Melatonin‐evoked potentiation of the juvenile rat tail artery neurogenic reactivity depends on degree of the change in the reactivity

Aim: Dependence of the melatonin‐evoked potentiation of the rat tail artery neurogenic reactivity on degree of the change in the reactivity was studied. Method: Electrical field stimulation‐evoked contractile response of the juvenile rat tail artery segment under isometric conditions was recorded. 0.1 μm melatonin was administered after the change in the response produced both spontaneously and by acidification (pH 6.6) or alkalinization (pH 7.8) of the solution. Results: During the course of experiment, the contraction force continuously declined, being reduced by 12 ± 5, 24 ± 7 and 32 ± 6% at 20, 70, and 170 min after beginning of experiment, respectively. Melatonin applied at these time points increased the contraction by 20 ± 5, 41 ± 10, and 48 ± 8%, respectively, relative to control. This increase in potentiating effect of melatonin during the course of experiment was not because of sensitization of the segment to the hormone. Acidosis‐induced considerable decline in neurogenic contraction was counteracted by melatonin, while after alkalosis‐induced augmentation in the contraction the hormone was not effective. Melatonin increased the artery response to 0.1 μm noradrenaline. Conclusion: These data suggest that melatonin can restore an attenuated neurogenic reactivity of the juvenile rat tail artery. The effect is more pronounced with further decrease in reactivity and might be due to a change in sensitivity of the post‐junctional membrane to noradrenaline.     

Efficient high-frequency body coil for high-field MRI.

The use of body coils is favored for homogeneous excitation, and such coils are often paired with surface coils or arrays for sensitive reception in many MRI applications. While the body coil's physical size and resultant electrical length make this circuit difficult to design for any field strength, recent efforts to build efficient body coils for applications at 3T and above have been especially challenging. To meet this challenge, we developed an efficient new transverse electromagnetic (TEM) body coil and demonstrated its use in human studies at field strengths up to 4 T. Head, body, and breast images were acquired within peak power constraints of <8 kW. Bench studies indicate that these body coils are feasible to 8 T. RF shimming was used to remove a high-field-related cardiac imaging artifact in these preliminary studies. P41RR13230     

Ploidy analysis of field cancerization and cancer development in the hamster cheek pouch carcinogenesis model

BACKGROUND: The hamster cheek-pouch carcinogenesis model is a well-known animal system that closely mimics the development of premalignant and malignant lesions in human oral cancer. Our aim was to numerically characterize the premalignant and malignant lesions and expressions of field cancerization in this model using ploidy as the end-point. METHODS: To study the DNA content and proliferation status of the cells in this model we assessed the Feulgen reaction and the immunohistochemical reaction for 5-bromo-2-deoxiuridine (BrdU) in different histological areas of serial tissue sections of the cheek pouches of animals injected with BrdU. RESULTS: Ploidy values were higher in cancerized epithelia with no unusual microscopic features (NUMF), in preneoplastic and tumor areas than in control epithelia. The aneuploidy index was higher in NUMF areas than in control and differed significantly from control in preneoplastic areas and carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: The unexpected alteration in DNA content observed in NUMF epithelia is of great relevance as a biomarker of field cancerized areas.     

高频电磁场对工人行为功能的影响

采用世界卫生组织推荐的神经行为核心测试组合（ＷＨＯ－ＮＣＴＢ），对高频作业工人４１名（平均工龄１３．９ａ（年）及年龄、性别、文化程度与接触组相匹配的对照组工人３９名（平均工龄１３．３ａ）分别进行了行为功能测试。结果表明高频作业工人部分情感状态得分和某些行为功能得分与对照组相比差异有显著性。长期接触高频电磁场可能引起工人情感状态改变，记忆力减退、注意力分散及心理运动稳定度下降。     

Electrodynamics and ultimate SNR in parallel MR imaging.

The purpose of this article is to elucidate inherent limitations to the performance of parallel MRI. The study focuses on the ultimate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which refers to the maximum SNR permitted by the electrodynamics of the signal detection process. Using a spherical model object, it is shown that the behavior of the ultimate SNR imposes distinct limits on the acceleration rate in parallel imaging. For low and moderate acceleration, the ultimate SNR performance is nearly optimal, with geometry factors close to 1. However, for high reduction factors beyond a critical value, the ultimate performance deteriorates rapidly, corresponding to exponential growth of the geometry factor. The transition from optimal to deteriorating performance depends on the electrodynamic characteristics of the detected RF fields. In the near-field regime, i.e., for low B0 and small object size, the critical reduction factor is constant and approximately equal to four for 1D acceleration in the sphere. In the far-field wave regime the critical reduction factor is larger and increases both with B0 and object size. Therefore, it is concluded that parallel techniques hold particular promise for human MR imaging at very high field.     

视场角设置对虚拟环境中目标判断的影响

目的探讨不同视场角参数对虚拟环境中目标判断的影响规律 ,找出最佳视场角参数。方法利用自行研制基于PC平台的虚拟现实 (VR)实验系统 ,选定 45名年龄在 2 3～ 5 8岁被试者并完成大小与角度判断的实验设计。首先进行 30 0人次的预实验 ,确定引起虚拟环境中目标判断差错的视场角及相应观察任务的差别等级 ,然后开始单因素、4水平的完全随机正式实验。结果方差分析表明 ,不同的虚拟环境视场角对目标判断的真实性有显著性影响 ,当视场角为 60°时 ,目标判断的正确率最大。结论利用VR技术进行载人航天器工效设计、操作训练或其它任务的研究时 ,应考虑视场角的作用 ,适合目标大小判断的视场角参数值宜取 60°,以便获得最大的工效     

Auditory Perception and the Control of Spatially Coordinated Action of Deaf and Hearing Children

From birth onwards, auditory stimulation directs and intensifies visual orientation behaviour. In deaf children, by definition, auditory perception cannot take place and cannot, therefore, make a contribution to visual orientation to objects approaching from outside the initial field of view. In experiment 1, a difference in catching ability is demonstrated between deaf and hearing children (10-13 years of age) when the ball approached from the periphery or from outside the field of view. No differences in catching ability between the two groups occurred when the ball approached from within the field of view. A second experiment was conducted in order to determine if differences in catching ability between deaf and hearing children could be attributed to execution of slow orientating movements and/or slow reaction time as a result of the auditory loss. The deaf children showed slower reaction times. No differences were found in movement times between deaf and hearing children. Overall, the findings suggest that a lack of auditory stimulation during development can lead to deficiencies in the coordination of actions such as catching which are both spatially and temporally constrained.     

Stimulation-induced setting of postural muscle tone in the decerebrate rat

These studies demonstrate the presence of pontomedullary areas in the rat brainstem which, when stimulated electrically, serve to set postural muscle tone in the hindlimbs. Low amplitude stimulation of the dorsal tegmental field (DTF) was found to inhibit postural muscle tone and, in some rats, was found to decrease mean arterial pressure. Low amplitude stimulation of the ventral tegmental field (VTF) was found to increase postural muscle tone and, in all cases tested, was found to increase mean arterial pressure.