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Sample records for dorsal medullary nucleus

  1. Tone and call responses of units in the auditory nerve and dorsal medullary nucleus of Xenopus laevis

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    Elliott, Taffeta M.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Kelley, Darcy B.

    2007-01-01

    The clawed frog Xenopus laevis produces vocalizations consisting of distinct patterns of clicks. This study provides the first description of spontaneous, pure-tone and communication-signal evoked discharge properties of auditory nerve (n.VIII) fibers and dorsal medullary nucleus (DMN) cells...... in an obligatorily aquatic anuran. Responses of 297 n.VIII and 253 DMN units are analyzed for spontaneous rates (SR), frequency tuning, rate-intensity functions, and firing rate adaptation, with a view to how these basic characteristics shape responses to recorded call stimuli. Response properties generally resemble......Hz with approximately 500 Hz in 3 dB bandwidth. SRs range from 0 to 80 (n.VIII) and 0 to 73 spikes/s (DMN). Nerve and DMN units of all CFs follow click rates in natural calls,

  2. Single-prolonged stress induces apoptosis in dorsal raphe nucleus in the rat model of posttraumatic stress disorder

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    Liu Dongjuan

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a life-threatening traumatic experience. Meta-analyses of the brainstem showed that midsagittal area of the pons was significantly reduced in patients with PTSD, suggesting a potential apoptosis in dorsal raphe nucleus after single-prolonged stress (SPS. The aim of this study is to investigate whether SPS induces apoptosis in dorsal raphe nucleus in PTSD rats, which may be a possible mechanism of reduced volume of pons and density of gray matter. Methods In this study, rats were randomly divided into 1d, 7d and 14d groups after SPS along with the control group. The apoptosis rate was determined using annexin V-FITC/PI double-labeled flow cytometry (FCM. Levels of Cytochrome c (Cyt-C was examined by Western blotting. Expression of Cyt-C on mitochondria in the dorsal raphe nucleus neuron was determined by enzymohistochemistry under transmission electron microscopy (TEM. The change of thiamine monophosphatase (TMP levels was assessed by enzymohistochemistry under light microscope and TEM. Morphological changes of the ultrastructure of the dorsal raphe nucleus neuron were determined by TEM. Results Apoptotic morphological alterations were observed in dorsal raphe nucleus neuron for all SPS-stimulate groups of rats. The apoptosis rates were significantly increased in dorsal raphe nucleus neuron of SPS rats, along with increased release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria into the cytoplasm, increased expression of Cyt-C and TMP levels in the cytoplasm, which reached to the peak of increase 7 days of SPS. Conclusions The results indicate that SPS induced Cyt-C released from mitochondria into cytosol and apoptosis in dorsal raphe nucleus neuron of rats. Increased TMP in cytoplasm facilitated the clearance of apoptotic cells. We propose that this presents one of the mechanisms that lead to reduced volume of pons and gray matter associated

  3. Reward Processing by the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus: 5-HT and Beyond

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    Luo, Minmin; Zhou, Jingfeng; Liu, Zhixiang

    2015-01-01

    The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) represents one of the most sensitive reward sites in the brain. However, the exact relationship between DRN neuronal activity and reward signaling has been elusive. In this review, we will summarize anatomical, pharmacological, optogenetics, and electrophysiological studies on the functions and circuit mechanisms of…

  4. Ondine's Curse in a Patient with Unilateral Medullary and Bilateral Cerebellar Infarctions

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    Hui-Tzu Ho

    2005-11-01

    Full Text Available Central sleep apnea (CSA, also known as Ondine's curse (OC, is a phenomenon characterized by episodes of repeated apnea during sleep due to disorders of the central nervous system. We report a patient with CSA/OC due to right dorsolateral medullary and bilateral cerebellar infarctions that occurred in the clinical setting of right vertebral artery stenosis. Polysomnography (PSG showed repeated episodes of absence of nasal cannula flow accompanying cessation of thoracic and abdominal respiratory movements and a decline in blood oxygen saturation. The duration of apnea was as long as 12 seconds. Brain magnetic resonance (MR images showed acute infarctions involving the right dorsolateral medulla, bilateral cerebellar vermis and paramedian cerebellar hemispheres. MR angiography showed nonvisualization of the right vertebral artery. Transcranial Doppler sonography showed a high resistance flow profile in the right vertebral artery and normal flow patterns in the basilar artery and left vertebral artery. These findings suggest that the medullary and bilateral cerebellar infarcts were caused by stenosis/pseudo-occlusion of the right vertebral artery. Reduced respiratory afferent inputs to the dorsal respiratory group of medullary neurons, the nucleus tractus solitarius and reduced “automatic” components of the respiratory drive may play a role in the development of CSA/OC.

  5. LOCUS-COERULEUS PROJECTIONS TO THE DORSAL MOTOR VAGUS NUCLEUS IN THE RAT

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    TERHORST, GJ; TOES, GJ; VANWILLIGEN, JD

    1991-01-01

    The origin of the noradrenergic innervation of the preganglionic autonomic nuclei in the medulla oblongata and spinal cord is still controversial. In this investigation descending connections of the locus coeruleus to the dorsal motor vagus nucleus in the rat are studied with Phaseolus vulgaris

  6. Hypothalamic projections to the ventral medulla oblongata in the rat, with special reference to the nucleus raphe pallidus: a study using autoradiographic and HRP techniques

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    Hosoya, Yasuhiko

    1985-10-07

    Hypothalamic descending projections to the medullary ventral surface were studied autoradiographically in the rat. A small amount of (/sup 3/H)leucine was injected unilaterally into various parts of the hypothalamus by air pressure. Abundant and characteristic terminal labelings were observed bilaterally in the nucleus raphe pallidus, the ventral surface to the pyramidal tract and the nucleus interfascicularis hypoglossi, after injections into the dorsal posterior hypothalamic area caudal to the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus. Conspicuous, but less numerous labelings were observed in the nucleus raphe obscurus and the ipsilateral raphe magnus. After an injection of (/sup 3/H)leucine into the hypothalamus and injections of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into the spinal cord in the same animal, silver grains were densely distributed around HRP-labeled neurons in the nucleus raphe pallidus including the nucleus interfascicularis hypoglossi. The present results suggest that the dorsal posterior hypothalamic area projects directly to the spinal-projecting neurons of the nucleus raphe pallidus. 53 refs.; 9 figs.

  7. Divergent projections of catecholaminergic neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract to limbic forebrain and medullary autonomic brain regions.

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    Reyes, Beverly A S; Van Bockstaele, Elisabeth J

    2006-10-30

    The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is a critical structure involved in coordinating autonomic and visceral activities. Previous independent studies have demonstrated efferent projections from the NTS to the nucleus paragigantocellularis (PGi) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CNA) in rat brain. To further characterize the neural circuitry originating from the NTS with postsynaptic targets in the amygdala and medullary autonomic targets, distinct green or red fluorescent latex microspheres were injected into the PGi and the CNA, respectively, of the same rat. Thirty-micron thick tissue sections through the lower brainstem and forebrain were collected. Every fourth section through the NTS region was processed for immunocytochemical detection of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), a marker of catecholaminergic neurons. Retrogradely labeled neurons from the PGi or CNA were distributed throughout the rostro-caudal segments of the NTS. However, the majority of neurons containing both retrograde tracers were distributed within the caudal third of the NTS. Cell counts revealed that approximately 27% of neurons projecting to the CNA in the NTS sent collateralized projections to the PGi while approximately 16% of neurons projecting to the PGi sent collateralized projections to the CNA. Interestingly, more than half of the PGi and CNA-projecting neurons in the NTS expressed TH immunoreactivity. These data indicate that catecholaminergic neurons in the NTS are poised to simultaneously coordinate activities in limbic and medullary autonomic brain regions.

  8. Dorsal raphe nucleus projecting retinal ganglion cells: Why Y cells?

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    Pickard, Gary E.; So, Kwok-Fai; Pu, Mingliang

    2015-01-01

    Retinal ganglion Y (alpha) cells are found in retinas ranging from frogs to mice to primates. The highly conserved nature of the large, fast conducting retinal Y cell is a testament to its fundamental task, although precisely what this task is remained ill-defined. The recent discovery that Y-alpha retinal ganglion cells send axon collaterals to the serotonergic dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) in addition to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), medial interlaminar nucleus (MIN), pretectum and the superior colliculus (SC) has offered new insights into the important survival tasks performed by these cells with highly branched axons. We propose that in addition to its role in visual perception, the Y-alpha retinal ganglion cell provides concurrent signals via axon collaterals to the DRN, the major source of serotonergic afferents to the forebrain, to dramatically inhibit 5-HT activity during orientation or alerting/escape responses, which dis-facilitates ongoing tonic motor activity while dis-inhibiting sensory information processing throughout the visual system. The new data provide a fresh view of these evolutionarily old retinal ganglion cells. PMID:26363667

  9. Frequency-specific corticofugal modulation of the dorsal cochlear nucleus in mice.

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    Kong, Lingzhi; Xiong, Colin; Li, Liang; Yan, Jun

    2014-01-01

    The primary auditory cortex (AI) modulates the sound information processing in the lemniscal subcortical nuclei, including the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN), in a frequency-specific manner. The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) is a non-lemniscal subcortical nucleus but it is tonotopically organized like the AVCN. However, it remains unclear how the AI modulates the sound information processing in the DCN. This study examined the impact of focal electrical stimulation of AI on the auditory responses of the DCN neurons in mice. We found that the electrical stimulation induced significant changes in the best frequency (BF) of DCN neurons. The changes in the BFs were highly specific to the BF differences between the stimulated AI neurons and the recorded DCN neurons. The DCN BFs shifted higher when the AI BFs were higher than the DCN BFs and the DCN BFs shifted lower when the AI BFs were lower than the DCN BFs. The DCN BFs showed no change when the AI and DCN BFs were similar. Moreover, the BF shifts were linearly correlated to the BF differences. Thus, our data suggest that corticofugal modulation of the DCN is also highly specific to frequency information, similar to the corticofugal modulation of the AVCN. The frequency-specificity of corticofugal modulation does not appear limited to the lemniscal ascending pathway.

  10. [The relationships among raphe magnus nucleus, locus coeruleus and dorsal motor nucleus of vagus in the descending regulation of gastric motility].

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    Qiao, Hui; An, Shu-Cheng; Xu, Chang

    2011-02-01

    To explore the interrelationship among dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV), locus coeruleus (LC) and raphe magnus nucleus (NRM) in the mechanism of the descending regulation on gastric motility, which may constitute a parasympathetic local circuit, work as a neural center of gastric modulation in brainstem. Using nucleus location, electric stimulation and lesion, together with microinjection, and recording the inter-gastric pressure. (1) LC stimulation could inhibit the gastric motility significantly (P effect, while blocking the a receptor on DMV could reverse the effect. (2) NRM stimulation reduced the amplitude of gastric constriction (P effect, but blocking the 5-HT2A receptor on DMV depressed the gastric motility heavily (P effect of NRM stimulation, and microinjection of ritanserin into LC could likewise abolish it. (1) LC inhibit the gastric motility via a receptor in DMV, and meanwhile may excite it through 5-HT2A receptor in DMV, these two ways work together to keeping the gastric motility amplitude normally. (2) NRM inhibit the gastric motility via 5-HT2A receptor in LC.

  11. Inter- and intracellular relationship of substance P-containing neurons with serotonin and GABA in the dorsal raphe nucleus: combination of autoradiographic and immunocytochemical techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Magoul, R.; Onteniente, B.; Oblin, A.; Calas, A.

    1986-01-01

    Double-labeling experiments were performed at the electron microscopic level in the dorsal raphe nucleus of rat, in order to study the inter- and intracellular relationship of substance P with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and serotonin. Autoradiography for either [ 3 H]serotonin or [ 3 H]GABA was coupled, on the same tissue section, with peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunocytochemistry for substance P in colchicine-treated animals. Intercellular relationships were represented by synaptic contacts made by [ 3 H]serotonin-labeled terminals on substance P-containing somata and dendrites, and by substance P-containing terminals on [ 3 H]GABA-labeled cells. Intracellular relationships were suggested by the occurrence of the peptide within [ 3 H]serotonin-containing and [ 3 H]GABA-containing cell bodies and fibers. Doubly labeled varicosities of the two kinds were also observed in the supraependymal plexus adjacent to the dorsal raphe nucleus. The results demonstrated that, in addition to reciprocal synaptic interactions made by substance P with serotonin and GABA, the dorsal raphe nucleus is the site of intracellular relationships between the peptide and either the amine or the amino acid

  12. Serotonin projection patterns to the cochlear nucleus.

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    Thompson, A M; Thompson, G C

    2001-07-13

    The cochlear nucleus is well known as an obligatory relay center for primary auditory nerve fibers. Perhaps not so well known is the neural input to the cochlear nucleus from cells containing serotonin that reside near the midline in the midbrain raphe region. Although the specific locations of the main, if not sole, sources of serotonin within the dorsal cochlear nucleus subdivision are known to be the dorsal and median raphe nuclei, sources of serotonin located within other cochlear nucleus subdivisions are not currently known. Anterograde tract tracing was used to label fibers originating from the dorsal and median raphe nuclei while fluorescence immunohistochemistry was used to simultaneously label specific serotonin fibers in cat. Biotinylated dextran amine was injected into the dorsal and median raphe nuclei and was visualized with Texas Red, while serotonin was visualized with fluorescein. Thus, double-labeled fibers were unequivocally identified as serotoninergic and originating from one of the labeled neurons within the dorsal and median raphe nuclei. Double-labeled fiber segments, typically of fine caliber with oval varicosities, were observed in many areas of the cochlear nucleus. They were found in the molecular layer of the dorsal cochlear nucleus, in the small cell cap region, and in the granule cell and external regions of the cochlear nuclei, bilaterally, of all cats. However, the density of these double-labeled fiber segments varied considerably depending upon the exact region in which they were found. Fiber segments were most dense in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (especially in the molecular layer) and the large spherical cell area of the anteroventral cochlear nucleus; they were moderately dense in the small cell cap region; and fiber segments were least dense in the octopus and multipolar cell regions of the posteroventral cochlear nucleus. Because of the presence of labeled fiber segments in subdivisions of the cochlear nucleus other than the

  13. PROJECTIONS OF DORSAL AND MEDIAN RAPHE NUCLEI TO DORSAL AND VENTRAL STRIATUM

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    G. R. Hassanzadeh G. Behzadi

    2007-08-01

    Full Text Available The ascending serotonergic projections are derived mainly from mesencephalic raphe nuclei. Topographical projections from mesencephalic raphe nuclei to the striatum were examined in the rat by the retrograde transport technique of HRP (horseradish peroxidase. In 29 rats stereotaxically injection of HRP enzyme were performed in dorsal and ventral parts of striatum separately. The extent of the injection sites and distribution of retrogradely labeled neuronal cell bodies were drawed on representative sections using a projection microscope. Following ipsilateral injection of HRP into the dorsal striatum, numerous labeled neurons were seen in rostral portion of dorsal raphe (DR nucleus. In the same level the cluster of labeled neurons were hevier through caudal parts of DR. A few neurons were also located in lateral wing of DR. More caudally some labeled neurons were found in lateral, medial line of DR. In median raphe nucleus (MnR the labeled neurons were scattered only in median portion of this nucleus. The ipsilateral injection of HRP into the ventral region of striatum resulted on labeling of numerous neurons in rostral, caudal and lateral portions of DR. Through the caudal extension of DR on 4th ventricle level, a large number of labeled neurons were distributed along the ventrocaudal parts of DR. In MnR, labeled neurons were observed only in median part of this nucleus. These findings suggest the mesencephalic raphe nuclei projections to caudo-putamen are topographically organized. In addition dorsal and median raphe nuclei have a stronger projection to the ventral striatum.

  14. Upregulation of the dorsal raphe nucleus-prefrontal cortex serotonin system by chronic treatment with escitalopram in hyposerotonergic Wistar-Kyoto rats

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yamada, Makiko; Kawahara, Yukie; Kaneko, Fumi; Kishikawa, Yuki; Sotogaku, Naoki; Poppinga, Wilfred J.; Folgering, Joost H. A.; Dremencov, Eliyahu; Kawahara, Hiroshi; Nishi, Akinori

    Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats are sensitive to chronic stressors and exhibit depression-like behavior. Dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) serotonin (5-HT) neurons projecting to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) comprise the important neurocircuitry underlying the pathophysiology of depression. To evaluate the DRN-PFC

  15. Chemokine CCL2 and its receptor CCR2 in the medullary dorsal horn are involved in trigeminal neuropathic pain

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    Zhang Zhi-Jun

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Neuropathic pain in the trigeminal system is frequently observed in clinic, but the mechanisms involved are largely unknown. In addition, the function of immune cells and related chemicals in the mechanism of pain has been recognized, whereas few studies have addressed the potential role of chemokines in the trigeminal system in chronic pain. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that chemokine C-C motif ligand 2 (CCL2-chemokine C-C motif receptor 2 (CCR2 signaling in the trigeminal nucleus is involved in the maintenance of trigeminal neuropathic pain. Methods The inferior alveolar nerve and mental nerve transection (IAMNT was used to induce trigeminal neuropathic pain. The expression of ATF3, CCL2, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, and CCR2 were detected by immunofluorescence histochemical staining and western blot. The cellular localization of CCL2 and CCR2 were examined by immunofluorescence double staining. The effect of a selective CCR2 antagonist, RS504393 on pain hypersensitivity was checked by behavioral testing. Results IAMNT induced persistent (>21 days heat hyperalgesia of the orofacial region and ATF3 expression in the mandibular division of the trigeminal ganglion. Meanwhile, CCL2 expression was increased in the medullary dorsal horn (MDH from 3 days to 21 days after IAMNT. The induced CCL2 was colocalized with astroglial marker GFAP, but not with neuronal marker NeuN or microglial marker OX-42. Astrocytes activation was also found in the MDH and it started at 3 days, peaked at 10 days and maintained at 21 days after IAMNT. In addition, CCR2 was upregulated by IAMNT in the ipsilateral medulla and lasted for more than 21 days. CCR2 was mainly colocalized with NeuN and few cells were colocalized with GFAP. Finally, intracisternal injection of CCR2 antagonist, RS504393 (1, 10 μg significantly attenuated IAMNT-induced heat hyperalgesia. Conclusion The data suggest that CCL2-CCR

  16. Avaliação da hiperalgesia e alterações histológicas do gânglio da raiz dorsal induzidas pelo núcleo pulposo Evaluation of hyperalgesia and histological changes of dorsal root ganglion induced by nucleus pulposus

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    André Luiz de Souza Grava

    2010-01-01

    estruturas do gânglio da raiz dorsal e apresentaram aumento da intensidade nos períodos mais longos de observação.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate hyperalgesia and histological changes of dorsal root ganglia induced by nucleus pulposus (NP contact. METHODS: Twenty Wistar rats were used, divided into two experimental groups. In one of the groups, a fragment of the autologous NP was removed from the sacroccocigeal region and deposited on the L5 dorsal root ganglia. In the control group, the NP was removed from the sacrococcygeal region, L5 dorsal root ganglia were exposed and covered by a piece of adipous fat tissue. Hyperalgesia was evaluated by the von Frey electronic test and Hargreaves test, and histological changes of the dorsal root ganglia by HE staining and immunohistochemistry using iNOS. The evaluation of hyperalgesia and histological changes of the dorsal root ganglia were performed on the third postoperative day and after 1, 3, 5, and 7 weeks. RESULTS: NP induced higher intensity mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. Dorsal root ganglia in contact with nucleus pulposus presented histological changes and the intensity of these changes were proportional to the length of time in contact. The expression of iNOS was higher in the glial cells in contact with the nucleus pulposus. CONCLUSION: The contact of nucleus pulposus with dorsal root ganglia induced histological changes and mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. These changes were more intense after longer period of evaluation.

  17. Thyroid cancer - medullary carcinoma

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    Thyroid - medullary carcinoma; Cancer - thyroid (medullary carcinoma); MTC; Thyroid nodule - medullary ... in children and adults. Unlike other types of thyroid cancer, MTC is less likely to be caused by ...

  18. Comparative study of c-Fos expression in rat dorsal vagal complex and nucleus ambiguus induced by different durations of restraint water-immersion stress.

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    Zhang, Yu-Yu; Cao, Guo-Hong; Zhu, Wen-Xing; Cui, Xi-Yun; Ai, Hong-Bin

    2009-06-30

    Restraint water-immersion stress (RWIS) of rats induces vagally-mediated gastric dysfunction. The present work explored the effects of different durations of RWIS on neuronal activities of the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) and the nucleus ambiguous (NA) in rats. Male Wistar rats were exposed to RWIS for 0, 30, 60, 120, or 180 min. Then, a c-Fos immunoperoxidase technique was utilized to assess neuronal activation. Resumptively, c-Fos expression in DVC and NA peaked at 60 min of stress, subsequently decreased gradually with increasing durations of RWIS. Interestingly, the most intense c-Fos expression was observed in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) during the stress, followed by NA, nucleus of solitary tract (NTS) and area postrema (AP). The peak of c-Fos expression in caudal DMV appeared at 120 min of the stress, slower than that in rostral and intermediate DMV. The c-Fos expression in intermediate and caudal NTS was significantly more intense than that in rostral NTS. These results indicate that the neuronal hyperactivity of DMV, NA, NTS and AP, the primary center that control gastric functions, especially DMV and NA, may play an important role in the disorders of gastric motility and secretion induced by RWIS.

  19. Differential regulation of serotonin-1A receptor stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding in the dorsal raphe nucleus by citalopram and escitalopram

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    Rossi, Dania V.; Burke, Teresa F.; Hensler, Julie G.

    2008-01-01

    The effect of chronic citalopram or escitalopram administration on 5-HT1A receptor function in the dorsal raphe nucleus was determined by measuring [35S]GTPγS binding stimulated by the 5-HT1A receptor agonist (R)-(+)-8-OH-DPAT (1nM-10μM). Although chronic administration of citalopram or escitalopram has been shown to desensitize somatodendritic 5-HT1A autoreceptors, we found that escitalopram treatment decreased the efficacy of 5-HT1A receptors to activate G-proteins, whereas citalopram treatment did not. The binding of [3H]8-OH-DPAT to the coupled, high affinity agonist state of the receptor was not altered by either treatment. Interestingly, escitalopram administration resulted in greater occupancy of serotonin transporter sites as measured by the inhibition of [3H]cyanoimipramine binding. As the binding and action of escitalopram is limited by the inactive enantiomer R-citalopram present in racemic citalopram, we propose that the regulation of 5-HT1A receptor function in the dorsal raphe nucleus at the level of receptor-G protein interaction may be a result of greater inhibition of the serotonin transporter by escitalopram. PMID:18289523

  20. Disconnectivity between Dorsal Raphe Nucleus and Posterior Cingulate Cortex in Later Life Depression

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    Toshikazu Ikuta

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN has been repeatedly implicated as having a significant relationship with depression, along with its serotoninergic innervation. However, functional connectivity of the DRN in depression is not well understood. The current study aimed to isolate functional connectivity of the DRN distinct in later life depression (LLD compared to a healthy age-matched population. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI data from 95 participants (33 LLD and 62 healthy were collected to examine functional connectivity from the DRN to the whole brain in voxel-wise fashion. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC bilaterally showed significantly smaller connectivity in the LLD group than the control group. The DRN to PCC connectivity did not show any association with the depressive status. The findings implicate that the LLD involves disruption of serotoninergic input to the PCC, which has been suggested to be a part of the reduced default mode network in depression.

  1. [Disseminated metastatic tumor at dorsal surface of medulla oblongata presenting intractable hiccups. A case report].

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    Arishima, Hidetaka; Kikuta, Ken-ichirou

    2011-04-01

    We report the case of disseminated metastatic tumor at dorsal surface of medulla oblongata presenting intractable hiccups. A 73-year-old man has a history of for metastatic lung tumor of the left tempral lobe. Although 3 surgeries and 4 radiotherapies were performed in the last 8 years, residual tumor grew slowly. He presented with intractable hiccups. His hiccups continued for 30 minutes, sometimes for 3 hours with obstruction of eating. Contrast-enhanced Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging demonstrated the dissemination of metastatic lung tumor at dorsal surface of medulla oblongata and ventral surface of midbrain. Some literatures reported the patients with intractable hiccups caused by dorsal medullary lesions. Therefore, we thought that the small disseminated tumor at dorsal surface of medulla oblongata caused the hiccups. Evaluation of dorsal medullay area by MR imaging is important to reveal the cause of intractable hiccups.

  2. Exposure to an open-field arena increases c-Fos expression in a subpopulation of neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus, including neurons projecting to the basolateral amygdaloid complex

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    Hale, M.W.; Hay-Schmidt, A.; Mikkelsen, J.D.

    2008-01-01

    Serotonergic systems in the dorsal raphe nucleus are thought to play an important role in the regulation of anxiety states. To investigate responses of neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus to a mild anxiety-related stimulus, we exposed rats to an open-field, under low-light or high-light conditions....... Treatment effects on c-Fos expression in serotonergic and non-serotonergic cells in the midbrain raphe nuclei were determined 2 h following open-field exposure or home cage control (CO) conditions. Rats tested under both light conditions responded with increases in c-Fos expression in serotonergic neurons...... within subdivisions of the midbrain raphe nuclei compared with CO rats. However, the total numbers of serotonergic neurons involved were small suggesting that exposure to the open-field may affect a subpopulation of serotonergic neurons. To determine if exposure to the open-field activates a subset...

  3. Differential regulation of serotonin-1A receptor-stimulated [35S]GTP gamma S binding in the dorsal raphe nucleus by citalopram and escitalopram.

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    Rossi, Dania V; Burke, Teresa F; Hensler, Julie G

    2008-03-31

    The effect of chronic citalopram or escitalopram administration on 5-HT1A receptor function in the dorsal raphe nucleus was determined by measuring [35S]GTP gamma S binding stimulated by the 5-HT1A receptor agonist (R)-(+)-8-OH-DPAT (1nM-10 microM). Although chronic administration of citalopram or escitalopram has been shown to desensitize somatodendritic 5-HT1A autoreceptors, we found that escitalopram treatment decreased the efficacy of 5-HT1A receptors to activate G proteins, whereas citalopram treatment did not. The binding of [3H]8-OH-DPAT to the coupled, high affinity agonist state of the receptor was not altered by either treatment. Interestingly, escitalopram administration resulted in greater occupancy of serotonin transporter sites as measured by the inhibition of [3H]cyanoimipramine binding. As the binding and action of escitalopram is limited by the inactive enantiomer R-citalopram present in racemic citalopram, we propose that the regulation of 5-HT1A receptor function in the dorsal raphe nucleus at the level of receptor-G protein interaction may be a result of greater inhibition of the serotonin transporter by escitalopram.

  4. Increased mRNA expression of cytochrome oxidase in dorsal raphe nucleus of depressive suicide victims

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    A Sanchez-Bahillo

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available A Sanchez-Bahillo1, V Bautista-Hernandez1, Carlos Barcia Gonzalez1, R Bañon2, A Luna2, EC Hirsch3, Maria-Trinidad Herrero11Clinical and Experimental Neuroscience, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED; 2Department of Legal Medicine, Department of Human Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, Murcia 30100, Spain; 3INSERM U679 Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Boulevard de l’Hôpital, Paris, FranceAbstract: Suicidal behavior is a problem with important social repercussions. Some groups of the population show a higher risk of suicide; for example, depression, alcoholism, psychosis or drug abuse frequently precedes suicidal behavior. However, the relationship between metabolic alterations in the brain and premorbid clinical symptoms of suicide remains uncertain. The serotonergic and noradrenergic systems have frequently been, implicated in suicidal behavior and the amount of serotonin in the brain and CSF of suicide victims has been found to be low compared with normal subjects. However, there are contradictory results regarding the role of noradrenergic neurons in the mediation of suicide attempts, possibly reflecting the heterogeneity of conditions that lead to a common outcome. In the present work we focus on the subgroup of suicide victims that share a common diagnosis of major depression. Based on post-mortem studies analyzing mRNA expression by in situ hybridization, serotonergic neurons from the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN from depressive suicide victims are seen to over-express cytochrome oxidase mRNA. However, no corresponding changes were found in the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH mRNA in the noradrenergic neurons of the Locus Coeruleus (LC. These results suggest that, despite of the low levels of serotonin described in suicide victims, the activity of DRN neurons could increase in the suicidally depressed, probably due to the over activation of

  5. Phosphorylation of CaMKII in the rat dorsal raphe nucleus plays an important role in sleep-wake regulation.

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    Cui, Su-Ying; Li, Sheng-Jie; Cui, Xiang-Yu; Zhang, Xue-Qiong; Yu, Bin; Sheng, Zhao-Fu; Huang, Yuan-Li; Cao, Qing; Xu, Ya-Ping; Lin, Zhi-Ge; Yang, Guang; Song, Jin-Zhi; Ding, Hui; Wang, Zi-Jun; Zhang, Yong-He

    2016-02-01

    The Ca(2+) modulation in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) plays an important role in sleep-wake regulation. Calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) is an important signal-transducing molecule that is activated by Ca(2+) . This study investigated the effects of intracellular Ca(2+) /CaMKII signaling in the DRN on sleep-wake states in rats. Maximum and minimum CaMKII phosphorylation was detected at Zeitgeber time 21 (ZT 21; wakefulness state) and ZT 3 (sleep state), respectively, across the light-dark rhythm in the DRN in rats. Six-hour sleep deprivation significantly reduced CaMKII phosphorylation in the DRN. Microinjection of the CAMKII activation inhibitor KN-93 (5 or 10 nmol) into the DRN suppressed wakefulness and enhanced rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS) and non-REM sleep (NREMS). Application of a high dose of KN-93 (10 nmol) increased slow-wave sleep (SWS) time, SWS bouts, the mean duration of SWS, the percentage of SWS relative to total sleep, and delta power density during NREMS. Microinjection of CaCl2 (50 nmol) in the DRN increased CaMKII phosphorylation and decreased NREMS, SWS, and REMS. KN-93 abolished the inhibitory effects of CaCl2 on NREMS, SWS, and REMS. These data indicate a novel wake-promoting and sleep-suppressing role for the Ca(2+) /CaMKII signaling pathway in DRN neurons. We propose that the intracellular Ca(2+) /CaMKII signaling in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) plays wake-promoting and sleep-suppressing role in rats. Intra-DRN application of KN-93 (CaMKII activation inhibitor) suppressed wakefulness and enhanced rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS) and non-REMS (NREMS). Intra-DRN application of CaCl2 attenuated REMS and NREMS. We think these findings should provide a novel cellular and molecular mechanism of sleep-wake regulation. © 2015 International Society for Neurochemistry.

  6. Descending projections from the nucleus accumbens shell excite activity of taste-responsive neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract in the hamster.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Cheng-Shu; Lu, Da-Peng; Cho, Young K

    2015-06-01

    The nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) and the parabrachial nuclei (PbN) are the first and second relays in the rodent central taste pathway. A series of electrophysiological experiments revealed that spontaneous and taste-evoked activities of brain stem gustatory neurons are altered by descending input from multiple forebrain nuclei in the central taste pathway. The nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) is a key neural substrate of reward circuitry, but it has not been verified as a classical gustatory nucleus. A recent in vivo electrophysiological study demonstrated that the NAcSh modulates the spontaneous and gustatory activities of hamster pontine taste neurons. In the present study, we investigated whether activation of the NAcSh modulates gustatory responses of the NST neurons. Extracellular single-unit activity was recorded from medullary neurons in urethane-anesthetized hamsters. After taste response was confirmed by delivery of sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine hydrochloride to the anterior tongue, the NAcSh was stimulated bilaterally with concentric bipolar stimulating electrodes. Stimulation of the ipsilateral and contralateral NAcSh induced firings from 54 and 37 of 90 medullary taste neurons, respectively. Thirty cells were affected bilaterally. No inhibitory responses or antidromic invasion was observed after NAcSh activation. In the subset of taste cells tested, high-frequency electrical stimulation of the NAcSh during taste delivery enhanced taste-evoked neuronal firing. These results demonstrate that two-thirds of the medullary gustatory neurons are under excitatory descending influence from the NAcSh, which is a strong indication of communication between the gustatory pathway and the mesolimbic reward pathway. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

  7. A Neural Correlate of Predicted and Actual Reward-Value Information in Monkey Pedunculopontine Tegmental and Dorsal Raphe Nucleus during Saccade Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okada, Ken-ichi; Nakamura, Kae; Kobayashi, Yasushi

    2011-01-01

    Dopamine, acetylcholine, and serotonin, the main modulators of the central nervous system, have been proposed to play important roles in the execution of movement, control of several forms of attentional behavior, and reinforcement learning. While the response pattern of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and its specific role in reinforcement learning have been revealed, the role of the other neuromodulators remains rather elusive. Here, we review our recent studies using extracellular recording from neurons in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus, where many cholinergic neurons exist, and the dorsal raphe nucleus, where many serotonergic neurons exist, while monkeys performed eye movement tasks to obtain different reward values. The firing patterns of these neurons are often tonic throughout the task period, while dopaminergic neurons exhibited a phasic activity pattern to the task event. The different modulation patterns, together with the activity of dopaminergic neurons, reveal dynamic information processing between these different neuromodulator systems. PMID:22013541

  8. Anxiogenic drug administration and elevated plus-maze exposure in rats activate populations of relaxin-3 neurons in the nucleus incertus and serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawther, A J; Clissold, M L; Ma, S; Kent, S; Lowry, C A; Gundlach, A L; Hale, M W

    2015-09-10

    Anxiety is a complex and adaptive emotional state controlled by a distributed and interconnected network of brain regions, and disruption of these networks is thought to give rise to the behavioral symptoms associated with anxiety disorders in humans. The dorsal raphe nucleus (DR), which contains the majority of forebrain-projecting serotonergic neurons, is implicated in the control of anxiety states and anxiety-related behavior via neuromodulatory effects on these networks. Relaxin-3 is the native neuropeptide ligand for the Gi/o-protein-coupled receptor, RXFP3, and is primarily expressed in the nucleus incertus (NI), a tegmental region immediately caudal to the DR. RXFP3 activation has been shown to modulate anxiety-related behavior in rodents, and RXFP3 mRNA is expressed in the DR. In this study, we examined the response of relaxin-3-containing neurons in the NI and serotonergic neurons in the DR following pharmacologically induced anxiety and exposure to an aversive environment. We administered the anxiogenic drug FG-7142 or vehicle to adult male Wistar rats and, 30 min later, exposed them to either the elevated plus-maze or home cage control conditions. Immunohistochemical detection of c-Fos was used to determine activation of serotonergic neurons in the DR and relaxin-3 neurons in the NI, measured 2h following drug injection. Analysis revealed that FG-7142 administration and exposure to the elevated plus-maze are both associated with an increase in c-Fos expression in relaxin-3-containing neurons in the NI and in serotonergic neurons in dorsal and ventrolateral regions of the DR. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that relaxin-3 systems in the NI and serotonin systems in the DR interact to form part of a network involved in the control of anxiety-related behavior. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Primary afferent terminal sprouting after a cervical dorsal rootlet section in the macaque monkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darian-Smith, Corinna

    2004-03-01

    We examined the role of primary afferent neurons in the somatosensory cortical "reactivation" that occurs after a localized cervical dorsal root lesion (Darian-Smith and Brown [2000] Nat. Neurosci. 3:476-481). After section of the dorsal rootlets that enervate the macaque's thumb and index finger (segments C6-C8), the cortical representation of these digits was initially silenced but then re-emerged for these same digits over 2-4 postlesion months. Cortical reactivation was accompanied by the emergence of physiologically detectable input from these same digits within dorsal rootlets bordering the lesion site. We investigated whether central axonal sprouting of primary afferents spared by the rhizotomy could mediate this cortical reactivation. The cortical representation of the hand was mapped electrophysiologically 15-25 weeks after the dorsal rootlet section to define this reactivation. Cholera toxin subunit B conjugated to horseradish peroxidase was then injected into the thumb and index finger pads bilaterally to label the central terminals of any neurons that innervated these digits. Primary afferent terminal proliferation was assessed in the spinal dorsal horn and cuneate nucleus at 7 days and 15-25 postlesion weeks. Labeled terminal bouton distributions were reconstructed and the "lesion" and control sides compared within each monkey. Distributions were significantly larger on the side of the lesion in the dorsal horn and cuneate nucleus at 15-25 weeks after the dorsal rootlet section, than those mapped only 7 days postlesion. Our results provide direct evidence for localized sprouting of spared (uninjured) primary afferent terminals in the dorsal horn and cuneate nucleus after a restricted dorsal root injury. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  10. Medullary compression syndrome

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barriga T, L.; Echegaray, A.; Zaharia, M.; Pinillos A, L.; Moscol, A.; Barriga T, O.; Heredia Z, A.

    1994-01-01

    The authors made a retrospective study in 105 patients treated in the Radiotherapy Department of the National Institute of Neoplasmic Diseases from 1973 to 1992. The objective of this evaluation was to determine the influence of radiotherapy in patients with medullary compression syndrome in aspects concerning pain palliation and improvement of functional impairment. Treatment sheets of patients with medullary compression were revised: 32 out of 39 of patients (82%) came to hospital by their own means and continued walking after treatment, 8 out of 66 patients (12%) who came in a wheelchair or were bedridden, could mobilize by their own after treatment, 41 patients (64%) had partial alleviation of pain after treatment. In those who came by their own means and did not change their characteristics, functional improvement was observed. It is concluded that radiotherapy offers palliative benefit in patients with medullary compression syndrome. (authors). 20 refs., 5 figs., 6 tabs

  11. Tyrosine-induced release of dopamine is under inhibitory control of presynaptic dopamine D2 and, probably, D3 receptors in the dorsal striatum, but not in the nucleus accumbens.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fusa, K.; Saigusa, T.; Koshikawa, N.; Cools, A.R.

    2002-01-01

    Stimulation of dopamine D2-like receptors decreases extracellular dopamine in the dorsal striatum and the nucleus accumbens. It is unknown whether the role of these receptors differs from that of dopamine D3 receptors. It is also unknown to what extent the role of these two types of receptors varies

  12. Tyrosine-induced release of dopamine is under inhibitory control of presynaptic dopamine D2 and, probably, D3 receptors in the dorsal striatum, but not in the nucleus accumbens

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fusa, K.; Saigusa, T.; Koshikawa, N.; Cools, A.R.

    2002-01-01

    Stimulation of dopamine D2-like receptors decreases extracellular dopamine in the dorsal striatum and the nucleus accumbens. It is unknown whether the role of these receptors differs from that of dopamine D3 receptors. It is also unknown to what extent the role of these two types of receptors varies

  13. Distinctive features of Phox2b-expressing neurons in the rat reticular formation dorsal to the trigeminal motor nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagoya, Kouta; Nakamura, Shiro; Ikeda, Keiko; Onimaru, Hiroshi; Yoshida, Atsushi; Nakayama, Kiyomi; Mochizuki, Ayako; Kiyomoto, Masaaki; Sato, Fumihiko; Kawakami, Kiyoshi; Takahashi, Koji; Inoue, Tomio

    2017-09-01

    Phox2b encodes a paired-like homeodomain-containing transcription factor essential for development of the autonomic nervous system. Phox2b-expressing (Phox2b + ) neurons are present in the reticular formation dorsal to the trigeminal motor nucleus (RdV) as well as the nucleus of the solitary tract and parafacial respiratory group. However, the nature of Phox2b + RdV neurons is still unclear. We investigated the physiological and morphological properties of Phox2b + RdV neurons using postnatal day 2-7 transgenic rats expressing yellow fluorescent protein under the control of Phox2b. Almost all of Phox2b + RdV neurons were glutamatergic, whereas Phox2b-negative (Phox2b - ) RdV neurons consisted of a few glutamatergic, many GABAergic, and many glycinergic neurons. The majority (48/56) of Phox2b + neurons showed low-frequency firing (LF), while most of Phox2b - neurons (35/42) exhibited high-frequency firing (HF) in response to intracellularly injected currents. All, but one, Phox2b + neurons (55/56) did not fire spontaneously, whereas three-fourths of the Phox2b - neurons (31/42) were spontaneously active. K + channel and persistent Na + current blockers affected the firing of LF and HF neurons. The majority of Phox2b + (35/46) and half of the Phox2b - neurons (19/40) did not respond to stimulations of the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus, the trigeminal tract, and the principal sensory trigeminal nucleus. Biocytin labeling revealed that about half of the Phox2b + (5/12) and Phox2b - RdV neurons (5/10) send their axons to the trigeminal motor nucleus. These results suggest that Phox2b + RdV neurons have distinct neurotransmitter phenotypes and firing properties from Phox2b - RdV neurons and might play important roles in feeding-related functions including suckling and possibly mastication. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Renal acidification defects in medullary sponge kidney

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Osther, P J; Hansen, A B; Røhl, H F

    1988-01-01

    Thirteen patients with medullary sponge kidney underwent a short ammonium chloride loading test to investigate their renal acidification capacity. All but 1 presented with a history of recurrent renal calculi and showed bilateral widespread renal medullary calcification on X-ray examination. Nine...... of renal calculi in medullary sponge kidney, have considerable therapeutic implications....

  15. Repetitive and retinotopically restricted activation of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus with optogenetics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandre Castonguay

    Full Text Available Optogenetics allows the control of cellular activity using focused delivery of light pulses. In neuroscience, optogenetic protocols have been shown to efficiently inhibit or stimulate neuronal activity with a high temporal resolution. Among the technical challenges associated with the use of optogenetics, one is the ability to target a spatially specific population of neurons in a given brain structure. To address this issue, we developed a side-illuminating optical fiber capable of delivering light to specific sites in a target nucleus with added flexibility through rotation and translation of the fiber and by varying the output light power. The designed optical fiber was tested in vivo in visual structures of ChR2-expressing transgenic mice. To assess the spatial extent of neuronal activity modulation, we took advantage of the hallmark of the visual system: its retinotopic organization. Indeed, the relative position of ganglion cells in the retina is transposed in the cellular topography of both the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN in the thalamus and the primary visual cortex (V1. The optical fiber was inserted in the LGN and by rotating it with a motor, it was possible to sequentially activate different neuronal populations within this structure. The activation of V1 neurons by LGN projections was recorded using intrinsic optical imaging. Increasing light intensity (from 1.4 to 8.9 mW/mm² led to increasing activation surfaces in V1. Optogenetic stimulation of the LGN at different translational and rotational positions was associated with different activation maps in V1. The position and/or orientation of the fiber inevitably varied across experiments, thus limiting the capacity to pool data. With the optogenetic design presented here, we demonstrate for the first time a transitory and spatially-concise activation of a deep neuronal structure. The optogenetic design presented here thus opens a promising avenue for studying the function

  16. The evolution of the dorsal thalamus of jawed vertebrates, including mammals: cladistic analysis and a new hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, A B

    1994-01-01

    The evolution of the dorsal thalamus in various vertebrate lineages of jawed vertebrates has been an enigma, partly due to two prevalent misconceptions: the belief that the multitude of nuclei in the dorsal thalamus of mammals could be meaningfully compared neither with the relatively few nuclei in the dorsal thalamus of anamniotes nor with the intermediate number of dorsal thalamic nuclei of other amniotes and a definition of the dorsal thalamus that too narrowly focused on the features of the dorsal thalamus of mammals. The cladistic analysis carried out here allows us to recognize which features are plesiomorphic and which apomorphic for the dorsal thalamus of jawed vertebrates and to then reconstruct the major changes that have occurred in the dorsal thalamus over evolution. Embryological data examined in the context of Von Baerian theory (embryos of later-descendant species resemble the embryos of earlier-descendant species to the point of their divergence) supports a new 'Dual Elaboration Hypothesis' of dorsal thalamic evolution generated from this cladistic analysis. From the morphotype for an early stage in the embryological development of the dorsal thalamus of jawed vertebrates, the divergent, sequential stages of the development of the dorsal thalamus are derived for each major radiation and compared. The new hypothesis holds that the dorsal thalamus comprises two basic divisions--the collothalamus and the lemnothalamus--that receive their predominant input from the midbrain roof and (plesiomorphically) from lemniscal pathways, including the optic tract, respectively. Where present, the collothalamic, midbrain-sensory relay nuclei are homologous to each other in all vertebrate radiations as discrete nuclei. Within the lemnothalamus, the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of mammals and the dorsal lateral optic nucleus of non-synapsid amniotes (diapsid reptiles, birds and turtles) are homologous as discrete nuclei; most or all of the ventral nuclear group

  17. Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH)- and Aromatic-L-Amino Acid Decarboxylase (AADC)-Immunoreactive Neurons of the Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) Brain: An Immunohistochemical Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karasawa, Nobuyuki; Hayashi, Motoharu; Yamada, Keiki; Nagatsu, Ikuko; Iwasa, Mineo; Takeuchi, Terumi; Uematsu, Mitsutoshi; Watanabe, Kazuko; Onozuka, Minoru

    2007-01-01

    From the perspective of comparative morphology, the distribution of non-monoaminergic neurons in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) was investigated using an immunohistochemical method with specific antibodies to tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and aromatic-L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC). TH-immunoreactive (IR) neurons (but not AADC-IR) neurons were observed in the olfactory tubercle, preoptic suprachiasmatic nucleus, periventricular hypothalamic nucleus, arcuate nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, periaqueductal gray matter, medial longitudinal fasciculus, substantia nigra, and nucleus solitaris. In contrast, AADC-IR (but not TH-IR), small, oval and spindle-shaped neurons were sparsely distributed in the following areas: the hypothalamus from the anterior nucleus to the lateral nucleus, the dorsomedial nucleus, the dorsomedial area of the medial mammillary nucleus and the arcuate nucleus; the midbrain, including the stria medullaris and substantia nigra; and the medulla oblongata, including the dorsal area of the nucleus solitaris and the medullary reticular nucleus. The distribution of AADC-IR neurons was not as extensive in the marmoset as it is in rats. However, these neurons were located in the marmoset, but not the rat substantia nigra. Furthermore, AADC-IR neurons that are present in the human striatum were absent in that of the marmoset. The present results indicate that the distribution of non-monoaminergic neurons in the brain of the common marmoset is unique and different from that in humans and rodents. PMID:17653300

  18. Organization of Functional Long-Range Circuits Controlling the Activity of Serotonergic Neurons in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Zhou

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Serotonergic neurons play key roles in various biological processes. However, circuit mechanisms underlying tight control of serotonergic neurons remain largely unknown. Here, we systematically investigated the organization of long-range synaptic inputs to serotonergic neurons and GABAergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN of mice with a combination of viral tracing, slice electrophysiological, and optogenetic techniques. We found that DRN serotonergic neurons and GABAergic neurons receive largely comparable synaptic inputs from six major upstream brain areas. Upon further analysis of the fine functional circuit structures, we found both bilateral and ipsilateral patterns of topographic connectivity in the DRN for the axons from different inputs. Moreover, the upstream brain areas were found to bidirectionally control the activity of DRN serotonergic neurons by recruiting feedforward inhibition or via a push-pull mechanism. Our study provides a framework for further deciphering the functional roles of long-range circuits controlling the activity of serotonergic neurons in the DRN.

  19. Efferent projections of the dorsal ventricular ridge and the striatum in the Tegu lizard. Tupinambis nigropunctatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voneida, T J; Sligar, C M

    1979-07-01

    A H3 proline-leucine mixture was injected into the dorsal ventricular ridge (DVR) and striatum of the Tegu lizard in order to determine their efferent projections. The brains were processed according to standard radioautographic technique, and counterstained with cresyl violet. DVR projections were generally restricted to the telencephalon, while striatal projections were limited to diencephalic and mesencephalic structures. Thus the anterior DVR projects ipsilaterally to nuclei sphericus and lateralis amygdalae, striatum (ipsilateral and contralateral) ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, anterior olfactory nucleus, nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract and lateral pallium. Posterior DVR projections enter ipsilateral anterior olfactory nucleus, lateral and interstitial amygdalar nuclei, olfactory tubercle and bulb, nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract and a zone surrounding the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus. Labeled axons from striatal injections pass caudally in the lateral forebrain bundle to enter (via dorsal peduncle) nuclei dorsomedialis, medialis posterior, entopeduncularis anterior, and a zone surrounding nucleus rotundus. Others join the ventral peduncle of LFB and enter ventromedial nucleus (thalami), while the remaining fibers continue caudally in the ventral peduncle to the mesencephalic prerubral field, central gray, substantia nigra, nucleus intercollicularis, reticular formation and pretectal nucleus posterodorsalis. These results are discussed in relation to the changing notions regarding terminology, classification and functions of dorsl ventricular ridge and striatum.

  20. Adrenal medullary hyperplasia. Hyperplasia-pheochromocytoma sequence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurihara, K; Mizuseki, K; Kondo, T; Ohoka, H; Mannami, M; Kawai, K

    1990-09-01

    We present a case of unilateral adrenal medullary hyperplasia in a 63-year-old woman with clinical signs and symptoms of pheochromocytoma unassociated with multiple endocrine neoplasia. The surgically removed adrenal gland revealed diffuse medullary hyperplasia with multiple micronodules measuring up to 2 mm. The micronodules were composed of enlarged chromaffin cells with atypia, histologically similar to those of pheochromocytoma, forming small solid alveolar patterns separated by a fibrovascular stroma. Removal of the hyperplastic adrenal gland resulted in disappearance of paroxysmal nocturnal hypertension and palpitation. These results suggest that diffuse and nodular medullary hyperplasia is the precursor of pheochromocytoma.

  1. Biochemical evidence for overlapping neocortical and allocortical glutamate projections to the nucleus accumbens and rostral caudatoputamen in the rat brain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walaas, I

    1981-01-01

    The high affinity uptake of L-glutamate has been used to investigate the origin and distribution of putative glutamate fibers in restricted parts of the rostral caudatoputamen and the nucleus accumbens of the rat brain. Ablation of the frontal cortex reduced the glutamate uptake heavily (-77%) in the dorsal part of the ipsilateral caudatoputamen, but also led to significant decreases in the ventral parts of the ipsilateral caudatoputamen (-62% and -53%) in the ipsilateral nucleus accumbens (-25% and -18%) and in the contralateral dorsal part of the caudatoputamen (-21%). Lesion of the caudal neocortex reduced the glutamate uptake in the dorsal part of the ipsilateral caudatoputamen only (-23%). Lesions of the fimbria/fornix reduced the glutamate uptake in both parts of the ipsilateral nucleus accumbens (-46% and -34%) and by approximately 20% in the whole dorsoventral extent of the anterior caudatoputamen. The results indicate that the frontal neocortex distributes fibers which may use glutamate as neurotransmitter both to the whole ipsilateral caudatoputamen and to the nucleus accumbens, and also to the dorsal parts of the contralateral caudatoputamen. The caudal neocortex probably sends such fibers to the dorsal ipsilateral caudatoputamen and the caudal allocortex sends such fibers through the fimbria/fornix to the nucleus accumbens and the ventral part of the ipsilateral caudatoputamen. The results thus corroborate previous suggestions of close similarities between the nucleus accumbens and the ventral caudatoputamen.

  2. Chronic excitotoxic lesion of the dorsal raphe nucleus induces sodium appetite

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cavalcante-Lima H.R.

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available We determined if the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN exerts tonic control of basal and stimulated sodium and water intake. Male Wistar rats weighing 300-350 g were microinjected with phosphate buffer (PB-DRN, N = 11 or 1 µg/0.2 µl, in a single dose, ibotenic acid (IBO-DRN, N = 9 to 10 through a guide cannula into the DRN and were observed for 21 days in order to measure basal sodium appetite and water intake and in the following situations: furosemide-induced sodium depletion (20 mg/kg, sc, 24 h before the experiment and a low dose of dietary captopril (1 mg/g chow. From the 6th day after ibotenic acid injection IBO-DRN rats showed an increase in sodium appetite (12.0 ± 2.3 to 22.3 ± 4.6 ml 0.3 M NaCl intake whereas PB-DRN did not exceed 2 ml (P < 0.001. Water intake was comparable in both groups. In addition to a higher dipsogenic response, sodium-depleted IBO-DRN animals displayed an increase of 0.3 M NaCl intake compared to PB-DRN (37.4 ± 3.8 vs 21.6 ± 3.9 ml 300 min after fluid offer, P < 0.001. Captopril added to chow caused an increase of 0.3 M NaCl intake during the first 2 days (IBO-DRN, 33.8 ± 4.3 and 32.5 ± 3.4 ml on day 1 and day 2, respectively, vs 20.2 ± 2.8 ml on day 0, P < 0.001. These data support the view that DRN, probably via ascending serotonergic system, tonically modulates sodium appetite under basal and sodium depletion conditions and/or after an increase in peripheral or brain angiotensin II.

  3. Estrogen induces axonal outgrowth in the nucleus retroambiguus-lumbosacral motoneuronal pathway in the adult female cat

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    VanderHorst, VGJM; Holstege, G

    1997-01-01

    In 1995, we discovered a new pathway in the cat, which originates from the nucleus retroambiguus (NRA) and terminates in a distinct set of lumbosacral hindlimb, axial, and pelvic floor motoneuronal cell groups [VanderHorst VG.JM, Holstege G (1995) Caudal medullary pathways to lumbosacral

  4. Primary medullary hemorrhage in a patient with coagulopathy due to alcoholic cirrhosis: A case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Guangxun; Gao, Yu; Lee, Kwee-Yum; Nan, Guangxian

    2018-04-01

    Mild-to-moderate alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver is related to spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). In terms of spontaneous brainstem hemorrhage, pontine is considered as the most common site in contrast to medulla oblongata where the hemorrhage is rarely seen. This rare primary medullary hemorrhage has been attributed so far to vascular malformation (VM), anticoagulants, hypertension, hemorrhagic transformation, and other undetermined factors. Herein, we describe a 53-year-old patient with 35-year history of alcohol abuse was admitted for acute-onset isolated hemianesthesia on the right side. He was normotensive on admission. A neurological examination revealed isolated hemihypoaesthesia on the right side. He had no history of hypertension, and viral hepatitis, and nil use of anticoagulants. Brain computed tomography (CT) image demonstrated hemorrhagic lesion in dorsal and medial medulla oblongata which was ruptured into the fourth ventricle. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) demonstrated no evidence of VM. The laboratory tests implied liver dysfunction, thrombocytopenia, and coagulation disorders. Abdominal ultrasound, and CT image showed a small, and nodular liver with splenomegaly, suggestive of moderate alcoholic cirrhosis. Liver protection therapy and the management of coagulation disorders. After 14 days, he was discharged with mild hemianesthesia but with more improved parameters in laboratory tests. At the 6-month follow-up, brain MRI, MRA, and non-contrast MRI showed no significant findings except for a malacic lesion. We conclude that the patient had alcoholic cirrhosis with coagulopathy, and this may have resulted in primary medullary hemorrhage. This is a first case to report alcoholic cirrhosis as etiology of primary medullary hemorrhage.

  5. A rare case of concomitant sicca keratopathy and ipsilateral central facial palsy in Wallenberg’s dorsolateral medullary syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    De Bruyn, Deborah

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To describe a patient with a right-sided supranuclear facial palsy and concomitant sicca keratopathy of the right eye following right-sided dorsolateral medullary infarction. Methods: Our patient underwent a complete ophthalmologic and neurologic examination including biomicroscopy, fundus examination, cranial nerve examination, Shirmer I test, and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain.Results: A 61-year-old woman presented in emergency with a central facial nerve palsy on the right side and truncal ataxia. Neurologic assessment revealed a concurrent dysphagia, dysarthria, hypoesthesia of the right face, and weakness of the right upper limb. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed an old left-sided cerebellar infarction, but a recent ischemic infarction at the level of the right dorsolateral medulla oblongata was the cause of our patient’s current problems. One month after diagnosis of the right-sided dorsolateral medullary syndrome, there were complaints of ocular irritation and a diminished visual acuity in the right eye. Biomicroscopy showed a sicca keratopathy with nearly complete absence of tear secretion on the Shirmer I test, but with normal eye closure and preserved corneal reflexes and sensitivity.Conclusion: A dorsolateral medullary syndrome can have a variable expression in symptomatology. Our case is special because of the combination of an ipsilateral supranuclear facial palsy with normal upper facial muscle function together with an ipsilateral sicca keratopathy as a result of a nearly absent tear secretion. We hypothesized that the mechanism underlying the patient’s sicca keratopathy ipsilateral to the supranuclear facial palsy involved the superior salivatory nucleus, which is situated in the caudal pons inferiorly of the motor facial nucleus and is most probably affected by a superior extension of the infarcted area in the right medulla oblongata.

  6. OCTREOTIDE FOR MEDULLARY-THYROID CARCINOMA ASSOCIATED DIARRHEA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    SMID, WM; DULLAART, RPF

    Medullary thyroid carcinoma associated diarrhoea can be disabling. A 75-yr-old man with metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma and refractory diarrhoea is described. Subcutaneous administration of the somatostatin analogue, octreotide, 100-mu-g thrice daily, resulted in a sustained improvement in

  7. Organization of Functional Long-Range Circuits Controlling the Activity of Serotonergic Neurons in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Li; Liu, Ming-Zhe; Li, Qing; Deng, Juan; Mu, Di; Sun, Yan-Gang

    2017-03-21

    Serotonergic neurons play key roles in various biological processes. However, circuit mechanisms underlying tight control of serotonergic neurons remain largely unknown. Here, we systematically investigated the organization of long-range synaptic inputs to serotonergic neurons and GABAergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) of mice with a combination of viral tracing, slice electrophysiological, and optogenetic techniques. We found that DRN serotonergic neurons and GABAergic neurons receive largely comparable synaptic inputs from six major upstream brain areas. Upon further analysis of the fine functional circuit structures, we found both bilateral and ipsilateral patterns of topographic connectivity in the DRN for the axons from different inputs. Moreover, the upstream brain areas were found to bidirectionally control the activity of DRN serotonergic neurons by recruiting feedforward inhibition or via a push-pull mechanism. Our study provides a framework for further deciphering the functional roles of long-range circuits controlling the activity of serotonergic neurons in the DRN. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. MEDULLARY THYROID CARCINOMA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. S. Medvedev

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Medullary thyroid carcinoma belongs to orphan diseases affecting a small part of the population. Multicenter trials are required to elaborate a diagnostic algorithm, to define treatment policy, and to predict an outcome.

  9. The correlation between dysphagia and involvement of the ambiguous nucleus on MRI in acute-phase lateral medullary syndrome

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurono, Hiroko; Uesaka, Yoshikazu; Kunimoto, Masanari; Imafuku, Ichirou

    2006-01-01

    In this study, the clinical features and MRI findings of 21 patients admitted for acute lateral medullary syndrome, including 10 patients with dysphagia, were examined. According to Cytoarchitecture of the Human Brain Stem (Olszewski, J and Baxter, D), MRI-identified lesions were classified into four groups based on their location (upper, middle-upper, middle-lower, and lower parts of the medulla oblongata). We also examined whether each lesion involved the ambiguous nucleus (AN). We then studied the correlation between dysphagia and involvement of the AN. Ten patients had dysphagia, which improved very quickly in all but one. In the horizontal plane, lesions of all patients with dysphagia exhibited AN involvement, suggesting that dysphagia is strongly correlated with AN involvement. Among the 8 patients with lesions in the upper part of the medulla oblongata, the lesions of 7 patients included the AN, and 6 of those 7 patients had dysphagia. Among the 5 patients with lesions in the middle-upper part of the medulla oblongata, the lesions of two contained the AN, and one of those two patients had dysphagia. Among the 6 patients with lesions in the middle-lower part of the medulla oblongata, all lesions contained the AN, but only 3 of the patients exhibited dysphagia. In both patients who had lesions in the lower part of the medulla oblongata, the lesions did not include the AN and neither patient had dysphagia. Patients who had lesions involving the AN in the rostral part of the medulla oblongata were more likely to have dysphagia than the other patients. On the other hand, half of the patients with lesions involving the AN in the middle-lower part of the medulla oblongata did not have dysphagia. This might suggest that the caudal part of the AN has little involvement in the mechanisms of dysphagia. (author)

  10. Medullary bone and humeral breaking strength in laying hens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fleming, R.H.; McCormack, H.A.; McTeir, L.; Whitehead, C.C.

    1998-01-01

    To test the hypothesis that large amounts of medullary bone in the humeral diaphysis may increase breaking strength, various parameters of bone quality and quantity were examined in two large flocks of hens near end of lay. We conclude that the amount of medullary bone in the humerus of hens during the laying period influences bone strength. This medullary bone may not have any intrinsic strength, but may act by contributing to the fracture resistance of the surrounding cortical bone. Using a quantitative, low dose, radiographic technique, we can predict, from early in the laying period, those birds which will develop large amounts of medullary bone in their humeri by the end of the laying period. The formation of medullary bone in the humeral diaphysis is not at the expense of the surrounding radiographed cortical bone

  11. Chronic tinnitus and unipolar brush cell alterations in the cerebellum and dorsal cochlear nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brozoski, Thomas; Brozoski, Daniel; Wisner, Kurt; Bauer, Carol

    2017-07-01

    Animal model research has shown that the central features of tinnitus, the perception of sound without an acoustic correlate, include elevated spontaneous and stimulus-driven activity, enhanced burst-mode firing, decreased variance of inter-spike intervals, and distortion of tonotopic frequency representation. Less well documented are cell-specific correlates of tinnitus. Unipolar brush cell (UBC) alterations in animals with psychophysical evidence of tinnitus has recently been reported. UBCs are glutamatergic interneurons that appear to function as local-circuit signal amplifiers. UBCs are abundant in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) and very abundant in the flocculus (FL) and paraflocculus (PFL) of the cerebellum. In the present research, two indicators of UBC structure and function were examined: Doublecortin (DCX) and epidermal growth factor receptor substrate 8 (Eps8). DCX is a protein that binds to microtubules where it can modify their assembly and growth. Eps8 is a cell-surface tyrosine kinase receptor mediating the response to epidermal growth factor; it appears to have a role in actin polymerization as well as cytoskeletal protein interactions. Both functions could contribute to synaptic remodeling. In the present research UBC Eps8 and DCX immunoreactivity (IR) were determined in 4 groups of rats distinguished by their exposure to high-level sound and psychophysical performance: Unexposed, exposed to high-level sound with behavioral evidence of tinnitus, and two exposed groups without behavioral evidence of tinnitus. Compared to unexposed controls, exposed animals with tinnitus had Eps8 IR elevated in their PFL; other structures were not affected, nor was DCX IR affected. This was interpreted as UBC upregulation in animals with tinnitus. Exposure that failed to produce tinnitus did not increase either Eps8 or DCX IR. Rather Eps8 IR was decreased in the FL and DCN of one subgroup (Least-Tinnitus), while DCX IR decreased in the FL of the other subgroup (No

  12. The role of the dorsal raphé nucleus in reward-seeking behavior

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    Kae eNakamura

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Pharmacological experiments have shown that the modulation of brain serotonin levels has a strong impact on value-based decision making. Anatomical and physiological evidence also revealed that the dorsal raphé nucleus (DRN, a major source of serotonin, and the dopamine system receive common inputs from brain regions associated with appetitive and aversive information processing. The serotonin and dopamine systems also have reciprocal functional influences on each other. However, the specific mechanism by which serotonin affects value-based decision making is not clear.To understand the information carried by the DRN for reward-seeking behavior, we measured single neuron activity in the primate DRN during the performance of saccade tasks to obtain different amounts of a reward. We found that DRN neuronal activity was characterized by tonic modulation that was altered by the expected and received reward value. Consistent reward-dependent modulation across different task periods suggested that DRN activity kept track of the reward value throughout a trial. The DRN was also characterized by modulation of its activity in the opposite direction by different neuronal subgroups, one firing strongly for the prediction and receipt of large rewards, with the other firing strongly for small rewards. Conversely, putative dopamine neurons showed positive phasic responses to reward-indicating cues and the receipt of an unexpected reward amount, which supports the reward prediction error signal hypothesis of dopamine.I suggest that the tonic reward monitoring signal of the DRN, possibly together with its interaction with the dopamine system, reports a continuous level of motivation throughout the performance of a task. Such a signal may provide reward context information to the targets of DRN projections, where it may be integrated further with incoming motivationally salient information.

  13. Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Program | Center for Cancer Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Program Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) types 2A and 2B are rare genetic diseases, which lead to the development of medullary thyroid cancer, usually in childhood. Surgery is the only standard treatment.

  14. Brief pup exposure induces Fos expression in the lateral habenula and serotonergic caudal dorsal raphe nucleus of paternally experienced male California mice (Peromyscus californicus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Jong, T R; Measor, K R; Chauke, M; Harris, B N; Saltzman, W

    2010-09-01

    Fathers play a substantial role in infant care in a small but significant number of mammalian species, including humans. However, the neural circuitry controlling paternal behavior is much less understood than its female counterpart. In order to characterize brain areas activated by paternal care, male California mice were separated from their female mate and litter for 3 h and then exposed to a pup or a control object (a glass pebble with the approximate size and oblong shape of a newborn pup) for 10 min. All males receiving a pup showed a strong paternal response towards it, whereas males receiving a pebble interacted with it only occasionally. Despite the clear behavioral differences, exposure to a pup did not increase Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-LIR) compared to a pebble in brain areas previously found to be associated with parental care, including the medial preoptic nucleus and medial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Pup exposure did, however, significantly increase Fos-LIR in the lateral habenula (LHb) and in predominantly serotonergic neurons in the caudal dorsal raphe nucleus (DRC), as compared to pebble exposure. Both the LHb and DRC are known to be involved in the behavioral responses to strong emotional stimuli; therefore, these areas might play a role in controlling parental behavior in male California mice. Copyright (c) 2010 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Expression of immediate-early genes in the dorsal cochlear nucleus in salicylate-induced tinnitus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Shou-Sen; Mei, Ling; Chen, Jian-Yong; Huang, Zhi-Wu; Wu, Hao

    2016-02-01

    Spontaneous neuronal activity in dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) may be involved in the physiological processes underlying salicylate-induced tinnitus. As a neuronal activity marker, immediate-early gene (IEG) expression, especially activity-dependent cytoskeletal protein (Arc/Arg3.1) and the early growth response gene-1 (Egr-1), appears to be highly correlated with sensory-evoked neuronal activity. However, their relationships with tinnitus induced by salicylate have rarely been reported in the DCN. In this study, we assessed the effect of acute and chronic salicylate treatment on the expression of N-methyl D-aspartate receptor subunit 2B (NR2B), Arg3.1, and Egr-1. We also observed ultrastructural alterations in the DCN synapses in an animal model of tinnitus. Levels of mRNA and protein expression of NR2B and Arg3.1 were increased in rats that were chronically administered salicylate (200 mg/kg, twice daily for 3, 7, or 14 days). These levels returned to baseline 14 days after cessation of treatment. However, no significant changes were observed in Egr-1 gene expression in any groups. Furthermore, rats subjected to long-term salicylate administration showed more presynaptic vesicles, thicker and longer postsynaptic densities, and increased synaptic interface curvature. Alterations of Arg3.1 and NR2B may be responsible for the changes in the synaptic ultrastructure. These changes confirm that salicylate can cause neural plasticity changes at the DCN level.

  16. Ribosomal DNA transcription in the dorsal raphe nucleus is increased in residual but not in paranoid schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krzyżanowska, Marta; Steiner, Johann; Brisch, Ralf; Mawrin, Christian; Busse, Stefan; Braun, Katharina; Jankowski, Zbigniew; Bernstein, Hans-Gert; Bogerts, Bernhard; Gos, Tomasz

    2015-03-01

    The central serotonergic system is implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, where the imbalance between dopamine, serotonin and glutamate plays a key pathophysiological role. The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) is the main source of serotonergic innervation of forebrain limbic structures disturbed in schizophrenia patients. The study was carried out on paraffin-embedded brains from 17 (8 paranoid and 9 residual) schizophrenia patients and 28 matched controls without mental disorders. The transcriptional activity of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) in DRN neurons was evaluated by the AgNOR silver-staining method. An increased rDNA transcriptional activity was found in schizophrenia patients in the cumulative analysis of all DRN subnuclei (t test, P = 0.02). Further subgroup analysis revealed that it was an effect specific for residual schizophrenia versus paranoid schizophrenia or control groups (ANOVA, P = 0.002). This effect was confounded neither by suicide nor by antipsychotic medication. Our findings suggest that increased activity of rDNA in DRN neurons is a distinct phenomenon in schizophrenia, particularly in residual patients. An activation of the rDNA transcription in DRN neurons may represent a compensatory mechanism to overcome the previously described prefrontal serotonergic hypofunction in this diagnostic subgroup.

  17. Morphology, classification, and distribution of the projection neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the rat.

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    Changying Ling

    Full Text Available The morphology of confirmed projection neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN of the rat was examined by filling these cells retrogradely with biotinylated dextran amine (BDA injected into the visual cortex. BDA-labeled projection neurons varied widely in the shape and size of their cell somas, with mean cross-sectional areas ranging from 60-340 µm(2. Labeled projection neurons supported 7-55 dendrites that spanned up to 300 µm in length and formed dendritic arbors with cross-sectional areas of up to 7.0 × 10(4 µm(2. Primary dendrites emerged from cell somas in three broad patterns. In some dLGN projection neurons, primary dendrites arise from the cell soma at two poles spaced approximately 180° apart. In other projection neurons, dendrites emerge principally from one side of the cell soma, while in a third group of projection neurons primary dendrites emerge from the entire perimeter of the cell soma. Based on these three distinct patterns in the distribution of primary dendrites from cell somas, we have grouped dLGN projection neurons into three classes: bipolar cells, basket cells and radial cells, respectively. The appendages seen on dendrites also can be grouped into three classes according to differences in their structure. Short "tufted" appendages arise mainly from the distal branches of dendrites; "spine-like" appendages, fine stalks with ovoid heads, typically are seen along the middle segments of dendrites; and "grape-like" appendages, short stalks that terminate in a cluster of ovoid bulbs, appear most often along the proximal segments of secondary dendrites of neurons with medium or large cell somas. While morphologically diverse dLGN projection neurons are intermingled uniformly throughout the nucleus, the caudal pole of the dLGN contains more small projection neurons of all classes than the rostral pole.

  18. Intraoperative neurophysiology of the conus medullaris and cauda equina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kothbauer, Karl F; Deletis, Vedran

    2010-02-01

    Intraoperative neurophysiological techniques are becoming routine tools for neurosurgical practice. Procedures affecting the lumbosacral nervous system are frequent in adult and pediatric neurosurgery. This review provides an overview of the techniques utilized in cauda and conus operations. Two basic methodologies of intraoperative neurophysiological testing are utilized during surgery in the lumbosacral spinal canal. Mapping techniques help identify functional neural structures, namely, nerve roots and their respective spinal levels. Monitoring is referred to as the technology to continuously assess the functional integrity of pathways and reflex circuits. For mapping direct electrical stimulation of a structure within the surgical field and recording at a distant site, usually a muscle is the most commonly used setup. Sensory nerve roots or spinal cord areas can be mapped by stimulation of a distant sensory nerve or skin area and recording from a structure within the surgical field. Continuous monitoring of the motor system is done with motor evoked potentials. These are evoked by transcranial electrical stimulation and recorded from lower extremity and sphincter muscles. Presence or absence of muscle responses are the monitored parameters. To monitor the sensory pathways, sensory potentials evoked by tibial, peroneal, or pudendal nerve stimulation and recorded from the dorsal columns with a spinal electrode or as cortical responses from scalp electrodes are used. Amplitudes and latencies of these responses are measured for interpretation. The bulbocavernosus reflex, with stimulation of the pudendal nerve and recording from the external anal sphincter, is used for continuous monitoring of the reflex circuitry. The presence of absence of this response is the pertinent parameter monitored. Stimulation of individual dorsal nerve roots is used to identify those segments that generate spastic activity and which may be cut during selective dorsal rhizotomy

  19. Desipramine and citalopram attenuate pretest swim-induced increases in prodynorphin immunoreactivity in the dorsal bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the lateral division of the central nucleus of the amygdala in the forced swimming test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Sung; Kim, Hee Jeong; Kim, Hyun Ju; Choi, Sun Hye; Cho, Jin Hee; Cho, Yun Ha; Kim, Dong-Hoon; Shin, Kyung Ho

    2014-10-01

    Dynorphin in the nucleus accumbens shell plays an important role in antidepressant-like effect in the forced swimming test (FST), but it is unclear whether desipramine and citalopram treatments alter prodynorphin levels in other brain areas. To explore this possibility, we injected mice with desipramine and citalopram 0.5, 19, and 23 h after a 15-min pretest swim and observed changes in prodynorphin expression before the test swim, which was conducted 24 h after the pretest swim. The pretest swim increased prodynorphin immunoreactivity in the dorsal bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (dBNST) and lateral division of the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeL). This increase in prodynorphin immunoreactivity in the dBNST and CeL was blocked by desipramine and citalopram treatments. Similar changes in prodynorphin mRNA levels were observed in the dBNST and CeL, but these changes did not reach significance. To understand the underlying mechanism, we assessed changes in phosphorylated CREB at Ser(133) (pCREB) immunoreactivity in the dBNST and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). Treatment with citalopram but not desipramine after the pretest swim significantly increased pCREB immunoreactivity only in the dBNST. These results suggest that regulation of prodynorphin in the dBNST and CeL before the test swim may be involved in the antidepressant-like effect of desipramine and citalopram in the FST and suggest that changes in pCREB immunoreactivity in these areas may not play an important role in the regulation of prodynorphin in the dBNST and CeA. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Enhanced GABA action on the substantia gelatinosa neurons of the medullary dorsal horn in the offspring of streptozotocin-injected mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hoang Thi Thanh; Bhattarai, Janardhan Prasad; Park, Soo Joung; Lee, Jeong Chae; Cho, Dong Hyu; Han, Seong Kyu

    2015-07-01

    Peripheral neuropathy is a frequent complication of diabetes mellitus and a common symptom of neuropathic pain, the mechanism of which is complex and involves both peripheral and central components of the sensory system. The lamina II of the medullary dorsal horn, called the substantia gelatinosa (SG), is well known to be a critical site for processing of orofacial nociceptive information. Although there have been a number of studies done on diabetic neuropathy related to the orofacial region, the action of neurotransmitter receptors on SG neurons in the diabetic state is not yet fully understood. Therefore, we used the whole-cell patch clamp technique to investigate this alteration on SG neurons in both streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice and offspring from diabetic female mice. STZ (200 mg/kg)-injected mice showed a small decrease in body weight and a significant increase in blood glucose level when compared with their respective control group. However, application of different concentrations of glycine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate on SG neurons from STZ-injected mice did not induce any significant differences in inward currents when compared to their control counterparts. On the other hand, the offspring of diabetic female mice (induced by multiple injections of STZ (40 mg/kg) for 5 consecutive days) led to a significant decrease in both body weight and blood glucose level compared to the control offspring. Glycine and glutamate responses in the SG neurons of the offspring from diabetic female mice were similar to those of control offspring. However, the GABA response in SG neurons of offspring from diabetic female mice was greater than that of control offspring. Furthermore, the GABA-mediated responses in offspring from diabetic and control mice were examined at different concentrations ranging from 3 to 1,000 μM. At each concentration, the GABA-induced mean inward currents in the SG neurons of offspring from diabetic female mice were

  1. Effects of GABA microinjection into dorsal raphe nucleus on behavior and activity of lateral habenular neurons in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Jinyu; Song, Meiying; Li, Fengdan; Liu, Xiaofeng; Anwar, Alinur; Zhao, Hua

    2017-12-01

    The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) is a key site for 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) synthesis and release. DRN dysfunction has been implicated in several stress-related disorders, including depression and anxiety. The lateral habenular nucleus (LHb) has been shown to inhibit the activity of DRN 5-HT neurons, and thus the LHb-DRN pathway plays an important role in the pathogenesis of depression. Although it is known that the LHb also receives the projection from the 5-HT neuron in the DRN, whether 5-HT neurons in the DRN can influence activity of the LHb in vivo and whether this effect is related to the induced behavioral changes have not been investigated. In the current study, we determined how injecting γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) into the DRN to inhibit 5-HT neurons affected behavior and the changes in the activity of LHb neurons in mice. We found that GABA injection into the DRN induced depression-like behavior in mice, as indicated by increased immobility time, and decreased climbing time in the forced swimming test and the tail suspension test, decreased time spent in the center and total distance moved in the open field test. Using extracellular single unit recording, we showed that the firing rate of LHb neurons decreased after GABA microinjection into the DRN. Further, c-Fos expression in LHb neurons was inhibited. Together our results indicate that inhibition of DRN 5-HT neurons can cause decreased LHb activity and depression-like behavior in mice, however this depression-like behavior could be independent of the LHb activity. The observed decrease in LHb activity is probably due to the presence of a negative feedback loop between the DRN and the LHb, which may play a role in maintaining emotional homeostasis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in female musicians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shoji eTanaka

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The dorsal striatum (caudate/putamen is a node of the cortico-striato-pallido-thalamo-cortical (CSPTC motor circuit, which plays a central role in skilled motor learning, a critical feature of musical performance. The dorsal striatum receives input from a large part of the cerebral cortex, forming a hub in the cortical-subcortical network. This study sought to examine how the functional network of the dorsal striatum differs between musicians and nonmusicians.Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI data were acquired from female university students majoring in music and nonmusic disciplines. The data were subjected to graph theoretical analysis and functional connectivity analysis. The graph theoretical analysis of the entire brain revealed that the degree, which represents the number of connections, of the bilateral putamen was significantly lower in musicians than in nonmusicians. The functional connectivity analysis indicated that compared with nonmusicians, musicians had significantly decreased connectivity between the left putamen and bilateral frontal operculum and between the left caudate nucleus and cerebellum. In conclusion, compared with nonmusicians, female musicians have a smaller functional network of the dorsal striatum, with decreased connectivity. These data are consistent with previous anatomical studies reporting a reduced volume of the dorsal striatum in musicians and ballet dancers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study suggesting that long-term musical training results in a less extensive or selective functional network of the dorsal striatum.

  3. Cell-type specific short-term plasticity at auditory nerve synapses controls feed-forward inhibition in the dorsal cochlear nucleus

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    Miloslav eSedlacek

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Feedforward inhibition represents a powerful mechanism by which control of the timing and fidelity of action potentials in local synaptic circuits of various brain regions is achieved. In the cochlear nucleus, the auditory nerve provides excitation to both principal neurons and inhibitory interneurons. Here, we investigated the synaptic circuit associated with fusiform cells (FCs, principal neurons of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN that receive excitation from auditory nerve fibers and inhibition from tuberculoventral cells (TVCs on their basal dendrites in the deep layer of DCN. Despite the importance of these inputs in regulating fusiform cell firing behavior, the mechanisms determining the balance of excitation and feed-forward inhibition in this circuit are not well understood. Therefore, we examined the timing and plasticity of auditory nerve driven feed-forward inhibition (FFI onto FCs. We find that in some FCs, excitatory and inhibitory components of feed-forward inhibition had the same stimulation thresholds indicating they could be triggered by activation of the same fibers. In other FCs, excitation and inhibition exhibit different stimulus thresholds, suggesting FCs and TVCs might be activated by different sets of fibers. In addition we find that during repetitive activation, synapses formed by the auditory nerve onto TVCs and FCs exhibit distinct modes of short-term plasticity. Feed-forward inhibitory post-synaptic currents (IPSCs in FCs exhibit short-term depression because of prominent synaptic depression at the auditory nerve-TVC synapse. Depression of this feedforward inhibitory input causes a shift in the balance of fusiform cell synaptic input towards greater excitation and suggests that fusiform cell spike output will be enhanced by physiological patterns of auditory nerve activity.

  4. Cell-type specific short-term plasticity at auditory nerve synapses controls feed-forward inhibition in the dorsal cochlear nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sedlacek, Miloslav; Brenowitz, Stephan D

    2014-01-01

    Feed-forward inhibition (FFI) represents a powerful mechanism by which control of the timing and fidelity of action potentials in local synaptic circuits of various brain regions is achieved. In the cochlear nucleus, the auditory nerve provides excitation to both principal neurons and inhibitory interneurons. Here, we investigated the synaptic circuit associated with fusiform cells (FCs), principal neurons of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) that receive excitation from auditory nerve fibers and inhibition from tuberculoventral cells (TVCs) on their basal dendrites in the deep layer of DCN. Despite the importance of these inputs in regulating fusiform cell firing behavior, the mechanisms determining the balance of excitation and FFI in this circuit are not well understood. Therefore, we examined the timing and plasticity of auditory nerve driven FFI onto FCs. We find that in some FCs, excitatory and inhibitory components of FFI had the same stimulation thresholds indicating they could be triggered by activation of the same fibers. In other FCs, excitation and inhibition exhibit different stimulus thresholds, suggesting FCs and TVCs might be activated by different sets of fibers. In addition, we find that during repetitive activation, synapses formed by the auditory nerve onto TVCs and FCs exhibit distinct modes of short-term plasticity. Feed-forward inhibitory post-synaptic currents (IPSCs) in FCs exhibit short-term depression because of prominent synaptic depression at the auditory nerve-TVC synapse. Depression of this feedforward inhibitory input causes a shift in the balance of fusiform cell synaptic input towards greater excitation and suggests that fusiform cell spike output will be enhanced by physiological patterns of auditory nerve activity.

  5. How does early maternal separation and chronic stress in adult rats affect the immunoreactivity of serotonergic neurons within the dorsal raphe nucleus?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pollano, Antonella; Trujillo, Verónica; Suárez, Marta M

    2018-01-01

    Vulnerability to emotional disorders like depression derives from interactions between early and late environments, including stressful conditions. The serotonin (5HT) system is strongly affected by stress and chronic unpredictable stress can alter the 5HT system. We evaluated the distribution of active serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DR) through immunohistochemistry in maternally separated and chronically stressed rats treated with an antidepressant, tianeptine, whose mechanism of action is still under review. Male Wistar rats were subjected to daily maternal separation (MS) for 4.5 h between postnatal days (PND) 1-21, or to animal facility rearing (AFR). Between (PND) days 50-74, rats were exposed to chronic unpredictable stress and were treated daily with tianeptine (10 mg/kg) or vehicle. We found an interaction between the effects of MS and chronic unpredictable stress on Fos-5HT immunoreactive cells at mid-caudal level of the DR. MS-chronically stressed rats showed an increase of Fos-5HT immunoreactive cells compared with AFR-chronically stressed rats. The ventrolateral (DRL/VLPAG) and dorsal (DRD) subdivisions of the DR were significantly more active than the ventral part (DRV). At the rostral level of the DR, tianeptine decreased the number of Fos-5HT cells in DR in the AFR groups, both unstressed and stressed. Overall, our results support the idea of a match in phenotype exhibited when the early and the adult environment correspond.

  6. Recovery of Dysphagia in Lateral Medullary Stroke

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    Hitesh Gupta

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Lateral medullary stroke is typically associated with increased likelihood of occurrence of dysphagia and exhibits the most severe and persistent form. Worldwide little research exists on dysphagia in brainstem stroke. An estimated 15% of all patients admitted to stroke rehabilitation units experience a brainstem stroke out of which about 47% suffer from dysphagia. In India, a study showed that 22.3% of posterior circulation stroke patients develop dysphagia. Dearth of literature on dysphagia and its outcome in brainstem stroke particularly lateral medullary stroke motivated the author to present an actual case study of a patient who had dysphagia following a lateral medullary infarct. This paper documents the severity and management approach of dysphagia in brainstem stroke, with traditional dysphagia therapy and VitalStim therapy. Despite being diagnosed with a severe form of dysphagia followed by late treatment intervention, the patient had complete recovery of the swallowing function.

  7. Recovery of Dysphagia in lateral medullary stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Hitesh; Banerjee, Alakananda

    2014-01-01

    Lateral medullary stroke is typically associated with increased likelihood of occurrence of dysphagia and exhibits the most severe and persistent form. Worldwide little research exists on dysphagia in brainstem stroke. An estimated 15% of all patients admitted to stroke rehabilitation units experience a brainstem stroke out of which about 47% suffer from dysphagia. In India, a study showed that 22.3% of posterior circulation stroke patients develop dysphagia. Dearth of literature on dysphagia and its outcome in brainstem stroke particularly lateral medullary stroke motivated the author to present an actual case study of a patient who had dysphagia following a lateral medullary infarct. This paper documents the severity and management approach of dysphagia in brainstem stroke, with traditional dysphagia therapy and VitalStim therapy. Despite being diagnosed with a severe form of dysphagia followed by late treatment intervention, the patient had complete recovery of the swallowing function.

  8. Recovery of Dysphagia in Lateral Medullary Stroke

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Hitesh; Banerjee, Alakananda

    2014-01-01

    Lateral medullary stroke is typically associated with increased likelihood of occurrence of dysphagia and exhibits the most severe and persistent form. Worldwide little research exists on dysphagia in brainstem stroke. An estimated 15% of all patients admitted to stroke rehabilitation units experience a brainstem stroke out of which about 47% suffer from dysphagia. In India, a study showed that 22.3% of posterior circulation stroke patients develop dysphagia. Dearth of literature on dysphagia and its outcome in brainstem stroke particularly lateral medullary stroke motivated the author to present an actual case study of a patient who had dysphagia following a lateral medullary infarct. This paper documents the severity and management approach of dysphagia in brainstem stroke, with traditional dysphagia therapy and VitalStim therapy. Despite being diagnosed with a severe form of dysphagia followed by late treatment intervention, the patient had complete recovery of the swallowing function. PMID:25045555

  9. Quantification of deep medullary veins at 7 T brain MRI

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuijf, Hugo J.; Viergever, Max A.; Vincken, Koen L. [University Medical Center Utrecht, Image Sciences Institute, Utrecht (Netherlands); Bouvy, Willem H.; Razoux Schultz, Tom B.; Biessels, Geert Jan [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Neurology, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Utrecht (Netherlands); Zwanenburg, Jaco J.M. [University Medical Center Utrecht, Image Sciences Institute, Utrecht (Netherlands); University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands)

    2016-10-15

    Deep medullary veins support the venous drainage of the brain and may display abnormalities in the context of different cerebrovascular diseases. We present and evaluate a method to automatically detect and quantify deep medullary veins at 7 T. Five participants were scanned twice, to assess the robustness and reproducibility of manual and automated vein detection. Additionally, the method was evaluated on 24 participants to demonstrate its application. Deep medullary veins were assessed within an automatically created region-of-interest around the lateral ventricles, defined such that all veins must intersect it. A combination of vesselness, tubular tracking, and hysteresis thresholding located individual veins, which were quantified by counting and computing (3-D) density maps. Visual assessment was time-consuming (2 h/scan), with an intra-/inter-observer agreement on absolute vein count of ICC = 0.76 and 0.60, respectively. The automated vein detection showed excellent inter-scan reproducibility before (ICC = 0.79) and after (ICC = 0.88) visually censoring false positives. It had a positive predictive value of 71.6 %. Imaging at 7 T allows visualization and quantification of deep medullary veins. The presented method offers fast and reliable automated assessment of deep medullary veins. (orig.)

  10. Comparison of mammographic and sonographic findings in typical and atypical medullary carcinomas of the breast

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yilmaz, E.; Lebe, B.; Balci, P.; Sal, S.; Canda, T.

    2002-01-01

    AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the contribution of mammographic and sonographic findings to the discrimination of typical and atypical histopathologic groups of medullary carcinomas of the breast. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Imaging findings were retrospectively assessed in 33 women with medullary carcinomas (15 typical medullary carcinomas and 18 atypical medullary carcinomas) identified during pre-operative mammography. Twenty-nine of these women also had ultrasound and these findings were reviewed. RESULTS: Mammography showed a well circumscribed mass in 10 of the 15 (67%) typical medullary carcinomas and in four of the 17 (24%) atypical medullary carcinomas (P < 0.02). One small tumour in a woman with atypical medullary carcinoma was missed on mammography and was shown only on sonography. Sonographically, an irregular margin surrounding the whole mass or part of it was seen in three out of 14 (21%) patients with typical medullary carcinoma and in nine out of 15 (60%) patients with atypical medullary carcinomas (P < 0.05). Posterior acoustic shadowing was more often observed in the typical medullary carcinoma group than in atypical medullary carcinoma and the difference was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). None of the other mammographic and sonographic findings were sufficiently characteristic to allow for a differentiation between two groups. CONCLUSION: When typical medullary carcinomas were compared with atypical medullary carcinomas according to imaging features, they tended to be well circumscribed masses on both mammography and sonography, and a posterior acoustic shadow was not found on sonography. However, the imaging findings in these two subgroups often resembled each other and histopathology will always be required to confirm the diagnosis. Yilmaz, E. et al. (2002)

  11. Comparison of mammographic and sonographic findings in typical and atypical medullary carcinomas of the breast

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yilmaz, E.; Lebe, B.; Balci, P.; Sal, S.; Canda, T

    2002-07-01

    AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the contribution of mammographic and sonographic findings to the discrimination of typical and atypical histopathologic groups of medullary carcinomas of the breast. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Imaging findings were retrospectively assessed in 33 women with medullary carcinomas (15 typical medullary carcinomas and 18 atypical medullary carcinomas) identified during pre-operative mammography. Twenty-nine of these women also had ultrasound and these findings were reviewed. RESULTS: Mammography showed a well circumscribed mass in 10 of the 15 (67%) typical medullary carcinomas and in four of the 17 (24%) atypical medullary carcinomas (P < 0.02). One small tumour in a woman with atypical medullary carcinoma was missed on mammography and was shown only on sonography. Sonographically, an irregular margin surrounding the whole mass or part of it was seen in three out of 14 (21%) patients with typical medullary carcinoma and in nine out of 15 (60%) patients with atypical medullary carcinomas (P < 0.05). Posterior acoustic shadowing was more often observed in the typical medullary carcinoma group than in atypical medullary carcinoma and the difference was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). None of the other mammographic and sonographic findings were sufficiently characteristic to allow for a differentiation between two groups. CONCLUSION: When typical medullary carcinomas were compared with atypical medullary carcinomas according to imaging features, they tended to be well circumscribed masses on both mammography and sonography, and a posterior acoustic shadow was not found on sonography. However, the imaging findings in these two subgroups often resembled each other and histopathology will always be required to confirm the diagnosis. Yilmaz, E. et al. (2002)

  12. Clinical study of 12 cases of medullary carcinoma of the breast

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shibuya, Hitoshi; Sasaki, Kenichi; Yamamoto, Masaaki; Higaki, Nagato; Nakamura, Yukio

    2006-01-01

    Medullary carcinoma of the breast is a rare type breast cancer, and shows peculiar clinical features. In a series of 460 cases of breast cancer operated on at the hospital from 1975 to 2004, twelve (2.6%) cases were diagnosed as medullary carcinoma of the breast by postoperative pathological study. When the specimens from the twelve tumors were reevaluated according to the Ridolfi's subtype classification, six tumors were classified into typical medullary carcinoma (TMC) and the remaining six tumors into atypical medullary carcinoma (AMC). On mammography these tumors were visualized as homogeneously enhancing oval masses without calcification and the boundary was comparatively well-defined. US demonstrated well-defied masses with a heterogeneous, hypoechoic texture and with reinforcement of posterior echoes. The rate of lymph node metastasis was 33.3% in medullary carcinomas which was not significantly different from that of infiltrative ductal carcinomas experienced during the same period. The rate of a positivity of a hormone receptor was 8.3% in medullary carcinomas which was low in predominance in comparison with that of infiltrative ductal carcinomas. The positive rate for a HER2/neu (above2+) by the IHC method was 58%. An average observation period is 11 years, and all patients are alive. (author)

  13. Introduction to European comments on "Medullary Thyroid Cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jarzab, Barbara; Feldt-Rasmussen, Ulla

    2013-01-01

    Guest Editors of Thyroid Research supplement devoted to medullary thyroid cancer present the history on how the discussion about "Medullary Thyroid Cancer: management guidelines of the American Thyroid Association" was initiated and subsequently widely commented before and during European Thyroid...... Association - Cancer Research Network Meeting in Lisbon. It is explained why it has been decided to publish the manuscripts within the supplement - to document voices from the discussion and popularize them....

  14. Effect of Electroacupuncture at ST36 on Gastric-Related Neurons in Spinal Dorsal Horn and Nucleus Tractus Solitarius

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoyu Wang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA at the ST36 acupoint on the firing rate of gastric-related neurons in the spinal dorsal horn (SDH and nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS. There were different effects of gastric distention in SDH and NTS in 46 male Sprague-Dawley rats. In 10 excitatory neurons in SDH, most of the neurons were inhibited by homolateral EA. The firing rates decreased significantly (P<0.05 in 10 excitatory gastric-related neurons in NTS; the firing rates of 6 neurons were further excited by homolateral EA, with a significant increase of the firing rates (P<0.05; all inhibitory gastric-related neurons in NTS were excited by EA. The inhibition rate of homolateral EA was significantly increased in comparison with contralateral EA in gastric-related neurons of SDH (P<0.05. There was no significant difference between homolateral and contralateral EA in gastric-related neurons of NTS. EA at ST36 changes the firing rate of gastric-related neurons in SDH and NTS. However, there are some differences in responsive mode in these neurons. The existence of these differences could be one of the physiological foundations of diversity and complexity in EA effects.

  15. Changes in the biogenic amine content of the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, dorsal hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens of rats submitted to single and repeated sessions of the elevated plus-maze test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carvalho M.C.

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available It has been demonstrated that exposure to a variety of stressful experiences enhances fearful reactions when behavior is tested in current animal models of anxiety. Until now, no study has examined the neurochemical changes during the test and retest sessions of rats submitted to the elevated plus maze (EPM. The present study uses a new approach (HPLC by looking at the changes in dopamine and serotonin levels in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, dorsal hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens in animals upon single or double exposure to the EPM (one-trial tolerance. The study involved two experiments: i saline or midazolam (0.5 mg/kg before the first trial, and ii saline or midazolam before the second trial. For the biochemical analysis a control group injected with saline and not tested in the EPM was included. Stressful stimuli in the EPM were able to elicit one-trial tolerance to midazolam on re-exposure (61.01%. Significant decreases in serotonin contents occurred in the prefrontal cortex (38.74%, amygdala (78.96%, dorsal hippocampus (70.33%, and nucleus accumbens (73.58% of the animals tested in the EPM (P < 0.05 in all cases in relation to controls not exposed to the EPM. A significant decrease in dopamine content was also observed in the amygdala (54.74%, P < 0.05. These changes were maintained across trials. There was no change in the turnover rates of these monoamines. We suggest that exposure to the EPM causes reduced monoaminergic neurotransmission activity in limbic structures, which appears to underlie the "one-trial tolerance" phenomenon.

  16. Macaque accessory optic system: I. Definition of the medial terminal nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cooper, H.M.; Baleydier, C.; Magnin, M.

    1990-01-01

    The organization of the accessory optic system (AOS) has been studied in the macaque monkey following intravitreal injections of tritiated amino acids in one eye. Retinal projections to the dorsal (DTN) and the lateral (LTN) terminal nuclei are identical to those previously described in other primate species. We observed an additional group of retinorecipient cells of the AOS, located between the cerebral peduncle and the substantia nigra, which we define as the interstitial nucleus of the superior fasiculus, medial fibers. In this report, we focus our attention on the medial terminal nucleus (MTN). Although a ventral division of this nucleus (MTNv) was not observed in the macaque, the retina projects to a group of cells in the midbrain reticular formation (MRF), which we argue to be homologous to the dorsal division of the MTN (MTNd). To provide evidence in support of this homology, the retinal projection to the MTNv and MTNd was also examined in 21 additional species from 11 orders of mammals including carnivores, marsupials, lagomorphs, rodents, bats, insectivores, tree shrews, hyraxes, pholidotes, edentates, and five additional species of primates. Whereas the retina projects to both ventral and dorsal divisions in all species studied, in haplorhine primates only the projection to the MTNd is conserved. The relative topological position of the MTNd in the MRF, dorsomedial to the substantia nigra and ventrolateral to the red nucleus, remains constant throughout the mammals. The trajectory of fiber paths innervating the MTNd is also similar in all species. In addition, the MTNd has comparable afferent and efferent connections with retina, pretectum, and vestibular nuclei in all species thus far studied. These results support the unequivocal conclusion that the MTNd is an unvarying feature of the mammalian AOS

  17. Role of glutamatergic receptors located in the nucleus raphe magnus on antinociceptive effect of morphine microinjected into the nucleus cuneiformis of rat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haghparast, Abbas; Soltani-Hekmat, Ava; Khani, Abbas; Komaki, Alireza

    2007-10-29

    Neurons in the nucleus cuneiformis (CnF), located just ventrolateral to the periaqueductal gray, project to medullary nucleus raphe magnus (NRM), which is a key medullary relay for descending pain modulation and is critically involved in opioid-induced analgesia. Previous studies have shown that antinociceptive response of CnF-microinjected morphine can be modulated by the specific subtypes of glutamatergic receptors within the CnF. In this study, we evaluated the role of NMDA and kainate/AMPA receptors that are widely distributed within the NRM on morphine-induced antinociception elicited from the CnF. Hundred and five male Wistar rats weighing 250-300 g were used. Morphine (10, 20 and 40 microg) and NMDA receptor antagonist, MK-801 (10 microg) or kainate/AMPA receptor antagonist, DNQX (0.5 microg) in 0.5 microl saline were stereotaxically microinjected into the CnF and NRM, respectively. The latency of tail-flick response was measured at set intervals (2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27 min after microinjection) by using an automated tail-flick analgesiometer. The results showed that morphine microinjection into the CnF dose-dependently causes increase in tail-flick latency (TFL). MK-801 microinjected into the NRM, just 1 min before morphine injection into the CnF, significantly attenuated antinociceptive effects of morphine. On the other hand, DNQX microinjected into the NRM, significantly increased TFL after local application of morphine into the CnF. We suggest that morphine related antinociceptive effect elicited from the CnF is mediated, in part, by NMDA receptor at the level of the NRM whereas kainite/AMPA receptor has a net inhibitory influence at the same pathway.

  18. Lateral medullary infarction with ipsilateral hemiparesis, lemniscal sensation loss and hypoglossal nerve palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaodi; Wang, Yuzhou

    2014-04-01

    Here, we present a rare case of a lateral medullary infarction with ipsilateral hemiparesis, lemniscal sensation loss and hypoglossal nerve palsy. In this case, we proved Opalski's hypothesis by diffusion tensor tractography that ipsilateral hemiparesis in a medullary infarction is due to the involvement of the decussated corticospinal tract. We found that the clinical triad of ipsilateral hemiparesis, lemniscal sensation loss and hypoglossal nerve palsy, which had been regarded as a variant of medial medullary syndrome, turned out to be caused by lateral lower medullary infarction. Therefore, this clinical triad does not imply the involvement of the anteromedial part of medulla oblongata, when it is hard to distinguish a massive lateral medullary infarction from a hemimedullary infarction merely from MR images. At last, we suggest that hyperreflexia and Babinski's sign may not be indispensable to the diagnosis of Opalski's syndrome and we propose that "hemimedullary infarction with ipsilateral hemiparesis" is intrinsically a variant of lateral medullary infarction.

  19. Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid - an unusual case of hyalinizing ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Medullary thyroid carcinoma is a neoplasm occurring in sporadic and familial patterns. A rare variant of medullary thyroid carcinoma shows microscopic features similar to hyalinizing trabecular adenoma of thyroid. Detection of this variant requires a high index of suspicion and immunohistochemical confirmation by ...

  20. Medullary breast carcinoma: anatomo-radiological correlation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matheus, Valeria Soares; Canella, Ellyete de Oliveira; Djahjah, Maria Celia Resende; Koch, Hilton Augusto; Kestelman, Fabiola Procaci

    2008-01-01

    To evaluate radiological findings in patients submitted to surgical treatment for medullary breast cancer at Instituto Nacional de Cancer (INCa), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, correlating them with histological results. A retrospective descriptive study was developed with patients submitted to surgery at INCa, in the period from January 1997 to December 2006, for identifying the presence of medullary breast carcinoma and analyzing radiological findings. Among 21,287 patients diagnosed with carcinoma, 76 (0.357%) had typical medullary breast carcinoma. The age range of these patients was 32-81 years (mean = 59.1 years). Mammography demonstrated lesions in 19 of these patients, 17 (89.5%) of them with masses, and 2 with focal asymmetry. Among the patients with masses, 15 (88.1%) presented with high density and 2 (11.9%) with isodensity. Twelve patients presented sonographic findings, 11 (91.6%) of them with hypoechoic masses, and one with an anechoic mass with areas of cystic degeneration. Nodular mass was the predominant radiological finding (89.5%), 88.1% of them corresponding to masses with high density and circumscribed margins. Despite the radiological characteristics of benignity, a solid, fast growing, highly dense mass with circumscribed margins should be further investigated to confirm the diagnosis. (author)

  1. Medullary breast carcinoma: anatomo-radiological correlation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matheus, Valeria Soares; Canella, Ellyete de Oliveira; Djahjah, Maria Celia Resende; Koch, Hilton Augusto [Instituto Nacional de Cancer (INCa), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Kestelman, Fabiola Procaci [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Instituto Nacional de Cancer (INCa), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)]. E-mail: msavaleria@yahoo.com

    2008-11-15

    To evaluate radiological findings in patients submitted to surgical treatment for medullary breast cancer at Instituto Nacional de Cancer (INCa), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, correlating them with histological results. A retrospective descriptive study was developed with patients submitted to surgery at INCa, in the period from January 1997 to December 2006, for identifying the presence of medullary breast carcinoma and analyzing radiological findings. Among 21,287 patients diagnosed with carcinoma, 76 (0.357%) had typical medullary breast carcinoma. The age range of these patients was 32-81 years (mean = 59.1 years). Mammography demonstrated lesions in 19 of these patients, 17 (89.5%) of them with masses, and 2 with focal asymmetry. Among the patients with masses, 15 (88.1%) presented with high density and 2 (11.9%) with isodensity. Twelve patients presented sonographic findings, 11 (91.6%) of them with hypoechoic masses, and one with an anechoic mass with areas of cystic degeneration. Nodular mass was the predominant radiological finding (89.5%), 88.1% of them corresponding to masses with high density and circumscribed margins. Despite the radiological characteristics of benignity, a solid, fast growing, highly dense mass with circumscribed margins should be further investigated to confirm the diagnosis. (author)

  2. Short-term Synaptic Depression in the Feedforward Inhibitory Circuit in the Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Augustinaite, Sigita; Heggelund, Paul

    2018-05-24

    Synaptic short-term plasticity (STP) regulates synaptic transmission in an activity-dependent manner and thereby has important roles in the signal processing in the brain. In some synapses, a presynaptic train of action potentials elicits post-synaptic potentials that gradually increase during the train (facilitation), but in other synapses, these potentials gradually decrease (depression). We studied STP in neurons in the visual thalamic relay, the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN). The dLGN contains two types of neurons: excitatory thalamocortical (TC) neurons, which transfer signals from retinal afferents to visual cortex, and local inhibitory interneurons, which form an inhibitory feedforward loop that regulates the thalamocortical signal transmission. The overall STP in the retino-thalamic relay is short-term depression, but the distinct kind and characteristics of the plasticity at the different types of synapses are unknown. We studied STP in the excitatory responses of interneurons to stimulation of retinal afferents, in the inhibitory responses of TC neurons to stimulation of afferents from interneurons, and in the disynaptic inhibitory responses of TC neurons to stimulation of retinal afferents. Moreover, we studied STP at the direct excitatory input to TC neurons from retinal afferents. The STP at all types of the synapses showed short-term depression. This depression can accentuate rapid changes in the stream of signals and thereby promote detectability of significant features in the sensory input. In vision, detection of edges and contours is essential for object perception, and the synaptic short-term depression in the early visual pathway provides important contributions to this detection process. Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. The dorsal tectal longitudinal column (TLCd): a second longitudinal column in the paramedian region of the midbrain tectum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aparicio, M-Auxiliadora; Saldaña, Enrique

    2014-03-01

    The tectal longitudinal column (TLC) is a longitudinally oriented, long and narrow nucleus that spans the paramedian region of the midbrain tectum of a large variety of mammals (Saldaña et al. in J Neurosci 27:13108-13116, 2007). Recent analysis of the organization of this region revealed another novel nucleus located immediately dorsal, and parallel, to the TLC. Because the name "tectal longitudinal column" also seems appropriate for this novel nucleus, we suggest the TLC described in 2007 be renamed the "ventral tectal longitudinal column (TLCv)", and the newly discovered nucleus termed the "dorsal tectal longitudinal column (TLCd)". This work represents the first characterization of the rat TLCd. A constellation of anatomical techniques was used to demonstrate that the TLCd differs from its surrounding structures (TLCv and superior colliculus) cytoarchitecturally, myeloarchitecturally, neurochemically and hodologically. The distinct expression of vesicular amino acid transporters suggests that TLCd neurons are GABAergic. The TLCd receives major projections from various areas of the cerebral cortex (secondary visual mediomedial area, and granular and dysgranular retrosplenial cortices) and from the medial pretectal nucleus. It densely innervates the ipsilateral lateral posterior and laterodorsal nuclei of the thalamus. Thus, the TLCd is connected with vision-related neural centers. The TLCd may be unique as it constitutes the only known nucleus made of GABAergic neurons dedicated to providing massive inhibition to higher order thalamic nuclei of a specific sensory modality.

  4. Response properties of single units in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus of decerebrate cats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Kevin A; Lomakin, Oleg; Pesavento, Michael J

    2007-09-01

    The dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (DNLL) receives afferent inputs from many brain stem nuclei and, in turn, is a major source of inhibitory inputs to the inferior colliculus (IC). The goal of this study was to characterize the monaural and binaural response properties of neurons in the DNLL of unanesthetized decerebrate cat. Monaural responses were classified according to the patterns of excitation and inhibition observed in contralateral and ipsilateral frequency response maps. Binaural classification was based on unit sensitivity to interaural level differences. The results show that units in the DNLL can be grouped into three distinct types. Type v units produce contralateral response maps that show a wide V-shaped excitatory area and no inhibition. These units receive ipsilateral excitation and exhibit binaural facilitation. The contralateral maps of type i units show a more restricted I-shaped region of excitation that is flanked by inhibition. Type o maps display an O-shaped island of excitation at low stimulus levels that is bounded by inhibition at higher levels. Both type i and type o units receive ipsilateral inhibition and exhibit binaural inhibition. Units that produce type v maps have a low best frequency (BF), whereas type i and type o units have high BFs. Type v and type i units give monotonic rate-level responses for both BF tones and broadband noise. Type o units are inhibited by tones at high levels, but are excited by high-level noise. These results show that the DNLL can exert strong, differential effects in the IC.

  5. Ih equalizes membrane input resistance in a heterogeneous population of fusiform neurons in the dorsal cochlear nucleus.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cesar Celis Ceballos

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available In a neuronal population, several combinations of its ionic conductances are used to attain a specific firing phenotype. Some neurons present heterogeneity in their firing, generally produced by expression of a specific conductance, but how additional conductances vary along in order to homeostatically regulate membrane excitability is less known. Dorsal cochlear nucleus principal neurons, fusiform neurons, display heterogeneous spontaneous action potential activity and thus represent an appropriate model to study the role of different conductances in establishing firing heterogeneity. Particularly, fusiform neurons are divided into quiet, with no spontaneous firing, or active neurons, presenting spontaneous, regular firing. These modes are determined by the expression levels of an intrinsic membrane conductance, an inwardly rectifying potassium current (IKir. In this work, we tested whether other subthreshold conductances vary homeostatically to maintain membrane excitability constant across the two subtypes. We found that Ih expression covaries specifically with IKir in order to maintain membrane resistance constant. The impact of Ih on membrane resistance is dependent on the level of IKir expression, being much smaller in quiet neurons with bigger IKir, but Ih variations are not relevant for creating the quiet and active phenotypes. Finally, we demonstrate that the individual proportion of each conductance, and not their absolute conductance, is relevant for determining the neuronal firing mode. We conclude that in fusiform neurons the variations of their different subthreshold conductances are limited to specific conductances in order to create firing heterogeneity and maintain membrane homeostasis.

  6. MR imaging of medullary streaks in osteosclerosis: a case report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Hak Soo; Joo, Kyung Bin; Park, Tae Soo; Song, Ho Taek; Kim, Yong Soo; Park, Dong Woo; Park, Choong Ki

    2000-01-01

    We present a case of medullary sclerosis of the appendicular skeleton in a patient with chronic renal insufficiency for whom MR imaging findings were characteristic. T1- and T2-weighted MR images showed multiple vertical lines (medullary streaks) of low signal intensity in the metaphyses and diaphyses of the distal femur and proximal tibia

  7. Ovarian steroid regulation of monoamine oxidase-A and -B mRNAs in the macaque dorsal raphe and hypothalamic nuclei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gundlah, Chrisana; Lu, Nick Z; Bethea, Cynthia L

    2002-03-01

    The serotonin neural system plays a pivotal role in mood, affective regulation and integrative cognition, as well as numerous autonomic functions. We have shown that ovarian steroids alter the expression of several genes in the dorsal raphe of macaques, which may increase serotonin synthesis and decrease serotonin autoinhibition. Another control point in aminergic neurotransmission involves degradation by MAO. This enzyme occurs in two isoforms, A and B, which have different substrate preferences. We questioned the effect of ovarian steroid hormones on MAO-A and MAO-B mRNA expression in the dorsal raphe nucleus and hypothalamus using in situ hybridization in non-human primates. Rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta; n=5/group) were spayed and either placebo treated (controls), estrogen (E) treated (28 days), progesterone (P) treated (14 days placebo+14 days P), or E+P treated (14 days E+14 days E+P). Perfusion-fixed sections (25 microm) were hybridized with a 233 bp MAO-A, or a 373 bp MAO-B, radiolabeled-antisense monkey specific probes. Autoradiographic films were analyzed by densitometry, which was performed with NIH Image Software. MAO-A and -B mRNAs were detected in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) and in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), preoptic area (POA), paraventricular nucleus (PVN), supraoptic nucleus (SON), lateral hypothalamus (LH) and ventromedial nucleus (VMN). MAO-A mRNA optical density was significantly decreased by E, P, and E+P in the DRN and in the hypothalamic PVN, LH and VMN. Ovarian hormones had no effect on MAO-B mRNA expression in the DRN. However, there was a significant decrease in MAO-B optical density in the hypothalamic POA, LH and VMN with E, P or E+P treatment. Pixel area generally reflected optical density. Ovarian steroids decreased MAO-A, but not B, in the raphe nucleus. However, both MAO-A and B were decreased in discrete hypothalamic nuclei by hormone replacement. These data suggest that the transcriptional regulation of

  8. Visuomotor signals for reaching movements in the rostro-dorsal sector of the monkey thalamic reticular nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saga, Yosuke; Nakayama, Yoshihisa; Inoue, Ken-Ichi; Yamagata, Tomoko; Hashimoto, Masashi; Tremblay, Léon; Takada, Masahiko; Hoshi, Eiji

    2017-05-01

    The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) collects inputs from the cerebral cortex and thalamus and, in turn, sends inhibitory outputs to the thalamic relay nuclei. This unique connectivity suggests that the TRN plays a pivotal role in regulating information flow through the thalamus. Here, we analyzed the roles of TRN neurons in visually guided reaching movements. We first used retrograde transneuronal labeling with rabies virus, and showed that the rostro-dorsal sector of the TRN (TRNrd) projected disynaptically to the ventral premotor cortex (PMv). In other experiments, we recorded neurons from the TRNrd or PMv while monkeys performed a visuomotor task. We found that neurons in the TRNrd and PMv showed visual-, set-, and movement-related activity modulation. These results indicate that the TRNrd, as well as the PMv, is involved in the reception of visual signals and in the preparation and execution of reaching movements. The fraction of neurons that were non-selective for the location of visual signals or the direction of reaching movements was greater in the TRNrd than in the PMv. Furthermore, the fraction of neurons whose activity increased from the baseline was greater in the TRNrd than in the PMv. The timing of activity modulation of visual-related and movement-related neurons was similar in TRNrd and PMv neurons. Overall, our data suggest that TRNrd neurons provide motor thalamic nuclei with inhibitory inputs that are predominantly devoid of spatial selectivity, and that these signals modulate how these nuclei engage in both sensory processing and motor output during visually guided reaching behavior. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Medullary cystic disease of the kidney: report of a case diagnosed by ultrasonography and computed tomography examinations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carvalho, Tarcisio Nunes; Araujo Junior, Cyrillo Rodrigues de; Fraguas Filho, Sergio Roberto; Costa, Marlos Augusto Bittencourt; Teixeira, Kim-Ir-Sen Santos; Ribeiro, Flavia Aparecida de Souza

    2003-01-01

    The terms medullary cystic disease, juvenile nephronophthisis or medullary cystic disease complex refer to a group of similar diseases in which the basic pathological abnormality is progressive renal tubular atrophy with secondary glomerular sclerosis and medullary cystic formation. Medullary cystic disease is an important cause of renal failure in adolescent patients. Imaging methods play a primary role in the diagnosis of these diseases. Cysts are characteristically seen in the renal medulla and cortico medullary junction whereas kidneys may be of normal to small size. In this article we present the ultrasonography and computed tomography findings of a female adolescent patient with characteristic clinical picture of medullary cystic disease. (author)

  10. NMDA Receptor-Dependent Synaptic Activity in Dorsal Motor Nucleus of Vagus Mediates the Enhancement of Gastric Motility by Stimulating ST36

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinyan Gao

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of electroacupuncture at ST36 for patients with gastrointestinal motility disorders. While several lines of evidence suggest that the effect may involve vagal reflex, the precise molecular mechanism underlying this process still remains unclear. Here we report that the intragastric pressure increase induced by low frequency electric stimulation at ST36 was blocked by AP-5, an antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs. Indeed, stimulating ST36 enhanced NMDAR-mediated, but not 2-amino-3-(5-methyl-3-oxo-1,2-oxazol-4-ylpropanoic-acid-(AMPA- receptor-(AMPAR- mediated synaptic transmission in gastric-projecting neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV. We also identified that suppression of presynaptic μ-opioid receptors may contribute to upregulation of NMDAR-mediated synaptic transmission induced by electroacupuncture at ST36. Furthermore, we determined that the glutamate-receptor-2a-(NR2A- containing NMDARs are essential for NMDAR-mediated enhancement of gastric motility caused by stimulating ST36. Taken together, our results reveal an important role of NMDA receptors in mediating enhancement of gastric motility induced by stimulating ST36.

  11. Social conflict resolution regulated by two dorsal habenular subregions in zebrafish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, Ming-Yi; Amo, Ryunosuke; Kinoshita, Masae; Cherng, Bor-Wei; Shimazaki, Hideaki; Agetsuma, Masakazu; Shiraki, Toshiyuki; Aoki, Tazu; Takahoko, Mikako; Yamazaki, Masako; Higashijima, Shin-ichi; Okamoto, Hitoshi

    2016-04-01

    When animals encounter conflict they initiate and escalate aggression to establish and maintain a social hierarchy. The neural mechanisms by which animals resolve fighting behaviors to determine such social hierarchies remain unknown. We identified two subregions of the dorsal habenula (dHb) in zebrafish that antagonistically regulate the outcome of conflict. The losing experience reduced neural transmission in the lateral subregion of dHb (dHbL)-dorsal/intermediate interpeduncular nucleus (d/iIPN) circuit. Silencing of the dHbL or medial subregion of dHb (dHbM) caused a stronger predisposition to lose or win a fight, respectively. These results demonstrate that the dHbL and dHbM comprise a dual control system for conflict resolution of social aggression. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  12. Dexamethasone rapidly increases GABA release in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus via retrograde messenger-mediated enhancement of TRPV1 activity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrei V Derbenev

    Full Text Available Glucocorticoids influence vagal parasympathetic output to the viscera via mechanisms that include modulation of neural circuitry in the dorsal vagal complex, a principal autonomic regulatory center. Glucocorticoids can modulate synaptic neurotransmitter release elsewhere in the brain by inducing release of retrograde signalling molecules. We tested the hypothesis that the glucocorticoid agonist dexamethasone (DEX modulates GABA release in the rat dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings revealed that DEX (1-10 µM rapidly (i.e. within three minutes increased the frequency of tetrodotoxin-resistant, miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs in 67% of DMV neurons recorded in acutely prepared slices. Glutamate-mediated mEPSCs were also enhanced by DEX (10 µM, and blockade of ionotropic glutamate receptors reduced the DEX effect on mIPSC frequency. Antagonists of type I or II corticosteroid receptors blocked the effect of DEX on mIPSCs. The effect was mimicked by application of the membrane-impermeant BSA-conjugated DEX, and intracellular blockade of G protein function with GDP βS in the recorded cell prevented the effect of DEX. The enhancement of GABA release was blocked by the TRPV1 antagonists, 5'-iodoresiniferatoxin or capsazepine, but was not altered by the cannabinoid type 1 receptor antagonist AM251. The DEX effect was prevented by blocking fatty acid amide hydrolysis or by inhibiting anandamide transport, implicating involvement of the endocannabinoid system in the response. These findings indicate that DEX induces an enhancement of GABA release in the DMV, which is mediated by activation of TRPV1 receptors on afferent terminals. The effect is likely induced by anandamide or other 'endovanilloid', suggesting activation of a local retrograde signal originating from DMV neurons to enhance synaptic inhibition locally in response to glucocorticoids.

  13. Recurrent intramedullary epidermoid cyst of conus medullaris.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Fleming, Christina

    2011-01-01

    Spinal intramedullary epidermoid cyst is a rare condition. Recurrent epidermoid cyst in the spine cord is known to occur. The authors describe a case of recurrent conus medullaris epidermoid cyst in a 24-year-old female. She initially presented at 7 years of age with bladder disturbance in the form of diurnal enuresis and recurrent urinary tract infection. MRI lumbar spine revealed a 4 cm conus medullaris epidermoid cyst. Since the initial presentation, the cyst had recurred seven times in the same location and she underwent surgical intervention in the form of exploration and debulking. This benign condition, owing to its anatomical location, has posed a surgical and overall management challenge. This occurrence is better managed in a tertiary-care centre requiring multi-disciplinary treatment approach.

  14. Neural control of adrenal medullary and cortical blood flow during hemorrhage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Breslow, M.J.; Jordan, D.A.; Thellman, S.T.; Traystman, R.J.

    1987-01-01

    Hemorrhagic hypotension produces an increase in adrenal medullary blood flow and a decrease in adrenal cortical blood flow. To determine whether changes in adrenal blood flow during hemorrhage are neurally mediated, the authors compared blood flow responses following adrenal denervation (splanchnic nerve section) with changes in the contralateral, neurally intact adrenal. Carbonized microspheres labeled with 153 Gd, 114 In, 113 Sn, 103 Ru, 95 Nb or 46 Se were used. Blood pressure was reduced and maintained at 60 mmHg for 25 min by hemorrhage into a pressurized bottle system. Adrenal cortical blood flow decreased to 50% of control with hemorrhage in both the intact and denervated adrenal. Adrenal medullary blood flow increased to four times control levels at 15 and 25 min posthemorrhage in the intact adrenal, but was reduced to 50% of control at 3, 5, and 10 min posthemorrhage in the denervated adrenal. In a separate group of dogs, the greater splanchnic nerve on one side was electrically stimulated at 2, 5, or 15 Hz for 40 min. Adrenal medullary blood flow increased 5- to 10-fold in the stimulated adrenal but was unchanged in the contralateral, nonstimulated adrenal. Adrenal cortical blood flow was not affected by nerve stimulation. They conclude that activity of the splanchnic nerve profoundly affects adrenal medullary vessels but not adrenal cortical vessels and mediates the observed increase in adrenal medullary blood flow during hemorrhagic hypotension

  15. A novel function for the IκB inhibitor Cactus in promoting Dorsal nuclear localization and activity in the Drosophila embryo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso, Maira Arruda; Fontenele, Marcio; Lim, Bomyi; Bisch, Paulo Mascarello; Shvartsman, Stanislav Y; Araujo, Helena Marcolla

    2017-08-15

    The evolutionarily conserved Toll signaling pathway controls innate immunity across phyla and embryonic patterning in insects. In the Drosophila embryo, Toll is required to establish gene expression domains along the dorsal-ventral axis. Pathway activation induces degradation of the IκB inhibitor Cactus, resulting in a ventral-to-dorsal nuclear gradient of the NFκB effector Dorsal. Here, we investigate how cactus modulates Toll signals through its effects on the Dorsal gradient and on Dorsal target genes. Quantitative analysis using a series of loss- and gain-of-function conditions shows that the ventral and lateral aspects of the Dorsal gradient can behave differently with respect to Cactus fluctuations. In lateral and dorsal embryo domains, loss of Cactus allows more Dorsal to translocate to the nucleus. Unexpectedly, cactus loss-of-function alleles decrease Dorsal nuclear localization ventrally, where Toll signals are high. Overexpression analysis suggests that this ability of Cactus to enhance Toll stems from the mobilization of a free Cactus pool induced by the Calpain A protease. These results indicate that Cactus acts to bolster Dorsal activation, in addition to its role as a NFκB inhibitor, ensuring a correct response to Toll signals. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  16. Characteristics of intraoperative abnormal hemodynamics during resection of an intra-fourth ventricular tumor located on the dorsal medulla oblongata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ideguchi, Makoto; Kajiwara, Koji; Yoshikawa, Koichi; Sadahiro, Hirokazu; Nomura, Sadahiro; Fujii, Masami; Suzuki, Michiyasu

    2013-01-01

    Abnormal hemodynamics during extirpation of a para-medulla oblongata (MO) tumor is common and may be associated with direct vagal stimulation of the medullary circuit. However, resection of tumors on the dorsal MO may also induce hemodynamic instability without direct vagal stimulus. The objective of this study was to examine the characteristics of hemodynamic instability unrelated to vagal stimulus during dissection of an intra-fourth ventricular tumor with attachment to the dorsal MO. A retrospective analysis was performed in 13 patients. Abnormal hemodynamics were defined as a > 20% change from the means of the intraoperative mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). Relationships of intraoperative hemodynamics were evaluated with various parameters, including the volume of the MO. Six patients (46.2%) had intraoperative hypertension during separation of the tumor bulk from the dorsal MO. The maximum MAP and HR in these patients were significantly greater than those in patients with normal hemodynamics (116.0 ± 18.0 mmHg versus 85.6 ± 6.5 mmHg; 124.3 ± 22.8 bpm versus 90.5 ± 14.7 bpm). All six cases with abnormal hemodynamics showed hemodynamic fluctuation during separation of the tumor bulk from the dorsal MO. The preoperative volume of the MO in these patients was 1.11 cc less than that in patients with normal hemodynamics, but the volume after tumor resection was similar in the two groups (5.23 cc and 5.12 cc). This suggests that the MO was compressed by the conglutinate tumor bulk, with resultant fluctuation of hemodynamics. Recognition of and preparation for this phenomenon are important for surgery on a tumor located on the dorsal MO.

  17. Intramedullary tuberculoma: A case report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maamar, M.; El Quessar, A.; El Fatemi, N.; El Hassani, My R.; Chakir, N.; Jiddane, M.

    2007-01-01

    Study design: We report a case of intra-medullary tuberculoma in a 22 year-old man with progressive paraparesis and sphincter dysfunction. Objectives: To present a case of intra-medullary tuberculosis and to describe the MRI's contribution to the diagnosis. Summary of background data: Intra-medullary spinal tuberculoma is a rare form of central nervous system tuberculosis. The subject and diagnosis methods: The patient, a 22 year-old man, presented with an intra-medullary tuberculoma of the dorsal spinal cord diagnosed after 6 month history of progressive paraparesis and sphincter dysfunction. MRI visualized ring enhancement of the intra-medullary dorsal lesion. Results: Total resection of the intra-medullary mass was performed through a posterior myelotomy. Histological examination revealed a granulomatous necrosis with caseum. The patient was treated with four anti-tuberculosis drugs in association with corticotherapy. The paraparesis and sphincter dysfunction improved. Conclusions: Intra-medullary spinal tuberculoma is rare, but must be considered in the differential diagnosis of spinal cord compression

  18. The endocannabinoid system within the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the vervet monkey

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Javadi, P.; Bouskila, J.; Bouchard, J. -F.

    2015-01-01

    The endocannabinoid system mainly consists of cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1R) and type 2 (CB2R), their endogenous ligands termed endocannabinoids (eCBs), and the enzymes responsible for the synthesis and degradation of eCBs. These cannabinoid receptors have been well characterized in rodent a...... layers may explain some of the behavioral effects of cannabinoids associated with the integrity of the dorsal visual pathway that plays a role in visual-spatial localization and motion perception....

  19. Expression of Sex Steroid Hormone Receptors in Vagal Motor Neurons Innervating the Trachea and Esophagus in Mouse

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mukudai, Shigeyuki; Ichi Matsuda, Ken; Bando, Hideki; Takanami, Keiko; Nishio, Takeshi; Sugiyama, Yoichiro; Hisa, Yasuo; Kawata, Mitsuhiro

    2016-01-01

    The medullary vagal motor nuclei, the nucleus ambiguus (NA) and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV), innervate the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. We conducted immunohistochemical analysis of expression of the androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor α (ERα), in relation to innervation of the trachea and esophagus via vagal motor nuclei in mice. AR and ERα were expressed in the rostral NA and in part of the DMV. Tracing experiments using cholera toxin B subunit demonstrated that neurons of vagal motor nuclei that innervate the trachea and esophagus express AR and ERα. There was no difference in expression of sex steroid hormone receptors between trachea- and esophagus-innervating neurons. These results suggest that sex steroid hormones may act on vagal motor nuclei via their receptors, thereby regulating functions of the trachea and esophagus

  20. Two-dimensional Fourier analysis of the spongy medullary keratin of structurally coloured feather barbs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prum, R. O.; Torres, R.; Williamson, S.; Dyck, J.

    1999-01-01

    We conducted two-dimensional (2D) discrete Fourier analyses of the spatial variation in refractive index of the spongy medullary keratin from four different colours of structurally coloured feather barbs from three species of bird: the rose-faced lovebird, Agapornis roseicollis (Psittacidae), the budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus (Psittacidae), and the Gouldian finch, Poephila guttata (Estrildidae). These results indicate that the spongy medullary keratin is a nanostructured tissue that functions as an array of coherent scatterers. The nanostructure of the medullary keratin is nearly uniform in all directions. The largest Fourier components of spatial variation in refractive index in the tissue are of the appropriate size to produce the observed colours by constructive interference alone. The peaks of the predicted reflectance spectra calculated from the 2D Fourier power spectra are congruent with the reflectance spectra measured by using microspectrophotometry. The alternative physical models for the production of these colours, the Rayleigh and Mie theories, hypothesize that medullary keratin is an incoherent array and that scattered waves are independent in phase. This assumption is falsified by the ring-like Fourier power spectra of these feathers, and the spacing of the scattering air vacuoles in the medullary keratin. Structural colours of avian feather barbs are produced by constructive interference of coherently scattered light waves from the optically heterogeneous matrix of keratin and air in the spongy medullary layer.

  1. Neurobrucellosis presenting as an intra-medullary spinal cord abscess

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patil Chidanand S

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Of the diverse presentation of neurobrucellosis, intra-medullary spinal cord abscess is extremely rare. Only four other cases have been reported so far. We present a case of spinal cord intra-medullary abscess due to Brucella melitensis. Case presentation A forty-year-old female presented with progressive weakness of both lower limb with urinary incontinence of 6 months duration. She was febrile. Neurological examination revealed flaccid areflexic paraplegia with T10 below sensory impairment including perianal region. An intramedullary mass was diagnosed on Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI scan extending from T12 to L2. At surgery, a large abscess was encountered at the conus medullaris, from which Brucella melitensis was grown on culture. She was started on streptomycin and doxycycline for 1 month, followed by rifampicin and doxycycline for 1 month. At 2-year follow-up, she had recovered only partially and continued to have impaired bladder function. Conclusion Neurobrucellosis, if not treated early, can result in severe neurological morbidity and sequale, which may be irreversible. Hence it is important to consider the possibility of neurobrucellosis in endemic region and treat aggressively.

  2. Somatostatin Receptor Scintigraphy in Medullary Thyroid Cancer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Horst-Schrivers, Anouk N. A.; Brouwers, Adrienne; Links, Thera; Hubalewska‐Dydejczyk, Alicja; Signore, Alberto; de Jong, Marion; Dierckx, Rudi A.; Buscombe, John; Van de Wiele, Christophe

    2015-01-01

    Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a neuroendocrine tumor originating from the calcitonin‐secreting C cells. Surgery, consisting of a total thyroidectomy and an extensive lymph node dissection, is the only effective treatment in MTC; however, metastases are frequently found in the regional cervical

  3. A 9 years boy with MEN-2B variant of medullary thyroid carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sattar, M A; Hadi, H I; Ekramuddoula, F M; Hasanuzzaman, S M

    2013-04-01

    To highlight a rare disease like multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN)-2B variant of medullary thyroid carcinoma and to optimize the management option in such cases, we present a nine year old boy with thyroid swelling, cervical lymphadenopathy and thick lips. His calcitonin level was raised. Investigation's results of the boy were as following fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was medullary carcinoma of thyroid, preoperative calcitonin was >2000pg/ml, post operative histopathological report was medullary carcinoma. Total thyroidectomy with aggressive initial neck surgery may reduce the recurrence and increase better prognosis and survival rate. Calcitonin is used as diagnostic and follow-up marker.

  4. Radionuclide bone scanning of medullary chondrosarcoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hudson, T.M.; Chew, F.S.; Manaster, B.J.

    1982-01-01

    Technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate bone scans of 18 medullary chondrosarcomas of bone were correlated with pathologic macrosections of the resected tumors. There was increased scan intake by all 18 tumors, and the uptake in 15 scans corresponded accurately to the anatomic extent of the tumors. Only three scans displayed increased uptake beyond the true tumor margins; thus, the ''extended pattern of uptake'' beyond the true tumor extent is much less common in medullary chondrosarcomas than in many other primary bone tumors. Therefore, increased uptake beyond the apparent radiographic margin of the tumor suggests possible occult tumor spread. Pathologically, there was intense reactive new bone formation and hyperemia around the periphery of all 18 tumors, and there were foci of enchondral ossification, hyperemia, or calcification within the tumor itself in nearly every tumor. Three scans displayed less uptake in the center of the tumors than around their peripheries. One of these tumors was necrotic in the center, but the other two were pathologically no different from tumors that displayed homogenous uptake on the scan

  5. Radionuclide bone scanning of medullary chondrosarcoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hudson, T.M.; Chew, F.S.; Manaster, B.J.

    1982-01-01

    /sup 99m/Tc methylene diphosphonate bone scans of 18 medullary chondrosarcomas of bone were correlated with pathologic macrosections of the resected tumors. There was increased scan uptake by all 18 tumors, and the uptake in 15 scans corresponded accurately to the anatomic extent of the tumors. Only three scans displayed increased uptake beyond the true tumor margins; thus, the extended pattern of uptake beyond the true tumor extent is much less common in medullary chondrosarcomas than in many other primary bone tumors. Therefore, increased uptake beyond the apparent radiographic margin of the tumor suggests possible occult tumor spread. Pathologically, there was intense reactive new bone formation and hyperemia around the periphery of all 18 tumors, and there were foci of enchondral ossification, hyperemia, or calcification within the tumor itself in nearly every tumor. Three scans displayed less uptake in the center of the tumors than around their peripheries. One of these tumors was necrotic in the center, but the other two were pathologically no different from tumors that displayed homogeneous uptake on the scan

  6. Schwannosis induced medullary compression in VACTERL syndrome.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Treacy, A

    2011-10-21

    A 7-year-old boy with a history of VACTERL syndrome was found collapsed in bed. MRI had shown basilar invagination of the skull base and narrowing of the foramen magnum. Angulation, swelling and abnormal high signal at the cervicomedullary junction were felt to be secondary to compression of the medulla. Neuropathologic examination showed bilateral replacement of the medullary tegmentum by an irregularly circumscribed cellular lesion which was composed of elongated GFAP\\/S 100-positive cells with spindled nuclei and minimal atypia. The pathologic findings were interpreted as intramedullary schwannosis with mass effect. Schwannosis, is observed in traumatized spinal cords where its presence may represent attempted, albeit aberrant, repair by inwardly migrating Schwann cells ofperipheral origin. In our view the compressive effect of the basilar invagination on this boy\\'s medulla was of sufficient magnitude to have caused tumoral medullary schwannosis with resultant intermittent respiratory compromise leading to reflex anoxic seizures.

  7. Extrasynaptic glycine receptors of rodent dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons:a sensitive target for ethanol

    OpenAIRE

    Maguire, Edward P.; Mitchell, Elizabeth A.; Greig, Scott J.; Corteen, Nicole; Balfour, David J. K.; Swinny, Jerome; Lambert, Jeremy J.; Belelli, Delia

    2014-01-01

    Alcohol abuse is a significant medical and social problem. Several neurotransmitter systems are implicated in ethanol's actions, with certain receptors and ion channels emerging as putative targets. The dorsal raphe (DR) nucleus is associated with the behavioral actions of alcohol, but ethanol actions on these neurons are not well understood. Here, using immunohistochemistry and electrophysiology we characterize DR inhibitory transmission and its sensitivity to ethanol. DR neurons exhibit inh...

  8. Effect of neonatal capsaicin treatment on neural activity in the medullary dorsal horn of neonatal rats evoked by electrical stimulation to the trigeminal afferents: an optical, electrophysiological, and quantitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takuma, S

    2001-07-06

    To elucidate which glutamate receptors, NMDA or non-NMDA, have the main role in synaptic transmission via unmyelinated afferents in the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (the medullary dorsal horn), and to examine the early functional effects of neonatal capsaicin treatment to the subnucleus caudalis, optical recording, field potential recording, and quantitative study using electron micrographs were employed. A medulla oblongata isolated from a rat 5--7 days old was sectioned horizontally 400-microm thick or parasagittally and stained with a voltage-sensitive dye, RH482 or RH795. Single-pulse stimulation with high intensity to the trigeminal afferents evoked optical responses mainly in the subnucleus caudalis. The optical signals were composed of two phases, a fast component followed by a long-lasting component. The spatiotemporal properties of the optical signals were well correlated to those of the field potentials recorded simultaneously. The fast component was eliminated by 6-cyano-7-nitro-quinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX; 10 microM), while the long-lasting component was not. The latter increased in amplitude under a condition of low Mg(2+) but was significantly reduced by DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP5; 30 microM). Neonatal capsaicin treatment also reduced the long-lasting component markedly. In addition, the decreases in the ratio of unmyelinated axons to myelinated axons and in the ratio of unmyelinated axons to Schwann cell subunits of trigeminal nerve roots both showed significant differences (P<0.05, Student's t-test) between the control group and the neonatal capsaicin treatment group. This line of evidence indirectly suggests that synaptic transmission via unmyelinated afferents in the subnucleus caudalis is mediated substantially by NMDA glutamate receptors and documented that neonatal capsaicin treatment induced a functional alteration of the neural transmission in the subnucleus caudalis as well as a morphological alteration of primary afferents

  9. Is thyroidectomy necessary in RET mutations carriers of the familial medullary thyroid carcinoma syndrome?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, H S; Torring, H; Godballe, C

    2000-01-01

    BACKGROUND: The results and consequences of genetic testing in a family with familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC) are described. METHODS: In the screening of relatives, serum calcitonin is replaced by RET mutation analysis that was performed in families suspected of hereditary medullary th...

  10. Bilateral descending hypothalamic projections to the spinal trigeminal nucleus caudalis in rats.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khaled Abdallah

    Full Text Available Several lines of evidence suggest that the hypothalamus is involved in trigeminal pain processing. However, the organization of descending hypothalamic projections to the spinal trigeminal nucleus caudalis (Sp5C remains poorly understood. Microinjections of the retrograde tracer, fluorogold (FG, into the Sp5C, in rats, reveal that five hypothalamic nuclei project to the Sp5C: the paraventricular nucleus, the lateral hypothalamic area, the perifornical hypothalamic area, the A11 nucleus and the retrochiasmatic area. Descending hypothalamic projections to the Sp5C are bilateral, except those from the paraventricular nucleus which exhibit a clear ipsilateral predominance. Moreover, the density of retrogradely FG-labeled neurons in the hypothalamus varies according to the dorso-ventral localization of the Sp5C injection site. There are much more labeled neurons after injections into the ventrolateral part of the Sp5C (where ophthalmic afferents project than after injections into its dorsomedial or intermediate parts (where mandibular and maxillary afferents, respectively, project. These results demonstrate that the organization of descending hypothalamic projections to the spinal dorsal horn and Sp5C are different. Whereas the former are ipsilateral, the latter are bilateral. Moreover, hypothalamic projections to the Sp5C display somatotopy, suggesting that these projections are preferentially involved in the processing of meningeal and cutaneous inputs from the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve in rats. Therefore, our results suggest that the control of trigeminal and spinal dorsal horn processing of nociceptive information by hypothalamic neurons is different and raise the question of the role of bilateral, rather than unilateral, hypothalamic control.

  11. VAC Therapy Direct to the Medullary Cavity for Chronic Tibial Osteomyelitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyamura, Satoshi; Tsuji, Shigeyoshi; Iwai, Takao; Hamada, Masayuki

    2016-06-01

    Vacuum-assisted wound closure (VAC) is useful for difficult wound beds, although sites where bleeding or infection is expected are usually regarded as problematic for this therapy. This report outlines the treatment of chronic tibial osteomyelitis (Cierny- Mader type III) due to mixed infection with Nocardia spp and Bacteroi- des fragilis by postoperative VAC therapy direct to the medullary cavity, followed by wound coverage with a gastrocnemius myocutaneous skin flap. A 64-year-old man developed chronic left tibial os- teomyelitis after a work injury. The nonviable tissues were debrided, including a sequestrum. Nocardia spp and B. fragilis were isolated from surgical bone specimens, and chronic tibial osteomyelitis due to mixed infection was diagnosed. Postoperatively, VAC therapy was performed directly to the open medullary cavity of the tibia and sub- sequently covered the residual soft tissue defect with a gastrocnemius myocutaneous flap. The authors could not find any English literature on VAC therapy direct to the medullary cavity combined with transplantation of a myocutaneous flap for osteomyelitis. Nocardia spp can cause a variety of infections, among which osteomyelitis occupies a relatively small percentage. This case raises the possibil- ity of treating chronic tibial osteomyelitis caused by mixed infection with Nocardia spp and B. fragilis by applying postoperative VAC ther- apy directly to the medullary cavity and covering the residual wound with a gastrocnemius myocutaneous flap.

  12. The dorsal striatum and ventral striatum play different roles in the programming of social behaviour: a tribute to Lex Cools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Bos, Ruud

    2015-02-01

    Early work by Lex Cools suggested that the caudate nucleus (dorsal striatum) plays a role in programming social behaviour: enhanced activity in the caudate nucleus increased the extent to which ongoing behaviour is controlled by the individual's own behaviour (internal control) rather than by that of its partners (external control). Interestingly, later studies by others have indicated that the ventral striatum plays a role in external rather than internal control. Here, I discuss the role of these different striatal areas - and the emotional (ventral striatum) and cognitive control (dorsal striatum) system in which they are embedded - in the organization of social behaviour in the context of locus of control. Following on from this discussion, I will pay particular attention to individual differences in social behaviour (individuals with more internal or external control), focusing on the role of dopamine, serotonin and the effects of stress-related challenges in relation to their different position in a dominance hierarchy. I will subsequently allude to potential psychological and behavioural problems in the social domain following on from these differences in locus of control ['social obliviousness' (dorsal stratum) and 'social impulsivity' (ventral striatum)]. In doing so, I provide as a tribute a historical account of the early research by Lex Cools.

  13. A morphometric, immunohistochemical, and in situ hybridization study of the dorsal raphe nucleus in major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and suicide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Paul R; Harrison, Paul J

    2012-03-01

    Several lines of evidence implicate 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) in the pathophysiology of mood disorders and suicide. However, it is unclear whether these conditions include morphological involvement of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), the origin of most forebrain 5-HT innervation. We used morphometric, immunohistochemical, and molecular methods to compare the DRN in post-mortem tissue of 50 subjects (13 controls, 14 major depressive disorder [MDD], 13 bipolar disorder, 10 schizophrenia; 17 of the cases died by suicide). NeuN and PH8 antibodies were used to assess all neurons and serotonergic neurons respectively; 5-HT(1A) autoreceptor expression was investigated by regional and cellular in situ hybridization. Measurements were made at three rostrocaudal levels of the DRN. In MDD, the area of the DRN was decreased. In bipolar disorder, serotonergic neuronal size was decreased. Suicide was associated with an increased DRN area, and with a higher density but decreased size of serotonergic neurons. Total neuronal density and 5-HT(1A) receptor mRNA abundance were unaffected by diagnosis or suicide. No changes were seen in schizophrenia. The results show that mood disorders and suicide are associated with differential, limited morphological alterations of the DRN. The contrasting influences of MDD and suicide may explain some of the discrepancies between previous studies, since their design precluded detection of the effect. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Plasticity of Select Primary Afferent Projections to the Dorsal Horn after a Lumbosacral Ventral Root Avulsion Injury and Root Replantation in Rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Allison J. Bigbee

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Injuries to the conus medullaris and cauda equina portions of the spinal cord result in neurological impairments, including paralysis, autonomic dysfunction, and pain. In experimental studies, earlier investigations have shown that a lumbosacral ventral root avulsion (VRA injury results in allodynia, which may be ameliorated by surgical replantation of the avulsed ventral roots. Here, we investigated the long-term effects of an L6 + S1 VRA injury on the plasticity of three populations of afferent projections to the dorsal horn in rats. At 8 weeks after a unilateral L6 + S1 VRA injury, quantitative morphological studies of the adjacent L5 dorsal horn showed reduced immunoreactivity (IR for the vesicular glutamate transporter, VGLUT1 and isolectin B4 (IB4 binding, whereas IR for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP was unchanged. The IR for VGLUT1 and CGRP as well as IB4 binding was at control levels in the L5 dorsal horn at 8 weeks following an acute surgical replantation of the avulsed L6 + S1 ventral roots. Quantitative morphological studies of the L5 dorsal root ganglia (DRGs showed unchanged neuronal numbers for both the VRA and replanted series compared to shams. The portions of L5 DRG neurons expressing IR for VGLUT1 and CGRP, and IB4 binding were also the same between the VRA, replanted, and sham-operated groups. We conclude that the L5 dorsal horn shows selective plasticity for VGLUT1 and IB4 primary afferent projections after an L6 + S1 VRA injury and surgical repair.

  15. Successful intraosseous infusion in the critically ill patient does not require a medullary cavity.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McCarthy, Gerard

    2012-02-03

    OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate that successful intraosseous infusion in critically ill patients does not require bone that contains a medullary cavity. DESIGN: Infusion of methyl green dye via standard intraosseous needles into bones without medullary cavity-in this case calcaneus and radial styloid-in cadaveric specimens. SETTING: University department of anatomy. PARTICIPANTS: Two adult cadaveric specimens. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Observation of methyl green dye in peripheral veins of the limb in which the intraosseous infusion was performed. RESULTS: Methyl green dye was observed in peripheral veins of the chosen limb in five out of eight intraosseous infusions into bones without medullary cavity-calcaneus and radial styloid. CONCLUSIONS: Successful intraosseous infusion does not always require injection into a bone with a medullary cavity. Practitioners attempting intraosseous access on critically ill patients in the emergency department or prehospital setting need not restrict themselves to such bones. Calcaneus and radial styloid are both an acceptable alternative to traditional recommended sites.

  16. Bladder urine oxygen tension for assessing renal medullary oxygenation in rabbits: experimental and modeling studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sgouralis, Ioannis; Kett, Michelle M.; Ow, Connie P. C.; Abdelkader, Amany; Layton, Anita T.; Gardiner, Bruce S.; Smith, David W.; Lankadeva, Yugeesh R.

    2016-01-01

    Oxygen tension (Po2) of urine in the bladder could be used to monitor risk of acute kidney injury if it varies with medullary Po2. Therefore, we examined this relationship and characterized oxygen diffusion across walls of the ureter and bladder in anesthetized rabbits. A computational model was then developed to predict medullary Po2 from bladder urine Po2. Both intravenous infusion of [Phe2,Ile3,Orn8]-vasopressin and infusion of NG-nitro-l-arginine reduced urinary Po2 and medullary Po2 (8–17%), yet had opposite effects on renal blood flow and urine flow. Changes in bladder urine Po2 during these stimuli correlated strongly with changes in medullary Po2 (within-rabbit r2 = 0.87–0.90). Differences in the Po2 of saline infused into the ureter close to the kidney could be detected in the bladder, although this was diminished at lesser ureteric flow. Diffusion of oxygen across the wall of the bladder was very slow, so it was not considered in the computational model. The model predicts Po2 in the pelvic ureter (presumed to reflect medullary Po2) from known values of bladder urine Po2, urine flow, and arterial Po2. Simulations suggest that, across a physiological range of urine flow in anesthetized rabbits (0.1–0.5 ml/min for a single kidney), a change in bladder urine Po2 explains 10–50% of the change in pelvic urine/medullary Po2. Thus, it is possible to infer changes in medullary Po2 from changes in urinary Po2, so urinary Po2 may have utility as a real-time biomarker of risk of acute kidney injury. PMID:27385734

  17. Bladder urine oxygen tension for assessing renal medullary oxygenation in rabbits: experimental and modeling studies

    OpenAIRE

    Sgouralis, Ioannis; Kett, Michelle M.; Ow, Connie P. C.; Abdelkader, Amany; Layton, Anita T.; Gardiner, Bruce S.; Smith, David W.; Lankadeva, Yugeesh R.; Evans, Roger G.

    2016-01-01

    Oxygen tension (Po2) of urine in the bladder could be used to monitor risk of acute kidney injury if it varies with medullary Po2. Therefore, we examined this relationship and characterized oxygen diffusion across walls of the ureter and bladder in anesthetized rabbits. A computational model was then developed to predict medullary Po2 from bladder urine Po2. Both intravenous infusion of [Phe2,Ile3,Orn8]-vasopressin and infusion of NG-nitro-l-arginine reduced urinary Po2 and medullary Po2 (8–1...

  18. Population calcium imaging of spontaneous respiratory and novel motor activity in the facial nucleus and ventral brainstem in newborn mice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Persson, Karin; Rekling, Jens C

    2011-01-01

    The brainstem contains rhythm and pattern forming circuits, which drive cranial and spinal motor pools to produce respiratory and other motor patterns. Here we used calcium imaging combined with nerve recordings in newborn mice to reveal spontaneous population activity in the ventral brainstem...... and in the facial nucleus. In Fluo-8AM loaded brainstem-spinal cord preparations, respiratory activity on cervical nerves was synchronized with calcium signals at the ventrolateral brainstem surface. Individual ventrolateral neurons at the level of the parafacial respiratory group showed perfect or partial...... synchrony with respiratory nerve bursts. In brainstem-spinal cord preparations, cut at the level of the mid-facial nucleus, calcium signals were recorded in the dorsal, lateral and medial facial subnuclei during respiratory activity. Strong activity initiated in the dorsal subnucleus, followed by activity...

  19. Role of nitric oxide and prostaglandin in the maintenance of cortical and renal medullary blood flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.I Gomez

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available This study was undertaken in anesthetized dogs to evaluate the relative participation of prostaglandins (PGs and nitric oxide (NO in the maintenance of total renal blood flow (TRBF, and renal medullary blood flow (RMBF. It was hypothesized that the inhibition of NO should impair cortical and medullary circulation because of the synthesis of this compound in the endothelial cells of these two territories. In contrast, under normal conditions of perfusion pressure PG synthesis is confined to the renal medulla. Hence PG inhibition should predominantly impair the medullary circulation. The initial administration of 25 µM kg-1 min-1 NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester produced a significant 26% decrease in TRBF and a concomitant 34% fall in RMBF, while the subsequent inhibition of PGs with 5 mg/kg meclofenamate further reduced TRBF by 33% and RMBF by 89%. In contrast, the initial administration of meclofenamate failed to change TRBF, while decreasing RMBF by 49%. The subsequent blockade of NO decreased TRBF by 35% without further altering RMBF. These results indicate that initial PG synthesis inhibition predominantly alters the medullary circulation, whereas NO inhibition decreases both cortical and medullary flow. This latter change induced by NO renders cortical and RMBF susceptible to a further decrease by PG inhibition. However, the decrease in medullary circulation produced by NO inhibition is not further enhanced by subsequent PG inhibition.

  20. Nociceptive afferents to the premotor neurons that send axons simultaneously to the facial and hypoglossal motoneurons by means of axon collaterals.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yulin Dong

    Full Text Available It is well known that the brainstem premotor neurons of the facial nucleus and hypoglossal nucleus coordinate orofacial nociceptive reflex (ONR responses. However, whether the brainstem PNs receive the nociceptive projection directly from the caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus is still kept unclear. Our present study focuses on the distribution of premotor neurons in the ONR pathways of rats and the collateral projection of the premotor neurons which are involved in the brainstem local pathways of the orofacial nociceptive reflexes of rat. Retrograde tracer Fluoro-gold (FG or FG/tetramethylrhodamine-dextran amine (TMR-DA were injected into the VII or/and XII, and anterograde tracer biotinylated dextran amine (BDA was injected into the caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus (Vc. The tracing studies indicated that FG-labeled neurons receiving BDA-labeled fibers from the Vc were mainly distributed bilaterally in the parvicellular reticular formation (PCRt, dorsal and ventral medullary reticular formation (MdD, MdV, supratrigeminal nucleus (Vsup and parabrachial nucleus (PBN with an ipsilateral dominance. Some FG/TMR-DA double-labeled premotor neurons, which were observed bilaterally in the PCRt, MdD, dorsal part of the MdV, peri-motor nucleus regions, contacted with BDA-labeled axonal terminals and expressed c-fos protein-like immunoreactivity which induced by subcutaneous injection of formalin into the lip. After retrograde tracer wheat germ agglutinated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP was injected into VII or XII and BDA into Vc, electron microscopic study revealed that some BDA-labeled axonal terminals made mainly asymmetric synapses on the dendritic and somatic profiles of WGA-HRP-labeled premotor neurons. These data indicate that some premotor neurons could integrate the orofacial nociceptive input from the Vc and transfer these signals simultaneously to different brainstem motonuclei by axonal collaterals.

  1. Deep Brain Stimulation of Medial Dorsal and Ventral Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in OCD: A Retrospective Case Series.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Maarouf

    Full Text Available The current notion that cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits are involved in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD has instigated the search for the most suitable target for deep brain stimulation (DBS. However, despite extensive research, uncertainty about the ideal target remains with many structures being underexplored. The aim of this report is to address a new target for DBS, the medial dorsal (MD and the ventral anterior (VA nucleus of the thalamus, which has thus far received little attention in the treatment of OCD.In this retrospective trial, four patients (three female, one male aged 31-48 years, suffering from therapy-refractory OCD underwent high-frequency DBS of the MD and VA. In two patients (de novo group the thalamus was chosen as a primary target for DBS, whereas in two patients (rescue DBS group lead implantation was performed in a rescue DBS attempt following unsuccessful primary stimulation.Continuous thalamic stimulation yielded no significant improvement in OCD symptom severity. Over the course of thalamic DBS symptoms improved in only one patient who showed "partial response" on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive (Y-BOCS Scale. Beck Depression Inventory scores dropped by around 46% in the de novo group; anxiety symptoms improved by up to 34%. In the de novo DBS group no effect of DBS on anxiety and mood was observable.MD/VA-DBS yielded no adequate alleviation of therapy-refractory OCD, the overall strategy in targeting MD/VA as described in this paper can thus not be recommended in DBS for OCD. The magnocellular portion of MD (MDMC, however, might prove a promising target in the treatment of mood related and anxiety disorders.

  2. Deep Brain Stimulation of Medial Dorsal and Ventral Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in OCD: A Retrospective Case Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maarouf, Mohammad; Neudorfer, Clemens; El Majdoub, Faycal; Lenartz, Doris; Kuhn, Jens; Sturm, Volker

    2016-01-01

    The current notion that cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits are involved in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has instigated the search for the most suitable target for deep brain stimulation (DBS). However, despite extensive research, uncertainty about the ideal target remains with many structures being underexplored. The aim of this report is to address a new target for DBS, the medial dorsal (MD) and the ventral anterior (VA) nucleus of the thalamus, which has thus far received little attention in the treatment of OCD. In this retrospective trial, four patients (three female, one male) aged 31-48 years, suffering from therapy-refractory OCD underwent high-frequency DBS of the MD and VA. In two patients (de novo group) the thalamus was chosen as a primary target for DBS, whereas in two patients (rescue DBS group) lead implantation was performed in a rescue DBS attempt following unsuccessful primary stimulation. Continuous thalamic stimulation yielded no significant improvement in OCD symptom severity. Over the course of thalamic DBS symptoms improved in only one patient who showed "partial response" on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive (Y-BOCS) Scale. Beck Depression Inventory scores dropped by around 46% in the de novo group; anxiety symptoms improved by up to 34%. In the de novo DBS group no effect of DBS on anxiety and mood was observable. MD/VA-DBS yielded no adequate alleviation of therapy-refractory OCD, the overall strategy in targeting MD/VA as described in this paper can thus not be recommended in DBS for OCD. The magnocellular portion of MD (MDMC), however, might prove a promising target in the treatment of mood related and anxiety disorders.

  3. Evidence for role of acid-sensing ion channels in nucleus ambiguus neurons: essential differences in anesthetized versus awake rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brailoiu, G Cristina; Deliu, Elena; Altmann, Joseph B; Chitravanshi, Vineet; Brailoiu, Eugen

    2014-08-01

    Acid-sensing ion channels (ASIC) are widely expressed in several brain regions including medulla; their role in physiology and pathophysiology is incompletely understood. We examined the effect of acidic pH of 6.2 on the medullary neurons involved in parasympathetic cardiac control. Our results indicate that retrogradely labeled cardiac vagal neurons of nucleus ambiguus are depolarized by acidic pH. In addition, acidic saline of pH 6.2 increases cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration by promoting Ca(2+) influx in nucleus ambiguus neurons. In vivo studies indicate that microinjection of acidic artificial cerebrospinal fluid (pH 6.2) into the nucleus ambiguus decreases the heart rate in conscious rats, whereas it has no effect in anesthetized animals. Pretreatment with either amiloride or benzamil, two widely used ASIC blockers, abolishes both the in vitro and in vivo effects elicited by pH 6.2. Our findings support a critical role for ASIC in modulation of cardiac vagal tone and provide a potential mechanism for acidosis-induced bradycardia, while identifying important differences in the response to acidic pH between anesthetized and conscious rats.

  4. Particle correlations in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagamiya, Sh.

    1981-01-01

    Particle correlations in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at energies of 1-2 GeV/nucleon are investigated. The problems of measurement of the mean free path lambda of protons inside the nucleus and the interaction radius of nucleus-nucleus collisions is considered. The value of lambda has been determined in two-proton coincidence experiment in proton-nucleus interaction at 800 MeV. The observed value of lambda is slightly longer than the expected from free nucleon-nucleon collisions. Some preliminary results on proton emission beyond free nucleon-nucleon kinemaics are given

  5. Nucleus-nucleus potential with repulsive core and elastic scattering. Part 1. Nucleus-nucleus interaction potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davidovs'ka, O.Yi.; Denisov, V.Yu.; Nesterov, V.O.

    2010-01-01

    Various approaches for nucleus-nucleus interaction potential evaluation are discussed in details. It is shown that the antisymmetrization of nucleons belonging to different nuclei and the Pauli principle give the essential contribution into the nucleus-nucleus potential at distances, when nuclei are strongly overlapping, and lead to appearance of the repulsive core of nucleus nucleus interaction at small distances between nuclei.

  6. Projections of the optic tectum and the mesencephalic nucleus of the trigeminal nerve in the tegu lizard (Tupinambis nigropunctatus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebbesson, S O

    1981-01-01

    Fibers undergoing Wallerian degeneration following tectal lesions were demonstrated with the Nauta and Fink-Heimer methods and traced to their termination. Four of the five distinct fiber paths originating in the optic tectum appear related to vision, while one is related to the mesencephalic nucleus of the trigeminus. The latter component of the tectal efferents distributes fibers to 1) the main sensory nucleus of the trigeminus, 2) the motor nucleus of the trigeminus, 3) the nucleus of tractus solitarius, and 4) the intermediate gray of the cervical spinal cord. The principal ascending bundle projects to the nucleus rotundus, three components of the ventral geniculate nucleus and the nucleus ventromedialis anterior ipsilaterally, before it crosses in the supraoptic commissure and terminates in the contralateral nucleus rotundus, ventral geniculate nucleus and a hitherto unnamed region dorsal to the nucleus of the posterior accessory optic tract. Fibers leaving the tectum dorso-medially terminate in the posterodorsal nucleus ipsilaterally and the stratum griseum periventriculare of the contralateral tectum. The descending fiber paths terminate in medial reticular cell groups and the rostral spinal cord contralaterally and in the torus and the lateral reticular regions ipsilaterally. The ipsilateral fascicle also issues fibers to the magnocellular nucleus isthmi.

  7. Wallenberg's lateral medullary syndrome: diffusion-weighted imaging findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kitis, O.; Calli, C.; Yunten, N.; Kocaman, A.; Sirin, H. [Ege Univ., Izmir (Turkey). Dept. of Radiology

    2004-02-01

    To investigate the efficacy of diffusion-weighted imaging in patients with Wallenberg's lateral medullary syndrome. Thirteen patients with Wallenberg's lateral medullary syndrome were examined with conventional and echoplanar diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in a 1.5 T magnetic resonance unit. MR examinations were obtained in the acute or subacute stage of clinical syndrome, and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was considered to be positive for infarction when an increase in signal was seen on b = 1000 s/mm2 images in the posterolateral medullary localization. DWIs were positive in 12 patients in the acute or subacute stages of this clinical syndrome. A false-negative result was obtained in only one patient examined within the first day, 10 h after onset of the symptoms. In the visual evaluation of the DWI, the contrast between normal and infarcted brainstem area was better in the high b-value images than in the apparent diffusion coefficient map images. DWI is a valuable technique for examining patients presenting with the signs and symptoms of Wallenberg's syndrome and high b-value images can provide complementary data to T2-weighted images. However, because most of our case group were in either the acute or subacute stage, true sensitivity of the method in the hyperacute stage of the syndrome remains unclear.

  8. Medullary thyroid cancer: RET testing of an archival material

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godballe, Christian; Jørgensen, Gita; Gerdes, Anne-Marie Axø

    2010-01-01

    Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) might be sporadic (75%) or hereditary (25%). Until the mid nineties the diagnosis of hereditary MTC was based on family history, clinical evaluation, histological detection of C-cell hyperplasia and tumor multifocality. Patients and families with hereditary MTC...

  9. Medullary thyroid cancer: RET testing of an archival material

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godballe, Christian; Jørgensen, Gita; Gerdes, Anne-Marie

    2009-01-01

    Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) might be sporadic (75%) or hereditary (25%). Until the mid nineties the diagnosis of hereditary MTC was based on family history, clinical evaluation, histological detection of C-cell hyperplasia and tumor multifocality. Patients and families with hereditary MTC...

  10. Lumbar dorsal ramus syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogduk, N

    1980-11-15

    Low back pain, referred pain in the lower limbs, and spasm of the back, gluteal, and hamstring muscles are clinical features which can be induced in normal volunteers by stimulating structures which are innervated by the lumbar dorsal rami. Conversely, they can be relieved in certain patients by selective interruption of conduction along dorsal rami. These facts permit the definition of a lumbar dorsal ramus syndrome, which can be distinguished from the intervertebral disc syndrome and other forms of low back pain. The distinguishing feature is that, in lumbar dorsal ramus syndrome, all the clinical features are exclusively mediated by dorsal rami and do not arise from nerve-root compression. The pathophysiology, pathology, and treatment of this syndrome are described. Recognition of this syndrome, and its treatment with relatively minor procedures, can obviate the need for major surgery which might otherwise be undertaken.

  11. Proximal Tubular Injury in Medullary Rays Is an Early Sign of Acute Tacrolimus Nephrotoxicity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diane Cosner

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Tacrolimus (FK506 is one of the principal immunosuppressive agents used after solid organ transplantations to prevent allograft rejection. Chronic renal injury induced by tacrolimus is characterized by linear fibrosis in the medullary rays; however, the early morphologic findings of acute tacrolimus nephrotoxicity are not well characterized. Kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1 is a specific injury biomarker that has been proven to be useful in the diagnosis of mild to severe acute tubular injury on renal biopsies. This study was motivated by a patient with acute kidney injury associated with elevated serum tacrolimus levels in whom KIM-1 staining was present only in proximal tubules located in the medullary rays in the setting of otherwise normal light, immunofluorescent, and electron microscopy. We subsequently evaluated KIM-1 expression in 45 protocol and 39 indicated renal transplant biopsies to determine whether higher serum levels of tacrolimus were associated with acute segment specific injury to the proximal tubule, as reflected by KIM-1 staining in the proximal tubules of the cortical medullary rays. The data suggest that tacrolimus toxicity preferentially affects proximal tubules in medullary rays and that this targeted injury is a precursor lesion for the linear fibrosis seen in chronic tacrolimus toxicity.

  12. DORSAL ROOT REGENERATION INTO TRANSPLANTS OF DORSAL OR VENTRAL HALF OF EMBRYONIC SPINAL CORD

    OpenAIRE

    Ohta, Tohru; Itoh, Yasunobu; Tessler, Alan; Mizoi, Kazuo

    2009-01-01

    Adult cut dorsal root axons regenerate into the transplants of embryonic spinal cord (ESC) and form functional synapses within the transplants. It is unknown whether the growth is specific to transplants of dorsal half of ESC, a normal target of most dorsal root axons, or whether it is due to properties shared by transplants of ventral half of ESC. We used calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) immunohistochemistry to label to the subpopulations of regenerated adult dorsal root axons, quantit...

  13. Momentum loss in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, F.; Townsend, L.W.

    1993-12-01

    An optical model description, based on multiple scattering theory, of longitudinal momentum loss in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions is presented. The crucial role of the imaginary component of the nucleon-nucleon transition matrix in accounting for longitudinal momentum transfer is demonstrated. Results obtained with this model are compared with Intranuclear Cascade (INC) calculations, as well as with predictions from Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (VUU) and quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations. Comparisons are also made with experimental data where available. These indicate that the present model is adequate to account for longitudinal momentum transfer in both proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions over a wide range of energies

  14. Localization of calcium-binding proteins and GABA transporter (GAT-1) messenger RNA in the human subthalamic nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Augood, S.J.; Waldvogel, H.J.; Muenkle, M.C.; Faull, R.L.M.; Emson, P.C.

    1999-01-01

    The distribution of messenger RNA encoding the human GAT-1 (a high-affinity GABA transporter) was investigated in the subthalamic nucleus of 10 neurologically normal human post mortem cases. Further, the distribution of messenger RNA and protein encoding the three neuronally expressed calcium-binding proteins (calbindin D28k, parvalbumin and calretinin) was similarly investigated using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical techniques. Cellular sites of calbindin D28k, parvalbumin, calretinin and GAT-1 messenger RNA expression were localized using human-specific oligonucleotide probes radiolabelled with [ 35 S]dATP. Sites of protein localization were visualized using specific anti-calbindin D28k, anti-parvalbumin and anti-calretinin antisera. Examination of emulsion-coated tissue sections processed for in situ hybridization revealed an intense signal for GAT-1 messenger RNA within the human subthalamic nucleus, indeed the majority of Methylene Blue-counterstained cells were enriched in this transcript. Further, a marked heterogeneity was noted with regard to the expression of the messenger RNA's encoding the three calcium-binding proteins; this elliptical nucleus was highly enriched in parvalbumin messenger RNA-positive neurons and calretinin mRNA-positive cells but not calbindin messenger RNA-positive cells. Indeed, only an occasional calbindin messenger RNA-positive cell was detected within the mediolateral extent of the nucleus. In marked contrast, numerous parvalbumin messenger RNA-positive cells and calretinin messenger RNA-positive cells were detected and they were topographically distributed; parvalbumin messenger RNA-positive cells were highly enriched in the dorsal subthalamic nucleus extending mediolaterally; calretinin messenger RNA-positive cells were more enriched ventrally although some degree of overlap was apparent. Computer-assisted analysis of the average cross-sectional somatic area of parvalbumin, calretinin and GAT-1 messenger RNA

  15. Mechanisms of High Energy Hadron-Nucleus and Nucleus-Nucleus Collision Processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strugalski, Z.

    1994-01-01

    Mechanisms of high energy hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collision processes are depicted qualitatively, as prompted experimentally. In hadron-nucleus collisions the interaction of the incident hadron in intranuclear matter is localized in small cylindrical volume, with the radius as large as the strong interaction range is, centered on the hadron course in the nucleus. The nucleon emission is induced by the hadron in its passing through the nucleus; particles are produced via intermediate objects produced in 2 → 2 endoergic reactions of the hadron and its successors with downstream nucleons. In nucleus-nucleus collisions, the outcome of the reaction appears as the composition of statistically independent hadron-nucleus collision outcomes at various impact parameters. Observable effects supporting such mechanisms are discussed. 51 refs

  16. Lateral medullary infarction with cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction: an unusual presentation with review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huynh, Tridu R; Decker, Barbara; Fries, Timothy J; Tunguturi, Ajay

    2018-01-24

    We report an unusual case of lateral medullary infarction presenting with orthostatic hypotension with pre-syncope without vertigo or Horner's syndrome. Case report with review of the literature. A 67-year-old man presented with pre-syncope and ataxia without vertigo. Initial brain CT and MRI were normal. Neurological evaluation revealed right-beating nystagmus with left gaze, vertical binocular diplopia, right upper-extremity dysmetria, truncal ataxia with right axial lateropulsion, and right-facial and lower extremity hypoesthesia. Bedside blood pressure measurements disclosed orthostatic hypotension. He had normal sinus rhythm on telemetry and normal ejection fraction on echocardiogram. A repeat brain MRI disclosed an acute right dorsolateral medullary infarct. Autonomic testing showed reduced heart rate variability during paced deep breathing, attenuated late phase II and phase IV overshoot on Valsalva maneuver, and a fall of 25 mmHg of blood pressure at the end of a 10-min head-up tilt with no significant change in heart rate. These results were consistent with impaired sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular reflexes. He was discharged to acute rehabilitation a week later with residual right dysmetria and ataxia. Lateral medullary infarctions are usually reported as partial presentations of classical lateral medullary syndrome with accompanying unusual symptoms ranging from trigeminal neuralgias to hiccups. Pre-syncope from orthostatic hypotension is a rare presentation. In the first 3-4 days, absence of early DWI MRI findings is possible in small, dorsolateral medullary infarcts with sensory disturbances. Physicians should be aware of this presentation, as early diagnosis and optimal therapy are associated with good prognosis.

  17. Antiproton production in nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN-SPS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kadija, K.; Schmitz, N.; Seyboth, P.

    1996-01-01

    A model for antiproton production in nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon, based on the wounded nucleon model is developed. The predictions are compared to published nucleon-nucleus and sulphur-nucleus data. The results suggest the presence of similar antiproton production processes in nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions near midrapidity. (orig.)

  18. Frequency of Cushing's syndrome due to ACTH-secreting adrenal medullary lesions: a retrospective study over 10 years from a single center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falhammar, Henrik; Calissendorff, Jan; Höybye, Charlotte

    2017-01-01

    Cushing's syndrome due to ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone production from adrenal medullary lesions has occasionally been described. We retrospectively reviewed all 164 cases of Cushing's syndrome and 77 cases of pheochromocytomas during 10 years. Of all cases with Cushing's syndrome, only two cases (1.2 %) were due to ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone production from adrenal medullary lesions (one case of pheochromocytoma and one case of adrenal medullary hyperplasia). Of all pheochromocytomas only the above-mentioned case (1.3 %) also gave rise to an ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone syndrome. The clinical presentation of adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting pheochromocytoma and adrenal medullary hyperplasia can be anything from mild to dramatic. These are rare conditions important to bear in mind in the workup of a patient with Cushing's syndrome or with pheochromocytoma. The identification of ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion from adrenal medullary lesions can be life-saving.

  19. Nucleus-nucleus total reaction cross sections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeVries, R.M.; Peng, J.C.

    1980-01-01

    We compare sigma/sub R/(E) for nucleus-nucleus systems (obtained from existing direct measurements and derived from elastic scattering data) with nucleon-nucleon and nucleon-nucleus data. The energy dependence of sigma/sub R/(E) for nucleus-nucleus systems is found to be quite rapid; there appears to be no evidence for an energy independent, geometric sigma/sub R/. Simple parameter free microscopic calculations are able to quantitatively reproduce the data and thus, emphasize the dominance of nucleon-nucleon interactions in medium energy nucleus-nucleus collisions

  20. Experimental selective elevation of renal medullary blood flow in hypertensive rats: evidence against short-term hypotensive effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bądzyńska, B; Sadowski, J

    2012-08-01

    Renal medullary blood flow (MBF) can be selectively increased by intrarenal or systemic infusion of bradykinin (Bk) in anaesthetized normotensive rats. We reproduced this effect in a number of rat models of arterial hypertension and examined whether increased perfusion of the renal medulla can cause a short-term decrease in blood pressure (BP) that is not mediated by increased renal excretion and depletion of body fluids. In uninephrectomized Sprague-Dawley rats, BP was elevated to approx. 145 mmHg by acute i.v. infusion of noradrenaline (NA) or angiotensin II (Ang II) (groups 1, 2), 2-week exposure to high-salt diet (3), high-salt diet + chronic low-dose infusion of Ang II using osmotic minipumps (4) or chronic high-dose Ang II infusion on normal diet (5). Uninephrectomized spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR) were also examined (6,7). To selectively increase medullary perfusion, in anaesthetized rats, bradykinin was infused during 30-75 min into the renal medullary interstitium or intravenously. Bradykinin increased outer- and inner-medullary blood flow (laser-Doppler fluxes) by 10-20% in groups (1, 2), by 30-50% in groups (3, 4, 5) and approx. 20% in SHR (6, 7). The concurrent increase in total renal blood flow (Transonic probe) was < 3%. A minor (<3%) decrease in BP was seen only in rats acutely rendered hypertensive by NA or Ang II infusions; however, the decreases in BP and increases in medullary perfusion were not correlated. Thus, there was no evidence that in hypertensive rats, substantial selective increases in medullary perfusion can cause a short-term decrease in BP. © 2012 The Authors Acta Physiologica © 2012 Scandinavian Physiological Society.

  1. Nucleus-Nucleus Collision as Superposition of Nucleon-Nucleus Collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Orlova, G.I.; Adamovich, M.I.; Aggarwal, M.M.; Alexandrov, Y.A.; Andreeva, N.P.; Badyal, S.K.; Basova, E.S.; Bhalla, K.B.; Bhasin, A.; Bhatia, V.S.; Bradnova, V.; Bubnov, V.I.; Cai, X.; Chasnikov, I.Y.; Chen, G.M.; Chernova, L.P.; Chernyavsky, M.M.; Dhamija, S.; Chenawi, K.El; Felea, D.; Feng, S.Q.; Gaitinov, A.S.; Ganssauge, E.R.; Garpman, S.; Gerassimov, S.G.; Gheata, A.; Gheata, M.; Grote, J.; Gulamov, K.G.; Gupta, S.K.; Gupta, V.K.; Henjes, U.; Jakobsson, B.; Kanygina, E.K.; Karabova, M.; Kharlamov, S.P.; Kovalenko, A.D.; Krasnov, S.A.; Kumar, V.; Larionova, V.G.; Li, Y.X.; Liu, L.S.; Lokanathan, S.; Lord, J.J.; Lukicheva, N.S.; Lu, Y.; Luo, S.B.; Mangotra, L.K.; Manhas, I.; Mittra, I.S.; Musaeva, A.K.; Nasyrov, S.Z.; Navotny, V.S.; Nystrand, J.; Otterlund, I.; Peresadko, N.G.; Qian, W.Y.; Qin, Y.M.; Raniwala, R.; Rao, N.K.; Roeper, M.; Rusakova, V.V.; Saidkhanov, N.; Salmanova, N.A.; Seitimbetov, A.M.; Sethi, R.; Singh, B.; Skelding, D.; Soderstrem, K.; Stenlund, E.; Svechnikova, L.N.; Svensson, T.; Tawfik, A.M.; Tothova, M.; Tretyakova, M.I.; Trofimova, T.P.; Tuleeva, U.I.; Vashisht, Vani; Vokal, S.; Vrlakova, J.; Wang, H.Q.; Wang, X.R.; Weng, Z.Q.; Wilkes, R.J.; Yang, C.B.; Yin, Z.B.; Yu, L.Z.; Zhang, D.H.; Zheng, P.Y.; Zhokhova, S.I.; Zhou, D.C.

    1999-01-01

    Angular distributions of charged particles produced in 16 O and 32 S collisions with nuclear track emulsion were studied at momenta 4.5 and 200 A GeV/c. Comparison with the angular distributions of charged particles produced in proton-nucleus collisions at the same momentum allows to draw the conclusion, that the angular distributions in nucleus-nucleus collisions can be seen as superposition of the angular distributions in nucleon-nucleus collisions taken at the same impact parameter b NA , that is mean impact parameter between the participating projectile nucleons and the center of the target nucleus

  2. Nucleus-Nucleus Collision as Superposition of Nucleon-Nucleus Collisions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Orlova, G I; Adamovich, M I; Aggarwal, M M; Alexandrov, Y A; Andreeva, N P; Badyal, S K; Basova, E S; Bhalla, K B; Bhasin, A; Bhatia, V S; Bradnova, V; Bubnov, V I; Cai, X; Chasnikov, I Y; Chen, G M; Chernova, L P; Chernyavsky, M M; Dhamija, S; Chenawi, K El; Felea, D; Feng, S Q; Gaitinov, A S; Ganssauge, E R; Garpman, S; Gerassimov, S G; Gheata, A; Gheata, M; Grote, J; Gulamov, K G; Gupta, S K; Gupta, V K; Henjes, U; Jakobsson, B; Kanygina, E K; Karabova, M; Kharlamov, S P; Kovalenko, A D; Krasnov, S A; Kumar, V; Larionova, V G; Li, Y X; Liu, L S; Lokanathan, S; Lord, J J; Lukicheva, N S; Lu, Y; Luo, S B; Mangotra, L K; Manhas, I; Mittra, I S; Musaeva, A K; Nasyrov, S Z; Navotny, V S; Nystrand, J; Otterlund, I; Peresadko, N G; Qian, W Y; Qin, Y M; Raniwala, R; Rao, N K; Roeper, M; Rusakova, V V; Saidkhanov, N; Salmanova, N A; Seitimbetov, A M; Sethi, R; Singh, B; Skelding, D; Soderstrem, K; Stenlund, E; Svechnikova, L N; Svensson, T; Tawfik, A M; Tothova, M; Tretyakova, M I; Trofimova, T P; Tuleeva, U I; Vashisht, Vani; Vokal, S; Vrlakova, J; Wang, H Q; Wang, X R; Weng, Z Q; Wilkes, R J; Yang, C B; Yin, Z B; Yu, L Z; Zhang, D H; Zheng, P Y; Zhokhova, S I; Zhou, D C

    1999-03-01

    Angular distributions of charged particles produced in {sup 16}O and {sup 32}S collisions with nuclear track emulsion were studied at momenta 4.5 and 200 A GeV/c. Comparison with the angular distributions of charged particles produced in proton-nucleus collisions at the same momentum allows to draw the conclusion, that the angular distributions in nucleus-nucleus collisions can be seen as superposition of the angular distributions in nucleon-nucleus collisions taken at the same impact parameter b{sub NA}, that is mean impact parameter between the participating projectile nucleons and the center of the target nucleus.

  3. Nucleus-nucleus collision as superposition of nucleon-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Orlova, G.I.; Adamovich, M.I.; Aggarwal, M.M.

    1999-01-01

    Angular distributions of charged particles produced in 16 O and 32 S collisions with nuclear track emulsion were studied at momenta 4.5 and 200 A GeV/c. Comparison with the angular distributions of charged particles produced in proton-nucleus collisions at the same momentum allows to draw the conclusion, that the angular distributions in nucleus-nucleus collisions can be seen as superposition of the angular distributions in nucleon-nucleus collisions taken at the same impact parameter b NA , that is mean impact parameter between the participating projectile nucleons and the center of the target nucleus. (orig.)

  4. Recovery of Dysphagia in Lateral Medullary Stroke

    OpenAIRE

    Gupta, Hitesh; Banerjee, Alakananda

    2014-01-01

    Lateral medullary stroke is typically associated with increased likelihood of occurrence of dysphagia and exhibits the most severe and persistent form. Worldwide little research exists on dysphagia in brainstem stroke. An estimated 15% of all patients admitted to stroke rehabilitation units experience a brainstem stroke out of which about 47% suffer from dysphagia. In India, a study showed that 22.3% of posterior circulation stroke patients develop dysphagia. Dearth of literature on dysphagia...

  5. The potential value of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy in medullary thyroid carcinoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Doerr, U.; Bihl, H. (Katharinenhospital, Stuttgart (Germany). Dept. of Nuclear Medicine); Frank-Raue, K.; Raue, F. (Heidelberg Univ. (Germany). Dept. of Internal Medicine); Sautter-Bihl, M.L.; Buhr, H.J. (Staedt. Klinikum, Karlsruhe (Germany). Dept. of Radiooncology and Nuclear Medicine); Guzman, G. (Katherinenhospital, Stuttgart (Germany). Dept. of Nuclear Medicine Inst. de Neurocirugia, Investigationes Cerebrales ' Dr Asenjo' Santiago (Chile). Dept. de Medicina Nuclear)

    1993-06-01

    In a prospective study, ten patients with recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma (markedly elevated calcitonin levels) were investigated by means of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) with [sup 111]In-pentetreotide. Scintigraphically, 30 sites of pathological uptake were found, mostly located in the neck and upper mediastinum. So far, 18 suspected tumour sites underwent histological examination and 14 of them could be verified as metastases of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). The remaining four putative tumour lesions turned out to be false positive scintigraphic findings caused by chronic inflammation and somatostatin receptor positive tumours other than MTC. We conclude that SRS is a promising imaging modality for localization of MTC recurrence and may thus make a contribution to better management of this patient group. (Author).

  6. The potential value of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy in medullary thyroid carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doerr, U.; Bihl, H.; Frank-Raue, K.; Raue, F.; Sautter-Bihl, M.L.; Buhr, H.J.; Guzman, G.; Inst. de Neurocirugia, Investigationes Cerebrales 'Dr Asenjo' Santiago

    1993-01-01

    In a prospective study, ten patients with recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma (markedly elevated calcitonin levels) were investigated by means of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) with 111 In-pentetreotide. Scintigraphically, 30 sites of pathological uptake were found, mostly located in the neck and upper mediastinum. So far, 18 suspected tumour sites underwent histological examination and 14 of them could be verified as metastases of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). The remaining four putative tumour lesions turned out to be false positive scintigraphic findings caused by chronic inflammation and somatostatin receptor positive tumours other than MTC. We conclude that SRS is a promising imaging modality for localization of MTC recurrence and may thus make a contribution to better management of this patient group. (Author)

  7. Urinary acidification and urinary excretion of calcium and citrate in women with bilateral medullary sponge kidney

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Osther, P J; Mathiasen, Helle; Hansen, A B

    1994-01-01

    Urinary acidification ability, acid-base status and urinary excretion of calcium and citrate were evaluated in 10 women with bilateral medullary sponge kidney (MSK) and in 10 healthy women. Patients with MSK had higher fasting urine pH compared to normal controls (p ... in the mechanism of hypercalciuria and hypocitraturia in patients with medullary sponge kidney.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)...

  8. Biochemical markers in the follow-up of medullary thyroid cancer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Groot, Jan Willem B.; Kema, Ido P.; Breukelman, Henk; van der Veer, Eveline; Wiggers, Theo; Plukker, John T. M.; Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H. R.; Links, Thera P.

    2006-01-01

    Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) shares biochemical features with other neuroendocrine tumors but the particular characteristics are largely unexplored. We investigated the biochemical neuroendocrine profile of MTC and whether specific markers could be useful in follow-up. In addition to the standard

  9. Corticotropin-releasing Factor in the Rat Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Promotes Different Forms of Behavioral Flexibility Depending on Social Stress History.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Kevin P; Hill-Smith, Tiffany E; Lucki, Irwin; Valentino, Rita J

    2015-10-01

    The stress-related neuropeptide, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) regulates the dorsal raphe nucleus-serotonin (DRN-5-HT) system during stress and this may underlie affective and cognitive dysfunctions that characterize stress-related psychiatric disorders. CRF acts on both CRF1 and CRF2 receptor subtypes in the DRN that exert opposing inhibitory and excitatory effects on DRN-5-HT neuronal activity and 5-HT forebrain release, respectively. The current study first assessed the cognitive effects of intra-DRN microinfusion of CRF or the selective CRF2 agonist, urocortin II in stress-naive rats on performance of an operant strategy set-shifting task that is mediated by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). CRF (30 ng) facilitated strategy set-shifting performance, whereas higher doses of CRF and urocortin II that would interact with CRF2 were without effect, consistent with a CRF1-mediated action. This dose decreased 5-HT extracellular levels in the mPFC, further supporting a role for CRF1. The effects of CRF were then assessed in rats exposed to repeated social stress using the resident-intruder model. Repeated social stress shifted the CRF effect from facilitation of strategy set shifting to facilitation of reversal learning and this was most prominent in a subpopulation of rats that resist defeat. Notably, in this subpopulation of rats 5-HT neuronal responses to CRF have been demonstrated to shift from CRF1-mediated inhibition to CRF2-mediated excitation. Because 5-HT facilitates reversal learning, the present results suggest that stress-induced changes in the cellular effects of CRF in the DRN translate to changes in cognitive effects of CRF. Together, the results underscore the potential for stress history to shift cognitive processing through changes in CRF neurotransmission in the DRN and the association of this effect with coping strategy.

  10. Agonist-dependent modulation of G-protein coupling and transduction of 5-HT1A receptors in rat dorsal raphe nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valdizán, Elsa Maria; Castro, Elena; Pazos, Angel

    2010-08-01

    5-HT1A receptors couple to different Go/Gi proteins in order to mediate a wide range of physiological actions. While activation of post-synaptic 5-HT1A receptors is mainly related to inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity, functionality of autoreceptors located in raphe nuclei has been classically ascribed to modifications of the activity of potassium and calcium channels. In order to evaluate the possible existence of agonist-directed trafficking for 5-HT1A autoreceptors in the rat dorsal raphe nucleus, we studied their activation by two agonists with a different profile of efficacy [(+)8-OH-DPAT and buspirone], addressing simultaneously the identification of the specific Galpha subtypes ([35S]GTPgammaS labelling and immunoprecipitation) involved and the subsequent changes in cAMP formation. A significant increase (32%, plabelling of immunoprecipitates was obtained with anti-Galphai3 antibodies but not with anti-Galphao, anti-Galphai1, anti-Galphai2, anti-Galphaz or anti-Galphas antibodies. In contrast, in the presence of buspirone, significant [35S]GTPgammaS labelling of immunoprecipitates was obtained with anti-Galphai3 (50%, plabelling with anti-Galphai1, anti-Galphaz or anti-Galphas. The selective 5-HT1A antagonist WAY 100635 blocked the labelling induced by both agonists. Furthermore, (+)8-OH-DPAT failed to modify forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation, while buspirone induced a dose-dependent, WAY 100635-sensitive, inhibition of this response (Imax 30.8+/-4.9, pIC50 5.95+/-0.46). These results demonstrate the existence of an agonist-dependency pattern of G-protein coupling and transduction for 5-HT1A autoreceptors in native brain tissue. These data also open new perspectives for the understanding of the differential profiles of agonist efficacy in pre- vs. post-synaptic 5-HT1A receptor-associated responses.

  11. Spectral composition of concurrent noise affects neuronal sensitivity to interaural time differences of tones in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siveke, Ida; Leibold, Christian; Grothe, Benedikt

    2007-11-01

    We are regularly exposed to several concurrent sounds, producing a mixture of binaural cues. The neuronal mechanisms underlying the localization of concurrent sounds are not well understood. The major binaural cues for localizing low-frequency sounds in the horizontal plane are interaural time differences (ITDs). Auditory brain stem neurons encode ITDs by firing maximally in response to "favorable" ITDs and weakly or not at all in response to "unfavorable" ITDs. We recorded from ITD-sensitive neurons in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (DNLL) while presenting pure tones at different ITDs embedded in noise. We found that increasing levels of concurrent white noise suppressed the maximal response rate to tones with favorable ITDs and slightly enhanced the response rate to tones with unfavorable ITDs. Nevertheless, most of the neurons maintained ITD sensitivity to tones even for noise intensities equal to that of the tone. Using concurrent noise with a spectral composition in which the neuron's excitatory frequencies are omitted reduced the maximal response similar to that obtained with concurrent white noise. This finding indicates that the decrease of the maximal rate is mediated by suppressive cross-frequency interactions, which we also observed during monaural stimulation with additional white noise. In contrast, the enhancement of the firing rate to tones at unfavorable ITD might be due to early binaural interactions (e.g., at the level of the superior olive). A simple simulation corroborates this interpretation. Taken together, these findings suggest that the spectral composition of a concurrent sound strongly influences the spatial processing of ITD-sensitive DNLL neurons.

  12. Some experimental results of the investigation of hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Azimov, S.A.; Gulamov, K.G.; Chernov, G.M.

    1978-01-01

    Recent experimental data on the hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus inelastic interactions are analyzed. A particular attention is paid to the description of the leading hadron spectra and of the spectra of nucleon recoils in hadron-nucleus interactions. Some of the results of the experimental studies of correlations between secondary particles are discussed. This discussion demonstrates that an analysis of the multiparticle phenomena is very promising regarding the discrimination between the different models for the hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions. It is pointed out that the actual mechanism of the hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions is a rather complex one and can be described comprehensively by none of the existing models

  13. Microsatellite instability in medullary carcinoma of the colon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Martinotti

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Medullary carcinoma (MC of the large intestine is a relatively new histological type of adenocarcinoma characterized by poor glandular differentiation and an intraepithelial lymphocytic infiltrate. MC can be associated to a defective mechanism for DNA mismatch repair, caused by the so-called microsatellite instability (MSI. We present the case of a 44 years old Caucasian woman, who referred to the Emergency Room with symptoms mimicking an acute appendicitis. Computed tomography and colonoscopy demonstrated an ulcerated and stenotic lesion of the caecum without signs of metastasis and peritoneal carcinosis. Patient underwent a laparoscopic right colectomy. The final pathologic findings provided the diagnosis of medullary carcinoma with MSI. Patient then underwent adjuvant chemotherapy according to the FOLFOX- 4 protocol (association of 5-Fluorouracil, Leucovorin, and Oxaliplatin for twelve cycles. At two-years follow-up, patient is disease free. MC in association with MSI is a non-frequent tumor of the colon characterized by a better prognosis compared to other types of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. In the observed case, 24 months after the surgical operation, the patient is in good health and there is no evidence of metastasis or relapse.

  14. Dorsal skinfold chamber models in mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schreiter, Jeannine

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Background/purpose: The use of dorsal skinfold chamber models has substantially improved the understanding of micro-vascularisation in pathophysiology over the last eight decades. It allows pathophysiological studies of vascularisation over a continuous period of time. The dorsal skinfold chamber is an attractive technique for monitoring the vascularisation of autologous or allogenic transplants, wound healing, tumorigenesis and compatibility of biomaterial implants. To further reduce the animals’ discomfort while carrying the dorsal skinfold chamber, we developed a smaller chamber (the Leipzig Dorsal Skinfold Chamber and summarized the commercial available chamber models. In addition we compared our model to the common chamber. Methods: The Leipzig Dorsal Skinfold Chamber was applied to female mice with a mean weight of 22 g. Angiogenesis within the dorsal skinfold chamber was evaluated after injection of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran with an Axio Scope microscope. The mean vessel density within the dorsal skinfold chamber was assessed over a period of 21 days at five different time points. The gained data were compared to previous results using a bigger and heavier dorsal skinfold model in mice. A PubMed and a patent search were performed and all papers related to “dorsal skinfold chamber” from 1 of January 2006 to 31 of December 2015 were evaluated regarding the dorsal skinfold chamber models and their technical improvements. The main models are described and compared to our titanium Leipzig Dorsal Skinfold Chamber model.Results: The Leipzig Dorsal Skinfold Chamber fulfils all requirements of continuous models known from previous chamber models while reducing irritation to the mice. Five different chamber models have been identified showing substantial regional diversity. The newly elaborated titanium dorsal skinfold chamber may replace the pre-existing titanium chamber model used in Germany so far, as it is smaller and lighter

  15. Impacts of nitric oxide and superoxide on renal medullary oxygen transport and urine concentration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Aurélie; Layton, Anita T.

    2015-01-01

    The goal of this study was to investigate the reciprocal interactions among oxygen (O2), nitric oxide (NO), and superoxide (O2−) and their effects on medullary oxygenation and urinary output. To accomplish that goal, we developed a detailed mathematical model of solute transport in the renal medulla of the rat kidney. The model represents the radial organization of the renal tubules and vessels, which centers around the vascular bundles in the outer medulla and around clusters of collecting ducts in the inner medulla. Model simulations yield significant radial gradients in interstitial fluid oxygen tension (Po2) and NO and O2− concentration in the OM and upper IM. In the deep inner medulla, interstitial fluid concentrations become much more homogeneous, as the radial organization of tubules and vessels is not distinguishable. The model further predicts that due to the nonlinear interactions among O2, NO, and O2−, the effects of NO and O2− on sodium transport, osmolality, and medullary oxygenation cannot be gleaned by considering each solute's effect in isolation. An additional simulation suggests that a sufficiently large reduction in tubular transport efficiency may be the key contributing factor, more so than oxidative stress alone, to hypertension-induced medullary hypoxia. Moreover, model predictions suggest that urine Po2 could serve as a biomarker for medullary hypoxia and a predictor of the risk for hospital-acquired acute kidney injury. PMID:25651567

  16. The effects of nicotine injection in rat nucleus accumbens on anxiety

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghorbani Yekta B

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Previous reports showed that nucleus accumbens involved in the etiology and pathophysiology of major depression, anxiety and addiction. It is not clear that how these mechanisms occur in the brain. In the present study, the influence of direct nicotine injection in the nucleus accumbens in rats’ anxiety-related behavior was investigated. Methods: Wistar rats were used in this study. Male Wistar rats bred in an animal house, in a temperature-controlled (22±2 ◦C room with a 12 hour light/darkcycle. Rats were anesthetized using intraperitoneal injection of ketamine hydrochloride and xylazine, then placed in an stereotactic instrument for microinjection cannula implantation The stainless steel guide cannula was implanted bilaterally in the right and left dorsal the nucleus accumbens shell according to Paxinos and Watson atlas. After recovery, anxiety behavior and locomotor activity were tested. We used the elevated plus maze to test anxiety. This apparatus has widely been employed to test parameters of anxiety-related behaviors including the open armtime percentage (%OAT, open arm entries percentage (%OAE, locomotor activity and we record effect of drugs after injection directly in the nucleus accumbens on anxiety-related behavior.Results: Experiments showed that bilateral injections into the nucleus accumbens Nicotine, acetylcholine receptor agonist, dose 0.1 of the dose (0.05 and 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 microgram per rat caused a significant increase in the percentage of time spent in the open arms (%OAT, compared to the control group. We did not record any significant change locomotor activity and open arm entries percentage (%OAE in rats.Conclusion: Nicotinic receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell involved to anxiety-like behavior in male rats.

  17. MR imaging of medullary compression due to vertebral metastases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dooms, G.C.; Mathurin, P.; Maldague, B.; Cornelis, G.; Malghem, J.; Demeure, R.

    1987-01-01

    A prospective study was performed to assess the value of MR imaging for demonstrating medullary compression due to vertebral metastases in cancer patients clinically suspected of presenting with that complication. Twenty-five consecutive unselected patients were studied, and the MR imaging findings were confirmed by myelography, CT, and/or surgical and autopsy findings for each patient. The MR examinations were performed with a superconducting magnet (Philips Gyroscan S15) operating at 0.5-T. MR imaging demonstrated the metastases (single or multiple) mainly on T1- weighted images (TR = 0.45 sec and TE = 20 msec). Soft-tissue tumoral mass and/or deformity of a vertebral body secondary to metastasis, compressing the spinal cord, was equally demonstrated on T1- and heavily T2-weighted images (TR = 1.65 sec and TE = 100 msec). In the sagittal plane, MR imaging demonstrated the exact level of the compression (one or multiple levels) and its full extent. In conclusion, MR is the first imaging modality for studying cancer patients with clinically suspected medullary compression and obviates the need for more invasive procedures

  18. Cyto- and chemoarchitecture of the dorsal thalamus of the monotreme Tachyglossus aculeatus, the short beaked echidna.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashwell, Ken W S; Paxinos, George

    2005-12-01

    We have examined the cyto- and chemoarchitecture of the dorsal thalamus of the short beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), using Nissl and myelin staining, immunoreactivity for parvalbumin, calbindin, calretinin and non-phosphorylated neurofilament protein (SMI-32 antibody), and histochemistry for acetylcholinesterase and NADPH diaphorase. Immunohistochemical methods revealed many nuclear boundaries, which were difficult to discern with Nissl staining. Parvalbumin immunoreactive somata were concentrated in the ventral posterior, reticular, posterior, lateral and medial geniculate nuclei, while parvalbumin immunoreactivity of the neuropil was present throughout all but the midline nuclei. Large numbers of calbindin immunoreactive somata were also found within the midline thalamic nuclei, and thalamic sensory relay nuclei. Immunoreactivity for calretinin was found in many small somata within the lateral geniculate "a" nucleus, with other labelled somata found in the lateral geniculate "b" nucleus, ventral posterior medial and ventral posterior lateral nuclei. Immunoreactivity with the SMI-32 antibody was largely confined to somata and neuropil within the thalamocortical relay nuclei (ventral posterior medial and lateral nuclei, lateral and medial geniculate nuclei and the posterior thalamic nucleus). In broad terms there were many similarities between the thalamus of this monotreme and that of eutheria (e.g. disposition of somatosensory thalamus, complementarity of parvalbumin and calbindin immunoreactive structures), but there were some unique features of the thalamus of the echidna. These include the relatively small size of the thalamic reticular nucleus and the preponderance of calbindin immunoreactive neurons over parvalbumin immunoreactive neurons in the ventral posterior nucleus.

  19. High energy nucleus-nucleus scattering and matter radius of unstable nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, H.; Okuhara, Y.

    1985-07-01

    The interaction cross sections of high energy nucleus-nucleus scattering have been studied with the Glauber Model and Hartree-Fock like variational calculation for the nuclear structure. It is found that the experimental interaction cross sections of the light unstable nucleus-stable nucleus scatterings measured by INS-LBL collaboration are well reproduceable. (author)

  20. Lateral medullary syndrome after a scorpion sting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vineeth Varghese Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Scorpion bites are a common problem in Southern parts of India. The sting of Mesobuthus tamulus belonging to the Buthidae family is known for being fatal. The toxidrome of scorpion sting is known for its effect on the cardiovascular system, and there have been rare reports of cerebrovascular accidents as well. We describe a case of lateral medullary syndrome secondary to scorpion sting. As per the knowledge of the authors, this is the first case report of the same.

  1. Long-term potentiation and depression after unilateral labyrinthectomy in the medial vestibular nucleus of rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettorossi, Vito Enrico; Dutia, Mayank; Frondaroli, Adele; Dieni, Cristina; Grassi, Silvarosa

    2003-01-01

    We previously demonstrated in rat brainstem slices that high-frequency stimulation (HFS) of the vestibular afferents induces long-term potentiation (LTP) in the ventral part (Vp) of the medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) and long-term depression (LTD) in the dorsal part (Dp). Both LTP and LTD depend on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activation, which increases synaptic efficacy; however, in the Dp, LTP reverses to LTD because of the activation of gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic neurons. Here we show that the probability of inducing long-term effects in the MVN of rat brainstem slices is altered after unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL). In fact, LTP occurs less frequently in the ventral contra-lesional side compared with sham-operated rats. In the dorsal ipsi-lesional side, LTD is reduced and LTP enhanced, while the opposite occurs in the dorsal contra-lesional side. These changes in synaptic plasticity may be useful for re-balancing the tonic discharge of the MVN of the two sides during vestibular compensation, and for enhancing the dynamic responses of the deafferented MVN neurons in the long term.

  2. Epidermoid cyst of the conus medullaris: atypical MRI and angiographic features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Debray, M.P.; Gaston, A.

    1996-01-01

    We report a 50-year-old man with an epidermoid cyst of the conus medullaris which showed a nodular gadolinium enhancement on MRI and a blush on angiography. These radiological features are compared with pathological examination. (orig.)

  3. Is renal medullary carcinoma the seventh nephropathy in sickle cell ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Introduction: Previous studies had enlisted renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) as the seventh nephropathy in sickle cell disease (SCD). Clinical experience has contradicted this claim and this study is targeted at refuting or supporting this assumption. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of RMC and describe other renal ...

  4. Cysticercosis of conus medullaris: A case report and literature review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saurabh K Verma

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available "Neurocysticercosis" - involvement of the central nervous system (CNS by taenia solium, is one of the most common parasitic diseases of the CNS. However, spinal involvement by neurocysticercosis is uncommon. Spinal intramedullary cysticercosis involving the conus medullaris is an uncommon clinical condition, which may mimic an intramedullary tumor and can lead to irreversible neurological deficits if untreated. Here, we report a 31-year-old male patient with cysticercosis in the conus medullaris of the spinal cord. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well-defined round intramedullary lesion at D12-L1 vertebral levels, which was homogeneously hypointense on T1WI and hyperintense on T2WI with peripheral edema. Since the patient had progressive neurological deficits, surgery was performed to decompress the spinal cord. Histopathology examination of the removed lesion proved it to be cysticercosis. In this report, we also discuss the principles of diagnosis and treatment of intramedullary cysticercosis in combination with literature review.

  5. Kidney Involvement in Systemic Calcitonin Amyloidosis Associated With Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koopman, Timco; Niedlich-den Herder, Cindy; Stegeman, Coen A.; Links, Thera P.; Bijzet, Johan; Hazenberg, Bouke P. C.; Diepstra, Arjan

    A 52-year-old woman with widely disseminated medullary thyroid carcinoma developed nephrotic syndrome and slowly decreasing kidney function. A kidney biopsy was performed to differentiate between malignancy-associated membranous glomerulopathy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor-induced focal segmental

  6. High energy nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhalla, K.B.

    1980-01-01

    An attempt is made to explain nucleus-nucleus collisions based on nuclear emulsion experiments. Peripheral and central collisions are described in detail. Assuming the fireball model, the concepts of geometry, kinematics and thermodynamics in this model are discussed. Projectile and target fragmentations are studied. The advantages of using nuclear emulsions as detectors, are mentioned. Proton-nucleus collisions and nucleus-nucleus collisions are compared. Interactions, of projectiles such as Ca, B and C on targets such as Pb, Ag, Br etc. at very high energies (approximately 300 to 1700 Gev) are listed. A comparison of the near multiplicities in these interactions is given. A generalized explanation is given on the processes involved in these interactions. (A.K.)

  7. Nodular Graves' disease with medullary thyroid cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Shoukat Hussain; Rather, Tanveer Ahmed; Makhdoomi, Rumana; Malik, Dharmender

    2015-01-01

    Co-existence of thyroid nodules with Graves' disease has been reported in various studies. 10-15% of such nodules harbor thyroid cancer with papillary thyroid cancer being the commonest. Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) in nodules associated with Graves' disease is rare. On literature survey, we came across 11 such cases reported so far. We report a 62-year-old female with Graves' disease who also had a thyroid nodule that on fine-needle aspiration cytology and the subsequent postthyroidectomy histopathological examination was reported to be MTC.

  8. Neurogenetic and morphogenetic heterogeneity in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bayer, S.A.

    1987-01-01

    Neurogenesis and morphogenesis in the rat bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (strial bed nucleus) were examined with [ 3 H]thymidine autoradiography. For neurogenesis, the experimental animals were the offspring of pregnant females given an injection of [ 3 H]thymidine on 2 consecutive gestational days. Nine groups of embryos were exposed to [ 3 H]thymidine on E13-E14, E14-E15,... E21-E22, respectively. On P60, the percentage of labeled cells and the proportion of cells originating during 24-hour periods were quantified at six anteroposterior levels in the strial bed nucleus. On the basis of neurogenetic gradients, the strial bed nucleus was divided into anterior and posterior parts. The anterior strial bed nucleus shows a caudal (older) to rostral (younger) neurogenetic gradient. Cells in the vicinity of the anterior commissural decussation are generated mainly between E13 and E16, cells just posterior to the nucleus accumbens mainly between E15 and E17. Within each rostrocaudal level, neurons originate in combined dorsal to ventral and medial to lateral neurogenetic gradients so that the oldest cells are located ventromedially and the youngest cells dorsolaterally. The most caudal level has some small neurons adjacent to the internal capsule that originate between E17 and E20. In the posterior strial bed nucleus, neurons extend ventromedially into the posterior preoptic area. Cells are generated simultaneously along the rostrocaudal plane in a modified lateral (older) to medial (younger) neurogenetic gradient. Ventrolateral neurons originate mainly between E13 and E16, dorsolateral neurons mainly between E15 and E16, and medial neurons mainly between E15 and E17. The youngest neurons are clumped into a medial core area just ventral to the fornix

  9. A Comparative Study of Dorsal Buccal Mucosa Graft Substitution Urethroplasty by Dorsal Urethrotomy Approach versus Ventral Sagittal Urethrotomy Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Pahwa, Mrinal; Gupta, Sanjeev; Pahwa, Mayank; Jain, Brig D. K.; Gupta, Manu

    2013-01-01

    Objectives. To compare the outcome of dorsal buccal mucosal graft (BMG) substitution urethroplasty by dorsal urethrotomy approach with ventral urethrotomy approach in management of stricture urethra. Methods and Materials. A total of 40 patients who underwent dorsal BMG substitution urethroplasty were randomized into two groups. 20 patients underwent dorsal onlay BMG urethroplasty as described by Barbagli, and the other 20 patients underwent dorsal BMG urethroplasty by ventral urethrotomy as ...

  10. Interacting gluon model for hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions in the central rapidity region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, G.N.; Navarra, F.S.; Plumer, M.; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Nuclear Science Division, Berkeley, California 94720); Vourdas, A.; Weiner, R.M.

    1989-01-01

    The interacting gluon model developed to describe the inelasticity distribution in hadron-nucleon collisions has been generalized and applied to hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions. Leading particle spectra and energy distributions in hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions are calculated

  11. Vascular endothelial growth factor signaling is necessary for expansion of medullary microvessels during postnatal kidney development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Robdrup Tinning, Anne; Jensen, Boye L; Johnsen, Iben

    2016-01-01

    Postnatal inhibition or deletion of angiotensin II (ANG II) AT1 receptors impairs renal medullary mircrovascular development through a mechanism that may include vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The present study was designed to test if VEGF/VEGF receptor signaling is necessary....... In human fetal kidney tissue, immature vascular bundles appeared early in the third trimester (GA27-28) and expanded in size until term. Rat pups treated with the VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR2) inhibitor vandetanib (100 mg·kg(-1)·day(-1)) from P7 to P12 or P10 to P16 displayed growth retardation and proteinuria...... for the development of the renal medullary microcirculation. Endothelial cell-specific immunolabeling of kidney sections from rats showed immature vascular bundles at postnatal day (P) 10 with subsequent expansion of bundles until P21. Medullary VEGF protein abundance coincided with vasa recta bundle formation...

  12. Versatility of the ventral approach in bulbar urethroplasty using dorsal, ventral or dorsal plus ventral oral grafts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palminteri, Enzo; Berdondini, Elisa; Fusco, Ferdinando; De Nunzio, Cosimo; Giannitsas, Kostas; Shokeir, Ahmed A

    2012-06-01

    To investigate the versatility of the ventral urethrotomy approach in bulbar reconstruction with buccal mucosa (BM) grafts placed on the dorsal, ventral or dorsal plus ventral urethral surface. Between 1999 and 2008, 216 patients with bulbar strictures underwent BM graft urethroplasty using the ventral-sagittal urethrotomy approach. Of these patients, 32 (14.8%; mean stricture 3.2 cm, range 1.5-5) had a dorsal graft urethroplasty (DGU), 121 (56%; mean stricture 3.7, range 1.5-8) a ventral graft urethroplasty (VGU), and 63 (29.2%; mean stricture 3.4, range 1.5-10) a dorsal plus ventral graft urethroplasty (DVGU). The strictured urethra was opened by a ventral-sagittal urethrotomy and BM graft was inserted dorsally or ventrally or dorsal plus ventral to augment the urethral plate. The median follow-up was 37 months. The overall 5-year actuarial success rate was 91.4%. The 5-year actuarial success rates were 87.8%, 95.5% and 86.3% for the DGU, VGU and DVGU, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences among the three groups. Success rates decreased significantly only with a stricture length of >4 cm. In BM graft bulbar urethroplasties the ventral urethrotomy access is simple and versatile, allowing an intraoperative choice of dorsal, ventral or combined dorsal and ventral grafting, with comparable success rates.

  13. Identification of a subpopulation of marrow MSC-derived medullary adipocytes that express osteoclast-regulating molecules: marrow adipocytes express osteoclast mediators.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vance Holt

    Full Text Available Increased marrow medullary adipogenesis and an associated decrease in bone mineral density, usually observed in elderly individuals, is a common characteristic in senile osteoporosis. In this study we investigated whether cells of the medullary adipocyte lineage have the potential to directly support the formation of osteoclasts, whose activity in bone leads to bone degradation. An in vitro mesenchymal stem cell (MSC-derived medullary adipocyte lineage culture model was used to study the expression of the important osteoclast mediators RANKL, M-CSF, SDF-1, and OPG. We further assessed whether adipocytes at a specific developmental stage were capable of supporting osteoclast-like cell formation in culture. In vitro MSC-derived medullary adipocytes showed an mRNA and protein expression profile of M-CSF, RANKL, and OPG that was dependent on its developmental/metabolic stage. Furthermore, RANKL expression was observed in MSC-derived adipocytes that were at a distinct lineage stage and these cells were also capable of supporting osteoclast-like cell formation in co-cultures with peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These results suggest a connection between medullary adipocytes and osteoclast formation in vivo and may have major significance in regards to the mechanisms of decreased bone density in senile osteoporosis.

  14. Cellular transport of l-arginine determines renal medullary blood flow in control rats, but not in diabetic rats despite enhanced cellular uptake capacity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Persson, Patrik; Fasching, Angelica; Teerlink, Tom; Hansell, Peter; Palm, Fredrik

    2017-02-01

    Diabetes mellitus is associated with decreased nitric oxide bioavailability thereby affecting renal blood flow regulation. Previous reports have demonstrated that cellular uptake of l-arginine is rate limiting for nitric oxide production and that plasma l-arginine concentration is decreased in diabetes. We therefore investigated whether regional renal blood flow regulation is affected by cellular l-arginine uptake in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Rats were anesthetized with thiobutabarbital, and the left kidney was exposed. Total, cortical, and medullary renal blood flow was investigated before and after renal artery infusion of increasing doses of either l-homoarginine to inhibit cellular uptake of l-arginine or N ω -nitro- l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) to inhibit nitric oxide synthase. l-Homoarginine infusion did not affect total or cortical blood flow in any of the groups, but caused a dose-dependent reduction in medullary blood flow. l-NAME decreased total, cortical and medullary blood flow in both groups. However, the reductions in medullary blood flow in response to both l-homoarginine and l-NAME were more pronounced in the control groups compared with the diabetic groups. Isolated cortical tubular cells displayed similar l-arginine uptake capacity whereas medullary tubular cells isolated from diabetic rats had increased l-arginine uptake capacity. Diabetics had reduced l-arginine concentrations in plasma and medullary tissue but increased l-arginine concentration in cortical tissue. In conclusion, the reduced l-arginine availability in plasma and medullary tissue in diabetes results in reduced nitric oxide-mediated regulation of renal medullary hemodynamics. Cortical blood flow regulation displays less dependency on extracellular l-arginine and the upregulated cortical tissue l-arginine may protect cortical hemodynamics in diabetes. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

  15. Identification of different types of respiratory neurones in the dorsal brainstem nucleus tractus solitarius of the rat

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Subramanian, Hari H.; Chow, Chin Moi; Balnave, Ron J.

    2007-01-01

    In Nembutal anaesthetised, spontaneously breathing rats, stereotaxic mapping of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) for respiratory neuronal activity was undertaken. Eight different types of respiratory cells were found between 0.25 and 1.5 mm lateral to midline, extending 0.5 mm caudal to 1.5 mm

  16. The dorsal shell wall structure of Mesozoic ammonoids

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregor Radtke

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The study of pristine preserved shells of Mesozoic Ammonoidea shows different types of construction and formation of the dorsal shell wall. We observe three major types: (i The vast majority of Ammonoidea, usually planispirally coiled, has a prismatic reduced dorsal shell wall which consists of an outer organic component (e.g., wrinkle layer, which is the first layer to be formed, and the subsequently formed dorsal inner prismatic layer. The dorsal mantle tissue suppresses the formation of the outer prismatic layer and nacreous layer. With the exception of the outer organic component, secretion of a shell wall is omitted at the aperture. A prismatic reduced dorsal shell wall is always secreted immediately after the hatching during early teleoconch formation. Due to its broad distribution in (planispiral Ammonoidea, the prismatic reduced dorsal shell wall is probably the general state. (ii Some planispirally coiled Ammonoidea have a nacreous reduced dorsal shell wall which consists of three mineralized layers: two prismatic layers (primary and secondary dorsal inner prismatic layer and an enclosed nacreous layer (secondary dorsal nacreous layer. The dorsal shell wall is omitted at the aperture and was secreted in the rear living chamber. Its layers are a continuation of an umbilical shell doubling (reinforcement by additional shell layers that extends towards the ventral crest of the preceding whorl. The nacreous reduced dorsal shell wall is formed in the process of ontogeny following a prismatic reduced dorsal shell wall. (iii Heteromorph and some planispirally coiled taxa secrete a complete dorsal shell wall which forms a continuation of the ventral and lateral shell layers. It is formed during ontogeny following a prismatic reduced dorsal shell wall or a priori. The construction is identical with the ventral and lateral shell wall, including a dorsal nacreous layer. The wide distribution of the ability to form dorsal nacre indicates that it is

  17. Diffractive ''semioptical'' model for nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barashenkov, V.S.; Musulmanbekov, Zh.Zh.

    1979-01-01

    Diffraction Glauber theory for nucleus-nucleus collisions is considered in approximation when the initial nucleus interacts as a whole with nucleons of the target nucleus. Such an approach, being intermediate between precise Glauber theory and its optical limit, essentially simplifies numerical calculations and gives a good agreement with experiments as well. (author)

  18. Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samuel, A.M.; Pradhan, S.A.; D'Cruz, A.; Shah, D.H.

    1999-01-01

    Medullary thyroid carcinoma is a biologically distinct form of thyroid cancer and accounts for 5-10% of all thyroid neoplasms. Twenty percent of MTC can occur in a familial setting either by itself or as part of the multiple endocrine neoplasm syndromes. A disciplined approach is necessary in the work-up of these patients to rule out coexistent endocrine tumors (pheochromocytomas and parathyroid). Cacitonin is a sensitive tumor marker secreted by MTC that is of prognostic value and important in the follow-up of patients. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment with a total thyroidectomy and centre compartment clearance being the minimum for patients without cervical adenopathy. Radiotherapy has a limited role and is only indicated as a palliative measure in patients with advanced/metastatic disease not amenable to surgery

  19. Radiographic Outcomes of Dorsal Distraction Distal Radius Plating for Fractures With Dorsal Marginal Impaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huish, Eric G; Coury, John G; Ibrahim, Mohamed A; Trzeciak, Marc A

    2017-04-01

    The purpose of this study is to compare radiographic outcomes of patients treated with dorsal spanning plates with previously reported normal values of radiographic distal radius anatomy and compare the results with prior publications for both external fixation and internal fixation with volar locked plates. Patients with complex distal radius fractures including dorsal marginal impaction pattern necessitating dorsal distraction plating at the discretion of the senior authors (M.A.T. and M.A.I.) from May 30, 2013, to December 29, 2015, were identified and included in the study. Retrospective chart and radiograph review was performed on 19 patients, 11 male and 8 female, with mean age of 47.83 years (22-82). No patients were excluded from the study. All fractures united prior to plate removal. The average time the plate was in place was 80.5 days (49-129). Follow-up radiographs showed average radial inclination of 20.5° (13.2°-25.5°), radial height of 10.7 mm (7.5-14 mm), ulnar variance of -0.3 mm (-2.1 to 3.1 mm), and volar tilt of 7.9° (-3° to 15°). One patient had intra-articular step-off greater than 2 mm. Dorsal distraction plating of complex distal radius fractures yields good radiographic results with minimal complications. In cases of complex distal radius fractures including dorsal marginal impaction where volar plating is not considered adequate, a dorsal distraction plate should be considered as an alternative to external fixation due to reduced risk for infection and better control of volar tilt.

  20. Screening for sporadic or familial medullary thyroid carcinoma. Scintiscan s and radio-immunotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhmer, V.; Murat, A.

    2000-01-01

    The screening for sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma relies upon calcitoninemia level, basal or during pentagastrine stimulation test. MEN2 are associated with nearly the third of medullary thyroid carcinoma. In these cases, prognosis of thyroid carcinoma is mainly driven by the tumor status at the time of surgery. Up to date, diagnosis relies upon the genetic screening. Prophylactic thyroidectomy indication may take account of calcitoninemia. Most of the molecules that have been suggested for scintiscan lack of accuracy and large use cannot be recommended. Promising results have been obtained with monoclonal antibodies anti-CEA, particularly with dual targeting antiCEA antiDTPA. This last technique may also be used for radio-guided surgery. Its use for radio-immunotherapy is under investigation. (authors)

  1. Neural correlates of consciousness: a definition of the dorsal and ventral streams and their relation to phenomenology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vakalopoulos, Costa

    2005-01-01

    The paper presents a hypothesis for a neural correlate of consciousness. A proposal is made that both the dorsal and ventral streams must be concurrently active to generate conscious awareness and that V1 (striate cortex) provides a serial link between them. An argument is presented against a true extrastriate communication between the dorsal and ventral streams. Secondly, a detailed theory is developed for the structure of the visual hierarchy. Premotor theory states that each organism-object interaction can be described by the two quantitative measures of torque and change in joint position served by the basal ganglia and cerebellum, respectively. This leads to a component theory of motor efference copy providing a fundamental tool for categorizing dorsal and ventral stream networks. The rationale for this is that the dorsal stream specifies spatial coordinates of the external world, which can be coded by the reafference of changes in joint position. The ventral stream is concerned with object recognition and is coded for by forces exerted on the world during a developmental exploratory phase of the organism. The proposed pathways for a component motor efference copy from both the cerebellum and basal ganglia converge on the thalamus and modulate thalamocortical projections via the thalamic reticular nucleus. The origin of the corticopontine projections, which are a massive pathway for cortical information to reach the cerebellum, coincides with the area typically considered as part of the dorsal stream, whereas the entire cortex projects to the striatum. This adds empirical support for a new conceptualization of the visual streams. The model also presents a solution to the binding problem of a neural correlate of consciousness, that is, how a distributed neural network synchronizes its activity during a cognitive event. It represents a reinterpretation of the current status of the visual hierarchy.

  2. Vandetanib in advanced medullary thyroid cancer: review of adverse event management strategies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grande, Enrique; Kreissl, Michael C; Filetti, Sebastiano

    2013-01-01

    Vandetanib has recently demonstrated clinically meaningful benefits in patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Given the potential for long-term vandetanib therapy in this setting, in addition to treatment for disease-related symptoms, effective...

  3. Medullary and papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland occurring as a collision tumor with lymph node metastasis: A case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sadat Alavi Mehr

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Papillary thyroid carcinoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma are two different thyroid neoplasia. The simultaneous occurrence of medullary thyroid carcinoma and papillary thyroid carcinoma as a collison tumor with metastases from both lesions in the regional lymph nodes is a rare phenomenon. Case presentation A 32-year-old Iranian man presented with a fixed anterior neck mass. Ultrasonography revealed two separate thyroid nodules as well as a suspicious neck mass that appeared to be a metastatic lesion. The results of thyroid function tests were normal, but the preoperative calcitonin serum value was elevated. Our patient underwent a total thyroidectomy with neck exploration. Two separate and ill-defined solid lesions grossly in the right lobe were noticed. Histological and immunohistochemical studies of these lesions suggested the presence of medullary thyroid carcinoma and papillary thyroid carcinoma. The lymph nodes isolated from a neck dissection specimen showed metastases from both lesions. Conclusions The concomitant occurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma and the exact diagnosis of this uncommon event are important. The treatment strategy should be reconsidered in such cases, and genetic screening to exclude multiple endocrine neoplasia 2 syndromes should be performed. For papillary thyroid carcinoma, radioiodine therapy and thyroid-stimulating hormone suppressive therapy are performed. However, the treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma is mostly radical surgery with no effective adjuvant therapy.

  4. Renal cortical and medullary blood flow during modest saline loading in humans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damkjær, M; Vafaee, M; Braad, P E

    2012-01-01

    Renal medullary blood flow (RMBF) is considered an important element of sodium homeostasis, but the experimental evidence is incongruent. Studies in anaesthetized animals generally support the concept in contrast to measurements in conscious animals. We hypothesized that saline-induced natriuresis...

  5. Unusual metastasis of medullary thyroid carcinoma to the breast: A cytological and histopathological correlation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parul Tanwar

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Breast metastases are a relatively rare condition and account for approximately 0.5–2% of all breast tumors. Recognition of metastatic tumors in the breast is important because it would prevent unnecessary mutilating surgery and would lead to appropriate treatment of the primary tumor. Breast metastases from medullary thyroid cancer (MTC are very rare with only 21 reported cases in the literature. Some MTCs mimic primary invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast histopathologically and radiologically, making the distinction between the two diagnostically challenging. We present the case of a 45-year-old female presenting with a lump breast, which was later found out to be metastasis from medullary carcinoma thyroid.

  6. Dorsal onlay (Barbagli technique) versus dorsal inlay (Asopa technique) buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty for anterior urethral stricture: a prospective randomized study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aldaqadossi, Hussein; El Gamal, Samir; El-Nadey, Mohamed; El Gamal, Osama; Radwan, Mohamed; Gaber, Mohamed

    2014-02-01

    To compare both the dorsal onlay technique of Barbagli and the dorsal inlay technique of Asopa for the management of long anterior urethral stricture. From January 2010 to May 2012, a total of 47 patients with long anterior urethral strictures were randomized into two groups. The first group included 25 patients who were managed by dorsal onlay buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty. The second group included 22 patients who were managed by dorsal inlay buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty. Different clinical parameters, postoperative complications and success rates were compared between both groups. The overall success rate in the dorsal onlay group was 88%, whereas in the dorsal inlay group the success rate was 86.4% during the follow-up period. The mean operative time was significantly longer in the dorsal onlay urethroplasty group (205 ± 19.63 min) than in the dorsal inlay urethroplasty group (128 ± 4.9 min, P-value <0.0001). The average blood loss was significantly higher in the dorsal onlay urethroplasty group (228 ± 5.32 mL) than in the dorsal inlay urethroplasty group (105 ± 12.05 mL, P-value <0.0001). The dorsal onlay technique of Barbagli and the dorsal inlay technique of Asopa buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty provide similar success rates. The Asopa technique is easy to carry out, provides shorter operative time and less blood loss, and it is associated with fewer complications for anterior urethral stricture repair. © 2013 The Japanese Urological Association.

  7. Dorsal Vagal Complex Modulates Neurogenic Airway Inflammation in a Guinea Pig Model With Esophageal Perfusion of HCl

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhe Chen

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Neurogenic airway inflammation in chronic cough and bronchial asthma related to gastroesophageal reflux (GER is involved in the esophageal–bronchial reflex, but it is unclear whether this reflex is mediated by central neurons. This study aimed to investigate the regulatory effects of the dorsal vagal complex (DVC on airway inflammation induced by the esophageal perfusion of hydrochloric acid (HCl following the microinjection of nuclei in the DVC in guinea pigs. Airway inflammation was evaluated by measuring the extravasation of Evans blue dye (EBD and substance P (SP expression in the airway. Neuronal activity was indicated by Fos expression in the DVC. The neural pathways from the lower esophagus to the DVC and the DVC to the airway were identified using DiI tracing and pseudorabies virus Bartha (PRV-Bartha retrograde tracing, respectively. HCl perfusion significantly increased plasma extravasation, SP expression in the trachea, and the expression of SP and Fos in the medulla oblongata nuclei, including the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV. The microinjection of glutamic acid (Glu or exogenous SP to enhance neuronal activity in the DVC significantly potentiated plasma extravasation and SP release induced by intra-esophageal perfusion. The microinjection of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA, lidocaine to inhibit neuronal activity or anti-SP serum in the DVC alleviated plasma extravasation and SP release. In conclusion, airway inflammation induced by the esophageal perfusion of HCl is regulated by DVC. This study provides new insight for the mechanism of airway neurogenic inflammation related to GER.

  8. Photoproduction of lepton pairs in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC energies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moreira, B. D.; Goncalves, V. P.; De Santana Amaral, J. T. [Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Instituto de Fisica e Matematica (Brazil)

    2013-03-25

    In this contribution we study coherent interactions as a probe of the nonlinear effects in the Quantum Electrodynamics (QED). In particular, we study the multiphoton effects in the production of leptons pairs for proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions for heavy nuclei. In the proton-nucleus we assume the ultrarelativistic proton as a source of photons and estimate the photoproduction of lepton pairs on nuclei at RHIC and LHC energies considering the multiphoton effects associated to multiple rescattering of the projectile photon on the proton of the nucleus. In nucleus - nucleus colllisions we consider the two nuclei as a source of photons. As each scattering contributes with a factor {alpha}Z to the cross section, this contribution must be taken into account for heavy nuclei. We consider the Coulomb corrections to calculate themultiple scatterings and estimate the total cross section for muon and tau pair production in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC energies.

  9. Pontine and medullary projections to the nucleus retroambiguus : A wheat germ agglutinin horseradish peroxidase and autoradiographic tracing study in the cat

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gerrits, Peter O.; Holstege, Gert

    1996-01-01

    The nucleus retroambiguus (NRA) in the caudal medulla oblongata plays a role in expiration, vocalization, vomiting, and possibly lordosis. The present study tried to determine which structures, in turn, control the NRA. One cell group is the periaqueductal gray (FAG), which is considered to be the

  10. Model for nucleus-nucleus, hadron-nucleus and hadron-proton multiplicity distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, C.P.; Shyam, M.; Tuli, S.K.

    1986-07-01

    A model relating hadron-proton, hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus multiplicity distributions is proposed and some interesting consequences are derived. The values of the parameters are the same for all the processes and are given by the QCD hypothesis of ''universal'' hadronic multiplicities which are found to be asymptotically independent of target and beam in hadronic and current induced reactions in particle physics. (author)

  11. Ascending connections to the forebrain in the Tegu lizard.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lohman, A H; van Woerden-Verkley, I

    1978-12-01

    The ascending connections to the striatum and the cortex of the Tegu lizard, Tupinambis nigropunctatus, were studied by means of anterograde fiber degeneration and retrograde axonal transport. The striatum receives projections by way of the dorsal peduncle of the lateral forebrain bundle from four dorsal thalamic nuclei: nucleus rotundus, nucleus reuniens, the posterior part of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus and nucleus dorsomedialis. The former three nuclei project to circumscribed areas of the dorsal striatum, whereas nucleus dorsomedialis has a distribution to the whole dorsal striatum. Other sources of origin to the striatum are the mesencephalic reticular formation, substantia nigra and nucleus cerebelli lateralis. With the exception of the latter afferentation all these projections are ipsilateral. The ascending connections to the pallium originate for the major part from nucleus dorsolateralis anterior of the dorsal thalamus. The fibers course in both the medial forebrain bundle and the dorsal peduncle of the lateral forebrain bundle and terminate ipsilaterally in the middle of the molecular layer of the small-celled part of the mediodorsal cortex and bilaterally above the intermediate region of the dorsal cortex. The latter area is reached also by fibers from the septal area. The large-celled part of the mediodorsal cortex receives projections from nucleus raphes superior and the corpus mammillare.

  12. Higgs-boson production in nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    Cross section calculations are presented for the production of intermediate-mass Higgs bosons produced in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions via two photon fusion. The calculations are performed in position space using Baur's method for folding together the Weizsacker-Williams virtual-photon spectra of the two colliding nuclei. It is found that two photon fusion in nucleus-nucleus collisions is a plausible way of finding intermediate-mass Higgs bosons at the Superconducting Super Collider or the CERN Large Hadron Collider

  13. Higgs-Boson Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norbury, John W.

    1992-01-01

    Cross section calculations are presented for the production of intermediate-mass Higgs bosons produced in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions via two photon fusion. The calculations are performed in position space using Baur's method for folding together the Weizsacker-Williams virtual-photon spectra of the two colliding nuclei. It is found that two photon fusion in nucleus-nucleus collisions is a plausible way of finding intermediate-mass Higgs bosons at the Superconducting Super Collider or the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

  14. Angular momentum and incident-energy dependence of nucleus-nucleus interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, S.

    1991-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to understand intuitively the origin of the angular momentum and incident-energy dependence of the nucleus-nucleus interaction on the basis of the totally- antisymmetrized many-body theory. With the aim of understanding the structure of the nucleus-nucleus interaction, we show first that the nucleus-nucleus interaction can be written by the use of the density-distribution function and the phase-space distribution function instead of using the many-body wave function itself. And we show that the structure change of the density-distribution function with the increase of the angular momentum causes the angular momentum dependence of the nucleus-nucleus interaction and that the incident-energy dependence of the nucleus-nucleus interaction originates from the structure change of the phase-space distribution function

  15. New results on nuclear multifragmentation in nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at relativistic energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Besliu, Calin; Jipa, Alexandru; Iliescu, Bogdan; Felea, Daniel

    2002-01-01

    Some new aspects on the multifragmentation processes in nucleus-nucleus and nucleon-nucleus collisions at high energies are discussed in this work. Experimental data obtained in international collaborations (for example, MULTI Collaboration with KEK Tsukuba (Japan) and SKM 200 Collaboration with JINR Dubna (Russia)) are used to discuss new mechanisms in the target nucleus fragmentation. Correlations with stopping power, participant region size and energy density are included. Comparisons of the experimental results with the predictions of a phenomenological geometric model of intermediate mass fragment multiplicity, caloric curves and angular distributions are also presented. These results are used for global description of the multifragmentation processes in nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at relativistic energies. The size of the participant region and the average intermediate mass fragments multiplicity are taken into consideration using the free space probability. A few correlations between the deposited energy in the participant region and stability state of the intermediate mass fragments are presented in this work. The importance of the collision geometry in the multifragmentation processes is stressed. The results suggest different time moments for the incident nucleus fragmentation and for the target nucleus fragmentation. The associated entropies are distinct. (authors)

  16. Acute reductions in blood flow restricted to the dorsomedial medulla induce a pressor response in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waki, Hidefumi; Bhuiyan, Mohammad E R; Gouraud, Sabine S; Takagishi, Miwa; Hatada, Atsutoshi; Kohsaka, Akira; Paton, Julian F R; Maeda, Masanobu

    2011-08-01

    The brainstem nucleus of the solitary tract (nucleus tractus solitarii, NTS) is a pivotal region for regulating the set-point of arterial pressure, the mechanisms of which are not fully understood. Based on evidence that the NTS exhibits O2-sensing mechanisms, we examined whether a localized disturbance of blood supply, resulting in hypoxia in the NTS, would lead to an acute increase in arterial pressure. Male Wistar rats were used. Cardiovascular parameters were measured before and after specific branches of superficial dorsal medullary veins were occluded; we assumed these were drainage vessels from the NTS and would produce stagnant hypoxia. Hypoxyprobe-1, a marker for detecting cellular hypoxia in the post-mortem tissue, was used to reveal whether vessel occlusion induced hypoxia within the NTS. Following vessel occlusion, blood flow in the dorsal surface of the medulla oblongata including the NTS region showed an approximately 60% decrease and was associated with hypoxia in neurons located predominantly in the caudal part of the NTS as revealed using hypoxyprobe-1. Arterial pressure increased and this response was pronounced significantly in both magnitude and duration when baroreceptor reflex afferents were sectioned. These results suggest that localized hypoxia in the NTS increases arterial pressure. We suggest this represents a protective mechanism whereby the elevated systemic pressure is a compensatory mechanism to enhance cerebral perfusion. Whether this physiological mechanism has any relevance to neurogenic hypertension is discussed.

  17. Cortico-medullary continuity in bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation mimicking osteochondroma on imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rybak, Leon D.; Abramovici, Luigia; Steiner, German C.; Kenan, Samuel; Posner, Martin A.; Bonar, Fiona

    2007-01-01

    Bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation (BPOP), or Nora's lesion, is an unusual surface-based lesion of bone found most commonly in the hands and feet. In the original description of the lesion and in all publications that followed, one of the key imaging characteristics used to define this entity was the lack of cortico-medullary continuity with the underlying bone. The authors present 4 unique cases of pathologically proven BPOP in which cortico-medullary continuity with the underlying bone was demonstrated on imaging. It is believed that florid reactive periostitis, BPOP and turret osteochondroma may reflect points along the same continuum with trauma the likely inciting event. The authors suggest that, given this continuum, it may be possible to have BPOP lesions demonstrating overlapping imaging features with osteochondroma. If this is the case, strict adherence to the standard imaging criterion of lack of continuity between the lesion and the underlying bone may lead to misdiagnosis of these unusual cases of BPOP as osteochondromas. (orig.)

  18. Versatility of the ventral approach in bulbar urethroplasty using dorsal, ventral or dorsal plus ventral oral grafts

    OpenAIRE

    Palminteri, Enzo; Berdondini, Elisa; Fusco, Ferdinando; Nunzio, Cosimo De; Giannitsas, Kostas; Shokeir, Ahmed A.

    2012-01-01

    Objectives To investigate the versatility of the ventral urethrotomy approach in bulbar reconstruction with buccal mucosa (BM) grafts placed on the dorsal, ventral or dorsal plus ventral urethral surface. Patients and methods Between 1999 and 2008, 216 patients with bulbar strictures underwent BM graft urethroplasty using the ventral-sagittal urethrotomy approach. Of these patients, 32 (14.8%; mean stricture 3.2?cm, range 1.5?5) had a dorsal graft urethroplasty (DGU), 121 (56%; mean stricture...

  19. The unique organization of filamentous actin in the medullary canal of the medulla oblongata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Bai-Hong; Guo, Chun-Yan; Xiong, Tian-Qing; Chen, Ling-Meng; Li, Yan-Chao

    2017-04-01

    In the central canal, F-actin is predominantly localized in the apical region, forming a ring-like structure around the circumference of the lumen. However, an exception is found in the medulla oblongata, where the apical F-actin becomes interrupted in the ventral aspect of the canal. To clarify the precise localization of F-actin, the fluorescence signals for F-actin were converted to the peroxidase/DAB reaction products in this study by a phalloidin-based ultrastructural technique, which demonstrated that F-actin is located mainly in the microvilli and terminal webs in the ependymocytes. It is because the ventrally oriented ependymocytes do not possess well-developed microvilli or terminal web that led to a discontinuous labeling of F-actin in the medullary canal. Since spinal motions can change the shape and size of the central canal, we next examined the cytoskeletons in the medullary canal in both rats and monkeys, because these two kinds of animals show different kinematics at the atlanto-occipital articulation. Our results first demonstrated that the apical F-actin in the medullary canal is differently organized in the animals with different head-neck kinemics, which suggests that the mechanic stretching of spinal motions is capable of inducing F-actin reorganization and the subsequent cell-shape changes in the central canal. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Dorsal Raphe Dopamine Neurons Represent the Experience of Social Isolation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Gillian A.; Nieh, Edward H.; Vander Weele, Caitlin M.; Halbert, Sarah A.; Pradhan, Roma V.; Yosafat, Ariella S.; Glober, Gordon F.; Izadmehr, Ehsan M.; Thomas, Rain E.; Lacy, Gabrielle D.; Wildes, Craig P.; Ungless, Mark A.; Tye, Kay M.

    2016-01-01

    Summary The motivation to seek social contact may arise from either positive or negative emotional states, as social interaction can be rewarding and social isolation can be aversive. While ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons may mediate social reward, a cellular substrate for the negative affective state of loneliness has remained elusive. Here, we identify a functional role for DA neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), in which we observe synaptic changes following acute social isolation. DRN DA neurons show increased activity upon social contact following isolation, revealed by in vivo calcium imaging. Optogenetic activation of DRN DA neurons increases social preference but causes place avoidance. Furthermore, these neurons are necessary for promoting rebound sociability following an acute period of isolation. Finally, the degree to which these neurons modulate behavior is predicted by social rank, together supporting a role for DRN dopamine neurons in mediating a loneliness-like state. PaperClip PMID:26871628

  1. The influence of age on positions of the conus medullaris, Tuffier's line, dural sac, and sacrococcygeal membrane in infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Ji-Yun; Kim, Eun-Hee; Song, In-Kyung; Lee, Ji-Hyun; Kim, Hee-Soo; Kim, Jin-Tae

    2016-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to analyze the distances between the conus medullaris and the Tuffier's line, and between the dural sac and the sacrococcygeal membrane (SCM) in the same pediatric population. Spinal magnetic resonance images and simple X-ray images of 350 patients aged from 1 month to 20 years were reviewed. Positions of the conus medullaris, Tuffier's line, the dural sac, and the SCM were identified. Each position was recorded in relation to the corresponding vertebral body segments. The distances between the conus medullaris and Tuffier's line, and between the dural sac and the SCM, were measured and then assessed according to age using an analysis of variance and a linear regression analysis. The median levels of the conus medullaris and Tuffier's line were in the lower third of L1 [the first lumbar vertebral body] and the middle third of L5, respectively. The levels of the conus medullaris and Tuffier's line were lower in younger populations. The distance between the conus medullaris and Tuffier's line ranged from 1.5 to 4.75 vertebral body height. However, a narrow range of 1.5-2.5 vertebral height was observed only in children younger than 2 years. The level of the dural sac did not differ greatly by age, but the upper limit of the SCM was lower in older populations. The distance between the dural sac and the upper limit of the SCM increased with age. In children, there is a distance of 1.5-4.75 vertebral body height between the conus medullaris and the Tuffier's line. However, these distances were narrower among younger populations. The distance between the dural sac and the upper limit of the SCM increased with age. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: Prion Pathology in Medulla Oblongata-Possible Routes of Infection and Host Susceptibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iacono, Diego; Ferrari, Sergio; Gelati, Matteo; Zanusso, Gianluigi; Mariotto, Sara; Monaco, Salvatore

    2015-01-01

    Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the most frequent human prion disorder, is characterized by remarkable phenotypic variability, which is influenced by the conformation of the pathologic prion protein and the methionine/valine polymorphic codon 129 of the prion protein gene. While the etiology of sCJD remains unknown, it has been hypothesized that environmental exposure to prions might occur through conjunctival/mucosal contact, oral ingestion, inhalation, or simultaneous involvement of the olfactory and enteric systems. We studied 21 subjects with definite sCJD to assess neuropathological involvement of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and other medullary nuclei and to evaluate possible associations with codon 129 genotype and prion protein conformation. The present data show that prion protein deposition was detected in medullary nuclei of distinct sCJD subtypes, either valine homozygous or heterozygous at codon 129. These findings suggest that an "environmental exposure" might occur, supporting the hypothesis that external sources of contamination could contribute to sCJD in susceptible hosts. Furthermore, these novel data could shed the light on possible causes of sCJD through a "triple match" hypothesis that identify environmental exposure, host genotype, and direct exposure of specific anatomical regions as possible pathogenetic factors.

  3. A Comparative Study of Dorsal Buccal Mucosa Graft Substitution Urethroplasty by Dorsal Urethrotomy Approach versus Ventral Sagittal Urethrotomy Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mrinal Pahwa

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives. To compare the outcome of dorsal buccal mucosal graft (BMG substitution urethroplasty by dorsal urethrotomy approach with ventral urethrotomy approach in management of stricture urethra. Methods and Materials. A total of 40 patients who underwent dorsal BMG substitution urethroplasty were randomized into two groups. 20 patients underwent dorsal onlay BMG urethroplasty as described by Barbagli, and the other 20 patients underwent dorsal BMG urethroplasty by ventral urethrotomy as described by Asopa. Operative time, success rate, satisfaction rate, and complications were compared between the two groups. Mean follow-up was 12 months (6–24 months. Results. Ventral urethrotomy group had considerably lesser operative time although the difference was not statistically significant. Patients in dorsal group had mean maximum flow rate of 19.6 mL/min and mean residual urine of 27 mL, whereas ventral group had a mean maximum flow rate of 18.8 and residual urine of 32 mL. Eighteen out of twenty patients voided well in each group, and postoperative imaging study in these patients showed a good lumen with no evidence of leak or extravasation. Conclusion. Though ventral sagittal urethrotomy preserves the blood supply of urethra and intraoperative time was less than dorsal urethrotomy technique, there was no statistically significant difference in final outcome using either technique.

  4. A Comparative Study of Dorsal Buccal Mucosa Graft Substitution Urethroplasty by Dorsal Urethrotomy Approach versus Ventral Sagittal Urethrotomy Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pahwa, Mrinal; Gupta, Sanjeev; Pahwa, Mayank; Jain, Brig D K; Gupta, Manu

    2013-01-01

    Objectives. To compare the outcome of dorsal buccal mucosal graft (BMG) substitution urethroplasty by dorsal urethrotomy approach with ventral urethrotomy approach in management of stricture urethra. Methods and Materials. A total of 40 patients who underwent dorsal BMG substitution urethroplasty were randomized into two groups. 20 patients underwent dorsal onlay BMG urethroplasty as described by Barbagli, and the other 20 patients underwent dorsal BMG urethroplasty by ventral urethrotomy as described by Asopa. Operative time, success rate, satisfaction rate, and complications were compared between the two groups. Mean follow-up was 12 months (6-24 months). Results. Ventral urethrotomy group had considerably lesser operative time although the difference was not statistically significant. Patients in dorsal group had mean maximum flow rate of 19.6 mL/min and mean residual urine of 27 mL, whereas ventral group had a mean maximum flow rate of 18.8 and residual urine of 32 mL. Eighteen out of twenty patients voided well in each group, and postoperative imaging study in these patients showed a good lumen with no evidence of leak or extravasation. Conclusion. Though ventral sagittal urethrotomy preserves the blood supply of urethra and intraoperative time was less than dorsal urethrotomy technique, there was no statistically significant difference in final outcome using either technique.

  5. The role of hemosorption detoxication in the modification of medullary hemoroisis caused by acute irradiation injury

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nikolaev, V.G.; Rodionova, N.K.; Petrenko, S.V.; Bychkova, N.P.; Pinchouk, L.B.

    2003-01-01

    Using the model of a medullar form of acute radiation disease in dogs, we have shown that early detoxification through extracorporal hemosorption in various modifications is of high efficiency. On the basis of results of experimental research, a high efficiency of detoxification therapy of the medullary form of acute radiation diseases is established. It is revealed that the toxicity of liquid media of the body is reduced after the application of various modifications of extracorporal extracorporal hemosorption. The main indicators of the efficiency of these methods are the considerable relief of the medullary syndrome severity, lower level of clinical symptoms, and high survival rate of animals

  6. Renal cortical and medullary blood flow responses to altered NO availability in humans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damkjær, Mads; Vafaee, Manoucher; Møller, Michael L

    2010-01-01

    The objective of this study was to quantify regional renal blood flow in humans. In nine young volunteers on a controlled diet, the lower abdomen was CT-scanned, and regional renal blood flow was determined by positron emission tomography (PET) scanning using H(2)(15)O as tracer. Measurements were......-NMMA injection to 1.57 ± 0.17 ml·g tissue(-1)·min(-1) (P blood flow was 4.67 ± 0.31 ml·g tissue(-1)·min(-1) during control, unchanged by glyceryl nitrate, and decreased after L-NMMA [3.48 ± 0.23 ml·(g·min)(-1), P renal medullary region in which...... the measured blood flow is 1) low, 2) independent of reduction in the VOI, and 3) reactive to changes in systemic NO supply. The technique seems to provide indices of renal medullary blood flow in humans....

  7. Diagnosis of medullary thyroid cancer and prognostic factors of disease aggressiveness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D O Gazizova

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In the study were enrolled 137 patients with medullary thyroid cancer (MTC. Low 35%-sensitivity of FNAC and high accuracy of basal calcitonin in MTC diagnostics were found. Mutation analysis of the RET pro- tooncogene in familial and sporadic MTC, RAS -gene in sporadic MTC were done. The correlation between type of the mutation and disease aggressiveness was found.

  8. Deconfinement of quarks and gluons in nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gorenstein, M.I.

    2011-01-01

    The energy dependence of hadron production in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions reveals the anomalies. They were predicted as the signals of the deconfinement phase transition and observed by NA49 collaboration in Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. This indicates the onset of the deconfinement in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at about 30 AGeV.

  9. The inhibition of the dorsal paragigantocellular reticular nucleus induces waking and the activation of all adrenergic and noradrenergic neurons: a combined pharmacological and functional neuroanatomical study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clément, Olivier; Valencia Garcia, Sara; Libourel, Paul-Antoine; Arthaud, Sébastien; Fort, Patrice; Luppi, Pierre-Hervé

    2014-01-01

    GABAergic neurons specifically active during paradoxical sleep (PS) localized in the dorsal paragigantocellular reticular nucleus (DPGi) are known to be responsible for the cessation of activity of the noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus during PS. In the present study, we therefore sought to determine the role of the DPGi in PS onset and maintenance and in the inhibition of the LC noradrenergic neurons during this state. The effect of the inactivation of DPGi neurons on the sleep-waking cycle was examined in rats by microinjection of muscimol, a GABAA agonist, or clonidine, an alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonist. Combining immunostaining of the different populations of wake-inducing neurons with that of c-FOS, we then determined whether muscimol inhibition of the DPGi specifically induces the activation of the noradrenergic neurons of the LC. Slow wave sleep and PS were abolished during 3 and 5 h after muscimol injection in the DPGi, respectively. The application of clonidine in the DPGi specifically induced a significant decrease in PS quantities and delayed PS appearance compared to NaCl. We further surprisingly found out that more than 75% of the noradrenergic and adrenergic neurons of all adrenergic and noradrenergic cell groups are activated after muscimol treatment in contrast to the other wake active systems significantly less activated. These results suggest that, in addition to its already know inhibition of LC noradrenergic neurons during PS, the DPGi might inhibit the activity of noradrenergic and adrenergic neurons from all groups during PS, but also to a minor extent during SWS and waking.

  10. The inhibition of the dorsal paragigantocellular reticular nucleus induces waking and the activation of all adrenergic and noradrenergic neurons: a combined pharmacological and functional neuroanatomical study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivier Clément

    Full Text Available GABAergic neurons specifically active during paradoxical sleep (PS localized in the dorsal paragigantocellular reticular nucleus (DPGi are known to be responsible for the cessation of activity of the noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus during PS. In the present study, we therefore sought to determine the role of the DPGi in PS onset and maintenance and in the inhibition of the LC noradrenergic neurons during this state. The effect of the inactivation of DPGi neurons on the sleep-waking cycle was examined in rats by microinjection of muscimol, a GABAA agonist, or clonidine, an alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonist. Combining immunostaining of the different populations of wake-inducing neurons with that of c-FOS, we then determined whether muscimol inhibition of the DPGi specifically induces the activation of the noradrenergic neurons of the LC. Slow wave sleep and PS were abolished during 3 and 5 h after muscimol injection in the DPGi, respectively. The application of clonidine in the DPGi specifically induced a significant decrease in PS quantities and delayed PS appearance compared to NaCl. We further surprisingly found out that more than 75% of the noradrenergic and adrenergic neurons of all adrenergic and noradrenergic cell groups are activated after muscimol treatment in contrast to the other wake active systems significantly less activated. These results suggest that, in addition to its already know inhibition of LC noradrenergic neurons during PS, the DPGi might inhibit the activity of noradrenergic and adrenergic neurons from all groups during PS, but also to a minor extent during SWS and waking.

  11. A biomechanical comparison of four fixed-angle dorsal plates in a finite element model of dorsally-unstable radius fracture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knežević, Josip; Kodvanj, Janoš; Čukelj, Fabijan; Pamuković, Frane; Pavić, Arsen

    2017-11-01

    To compare the finite element models of two different composite radius fracture patterns, reduced and stabilised with four different fixed-angle dorsal plates during axial, dorsal and volar loading conditions. Eight different plastic models representing four AO/ASIF type 23-A3 distal radius fractures and four AO/ASIF 23-C2 distal radius fractures were obtained and fixed each with 1 of 4 methods: a standard dorsal non-anatomical fixed angle T-plate (3.5mm Dorsal T-plate, Synthes), anatomical fixed-angle double plates (2.4mm LCP Dorsal Distal Radius, Synthes), anatomical fixed angle T-plate (2.4mm Acu-Loc Dorsal Plate, Acumed) or anatomical variable-angle dorsal T-plate (3.5mm, Dorsal Plate, Zrinski). Composite radius with plate and screws were scanned with a 3D optical scanner and later processed in Abaqus Software to generate the finite element model. All models were axially loaded at 3 points (centrally, volarly and dorsally) with 50 N forces to avoid the appearance of plastic deformations of the models. Total displacements at the end of the bone and the stresses in the bones and plates were determined and compared. Maximal von Mises stress in bone for 3-part fracture models was very similar to that in 2-part fracture models. The biggest difference between models and the largest displacements were seen during volar loading. The stresses in all models were the highest above the fracture gap. The best performance in all parameters tested was with the Zrinski plate and the most modest results were with the Synthes T-plate. There was no significant difference between 2-part (AO/ASIF type 23-A3) and 3-part (AO/ASIF 23-C2) fracture models. Maximal stresses in the plates appeared above the fracture gap; therefore, it is worth considering the development of plates without screw holes above the gap. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Selective plasticity of primary afferent innervation to the dorsal horn and autonomic nuclei following lumbosacral ventral root avulsion and reimplantation in long term studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Lisa; Wu, Jun; Chang, Huiyi H; Havton, Leif A

    2012-02-01

    Previous studies involving injuries to the nerves of the cauda equina and the conus medullaris have shown that lumbosacral ventral root avulsion in rat models results in denervation and dysfunction of the lower urinary tract, retrograde and progressive cell death of the axotomized motor and parasympathetic neurons, as well as the emergence of neuropathic pain. Root reimplantation has also been shown to ameliorate several of these responses, but experiments thus far have been limited to studying the effects of lesion and reimplantation local to the lumbosacral region. Here, we have expanded the region of investigation after lumbosacral ventral root avulsion and reimplantation to include the thoracolumbar sympathetic region of the spinal cord. Using a retrograde tracer injected into the major pelvic ganglion, we were able to define the levels of the spinal cord that contain sympathetic preganglionic neurons innervating the lower urinary tract. We have conducted studies on the effects of the lumbosacral ventral root avulsion and reimplantation models on the afferent innervation of the dorsal horn and autonomic nuclei at both thoracolumbar and lumbosacral levels through immunohistochemistry for the markers calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1). Surprisingly, our experiments reveal a selective and significant decrease of CGRP-positive innervation in the dorsal horn at thoracolumbar levels that is partially restored with root reimplantation. However, no similar changes were detected at the lumbosacral levels despite the injury and repair targeting efferent neurons, and being performed at the lumbosacral levels. Despite the changes evident in the thoracolumbar dorsal horn, we find no changes in afferent innervation of the autonomic nuclei at either sympathetic or parasympathetic segmental levels by CGRP or VGLUT1. We conclude that even remote, efferent root injuries and repair procedures can have an effect on remote and non

  13. Prominent deep medullary veins: a predictive biomarker for stroke risk from transient ischemic attack?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, Yang; Xu, Zhihua; Li, Hongyi; Cai, Xiaonan; Chang, Cancan; Yang, Benqiang

    2018-05-01

    Background Deep medullary veins (DMVs) are a biomarker of severity and prognosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction. However, their clinical significance remains unclear in patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA). Purpose To determine whether prominent deep medullary veins (PDMVs) are a predictive biomarker for stroke risk after TIA. Material and Methods Clinical and imaging data of 49 patients with TIA and 49 sex- and age-matched controls were studied. PDMVs were defined as DMVs with a score of 3 (TDMVs) or asymmetric DMVs (ADMVs), and the relationship between PDMVs and clinical features was analyzed. The DMV score based on susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) ranged from 0 (not visible) to 3 (very prominent) and was calculated for both hemispheres separately. A different score in each hemisphere was defined as ADMVs and an equal score was defined as symmetric DMVs. The asymmetry and score of DMVs were compared between the two groups and with respect to the time from TIA onset to imaging analysis. Results Agreement between neuroradiologists for the DMV asymmetry/score on SWI was excellent. The frequency of ADMVs and TDMVs was significantly higher in patients with TIA than controls ( P  0.05); PDMVs were not correlated with age, blood pressure, or diabetes. However, PDMVs were associated with the ABCD2 score (≥4), clinical symptoms, and duration of TIA (≥10 min). Conclusion Prominent deep medullary veins is a predictive biomarker for the risk of stroke in many patients having suffered from TIA.

  14. Personal authentication through dorsal hand vein patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Chih-Bin; Hao, Shu-Sheng; Lee, Jen-Chun

    2011-08-01

    Biometric identification is an emerging technology that can solve security problems in our networked society. A reliable and robust personal verification approach using dorsal hand vein patterns is proposed in this paper. The characteristic of the approach needs less computational and memory requirements and has a higher recognition accuracy. In our work, the near-infrared charge-coupled device (CCD) camera is adopted as an input device for capturing dorsal hand vein images, it has the advantages of the low-cost and noncontact imaging. In the proposed approach, two finger-peaks are automatically selected as the datum points to define the region of interest (ROI) in the dorsal hand vein images. The modified two-directional two-dimensional principal component analysis, which performs an alternate two-dimensional PCA (2DPCA) in the column direction of images in the 2DPCA subspace, is proposed to exploit the correlation of vein features inside the ROI between images. The major advantage of the proposed method is that it requires fewer coefficients for efficient dorsal hand vein image representation and recognition. The experimental results on our large dorsal hand vein database show that the presented schema achieves promising performance (false reject rate: 0.97% and false acceptance rate: 0.05%) and is feasible for dorsal hand vein recognition.

  15. Effectiveness of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Patients With Dysphagia With Medullary Infarction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ming; Tao, Tao; Zhang, Zhao-Bo; Zhu, Xiao; Fan, Wen-Guo; Pu, Li-Jun; Chu, Lei; Yue, Shou-Wei

    2016-03-01

    To evaluate and compare the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) acting on the sensory input or motor muscle in treating patients with dysphagia with medullary infarction. Prospective randomized controlled study. Department of physical medicine and rehabilitation. Patients with dysphagia with medullary infarction (N=82). Participants were randomized over 3 intervention groups: traditional swallowing therapy, sensory approach combined with traditional swallowing therapy, and motor approach combined with traditional swallowing therapy. Electrical stimulation sessions were for 20 minutes, twice a day, for 5d/wk, over a 4-week period. Swallowing function was evaluated by the water swallow test and Standardized Swallowing Assessment, oral intake was evaluated by the Functional Oral Intake Scale, quality of life was evaluated by the Swallowing-Related Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL) Scale, and cognition was evaluated by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in age, sex, duration, MMSE score, or severity of the swallowing disorder (P>.05). All groups showed improved swallowing function (P≤.01); the sensory approach combined with traditional swallowing therapy group showed significantly greater improvement than the other 2 groups, and the motor approach combined with traditional swallowing therapy group showed greater improvement than the traditional swallowing therapy group (Ptherapy and motor approach combined with traditional swallowing therapy groups than in the traditional swallowing therapy group, and the sensory approach combined with traditional swallowing therapy and motor approach combined with traditional swallowing therapy groups showed statistically significant differences (P=.04). NMES that targets either sensory input or motor muscle coupled with traditional therapy is conducive to recovery from dysphagia and improves quality of life for patients with dysphagia with

  16. Neuroradiological evaluation of dorsal cyst malformations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Utsunomiya, Hidetsuna; Hayashi, Takashi; Hashimoto, Takeo; Matsuishi, Toyojiro; Okudera, Toshio.

    1988-01-01

    We discussed six cases with dorsal cyst malformations listing their neuroradiological observations and proposed to differentiate between the holosphere and hemisphere as defined by Yokota (1984). The cases were divided into holospheric and hemispheric groups depending on the continuity of their frontal lobe midlines. Cases 1, 2 and 3 were placed in the holospheric group because of their unseparated frontal lobe sbeneath the partially formed anterior interhemispheric fissures. Cases 4, 5 and 6 were grouped in the hemisphere due to the completion of the interhemispheric fissures. There has been a tendency in recent years for most cases of cerebral malformations having an endogenous dorsal cyst with monoventricular configuration to be diagnosed as holoprosencephaly. However, we believe that only patients who have a dorsal cyst in the holospheric brain should be included, and the others in the hemispheric brain, which is capable of completing hemispheric cleavage, should not. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of correctly identifying the holospheric state in the dorsal cyst malformations for diagnosing holoprosencephaly. (author)

  17. Bilateral Medial Medullary Stroke: A Challenge in Early Diagnosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amir M. Torabi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Bilateral medial medullary stroke is a very rare type of stroke, with catastrophic consequences. Early diagnosis is crucial. Here, I present a young patient with acute vertigo, progressive generalized weakness, dysarthria, and respiratory failure, who initially was misdiagnosed with acute vestibular syndrome. Initial brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI that was done in the acute phase was read as normal. Other possibilities were excluded by lumbar puncture and MRI of cervical spine. MR of C-spine showed lesion at medial medulla; therefore a second MRI of brain was requested, showed characteristic “heart appearance” shape at diffusion weighted (DWI, and confirmed bilateral medial medullary stroke. Retrospectively, a vague-defined hyperintense linear DWI signal at midline was noted in the first brain MRI. Because of the symmetric and midline pattern of this abnormal signal and similarity to an artifact, some radiologists or neurologists may miss this type of stroke. Radiologists and neurologists must recognize clinical and MRI findings of this rare type of stroke, which early treatment could make a difference in patient outcome. The abnormal DWI signal in early stages of this type of stroke may not be a typical “heart appearance” shape, and other variants such as small dot or linear DWI signal at midline must be recognized as early signs of stroke. Also, MRI of cervical spine may be helpful if there is attention to brainstem as well.

  18. Medullary sponge kidney and isolated hemihyperplasia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P S Priyamvada

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The term hemihyperplasia refers to an enlargement of body parts beyond the normal asymmetry. Hemihyperplasia can be isolated or associated with various well-described malformation syndromes. Medullary sponge kidney (MSK has been described with isolated and syndromic hemihyperplasia; the actual prevalence is not known The hemi hypertrophy can be so subtle that it may be easily overlooked. MSK need not be limited to the side of hemihyperplasia - most often it is bilateral. Around 33 cases has been reported from different parts of the world of which 15 cases are isolated hemi hyperplasia (IHH, the remaining occurring in the context of various malformation syndromes So far only one case has been reported from India. We report a case of IHH involving right side of the body, recurrent renal stones, incomplete distal renal tubular acidosis hypercalciuria and imaging showing bilateral MSKs.

  19. Lesions of the amygdala central nucleus abolish lipoprivic-enhanced responding during oil-predicting conditioned stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benoit, S C; Morell, J R; Davidson, T L

    1999-12-01

    T. L. Davidson, A. M. Altizer, S. C. Benoit, E. K. Walls, and T. L. Powley (1997) reported that rats show facilitated responding to conditioned stimuli (CSs) that predict oil, after administration of the lipoprivic agent, Na-2-mercaptoacetate (MA). This facilitation was blocked by vagal deafferentation. The present article extends that investigation to another structure, the amygdala central nucleus (CN). The CN receives inputs from dorsal vagal nuclei, and neurotoxic lesions of this nucleus are reported to abolish feeding in response to lipoprivic challenges. In Experiment 1, rats with ibotenic acid (IBO) lesions of the CN failed to show enhanced appetitive responding during oil-predicting CSs after administration of MA. Experiment 2 used a conditioned taste-aversion procedure to establish that rats with IBO lesions of the CN were able to discriminate the tastes of sucrose and peanut oil and had intact CS-US representations. It is concluded that the amygdala CN is a necessary structure for the detection of lipoprivic challenges.

  20. Bilateral Medial Medullary Infarction with Nondominant Vertebral Artery Occlusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lei; Zhang, Gui-lian; Du, Ju-mei; Ma, Zhu-lin

    2015-09-01

    Bilateral medial medullary infarction (MMI) is a rare stroke subtype. Here, we report a case with bilateral MMI caused by nondominant vertebral artery occlusion confirmed by brain digital subtraction angiography and magnetic resonance imaging basi-parallel-anatomical-scanning. We highlight that anterior spinal arteries could originate from a unilateral vertebral artery (VA). Radiologists and neurologists should pay attention to the nondominant VA as bilateral MMI may be induced by occlusion of nondominant VA that supplies the bilateral anteromedial territories of the medulla. Copyright © 2015 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Bilateral paramedian medullary infarction presenting subacute tetraplegia 14 years after irradiation for suprapharyngeal cancer. A case report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doi, Hikaru; Shigeto, Hiroshi; Kawano, Yuji; Ohyagi, Yasumasa; Kira, Jun-ichi

    2007-01-01

    A 52-year-old man presenting with progressive tetraplegia and dysesthsia over a period of 2 weeks was initially diagnosed as cervical myelitis. However, MRI taken 10 days later revealed bilateral paramedian medullary infarction. CT angiography showed calcification of bilateral vertebral arteries located within the field irradiated for superior pharyngeal cancer 14 years previously. Radiation therapy can facilitate atherosclerotic changes and the incidences of cerebral infarction increase after head and neck irradiation. Clinicians need to be aware that bilateral paramedian medullary infarction can occur after irradiation of the head and neck. Clinical manifestations can be similar to cervical myelitis with subacute progressive course. (author)

  2. Extramedullary plasmacytoma of thyroid - a mimicker of medullary carcinoma at fine needle aspiration cytology: A case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vidya Bhat

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A rare case of extra medullary plasmacytoma (EMP of thyroid gland in a 60 year old male, occurring against a background of Hashimoto′s thyroiditis is reported. The fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC initially done as an outpatient procedure, showed atypical epithelial cells on a background of amyloid. Considering these findings we gave a diagnosis of medullary carcinoma. Histology of the total thyroidectomy specimen showed an extensive infiltration of neoplastic plasma cells against a background of Hashimoto′s thyroiditis, with a bizarre Hurthle cell change. Immunohistochemistry on the histology sections confirmed the diagnosis of solitary plasmacytoma of thyroid against a background of Hashimoto′s thyroiditis.

  3. Differential Activation of Medullary Vagal Nuclei Caused by Stimulation of Different Esophageal Mechanoreceptors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, Ivan M.; Medda, Bidyut K.; Shaker, Reza

    2010-01-01

    Esophageal mechanorecptors, i.e. muscular slowly adapting tension receptors and mucosal rapidly adapting touch receptors, mediate different sets of reflexes. The aim of this study was to determine the medullary vagal nuclei involved in the reflex responses to activation of these receptors. Thirty-three cats were anesthetized with alpha-chloralose and the esophagus was stimulated by slow balloon or rapid air distension. The physiological effects of the stimuli (N=4) were identified by recording responses from the pharyngeal, laryngeal, and hyoid muscles, esophagus, and the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The effects on the medullary vagal nuclei of the stimuli: slow distension (N=10), rapid distension (N=9), and in control animals (N=10) were identified using the immunohistochemical analysis of c-fos. The experimental groups were stimulated 3 times per minute for 3 hours. After the experiment, the brains were removed and processed for c-fos immunoreactivity or thioinin. We found that slow balloon distension activated the esophago-UES contractile reflex and esophago LES relaxation response, and rapid air injection activated the belch and its component reflexes. Slow balloon distension activated the NTSce, NTSdl, NTSvl, DMNc, DMNr and NAr; and rapid air injection primarily activated AP, NTScd, NTSim, NTSis, NTSdm, NTSvl, NAc and NAr. We concluded that different sets of medullary vagal nuclei mediate different reflexes of the esophagus activated from different sets of mechanoreceptors. The NTScd is the primary NTS subnucleus mediating reflexes from the mucosal rapidly adapting touch receptors, and the NTSce is the primary NTS subnucleus mediating reflexes from the muscular slowly adapting tension receptors. The AP may be involved in mediation of belching. PMID:20971087

  4. Imaging of renal medullary carcinoma in children and young adults: a report from the Children's Oncology Group

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sandberg, Jesse K.; Khanna, Geetika [Washington University School of Medicine, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis, MO (United States); Mullen, Elizabeth A. [Children' s Hospital Boston/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Pediatric Oncology, Boston, MA (United States); Cajaiba, Mariana M.; Perlman, Elizabeth J. [Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children' s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Smith, Ethan A. [University of Michigan Health System, Section of Pediatric Radiology, C. S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Department of Radiology, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Servaes, Sabah [Children' s Hospital of Philadelphia, Department of Radiology, Philadelphia, PA (United States); Geller, James I. [University of Cincinnati, Division of Pediatric Oncology, Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Ehrlich, Peter F. [University of Michigan Health System, Section of Pediatric Surgery, C. S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Department of Surgery, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Cost, Nicholas G. [University of Colorado School of Medicine, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Aurora, CO (United States); Dome, Jeffrey S. [Children' s National Medical Center, Division of Pediatric Oncology, Washington, DC (United States); Fernandez, Conrad V. [Dalhousie University and IWK Health Centre, Department of Pediatrics, Halifax, NS (Canada)

    2017-11-15

    Renal medullary carcinoma is a rare renal malignancy of childhood. There are no large series describing the imaging appearance of renal medullary carcinoma in children. To characterize the clinical and imaging features of pediatric renal medullary carcinoma at initial presentation. We retrospectively analyzed images of 25 pediatric patients with renal medullary carcinoma enrolled in the Children's Oncology Group renal tumors classification, biology and banking study (AREN03B2) from March 2006 to August 2016. Imaging findings of the primary mass, and patterns of locoregional and distant spread were evaluated in correlation with pathological and surgical findings. Median age at presentation was 13 years (range: 6-21 years), with a male predominance (3.2:1). The overall stage of disease at initial presentation was stage 1 in 1, stage 2 in 2 and stage 4 in 22. Maximum diameter of the primary renal mass ranged from 1.6 to 10.3 cm (mean: 6.6 cm) with a slight right side predilection (1.5:1). Enlarged (>1 cm short axis) retroperitoneal lymph nodes were identified at initial staging in 20/25 (80%) cases, 10 of which were histologically confirmed while the others did not undergo surgical sampling. Enlarged lymph nodes were also identified in the mediastinum (14/25; 56%) and supraclavicular regions (4/25; 16%). Metastatic disease was present in the lungs in 19/25 (76%) and liver in 6/25 (24%). The pattern of lung metastases was pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis: 10 cases (9 bilateral, 1 unilateral), pulmonary nodules with indistinct margins: 6 cases, pulmonary nodules with distinct margins: 2 cases, while 1 case had pulmonary nodules with both indistinct and distinct margins. Pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis was pathologically confirmed in 4/10 cases. All cases with pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis had associated enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. Renal medullary carcinoma in children and young adults presents at an advanced local and distant stage in the

  5. Imaging of renal medullary carcinoma in children and young adults: a report from the Children's Oncology Group

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandberg, Jesse K.; Khanna, Geetika; Mullen, Elizabeth A.; Cajaiba, Mariana M.; Perlman, Elizabeth J.; Smith, Ethan A.; Servaes, Sabah; Geller, James I.; Ehrlich, Peter F.; Cost, Nicholas G.; Dome, Jeffrey S.; Fernandez, Conrad V.

    2017-01-01

    Renal medullary carcinoma is a rare renal malignancy of childhood. There are no large series describing the imaging appearance of renal medullary carcinoma in children. To characterize the clinical and imaging features of pediatric renal medullary carcinoma at initial presentation. We retrospectively analyzed images of 25 pediatric patients with renal medullary carcinoma enrolled in the Children's Oncology Group renal tumors classification, biology and banking study (AREN03B2) from March 2006 to August 2016. Imaging findings of the primary mass, and patterns of locoregional and distant spread were evaluated in correlation with pathological and surgical findings. Median age at presentation was 13 years (range: 6-21 years), with a male predominance (3.2:1). The overall stage of disease at initial presentation was stage 1 in 1, stage 2 in 2 and stage 4 in 22. Maximum diameter of the primary renal mass ranged from 1.6 to 10.3 cm (mean: 6.6 cm) with a slight right side predilection (1.5:1). Enlarged (>1 cm short axis) retroperitoneal lymph nodes were identified at initial staging in 20/25 (80%) cases, 10 of which were histologically confirmed while the others did not undergo surgical sampling. Enlarged lymph nodes were also identified in the mediastinum (14/25; 56%) and supraclavicular regions (4/25; 16%). Metastatic disease was present in the lungs in 19/25 (76%) and liver in 6/25 (24%). The pattern of lung metastases was pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis: 10 cases (9 bilateral, 1 unilateral), pulmonary nodules with indistinct margins: 6 cases, pulmonary nodules with distinct margins: 2 cases, while 1 case had pulmonary nodules with both indistinct and distinct margins. Pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis was pathologically confirmed in 4/10 cases. All cases with pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis had associated enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. Renal medullary carcinoma in children and young adults presents at an advanced local and distant stage in the

  6. Neurogenesis in the brain auditory pathway of a marsupial, the northern native cat (Dasyurus hallucatus)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aitkin, L.; Nelson, J.; Farrington, M.; Swann, S.

    1991-01-01

    Neurogenesis in the auditory pathway of the marsupial Dasyurus hallucatus was studied. Intraperitoneal injections of tritiated thymidine (20-40 microCi) were made into pouch-young varying from 1 to 56 days pouch-life. Animals were killed as adults and brain sections were prepared for autoradiography and counterstained with a Nissl stain. Neurons in the ventral cochlear nucleus were generated prior to 3 days pouch-life, in the superior olive at 5-7 days, and in the dorsal cochlear nucleus over a prolonged period. Inferior collicular neurogenesis lagged behind that in the medial geniculate, the latter taking place between days 3 and 9 and the former between days 7 and 22. Neurogenesis began in the auditory cortex on day 9 and was completed by about day 42. Thus neurogenesis was complete in the medullary auditory nuclei before that in the midbrain commenced, and in the medial geniculate before that in the auditory cortex commenced. The time course of neurogenesis in the auditory pathway of the native cat was very similar to that in another marsupial, the brushtail possum. For both, neurogenesis occurred earlier than in eutherian mammals of a similar size but was more protracted

  7. Intracellular responses to frequency modulated tones in the dorsal cortex of the mouse inferior colliculus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruediger eGeis

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Frequency modulations occur in many natural sounds, including vocalizations. The neuronal response to frequency modulated (FM stimuli has been studied extensively in different brain areas, with an emphasis on the auditory cortex and the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus. Here, we measured the responses to FM sweeps in whole-cell recordings from neurons in the dorsal cortex of the mouse inferior colliculus. Both up- and downward logarithmic FM sweeps were presented at two different speeds to both the ipsi- and the contralateral ear. Based on the number of action potentials that were fired, between 10-24% of cells were selective for rate or direction of the FM sweeps. A somewhat lower percentage of cells, 6-21%, showed selectivity based on EPSP size. To study the mechanisms underlying the generation of FM selectivity, we compared FM responses with responses to simple tones in the same cells. We found that if pairs of neurons responded in a similar way to simple tones, they generally also responded in a similar way to FM sweeps. Further evidence that FM selectivity can be generated within the dorsal cortex was obtained by reconstructing FM sweeps from the response to simple tones using three different models. In about half of the direction selective neurons the selectivity was generated by spectrally asymmetric synaptic inhibition. In addition, evidence for direction selectivity based on the timing of excitatory responses was also obtained in some cells. No clear evidence for the local generation of rate selectivity was obtained. We conclude that FM direction selectivity can be generated within the dorsal cortex of the mouse inferior colliculus by multiple mechanisms.

  8. Study of Hadron Production in Hadron-Nucleus and Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions at the CERN SPS

    CERN Multimedia

    Klochkov, V; Herve, A E; Kowalski, S; Kaptur, E A; Kowalik, K L; Dominik, W M; Matulewicz, T N; Krasnoperov, A; Feofilov, G; Vinogradov, L; Kovalenko, V; Johnson, S R; Planeta, R J; Rubbia, A; Marton, K; Messerly, B A; Puzovic, J; Bogomilov, M V; Bravar, A; Renfordt, R A E; Deveaux, M; Engel, R R; Grzeszczuk, A; Davis, N; Kuich, M; Lyubushkin, V; Kondratev, V; Kadija, K; Diakonos, F; Slodkowski, M A; Rauch, W H; Pistillo, C; Laszlo, A; Nakadaira, T; Hasegawa, T; Sadovskiy, A; Morozov, S; Petukhov, O; Mathes, H; Roehrich, D; Marcinek, A J; Marino, A D; Grebieszkow, K; Di luise, S; Wlodarczyk, Z; Rybczynski, M A; Wojtaszek-szwarc, A; Nirkko, M C; Sakashita, K; Golubeva, M; Kurepin, A; Manic, D; Kolev, D I; Kisiel, J E; Koziel, M E; Rondio, E; Larsen, D T; Czopowicz, T R; Seyboth, P; Turko, L; Guber, F; Marin, V; Busygina, O; Strikhanov, M; Taranenko, A; Cirkovic, M; Roth, M A; Pulawski, S M; Aduszkiewicz, A M; Bunyatov, S; Vechernin, V; Nagai, Y; Anticic, T; Dynowski, K M; Mackowiak-pawlowska, M K; Stefanek, G; Pavin, M; Fodor, Z P; Nishikawa, K; Tada, M; Blondel, A P P; Stroebele, H W; Posiadala, M Z; Kolesnikov, V; Andronov, E; Zimmerman, E D; Antoniou, N; Majka, Z; Dumarchez, J; Naskret, M; Ivashkin, A; Tsenov, R V; Koziel, M G; Schmidt, K J; Melkumov, G; Popov, B; Panagiotou, A; Richter-was, E M; Morgala, S J; Paolone, V; Damyanova, A; Gazdzicki, M; Unger, M T; Wilczek, A G; Stepaniak, J M; Seryakov, A; Susa, T; Staszel, P P; Brzychczyk, J; Maksiak, B; Tefelski, D B

    2007-01-01

    The NA61/SHINE (SHINE = SPS Heavy Ion and Neutrino Experiment) experiment is a large acceptance hadron spectrometer at the CERN SPS for the study of the hadronic final states produced in interactions of various beam particles (pions, protons, C, S and In) with a variety of fixed targets at the SPS energies. The main components of the current detector were constructed and used by the NA49 experiment. The physics program of NA61/SHINE consists of three main subjects. In the first stage of data taking (2007-2009) measurements of hadron production in hadron-nucleus interactions needed for neutrino (T2K) and cosmic-ray (Pierre Auger and KASCADE) experiments will be performed. In the second stage (2009-2011) hadron production in proton-proton and proton-nucleus interactions needed as reference data for a better understanding of nucleus-nucleus reactions will be studied. In the third stage (2009-2013) energy dependence of hadron production properties will be measured in nucleus-nucleus collisions as well as in p+p a...

  9. Sunscreen Use on the Dorsal Hands at the Beach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Warren, D. B.; Hobbs, J. B.; Jr, R. F. W.; Riahi, R. R.

    2013-01-01

    Since skin of the dorsal hands is a known site for the development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, an epidemiologic investigation was needed to determine if beachgoers apply sunscreen to the dorsal aspect of their hands as frequently as they apply it to other skin sites. Aim. The aim of the current study was to compare the use of sunscreen on the dorsal hands to other areas of the body during subtropical late spring and summer sunlight exposure at the beach. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional survey from a convenience sample of beachgoers was designed to evaluate responded understanding and protective measures concerning skin cancer on the dorsal hands in an environment with high natural UVR exposure. Results. A total of 214 surveys were completed and analyzed. Less than half of subjects (105, 49%) applied sunscreen to their dorsal hands. Women applied sunscreen to the dorsal hands more than men (55% women versus 40% men, ρ=0.04 ). Higher Fitzpatrick Skin Type respondents were less likely to protect their dorsal hands from ultraviolet radiation (ρ=0.001 ). Conclusions. More public education focused on dorsal hand protection from ultraviolet radiation damage is necessary to reduce the risk for squamous cell carcinomas of the hands.

  10. Medial olivocochlear reflex interneurons are located in the posteroventral cochlear nucleus: a kainic acid lesion study in guinea pigs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Venecia, Ronald K; Liberman, M Charles; Guinan, John J; Brown, M Christian

    2005-07-11

    The medial olivocochlear (MOC) reflex arc is probably a three-neuron pathway consisting of type I spiral ganglion neurons, reflex interneurons in the cochlear nucleus, and MOC neurons that project to the outer hair cells of the cochlea. We investigated the identity of MOC reflex interneurons in the cochlear nucleus by assaying their regional distribution using focal injections of kainic acid. Our reflex metric was the amount of change in the distortion product otoacoustic emission (at 2f(1)-f(2)) just after onset of the primary tones. This metric for MOC reflex strength has been shown to depend on an intact reflex pathway. Lesions involving the posteroventral cochlear nucleus (PVCN), but not the other subdivisions, produced long-term decreases in MOC reflex strength. The degree of cell loss within the dorsal part of the PVCN was a predictor of whether the lesion affected MOC reflex strength. We suggest that multipolar cells within the PVCN have the distribution and response characteristics appropriate to be the MOC reflex interneurons. (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  11. Pion production in nucleus--nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schroeder, L.S.

    1975-06-01

    Current work on pion production in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions is reviewed. The majority of existing data are of the inclusive variety in which a single final state pion is detected. Experimental data are compared and their possible contributions to obtaining new information on nuclear structure is discussed. Various models which attempt to explain the observed single-inclusive-pion spectra either on the basis of a nucleon-nucleus interaction in which Fermi motion is included or on some type of cooperative model are examined. Other areas of interest involving pion production include tests of charge symmetry and pion multiplicities. (9 figures, 1 table) (U.S.)

  12. Neurokinin B-producing projection neurons in the lateral stripe of the striatum and cell clusters of the accumbens nucleus in the rat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Ligang; Furuta, Takahiro; Kaneko, Takeshi

    2004-12-06

    Neurons producing preprotachykinin B (PPTB), the precursor of neurokinin B, constitute 5% of neurons in the dorsal striatum and project to the substantia innominata (SI) selectively. In the ventral striatum, PPTB-producing neurons are collected mainly in the lateral stripe of the striatum (LSS) and cell clusters of the accumbens nucleus (Acb). In the present study, we first examined the distribution of PPTB-immunoreactive neurons in rat ventral striatum and found that a large part of the PPTB-immunoreactive cell clusters was continuous to the LSS, but a smaller part was not. Thus, we divided the PPTB-immunoreactive cell clusters into the LSS-associated and non-LSS-associated ones. We next investigated the projection targets of the PPTB-producing ventral striatal neurons by combining immunofluorescence labeling and retrograde tracing. After injection of Fluoro-Gold into the basal component of the SI (SIb) and medial part of the interstitial nucleus of posterior limb of the anterior commissure, many PPTB-immunoreactive neurons were retrogradely labeled in the LSS-associated cell clusters and LSS, respectively. When the injection site included the ventral part of the sublenticular component of the SI(SIsl), retrogradely labeled neurons showed PPTB-immunoreactivity frequently in non-LSS-associated cell clusters. Furthermore, these PPTB-immunoreactive projections were confirmed by the double-fluorescence method after anterograde tracer injection into the ventral striatum containing the cell clusters. Since the dorsalmost part of the SIsl is known to receive strong inputs from PPTB-producing dorsal striatal neurons, the present results indicate that PPTB-producing ventral striatal neurons project to basal forebrain target regions in parallel with dorsal striatal neurons without significant convergence. 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  13. Perspective of ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Specht, H.J.

    1985-01-01

    The paper concerns the lectures given at the International School of nuclear physics, Erice, 1985, which survey the expectations for the field of ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. The primary motivation for the field, the organization of the lectures, and a description of the NA 34 experiment, are all briefly given. (U.K.)

  14. Agonist-dependent modulation of G-protein coupling and transduction of 5-HT1A receptors in rat dorsal raphe nucleus

    OpenAIRE

    Valdizán, Elsa M.; Castro, Elena; Pazos, Ángel

    2009-01-01

    5-HT1A receptors couple to different Go/Gi proteins in order to mediate a wide range of physiological actions. While activation of post-synaptic 5-HT1A receptors is mainly related to inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity, functionality of autoreceptors located in raphe nuclei has been classically ascribed to modifications of the activity of potassium and calcium channels. In order to evaluate the possible existence of agonist-directed trafficking for 5-HT1A autoreceptors in the rat dorsal r...

  15. Formation of light particles in nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zagrebaev, V.; Penionzhkevich, Yu.

    1993-01-01

    The principal experimental results on the yield of the light charged particles in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the low and intermediate energies are reviewed. Inclusive spectra of light particles and their coincidences with the characteristic KX-rays, γ-rays, neutrons, projectile-like fragments, other light particles, fission fragments, and evaporation residues are analyzed. The main theoretical models used for the description of the light particle formation are briefly outlined together with their merits and shortcomings. The unsolved problems of fast light particle formation, in particular, and of nucleus-nucleus interaction dynamics, on the whole, are discussed with the outlooks of new experiments able to clear up some of these problems. (author) 144 refs., 40 figs., 2 tabs

  16. Global features of nucleus-nucleus collisions in ultrarelativistic domain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Savina, M.V.; Shmatov, S.V.; Slavin, N.V.; Zarubin, P.I.

    1998-01-01

    HIJING generator simulation of nucleus-nucleus collisions at ultrarelativistic energies is presented. It is shown that the global characteristics of nucleus-nucleus collisions, such as distribution of a charged multiplicity, total and electromagnetic transverse energy over pseudorapidity are rather sensitive to some predictions of models of high-exited nuclear medium formation, namely parton energy losses in dense nuclear matter. These losses result in appearance of a broad maximum in global variable distributions over pseudorapidity. The most profound of this effect occurs at central heavy ion collisions at LHC energy

  17. Scaling phenomenon in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wong, C.Y.; Blankenbecler, R.

    1980-01-01

    New scaling variables for proton and pion production in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions are introduced which are the generalizations of the Feynmann scaling variable. They allow a simple description of the cross sections at forward and backward angles. 2 figures

  18. Nucleus--nucleus potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaqaman, H.R.

    1977-01-01

    The nucleus--nucleus interaction is studied within the framework of the generator coordinate method that permits an easy incorporation of the full effects of antisymmetrization. It is found that the interaction, as far as the elastic scattering problem is concerned, can be described by a simple effective potential that is equivalent to the original many-body (and hence non-local) problem. The potential is obtained by dividing the wavefunction into a long-range part and a short-range part and requiring the former to satisfy a Schroedinger equation. This enables avoiding dealing with the troublesome short-range part of the wavefunction and provides a direct link with the optical model so that the potential obtained here is equivalent to the real part of the optical potential (the imaginary part is not investigated). The effective potential is found to consist of three parts: an interaction term between the nucleons belonging to different nuclei, a kinetic energy term due to the change in the intrinsic kinetic energy of the system as a result of the antisymmetrization, and finally an l-dependent part. The kinetic energy term is found to be very repulsive and effectively gives a hard core, and is calculated for the α--α and 16 O-- 16 O cases. The full potential is calculated for the α--α case for the S, D, and G partial waves and then used to calculate the corresponding phase shifts that are then compared with experimental results and other microscopic calculations. Finally, some recent results and analyses of fusion and deep inelastic reactions are reviewed that seem to indicate the presence of a hard core in the nucleus--nucleus potential. Such a hard core is present in the potential obtained in the sudden approximation

  19. Hadron-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strugalski, Z.

    1981-01-01

    Qualitative picture of high energy hadron-nucleus collision process, emerging from the analysis of experimental data, is presented. Appropriate description procedure giving a possibility of reproducing various characteristics of this process in terms of the data on elementary hadron-nucleon interaction is proposed. Formula reproducing hadron-nucleus collision cross sections is derived. Inelastic collision cross sections for pion-nucleus and proton-nucleus reactions at wide energy interval are calculated for Pb, Ag, and Al targets. A-dependence of cross sections for pion-nucleus and proton-nucleus collisions at nearly 50 GeV/c momentum were calculated and compared with existing experimental data. Energy dependence of cross sections for hadron-nucleus collisions is determined simply by energy dependence of corresponding cross sections for hadron-nucleon collisions; A-dependence is determined simply by nuclear sizes and nucleon density distributions in nuclei

  20. Agenesis of the dorsal pancreas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnedl, Wolfgang J; Piswanger-Soelkner, Claudia; Wallner, Sandra J; Krause, Robert; Lipp, Rainer W

    2009-01-01

    During the last 100 years in medical literature, there are only 54 reports, including the report of Pasaoglu et al (World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14: 2915-2916), with clinical descriptions of agenesis of the dorsal pancreas in humans. Agenesis of the dorsal pancreas, a rare congenital pancreatic malformation, is associated with some other medical conditions such as hyperglycemia, abdominal pain, pancreatitis and a few other diseases. In approximately 50% of reported patients with this congenital malformation, hyperglycemia was demonstrated. Evaluation of hyperglycemia and diabetes mellitus in all patients with agenesis of the dorsal pancreas including description of fasting blood glucose, oral glucose tolerance test, glycated hemoglobin and medical treatment would be a future goal. Since autosomal dominant transmission has been suggested in single families, more family studies including imaging technologies with demonstration of the pancreatic duct system are needed for evaluation of this disease. With this letter to the editor, we aim to increase available information for the better understanding of this rare disease. PMID:19140241

  1. Emergent properties during dorsal closure in Drosophila morphogenesis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peralta, X G; Toyama, Y; Edwards, G S; Kiehart, D P

    2008-01-01

    Dorsal closure is an essential stage of Drosophila development that is a model system for research in morphogenesis and biological physics. Dorsal closure involves an orchestrated interplay between gene expression and cell activities that produce shape changes, exert forces and mediate tissue dynamics. We investigate the dynamics of dorsal closure based on confocal microscopic measurements of cell shortening in living embryos. During the mid-stages of dorsal closure we find that there are fluctuations in the width of the leading edge cells but the time-averaged analysis of measurements indicate that there is essentially no net shortening of cells in the bulk of the leading edge, that contraction predominantly occurs at the canthi as part of the process for zipping together the two leading edges of epidermis and that the rate constant for zipping correlates with the rate of movement of the leading edges. We characterize emergent properties that regulate dorsal closure, i.e., a velocity governor and the coordination and synchronization of tissue dynamics

  2. Endogenous neurotrophin-3 promotes neuronal sprouting from dorsal root ganglia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xu-Yang; Gu, Pei-Yuan; Chen, Shi-Wen; Gao, Wen-Wei; Tian, Heng-Li; Lu, Xiang-He; Zheng, Wei-Ming; Zhuge, Qi-Chuan; Hu, Wei-Xing

    2015-11-01

    In the present study, we investigated the role of endogenous neurotrophin-3 in nerve terminal sprouting 2 months after spinal cord dorsal root rhizotomy. The left L1-5 and L7-S2 dorsal root ganglia in adult cats were exposed and removed, preserving the L6 dorsal root ganglia. Neurotrophin-3 was mainly expressed in large neurons in the dorsal root ganglia and in some neurons in spinal lamina II. Two months after rhizotomy, the number of neurotrophin-3-positive neurons in the spared dorsal root ganglia and the density of neurite sprouts emerging from these ganglia were increased. Intraperitoneal injection of an antibody against neurotrophin-3 decreased the density of neurite sprouts. These findings suggest that endogenous neurotrophin-3 is involved in spinal cord plasticity and regeneration, and that it promotes axonal sprouting from the dorsal root ganglia after spinal cord dorsal root rhizotomy.

  3. Electrophysiological and morphological properties of neurons in the prepositus hypoglossi nucleus that express both ChAT and VGAT in a double-transgenic rat model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, Yasuhiko; Zhang, Yue; Yanagawa, Yuchio

    2015-04-01

    Although it has been proposed that neurons that contain both acetylcholine (ACh) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are present in the prepositus hypoglossi nucleus (PHN), these neurons have not been characterized because of the difficulty in identifying them. In the present study, PHN neurons that express both choline acetyltransferase and the vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT) were identified using double-transgenic rats, in which the cholinergic and inhibitory neurons express the fluorescent proteins tdTomato and Venus, respectively. To characterize the neurons that express both tdTomato and Venus (D+ neurons), the afterhyperpolarization (AHP) profiles and firing patterns of these neurons were investigated via whole-cell recordings of brainstem slice preparations. Regarding the three AHP profiles and four firing patterns that the D+ neurons exhibited, an AHP with an afterdepolarization and a firing pattern that exhibited a delay in the generation of the first spike were the preferential properties of these neurons. In the three morphological types classified, the multipolar type that exhibited radiating dendrites was predominant among the D+ neurons. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that the VGAT-immunopositive axonal boutons that expressed tdTomato were primarily located in the dorsal cap of inferior olive (IO) and the PHN. Although the PHN receives cholinergic inputs from the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus and laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, D+ neurons were absent from these brain areas. Together, these results suggest that PHN neurons that co-express ACh and GABA exhibit specific electrophysiological and morphological properties, and innervate the dorsal cap of the IO and the PHN. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Increased turnover of dopamine in caudate nucleus of detoxified alcoholic patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kumakura, Yoshitaka; Gjedde, Albert; Caprioli, Daniele

    2013-01-01

    ventral striatum. We conclude that craving is most pronounced in the individuals with relatively rapid dopamine turnover in the left ventral striatum. The blood-brain clearance rate (K), corrected for subsequent loss of radiolabeled molecules from brain, was completely normal throughout the brain...... of the alcoholics, in whom the volume of distribution (V(d)) was found to be significantly lower in the left caudate nucleus. The magnitude of Vd in the left caudate head was reduced by 43% relative to the 16 controls, consistent with a 58% increase of k(loss). We interpret the findings as indicating that a trait...... for rapid dopamine turnover in the ventral striatum subserves craving and reward-dependence, leading to an acquired state of increased dopamine turnover in the dorsal striatum of detoxified alcoholic patients....

  5. The imaginary part of the nucleus - nucleus optical potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phatak, S.C.; Sinha, B.

    1978-01-01

    The contribution to the imaginary nucleus - nucleus optical potential has been estimated by evaluating the energy - conserving seocond-order term in the perturbation series. The incoming nuclear field is supposed to excite nucleons in a nucleus in this calculation and the nuclear excitations are approximated by particle-hole excitations in a Fermi gas. The resulting imaginary potential compares favourably with phenomenological potentials. (author)

  6. Serotonergic versus Nonserotonergic Dorsal Raphe Projection Neurons: Differential Participation in Reward Circuitry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ross A. McDevitt

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN contains the largest group of serotonin-producing neurons in the brain and projects to regions controlling reward. Although pharmacological studies suggest that serotonin inhibits reward seeking, electrical stimulation of the DRN strongly reinforces instrumental behavior. Here, we provide a targeted assessment of the behavioral, anatomical, and electrophysiological contributions of serotonergic and nonserotonergic DRN neurons to reward processes. To explore DRN heterogeneity, we used a simultaneous two-vector knockout/optogenetic stimulation strategy, as well as cre-induced and cre-silenced vectors in several cre-expressing transgenic mouse lines. We found that the DRN is capable of reinforcing behavior primarily via nonserotonergic neurons, for which the main projection target is the ventral tegmental area (VTA. Furthermore, these nonserotonergic projections provide glutamatergic excitation of VTA dopamine neurons and account for a large majority of the DRN-VTA pathway. These findings help to resolve apparent discrepancies between the roles of serotonin versus the DRN in behavioral reinforcement.

  7. AVP-stimulated nucleotide secretion in perfused mouse medullary thick ascending limb and cortical collecting duct

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Odgaard, Elvin V. P.; Prætorius, Helle; Leipziger, Jens Georg

    2009-01-01

    is stimulated remain elusive. Here, we investigate the phenomenon of nucleotide secretion in intact, perfused mouse medullary thick ascending limb (mTAL) and cortical collecting duct (CCD). The nucleotide secretion was monitored by a biosensor adapted to register nucleotides in the tubular outflow...

  8. Epigenetic regulation of dorsal raphe GABA(B1a) associated with isolation-induced abnormal responses to social stimulation in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Araki, Ryota; Hiraki, Yosuke; Nishida, Shoji; Kuramoto, Nobuyuki; Matsumoto, Kinzo; Yabe, Takeshi

    2016-02-01

    In isolation-reared mice, social encounter stimulation induces locomotor hyperactivity and activation of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), suggesting that dysregulation of dorsal raphe function may be involved in abnormal behaviors. In this study, we examined the involvement of dorsal raphe GABAergic dysregulation in the abnormal behaviors of isolation-reared mice. We also studied an epigenetic mechanism underlying abnormalities of the dorsal raphe GABAergic system. Both mRNA and protein levels of GABA(B1a), a GABA(B) receptor subunit, were increased in the DRN of isolation-reared mice, compared with these levels in group-reared mice. In contrast, mRNA levels for other GABAergic system-related genes (GABA(A) receptor α1, β2 and γ2 subunits, GABA(B) receptor 1b and 2 subunits, and glutamate decarboxylase 67 and 65) were unchanged. Intra-DRN microinjection of 0.06 nmol baclofen (a GABA(B) receptor agonist) exacerbated encounter-induced hyperactivity and aggressive behavior, while microinjection of 0.3 nmol phaclofen (a GABA(B) receptor antagonist) attenuated encounter-induced hyperactivity and aggressive behavior in isolation-reared mice. Furthermore, microinjection of 0.06 nmol baclofen elicited encounter-induced hyperactivity in group-reared mice. Neither baclofen nor phaclofen affected immobility time in the forced swim test and hyperactivity in a novel environment of isolation reared mice. Bisulfite sequence analyses revealed that the DNA methylation level of the CpG island around the transcription start site (TSS) of GABA(B1a) was decreased in the DRN of isolation-reared mice. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that histone H3 was hyperacetylated around the TSS of GABA(B1a) in the DRN of isolation-reared mice. These findings indicate that an increase in dorsal raphe GABA(B1a) expression via epigenetic regulation is associated with abnormal responses to social stimulation such as encounter-induced hyperactivity and aggressive behavior in isolation

  9. Quasi-elastic shadowing in nucleus-nucleus elastic scattering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dymarz, R; Malecki, A [Institute of Nuclear Physics, Krakow (Poland); Gluski, K [Institute of Nuclear Research, Warsaw (Poland); Picchi, P [Turin Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Turin (Italy). Lab. di Cosmo-Geofisica)

    1979-01-06

    The complete evaluation of the Glauber multiple-scattering series for nucleus-nucleus collisions is a very difficult task and that is why various approximate formulae were proposed. In this work some of these approximations are discussed.

  10. Diaphyseal medullary stenosis (sclerosis) with bone malignancy (malignant fibrous histiocytoma): hardcastle syndrome

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Norton, K.I. [Department of Radiology, Box 1234, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574 (United States)]|[Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, New York (United States); Wagreich, J.M. [Department of Radiology, Box 1234, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574 (United States); Granowetter, L. [Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Mount Sinai Hospital New York, New York (United States); Martignetti, J.A. [Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, New York (United States)

    1996-09-01

    Hardcastle syndrome is a rare, autosomally dominant inherited skeletal dysplasia, characterized by diaphyseal sclerosis, medullary stenosis, pathological fractures, bony infarction, and malignant transformation. A 19-year-old proband is presented and discussed, adding a fourth family to the world literature. Radiographic screening of family members is suggested from puberty onward. Thallium scanning is proposed as a more tumor-sensitive screening agent in affected individuals. (orig.). With 2 figs.

  11. High density QCD and nucleus-nucleus scattering deeply in the saturation region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kormilitzin, Andrey; Levin, Eugene; Miller, Jeremy S.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we solve the equations that describe nucleus-nucleus scattering, in high density QCD, in the framework of the BFKL Pomeron Calculus. We found that (i) the contribution of short distances to the opacity for nucleus-nucleus scattering dies at high energies, (ii) the opacity tends to unity at high energy, and (iii) the main contribution that survives comes from soft (long distance) processes for large values of the impact parameter. The corrections to the opacity Ω(Y,b)=1 were calculated and it turns out that they have a completely different form, namely (1-Ω→exp(-Const√(Y))) than the opacity that stems from the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation, which is (1-Ω→exp(-ConstY 2 )). We reproduce the formula for the nucleus-nucleus cross section that is commonly used in the description of nucleus-nucleus scattering, and there is no reason why it should be correct in the Glauber-Gribov approach.

  12. Connections from the rat dorsal column nuclei (DCN) to the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbaresi, Paolo; Mensà, Emanuela

    2016-08-01

    Electrical stimulation of the dorsal columns (DCs; spinal cord stimulation; SCS) has been proposed to treat chronic neuropathic pain. SCS may activate a dual mechanism that would affect both the spinal cord and supraspinal levels. Stimulation of DCs or DC nuclei (DCN) in animals where neuropathic pain has been induced causes activation of brainstem centers including the periaqueductal gray (PAG), which is involved in the endogenous pain suppression system. Biotinylated dextran-amine (BDA) was iontophoretically injected into the DCN to analyze the ascending projection directed to the PAG. Separate injections into the gracile nucleus (GrN) and the cuneate nucleus (CunN) showed BDA-positive fibers terminating in different regions of the contralateral PAG. GrN-PAG afferents terminated in the caudal and middle portions of PAG-l, whereas CunN-PAG fibers terminated in the middle and rostral portions of PAG-l. Based on the DCN somatotopic map, the GrN sends information to the PAG from the contralateral hindlimb and the tail and the CunN from the contralateral forelimb, shoulder, neck and ear. This somatotopic organization is consistent with earlier electrophysiological and PAG stimulation studies. These fibers could form part of the DCs-brainstem-spinal cord loop, which may be involved in the inhibitory effects of SCS on neuropathic pain. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  13. A resected case of medullary carcinoma of the ascending colon followed by infarction of the greater omentum mimicking anastomotic leakage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masaki Wakasugi

    Full Text Available Introduction: Medullary carcinoma is a rare type of colorectal adenocarcinoma, and omental infarction is a rare cause of acute abdomen. Presentation of case: A 72-year-old woman underwent single-incision laparoscopic right hemicolectomy for ascending colon cancer. Pathological examination showed a medullary carcinoma (MC of T4aN0M0 Stage IIB. Her postoperative course was uneventful, and she was discharged on postoperative day (POD 6. From POD 7, she suffered from fever, and she returned to the hospital on POD 9. Plain computed tomography showed free air beside the anastomotic site around the elevated density of fat tissue and gallbladder wall thickening with a gallstone. Suspecting anastomotic leakage with acute cholecystitis, probe laparotomy was performed. Intraoperative observation confirmed omental infarction with acute cholecystitis, and no leakage was found at the anastomotic site. Therefore, the necrotic part of the greater omentum was resected, and cholecystectomy was performed. She has remained well, with no evidence of recurrent cancer during the 12 months of follow-up without chemotherapy after the surgery for MC of the ascending colon. Discussion: MC should be distinguished from other more aggressive, non-glandular tumors of the colon because MC appears to have a better survival outcome than undifferentiated colon adenocarcinoma. Omental infarction should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen after surgery. Conclusion: A rare case of medullary carcinoma of the ascending colon followed by infarction of the greater omentum mimicking anastomotic leakage is presented. Keywords: Medullary carcinoma, Colon cancer, Omental infarction, Omental torsion

  14. Direct effects of endogenous pyrogen on medullary temperature-responsive neurons in rabbits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakata, Y; Morimoto, A; Takase, Y; Murakami, N

    1981-01-01

    The effect of endogenous pyrogen (E.P.) injected directly into the tissue near the recording site were examined on the activities of the medullary temperature-responsive (TR) neurons in rabbits anesthetized with urethane. Endogenous pyrogen prepared from rabbit's whole blood was administered by a fine glass cannula (100-200 micrometer in diameter) in a fluid volume of 1 to 4 microliter. The cannula was fixed to the manipulator in parallel with a microelectrode and their tips were less than 0.05 mm apart. In rabbits with the intact preoptic/anterior hypothalamic (PO/AH) region, 4 warm-responsive neurons out of 7 were inhibited and 6 cold-responsive neuron out of 7 were excited by the direct administration of the E.P. In rabbits with lesions of the PO/AH, 5 warm-responsive neurons out of 9 were inhibited and 6 cold-responsive neurons out of 8 were facilitated by E.P. Antipyretics administered locally after the E.P. antagonized the pyretic effect, causing a return of the discharge of TR neuron to the control rate within 2.4 +/- 1.2 (mean +/- S.D.) min. The medullary TR neuron itself has the ability to respond to the E.P. and contributes to the development of fever.

  15. Midbrain and medullary control of postinspiratory activity of the crural and costal diaphragm in vivo

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Subramanian, Hari H.; Holstege, Gert

    Subramanian HH, Holstege G. Midbrain and medullary control of postinspiratory activity of the crural and costal diaphragm in vivo. J Neurophysiol 105: 2852-2862, 2011. First published March 30, 2011; doi:10.1152/jn.00168.2011.-Studies on brain stem respiratory neurons suggest that eupnea consists of

  16. Laterotopic representation of left-right information onto the dorso-ventral axis of a zebrafish midbrain target nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aizawa, Hidenori; Bianco, Isaac H; Hamaoka, Takanori; Miyashita, Toshio; Uemura, Osamu; Concha, Miguel L; Russell, Claire; Wilson, Stephen W; Okamoto, Hitoshi

    2005-02-08

    The habenulae are part of an evolutionarily highly conserved limbic-system conduction pathway that connects telencephalic nuclei to the interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) of the midbrain . In zebrafish, unilateral activation of the Nodal signaling pathway in the left brain specifies the laterality of the asymmetry of habenular size . We show "laterotopy" in the habenulo-interpeduncular projection in zebrafish, i.e., the stereotypic, topographic projection of left-sided habenular axons to the dorsal region of the IPN and of right-sided habenular axons to the ventral IPN. This asymmetric projection is accounted for by a prominent left-right (LR) difference in the size ratio of the medial and lateral habenular sub-nuclei, each of which specifically projects either to ventral or dorsal IPN targets. Asymmetric Nodal signaling directs the orientation of laterotopy but is dispensable for the establishment of laterotopy itself. Our results reveal a mechanism by which information distributed between left and right sides of the brain can be transmitted bilaterally without loss of LR coding, which may play a crucial role in functional lateralization of the vertebrate brain .

  17. Efferent connections and nigral afferents of the nucleus accumbens septi in the rat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nauta, W J.H.; Smith, G P; Faull, R L.M.; Domesick, V B [Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge (USA). Dept. of Psychology

    1978-01-01

    The results of this study by the methods of autoradiographic fiber-tracing and retrograde cell-labelling confirm earlier reports of accumbens projections to the globus pallidus and to dorsal strata of the medial half of the substantia nigra. Also in accord with previous autoradiographic evidence, sparser projections could be traced to a variety of subcortical structures implicated in the circuitry of the limbic system: bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, septum, preoptic region, hypothalamus, ventral tegmental area, nuclei paratenialis and mediodorsalis thalami, and lateral habenular nucleus. Contrary to earlier reports, striatopallidal fibers from the accumbens were found to be distributed largely to the subcommissural part of the external pallidal segment and to avoid almost entirely the internal pallidal segment. Mesencephalic projections from the accumbens largely coincide with those from the preoptic region and hypothalamus; like the latter they prominantly involve the region of the out-lying nigral cell groups A10 and A8 and extend caudally beyond the nigral complex to the cuneiform and parabrachial regions of the tegmentum as well as to caudoventral parts of the central grey substance. Horseradish peroxidase injected into the nucleus accumbens labels numerous neurons in the region of cell group A10 and in the supralemniscal 'retrorubral nucleus', but only sporadic cells in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra proper. It thus appears that the accumbens projects to a region of the nigral complex considerably larger than that from which it receives nigrostriatal fibers, and hence, that the nigro-striato-nigral circuit associated with the accumbens is not organized in a mode of simple point-for-point reciprocity. The problem of delimiting the accumbens from the rest of the striatum is examined by comparing cases of tracer injection into various discrete loci within the ventral zone of the striatum.

  18. Gastrointestinal-projecting neurones in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus exhibit direct and viscerotopically organized sensitivity to orexin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grabauskas, Gintautas; Moises, Hylan C

    2003-01-01

    Orexin (hypocretin)-containing projections from lateral hypothalamus (LH) are thought to play an important role in the regulation of feeding behaviour and energy balance. In rodent studies, central administration of orexin peptides increases food intake, and orexin neurones in the LH are activated by hypoglycaemia during fasting. In addition, administration of orexins into the fourth ventricle or the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) has been shown to stimulate gastric acid secretion and motility, respectively, via vagal efferent pathways. In this study, whole-cell recordings were obtained from DMV neurones in rat brainstem slices to investigate the cellular mechanism(s) by which orexins produce their gastrostimulatory effects. To determine whether responsiveness to orexins might be differentially expressed among distinct populations of preganglionic vagal motor neurones, recordings were made from neurones whose projections to the gastrointestinal tract had been identified by retrograde labelling following apposition of the fluorescent tracer DiI to the gastric fundus, corpus or antrum/pylorus, the duodenum or caecum. Additionally, the responses of neurones to orexins were compared with those produced by oxytocin, which acts within the DMV to stimulate gastric acid secretion, but inhibits gastric motor function. Bath application of orexin-A or orexin-B (30–300 nm) produced a slow depolarization, accompanied by increased firing in 47 of 102 DMV neurones tested, including 70 % (30/43) of those that projected to the gastric fundus or corpus. In contrast, few DMV neurones that supplied the antrum/pylorus (3/13), duodenum (4/18) or caecum (1/13) were responsive to these peptides. The depolarizing responses were concentration dependent and persisted during synaptic isolation of neurones with TTX or Cd2+, indicating they resulted from activation of postsynaptic orexin receptors. They were also associated with a small increase in membrane resistance, and in voltage

  19. Onuf's nucleus X

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schrøder, H D

    1981-01-01

    in the length of the nucleus was observed. Based on the cytoarchitecture the nucleus could be divided in three parts, a cranial, a dorsomedial and a ventrolateral. All parts of the nucleus consisted of chromatin-rich medium-sized neurons, and apparent direct appositions between different cells bodies as well...

  20. Closing the medullary canal after retrograde nail removal using a bioabsorbable bone plug: technical tip

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schepers, T.; Vogels, L. M. M.

    2012-01-01

    We describe a simple technique for closure of the intra-articular opening after the removal of a retrograde femur nail. With the use of a gelatine bioabsorbable bone plug the medullary canal is closed, reducing leakage of blood and cancellous bone particles from the bone into the knee joint

  1. MR renography : An algorithm for calculation and correction of cortical volume averaging in medullary renographs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Priester, JA; den Boer, JA; Giele, ELW; Christiaans, MHL; Kessels, A; Hasman, A; van Engelshoven, JMA

    We evaluated a mathematical algorithm for the generation of medullary signal from raw dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) data. Five healthy volunteers were studied. MR examination consisted of a run of 100 TI-weighted coronal scans (gradient echo: TR/TE 11/3.4 msec, flip angle 60 degrees; slice

  2. Classifiers for centrality determination in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Altsybeev Igor

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Centrality, as a geometrical property of the collision, is crucial for the physical interpretation of nucleus-nucleus and proton-nucleus experimental data. However, it cannot be directly accessed in event-by-event data analysis. Common methods for centrality estimation in A-A and p-A collisions usually rely on a single detector (either on the signal in zero-degree calorimeters or on the multiplicity in some semi-central rapidity range. In the present work, we made an attempt to develop an approach for centrality determination that is based on machine-learning techniques and utilizes information from several detector subsystems simultaneously. Different event classifiers are suggested and evaluated for their selectivity power in terms of the number of nucleons-participants and the impact parameter of the collision. Finer centrality resolution may allow to reduce impact from so-called volume fluctuations on physical observables being studied in heavy-ion experiments like ALICE at the LHC and fixed target experiment NA61/SHINE on SPS.

  3. Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy using (99m)Tc-EDDA/HYNIC-TOC in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Czepczynski, Rafal; Parisella, Maria Gemma; Kosowicz, Jerzy; Mikolajczak, Renata; Ziemnicka, Katarzyna; Gryczynska, Maria; Sowinski, Jerzy; Signore, Alberto

    2007-01-01

    Purpose Several new somatostatin analogues have been developed for the diagnosis and therapy of different tumours. Since somatostatin receptors are often over-expressed in medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), the aim of our study was to evaluate the utility of scintigraphy with the somatostatin

  4. Partial inelasticity coefficients of negative pions produced in hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    OLIMOV, K.; LUTPULLAEV, S.L.; PETROV, V.I.; OLIMOV, A.K.

    2015-01-01

    New experimental data on the partial inelasticity coefficients of negative pions produced in "1"6Op-collisions at 3.25 A GeV/s, pC-interactions at 4.2 and 9.9 GeV/s, and d,α,C(C)-collisions at 4.2 A GeV/s are presented. It is established that the behavior of partial inelasticity coefficients of pions at intermediate energies (<10 GeV) in hadron-nucleus collisions has a transitional character, reaching the limiting value at ultrahigh energies. It is shown that the mean values of partial inelasticity coefficients of pions produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions decrease with an increase in mass number of the projectile nucleus. (authors)

  5. Diabatic interaction potential for nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noerenberg, W.; Lukasiak, A.

    1984-01-01

    Within a refined method for the construction of diabatic states allowing for the treatment of the full spin-orbit coupling, characteristic features of the diabatic potential for nucleus-nucleus collisions are investigated. Approximately 90% of the strong repulsion results from diabatic particle-hole excitations, while only 10% is due to compression. The diabatic interaction potential describes a physical situation intermediate between adiabatic and sudden approximations. (orig.)

  6. Ipsilateral hemiparesis in lateral medullary infarction: Clinical investigation of the lesion location on magnetic resonance imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uemura, Masahiro; Naritomi, Hiroaki; Uno, Hisakazu; Umesaki, Arisa; Miyashita, Kotaro; Toyoda, Kazunori; Minematsu, Kazuo; Nagatsuka, Kazuyuki

    2016-06-15

    In 1946, Opalski reported two cases of Wallenberg syndrome with ipsilateral hemiparesis (IH). His hypothesis seems to be based on the view that IH is caused by post-decussating pyramidal tract damage. Afterwards, other researchers proposed a different hypothesis that ipsilateral sensory symptoms of limbs (ISSL) or ipsilateral limb ataxia (ILA) caused by lateral medullary infarction (LMI) might lead to ipsilateral motor weakness. The present study is aimed to clarify whether IH in LMI patients is attributable mainly to ISSL/ILA or disruption of ipsilateral post-decussating pyramidal tract. Thirty-two patients with acute LMI admitted during the last 13years were divided to IH Group (n=7) and Non-IH Group (n=25). Lesion location/distribution on MRI and neurological findings were compared between the two groups. LMI involved the lower medulla in all seven IH patients and 12 of 25 Non-IH patients. The lower medullary lesion extended to the cervico-medullary junction (CMJ) in four of seven IH patients and one of 12 Non-IH patients. Definitive extension to upper cervical cord (UCC) was confirmed in none of the patients. ISSL was found in two IH and three Non-IH patients all showing only superficial sensory impairments. ILA or hypotonia was observed in 57% of IH and 60% of Non-IH patients. IH in LMI appears to be due mainly to post-decussating pyramidal tract damage at the lower medulla instead of ILA or ISSL participation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Gastric Medullary Carcinoma with Sporadic Mismatch Repair Deficiency and a TP53 R273C Mutation: An Unusual Case with Wild-Type BRAF

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brett M. Lowenthal

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Medullary carcinoma has long been recognized as a subtype of colorectal cancer associated with microsatellite instability and Lynch syndrome. Gastric medullary carcinoma is a very rare neoplasm. We report a 67-year-old male who presented with a solitary gastric mass. Total gastrectomy revealed a well-demarcated, poorly differentiated carcinoma with an organoid growth pattern, pushing borders, and abundant peritumoral lymphocytic response. The prior cytology was cellular with immunohistochemical panel consistent with upper gastrointestinal/pancreaticobiliary origin. Overall, the histopathologic findings were consistent with gastric medullary carcinoma. A mismatch repair panel revealed a mismatch repair protein deficient tumor with loss of MLH1 and PMS2 expression. BRAF V600E immunostain (VE1 and BRAF molecular testing were negative, indicating a wild-type gene. Tumor sequencing of MLH1 demonstrated a wild-type gene, while our molecular panel identified TP53 c.817C>T (p.R273C mutation. These findings were compatible with a sporadic tumor. Given that morphologically identical medullary tumors often occur in Lynch syndrome, it is possible that mismatch repair loss is an early event in sporadic tumors with p53 mutation being a late event. Despite having wild-type BRAF, this tumor is sporadic and unrelated to Lynch syndrome. This case report demonstrates that coordinate ancillary studies are needed to resolve sporadic versus hereditary rare tumors.

  8. HV1 acts as a sodium sensor and promotes superoxide production in medullary thick ascending limb of Dahl salt-sensitive rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Chunhua; Sun, Jingping; Stilphen, Carly A; Smith, Susan M E; Ocasio, Hiram; Bermingham, Brent; Darji, Sandip; Guha, Avirup; Patel, Roshan; Geurts, Aron M; Jacob, Howard J; Lambert, Nevin A; O'Connor, Paul M

    2014-09-01

    We previously characterized a H(+) transport pathway in medullary thick ascending limb nephron segments that when activated stimulated the production of superoxide by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase. Importantly, the activity of this pathway was greater in Dahl salt-sensitive rats than salt-resistant (SS.13(BN)) rats, and superoxide production was enhanced in low Na(+) media. The goal of this study was to determine the molecular identity of this pathway and its relationship to Na(+). We hypothesized that the voltage-gated proton channel, HV1, was the source of superoxide-stimulating H(+) currents. To test this hypothesis, we developed HV1(-/-) null mutant rats on the Dahl salt-sensitive rat genetic background using zinc-finger nuclease gene targeting. HV1 could be detected in medullary thick limb from wild-type rats. Intracellular acidification using an NH4Cl prepulse in 0 sodium/BaCl2 containing media resulted in superoxide production in thick limb from wild-type but not HV1(-/-) rats (Pthick limb and peritoneal macrophages only when HV1 was present. When fed a high-salt diet, blood pressure, outer medullary renal injury (tubular casts), and oxidative stress (4-hydroxynonenal staining) were significantly reduced in HV1(-/-) rats compared with wild-type Dahl salt-sensitive rats. We conclude that HV1 is expressed in medullary thick ascending limb and promotes superoxide production in this segment when intracellular Na(+) is low. HV1 contributes to the development of hypertension and renal disease in Dahl salt-sensitive rats. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

  9. Medullary colonic carcinoma with microsatellite instability has lower survival compared with conventional colonic adenocarcinoma with microsatellite instability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel A. Gómez-Álvarez

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Colorectal medullary carcinoma (MC is a rare subtype of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (PDA with unclear prognostic significance. Microsatellite instable (MSI colorectal carcinomas have demonstrated better prognosis in clinical stage II. Aim: To analyze the survival and clinicopathological characteristics of MCs versus PDAs with MSI in clinical stage III. Material and methods: We studied 22 cases of PDAs with MSI versus 10 MCs. Results : Of the 10 MCs, 7 patients were men; the mean age was 57.8 ±5.6 years. The mean tumor size was 9.6 ±4.1 cm, and the primary site was the right colon in 9; 7 patients showed lymph node metastases (LNM and lymphovascular invasion (LVI. Of the 22 PDA cases, 12 (54.5% were women with a mean age of 75 ±16.1 years. The mean tumor size was 6.4 ±3.2 cm. Twelve (54.5% presented in the right colon, 21 (95.5% showed LNM and 7 (31.8% LVI. Follow-up was 32 ±8 months, with a 5-year overall survival of 42.9% for MCs and 76.6% for PDAs (p = 0.048. Univariate analysis found local recurrence (p = 0.001 and medullary subtype (p = 0.043 associated with lower survival. Conclusions : Medullary carcinomas were of greater tumor size and associated with more LVI and worse survival versus PDAs with MSI in stage III.

  10. Classical gluon production amplitude for nucleus-nucleus collisions:First saturation correction in the projectile

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chirilli, Giovanni A.; Kovchegov, Yuri V.; Wertepny, Douglas E.

    2015-01-01

    We calculate the classical single-gluon production amplitude in nucleus-nucleus collisions including the first saturation correction in one of the nuclei (the projectile) while keeping multiple-rescattering (saturation) corrections to all orders in the other nucleus (the target). In our approximation only two nucleons interact in the projectile nucleus: the single-gluon production amplitude we calculate is order-g"3 and is leading-order in the atomic number of the projectile, while resumming all order-one saturation corrections in the target nucleus. Our result is the first step towards obtaining an analytic expression for the first projectile saturation correction to the gluon production cross section in nucleus-nucleus collisions.

  11. Clinical relevance of18F-FDG PET and18F-DOPA PET in recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    H.H.G. Verbeek (Hans H.); J.T. Plukker (John); K.P. Koopmans (Klaas Pieter); J. de Groot (Jan); R.M.W. Hofstra (Robert); A.C. Muller Kobold (Anneke); A.N.A. van der Horst-Schrivers (Anouk); A.H. Brouwers (A.); T.P. Links (Thera)

    2012-01-01

    textabstractThe transition from stable to progressive disease is unpredictable in patients with biochemical evidence of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) doubling times are currently the most reliable markers for progression, but for accurate

  12. Predictors for perioperative blood transfusion in elderly patients with extra capsular hip fractures treated with cephalo-medullary nailing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fazal, M Ali; Bagley, Caroline; Garg, Parag

    2018-02-01

    The aim of our study was to determine predictive factors and requirement for perioperative blood transfusion in elderly patients with extra capsular hip fractures treated with cephalo-medullary device. Seventy-nine patients with extra capsular hip fractures treated with cephalo-medullary nailing were included in the study. Age, sex, ASA grade, timing of surgery, preoperative and postoperative haemoglobin, length of hospital stay, fracture type, number of units transfused and 30-day mortality were recorded. The mean age was 82.3 years. Forty-seven patients underwent a short nail and 32 patients a long nail; 53.4% patients required blood transfusion postoperatively. Transfusion was required in 71.8% of the long nails (p  0.05). Length of hospital stay in non-transfusion group was 13 days and in transfusion group was 19 days (p  0.05). Thirty-day mortality in patients needing blood transfusion was 5% and in non-transfusion group was 3.7% (p > 0.05). Patient age, ASA grade, preoperative haemoglobin and length of nail are reliable predictors for perioperative blood transfusion in extra capsular hip fractures in elderly patients treated with cephalo-medullary nailing and reinforce a selective transfusion policy. Copyright © 2017 Daping Hospital and the Research Institute of Surgery of the Third Military Medical University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Brain stem origins of spinal projections in the lizard Tupinambis nigropunctatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cruce, W L; Newman, D B

    1981-05-10

    In order to study brainstem origins of spinal projections, ten Tegu lizards (Tupinambis nigropunctatus) received complete or partial hemisections of the spinal cord at the first or second cervical segment. Their brains were processed for conventional Nissl staining. The sections were surveyed for the presence or absence of retrograde chromatolysis. Based on analysis and comparison of results from lesions in the various spinal cord funiculi, the following conclusions were reached: The interstitial nucleus projects ipsilaterally to the spinal cord via the medial longitudinal fasciculus, as does the middle reticular field of the metencephalon. The red nucleus and dorsal vagal motor nucleus both project contralaterally to the spinal cord via the dorsal part of the lateral funiculus. The superior reticular field in the rostral metencephalon and the ventrolateral vestibular nucleus project ipsilaterally to the spinal cord via the ventral funiculus. The dorsolateral metencephalic nucleus and the ventral part of the inferior reticular nucleus of the myelencephalon both project ipsilaterally to the spinal cord via the dorsal part of the lateral funiculus. Several brainstem nuclei in Tupinambis project bilaterally to the spinal cord. The ventrolateral metencephalic nucleus, for example, projects ipsilaterally to the cord via the medial longitudinal fasciculus and contralaterally via the dorsal part of the lateral funiculus. The dorsal part of the inferior reticular nucleus projects bilaterally to the spinal cord via the dorsal part of the lateral funiculus. The nucleus solitarius complex projects contralaterally via the dorsal part of the lateral funiculus but ipsilaterally via the middle of the lateral funiculus. The inferior raphe nucleus projects bilaterally to the spinal cord via the middle part of the lateral funiculus. These data suggest that supraspinal projections in reptiles, especially reticulospinal systems, are more highly differentiated than previously thought

  14. Distribution of Fos-Like Immunoreactivity, Catecholaminergic and Serotoninergic Neurons Activated by the Laryngeal Chemoreflex in the Medulla Oblongata of Rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaolu; Guo, Ruichen; Zhao, Wenjing

    2015-01-01

    The laryngeal chemoreflex (LCR) induces apnea, glottis closure, bradycardia and hypertension in young and maturing mammals. We examined the distribution of medullary nuclei that are activated by the LCR and used immunofluorescent detection of Fos protein as a cellular marker for neuronal activation to establish that the medullary catecholaminergic and serotoninergic neurons participate in the modulation of the LCR. The LCR was elicited by the infusion of KCl-HCl solution into the laryngeal lumen of adult rats in the experimental group, whereas the control group received the same surgery but no infusion. In comparison, the number of regions of Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI) that were activated by the LCR significantly increased in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), the vestibular nuclear complex (VNC), the loose formation of the nucleus ambiguus (AmbL), the rostral ventral respiratory group (RVRG), the ventrolateral reticular complex (VLR), the pre-Bötzinger complex (PrBöt), the Bötzinger complex (Böt), the spinal trigeminal nucleus (SP5), and the raphe obscurus nucleus (ROb) bilaterally from the medulla oblongata. Furthermore, 12.71% of neurons with FLI in the dorsolateral part of the nucleus of the solitary tract (SolDL) showed tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactivity (TH-ir, catecholaminergic), and 70.87% of neurons with FLI in the ROb were serotoninergic. Our data demonstrated the distribution of medullary nuclei that were activated by the LCR, and further demonstrated that catecholaminergic neurons of the SolDL and serotoninergic neurons of the ROb were activated by the LCR, indicating the potential central pathway of the LCR.

  15. Distribution of Fos-Like Immunoreactivity, Catecholaminergic and Serotoninergic Neurons Activated by the Laryngeal Chemoreflex in the Medulla Oblongata of Rats.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaolu Wang

    Full Text Available The laryngeal chemoreflex (LCR induces apnea, glottis closure, bradycardia and hypertension in young and maturing mammals. We examined the distribution of medullary nuclei that are activated by the LCR and used immunofluorescent detection of Fos protein as a cellular marker for neuronal activation to establish that the medullary catecholaminergic and serotoninergic neurons participate in the modulation of the LCR. The LCR was elicited by the infusion of KCl-HCl solution into the laryngeal lumen of adult rats in the experimental group, whereas the control group received the same surgery but no infusion. In comparison, the number of regions of Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI that were activated by the LCR significantly increased in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS, the vestibular nuclear complex (VNC, the loose formation of the nucleus ambiguus (AmbL, the rostral ventral respiratory group (RVRG, the ventrolateral reticular complex (VLR, the pre-Bötzinger complex (PrBöt, the Bötzinger complex (Böt, the spinal trigeminal nucleus (SP5, and the raphe obscurus nucleus (ROb bilaterally from the medulla oblongata. Furthermore, 12.71% of neurons with FLI in the dorsolateral part of the nucleus of the solitary tract (SolDL showed tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactivity (TH-ir, catecholaminergic, and 70.87% of neurons with FLI in the ROb were serotoninergic. Our data demonstrated the distribution of medullary nuclei that were activated by the LCR, and further demonstrated that catecholaminergic neurons of the SolDL and serotoninergic neurons of the ROb were activated by the LCR, indicating the potential central pathway of the LCR.

  16. Clinical Relevance of F-18-FDG PET and F-18-DOPA PET in Recurrent Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verbeek, Hans H. G.; Plukker, John T. M.; Koopmans, Klaas Pieter; de Groot, Jan Willem B.; Hofstra, Robert M. W.; Kobold, Anneke C. Muller; van der Horst-Schrivers, Anouk N. A.; Brouwers, Adrienne H.; Links, Thera P.

    2012-01-01

    The transition from stable to progressive disease is unpredictable in patients with biochemical evidence of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) doubling times are currently the most reliable markers for progression, but for accurate determination, serial

  17. Dorsal finger texture recognition: Investigating fixed-length SURF

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hartung, Daniel; Kückelhahn, Jesper

    2012-01-01

    We seek to create fixed-length features from dorsal finger skin images extracted by the SURF interest point detector to combine it in the privacy enhancing helper data scheme. The source of the biometric samples is the GUC45 database which features finger vein, fingerprint and dorsal finger skin...

  18. K+-nucleus interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gibbs, W.R.

    1984-01-01

    The K + -nucleus system is reviewed and comparison with data is made. The principal conclusions are that the theoretical uncertainties in relating the K + -nucleus interaction to the K + -nucleon interaction are very small and hence the positive kaon makes an excellent probe of the nucleus. It is suggested that this particle may be more sensitive to non-nucleonic degrees of freedom (especially quarks) than classical probes

  19. TWO-PHOTON PHYSICS IN NUCLEUS-NUCLEUS COLLISIONS AT RHIC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nystrand, J.; Klein, S.

    1998-01-01

    Ultra-relativistic heavy-ions carry strong electromagnetic and nuclear fields. Interactions between these fields in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions can probe many interesting physics topics. This presentation will focus on coherent two-photon and photonuclear processes at RHIC. The rates for these interactions will be high. The coherent coupling of all the protons in the nucleus enhances the equivalent photon flux by a factor Z 2 up to an energy of ∼ 3 GeV. The plans for studying coherent interactions with the STAR experiment will be discussed. Experimental techniques for separating signal from background will be presented

  20. Two-photon physics in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nystrand, J.; Klein, S.

    1998-01-01

    Ultra-relativistic heavy-ions carry strong electromagnetic and nuclear fields. Interactions between these fields in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions can probe many interesting physics topics. This presentation will focus on coherent two-photon and photonuclear processes at RHIC. The rates for these interactions will be high. The coherent coupling of all the protons in the nucleus enhances the equivalent photon flux by a factor Z 2 up to an energy of ∼ 3 GeV. The plans for studying coherent interactions with the STAR experiment will be discussed. Experimental techniques for separating signal from background will be presented

  1. Functionalized active-nucleus complex sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pines, Alexander; Wemmer, David E.; Spence, Megan; Rubin, Seth

    2003-11-25

    A functionalized active-nucleus complex sensor that selectively associates with one or more target species, and a method for assaying and screening for one or a plurality of target species utilizing one or a plurality of functionalized active-nucleus complexes with at least two of the functionalized active-nucleus complexes having an attraction affinity to different corresponding target species. The functionalized active-nucleus complex has an active-nucleus and a targeting carrier. The method involves functionalizing an active-nucleus, for each functionalized active-nucleus complex, by incorporating the active-nucleus into a macromolucular or molecular complex that is capable of binding one of the target species and then bringing the macromolecular or molecular complexes into contact with the target species and detecting the occurrence of or change in a nuclear magnetic resonance signal from each of the active-nuclei in each of the functionalized active-nucleus complexes.

  2. Strangeness production in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions in the dual parton model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moehring, H.; Ranft, J.; Capella, A.; Tran Thanh Van, J.

    1993-01-01

    Λ, bar Λ, and K S 0 production is studied in a Monte Carlo dual parton model for hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions with an SU(3) symmetric sea for chain formation (chain ends) but strangeness suppression in the chain fragmentation process. Additionally, (qq)-(bar q bar q) production from the sea was introduced into the chain formation process with the same probability as for the q→qq branching within the chain decay process. With these assumptions, multiplicity ratios and Feynman-x distributions for strange particles in h-h and multiplicity ratios in heavy ion collisions are reasonably well reproduced

  3. The nuclear response and the imaginary potential for nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phatak, S.C.; Sinha, B.

    1983-01-01

    The Fermi-gas model is used in this paper to study the nucleus-nucleus collision. The field produced by one of the nuclei is considered to act on nucleons in the other nucleus, which is treated as a Fermi gas of radius R. The imaginary part of the (non-local) nucleus-nucleus potential is then computed by evaluating the energy-conserving second-order term in which the intermediate states are particle-hole excitations produced in the Fermi gas. The equivalent local potential, obtained by using the Perey-Saxon method, is compared with phenomenological imaginary potentials. Later it is shown that, in the limit of small range of non-locality, the imaginary potential can be related to the nuclear response function. With this, one can write the nuclear friction coefficient that is used in phenomenological analyses of heavy-ion collisions in terms of the imaginary potential. (orig.)

  4. Registration and Analysis of Bioelectric Activity of Sensory-Motor Cortex During the Electrical Stimulation of Nucleus Caudate in Rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Snežana Medenica-Milanović

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Background and purposeThe caudate circuit takes part in cognitive control of motor activity The purpose of the present work was registration and analysis of basic bioelectrical activity of ventral and dorsal sensory-motor cortex and nucleus caudate, study of the changes in EEG after nucleus caudate electrical stimulation and to identify of threshold level of electrical stimuli responsible for changes of electrical activity in registered brain area.Materials and methodsWe used 28 albino Wistar rat of both genders. After the animal fixation on stereotaxic apparatus to dry bone, the places for electrode fixation were marked. Two days after the electrodes had been implanted an EEG was registered so that the animals would adjust to the conditions and so they would repair the tissue reactions. EEG was registered with bipolar electrodes with ten-channeled apparatus. For first half an hour spontaneous activity of the brain was registered, and after that the head of nucleus caudate was stimulated with altered impulses of various voltages, frequency and duration.Results and conclusionsThreshold values of electric stimulus intensity from 3 to 5 V, frequency from 3 to 5 Hz, duration from 3 to 5 ms, by stimulation the head of nucleus caudate of rat, lead to the change of basal bioelectric activity of cerebrum. The change of bioelectric activity is firstly recorded in equilateral cortex, and with the higher intensity of the stimulus the changes overtake the contra lateral cortex.

  5. Demographic, clinical, and genetic characteristics of patients with medullary thyroid cancer in the past 16 years in Castilla-La Mancha.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Louhibi, Lynda; Marco, Amparo; Pinés, Pedro J; Padillo, José C; Gómez, Inés; Valero, Miguel A; Alramadán, Mubarak; Herranz, Sandra; Aguirre, Miguel; Hernández, Antonio

    2014-10-01

    Medullary thyroid cancer is a rare tumor that is more aggressive and has a worse prognosis than differentiated thyroid cancer. The purpose of this study was to report the demographic, clinical, and genetic characteristics of patients seen in the health care system of the community of Castilla-La Mancha over a 16-year period. Data were collected through a review of patients' medical records. The medical records of 58 patients (mean age at diagnosis, 51 years; range, 6-82 years; 63.8% women) were reviewed. Prevalence rate was 2.84 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with a high variability between areas (range, 0-5.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). Familial cases accounted for 34.5% of all medullary thyroid cancers, and the most common mutation was C634Y. The condition was most commonly diagnosed following palpation of a cervical lump (70.6%). At diagnosis, 56 of 58 patients underwent ultrasound and 8 of 58 patients were tested for serum calcitonin. Tumor multicentricity was reported in 59 and 50% of patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2A and 2B, respectively, and in no sporadic cases. Fifty-two percent of patients had an advanced stage (iii or iv) at diagnosis. Median follow-up was 36 months (interquartile range, 14-210); 11 patients were lost to follow-up. In Castilla-La Mancha, medullary thyroid cancer is diagnosed by cervical ultrasound, rather than calcitonin assay. There is a high prevalence of both familial and sporadic medullary thyroid cancer, and a significant variability in the type of proto-oncogen rearranged during transfection mutation as compared to the rest of the Spanish population. Copyright © 2013 SEEN. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  6. Incorporation of radioactive sulfate (Na235SO4) by mouse adrenal medullary cells as shown by radioautography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Munhoz, C.O.G.; Merzel, J.

    1977-01-01

    Preliminary radioautographic results, observed in the adreno-medullary cells of mice injected with radiosulfate, suggested that the cells might synthetize sulfur-containing compounds. Only further studies could make-clear if sulfate groups are linked to carbohydrate molecules and/or chromaffin granules [pt

  7. Use of the gamma probe and of 99mTc-DMSA (V) in the identification of the neck recurrence of medullary carcinoma thyroid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Melo, Rosana Leite de; Kowalski, Luiz P.; Ubrich, Fabio F.; Lima, Eduardo N. Pereira; Torres, Ivone C.G.

    2003-01-01

    Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid, a malignant neoplasm of para follicular C cells, represent about 5-10% of thyroid tumors. The symptoms are related to local invasion and hormonal secretion. The clinical course is variable, from indolent cases to extremely aggressive. Many radionuclide imaging have been described to locate metastasis of medullary cancer. Tl-201 and Tc-99m (V)DMS A showed to be useful in the evaluation o persistent elevated serum calcitonin levels. On the other hand, the use of the 131 I-Mibg, that is the isotope more used, has not been demonstrating efficiency in identifying metastasis. Our objective is to report a case of a patient with medullary thyroid carcinoma in which the follow-up use DMS A(V) demonstrated a recurrence no identified for other methods. A 34-year-old man had a diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma and has submitted a total thyroidectomy and neck lymph node dissection. He presented elevated serum calcitonin levels and DMS A(V) scintigraphy demonstrated focal area of pathologic uptake at the medline of the neck, but the surgical exploration was negative. He persisted with high calcitonin levels and it was used a new DMS A(V). On this occasion he was submitted to the radio-guided surgery that located the recurrence and it was confirmed with anatomo-pathologic exam. This case allowed to demonstrate that the use of radionuclide associated to the gamma-probe is promising, allowing a precise surgical approach. (author)

  8. Differential Activation of Medullary Vagal Nuclei Caused by Stimulation of Different Esophageal Mechanoreceptors

    OpenAIRE

    Lang, Ivan M.; Medda, Bidyut K.; Shaker, Reza

    2010-01-01

    Esophageal mechanorecptors, i.e. muscular slowly adapting tension receptors and mucosal rapidly adapting touch receptors, mediate different sets of reflexes. The aim of this study was to determine the medullary vagal nuclei involved in the reflex responses to activation of these receptors. Thirty-three cats were anesthetized with alpha-chloralose and the esophagus was stimulated by slow balloon or rapid air distension. The physiological effects of the stimuli (N=4) were identified by recordin...

  9. Adenocarcinoma of the prostate and metastatic medullary compression. A retrospective study of 22 patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Honnens de Lichtenberg, M; Kvist, E; Hjortberg, P

    1992-01-01

    A retrospective study of 709 patients with prostatic cancer was carried out. Twenty-two developed medullary cord compression (an incidence of 3%). All but two of the 22 patients were treated by radiation and 10 had additional hormonal treatment. Ten had some benefit from the treatment, but only 2...... of 19 regained their ability to walk. The need for immediate diagnosis and treatment is stressed....

  10. Predictors for perioperative blood transfusion in elderly patients with extra capsular hip fractures treated with cephalo-medullary nailing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Ali Fazal

    2018-02-01

    Conclusion: Patient age, ASA grade, preoperative haemoglobin and length of nail are reliable predictors for perioperative blood transfusion in extra capsular hip fractures in elderly patients treated with cephalo-medullary nailing and reinforce a selective transfusion policy.

  11. [Medullary carcinoma experience in breast oncology unit of Hospital Juarez Mexico].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiménez-Villanueva, Xicoténcatl; Hernández-Rubio, Angela; García-Rodríguez, Francisco Mario; García, Rebeca Gil; Moreno-Eutimio, Mario; Herrera-Torre, Analy

    2014-01-01

    Medullary breast cancer is a rare type, considered of good prognosis. To know the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the population attended in the Hospital Juarez de Mexico, to know if they are alike to described worldwide and if the treatments proposed internationally are applicable for this hospitable center. We performed a retrospective analysis. Reviewing the records with histopathologic diagnosis of medullary breast cancer from February 1993 to February 2011. Finding 41 patients in the oncology unit of the institution. We report an incidence of 3.04%, originating in 11 Mexican States, with a low to middle socioeconomic level in 39.02%. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 50 years. No family history was reported but some patients had medical history for type 2 diabetes, hypertension and previous breast cancer. 63.41% were menopausal. The average clinical size of the tumor was 58 mm. The 63% of the cases were located in the left breast. The 53.1% were clinical stages I and II, 46.3% were clinical stages III and in 9.6% of the cases primary tumor could not be assessed. Only 47% of the patients had positive axillary lynph nodes at diagnosis. The inmunohistochemestry was only reported in 14 of the 41 patients, according to the molecular classification of breast cancer: 8 were triple negative, 2 luminal A, 1 luminal B and 3 Her2neu. The Mexican population presents epidemiological and clinical characteristics similar to those patients described in other studies worldwide.

  12. What is dorso-lateral in the subthalamic Nucleus (STN)?--a topographic and anatomical consideration on the ambiguous description of today's primary target for deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coenen, Volker A; Prescher, Andreas; Schmidt, Thorsten; Picozzi, Piero; Gielen, Frans L H

    2008-11-01

    The most frequently used target for DBS in advanced Parkinson Disease (PD) is the sensorimotor subthalamic nucleus (STN), anatomically referred to as dorso-lateral STN [3]. Ambiguities arise, regarding the true meaning of this description in the STN. Does "dorsal" indicate posterior or superior? At its best, this definition assigns two directions in space to a three-dimensional structure. This paper evaluates the ambiguity and describes the sensorimotor part of the STN in stereotactic space.

  13. Changes in galanin immunoreactivity in rat lumbosacral spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia after spinal cord injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zvarova, K; Murray, E; Vizzard, M A

    2004-08-02

    Alterations in the expression of the neuropeptide galanin were examined in micturition reflex pathways 6 weeks after complete spinal cord transection (T8). In control animals, galanin expression was present in specific regions of the gray matter in the rostral lumbar and caudal lumbosacral spinal cord, including: (1) the dorsal commissure; (2) the superficial dorsal horn; (3) the regions of the intermediolateral cell column (L1-L2) and the sacral parasympathetic nucleus (L6-S1); and (4) the lateral collateral pathway in lumbosacral spinal segments. Densitometry analysis demonstrated significant increases (P < or = 0.001) in galanin immunoreactivity (IR) in these regions of the S1 spinal cord after spinal cord injury (SCI). Changes in galanin-IR were not observed at the L4-L6 segments except for an increase in galanin-IR in the dorsal commissure in the L4 segment. In contrast, decreases in galanin-IR were observed in the L1 segment. The number of galanin-IR cells increased (P < or = 0.001) in the L1 and S1 dorsal root ganglia (DRG) after SCI. In all DRG examined (L1, L2, L6, and S1), the percentage of bladder afferent cells expressing galanin-IR significantly increased (4-19-fold) after chronic SCI. In contrast, galanin expression in nerve fibers in the urinary bladder detrusor and urothelium was decreased or eliminated after SCI. Expression of the neurotrophic factors nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was altered in the spinal cord after SCI. A significant increase in BDNF expression was present in spinal cord segments after SCI. In contrast, NGF expression was only increased in the spinal segments adjacent and rostral to the transection site (T7-T8), whereas spinal segments (T13-L1; L6-S1), distal to the transection site exhibited decreased NGF expression. Changes in galanin expression in micturition pathways after SCI may be mediated by changing neurotrophic factor expression, particularly BDNF. These changes may contribute to

  14. Effective nucleus-nucleus potentials derived from the generator coordinate method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Friedrich, H; Canto, L F [Oxford Univ. (UK). Dept. of Theoretical Physics

    1977-11-07

    The equivalence of the generator coordinate method (GCM) and the resonating group method (RGM) and the formal equivalence of the RGM and the orthogonality condition model (OCM) lead to a relation connecting the effective nucleus-nucleus potentials of the OCM with matrix elements of the GCM. This relation may be used to derive effective nucleus-nucleus potentials directly from GCM matrix elements without explicit reference to the potentials of the RGM. In a first application local and l-independent effective potentials are derived from diagonal GCM matrix elements which represent the energy surfaces of a two-centre shell model. Using these potentials the OCM can reproduce the results of a full RGM calculation very well for the elastic scattering of two ..cap alpha..-particles and fairly well for elastic /sup 16/O-/sup 16/O scattering.

  15. Neurochemical differences between target-specific populations of rat dorsal raphe projection neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prouty, Eric W; Chandler, Daniel J; Waterhouse, Barry D

    2017-11-15

    Serotonin (5-HT)-containing neurons in the dorsal raphe (DR) nucleus project throughout the forebrain and are implicated in many physiological processes and neuropsychiatric disorders. Diversity among these neurons has been characterized in terms of their neurochemistry and anatomical organization, but a clear sense of whether these attributes align with specific brain functions or terminal fields is lacking. DR 5-HT neurons can co-express additional neuroactive substances, increasing the potential for individualized regulation of target circuits. The goal of this study was to link DR neurons to a specific functional role by characterizing cells according to both their neurotransmitter expression and efferent connectivity; specifically, cells projecting to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a region implicated in cognition, emotion, and responses to stress. Following retrograde tracer injection, brainstem sections from Sprague-Dawley rats were immunohistochemically stained for markers of serotonin, glutamate, GABA, and nitric oxide (NO). 98% of the mPFC-projecting serotonergic neurons co-expressed the marker for glutamate, while the markers for NO and GABA were observed in 60% and less than 1% of those neurons, respectively. To identify potential target-specific differences in co-transmitter expression, we also characterized DR neurons projecting to a visual sensory structure, the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). The proportion of serotonergic neurons co-expressing NO was greater amongst cells targeting the mPFC vs LGN (60% vs 22%). The established role of 5-HT in affective disorders and the emerging role of NO in stress signaling suggest that the impact of 5-HT/NO co-localization in DR neurons that regulate mPFC circuit function may be clinically relevant. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Experimental search for compression phenomena in fast nucleus--nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schopper, E.; Baumgardt, H.G.; Obst, E.

    1977-01-01

    The occurrence of compression phenomena and shock waves, connected with the increase of the density of the nuclear matter during the interpenetration of two fast nuclei, are discussed. Current experiments dealing with this problem are reviewed. Before considering the mechanism of the interpenetration of two fast nuclei it may be useful to look at more simple situations, i.e., proton-proton interactions, then to envelop them with nuclear matter, considering proton-nucleus interactions. Only very general features are described, which may give suggestions for the understanding of the nucleus-nucleus impact

  17. Organization of ascending spinal projections in Caiman crocodilus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebbesson, S O; Goodman, D C

    1981-01-01

    Ascending spinal projections in the caiman (Caiman crocodilus) were demonstrated with Nauta and Fink-Heimer methods following hemisections of the third spinal segment in a series of twelve animals. These results were compared with earlier data in the literature obtained from a turtle, a snake, and a lizard using the same experimental and histological procedures. The results show remarkable similarities considering that each species represents a different reptilian order with different evolutionary history and habitat. However, the caiman displays several important peculiarities. Although the dorsal funiculus of the caiman contains the largest number of ascending spinal projections of the four species examined, this funiculus has not differentiated into cuneate and gracile fasciculi as is the case in the tegu lizard. The ventro-lateral ascending spinal projections follow a fundamentally similar general morphologic pattern in the four species with only minor variations. The anatomical arrangement in the caiman and tegu lizard appears most similar in the high cervical and the medullary regions; however, this is not the case in midbrain and thalamic regions where considerably more extensive projections are seen in the caiman. In the caiman an extensive spinal connection to the ventro-lateral nucleus of the dorsal thalamus is present; this connection is reminiscent of the mammalian spinal projection to the ventro-basal complex. The caiman has in common with the other three reptilian species a small projection to another dorsal thalamic region that is apparently homologous to the mammalian intralaminar nuclei, which are the destination of the mammalian paleospinothalamic tract.

  18. Glycemic state regulates melanocortin, but not nesfatin-1, responsiveness of glucose-sensing neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mimee, Andrea; Ferguson, Alastair V

    2015-04-15

    The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is a medullary integrative center with critical roles in the coordinated control of energy homeostasis. Here, we used whole cell current-clamp recordings on rat NTS neurons in slice preparation to identify the presence of physiologically relevant glucose-sensing neurons. The majority of NTS neurons (n = 81) were found to be glucose-responsive, with 35% exhibiting a glucose-excited (GE) phenotype (mean absolute change in membrane potential: 9.5 ± 1.1 mV), and 21% exhibiting a glucose-inhibited (GI) response (mean: 6.3 ± 0.7 mV). Furthermore, we found glucose-responsive cells are preferentially influenced by the anorexigenic peptide α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH), but not nesfatin-1. Accordingly, alterations in glycemic state have profound effects on the responsiveness of NTS neurons to α-MSH, but not to nesfatin-1. Indeed, NTS neurons showed increasing responsiveness to α-MSH as extracellular glucose concentrations were decreased, and in hypoglycemic conditions, all NTS neurons were depolarized by α-MSH (mean 10.6 ± 3.2 mV; n = 8). Finally, decreasing levels of extracellular glucose correlated with a significant hyperpolarization of the baseline membrane potential of NTS neurons, highlighting the modulatory effect of glucose on the baseline excitability of cells in this region. Our findings reveal individual NTS cells are capable of integrating multiple sources of metabolically relevant inputs, highlight the rapid capacity for plasticity in medullary melanocortin circuits, and emphasize the critical importance of physiological recording conditions for electrophysiological studies pertaining to the central control of energy homeostasis. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

  19. The rostromedial tegmental nucleus is essential for non-rapid eye movement sleep.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Su-Rong Yang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg, also called the GABAergic tail of the ventral tegmental area, projects to the midbrain dopaminergic system, dorsal raphe nucleus, locus coeruleus, and other regions. Whether the RMTg is involved in sleep-wake regulation is unknown. In the present study, pharmacogenetic activation of rat RMTg neurons promoted non-rapid eye movement (NREM sleep with increased slow-wave activity (SWA. Conversely, rats after neurotoxic lesions of 8 or 16 days showed decreased NREM sleep with reduced SWA at lights on. The reduced SWA persisted at least 25 days after lesions. Similarly, pharmacological and pharmacogenetic inactivation of rat RMTg neurons decreased NREM sleep. Electrophysiological experiments combined with optogenetics showed a direct inhibitory connection between the terminals of RMTg neurons and midbrain dopaminergic neurons. The bidirectional effects of the RMTg on the sleep-wake cycle were mimicked by the modulation of ventral tegmental area (VTA/substantia nigra compacta (SNc dopaminergic neuronal activity using a pharmacogenetic approach. Furthermore, during the 2-hour recovery period following 6-hour sleep deprivation, the amount of NREM sleep in both the lesion and control rats was significantly increased compared with baseline levels; however, only the control rats showed a significant increase in SWA compared with baseline levels. Collectively, our findings reveal an essential role of the RMTg in the promotion of NREM sleep and homeostatic regulation.

  20. The mechanism of nuclear energy release in nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strugalski, Z.; Strugalska-Gola, E.

    1998-01-01

    The mechanism of intranuclear energy release in reactions induced by nucleus-nucleus collisions at energies higher than ∼ 0.5 GeV/nucl. is presented - as prompted experimentally. The intranuclear energy release goes through local damages of the colliding nuclei

  1. The correlation between the transverse polarization and transverse momentum of lambda produced in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye Yunxiu; Zhou Xin; Ji Gang; Su Shufang; Zhu Guohuai

    1996-01-01

    The transverse polarization of lambda produced in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is determined. The effect from the interaction between spin moment and magnetic field is corrected. The near zero transverse polarization and non-correlation between transverse polarization and transverse momentum are obtained and compared to ones obtained from the nucleus-nucleus interactions at lower energies. This comparison shows that the production mechanism of lambdas in the relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is different from one in the nucleus-nucleus reactions at lower energies

  2. Formation of proton-fragments in hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bazarov, E.Kh.; Olimov, K.; Petrov, V.I.; Lutpullaev, S.L.

    2006-01-01

    Full text: The investigation of production of protons in hadron- and nucleus-nucleus interactions is a key problem allowing one to establish the singularities of dynamics of nuclear interactions. The formation of proton-fragments at high energies of colliding particles proceeds within both the interaction of hadrons with nuclei and in the process of decay of the nucleus or its de-excitation at peripheral interactions. At different stages of interaction of impinging particle with target nucleus, the different mechanisms of formation of proton-fragments: the direct knock-out of intranuclear nucleons in the process of high energy cascade of an initial hadron, intranuclear cascade of produced particles, decay of the excited multi-nucleon fragments and of the thermalized remnant nucleus, and the coalescence of nuclear fragments to the new clusters are realized with the certain probability, connected to the interaction parameters (the interaction energy, the parameter of collision, the intranuclear density, the configuration of Fermi momentum of nucleons and clusters of target nucleus et al.). In its turn, the mechanisms of formation of the final nuclear fragments are closely related to the type of excitation of an initial nucleus. The peripheral interactions proceed at small transfers of the momentum of an impinging particle and represent the wide class of reactions covering the processes from diffractive or coulomb collective excitations of the whole nucleus to the direct quasi-elastic knock-out of the separate nucleons. Non-peripheral interactions are caused by comparatively high local transfers of momentum to the intranuclear clusters allowing the development of intranuclear cascade and the asymmetric redistribution of energy of an impinging particle. The central collisions causing the full decay of nucleus on nucleons or few-nucleon fragments, are the limiting case of the maximal development of the intranuclear cascade. The interaction of the initial particles with

  3. Nucleus-nucleus interactions in the transition energy regime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Volant, C.

    1985-02-01

    There are at least two ways for studying large interactions in nucleus-nucleus collisions. One way is to use the method of angular correlations between fission fragments. The aim of the experiments presented here was to make a survey on the role of the various experimental parameters. In that respect three targets have been studied and different projectiles and bombarding energies have been used. Results are presented and discussed

  4. Disseminated medullary thyroid carcinoma despite early thyroid surgery in the multiple endocrine neoplasia-2A syndrome

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Santen, H. M.; Aronson, D. C.; van Trotsenburg, A. S. P.; ten Kate, F. J. W.; van de Wetering, M. D.; Wiersinga, W. M.; de Vijlder, J. J. M.; Vulsma, T.

    2005-01-01

    A 5 1/2-year-old boy, with a family history of multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN)-2A syndrome, was evaluated for presence of MEN-2A and medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). DNA diagnostics confirmed MEN-2A. Basal (360 ng/L) and pentagastrin stimulated (430 ng/L) calcitonin (CT) levels were slightly

  5. Influence of Bisphosphonate Treatment on Medullary Macrophages and Osteoclasts: An Experimental Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalia Daniela Escudero

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates are widely used for treating diverse bone pathologies. They are anticatabolic drugs that act on osteoclasts inhibiting bone resorption. It remains unknown whether the mechanism of action is by decreasing osteoclast number, impairing osteoclast function, or whether they continue to effectively inhibit bone resorption despite the increase in osteoclast number. There is increasing evidence that bisphosphonates also act on bone marrow cells like macrophages and monocytes. The present work sought to evaluate the dynamics of preosteoclast fusion and possible changes in medullary macrophage number in bisphosphonate-treated animals. Healthy female Wistar rats received olpadronate, alendronate, or vehicle during 5 weeks, and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU on day 7, 28, or 34 of the experiment. Histomorphometric studies were performed to study femurs and evaluate: number of nuclei per osteoclast (N.Nu/Oc; number of BrdU-positive nuclei (N.Nu BrdU+/Oc; percentage of BrdU-positive nuclei per osteoclast (%Nu.BrdU+/Oc; medullary macrophage number (mac/mm2 and correlation between N.Nu/Oc and mac/mm2. Results showed bisphosphonate-treated animals exhibited increased N.Nu/Oc, caused by an increase in preosteoclast fusion rate and evidenced by higher N.Nu BrdU+/Oc, and significantly decreased mac/mm2. Considering the common origin of osteoclasts and macrophages, the increased demand for precursors of the osteoclast lineage may occur at the expense of macrophage lineage precursors.

  6. Biophysical properties and computational modeling of calcium spikes in serotonergic neurons of the dorsal raphe nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuckwell, Henry C

    2013-06-01

    Serotonergic neurons of the dorsal raphe nuclei, with their extensive innervation of nearly the whole brain have important modulatory effects on many cognitive and physiological processes. They play important roles in clinical depression and other psychiatric disorders. In order to quantify the effects of serotonergic transmission on target cells it is desirable to construct computational models and to this end these it is necessary to have details of the biophysical and spike properties of the serotonergic neurons. Here several basic properties are reviewed with data from several studies since the 1960s to the present. The quantities included are input resistance, resting membrane potential, membrane time constant, firing rate, spike duration, spike and afterhyperpolarization (AHP) amplitude, spike threshold, cell capacitance, soma and somadendritic areas. The action potentials of these cells are normally triggered by a combination of sodium and calcium currents which may result in autonomous pacemaker activity. We here analyse the mechanisms of high-threshold calcium spikes which have been demonstrated in these cells the presence of TTX (tetrodotoxin). The parameters for calcium dynamics required to give calcium spikes are quite different from those for regular spiking which suggests the involvement of restricted parts of the soma-dendritic surface as has been found, for example, in hippocampal neurons. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. (18)F-Dihydroxyphenylalanine PET in patients with biochemical evidence of medullary thyroid cancer : Relation to tumor differentiation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koopmans, Klaas P.; de Groot, Jan Willem B.; Plukker, John T. M.; de Vries, Elisabeth G. E.; Kema, Ido P.; Sluiter, Wim J.; Jager, Pieter L.; Links, Thera P.

    Curative treatment for recurrent medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), diagnosed by rising serum calcitonin, is surgery, but tumor localization is difficult. Therefore, the value of (18)F-dihy-droxyphenylanaline PET ((18)F-DOPA PET), (18)F-FDG PET, (99m)Tc-V-di-mercaptosulfuricacid (DMSA-V) scintigraphy,

  8. The Edinger-Westphal nucleus of the juvenile rat contains transient- and repetitive-firing neurons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laursen, M; Rekling, J C

    2006-01-01

    Classically, the Edinger-Westphal nucleus is described as containing neurons controlling accommodation and pupillary constriction via projections to the ciliary ganglion. However, in several species including rat, some Edinger-Westphal neurons have ascending or descending CNS projections suggesting...... an immunohistochemical procedure directed at the peptide Urocortin, which is expressed in Edinger-Westphal neurons. Passive and active membrane responses were investigated and two different neuron types were identified. One type had a transient firing response to 400 ms depolarizing current pulses and one type had...... threshold Ca(2+) spikes were seen and these were blocked by nickel(II) chloride hexahydrate, suggesting that they are mediated via low voltage-activated Ca(2+) channels. Some biocytin-labeled neurons had axons or axonal collaterals projecting laterally or dorsally, suggesting possible non-ocular targets...

  9. The application of a phenomenological model to inelastic nucleus-nucleus interactions for laboratory momenta below 5 GeV/c per nucleon of the incident nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grishin, V.G.; Kladnitskaya, E.N.

    1985-01-01

    A phenomenological model for inelastic nucleus-nucleus interactions at momenta below 5 GeV/c per nucleon is described. Particle interactions inside the interacting nuclei are described by phenomenological models of hadron-nucleus and hadron-nucleon interactions. The Monte-Carlo model provides the kinematic variables for a set of events under study. The comparison of the model inclusive distri-- butions for different particles and nucleus-nucleus interactions agrees well with the experimental data

  10. Mutant HABP2 Causes Non-Medullary Thyroid Cancer | Center for Cancer Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that lies at the base of the throat in front of the windpipe. A member of the endocrine system, the thyroid secretes hormones to regulate heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and metabolism. Cancer of the thyroid is the most common endocrine cancer and the eighth most common cancer in the U.S. An estimated 63,450 Americans will be diagnosed with thyroid cancer this year. The vast majority is of follicular cell origin, and the remaining cancer originates from parafollicular cells, so called medullary thyroid cancer.

  11. Hydrodynamic function of dorsal fins in spiny dogfish and bamboo sharks during steady swimming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maia, Anabela; Lauder, George V; Wilga, Cheryl D

    2017-11-01

    A key feature of fish functional design is the presence of multiple fins that allow thrust vectoring and redirection of fluid momentum to contribute to both steady swimming and maneuvering. A number of previous studies have analyzed the function of dorsal fins in teleost fishes in this context, but the hydrodynamic function of dorsal fins in freely swimming sharks has not been analyzed, despite the potential for differential functional roles between the anterior and posterior dorsal fins. Previous anatomical research has suggested a primarily stabilizing role for shark dorsal fins. We evaluated the generality of this hypothesis by using time-resolved particle image velocimetry to record water flow patterns in the wake of both the anterior and posterior dorsal fins in two species of freely swimming sharks: bamboo sharks ( Chiloscyllium plagiosum ) and spiny dogfish ( Squalus acanthias ). Cross-correlation analysis of consecutive images was used to calculate stroke-averaged mean longitudinal and lateral velocity components, and vorticity. In spiny dogfish, we observed a velocity deficit in the wake of the first dorsal fin and flow acceleration behind the second dorsal fin, indicating that the first dorsal fin experiences net drag while the second dorsal fin can aid in propulsion. In contrast, the wake of both dorsal fins in bamboo sharks displayed increased net flow velocity in the majority of trials, reflecting a thrust contribution to steady swimming. In bamboo sharks, fluid flow in the wake of the second dorsal fin had higher absolute average velocity than that for first dorsal fin, and this may result from a positive vortex interaction between the first and second dorsal fins. These data suggest that the first dorsal fin in spiny dogfish has primarily a stabilizing function, while the second dorsal fin has a propulsive function. In bamboo sharks, both dorsal fins can contribute thrust and should be considered as propulsive adjuncts to the body during steady

  12. Nucleus Ruber of Actinopterygians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakayama, Tomoya; Miyajima, Satoshi; Nishino, Hirotaka; Narita, Junya; Abe, Hideki; Yamamoto, Naoyuki

    2016-01-01

    Nucleus ruber is known as an important supraspinal center that controls forelimb movements in tetrapods, and the rubral homologue may serve similar functions in fishes (motor control of pectoral fin). However, two apparently different structures have been identified as 'nucleus ruber' in actinopterygians. One is nucleus ruber of Goldstein (1905) (NRg), and the other nucleus ruber of Nieuwenhuys and Pouwels (1983) (NRnp). It remains unclear whether one of these nuclei (or perhaps both) is homologous to tetrapod nucleus ruber. To resolve this issue from a phylogenetic point of view, we have investigated the distribution of tegmental neurons retrogradely labeled from the spinal cord in eight actinopterygian species. We also investigated the presence/absence of the two nuclei with Nissl- or Bodian-stained brain section series of an additional 28 actinopterygian species by comparing the morphological features of candidate rubral neurons with those of neurons revealed by the tracer studies. Based on these analyses, the NRg was identified in all actinopterygians investigated in the present study, while the NRnp appears to be absent in basal actinopterygians. The phylogenetic distribution pattern indicates that the NRg is the more likely homologue of nucleus ruber, and the NRnp may be a derived nucleus that emerged during the course of actinopterygian evolution. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  13. Identification of dorsal root synaptic terminals on monkey ventral horn cells by electron microscopic autoradiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ralston, H.J.; Ralston, D.D.

    1979-01-01

    The projection of dorsal root fibres to the motor nucleus of the macaque monkey spinal cord has been examined utilizing light and electron microscopic autoradiography. Light microscopy demonstrates a very sparse labelling of primary afferent fibres in the ventral horn. Silver grains overlying radioactive sources are frequently clustered into small groups, often adjacent to dendritic profiles. Under the electron microscope, myelinated axons and a few large synaptic profiles containing rounded synaptic vesicles were overlain by numerous silver grains. These labelled profiles made synaptic contact with dendrites 1 - 3 micrometers in diameter. The labelled profiles did not contact cell bodies or large proximal dendrites of ventral horn neutrons. Frequently, small synaptic profiles containing flattened vesicles were presynaptic to the large labelled terminals and it is suggested that these axoaxonal synapses may mediate presynaptic inhibition of the primary afferent fibres. The relationship of the present findings to previously published physiological and anatomical studies is discussed. (author)

  14. New method for identification of precentral and postcentral gyrus on CT and MR studies based on the medullary pattern of cerebral white matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iwasaki, S.; Uchida, H.; Kichikawa, K.; Nakagawa, H.; Ohishi, H.; Kuru, Y.

    1987-01-01

    The authors proposed and verified a new method to identify the precentral and postcentral gyrus on the axial images of CT and MR. The method is founded on the pattern of medullary branches of white matter instead of sulci, which had been reported previously. The accuracy of this method was verified by fixed brains, normal CT analysis based on the pattern of sulci, and clinical cases analyzed by angiography. This method can be used even if there are space-occupying lesions. This will probably be widely used not only for CT but also for MR imaging, which depicts the medullary branch more clearly

  15. Hematopoiesis stimulation test by interleukin 1α gene transfer in the Cynomolgus macaque: application to secondary medullary aplasia from an accidental irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Revel, Th.

    2002-12-01

    After a description of the context of medullary aplasia (haematological radiobiology, radiation acute syndrome, therapeutic care), and an overview of knowledge about the interleukin-1 and medullary stroma cells, this research thesis aims at investigating therapeutic alternatives for radio-accidental aplasia. More precisely, it aims at defining means to get cytokines which are efficient for haematopoiesis. Interleukin-1 is chosen for its properties and tests are performed on a macaque with two approaches for gene transfer: an ex vivo transfer by retroviral vector enabling an integration in the target cell genome, and an in situ transfer by adeno-viral vector directly applied in the animal osseous medulla

  16. Description of inelastic nucleus-nucleus interactions at medium energy using dual parton model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polanski, A.; Shmakov, S.Yu.; Uzhinskij, V.V.

    1989-01-01

    It is shown that the dual parton model taking into account the processes of diffraction dissociation to the low mass states and finite energy corrections to the asymptotic Abramovski-Gribov-Kancheli cutting rules allows satisfactory description of existing experimental data on hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions at medium energy. (orig.)

  17. Impact of F DOPA-PET on therapeutic decision in endocrine tumours: digestive tumours, medullary thyroid cancer or pheochromocytoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montravers, F.; Grahek, D.; Kerrou, K.; Gutman, F.; Beco, V. de; Nataf, V.; Balard, M.; Talbot, J.N.

    2006-01-01

    FDOPA-PET has been proposed for a decade in oncology, in particular in endocrine tumours. To the best of our knowledge, only one impact rate has been reported: 31% in 17 patients with digestive carcinoid tumours. We did a questionnaire survey to evaluate this impact reported by the referring clinician in 87 patients who had FDOPA PET due to digestive carcinoid tumour or another type of digestive endocrine tumour or a medullary thyroid cancer or a pheochromocytoma. The response rate to the survey was 87%. The overall impact of FDOPA PET on patient's management was 36%. Its value was greater for digestive carcinoid tumour and for medullary thyroid cancer; the number of patients with pheochromocytoma is still limited. In the other digestive endocrine tumours, a change in patient management was less frequent and FDOPA PET should be performed when the other examinations are inconclusive. (author)

  18. Do dorsal raphe 5-HT neurons encode "beneficialness"?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Minmin; Li, Yi; Zhong, Weixin

    2016-11-01

    The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) affects numerous behavioral and physiological processes. Drugs that alter 5-HT signaling treat several major psychiatric disorders and may lead to widespread abuse. The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) in the midbrain provides a majority of 5-HT for the forebrain. The importance of 5-HT signaling propels the search for a general theoretical framework under which the diverse functions of the DRN 5-HT neurons can be interpreted and additional therapeutic solutions may be developed. However, experimental data so far support several seeming irreconcilable theories, suggesting that 5-HT neurons mediate behavioral inhibition, aversive processing, or reward signaling. Here, we review recent progresses and propose that DRN 5-HT neurons encode "beneficialness" - how beneficial the current environmental context represents for an individual. Specifically, we speculate that the activity of these neurons reflects the possible net benefit of the current context as determined by p·R-C, in which p indicates reward probability, R the reward value, and C the cost. Through the widespread projections of these neurons to the forebrain, the beneficialness signal may reconfigure neural circuits to bias perception, boost positive emotions, and switch behavioral choices. The "beneficialness" hypothesis can explain many conflicting observations, and at the same time raises new questions. We suggest additional experiments that will help elucidate the exact computational functions of the DRN 5-HT neurons. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Effect of acupuncture on Lipopolysaccharide-induced anxiety-like behavioral changes: involvement of serotonin system in dorsal Raphe nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Tae Young; Jang, Eun Young; Ryu, Yeonhee; Lee, Gyu Won; Lee, Eun Byeol; Chang, Suchan; Lee, Jong Han; Koo, Jin Suk; Yang, Chae Ha; Kim, Hee Young

    2017-12-11

    Acupuncture has been used as a common therapeutic tool in many disorders including anxiety and depression. Serotonin transporter (SERT) plays an important role in the pathology of anxiety and other mood disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of acupuncture on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced anxiety-like behaviors and SERT in the dorsal raphe nuclei (DRN). Rats were given acupuncture at ST41 (Jiexi), LI11 (Quchi) or SI3 (Houxi) acupoint in LPS-treated rats. Anxiety-like behaviors of elevated plus maze (EPM) and open field test (OFT) were measured and expressions of SERT and/or c-Fos were also examined in the DRN using immunohistochemistry. The results showed that 1) acupuncture at ST41 acupoint, but neither LI11 nor SI3, significantly attenuated LPS-induced anxiety-like behaviors in EPM and OFT, 2) acupuncture at ST41 decreased SERT expression increased by LPS in the DRN. Our results suggest that acupuncture can ameliorate anxiety-like behaviors, possibly through regulation of SERT in the DRN.

  20. Opposing dorsal/ventral stream dynamics during figure-ground segregation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wokke, Martijn E; Scholte, H Steven; Lamme, Victor A F

    2014-02-01

    The visual system has been commonly subdivided into two segregated visual processing streams: The dorsal pathway processes mainly spatial information, and the ventral pathway specializes in object perception. Recent findings, however, indicate that different forms of interaction (cross-talk) exist between the dorsal and the ventral stream. Here, we used TMS and concurrent EEG recordings to explore these interactions between the dorsal and ventral stream during figure-ground segregation. In two separate experiments, we used repetitive TMS and single-pulse TMS to disrupt processing in the dorsal (V5/HMT⁺) and the ventral (lateral occipital area) stream during a motion-defined figure discrimination task. We presented stimuli that made it possible to differentiate between relatively low-level (figure boundary detection) from higher-level (surface segregation) processing steps during figure-ground segregation. Results show that disruption of V5/HMT⁺ impaired performance related to surface segregation; this effect was mainly found when V5/HMT⁺ was perturbed in an early time window (100 msec) after stimulus presentation. Surprisingly, disruption of the lateral occipital area resulted in increased performance scores and enhanced neural correlates of surface segregation. This facilitatory effect was also mainly found in an early time window (100 msec) after stimulus presentation. These results suggest a "push-pull" interaction in which dorsal and ventral extrastriate areas are being recruited or inhibited depending on stimulus category and task demands.

  1. The heart of the matter: Acute quadriplegia with respiratory paralysis - bilateral medial medullary infarction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bhaskara P Shelley

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The clinicoradiologic correlate of bilateral medial medullary infarction is described. This is a rare clinical entity of vertebrobasilar stroke syndrome with catastrophic consequences and a poor functional prognosis. Since the initial symptom is quadriplegia, the clinical diagnosis without neuroimaging can be challenging with a potential for misdiagnosis as Guillain–Barré syndrome or brainstem encephalitis in the early stages. The teaching neuroimage of the “heart appearance” sign is revisited.

  2. Presence of a nail in the medullary canal; is it enough to prevent femoral neck shortening in trochanteric fracture?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Hyung Keun; Yoon, Han Kuk; Yang, Kyu Hyun

    2014-09-01

    Presence of a cephalomedullary nail (CMN) in the medullary canal has been thought as advantageous in the control of femoral neck shortening (FNS) and lag screw sliding in trochanteric fracture compared to extramedullary fixation system. However, researches on the factors that influence the degree of FNS after cephalomedullary nailing are lacking. We observed 95 patients (mean age, 75±2.8 years) with trochanteric fractures who were treated with a CMN, and evaluated the relationship between FNS and patient factors including age, gender, fracture type (AO/OTA), bone mineral density, medullary canal diameter, canal occupancy ratio (COR=nail size/canal diameter), and tip-apex distance using initial, immediate postoperative, and follow-up radiography. Univariate regression analyses revealed that the degree of FNS was significantly correlated with fracture type (A1 versus A3, pfracture type (pfracture.

  3. Dimuon enhancement in nucleus-nucleus ultrarelativistic interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bordalo, Paula; Abreu, M.C.; Alessandro, B.; Alexa, C.; Arnaldi, R.; Astruc, J.; Atayan, M.; Baglin, C.; Baldit, A.; Bedjidian, M.; Bellaiche, F.; Beole, S.; Bohrani, A.; Boldea, V.; Bussiere, A.; Capelli, L.; Caponi, V.; Casagrande, L.; Castor, J.; Chambon, T.; Chaurand, B.; Chevrot, I.; Cheynis, B.; Chiavassa, E.; Cicalo, C.; Comets, M.P.; Constans, N.; Constantinescu, S.; Contardo, D.; Cruz, J.; De Falco, A.; De Marco, N.; Dellacasa, G.; Devaux, A.; Dita, S.; Drapier, O.; Ducroux, L.; Espagnon, B.; Fargeix, J.; Ferreira, R.; Filippov, S.N.; Fleuret, F.; Force, P.; Gallio, M.; Gavrilov, Y.K.; Gerschel, C.; Giubellino, P.; Golubeva, M.B.; Gonin, M.; Gorodetzky, P.; Grigorian, A.A.; Grossiord, J.Y.; Guber, F.F.; Guichard, A.; Gulkanyan, H.; Hakobyan, R.; Haroutunian, R.; Idzik, M.; Jouan, D.; Karavitcheva, T.L.; Kluberg, L.; Kossakowski, R.; Kurepin, A.B.; Landau, G.; Le Bornec, Y.; Lourenco, C.; Luquin, L.; Macciotta, P.; Mac Cormick, M.; Mandry, R.; Marzari-Chiesa, A.; Masera, M.; Masoni, A.; Mehrabyan, S.; Monteno, M.; Mourgues, S.; Musso, A.; Ohlsson-Malek, F.; Petiau, P.; Piccotti, A.; Pizzi, J.R.; Prado da Silva, W.L.; Puddu, G.; Quintans, C.; Racca, C.; Ramello, L.; Ramos, S.; Rato-Mendes, P.; Riccati, L.; Romana, A.; Ropotar, I.; Saturnini, P.; Scomparin, E.; Serci, S.; Shahoyan, R.; Silva, S.; Sitta, M.; Soave, C.; Sonderegger, P.; Tarrago, X.; Topilskaya, N.S.; Usai, G.L.; Varela, J.; Vercellin, E.; Villatte, L.

    1999-01-01

    The study of muon pairs in the mass region 1.5 μμ 2 in 450 GeV/c p-A, 200 GeV/nucleon S-U and 158 GeV/nucleon Pb-Pb collisions is presented. In p-A interactions, the dimuon signal mass spectra are well described by a superposition of Drell-Yan and charmed meson semi-leptonic decay contributions, in agreement with previous experiments when considering a linear A dependence. In nucleus-nucleus reactions, taking only into account these two physical ingredients, a dimuon enhancement both with increasing A·B and centrality is observed

  4. Nucleus and nucleus-cytoskeleton connections in 3D cell migration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Lingling, E-mail: liulingling2012@163.com; Luo, Qing, E-mail: qing.luo@cqu.edu.cn; Sun, Jinghui, E-mail: sunjhemail@163.com; Song, Guanbin, E-mail: song@cqu.edu.cn

    2016-10-15

    Cell migration plays an important role in many physiological and pathological settings, ranging from embryonic development to cancer metastasis. Currently, accumulating data suggest that cells migrating in three-dimensional (3D) environments show well-defined differences compared to their well-established two-dimensional (2D) counterparts. During 3D migration, the cell body and nucleus must deform to allow cellular passage through the available spaces, and the deformability of the relatively rigid nucleus may constitute a limiting step. Here, we highlight the key evidence regarding the role of the nuclear mechanics in 3D migration, including the molecular components that govern the stiffness of the nucleus and review how the nuclear dynamics are connected to and controlled by cytoskeleton-based migration machinery. Intriguingly, nuclear movement must be coordinated with the cytoskeletal dynamics at the leading and trailing edges, which in turn impact the cytoplasmic dynamics that affect the migration efficiency. Thus, we suggest that alterations in the nuclear structure may facilitate cellular reorganizations that are necessary for efficient migration. - Graphical abstract: Schematic representations of a cell migrating on a 2D substrate and a cell migrating in a 3D extracellular matrix environment. (A) Nucleus-cytoskeleton connections are essential to 3D migration. Mechanical signals are transduced by integrins at the cell surface and channeled to cytoskeletal proteins, which generates prestress. The nucleus-cytoskeleton connections can either act as a stable skeleton to anchor the nuclei or provide active force to move the nuclei. The LINC complex is responsible for the nucleo-cytoskeletal coupling. Nesprins connect the cytoskeletal proteins to the inner nuclear membrane proteins SUN1 and SUN2. The SUN proteins connect to the lamins that form the lamina, which attaches to the chromatin. This physical connectivity transmits the mechanical signals from receptors at

  5. Nucleus and nucleus-cytoskeleton connections in 3D cell migration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Lingling; Luo, Qing; Sun, Jinghui; Song, Guanbin

    2016-01-01

    Cell migration plays an important role in many physiological and pathological settings, ranging from embryonic development to cancer metastasis. Currently, accumulating data suggest that cells migrating in three-dimensional (3D) environments show well-defined differences compared to their well-established two-dimensional (2D) counterparts. During 3D migration, the cell body and nucleus must deform to allow cellular passage through the available spaces, and the deformability of the relatively rigid nucleus may constitute a limiting step. Here, we highlight the key evidence regarding the role of the nuclear mechanics in 3D migration, including the molecular components that govern the stiffness of the nucleus and review how the nuclear dynamics are connected to and controlled by cytoskeleton-based migration machinery. Intriguingly, nuclear movement must be coordinated with the cytoskeletal dynamics at the leading and trailing edges, which in turn impact the cytoplasmic dynamics that affect the migration efficiency. Thus, we suggest that alterations in the nuclear structure may facilitate cellular reorganizations that are necessary for efficient migration. - Graphical abstract: Schematic representations of a cell migrating on a 2D substrate and a cell migrating in a 3D extracellular matrix environment. (A) Nucleus-cytoskeleton connections are essential to 3D migration. Mechanical signals are transduced by integrins at the cell surface and channeled to cytoskeletal proteins, which generates prestress. The nucleus-cytoskeleton connections can either act as a stable skeleton to anchor the nuclei or provide active force to move the nuclei. The LINC complex is responsible for the nucleo-cytoskeletal coupling. Nesprins connect the cytoskeletal proteins to the inner nuclear membrane proteins SUN1 and SUN2. The SUN proteins connect to the lamins that form the lamina, which attaches to the chromatin. This physical connectivity transmits the mechanical signals from receptors at

  6. Periostite metacarpiana dorsal: incidência e fatores pré-disponentes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flávio Gomes de Oliveira

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Forty two 2-year-old thoroughbreds were examined clinically at intervals of 15 days during their training for the first race to determine the incidence and the predisposing factors of dorsal metacarpal disease. During the first year 25 horses were followed during 2 months and in the second year the follow up was done for 4 months in 17 . Horses' data like gender, average speed, speed exercise work and trainer were also collected. Dorsal metacarpal disease was diagnosed in 28% and 70,6% of the 2 year-old thoroughbreds in the first and second year of the study, respectively. Total incidence was 45%. The incidence and average speed was not affected by gender. The average speed achieved by affected and none affected horses remained between 16 and 18m/s. On 500 and 700m speed exercise, the average speed of affected horses was higher than of none affected ones (p<0,05. Ten out of 19 horses showed dorsal metacarpal disease signs at the distance of 700m. There was significant difference between trainers regarding the incidence of dorsal metacarpal disease and average speed of their horses. 2-year-olds under care of trainers whose horses had the highest incidence o dorsal metacarpal disease also were the fastest one's. Therefore, fast speed associated with longer distances (700m and trainer are factors that predispose young horses to dorsal metacarpal disease.

  7. Physical meaning of the yields from hadron-nucleon, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions observed in experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strugalski, Z.

    1995-01-01

    A physical meaning of the outcomes from hadronic and nuclear collision processes at high energies is presented, as prompted experimentally. The fast and slow stages in hadron-nucleus collisions are distinguished. Hadrons are produced via intermediate objects observed in hadron-nucleus collisions. The intermediate objects may be treated as the groups of quarks or the quark bags. 37 refs

  8. MR Imaging of Ventriculus Terminalis of The Conus Medullaris. A report of two operated patients and review of the literature

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dullerud, Reidar; Server, A. [Ullevaal Univ. Hospital, Oslo (Norway). Div. of Radiology; Berg-Johnsen, J. [The National Hospital, Oslo (Norway). Dept. of Neurosurgery

    2003-07-01

    We report on 2 patients in whom a cystic dilation of the conus medullaris was incidentally found at MR imaging carried out in the work-up for sciatica. The cysts were well circumscribed and had signal intensity identical to the CSF on both T1- and T2-weighted images. There was no evidence of contrast enhancement. None of the patients had specific symptoms related to the spinal cord. At surgery, no evidence of malignancy was seen in any of the patients. A benign cystic dilation, also called dilated ventriculus terminalis, occasionally can be seen in the conus medullaris as an incidental finding at thoracolumbar MR imaging. Unless the expansion per se indicates cyst drainage, these patients may be monitored by clinical and MR follow-up, avoiding surgery in a substantial number of cases.

  9. MR Imaging of Ventriculus Terminalis of The Conus Medullaris. A report of two operated patients and review of the literature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dullerud, Reidar; Server, A.; Berg-Johnsen, J.

    2003-01-01

    We report on 2 patients in whom a cystic dilation of the conus medullaris was incidentally found at MR imaging carried out in the work-up for sciatica. The cysts were well circumscribed and had signal intensity identical to the CSF on both T1- and T2-weighted images. There was no evidence of contrast enhancement. None of the patients had specific symptoms related to the spinal cord. At surgery, no evidence of malignancy was seen in any of the patients. A benign cystic dilation, also called dilated ventriculus terminalis, occasionally can be seen in the conus medullaris as an incidental finding at thoracolumbar MR imaging. Unless the expansion per se indicates cyst drainage, these patients may be monitored by clinical and MR follow-up, avoiding surgery in a substantial number of cases

  10. Two visual pathways to the telencephalon in the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum). I. Retinal projections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luiten, P G

    1981-03-10

    The central projections of the retina in the nurse shark were studied by anterograde transport of horseradish peroxidase and tritiated proline. With regard to efferent retinal fibers, both techniques gave completely identical results. Projections were found to pretectal area, dorsal thalamus, basal optic nucleus, and optic tectum, all at the contralateral side. The retinal target cells in the dorsal thalamus are restricted to the ventrolateral optic nucleus and the posterior optic nucleus. No evidence was found for an earlier-reported projection to the lateral geniculate nucleus. The present findings show that the ventrolateral optic nucleus exhibits homological features of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in other vertebrate groups, whereas the lateral geniculate nucleus of the nurse shark is much more comparable to the nucleus rotundus of teleosts and birds and would be more appropriately so named. The application of the HRP technique also allowed us to study afferents to the retina by retrograde transport of tracer. Retrogradely labeled cells were observed in the contralateral optic tectum and are apparently similar to those reported for teleosts and birds.

  11. Predicting Early Reading Skills from Pre-Reading Measures of Dorsal Stream Functioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kevan, Alison; Pammer, Kristen

    2009-01-01

    It is well documented that good reading skills may be dependent upon adequate dorsal stream processing. However, the degree to which dorsal stream deficits play a causal role in reading failure has not been established. This study used coherent motion and visual frequency doubling to examine whether dorsal stream sensitivity measured before the…

  12. Basolateral P2X receptors mediate inhibition of NaCl transport in mouse medullary thick ascending limb (mTAL)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marques, Rita D; de Bruijn, Pauline I.A.; Sørensen, Mads Vaarby

    2012-01-01

    Extracellular nucleotides regulate epithelial transport via luminal and basolateral P2 receptors. Renal epithelia express multiple P2 receptors, which mediate significant inhibition of solute absorption. Recently, we identified several P2 receptors in the medullary thick ascending limb (m...

  13. Medullary breast carcinoma: The role of radiotherapy as primary treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fourquet, A.; Vilcoq, J.R.; Zafrani, B.; Schlienger, P.; Campana, F.; Jullien, D.

    1987-01-01

    The results are reported of a selected series of 41 patients with medullary carcinoma of the breast, treated with primary radiotherapy with (24 patients) or without (17 patients) adjuvant chemotherapy. Complete responses to radiotherapy occurred with moderate doses (67% of the patients had a complete response after a dose of 55-60 Gy) and were increased by the addition of an irradiation boost. The 6-year actuarial free of local recurrence survival, metastase-free survival and survival rates were 86, 83, and 83%, respectively. The 6-year actuarial probability of living with breast preserved was 72%. Recurrences and survivals were not influenced by the tumor size or clinical axillary node status. Adjuvant chemotherapy had no effect on the rate of recurrence or survival. 14 refs.; 3 tabs

  14. c-Fos induction in mesotelencephalic dopamine pathway projection targets and dorsal striatum following oral intake of sugars and fats in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dela Cruz, J A D; Coke, T; Karagiorgis, T; Sampson, C; Icaza-Cukali, D; Kest, K; Ranaldi, R; Bodnar, R J

    2015-02-01

    Overconsumption of nutrients high in fats and sugars can lead to obesity. Previous studies indicate that sugar or fat consumption activate individual brain sites using Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI). Sugars and fats also elicit conditioned flavor preferences (CFP) that are differentially mediated by flavor-flavor (orosensory: f/f) and flavor-nutrient (post-ingestive: f/n) processes. Dopamine (DA) signaling in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the amygdala (AMY) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc), has been implicated in acquisition and expression of fat- and sugar-CFP. The present study examined the effects of acute consumption of fat (corn oil: f/f and f/n), glucose (f/f and f/n), fructose, (f/f only), saccharin, xanthan gum or water upon simultaneous FLI activation of DA mesotelencephalic nuclei (ventral tegmental area (VTA)) and projections (infralimbic and prelimbic mPFC, basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY, core and shell of NAc as well as the dorsal striatum). Consumption of corn oil solutions, isocaloric to glucose and fructose, significantly increased FLI in all sites except for the NAc shell. Glucose intake significantly increased FLI in both AMY areas, dorsal striatum and NAc core, but not in either mPFC area, VTA or Nac shell. Correspondingly, fructose intake significantly increased FLI in the both AMY areas, the infralimbic mPFC and dorsal striatum, but not the prelimbic mPFC, VTA or either NAc area. Saccharin and xanthan gum intake failed to activate FLI relative to water. When significant FLI activation occurred, highly positive relationships were observed among sites, supporting the idea of activation of a distributed brain network mediating sugar and fat intake. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Meson-nucleus potentials and the search for meson-nucleus bound states

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metag, V.; Nanova, M.; Paryev, E. Ya.

    2017-11-01

    Recent experiments studying the meson-nucleus interaction to extract meson-nucleus potentials are reviewed. The real part of the potentials quantifies whether the interaction is attractive or repulsive while the imaginary part describes the meson absorption in nuclei. The review is focused on mesons which are sufficiently long-lived to potentially form meson-nucleus quasi-bound states. The presentation is confined to meson production off nuclei in photon-, pion-, proton-, and light-ion induced reactions and heavy-ion collisions at energies near the production threshold. Tools to extract the potential parameters are presented. In most cases, the real part of the potential is determined by comparing measured meson momentum distributions or excitation functions with collision model or transport model calculations. The imaginary part is extracted from transparency ratio measurements. Results on K+ ,K0 ,K- , η ,η‧ , ω, and ϕ mesons are presented and compared with theoretical predictions. The interaction of K+ and K0 mesons with nuclei is found to be weakly repulsive, while the K- , η ,η‧ , ω and ϕ meson-nucleus potentials are attractive, however, with widely different strengths. Because of meson absorption in the nuclear medium the imaginary parts of the meson-nucleus potentials are all negative, again with a large spread. An outlook on planned experiments in the charm sector is given. In view of the determined potential parameters, the criteria and chances for experimentally observing meson-nucleus quasi-bound states are discussed. The most promising candidates appear to be the η and η‧ mesons.

  16. The human dorsal action control system develops in the absence of vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiehler, Katja; Burke, Michael; Bien, Siegfried; Röder, Brigitte; Rösler, Frank

    2009-01-01

    The primate dorsal pathway has been proposed to compute vision for action. Although recent findings suggest that dorsal pathway structures contribute to somatosensory action control as well, it is yet not clear whether or not the development of dorsal pathway functions depends on early visual experience. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the pattern of cortical activation in congenitally blind and matched blindfolded sighted adults while performing kinesthetically guided hand movements. Congenitally blind adults activated similar dorsal pathway structures as sighted controls. Group-specific activations were found in the extrastriate cortex and the auditory cortex for congenitally blind humans and in the precuneus and the presupplementary motor area for sighted humans. Dorsal pathway activity was in addition observed for working memory maintenance of kinesthetic movement information in both groups. Thus, the results suggest that dorsal pathway functions develop in the absence of vision. This favors the idea of a general mechanism of movement control that operates regardless of the sensory input modality. Group differences in cortical activation patterns imply different movement control strategies as a function of visual experience.

  17. Conus medullaris syndrome due to an intradural disc herniation: A case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaudhary Kshitij

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available A 70-year-old male patient developed acute paraplegia due to conus medullaris compression secondary to extrusion of D12-L1 disc. After negative epidural examination intraoperatively, a durotomy was performed and an intradural disc fragment was excised. Patient did not regain ambulatory status at two-year follow-up. Intraoperative finding of negative extradural compression, tense swollen dura and CSF leak from ventral dura should alert the surgeon for the possibility of intradural disc herniation. A routine preoperative MRI is misleading and a high index of suspicion helps to avoid a missed diagnosis.

  18. Thermal effects of dorsal head immersion in cold water on nonshivering humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giesbrecht, Gordon G; Lockhart, Tamara L; Bristow, Gerald K; Steinman, Allan M

    2005-11-01

    Personal floatation devices maintain either a semirecumbent flotation posture with the head and upper chest out of the water or a horizontal flotation posture with the dorsal head and whole body immersed. The contribution of dorsal head and upper chest immersion to core cooling in cold water was isolated when the confounding effect of shivering heat production was inhibited with meperidine (Demerol, 2.5 mg/kg). Six male volunteers were immersed four times for up to 60 min, or until esophageal temperature = 34 degrees C. An insulated hoodless dry suit or two different personal floatation devices were used to create four conditions: 1) body insulated, head out; 2) body insulated, dorsal head immersed; 3) body exposed, head (and upper chest) out; and 4) body exposed, dorsal head (and upper chest) immersed. When the body was insulated, dorsal head immersion did not affect core cooling rate (1.1 degrees C/h) compared with head-out conditions (0.7 degrees C/h). When the body was exposed, however, the rate of core cooling increased by 40% from 3.6 degrees C/h with the head out to 5.0 degrees C/h with the dorsal head and upper chest immersed (P immersed (approximately 10%). The exaggerated core cooling during dorsal head immersion (40% increase) may result from the extra heat loss affecting a smaller thermal core due to intense thermal stimulation of the body and head and resultant peripheral vasoconstriction. Dorsal head and upper chest immersion in cold water increases the rate of core cooling and decreases potential survival time.

  19. Multiple Myeloma Presenting as Massive Amyloid Deposition in a Parathyroid Gland Associated with Amyloid Goiter: A Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Mimic on Intra-operative Frozen Section.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Kirk; Diaz, Jason; Hagemann, Ian S; Chernock, Rebecca D

    2018-06-01

    Clinical examples of amyloid deposition in parathyroid glands are exceedingly rare and usually present as an incidental finding in a patient with amyloid goiter. Here, we present the first histologically documented case of parathyroid amyloid deposition that presented as a mass. The patient did not have hyperparathyroidism. The parathyroid gland was submitted for intra-operative frozen section and concern for medullary thyroid carcinoma was raised. An important histologic clue arguing against medullary thyroid carcinoma was the evenly dispersed nature of the amyloid. Histologic perinuclear clearing and parathyroid hormone immunohistochemistry confirmed parathyroid origin on permanent sections. The patient was also found to have associated amyloid goiter. Mass spectrometry of the amyloid showed it to be composed of kappa light chains. On further work-up, the patient was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Awareness of parathyroid amyloid deposition is important as it is a histologic mimic of medullary thyroid carcinoma, especially on frozen section. Amyloid typing with evaluation for multiple myeloma in any patient with kappa or lambda light chain restriction is also important.

  20. Interest of MIBG scintigraphy in screening for pheochromocytoma in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonnin, F.; Lumbroso, J.; Schlumberger, M.; Megnigbeto, A.; Tenenbaum, F.; Leclere, J.; Travagli, J.P.; Gardet, P.; Parmentier, C.

    1995-01-01

    Adrenal medullary disease (AMD) is clinically silent in most patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). During 16 years, a series of 174 MTC patients was screened yearly for AMD. Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scans were performed in 54 cases (21 at diagnosis and 33 during the follow up of MTC) either systematically (43 cases) or in patients with biological or ultrasonographic signs of AMD (11 cases). AMD was discovered in ten patients: five patients were already known to have a type II multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN-2); in five patients previously considered as having either a sporadic (four cases) or a familial type of isolated MTC (one case), the occurrence of AMD led to diagnose a MEN-2 a syndrome. In three cases, AMD was bilateral. MIBG scan were performed in nine of the ten patients with AMD. No false positive MIBG scan was observed in the series. All patients with positive MIBG scan had either elevated excretion of catecholamines and derivates. MIBG scan had a sensitivity of 0.9 and specificity of 1. MIBG should not be used as a screening test. In particular, MIBG scan should not be performed systematically neither at diagnosis nor during follow-up. But, in cases with suspicion of AMD, it provides important complementary functional information. (authors). 15 refs., 3 tabs., 2 figs

  1. Receptor stimulated formation of inositol phosphates in cultures of bovine adrenal medullary cells: the effects of bradykinin, bombesin and neurotensin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bunn, S J; Marley, P D; Livett, B G

    1990-04-01

    The ability of a number of drugs and neuropeptides to stimulate phosphoinositide metabolism in cultured bovine adrenal medullary cells has been assessed. Low concentrations (10 nM) of angiotensin II, bradykinin, histamine, arginine-vasopressin, and bombesin, and high (10 microM) concentrations of oxytocin, prostaglandins E1, and E2, beta-endorphin, and neurotensin stimulated significant accumulation of [3H]inositol phosphates in adrenal medullary cells preloaded with [3H)]inositol. Bradykinin stimulated a significant response at concentration as low as 10pM, with an EC50 of approximately 0.5 nM. The response was markedly inhibited by the bradykinin B2 antagonist [Thi5,8,D-Phe7] bradykinin but not the B1 antagonist [Des-Arg9,Leu8] bradykinin. Higher concentrations of bombesin and neurotensin were required to elicit a response (10 nM and 10 microM respectively). The bombesin response was sensitive to inhibition by the bombesin antagonist [D-Arg1,D-Pro2,D-Trp7,9Leu11]-substance P. In contrast, the neurotensin response was not reduced by the NT1 antagonist [D-Trp11]-neurotensin. These results indicate there are a number of agents that can stimulate phosphatidylinositide hydrolysis in the adrenal medullary cells by acting on different classes of receptors. Such a range of diverse agonists that stimulate inositol phosphate formation will facilitate further analysis of the phosphatidylinositide breakdown in chromaffin cell function.

  2. Effective number of inelastically interacting nucleons in rare nucleus-nucleus production processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korotkikh, V.L.; Lokhtin, I.P.

    1992-01-01

    A model of nucleus-nucleus interaction using one inelastic NN-interaction is suggested for the exclusive production processes with small cross-section. A-dependence nuclear coherent and incoherent production cross-section are predicted. 20 refs.; 4 figs

  3. Case report of severe Cushing's syndrome in medullary thyroid cancer complicated by functional diabetes insipidus, aortic dissection, jejunal intussusception, and paraneoplastic dysautonomia: remission with sorafenib without reduction in cortisol concentration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammami, Muhammad M; Duaiji, Najla; Mutairi, Ghazi; Aklabi, Sabah; Qattan, Nasser; Abouzied, Mohei El-Din M; Sous, Mohamed W

    2015-09-09

    Normalization of cortisol concentration by multikinase inhibitors have been reported in three patients with medullary thyroid cancer-related Cushing's syndrome. Aortic dissection has been reported in three patients with Cushing's syndrome. Diabetes insipidus without intrasellar metastasis, intestinal intussusception, and paraneoplastic dysautonomia have not been reported in medullary thyroid cancer. An adult male with metastatic medullary thyroid cancer presented with hyperglycemia, hypernatremia, hypokalemia, hypertension, acne-like rash, and diabetes insipidus (urine volume >8 L/d, osmolality 190 mOsm/kg). Serum cortisol, adrenocorticoitropic hormone, dehydroepiandrostenedione sulfate, and urinary free cortisol were elevated 8, 20, 4.4, and 340 folds, respectively. Pituitary imaging was normal. Computed tomography scan revealed jejunal intussusception and incidental abdominal aortic dissection. Sorafenib treatment was associated with Cushing's syndrome remission, elevated progesterone (>10 fold), normalization of dehydroepiandrostenedione sulfate, but persistently elevated cortisol concentration. Newly-developed proximal lower limb weakness and decreased salivation were associated with elevated ganglionic neuronal acetylcholine receptor (alpha-3) and borderline P/Q type calcium channel antibodies. Extreme cortisol concentration may have contributed to aortic dissection and suppressed antidiuretic hormone secretion; which combined with hypokalemia due cortisol activation of mineralocorticoid receptors, manifested as diabetes insipidus. This is the first report of paraneoplastic dysautonomia and jejunal intussusception in medullary thyroid cancer, they may be related to medullary thyroid cancer's neuroendocrine origin and metastasis, respectively. Remission of Cushing's syndrome without measurable reduction in cortisol concentration suggests a novel cortisol-independent mechanism of action or assay cross-reactivity. Normalization of dehydroepiandrostenedione

  4. Double folding model of nucleus-nucleus potential: formulae, iteration method and computer code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luk'yanov, K.V.

    2008-01-01

    Method of construction of the nucleus-nucleus double folding potential is described. Iteration procedure for the corresponding integral equation is presented. Computer code and numerical results are presented

  5. New Drug Candidate Targeting the 4A1 Orphan Nuclear Receptor for Medullary Thyroid Cancer Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Zhang

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC is a relatively rare thyroid cancer responsible for a substantial fraction of thyroid cancer mortality. More effective therapeutic drugs with low toxicity for MTC are urgently needed. Orphan nuclear receptor 4A1 (NR4A1 plays a pivotal role in regulating the proliferation and apoptosis of a variety of tumor cells. Based on the NR4A1 protein structure, 2-imino-6-methoxy-2H-chromene-3-carbothioamide (IMCA was identified from the Specs compounds database using the protein structure-guided virtual screening approach. Computationally-based molecular modeling studies suggested that IMCA has a high affinity for the ligand binding pocket of NR4A1. MTT [3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide] and apoptosis assays demonstrated that IMCA resulted in significant thyroid cancer cell death. Immunofluorescence assays showed that IMCA induced NR4A1 translocation from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in thyroid cancer cell lines, which may be involved in the cell apoptotic process. In this study, the quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that the IMCA-induced upregulation of sestrin1 and sestrin2 was dose-dependent in thyroid cancer cell lines. Western blot showed that IMCA increased phosphorylation of adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK and decreased phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K, which is the key enzyme in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR pathway. The experimental results suggest that IMCA is a drug candidate for MTC therapy and may work by increasing the nuclear export of NR4A1 to the cytoplasm and the tumor protein 53 (p53-sestrins-AMPK-mTOR signaling pathway.

  6. New Drug Candidate Targeting the 4A1 Orphan Nuclear Receptor for Medullary Thyroid Cancer Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lei; Liu, Wen; Wang, Qun; Li, Qinpei; Wang, Huijuan; Wang, Jun; Teng, Tieshan; Chen, Mingliang; Ji, Ailing; Li, Yanzhang

    2018-03-02

    Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a relatively rare thyroid cancer responsible for a substantial fraction of thyroid cancer mortality. More effective therapeutic drugs with low toxicity for MTC are urgently needed. Orphan nuclear receptor 4A1 (NR4A1) plays a pivotal role in regulating the proliferation and apoptosis of a variety of tumor cells. Based on the NR4A1 protein structure, 2-imino-6-methoxy-2H-chromene-3-carbothioamide (IMCA) was identified from the Specs compounds database using the protein structure-guided virtual screening approach. Computationally-based molecular modeling studies suggested that IMCA has a high affinity for the ligand binding pocket of NR4A1. MTT [3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide] and apoptosis assays demonstrated that IMCA resulted in significant thyroid cancer cell death. Immunofluorescence assays showed that IMCA induced NR4A1 translocation from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in thyroid cancer cell lines, which may be involved in the cell apoptotic process. In this study, the quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that the IMCA-induced upregulation of sestrin1 and sestrin2 was dose-dependent in thyroid cancer cell lines. Western blot showed that IMCA increased phosphorylation of adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and decreased phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K), which is the key enzyme in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. The experimental results suggest that IMCA is a drug candidate for MTC therapy and may work by increasing the nuclear export of NR4A1 to the cytoplasm and the tumor protein 53 (p53)-sestrins-AMPK-mTOR signaling pathway.

  7. Theory of and effects from elastoplasticity in nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noerenberg, W.; Technische Hochschule Darmstadt

    1985-02-01

    Elastoplasticity of finite Fermi systems results from a coherent coupling between collective and intrinsic degrees of freedom and subsequent equilibration essentially due to two-body collisions. Within a non-markovian transport-theoretical approach referred to as dissipative diabatic dynamics (DDD), elastoplastical forms the link between giant vibrations and overdamped motion of nuclear. Obersvable effects resulting from this non-markovian behaviour in nucleus-nucleus collisions are discussed. (orig.)

  8. Study of η-nucleus interaction through the formation of η-nucleus ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Answer to this question will deeply enrich our understanding of -nucleus interaction which is not so well-understood. We review the experimental efforts for the search of -mesic nuclei and describe the physics motivation behind it. We present the description of an experiment for the search of -nucleus bound state using ...

  9. Sonographic assessment of normal renal parenchymal and medullary pyramid thicknesses among children in Enugu, Southeast, Nigeria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eze, C.U.; Akpan, V.P.; Nwadike, I.U.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Renal parenchymal thickness (RPT) and renal medullary pyramid thickness (MPT) are important renal size parameters. This study was aimed at establishing normograms for RPT and MPT with respect to age and somatometric parameters among children. Methods: This was a cross sectional study done in Enugu, Nigeria between May 2013 and April 2014. The subjects were 512 children aged 1–17 years scanned with ultrasound equipment with 3.5 MHz and 5 MHz curvilinear transducers. The RPT was measured perpendicularly to the long axis of the kidney from the medullary papilla to the renal capsule and MPT was measured from the apex to the base of the medullary pyramid on the same plane. The age and somatometric parameters of the subjects were recorded. Results: The mean ± SD of RPT and MPT for the right kidney were 12.62 ± 1.67 mm and 7.10 ± 0.92 mm and the left kidney were 12.81 ± 1.7 and 7.23 ± 0.94 mm respectively. There was a significant difference between the right and left RPT and MPT (p < 0.05). The right and left RPT correlated strongly with age, body surface area (BSA), height, and weight but moderately with body mass index (BMI). A moderate positive correlation was observed between MPT and age, BSA, height, and weight. However, a weak correlation was observed between MPT and BMI. Conclusion: Normograms of RPT and MPT in relation to age could be useful for grading hydronephrosis in children. - Highlights: • Sonography of RPT and MPT at the anterior longitudinal axis of the kidney is simple. • RPT and MPT Measurements are reliable within and between experienced sonographers. • No significant gender differences in RPT and MPT values exist in this study. • Significant differences exist between the right and left RPT and MPT measurements. • Normative values of RPT and MPT in relation to age in children are useful.

  10. Raclopride or high-frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus stops cocaine-induced motor stereotypy and restores related alterations in prefrontal basal ganglia circuits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aliane, Verena; Pérez, Sylvie; Deniau, Jean-Michel; Kemel, Marie-Louise

    2012-11-01

    Motor stereotypy is a key symptom of various neurological or neuropsychiatric disorders. Neuroleptics or the promising treatment using deep brain stimulation stops stereotypies but the mechanisms underlying their actions are unclear. In rat, motor stereotypies are linked to an imbalance between prefrontal and sensorimotor cortico-basal ganglia circuits. Indeed, cortico-nigral transmission was reduced in the prefrontal but not sensorimotor basal ganglia circuits and dopamine and acetylcholine release was altered in the prefrontal but not sensorimotor territory of the dorsal striatum. Furthermore, cholinergic transmission in the prefrontal territory of the dorsal striatum plays a crucial role in the arrest of motor stereotypy. Here we found that, as previously observed for raclopride, high-frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (HFS STN) rapidly stopped cocaine-induced motor stereotypies in rat. Importantly, raclopride and HFS STN exerted a strong effect on cocaine-induced alterations in prefrontal basal ganglia circuits. Raclopride restored the cholinergic transmission in the prefrontal territory of the dorsal striatum and the cortico-nigral information transmissions in the prefrontal basal ganglia circuits. HFS STN also restored the N-methyl-d-aspartic-acid-evoked release of acetylcholine and dopamine in the prefrontal territory of the dorsal striatum. However, in contrast to raclopride, HFS STN did not restore the cortico-substantia nigra pars reticulata transmissions but exerted strong inhibitory and excitatory effects on neuronal activity in the prefrontal subdivision of the substantia nigra pars reticulata. Thus, both raclopride and HFS STN stop cocaine-induced motor stereotypy, but exert different effects on the related alterations in the prefrontal basal ganglia circuits. © 2012 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2012 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  11. Ischaemia of the medullary cone after stent-graft implantation in a patient with abdominal aortic aneurysm - a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wachowski, Mariusz; Polguj, Michał; Ścibór, Janusz; Majos, Agata

    2018-03-01

    Preoperative visualization of the Adamkiewicz artery - the vessel which is to a great extent responsible for supplying blood to the medullary cone - is an important step which must be taken before initiating restorative procedures in the aorta. We present a case of a 67-year-old patient who underwent an intravascular stent-graft implantation procedure, due to clinical signs of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Routine pre-operative computed tomography examination failed to demonstrate the Adamkiewicz artery. On the second day after the surgery, as a result of unexpected clinical deterioration, an magnetic resonance imaging examination of the lumbar spine was carried out. Based on the magnetic resonance imaging images and clinical manifestations the diagnosis of ischaemia of the medullary cone was made. In our work we also present a deep analysis of the anatomy of small-sized vessels supplying blood to the spinal cord and discuss effective techniques which enable visualization of the Adamkiewicz artery.

  12. Dorsal buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty for anterior urethral stricture by Asopa technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pisapati, V L N Murthy; Paturi, Srimannarayana; Bethu, Suresh; Jada, Srikanth; Chilumu, Ramreddy; Devraj, Rahul; Reddy, Bhargava; Sriramoju, Vidyasagar

    2009-07-01

    Buccal mucosal graft (BMG) substitution urethroplasty has become popular in the management of intractable anterior urethral strictures with good results. Excellent long-term results have been reported by both dorsal and ventral onlay techniques. Asopa reported a successful technique for dorsal placement of BMG in long anterior urethral strictures through a ventral sagittal approach. To evaluate prospectively the results and advantages of dorsal BMG urethroplasty for recurrent anterior urethral strictures by a ventral sagittal urethrotomy approach (Asopa technique). From December 2002 to December 2007, a total of 58 men underwent dorsal BMG urethroplasty by a ventral sagittal urethrotomy approach for recurrent urethral strictures. Forty-five of these patients with a follow-up period of 12-60 mo were prospectively evaluated, and the results were analysed. The urethra was split twice at the site of the stricture both ventrally and dorsally without mobilising it from its bed, and the buccal mucosal graft was secured in the dorsal urethral defect. The urethra was then retubularised in one stage. The overall results were good (87%), with a mean follow-up period of 42 mo. Seven patients developed minor wound infection, and five patients developed fistulae. There were six recurrences (6:45, 13%) during the follow-up period of 12-60 mo. Two patients with a panurethral stricture and four with bulbar or penobulbar strictures developed recurrences and were managed by optical urethrotomy and self-dilatation. The medium-term results were as good as those reported with the dorsal urethrotomy approach. Long-term results from this and other series are awaited. More randomised trials and meta-analyses are needed to establish this technique as a procedure of choice in future. The ventral sagittal urethrotomy approach is easier to perform than the dorsal urethrotomy approach, has good results, and is especially useful in long anterior urethral strictures.

  13. Quark matter formation in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions - predictions and observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Otterlund, I.

    1983-01-01

    In this talk I give a short summary of the recent discussion around predictions and possible observations of quark-gluon plasma and fireballs in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. In particular this talk is focused on heavy ion reactions at 200 A GeV. (orig./HSI)

  14. Cytological organization of the alpha component of the anterior olfactory nucleus and olfactory limbus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge A Larriva-Sahd

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This study describes the microscopic organization of a wedge-shaped area at the intersection of the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, or olfactory limbus , and an additional component of the anterior olfactory nucleus or alpha accessory olfactory bulb that lies underneath of the accessory olfactory bulb. The olfactory limbus consists of a modified bulbar cortex bounded anteriorly by the main olfactory bulb and posteriorly by the accessory olfactory bulb. In Nissl-stained specimens the olfactory limbus differs from the main olfactory bulb by a progressive, antero-posterior decrease in thickness or absence of the external plexiform, mitral/tufted cell, and granule cell layers. On cytoarchitectual grounds the olfactory limbus is divided from rostral to caudal into three distinct components: a stripe of glomerular-free cortex or preolfactory area, a second or necklace glomerular area, and a wedge-shaped or interstitial area crowned by the so-called modified glomeruli that appear to belong to the anterior accessory olfactory bulb. The strategic location and interactions with the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, together with the previously noted functional and connectional evidence, suggest that the olfactory limbus may be related to both sensory modalities. The alpha component of the anterior olfactory nucleus, a slender cellular cluster (i.e., 650 x 150 µm paralleling the base of the accessory olfactory bulb, contains two neuron types: a pyramidal-like neuron and an interneuron. Dendrites of pyramidal-like cells organize into a single bundle that ascends avoiding the accessory olfactory bulb to resolve in a trigone bounded by the edge of the olfactory limbus, the accessory olfactory bulb and the dorsal part of the anterior olfactory nucleus. Utrastructurally, the neuropil of the alpha component contains three types of synaptic terminals; one of them immunoreactive to the enzyme glutamate decarboxylase, isoform 67.

  15. The issue of ventral versus dorsal approach in bulbar urethral ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    E. Palminteri

    From surgical point of view, the Barbagli Dorsal Grafting by Dor- sal approach [8] gives a good support for the graft; Barbagli stated that his technique offers a wider augmentation than ventral or dorsal grafting using the ventral approach. The good spongiosum covering seems reduce the risk of fistula; in reality there is a ...

  16. Mammal-like organization of the avian midbrain central gray and a reappraisal of the intercollicular nucleus.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcy A Kingsbury

    Full Text Available In mammals, rostrocaudal columns of the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG regulate diverse behavioral and physiological functions, including sexual and fight-or-flight behavior, but homologous columns have not been identified in non-mammalian species. In contrast to mammals, in which the PAG lies ventral to the superior colliculus and surrounds the cerebral aqueduct, birds exhibit a hypertrophied tectum that is displaced laterally, and thus the midbrain central gray (CG extends mediolaterally rather than dorsoventrally as in mammals. We therefore hypothesized that the avian CG is organized much like a folded open PAG. To address this hypothesis, we conducted immunohistochemical comparisons of the midbrains of mice and finches, as well as Fos studies of aggressive dominance, subordinance, non-social defense and sexual behavior in territorial and gregarious finch species. We obtained excellent support for our predictions based on the folded open model of the PAG and further showed that birds possess functional and anatomical zones that form longitudinal columns similar to those in mammals. However, distinguishing characteristics of the dorsal/dorsolateral PAG, such as a dense peptidergic innervation, a longitudinal column of neuronal nitric oxide synthase neurons, and aggression-induced Fos responses, do not lie within the classical avian CG, but in the laterally adjacent intercollicular nucleus (ICo, suggesting that much of the ICo is homologous to the dorsal PAG.

  17. bullwinkle and shark regulate dorsal-appendage morphogenesis in Drosophila oogenesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, David H; Berg, Celeste A

    2003-12-01

    bullwinkle (bwk) regulates embryonic anteroposterior patterning and, through a novel germline-to-soma signal, morphogenesis of the eggshell dorsal appendages. We screened for dominant modifiers of the bullwinkle mooseantler eggshell phenotype and identified shark, which encodes an SH2-domain, ankyrin-repeat tyrosine kinase. At the onset of dorsal-appendage formation, shark is expressed in a punctate pattern in the squamous stretch cells overlying the nurse cells. Confocal microscopy with cell-type-specific markers demonstrates that the stretch cells act as a substrate for the migrating dorsal-appendage-forming cells and extend cellular projections towards them. Mosaic analyses reveal that shark is required in follicle cells for cell migration and chorion deposition. Proper shark RNA expression in the stretch cells requires bwk activity, while restoration of shark expression in the stretch cells suppresses the bwk dorsal-appendage phenotype. These results suggest that shark plays an important downstream role in the bwk-signaling pathway. Candidate testing implicates Src42A in a similar role, suggesting conservation with a vertebrate signaling pathway involving non-receptor tyrosine kinases.

  18. Neuronal and glial expression of inward rectifier potassium channel subunits Kir2.x in rat dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murata, Yuzo; Yasaka, Toshiharu; Takano, Makoto; Ishihara, Keiko

    2016-03-23

    Inward rectifier K(+) channels of the Kir2.x subfamily play important roles in controlling the neuronal excitability. Although their cellular localization in the brain has been extensively studied, only a few studies have examined their expression in the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. In this study, immunohistochemical analyses of Kir2.1, Kir2.2, and Kir2.3 expression were performed in rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and spinal cord using bright-field and confocal microscopy. In DRG, most ganglionic neurons expressed Kir2.1, Kir2.2 and Kir2.3, whereas satellite glial cells chiefly expressed Kir2.3. In the spinal cord, Kir2.1, Kir2.2 and Kir2.3 were all expressed highly in the gray matter of dorsal and ventral horns and moderately in the white matter also. Within the gray matter, the expression was especially high in the substantia gelatinosa (lamina II). Confocal images obtained using markers for neuronal cells, NeuN, and astrocytes, Sox9, showed expression of all three Kir2 subunits in both neuronal somata and astrocytes in lamina I-III of the dorsal horn and the lateral spinal nucleus of the dorsolateral funiculus. Immunoreactive signals other than those in neuronal and glial somata were abundant in lamina I and II, which probably located mainly in nerve fibers or nerve terminals. Colocalization of Kir2.1 and 2.3 and that of Kir2.2 and 2.3 were present in neuronal and glial somata. In the ventral horn, motor neurons and interneurons were also immunoreactive with the three Kir2 subunits. Our study suggests that Kir2 channels composed of Kir2.1-2.3 subunits are expressed in neuronal and glial cells in the DRG and spinal cord, contributing to sensory transduction and motor control. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Attention modulates the dorsal striatum response to love stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langeslag, Sandra J E; van der Veen, Frederik M; Röder, Christian H

    2014-02-01

    In previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies concerning romantic love, several brain regions including the caudate and putamen have consistently been found to be more responsive to beloved-related than control stimuli. In those studies, infatuated individuals were typically instructed to passively view the stimuli or to think of the viewed person. In the current study, we examined how the instruction to attend to, or ignore the beloved modulates the response of these brain areas. Infatuated individuals performed an oddball task in which pictures of their beloved and friend served as targets and distractors. The dorsal striatum showed greater activation for the beloved than friend, but only when they were targets. The dorsal striatum actually tended to show less activation for the beloved than the friend when they were distractors. The longer the love and relationship duration, the smaller the response of the dorsal striatum to beloved-distractor stimuli was. We interpret our findings in terms of reinforcement learning. By virtue of using a cognitive task with a full factorial design, we show that the dorsal striatum is not activated by beloved-related information per se, but only by beloved-related information that is attended. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. The intercalatus nucleus of Staderini.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cascella, Marco

    2016-01-01

    Rutilio Staderini was one of the leading Italian anatomists of the twentieth century, together with some scientists, such as Giulio Chiarugi, Giovanni Vitali, and others. He was also a member of a new generation of anatomists. They had continued the tradition of the most famous Italian scientists, which started from the Renaissance up until the nineteenth century. Although he carried out important studies of neuroanatomy and comparative anatomy, as well as embryology, his name is rarely remembered by most medical historians. His name is linked to the nucleus he discovered: the Staderini nucleus or intercalated nucleus, a collection of nerve cells in the medulla oblongata located lateral to the hypoglossal nucleus. This article focuses on the biography of the neuroanatomist as well as the nucleus that carries his name and his other research, especially on comparative anatomy and embryology.

  1. Dynamics of hadronization in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Friman, B.L.

    1986-01-01

    One of the main problems in the search for quark-gluon plasma in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is finding a reliable signature for deconfinement. Several signatures have been suggested, e.g., dileptons with a spectrum characteristic of the plasma, an increase in the number of strange particles and effects due to the hadronization of the plasma. In this talk I will describe some recent work on the effects of the hadronization transition in the central rapidity region within the hydrodynamic model of Bjorken, Kajantie and McLerran. (orig.)

  2. The picture of the nuclei disintegration mechanism - from hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions experimental investigations at high energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strugalska-Gola, E.; Strugalski, Z.; Chmielowski, W.

    1997-01-01

    The mechanism of the nuclei disintegration process in collisions of high-energy hadrons with nuclei is revealed experimentally. The disintegration appears as a complicated nuclear process developing in time and space in intranuclear matter, consisting at least of three stages which last together about 10 -24 - 10 -17 s after the impact. At the first stage, which lasts about 10 -24 - 10 -22 s, fast nucleons are densely emitted and the target-nucleus is locally damaged. At the second stage, lasting about 10 -22 - 10 -1 7 s, the damaged and unstable residual target nucleus uses to evaporate light fragments - mainly nucleons, deuterons, tritons, α-particles. At the final stage, the residual target-nucleus uses to split sometimes into two or more nuclear fragments

  3. The dorsal thoracic fascia: anatomic significance with clinical applications in reconstructive microsurgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, P S; Gottlieb, J R; Harris, G D; Nagle, D J; Lewis, V L

    1987-01-01

    The anatomic distribution and potential arterial flow patterns of the circumflex scapular artery were investigated by Microfil injection. These studies demonstrated that the circumflex scapular artery lies within the dorsal thoracic fascia, which plays a significant role in the circulation of the overlying skin and subcutaneous tissue. We conclude that scapular/parascapular flaps are fasciocutaneous flaps, the dorsal thoracic fascia can be transferred as a free flap without its overlying skin and subcutaneous tissue, and intercommunication exists between the myocutaneous perforators of the latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap and the vascular plexus of the dorsal thoracic fascia. We present microvascular cases in which the vascular properties of the dorsal thoracic fascia facilitated wound closure with free fascia flaps or expanded cutaneous or myocutaneous flaps.

  4. Clinical utility of vandetanib in the treatment of patients with advanced medullary thyroid cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deshpande H

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Hari Deshpande1,3, Vicky Marler3, Julie Ann Sosa2,31Department of Medicine, 2Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, 3Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, CT, USAAbstract: Vandetanib (ZD6474 became the first systemic agent to be approved for the treatment of metastatic or locally advanced medullary thyroid cancer. It was a proof of principle, because it is an orally bioavailable medication that targets the growth factors felt to be important in the pathogenesis of this disease, ie, the rearranged during transfection proto-oncogene and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor. It was tested initially in two Phase II studies at doses of 100 mg and 300 mg daily. Although activity was seen at both doses, the higher dose was chosen for a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase II study. This trial, which accrued more than 300 patients, showed a statistically significant benefit for the group taking vandetanib compared with those taking placebo medication. Progression-free survival for the vandetanib arm has not been reached, compared with 19 months for the placebo arm. The main toxicity appears to be diarrhea, although some patients experienced significant side effects, including torsades de pointes and sudden cardiac death. Therefore, it is now necessary for practitioners to enroll in a Risk Evaluation Mitigation Strategy before being allowed to prescribe this medication, to reduce the risk of serious side effects occurring.Keywords: ZD6474, medullary thyroid cancer, vandetanib

  5. Proton rapidity distribution in nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, F.H.

    2002-01-01

    The proton rapidity distributions in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) and the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) energies are analysed by the revised thermalized cylinder model. The calculated results are compared and found to he in agreement with the experimental data of Si-AI and Si-Pb collisions at 14.6 A GeV/c, Pb-Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/c, and S-S collisions at 200 A GeV/c. (Author)

  6. Compound dorsal dislocation of lunate with trapezoid fracture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bong-Sung Kim

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available We report about a dorsal dislocation of the lunate accompanied by a trapezoid fracture in a 41-year old male patient after a motorcycle accident. The lunate dislocation with no dorsal or volar intercalated segment instability (DISI, VISI was diagnosed by x-ray whereas the trapezoid fracture was only diagnosable by computed tomography. A closed reduction and internal fixation of the lunate by two Kirschner wires was performed, the trapezoid fracture was conservatively treated. Surgery was followed by immobilization, intense physiotherapy and close follow-up. Even though complaints such as swelling and pain subsided during the course of rehabilitation, partial loss of strength and range of motion remained even after 16 months. In conclusion, a conservative treatment of trapezoid fractures seems to be sufficient in most cases. Closed reduction with Kwire fixation led to an overall satisfactory result in our case. For dorsal lunate dislocations in general, open reduction should be performed when close reduction is unsuccessful or DISI/VISI are observed in radiographs after attempted close reduction.

  7. ψ' and J/ψ suppression in high-energy nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wong, Cheuk-Yin.

    1995-01-01

    The observed features of ψ' to J/ψ suppression in pA and nucleus-nucleus collisions can be explained in terms of a two-component absorption model. For the hard component of the absorption due to the interaction of the produced c bar c systems with baryons at high relative energies, the absorption cross sections are insensitive to the radii of the c bar c systems, as described by the Additive Quark Model. For the soft component due to the low energy c bar c interactions with soft particles produced by other baryon-baryon collisions, the absorption cross sections are greater for ψ' than for J/ψ, because the breakup threshold for ψ' is much smaller than for ψ

  8. Dorsal Medial Habenula Regulation of Mood-Related Behaviors and Primary Reinforcement by Tachykinin-Expressing Habenula Neurons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Yun-Wei A.

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Animal models have been developed to investigate aspects of stress, anxiety, and depression, but our understanding of the circuitry underlying these models remains incomplete. Prior studies of the habenula, a poorly understood nucleus in the dorsal diencephalon, suggest that projections to the medial habenula (MHb) regulate fear and anxiety responses, whereas the lateral habenula (LHb) is involved in the expression of learned helplessness, a model of depression. Tissue-specific deletion of the transcription factor Pou4f1 in the dorsal MHb (dMHb) results in a developmental lesion of this subnucleus. These dMHb-ablated mice show deficits in voluntary exercise, a possible correlate of depression. Here we explore the role of the dMHb in mood-related behaviors and intrinsic reinforcement. Lesions of the dMHb do not elicit changes in contextual conditioned fear. However, dMHb-lesioned mice exhibit shorter immobility time in the tail suspension test, another model of depression. dMHb-lesioned mice also display increased vulnerability to the induction of learned helplessness. However, this effect is not due specifically to the dMHb lesion, but appears to result from Pou4f1 haploinsufficiency elsewhere in the nervous system. Pou4f1 haploinsufficiency does not produce the other phenotypes associated with dMHb lesions. Using optogenetic intracranial self-stimulation, intrinsic reinforcement by the dMHb can be mapped to a specific population of neurokinin-expressing habenula neurons. Together, our data show that the dMHb is involved in the regulation of multiple mood-related behaviors, but also support the idea that these behaviors do not reflect a single functional pathway. PMID:27482535

  9. Localization and function of the Kv3.1b subunit in the rat medulla oblongata: focus on the nucleus tractus solitarii

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dallas, Mark L; Atkinson, Lucy; Milligan, Carol J; Morris, Neil P; Lewis, David I; Deuchars, Susan A; Deuchars, Jim

    2005-01-01

    The voltage-gated potassium channel subunit Kv3.1 confers fast firing characteristics to neurones. Kv3.1b subunit immunoreactivity (Kv3.1b-IR) was widespread throughout the medulla oblongata, with labelled neurones in the gracile, cuneate and spinal trigeminal nuclei. In the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), Kv3.1b-IR neurones were predominantly located close to the tractus solitarius (TS) and could be GABAergic or glutamatergic. Ultrastructurally, Kv3.1b-IR was detected in NTS terminals, some of which were vagal afferents. Whole-cell current-clamp recordings from neurones near the TS revealed electrophysiological characteristics consistent with the presence of Kv3.1b subunits: short duration action potentials (4.2 ± 1.4 ms) and high firing frequencies (68.9 ± 5.3 Hz), both sensitive to application of TEA (0.5 mm) and 4-aminopyridine (4-AP; 30 μm). Intracellular dialysis of an anti-Kv3.1b antibody mimicked and occluded the effects of TEA and 4-AP in NTS and dorsal column nuclei neurones, but not in dorsal vagal nucleus or cerebellar Purkinje cells (which express other Kv3 subunits, but not Kv3.1b). Voltage-clamp recordings from outside-out patches from NTS neurones revealed an outward K+ current with the basic characteristics of that carried by Kv3 channels. In NTS neurones, electrical stimulation of the TS evoked EPSPs and IPSPs, and TEA and 4-AP increased the average amplitude and decreased the paired pulse ratio, consistent with a presynaptic site of action. Synaptic inputs evoked by stimulation of a region lacking Kv3.1b-IR neurones were not affected, correlating the presence of Kv3.1b in the TS with the pharmacological effects. PMID:15528247

  10. Dissociated repetition deficits in aphasia can reflect flexible interactions between left dorsal and ventral streams and gender-dimorphic architecture of the right dorsal stream.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berthier, Marcelo L; Froudist Walsh, Seán; Dávila, Guadalupe; Nabrozidis, Alejandro; Juárez Y Ruiz de Mier, Rocío; Gutiérrez, Antonio; De-Torres, Irene; Ruiz-Cruces, Rafael; Alfaro, Francisco; García-Casares, Natalia

    2013-01-01

    Assessment of brain-damaged subjects presenting with dissociated repetition deficits after selective injury to either the left dorsal or ventral auditory pathways can provide further insight on their respective roles in verbal repetition. We evaluated repetition performance and its neural correlates using multimodal imaging (anatomical MRI, DTI, fMRI, and(18)FDG-PET) in a female patient with transcortical motor aphasia (TCMA) and in a male patient with conduction aphasia (CA) who had small contiguous but non-overlapping left perisylvian infarctions. Repetition in the TCMA patient was fully preserved except for a mild impairment in nonwords and digits, whereas the CA patient had impaired repetition of nonwords, digits and word triplet lists. Sentence repetition was impaired, but he repeated novel sentences significantly better than clichés. The TCMA patient had tissue damage and reduced metabolism in the left sensorimotor cortex and insula. DTI showed damage to the left temporo-frontal and parieto-frontal segments of the arcuate fasciculus (AF) and part of the left ventral stream together with well-developed right dorsal and ventral streams, as has been reported in more than one-third of females. The CA patient had tissue damage and reduced metabolic activity in the left temporoparietal cortex with additional metabolic decrements in the left frontal lobe. DTI showed damage to the left temporo-parietal and temporo-frontal segments of the AF, but the ventral stream was spared. The direct segment of the AF in the right hemisphere was also absent with only vestigial remains of the other dorsal subcomponents present, as is often found in males. fMRI during word and nonword repetition revealed bilateral perisylvian activation in the TCMA patient suggesting recruitment of spared segments of the left dorsal stream and right dorsal stream with propagation of signals to temporal lobe structures suggesting a compensatory reallocation of resources via the ventral streams. The

  11. Environmental enrichment increases transcriptional and epigenetic differentiation between mouse dorsal and ventral dentate gyrus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Tie-Yuan; Keown, Christopher L; Wen, Xianglan; Li, Junhao; Vousden, Dulcie A; Anacker, Christoph; Bhattacharyya, Urvashi; Ryan, Richard; Diorio, Josie; O'Toole, Nicholas; Lerch, Jason P; Mukamel, Eran A; Meaney, Michael J

    2018-01-19

    Early life experience influences stress reactivity and mental health through effects on cognitive-emotional functions that are, in part, linked to gene expression in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus. The hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) is a major site for experience-dependent plasticity associated with sustained transcriptional alterations, potentially mediated by epigenetic modifications. Here, we report comprehensive DNA methylome, hydroxymethylome and transcriptome data sets from mouse dorsal and ventral DG. We find genome-wide transcriptional and methylation differences between dorsal and ventral DG, including at key developmental transcriptional factors. Peripubertal environmental enrichment increases hippocampal volume and enhances dorsal DG-specific differences in gene expression. Enrichment also enhances dorsal-ventral differences in DNA methylation, including at binding sites of the transcription factor NeuroD1, a regulator of adult neurogenesis. These results indicate a dorsal-ventral asymmetry in transcription and methylation that parallels well-known functional and anatomical differences, and that may be enhanced by environmental enrichment.

  12. The Baryon Production and Baryon Number Transfer in Hadron-Hadron, Hadron-Nucleus and Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szymanski, P.

    2006-09-01

    This work concerns soft hadronic interactions which in the Standard Model carry most of the observable cross-section but are not amenable to quantitative predictions due to the very nature of the QCD (Theory of Strong Interactions). In the low momentum transfer region the evolving coupling constant caused perturbation theory to break down. In this situation better experimental understanding of the physics phenomena is needed. One aspect of the soft hadronic interactions will be discussed in this work: transfer of the baryon number from the initial to the final state of the interaction. The past experimental knowledge on this process is presented, reasons for its unsatisfactory status are discussed and condition necessary for improvement are outlined: that is experimental apparatus with superior performance over the full range of available interactions: hadron-hadron collision, hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions. A consistent model-independent picture of the baryon number transfer process emerging from the data on the full range of interactions is shown. It offers serious challenge to theory to provide quantitative and detailed explanation of the measurements. (author)

  13. Amnioserosa cell constriction but not epidermal actin cable tension autonomously drives dorsal closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasakarnis, Laurynas; Frei, Erich; Caussinus, Emmanuel; Affolter, Markus; Brunner, Damian

    2016-11-01

    Tissue morphogenesis requires coordination of multiple force-producing components. During dorsal closure in fly embryogenesis, an epidermis opening closes. A tensioned epidermal actin/MyosinII cable, which surrounds the opening, produces a force that is thought to combine with another MyosinII force mediating apical constriction of the amnioserosa cells that fill the opening. A model proposing that each force could autonomously drive dorsal closure was recently challenged by a model in which the two forces combine in a ratchet mechanism. Acute force elimination via selective MyosinII depletion in one or the other tissue shows that the amnioserosa tissue autonomously drives dorsal closure while the actin/MyosinII cable cannot. These findings exclude both previous models, although a contribution of the ratchet mechanism at dorsal closure onset remains likely. This shifts the current view of dorsal closure being a combinatorial force-component system to a single tissue-driven closure event.

  14. Production of strange and multistrange hadrons in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the SPS

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Antinori, F.; Bakke, H.; Beusch, W.; Staroba, Pavel; Závada, Petr

    1999-01-01

    Roč. 661, - (1999), 130c-139c ISSN 0375-9474 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1010920 Keywords : production * nucleus-nucleus collisions * hadrons * strangeness * model predictions Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 2.088, year: 1999

  15. Particle production in high energy nucleus--nucleus experiments at Berkeley

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schroeder, L.S.

    1976-09-01

    A review of high energy nucleus-nucleus experiments performed at the Berkeley Bevalac is presented. Earlier results on projectile and target fragmentation and pion production are briefly summarized. More recent results on Coulomb effects in projectile fragmentation, heavy ion total cross-sections, γ-ray production, and charged particle multiplicities are presented. Also, recent experiments which may shed light on phenomena arising from the central collision of two energetic nuclei, including recent evidence for and against the observation of nuclear shock waves, are reviewed

  16. Complete dorsal pancreatic agenesis and unilateral renal agenesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreira, Adriana; Carvalho, André; Portugal, Inês; Jesus, José Miguel

    2018-02-01

    Dorsal pancreatic agenesis is a very rare congenital anomaly. Unilateral renal agenesis, on the other hand, is a relatively common congenital anomaly, although its etiology is not fully understood. Renal and pancreatic embryologic development appears to be nonrelated. We report a case of a 34-year-old man who was referred to our hospital for evaluation of cholestasis and microalbuminuria. Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging examinations showed empty right renal fossa and absence of the pancreatic neck, body, and tail. Our case report is the second case of a dorsal pancreatic agenesis and unilateral renal agenesis in a young male patient.

  17. Kaonic nuclei and kaon-nucleus interactions

    CERN Document Server

    Ikuta, K; Masutani, K

    2002-01-01

    Although kaonic atoms provide valuable information concerning the K sup - -nucleus interaction at low energies, they cannot fully determine the K sup - - nucleus optical potential. We demonstrate that K sup - nuclear bound states, if they exist, can be useful in investigating the K sup - -nucleus interaction, especially in the interior of the nucleus. In order to show this possibility, we calculate the double differential cross sections for (K sup - , P) using the Green function method. (author)

  18. PcToll2 positively regulates the expression of antimicrobial peptides by promoting PcATF4 translocation into the nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lan, Jiang-Feng; Zhao, Li-Juan; Wei, Shun; Wang, Yuan; Lin, Li; Li, Xin-Cang

    2016-11-01

    Drosophila Toll and mammalian Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of evolutionarily conserved immune receptors that play a crucial role in the first-line defense against intruded pathogens. Activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a member of the ATF/CREB transcription factor family, is an important factor that participates in TLR signaling and other physiological processes. However, in crustaceans, whether ATF4 homologs were involved in TLR signaling remains unclear. In the current study, we identified a Toll homolog PcToll2 and a novel ATF4 homolog PcATF4 from Procambarus clarkii, and analyzed the likely regulatory activity of PcATF4 in PcToll2 signaling. The complete cDNA sequence of PcToll2 was 4175 bp long containing an open reading frame of 2820 bp encoding a 939-amino acid protein, and the cDNA sequence of PcATF4 was 2027 bp long with an open reading frame of 1296 bp encoding a 431-amino acid protein. PcToll2 and human TLR4 shared the high identity and they were grouped into a cluster. Furthermore, PcToll2 had a close relationship with other shrimp TLRs that possessed potential antibacterial activity. PcToll2 was highly expressed in the hemocytes, heart and gills, while PcATF4 mainly distributed in gills. Upon challenge with Vibrio parahemolyticus, PcToll2 and PcATF4 together with the antimicrobial peptides of ALF1 and ALF2 were significantly up-regulated in the hemocytes, and the PcATF4 was translocated into the nucleus. After PcToll2 silencing and challenge with Vibrio, the translocation of PcATF4 into the nucleus was inhibited and the expression of ALF1 and ALF2 was reduced, but the expression of PcDorsal and PcSTAT was not affected. Furthermore, after PcATF4 knockdown and challenge with or without Vibrio, the expression of ALF1 and ALF2 was also decreased while the expression of PcToll2 was upregulated. These results suggested that PcToll2 might regulate the expression of ALF1 and ALF2 by promoting the import of PcATF4, instead of the routine

  19. Phase II study of safety and efficacy of motesanib in patients with progressive or symptomatic, advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schlumberger, Martin J; Elisei, Rossella; Bastholt, Lars

    2009-01-01

    PURPOSE: This phase II study investigated the efficacy and tolerability of motesanib, an investigational, highly selective inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1, 2, and 3; platelet-derived growth factor receptor; and Kit in advanced medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). PATIENTS A...

  20. Asymmetric right/left encoding of emotions in the human subthalamic nucleus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renana eEitan

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Emotional processing is lateralized to the non-dominant brain hemisphere. However, there is no clear spatial model for lateralization of emotional domains in the basal ganglia. The subthalamic nucleus (STN, an input structure in the basal ganglia network, plays a major role in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD. This role is probably not limited only to the motor deficits of PD, but may also span the emotional and cognitive deficits commonly observed in PD patients. Beta oscillations (12-30Hz, the electrophysiological signature of PD, are restricted to the dorsolateral part of the STN that corresponds to the anatomically defined sensorimotor STN. The more medial, more anterior and more ventral parts of the STN are thought to correspond to the anatomically defined limbic and associative territories of the STN. Surprisingly, little is known about the electrophysiological properties of the non-motor domains of the STN, nor about electrophysiological differences between right and left STNs.In this study, microelectrodes were utilized to record the STN spontaneous spiking activity and responses to vocal non-verbal emotional stimuli during deep brain stimulation (DBS surgeries in human PD patients. The oscillation properties of the STN neurons were used to map the dorsal oscillatory and the ventral non-oscillatory regions of the STN. Emotive auditory stimulation evoked activity in the ventral non-oscillatory region of the right STN. These responses were not observed in the left ventral STN or in the dorsal regions of either the right or left STN. Therefore, our results suggest that the ventral non-oscillatory regions are asymmetrically associated with non-motor functions, with the right ventral STN associated with emotional processing. These results suggest that DBS of the right ventral STN may be associated with beneficial or adverse emotional effects observed in PD patients and may relieve mental symptoms in other neurological and

  1. The nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marano, S.

    1998-01-01

    In 1911 E.Rutherford discovered the nucleus. Since then the nucleus has been investigated with more and more powerful tools but it remains the main field of study of nuclear physics. As it is impossible to take into account the interaction of all the nucleons, a theory based on the hypothesis that each nucleon undergoes an average interaction force has been set up. 2 representations have emerged: the Skyrme force and the Gogny force. Both representations match experimental results but are unable to describe fission yields or the multi-fragmentation of very hot nuclei. The mean-field theory can predict the shape of the nuclei according to its energy level. An experimental program involving the Vivitron accelerator and the Euroball detector is due to begin to validate it. By bombarding targets with exotic nuclei nuclear physicists detect new structures and test their collision models. About ten years ago nuclear halos were observed with lithium 11 nuclei. In this nucleus 2 neutrons move in a space larger than the nucleus itself. This discovery has triggered the elaboration of new theories based on nuclear clusters. At very high temperatures the mean-field theory predicts that nuclear matter acts as a fluid. Following the nuclei temperature different ways of decay appear: first evaporation then multi-fragmentation and vaporization. This ultimate stage occurs around 100 milliard celsius degree temperature when the nuclei decays in a multitude of light particles. Isomeric states are studied and could be seen as a way of storing energy. In a very pedagogical way this article gives information to understand the challenges that face nuclear physics today and highlights the contributions of Cea in this field. (A.C.)

  2. Modification of medullary respiratory-related discharge patterns by behaviors and states of arousal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, F C

    1992-02-07

    The modulatory influences of behaviors and states of arousal on bulbar respiratory-related unit (RRU) discharge patterns were studied in an unanesthetized, freely behaving guinea pig respiratory model system. When fully instrumented, this model system permits concurrent monitoring and recording of (i) single units from either Bötzinger complex or nucleus para-ambiguus; (ii) electrocorticogram; and, (iii) diaphragmatic EMG. In addition to being used in surveys of RRU discharge patterns in freely behaving states, the model system also offered a unique opportunity in investigating the effects of pentobarbital on RRU discharge patterns before, throughout the course of, and during recovery from anesthesia. In anesthetized preparations, a particular RRU discharge pattern (such as tonic, incrementing or decrementing) typically displayed little, if any notable variation. The most striking development following pentobarbital was a state of progressive bradypnea attributable to a significantly augmented RRU cycle duration, burst duration and an increase in the RRU spike frequencies during anesthesia. In freely behaving states, medullary RRU activities rarely adhered to a fixed, immutable discharge pattern. More specifically, the temporal organization (such as burst duration, cycle duration, and the extent of modulation of within-burst spike frequencies) of RRU discharge patterns regularly showed complex and striking variations, not only with states of arousal (sleep/wakefulness, anesthesia) but also with discrete alterations in electrocorticogram (ECoG) activities and a multitude of on-going behavioral repertoires such as volitional movement, postural modification, phonation, mastication, deglutition, sniffing/exploratory behavior, alerting/startle reflexes. Only during sleep, and on occasions when the animal assumed a motionless, resting posture, could burst patterns of relatively invariable periodicity and uniform temporal attributes be observed. RRU activities during

  3. Neurokinin-1 receptor blocker CP-99 994 improved emesis induced by cisplatin via regulating the activity of gastric distention responsive neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of vagus and enhancing gastric motility in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, X; Xu, L; Guo, F; Luo, W; Gao, S; Luan, X

    2017-10-01

    Nowadays, chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is still common in patients with cancer. It was reported that substance P mediated CINV via neurokinin-1 (NK 1 ) receptor and antagonists of NK 1 receptor has been proved useful for treating CINV but the mechanism are not fully understood. This study aimed to examine the role of NK 1 receptor blocker, CP-99 994, when administrated into dorsal motor nucleus of vagus (DMNV), on the cisplatin-induced emesis in rats and the possible mechanism. Rats' kaolin intake, food intake, and bodyweight were recorded every day; gastric contraction activity was recorded in conscious rats through a force transducer implanted into the stomach; gastric emptying was monitored using the phenol red method; single unit extracellular firing in the DMNV were recorded. DMNV microinjection of CP-99 994 reduced the changes of increased kaolin consumption and suppressed food intake in cisplatin-treated rats; enhanced the gastric contraction activity dose-dependently in control and cisplatin-treated rats but enhanced gastric emptying only in cisplatin-treated rats; reduced the firing rate of gastric distention inhibited (GD-I) neurons but increased the firing rate of GD excited (GD-E) neurons in the DMNV. The effects of CP-99 994 on gastric motility and neuronal activity were stronger in cisplatin-treated rats than those of control rats. Our results suggested that CP-99 994 could improve emesis induced by cisplatin by regulating gastric motility and gastric related neuronal activity in the DMNV. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Detection of genes regulated by Lmx1b during limb dorsalization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feenstra, Jennifer M; Kanaya, Kohei; Pira, Charmaine U; Hoffman, Sarah E; Eppey, Richard J; Oberg, Kerby C

    2012-05-01

    Lmx1b is a homeodomain transcription factor that regulates dorsal identity during limb development. Lmx1b knockout (KO) mice develop distal ventral-ventral limbs. Although induction of Lmx1b is linked to Wnt7a expression in the dorsal limb ectoderm, the downstream targets of Lmx1b that accomplish limb dorsalization are unknown. To identify genes targeted by Lmx1b, we compared gene arrays from Lmx1b KO and wild type mouse limbs during limb dorsalization, i.e., 11.5, 12.5, and 13.5 days post coitum. We identified 54 target genes that were differentially expressed in all three stages. Several skeletal targets, including Emx2, Matrilin1 and Matrilin4, demonstrated a loss of scapular expression in the Lmx1b KO mice, supporting a role for Lmx1b in scapula development. Furthermore, the relative abundance of extracellular matrix-related soft tissue targets regulated by Lmx1b, such as collagens and proteoglycans, suggests a mechanism that includes changes in the extracellular matrix composition to accomplish limb dorsalization. Our study provides the most comprehensive characterization of genes regulated by Lmx1b during limb development to-date and provides targets for further investigation. © 2012 The Authors. Development, Growth & Differentiation © 2012 Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists.

  5. Autologous Adrenal Medullary, Fetal Mesencephalic, and Fetal Adrenal Brain Transplantation in Parkinson's Disease: A Long-Term Postoperative Follow-Up

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madrazo, Ignacio; Franco-Bourland, Rebecca; Aguilera, Maricarmen; Ostrosky-Solis, Feggy; Madrazo, Mario; Cuevas, Carlos; Catrejon, Hugo; Guizar-Zahagun, Gabriel; Magallon, Eduardo

    1991-01-01

    We report on the clinical status of 5 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) 3 years after autologous adrenal medullary (AM)-to-caudate nucleus (CN) implanfion, and of 2 PD patients, 2 years after fetal ventral mesencephalon (VM)- and fetal adrenal (A)-to-CN homotransplantation. Current clinical evaluation of 4 of the AM grafted patients revealed sustained bilateral amelioration of their PD signs, most notably of rgidity, postural imbalance and gait disturbances, resulting in a substantial improvement in their quality of life. the disease-related dystonia of one of them disappeared only 2 years after surgery. The levodopa requirements of 2 of these patients and the anticholinergic therapy of another have been reduced. In agreement with the satisfactory clinical evaluation of these 4 patients, their neuropsychological and electrophysiological improvements, initially registered 3 months after surgery, have been maintained for 3 years. After 1 year of significant recovery, the 5th patient of this group has almost returned to her preoperative state. The 2 homotransplanted patients also showed sustained bilateral improvement of their PD signs. Two years after surgery, the most improved signs of the fetal VM case were rigidity, bradykinesia, postural imbalance, gait disturbances and facial expression. The fetal A case has only shown amelioration of rigidity and bradykinesia. Neither of them has shown significant neuropsychological changes. Their current levodopa requirements are less than before surgery. The improvements shown here by PD patients after brain tissue grafts go beyond those obtained using any other therapeutic approach, when levodopa fails. Although more studies and the development of these procedures are obviously required, these initial human trials appear to be resisting the test of time. PMID:1782251

  6. Capsaicin binds to prohibitin 2 and displaces it from the mitochondria to the nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuramori, Chikanori; Azuma, Motoki; Kume, Kanako; Kaneko, Yuki; Inoue, Atsushi; Yamaguchi, Yuki; Kabe, Yasuaki; Hosoya, Takamitsu; Kizaki, Masahiro; Suematsu, Makoto; Handa, Hiroshi

    2009-01-01

    Capsaicin is widely used as a food additive and as an analgesic agent. Besides its well-known role in nociception, which is mediated by vanilloid receptor 1 specifically expressed in dorsal root ganglion neurons, capsaicin has also been considered as a potential anticancer agent, as it inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in various types of cancer cells. Here we identified a new molecular target of capsaicin from human myeloid leukemia cells. We show that capsaicin binds to prohibitin (PHB) 2, which is normally localized to the inner mitochondrial membrane, and induces its translocation to the nucleus. PHB2 is implicated in the maintenance of mitochondrial morphology and the control of apoptosis. We also provide evidence suggesting that capsaicin causes apoptosis directly through the mitochondria and that PHB2 contributes to capsaicin-induced apoptosis at multiple levels. This work will serve as an important foundation for further understanding of anticancer activity of capsaicin.

  7. Dissipation in nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santanu Pal

    1984-01-01

    This paper deals with the mechanism of one- and two-body dissipations in nucleus-nucleus collisions. The average energy transferred to nuclear excitations is calculated using a time-dependent density matrix approach with lowest-order approximations. Considering the nuclei as Fermi gases, and using a gaussian-type NN interaction as the basic perturbation, simplified expressions are obtained for energy dissipations. These expressions are quite instructive to follow a number of interesting aspects of one- and two-body dissipations. It is theoretically observed that the memory time for the two-body dissipation is significantly smaller than that of one-body dissipation. A threshold-type dependence of the transferred energy on the relative velocity between the two nuclei is also observed. This threshold velocity is found to be related with the intrinsic nucleon kinetic energy for two-body dissipation and with the nuclear size for the one-body case. This observation further suggests that the total dissipated energy is shared between the two nuclei approximately in the ratio of their masses. The physical origin of these observations is also explained. Numerical calculations further illustrate some characteristic features of one- and two-body dissipations. (orig.)

  8. Single nucleon emission in relativistic nucleus-nucleus reactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    Significant discrepancies between theory and experiment have previously been noted for nucleon emission via electromagnetic processes in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. The present work investigates the hypothesis that these discrepancies have arisen due to uncertainties about how to deduce the experimental electromagnetic cross section from the total measured cross section. An optical-model calculation of single neutron removal is added to electromagnetic cross sections and compared to the total experimental cross sections. Good agreement is found thereby resolving some of the earlier noted discrepancies. A detailed comparison to the recent work of Benesh, Cook, and Vary is made for both the impact parameter and the nuclear cross section. Good agreement is obtained giving an independent confirmation of the parameterized formulas developed by those authors

  9. Plasma levels of calcitonin in medullary thyroid carcinoma patients with and without the RET proto-oncogene mutations in exons 10 and 11

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samira Ehyayi

    2017-09-01

    Conclusion: Routine measurement of calcitonin has been investigated as a screening method for the diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma patients. Nevertheless, additional data are required to definitely support routine measurement of calcitonin due to the role of RET proto-oncogene.

  10. Direct projection from the suprachiasmatic nucleus to hypophysiotrophic corticotropin-releasing factor immunoreactive cells in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus demonstrated...

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vrang, N.; Larsen, P.J.; Mikkelsen, J.D.

    1995-01-01

    Suprachiasmatic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, circadian rhythms, phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin, corticotropin-releasing factor, dual immunocytochemistry......Suprachiasmatic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, circadian rhythms, phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin, corticotropin-releasing factor, dual immunocytochemistry...

  11. The Medial Dorsal Thalamic Nucleus and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex of the Rat Function Together to Support Associative Recognition and Recency but Not Item Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cross, Laura; Brown, Malcolm W.; Aggleton, John P.; Warburton, E. Clea

    2013-01-01

    In humans recognition memory deficits, a typical feature of diencephalic amnesia, have been tentatively linked to mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) damage. Animal studies have occasionally investigated the role of the MD in single-item recognition, but have not systematically analyzed its involvement in other recognition memory processes. In…

  12. Dorsal Phalloplasty to Preserve Penis Length after Penile Prosthesis Implantation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osama Shaeer

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Following penile prosthesis implantation (PPI, patients may complain of a decrease in visible penis length. A dorsal phalloplasty defines the penopubic junction by tacking pubic skin to the pubis, revealing the base of the penis. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a dorsal phalloplasty in increasing the visible penis length following PPI. Methods: An inflatable penile prosthesis was implanted in 13 patients with severe erectile dysfunction (ED at the Kamal Shaeer Hospital, Cairo, Egypt, from January 2013 to May 2014. During the surgery, nonabsorbable tacking sutures were used to pin the pubic skin to the pubis through the same penoscrotal incision. Intraoperative penis length was measured before and after the dorsal phalloplasty. Overall patient satisfaction was measured on a 5-point rating scale and patients were requested to subjectively compare their postoperative penis length with memories of their penis length before the onset of ED. Results: Intraoperatively, the dorsal phalloplasty increased the visible length of the erect penis by an average of 25.6%. The average length before and after tacking was 10.2 ± 2.9 cm and 13.7 ± 2.8 cm, respectively (P <0.002. Postoperatively, seven patients (53.8% reported a longer penis, five patients (38.5% reported no change in length and one patient (7.7% reported a slightly shorter penis. The mean overall patient satisfaction score was 4.9 ± 0.3. None of the patients developed postoperative complications. Conclusion: A dorsal phalloplasty during PPI is an effective method of increasing visible penis length, therefore minimising the impression of a shorter penis after implantation.

  13. Agenesis of the dorsal mesentery presenting in an adolescent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anith Chacko

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Agenesis of the dorsal mesentery is a rare occurrence that usually presents in children. It is associated with proximal small bowel malrotation as well as high jejunal atresia with discontinuity of the small bowel. We present a case report of an adolescent presenting with clinical features of proximal small bowel obstruction (confirmed on imaging as well as acute pancreatitis. At laparotomy, he was found to have no dorsal mesentery, without small bowel atresia, and the duodenum was fixed to the posterior abdominal wall. The patient recovered well and remained symptom-free.

  14. Exercise, Obesity and CNS Control of Metabolic Homeostasis: A Review

    OpenAIRE

    John K. Smith

    2018-01-01

    This review details the manner in which the central nervous system regulates metabolic homeostasis in normal weight and obese rodents and humans. It includes a review of the homeostatic contributions of neurons located in the hypothalamus, the midbrain and limbic structures, the pons and the medullary area postrema, nucleus tractus solitarius, and vagus nucleus, and details how these brain regions respond to circulating levels of orexigenic hormones, such as ghrelin, and anorexigenic hormones...

  15. GFAP and Fos immunoreactivity in lumbo-sacral spinal cord and medulla oblongata after chronic colonic inflammation in rats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Yi-Ning; Luo, Jin-Yan; Rao, Zhi-Ren; Lan, Li; Duan, Li

    2005-01-01

    AIM: To investigate the response of astrocytes and neurons in rat lumbo-sacral spinal cord and medulla oblongata induced by chronic colonic inflammation, and the relationship between them. METHODS: Thirty-three male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups: experimental group (n = 17), colonic inflammation was induced by intra-luminal administration of trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS); control group (n = 16), saline was administered intra-luminally. After 3, 7, 14, and 28 d of administration, the lumbo-sacral spinal cord and medulla oblongata were removed and processed for anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Fos and GFAP/Fos immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Activated astrocytes positive for GFAP were mainly distributed in the superficial laminae (laminae I-II) of dorsal horn, intermediolateral nucleus (laminae V), posterior commissural nucleus (laminae X) and anterolateral nucleus (laminae IX). Fos-IR (Fos-immunoreactive) neurons were mainly distributed in the deeper laminae of the spinal cord (laminae III-IV, V-VI). In the medulla oblongata, both GFAP-IR astrocytes and Fos-IR neurons were mainly distributed in the medullary visceral zone (MVZ). The density of GFAP in the spinal cord of experimental rats was significantly higher after 3, 7, and 14 d of TNBS administration compared with the controls (50.4±16.8, 29.2±6.5, 24.1±5.6, P0.05). CONCLUSION: Astrocytes in spinal cord and medulla oblongata can be activated by colonic inflammation. The activated astrocytes are closely related to Fos-IR neurons. With the recovery of colonic inflammation, the activity of astrocytes in the spinal cord and medulla oblongata is reduced. PMID:16097052

  16. Distinctive Modulation of Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell Mediated by Dopamine and Acetylcholine Receptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Jung Hoon; Adrover, Martin F; Alvarez, Veronica A

    2017-11-15

    Nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell shows unique dopamine (DA) signals in vivo and plays a unique role in DA-dependent behaviors such as reward-motivated learning and the response to drugs of abuse. A disynaptic mechanism for DA release was reported and shown to require synchronized firing of cholinergic interneurons (CINs) and activation of nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (nAChRs) in DA neuron (DAN) axons. The properties of this disynaptic mechanism of DA transmission are not well understood in the NAc shell. In this study, in vitro fast-scan cyclic voltammetry was used to examine the modulation of DA transmission evoked by CINs firing in the shell of mice and compared with other striatal regions. We found that DA signals in the shell displayed significant degree of summation in response to train stimulation of CINs, contrary to core and dorsal striatum. The summation was amplified by a D2-like receptor antagonist and experiments with mice with targeted deletion of D2 receptors to DANs or CINs revealed that D2 receptors in CINs mediate a fast inhibition observed within 100 ms of the first pulse, whereas D2 autoreceptors in DAN terminals are engaged in a slower inhibition that peaks at ∼500 ms. ACh also contributes to the use-dependent inhibition of DA release through muscarinic receptors only in the shell, where higher activity of acetylcholinesterase minimizes nAChR desensitization and promotes summation. These findings show that DA signals are modulated differentially by endogenous DA and ACh in the shell, which may underlie the unique features of shell DA signals in vivo SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The present study reports that dopamine (DA) release evoked by activation of cholinergic interneurons displays a high degree of summation in the shell and shows unique modulation by endogenous DA and acetylcholine. Desensitization of nicotinic receptors, which is a prevailing mechanism for use-dependent inhibition in the nucleus accumbens core and dorsal striatum, is

  17. Medullary sponge kidney on axial computed tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ginalski, J.-M.; Schnyder, Pierre; Portmann, Luc; Jaeger, Philippe

    1991-01-01

    To evaluate features of medullary sponge kidney (MSK) on computed tomography (CT), 4-mm-thick axial slices without intravenous contrast material were 1st made in 13 patients through 24 kidneys which showed images of MSK on excretory urograms. On CT, papillary calcifications were found in 11 kidneys. In 5 of these, the calcifications were not detectable on plain films. Some hyperdense papillae (attenuation value 55-70 Hounsfield units) without calcification were found in 4 other kidneys. 9 kidneys appeared normal. 10 of the 14 kidneys were reexamined by a 2nd series of 4-mm-thick axial slices, 5 min after intravenous injection of 50 ml of Urografin. Images suggesting possible ectasia of precaliceal tubules were found in only 4 kidneys. These images appear much less obvious and characteristic on CT than on excretory urogram and do nothing more than suggest the possibility of MSK. In conclusion, the sensitivity of CT in the detection of MSK is markedly lower than that of excretory urography. In the most florid cases of the disease, CT can only show images suggesting the possibility of MSK. On the other hand, CT appears much more sensitive than plain films and tomograms of excretory in the detection of papillary calcifications, the most frequent complication of MSK. (author). 13 refs.; 3 figs

  18. Actomyosin contractility rotates the cell nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Abhishek; Maitra, Ananyo; Sumit, Madhuresh; Ramaswamy, Sriram; Shivashankar, G V

    2014-01-21

    The cell nucleus functions amidst active cytoskeletal filaments, but its response to their contractile stresses is largely unexplored. We study the dynamics of the nuclei of single fibroblasts, with cell migration suppressed by plating onto micro-fabricated patterns. We find the nucleus undergoes noisy but coherent rotational motion. We account for this observation through a hydrodynamic approach, treating the nucleus as a highly viscous inclusion residing in a less viscous fluid of orientable filaments endowed with active stresses. Lowering actin contractility selectively by introducing blebbistatin at low concentrations drastically reduced the speed and coherence of the angular motion of the nucleus. Time-lapse imaging of actin revealed a correlated hydrodynamic flow around the nucleus, with profile and magnitude consistent with the results of our theoretical approach. Coherent intracellular flows and consequent nuclear rotation thus appear to be an intrinsic property of cells.

  19. Multi-quark effects in high energy nucleon-nucleon and nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Besliu, C.; Caraciuc, I.; Jipa, A.; Olariu, A.; Topor-Pop, R.; Cotorobai, F.; Pantea, D.; Popa, L.; Popa, V.; Topor-Pop, V.

    1988-02-01

    Recent data obtained in two experiments performed in the framework of the Bucharest-Dubna collaboration are presented, i.e.: the observation of narrow dibaryonic resonances is neutron-proton interactions in 1mHBC at different momenta of incident neutrons in the range 1-5 GeV/c, and the cumulative production of negative pions in nucleus-nucleus interactions in SKM-200 streamer chamber at 4.5 GeV/c. (authors)

  20. Microscopic model of nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harvey, B.G.

    1986-04-01

    The collision of two nuclei is treated as a collection of collisions between the nucleons of the projectile and those of the target nucleus. The primary projectile fragments contain only those nucleons that did not undergo a collision. The inclusive and coincidence cross sections result from the decay of the excited primary fragments. 15 refs., 5 figs

  1. The lateral paragigantocellular nucleus modulates parasympathetic cardiac neurons: a mechanism for rapid eye movement sleep-dependent changes in heart rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dergacheva, Olga; Wang, Xin; Lovett-Barr, Mary R; Jameson, Heather; Mendelowitz, David

    2010-08-01

    Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is generally associated with a withdrawal of parasympathetic activity and heart rate increases; however, episodic vagally mediated heart rate decelerations also occur during REM sleep. This alternating pattern of autonomic activation provides a physiological basis for REM sleep-induced cardiac arrhythmias. Medullary neurons within the lateral paragigantocellular nucleus (LPGi) are thought to be active after REM sleep recovery and play a role in REM sleep control. In proximity to the LPGi are parasympathetic cardiac vagal neurons (CVNs) within the nucleus ambiguus (NA), which are critical for controlling heart rate. This study examined brain stem pathways that may mediate REM sleep-related reductions in parasympathetic cardiac activity. Electrical stimulation of the LPGi evoked inhibitory GABAergic postsynaptic currents in CVNs in an in vitro brain stem slice preparation in rats. Because brain stem cholinergic mechanisms are involved in REM sleep regulation, we also studied the role of nicotinic neurotransmission in modulation of GABAergic pathway from the LGPi to CVNs. Application of nicotine diminished the GABAergic responses evoked by electrical stimulation. This inhibitory effect of nicotine was prevented by the alpha7 nicotinic receptor antagonist alpha-bungarotoxin. Moreover, hypoxia/hypercapnia (H/H) diminished LPGi-evoked GABAergic current in CVNs, and this inhibitory effect was also prevented by alpha-bungarotoxin. In conclusion, stimulation of the LPGi evokes an inhibitory pathway to CVNs, which may constitute a mechanism for the reduced parasympathetic cardiac activity and increase in heart rate during REM sleep. Inhibition of this pathway by nicotinic receptor activation and H/H may play a role in REM sleep-related and apnea-associated bradyarrhythmias.

  2. The presence of nuclear cactus in the early Drosophila embryo may extend the dynamic range of the dorsal gradient.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael D O'Connell

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available In a developing embryo, the spatial distribution of a signaling molecule, or a morphogen gradient, has been hypothesized to carry positional information to pattern tissues. Recent measurements of morphogen distribution have allowed us to subject this hypothesis to rigorous physical testing. In the early Drosophila embryo, measurements of the morphogen Dorsal, which is a transcription factor responsible for initiating the earliest zygotic patterns along the dorsal-ventral axis, have revealed a gradient that is too narrow to pattern the entire axis. In this study, we use a mathematical model of Dorsal dynamics, fit to experimental data, to determine the ability of the Dorsal gradient to regulate gene expression across the entire dorsal-ventral axis. We found that two assumptions are required for the model to match experimental data in both Dorsal distribution and gene expression patterns. First, we assume that Cactus, an inhibitor that binds to Dorsal and prevents it from entering the nuclei, must itself be present in the nuclei. And second, we assume that fluorescence measurements of Dorsal reflect both free Dorsal and Cactus-bound Dorsal. Our model explains the dynamic behavior of the Dorsal gradient at lateral and dorsal positions of the embryo, the ability of Dorsal to regulate gene expression across the entire dorsal-ventral axis, and the robustness of gene expression to stochastic effects. Our results have a general implication for interpreting fluorescence-based measurements of signaling molecules.

  3. Role of the right dorsal anterior insula in the urge to tic in Tourette syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinaz, Sule; Malone, Patrick; Hallett, Mark; Horovitz, Silvina G

    2015-08-01

    The mid-posterior part of the insula is involved in processing bodily sensations and urges and is activated during tic generation in Tourette syndrome. The dorsal anterior part of the insula, however, integrates sensory and emotional information with cognitive valuation and is implicated in interoception. The right dorsal anterior insula also participates in urge suppression in healthy subjects. This study examined the role of the right dorsal anterior insula in the urge to tic in Tourette syndrome. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 13 adult Tourette patients and 13 matched controls. The role of the right dorsal anterior insula within the urge-tic network was investigated using graph theory-based neural network analysis. The functional connectivity of the right dorsal anterior insula was also correlated with urge and tic severity. Even though the patients did not exhibit any overt tics, the right dorsal anterior insula demonstrated higher connectivity, especially with the frontostriatal nodes of the urge-tic network in patients compared with controls. The functional connectivity between the right dorsal anterior insula and bilateral supplementary motor area also correlated positively with urge severity in patients. These results suggest that the right dorsal anterior insula is part of the urge-tic network and could influence the urge- and tic-related cortico-striato-thalamic regions even during rest in Tourette syndrome. It might be responsible for heightened awareness of bodily sensations generating premonitory urges in Tourette syndrome. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

  4. Human dorsal striatum encodes prediction errors during observational learning of instrumental actions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Jeffrey C; Dunne, Simon; Furey, Teresa; O'Doherty, John P

    2012-01-01

    The dorsal striatum plays a key role in the learning and expression of instrumental reward associations that are acquired through direct experience. However, not all learning about instrumental actions require direct experience. Instead, humans and other animals are also capable of acquiring instrumental actions by observing the experiences of others. In this study, we investigated the extent to which human dorsal striatum is involved in observational as well as experiential instrumental reward learning. Human participants were scanned with fMRI while they observed a confederate over a live video performing an instrumental conditioning task to obtain liquid juice rewards. Participants also performed a similar instrumental task for their own rewards. Using a computational model-based analysis, we found reward prediction errors in the dorsal striatum not only during the experiential learning condition but also during observational learning. These results suggest a key role for the dorsal striatum in learning instrumental associations, even when those associations are acquired purely by observing others.

  5. K+ nucleus total cross sections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sawafta, R.

    1990-01-01

    The scattering of K + mesons from nuclei has attracted considerable interest in the last few years. The K + holds a very special position as the weakest of all strongly interaction probes. The average cross section is not larger than about 10 mb at lab momenta below 800 MeV/c, corresponding to a mean free path in the nucleus larger than 5 fm. Thus the K + is capable of probing the entire volume of the nucleus. Single scattering of the K + with a nucleon in the nucleus dominates the nuclear scattering, and only small and calculable higher order corrections are needed. The nucleon is a dynamical entity and its internal structure can, in principle, be altered by its surrounding nuclear environment. This work reports an experiment in which the K + is used to compare the nucleon in the nucleus with a free nucleon

  6. Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Dorsal Hand: An Update and Comprehensive Review of the Literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loh, Tiffany Y; Rubin, Ashley G; Brian Jiang, Shang I

    2016-04-01

    Excessive ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure is the primary predisposing factor for basal cell carcinoma (BCC). However, surprisingly, BCCs occur very rarely on the dorsal hand, which is subject to intense sun exposure, and their infrequent presentation in this location suggests that other factors besides UVR may play a role in BCC pathogenesis. Because dorsal hand BCCs are uncommon, knowledge of their characteristics is limited, and more data are needed to describe their clinical presentation and treatment. To perform an updated review of the literature on the management of dorsal hand BCCs. The authors conducted a comprehensive literature review by searching the PubMed database with the key phrases "basal cell carcinoma dorsal hand," "basal cell carcinoma hand," and "basal cell carcinoma finger," and "basal cell carcinoma thumb." The authors identified 176 cases of dorsal hand BCCs in the literature, 120 of which had sufficient data for analysis. Only 4 cases were treated with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS). The authors present 14 additional cases of dorsal hand BCCs treated with MMS. Basal cell carcinomas on the dorsal hand occur infrequently, and potential risk factors include being a male of white descent and personal history of skin cancer. Mohs micrographic surgery seems to be an effective treatment method.

  7. Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Dorsal Foot: An Update and Comprehensive Review of the Literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loh, Tiffany Y; Rubin, Ashley G; Jiang, Shang I Brian

    2017-01-01

    Ultraviolet radiation is a well-known risk factor for basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Therefore, the high incidence of BCCs in sun-exposed areas such as the head and neck is unsurprising. However, unexpectedly, BCCs on the sun-protected dorsal foot have also been reported, and tumor occurrence here suggests that other factors besides ultraviolet radiation may play a role in BCC pathogenesis. Because only few dorsal foot BCCs have been reported, data on their clinical features and management are limited. To perform an updated review of the literature on clinical characteristics and treatment of dorsal foot BCCs. We conducted a comprehensive literature review by searching the PubMed database with the key phrases "basal cell carcinoma dorsal foot," "basal cell carcinoma foot," and "basal cell carcinoma toe." We identified 20 cases of dorsal foot BCCs in the literature, 17 of which had sufficient data for analysis. Only 1 case was treated with Mohs micrographic surgery. We present 8 additional cases of dorsal foot BCCs treated with Mohs micrographic surgery. Basal cell carcinomas on the dorsal foot are rare, and potential risk factors include Caucasian descent and personal history of skin cancer. Mohs micrographic surgery seems to be an effective treatment option.

  8. Renal cortical and medullary blood flow responses to altered NO availability in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damkjær, Mads; Vafaee, Manoucher; Møller, Michael L; Braad, Poul Erik; Petersen, Henrik; Høilund-Carlsen, Poul Flemming; Bie, Peter

    2010-12-01

    The objective of this study was to quantify regional renal blood flow in humans. In nine young volunteers on a controlled diet, the lower abdomen was CT-scanned, and regional renal blood flow was determined by positron emission tomography (PET) scanning using H(2)(15)O as tracer. Measurements were performed at baseline, during constant intravenous infusion of nitric oxide (NO) donor glyceryl nitrate and after intravenous injection of NO synthase inhibitor N(ω)-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA). Using the CT image, the kidney pole areas were delineated as volumes of interest (VOI). In the data analysis, tissue layers with a thickness of one voxel were eliminated stepwise from the external surface of the VOI (voxel peeling), and the blood flow subsequently was determined in each new, reduced VOI. Blood flow in the shrinking VOIs decreased as the number of cycles of voxel peeling increased. After 4-5 cycles, blood flow was not reduced further by additional voxel peeling. This volume-insensitive flow was measured to be 2.30 ± 0.17 ml·g tissue(-1)·min(-1) during the control period; it increased during infusion of glyceryl nitrate to 2.97 ± 0.18 ml·g tissue(-1)·min(-1) (P blood flow was 4.67 ± 0.31 ml·g tissue(-1)·min(-1) during control, unchanged by glyceryl nitrate, and decreased after L-NMMA [3.48 ± 0.23 ml·(g·min)(-1), P renal medullary region in which the measured blood flow is 1) low, 2) independent of reduction in the VOI, and 3) reactive to changes in systemic NO supply. The technique seems to provide indices of renal medullary blood flow in humans.

  9. Appetitive Pavlovian conditioned stimuli increase CREB phosphorylation in the nucleus accumbens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiflett, Michael W; Mauna, Jocelyn C; Chipman, Amanda M; Peet, Eloise; Thiels, Edda

    2009-10-01

    The transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) has been shown to regulate an animal's behavioral responsiveness to emotionally salient stimuli, and an increase in CREB phosphorylation in the NAc has been observed during exposure to rewarding stimuli, such as drugs of abuse. Here we show that CREB phosphorylation increases in the NAc also during exposure to cues that an animal has associated with delivery of natural rewards. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (rattus norvegicus) were trained to associate an auditory stimulus with delivery of food pellets, and CREB phosphorylation was examined in the striatum following training. We found that repeated tone-food pairings resulted in an increase in CREB phosphorylation in the NAc but not in the adjacent dorsal striatum or in the NAc 3h after the final training session. We further found that the cue itself, as opposed to the food pellets, the training context, or tone-food pairings, was sufficient to increase CREB phosphorylation in the NAc. These results suggest that the processing of primary rewarding stimuli and of environmental cues that predict them triggers similar accumbal signaling mechanisms.

  10. Random matrix theory and analysis of nucleus-nucleus collision at high energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shahaliev, E.I.; Inst. of Radiation Problems, Baku; ); Kuznetsov, A.A.; Suleymanov, M.K.; ); Teryaev, O.V.; )

    2006-01-01

    A novel method for analysis of experimental data obtained at relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is proposed. The method, based on the ideas of Random Matrix Theory, is applied to detect systematic errors that occur at measurements of momentum distributions of emitted particles. The unfolded momentum distribution is well described by the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble of random matrices, when the uncertainty in the momentum distribution is maximal. The method is free from unwanted background contributions [ru

  11. Two different streams form the dorsal visual system: anatomy and functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizzolatti, Giacomo; Matelli, Massimo

    2003-11-01

    There are two radically different views on the functional role of the dorsal visual stream. One considers it as a system involved in space perception. The other is of a system that codes visual information for action organization. On the basis of new anatomical data and a reconsideration of previous functional and clinical data, we propose that the dorsal stream and its recipient parietal areas form two distinct functional systems: the dorso-dorsal stream (d-d stream) and the ventro-dorsal stream (v-d stream). The d-d stream is formed by area V6 (main d-d extrastriate visual node) and areas V6A and MIP of the superior parietal lobule. Its major functional role is the control of actions "on line". Its damage leads to optic ataxia. The v-d stream is formed by area MT (main v-d extrastriate visual node) and by the visual areas of the inferior parietal lobule. As the d-d stream, v-d stream is responsible for action organization. It, however, also plays a crucial role in space perception and action understanding. The putative mechanisms linking action and perception in the v-d stream is discussed.

  12. α-MSH Influences the Excitability of Feeding-Related Neurons in the Hypothalamus and Dorsal Vagal Complex of Rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong-Zai Guan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH is processed from proopiomelanocortin (POMC and acts on the melanocortin receptors, MC3 and MC4. α-MSH plays a key role in energy homeostasis. In the present study, to shed light on the mechanisms by which α-MSH exerts its anorectic effects, extracellular neuronal activity was recorded in the hypothalamus and the dorsal vagal complex (DVC of anesthetized rats. We examined the impact of α-MSH on glucose-sensing neurons and gastric distension (GD sensitive neurons. In the lateral hypothalamus (LHA, α-MSH inhibited 75.0% of the glucose-inhibited (GI neurons. In the ventromedial nucleus (VMN, most glucose-sensitive neurons were glucose-excited (GE neurons, which were mainly activated by α-MSH. In the paraventricular nucleus (PVN, α-MSH suppressed the majority of GI neurons and excited most GE neurons. In the DVC, among the 20 GI neurons examined for a response to α-MSH, 1 was activated, 16 were depressed, and 3 failed to respond. Nineteen of 24 GE neurons were activated by α-MSH administration. Additionally, among the 42 DVC neurons examined for responses to GD, 23 were excited (GD-EXC and 19 were inhibited (GD-INH. Fifteen of 20 GD-EXC neurons were excited, whereas 11 out of 14 GD-INH neurons were suppressed by α-MSH. All these responses were abolished by pretreatment with the MC3/4R antagonist, SHU9119. In conclusion, the activity of glucose-sensitive neurons and GD-sensitive neurons in the hypothalamus and DVC can be modulated by α-MSH.

  13. Color oscillations of nucleons in a nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petrov, V.A.; Smirnov, A.Yu.

    1987-01-01

    Possibility of nucleus description as an object consisting of quarks and gluons is considered. A model of two-nucleon interaction in a nucleus is presented and analytical expressions for the nucleus nucleon ground state wave functions and also for nuclear nucleon structure functions are obtained. The carried out analysis shows that the suggested model permits to express the nucleus structure functions at quark level only by means of nucleon and Δ-isobaric degrees of freedom

  14. Brain prolactin is involved in stress-induced REM sleep rebound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machado, Ricardo Borges; Rocha, Murilo Ramos; Suchecki, Deborah

    2017-03-01

    REM sleep rebound is a common behavioural response to some stressors and represents an adaptive coping strategy. Animals submitted to multiple, intermittent, footshock stress (FS) sessions during 96h of REM sleep deprivation (REMSD) display increased REM sleep rebound (when compared to the only REMSD ones, without FS), which is correlated to high plasma prolactin levels. To investigate whether brain prolactin plays a role in stress-induced REM sleep rebound two experiments were carried out. In experiment 1, rats were either not sleep-deprived (NSD) or submitted to 96h of REMSD associated or not to FS and brains were evaluated for PRL immunoreactivity (PRL-ir) and determination of PRL concentrations in the lateral hypothalamus and dorsal raphe nucleus. In experiment 2, rats were implanted with cannulas in the dorsal raphe nucleus for prolactin infusion and were sleep-recorded. REMSD associated with FS increased PRL-ir and content in the lateral hypothalamus and all manipulations increased prolactin content in the dorsal raphe nucleus compared to the NSD group. Prolactin infusion in the dorsal raphe nucleus increased the time and length of REM sleep episodes 3h after the infusion until the end of the light phase of the day cycle. Based on these results we concluded that brain prolactin is a major mediator of stress-induced REMS. The effect of PRL infusion in the dorsal raphe nucleus is discussed in light of the existence of a bidirectional relationship between this hormone and serotonin as regulators of stress-induced REM sleep rebound. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Slack KNa Channels Influence Dorsal Horn Synapses and Nociceptive Behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evely, Katherine M; Pryce, Kerri D; Bausch, Anne E; Lukowski, Robert; Ruth, Peter; Haj-Dahmane, Samir; Bhattacharjee, Arin

    2017-01-01

    The sodium-activated potassium channel Slack (Kcnt1, Slo2.2) is highly expressed in dorsal root ganglion neurons where it regulates neuronal firing. Several studies have implicated the Slack channel in pain processing, but the precise mechanism or the levels within the sensory pathway where channels are involved remain unclear. Here, we furthered the behavioral characterization of Slack channel knockout mice and for the first time examined the role of Slack channels in the superficial, pain-processing lamina of the dorsal horn. We performed whole-cell recordings from spinal cord slices to examine the intrinsic and synaptic properties of putative inhibitory and excitatory lamina II interneurons. Slack channel deletion altered intrinsic properties and synaptic drive to favor an overall enhanced excitatory tone. We measured the amplitudes and paired pulse ratio of paired excitatory post-synaptic currents at primary afferent synapses evoked by electrical stimulation of the dorsal root entry zone. We found a substantial decrease in the paired pulse ratio at synapses in Slack deleted neurons compared to wildtype, indicating increased presynaptic release from primary afferents. Corroborating these data, plantar test showed Slack knockout mice have an enhanced nociceptive responsiveness to localized thermal stimuli compared to wildtype mice. Our findings suggest that Slack channels regulate synaptic transmission within the spinal cord dorsal horn and by doing so establishes the threshold for thermal nociception.

  16. Assessing dorsal scute microchemistry for reconstruction of shortnose sturgeon life histories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altenritter, Matthew E.; Kinnison, Michael T.; Zydlewski, Gayle B.; Secor, David H.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.

    2015-01-01

    The imperiled status of sturgeons worldwide places priority on the identification and protection of critical habitats. We assessed the micro-structural and micro-chemical scope for a novel calcified structure, dorsal scutes, to be used for reconstruction of past habitat use and group separation in shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum). Dorsal scutes contained a dual-layered structure composed of a thin multi-layered translucent zone lying dorsally above a thicker multi-layered zone. Banding in the thick multi-layered zone correlated strongly with pectoral fin spine annuli supporting the presence of chronological structuring that could contain a chemical record of past environmental exposure. Trace element profiles (Sr:Ca), collected using both wavelength dispersive electron microprobe analysis and laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry, suggest scutes record elemental information useful for tracing transitions between freshwater and marine environments. Moreover, mirror-image like Sr:Ca profiles were observed across the dual-zone structuring of the scute that may indicate duplication of the microchemical profile in a single structure. Additional element:calcium ratios measured in natal regions of dorsal scutes (Ba:Ca, Mg:Ca) suggest the potential for further refinement of techniques for identification of river systems of natal origin. In combination, our results provide proof of concept that dorsal scutes possess the necessary properties to be used as structures for reconstructions of past habitat use in sturgeons. Importantly, scutes may be collected non-lethally and with less injury than current structures, like otoliths and fin spines, affording an opportunity for broader application of microchemical techniques.

  17. Percolation Model of Nuclear Multifragmentation in High Energy Nucleus-Nucleus Interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdel-Waged, Kh.

    1994-01-01

    A hybrid model based on Reggeon theory inspired model of nuclear distribution, which was successful in explaining the cascading of particles in high energy nucleus-nucleus interactions, and percolation model is proposed. In the framework of this model the yield of the fragment in p + Ag, Au at 350 GeV and C + Ag, Au at 3.6 GeV/nucleon as well as the charge distribution of fragments in Kr, Xe and U interactions with emulsion at ∼ 1 GeV/nucleon is correctly described. 32 refs., 3 figs

  18. Immunohistochemical analysis of medullary breast carcinoma autoantigens in different histological types of breast carcinomas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kostianets Olga

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background On the past decade a plethora of investigations were directed on identification of molecules involved in breast tumorogenesis, which could represent a powerful tool for monitoring, diagnostics and treatment of this disease. In current study we analyzed six previously identified medullary breast carcinoma autoantigens including LGALS3BP, RAD50, FAM50A, RBPJ, PABPC4, LRRFIP1 with cancer restricted serological profile in different histological types of breast cancer. Methods Semi-quantitative immunohistochemical analysis of 20 tissue samples including medullary breast carcinoma, invasive ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma and non-cancerous tissues obtained from patients with fibrocystic disease (each of five was performed using specifically generated polyclonal antibodies. Differences in expression patterns were evaluated considering percent of positively stained cells, insensitivity of staining and subcellular localization in cells of all tissue samples. Results All 6 antigens predominantly expressed in the most cells of all histological types of breast tumors and non-cancerous tissues with slight differences in intensity of staining and subcellular localization. The most significant differences in expression pattern were revealed for RAD50 and LGALS3BP in different histological types of breast cancer and for PABPC4 and FAM50A antigens in immune cells infiltrating breast tumors. Conclusions This pilot study made possible to select 4 antigens LGALS3BP, RAD50, PABPC4, and FAM50A as promising candidates for more comprehensive research as potential molecular markers for breast cancer diagnostics and therapy. Virtual slides The virtual slides’ for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1860649350796892

  19. Short-term plasticity in turtle dorsal horn neurons mediated by L-type Ca2+ channels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Russo, R E; Hounsgaard, J

    1994-01-01

    Windup--the gradual increase of the response--of dorsal horn neurons to repeated activation of primary afferents is an elementary form of short-term plasticity that may mediate central sensitization to pain. In deep dorsal horn neurons of the turtle spinal cord in vitro we report windup of the re......Windup--the gradual increase of the response--of dorsal horn neurons to repeated activation of primary afferents is an elementary form of short-term plasticity that may mediate central sensitization to pain. In deep dorsal horn neurons of the turtle spinal cord in vitro we report windup...

  20. Energy loss, range and fluence distributions, total reaction and projectile fragment production cross sections for proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sihver, L.; Kanai, T.

    1992-07-01

    We have developed a computer code for calculations of energy loss (dE/dx) and range distributions for heavy ions in any media. The results from our calculations are in very good agreement with previous calculations. We have developed semiempirical total reaction cross section formulae for proton-nucleus (with Z p ≤26) and nucleus-nucleus (with Z p and Z t ≤26) reactions. These formulae apply for incident energies above 15 MeV and 100 MeV/nucleon respectively. From the total reaction cross sections, we can calculate the mean free paths and the fluence distributions of protons and heavy ions in any media. We have compared all the calculated reaction cross sections and the mean free paths with experimental data, and the agreement is good. We have also constructed a procedure for calculating projectile fragment production cross sections, by scaling semiempirical proton-nucleus partial cross section systematics. The scaling is performed using a scaling parameter deduced from our reaction cross sections formulae, and additional enhancements factors. All products with atomic number ranging from that of the projectile (Z p ) down to Z=2 can be calculated. The agreement between the calculated cross sections and the experimental data is better than earlier published results. (author)

  1. Sex differences in corticotropin-releasing factor receptor-1 action within the dorsal raphe nucleus in stress responsivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howerton, Alexis R; Roland, Alison V; Fluharty, Jessica M; Marshall, Anikò; Chen, Alon; Daniels, Derek; Beck, Sheryl G; Bale, Tracy L

    2014-06-01

    Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from stress-related affective disorders. Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is an important link between stress and mood, in part through its signaling in the serotonergic dorsal raphe (DR). Development of CRF receptor-1 (CRFr1) antagonists has been a focus of numerous clinical trials but has not yet been proven efficacious. We hypothesized that sex differences in CRFr1 modulation of DR circuits might be key determinants in predicting therapeutic responses and affective disorder vulnerability. Male and female mice received DR infusions of the CRFr1 antagonist, NBI 35965, or CRF and were evaluated for stress responsivity. Sex differences in indices of neural activation (cFos) and colocalization of CRFr1 throughout the DR were examined. Whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology assessed sex differences in serotonin neuron membrane characteristics and responsivity to CRF. Males showed robust behavioral and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses to DR infusion of NBI 35965 and CRF, whereas females were minimally responsive. Sex differences were also found for both CRF-induced DR cFos and CRFr1 co-localization throughout the DR. Electrophysiologically, female serotonergic neurons showed blunted membrane excitability and divergent inhibitory postsynaptic current responses to CRF application. These studies demonstrate convincing sex differences in CRFr1 activity in the DR, where blunted female responses to NBI 35965 and CRF suggest unique stress modulation of the DR. These sex differences might underlie affective disorder vulnerability and differential sensitivity to pharmacologic treatments developed to target the CRF system, thereby contributing to a current lack of CRFr1 antagonist efficacy in clinical trials. © 2013 Published by Society of Biological Psychiatry on behalf of Society of Biological Psychiatry.

  2. Responses of spinal dorsal horn neurons to foot movements in rats with a sprained ankle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jae Hyo; Kim, Hee Young; Chung, Kyungsoon

    2011-01-01

    Acute ankle injuries are common problems and often lead to persistent pain. To investigate the underlying mechanism of ankle sprain pain, the response properties of spinal dorsal horn neurons were examined after ankle sprain. Acute ankle sprain was induced manually by overextending the ankle of a rat hindlimb in a direction of plantarflexion and inversion. The weight-bearing ratio (WBR) of the affected foot was used as an indicator of pain. Single unit activities of dorsal horn neurons in response to plantarflexion and inversion of the foot or ankle compression were recorded from the medial part of the deep dorsal horn, laminae IV-VI, in normal and ankle-sprained rats. One day after ankle sprain, rats showed significantly reduced WBRs on the affected foot, and this reduction was partially restored by systemic morphine. The majority of deep dorsal horn neurons responded to a single ankle stimulus modality. After ankle sprain, the mean evoked response rates were significantly increased, and afterdischarges were developed in recorded dorsal horn neurons. The ankle sprain-induced enhanced evoked responses were significantly reduced by morphine, which was reversed by naltrexone. The data indicate that movement-specific dorsal horn neuron responses were enhanced after ankle sprain in a morphine-dependent manner, thus suggesting that hyperactivity of dorsal horn neurons is an underlying mechanism of pain after ankle sprain. PMID:21389306

  3. Targeted Therapy for Medullary Thyroid Cancer: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. R. Priya

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Medullary thyroid cancers (MTCs constitute between 2 and 5% of all thyroid cancers. The 10-year overall survival (OS rate of patients with localized disease is around 95% while that of patients with regional stage disease is about 75%. Only 20% of patients with distant metastases at diagnosis survive 10 years which is significantly lower than for differentiated thyroid cancers. Cases with regional metastases at presentation have high recurrence rates. Adjuvant external radiation confers local control but not improved OS. The management of residual, recurrent, or metastatic disease till a few years ago was re-surgery with local measures such as radiation. Chemotherapy was used with marginal benefit. The development of targeted therapy has brought in a major advantage in management of such patients. Two drugs—vandetanib and cabozantinib—have been approved for use in progressive or metastatic MTC. In addition, several drugs acting on other steps of the molecular pathway are being investigated with promising results. Targeted radionuclide therapy also provides an effective treatment option with good quality of life. This review covers the rationale of targeted therapy for MTC, present treatment options, drugs and methods under investigation, as well as an outline of the adverse effects and their management.

  4. Infarcts presenting with a combination of medial medullary and posterior inferior cerebellar artery syndromes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hyung; Baik, Seung Kug

    2004-09-15

    Cerebellar and medial medullary infarctions are well-known vertebrobasilar stroke syndromes. However, their development in a patient with distal vertebral artery occlusion has not been previously reported. A 49-year-old man with longstanding hypertension suddenly developed vertigo, right-sided Horner syndrome, and left-sided weakness. An MRI of the brain showed acute infarcts in the right inferior cerebellum (posterior inferior cerebellar artery territory) and the right upper medial medulla (direct penetrating branches of vertebral artery). Magnetic resonance angiogram showed occlusion of the distal vertebral artery on the right side. Atherothrombotic occlusion of the distal vertebral artery may cause this unusual combination of vertebrobasilar stroke.

  5. Molecular characterization of the mouse superior lateral parabrachial nucleus through expression of the transcription factor Runx1.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chrissandra J Zagami

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available The ability to precisely identify separate neuronal populations is essential to the understanding of the development and function of different brain structures. This necessity is particularly evident in regions such as the brainstem, where the anatomy is quite complex and little is known about the identity, origin, and function of a number of distinct nuclei due to the lack of specific cellular markers. In this regard, the gene encoding the transcription factor Runx1 has emerged as a specific marker of restricted neuronal populations in the murine central and peripheral nervous systems. The aim of this study was to precisely characterize the expression of Runx1 in the developing and postnatal mouse brainstem.Anatomical and immunohistochemical studies were used to characterize mouse Runx1 expression in the brainstem. It is shown here that Runx1 is expressed in a restricted population of neurons located in the dorsolateral rostral hindbrain. These neurons define a structure that is ventromedial to the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus, dorsocaudal to the medial paralemniscal nucleus and rostral to the cerebellum. Runx1 expression in these cells is first observed at approximately gestational day 12.5, persists into the adult brain, and is lost in knockout mice lacking the transcription factor Atoh1, an important regulator of the development of neuronal lineages of the rhombic lip. Runx1-expressing neurons in the rostral hindbrain produce cholecystokinin and also co-express members of the Groucho/Transducin-like Enhancer of split protein family.Based on the anatomical and molecular characteristics of the Runx1-expressing cells in the rostral hindbrain, we propose that Runx1 expression in this region of the mouse brain defines the superior lateral parabrachial nucleus.

  6. Transverse Energy in nucleus-nucleus collisions: A review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tincknell, M.

    1988-01-01

    The status of Transverse Energy (E/sub T/) in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at the Brookhaven AGS and the CERN SPS is reviewed. The definition of E/sub T/ and its physical significance are discussed. The basic techniques and limitations of the experimental measurements are presented. The acceptances of the major experiments to be discussed are shown, along with remarks about their idiosyncrasies. The data demonstrate that the nuclear geometry of colliding spheres primarily determines the shapes of the observed spectra. Careful account of the acceptances is crucial to comparing and interpreting results. It is concluded that nuclear stopping power is high, and that the amount of energy deposited into the interaction volume is increasing with beam energy even at SPS energies. The energy densities believed to be obtained at the SPS are close to the critical values predicted for the onset of a quark-gluon plasma. 25 refs., 8 figs

  7. Role of the medial medullary reticular formation in relaying vestibular signals to the diaphragm and abdominal muscles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mori, R. L.; Bergsman, A. E.; Holmes, M. J.; Yates, B. J.

    2001-01-01

    Changes in posture can affect the resting length of respiratory muscles, requiring alterations in the activity of these muscles if ventilation is to be unaffected. Recent studies have shown that the vestibular system contributes to altering respiratory muscle activity during movement and changes in posture. Furthermore, anatomical studies have demonstrated that many bulbospinal neurons in the medial medullary reticular formation (MRF) provide inputs to phrenic and abdominal motoneurons; because this region of the reticular formation receives substantial vestibular and other movement-related input, it seems likely that medial medullary reticulospinal neurons could adjust the activity of respiratory motoneurons during postural alterations. The objective of the present study was to determine whether functional lesions of the MRF affect inspiratory and expiratory muscle responses to activation of the vestibular system. Lidocaine or muscimol injections into the MRF produced a large increase in diaphragm and abdominal muscle responses to vestibular stimulation. These vestibulo-respiratory responses were eliminated following subsequent chemical blockade of descending pathways in the lateral medulla. However, inactivation of pathways coursing through the lateral medulla eliminated excitatory, but not inhibitory, components of vestibulo-respiratory responses. The simplest explanation for these data is that MRF neurons that receive input from the vestibular nuclei make inhibitory connections with diaphragm and abdominal motoneurons, whereas a pathway that courses laterally in the caudal medulla provides excitatory vestibular inputs to these motoneurons.

  8. Dorsal onlay vaginal graft urethroplasty for female urethral stricture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manmeet Singh

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Female urethral stricture is an underdiagnosed and overlooked cause of female bladder outlet obstruction. The possible etiologies may be infection, prior dilation, difficult catheterization with subsequent fibrosis, urethral surgery, trauma, or idiopathic. We present our technique and results of dorsal onlay full thickness vaginal graft urethroplasty for female urethral stricture. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review was performed on 16 female patients with mid-urethral stricture who underwent dorsal onlay vaginal graft urethroplasty from January 2007 to June 2011.Of these, 13 patients had previously undergone multiple Hegar dilatations, three had previous internal urethrotomies. The preoperative work up included detailed voiding history, local examination, uroflowmetry, calibration, and micturating cystourethrogram. Results: All patients had mid-urethral stricture. Mean age was 47.5 years. Mean Q max improved from 6.2 to 27.6 ml/s. Mean residual volume decreased from 160 to 20 ml. Mean duration of follow-up was 24.5 months (6 months to 3 years. Only one patient required self-calibration for 6 months after which her stricture stabilized. None of the patient was incontinent. Conclusion: Dorsal vaginal onlay graft urethroplasty could be considered as an effective way to treat female urethral stricture.

  9. Effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on the cochlear nucleus in cats deafened as neonates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kandathil, Cherian K; Stakhovskaya, Olga; Leake, Patricia A

    2016-12-01

    Many previous studies have shown significant neurotrophic effects of intracochlear delivery of BDNF in preventing degeneration of cochlear spiral ganglion (SG) neurons after deafness in rodents and our laboratory has shown similar results in developing cats deafened prior to hearing onset. This study examined the morphology of the cochlear nucleus (CN) in a group of neonatally deafened cats from a previous study in which infusion of BDNF elicited a significant improvement in survival of the SG neurons. Five cats were deafened by systemic injections of neomycin sulfate (60 mg/kg, SQ, SID) starting one day after birth, and continuing for 16-18 days until auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing demonstrated profound bilateral hearing loss. The animals were implanted unilaterally at about 1 month of age using custom-designed electrodes with a drug-delivery cannula connected to an osmotic pump. BDNF (94 μg/ml; 0.25 μl/hr) was delivered for 10 weeks. The animals were euthanized and studied at 14-23 weeks of age. Consistent with the neurotrophic effects of BDNF on SG survival, the total CN volume in these animals was significantly larger on the BDNF-treated side than on the contralateral side. However, total CN volume, both ipsi- and contralateral to the implants in these deafened juvenile animals, was markedly smaller than the CN in normal adult animals, reflecting the severe effects of deafness on the central auditory system during development. Data from the individual major CN subdivisions (DCN, Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus; PVCN, Posteroventral Cochlear Nucleus; AVCN, Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus) also were analyzed. A significant difference was observed between the BDNF-treated and control sides only in the AVCN. Measurements of the cross-sectional areas of spherical cells showed that cells were significantly larger in the AVCN ipsilateral to the implant than on the contralateral side. Further, the numerical density of spherical cells was significantly lower in

  10. The functional anatomy of speech perception: Dorsal and ventral processing pathways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hickok, Gregory

    2003-04-01

    Drawing on recent developments in the cortical organization of vision, and on data from a variety of sources, Hickok and Poeppel (2000) have proposed a new model of the functional anatomy of speech perception. The model posits that early cortical stages of speech perception involve auditory fields in the superior temporal gyrus bilaterally (although asymmetrically). This cortical processing system then diverges into two broad processing streams, a ventral stream, involved in mapping sound onto meaning, and a dorsal stream, involved in mapping sound onto articulatory-based representations. The ventral stream projects ventrolaterally toward inferior posterior temporal cortex which serves as an interface between sound and meaning. The dorsal stream projects dorsoposteriorly toward the parietal lobe and ultimately to frontal regions. This network provides a mechanism for the development and maintenance of ``parity'' between auditory and motor representations of speech. Although the dorsal stream represents a tight connection between speech perception and speech production, it is not a critical component of the speech perception process under ecologically natural listening conditions. Some degree of bi-directionality in both the dorsal and ventral pathways is also proposed. A variety of recent empirical tests of this model have provided further support for the proposal.

  11. Aspects of Coulomb dissociation and interference in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nystrand, Joakim; Baltz, Anthony; Klein, Spencer R.

    2001-01-01

    Coherent vector meson production in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions is discussed. These interactions may occur for impact parameters much larger than the sum of the nuclear radii. Since the vector meson production is always localized to one of the nuclei, the system acts as a two-source interferometer in the transverse plane. By tagging the outgoing nuclei for Coulomb dissociation it is possible to obtain a measure of the impact parameter and thus the source separation in the interferometer. This is of particular interest since the life-time of the vector mesons are generally much shorter than the impact parameters of the collisions

  12. Facial colliculus syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rupinderjeet Kaur

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A male patient presented with horizontal diplopia and conjugate gaze palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI revealed acute infarct in right facial colliculus which is an anatomical elevation on the dorsal aspect of Pons. This elevation is due the 6th cranial nerve nucleus and the motor fibres of facial nerve which loop dorsal to this nucleus. Anatomical correlation of the clinical symptoms is also depicted in this report.

  13. Neutrino-nucleus collision at intermediate energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kosmas, T.S.; Oset, E.

    1999-01-01

    Neutrino-nucleus reactions at low and intermediate energy up to E ν = 500 MeV are studied for the most interesting nuclei from an experimental point of view. We focus on neutrino-nucleus cross-sections of semi-inclusive processes, for which recent measurements from radiochemical experiments at LAMPF and KARMEN laboratories are available. The method employed uses the modified Lindhard function for the description of the particle-hole excitations of the final nucleus via a local density approximation. (authors)

  14. Transverse and radial flow in intermediate energy nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vestfall, D. Gary

    1997-01-01

    We have studied transverse and radial flow in nucleus-nucleus collisions ranging in energy from 15 to 155 MeV/nucleon. We have measured the impact parameter dependence of the balance energy for Ar + Sc and compared the results with Quantum Molecular Dynamics calculations with and without momentum dependence. We have shown that transverse flow and the balance energy dependence on the isospin of the system using the systems 58 Fe + 58 Fe, 58 Ni + 58 Ni, and 58 Mn + 58 Fe. These results are compared with Boltzmann-Uehling-Uehlenbeck calculations incorporating isospin-dependence. We have measured radial flow for Ar + Sc and find that about 50% of the observed energy is related to radial flow. (author)

  15. Nuclear energy release in hadron-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strugalski, Z.; Strugalska-Gola, E.

    1998-01-01

    Energy release process in nuclear reactions induced by fast hadrons in hadron-nucleus collisions is discussed. Some portion of the internal nuclear energy is released when the locally damaged in a collision, and instable therefore, residual target nucleus transits itself into light nuclear fragments (nucleons, D, T) and a stable lighter final nucleus or some number of stable lighter nuclei. It is not excluded that in some of the collisions the induced intranuclear nuclear reactions may be energy overcompensating. Corresponding reconnaissance should be made - in analysing the nuclear reactions induced in hadron-nucleus collisions

  16. Thermal Bremsstrahlung probing nuclear multifragmentation in nucleus-nucleus collisions around the Fermi energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'Enterria, D.G.

    2000-05-01

    The thermodynamical properties of nuclear matter at moderate temperatures and densities, in the vicinity of the predicted nuclear liquid-gas phase transition, are studied using as experimental probe the hard-photons (E γ > 30 MeV) emitted in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Photon and charged-particle production in four different heavy-ion reactions (Ar 36 + Au 197 , Ag 107 , Ni 58 , C 12 at 60 A*MeV) is measured exclusively and inclusively coupling the TAPS photon spectrometer with two charged-particle and intermediate-mass-fragment detectors covering nearly 4π. We confirm that Bremsstrahlung emission in first-chance (off-equilibrium) proton-neutron collisions (pnγ) is the dominant origin of hard photons. We also firmly establish the existence of a thermal radiation component emitted in second-chance proton-neutron collisions. This thermal Bremsstrahlung emission takes place in semi-central and central nucleus-nucleus reactions involving heavy targets. We exploit this observation i) to demonstrate that thermal equilibrium is reached during the reaction, ii) to establish a new thermometer of nuclear matter based on Bremsstrahlung photons, iii) to derive the thermodynamical properties of the excited nuclear sources and, in particular, to establish a 'caloric curve' (temperature versus excitation energy), and iv) to assess the time-scales of the nuclear break-up process. (author)

  17. Calcium activity of upper thoracic dorsal root ganglion neurons in zucker diabetic Fatty rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ghorbani, Marie Louise; Nyborg, Niels C B; Fjalland, Bjarne

    2013-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to examine the calcium activity of C8-T5 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons from Zucker diabetic fatty rats. In total, 8 diabetic ZDF fatty animals and 8 age-matched control ZDF lean rats were employed in the study. C8-T5 dorsal root ganglia were isolated bilatera......The aim of the present study was to examine the calcium activity of C8-T5 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons from Zucker diabetic fatty rats. In total, 8 diabetic ZDF fatty animals and 8 age-matched control ZDF lean rats were employed in the study. C8-T5 dorsal root ganglia were isolated...... in calcium activity of the DRG neurons were found, potentially indicating altered neuronal responses during myocardial ischemia....

  18. Effects of chronic malnourishment and aging on the ultrastructure of pyramidal cells of the dorsal hippocampus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castro-Chavira, Susana Angelica; Aguilar-Vázquez, Azucena Ruth; Martínez-Chávez, Yvonne; Palma, Lourdes; Padilla-Gómez, Euridice; Diaz-Cintra, Sofia

    2016-10-01

    Malnourishment (M) produces permanent alterations during the development of the CNS and might modify the aging process. In pyramidal neurons (PN) of the hippocampus, which are associated with learning and memory performance, few studies have focused on changes at the subcellular level under chronic malnutrition (ChM) in young (Y, 2 months old) and aged (A, 22 months old) rats. The present work evaluated the extent to which ChM disrupts organelles in PN of the dorsal hippocampus CA1 as compared to controls (C). Ultrastructural analysis was performed at 8000×  and 20 000×  magnification: Nucleus eccentricity and somatic, cytoplasmic, and nuclear areas were measured; and in the PN perikaryon, density indices (number of organelles/cytoplasmic area) of Golgi membrane systems (GMS, normal, and swollen), mitochondria (normal and abnormal), and vacuolated organelles (lysosomes, lipofuscin granules, and multivesicular bodies (MVB)) were determined. The density of abnormal mitochondria, swollen GMS, and MVB increased significantly in the AChM group compared to the other groups. The amount of lipofuscin was significantly greater in the AChM than in the YChM groups - a sign of oxidative stress due to malnutrition and aging; however, in Y animals, ChM showed no effect on organelle density or the cytoplasmic area. An increased density of lysosomes as well as nucleus eccentricity was observed in the AC group, which also showed an increase in the cytoplasmic area. Malnutrition produces subcellular alterations in vulnerable hippocampal pyramidal cells, and these alterations may provide an explanation for the previously reported deficient performance of malnourished animals in a spatial memory task in which aging and malnutrition were shown to impede the maintenance of long-term memory.

  19. Expression of SPIG1 reveals development of a retinal ganglion cell subtype projecting to the medial terminal nucleus in the mouse.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keisuke Yonehara

    Full Text Available Visual information is transmitted to the brain by roughly a dozen distinct types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs defined by a characteristic morphology, physiology, and central projections. However, our understanding about how these parallel pathways develop is still in its infancy, because few molecular markers corresponding to individual RGC types are available. Previously, we reported a secretory protein, SPIG1 (clone name; D/Bsp120I #1, preferentially expressed in the dorsal region in the developing chick retina. Here, we generated knock-in mice to visualize SPIG1-expressing cells with green fluorescent protein. We found that the mouse retina is subdivided into two distinct domains for SPIG1 expression and SPIG1 effectively marks a unique subtype of the retinal ganglion cells during the neonatal period. SPIG1-positive RGCs in the dorsotemporal domain project to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN, superior colliculus, and accessory optic system (AOS. In contrast, in the remaining region, here named the pan-ventronasal domain, SPIG1-positive cells form a regular mosaic and project exclusively to the medial terminal nucleus (MTN of the AOS that mediates the optokinetic nystagmus as early as P1. Their dendrites costratify with ON cholinergic amacrine strata in the inner plexiform layer as early as P3. These findings suggest that these SPIG1-positive cells are the ON direction selective ganglion cells (DSGCs. Moreover, the MTN-projecting cells in the pan-ventronasal domain are apparently composed of two distinct but interdependent regular mosaics depending on the presence or absence of SPIG1, indicating that they comprise two functionally distinct subtypes of the ON DSGCs. The formation of the regular mosaic appears to be commenced at the end of the prenatal stage and completed through the peak period of the cell death at P6. SPIG1 will thus serve as a useful molecular marker for future studies on the development and function of ON DSGCs.

  20. Nucleon molecular orbitals and the transition mechanism between molecular orbitals in nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imanishi, B.; Misono, S.; von Oertzen, W.; Voit, H.

    1988-08-01

    The molecular orbitals of the nucleon(s) in nucleus-nucleus collisions are dynamically defined as a linear combination of nucleon single-particle orbits (LCNO) in a rotating frame by using the coupled-reaction-channel (CRC) theory. Nucleon molecular orbitals and the promotions of nucleon, - especially due to the Landau-Zener radial coupling are discussed with the method above mentioned. (author)

  1. A rare mutation in the RET-protooncogen associated with mixed medullary-follicular micro-carcinoma of the thyroid gland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Richter, K.; Huwe, A.; Boldt, H.; Dresel, S. [Nuklearmedizinische Klinik, HELIOS-Klinikum Berlin-Buch (Germany); Geipel, D. [St.-Hedwig-Krankenhaus, Bereich Endokrine Chirurgie (Germany); Mairinger, T. [Inst. fuer Pathologie, HELIOS-Klinikum Emil von Behring (Germany); Schwabe, M. [Inst. fuer Pathologie, Charite Berlin Campus Mitte (Germany)

    2008-07-01

    Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) arises from parafollicular C-cells of the thyroid and accounts for 1% to 10% of all thyroid cancers (1). MTC can be sporadic or hereditary. Hereditary MTC represents 20% to 30% of all MTC with an autosomal dominant pattern of transmission and a high degree of penetrance (>90%). It can be transmitted as a single entity (sporadic), familial MTC (FMTC), or it can arise as part of a multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndrome type 2A or 2B. Both genders are equally affected. (1, 9) The identification of hereditary MTC has been facilitated in recent years by the direct analysis of germline point mutations of the RET(rearranged during transfection)-protooncogene, a 21 exon gene that encodes a plasma membrane-bound tyrosine kinase receptor, localised on chromosome 10q11.2, which is expressed in tissues derived from the neural crest. To date codon mutations in nine different exons were identified (7, 8, 16, 22, 29) causing MEN 2A (MTC in combination with pheochromocytoma and hyperparathyroidism, including rare variants with Hirschsprung's disease and cutaneous lichen amyloidosis), FMTC (MTC as a sole disease phenotype) and MEN 2B (MTC in combination with pheochromocytoma, multiple mucosa neuromas, and marfanoid habitus). The most common mutation, accounting for over 80% of all mutations associated with MEN 2A (or Sipple's) syndrome affects codon 634 in exon 11 of the RET-protooncogene. Other mutations affect codon 630 in exon 11, and codons 609, 611, 618, 620 in exon 10 - they also cause FMTC, although some have a classic MEN 2A syndrome. 5% to 10% of families with FMTC have mutations that affect codons 768, 790, 791 in exon 13: codons 804, 844 in exon 14, and codon 891 in exon 15 (3, 4, 10). The much more aggressive MEN 2B is caused by a single mutation converting a methionine into a threonine at codon 918 in exon 16, and has been identified in approximately 95% of patients with MEN 2B. Other rare mutations associated with MEN 2

  2. Nucleus of the solitary tract in the C57BL/6J mouse: Subnuclear parcellation, chorda tympani nerve projections, and brainstem connections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganchrow, Donald; Ganchrow, Judith R; Cicchini, Vanessa; Bartel, Dianna L; Kaufman, Daniel; Girard, David; Whitehead, Mark C

    2014-05-01

    The nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) processes gustatory and related somatosensory information rostrally and general viscerosensory information caudally. To compare its connections with those of other rodents, this study in the C57BL/6J mouse provides a subnuclear cytoarchitectonic parcellation (Nissl stain) of the NST into rostral, intermediate, and caudal divisions. Subnuclei are further characterized by NADPH staining and P2X2 immunoreactivity (IR). Cholera toxin subunit B (CTb) labeling revealed those NST subnuclei receiving chorda tympani nerve (CT) afferents, those connecting with the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) and reticular formation (RF), and those interconnecting NST subnuclei. CT terminals are densest in the rostral central (RC) and medial (M) subnuclei; less dense in the rostral lateral (RL) subnucleus; and sparse in the ventral (V), ventral lateral (VL), and central lateral (CL) subnuclei. CTb injection into the PBN retrogradely labels cells in the aforementioned subnuclei; RC and M providing the largest source of PBN projection neurons. Pontine efferent axons terminate mainly in V and rostral medial (RM) subnuclei. CTb injection into the medullary RF labels cells and axonal endings predominantly in V at rostral and intermediate NST levels. Small CTb injections within the NST label extensive projections from the rostral division to caudal subnuclei. Projections from the caudal division primarily interconnect subnuclei confined to the caudal division of the NST; they also connect with the area postrema. P2X2 -IR identifies probable vagal nerve terminals in the central (Ce) subnucleus in the intermediate/caudal NST. Ce also shows intense NADPH staining and does not project to the PBN. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Interictal dysfunction of a brainstem descending modulatory center in migraine patients.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric A Moulton

    Full Text Available The brainstem contains descending circuitry that can modulate nociceptive processing (neural signals associated with pain in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and the medullary dorsal horn. In migraineurs, abnormal brainstem function during attacks suggest that dysfunction of descending modulation may facilitate migraine attacks, either by reducing descending inhibition or increasing facilitation. To determine whether a brainstem dysfunction could play a role in facilitating migraine attacks, we measured brainstem function in migraineurs when they were not having an attack (i.e. the interictal phase.Using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging, we mapped brainstem activity to heat stimuli in 12 episodic migraine patients during the interictal phase. Separate scans were collected to measure responses to 41 degrees C and noxious heat (pain threshold+1 degrees C. Stimuli were either applied to the forehead on the affected side (as reported during an attack or the dorsum of the hand. This was repeated in 12 age-gender-matched control subjects, and the side tested corresponded to that in the matched migraine patients. Nucleus cuneiformis (NCF, a component of brainstem pain modulatory circuits, appears to be hypofunctional in migraineurs. 3 out of the 4 thermal stimulus conditions showed significantly greater NCF activation in control subjects than the migraine patients.Altered descending modulation has been postulated to contribute to migraine, leading to loss of inhibition or enhanced facilitation resulting in hyperexcitability of trigeminovascular neurons. NCF function could potentially serve as a diagnostic measure in migraine patients, even when not experiencing an attack. This has important implications for the evaluation of therapies for migraine.

  4. Nucleus Ambiguus Cholinergic Neurons Activated by Acupuncture: Relation to Enkephalin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Zhi-Ling; Li, Min; Longhurst, John C.

    2012-01-01

    Acupuncture regulates autonomic function. Our previous studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) at the Jianshi–Neiguan acupoints (P5–P6, underlying the median nerve) inhibits central sympathetic outflow and attenuates excitatory cardiovascular reflexes, in part, through an opioid mechanism. It is unknown if EA at these acupoints influences the parasympathetic system. Thus, using c-Fos expression, we examined activation of nucleus ambiguus (NAmb) neurons by EA, their relation to cholinergic (preganglionic parasympathetic) neurons and those containing enkephalin. To enhance detection of cell bodies containing enkephalin, colchicine (90–100 μg/kg) was administered into the subarachnoid space of cats 30 hr prior to EA or sham-operated controls for EA. Following bilateral barodenervation and cervical vagotomy, either EA for 30 min at P5–P6 acupoints or control stimulation (needle placement at P5–P6 without stimulation) was applied. While perikarya containing enkephalin were observed in some medullary nuclei (e.g., râphe), only enkephalin-containing neuronal processes were found in the NAmb. Compared to controls (n=4), more c-Fos immunoreactivity, located principally in close proximity to fibers containing enkephalin was noted in the NAmb of EA-treated cats (n=5; P<0.01). Moreover, neurons double-labeled with c-Fos and choline acetyltransferase in the NAmb were identified in EA-treated, but not the control animals. These data demonstrate for the first time that EA activates preganglionic parasympathetic neurons in the NAmb. Because of their close proximity, these EA-activated neurons likely interact with nerve fibers containing enkephalin. These results suggest that EA at the P5–P6 acupoints has the potential to influence parasympathetic outflow and cardiovascular function, likely through an enkephalinergic mechanism. PMID:22306033

  5. A case of dorsal oblique fingertip amputation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeda, Shinsuke; Tatebe, Masahiro; Morita, Akimasa; Yoneda, Hidemasa; Iwatsuki, Katsuyuki; Hirata, Hitoshi

    2017-01-01

    This study reports successful finger replantation in a patient with a dorsal oblique fingertip amputation. When repairing this unique type of injury, an evaluation of the remaining vessels is more useful for successful replantation than the anatomical zone classification. We propose that Kasai's classification is appropriate for guiding treatment.

  6. Dorsal stream involvement in recognition of objects with transient onset but not with ramped onset

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lourenco Tomas

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Although the ventral visual stream is understood to be responsible for object recognition, it has been proposed that the dorsal stream may contribute to object recognition by rapidly activating parietal attention mechanisms, prior to ventral stream object processing. Methods To investigate the relative contribution of the dorsal visual stream to object recognition a group of tertiary students were divided into good and poor motion coherence groups and assessed on tasks classically assumed to rely on ventral stream processing. Participants were required to identify simple line drawings in two tasks, one where objects were presented abruptly for 50 ms followed by a white-noise mask, the other where contrast was linearly ramped on and off over 325 ms and replaced with a mask. Results Although both groups only differed in motion coherence performance (a dorsal stream measure, the good motion coherence group showed superior contrast sensitivity for object recognition on the abrupt, but not the ramped presentation tasks. Conclusions We propose that abrupt presentation of objects activated attention mechanisms fed by the dorsal stream, whereas the ramped presentation had reduced transience and thus did not activate dorsal attention mechanisms as well. The results suggest that rapid dorsal stream activation may be required to assist with ventral stream object processing.

  7. Diagnosis of dorsal inter osseous pseudotumours by magnetic resonance imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peh, W.C.G.; Wong, L.L.S.; Ip, W.Y.

    1999-01-01

    Two middle-aged-patients each presenting with a progressively enlarging mass in the first dorsal web space of their hands are reported. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated the cause to be a hypertrophic first dorsal inter osseous muscle, with normal T1, T2 and post-gadopentetate dimeglumine signal characteristics. The ability of MRI to diagnose anatomical variants of hand muscles is important in the clinical management of patients with these pseudotumours. The usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in evaluation of soft tissue tumours of the musculoskeletal system is now widely accepted. Its ability to maximize contrast between tumour and adjacent normal tissue in a multiplanar manner makes it the imaging modality of choice in pre-operative staging of soft tissue masses. In the hand and wrist, where benign tumours predominate, MRI may provide a specific diagnosis. We describe two cases in which MRI demonstrated the cause of a hand pseudotumour to be due to hypertrophy of the first dorsal inter osseous muscle. Copyright (1999) Blackwell Science Pty Ltd

  8. Diagnosis of dorsal inter osseous pseudotumours by magnetic resonance imaging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peh, W.C.G.; Wong, L.L.S. [The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, (Hong Kong). Hand Surgery Division, Department of Diagnotic Radiology; Ip, W.Y. [The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, (Hong Kong). Hand Surgery Division, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

    1999-08-01

    Two middle-aged-patients each presenting with a progressively enlarging mass in the first dorsal web space of their hands are reported. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated the cause to be a hypertrophic first dorsal inter osseous muscle, with normal T1, T2 and post-gadopentetate dimeglumine signal characteristics. The ability of MRI to diagnose anatomical variants of hand muscles is important in the clinical management of patients with these pseudotumours. The usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in evaluation of soft tissue tumours of the musculoskeletal system is now widely accepted. Its ability to maximize contrast between tumour and adjacent normal tissue in a multiplanar manner makes it the imaging modality of choice in pre-operative staging of soft tissue masses. In the hand and wrist, where benign tumours predominate, MRI may provide a specific diagnosis. We describe two cases in which MRI demonstrated the cause of a hand pseudotumour to be due to hypertrophy of the first dorsal inter osseous muscle. Copyright (1999) Blackwell Science Pty Ltd 20 refs., 3 figs.

  9. Transverse-momentum distribution of produced particles in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ban-Hao, S.; Wong, C.

    1985-01-01

    In order to discern coherent or collective processes from incoherent processes in nucleus-nucleus reactions at high energies, we study the transverse-momentum distribution of the produced particles with an incoherent-multiple-collision model. In this model, the projectile nucleon makes successive inelastic collisions with nucleons in the target nucleus, the probability of such collisions being given by the thickness function and the nucleon-nucleon inelastic cross section. It is assumed that each baryon-baryon collision produces particles and degrades momenta just as a baryon-baryon collision in free space, and that there are no secondary collisions between the produced particles and the nucleons. We found that the average transverse momentum and the charged-multiplicity data at Fermilab and CERN ISR energies can be well explained by such a model. However, the average transverse momentum for some events observed by the Japanese-American cooperative emulsion experiment (JACEE) associated with large energy density in the central rapidity region differ markedly from the model results. Such a deviation indicates the presence of coherent or collective effects for these collisions and may indicate the possibility of a formation of quark-gluon plasma

  10. Fast detector for triggering on charged particle multiplicity for relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agakishiev, G.; Man'yakov, P.K.; Drees, A.

    1997-01-01

    The simple and fast detector of charged particle multiplicity for relativistic nucleus-nucleus collision studies is performed. The multiplicity detector has been designed for the first level trigger of the CERES/NA45 experiment to study Pb-Au collisions at CERN SPS energies. The detector has allowed a realization of the 40 ns trigger for selection of events with definite impact parameter. The construction, operation characteristics, method of calibration, and testing results are described in detail

  11. Epigenetics in Medullary Thyroid Cancer: From Pathogenesis to Targeted Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vitale, Giovanni; Dicitore, Alessandra; Messina, Erika; Sciammarella, Concetta; Faggiano, Antongiulio; Colao, Annamaria

    2016-01-01

    Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) originates from the parafollicular C cells of the thyroid gland. Mutations of the RET proto-oncogene are implicated in the pathogenesis of MTC. Germline activating mutations of this gene have been reported in about 88-98% of familial MTCs, while somatic mutations of RET gene have been detected in about 23-70% of sporadic forms. Although these genetic events are well characterized, much less is known about the role of epigenetic abnormalities in MTC. The present review reports a detailed description of epigenetic abnormalities (DNA methylation, histone modifications and miRNA profile), probably involved in the pathogenesis and progression of MTC. A systematic review was performed using Pubmed and Google patents databases. We report the current understanding of epigenetic patterns in MTC and discuss the potential use of current knowledge in designing novel therapeutic strategies through epigenetic drugs, focusing on recent patents in this field. Taking into account the reversibility of epigenetic alterations and the recent development in this field, epigenetic therapy may emerge for clinical use in the near future for patients with advanced MTC.

  12. Selective arterial chemoembolization for hepatic metastases from medullary thyroid carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenz, Kerstin; Brauckhoff, Michael; Behrmann, Curd; Sekulla, Carsten; Ukkat, Jörg; Brauckhoff, Katrin; Gimm, Oliver; Dralle, Henning

    2005-12-01

    Hepatic metastases from medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) may impair quality of life by hypercalcitonemia-associated diarrhea and pain. In this prospective study, the effect of selective arterial chemoembolization (SACE) was evaluated. Eleven patients with hepatic metastases from MTC received 1 to 9 courses of SACE using epirubicine. Symptomatic, biochemical, and morphologic responses on SACE were recorded. Symptomatic response was observed in all symptomatic patients. However, biochemical and radiologic response occurred only in 6 patients. Liver function was not affected by SACE. One patient with unexpected concurrent pheochromocytoma metastases died after the first course. Development of side effects in the course was observed in 8 patients but were only World Health Organization grade 1. Patients' satisfaction with SACE was excellent. Long-term follow-up found 7 patients alive (1-72 months). Three patients died with tumor 6, 12, and 24 months after SACE, respectively. SACE provided good symptom palliation for the majority of patients with hepatic metastases from MTC. However, transient remission or stabilization of hepatic metastases resulted in only 60%. Further studies using a randomized protocol are required.

  13. Electromagnetic processes in nucleus-nucleus collisions relating to space radiation research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norbury, John W.

    1992-01-01

    Most of the papers within this report deal with electromagnetic processes in nucleus-nucleus collisions which are of concern in the space radiation program. In particular, the removal of one and two nucleons via both electromagnetic and strong interaction processes has been extensively investigated. The theory of relativistic Coulomb fission has also been developed. Several papers on quark models also appear. Finally, note that the theoretical methods developed in this work have been directly applied to the task of radiation protection of astronauts. This has been done by parameterizing the theoretical formalism in such a fashion that it can be used in cosmic ray transport codes.

  14. Persistent dorsal ophthalmic artery arising from the internal carotid artery: Report of three cases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shin, Jae Hwan; Lee, Ghi Jai; Shim, Jae Chan; Lee, Kyoung Eun; Kim, Ho Kyun; Suh, Jung Ho [Dept. of Radiology, Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-12-15

    Normally, the ophthalmic artery (OA) arises from the supraclinoid segment of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and enters the orbit via the optic canal. A persistent dorsal OA is a rare variation that originates from the cavernous segment of the ICA and enters the orbit via the superior orbital fissure. To the best of our knowledge, persistent dorsal OA has not been described in the Korean literature. In this paper, we report three cases of persistent dorsal OA with review of the literature on embryogenesis and other origins of the OA.

  15. Dorsal onlay graft bulbar urethroplasty using buccal mucosa

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    G. Barbagli

    2015-12-02

    Dec 2, 2015 ... promote the transformation of the urethral mucosa plate into a tube, according to ... Allen stirrups and sequential inflatable compression sleeves. Figure 2 .... the ventral, dorsal or lateral surface of the urethra, we investigated if.

  16. Investigating category- and shape-selective neural processing in ventral and dorsal visual stream under interocular suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ludwig, Karin; Kathmann, Norbert; Sterzer, Philipp; Hesselmann, Guido

    2015-01-01

    Recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies using continuous flash suppression (CFS) have suggested that action-related processing in the dorsal visual stream might be independent of perceptual awareness, in line with the "vision-for-perception" versus "vision-for-action" distinction of the influential dual-stream theory. It remains controversial if evidence suggesting exclusive dorsal stream processing of tool stimuli under CFS can be explained by their elongated shape alone or by action-relevant category representations in dorsal visual cortex. To approach this question, we investigated category- and shape-selective functional magnetic resonance imaging-blood-oxygen level-dependent responses in both visual streams using images of faces and tools. Multivariate pattern analysis showed enhanced decoding of elongated relative to non-elongated tools, both in the ventral and dorsal visual stream. The second aim of our study was to investigate whether the depth of interocular suppression might differentially affect processing in dorsal and ventral areas. However, parametric modulation of suppression depth by varying the CFS mask contrast did not yield any evidence for differential modulation of category-selective activity. Together, our data provide evidence for shape-selective processing under CFS in both dorsal and ventral stream areas and, therefore, do not support the notion that dorsal "vision-for-action" processing is exclusively preserved under interocular suppression. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. A case of dorsal oblique fingertip amputation

    OpenAIRE

    Takeda, Shinsuke; Tatebe, Masahiro; Morita, Akimasa; Yoneda, Hidemasa; Iwatsuki, Katsuyuki; Hirata, Hitoshi

    2017-01-01

    Abstract This study reports successful finger replantation in a patient with a dorsal oblique fingertip amputation. When repairing this unique type of injury, an evaluation of the remaining vessels is more useful for successful replantation than the anatomical zone classification. We propose that Kasai?s classification is appropriate for guiding treatment.

  18. Bulbar urethroplasty using the dorsal approach: current techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbagli Guido

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: The use of flaps or grafts is mandatory in patients with longer and complex strictures. In 1995-96 we described a new dorsal onlay graft urethroplasty. Over time, our original technique was better defined and changed. Now this procedure (also named Barbagli technique has been greeted with a fair amount of enthusiasm in Europe and in the United States. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: The patient is placed in normal lithotomy position, and a midline perineo-scrotal incision is made. The bulbar urethra is then free from the bulbo-cavernous muscles, and is dissected from the corpora cavernosa. The urethra is completely mobilized from the corpora cavernosa, it is rotated 180 degrees, and is incised along its dorsal surface. The graft (preputial skin or buccal mucosa or the flap is fixed and quilted to the tunica albuginea of the corporal bodies. The right mucosal margin of the opened urethra is sutured to the right side of the patch-graft. The urethra is rotated back into its original position. The left urethral margin is sutured to the left side of the patch graft and to the corporal bodies, and the grafted area is entirely covered by the urethral plate. The bulbo-cavernous muscles are approximated over the grafted area. A 16F silicone Foley catheter is left in place. COMMENTS: Dorsal onlay graft urethroplasty is a versatile procedure that may be combined with various substitute materials like preputial skin, buccal mucosa grafts or pedicled flaps.

  19. Model of homogeneous nucleus. Total and inelastic cross sections of nucleon-nucleus scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ponomarev, L.A.; Smorodinskaya, N.Ya.

    1985-01-01

    It is shown that the nucleon-nuckleus scattering amplitude at high energy can be easily calculated by generalization of the nucleon-nucleon scattering amplitude and satisfies a simple factorization relation. As distinct from the Glauber model, the suggested approach makes no use of the nucleonic structure of the nucleus and the hadron-nucleus scattering amplitude is not expressed in terms of hadron-nucleon scattering amplitudes. The energy dependence of total and inelastic cross sections is successfully described for a number of nuclei

  20. Interesting correlations among various parameters of charged secondaries in nucleus - nucleus interactions at 4.5 A GeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, M. Saleem; Shukla, Praveen Prakash; Khushnood, H.

    2015-01-01

    The study of the characteristic of charged secondaries was the aim of most of the experiments on high energy nucleon-nucleon and nucleus-nucleus collisions. Investigation are carried out on the produced secondary charged particles with a common belief that these particles are more informative about the collisional dynamics and thus, could be effective in revealing the underlying physics of high energy relativistic interactions. So for understanding the mechanism of multiparticle production in high energy hadron-nucleus collisions, the correlations amongst the secondary charged particles are studied. Several workers have attempted to study the multiplicity correlations over widely different incident energies with different projectiles. The AALMT collaboration have also studied the multiplicity correlations in 200 GeV proton-nucleus collisions

  1. Serotonin neurons in the dorsal raphe mediate the anticataplectic action of orexin neurons by reducing amygdala activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasegawa, Emi; Maejima, Takashi; Yoshida, Takayuki; Masseck, Olivia A; Herlitze, Stefan; Yoshioka, Mitsuhiro; Sakurai, Takeshi; Mieda, Michihiro

    2017-04-25

    Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder caused by the loss of orexin (hypocretin)-producing neurons and marked by excessive daytime sleepiness and a sudden weakening of muscle tone, or cataplexy, often triggered by strong emotions. In a mouse model for narcolepsy, we previously demonstrated that serotonin neurons of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) mediate the suppression of cataplexy-like episodes (CLEs) by orexin neurons. Using an optogenetic tool, in this paper we show that the acute activation of DRN serotonin neuron terminals in the amygdala, but not in nuclei involved in regulating rapid eye-movement sleep and atonia, suppressed CLEs. Not only did stimulating serotonin nerve terminals reduce amygdala activity, but the chemogenetic inhibition of the amygdala using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs also drastically decreased CLEs, whereas chemogenetic activation increased them. Moreover, the optogenetic inhibition of serotonin nerve terminals in the amygdala blocked the anticataplectic effects of orexin signaling in DRN serotonin neurons. Taken together, the results suggest that DRN serotonin neurons, as a downstream target of orexin neurons, inhibit cataplexy by reducing the activity of amygdala as a center for emotional processing.

  2. K sup + nucleus total cross sections

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sawafta, R.

    1990-01-01

    The scattering of K{sup +} mesons from nuclei has attracted considerable interest in the last few years. The K{sup +} holds a very special position as the weakest of all strongly interaction probes. The average cross section is not larger than about 10 mb at lab momenta below 800 MeV/c, corresponding to a mean free path in the nucleus larger than 5 fm. Thus the K{sup +} is capable of probing the entire volume of the nucleus. Single scattering of the K{sup +} with a nucleon in the nucleus dominates the nuclear scattering, and only small and calculable higher order corrections are needed. The nucleon is a dynamical entity and its internal structure can, in principle, be altered by its surrounding nuclear environment. This work reports an experiment in which the K{sup +} is used to compare the nucleon in the nucleus with a free nucleon.

  3. Microtubules move the nucleus to quiescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laporte, Damien; Sagot, Isabelle

    2014-01-01

    The nucleus is a cellular compartment that hosts several macro-molecular machines displaying a highly complex spatial organization. This tight architectural orchestration determines not only DNA replication and repair but also regulates gene expression. In budding yeast microtubules play a key role in structuring the nucleus since they condition the Rabl arrangement in G1 and chromosome partitioning during mitosis through their attachment to centromeres via the kinetochore proteins. Recently, we have shown that upon quiescence entry, intranuclear microtubules emanating from the spindle pole body elongate to form a highly stable bundle that spans the entire nucleus. Here, we examine some molecular mechanisms that may underlie the formation of this structure. As the intranuclear microtubule bundle causes a profound re-organization of the yeast nucleus and is required for cell survival during quiescence, we discuss the possibility that the assembly of such a structure participates in quiescence establishment.

  4. Renal Medullary Carcinoma with an Aggressive Clinical Course: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Madhumati R. Kalavar

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Renal medullary carcinoma (RMC is a rare, yet aggressive malignancy of the kidney that is found predominantly in young patients with African descent and sickle cell hemoglobinopathies and most specifically sickle cell trait. Due to its aggressive nature, most cases have metastasis or local invasion at the time of diagnosis. Prognosis is extremely poor with survival less than 1 year after diagnosis. Here we present a case of metastatic RMC in a 29-year-old African female. Despite chemotherapy with cisplatin, gemcitabine, and paclitaxel, and initial shrinkage of the tumor, the patient died 5 months after diagnosis.

  5. Monosynaptic connections between primary afferents and giant neurons in the turtle spinal dorsal horn

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fernández, A; Radmilovich, M; Russo, R E

    1996-01-01

    This paper reports the occurrence of monosynaptic connections between dorsal root afferents and a distinct cell type-the giant neuron-deep in the dorsal horn of the turtle spinal cord. Light microscope studies combining Nissl stain and transganglionic HRP-labeling of the primary afferents have...

  6. High energy nucleus-nucleus collisions at CERN: Signatures, physical observables and experimental results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harris, J.W.

    1988-02-01

    Experimental results on high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions have become available with the recent experiments at CERN utilizing 200 GeV/n oxygen and sulfur beams. Physics motivations for these experiments are presented: a description of predicted signatures for possible formation of a quark-gluon plasma and physical observables that are expected to provide important information for understanding the dynamics of these collisions. A presentation will be made of some of the first experimental results to emerge from this new field. 28 refs., 9 figs

  7. The isospin dependence of the nucleus-nucleus inelastic cross-section at high energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rashdan, M.; Farhan, A.M.; Hassib, E.; Kareem, W. Abdel

    2006-01-01

    The isospin dependence of the nucleus-nucleus inelastic cross-section at high energy is investigated within the multiple scattering theory. The multiple integrals are evaluated by Monte Carlo method as well as by the optical limit approximation of the Glauber model. Calculations are performed for 14-23 N, 16-24 O and 18-26 F isotopes colliding with carbon target around 1 GeV. It is found that rms radii and the density distributions show a halo structure of 22 N, 23 O and 24 F

  8. Strangeness and charm production in nucleus-nucleus collisions at beam energies near the thresholds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Senger, P.

    2001-01-01

    The creation of strangeness and charm in nucleus-nucleus collisions at threshold beam energies is discussed as a probe for compressed baryonic matter. Experimental data on strangeness production at SIS energies indicate that the properties of kaons and antikaons are modified in the dense nuclear medium. An experiment is proposed to explore the QCD phase diagram in the region of highest baryon densities. An important observable will be charm production close to threshold. (orig.)

  9. Anti p-nucleus interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, J.C.

    1986-05-01

    Status and future prospects of antiproton-nucleus scattering experiments are presented. These scattering experiments were conducted at antiproton beam momentums of 300 and 600 MeV/c on target nuclei of 6 Li, 12 C, 16 O, 18 O, 40 Ca, 48 Ca, and 208 Pb. Antiproton-proton reactions investigated antiproton-nucleus bound or resonant states in antiproton reactions with d, 6 Li, 12 C, 63 Cu, and 209 Bi. Inelastic scattering experiments investigated the spin-isospin dependence of the NN interactions. 19 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

  10. Effects of electroacupuncture on orphanin FQ immunoreactivity and preproorphanin FQ mRNA in nucleus of raphe magnus in the neuropathic pain rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Fei; Xie, Hong; Dong, Zhi-Qiang; Wang, Yan-Qing; Wu, Gen-Cheng

    2004-07-15

    Orphanin FQ (OFQ) is an endogenous ligand for opioid receptor-like-1 (ORL1) receptor. Previous studies have shown that both OFQ immunoreactivity and preproorphanin FQ (ppOFQ) mRNA expression could be observed in the brain regions involved in pain modulation, e.g., nucleus of raphe magnus (NRM), dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG). It was reported that electroacupuncture (EA) has analgesic effect on neuropathic pain, and the analgesic effect was mediated by the endogenous opioid peptides. In the present study, we investigated the effects of EA on the changes of OFQ in the neuropathic pain rats. In the sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI) model, we investigated the changes of ppOFQ mRNA and OFQ immunoreactivity in NRM after EA by in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry methods, respectively. Then, the ppOFQ mRNA-positive and OFQ immunoreactive cells were counted under a computerized image analysis system. The results showed that expression of ppOFQ mRNA decreased and OFQ immunoreactivity increased after EA treatment in the neuropathic pain rats. These results indicated that EA modulated OFQ synthesis and OFQ peptide level in NRM of the neuropathic pain rats. Copyright 2004 Elsevier Inc.

  11. Hadron-nucleus interactions with a small target-nucleus excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anzon, Z.V.; Chasnikov, I.Ya.; Shakhova, Ts.I.

    1981-01-01

    Hadron inelastic interactions in nuclear emulsion with a small target-nucleus excitation in the energy range 7.5-200 GeV have been studied. Possible reasons for the differences in production cross-section for events with even and odd number of S-particles are analysed

  12. Formation, structure, and evolution of boiling nucleus and interfacial tension between bulk liquid phase and nucleus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiao-Dong; Peng, Xiao-Feng; Tian, Yong; Wang, Bu-Xuan

    2005-05-01

    In this paper, the concept of the molecular free path is introduced to derive a criterion distinguishing active molecules from inactive molecules in liquid phase. A concept of the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of active molecules is proposed to describe the physical configuration before the formation of a nucleus during vapor-liquid phase transition. All active molecules exist as monomers when the concentration of active molecules is lower than CAC, while the active molecules will generate aggregation once the concentration of the active molecules reaches CAC. However, these aggregates with aggregation number, N, smaller than five can steadily exist in bulk phase. The other excess active molecules can only produce infinite aggregation and form a critical nucleus of vapor-liquid phase transition. Without any outer perturbation the state point of CAC corresponds to the critical superheated or supercooled state. Meanwhile, a model of two-region structure of a nucleus is proposed to describe nucleus evolution. The interfacial tension between bulk liquid phase and nucleus is dependent of the density gradient in the transition region and varies with the structure change of the transition region. With the interfacial tension calculated using this model, the predicted nucleation rate is very close to the experimental measurement. Furthermore, this model and associated analysis provides solid theoretical evidences to clarify the definition of nucleation rate and understand nucleation phenomenon with the insight into the physical nature.

  13. Anatomy and muscle activity of the dorsal fins in bamboo sharks and spiny dogfish during turning maneuvers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maia, Anabela; Wilga, Cheryl D

    2013-11-01

    Stability and procured instability characterize two opposing types of swimming, steady and maneuvering, respectively. Fins can be used to manipulate flow to adjust stability during swimming maneuvers either actively using muscle control or passively by structural control. The function of the dorsal fins during turning maneuvering in two shark species with different swimming modes is investigated here using musculoskeletal anatomy and muscle function. White-spotted bamboo sharks are a benthic species that inhabits complex reef habitats and thus have high requirements for maneuverability. Spiny dogfish occupy a variety of coastal and continental shelf habitats and spend relatively more time cruising in open water. These species differ in dorsal fin morphology and fin position along the body. Bamboo sharks have a larger second dorsal fin area and proportionally more muscle insertion into both dorsal fins. The basal and radial pterygiophores are plate-like structures in spiny dogfish and are nearly indistinguishable from one another. In contrast, bamboo sharks lack basal pterygiophores, while the radial pterygiophores form two rows of elongated rectangular elements that articulate with one another. The dorsal fin muscles are composed of a large muscle mass that extends over the ceratotrichia overlying the radials in spiny dogfish. However, in bamboo sharks, the muscle mass is divided into multiple distinct muscles that insert onto the ceratotrichia. During turning maneuvers, the dorsal fin muscles are active in both species with no differences in onset between fin sides. Spiny dogfish have longer burst durations on the outer fin side, which is consistent with opposing resistance to the medium. In bamboo sharks, bilateral activation of the dorsal in muscles could also be stiffening the fin throughout the turn. Thus, dogfish sharks passively stiffen the dorsal fin structurally and functionally, while bamboo sharks have more flexible dorsal fins, which result from a

  14. Posture And Dorsal Shape At A Sitted Workstation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lepoutre, F. X.; Cloup, P.; Guerra, T. M.

    1986-07-01

    The ergonomic analysis of a control or a supervision workstation for a vehicle or a process, necessitates to take into account the biomecanical visuo-postural system. The measurements, which are necessary to do, must give informations about the spatial direction of the limbs, the dorsal shape, eventually the eyes direction, and the postural evolution during the working time. More, the smallness of the work station, the backrest and sometime a vibratory environment made use specific, strong and small devices wich do not disturb the operator. The measurement system which we propose is made of an optical device. This system is studied in relation with the french "Institute de Recherche pour les Transports" for an ergonomic analysis of a truck cabin. The optical device consists on placing on the body of the driver on particular places materializing specially members and trunck joint points, some drops which reflect the infra-red raies coming from a specific light. Several cameras whose relative positions depend on the experiment site, transmit video signals to the associated treatment systems which extract the coordinates (Xi, Yi) of each drop in the observation scope of any camera. By regrouping the informations obtained from every view, it is possible to obtain the spatial drop position and then to restore the individual's posture in three dimensions. Therefore, this device doesn't enable us, in consideration of the backrest, to analyse the dorsal posture, which is important with regard to dorsal pains frequency. For that reason, we complete the measurements by using a "curvometer". This device consists of a flexible stick fixed upon the individual back with elastic belts, whose distorsions (curvature in m-1) are measured, in the individual's sagittal plane, with 4 strain gauges pairs; located approximately at the level of vertebra D1, D6, D10 and L3. A fifth measurement, concerning the inclination (in degree) of the lower part of the stick, makes it is possible to

  15. Dorsal Branches of Abdominal Aorta in the Rabbit and the European Hare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flešárová S.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to describe the anatomical arrangement of the branches arising from the dorsal surface of the aorta abdominalis in the rabbit and the hare. The study was carried out on ten adult rabbits and ten adult European hares using the corrosion technique. After the euthanasia, the vascular network was perfused with saline. After polymerization of the casting medium, the maceration was carried out in a KOH solution. We found different variations in; the number of arteries, level of their origin and arrangement. The aa. lumbales of the same level arose by means of a common trunk or their origin was independent. The aa. lumbales VI or aa. lumbales VI et VII originated also from the a. sacralis mediana. By aa. lumbales we found an important interspecies difference in; number, diameter, ramification and density of dorsal branches, which are designated for the dorsal muscles of the body stem. All listed parameters of branches were higher in the hare. This anatomical arrangement of dorsal branches is adapted to the higher movement activity of the hare. According to our results, it can be concluded that the anatomical arrangement of the branches of the aorta abdominalis shows a higher number of variations in the domesticated rabbit in comparison with the hare.

  16. On the possible detection of quantum-mechanical interferences between gravitational forces and nucleus-nucleus Coulomb forces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silveira, R. da

    1996-07-01

    Possible effects of quantum-mechanical interferences between gravitational forces and the nucleus-nucleus Coulomb interaction are discussed. It is shown that, although very small, these effects could be measured using low energy scattering between identical heavy nuclei, e.g. for the system 208 Pb + 208 Pb (E L = 5 MeV). (author)

  17. Dorsal free graft urethroplasty for urethral stricture by ventral sagittal urethrotomy approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asopa, H S; Garg, M; Singhal, G G; Singh, L; Asopa, J; Nischal, A

    2001-11-01

    To explore the feasibility of applying a dorsal free graft to treat urethral stricture by the ventral sagittal urethrotomy approach without mobilizing the urethra. Twelve patients with long or multiple strictures of the anterior urethra were treated by a dorsal free full-thickness preputial or buccal mucosa graft. The urethra was not separated from the corporal bodies and was opened in the midline over the stricture. The floor of the urethra was incised, and an elliptical raw area was created over the tunica on which a free full-thickness graft of preputial or buccal mucosa was secured. The urethra was retubularized in one stage. After a follow-up of 8 to 40 months, one recurrence developed and required dilation. The ventral sagittal urethrotomy approach for dorsal free graft urethroplasty is not only feasible and successful, but is easy to perform.

  18. Dynamics of hadron-nucleus interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wallace, S.J.

    1981-07-01

    Recent progress in diffraction theory shows that proton-nucleus scattering at nonforward angles is dominated by the interference of waves from two or more bright spots. Analytic formulas based on asymptotic theories of diffraction yield valuable new insights into the scattering and these formulas can be readily extended to illuminate the role of dynamical ingredients, i.e., the nucleon-nucleon amplitudes. The governing parameters of the diffraction and some direct connections between the observed cross sections and the input dynamics are reviewed. New information regarding the nucleon-nucleon parameters based on recent phase shift analyses show some systematic differences from the effective NN amplitudes which produce fits to proton-nucleus diffraction data. Recent progress in understanding the role of Δ-isobars in proton-nucleus dynamics is reviewed. 126 references

  19. Dorsal onlay lingual mucosal graft urethroplasty for urethral strictures in women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Girish K; Pandey, Ashwani; Bansal, Harbans; Swain, Sameer; Das, Suren K; Trivedi, Sameer; Dwivedi, Udai S; Singh, Pratap B

    2010-05-01

    To describe the technique and results of dorsal onlay lingual mucosal graft (LMG) urethroplasty for the definitive management of urethral strictures in women. In all, 15 women (mean age 42 years) with a history suggestive of urethral stricture who had undergone multiple urethral dilatations and/or urethrotomy were selected for dorsal onlay LMG urethroplasty after thorough evaluation, from October 2006 to March 2008. After a suprameatal inverted-U incision, the dorsal aspect of the urethra was dissected and urethrotomy was done at the 12 o'clock position across the strictured segment. Tailored LMG harvested from the ventrolateral aspect of the tongue was then sutured to the urethrotomy wound over an 18 F silicone catheter. The preoperative mean maximum urinary flow rate of 7.2 mL/s increased to 29.87 mL/s, 26.95 mL/s and 26.86 mL/s with a 'normal' flow rate curve at 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up, respectively. One patient at the 3-month follow-up had submeatal stenosis and required urethral dilatation thrice at monthly intervals. At the 1-year follow-up, none of the present patients had any neurosensory complications, urinary incontinence, or long-term functional/aesthetic complication at the donor site. LMG urethroplasty using the dorsal onlay technique should be offered for correction of persistent female urethral stricture as it provides a simple, safe and effective approach with durable results.

  20. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) examination of the normal spinal cord at 1. 5 Tesla

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Halimi, P.; Sigal, R.; Doyon, D.; Melki, P.; Francke, J.P.

    1988-01-01

    The remarkable analytical power of NMR imaging applied to the study of the spinal cord and the adjacent regions, and especially by means of high-field devices, requires a very precise knowledge of the anatomy. The spinal cord is analysed in its diverse regions: bulbomedullar junction, cervical and dorsal, conus medullaris and cauda equina in the various planes (sagittal, axial and frontal), which are confronted with anatomical sections.

  1. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) examination of the normal spinal cord at 1.5 Tesla

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halimi, P.; Sigal, R.; Doyon, D.; Melki, P.; Francke, J.P.

    1988-01-01

    The remarkable analytical power of NMR imaging applied to the study of the spinal cord and the adjacent regions, and especially by means of high-field devices, requires a very precise knowledge of the anatomy. The spinal cord is analysed in its diverse regions: bulbomedullar junction, cervical and dorsal, conus medullaris and cauda equina in the various planes (sagittal, axial and frontal), which are confronted with anatomical sections [fr

  2. Transport of glutathione into the nucleus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Queval, Guillaume; Foyer, Christine

    2014-10-01

    The tripeptide thiol glutathione (GSH) is present in the nucleus of plant and animal cells. However, the functions of GSH in the nucleus remain poorly characterised. GSH appears to become sequestered in the nucleus at the early stages of the cell cycle. As part of our search for proteins that may be involved in GSH transport into the nucleus, we studied the functions of the nucleoporin called Alacrima Achalasia aDrenal Insufficiency Neurologic disorder (ALADIN). ALADIN is encoded by the Achalasia-Addisonianism-Alacrimia (AAAS) gene in mammalian cells. Defects in ALADIN promote adrenal disorders and lead to the triple A syndrome in humans. The ALADIN protein localizes to the nuclear envelope in Arabidopsis thaliana and interacts with other components of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). We characterised the functions of the ALADIN protein in an Arabidopsis thaliana T-DNA insertion knockout mutant, which shows slow growth compared to the wild type. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  3. Shape representations in the primate dorsal visual stream

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tom eTheys

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The primate visual system extracts object shape information for object recognition in the ventral visual stream. Recent research has demonstrated that object shape is also processed in the dorsal visual stream, which is specialized for spatial vision and the planning of actions. A number of studies have investigated the coding of 2D shape in the anterior intraparietal area (AIP, one of the end-stage areas of the dorsal stream which has been implicated in the extraction of affordances for the purpose of grasping. These findings challenge the current understanding of area AIP as a critical stage in the dorsal stream for the extraction of object affordances. The representation of three-dimensional (3D shape has been studied in two interconnected areas known to be critical for object grasping: area AIP and area F5a in the ventral premotor cortex (PMv, to which AIP projects. In both areas neurons respond selectively to 3D shape defined by binocular disparity, but the latency of the neural selectivity is approximately 10 ms longer in F5a compared to AIP, consistent with its higher position in the hierarchy of cortical areas. Furthermore F5a neurons were more sensitive to small amplitudes of 3D curvature and could detect subtle differences in 3D structure more reliably than AIP neurons. In both areas, 3D-shape selective neurons were co-localized with neurons showing motor-related activity during object grasping in the dark, indicating a close convergence of visual and motor information on the same clusters of neurons.

  4. SMARCB1/INI1 inactivation in renal medullary carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calderaro, Julien; Moroch, Julien; Pierron, Gaelle; Pedeutour, Florence; Grison, Camille; Maillé, Pascale; Soyeux, Pascale; de la Taille, Alexandre; Couturier, Jérome; Vieillefond, Annick; Rousselet, Marie Christine; Delattre, Olivier; Allory, Yves

    2012-09-01

    Renal medullary carcinoma (RMC), a rare and highly aggressive tumour which occurs in patients with sickle-cell disease, shares many clinicopathological features with collecting duct carcinoma (CDC). The molecular mechanisms underlying RMC and CDC are mainly unknown, and there is ongoing debate about their status as distinct entities. Loss of expression of SMARCB1/INI1, a chromatin remodelling regulator and repressor of cyclin D1 transcription, has been reported recently in RMC. The aim of our study was to investigate if such loss of expression is specific for RMC. SMARCB1/INI1 genetic alterations and cyclin D1 expression were also studied. Using immunochemistry, neoplastic cells showed complete loss of SMARCB1/INI1 expression in all six cases of RMC but in only one of 22 cases of CDC. In two RMC cases investigated, comparative genomic hybridization demonstrated complete loss of one SMARCB1/INI1 allele, with no other genomic imbalances, and no mutations were found on the remaining allele. Cyclin D1 was expressed in all RMCs, suggesting that SMARCB1/INI1 inactivation may result in increased cyclin D1 transcription. The specific SMARCB1/INI1 inactivation observed in RMCs suggests that RMC and CDC are different entities. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  5. Localization and characterization of angiotensin II receptor binding and angiotensin converting enzyme in the human medulla oblongata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, A M; Chai, S Y; Clevers, J; McKinley, M J; Paxinos, G; Mendelsohn, F A

    1988-03-08

    Angiotensin II receptor and angiotensin converting enzyme distributions in the human medulla oblongata were localised by quantitative in vitro autoradiography. Angiotensin II receptors were labelled with the antagonist analogue 125I-[Sar1, Ile8] AII while angiotensin converting enzyme was labelled with 125I-351A, a derivative of the specific converting enzyme inhibitor, lisinopril. Angiotensin II receptor binding and angiotensin converting enzyme are present in high concentrations in the nucleus of the solitary tract, the dorsal motor nucleus of vagus, the rostral and caudal ventrolateral reticular nucleus, and in a band connecting the dorsal and ventral regions. In the rostral and caudal ventrolateral reticular nucleus, angiotensin II receptors are distributed in a punctate pattern that registers with neuronal cell bodies. The distribution and density of these cell bodies closely resemble those of catecholamine-containing neurones mapped by others. In view of the known interactions of angiotensin II with both central and peripheral catecholamine-containing neurons of laboratory animals, the current anatomical findings suggest similar interactions between these neuroactive compounds in the human central nervous system. The presence of angiotensin II receptors and angiotensin converting enzyme in the nucleus of the solitary tract, dorsal motor nucleus of vagus, and rostral and caudal ventrolateral reticular nucleus demonstrates sites for central angiotensin II to exert its known actions on vasopressin release and autonomic functions including blood pressure control. These data also suggest a possible interaction between angiotensin II and central catecholeminergic systems.

  6. Tactile spatial working memory activates the dorsal extrastriate cortical pathway in congenitally blind individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonino, D; Ricciardi, E; Sani, L; Gentili, C; Vanello, N; Guazzelli, M; Vecchi, T; Pietrini, P

    2008-09-01

    In sighted individuals, both the visual and tactile version of the same spatial working memory task elicited neural responses in the dorsal "where" cortical pathway (Ricciardi et al., 2006). Whether the neural response during the tactile working memory task is due to visually-based spatial imagery or rather reflects a more abstract, supramodal organization of the dorsal cortical pathway remains to be determined. To understand the role of visual experience on the functional organization of the dorsal cortical stream, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) here we examined brain response in four individuals with congenital or early blindness and no visual recollection, while they performed the same tactile spatial working memory task, a one-back recognition of 2D and 3D matrices. The blind subjects showed a significant activation in bilateral posterior parietal cortex, dorsolateral and inferior prefrontal areas, precuneus, lateral occipital cortex, and cerebellum. Thus, dorsal occipito-parietal areas are involved in mental imagery dealing with spatial components in subjects without prior visual experience and in response to a non-visual task. These data indicate that recruitment of the dorsal cortical pathway in response to the tactile spatial working memory task is not mediated by visually-based imagery and that visual experience is not a prerequisite for the development of a more abstract functional organization of the dorsal stream. These findings, along with previous data indicating a similar supramodal functional organization within the ventral cortical pathway and the motion processing brain regions, may contribute to explain how individuals who are born deprived of sight are able to interact effectively with the surrounding world.

  7. Right dorsal colon ultrasonography in normal adult ponies and miniature horses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zak, Agnieszka; Baron, Monika; Cylna, Marta; Borowicz, Hieronim

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the normal location, wall thickness and motility of the right dorsal colon in adult ponies and miniature horses. The abdominal ultrasonography examination was performed in a study group consisting of 23 ponies and miniature horses and in a control group comprising ten Thoroughbred horses. The procedure was performed in unsedated standing animals. The location and the thickness of the right dorsal colonic wall was examined on the right side of the abdomen between the 10th and the 14th intercostal space. The contractility was recorded in the 12th intercostal space. A comparative analysis between the study group and control group was carried out using the Student’s t-test. Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient was used to calculate the correlation between the thickness of the colonic wall as well as the number of peristaltic movements and age, wither height and body mass of the animals. The right dorsal colon was identified in all the horses in the 12th intercostal space. In all the intercostal spaces the mean ± standard deviation (SD) wall thickness of the right dorsal colon was 0.27 ± 0.03 cm in the horses from the study group and 0.37 ± 0.03 cm in the control horses. The mean number of peristaltic contractions was 4.05 ± 1.07 per minute in the animals from the study group and 1.7 ± 0.46 contractions per minute in the control group. The values of the ultrasonographic wall thickness and peristaltic motility in small breed horses in the present study were different from the values obtained for large breed horses. The study also found that the right dorsal colon in small breed horses is physiologically located in the 12th intercostal space. This suggests that different reference values should be used in small horse breeds when performing an ultrasound examination. PMID:29065146

  8. Dorsal column sensory axons degenerate due to impaired microvascular perfusion after spinal cord injury in rats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muradov, Johongir M.; Ewan, Eric E.; Hagg, Theo

    2013-01-01

    The mechanisms contributing to axon loss after spinal cord injury (SCI) are largely unknown but may involve microvascular loss as we have previously suggested. Here, we used a mild contusive injury (120 kdyn IH impactor) at T9 in rats focusing on ascending primary sensory dorsal column axons, anterogradely traced from the sciatic nerves. The injury caused a rapid and progressive loss of dorsal column microvasculature and oligodendrocytes at the injury site and penumbra and a ~70% loss of the sensory axons, by 24 hours. To model the microvascular loss, focal ischemia of the T9 dorsal columns was achieved via phototoxic activation of intravenously injected rose bengal. This caused an ~53% loss of sensory axons and an ~80% loss of dorsal column oligodendrocytes by 24 hours. Axon loss correlated with the extent and axial length of microvessel and oligodendrocyte loss along the dorsal column. To determine if oligodendrocyte loss contributes to axon loss, the glial toxin ethidium bromide (EB; 0.3 µg/µl) was microinjected into the T9 dorsal columns, and resulted in an ~88% loss of dorsal column oligodendrocytes and an ~56% loss of sensory axons after 72 hours. EB also caused an ~72% loss of microvessels. Lower concentrations of EB resulted in less axon, oligodendrocyte and microvessel loss, which were highly correlated (R2 = 0.81). These data suggest that focal spinal cord ischemia causes both oligodendrocyte and axon degeneration, which are perhaps linked. Importantly, they highlight the need of limiting the penumbral spread of ischemia and oligodendrocyte loss after SCI in order to protect axons. PMID:23978615

  9. Rare patterns of dorsal puncture in Pterostichus oblongopunctatus (Coleoptera: Carabidae

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    Axel Schwerk

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Background The carabid beetle species Pterostichus oblongopunctatus is common in different types of forests in Poland and Europe. With respect to this species, some unclarities exist concerning the morphological feature of punctures on the elytra. P. oblongopunctatus has dorsal pits in the third interval of the elytra, the available identification keys, however, provide inconsistent information concerning the puncture in other intervals. During long-term studies at different study sites in Poland, the first author rarely but regularly discovered individuals with unusual dorsal puncture patterns, i.e., pits in the fifth and even in the seventh interval of the elytra. Since such rare patterns might be connected with special habitat characteristics, and thus have a potential as an indicator, the aim of the study was to test if they are connected with specific subpopulations (interaction groups, if they are related to the sex or size of the beetles, and if they are related to specific habitat conditions. Material and Methods We counted the pits on the elytra, determined the sex, and measured the length of the right elytron of individuals of P. oblongopunctatus collected at numerous study sites located within the borders of the Regional Directory of National Forests in Piła (Western Poland over the period 2014–2016. Results Altogether, 1,058 individuals of P. oblongopunctatus were subjected to statistical analysis. Almost 19% of the individuals had a dorsal puncture in the fifth interval of the elytra and about 0.7% had a dorsal puncture in the seventh interval of the elytra. In 2014 and 2015, significantly more females exhibited such unusual patterns of dorsal puncture than males. Even if not statistically significant, in 2016 also relatively more females showed such a pattern. Neither males nor females of the analysed individuals with usual puncture patterns showed a significant difference in the length of the right elytron from those with

  10. The ventral stream offers more affordance and the dorsal stream more memory than believed

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Postma, Albert; van der Lubbe, Robert Henricus Johannes; Zuidhoek, Sander

    2002-01-01

    Opposed to Norman's proposal, processing of affordance is likely to occur not solely in the dorsal stream but also in the ventral stream. Moreover, the dorsal stream might do more than just serve an important role in motor actions. It supports egocentric location coding as well. As such, it would

  11. RESULTS OF DIAGNOSTICAL BLOCK OF LONG DORSAL SACROILIAC LIGAMENT UNDER SONOGRAPHIC CONTROL IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN

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    Yurkovskiy A. M.

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: to improve effectiveness of diagnostic block of long dorsal sacroiliac ligament performed under sonographic control in patients with low back pain caused by pathology of this ligament. Material and methods: the research included 35 patients (average age 46,2±12,5 years with symptoms of low back pain caused by pathology of long dorsal sacroiliac ligament. Diagnostical block of the given ligament was made under ultrasound control. Results: significant pain syndrome reduction was observed in all patients with ligamentopathy of long dorsal sacroiliac ligament. Conclusion: compared to "blind" technique, long dorsal sacroiliac ligament block performed under sonographic control is a more efficient method of verification and treatment for low back pain syndrome in case of long dorsal sacroiliac ligament injury.

  12. Nucleus management with irrigating vectis

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    Srinivasan Aravind

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The main objective in modern cataract surgery is to achieve a better unaided visual acuity with rapid post-surgical recovery and minimal surgery-related complications. Early visual rehabilitation and better unaided vision can be achieved only by reducing the incision size. In manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS, incision is between 5.5 to 7 mm. Once the nucleus is prolapsed into the anterior chamber, it can be extracted through the tunnel. Nucleus extraction with an irrigating vectis is a very simple technique, which combines mechanical and hydrostatic forces to express out the nucleus. This technique is time-tested with good results and more than 95% of nuclei in MSICS are extracted in this way offering all the merits of phacoemulsification with the added benefits of having wider applicability, better safety, shorter learning curve and lower cost.

  13. Accelerated forgetting of contextual details due to focal medio-dorsal thalamic lesion

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    Sicong eTu

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Effects of thalamic nuclei damage and related white matter tracts on memory performance are still debated. This is particularly evident for the medio-dorsal thalamus which has been less clear in predicting amnesia than anterior thalamus changes. The current study addresses this issue by assessing 7 thalamic stroke patients with consistent unilateral lesions focal to the left medio-dorsal nuclei for immediate and delayed memory performance on standard visual and verbal tests of anterograde memory, and over the long-term (> 24 hrs on an object-location associative memory task. Thalamic patients showed selective impairment to delayed recall, but intact recognition memory. Patients also showed accelerated forgetting of contextual information after a 24 hour delay, compared to controls. Importantly, the mammillothalamic tract was intact in all patients, which suggests a role for the medio-dorsal nuclei in recall and early consolidation memory processes.

  14. Connections of the medial posterior parietal cortex (area 7m) in the monkey.

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    Leichnetz, G R

    2001-06-01

    The afferent and efferent cortical and subcortical connections of the medial posterior parietal cortex (area 7m) were studied in cebus (Cebus apella) and macaque (Macaca fascicularis) monkeys using the retrograde and anterograde capabilities of the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) technique. The principal intraparietal corticocortical connections of area 7m in both cebus and macaque cases were with the ipsilateral medial bank of the intraparietal sulcus (MIP) and adjacent superior parietal lobule (area 5), inferior parietal lobule (area 7a), lateral bank of the IPS (area 7ip), caudal parietal operculum (PGop), dorsal bank of the caudal superior temporal sulcus (visual area MST), and medial prestriate cortex (including visual area PO and caudal medial lobule). Its principal frontal corticocortical connections were with the prefrontal cortex in the shoulder above the principal sulcus and the cortex in the shoulder above the superior ramus of the arcuate sulcus (SAS), the area purported to contain the smooth eye movement-related frontal eye field (FEFsem) in the cebus monkey by other investigators. There were moderate connections with the cortex in the rostral bank of the arcuate sulcus (purported to contain the saccade-related frontal eye field; FEFsac), supplementary eye field (SEF), and rostral dorsal premotor area (PMDr). Area 7m also had major connections with the cingulate cortex (area 23), particularly the ventral bank of the cingulate sulcus. The principal subcortical connections of area 7m were with the dorsal portion of the ventrolateral thalamic (VLc) nucleus, lateral posterior thalamic nucleus, lateral pulvinar, caudal mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and medial pulvinar, central lateral, central superior lateral, and central inferior intralaminar thalamic nuclei, dorsolateral caudate nucleus and putamen, middle region of the claustrum, nucleus of the diagonal band, zona incerta, pregeniculate nucleus, anterior and posterior pretectal nuclei, intermediate layer of

  15. Key Brainstem Structures Activated during Hypoxic Exposure in One-day-old Mice Highlight Characteristics for Modeling Breathing Network in Premature Infants

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    Joubert, Fanny; Loiseau, Camille; Perrin-Terrin, Anne-Sophie; Cayetanot, Florence; Frugière, Alain; Voituron, Nicolas; Bodineau, Laurence

    2016-01-01

    We mapped and characterized changes in the activity of brainstem cell groups under hypoxia in one-day-old newborn mice, an animal model in which the central nervous system at birth is particularly immature. The classical biphasic respiratory response characterized by transient hyperventilation, followed by severe ventilation decline, was associated with increased c-FOS immunoreactivity in brainstem cell groups: the nucleus of the solitary tract, ventral reticular nucleus of the medulla, retrotrapezoid/parafacial region, parapyramidal group, raphe magnus nucleus, lateral, and medial parabrachial nucleus, and dorsal subcoeruleus nucleus. In contrast, the hypoglossal nucleus displayed decreased c-FOS immunoreactivity. There were fewer or no activated catecholaminergic cells activated in the medulla oblongata, whereas ~45% of the c-FOS-positive cells in the dorsal subcoeruleus were co-labeled. Approximately 30% of the c-FOS-positive cells in the parapyramidal group were serotoninergic, whereas only a small portion were labeled for serotonin in the raphe magnus nucleus. None of the c-FOS-positive cells in the retrotrapezoid/parafacial region were co-labeled for PHOX2B. Thus, the hypoxia-activated brainstem neuronal network of one-day-old mice is characterized by (i) the activation of catecholaminergic cells of the dorsal subcoeruleus nucleus, a structure implicated in the strong depressive pontine influence previously reported in the fetus but not in newborns, (ii) the weak activation of catecholaminergic cells of the ventral reticular nucleus of the medulla, an area involved in hypoxic hyperventilation, and (iii) the absence of PHOX2B-positive cells activated in the retrotrapezoid/parafacial region. Based on these results, one-day-old mice could highlight characteristics for modeling the breathing network of premature infants. PMID:28018238

  16. Key brainstem structures activated during hypoxic exposure in one-day-old mice highlight characteristics for modelling breathing network in premature infants

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    Fanny JOUBERT

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available We mapped and characterized changes in the activity of brainstem cell groups under hypoxia in one-day-old newborn mice, an animal model in which the central nervous system at birth is particularly immature. The classical biphasic respiratory response characterized by transient hyperventilation, followed by severe ventilation decline, was associated with increased c-FOS immunoreactivity in brainstem cell groups: the nucleus of the solitary tract, ventral reticular nucleus of the medulla, retrotrapezoid/parafacial region, parapyramidal group, raphe magnus nucleus, lateral and medial parabrachial nucleus, and dorsal subcoeruleus nucleus. In contrast, the hypoglossal nucleus displayed decreased c-FOS immunoreactivity. There were fewer or no activated catecholaminergic cells activated in the medulla oblongata, whereas approximately 45% of the c-FOS-positive cells in the dorsal subcoeruleus were co-labelled. Approximately 30% of the c-FOS-positive cells in the parapyramidal group were serotoninergic, whereas only a small portion were labelled for serotonin in the raphe magnus nucleus. None of the c-FOS-positive cells in the retrotrapezoid/parafacial region were co-labelled for PHOX2B. Thus, the hypoxia-activated brainstem neuronal network of one-day-old mice is characterized by i the activation of catecholaminergic cells of the dorsal subcoeruleus nucleus, a structure implicated in the strong depressive pontine influence previously reported in the fetus but not in newborns, ii the weak activation of catecholaminergic cells of the ventral reticular nucleus of the medulla, an area involved in hypoxic hyperventilation, and iii the absence of PHOX2B-positive cells activated in the retrotrapezoid/parafacial region. Based on these results, one-day-old mice could highlight characteristics for modelling the breathing network of premature infants.

  17. Changes in neurochemicals within the ventrolateral medullary respiratory column in awake goats after carotid body denervation

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    Miller, Justin Robert; Neumueller, Suzanne; Muere, Clarissa; Olesiak, Samantha; Pan, Lawrence; Hodges, Matthew R.

    2013-01-01

    A current and major unanswered question is why the highly sensitive central CO2/H+ chemoreceptors do not prevent hypoventilation-induced hypercapnia following carotid body denervation (CBD). Because perturbations involving the carotid bodies affect central neuromodulator and/or neurotransmitter levels within the respiratory network, we tested the hypothesis that after CBD there is an increase in inhibitory and/or a decrease in excitatory neurochemicals within the ventrolateral medullary column (VMC) in awake goats. Microtubules for chronic use were implanted bilaterally in the VMC within or near the pre-Bötzinger Complex (preBötC) through which mock cerebrospinal fluid (mCSF) was dialyzed. Effluent mCSF was collected and analyzed for neurochemical content. The goats hypoventilated (peak +22.3 ± 3.4 mmHg PaCO2) and exhibited a reduced CO2 chemoreflex (nadir, 34.8 ± 7.4% of control ΔV̇E/ΔPaCO2) after CBD with significant but limited recovery over 30 days post-CBD. After CBD, GABA and glycine were above pre-CBD levels (266 ± 29% and 189 ± 25% of pre-CBD; P 0.05) different from control after CBD. Analyses of brainstem tissues collected 30 days after CBD exhibited 1) a midline raphe-specific reduction (P < 0.05) in the percentage of tryptophan hydroxylase–expressing neurons, and 2) a reduction (P < 0.05) in serotonin transporter density in five medullary respiratory nuclei. We conclude that after CBD, an increase in inhibitory neurotransmitters and a decrease in excitatory neuromodulation within the VMC/preBötC likely contribute to the hypoventilation and attenuated ventilatory CO2 chemoreflex. PMID:23869058

  18. The distribution of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) in the medulla oblongata, spinal cord, cranial and spinal nerves of frog, Microhyla ornata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jadhao, Arun G; Biswas, Saikat P; Bhoyar, Rahul C; Pinelli, Claudia

    2017-04-01

    Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) enzymatic activity has been reported in few amphibian species. In this study, we report its unusual localization in the medulla oblongata, spinal cord, cranial nerves, spinal nerves, and ganglions of the frog, Microhyla ornata. In the rhombencephalon, at the level of facial and vagus nerves, the NADPH-d labeling was noted in the nucleus of the abducent and facial nerves, dorsal nucleus of the vestibulocochlear nerve, the nucleus of hypoglossus nerve, dorsal and lateral column nucleus, the nucleus of the solitary tract, the dorsal field of spinal grey, the lateral and medial motor fields of spinal grey and radix ventralis and dorsalis (2-10). Many ependymal cells around the lining of the fourth ventricle, both facial and vagus nerves and dorsal root ganglion, were intensely labeled with NADPH-d. Most strikingly the NADPH-d activity was seen in small and large sized motoneurons in both medial and lateral motor neuron columns on the right and left sides of the brain. This is the largest stained group observed from the caudal rhombencephalon up to the level of radix dorsalis 10 in the spinal cord. The neurons were either oval or elongated in shape with long processes and showed significant variation in the nuclear and cellular diameter. A massive NADPH-d activity in the medulla oblongata, spinal cord, and spinal nerves implied an important role of this enzyme in the neuronal signaling as well as in the modulation of motor functions in the peripheral nervous systems of the amphibians. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Alterations in substance P binding in brain nuclei of spontaneously hypertensive rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shigematsu, K.; Niwa, M.; Kurihara, M.; Castren, E.; Saavedra, J.M.

    1987-01-01

    Substance P binding sites were characterized in brain nuclei of young (4-wk-old) and adult (16-wk-old) spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats by quantitative autoradiography. Young SHR presented higher affinity constants (K/sub A/) than young WKY. The changes were restricted to locus coeruleus, the area postrema, the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, and to discrete areas located in lobes 9 and 10 of the vermis cerebelli of SHR. There were no differences in the maximal binding capacity (B/sub max/) except in the nucleus ambiguus where the B/sub max/ was lower than WKY. Conversely, the number of substance P binding sites was higher in the locus coeruleus, the nucleus tegmentalis dorsalis, the nucleus ambiguus, the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, the hypoglossal nucleus, the inferior olivary nucleus, and lobes 9 and 10 of the vermis cerebelli of adult SHR when compared with adult WKY. The results support the hypothesis of a role for brain substance P in blood pressure regulation and in genetic hypertension in rats

  20. Adaptive Control of Dorsal Raphe by 5-HT4 in the Prefrontal Cortex Prevents Persistent Hypophagia following Stress

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    Alexandra Jean

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Transient reduced food intake (hypophagia following high stress could have beneficial effects on longevity, but paradoxically, hypophagia can persist and become anorexia-like behavior. The neural underpinnings of stress-induced hypophagia and the mechanisms by which the brain prevents the transition from transient to persistent hypophagia remain undetermined. In this study, we report the involvement of a network governing goal-directed behavior (decision. This network consists of the ascending serotonergic inputs from the dorsal raphe nucleus (DR to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC. Specifically, adult restoration of serotonin 4 receptor (5-HT4R expression in the mPFC rescues hypophagia and specific molecular changes related to depression resistance in the DR (5-HT release elevation, 5-HT1A receptor, and 5-HT transporter reductions of stressed 5-HT4R knockout mice. The adult mPFC-5-HT4R knockdown mimics the null phenotypes. When mPFC-5-HT4Rs are overexpressed and DR-5-HT1ARs are blocked in the DR, hypophagia following stress persists, suggesting an antidepressant action of early anorexia.