Effects of starvation on larval growth, survival and metamorphosis of Ivory shell Babylonia formosae habei Altena et al., 1981 (Neogastropoda : Buccinidae)

The impact of starvation on larvae of Ivory shell Babylonia formosae habei was studied in a laboratory experiment. Newly hatched veligers showed considerable tolerance to starvation due to their endogenous yolk material, and time to the point-of-no-return (PNR; the threshold point during starvation after which larvae can longer metamorphose even if food is provided) was calculated to be 104.5 h. However, starvation still affected larval growth, survival, and metamorphosis. Mean shell length of larvae increased 49.77 mum day(-1) for nonstarved, but only 11.13 mum day (-1) for larvae starved for 108 h. After larvae began feeding, their growth rates rapidly recovered to the level of the nonstarved following short periods of starvation (less than 48 h), but were inhibited and unable to ever reach the level of the nonstarved when being starved beyond 48 h. Percent metamorphosis was 53.75% for the nonstarved, but all larvae died before 10 days for those starved for 108 h. Starvation not only affected larval time to reach metamorphosis, but also caused the delay in the time to metamorphosis. For the nonstarved, larvae took only 11.5 days to reach spontaneous metamorphosis, but they took 20 days to reach spontaneous metamorphosis when starved for 96 h, and this duration of delayed metamorphosis reached 8.5 days. Furthermore, the importance of yolk material for maintaining larval survival of B. formosae habei during starvation periods is also discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

吗啡给药及戒断期间大鼠眶额叶脑区功能活动特征户外环境下自由活动猕猴顶叶及海马神经元单位放电的胞外记录方法

已有的研究表明，眶额叶在解剖上与现在已知的药物滥用相关的脑区是紧密联系在一起的。例如，眶额叶在药物滥用和强迫性重复行为中起作用，且随着脑成像技术的应用，越来越多的证据表明眶额叶参与了药物滥用。但是我们并不了解在阿片给药和戒断期间眶额叶脑区活动是如何变化的。因此，我们在实验中采用了Mn2+增强的核磁共振成像（Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance　imaging，MEMRI，4.7T）技术和脑电（EEG）记录的方法，以研究大鼠眶额叶在给与阿片类药物（盐酸吗啡）以及戒断过程中的动态变化。 MEMRI是一种近年才发展起来的新型技术。研究表明，Mn2+是Ca2+的类似物，可以通过Ca2+通道进入兴奋性的神经元里面并结合到胞内的蛋白质和核酸上的Ca2+和Mg2+结合位点上 (MILDVAN and COHN, 1963; EISINGER et al., 1965)。另外，Mn2+的顺磁性也为它成为核磁共振成像的造影剂提供了前提条件。可是成功应用MEMRI的前提就是要在适当的时间把合适剂量的Mn2+传递到靶点上。因此，Mn2+在注射到靶点后，是否能够在有效的时间内反映大脑活动的变化就成为一个非常重要并且在技术上较为棘手的问题。在给实验大鼠脑区微量注射Mn2+（80mMol/L，200nl）的同时，通过微量注射兴奋性神经递质谷氨酸（Glu 0.5mM/L）或抑制性递质γ-aminobutyric acid（GABA 0.5M/L）以改变靶点神经元兴奋性的方法，检测Mn2+能否反映脑区的活动变化。另外，我们随机选取实验动物，分别在注射Mn2+ 3小时、5小时和8小时后对三组大鼠（n=5）进行10％福尔马林灌流，并且通过观察大鼠眶额叶脑区Mn2+强度的变化来研究最佳的灌流时间。我们的实验结果表明，Mn2++Glu组的右侧脑区/左侧脑区的Mn2+亮度比Mn2+空白对照组增加了20％（p=0.016, student t-test, *p <0.05），也远大于Mn2++GABA组（p=0.047, *p<0.05）。结果表明，当神经元被兴奋的时候，较多的Mn2+可以通过Ca2+通道进入兴奋的神经元内，使得Mn2+的成像亮度增加。由于Mn2+成像亮度的增加可以反映神经元的兴奋活动，因此可以显示出靶点区的脑活动。另外，在研究灌流时间对Mn2+亮度影响的实验中发现，注射Mn2+ 5小时后灌流得到的信噪比分别比注射Mn2+3小时（p＝0.055）和8小时（p=0.004，*p<0.05）高出24％和32％。总之，我们采用微量注射Mn2+（80mM/L,200nl）后5小时用10%福尔马林心脏灌流的方法获得了较好的结果。另外在试验中我们首先观测了大鼠吗啡戒断后的行为学指标和检测大鼠戒断后条件化位置偏好的程度。实验结果表明大鼠可以建立非常明显的条件化位置偏好，但在湿狗抖等行为学指标上无明显症状。这说明大鼠对于吗啡(10mg/kg, 一天两次，持续12天)形成了明显的心理依赖而无明显的生理依赖。此外，MEMRI的结果表明，在吗啡给药的第1天和第6天，大鼠眶额叶的Mn2+强度与空白对照组相比有显著的降低( one-way ANOVA, Post Hoc Dunnett’s C Tests), F (6,28)=7.242, P<0.001)；而在戒断第3天又恢复到正常水平，在戒断第5天和第7天Mn2+强度跟空白对照组相比没有显著性差别(one-way ANOVA, *p<0.05)。脑电（EEG）的结果表明，急性吗啡诱导的gamma波段的EEG显著降低(Two-way ANOVA, F(1,10)=13.626,p=0.006)。然而在戒断第1天gamma波段的EEG与空白对照组相比是增加的。在戒断第3天和戒断第5天，gamma波段的EEG与空白对照组相比也有显著性增强。以上研究结果表明：大鼠眶额叶脑区的动态变化与整个吗啡给药和戒断过程是密切相关的；此外，MEMRI在探讨药物滥用以及成瘾等机制上有很大的应用前景。

Nanoindentation of thin-film-substrate system: Determination of film hardness and Young's modulus

In the present paper, the hardness and Young's modulus of film-substrate systems are determined by means of nanoindentation experiments and modified models. Aluminum film and two kinds of substrates; i.e. glass and silicon, are studied. Nanoindentation XP II and continuous stiffness mode are used during the experiments. In order to avoid the influence of the Oliver and Pharr method used in the experiments, the experiment data are analyzed with the constant Young's modulus assumption and the equal hardness assumption. The volume fraction model (CZ model) proposed by Fabes et al. (1992) is used and modified to analyze the measured hardness. The method proposed by Doerner and Nix (DN formula) (1986) is modified to analyze the measured Young's modulus. Two kinds of modified empirical formula are used to predict the present experiment results and those in the literature, which include the results of two kinds of systems, i.e., a soft film on a hard substrate and a hard film on a soft substrate. In the modified CZ model, the indentation influence angle, phi, is considered as a relevant physical parameter, which embodies the effects of the indenter tip radius, pile-up or sink-in phenomena and deformation of film and substrate.