Copper bioavailability from breakfasts containing tea. Influence of the addition of milk

The influence of drinking tea on copper bioavailability is unclear, particularly when tea is consumed with food. A breakfast meal containing white bread, margarine, strawberry jam, cheese and tea, with or without milk, was digested in; vitro and the dialysis of copper investigated. Reference breakfasts were prepared with water and water with milk. Copper dialysability (percentage of copper dialysed) was markedly increased by tea. The influence of adding milk to tea was not significant. A second study was carried out in rats using the breakfasts containing tea and water. They were spiked with ⁶⁴Cu and given orally to the animals in a single dose. Whole-body ⁶⁴Cu retention was measured over a 4-day period after administration. In order to determine the true absorption of ⁶⁴Cu a control group of rats received the dose intraperitioneally. The results in vivo indicate a tendency to higher absorption and retention of ⁶⁴Cu with tea. Liver ⁶⁴Cu retention was significantly elevated by tea. Therefore, the presence of tea in a breakfast meal favours the formation of soluble low-molecular-weight ligands which can be absorbed and retained by rats. The concomitant increase in liver copper retetition may be associated with higher bioavailability and/or lower copper mobilisation.     

Induction of immune tolerance with heart-thymus composite allotransplantation in rats

Objective To study on the role of thymus transplantation for heart allograft in rats. Methods Vascularized heart-thymus combined transplantation was performed with microsurgical technique. Graft survival, histopathology, level of IL-2, IL-4 and its mRNA expression in serum and cardiac grafts were investigated. Results Heart-thymus combined transplantation achieved effect in the prolongation of cardiac graft survival with short-term administration of cyclosporine. Conclusions Vascularized thymus transplantation induced immune tolerance in thymectomized rats.     

Lipid-Lowering Effect of Eriocitrin, the Main Flavonoid in Lemon Fruit, in Rats on a High-Fat and High-Cholesterol Diet

ABSTRACT:  Eriocitrin (eriodictyol 7- O -β-rutinoside) is the main flavonoid in lemon fruit. In this study, eriocitrin was investigated for its lowering effect on serum and hepatic lipids in high-fat and high-cholesterol fed rats. Rats in the control group ( N = 6) were fed a 20% lard and 1% cholesterol diet for 21 d, and rats in the 0.35% eriocitrin group ( N = 6) and 0.70% eriocitrin group ( N = 6) were fed a diet supplemented with eriocitrin 0.35% and 0.70%, respectively. The content of hepatic total cholesterol and triglyceride in the eriocitrin group was no different from that of the control group. The total cholesterol, VLDL+LDL, triglyceride, and phospholipid in the serum of the 0.35% eriocitrin group showed significantly lower concentrations than the control group ( P < 0.05), although there was no difference in the HDL concentrations among the groups. The lowering effect of eriocitrin for serum total cholesterol was thought to be caused by a decrease in VLDL+LDL. The 0.35% eriocitrin group was shown to have a significant increase in excretion of fecal bile acid ( P < 0.05) and a tendency for enhanced hepatic m-RNA levels of LDL receptor in comparison with the control group.     

渠首水位实时调控模型——以船行灌区一支渠为例

很多大中型灌区在输配水过程中存在水位衔接不当的问题,加之田面高程存在起伏,使得灌溉时往往存在部分田面不能上水或受淹等问题。本文提出了空间灌溉率的概念,并利用GIS的三维分析功能研究了其与渠道渠首水位之间的关系。分析表明,空间灌溉率与渠首水位之间的关系符合Logistic曲线;针对船行灌区一支渠,得到该Logistic曲线的参数,并确定了一支渠渠首和干渠渠首不同空间灌溉率所需的水位,为灌区水位实时调控提供基础数据。     

Analysis of frequency‐selective impedance loading of transmission lines for dual‐band couplers

This article proposes an analytical design methodology for dual‐band hybrid couplers and baluns structures for any arbitrary frequency ratio using a stub‐loaded transmission line. An analysis of changing the impedance behavior of the stub, is carried out for the two bands of operation, which along with a dispersive analysis, emphasizes certain conditions where the existing methodology is not applicable. In addition, an extra degree of freedom has been included to increase the solutions for a given frequency ratio, thus providing greater flexibility and feasibility of the proposed structure. The design methodology is experimentally validated with the design and fabrication of dual‐band branch‐line and rat‐race couplers for various commercial frequency bands. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE , 2011.     

Polarized light imaging of white matter architecture

Polarized light imaging (PLI) is a method to image fiber orientation in gross histological brain sections based on the birefringent properties of the myelin sheaths. The method uses the transmission of polarized light to quantitatively estimate the fiber orientation and inclination angles at every point of the imaged section. Multiple sections can be assembled into a 3D volume, from which the 3D extent of fiber tracts can be extracted. This article describes the physical principles of PLI and describes two major applications of the method: the imaging of white matter orientation of the rat brain and the generation of fiber orientation maps of the human brain in white and gray matter. The strengths and weaknesses of the method are set out.     

大气混合污染物对大鼠肺脏中血红素氧合酶1表达的影响

通过观察大气污染物引起大鼠肺损伤的病理组织学变化,分析肺组织内血红素氧合酶1（HO-1）的表达量的变化,为大气污染所致肺损伤的生物学标记物的研究提供科学依据。实验方法如下：将30只Wistar大鼠,随机分为3个实验组（3d、7d、30d组）和3个对照组（3d、7d、30d组）,对实验组大鼠染尘染毒后提取所有大鼠肺组织,观察其病理组织学变化;RT-PCR技术检测各组肺组织中HO-1的mRNA表达;Western-blot技术检测各组肺组织中HO-1蛋白的表达。结果显示：实验组（7d及30d）的肺组织病理形态学评分显著高于对照组（7d及30d）,实验组（7d及30d）大鼠肺组织HO-1mRNA表达与对照组相比,具有显著性差异（P均〈0.05）。随着吸入大气混合污染物的时间延长,肺组织内的HO-1蛋白表达水平逐渐增高,实验组（7d及30d）与对照组（7d及30d）相比,差异有显著性意义（P〈0.05）。在吸入大气混合污染物后早期（7d）,HO-1转录水平升高。持续吸入混合大气污染物（30d）,大鼠肺组织出现明显的病理组织学变化,HO-1转录水平、蛋白表达水平均比对照组明显升高。得出结论：可将HO-1作为大气混合污染物所致的肺损伤的早期生物学标记物;采取某些手段增加肺组织HO-1的表达,可能会减少混合大气污染物对肺组织造成的损伤。     

Effect of FTY720 and ICAM-1 mAb mono and combination therapy in cardiac allo-transplantation in rats

Objective To observe the effect of FTY720 and ICAM-1 mAb mono and combination therapy in cardiac silo-transplantation in rats. Methods Rats were randomly assigned to 9 groups, heart allo-transplantation were performed in abdominal site with micro-surgical technique. Recipients with allografts were treated with different doses of FTY720 and(or) ICAM-1 mAb. Graft survival, histopathology andlevel of serum IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10were investigated. Results Low doses of FTY720 (lmg/kg) combined with ICAM-1 mAb achieved synergistic effect in the prolongation of cardiac graft survival, combination index(CD =0.67. Conclusion Concomitant therapy of FTY720 and ICAM-1 mAb achieved a synergistic effect in the prolongation of heart allograft survival in rats.     

Maternally modulated infant separation responses are regulated by D2-family dopamine receptors.

Although dopamine is necessary for mammalian adult pair-bond formation and maternal behavior, its function in infant social behavior and attachment has been less thoroughly explored. The vocalization rate of an isolated rat pup is influenced by recent social contact. Interactions with the dam potentiate vocalization rate. Interactions with littermates or adult males do not. Systemic administration of the D2-family agonist quinpirole specifically blocked maternal potentiation at doses that did not alter vocalization rate in an isolation prior to dam contact. This result was not explained by quinpirole's effects on body temperature or locomotion. The results are consistent with a role for dopamine in infant social behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Single neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex of the rat exhibit tonic and phasic coding during trace fear conditioning.

Trace fear conditioning is a learning task that requires the association of an auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) and a shock unconditioned stimulus (US) that are separated by a 20-s trace interval. Single neuron activity was recorded from the prelimbic and infralimbic areas of the medial prefrontal cortex in rats during trace fear conditioning or nonassociative unpaired training. Prelimbic neurons showed learning-related increases in activity to the CS and US, whereas infralimbic neurons showed learning-related decreases in activity to these stimuli. A subset of prelimbic neurons exhibited sustained increases in activity during the trace interval. These sustained prelimbic responses may provide a bridging code that allows for overlapping representations of CS and US information within the trace fear conditioning circuit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)