Ambiguous Faces of Water-Based Inclusion Compounds: L4(4)8(8) Intercalato-Clathrate Hydrate of Pt(II) Complex.

Clathrate hydrates are among the most intensively studied H-bond inclusion compounds. Despite the broad definition for this class of compounds, their meaning commonly refers to closed polyhedral nanocages that encapsulate small guest molecules. On the other hand, larger solutes enforce another type of encapsulation because of the solute size effect.

Type D Personality and Health Behaviors in People Living with Obesity.

Background: Considering that health behaviors and personality traits play an important role in the formation of health attitudes, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the relations that occur between type D personality and health behaviors in a group of obese patients.

Methods: 443 adult patients with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m, who had been hospitalized in selected hospital facilities in the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland), participated in the study. Respondents completed three standardized questionnaires-the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale, version A (MHLC-A), the Inventory of Health Behaviors (IZZ), and the Type D Scale (DS-14).

Characterization and Classification of Direct and Commercial Strawberry Beverages Using Absorbance-Transmission and Fluorescence Excitation-Emission Matrix Technique.

The subject of this study was to characterize the absorption and fluorescence spectra of various types of strawberry beverages and to test the possibility of distinguishing between direct juices and pasteurized commercial products on the basis of their spectral properties. An absorbance and transmission excitation-emission matrix (A-TEEM) technique was used for the acquisition of spectra. The obtained spectra were analyzed using chemometric methods.

Personality Type D, Level of Perceived Stress, Insomnia, and Depression Among High School Teachers in Poland.

Teaching is inherently connected with specific burdens that may imply stressful situations. The goal of this study was to explore the prevalence of type D (distressed) personality in teachers. This is known to cause depressive episodes and sleep disorders, which not only have direct physical health effects, but can also impact the wellbeing of individuals and hence adversely affect their job performance.

The influence of erdosteine administration on lead-induced oxidative stress in rat muscle.

Lead-exposure is known to disrupt the redox balance of tissues leading to oxidative stress. Due to the fact that a mucolytic drug, erdosteine, exerts also antioxidant properties, we decided to perform a pilot study on rats to evaluate its therapeutic potency in lead poisoning. Male Wistar rats were divided randomly into the following seven groups having 10 animals in each.

A Neuromorphic Prosthesis to Restore Communication in Neuronal Networks.

Recent advances in bioelectronics and neural engineering allowed the development of brain machine interfaces and neuroprostheses, capable of facilitating or recovering functionality in people with neurological disability. To realize energy-efficient and real-time capable devices, neuromorphic computing systems are envisaged as the core of next-generation systems for brain repair. We demonstrate here a real-time hardware neuromorphic prosthesis to restore bidirectional interactions between two neuronal populations, even when one is damaged or missing.

The role of adiponectin and leptin in the treatment of ovarian cancer patients.

Introduction: Ovarian cancer is most frequently detected in the advanced stage. Although its pathogenesis is not fully elucidated, it is assumed that body susceptibility and hormonal disorders are responsible. The role of some cytokines as predictors in the treatment process is still investigated.

The evaluation of the changes in enzymatic antioxidant reserves and lipid peroxidation in chosen parts of the brain in an animal model of Parkinson disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. The causes of Parkinson's disease are not fully understood; however, increasing evidence implicates oxidative stress.

Objectives: The study was aimed at assessing the nature of the changes in the oxidation-antioxidant balance in the cerebral cortex, striatum, hippocampus, thalamus, and cerebellum in a rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD).

Chemotherapy and plasma adipokines level in patients with colorectal cancer.

Adipokines are molecules produced and secreted by adipose tissue and are linked to multiple malignancies. Adipokines can suppress or promote particular cell behaviors in different types of cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of chemotherapy on select adipokines in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Fluoride Alteration of [H]Glucose Uptake in Wistar Rat Brain and Peripheral Tissues.

The present study was designed to investigate the role of postnatal fluoride intake on [3H]glucose uptake and transport in rat brain and peripheral tissues. Sodium fluoride (NaF) in a concentration of 10 or 50 ppm was added to the drinking water of adult Wistar rats. The control group received distilled water.

Effects of Propofol on Oxidative Stress Parameters in Selected Parts of the Brain in a Rat Model of Parkinson Disease.

Introduction: Propofol is an intravenous sedative-hypnotic agent that is commonly used to induce and maintain general anaesthesia. This drug has antioxidant properties, which are partly caused by a phenolic structure similar to α-tocopherol. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of propofol on the level of oxidative stress biomarkers in the frontal cortex, striatum, thalamus, hippocampus and cerebellum in rats with experimental Parkinson's disease (PD).

Effects of Propofol on the Liver Oxidative-Antioxidant Balance in a Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease is caused by the destruction of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the midbrain. One of the possible factors involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is impaired oxidativeantioxidative balance.

Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate selected parameters of the liver oxidative-antioxidative system in a Wistar rat model with Parkinson's disease treated with propofol.

[Comparison of exposure to stress and analysis of ways of coping with stress among freight transport and public transport drivers].

Background: Fast progress in a lot of economic sectors has greatly contributed to a growing role of road transportation systems, including freight transport and passenger transport. The job of professional drivers is regarded as extremely hard and dangerous, it is associated with high risk of health loss and even life loss. This profession is also associated with mental burden, the main cause of the absence at work and alarming number of road accidents.

Evaluation of the analgesic effect of morphine on models of acute nociceptive pain in rats with a central noradrenergic system lesion.

Objectives: Stimulation of some noradrenergic system receptors demonstrates a synergistic anti-nociceptive effect with the opioid system at the level of peripheral tissues, spinal cord, and supraspinal structures. Furthermore, opioids stimulate the noradrenergic descending pathways originating from the substantia nigra by presynaptic inhibition of the GABA neuron ends. It is thus important to determine whether a disruption to the adrenergic transmission obtained via DPS-4 administration to neonatal rats impacts the perception of noxious stimuli mediated by 5-HT3-serotonin receptors at the level of spinal cords or higher tiers of the central nervous system.

Interfacing in silico and in vitro neuronal networks.

In this study, an in vitro cortical culture was stimulated according to the activity exhibited by its in silico counterpart. We connected the latter, an artificial spiking neural network (SNN), to the former, a biological network (BNN), via an open-loop (i.e.

Perinatal Treatments with the Dopamine D₂-Receptor Agonist Quinpirole Produces Permanent D₂-Receptor Supersensitization: a Model of Schizophrenia.

Repeated daily treatments of perinatal rats with the dopamine D2-receptor (D2-R) agonist quinpirole for a week or more produces the phenomenon of 'priming'-gradual but long-term sensitization of D2-R. In fact a daily dose of quinpirole as low as 50 µg/kg/day is adequate for sensitizing D2-R. Primed rats as neonates and in adolescence, when acutely treated with quinpirole display enhanced eating/gnawing/nursing on dams, also horizontal locomotor activity.

Perinatal 6-Hydroxydopamine Modeling of ADHD.

The neonatally 6-hydroxydopamine (n6-OHDA)-lesioned rat has been the standard for 40 years, as an animal model of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Rats so lesioned during postnatal ontogeny are characterized by ~99 % destruction of dopaminergic nerves in pars compacta substantia nigra, with comparable destruction of the nigrostriatal tract and lifelong ~99 % dopaminergic denervation of striatum, with lesser destructive effect on the ventral tegmental nucleus and associated lesser dopaminergic denervation of nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex. As a consequence of striatal dopaminergic denervation, reactive serotoninergic hyperinnervation of striatum ensues.

Perinatal 6-Hydroxydopamine to Produce a Lifelong Model of Severe Parkinson's Disease.

The classic rodent model of Parkinson's disease (PD) is produced by unilateral lesioning of pars compacta substantia nigra (SNpc) in adult rats, producing unilateral motor deficits which can be assessed by dopamine (DA) D receptor (D-R) agonist induction of measurable unilateral rotations. Bilateral SNpc lesions in adult rats produce life-threatening aphagia, adipsia, and severe motor disability resembling paralysis-a PD model that is so compromised that it is seldom used. Described in this paper is a PD rodent model in which there is bilateral 99 % loss of striatal dopaminergic innervation, produced by bilateral intracerebroventricular or intracisternal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) administration to perinatal rats.

Impairment in Pain Perception in Adult Rats Lesioned as Neonates with 5.7-Dihydroxytryptamine.

Background: Whereas some studies have demonstrated the essential role of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in tramadol and acetaminophen analgesia, other research has presented conflicting results. To dispel doubts, some aspects of the involvement of 5-HT in the antinociceptive properties of these drugs remain to be clarified.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether the serotoninergic system dysfunction produced by neonatal 5-HT lesion in rats may affect the antinociceptive effects of tramadol and acetaminophen administered in adulthood.

Selective Lifelong Destruction of Brain Monoaminergic Nerves Through Perinatal DSP-4 Treatment.

N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP-4) is a highly selective neurotoxin for noradrenergic projections originating from the locus coeruleus (LC). The outcome of the systemic DSP-4 treatment of newborn rats is an alteration in postnatal development of the noradrenergic system, involving the permanent denervation of distal noradrenergic projection areas (neocortex, hippocampus, spinal cord), accompanied by noradrenergic hyperinnervation in regions proximal to the LC cell bodies (cerebellum, pons-medulla). DSP-4 is well tolerated by developing rats and does not increase the mortality rate.

Influence of propofol on oxidative-antioxidative system parameters in peripheral organs of rats with Parkinson disease.

Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is a popular anaesthetic agent with antioxidant properties. The aim of the study was to assess the oxidant-antioxidant system parameters of particular organs (liver, kidney, heart, and lungs) in response to propofol administered to rats with Parkinson's disease and to healthy ones. The experiment was performed using 32 Wistar rats divided into four groups (8 rats each).

Decreased behavioral response to intranigrally administered GABAA agonist muscimol in the lactacystin model of Parkinson's disease may result from partial lesion of nigral non-dopamine neurons: comparison to the classical neurotoxin 6-OHDA.

Lactacystin is a selective UPS inhibitor recently used to destroy dopamine (DA) neurons in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, both in vitro and in vivo studies show discrepancies in terms of the sensitivity of non-DA neurons to its toxicity. Therefore, our study was aimed to examine the toxic effect of intranigral administration of lactacystin on DA and non-DA neurons in the rat substantia nigra (SN), compared to the classic neurotoxin 6-OHDA.

The effect of central noradrenergic system lesion on dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) synthesis rate following administration of 5-HT3 receptor ligands in chosen parts of the rat brain.

Introduction: Since little has been known about the effect of the central noradrenergic system on the reactivity of serotonin 5-HT3 receptors, the aim of the current study was to find out whether this reactivity could be altered by chemical damage to the system in adult rats in early developmental stage.

Materials And Methods: Adult male Wistar rats with central noradrenergic lesion induced by DSP-4 on day 1 and 3 of life were injected with analgesic model substance - morphine, serotoninergic 5-HT3 receptor agonist (1-phenylbiguanide, PBG), 5-HT3 receptor antagonist (ondansetron) or both compounds jointly followed by decarboxylase inhibitor of aromatic amino acids (NSD-1050). After 30 min following NSD-1050 injection, the animals were decapitated using a guillotine.

Perinatal manganese exposure and hydroxyl radical formation in rat brain.

The present study was designed to investigate the role of pre- and postnatal manganese (Mn) exposure on hydroxyl radical (HO(•)) formation in the brains of dopamine (DA) partially denervated rats (Parkinsonian rats). Wistar rats were given tap water containing 10,000 ppm manganese chloride during the duration of pregnancy and until the time of weaning. Control rat dams consumed tap water without added Mn.