Maternal and child health in China.

China has made great progress in improving the health of women and children over the past two generations. The success has been attributed to improved living standards, public health measures, and good access to health services. Although overall infant and maternal mortality rates are relatively low there are large differences in patterns of mortality between urban and rural areas. The Chinese have developed a hierarchical network of maternal and child health services, with each level taking a supervisory and teaching role for the level below it. Maternal and child health in China came to international attention in 1995 with the promulgation of the maternal and child health law. In China this was seen as a means of prioritising resources and improving the quality of services, but in the West it was widely described as a law on eugenics.     

Inputs from upper airway affect firing of respiratory-associated midbrain neurons

Chen, Zibin, and Frederic L. Eldridge. Inputs fromupper airway affect firing of respiratory-associated midbrain neurons. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(1): 196-203, 1997.In 16 decerebrated unanesthetized cats, we studied effects ofneural inputs from upper airway on firing of 62 mesencephalic neuronsthat also developed respiratory-associated (RA) rhythmic firing whenrespiratory drive was high [Z. Chen, F. L. Eldridge, and P.G.Wagner. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 437:305-325, 1991] and on firing of 16 neurons that did notdevelop the rhythmic firing (non-RA neurons). Activity in RA neuronsincreased after mechanical expansion of pharynx (45% of those tested)or larynx (68%) and after stimulation of glossopharyngeal (50%) orsuperior laryngeal nerves (77%). The increased neuronal firingoccurred despite decreases or abolition of respiratory activity(expressed in phrenic nerve). Neuronal firing also increased aftermechanical stimulation of nasal mucosa (66%) or by jetsof air directed into the nares (48%) and after lightbrushing of nasal skin (~40%). Most stimuli led to decreased firingin a smaller number of neurons, and some neurons showed no response.None of the non-RA neurons developed an increase of firing after any ofthe stimuli, although one had decreased firing after stimulation of thesuperior laryngeal nerve. We conclude that inputs from the upper airwayand nasal skin have independent modulatory effects on the samemesencephalic neurons that are stimulated by ascending rhythmic RAinput from the medulla. These findings may have relevance to generationof the sensation of dyspnea.

     

棘豆属刺垫棘豆亚属(豆科)的订正

1971年,N.Ulzijkhutag根据采自阿拉善戈壁(=Bordzon-Go-bi)的标本(1970-07-29,V.I.Grubov,N.Ulzijkhutag et G.Tserendalzhid,无号)发表新种Oxytrops grubovii,并以此建立新组Oxytropis subgen.Traganthoxytropis sect.Monan-thos;1987年,G.P.Yakovlev将O.grubovii归入海绵豆属Spongiocarpella;1988年,张振万同意N.Ulzijkhutag的意见,并根据刺垫棘豆之龙骨瓣无喙等特征将Ulzijkhutag的刺     

Rhodamine 123 inhibits bioenergetic function in isolated rat liver mitochondria

Rhodamine 123 accumulates in the mitochondria of living cells and exhibits selective anticarcinoma activity. The biochemical basis of toxicity was investigated by testing the effect of the dye on isolated rat liver mitochondria. Much lower concentrations of rhodamine 123 were required to inhibit ADP-stimulated respiration and ATP synthesis in well-coupled energized mitochondria than were required to inhibit uncoupled respiration and uncoupler-stimulated ATP hydrolysis. The amount of rhodamine 123 associated with the mitochondria was several-fold greater under energized as compared to non-energized conditions, which may explain why coupled functions appeared to be more sensitive than uncoupled functions to inhibition at low concentrations of rhodamine 123. It was concluded that the site of rhodamine 123 inhibition is most likely the F0F1 ATPase complex and possibly electron transfer reactions as well.     

Mechanisms of increasing the intensity of ultraviolet fluorescence of irradiated cells

As shown on the in vitro irradiated Ehrlich ascites tumor cells the increase in the intensity of ultraviolet fluorescence (UVF) of the exposed cells occurs only in such incubation conditions when an increase in the tryptophan content of irradiated cells becomes possible. The increase in the UVF intensity and in the tryptophan content are quantitatively identical. It is concluded that the increase in the content of the fluorescing substance, tryptophan, in the irradiated cells is the cause of the increase in the UVF intensity.     

Distribution of cell surface lets protein in co-cultures of normal and transformed cells

When LETS protein positive and negative cells were co-cultured, the positive cells remained as positive and the negative cells remained as negative. Apparently the transformed cells do not secrete factors which are sufficient to influence the distribution of surface LETS protein on normal cells.     

High performance liquid chromatography of pharmacologically active amines and peptides in biological materials

Precise and quantitative reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedures are described which can be used in biogenic amine and neuropeptide research. The amine procedure was applied to various pharmacological matrices including plasma, heart tissue and brain. The use of peptide HPLC as an analytical tool for various neuropeptides is illustrated by studies on des-tyrosine-gamma-endorphin (DT gamma E) metabolism in the brain and the stability of an ACTH (ORG-2766) analogue during a chronic infusion in rats. The power of HPLC as a research tool in peptide pharmacology is described, discussed and demonstrated as an aid in the understanding of the pharmacological effects of exogenous peptides and the function of the brain.     

Decreased uptake and retention of rhodamine 123 by mitochondria in feline sarcoma virus-transformed mink cells

A reduce uptake and retention of the mitochondria-specific membrane potential probe rhodamine 123 by feline sarcoma virus (FeSV)-transformed mink fibroblasts (64F3) has been detected. The decreased accumulation of rhodamine 123 by 64F3 mitochondria is not due to abnormal plasma membrane dye permeability, since after microinjection of the dye these cells are still unable to retain the dye at levels comparable to the untransformed parental cells, CCL 64. Nigericin, an ionophore that mediates an electrically neutral exchange of protons for potassium ions resulting the elimination of the pH gradient across the mitochondrial membrane and a compensatory increase in mitochondrial membrane potential with continued respiration, increases both the dye uptake and the retention time in transformed 64F3 cells. These results suggest that mitochondria in FeSV-transformed mink cells may have an abnormally low mitochondrial membrane potential accompanied by a relatively high pH gradient. Since anioic metabolites such as pyruvate and glutamate are accumulated by mitochondria in proportion to the delta pH across the mitochondrial membrane, the abnormal mitochondria described here may contribute to the abnormal metabolic state of FeSV-transformed cells.