C-peptide fragments stimulate glucose utilization in diabetic rats

Studies of C-peptide cellular effects show that not only the full-length native peptide but also specific C-terminal fragments are biologically active in in vitro systems. In the present study, the effect of five C-peptide fragments and the native peptide on whole-body glucose turnover was studied in streptozotocin diabetic rats using the insulin clamp technique. Insulin was infused intravenously at 18 pmol kg^–1 min^–1 for 90 min and blood glucose concentration was clamped at 8 and 4 mM in diabetic and non-diabetic animals. A steady state was reached during the last 30 min of the study period. Rat C-peptide II and fragments comprising residues 27–31 and 28–31 were effective in augmenting glucose turnover in diabetic rats (+100% to 150%), while no significant effects were seen for segments 1–26, 11–19 and 11–15. The metabolic clearance rate for glucose during infusion of C-peptide or fragments 27–31 and 28–31 in diabetic rats was similar to that seen in non-diabetic animals. We conclude that C-terminal tetra- and pentapeptides, but not fragments from the middle segment of C-peptide, are as effective as the full-length peptide in stimulating whole-body glucose turnover in diabetic rats.Received 18 December 2003; received after revision 19 January 2004; accepted 21 January 2004     

Tierexperimentelle Studien über die Alkoholverbrennung

Summary While in dogs intravenously administered alcohol is eliminated as a straight function of time, it was found that the combustion of alcohol, when given intraperitoneally in rats, depends on the concentration at a given time. Since the dog — like man — belongs to a species with a slow alcohol combustion, while the rat (together with the mouse) has the highest metabolic velocity, it is supposed that the supply of alcohol dehydrogenase might determine not only the metabolic velocity as such but also the rhythm of alcohol combustion: when the ADH supply is low, the combustion capacity limit will be reached at low blood alcohol concentrations and the elimination curve will become linear.     

The cephalopod heart: The evolution of a high-performance invertebrate pump

Cephalopods typically have high metabolic rates. They have blood in which the oxygen carrier is haemocyanin, a pigment that is found only in solution and which never seems to be present in concentrations that will transport more than 4–5 vols % of oxygen. Their hearts must in consequence have very high cardiac outputs. In this account the performance of the heart ofNautilus, the only surviving ectocochleate, is contrasted with the performance of the hearts of coleoids,Octopus which has a relatively low metabolic rate (for a coleoid) and squids which have very high oxygen uptakes by any standards. In all these animals, heartbeat frequency is temperature-dependent and the additional oxygen demand in exercise is met very largely by a 2–3-fold increase in stroke volume. With the exception ofNautilus, cephalopods tend to utilise nearly all of the oxygen transported in the blood even at rest; they show very limited factorial scopes. Specific power output has, however, increased dramatically from 2.7 mWg^–1 in an activeNautilus to 5.5 mWg^–1 inOctopus and up to 20 or 30 mWg^–1 in species ofLoligo. The increase is almost entirely due to a 10-fold increase in heartbeat frequency. It is argued that frequency cannot be used as a means of responding to extra demand in an animal that must also carry automatic compensation for changes in metabolic rate dependent upon the ambient temperature, and that the use of frequency in some squid may be associated with a reduced temperature tolerance. Cephalopod systemic hearts do not scale directly with body mass, like the hearts of fish and the higher vertebrates. Smaller cephalopods have relatively larger hearts (as Mass^0.9). A typical 100-g coleoid would have a heart mass of 0.15 g. Oegopsid squids appear to be exceptional with hearts twice as large.     

机器人的鲁棒控制

主要研究了机器人系统的鲁棒控制。介绍了机器人的鲁棒控制模型后,利用最优控制问题求解鲁棒控制,这种方法降低的构造Liapunov函数的难度。只需要求解一个代数的黎卡提方程,便可得到最优控制器,而且证明了这个最优控制器也是鲁棒控制器。但又由于基于这种方法得到的控制器较复杂而难以实现,而且能得到渐近稳定的定性结果,而不能得到其平衡点的衰减速率以及平衡点的吸引域的估计。因此在本文的第三部分中应用了算子非线性测废理论。基于非线性测度方法求解的鲁棒控制器,不仅简单易求,而且克服了压缩映像原理估计压缩常数的困难,在得到系统渐近稳定性的同时得到了系统平衡点的衰减速度和吸引域的估计。最后给出了两关节机器人鲁棒控制的的实例。由于控制器设计与f（X）无关,相关结果会比较保守,可为相关设计研究提供一些参考。     

Hensen's node — The ’Organizer’ of the amniote embryo

Conclusion If the hundred years of study on theHensen's node — i.e. on gastrulation and early determination of the embryos of amniote vertebrates — teach anything, they teach in the first place how limited and fragmentary our knowledge is about one of the most central problems of the whole developmental biology. We know that the events in early amniote development — or early avian development, on which our data and ideas are nearly all based — in many ways resemble those in early Amphibian development, which is only slightly better understood, but we also know that direct extrapolations from anamniotes to amniotes cannot be made without proper reservations and without studying the amniote embryos themselves. And we have practically no idea of what is really going on in the cells of the blastoderm when they move, invaginate, induce or are induced, interact, become determined and begin their differentiation. We know that at the stages of gastrulation, the node, and indeed the whole blastoderm, is in a very labile state and can be regulated in many ways to produce a harmonious whole — or a monster — although we only understand very poorly the modes of this regulation. The progress made during the decades, and particularly in recent years, shows, however, that useful information is accumulating to produce a coherent picture, and there is no reason to be pessimistic.Dedicated to ProfessorEtienne Wolff on the occasion of his retirement.     

Progress in screening for inborn errors of metabolism

Summary The inborn errors of metabolism are a series of individually rare biochemical anomalies some of which cause serious clinical manifestations. They are of great interest to biochemists and geneticists, as well as to paediatricians and internist for whom they often present special diagnostic and therapeutic problems. The study of the inborn errors of metabolism also has implications in the fields of epidemiology and social medicine. The number of known inborn errors of metabolism has increased rapidly in recent years, and others, as yet unidentified, presumably await recognition. Only a few of these conditions can be treated now, but the realisation that early diagnosis is essential in order to achieve good results has stimulated interest in the possibility of examining either whole populations or selected predisposed groups of individuals for biochemical differences which characterise particular inherited metabolic diseases.This article reviews some recent developments with particular reference to the indications for such screening programmes and progress in the identification of previously unknown inborn errors of metabolism in otherwise homogeneous population groups. — The inborn errors of metabolism are due to single gene mutations. — Recognition of the asymptomatic individuals who are heterozygous for the abnormal gene causing the disease may be important clinically and the identification of these individuals has to be considered as one aspect of metabolic screening for the inborn errors of metabolism.     

Prevention of experimental liver metastases by D-galactose

Summary The metastasis of malignant tumors from a primary site to near and distant secondary sites is probably the most important event in the pathogenesis of cancer and it accounts for most cancer deaths¹. Whereas advances in the treatment of primary cancer have led to increased patient survival, metastatic cancers are still the most difficult group of diseases to treat successfully². As organ-characteristic lectins play an important role in the organ manifestation of metastatic islets^3,4, it might be possible (e.g. during surgical operations on malignant tumors) to block those organ-characteristic lectins with the appropriate receptor-bearing glycoconjugates in order to inhibit the metastatic spread. Recent experiments have demonstrated that neuraminidase treatment of tumor cells (mouse sarcoma-1) alters in vivo (Balb/c-mice) the organotropic distribution of metastases; instead of being found exclusively in the lung, they are found both in lung and liver. However, pre-injection and regular application of D-galactose — the same holds for arabinogalactan^5,6,13 — prevents the settling of metastases in the liver but does not influence the metastatic process to the lung, whereas mannan — as a galactose-free control substance — does not alter the initial pattern of metastasis to lung and liver.     

Exogenous melatonin accelerates re-entrainment: Attenuation of the circadian rhythm of metabolic rate in the canary,Serinus canaria

Administration of melatonin in the drinking water (200 g/ml in 1% ethanol) decreased the time of re-entrainment of the circadian rhythm of the metabolic rate (measured as oxygen uptake) of domestic canaries (Serinus canaria) after 10-h delay phase shifts of the light-dark (LD) cycle by 1.3 days on average. Associated with faster re-entrainment, the amplitude of the metabolic rhythm was attenuated by 46% on, average on the first day after the shift as compared with about 25% in the controls. After re-entrainment, the amplitude of the metabolic rhythm during melatonin administration was about 23% lower than in the controls. The minimum resting metabolic rate increased by ca 5% on average during treatment with melatonin. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that constant high plasma levels of melatonin act on higher levels of the circadian oscillatory system rather than by directly affecting peripheral or central photoreceptors.     

Metabolism-weight relationship in some small nonpasserine birds

Summary The metabolism — weight relationship 24 different nonpasserine birds follows the equation M=0.138 W^0.716. No pronounced differences could be found, relating to the metabolic rate per unit body weight, between these birds and representatives of the order Passeriformes.     

Some thoughts on the importance of insulin in the regulation of the blood glucose level

Insulin can influence rates of glucose utilization by muscle and possibly other tissues via both direct and indirect effects. It can control the rate of fatty acid mobilization from adipose tissue and the rate of fatty acid oxidation in muscle, and the latter inhibits glucose utilization and oxidation. Insulin may influence the levels of insulin-like growth factors I and II, both of which have effects on rates of glucose utilization by muscle. The intertissue cycle between glucose and lactate — the Cori cycle, which is influenced by insulin — may provide another novel mechanism for control of blood glucose. How far other anti-insulin hormones affect these processes is not clear.     

Functional investigations of exercising muscle: a noninvasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy-magnetic resonance imaging approach

Muscle fatigue, which is defined as the decline in muscle performance during exercise, may occur at different sites along the pathway from the central nervous system through to the intramuscular contractile machinery. Historically, both impairment of neuromuscular transmission and peripheral alterations within the muscle have been proposed as causative factors of fatigue development. However, according to more recent studies, muscle energetics play a key role in this process. Intramyoplasmic accumulation of inorganic phosphate (P_i) and limitation in ATP availability have been frequently evoked as the main mechanisms leading to fatigue. Although attractive, these hypotheses have been elaborated on the basis of experimental results obtained in vitro, and their physiological relevance has never been clearly demonstrated in vivo. In that context, noninvasive methods such as 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy and surface electromyography have been employed to understand both metabolic and electrical aspects of muscle fatigue under physiological conditions. Mapping of muscles activated during exercise is another interesting issue which can be addressed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Exercise-induced T2 changes have been used in order to locate activated muscles and also as a quantitative index of exercise intensity. The main results related to both issues, i.e. the metabolic and electrical aspects of fatigue and the MRI functional investigation of exercising muscle, are discussed in the present review.Received 4 September 2003; received after revision 4 December 2003; accepted 22 December 2003     

Goitrin — a nitrosatable constituent of plant foodstuffs

Summary N-nitrosamides are known as direct-acting carcinogens at the site of their formation; they do not need any metabolic activation in vivo. The conditions leading to their formation in the stomach, and also their genotoxicity, have been thoroughly studied with some model compounds^{1, 2}. Several reports link this type of compound to the induction of gastric cancer in human^{3, 4}. However, only limited data are presently available about possible precursors of N-nitrosamides in foods. In the present study we found that goitrin — a naturally occurring compound in cruciferous vegetables and rape—could be easily nitrosated by treatment with nitrite under stomach conditions, yielding with loss of sulfur the N-nitroso-oxazolidone4 (fig.). This product has a mutagenicity pattern and potency similar to that of N-nitroso-N-methyl-N-nitroguanidine (MNNG) in the Ames Salmonella/mammalian microsome test.     

Rehabilitating theory: refusal of the ‘bottom-up’ construction of scientific phenomena

In this paper I inquire into Bogen and Woodward’s (1988) data/phenomena distinction, which in a similar way to Cartwright’s construal of the model of superconductivity (1995)—although in a different domain—argues for a ‘bottom-up’ construction of phenomena from data without the involvement of theory. I criticise Bogen and Woodward’s account by analysing their melting point of lead example in depth, which is usually cited in the literature to illustrate the data/phenomenon distinction. Yet, the main focus of this paper lies on Matthias Kaiser’s (1995) case study of the plate tectonic revolution, the most extensive case study that has been put forth to support the bottom-up construction of phenomena. On the basis of new historical evidence, which has been overlooked not only by Kaiser but also by the entire historical literature on the plate tectonic revolution, I demonstrate that phenomena are not constructed from the bottom-up but rather, admittedly counter-intuitively, from the top-down.     

基于矢量控制的感应电动机在游梁式抽油机上的启动性能分析

通过分析异步电动机的启动电流大、启动转矩小的原因,同时结合抽油机负载的特点,运用矢量控制方法对电动机的启动性能进行改善,使其与抽油机的负载相匹配.建立了基于MATLAB/Simulink的游梁式抽油机用异步电动机转差频率矢量控制系统的仿真模型,并对仿真结果与异步电动机的固有启动性能相比较.结果表明,采用转差频率矢量控制方法可以保证启动转矩同时减少启动电流,提高电动机的启动性能.     

Atomism, Poincaré and Planck

Planck's change in attitude to the question of whether atomic hypotheses were scientifically accessible, is discussed. It is argued contra Holton, that Planck's change in attitude to this question did not signal a methodological shift towards realism. The point of doing this is not just to investigate a significant episode in the history of quantum theory, but also to use the episode as a case study in support of a broader historical thesis. This thesis is that there was a widespread late-nineteenth century methodological tradition which motivated the change in status of certain ontological claims — e.g., that atoms exist — from ‘inaccessible to science’ to ‘scientifically acceptable’ even though those claims were not strictly ‘observable’. This methodological tradition is a hybrid of positivist and realist views. Thus, contrary to one popular view, the fin de siécle triumph of atomism is not to be seen as a triumph for a realist view of science Poincare's views are also used as an illustration.     

Subcellular steroid distribution in the rat adrenal cortex

Summary The subcellular distribution of main steroids (pregnenolone, progesterone, corticosterone) and of cholesterol — this last after correction according to exchanges occuring during differential centrifugation — is presented in the rat adrenal cortex. The distribution patterns are not necessarly the same as established according to the localization of hydroxylating enzymes.This work was carried out under contract of the Ministère de la Politique Scientifique within the framework of the Association: Euratom, University of Brussels, University of Pise and also thanks to a grant of the Caisse Générale d'Epargne et de Retraite.     

Vertebrate circadian rhythms: Retinal and extraretinal photoreception

Summary ERRs Both the pineal and the SCN are elements of the vertebrate multioscillator system although the relative importance of these 2 areas probably varies between, and possibly within, the different vertebrate classes. Extraretinal photoreception is a universal feature of submammalian vertebrates, and possibly of neonatal mammals, but is absent in adult mammals. Although the pineal systems of sumammalian vertebrates are photosensitive, the pineal system has been directly implicated as an extraocular site for the perception of entraining light cycles only in amphibians. In all other submammalian vertebrates extraretinal entrainment can occur in the absence of the pineal system although it is certainly conceivable that the pineal system may act as an alternate route of photoreception. These extraretinal-extrapineal receptors are located within the brain but the exact location(s) of these receptors within the brain is unknown. The hypothalamus would be likely area for this extraretinal photoreception, however, for several reasons: 1. Neurophysiological studies have identified light sensitive neurons in the frog's hypothalamus⁴³. 2. The avian hypothalamus is a site of photoperiodic photoreception^100–103. 3. The only other light sensitive structures known in vertebrates—the pineal system and the lateral eyes—are all derived embryologically from the hypothalamus. 4. The hypothalamus appears to be the site of a circadian clock and there may be advantages in having the photoreceptors and the clock anatomically close to one another. These considerations, of course, do not exclude the possibility that other brain areas may be involved as well. The reason behind the loss of extraretinal photoreception in mammals is uncertain. The shift to exclusive retinal photoreception in mammals may have been dictated by the extensive reorganization that occurred during the evolution of the mammalian brain. Or, perhaps, the increased size of the mammalian skull and overlying tissue made direct photoreception difficult and necessitated a shift to retinal photoreception. The persistence of extraretinal photoreceptors in submammalian vertebrates, however, underscores their importance in the sensory repertoire of vertebrates.     

Die Beeinflussung der Leukozytenphagozytose mit Phlorrhizin

Summary In the rat the intraperitoneally administered phlorrhizin significantly reduces the phagocytosis of bacteria by leucocytes, as determined by thePlatonow-Ludány-Vajda method, with the mean decrease being — 33.5%. The effect is reversible. The phenomenon appears to be due to an alteration of carbohydrate metabolism in the leucocytes. The experiments supply new evidence supporting the view that alongside biophysical factors (surface effects) also cellular metabolic processes may play important roles in the phagocytotic activity of leucocytes.