An adaptive behavioral control motif mediated by cortical axo-axonic inhibition.

Neural circuits are reorganized with specificity during learning. Genetically-defined subgroups of inhibitory interneurons are thought to play distinct roles in learning, but heterogeneity within these subgroups has limited our understanding of the scope and nature of their specific contributions to learning. Here we reveal that the chandelier cell (ChC), an interneuron type that specializes in inhibiting the axon-initial segment (AIS) of pyramidal neurons, establishes cortical microcircuits for organizing neural coding through selective axo-axonic synaptic plasticity.

Nanostructurally Controllable Strong Wood Aerogel toward Efficient Thermal Insulation.

Eco-friendly materials with superior thermal insulation and mechanical properties are desirable for improved energy- and space-efficiency in buildings. Cellulose aerogels with structural anisotropy could fulfill these requirements, but complex processing and high energy demand are challenges for scaling up. Here we propose a scalable, nonadditive, top-down fabrication of strong anisotropic aerogels directly from wood with excellent, near isotropic thermal insulation functions.

Interrater reliability in the assessment of physiotherapy students.

Background: Reliable and objective assessment of psychomotor skills in physiotherapy students' education is essential for direct feedback and skill improvement. The aim of this study is to determine the interrater reliability in the assessment process of physiotherapy students and to analyse the assessment behaviour of the examiners.

Methods: Physiotherapy teachers from two different schools assessed students from two different schools performing proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) patterns.

Scattering studies of the size and structure of cellulose dissolved in aqueous hydroxide base solvents.

Combining NaOH with other hydroxide bases with superior dissolution properties can be a means of improving dissolution of cellulose. However, this raises questions about how the size and structure of cellulose vary when dissolved in different hydroxide bases. Here, cellulose in aqueous solutions of NaOH, Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), Benzyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (Triton B) and previously studied equimolar solutions of NaOH/TMAH and NaOH/Triton B were investigated using small angle X-ray scattering, static and dynamic light scattering.

Reducing the expression of the Numb adaptor protein in neurons increases the searching behavior of larvae.

larval crawling is easily-observable and relatively stereotyped. Crawling consists of linear locomotion interrupted by periods when the larvae pause, swing their heads, and change direction (a 'search'). Here we identify Numb, a peripheral membrane adaptor protein, as an important regulator of searching behavior.

Highly Permeable Fluorinated Polymer Nanocomposites for Plasmonic Hydrogen Sensing.

Hydrogen (H) sensors that can be produced with cost-effective manufacturing tools are critical for enabling safety in the emerging hydrogen economy. The use of melt-processed nanocomposites in this context would allow the combination of the advantages of plasmonic hydrogen detection with polymer technology; an approach which is held back by the slow diffusion of H through the polymer matrix. Here, we show that the use of an amorphous fluorinated polymer, compounded with colloidal Pd nanoparticles prepared by highly scalable continuous flow synthesis, results in nanocomposites that display a high H diffusion coefficient in the order of 10 cm s.

Review: Periodate oxidation of wood polysaccharides-Modulation of hierarchies.

Periodate oxidation of polysaccharides has transitioned from structural analysis into a modification method for engineered materials. This review summarizes the research on this topic. Fibers, fibrils, crystals, and molecules originating from forests that have been subjected to periodate oxidation can be crosslinked with other entities via the generated aldehyde functionality, that can also be oxidized or reduced to carboxyl or alcohol functionality or used as a starting point for further modification.

Drosophila enabled promotes synapse morphogenesis and regulates active zone form and function.

Background: Recent studies of synapse form and function highlight the importance of the actin cytoskeleton in regulating multiple aspects of morphogenesis, neurotransmission, and neural plasticity. The conserved actin-associated protein Enabled (Ena) is known to regulate development of the Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction through a postsynaptic mechanism. However, the functions and regulation of Ena within the presynaptic terminal has not been determined.

Target-dependent retrograde signaling mediates synaptic plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction.

Neurons that innervate multiple targets often establish synapses with target-specific strengths, and local forms of synaptic plasticity. We have examined the molecular-genetic mechanisms that allow a single Drosophila motoneuron, the ventral Common Exciter (vCE), to establish connections with target-specific properties at its various synaptic partners. By driving transgenes in a subset of vCE's targets, we found that individual target cells are able to independently control the properties of vCE's innervating branch and synapses.

A review of Algerian medicinal plants used in the treatment of diabetes.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Plants are traditionally used in Algeria to treat many disorders, including diabetes mellitus. Knowledge of the plants that are used may provide insight on their properties, for further exploration. This study reviewed all the available published and unpublished reports concerning the use of herbal medicines in the treatment of diabetes in Algeria.

Static and dynamic behaviour of responsive graphene oxide-poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) composite gels.

Thermoresponsive hydrogels have enormous potential e.g., as sensors, actuators, and pollution control remedies or in drug delivery systems.

News from Tartary: an ethnopharmacological approach to drug and therapeutic discovery.

Ethnopharmacology aims to identify new therapeutic agents based on their traditional use. It begins by the identification of disease states, and of the traditional therapies for these, most commonly herbals. Herbals of interest are selected from ethnopharmacological surveys, and tested on experimental models of the diseases of interest.

Effect of Centaurium erythraea Rafn, Artemisia herba-alba Asso and Trigonella foenum-graecum L. on liver fat accumulation in C57BL/6J mice with high-fat diet-induced type 2 diabetes.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Centaurium erythraea Rafn (CE), Artemisia herba-alba Asso (AHA) and Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (TFG) are traditionally used to treat type 2 diabetes in Algeria, previous studies have found that extracts of these plants were effective to treat or prevent experimental diabetes induced by high-fat diet (HFD).

Aim Of The Study: Describe the additional effects of these extracts on lipid tissue deposition in HFD.

Effects of Cydonia oblonga Miller leaf and fruit flavonoids on blood lipids and anti-oxydant potential in hyperlipidemia rats.

Objective: To study the effects of Cydonia oblonga Miller (COM) total flavonoids (TF) from leaves and fruit on the blood lipid and antioxidant potentials using hyperlipidaemic rat models.

Methods: Hyperlipidaemic rat models were created with high-lipid emulsion. Rats were distributed into normal controls, hyperlipidaemic models, and daily high (160mg/kg), medium (80mg/kg) and low (40mg/kg) TF from leaves and fruit and simvastatin (5mg/kg) groups.

Effect of traditional Uyghur medicine abnormal Savda Munziq extract on rabbit platelet aggregation in vitro and rat arteriovenous shunt thrombosis in vivo.

Objective: Abnormal Savda Munziq (ASMq) is a standard herbal preparation used in Uyghur traditional medicine to fight chronic diseases including cardiovascular, but its specific effects on thrombosis and platelet aggregation are unknown.

Methods: Rabbit platelets were incubated with ASMq extract (10, 20, 40 µg/ml) for 15, 30, or 60 min, and aggregation was induced with ADP and collagen. In vivo, ASMq extract 2.

Catalytic performance of carbon nanotubes in H2O2 decomposition: experimental and quantum chemical study.

The catalytic performance of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with different surface chemistry was studied in the decomposition reaction of H2O2 at various values of pH and temperature. A comparative analysis of experimental and quantum chemical calculation results is given. It has been shown that both the lowest calculated activation energy (∼18.

Effects of Cydonia oblonga Miller extracts on blood hemostasis, coagulation and fibrinolysis in mice, and experimental thrombosis in rats.

Introduction: Cydonia oblonga Miller (COM) is traditionally used in Uyghur medicine for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. The present study is designed to explore the effects of COM extracts on models and markers of thrombosis and related biomarkers.

Materials And Methods: 20, 40, 80 mg/kg/day COM aqueous extracts and 5mg/kg/day aspirin, orally for 14 days were compared to untreated controls in mice on bleeding and clotting times, using the tail cutting and glass slide methods and for death rates in collagen-epinephrine pulmonary thrombosis, thrombolysis in vitro and euglobulin lysis time (ELT).

Effect of Bridelia ferruginea Benth (Euphorbiaceae) ethyl acetate and acetone fractions on insulin resistance in fructose drinking mice.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The root of Bridelia ferruginea is traditionally used as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. The present study was investigated to evaluate the effect of Bridelia ferruginea root bark fractions on some markers of type 2 diabetes on fructose drinking mice.

Materials And Methods: Mice received a solution of fructose 15% during 42 days ad libitum; at the 15th day to the 42nd day, they received distilled water for fructose drinking control group, metformin 50 mg/kg per day or fractions 50 mg/kg per day for treatment groups.

Retrograde BMP signaling at the synapse: a permissive signal for synapse maturation and activity-dependent plasticity.

At the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ), the loss of retrograde, trans-synaptic BMP signaling causes motoneuron terminals to have fewer synaptic boutons, whereas increased neuronal activity results in a larger synapse with more boutons. Here, we show that an early and transient BMP signal is necessary and sufficient for NMJ growth as well as for activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. This early critical period was revealed by the temporally controlled suppression of Mad, the SMAD1 transcriptional regulator.

Acute and sub-chronic (28days) oral toxicity evaluation of hydroethanolic extract of Bridelia ferruginea Benth root bark in male rodent animals.

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the safety of hydro-ethanol extract of Bridelia ferruginea Benth (Euphorbiaceae) root bark. For acute toxicity study, a single dose of 2000 and 5000 mg/kg of the B. ferruginea root bark extract was given orally to healthy male Wistar rats and Balb/c mice.

Immunomodulatory and antitumour effects of abnormal Savda Munziq on S180 tumour-bearing mice.

Background: Abnormal Savda Munziq (ASMq), a traditional uyghur medicine, has shown anti-tumour properties in vitro. This study attempts to confirm these effects in vivo and measure effects on the immune system.

Methods: Kunming mice transplanted with Sarcoma 180 cells were treated with ASMq (2-8 g/kg/day) by intra-gastric administration compared to model and cyclophosphamide (20 mg/kg/day).

The impact of the Uighur medicine abnormal savda munziq on antitumor and antioxidant activity in a S180 and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma mouse tumor model.

Aim: This study was designed to study the antitumor and antioxidant activity of Uighur medicine abnormal savda munziq (ASMq) in the S180 and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma mice tumor model.

Materials And Methods: The serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malonaldehyde (MDA), and glutathione-catalase (GSH-PX) were analyzed, and the mice were also subjected to a hypoxia tolerance test. Their climbing ability was also analyzed.

Preventive and curative effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. seeds in C57BL/6J models of type 2 diabetes induced by high-fat diet.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (TFG) is traditionally used to treat diabetes in North Africa. we therefore tested the effects of the hydro-alcoholic extract of TFG seeds in a C57/BL6J mouse model of diabetes induced by a standardised high-fat diet (HFD).

Ethanol Extract of Abnormal Savda Munziq, a Herbal Preparation of Traditional Uighur Medicine, Inhibits Caco-2 Cells Proliferation via Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis.

Aims. Study the effect of Abnormal Savda Munziq (ASMq) ethanol extract on the proliferation, apoptosis, and correlative gene, expression in colon cancer cells (Caco-2) to elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for the anticancer property of Abnormal Savda Munziq. Materials and Methods.

Cracking the combinatorial semaphorin code.

In this issue of Neuron, Wu et al. describe a combinatorial code of repulsive Sema-2a and attractive Sema-2b signaling that mediates mechanosensory axonal guidance, fasciculation, and synaptic target selection within the CNS of Drosophila. Their work exemplifies how a detailed, multilevel molecular-genetic analysis (from molecules to behavior) provides fundamental insights into neural circuit development.