IL4 stimulated macrophages promote axon regeneration after peripheral nerve injury by secreting uPA to stimulate uPAR upregulated in injured axons.

Accumulating evidences suggest that M2 macrophages are involved with repair processes in the nervous system. However, whether M2 macrophages can promote axon regeneration by directly stimulating axons nor its precise molecular mechanism remains elusive. Here, the current study demonstrated that typical M2 macrophages, which were generated by IL4 simulation, had the capacity to stimulate axonal growth by their direct effect on axons and that the graft of IL4 stimulated macrophages into the region of Wallerian degeneration enhanced axon regeneration and improved functional recovery after PNI.

Minimum Ten-Year Outcomes of Partial Ulnar Nerve Transfer for Restoration of Elbow Flexion in Patients with Upper Brachial Plexus Injury.

Partial ulnar nerve transfer to the biceps motor branch of the musculocutaneous nerve (Oberlin's transfer) is a successful approach to restore elbow flexion in patients with upper brachial plexus injury (BPI). However, there is no report on more than 10 years subjective and objective outcomes. The purpose of this study was to clarify the long-term outcomes of Oberlin's transfer based on the objective evaluation of elbow flexion strength and subjective functional evaluation of patients.

A novel mouse model of adult T-cell leukemia cell invasion into the spinal cord.

Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is a mature T-cell malignancy caused by human T-cell leukemia virus type I infection, and 10%-25% of patients show central nervous system (CNS) involvement. CNS involvement significantly reduces survival and there are no effective treatments for CNS involvement. Therefore, an appropriate animal model is required to evaluate the inhibitory effects of novel drugs on the progression of ATL with CNS involvement.

Autologous Osteochondral Mosaicplasty for Centrally and Laterally Located, Advanced Capitellar Osteochondritis Dissecans in Teenage Athletes: Clinical Outcomes, Radiography, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings.

Background: Autologous osteochondral mosaicplasty (ie, mosaicplasty) results in satisfactory clinical outcomes and reliable return to play for patients with large or unstable lesions due to osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the humeral capitellum. However, the association between the healing of the reconstructed cartilage and clinical outcomes remains unclear.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of mosaicplasty in teenage athletes through use of clinical scores and imaging.

Suppressive effects of morphine injected into the ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis on the affective, but not sensory, component of pain in rats.

Pain is a complex experience with both sensory and affective components. Clinical and preclinical studies have shown that the affective component of pain can be reduced by doses of morphine lower than those necessary to reduce the sensory component. Although the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of morphine on the sensory component of pain have been investigated extensively, those influencing the affective component remain to be elucidated.

Venipuncture Nerve Injuries in the Upper Extremity From More Than 1 Million Procedures.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the nerve injury rate for 1 million venipunctures and the efficacy of attempts to avoid severe nerve injury.

Methods: We collected data for outpatients from whom a venipuncture blood sample was obtained in our hospital from 2005 to 2014. Every venipuncture procedure for outpatients was performed by a trained nurse or clinical technologist at the center for blood sampling in our hospital.

Corticotropin-releasing factor enhances inhibitory synaptic transmission to type III neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.

We previously reported that corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) increased neuronal excitability specifically in type II neurons of the dorsolateral part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (dlBNST). Because the majority of type II dlBNST neurons are thought to be GABAergic interneurons, at least a portion of which are considered to regulate type III dlBNST neurons, it is possible that CRF increases inhibitory input to type III neurons through the activation of type II neurons in the dlBNST. To test this possibility, we examined the effect of CRF on type III dlBNST neurons using whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings of inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) from rat BNST slices in the presence of kynurenic acid.

Demonstration of pollinator-mediated competition between two native Impatiens species, Impatiens noli-tangere and I. textori (Balsaminaceae).

Plant-plant interspecific competition via pollinators occurs when the flowering seasons of two or more plant species overlap and the pollinator fauna is shared. Negative sexual interactions between species (reproductive interference) through improper heterospecific pollen transfer have recently been reported between native and invasive species demonstrating pollination-driven competition. We focused on two native Impatiens species (I.

Congruence of microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA variation in acrobat ants (Crematogaster subgenus Decacrema, Formicidae: Myrmicinae) inhabiting Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) myrmecophytes.

A previously reported mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) phylogeny of Crematogaster (subgenus Decacrema) ants inhabiting Macaranga myrmecophytes indicated that the partners diversified synchronously and their specific association has been maintained for 20 million years. However, the mtDNA clades did not exactly match morphological species, probably owing to introgressive hybridization among younger species. In this study, we determined the congruence between nuclear simple sequence repeat (SSR, also called microsatellite) genotyping and mtDNA phylogeny to confirm the suitability of the mtDNA phylogeny for inferring the evolutionary history of Decacrema ants.

Changes in pollinator fauna affect altitudinal variation of floral size in a bumblebee-pollinated herb.

Geographic trait variations are often caused by locally different selection regimes. As a steep environmental cline along altitude strongly influences adaptive traits, mountain ecosystems are ideal for exploring adaptive differentiation over short distances. We investigated altitudinal floral size variation of Campanula punctata var.