Construction of a model of autologous blood intracerebral hemorrhage in rats with a double injection and double needle withdrawal and the characteristics of the operative technique

BACKGROUND ： Experimental animal models of intracerebral hemorrhag （ICH） are greatly needed, so the process of establishment should be ideal in hematoma formation and easy to operate. OBJECTIVE ： To construct model of ICH in rats with double injection of autologous blood taken from the cut tail cut and double withdrawal of the needle （shortened as two-step injection model）, and compare with those induced by single and double injections. DESIGN ： A randomized controlled tria SETTING： Department of Neurology, General Hospital of Military Area Command of Chinese PLA. MATERIALS： Thirty male Wistar rats of 10 to 12 months, weighing （400±25） g, provided by the Experimental Center of Medical Animals, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command of Chinese PLA, were divided randomly into 3 groups with 10 rats in each group： two-step injection group, single injection group, double injection group. METHODS ： The experiment was carried out in the Department of Neurology, General Hospital of Military Area Command of Chinese PLA from March to June in 2004. Autologous blood ICH model in rats were established as follows： In the two-step injection group, 50 μL unclotted autologous blood was taken from the rat tail cut, then injected with microsyringe into the caudate nucleus, 10 μL injected at first, paused for 2 minutes, and then the rest 40 μL injected slowly and continuously within 2 minutes. After the injection, the needle was kept immovable for about 4 minutes, withdrawn 2.0 mm, again kept immovable for about 4 minute, and then removed wholly at a slow speed. In the single injection group, 50 μL unclotted tail blood was injected slowly and continuously all within 2 minutes and the needle was slowly removed;（4） In the double injection group, 10 mL blood was injected at first, paused for 2 minutes, the rest 40 μL injected evenly within 2 minutes, and then the needle was withdrawn slowly and uninterruptedly. Neurologic findings were scored in accordance with Longa＇s five-point scale （0-4 scores, the higher the score, the severer the neurological dysfunction）. The rats were killed to remove and sections were prepared, the morphological features of hematomas were grossly observed, the maximal diameter and size of hematomas in each slice were measured with the imaging analytical system, and the volume was calculated. Meanwhile, the conveniences of the techniques were compared. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： The morphological features and volume of hematomas, neurologic deficit score （NDS）, and the convenience of the techniques were compared. RESULTS： All the 30 rats were involved in the analysis of results without deletion. （1） Results of the morphological observation of volume of hematoma： In the two-step injection group, hematomas located in the right caudate nucleus area regularly in circular or analogously circular shape in each slice. The formation rate of hematomas in the single injection group and double injection group were lower than those in the two-step injection group [60% （6/10）, 80% （8/10）, 100% （10/10）, P〈 0.01, 0.05]. The volume of hematomas in the single injection group and double injection group were smaller than those in the two-step injection group [（28.5±14.8）, （33.4±7.4）, （41.6±3.9） mm3, P〈 0.01, 0.05]. （2） NDS results： The NDS scores in the single injection group and double injection group were smaller than that in the two-step injection group （0.90±0.83, 1.30±0.78, 1.90±0.57, P〈 0.05）. （3）Comparison of the convenience of the techniques： The double injection method allowed generating reproducible hematomas in rats with shortcomings that it needed autologous arterial blood from femoral artery, and precision instruments such as microinfusion pump. The two-step injection injected fresh unclotting blood taken directly from the tail cut with microsyringe into the rat brain, and it has the advantages of easy operation, no influence on the activity of thrombase, shorter duration for model establishment, and higher rate of hematoma formation, which could generate ideal and economical models of ICH. The two-step injection induced hemotoma regularly in circular or analogously circular shape in each slice, but those induced by single and double injections were mostly in strip or fusiform shapes and extending along the needle tracks or into the ventricle or subarachnoid space. CONCLUSION ： The autologous blood ICH model induced by the two-step injection method is a reproducible and reliable one in regular shape, which is better than those induced by double and single injections.

Growth and Spectroscopic Characteristics of Yb^3+:LiGd(WO_4)_2 Crystal

The Yb3＋：LiGd（WO4）2 crystal with the dimension of Ф15×35 mm3 was grown by Czochralski technique. The spectroscopic characterization and fluorescence dynamics of Yb3＋ in yb3＋：LiGd（WO4）2 crystal were investigated. The yb3＋：LiGd（WO4）2 crystal exhibits a broad absorption band centered near 975 nm with the linewidths of 16 and 11 nm and maximal absorption cross-section of 3.60 × 10-20 and 2.90× 10-20 cm2 for π- and σ-polarization, respectively. The emission broadband has an FWHM of 47 and 45 nm with the emission cross sections of 3.92 × 10-20 and 3.34× 10-2o cm2 at 1020 nm for re- and or-polarization, respectively. The measured fluorescence lifetime is 398 gs. The blue light emission around 480 nm through cooperative upconversion from the de-excitation of excited Yb3＋-Yb3＋ pairs at 4 K was observed under 932-nm excitation and demonstrated.

Mapping Deciduous Broad-leaved Forested Swamps Using ALOS/Palsar Data

Accurate, updated information on the distribution of wetlands is essential for estimating net fluxes of greenhouse gases and for effectively protecting and managing wetlands. Because of their complex community structure and rich surface vegetation, deciduous broad-leaved forested swamps are considered to be one of the most difficult types of wetland to classify. In this research, with the support of remote sensing and geographic information system, multi-temporal radar images L-Palsar were used initially to extract the forest hydrological layer and phenology phase change layer as two variables through image analysis. Second, based on the environmental characteristics of forested swamps, three decision tree classifiers derived from the two variables were constructed to explore effective methods to identify deciduous broad-leaved forested swamps. Third, this study focused on analyzing the classification process between flat-forests, which are the most severely disturbed elements, and forested swamps. Finally, the application of the decision tree model will be discussed. The results showed that: 1) L-HH band(a L band with wavelength of 0–235 m in HH polarization mode; HH means Synthetic Aperture Radars transmit pulses in horizontal polarization and receive in horizontal polarization) in the leaf-off season is shown to be capable of detecting hydrologic conditions beneath the forest; 2) the accuracy of the classification(forested swamp and forest plat) was 81.5% based on hydrologic features, and 83.5% was achieved by combining hydrologic features and phenology response features, which indicated that hydrological characteristics under the forest played a key role. The HHOJ(refers to the band created by the subtraction with HH band in October and HH band in July) achieved by multi-temporal radar images did improve the classification accuracy, but not significantly, and more leaf-off radar images may be more efficient than multi-seasonal radar images for inland forested swamp mapping; 3) the lower separability between forested swamps dominated by vegetated surfaces and forest plat covered with litter was the main cause of the uncertainty in classification, which led to misleading interpretations of the pixel-based classification. Finally, through the analysis with kappa coefficients, it was shown that the value of the intersection point was an ideal choice for the variable.

Researches on preparation and properties of polypropylene nonwovens containing rare earth luminous materials

Polypropylene composite nonwovens containing rare-earth strontium aluminates Sr Al2O4：Eu2＋,Dy3＋ and functional additives were fabricated by the spun-bonded technique.The optical properties, morphology and mechanical properties of the samples were characterized.Results from scanning electron microscopy photographs（SEM） indicated that the surface of the fiber was destroyed by the addition of rare earth luminescent materials lightly but the thickness of the fiber was uniform.Differential scanning calorimetry results showed that pure polypropylene has the double crystallization peak at 162.3 and 165.1 °C.Studies from X-ray diffraction showed that the nonwoven prepared with the luminescent materials contained the α-monoclinic crystal and β crystalline phase.Furthermore, the afterglow properties were tested, which showed that the afterglow curve of the luminous nonwoven was similar to that of strontium aluminate, and the intensity was more intensive than luminous nonwoven at the beginning.The nonwoven fabricated with the luminescent material did not affect the crystal lattice of the polymer making the materials have potential applications in fluorescent lamps and field emission displays（FEDs）.

OPTICAL BAND GAP AND CONDUCTIVITY MEASUREMENTS OF POLYPYRROLE-CHITOSAN COMPOSITE THIN FILMS

Electrical conductivity and optical properties of polypyrrole-chitosan（PPy-CHI） conducting polymer composites have been investigated to determine the optical transition characteristics and energy band gap of composite films.The two electrode method and I-V characteristic technique were used to measure the conductivity of the PPy-CHI thin films,and the optical band gap was obtained from their ultraviolet absorption edges.Depending upon experimental parameter,the optical band gap（E_g） was found within 1.30-2.32 eV as estimated from optical absorption data.The band gap of the composite films decreased as the CHI content increased.The room temperature electrical conductivity of PPy-CHI thin films was found in the range of 5.84×10^（-7）-15.25×10^（-7） S·cm^（-1） depending on the chitosan content.The thermogravimetry analysis（TGA） showed that the CHI can improve the thermal stability of PPy-CHI composite films.