Understanding and using the medical subject headings (MeSH) vocabulary to perform literature searches

The United States National Library of Medicine's (NLM) MEDLINE database is the largest and most widely used medical bibliographic database. MEDLINE is manually indexed with NLM's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary. Using MeSH, a searcher can potentially create powerful and unambiguous MEDLINE queries. This article reviews the structure and use of MeSH, directed toward the nonexpert, and outlines how MeSH may help resolve a number of common difficulties encountered when searching MEDLINE. The increasing importance of the MEDLINE database as an information resource and the trend toward individuals performing their own bibliographic searches makes it crucial that health care professionals become familiar with MeSH.     

Corneal endothelial involvement in pseudoexfoliation syndrome

Information on corneal manifestation in pseudoexfoliation syndrome is restricted to specular microscopic studies. We investigated morphologic changes of the posterior cornea of two corneal buttons with Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy obtained at penetrating keratoplasty and of one enucleated glaucomatous eye from three patients with ocular pseudoexfoliation syndrome. By transmission electron microscopy, large clumps of typical pseudoexfoliation material were found adhering to the corneal endothelium and masses of pseudoexfoliation material were incorporated into the posterior Descemet's membrane. In the affected areas, the endothelial layer appeared irregular and discontinuous, with loosely adherent, degenerating cells producing pseudoexfoliation fibers and fibroblastic cells spreading to cover denuded Descemet's membrane. The present findings indicate that the pseudoexfoliation material is initially formed by degenerative endothelial cells and that it becomes subsequently buried by overgrowing cells. The corneal endothelial involvement may potentiate complications of cataract surgery and open angle glaucoma in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome.     

Studies on long chain cis- and trans-acyl-CoA esters and Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase from rat heart mitochondria

A quantitative counterimmunoelectrophoresis technique has been applied to evaluation of RNA antibodies in serum and unconcentrated CSF. Serum anti-RNA antibodies have been found at high dilutions in some patients with infectious diseases, subacute panencephalitis and multiple sclerosis. RNA antibodies in CSF are significantly linked to oligoclonal aspect, i.e. to a synthesis of IgG inside the CNS.     

Instrumentation problems for physicians

The physician has, for whatever reasons, diminished his or her level of involvement on the team dedicated to developing, refining, and evaluating medical technology. As a result, the challenge confronting the physician and the technology development team today is to orchestrate a team structure that will ensure the greatest input and commitment from physicians and other professionals during current and future technology development. The charges of cost escalation and dehumanization in our system of health care delivery will also be discussed, as will the lack of, or confusion about, access to data concerning cost of a given instrument, and fuzzy semantics and perspectives on technology and instrumentation. The author suggests answers to, or means to ameliorate, the problems.     

The astrocytic response to afferent activity blockade in chick nucleus magnocellularis is independent of synaptic activation, age, and neuronal survival

Astrocytes in nucleus magnocellularis (NM) of the chick respond to afferent activity blockade with increased immunoreactivity for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). NM neurons respond to the same manipulations with reduced protein synthesis, ribosomal dissociation, and subsequent death of a subset of these neurons. In the present study, we sought to evaluate the relationship between these neuronal and glial responses and to determine if similar activity-dependent mechanisms mediate them. We first examined the anatomical relationship between NM neurons and astrocytic processes by electron microscopy and GFAP immunostaining. Both methods showed that NM neurons deprived of activity for 6 hr were apposed by more glial processes than active NM neurons. However, we found no preferential positioning of GFAP-immunoreactive processes near neurons of the dying or surviving populations, and there were no differences in glial process apposition to dying versus surviving neurons at the EM level. To determine whether the astrocytic response is similar to the neuronal response in age dependence, GFAP immunoreactivity was analyzed in adult chickens following unilateral afferent activity blockade. Unlike the neuronal response to activity blockade, the astrocytic response is equally strong in adult animals. These results imply an independence of the neuronal and astrocytic responses to activity blockade, raising the possibility that these two cell types may be responding to different activity-related signals. This possibility was tested using an in vitro slice preparation. Unilateral stimulation of NM was provided in three ways: orthodromically, antidromically, and orthodromically in a low-calcium medium. The regulation of astrocytic GFAP immunoreactivity by these manipulations of activity was then analyzed. The results of these experiments show that, unlike neuronal protein synthesis, astrocytic GFAP immunoreactivity can be suppressed by either presynaptic or postsynaptic neuronal activity. Therefore, the astrocytes and neurons are regulated by different activity-dependent signals and, by the present measures, their responses to activity blockade appear independent of one another.     

DES差分特征的分析与搜索

通过对已有的DES各轮的差分特征进行分析,发现了现有的DES高概率差分特征存在的特有现象,利用这些特点对以前的差分特征搜索算法进行改进,设计出了新的DES差分特征的搜索算法。经过程序实现,新的算法不仅能够找到现有的所有差分特征,还找到了一个目前没有的五轮特征,该特征的概率比现有的五轮特征的最大概率大。新搜索算法比原来的算法快。     

Synthesis and biological activity of novel thiazolidinediones

Novel compounds having a dual pharmacophore were synthesised and evaluated for their insulin sensitiser and anti-inflammatory properties in different animal models.