Electrophysiological studies of rat substantia nigra neurons in an in vitro slice preparation after middle cerebral artery occlusion

We studied sequential changes in electrophysiological profiles of the ipsilateral substantia nigra neurons in an in vitro slice preparation obtained from the middle cerebral artery-occluded rats. Histological examination revealed marked atrophy and neurodegeneration in the ipsilateral substantia nigra pars reticulata at 14 days after middle cerebral artery occlusion. Compared with the control group, there was no significant change in electrical membrane properties and synaptic responses of substantia nigra pars reticulata neurons examined at one to two weeks after middle cerebral artery occlusion. On the other hand, there was a significant increase in the input resistance and spontaneous firing rate of substantia nigra pars compacta neurons at 13-16 days after middle cerebral artery occlusion. Furthermore, inhibitory postsynaptic potentials evoked by stimulation of the subthalamus in substantia nigra pars compacta neurons was suppressed at five to eight days after middle cerebral artery occlusion. At the same time excitatory postsynaptic potentials evoked by the subthalamic stimulation was increased. Bath application of bicuculline methiodide (50 microM), a GABA(A) receptor antagonist, significantly increased the firing rate of substantia nigra pars compacta neurons from intact rats. These results strongly suggest that changes in electrophysiological responses observed in substantia nigra pars compacta neurons is caused by degeneration of GABAergic afferents from the substantia nigra pars reticulata following middle cerebral artery occlusion. While previous studies indirectly suggested that hyperexcitation due to deafferentation from the neostriatum may be a major underlying mechanism in delayed degeneration of substantia nigra pars reticulata neurons after middle cerebral artery occlusion, the present electrophysiological experiments provide evidence of hyperexcitation in substantia nigra pars compacta neurons but not in pars reticulata neurons at the chronic phase of striatal infarction.     

A 200-MHz complex number multiplier using redundant binaryarithmetic

Modern digital communication systems rely heavily on baseband signal processing for in-phase and quadrature (I-Q) channels, and complex number processing in low-voltage CMOS has become a necessity for channel equalization, timing recovery, modulation, and demodulation. In this work, redundant binary (RB) arithmetic is applied to complex number multiplication for the first time so that an N-bit parallel complex number multiplier can be reduced to two RE multiplications (i.e., an addition of N RB partial products) corresponding to real and imaginary parts, respectively. This efficient RE encoding scheme proposed can generate RB partial products with no additional hardware and delay overheads. A prototype 8-bit complex number multiplier containing 11.5 K transistors is integrated on 1.05×1.33 mm² using 0.8 μm CMOS. The chip consumes 90 mW with 2.5 V supply when clocked at 200 MHz     

Disaster recovery planning in an automated manufacturingenvironment

Disasters may strike at any moment in any location. When they do, no distinction is made about the type of firm that is being affected, whether it is a bank or a manufacturing plant. Most firms do not plan for possible disasters, and those that do have typically focused on computer and data contingency planning. In this paper, the focus is shifted to incorporate disaster recovery planning for manufacturing enterprises, especially those that are automated. Automated manufacturing enterprises have characteristics that put them at an increased risk to disasters. The methodological framework proposed in this paper will aid manufacturing organizations and their managers in reducing the risks associated with unanticipated disasters. The framework is termed the “Manufacturing Operations Recovery and Resumption” model. Recommended activities and tools for effective management of this methodology are identified     

Localization of extracellular matrix molecules, integrins and their regulators, TGF betas, is correlated with axon pathfinding in the spinal cord of normal and Danforth''s short tail mice

We present a local Dissemination of EPIC, a project which has been devised to support health and social primary care by an information system. One key point of the EPIC project was a standardization effort at European level, providing a standardized basis for the management system based on client needs for planning and manpower control. Whilst EPIC has been designed as a general community information system, the main EPIC applications focus is on the care of the elderly. Savona is a middle size Italian town with a high percentage of elderly people and has already had an experience of integration of health and social care within an Italian project. It has therefore been regarded as a suitable site for the dissemination of EPIC. The EPIC application solved some of the information problems which emerged during the validation of the previous Italian project, such as the definition of the requirements; the collection, processing and retrieval of the clinical/social data; the definition of responsibilities and relations of the operators.     

Pseudoexfoliation syndrome and secondary cataract

AIM/BACKGROUND: The pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome is frequently associated with impairment of the blood-aqueous barrier. This study analysed if this might stimulate secondary cataract following cataract extraction. METHODS: This historical cohort study included 197 eyes of 197 patients (99 with and 98 without PEX) that underwent extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber lens implantation (PMMA optic) between 1985 and 1991. Secondary cataract was defined as opacification of the axial posterior capsule and decrease of visual acuity by two or more lines. Mean follow up was 23.8 months. For statistical analysis, the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used. RESULTS: Secondary cataract was observed within 24 months in 35% (SD 7%) of all eyes, and was significantly more frequent in eyes with PEX (45 (11)%) than in eyes without PEX (24 (9)%, p < 0.03). Eyes with diabetes mellitus (n = 32) showed a significantly lower frequency of secondary cataract (11 (11)%) than eyes without diabetes mellitus (39 (8)%, p < 0.01). The influences of sex, open angle glaucoma, type of cataract, surgeon, positioning of IOL, and phacoemulsification versus nuclear expression on secondary cataract did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The higher frequency of secondary cataract could be considered as another potential complication of cataract surgery in eyes with PEX.     

Results of selective venous site-specific catheterization in occult C-cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland

Ileal pouch-anal anastomosis is a surgical procedure used for the treatment of people with chronic ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatous polyposis. The surgery is intended to preserve anal sphincter function, but it carries a risk for certain complications, including pouchitis and anastomotic stricture. The purpose of this article is to review the clinical manifestations, causes, and treatment of anastomotic stricture and pouchitis after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.     

Src homology 2 protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHPTP2)/Src homology 2 phosphatase 2 (SHP2) tyrosine phosphatase is a positive regulator of the interleukin 5 receptor signal transduction pathways leading to the prolongation of eosinophil survival

Interleukin-5 (IL-5) regulates the growth and function of eosinophils. It induces rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of Lyn and Jak2 tyrosine kinases. The role of tyrosine phosphatases in IL-5 signal transduction has not been investigated. In this study, we provide first evidence that SH2 protein tyrosine phosphatase 2 (SHPTP2) phosphotyrosine phosphatase plays a key role in prevention of eosinophil death by IL-5. We found that IL-5 produced a rapid activation and tyrosine phosphorylation of SHPTP2 within 1 min. The tyrosine phosphorylated SHPTP2 was complexed with the adapter protein Grb2 in IL-5-stimulated eosinophils. Furthermore, SHPTP2 appeared to physically associate with beta common (betac) chain of the IL-5 receptor (IL-5betacR). The association of SHPTP2 with IL-5betacR was reconstituted using a synthetic phosphotyrosine-containing peptide, betac 605-624, encompassing tyrosine (Y)612. The binding to the phosphotyrosine-containing peptide increased the phosphatase activity of SHPTP2, whereas the same peptide with the phosphorylated Y612--> F mutation did not activate SHPTP2. Only SHPTP2 antisense oligonucleotides, but not sense SHPTP2, could inhibit tyrosine phosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein kinase, and reverse the eosinophil survival advantage provided by IL-5. Therefore, we conclude that the physical association of SHPTP2 with the phosphorylated betac receptor and Grb2 and its early activation are required for the coupling of the receptor to the Ras signaling pathway and for prevention of eosinophil death by IL-5.     

The effect of quantization on the performance of sampling designs

The most common form of quantization is rounding-off, which occurs in all digital systems. A general quantizer approximates an observed value by the nearest among a finite number of representative values. In estimating weighted integrals of a time series with no quadratic mean derivatives, by means of samples at discrete times, it is known that the rate of convergence of the mean-square error is reduced from n^-2 to n^-1.5 when the samples are quantized. For smoother time series, with k=1, 2, ... quadratic mean derivatives, it is now shown that the rate of convergence is reduced from n^-2k-2 to n^-2 when the samples are quantized, which is a very significant reduction. The interplay between sampling and quantization is also studied, leading to (asymptotically) optimal allocation between the number of samples and the number of levels of quantization     

Discriminative stimulus properties of ethanol in the rat: differential effects of selective and nonselective benzodiazepine receptor agonists

Rats were trained to discriminate between ethanol (1.0 g/kg; 10% v/v) and saline under a fixed ratio 10 schedule of sweetened milk reinforcement. Both diazepam [nonselective, full benzodiazepine (BZ) receptors agonist] and bretazenil (nonselective, partial BZ receptor agonist) produced dose-dependent ethanol-appropriate responding (>75%). Neither diazepam nor bretazenil affected the response rate at the doses producing maximal generalisation from ethanol. In contrast, zolpidem (full BZ1 receptor agonist) and abecarnil (full BZ1/full or partial BZ2 receptor agonist) produced only moderate (<50%) ethanol-appropriate responding when tested up to doses that markedly decreased the overall response rate. These results suggest that: 1) there are no major differences between full and partial, nonselective BZ receptor agonists in their ability to substitute for 1.0 g/kg dose of ethanol; 2) stimulation of BZ1 receptors alone is not sufficient to produce ethanol-like discriminative stimulus effects in the rat.     

The validity of new memory complaints in the elderly

OBJECTIVE: To determine the validity of new subjective memory complaints (MCs) from individuals who previously, when without dementia, denied having MCs. DESIGN: Prospective cohort. SETTING: Longitudinal, community-based study of aging and dementia. PATIENTS: One hundred thirty-three community-dwelling elderly individuals who were part of a registry for the study of conditions related to aging in North Manhattan, NY. Patients were selected if they were initially without dementia and had completed at least 2 successive annual clinical and neuropsychological evaluations and provided their own medical history. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Performance on memory tests--the Buschke Selective Reminding Test and a visual memory task--and global performance on a neuropsychological test battery and clinical evaluation, by which questionable dementia or dementia was diagnosed according to a well-defined paradigm. RESULTS: Fifty-three subjects with MCs at the initial evaluation performed no worse on the memory test than the 80 subjects who denied MCs initially. There was a weak association between MCs and the diagnosis of questionable dementia at baseline (P = .04), but this was nonsignificant after adjusting for age and education. At 1-year follow-up, 21 of the 80 without baseline MCs now reported MCs. At the follow-up evaluation, these 21 subjects performed significantly worse on the memory tests, were 5 times more likely to have significant cognitive impairment, and had shown significantly greater decline over the preceding year on several of the cognitive measures than the 59 who continued to deny MCs. CONCLUSION: New MCs from individuals, who when without dementia recently denied MCs, may suggest the presence of significant impairment of memory or cognition.