A new statistical method for identifying interconnections between neuronal network elements

A new method is proposed to analyse dependencies in point processes, which takes into account specific character of neuronal activity. Simulation modelling of neuronal network revealed that the estimated weight of connection depends monotonically on the value of the model synaptic strength. In contrast to the crosscorrelation, the method allows for nonlinear interconnections and does not require point processes to be stationary and samples to be large. Examples are presented of the method's application to neurophysiological data analysis.     

Epithelioid sarcoma

The first appearance, the 12-year follow-up, and the autopsy of a patient with a strange soft-tissue tumor in the lower leg region are described. Although it was originally taken for a malignant synovial tumor, its peculiar distribution pattern, together with its histologic picture, confirmed the final diagnosis as an epithelioid sarcoma.     

Promotion and inhibition of vesicle fusion by polylysine

Polylysine induced rapid aggregation of large unilamellar vesicles composed of phosphatidylcholine-cardiolipin (1:1 molar ratio) but not their fusion. Application of the terbium-dipicolinic acid fusion assay showed that addition of polylysine at nanomolar concentrations enabled a significant lowering of the Ca2+ threshold concentration for vesicle fusion from 9 to 1 mM. Analysis of the kinetics of fusion with a mass-action kinetic model showed that polylysine enhanced significantly the rate of aggregation but affected only slightly the rate of fusion per se. Maximal enhancement of overall fusion rates occurred at a charge ratio (polylysine/cardiolipin) of about 0.5. At larger polylysine concentrations, e.g., at charge ratios greater than 3, polylysine inhibited vesicle fusion.     

Differential Effects of Long-Term Electroconvulsive Shock on Brain Levels of Enkephalin and Humoral-Endorphin

Abstract: Electroconvulsive shock (ECS) administrations repeated for 10 consecutive days cause an elevation in the opioid content of the rat brain. Two different endogenous opioids, enkephalin and humoral-endorphin, undergo independent changes that differ in both their time course and intracerebral localization. These metabolic changes parallel long-term behavioral modifications such as the development and dissipation of tolerance to the analgesic effect of ECS. The activation of two different, independent, endogenous opioid systems by ECS is in agreement with previous behavioral and pharmacological studies.     

Cell Cycle activation and ouabain-sensitive ion movements of 3T3 and C3H-10T½ fibroblasts

The introduction of either PGF_2α (10^?7 M) or TPA (10^?7 M) stimulated, ouabain-sensitive ⁸⁶Rb⁺ influx at 30 min in postconfluent 3T3-4 mouse fibroblast cultures by 117% and 124%, respectively. Both TPA and PGF_2α at these concentrations stimulated the incorporation of ³H-TdR into DNA. TPA had the greatest stimulatory effect, which was similar to that obtained with 10% fetal calf serum. In accord with the idea that modulation of membrane processes such as Na⁺/K⁺ pump activity in fibroblasts may reflect important events related to the initiation of DNA synthesis, it was observed that in both 3T3-4 and C3H-1 0T½ cells there were parallel increases in ³H-TdR incorporation and ouabain-sensitive ⁸⁶Rb⁺ influxes with 10^?7 M TPA, whereas PGF_2α stimulated a significant increase in ³H-TdR incorporation in 3T3-4 but not C3H-10T½ cells and only marginal increases in ouabain-sensitive ⁸⁶Rb⁺ influx in both. Therefore, although there appears to be a close correlation between Na⁺/K⁺ pump activation and subsequent S-phase entry following TPA stimulation, a similar correlation for PGF_2α cannot be confirmed.