Mean residence time of molecules diffusing in a cell bounded by a semi-permeable membrane: Monte Carlo simulations and an expression relating membrane transition probability to permeability

 The rapid exchange of water across erythrocyte membranes is readily measured using an NMR method that entails doping a suspension of cells with a moderately high concentration of Mn²⁺ and measuring the rate of transverse relaxation of the nuclear magnetisation. Analysis of the data yields an estimate of the rate constant for membrane transport, from which the membrane permeability can be determined. It is assumed in the analysis that the efflux rate of the water is solely a function of the rate of membrane permeation and that the time it takes for intracellular water molecules to diffuse to the membrane is relatively insignificant. The limits of this assumption were explored by using random-walk simulations of diffusion in cells modelled as parallel planes, spheres, and biconcave discs. The rate of membrane transport was specified in terms of a transition probability but it was not initially clear what the relationship should be between this parameter and the diffusional membrane permeability P _d. This relationship was derived and used to show that the mean residence time for a water molecule is determined by P _d when the diffusion coefficient is above a certain threshold value; it is determined by the distance to the membrane below that value. Received: 7 January 2000 / Revised version: 4 April 2000 / Accepted: 4 April 2000     

三唑锡亚致死浓度对土耳其斯坦叶螨运动速率的影响

【目的】通过研究三唑锡亚致死浓度LC10、LC20及致死中浓度LC50对土耳其斯坦叶螨Tetranychus turkestani运动速率的影响,为杀螨剂对土耳其斯坦叶螨在行为学方面影响提供科学依据,并将此作为评价药剂的作用机理的理论依据。【方法】采用叶片浸渍法,明确致死中浓度和亚致死浓度,使用LC-100昆虫行为记录仪对土耳其斯坦叶螨在受到三唑锡亚致死浓度LC10、LC20和LC50刺激下其运动速率进行记录,观察其运动速率在三唑锡不同浓度、不同天数、不同时间段的变化规律。【结果】在三唑锡不同亚致死浓度作用下,第1天到第3天的10:00―12:00,其运动速率比对照低,从第3天10:00―12:00期间到第5天20:00―22:00期间,其运动速率与对照没有显著性差异。在相同亚致死浓度作用下,第1天10:00―12:00期间,土耳其斯坦叶螨的运动速率显著高于15:00―17:00期间和20:00―22:00期间,而在第3天和第5天的3个时间段,对土耳其斯坦叶螨的运动速率没有显著影响。当作用的时段不同时,LC10第1天10:00―12:00显著高于第3天和第5天,而LC20、LC50在10:00―12:00没有显著性差异。三种浓度的第1天15:00―17:00显著低于第3天和第5天。第3及第5天20:00―22:00没有显著性差异。【结论】总体来看,3唑锡亚不同致死浓度对土耳其斯坦叶螨的运动速率影响受浓度、时间影响,浓度越高土耳其斯坦叶螨运动速率越慢;随着时间延长,农药亚致死浓度对土耳其斯坦叶螨的运动速率基本没有影响。     

Slow-freezing cryopreservation of neural stem cell spheres with different diameters

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are of great value for clinical application and scientific research. The development of efficient cryopreservation protocols could significantly facilitate the storage and transportation for clinic applications. The objective of the present study is to improve the survival rate and viability of NSCs. Neural stem cells with three states of single-cell suspension, NSC spheres with diameters of 30-50 μm and 80-100 μm, were cryopreserved by slow-freezing method with the cryoprotective agent (CPA) of dimethyl sulfoxide (Me₂SO), respectively. Then the post-thawing NSCs were tested for the survival rate and the differentiation ability. As a result, NSC spheres with diameter of 80-100 μm and Me₂SO concentration of 8% achieve the survival rate of 82.9%, and the NSCs still sustain the multi-differentiation potentiality. These results indicated that both the subtle interaction among NSCs and sphere diameters may affect the survival rate together.     

Conversion of mammalian Müller glial cells into a neuronal lineage by in vitro aggregate-culture

Mammalian Müller glial cells are major glial cells in the retina. Here we report that these glial cells can be redirected towards a neuronal lineage by an aggregate-culture in vitro. Rat and macaque Müller glial cells did not express neuronal markers except after transfer to adhesive conditions. Furthermore, this expression could only take place in the presence of platelet-derived growth factor and valproic acid. We compared a normal monolayer-culture and an aggregate-culture, and rat Müller glial cells could only differentiate into neurons under non-adhesive conditions. However, Müller glial cells did not express the photoreceptor markers in vitro. After transplantation into the subretinal space, a retina-specific niche, rat Müller glial cells expressed the photoreceptor-specific marker, opsin (RET-P1). We demonstrate the potential of mammalian Müller glial cells as a source of photoreceptors, which may possibly contribute to the treatment of degenerative retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.     

On the spherical prototype of a complex dissipative late-stage formation seen in terms of least action Vojta-Natanson principle

The spherical prototype of a crystalline and/or disorderly formation may help in understanding the final stages of many complex biomolecular arrangements. These stages are important for both naturally organized simple biosystems, such as protein (or, other amphiphilic) aggregates in vivo, as well as certain their artificial counterparts, mimicking either in vitro or in silico their structure-property principal relationship. For our particular one-seed based realization of a protein crystal/aggregate late-stage nucleus grown from nearby fluctuating environment, it turns out that the (osmotic-type) pressure could be, due to local inhomogeneities, and their dynamics shown up in the double layer tightly surrounding the growing object, still an appreciably detectable quantity. This is due to the fact that a special-type generalized thermodynamic (Vojta-Natanson) momentum, subjected to the nucleus' surface, is manifested interchangeably, whereas the total energy of the solution in the double layer could not be such within the stationary regime explored. It is plausible since the double layer width, related to the object's surface, contributes ultimately, while based on the so-defined momentum's changes, to the pressure within this narrow flickering zone, while leaving the total energy fairly unchanged. From the hydrodynamic point of view, the system behaves quite trivially, since the circumventing flow should rather be of laminar, thus not-with-matter supplying, character.     

Pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells: From basic research to applications

Basic research on pluripotent stem cells is designed to enhance understanding of embryogenesis, whereas applied research is designed to develop novel therapies and prevent diseases. Attainment of these goals has been enhanced by the establishment of embryonic stem cell lines, the technological development of genomic reprogramming to generate induced-pluripotent stem cells, and improvements in vitro techniques to manipulate stem cells. This review summarizes the techniques required to generate neural cells from pluripotent stem cells. In particular, this review describes current research applications of a simple neural differentiation method, the neural stem sphere method, which we developed.     

多维球面模型应用于草原监测数据分析的探讨

 提出分析归纳草原监测多元数据的新数学方法,多维球面模型。M个物种所组成的草原的状态可以用M元向量来表示,向量的长度用来表示草原的量值,向量的方向表示草原组成。从草原监测的角度,草原的相对组成是更重要的,成份变化的比率更能说明问题。在处理草原监测数据中使用向量等比系列和向量等差系列是可行的。等比系列比较能反映生物几何增长的本质。为了纠正中间过程被忽略的弱点,要坚持逐年监测,逐步分析,或使用滑动平均。二阶趋势值可尝试用于解决时间滞后问题,卡门滤波用于降低预报误差。因为草原监测需要使用分种数据,必须以人工监测记录为主,再辅以其它高科技手段,如遥感。     

Embryonic cleavage modeling as a computational approach to sphere packing problem

Embryonic cleavage depends on the distribution in the cytosol of molecular signals that influence mitotic spindle positioning. By implementing the New Kind of Science (NKS) theory in which a simple rule can evolve with a complex overall behavior, here we propose a new theoretical approach that is capable of modeling the mechanisms of early embryonic cleavage dynamics in the ascidian Styela Partita. The model shows that the same spindle pole orientation rule governs the first five embryonic cleavages, which progressively allow the transition from one to thirty-two daughter cells. Finally, we present evidence of a strong similarity between Kepler's Sphere Packing Problem and embryonic cleavage, which thus represents a prominent example of natural computing.     

Shape-space smoothing splines for planar landmark data

A method is developed for fitting smooth curves through a seriesof shapes of landmarks in two dimensions using unrolling andunwrapping procedures in Riemannian manifolds. An explicit methodof calculation is given which is analogous to that of Jupp &Kent (1987) for spherical data. The resulting splines are calledshape-space smoothing splines. The method resembles that offitting smoothing splines in real spaces in that, if the smoothingparameter is zero, the resulting curve interpolates the datapoints, and if it is infinitely large the curve is a geodesicline. The fitted path to the data is defined such that its unrolledversion at the tangent space of the starting point is a cubicspline fitted to the unwrapped data with respect to that path.Computation of the fitted path consists of an iterative procedurewhich converges quickly, and the resulting path is given ina discretised form in terms of a piecewise geodesic path. Theprocedure is applied to the analysis of some human movementdata, and a test for the appropriateness of a mean geodesiccurve is given.