An Online Interactive Paradigm for P300 Brain-Computer Interface Speller

For each brain-computer interface system, efficiency is a key issue that considers both accuracy and speed. The P300 spellers built upon oddball paradigm are usually less efficient due to the repetitive stimulation of multiple characters for reliable detection. In this paper, based on the online EEG signal, we propose an interactive paradigm for P300 speller to improve its efficiency, primarily focusing within the single characterP300 paradigm. Specifically, after each stimulation, we first evaluate the posterior probability of each character in the stimuli set to be the target. The lowprobability characters are then removed fromthe stimuli set in the subsequent round(s), as character flash continues until the probability of any character surpasses a predefined threshold. Then, the character is selected as the target and data collection for the trial terminates. By reducing stimulus sequence characters, the system efficiency can be substantially improved. The spelling accuracy is insignificantly affected as the characters being removed have low probability to be the target. The online experimental results from a total of eight subjects show that an average practical information transfer rate of 50.26 bits/min (i.e. 9.07 characters/min) has been achieved, with 91% average spelling accuracy rate.

[HBV genotyping based on key epitopes of PreS1 antigen and its correlation with genotyping by full-length PreS1 sequencing]

Objective: The aim was to investigate the genotype distribution of two major epitopes of large surface protein (PreS1) of hepatitis B in Chinese patients and to explore the association between the genotypes of these two epitopes, and to determine whether PreS1 full-length genotype could be revealed according to the polypeptide sequence of key epitopes. Methods: HBV DNA was extracted from the serum of patients for PCR amplification. 278 samples amplified successfully were sequenced and compared with the known HBV sequences in Genbank to determine the two key epitopes of HBV PreS1 genotype (amino acid epitope 21-47 and 94-117, abbreviated as P21 and P94) and PreS1 full-length genotypes. The correlation among three genotyping approaches was analyzed by Cohen's kappa coefficient to verify the consistency between the key-epitope genotyping and the full-length preS1 genotyping. Results: 232 samples were successfully sequenced. The genotyping based on the kind of P21 epitope protein sequence, 201 cases for genotype C, 23 cases for genotype B and 8 cases for uncertain genotypes and genotyping based on the form of P94 epitope protein sequence, 199 cases for genotype C, 25 cases for genotype B and 8 cases for indeterminate genotypes. Lastly, the genotyping based on sequence of the full-length PreS1 sequence, 207 and 25 cases for genotype C and B. P21 or P94 epitope genotyping and PreS1 full length genotyping were highly consistent, respectively, 96.55% and 96.12%, and the two epitopes (P21and P94) genotyping have parallel consistency (93.10%). Conclusion: In this study, an innovatively genotyping method based on the amino acid sequence of key epitopes was proposed. The genotypes of HBV in china were mainly B and C genotypes, and the genotypes of key conserved epitopes of HBV PreS1 were highly consistent with the full-length genotyping ( > 96%). Moreover, genotyping with one or two key epitopes can be used in place of the full-length genotyping.

An EOG-Based Human-Machine Interface to Control a Smart Home Environment for Patients With Severe Spinal Cord Injuries

OBJECTIVE

This paper presents an asyn-chronous electrooculography (EOG)-based human-machine interface (HMI) for smart home environmental control with the purpose of providing daily assistance for severe spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.

METHODS

The proposed HMI allows users to interact with a smart home environment through eye blinking. Specifically, several buttons, each corresponding to a control command, randomly flash on a graphical user interface. Each flash of the buttons functions as a visual cue for the user to blink. To issue a control command, the user can blink synchronously with the flashes of the corresponding button. Through detecting blinks based on the recorded EOG signal, the target button and its corresponding control command are determined. Seven SCI patients participated in an online experiment, during which the patients were required to control a smart home environment including household electrical appliances, an intelligent wheelchair, as well as a nursing bed via the proposed HMI.

RESULTS

The average false operation ratio in the control state was 4.1%, whereas during the idle state, no false operations occurred.

CONCLUSION

All SCI patients were able to control the smart home environment using the proposed EOG-based HMI with satisfactory performance in terms of the false operation ratio in both the control and the idle states.

SIGNIFICANCE

The proposed HMI offers a simple and effective approach for patients with severe SCIs to control a smart home environment. Therefore, it is promising to assist severe SCI patients in their daily lives.

[Safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement through transcarotid approach for patients with severe aortic valve stenosis]

Objective: To investigate the safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement(TAVR) through transcarotid approach for patients with severe aortic valve stenosis. Methods: The clinical data of 9 symptomatic severe aortic valve stenosis patients who had high or prohibitive risk for surgery and not suitable for TAVR through femoral artery access,and thus received TAVR through transcarotid approach in our hospital from November 2015 to February 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were followed up to observe the safety and efficacy of the procedure. Results: There were 4 male and 5 female patients in this cohort, and age was (75.7±8.7) years old. The Society of Thoracic Surgery (STS) scores were (7.9±1.6)%. All patients were treated by left carotid artery approach. One patient experienced valve dislodgement during the procedure and received surgery, and TAVR procedure was successful in the rest 8 patients. Two patients were implanted with permanent pacemaker because of third degree atrioventricular block during the procedure.One patient had cardiac arrest during the procedure and recovered after external chest compression.One patient developed severe carotid stenosis,and there was no clinical manifestation of nerve function deficit after the procedure. All patients were followed up at (30±3) days after the procedure, and there were no adverse events. The modified Rankin scale score was 0. Echocardiography examination showed that the tranvalvular mean gradient was reduced from (63.0±19.2)mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) on baseline to (18.1±4.9)mmHg(P<0.001), 4 cases had mild paravalvular leakage, and there was no moderate or severe paravalvular leakage.The NYHA classes was significantly improved at 30 days when compared with before the procedure(2 cases class Ⅱ, 4 cases class Ⅲ,3 cases class Ⅳ before the procedure,and 5 cases classⅠ, 4 cases class Ⅱ after the procedure, P=0.006) , and left ventricular ejection fraction increased from (55.9±13.1)% to (60.4±10.0)% (P=0.030). Conclusion: Our initial experience indicates that transcarotid TAVR is safe and effective for patients with severe aortic valve stenosis.

[Percutaneous renal access for percutaneous nephrolithotomy guided by contrast enhanced ultrasound: a single-center preliminary experience in China]

OBJECTIVE

Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is an innovative technique that employs microbubble contrast agents to demonstrate parenchymal perfusion. Ultrasound contrast agent was reported to be directly used in human internal lumen to improve the observation capacity of ultrasound. However, CEUS has never been reported to be used in the guidance of percutaneous renal access in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). This study aimed to assess the efficacy of CEUS-guided renal access in PCNL.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, percutaneous renal access was performed under real-time monitoring of CEUS during PCNL in a cohort of 20 patients with renal stones at Peking University First Hospital. Data regarding patients' demographic and clinical characteristics, therapeutic regimens, and postoperative information were collected from a comprehensive database containing comprehensive medical records of the patients undergoing PCNL. Briefly, the procedure was as follows. With the patient under general anesthesia, renal access was established by the guidance of CEUS. Afterwords, holmium laser, pneumatic or ultrasonic lithotripsy was used by the same urologist. The patient demographics, stone characteristics and procedure details were noted. Finally, appropriate statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the CEUS-guided percutaneous renal access in PCNL.

RESULTS

All the 20 patients underwent PCNL successfully with the help of CEUS guidance for tract creation. The collecting system was successfully accessed in all the patients, and only one patient underwent re-puncture. All the patients approached through a middle-pole percutaneous access. The median puncture time was 3.9 (2.9-4.6) min, and the median operating time was 112 (98.5-134.5) min. The preliminary stone-free rate of PCNL was 95.0% (19/20) as shown by the kidney, ureter, and bladder (KUB) radiographs 48 h postoperation, and the median decline in hemoglobin level was 10 (5.5-14.5) g/L. Two patients had transient postoperative fever and responded well to antibiotics. In addition, no other major complications were observed.

CONCLUSION

CEUS is a safe and effective alternative way of guidance for percuta-neous renal access for PCNL beginners. It makes this procedure more visualized and simpler, and produces clearer images than common ultrasonic ones. PCNL beginners might benefit from this method to shorten the learning curve of PCNL, while it warrants further comparative studies to clarify.

An Optimal Dietary Zinc Level of Brown-Egg Laying Hens Fed a Corn-Soybean Meal Diet

An experiment was conducted to estimate the optimal dietary zinc (Zn) level of brown-egg laying hens fed a corn-soybean meal diet from 20 to 40 weeks of age. A total of 120 20-week-old Beijing Red commercial laying hens were randomly allotted by bodyweight to one of five treatments with six replicates of four birds each in a completely randomized design, and fed a Zn-unsupplemented corn-soybean meal basal diet containing 27.95 mg Zn/kg by analysis and the basal diets supplemented with 30, 60, 90, or 120 mg Zn/kg as Zn sulfate (reagent grade ZnSO4·7H2O) for a duration of 20 weeks. Laying performance, egg quality, tissue Zn concentrations, and activities of serum alkaline phosphatase (AKP), and liver copper-Zn superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) were measured. Regression analyses were performed to estimate an optimal dietary Zn level whenever a significant quadratic response (P < 0.05) was observed. Tibia Zn concentration (P = 0.002) and serum AKP activity (P = 0.010) showed significant quadratic responses to dietary supplemental Zn levels. The estimates of dietary Zn requirements for brown-egg laying hens from 20 to 40 weeks of age were 71.95 and 64.63 mg/kg for tibia Zn concentration and serum AKP activity, respectively. The results from this study indicate that the tibia Zn might be a more suitable and reliable parameter for Zn requirement estimation, and the optimal dietary Zn level would be about 72 mg/kg for brown-egg laying hens fed a corn-soybean meal diet from 20 to 40 weeks of age.

A phase III randomised controlled trial of erlotinib vs gefitinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations

Background:

A phase III trial was conducted to compare the safety and efficacy of erlotinib with that of gefitinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer harbouring epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in exon 19 or 21.

Methods:

Eligible patients were randomised to receive erlotinib (150 mg per day) or gefitinib (250 mg per day) orally until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. We aimed to determine whether erlotinib is superior to gefitinib in efficacy. The primary end point was progression-free survival.

Results:

A total of 256 patients were randomised to receive erlotinib (N=128) or gefitinib (N=128). Median progression-free survival was not better with erlotinib than with gefitinib (13.0 vs 10.4 months, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.62–1.05, P=0.108). The corresponding response rates and median overall survival were 56.3% vs 52.3% (P=0.530) and 22.9 vs 20.1 months (95% CI 0.63–1.13, P=0.250), respectively. There were no significant differences in grade 3/4 toxicities between the two arms (P=0.172).

Conclusions:

The primary end point was not met. Erlotinib was not significantly superior to gefitinib in terms of efficacy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer with epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in exon 19 or 21, and the two treatments had similar toxicities.

Protective Effect of Fucoxanthin Isolated from Laminaria japonica against Visible Light-Induced Retinal Damage Both in Vitro and in Vivo

With increasingly serious eye exposure to light stresses, such as light-emitting diodes, computers, and widescreen mobile phones, efficient natural compounds for preventing visible light-induced retinal damages are becoming compelling needs in the modern society. Fucoxanthin, as the main light absorption system in marine algae, may possess an outstanding bioactivity in vision protection because of its filtration of blue light and excellent antioxidative activity. In this work, both in vitro and in vivo simulated visible light-induced retinal damage models were employed. The in vitro results revealed that fucoxanthin exhibited better bioactivities than lutein, zeaxanthin, and blueberry anthocyanins in inhibiting overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor, resisting senescence, improving phagocytic function, and clearing intracellular reactive oxygen species in retinal pigment epithelium cells. The in vivo experiment also confirmed the superiority of fucoxanthin than lutein in protecting retina against photoinduced damage. This excellent bioactivity may be attributed to its unique structural features, including allenic, epoxide, and acetyl groups. Fucoxanthin is expected to be an important ocular nutrient in the future.

Hepatitis B virus basal core promoter/precore mutants and association with liver cirrhosis in children with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

We investigated 168 children and analysed the virological characterization and association with disease progression in children with hepatitis B virus (HBV) basal core promoter/precore (BCP/PC) mutants. Among 168 patients with HBV infection (aged 0.5-18 years old, mean 10.1), 86 of them had HBV-related liver cirrhosis (LC) and 82 had HBV-related chronic hepatitis B (CHB). A direct sequencing method was employed to determine the HBV genotypes and the mutations in BCP/PC regions. In all, 133 of them were infected with genotype C viruses (79.17%); only 35 patients (20.83%) were infected with genotype B viruses. Both LC patients and CHB patients had significantly higher ratios of genotype C when compared with the ratios of genotype B (83.7%-16.3% versus 74.4%-25.6%). For patients with CHB, the prevalence of BCP/PC wild-type viruses was 52.4%; but this was only 4.7% in patients with LC. The C1653T, T1753C, A1762T/G1764A and G1896A mutations had a significantly higher prevalence in patients with LC. Among all the patients with genotype B viruses, those with LC had lower HBV DNA levels and higher G1899A mutation frequency than patients with CHB. Among all the patients with genotype C viruses, the patients with LC had higher prevalence of C1653T, A1762T/G1764A and G1896A mutation frequency, higher hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) -negative rates, lower viral load, lower elevated alanine aminotransferase and lower anti-HBe positive rates than CHB patients. The HBV BCP/PC variants were more common in HBeAg-negative LC patients than in the CHB group (BCP, 53.4% versus 15.6%; PC, 18.6% versus 3.7%, respectively, p < 0.001). Patients with HBV genotype C viruses, high viral load and C1653T, A1762T/G1764A, G1896A mutant viruses, were more susceptible to developing LC.

Visible Light-Induced Lipid Peroxidation of Unsaturated Fatty Acids in the Retina and the Inhibitory Effects of Blueberry Polyphenols

The lipid peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) in the retina not only threatens visual cells but also affects the physiological health of the retina. In this work, the potential damages caused by daily visible light exposure on retinal UFAs were evaluated via a simulated in vitro model. At the same time, the benefits of dietary supplementation of blueberries to the eyes were also assessed. After prolonged light exposure, lipid peroxidation occurred for both docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acids (DHA and AA, respectively). The oxidized UFAs presented obvious cytotoxicity and significantly inhibited cell growth in retinal pigment epithelium cells. Among the different blueberry polyphenol fractions, the flavonoid-rich fraction, in which quercetin was discovered as the main component, was considerably better in preventing visible light-induced DHA lipid peroxidation than the anthocyanin- and phenolic acid-rich fractions. Then the retinal protective activity of blueberry polyphenols against light-induced retinal injury was confirmed in vivo. On the basis of the above results, inhibiting lipid peroxidation of UFAs in the retina is proposed to be another important function mechanism for antioxidants to nourish eyes.

Mining topological structures of protein-protein interaction networks for human brain-specific genes

Compared to other placental mammals, humans have unique thinking and cognitive abilities because of their developed cerebral cortex composed of billions of neurons and synaptic connections. As the primary effectors of the mechanisms of life, proteins and their interactions form the basis of cellular and molecular functions in the living body. In this paper, we developed a pipeline for mining topological structures, identifying functional modules, and analyzing their functions from publically available datasets. A human brain-specific protein-protein interaction network with 1482 nodes and 3105 edges was built using a MapReduce based shortest path algorithm. Within this, 7 functional cliques were identified using a network clustering method, 98 hub proteins were obtained by the calculation of betweenness and connectivity, and 5 closest relationship to clique connector proteins were recognized by the combination scores of topological distance and gene ontology similarity. Furthermore, we discovered functional modules interacting with TP53 protein, which involves several fragmented research study conclusions and might be an important clue for further in vivo or in silico experiments to confirm these associations.

Association of heat shock protein 70 expression with rat myocardial cell damage during heat stress in vitro and in vivo

To investigate the mechanism of sudden death as a result of stress-induced damage to heart tissue and myocardial cells and to investigate the cardioprotective role of Hsp70 during heat stress, the distribution and expression of Hsp70 was evaluated in the heart cells of heat-stressed rats in vivo and heat-stressed H9c2 cells in vitro. After exposure to heat stress at 42°C for different durations, we observed a significant induction of CK, CK-MB, and LDH as well as pathologic lesions characterized by acute degeneration, suggesting that cell damage occurs from the onset of heat stress. Immunocytochemistry showed that Hsp70 was distributed mainly in the cytoplasm of myocardial cells in vivo and in vitro. Hsp70-positive signals in the cytoplasm were more prominent in intact areas than in degenerated areas after 60 min of heat stress. Hsp70 protein levels in myocardial cells in vitro decreased from the beginning to the end of heat stress. Hsp70 protein levels in rat heart tissues in vivo decreased gradually with prolonged heat stress, with a slight increase at the beginning of heat stress. These results indicate that Hsp70 plays a role in the response of cardiac cells to heat stress and that decreased Hsp70 levels are associated with damage to rat myocardial cells in vitro and in vivo. Significant differences were found in hsp70 mRNA, which began to increase after 20 min of heat stress in vitro and after 40 min in vivo. This indicates that hysteresis is involved in mRNA expression after heat stress in vivo.

[The significance of serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels for prognosis of patients in intensive care unit]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the significance of elevated serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels in predicting 30-day mortality rate for patients in intensive care unit (ICU).

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted. The clinical data of 480 patients admitted to ICU in Tianjin First Center Hospital from June 2012 to October 2013 were studied. The characteristics of patients were recorded, the acute physiology and chronic health evaluationII ( APACHEII) score was calculated, and the routine blood tests, blood biochemistry, and serum NT-proBNP level within 24 hours after admission were determined. Patients were divided into non-survival and survival groups according to 30-day outcome, and the characteristics and clinical parameters were compared between two groups, and single factor analysis affecting prognosis was analyzed. All patients were divided into four groups according to four percentile method as NT-proBNP<280 ng/L (group Q1), 280 ng/L≤NT-proBNP<1 200 ng/L (group Q2), 1 200 ng/L≤NT-proBNP<1 990 ng/L (group Q3), 1 990 ng/L≤NT-proBNP<4 700 ng/L (group Q4). A Cox regression analysis was used to test the independence of the predictors. A receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was plotted to compare the power of APACHEII score and NT-proBNP in predicting the outcome. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess survival rate among different NT-proBNP patients.

RESULTS

By single factor analysis it was shown that age, APACHEII score, creatinine, NT-proBNP and severe infection were those influencing the outcome. NT-proBNP 1 200-4 700 ng/L (groups Q3 and Q4) and APACHEII score>20 were independent risk factors for predicting outcome [relative risk (RR) for group Q3 was 3.624, 95% credibility interval (95%CI) was 1.258-10.138; RR for group Q4 was 5.059, 95%CI was 3.202-9.993; RR for APACHEII score>20 was 2.987, 95%CI was 1.345-5.823]. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for APACHEII score and serum NT-proBNP was similar, and it was 0.831 (95%CI 0.778-0.884) and 0.876 (95%CI 0.827-0.925), respectively. The cut-off value of NT-proBNP for predicting mortality was 1 250 ng/L. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that groups of Q2, Q3 and Q4 had lower cumulative survival rate compared with group Q1 (26.5%, 25.4%, 16.2% vs. 29.6%), and group Q4 showed most significant extent of lowering of survival rate (χ(2)=122.920, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated NT-proBNP level in ICU patients signify severity of the disease, and it is an independent predictor of death of ICU patients.

Climate change and observed climate trends in the fort cobb experimental watershed

Recurring droughts in the Southern Great Plains of the United States are stressing the landscape, increasing uncertainty and risk in agricultural production, and impeding optimal agronomic management of crop, pasture, and grazing systems. The distinct possibility that the severity of recent droughts may be related to a greenhouse-gas induced climate change introduces new challenges for water resources managers because the intensification of droughts could represent a permanent feature of the future climate. Climate records of the Fort Cobb watershed in central Oklahoma were analyzed to determine if recent decade-long trends in precipitation and air temperature were consistent with climate change projections for central Oklahoma. The historical precipitation record did not reveal any compelling evidence that the recent 20-yr-long decline in precipitation was related to climate change. Also, precipitation projections by global circulation models (GCMs) displayed a flat pattern through the end of the 21st century. Neither observed nor projected precipitation displayed a multidecadal monotonic rising or declining trend consistent with an ongoing warming climate. The recent trend in observed annual precipitation was probably a decade-scale variation not directly related to the warming climate. On the other hand, the observed monotonic warming trend of 0.34°C decade that started around 1978 is consistent with GCM projections of increasing temperature for central Oklahoma.

Nanomechanical torsional resonators for frequency-shift infrared thermal sensing

We investigate use of nanomechanical torsional resonators for frequency-shift-based infrared (IR) thermal sensing. Nanoscale torsion rods, ~1 μm long and 50-100 nm in diameter, provide both extraordinary thermal isolation and excellent angular displacement and torque sensitivities, of order ~10(-7) rad·Hz(-1/2) and ~10(-22) (N·m) Hz(-1/2), respectively. Furthermore, these nanorods act as linear torsional springs, yielding a maximum angular displacement of 3.6° and a dynamic range of over 100 dB; this exceeds the performance of flexural modes by as much as 5 orders of magnitude. These attributes lead to superior noise performance for torsional-mode sensing. We demonstrate the operational principles of torsional-mode IR detection, attaining an uncooled noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of 390 mK. By modeling the fundamental noise processes, we project that further reduction of device size can significantly improve thermal responsivity; a room-temperature NETD below 10 mK appears feasible.

The Mandarin Chinese shortened version of Oral Health Impact Profile for partially edentate patients with implant-supported prostheses

This study was to validate a mandarin Chinese version of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49) in China and to develop a shortened version of OHIP appropriate for use in partially dentate patients with implant-supported prostheses. The original 49 items of OHIP were translated into mandarin Chinese using a forward-backward method and administered to 580 subjects selected by stratified random sampling. Self-perceived oral health status and treatment need were also collected. Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of OHIP (OHIP-C49) were validated. A shortened version (OHIP-I) was derived from the OHIP-C49 by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) as well as expert-based approach in partially dentate patients (n=102) with implant-supported prostheses. For validation of the new modified shortened version, another independent sample of 97 partially dentate patients completed OHIP-I and their self-perceived oral health status at baseline and at least 3 months after dental implant rehabilitation. Five hundred and thirty-seven effectual questionnaires were reclaimed from the 580 subjects interviewed. Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.78 to 0.96 and test-retest correlation coefficients ranged from 0.84 to 0.97 for subscale and summary scores. Construct validity was demonstrated by priori hypothesised associations between the OHIP-C49 scores and self-perceived oral health (P<0.001). The reliability and validity of OHIP-I were similar to which of the OHIP-C49, and the responsiveness appeared able to measure the effect of dental implant therapy effectively. The mandarin version of OHIP-49 showed sufficient psychometric properties for Chinese. The modified shortened version (OHIP-I) may be appropriate for the evaluation of implant therapy outcomes in partially dentate Chinese patients.

Local action of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 on intracranial meningeal nociceptors

BACKGROUND

Peripheral nociceptive action of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous pain syndromes. An increase in the level of these cytokines in jugular venous blood has been reported during migraine attacks, suggesting their potential involvement in mediating the intracranial headache of migraine.

METHODS

In this work we examined, using in vivo single-unit recording of meningeal nociceptors in the trigeminal ganglion of anesthetized rats, whether the peripheral actions of IL-1β and IL-6 can promote the activation and sensitization of nociceptors that innervate the intracranial meninges, two neural processes that are believed to play a key role in promoting the intracranial throbbing pain of migraine.

RESULTS

We found that meningeal application of IL-1β leads to the activation and mechanical sensitization of about 70% and 45% of the nociceptors respectively. In contrast, IL-6 was a very poor modulator of meningeal nociceptors' response properties affecting overall only about 20% of the nociceptors.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides for the first time in vivo electrophysiological evidence that meningeal action of IL-1β can promote the activation and increased mechanosensitivity of intracranial meningeal nociceptors and that IL-6 generally lacks these properties. Future studies are required to examine the mechanism that plays a role in mediating the nociceptive effects of IL-1β on meningeal nociceptors, which may serve as a target for migraine therapy.

Elaidic acid enhanced the simultaneous neurotoxicity attributable to the cerebral pathological lesion resulted from oxidative damages induced by acrylamide and benzo(a)pyrene

Acrylamide (ACR), benzopyrene [B(a)P] and trans-fatty acids (TFA) could be found to co-exist in many foods processed by high temperature. Our study investigated the effects of elaidic acid (ELA), a predominant TFA, on neuropathology induced by simultaneous exposure of ACR and B(a)P to mice. Results showed ELA enhanced the decrease of weight gains induced by simultaneous exposure of ACR and B(a)P (AB). Moreover, ELA enhanced ACR-induced increase of gait abnormality, B(a)P-induced damage to learning and memory, and AB-induced both of the damage above. Meanwhile, ELA enhanced B(a)Pinduced axonal degeneration in hippocamp, ACR- and AB-induced up-regulating of abnormal cerebellar Purkinje cells. ELA enhanced ACR-induced up-regulating of MDA in cerebrum and 8-OHdG in cerebrum and cerebellum; ELA enhanced B(a)P-induced up-regulating of MDA in cerebrum, PCO in cerebellum and 8-OHdG in cerebrum and cerebellum. Meanwhile, the enhancing role of ELA, on ACR-induced reduction of SOD activity in cerebrum and cerebellum, on B(a)P-induced reduction of GPx activity in cerebrum were found. Results suggested that ELA play a enhancing role on ACR-induced and B(a)P-induced oxidative damage, which attributable to the cerebral pathological lesion, and subsequent effect on gait abnormality and deficit on learning and memory in mice.

Apoptosis induced by acrylamide is suppressed in a 21.5% fat diet through caspase-3-independent pathway in mice testis

This study investigates the simultaneous effect of acrylamide (ACR) and high-fat-intake on the apoptosis in testis cells, and also the expression and activity of caspase-3. Seventy-two male Kunming mice were divided into two blocks and fed with a high-fat diet (crude fat 21.5%) or basic diet (crude fat 4.4%), respectively; and animals in each diet block were exposed to ACR at the dose of 20 mg/kgbw x d or 40 mg/kgbw x d as ACR treated groups or the normal saline as control. Germ cells prepared from testis were stained with Hoechst dye 33258 and paraffin wax sections from testis were suffered to a TUNEL process. Expression of caspase-3 on protein level was investigated using an immunohistochemical analysis assay. The supernatant of unilateral testes were subjected to a Caspase-3 activity kit to determine the activity of Caspase-3 in testis. The concentration of ACR and glycidamide(GA), epoxide of ACR, in plasma and testis were detected by LC-ES/MS/MS analysis. Results based on the morphological changes, percentage of apoptotic cells, and integrated optical density (IOD) of positive amethyst staining which indicates the apoptotic DNA fragmentation, show that apoptosis was induced by acrylamide only; however, acrylamide-induced apoptosis was weakened by high-fat-intake. The protein expression and activity of Caspase-3 were not induced by ACR or high-fat-intake. Moreover, no significant differences of ACR and GA concentration were found between the high-fat and basic diet groups after exposure of ACR. Results indicate that high-fat-intake reverses the effects on apoptosis induced by ACR; and more possibly, apoptosis is induced by a caspase-3-independent mechanism.