A simplified measurement of hydrated crystal densities of low melting points (low transition points) by solidifications of aqueous solutions.

A volume change method for measuring crystal densities is described. It allows the densities of unstable hydrated crystals at room temperature to be determined, by measurements of volume changes during the solidification of aqueous solutions. NaCl x 2H2O, KCl, MgSO4 x 12H2O and K2HPO4 x 6H2O were measured by the method and their densities (SE) are 1.

GDNF is a major component of trophic activity in DA-depleted striatum for survival and neurite extension of DAergic neurons.

Extracts from dopamine (DA)-depleted striatal tissue (lesion extract) and from intact striatal tissue (intact extract) were prepared, and trophic activities in these extracts were evaluated using survival and neurite extension of DAergic neurons as indices. Levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) in extracts were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The lesion extract exhibited a stronger trophic activity on survival and neurite extension of DAergic neurons than intact extract.

[Observation of physiological change in the human ciliary body using an ultrasound biomicroscope during accommodation].

Purpose: To evaluate changes in the ciliary body during accommodation using an ultrasound biomicroscope (UBM).

Subjects And Methods: Eleven healthy persons, aged from 24 to 33 years, served as subjects. They were asked to lie in the supine position and to fixate a target placed on the ceiling 2 m above with the left eye.

Volume Changes Due to SO2-4, SeO2-4, and H2PO-4 Adsorption on Amorphous Iron(III) Hydroxide in an Aqueous Suspension.

Volume changes due to SO2-4, SeO2-4, and H2PO-4 adsorption on amorphous iron(III) hydroxide were determined by dilatometry in a mixture comprising an aqueous solution of Na2SO4, Na2SeO4, or NaH2PO4 and amorphous iron(III) hydroxide suspended in 0.1 mol dm-3 NaClO4 at an initial pH ranged from 4.50 to 6.

Dopamine metabolism in the striatum of hemiparkinsonian model rats with dopaminergic grafts.

To investigate dopamine (DA) levels as well as DA metabolism by which the striatal DAergic grafts may bring the functional recovery to hemiparkinsonian model rats, a microdialysis study was performed in the striatum, and an autoradiographic analysis for DA transporter was made. In hemiparkinsonian model rats, the concentrations of DA, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in striatal perfusates, decreased considerably (less than 5%, of control levels). In grafted rats that showed motor recovery, the concentration of DA recovered to almost control level, and DOPAC and HVA to about 20% of controls' suggesting that the rate of DA metabolism is low.

Dopamine-denervation enhances the trophic activity in striatum: evaluation by morphological and electrophysiological development in PC12D cells.

To evaluate the possibility that dopamine (DA) denervation enhances the trophic activity in striatum, normal or DA-depleted striatal tissue extract (N- or L-extract, respectively) was obtained, and their trophic effects on PC12D cells were investigated from the viewpoints of differentiation using morphological and electrophysiological analyses. Treatment with N- or L-extract induced neurite outgrowth in a concentration-dependent manner, and induced the enlargement of cell size. These effects were stronger in L-extract than in N-extract.

Dynamic regulation of striatal dopaminergic grafts during locomotor activity.

The present experiment was designed to estimate the neurochemical activity of dopaminergic grafts in hemiparkinsonian model rats during locomotion and to examine the functional importance of dynamic regulation of the grafted neurons in the host brain. Rats were trained to run on a straight treadmill at various speeds (300, 660, 1200, 1800 cm/min), and extracellular dopamine (DA) and its metabolites, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA), were measured by in vivo microdialysis during and after running. Grafted rats were divided into two groups depending on their running ability and data were compared with those of normal and lesioned controls.

Tetraplegic wheelchair basketball.

Tetraplegic wheelchair basketball was started in the Kanagawa Rehabilitation Center (KRC) as a recreational sport for tetraplegics in 1980. In this game, there are two goals on each side, thus we call it 'twin basketball'. One goal is of ordinary height and the other is low.

Pathophysiological process after transient ischemia of the middle cerebral artery in the rat.

For the understanding of pathophysiology of the cerebral ischemia, we made a transient intraluminal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in the rat and investigated the appearance of collapsed dark neurons and the extravasation of serum proteins using argyrophil III method and immunohistochemistry. In the acute stage (minutes to 3 days), dark neurons appeared in the lateral half of the ipsilateral striatum and adjacent cortex which formed the ischemic core of this model. Dark neurons also appeared in the ipsilateral reticular thalamic nucleus, hippocampus, and amygdala.

Dopamine has inhibitory and accelerating effects on ischemia-induced neuronal cell damage in the rat striatum.

Dopaminergic (DAergic) influence on ischemic neuronal cell damage in the dorsolateral striatum was studied. Intact and 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesioned rats, with and without pretreatment by D1 and D2 DA antagonists, were subjected to 20 min forebrain ischemia. Extracellular DA and glutamate (Glu) were measured using microdialysis technique.

Reconstruction of GABAergic transmission and behavior by striatal cell grafts in rats with ischemic infarcts in the middle cerebral artery.

Fetal striatal cell suspensions were grafted stereotaxically into the infarcted striatum of rats, and reconstruction of striatopallidal GABA transmission and behavior were investigated. Occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) for one hour induced ischemic infarcts mainly in the lateral striatum, as detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histology. Ischemic rats had deficits in the performance of a passive avoidance task, both acquisition and retention, but no changes in general circadian actograms.

Improvement of passive avoidance task after grafting of fetal striatal cell suspensions in ischemic striatum in the rat.

Behavioral recovery and cell survival/growth after grafting of fetal striatal cell suspensions in the ischemic striatum of rats were investigated. Ischemia was induced by one hour intraluminal occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery under halothane anesthesia. During the ischemia rats usually manifested signs of hemiparesis and sometimes rotations.

Sialyl cholesterol enhances the development of grafted neurons and motor recovery.

Trophic actions of alpha-sialyl cholesterol (SC) and its sialidase-tolerant derivative, alpha-(3 beta-hydroxysialyl) cholesterol (SCt), were carried out on the development of midbrain neurons both in vitro and in vivo transplantation studies. Low to moderate concentrations of SC (0.01 to 0.

Effect of intra-amygdala dopaminergic grafts on methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity, extracellular dopamine and dopamine metabolite overflow: a comparison with the effect of intra-accumbens grafts.

The effects of 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the ventral tegmental area and following intra-amygdala or intra-accumbens dopaminergic (DAergic) grafts on methamphetamine (MAP)-induced locomotor activity were investigated in rats. Intra-accumbens DAergic grafts from rat embryos restored the locomotor hyperactivity response to MAP 5 weeks after grafting, while intra-amygdala grafts did not restore responses by 10 weeks after grafting. Biochemical measurements of extracellular DAergic activity in the amygdala (AMY) by in vivo microdialysis after grafting showed no significant change in the basal levels of dopamine (DA) and partial restoration of metabolite levels.

Grafting of catecholaminergic cells in the mammalian brain and reconstruction of disturbed function: basic problems to be solved.

1. Catecholaminergic cells were grafted in the caudate nucleus of hemi-Parkinsonian model rats, and the following problems were discussed. 2.

Long-term survival of grafted cells, dopamine synthesis/release, synaptic connections, and functional recovery after transplantation of fetal nigral cells in rats with unilateral 6-OHDA lesions in the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway.

In animal models of hemi-Parkinson's disease, survival of grafted nigral cells, their synaptic connections, dopamine (DA) synthesis/release, and recovery from motor disturbances were investigated, and these were compared among 3 groups of animals raised for 3 months, 1 year and 2 years after the transplantation. Fetal nigral DAergic cell suspensions were transplanted in the ipsilateral caudate nucleus of rats with unilateral 6-OHDA lesions in the nigrostriatal DA pathway. Motor disturbances, assessed by methamphetamine-induced rotation, recovered partly in the 2nd week, significantly in the 4th week after the grafting, and remained stable thereafter.

tGS ganglioside induces peculiar morphological features in grafted dopaminergic cells and promotes motor recovery in rats with unilateral lesions in the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway.

A cell suspension of substantia nigra from fetal rats was introduced into the ipsilateral caudate nucleus of rats with unilateral lesions in the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway, and effects of bovine total ganglioside (tGS) and monosialoganglioside (GM1) treatment on the morphological features of the transplanted cells and recovery from motor imbalance (rotation induced by methamphetamine) were investigated. Gangliosides (30 mg/kg) were administered intraperitoneally once a day for 2 weeks after transplantation to test animals while control animals received saline alone. tGS animals showed definite motor recovery in the 2nd week (P less than 0.

Behavioral and biochemical effects of intra-accumbens dopaminergic grafts.

6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in rats prevented the hyperactivity response to methamphetamine in an open field. Transplantation of mesencephalic dopaminergic cells, obtained from rat embryos, into the nucleus accumbens (NAC) of 6-OHDA-lesioned animals restored the hyperactivity 4 weeks after grafting. By microdialysis of the NAC in freely moving rats no significant differences in baseline concentration of dopamine (DA) among the 3 groups (control, lesioned, grafted) were observed.

Phenotypic plasticity of grafted catecholaminergic cells in the dopamine-depleted caudate nucleus in the rat.

Catecholamine-producing cells were grafted in the caudate nucleus of model rats with hemi-Parkinson's disease--animals with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway. Survival of the grafted cells, dopamine synthesis/release, and recovery from motor imbalance were investigated. Motor imbalance (methamphetamine rotations) recovered in more than 90% of animals by grafting of nigral dopaminergic (DAergic) cells, in 40-60% of animals by grafting of locus coeruleus noradrenergic (LC-NAergic) cells, and in 0-30% of animals by grafting of adrenal medullary cells.

Acetylcholine-induced activation of the eccrine sweat glands in a case of hypohidrotic congenital ectodermal dysplasia.

In a male patient suffering from congenital ectodermal dysplasia with sweating only on the plantar and palmar surface, we found that the anhidrotic eccrine sweat glands became able to produce sweat after repeated local application of acetylcholine. We ultrastructurally examined the sweat glands in skin biopsies before and after acetylcholine treatment. The secretory portion of the sweat glands of the right plantar region was characterized by well-developed basal infoldings and intercellular interdigitations, and also by dilated intercellular spaces and canaliculi.

Thermal salivation in rats, anesthetized with barbiturates, chloralose, urethane and ketamine.

1. The relationship between thermal salivation (TS) and thermoregulation was studied in anesthetized rats. 2.