Propagation of Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian vortex beams through mouse brain tissue.

Light transmission of Gaussian (G) and Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) vortex beams in mouse brain tissue is investigated. Transmittance is measured with different orbital angular momentums (OAM) at various tissue thicknesses. In both ballistic and diffusive regions, transmittances of G and LG beams show no significant difference.

Life after prostate cancer treatment: a mixed methods study of the experiences of men with sexual dysfunction and their partners.

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men and sexual dysfunction is the most frequently reported long-term side effect of prostate cancer surgery or radiation. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of men with sexual dysfunction and their partners following prostate cancer treatment.

Methods: Men with sexual dysfunction from either surgical removal or radiation therapy 1-5 years after treatment were interviewed, as well as their partners.

Label-Free Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Detecting Key Biomolecules in Brain Tissue from a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

In this study, label-free fluorescence spectroscopy was used for the first time to determine spectral profiles of tryptophan, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), and flavin denine dinucleotide (FAD) in fresh brain samples of a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our results showed that the emission spectral profile levels of tryptophan and NADH were higher in AD samples than normal samples. The intensity ratio of tryptophan to NADH and the change rate of fluorescence intensity with respect to wavelength also increased in AD brain.

Endothelial glycocalyx-the battleground for complications of sepsis and kidney injury.

After briefly discussing endothelial glycocalyx and its role in vascular physiology and renal disease, this overview focuses on its degradation very early in the course of microbial sepsis. We describe our recently proposed mechanism for glycocalyx degradation induced by exocytosis of lysosome-related organelles and release of their cargo. Notably, an intermediate in nitric oxide synthesis, NG-hydroxy-l-arginine, shows efficacy in curtailing exocytosis of these organelles and improvement in animal survival.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate reduces adhesion of malignant mammary tumor cells MDA-MB-231 to microvessel walls by protecting endothelial surface glycocalyx.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a sphingolipid in plasma that plays a critical role in cardiovascular and immune systems. Endothelial surface glycocalyx (ESG) decorating the inner wall of blood vessels is a regulator of multiple vascular functions. To test the hypothesis that S1P can reduce tumor cell adhesion to microvessel walls by protecting the ESG, we quantified the ESG and MDA-MB-231 tumor cell adhesion in the presence and absence of 1μM S1P, and in the presence of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor in post-capillary venules of rat mesentery.

Effects of Stimulus Size and Contrast on the Initial Primary Visual Cortical Response in Humans.

Decades of intracranial electrophysiological investigation into the primary visual cortex (V1) have produced many fundamental insights into the computations carried out in low-level visual circuits of the brain. Some of the most important work has been simply concerned with the precise measurement of neural response variations as a function of elementary stimulus attributes such as contrast and size. Surprisingly, such simple but fundamental characterization of V1 responses has not been carried out in human electrophysiology.

Direct current stimulation boosts synaptic gain and cooperativity in vitro.

Key Points: Direct current stimulation (DCS) polarity specifically modulates synaptic efficacy during a continuous train of presynaptic inputs, despite synaptic depression. DCS polarizes afferent axons and postsynaptic neurons, boosting cooperativity between synaptic inputs. Polarization of afferent neurons in upstream brain regions may modulate activity in the target brain region during transcranial DCS (tDCS).

Safety parameter considerations of anodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in rats.

A commonly referenced transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) safety threshold derives from tDCS lesion studies in the rat and relies on electrode current density (and related electrode charge density) to support clinical guidelines. Concerns about the role of polarity (e.g.

Effects of cooling rate on particle rearrangement statistics: Rapidly cooled glasses are more ductile and less reversible.

Amorphous solids, such as metallic, polymeric, and colloidal glasses, display complex spatiotemporal response to applied deformations. In contrast to crystalline solids, during loading, amorphous solids exhibit a smooth crossover from elastic response to plastic flow. In this study, we investigate the mechanical response of binary Lennard-Jones glasses to athermal, quasistatic pure shear as a function of the cooling rate used to prepare them.

Higher-order power harmonics of pulsed electrical stimulation modulates corticospinal contribution of peripheral nerve stimulation.

It is well established that electrical-stimulation frequency is crucial to determining the scale of induced neuromodulation, particularly when attempting to modulate corticospinal excitability. However, the modulatory effects of stimulation frequency are not only determined by its absolute value but also by other parameters such as power at harmonics. The stimulus pulse shape further influences parameters such as excitation threshold and fiber selectivity.

Measurements and models of electric fields in the human brain during transcranial electric stimulation.

Transcranial electric stimulation aims to stimulate the brain by applying weak electrical currents at the scalp. However, the magnitude and spatial distribution of electric fields in the human brain are unknown. We measured electric potentials intracranially in ten epilepsy patients and estimated electric fields across the entire brain by leveraging calibrated current-flow models.

Transport of biomolecules to binding partners displayed on the surface of microbeads arrayed in traps in a microfluidic cell.

Arrays of probe molecules integrated into a microfluidic cell are utilized as analytical tools to screen the binding interactions of the displayed probes against a target molecule. These assay platforms are useful in enzyme or antibody discovery, clinical diagnostics, and biosensing, as their ultraminiaturized design allows for high sensitivity and reduced consumption of reagents and target. We study here a platform in which the probes are first grafted to microbeads which are then arrayed in the microfluidic cell by capture in a trapping course.

Computational models of Bitemporal, Bifrontal and Right Unilateral ECT predict differential stimulation of brain regions associated with efficacy and cognitive side effects.

Background: Extensive clinical research has shown that the efficacy and cognitive outcomes of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are determined, in part, by the type of electrode placement used. Bitemporal ECT (BT, stimulating electrodes placed bilaterally in the frontotemporal region) is the form of ECT with relatively potent clinical and cognitive side effects. However, the reasons for this are poorly understood.

Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque detection by resonance Raman spectroscopy.

A clear correlation has been observed between the resonance Raman (RR) spectra of plaques in the aortic tunica intimal wall of a human corpse and three states of plaque evolution: fibrolipid plaques, calcified and ossified plaques, and vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques (VPs). These three states of atherosclerotic plaque lesions demonstrated unique RR molecular fingerprints from key molecules, rendering their spectra unique with respect to one another. The vibrational modes of lipids, cholesterol, carotenoids, tryptophan and heme proteins, the amide I, II, III bands, and methyl/methylene groups from the intrinsic atherosclerotic VPs in tissues were studied.

Directed Motion of Metallodielectric Particles by Contact Charge Electrophoresis.

We investigate the dynamics of metallodielectric Janus particles moving via contact charge electrophoresis (CCEP) between two parallel electrodes. CCEP uses a constant voltage to repeatedly charge and actuate conductive particles within a dielectric fluid, resulting in rapid oscillatory motion between the electrodes. In addition to particle oscillations, we find that micrometer-scale Janus particles move perpendicular to the field at high speeds (up to 600 μm/s) and over large distances.

Animal models of transcranial direct current stimulation: Methods and mechanisms.

The objective of this review is to summarize the contribution of animal research using direct current stimulation (DCS) to our understanding of the physiological effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). We comprehensively address experimental methodology in animal studies, broadly classified as: (1) transcranial stimulation; (2) direct cortical stimulation in vivo and (3) in vitro models. In each case advantages and disadvantages for translational research are discussed including dose translation and the overarching "quasi-uniform" assumption, which underpins translational relevance in all animal models of tDCS.