The human visual system is amenable to a number of adaptive processes; one such process, or collection of processes, is the adaptation to blur. Blur adaptation can be observed as an improvement in vision under degraded conditions, and these changes occur relatively rapidly following exposure to blur. The potential important future directions of this research area and the clinical implications of blur adaptation are discussed. 相似文献
Objective: To determine serotonin system abnormalities related to major depression or previous suicidal behavior.
Methods: [11C]WAY100635, [18F]altanserin and positron emission tomography were used to compare 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A binding in MDD patients divided into eight past suicide attempters (>4yrs prior to scanning) and eight lifetime non-attempters, and both groups were compared to eight healthy volunteers.
Results: The two receptor types differed in binding pattern across brain regions from each other, but there were no differences in binding between healthy volunteers and the two depressed groups or between depressed suicide attempters and non-attempters. No effects of depression severity or lifetime aggression were observed for either receptor.
Conclusion: Limitations of this study include small sample size and absence of high lethality suicide attempts in the depressed attempter group. No trait-like binding correlations with past suicide attempt or current depression were observed. Given the heterogeneity of nonfatal suicidal behavior, a larger sample study emphasizing higher lethality suicide attempts may find the serotonin biological phenotype seen in suicide decedents. 相似文献
Lowering of the elevated plasma FFA concentration in 18- 24-h fasted rats with nicotinic acid (NA) caused complete ablation of subsequent glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). Although the effect of NA was reversed when the fasting level of total FFA was maintained by coinfusion of soybean oil or lard oil (plus heparin), the more saturated animal fat proved to be far more potent in enhancing GSIS. We therefore examined the influence of individual fatty acids on insulin secretion in the perfused rat pancreas. When present in the perfusion fluid at 0.5 mM (in the context of 1% albumin), the fold stimulation of insulin release from the fasted pancreas in response to 12.5 mM glucose was as follows: octanoate (C8:0), 3.4; linoleate (C18:2 cis/cis), 5.3; oleate (C18:1 cis), 9.4; palmitate (C16:0), 16. 2; and stearate (C18:0), 21.0. The equivalent value for palmitoleate (C16:1 cis) was 3.1. A cis--> trans switch of the double bond in the C16:1 and C18:1 fatty acids had only a modest, if any, impact on their potency. A similar profile emerged with regard to basal insulin secretion (3 mM glucose). When a subset of these fatty acids was tested in pancreases from fed animals, the same rank order of effectiveness at both basal and stimulatory levels of glucose was seen. The findings reaffirm the essentiality of an elevated plasma FFA concentration for GSIS in the fasted rat. They also show, however, that the insulinotropic effect of individual fatty acids spans a remarkably broad range, increasing and decreasing dramatically with chain length and degree of unsaturation, respectively. Thus, for any given level of glucose, insulin secretion will be influenced greatly not only by the combined concentration of all circulating (unbound) FFA, but also by the makeup of this FFA pool. Both factors will likely be important considerations in understanding the complex interplay between the nature of dietary fat and whole body insulin, glucose, and lipid dynamics. 相似文献
High serum fluoride (F-) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) and
end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with risk of renal
osteodystrophy and other bone changes. This study was done to determine F-
in normal healthy controls and patients with ESRD on haemodialysis (HD) or
peritoneal dialysis (PD). Seventeen healthy controls (12 males, 5 females)
and 39 ESRD patients on dialysis (17 males, 22 females) were recruited in
the study in a community with 47.4 +/- 3.28 microM/l (range 44-51 microM/l)
of F- content in drinking water. Control subjects showed a mean serum F-
concentration of 1.08 +/- 0.350 microM/l. Males in control group showed
slightly higher F- levels (1.15 +/- 0.334, range 0.55-1.9 microM/l) than
females (0.92 +/- 0.370, range 0.6-1.5 microM/l). Mean serum F-
concentration did not correlate significantly with age and sex among
control subjects, whereas such correlation was observed in patients with
ESRD on dialysis. Mean serum F- concentration was significantly higher in
patients on dialysis (2.67 +/- 1.09, range 0.8-5.2 microM/l) than normal
controls. When grouped according to sex, the mean serum F- concentration in
males (3.05 +/- 1.04, range 1.8-5.2 microM/l) was significantly higher than
females (2.38 +/- 1.08, range 0.8-5.2 microM/l). When patients were grouped
according to age, it was observed that F- concentration was significantly
higher in patients with age groups 21-70 (2.86 +/- 1.05) than those with
age group 13-20 years (1.42 +/- 0.531). Thus F- concentration correlated
with age and sex, being higher in males and above 20 years. Despite
appreciable clearance of F- (39-90%) across the peritoneum, patients on
CAPD showed higher serum F- concentration than those on HD (3.1 +/- 1.97 vs
2.5 +/- 1.137 microM/l). Of the total 39 patients on dialysis 39% had their
serum F- concentration above 3.0 microM/l, posing the risk of renal
osteodystrophy.
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