘的早期诊断价值

目的:探讨PCR检测大鼠外周血及腹水中细菌DNA对空肠-空肠、回肠-回肠吻合口瘘的早期诊断价值。方法:健康Wistar雌性大鼠50只，随机分成5组，每组10只：A组为假手术组;B组为空肠-空肠吻合组;C组为空肠吻合口瘘组;D组为回肠-回肠吻合组;E组为回肠吻合口瘘组。采集手术前后外周血及术后腹水，抽提DNA, 比较lacZ基因和16SrRNA基因的PCR阳性率，并观察各组的病理学情况。结果:（1）C，E组术后外周血lacZ基因PCR阳性率与B，D组无显著性差异（P>0.05）;C，E组术后外周血16SrRNA基因PCR阳性率显著高于B，D组（P<0.05）。（2）C，E组腹水lacZ基因和16SrRNA基因PCR阳性率均显著高于B，D组（P<0.05）。（3）C，E组腹水lacZ基因阳性率显著高于外周血（P<0.05）;C，E组腹水16SrRNA基因阳性率与外周血无显著性差异（P>0.05）。结论:（1）PCR检测术后外周血16SrRNA基因对空、回肠吻合口瘘的早期诊断有一定意义;（2）检测术后腹水lacZ基因和16SrRNA基因对空肠-空肠、回肠-回肠吻合口瘘的早期诊断也有一定意义。     

谷胱甘肽S转移酶M1基因缺失与喉癌易患性的相关性研究

目的 :建立聚合酶链反应 (PCR)方法检测谷胱甘肽 S转移酶 (GST) M1基因 ,并探讨 GST M1基因缺失 (无效基因型 )与喉癌易患性的相关性。方法 :观察组选择确诊的喉癌 4 2例 ,正常对照组 10 8例 ;取被检者外周静脉血白细胞 ,抽提制备脱氧核糖核苷酸 (DNA) ;选择优化后的 PCR反应体系和循环参数扩增 GSTM1,扩增后的基因产物用 2 %琼脂糖凝胶电泳 ,紫外线灯下观察并记录结果。结果 :(1)成功建立聚合酶链反应结合琼脂糖凝胶电泳技术检测 GSTM1基因的方法。(2 )喉癌组 GST M1基因缺失率 (71.4 % )明显高于正常对照组 (48.1% )显示两组之间差异存在显著性 (χ2 =6 .6 1,P<0 .0 5 )。结论 :(1)聚合酶链反应是一种简单敏感 ,准确可靠的分析 GST M1基因多态性的方法。 (2 )该地区 GST M1基因缺失与喉癌的易患性相关联     

Effects of cocaine and quinpirole on perceptual and motor functions in baboons

 The effects of cocaine and quinpirole were studied in baboons to determine whether quinpirole, a relatively selective D₂/D₃ dopamine agonist, produced effects similar to those of cocaine on perceptual and motor processes. To measure perceptual and motor function, three baboons were trained to discriminate differences between a standard vowel and four other synthetic vowels; response accuracy as well as response latencies, or ”reaction times”, were measured following drug administrations. Cocaine reduced reaction times in two baboons, and did not affect reaction times in a third; on the other hand, quinpirole lengthened reaction times in a dose-dependent manner in all baboons. Cocaine and quinpirole also differed in the time course to produce the maximal reaction time effect following drug administration. Cocaine and quinpirole did not differ consistently in their perceptual effects, as indicated by similar changes in d′, a signal-detection index of discriminability. These distinct profiles of effects for cocaine and quinpirole suggest differing neurochemical actions for these two drugs. Received: 10 August 1996 /Final version: 16 May 1997     

Anticipatory postural adjustments during self-paced and reaction-time movements

We studied the changes in the anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs), associated with dropping a load from extended arms and during fast bilateral shoulder flexion movements, when movements were performed in a self-paced manner and under a simple reaction-time instruction. The latter instruction applied time pressure and did not allow the regular pattern of APAs to be used. In particular, the following questions were asked: (1) are there changes in the relative timing of APAs under the reaction time condition; (2) are changes in the relative timing of APAs associated with changes in APAs themselves; (3) can different postural strategies be used to maintain stability under self-paced and reaction time conditions; and (4) are changes in APAs related to actual reaction time or to a change in the instruction? In particular, under reaction-time conditions, APAs occurred later in time, typically simultaneously with the initiation of the focal movement. Additional changes in electromyographic (EMG) patterns in postural muscles included an increase in the amplitude of EMG bursts and “speeding-up” some of the tri-phasic patterns in postural dorsal-ventral muscle pairs. This was accompanied by a smaller early shift of the center of pressure followed by its more rapid delayed displacement. There was considerable variability in the changes of EMG and dynamic characteristics across subjects. Some of the changes in the EMG patterns in postural muscles depended on actual reaction time, while others were related to a change in the instruction and occurred even if actual reaction times were long enough to allow for the typical self-paced APA patterns to occur. These findings can be interpreted as supporting the parallel control hypothesis for the focal movement and postural adjustments. Alternatively, they can be interpreted within a framework that implies the generation of a single control function, which is transformed into two components, one directed at the focal muscles/joints and the other directed at postural muscles/joints.     

下体负压晕厥前症状下事件相关电位变化特征

目的探讨下体负压晕厥前症状（ＰＳＳ）下事件相关电位（ＥＲＰｓ）的Ｐ３潜时（Ｐ３Ｌ）变化特征，为飞行员加速度性晕厥的医学鉴定提供实验方法和依据。方法用下体负压方法（ＬＢＮＰ）诱发ＰＳＳ，观察ＥＲＰｓ的Ｐ３Ｌ变化特征。结果出现ＰＳＳ时，ＥＲＰｓ的Ｐ３Ｌ由３４３．３５±１４．７２ｍｓ延长至５０６．８７±３７．４４ｍｓ（Ｆ（６，４８）＝１４．９６，Ｐ＜０．０５，ＯＺ电极），相关任务反应时（ＲＴ）由５０８．６５±１１．１３ｍｓ延长至６３１．２５±２９．１６ｍｓ（ｔ＝２．９７，Ｐ＜０．０５），靶刺激反应错误率由（４．００±１．６７）％增加至（４３．３８±３．５４）％（ｔ＝３．０６，Ｐ＜０．０５）。ＰＳＳ后第５ｍｉｎ，Ｐ３Ｌ仍明显高于基线值（Ｐ＜０．０５）。而ＲＴ、错误率与基线值已无显著差异（Ｐ＞０．０５）。结论ＥＲＰｓ的Ｐ３Ｌ结合ＲＴ、错误率等指标对飞行员加速度性晕厥的研究有潜在应用价值。     

The effects of a low dose of caffeine on cognitive performance

There is little evidence concerning the effects of caffeine in doses typical of one cup of tea. The present study investigated the effect of 60 mg caffeine, consumed in either tea or hot water, on performance on a subset of the CANTAB test battery. Eight males participated in a practice session and four test sessions. In each test session, the participant consumed a different hot beverage and then, over approximately 90 min, completed nine tests from the CANTAB battery. The four beverages were created by crossing beverage identity (tea or hot water) and caffeine dose (0 or 60 mg). Significant speeding of reaction time by caffeine consumption was found in pattern recognition, delayed match to sample, and match to sample visual search. The effect on reaction time of 60 mg caffeine can be detected, and may be evident within minutes of consumption. Received: 16 March 1998/Final version: 27 July 1998     

The effects of clonidine and yohimbine on human information processing

The effects of clonidine and yohimbine on human information processing were tested in six normal volunteers ages 18–30 years. Subjects were tested in a pre-post design with sessions conducted at weekly intervals. Three drug conditions were: Placebo (lactose), 0.2 mg clonidine, and 30 mg yohimbine. Two choice reaction time (RT) tasks were used. One was a stimulus evaluation-response selection task (SERS) that has been shown to be sensitive tod-amphetamine, methylphenidate and scopolamine. The other task was to assess stimulus pre-processing and used spatial frequency as a discriminative stimulus. The principle finding was that clonidine slowed RT; this effect was significant for both tasks. In contrast, yohimbine tended to speed RT, but the effects were significant only for the spatial frequency task on some analyses while not for others. RTs to high spatial frequency stimuli were speeded more than for low spatial frequency. The effects of these two NE drugs were compared with findings withd-amphetamine and scopolamine and interpreted within the framework of a serial information processing model proposed by Callaway (1983). Specifically, it is suggested that yohimbine and clonidine affect an early pre-processing stage.     

Covert attention in touch: behavioral and ERP evidence for costs and benefits

To investigate the mechanism underlying tactile spatial attention, reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to mechanical stimuli delivered to the hands. At the start of each trial cues indicated either the correct (valid) or incorrect (invalid) tactile stimulus location or were uninformative (neutral). RT costs (suppression of invalid compared to neutral trials) were found to be larger than benefits (enhancement of valid compared to neutral trials). ERPs showed that costs and benefits contribute equally to attentional modulations of the somatosensory N140 component, whereas these were largely due to costs at longer latencies. These results differ from the pattern of attentional ERP modulations previously found for vision and audition, where costs precede benefits, and therefore suggest that the mechanisms of attentional selectivity in touch might be different from attentional processes in other modalities.     

Trajectory control in targeted force impulses

Summary This study was undertaken in order to determine the time course of the process by which information derived from a visual target is used to accurately set the amplitude of a simple motor response. We refer to this process as response specification. Separate auditory and visual cues were given to the subjects in order to independently control the moment of response initiation and the time available for processing amplitude information from the target. Six subjects initiated impulses of isometric force in synchrony with the last of predictable series of regular tones. Response amplitudes were to match one of three visual target steps occurring at random times between 0 and 400 ms before the response-synchronizing tone. Using these separate auditory and visual cues, we were able to systematically vary the time interval between target presentation and response onset, termed here Stimulus-Response or S-R interval. Target steps were presented in blocks of either predictable (simple condition) or unpredictable (choice condition) amplitudes. The peak forces and the peaks of their time derivatives were analyzed to determine how subjects achieved accuracy under the different conditions and at different S-R intervals. The trajectories of responses produced in the simple condition were independent of the S-R interval. In contrast, when targets were presented in unpredictable order, the distribution of the peak forces of the subjects' responses depended on the S-R interval. At short S-R intervals (<125 ms), subjects made responses whose peak forces were distributed around the center of the range of target steps. These responses formed a unimodal, but broad distribution which was independent of actual target amplitude. With increasing S-R interval (>125 ms), the distributions of peak forces gradually shifted toward the correct target amplitudes, with the means reaching the appropriate amplitudes at S-R intervals of 250–400 ms. At S-R intervals comparable to a reaction time, the range of peak forces was constricted to a similar extent as previously observed in a reaction time task (Hening et al. 1988). We found that the gradual improvement of accuracy was not achieved through changes in trajectory control: at all S-R intervals, subjects utilized a pulse-height control policy (Gordon and Ghez 1987a). Different peak forces were achieved by varying the rate of rise of force, while force rise time was held relatively invariant. We did find, however, that within the constraints imposed by rise time regulation, compensatory adjustments to the force trajectories (Gordon and Ghez 1987b) were greatest during the period of specification. We conclude that (1) subjects can initiate their responses independent of the degree of specification achieved and that the normal process of specification of amplitude begins earlier and continues longer than the latency of responses in a reaction time task; (2) before target presentation, subjects prepare a default response whose amplitude is biased by prior experience with the targets presented in the task. We hypothesize that the central mechanisms that specify response amplitude do so by a progressive adjustment of the default parameters.     

Cat red nucleus activity preceding movement depends on initiation conditions

Summary The activity of 98 Red Nucleus neurons was recorded in 3 cats operantly conditioned to perform a ballistic forelimb flexion movement triggered after a brief sound in a simple Reaction Time condition, or Delayed after the same sound in the presence of a tone cue. Fifty-eight task related neurons presented changes of activity in either one or both conditions. Forty-four of them were studied quantitatively and classified in 3 categories: 1) only 16% of the units presented similar changes of firing preceding the triggered or delayed movement; 2) most units (55%) presented different changes of activity in the two conditions: in the Delayed condition, the activation occurred earlier before the movement, and/or the change in magnitude was reduced or the pattern of activity was modified; 3) moreover, for 29% of the units, the change of activity observed before movement in the Reaction Time condition was severely reduced or even absent in the Delayed condition. For some of these neurons a building-up of activity was observed very early in the Reaction Time condition, during the preparatory period, well before the occurrence of the conditioned stimulus. These results show that the Red Nucleus activity preceding a movement is clearly dependent on its initiation conditions. The distinct patterns of unit firing observed in the Reaction Time condition and in the Delayed condition are tentatively related to the different preparation and initiation constraints determined by the behavioral conditions.