Loss of oxytocin receptors in hilar mossy cells impairs social discrimination.

Hippocampal oxytocin receptor (OXTR) signaling is crucial for discrimination of social stimuli to guide social recognition, but circuit mechanisms and cell types involved remain incompletely understood. Here, we report a role for OXTR-expressing hilar mossy cells (MCs) of the dentate gyrus in social stimulus discrimination by regulating granule cell (GC) activity. Using a Cre-loxP recombination approach, we found that ablation of Oxtr from MCs impairs discrimination of social, but not object, stimuli in adult male mice.

Neuroimmunomodulation of vagus nerve stimulation and the therapeutic implications.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a technology that provides electrical stimulation to the cervical vagus nerve and can be applied in the treatment of a wide variety of neuropsychiatric and systemic diseases. VNS exerts its effect by stimulating vagal afferent and efferent fibers, which project upward to the brainstem nuclei and the relayed circuits and downward to the internal organs to influence the autonomic, neuroendocrine, and neuroimmunology systems. The neuroimmunomodulation effect of VNS is mediated through the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway that regulates immune cells and decreases pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Gastric vagal afferent signaling to the basolateral amygdala mediates anxiety-like behaviors in experimental colitis mice.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a relapsing-remitting disorder characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Anxiety symptoms are commonly observed in patients with IBD, but the mechanistic link between IBD and anxiety remains elusive. Here, we sought to characterize gut-to-brain signaling and brain circuitry responsible for the pathological expression of anxiety-like behaviors in male dextran sulfate sodium-induced (DSS-induced) experimental colitis mice.

Multisession Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Enhances Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Context Discrimination in Mice.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising noninvasive neuromodulatory treatment option for multiple neurologic and psychiatric disorders, but its mechanism of action is still poorly understood. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) continues throughout life and is crucial for preserving several aspects of hippocampal-dependent cognitive functions. Nevertheless, the contribution of AHN in the neuromodulatory effects of tDCS remains unexplored.

The clinical outcome of balloon-assisted maturation procedure between autogenous radiocephalic fistula and brachiocephalic fistula in a single-center experience.

Objective: Balloon-assisted maturation (BAM) by an endovascular method plays an important role in treating an immature arteriovenous fistula. However, the results between radiocephalic fistula and brachiocephalic fistula were rarely reported. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and outcome of BAM in different sites of autogenous arteriovenous fistulas.

Factors associated with mortality in patients with super-refractory status epilepticus.

Super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) is a critical condition in which seizures persist despite anesthetic use for 24 h or longer. High mortality has been reported in patients with SRSE, but the cause of death remains unclear. We investigated the factors associated with mortality, including clinical characteristics, SE etiologies and severities, treatments, and responses in patients with SRSE in a 13-year tertiary hospital-based retrospective cohort study comparing these parameters between deceased and surviving patients.

Delta oscillation underlies the interictal spike changes after repeated transcranial direct current stimulation in a rat model of chronic seizures.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) provides a noninvasive polarity-specific constant current to treat epilepsy, through a mechanism possibly involving excitability modulation and neural oscillation.

Objective: To determine whether EEG oscillations underlie the interictal spike changes after tDCS in rats with chronic spontaneous seizures.

Methods: Rats with kainic acid-induced spontaneous seizures were subjected to cathodal tDCS or sham stimulation for 5 consecutive days.

Reversible M-M Bonding by Alkaline Earth Metals (Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) in Graphite Intercalation Compounds.

The alkaline earth metals (M=Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba) exhibit a +2 oxidation state in nearly all known stable compounds, but M dimeric complexes with M-M bonding, [M (en) ] , (en=ethylenediamine) of all these metals can be stabilized within the galleries of donor-type graphite intercalation compounds (GICs). These metals can also form GICs with more conventional metal (II) ion complexes, [M(en) ] . Here, the facile interconversion between dimeric-M and monomeric-M intercalates upon the addition/removal of en are reported.

Transcranial direct current stimulation alleviates seizure severity in kainic acid-induced status epilepticus rats.

Status epilepticus (SE) is a state of prolonged and repeated seizures that can lead to permanent brain damage or life-threatening conditions. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) non-invasively provides a polarity-specific electric current to modulate brain excitability. Little is known about the therapeutic potential of tDCS in SE.

Cortical Excitability by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as Biomarkers for Seizure Controllability in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Objective: To investigate whether indicators of cortical excitability are good biomarkers of seizure controllability in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).

Materials And Methods: Three groups of subjects were recruited: those with poorly controlled (PC) TLE (N = 41), well-controlled (WC) TLE (N = 71), and healthy controls (N = 44). Short- and long-latency recovery curves were obtained by paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Transcranial direct current stimulation induces hippocampal metaplasticity mediated by brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique used to modulate neuronal excitability via externally applied electric fields. Despite the positive effects of tDCS in a wide range of neurological disorders in humans, its mechanism of action remains poorly understood. Here we investigated cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the aftereffects of anodal tDCS on the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), a cellular correlate of learning and memory, at Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses.

Sodium Metabisulfite: Effects on Ionic Currents and Excitotoxicity.

How sodium metabisulfite (SMB; NaSO), a popular food preservative and antioxidant, interacts with excitable membrane and induces excitotoxicity is incompletely understood. In this study, the patch-clamp technique was used to investigate and record the electrophysiological effect of SMB on electrically excitable HL-1 cardiomyocytes and NSC-34 neurons, as well as its relationship to pilocarpine-induced seizures and neuronal excitotoxicity in rats. We used Western blotting, to analyze sodium channel expression on hippocampi after chronic SMB treatment.

Repeated transcranial direct current stimulation improves cognitive dysfunction and synaptic plasticity deficit in the prefrontal cortex of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Background: Cognitive dysfunction is commonly observed in diabetic patients. We have previously reported that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex can facilitate visuospatial working memory in diabetic patients with concomitant diabetic peripheral neuropathy and mild cognitive impairment, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Objective: We investigated the cellular mechanisms underlying the effect of tDCS on cognitive decline in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.

The Facilitative Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Visuospatial Working Memory in Patients with Diabetic Polyneuropathy: A Pre-post Sham-Controlled Study.

Diabetes mellitus can lead to diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) and cognitive deficits that manifest as peripheral and central neuropathy, respectively. In this study we investigated the relationship between visuospatial working memory (VSWM) capacity and DPN severity, and attempted to improve VSWM in DPN patients via the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Sixteen DPN patients and 16 age- and education-matched healthy control subjects received Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) for baseline cognitive assessment.

Modulating the interference effect on spatial working memory by applying transcranial direct current stimulation over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Spatial working memory (SWM) is the ability to temporarily store and manipulate spatial information. It has a limited capacity and is quite vulnerable to interference. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been shown to be a part of the SWM network but its specific functional role still remains unknown.

Integrated optical waveguide and photodetector arrays based on comb-like ZnO structures.

On-chip integrations of photonic waveguides and high-performance electrically-driven devices, by combining different active or passive optical components, are imperative towards the advancement of nanophotonic circuitry systems. We experimentally demonstrate the collective optical functionalities of ZnO microstructures towards designing an integrated photonic system by combining the optical waveguiding and detection properties. Comb-like microstructures composed of periodic arrays of smooth, single-crystalline ZnO nanowires are synthesized for these purposes.

Two gloves and one sock syndrome after a pontine hemorrhage.

Introduction: Stroke presenting with paresthesia of bilateral hands and one leg in a gloves-and-one-sock distribution is rare.

Case Report: We report a patient with brainstem hemorrhage involving the right medial lemniscus (ML) across the midline to the medial part of left ML that resulted in paresthesia in bilateral hands and the left foot. The neighboring lesions include the right ventral trigeminothalamic tract causing left facial numbness, right trigeminal motor nucleus leading to right lateral pterygoid muscle weakness, right anterolateral tract resulting in a left hemisensory syndrome, and the right superior cerebellar peduncle decussation causing left limb ataxia.

Contraversive shift of conjugate eye deviation in hemispheric stroke indicates emerging mass effect.

Conjugate eye deviation (CED) towards the ipsilateral or the contralateral side of the brain lesion can occur as a result of acute hemispheric stroke. To our knowledge, there have been no reports of CED shifting from the lesional side to the contralateral side in acute hemispheric stroke in the literature. We present four patients with right hemispheric stroke with a forced CED shift from the right to the left side during the acute stage with corresponding mass effect on the right internal capsule and right thalamus, as shown on brain imaging.

Fabrication of metal nanostructures by atomic force microscopy nanomachining and related applications.

In this work, the fabrication of metal nanostructures by a combination of atomic force microscopy nanomachining on a thin polymer resist, metal coating and lift-off is presented. Nanodots with sizes down to 20 nm and nanowires with widths ranging between 40 and 100 nm have been successfully created by nanoindenting and nanoscratching. The results exemplify the feasibility and effectiveness of the present technique as an alternative to e-beam lithography.

High-resolution cardiac MRI using partially separable functions and weighted spatial smoothness regularization.

Imaging of cardiac morphology and functions in high spatiotemporal resolution using MRI is a challenging problem due to limited imaging speed and the inherent tradeoff between spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The partially separable function (PSF) model has been shown to achieve high spatiotemporal resolution but can lead to noisy reconstructions. This paper proposes a method to improve the SNR and reduce artifacts in PSF-based reconstructions through the use of anatomical constraints.

First-pass perfusion cardiac MRI using the Partially Separable Functions model with generalized support.

Dynamic imaging methods based on the Partially Separable Functions (PSF) model have been used to perform ungated cardiac MRI, and the critical parameter determining the quality of the reconstructed images is the order, L, of the PSF model. This work extends previous methods by increasing L in the cardiac region to improve the ability of the PSF model to represent complex spatiotemporal signals. The resulting higher order PSF model is fit to sparse (k, t)-space data using spatial-spectral support, spatial-eigenbasis support, and spectral sparsity constraints.

Reversible postvaccination paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma.

Encephalomyelitis occurs in paraneoplastic syndrome and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis through different autoimmune mechanisms. No postvaccinal encephalomyelitis other than acute disseminated encephalomyelitis has been reported in patients with malignancy. A 68-year-old woman was admitted because of a headache followed by a gait disturbance and psychomotor retardation 2 days after she had received an influenza vaccination followed by abulia, limb rigidity and hyperreflexia of both legs, and meningeal irritation.

Near UV LEDs made with in situ doped p-n homojunction ZnO nanowire arrays.

Catalyst-free p-n homojunction ZnO nanowire (NW) arrays in which the phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) served as p- and n-type dopants, respectively, have been synthesized for the first time by a controlled in situ doping process for fabricating efficient ultraviolet light-emitting devices. The doping transition region defined as the width for P atoms gradually occupying Zn sites along the growth direction can be narrowed down to sub-50 nm. The cathodoluminescence emission peak at 340 nm emitted from n-type ZnO:Zn NW arrays is likely due to the Burstein-Moss effect in the high electron carrier concentration regime.