Paroxetine engenders analgesic effects through inhibition of p38 phosphorylation in a rat migraine model

In this study, a model of migraine was established by electrical stimulation of the superior sagittal sinus in rats. These rats were then treated orally with paroxetine at doses of 2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg per day for 14 days. Following treatment, mechanical withdrawal thresholds were significantly higher, extracellular concentrations of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the periaqueductal grey matter and nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis were higher, and the expression of phosphorylated p38 in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis was lower. Our experimental findings suggest that paroxetine has analgesic effects in a rat migraine model, which are mediated by inhibition of p38 phosphorylation.

Neuron-specific enolase expression in a rat model of radiation-induced brain injury following vascular endothelial growth factor-modified neural stem cell transplantation

BACKGROUND： Previous studies have shown that transplantation of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF）-modified neural stem cells （NSC） provides better outcomes, compared with neural stem cells, in the treatment of brain damage. OBJECTIVE： To compare the effects of VEGF-modified NSC transplantation and NSC transplantation on radiation-induced brain injury, and to determine neuron-specific enolase （NSE） expression in the brain. DESIGN, TIME, AND SETTING： The randomized, controlled study was performed at the Linbaixin Experimental Center, Second Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, China from November 2007 to October 2008. MATERIALS： VEGF-modified C17.2 NSCs were supplied by Harvard Medical School, USA. Streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase-complex kit （Boster, China） and 5, 6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester （Fluka, USA） were used in this study. METHODS： A total of 84 Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a blank control group （n = 20）, model group （n = 20）, NSC group （n = 20）, and a VEGF-modified NSC group （n = 24）. Rat models of radiation-induced brain injury were established in the model, NSC, and VEGF-modified NSC groups. At 1 week following model induction, 10 pL （5 ×10^4 cells/μL） VEGF-modified NSCs or NSCs were respectively infused into the striatum and cerebral cortex of rats from the VEGF-modified NSC and NSC groups. A total of 10μL saline was injected into rats from the blank control and model groups. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： NSE expression in the brain was detected by immunohistochemistry following VEGF-modified NSC transplantation. RESULTS： NSE expression was significantly decreased in the brains of radiation-induced brain injury rats （P 〈 0.05）. The number of NSE-positive neurons significantly increased in the NSC and VEGF-modified NSC groups, compared with the model group （P 〈 0.05）. NSE expression significantly increased in the VEGF-modified NSC group, compared with the NSC group, at 6 weeks following transplantation （P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： VEGF-modified NSC transplantation increased NSE expression in rats with radiation-induced brain injury, and the outcomes were superior to NSC transplantation.

非平衡压缩实现高灵敏度、线性响应协同的离电压力传感器

Flexible pressure sensors with high sensitivity and linearity are highly desirable for robot sensing and human physiological signal detection.However,the current strategies for stabilizing axial microstructures(e.g.,micro-pyramids)are mainly susceptible to structural stiffening during compression,thereby limiting the realization of high sensitivity and linearity.Here,we report a bending-induced nonequilibrium compression process that effectively enhances the compressibility of microstructures,thereby crucially improving the efficiency of interfacial area growth of electric double layer(EDL).Based on this principle,we fabricate an iontronic flexible pressure sensor with vertical graphene(VG)array electrodes.Ultra-high sensitivity(185.09 kPa^(-1))and linearity(R^(2)=0.9999)are realized over a wide pressure range(0.49 Pa–66.67 k Pa).It also exhibits remarkable mechanical stability during compression and bending.The sensor is successfully employed in a robotic gripping task to recognize the targets of different materials and shapes based on a multilayer perception(MLP)neural network.It opens the door to realizing haptic sensing capabilities for robotic hands and prosthetic limbs.

Specific behavior of transition metal chloride complexes for achieving giant ionic thermoelectric properties

When people are keen to exploring the thermoelectric properties of polymer composite inorganic electrolyte aqueous flexible electronic devices,the complicated chemical configuration of transition metal chloride anion has not been paid attention and reported.Here,we demonstrate a hydrated polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)-cellulosic membrane that relies on the thermal gradient diffusion of transition metal and chloride complexe[CuCl_(4)]^(2−) enhanced by copper-coordinated carboxylated cellulose.The PVAcellulosic membrane exhibits a thermopower of−26.25 mV·K^(−1),rendering it among the best n-type ionic thermoelectric materials under the same conditions.We attribute the enhanced thermally generated voltage to the highly-coordinated configuration of Cu^(2+)-Cl^(−),which converts the independent thermal motion of Cu^(2+)and Cl−to the higher ion transport heat of[CuCl_(4)]^(2−)anion via carboxylated cellulose,while this phenomenon do not occur in the other transition metal chlorides.This specific heat transport behavior of[CuCl4]2−has important implications in designing high-quality ionic thermoelectric materials.