The projection from the prelimbic cortex to the ventral tegmental area negatively regulates 5-HT-induced itch-scratching and positively regulates itch-related aversion in rats.

Direct and indirect evidence suggests that the prelimbic cortex (PrL) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are the key brain regions involved in the regulation of itch sensation and itch-related emotions. The PrL projects widely to various cortical and subcortical brain regions, with the VTA being one of the main targets of PrL descending projections. However, the differential roles of the PrL-VTA pathway in the regulation of itch sensation and itch-related emotion remain unclear.

The projection from the rostral anterior cingulate cortex to the ventral tegmental area regulates 5-HT-induced itch aversion and scratching in rats.

Many studies in humans and rodents have shown that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a critical role in the regulation of pain-related aversion and that the projection from the rostral ACC (rACC) to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is implicated in this modulation process. The ACC is also reported to be involved in the regulation of itch-scratch behavior. However, it remains unclear whether the ACC is involved in the modulation of the negative emotions induced by acute itch sensation.

A bibliometric analysis of the top 100 most cited articles on corticospinal tract regeneration from 2004 to 2024.

Objective: Here, bibliometric and visual analytical techniques were employed to assess the key features of the 100 most cited publications concerning corticospinal tract (CST) regeneration.

Methods: Research was conducted within the Web of Science Core Collection to pinpoint the 100 most cited publications on CST regeneration. From these, comprehensive data encompassing titles, authorship, key terms, publication venues, release timelines, geographic origins, and institutional affiliations were extracted, followed by an in-depth bibliometric examination.

Arousal-promoting effect of the parabrachial nucleus and the underlying mechanisms: Recent advances.

The parabrachial nucleus (PBN) is responsible for integrating both internal and external sensory information and controlling/regulating a wide range of physiological processes, such as feeding, thermogenesis, nociceptive and pruritic sensations, and respiration. Recently, the PBN has been found to be involved in mediating wakefulness maintenance, sleep-wake transition, exogenous neuromodulation of awakening, and arousal-promoting process triggered by drastic changes in the internal environments, such as hypercapnia, hypoxia, and hypertension. Multiple neural pathways and subpopulations of neurons are responsible for arousal-promoting effects of the PBN.

Causal relationship between 41 inflammatory factors, circulating white blood cells, and pruritus: A 2-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.

The influence of circulating white blood cells and inflammatory factors on pruritus is gradually recognized by the public, but the specific causal relationship is still unknown. In this study, we included inflammatory cytokine profiles from 8293 healthy subjects, genetic data on blood cells from various ethnic and ancestry backgrounds, including 746,667 individuals, and 1370 patients of European descent with pruritus for a bidirectional 2-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. We employed several robust statistical methods, including the inverse variance weighted, weighted median, and the MR-Egger method.

Siling decoction ameliorates adenine-induced renal fibrosis in rats by the AKT/IKKβ/NFκB signaling pathway.

Objective: Investigating how Siling decoction (SLD) mitigates fibrosis in rats with chronic kidney disease CKD (chronic kidney disease) through network pharmacology analysis and experimental verification.

Methods: Initially, the primary active components and their target actions of SLD (Fuling, Zhuling, Zexie, and Baizhu) were identified by the TCMSP database and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Treatment targets for renal fibrosis were screened through databases such as GeneCard, OMIM, PharmGkb, and GEO.

Advances in the study of phencyclidine-induced schizophrenia-like animal models and the underlying neural mechanisms.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a chronic, severe mental disorder with heterogeneous clinical manifestations and unknown etiology. Research on SZ has long been limited by the low reliability of and ambiguous pathogenesis in schizophrenia animal models. Phencyclidine (PCP), a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, rapidly induces both positive and negative symptoms of SZ as well as stable SZ-related cognitive impairment in rodents.

Research progress in the application of pressing needle embedding needle in dysphagia after stroke: A review.

Stroke is characterized by "three highs," and dysphagia is a common dysfunction after stroke. Although some patients can gradually recover from dysphagia with the prolongation of the course of the disease, it is easy to change the prognosis of patients due to complications in the early stage of the disease, and clinical research has shown that pressing needle embedding needles can improve the outcome of patients with dysphagia after stroke. We reviewed the clinical related literature on the treatment of dysphagia after stroke by pressing needle and embedding needle in recent years.

Nanoengineering-Enhanced Capillary Cooling Achieves Sustained Thermal Protection for Ultra-High Heat Flux and Temperature.

Extreme thermal conditions with heat flux densities exceeding 1 MW m or temperatures reaching up to 1000 °C are prevalent in various situations. However, thermal protection ability depends on specialized materials or is currently limited with existing cooling schemes. Herein, an innovative cooling scheme that relies on evaporation-driven capillary flow, enhanced by nanoengineering-designed porous structures with common materials, is proposed.

The effect of Fu's subcutaneous needling in treating knee osteoarthritis patients: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Fu's subcutaneous needling (FSN) is an acupuncture technique for the treatment of soft tissue diseases. Knee osteoarthritis often involves lower limb muscles. This study aimed to observe and compare the clinical efficacy of Fu's subcutaneous acupuncture and electroacupuncture in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Synthesis, physicochemical characteristics, cytocompatibility, and antibacterial properties of iron-doped biphasic calcium phosphate nanoparticles with incorporation of silver.

The application of biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine has been widely explored due to its extensively documented multi-functionality. The present study attempts to synthesize a new type of BCP nanoparticles, characterised with favourable cytocompatibility and antibacterial properties via modifications in their structure, functionality and assemblage, using dopants. In this regard, this study initially synthesized iron-doped BCP (FB) nanoparticles with silver subsequently incorporated into FB nanoparticles to create a nanostructured composite (FB).

Molecular mechanism of oroxyli semen against triple-negative breast cancer verified by bioinformatics and in vitro experiments.

Objective: This study aimed to use network pharmacology to predict the therapeutic mechanism of oroxyli semen (OS) on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and validate it through in vitro experiments.

Methods: The active ingredients and target proteins of OS were retrieved from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database, and the TNBC-related target genes were obtained from the GeneCards database. The overlapping genes were used to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network via the String database.

Expression of DNM3 is associated with good outcome in colorectal cancer.

The aim of this study is to reveal the potential value of dynamin3 (DNM3) in colorectal cancer (CRC) evaluation of clinical diagnosis and prognosis. A total of 100 tissue samples were collected from 50 patients with stages I-IV, CRC tissues ( = 50) paired with non-cancerous adjacent colorectal tissues ( = 50). The expression levels of DNM3 were detected in 50 cases of CRC tissues and 50 cases of non-cancerous adjacent colorectal tissues by real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Differential roles of prelimbic and anterior cingulate cortical region in the modulation of histaminergic and non-histaminergic itch.

Itch is an unpleasant sensation that evokes a desire to scratch. Itch processing in the peripheral and spinal cord has been studied extensively, but the mechanism of itch in the central nervous system is still unclear. Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and prelimbic cortex (Prl), two subregions of the prefrontal cortex closely related to emotion and motivation, have been reported to be activated during itching in a series of functional imaging studies.

Effects of Solvent Debinding on the Microstructure and Properties of 3D-Printed Alumina Ceramics.

Solvents assist in the debinding of stereolithography-based 3D-printed alumina green bodies. The green bodies subsequently undergo thermal debinding and sintering to obtain alumina ceramics. In this study, several solvents were tested, including polyethylene glycol, oxalic acid, ammonium hydroxide, ethyl alcohol, methyl methacrylate, butyl acetate, dimethyl carbonate, methanol, ethyl acetate, and -butyl alcohol.

Polyvinyl Alcohol/Sodium Alginate Hydrogels Incorporated with Silver Nanoclusters via Green Tea Extract for Antibacterial Applications.

Silver-based nanoparticles and biomaterials have extensive biomedical applications owing to their unique antimicrobial properties. Thus, green and facile synthesis of such materials is highly desirable. This study reports an antibacterial hydrogel based on polyvinyl alcohol/sodium alginate network with the incorporation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which is greenly synthesized by reductive metabolites obtained from the leaves of green tea.

Clinical study of XiangShaLiuJunZi decoction combined with S-1 as maintenance therapy for stage III or IV gastric carcinoma and colorectal carcinoma.

Introduction: S-1, a new oral fluorouracil chemotherapeutical drug, has been increasingly used in clinical maintenance after first-line chemotherapy for stage III or IV gastric carcinoma (GC) and colorectal carcinoma (CRC) for its own advantages. XiangshaLiujunzi Decoction (XSLJZD), a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula with effects of alleviating the adverse reactions of chemotherapy and improving the quality of life of cancer patients has been gradually confirmed, with no more reports about the maintenance therapy mode of combination of chemotherapeutic drugs and TCM. We designed the study of XSLJZD combined with S-1 in the maintenance therapy of Stage III or IV GC and CRC, and hoped that this research program will go further and comprehensively evaluate its efficacy and safety.

Influence of Vacuum Debinding Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Three-Dimensional-Printed Alumina via Stereolithography.

Herein, the influence of vacuum debinding temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of three-dimensional-printed alumina is systematically investigated by employing a variety of characterization techniques. The results reveal that the debinding temperature >400°C resulted in negligible weight loss. Moreover, the crystallite size of the sintered alumina decreased with increasing debinding temperature.

Development of chitosan/gelatin hydrogels incorporation of biphasic calcium phosphate nanoparticles for bone tissue engineering.

The chitosan/gelatin hydrogel incorporated with biphasic calcium phosphate nanoparticles (BCP-NPs) as scaffold (CGB) for bone tissue engineering was reported in this article. Such nanocomposite hydrogels were fabricated by using cycled freeze-thawing method, of which physicochemical and biological properties were regulated by adjusting the weight ratio of chitosan/gelatin/BCP-NPs. The needle-like BCP-NPs were dispersed into composites uniformly, and physically cross-linked with chitosan and gelatin, which were identified via Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis.

Optimization of morphological parameters for mitigation pits on rear KDP surface: experiments and numerical modeling.

In high power laser systems, precision micro-machining is an effective method to mitigate the laser-induced surface damage growth on potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystal. Repaired surfaces with smooth spherical and Gaussian contours can alleviate the light field modulation caused by damage site. To obtain the optimal repairing structure parameters, finite element method (FEM) models for simulating the light intensification caused by the mitigation pits on rear KDP surface were established.