Detection of K+ and Cl-channels from calf cardiac sarcolemma in planar lipid bilayer membranes

The ionic currents underlying the cardiac action potential are believed to be much more complex than those in nerve. During the cardiac action potential, various membrane channels control the flow of K+, Na+, Ca2+ and Cl- across the sarcolemma of cardiac muscle cells. Thus, it has become increasingly clear that a detailed knowledge of the mechanisms that activate (or inactivate) heart channels is required to understand cardiac excitability. We report here the use of planar lipid bilayer techniques to detect and characterize K+ and Cl- channels in purified heart sarcolemma membrane vesicles. We have identified four different types of channel on the basis of their selectivity, conductance and gating kinetics. We present in some detail the properties of a K+ channel and a Cl- channel. We have tentatively identified the K+ channel with the ix type of current found in Purkinje, myocardial ventricular and atrial fibres. The chloride channel might be related to the transient chloride current found in Purkinje fibres.     

Spatially asymmetric reorganization of inhibition establishes a motion-sensitive circuit

Spatial asymmetries in neural connectivity have an important role in creating basic building blocks of neuronal processing. A key circuit module of directionally selective (DS) retinal ganglion cells is a spatially asymmetric inhibitory input from starburst amacrine cells. It is not known how and when this circuit asymmetry is established during development. Here we photostimulate mouse starburst cells targeted with channelrhodopsin-2 (refs 6-8) while recording from a single genetically labelled type of DS cell. We follow the spatial distribution of synaptic strengths between starburst and DS cells during early postnatal development before these neurons can respond to a physiological light stimulus, and confirm connectivity by monosynaptically restricted trans-synaptic rabies viral tracing. We show that asymmetry develops rapidly over a 2-day period through an intermediate state in which random or symmetric synaptic connections have been established. The development of asymmetry involves the spatially selective reorganization of inhibitory synaptic inputs. Intriguingly, the spatial distribution of excitatory synaptic inputs from starburst cells is significantly more symmetric than that of the inhibitory inputs at the end of this developmental period. Our work demonstrates a rapid developmental switch from a symmetric to asymmetric input distribution for inhibition in the neural circuit of a principal cell.     

The Dynamic Coupling of Right Ventricleand Pulmonary Arteries

根据肺循环血管系统的解剖结构，提出了模拟肺动脉输入阻抗的轻微非对称Ｔ型管模型。计算得到的肺动脉输入阻抗与实验数据比较表明，该模型能很好地模拟右心室的后负荷。还利用右心室的Ｅ（ｔ）Ｒ模型及肺动脉的轻微非对称Ｔ型管模型，应用脉冲响应法，对肺循环的动态耦合及心血管参数的影响进行了研究，发现了一个心动周期中，右心室对肺动脉压力和流量变化起主导作用。     

右心室和肺动脉的动态耦合

根据肺循环血管系统的解剖结构,提出了模拟肺动脉输入阻抗的轻微非对称T型管模型.计算得到的肺动脉输入阻抗与实验数据比较表明,该模型能很好地模拟右心室的后负荷.还利用右心室的E(t)-R模型及肺动脉的轻微非对称T型管模型,应用脉冲响应法,对肺循环的动态耦合及心血管参数的影响进行了研究,发现了一个心动周期中,右心室对肺动脉压力和流量变化起主导作用.     

Localization of a human system for sustained attention by positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomographic (PET) studies of human attention have begun to dissect isolable components of this complex higher brain function, including a midline attentional system in a region of the anterior cingulate cortex. The right hemisphere may play a special part in human attention; neglect, an important phenomenon associated with damage to attentional systems, is more severe, extensive and long-lasting after lesions to the right hemisphere. Here we use PET measurements of brain blood flow in healthy subjects to identify changes in regional brain activity during simple visual and somatosensory tasks of sustained attention or vigilance. We find localized increases in blood flow in the prefrontal and superior parietal cortex primarily in the right hemisphere, regardless of the modality or laterality of sensory input. The anterior cingulate was not activated during either task. These data localize the vigilance aspects of normal human attention to sensory stimuli, thereby clarifying the biology underlying asymmetries of attention to such stimuli that have been reported in clinical lesions.     

Intracardiac fluid forces are an essential epigenetic factor for embryonic cardiogenesis

The pattern of blood flow in the developing heart has long been proposed to play a significant role in cardiac morphogenesis. In response to flow-induced forces, cultured cardiac endothelial cells rearrange their cytoskeletal structure and change their gene expression profiles. To link such in vitro data to the intact heart, we performed quantitative in vivo analyses of intracardiac flow forces in zebrafish embryos. Using in vivo imaging, here we show the presence of high-shear, vortical flow at two key stages in the developing heart, and predict flow-induced forces much greater than might have been expected for micro-scale structures at low Reynolds numbers. To test the relevance of these shear forces in vivo, flow was occluded at either the cardiac inflow or outflow tracts, resulting in hearts with an abnormal third chamber, diminished looping and impaired valve formation. The similarity of these defects to those observed in some congenital heart diseases argues for the importance of intracardiac haemodynamics as a key epigenetic factor in embryonic cardiogenesis.     

引水电站侧向进水口体型设计的数值模拟研究

引水电站侧向进水口因河流主流方向与引水管水流方向垂直,易出现贯通式吸气漩涡.为研究进水口合理体型,采用RNG?k-方程紊流模型对四种不同体型电站进水口水流运动进行数值模拟.分析进水口内水流运动螺旋流线、漩涡强度、引水管进口流场分布情况,比较四种体型(大喇叭口型,钟型,碗型,不对称型)进水口的差异.得出碗状进水口内水流流态更好,不易出现贯通性漩涡,水力损失较小,体型设计具有相对优势,对于侧向进水口体型设计有参考意义.     

老年人心房纤颤的心电图分析

目的：探讨老年人心房纤颤发生的原因与年龄的关系以及老年人心房纤颤的特点．方法：动态心电图确诊为心房纤颤256例住院病人分成高龄组和对照组进行分析．结果：老年人心房纤颤的发生与年龄密切相关，年龄越大发生率越高，并伴有长R-R间期与室率快速型房颤，交替出现为特征。结论：加强年龄增长和房颤的关系的研究，对深化认识房颤的发病机制具有重要意义。     

Acetylcholine activation of single muscarinic K+ channels in isolated pacemaker cells of the mammalian heart

Acetylcholine (ACh) released on vagal stimulation reduces the heart rate by increasing K+ conductance of pacemaker cells in the sinoatrial (S-A) node. Fluctuation analysis of ACh-activated currents in pacemaker tissue showed this to be due to opening of a separate class of K+ channels gated by muscarinic ACh receptors (m-AChRs). On the other hand, it has been suggested that m-AChRs may simply regulate the current flow through inward rectifying resting K+ channels (gk1). We report here the measurement of ACh-activated single channel K+ currents and of resting K+ channel currents in isolated cells of the atrioventricular (A-V) and S-A node of rabbit heart. The results show that the ACh-dependent K+ conductance increase in nodal cells is mediated by K+ channels which are different in their gating and conductance properties from the inward rectifying resting K+ channels in atrial and ventricular cells. The resting K+ channels in nodal cells are, however, similar to those activated by ACh.     

黄芪注射液治疗肺心病急性加重期73例疗效观察

目的:探讨黄芪注射液静脉注射治疗肺心病急性加重期的疗效.方法:对照组67例,采用常规的抗感染、平喘、强心及利尿等治疗;治疗组73例,在常规治疗的基础上同时加用黄芪注射液40mL溶于5%葡萄糖250mL中静脉滴注,每日一次,10d为一疗程.结果:治疗组和对照组的有效率分别为91.78%和74.63%(P<0.01);两组治疗后心输出量(CO,L/minm2)、心脏指数(CI)、左室射血分数(LVEF)、左室短轴缩短率(FS)、每搏输出量(SV)、二尖瓣快速充血期和心房收缩期血流速度(E/A)均较治疗前明显改善(P<0.05,P<0.01),但治疗组更优于对照组(P<0.05).两组动脉血气治疗后均有改善,但治疗组改善程度优于对照组(P<0.05).结论:黄芪注射液对肺心病急性加重期具有较好疗效.     

Large subglacial lakes in East Antarctica at the onset of fast-flowing ice streams

Water plays a crucial role in ice-sheet stability and the onset of ice streams. Subglacial lake water moves between lakes and rapidly drains, causing catastrophic floods. The exact mechanisms by which subglacial lakes influence ice-sheet dynamics are unknown, however, and large subglacial lakes have not been closely associated with rapidly flowing ice streams. Here we use satellite imagery and ice-surface elevations to identify a region of subglacial lakes, similar in total area to Lake Vostok, at the onset region of the Recovery Glacier ice stream in East Antarctica and predicted by ice-sheet models. We define four lakes through extensive, flat, featureless regions of ice surface bounded by upstream troughs and downstream ridges. Using ice velocities determined using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), we find the onset of rapid flow (moving at 20 to 30 m yr(-1)) of the tributaries to the Recovery Glacier ice stream in a 280-km-wide segment at the downslope margins of these four subglacial lakes. We conclude that the subglacial lakes initiate and maintain rapid ice flow through either active modification of the basal thermal regime of the ice sheet by lake accretion or through scouring bedrock channels in periodic drainage events. We suggest that the role of subglacial lakes needs to be considered in ice-sheet mass balance assessments.     

Switch of flow direction in an Antarctic ice stream

Fast-flowing ice streams transport ice from the interior of West Antarctica to the ocean, and fluctuations in their activity control the mass balance of the ice sheet. The mass balance of the Ross Sea sector of the West Antarctic ice sheet is now positive--that is, it is growing--mainly because one of the ice streams (ice stream C) slowed down about 150 years ago. Here we present evidence from both surface measurements and remote sensing that demonstrates the highly dynamic nature of the Ross drainage system. We show that the flow in an area that once discharged into ice stream C has changed direction, now draining into the Whillans ice stream (formerly ice stream B). This switch in flow direction is a result of continuing thinning of the Whillans ice stream and recent thickening of ice stream C. Further abrupt reorganization of the activity and configuration of the ice streams over short timescales is to be expected in the future as the surface topography of the ice sheet responds to the combined effects of internal dynamics and long-term climate change. We suggest that caution is needed when using observations of short-term mass changes to draw conclusions about the large-scale mass balance of the ice sheet.     

The homeobox gene lim-6 is required for distinct chemosensory representations in C. elegans

The ability to discriminate between different chemical stimuli is crucial for food detection, spatial orientation and other adaptive behaviours in animals. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, spatial orientation in gradients of soluble chemoattractants (chemotaxis) is controlled mainly by a single pair of chemosensory neurons. These two neurons, ASEL and ASER, are left-right homologues in terms of the disposition of their somata and processes, morphology of specialized sensory endings, synaptic partners and expression profile of many genes. However, recent gene-expression studies have revealed unexpected asymmetries between ASEL and ASER. ASEL expresses the putative receptor guanylyl cyclase genes gcy-6 and gcy-7, whereas ASER expresses gcy-5 (ref. 4). In addition, only ASEL expresses the homeobox gene lim-6, an orthologue of the human LMX1 subfamily of homeobox genes. Here we show, using laser ablation of neurons and whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology, that the asymmetries between ASEL and ASER extend to the functional level. ASEL is primarily sensitive to sodium, whereas ASER is primarily sensitive to chloride and potassium. Furthermore, we find that lim-6 is required for this functional asymmetry and for the ability to distinguish sodium from chloride. Thus, a homeobox gene increases the representational capacity of the nervous system by establishing asymmetric functions in a bilaterally symmetrical neuron pair.     

非对称网络容量约束用户均衡交通分配仿真算法

针对非对称网络路段容量约束交通均衡分配模型计算困难,设计了一种带路段容量约束的用户均衡交通分配仿真算法。在算法迭代过程中,将按全有全无法在当前最短路上分配流量与前一轮迭代所得到的流量加权组合,各O-D对的组合系数依Logit模型来确定;并不断自适应调节路段排队延误因子和误差因子来模拟实际路段行驶时间,使路段流量逐步低于路段容量,从而达到广义用户均衡,克服了容量约束均衡分配计算量大及Logit随机分配法要求枚举所有路径的困难。随后证明了算法的收敛性,并对一个小型路网进行了数值试验。     

代谢综合征左心功能研究进展

 简述了代谢综合征(metalbolic syndrome,MS)的定义及临床诊断标准,综述了高血压(EH)、肥胖、血糖异常、血脂异常等危险因素与左室心功能间的关系,分析了多种危险因素聚集一体的MS 的心功能变化特点。MS 患者的左室功能降低是由多个心血管危险因素引起,会导致多个复杂的代谢反应,影响心肌的结构和代谢环境,也改变了心肌功能和心肌能量。因此MS 患者在有症状的心力衰竭发展之前,可能存在一段时间亚临床的左心室功能障碍。     

Evidence from reversal of handedness in C. elegans embryos for early cell interactions determining cell fates

Many animals with overall bilateral symmetry also exhibit some left-right asymmetries with generally invariant handedness. Therefore, the left-right embryonic axis must have a consistent polarity, whose origins and subsequent effects on development are not understood. Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits such left-right asymmetries at all developmental stages. The embryonic cell lineage is asymmetric as well: although the animal is generally bilaterally symmetric, many of its contralaterally analogous cells arise from different lineages on the two sides of the embryo. I accomplished reversal of embryonic handedness by micromanipulation at the 6-cell stage, which resulted in mirror-image but otherwise normal development into healthy, fertile animals with all the usual left-right asymmetries reversed. This result demonstrates that in the 6-cell embryo the pair of anterior (AB) blastomeres on the right is equivalent to the pair on the left, and that the extensive differences in fates between lineally homologous derivatives of these cells on the two sides of the animal must be dictated by cell interactions, most of which are likely to occur early in embryogenesis.     

Numerical simulation of the asymmetric gas?phase flow field in a volute cyclone separator

The gas-phase flow field in a cyclone separator with a volute inlet is numerically simulated based upon the Reynolds stress model (RSM) on the platform of commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, FLUENT 6.1. The asymmetric characteristics of the flow field are analyzed in this paper. The results indicate that the gas?phase flow field is slightly asymmetric in the tube and cone spaces, but remarkably asymmetric in the annular space. Meanwhile, it can be seen that the axial center of the gas flow vortex deviates from the geometric center of the cyclone. This swirling eccentricity results from the asymmetrical inlet structure and the instability of the swirling flow. The deviated distance, and direction varies with the axial position and the maximal deviated distance is approximately 0.07R. The offset of two centers makes the radial velocity of the gas?phase flow field have a remarkable asymmetrical profile. The asymmetric characteristics of the radial velocity distribution are first explained in this study. The above results are in fair agreement with the experimental data from the literature.     

袋装膨胀土组合体渗透特性大型模型试验

为探究袋装膨胀土组合体的渗透演化规律,研制了大型渗透试验模型箱,针对土工袋排列方式、袋体缝间填土、渗透水流方向和渗透水头大小等实际修复工程关注的主要因素开展渗透试验。试验结果表明:袋装膨胀土组合体的水平向渗透系数大于竖向渗透系数,入渗的水分能够沿土工袋水平层间缝隙快速排出,不易进入下卧层的压实膨胀土渠坡;袋装膨胀土组合体的渗透性主要取决于袋间缝隙的大小,排列方式对袋装膨胀土组合体结构渗透性的影响实质是改变了袋间缝隙的数量和形状大小;袋装膨胀土组合体的袋间缝隙填土后,竖向的渗透系数变化较小,而水平向的渗透系数明显减小;袋装膨胀土组合体在实际运行时,若不在缝间填土,则对水平向层间排水有利。     

Network Coding-Aware Routing Protocol in Wireless Mesh Networks

Network coding mechanisms, such as COPE, can improve network throughput effectively in Wireless Mesh Networks(WMN). While the Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol(HWMP) is suitable for WMN, its extension with COPE does not provide any added benefits; specifically, HWMP cannot establish paths with more coding opportunities. As a result, the advantages of network coding cannot be exploited sufficiently. This paper proposes improvements upon HWMP with a new, network Coding-Aware routing protocol(CAHWMP) for WMN. In the CAHWMP protocol, we propose a coding criterion based on data streams to devise an algorithm for actively detecting coding opportunities during path discovery. CAHWMP subsequently establishes paths using the codingaware routing metric, which can balance channel resource consumption and the gain due to sharing resources introduced by network coding. Simulation results show that CAHWMP can establish paths with more coding opportunities; as a result, it improves network performance such as network throughput.