L-3-n-butylphthalide protects against vascular dementia via activation of the Akt kinase pathway

As a neuroprotective drug for the treatment of ischemic stroke, 3-n-butylphthalide, a celery seed ex- tract, has been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration of China as a clinical therapeutic drug for ischemic stroke patients. L-3-n-butylphthalide possesses significant efficacy in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. The activated Akt kinase pathway can prevent the death of nerve cells and exhibit neuroprotective effects in the brain after stroke. This study provides the hypothesis that I-3-n- butylphthalide has a certain therapeutic effect on vascular dementia, and its mechanism depends on the activation of the Akt kinase pathway. A vascular dementia mouse model was established by cere- bral repetitive ischemia/reperfusion, and intragastrically administered I-3-n-butylphthalide daily for 28 consecutive days after ischemia/repedusion, or 7 consecutive days before ischemia/reperfusion. The Morris water maze test showed significant impairment of spatial learning and memory at 4 weeks after operation, but intragastric administration of I-3-n-butylphthalide, especially pretreatment with I-3-n- butylphthalide, significantly reversed these changes. Thionine staining and western blot analylsis showed that preventive and therapeutic application of I-3-n-butylphthalide can reduce loss of pyrami- dal neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region and alleviate nerve damage in mice with vascular demen- tia. In addition, phosphorylated Akt expression in hippocampal tissue increased significantly after I-3-n- butylphthalide treatment. Experimental findings demonstrate that I-3-n-butylphthalide has preventive and therapeutic effects on vascular dementia, and its mechanism may be mediated by upregulation of phosphorylated Akt in the hippocampus.

Human Respiration Rate Estimation Using Ultra-wideband Distributed Cognitive Radar System

It has been shown that remote monitoring of pulmonary activity can be achieved using ultra-wideband (UWB) systems, which shows promise in home healthcare,rescue,and security applications.In this paper,we first present a multi-ray propagation model for UWB signal,which is traveling through the human thorax and is reflected on the air/dry-skin/fat/muscle interfaces,A geometry-based statistical channel model is then developed for simulating the reception of UWB signals in the indoor propagation environment.This model enables replication of time-varying multipath profiles due to the displacement of a human chest.Subsequently, a UWB distributed cognitive radar system (UWB-DCRS) is developed for the robust detection of chest cavity motion and the accurate estimation of respiration rate.The analytical framework can serve as a basis in the planning and evaluation of future rheasurement programs.We also provide a case study on how the antenna beamwidth affects the estimation of respiration rate based on the proposed propagation models and system architecture.