Pharmacological intervention for chronic phase of spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury is an intractable traumatic injury. The most common hurdles faced during spinal cord injury are failure of axonal regrowth and reconnection to target sites. These also tend to be the most challenging issues in spinal cord injury. As spinal cord injury progresses to the chronic phase, lost motor and sensory functions are not recovered. Several reasons may be attributed to the failure of recovery from chronic spinal cord injury. These include factors that inhibit axonal growth such as activated astrocytes, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, myelin-associated proteins, inflammatory microglia, and fibroblasts that accumulate at lesion sites. Skeletal muscle atrophy due to denervation is another chronic and detrimental spinal cord injury–specific condition. Although several intervention strategies based on multiple outlooks have been attempted for treating spinal cord injury, few approaches have been successful. To treat chronic spinal cord injury, neural cells or tissue substitutes may need to be supplied in the cavity area to enable possible axonal growth. Additionally, stimulating axonal growth activity by extrinsic factors is extremely important and essential for maintaining the remaining host neurons and transplanted neurons. This review focuses on pharmacotherapeutic approaches using small compounds and proteins to enable axonal growth in chronic spinal cord injury. This review presents some of these candidates that have shown promising outcomes in basic research(in vivo animal studies) and clinical trials: AA-NgR(310)ecto-Fc(AXER-204), fasudil, phosphatase and tensin homolog protein antagonist peptide 4, chondroitinase ABC, intracellular sigma peptide,(-)-epigallocatechin gallate, matrine, acteoside, pyrvate kinase M2, diosgenin, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, and fampridine-sustained release. Although the current situation suggests that drug-based therapies to recover function in chronic spinal cord injury are limited, potential candidates have been identified through basic research, and these candidates may be subjects of clinical studies in the future. Moreover, cocktail therapy comprising drugs with varied underlying mechanisms may be effective in treating the refractory status of chronic spinal cord injury.

Optimal parameter space for stabilizing the ferroelectric phase of Hf_(0.5)Zr_(0.5)O_(2) thin films under strain and electric fields

Hafnia-based ferroelectric materials, like Hf_(0.5)Zr_(0.5)O_(2)(HZO), have received tremendous attention owing to their potentials for building ultra-thin ferroelectric devices. The orthorhombic(O)-phase of HZO is ferroelectric but metastable in its bulk form under ambient conditions, which poses a considerable challenge to maintaining the operation performance of HZO-based ferroelectric devices. Here, we theoretically addressed this issue that provides parameter spaces for stabilizing the O-phase of HZO thin-films under various conditions. Three mechanisms were found to be capable of lowering the relative energy of the O-phase, namely, more significant surface-bulk portion of(111) surfaces, compressive c-axis strain,and positive electric fields. Considering these mechanisms, we plotted two ternary phase diagrams for HZO thin-films where the strain was applied along the in-plane uniaxial and biaxial, respectively. These diagrams indicate the O-phase could be stabilized by solely shrinking the film-thickness below 12.26 nm, ascribed to its lower surface energies. All these results shed considerable light on designing more robust and higher-performance ferroelectric devices.

Regulating crystal phase of TiO_(2) to enhance catalytic activity of Ni/TiO_(2) for solar-driven dry reforming of methane

Ni/TiO_(2) catalyst is widely employed for photo-driven DRM reaction while the influence of crystal structure of TiO_(2) remains unclear.In this work,the rutile/anatase ratio in supports was successfully controlled by varying the calcination temperature of anatase-TiO_(2).Structural characterizations revealed that a distinct TiO_(x) coating on the Ni nanoparticles(NPs)was evident for Ni/TiO_(2)-700 catalyst due to strong metal-support interaction.It is observed that the TiOx overlayer gradually disappeared as the ratio of rutile/anatase increased,thereby enhancing the exposure of Ni active sites.The exposed Ni sites enhanced visible light absorption and boosted the dissociation capability of CH4,which led to the much elevated catalytic activity for Ni/TiO_(2)-950 in which rutile dominated.Therefore,the catalytic activity of solar-driven DRM reaction was significantly influenced by the rutile/anatase ratio.Ni/TiO_(2)-950,characterized by a predominant rutile phase,exhibited the highest DRM reactivity,with remarkable H_(2) and CO production rates reaching as high as 87.4 and 220.2 mmol/(g·h),respectively.These rates were approximately 257 and 130 times higher,respectively,compared to those obtained on Ni/TiO_(2)-700 with anatase.This study suggests that the optimization of crystal structure of TiO_(2) support can effectively enhance the performance of photothermal DRM reaction.

New Dispersed Phase of Electrorheological Fluids:TiO_2 Coating Graphite Particles

We have prepared novel coated particles, with a conductor graphite core and a dielectric TiO2 coating, as the dispersed phase of electrorheological fluids. One order of magnitude enhancement in the shear stress is obtained by using such composite particles, when it is compared with that of TiO2 particles. The experimental results show a way to get excellent ER system.

Joint Estimation of Carrier Frequency and Phase Offset Based on Pilot Symbols in Quasi-Constant Envelope OFDM Satellite Systems

Spectral efficiency and energy efficiency are two important performance indicators of satellite systems. The Quasi-Constant Envelope Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing(QCE-OFDM) technique can achieve both high spectral efficiency and low peak-to-average power ratio(PAPR). Therefore, the QCE-OFDM technique is considered as a promising candidate multi-carrier technique for satellite systems. However, the Doppler effect will cause the carrier frequency offset(CFO), and the non-ideal oscillator will cause the carrier phase offset(CPO) in satellite systems. The CFO and CPO will further result in the bit-error-rate(BER) performance degradation. Hence, it is important to estimate and compensate the CFO and CPO. This paper analyzes the effects of both CFO and CPO in QCE-OFDM satellite systems. Furthermore, we propose a joint CFO and CPO estimation method based on the pilot symbols in the frequency domain. In addition, the optimal pilot symbol structure with different pilot overheads is designed according to the minimum Cramer-Rao bound(CRB) criterion. Simulation results show that the estimation accuracy of the proposed method is close to the CRB.

Modulation Recognition with Frequency Offset and Phase Offset over Multipath Channels

Modulation recognition becomes unreliable at low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)over fading channel.A novel method is proposed to recognize the digital modulated signals with frequency and phase offsets over multi-path fading channels in this paper.This method can overcome the effects of phase offset,Gaussian noise and multi-path fading.To achieve this,firstly,the characteristic parameters search is constructed based on the cyclostationarity of received signals,to overcome the phase offset,Gaussian white noise,and influence caused by multi-path fading.Then,the carrier frequency of the received signal is estimated,and the maximum characteristic parameter is searched around the integer multiple carriers and their vicinities.Finally,the modulation types of the received signal with frequency and phase offsets are classified using decision thresholds.Simulation results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed method is better than the traditional methods when SNR is over 5dB,and that the proposed method is robust to frequency and phase offsets over multipath channels.

Effects of Two Different Apple Dwarf Stocks on Juvenile Phase of Fuji Seedlings

The effects of apple dwarf stocks P22 and SH3 on the juvenile phase of Fuji seedlings were studied. The results showed that the juvenile phase could be shortened by more than two years when 2-year seedlings were grafted on the dwarf stocks. The effects of P22 and SH3 were significantly different. Grafted on P22, the flowering node was less, the first flowing site was lower, and the juvenile phase was shorter than SH3. With the two stocks, the average first flowering site was more than 200 cm, the average flowering node was more than 100, and the lateral branch top bud was more than 50% in all first flowing seedlings.

Experimental Observation of the Ground-State Geometric Phase of Three-Spin XY Model

The geometric phase has become a fundamental concept in many fields of physics since it was revealed. Recently, the study of the geometric phase has attracted considerable attention in the context of quantum phase transition, where the ground state properties of the system experience a dramatic change induced by a variation of an external parameter. In this work, we experimentally measure the ground-state geometric phase of the three-spin XY model by utilizing the nuclear magnetic resonance technique. The experimental results indicate that the geometric phase could be used as a fingerprint of the ground-state quantum phase transition of many-body systems.

Spatial-Variant Geometric Phase of Hybrid-Polarized Vector Optical Fields

We investigate a novel spatial geometric phase of hybrid-polarized vector fields consisting of linear, elliptical and circular polarizations by Young＇s two-slit interferometer instead of the widely used Mach-Zehnder interferometer. This spatial geometric phase can be manipulated by engineering the spatial configuration of hybrid polarizations, and is directly related to the topological charge, the local states of polarization and the rotational symmetry of hybrid-polarized vector optical fields. The unique feature of geometric phase has implications in quantum information science as well as other physical systems such as electron vortex beams.

Blind estimation of phase offset in OFDM subcarrier for coherent demodulation

An adaptive algorithm named low complexity phase off- set estimation （LC-POE） is proposed for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing （OFDM） signals. Depending on the requirement, the estimation procedure is divided into several scales to accelerate the adaptive convergence speed and ensure the estimation accuracy. The true phase offset is estimated through shrinking the detection range and raising the resolution scale step by step. Both the convergence performance and complexity are discussed in the paper. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The LC-POE algorithm is promising in the application of OFDM systems.

Ferroelectricity in the Ferrimagnetic Phase of Fe1-xMnxV2O4

Ferroelectric and magnetic properties of Fe1-xMnxV2O4 （0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5） spinels are investigated on the basis of dielectric, polarization, and susceptibility measurements. Ferroeleetric polarization is discovered in collinear ferrimagnetic and Yafet-Kittel magnetic phases for 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.4, which can be tuned by a magnetic field. As orbital-active FJ＋ is substituted with Mn2＋, ferroeleetric polarization decreases for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4 and disappears for x=0.5. We propose that the two polar components in ferroelectric polarization originate from the exchange striction mechanism and the spin-current model, respectively.

The heat balance on the sea surface in the mature phase of 1982/83 El Nino event

Using the air-sea data set of January, 1983 (the mature phase of the 1982/83 El Nino event), the net radiation on the sea surface, the fluxes of the latent and the sensible heat from ocean to the atmosphere and the net heat gain of the sea surface are calculated over the Indian and the Pacific Oceans for the domain of 35°N-35°S and 45°E-75°W. The results indicate that the upward transfer of the latent and the sensible heat fluxes over the winter hemisphere is larger than that over the summer hemisphere. The sensible heat over the tropical mid Pacific in the Southern Hemisphere is transported from the atmosphere to the ocean, though its magnitude is rather small. The latent heat flux gained by the air over the eastern Pacific is less than the mean value of the normal year. The net radiation, on which the cloud amount has considerable impact, is essentially zonally distributed. Moreover, the sea surface temperature (SST) has a very good correlation with the net radiation, the region of warm SST coinciding with that of the low net radiation. The net radiation obtained by the mid Pacific Ocean is reduced by the SST anomaly during the El Nino event, whereas the atmosphere over there get more latent heat flux, and this results in the diminution of the net heat gain of the ocean. The overview of the heat budget is that the ocean over the winter hemisphere is the energy source of the atmosphere, and that over the summer hemisphere its energy sink.

Time-effect relationship of acupuncture on histopathology, ultrastructure, and neuroethology in the acute phase of cerebral hemorrhage

Many clinical studies have addressed the treatment of acute cerebral hemorrhage using acupuncture. However, few studies have examined the relationship between time of acupuncture and curative effect on cerebral hemorrhage. By observing the effect of acupuncture on changes in histopathology, ultrastructure, and neuroethology in a cerebral hemorrhage model of rats, we have directly examined the time-effect relationship of acupuncture. The rat model of cerebral hemorrhage was produced by slowly injecting autologous blood to the right caudate nucleus. The experimental groups were: 3-, 9-, 24-, and 48-hour model groups; and 3-, 9-, 24-, and 48-hour acupuncture groups. The sham-operation group was used for comparison. Acupuncture was performed at the Neiguan(PC6) and Renzhong(DU26) acupoints, twice a day, 6 hours apart, for 5 consecutive days. Brain tissue changes were observed by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Neuroethology was assessed using Bederson and Longa scores. Our results show that compared with the sham-operation and model groups, Bederson and Longa scores were lower in each acupuncture group, with visibly improved histopathology and brain tissue ultrastructure. Further, the results were better in the 3-and 9-hour acupuncture groups than the 24-and 48-hour acupuncture groups. Our findings show that acupuncture treatment can relieve pathological and ultrastructural deterioration and neurological impairment caused by the acute phase of cerebral hemorrhage, and may protect brain tissue during this period. In addition, earlier acupuncture intervention following cerebral hemorrhage(by 3 or 9 hours) is associated with a better treatment outcome.

Non-coding RNAs and other determinants of neuroinflammation and endothelial dysfunction:regulation of gene expression in the acute phase of ischemic stroke and possible therapeutic applications

Ischemic stroke occurs under a variety of clinical conditions and has different pathogeneses,resulting in necrosis of brain parenchyma.Stroke pathogenesis is characterized by neuroinflammation and endothelial dysfunction.Some of the main processes triggered in the early stages of ischemic damage are the rapid activation of resident inflammatory cells(microglia,astrocytes and endothelial cells),inflammatory cytokines,and translocation of intercellular nuclear factors.Inflammation in stroke includes all the processes mentioned above,and it consists of either protective or detrimental effects concerning the“polarization”of these processes.This polarization comes out from the interaction of all the molecular pathways that regulate genome expression:the epigenetic factors.In recent years,new regulation mechanisms have been cleared,and these include non-coding RNAs,adenosine receptors,and the activity of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells and microglia.We reviewed how long non-coding RNA and microRNA have emerged as an essential mediator of some neurological diseases.We also clarified that their roles in cerebral ischemic injury may provide novel targets for the treatment of ischemic stroke.To date,we do not have adequate tools to control pathophysiological processes associated with stroke.Our goal is to review the role of non-coding RNAs and innate immune cells(such as microglia and mesenchymal stem/stromal cells)and the possible therapeutic effects of their modulation in patients with acute ischemic stroke.A better understanding of the mechanisms that influence the“polarization”of the inflammatory response after the acute event seems to be the way to change the natural history of the disease.

Controlling of Slope of Carrier-Envelope Phase of Few-Cycle Laser Pulses on Propagation Distance near the Focus

The effect of focusing geometry on slope of carrier-envelope （CE） phase ФCE versus propagation distance from the focus in few-cycle laser pulses is investigated. The slope could be adjusted by changing the distance L between the waist of the incident beam and the lens. At the focus, 偏dФCE/O（Z/ZR） = 0 when L = 0, and 偏dФCE/偏d（z/zR） = -2 when L = ∞. The longer the distance L, the steeper the curve of the CE phase at the focus.

Hemodynamics and vasoactive substance levels during renal congestion that occurs in the anhepatic phase of liver transplantation

AIM: To explore hemodynamics and vasoactive substance levels during renal vein congestion that occurs in the anhepatic phase of liver transplantation.METHODS: New Zealand rabbits received ligation of the hepatic pedicle, supra-hepatic vena cava and infrahepatic vena cava [anhepatic phase group(APH); n = 8], the renal veins(RVL; n = 8), renal veins and hepatic pedicle [with the inferior vena cava left open)(RVHP; n = 8)], or a sham operation(SOP; n = 8). Hemodynamic parameters(systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures) and the levels of serum bradykinin(BK) and angiotensin Ⅱ(ANGII) were measured at baseline(0 min), and 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, and 45 min after the surgery. Correlation analyses were performed to evaluate the associations between hemodynamic parameters and levels of vasoactive substances.RESULTS:All experimental groups(APH,RVL,and RVHP)showed significant decreases in hemodynamic parameters(systolic,diastolic,and mean arterial blood pressures)compared to baseline levels,as well as compared to the SOP controls(P<0.05 for all).In contrast,BK levels were significantly increased compared to baseline in the APH,RVL,and RVHP groups at all time points measured(P<0.05 for all),whereas no change was observed in the SOP controls.There were no significant differences among the experimental groups for any measure at any time point.Further analyses revealed that systolic,diastolic,and mean arterial blood pressures were all negatively correlated with BK levels,and positively correlated with ANGII levels in the APH,RVL,and RVHP groups(P<0.05 for all).CONCLUSION:In the anhepatic phase of orthotopic liver transplantation,renal vein congestion significantly impacts hemodynamic parameters,which correlate with serum BK and ANGII levels.

Discussion on the Non-Equilibrium Phase of the Gliding Arc Plasma Driven by the Transverse Magnetic Field

a gliding arc driven by the transverse magnetic field was ignited between the electrodes with a complicated shape at atmospheric pressure and a non-equilibrium plasma was gencrated. Under our experimental conditions, a phenomenon was clearly observed where the arc power decreased with the increase in arc voltage. As the arc voltage was higher than 3.375 kV, the are power acquired from the power supply decreased, and the arc plasma began to switch to a non-equilibrium phase. The existence of the non-equilibrium arc plasma was very short, about 10 ms in one gliding arc discharge cycle.

Non-equilibrium microstructure and the metastable phase of Al-9.6wt%Mg Alloy solidification under high pressure

The non-equilibrium microstructure and a new metastable phase of Al-9.6wt%Mg alloy solidified at 6 GPa were studied by optical microscope,differential scanning calorimetry,X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope.The results showed that dendrite microstructure was refined,and the solid solubility of Mg in α-Al phase increased greatly.Correspondingly,the lattice parameter of α-Al phase increased.Al3Mg2 phases disappeared under high pressure solidification.In particular,a metastable phase with small size(20 nm or so) was produced in the alloy,its melting temperature range was 464～518.2 ℃,which was higher than that of Al3Mg2 phase(453～465 ℃) under normal pressure.These metastable phases located in the interdendritic position.It was the first time that the metastable phase was found in Al-Mg alloy at a high pressure of 6 GPa.The formation mechanism of the metastable phases was discussed.

Fluctuations of optical phase of diffracted light for Raman–Nath diffraction in acousto–optic effect

The Raman–Nath diffraction in acousto–optic effect was studied theoretically and experimentally in the paper. Up to now, each order of diffracted light in Raman–Nath diffraction was still considered simply to be just frequency-shifted and to be a plane wave. However, we find that the phase and frequency shifts occur simultaneously and individually in Raman–Nath diffraction. The findings demonstrate that, in addition to the frequency shift, the optical phase of each order of diffracted light is also shifted by the sound wave and fluctuates with the sound wave and is related to the location in the acoustic field from which the diffracted light originates. As a result, the wavefront of each order of diffracted light is modulated to fluctuate spatially and temporally with the sound wave. Obviously, these findings are significant for applications of Raman–Nath diffraction in acousto–optic effect because the optical phase plays an important role in optical coherence technology.

Determining the Main Gas-generation Phase of Marine Organic Matters in Different Occurrence States using the Kinetic Method

This paper probes the determination of the main gas-generation phase of marine organic mattes using the kinetic method. The main gas-generation phase of marine organic matters was determined by coupling the gas generation yields and rates in geological history computed by the acquired kinetic parameters of typical marine organic matters （reservoir oil, residual bitumen, lowmaturity kerogen and residual kerogen） in both China and abroad and maturity by the EasyRo（%） method. Here, the main gas-generation phase was determined as Ro%=1.4%-2.4% for type Ⅰ kerogen, Ro%=1.5-3.0% for low-maturity type Ⅱ kerogen, Ro%=1.4-2.8% for residual kerogen, Ro%=1.5-3.2% for residual bitumen and Ro%=1.6-3.2% for reservoir oil cracking. The influences on the main gas-generation phase from the openness of the simulated system and the ＂dead line＂ of natural gas generation are also discussed. The results indicate that the openness of simulation system has a definite influence on computing the main gas-generation phase. The main gas-generation phase of type Ⅱ kerogen is Ro%=1.4-3.1% in an open system, which is earlier than that in a closed system. According to our results, the ＂dead line＂ of natural gas generation is determined as Ro=3.5 % for type Ⅰ kerogen, Ro=4.4-4.5% for type Ⅱ kerogen and Ro=4.6% for marine oil. Preliminary applications are presented taking the southwestern Tarim Basin as an example.