Object-oriented modeling of patients in a medical federation.

This research explores the development of an object-oriented model to support inter-operation of simulations within a federation for the purpose of conducting medical analysis and training over a distributed infrastructure. The medical federation is referred to as the combat trauma patient simulation system and is composed using high level architecture. The infrastructure contains components that were separately developed and are heterogeneous in nature. This includes a general anatomical computer database capable of generating human injuries, referred to as operational requirements-based casualty assessment, an animated mannequin called the human patient simulator, and other components. The research develops an object model that enables bodily injury data to be shared across the simulation, conducts analysis on that data, and considers possible applications of the technique in expanded medical infrastructures.

Developmental regulation of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide and PAC(1) receptor mRNA expression in the rat central nervous system.

As the brain develops, a homogeneous population of mitotically active progenitors generates the molecularly heterogeneous post-mitotic cells of the mature brain. The balance between cell division, growth arrest and differentiation of these progenitors undoubtedly requires the activation of a vast array of genes. Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a member of the vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)/secretin/glucagon family. Within the nervous system, PACAP has been shown to stimulate neurite outgrowth, regulate neurotransmitter production and neuronal survival. These diverse biological actions are mediated through interaction with two types of receptors, a PACAP-selective receptor (PAC(1)-R) and receptors which interact almost equally with both VIP and PACAP. Since several lines of evidence suggest that PACAP acts as a neurotrophic factor, we sought to characterize PACAP and PAC(1)-R expression in the developing rat nervous system. The PAC(1)-R is expressed at very high levels in ventricular zones throughout the neuraxis. In addition to the embryonic enrichment in proliferative zones, PAC(1)-R expression is maintained in areas of neurogenesis in the adult central nervous system (CNS), namely, the subventricular zone of the olfactory bulb and hippocampal dentate gyrus. In contrast, PACAP is expressed primarily in the post-mitotic parenchyma. This temporal regulation and cellular distribution suggests that PACAP, through its interaction with the PAC(1)-R, may play a role in mammalian neurogenesis.