Text-to-picture tools,systems, and approaches: a survey

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Text-to-picture systems attempt to facilitate high-level, user-friendly communication between humans and computers while promoting understanding of natural...     

Electrophysiological and Fos immunohistochemical evidence for the excitatory nature of the parafascicular projection to the globus pallidus

Extracellular recordings and immunohistological detection of c-Fos-like immunoreactive proteins were used to determine the synaptic effect of the parafascicular projection to the globus pallidus. Electrical stimulation of the parafascicular neurons induced a single-spike excitatory response with a stable latency of 2.3 ms, suggesting a monosynaptically driven effect. Pharmacological stimulation of the parafascicular nucleus with carbachol increased tonically the pallidal discharge rate by 142%. The discharge rate of the pallidal neurons was described by 37% in parafascicular-lesioned rats. These results demonstrate the excitatory nature and the tonic action of the parafasciculopallidal projection. Carbachol activation of parafascicular neurons also induced the synthesis of c-Fos-like immunoreactive proteins in the pallidal neurons. Control experiments in subthalamic-lesioned rats showed that the parafascicular excitation of the pallidal neurons remained, but both electrophysiological and expression of c-Fos-like immunoreactive proteins were attenuated. This suggests that the direct parafascicular excitation of the pallidal neurons is indirectly reinforced by the previously described parafascicular excitatory input to the subthalamic nucleus. Conversely, the effect of this last input to the subthalamic nucleus is dramatically enhanced in rats with pallidal lesion. Our results demonstrate the complex role of the parafascicular nucleus in activating both the globus pallidus and the subthalamic nucleus, two closely related structures. These results illustrate the integrative capacities of the globus pallidus, whose activity is modulated by multiple afferents.     

Reproducibility of functional transcranial Doppler sonography in determining hemispheric language lateralization

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Since functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (fTCD) allows convenient and fully automated quantification of language lateralization, it seems ideal for longitudinal studies of perfusion changes during deterioration as well as recovery of language functions. However, during serial examinations, the technical, stochastic, and physiological variabilities of cerebral blood flow velocities (CBFV) have to be considered. Therefore, before fTCD is accepted as a tool for evaluation of changes in lateralization in the diseased state, its reliability in healthy subjects needs to be determined. METHODS: We performed fTCD during a word generation task based on a previously validated technique with automated calculation of the averaged CBFV differences in the middle cerebral arteries providing an index of lateralization (LI). RESULTS: (1) The accuracy of the LI as assessed by the confidence interval was better than 1% of the mean hemispheric difference. (2) On repeated examination, LIs obtained from 10 subjects showed a high test-retest reproducibility (Pearson product moment correlation coefficient r = 0.95, P < 0.0001). (3) On 10 repeated assessments of LI in the same subject, no practice effects were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Functional TCD is a suitable and very robust tool for the longitudinal quantitative measurement of cerebral language lateralization.     

Screening of South African Food Plants for Antioxidant Activity

ABSTRACT: In a screening of South African indigenous food plants for antioxidant activity by testing for inhibition of lipid peroxidation, the "potherbs" Amaranthus sp., Sisymbrium thellungii , and Urtica dioica had very high activity. This activity was greatest in the boiled extract of Amaranthus sp. and the boilet and aqueous extracts of Sisymbrium thellungii and Urtica dioica. The activity in the aqueous extract of Nasturtium aquatica was lost by boiling. High activity was also obtained with the teas Galium aparine and Aspalathus linearis (Rooibos) and with the tuber Colocasia esculenta.     

The microscopy cell (MicCell), a versatile modular flowthrough system for cell biology, biomaterial research, and nanotechnology

We describe a novel microfluidic perfusion system for high-resolution microscopes. Its modular design allows pre-coating of the coverslip surface with reagents, biomolecules, or cells. A poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) layer is cast in a special molding station, using masters made by photolithography and dry etching of silicon or by photoresist patterning on glass or silicon. This channel system can be reused while the coverslip is exchanged between experiments. As normal fluidic connectors are used, the link to external, computer-programmable syringe pumps is standardized and various fluidic channel networks can be used in the same setup. The system can house hydrogel microvalves and microelectrodes close to the imaging area to control the influx of reaction partners. We present a range of applications, including single-molecule analysis by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), manipulation of single molecules for nanostructuring by hydrodynamic flow fields or the action of motor proteins, generation of concentration gradients, trapping and stretching of live cells using optical fibers precisely mounted in the PDMS layer, and the integration of microelectrodes for actuation and sensing.     

Pathogenetic aspects of the L-arginine-NO metabolic pathway in arteriosclerosis and possible therapeutic aspects

A yearly pattern in the occurrence of uterine cervical cancer (UCC), obtained from cytological examinations reported as type V (cases concluding a malignant alteration), has been previously shown for data obtained in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico) for a span of 10 years (1978-1987), with a peak of relative incidence in the month of February being high stable for consecutive years. With the aim of extending and validating those results, we analyzed the monthly totals of positive detected cases of UCC in the states of Nuevo Leon, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas (covering most of Northern Mexico) during the same period. To eliminate bias due to the seasonal variation in the number of screening smears, data were first expressed in relation to the number of cytological examinations done the same month. The least-squares fit of a 1-year cosine curve to the data of relative incidence in the four states reveals a statistically significant yearly pattern (p = .008), with a maximum of relative incidence in February almost double that during the rest of the year. Results indicate that the relative incidence of UCC is higher than the yearly average during the winter, with secondary peaks in May and October. In view of the nonsinusoidal waveform in the incidence of UCC, we undertook a multiple-component analysis, allowing several cosine functions to be simultaneously fitted to the data. Results indicate that the yearly pattern in the relative incidence of UCC can be represented by a model that includes two components with periods of 12 and 4 months (p = .004). The same model can be documented as statistically significant independently for each of the four states. These results, summarizing over 2200 positive cases of UCC detected in more than 1,100,000 screening smears, are in full agreement with those found previously for part of the state of Nuevo Leon and reveal a highly stable and predictable yearly pattern of variation in the relative incidence of UCC in Northern Mexico.     

High-temperature,high-pressure thermophysical measurements on liquid zinc

Wire-shaped zinc samples were resistively volume heated as part of a fast-capacitor discharge circuit. Time-resolved measurements with submicrosecond resolution of the current through the specimen, the voltage drop across it, and the thermal expansion of the specimen as a function of time allow determination of the enthalpy, electrical resistivity, and density at different temperatures up to superheated liquid states of zinc far above the normal boiling point. High static pressures, up to 3800 bar of the ambient medium water, were used. An estimate of the critical pressure for zinc is given by investigations of the stability of the sample with a framing CCD camera, taking pictures of different samples varying the ambient static pressure. The critical volume and the critical temperature are obtained by means of an extrapolation of measured data at different pressures.Paper presented at the Fourth International Workshop on Subsecond Thermophysics, June 27–29, 1995, Köln, Germany.     

L-arginine reduces kidney collagen accumulation and N-epsilon-(carboxymethyl)lysine in the aging NMRI-mouse

BACKGROUND: The aging process leads to glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickening due to increased collagen accumulation. This mechanism can be explained by the nonenzymatic glycosylation hypothesis of collagen aging. We have published the positive effect of L-arginine on glucose-mediated cross-linking, and if the nonenzymatic glycosylation hypothesis of aging holds, the pharmacological effect of L-arginine on glucose-mediated cross-links in the aging Hannover NMRI mouse can be expected. METHODS: Animals were given L-arginine 50 mg/kg body weight/day orally and compared to a control group without treatment. RESULTS: Electron microscopical measurement of the GBM thickness showed significant differences between controls (4920 +/- 1680 A) and the experimental group (2345 +/- 815 A). Determination of the total kidney collagen content based upon 4-trans hydroxyproline revealed 13.9 +/- 3.9 mg/100 mg kidney weight (kw) in the untreated group versus 7.9 +/- 4.2 mg/100 mg kw in the treated group. For solubility studies based upon hydroxyproline determination, collagen was eluted by pepsin digestion. This revealed 18.7 +/- 3.9 mg/100 mg kw in the controls versus 7.8 +/- 4.8 mg/100 mg kw in the treated group. HPLC analysis of N-epsilon-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) showed in the treated group (1.847 +/- 0.247 nM/microM hydroxyproline) significantly lower concentrations than in the untreated group (3.399 +/- 0.349 nM/microM hydroxyproline). On sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamidegel electrophoresis, the eluates of the treated animals showed less high molecular weight material than their untreated mates. CONCLUSIONS: We cannot discriminate between the probable mechanisms of cross-linking but we clearly can state that L-arginine reduces cross-linking and collagen accumulation in aging collagen type IV accompanied and strongly associated with decreased CML content.