Unconditional Positivity-Preserving and Energy Stable Schemes for a Reduced Poisson-Nernst-Planck System

The Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) system is a widely accepted model for simulation of ionic channels. In this paper, we design, analyze, and numerically validate a second order unconditional positivity-preserving scheme for solving a reduced PNP system, which can well approximate the three dimensional ion channel problem. Positivity of numerical solutions is proven to hold true independent of the size of time steps and the choice of the Poisson solver. The scheme is easy to implement without resorting to any iteration method. Several numerical examples further confirm the positivity-preserving property, and demonstrate the accuracy, efficiency, and robustness of the proposed scheme, as well as the fast approach to steady states.     

不同浓度氯氮平对小鼠空腹血糖和骨骼肌葡萄糖转运蛋白4基因表达的影响

目的探讨氯氮平对雄性C57BL/6小鼠空腹血糖和骨骼肌葡萄糖转运蛋白4(GLUT4)基因表达的影响。方法将63只雄性C57BL/6小鼠随机分为3组,每组21只,分别灌胃给予蒸馏水、氯氮平4mg/kg及氯氮平20mg/kg,于给药后3h、1周、4周以试纸法测定各组空腹血糖,用逆转录-聚合酶链反应测定GLUT4mRNA表达。结果(1)灌药后3h、1周氯氮平4mg/kg组和氯氮平20mg/kg组空腹血糖和GLUT4mRNA的表达与空白对照组相比,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);(2)灌药后4周氯氮平4mg/kg组和20mg/kg组的空腹血糖值[(5.6±0.5)mmol/L和(5.8±0.5)mmol/L]高于空白对照组[(4.6±0.6)mmol/L],而GLUT4mRNA的表达(0.50±0.14和0.48±0.12)却低于空白对照组(0.85±0.27),差异均有统计学意义(P<0.01)。结论氯氮平可以慢性升高空腹血糖,降低GLUT4mRNA的表达,可能是抗精神病药长期应用后血糖升高的发生机制之一。     

食蟹猴年龄相关的运动功能减退及其与纹状体多巴胺转运体的关系

目的研究食蟹猴老化过程中运动行为和脑内纹状体多巴胺系统功能变化及两者之间的相关关系。方法选取4岁、10岁和15岁3个年龄组的健康食蟹猴共29只,利用计算机化的网络摄像头视频检测系统和行为分析软件连续采集和分析每个动物8h随意运动活动总量,各年龄组分别选取4只动物用多巴胺转运体(DAT)配体99mTc-TRODAT-1结合单光子发射体层摄影术(SPECT)显像观察脑内纹状体多巴胺转运体放射性摄取率的变化。结果在4岁、10岁和15岁年龄组,8h随意运动活动总量(×106)分别为5·00±1·93,3·28±1·02,2·79±0·67,在10岁和15岁较之4随年龄组分别降低了34·50%和55·71%(P<0·05,P<0·01),但此两个年龄组运动活动总量无显著差异(P>0·05);纹状体99mTc-TRODAT-1放射性摄取率分别为2·98±0·08,2·56±0·12和2·27±0·35,10岁和15岁较之4随年龄组分别降低了14·00%和25·60%,但仅4岁与15岁年龄组存在显著相关关系(P<0·01)。二者均随着年龄的增长呈逐渐减低的趋势,直线回归分析显示两者分别与年龄呈负相关关系(r=-0·57,P=0·001;r=-0·86,P<0·01)。8h随意运动活动总量与纹状体99mTc-TRODAT-1放射性摄取率呈显著的正相关关系(r=0·70,P<0·05)。结论正常食蟹猴老化过程中,脑内多巴胺神经系统功能的减退伴随着运动行为的减少,两者之间的相关关系进一步佐证了运动功能的减退可能是由于纹状体内多巴胺神经元功能减退所致。     

Neuropathology of ALS: Spheroids

I briefly review spheroids observed in the anterior horns of the spinal cord in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Spheroids are argentophilic bodies more than 20 μm in diameter. Recently, some connections between the proximal axonal swellings including spheroids and the perikarya have been reported in some ALS patients with a short clinical course or mild depletion of anterior horn neurons. Most of the cell bodies directly connected with the axonal swellings appear normal, and spheroids are considered to be one of the hallmarks of the early histological changes in this disorder. Spheroids are strongly positive with anti-phosphorylated neurofilament antibody, and are also positive with calcitonin gene-related peptide and anti-peripherin antibody. Some spheroids are immunostained with anti-synaptophysin antibody and anti-ubiquitin antibody. Spheroids are not immunostained with anti-phosphorylated tau antibody, or high molecular weight microtubule associated proteins. Electron microscopically, spheroids are usually composed of densely packed accumulation of 10 nm neurofilaments with a variety of orientations, plus vesicles, dense bodies and mitochondria. When the swellings of the initial segment is relatively pronounced, the undercoating is obscured and the neurofilaments become interwoven in some parts. In the first internode of the myelinated axons, as the swellings become larger, the neurofilaments lose their parallel orientation and become intermingled. Large accumulation of neurofilaments resembling spheroids in the perikarya of large anterior horn cells suggests that spheroids could be derived not only from the axon including the proximal portion, but also from the perikarya. Structures apparently identical to axonal spheroids are observed at the light and electron microscopic levels in the proximal portion of axons of anterior horn cells in animal models intoxicated with β, β'-iminodipropionitrile (IDPN), or with aluminum, in hereditary canine spinal muscular atrophy (HCSMA). The pathogenetic mechanism is probably associated with an impairment in slow axonal transport which particularly affects the neurofilaments in IDPN and aluminum intoxication. Impairment of slow axonal transport of neurofilaments also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ALS. The average diameter of even normalappearing initial segment is larger in ALS than in the controls. The perikarya connected with the swollen proximal axons and their dendrites almost always appear normal. These findings suggest that the slow axonal transport of neurofilaments is probably impaired in this portion of the axon at an early stage in ALS as well as animal models for human ALS. However, techniques to analyze slow axonal transport in humans still remain tobe developed. Recently, overexpression of neurofilament subunits in transgenic mice produces a condition resembling ALS. The transgenic model may offer an interesting perspective not only for testing therapeutic strategies but also for investigating in a systematic way the various genetic and environment factors controlling the onset and progression of the disease and might yield new insights on the etiology of ALS.     

Organization of the trigeminal and facial motor nuclei in the hagfish, Eptatretus burgeri: a retrograde HRP study

We studied the trigeminal and facial motor nuclei of the hagfish by the retrograde HRP method. We distinguished 4 components in a single column of the motor nuclei of the trigeminal nerve and the facial nerve, viz., the pars magnocellularis of the trigeminal motor nucleus (mVm), the anterior part of the pars parvocellularis of the trigeminal motor nucleus (mVp1), the posterior part of the pars parvocellularis of the trigeminal motor nucleus (mVp2) and the facial motor nucleus (mVII). Although in Nissl preparations only the mVm could be distinguished from the rest of the nucleus, the boundaries of the other 3 components were clearly demarcated in HRP preparations. Intramuscular injections into two representative antagonistic jaw muscles revealed that there was no apparent topological organization of the neurons pertaining to the opening and closing muscles in the mVm and mVp1, but both antagonistic muscles were innervated bilaterally. Although the hagfish does possess a cartilaginous jaw, the organization pattern of the motor nuclei of the jaw muscles seems to be the most primitive of all living vertebrates.     

Peritoneal dialysis patient survival: a comparison between a Swedish and a Korean centre.

BACKGROUND: Dialysis patient mortality remains high, and this high mortality may be due to many factors. In peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, old age, co-morbid diseases, malnutrition, low residual renal function (RRF) and a high peritoneal transport rate have been shown to influence survival, but the relative importance of these factors may differ between different patient populations. Besides, centre practice patterns may differ between centres and may influence patient survival. In addition, the literature suggests that dialysis patient survival may be better in Asian than in Caucasian patients. METHODS: The influence of centre and patient characteristics on patient survival was investigated in 132 Korean and 106 Swedish incident PD patients, who underwent initial biochemical measurements and assessment of adequacy of dialysis, nutritional status, RRF and peritoneal transport characteristics. RESULTS: At the start of PD, Korean patients had a higher prevalence of diabetes, peritoneal Kt/V(urea), peritoneal creatinine clearance and peritoneal fluid removal, and lower body mass index, RRF and dialysate to plasma creatinine concentration ratio (D/P Cr) compared with Swedish patients. Significantly more patients from Korea were placed on temporary haemodialysis before PD (100 out of 132) when compared with Swedish patients (21 out of 106). During the follow-up, there was a significantly higher rate of transfer to other units in Korea and a significantly higher rate of kidney transplantation in Sweden. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, overall patient survival did not differ and relative risk for death was also not different between the two centres even after adjustment for age, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, RRF and D/P Cr. On Cox proportional hazards multivariate analysis, age, diabetes, RRF and D/P Cr were found to be independent predictors of mortality in the combined cohort of patients. While age, diabetes and D/P Cr were independent predictors of mortality in Korean patients, age and RRF independently predicted mortality in Swedish patients. CONCLUSION: Although there were significant differences in centre and patient characteristics, we were unable to confirm a survival advantage for Korean over Swedish PD patients. The results of this study suggest that the reported difference in survival between Asian and Caucasian dialysis patients may have been due, in part, to differences in centre and patient characteristics rather than to race as such. The genetic influence on patient characteristics remains, however, to be elucidated.