Glutamate dysfunction has been implicated in a number of substance of abuse studies, including cocaine and methamphetamine. Moreover, in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it has been ...discovered that when the initiation of stimulant treatment occurs during adolescence, there is an increased risk of developing a substance use disorder later in life. The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) serves as a phenotype for ADHD and studies have found increased cocaine self-administration in adult SHRs when treated with the stimulant methylphenidate (MPH) during adolescence. For this reason, we wanted to examine glutamate signaling in the pre-limbic frontal cortex, a region implicated in ADHD and drug addiction, in the SHR and its progenitor control strain, the Wistar Kyoto (WKY). We chronically implanted glutamate-selective microelectrode arrays (MEAs) into 8-week-old animals and treated with MPH (2 mg/kg, s.c.) for 11 days while measuring tonic and phasic extracellular glutamate concentrations. We observed that intermediate treatment with a clinically relevant dose of MPH increased tonic glutamate levels in the SHR but not the WKY compared to vehicle controls. After chronic treatment, both the SHR and WKY exhibited increased tonic glutamate levels; however, only the SHR was found to have decreased amplitudes of phasic glutamate signaling following chronic MPH administration. The findings from this study suggest that the MPH effects on extracellular glutamate levels in the SHR may potentiate the response for drug abuse later in life. Additionally, these data illuminate a pathway for investigating novel therapies for the treatment of ADHD and suggest that possibly targeting the group II metabotropic glutamate receptors may be a useful therapeutic avenue for adolescents diagnosed with ADHD.
Superconducting coplanar-waveguide resonators that can operate in strong magnetic fields are important tools for a variety of high-frequency superconducting devices. Magnetic fields degrade resonator ...performance by creating Abrikosov vortices that cause resistive losses and frequency fluctuations or suppress the superconductivity entirely. To mitigate these effects, we investigate lithographically defined artificial defects in resonators fabricated from Nb-TiN superconducting films. We show that by controlling the vor-tex dynamics, the quality factor of resonators in perpendicular magnetic fields can be greatly enhanced. Coupled with the restriction of the device geometry to enhance the superconductors critical field, we demonstrate stable resonances that retain quality factors 10 5 at the single-photon power level in perpendicular magnetic fields up to B ⊥ 20 mT and parallel magnetic fields up to B 6 T. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique for hybrid systems by integrating an In-Sb nanowire into a field-resilient superconducting resonator and use it to perform fast charge readout of a gate-defined double quantum dot at B = 1 T.
Growth performance of hatchery-reared Spotted Rose Snapper Lutjanus guttatus reared at two culture systems were studied, discussed and compared. We stocked 150 juveniles (mean, 124 g) into each of ...three floating cages and three onshore tanks (3 m ³) supplied with seawater of similar temperature (range 23–29°C). Fish were fed twice daily with an extruded diet containing 50% crude protein and 12% crude lipid. The survival rate was above 90%. After 120 d, the mean weight at harvest was 30% greater among fish reared in cages (337 g) versus tanks (255 g). The final feed conversion (1.44 for cages and 1.48 for tanks) differed between the culture systems. Growth in weight was described by the following exponential equations: W = 132.23 e ⁰.⁰⁰⁷⁹ᵗ, R ² = 0.98 for cages and W = 129.50 e ⁰.⁰⁰⁵⁸ᵗ, R ² = 0.99 for tanks. The residual sum of squares analysis indicated that these curves were different. The exponents (b) of the length–weight relationship calculated for cages (3.03) versus tanks (3.00) demonstrated that cultured Spotted Rose Snapper have a higher condition factor than do their wild counterparts, and those raised in cages show better growth than do those raised in tanks.
•We developed ceramic-based, dual-sided biomorphic 8-site biosensors.•Dual-sided design may help optimize spatial detection of neurotransmitters.•In vitro calibrations show glutamate responses only ...on glutamate-sensitive sites.•Simultaneous glutamate detection from four cortical locations in freely moving rats.
The aberrant regulation of glutamate has been implicated in numerous psychiatric disorders including drug addiction and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. To understand glutamate signaling and its role in facilitating disease, tools to directly measure glutamate in a complex, neural network are needed.
The development of a ceramic-based, dual-sided, biomorphic microelectrode array with four recording sites on each side to facilitate a more detailed measurement of glutamate in awake, behaving rodents.
In vitro calibrations of these biosensors showed selective and specific responses to glutamate. In awake rats, these biomorphic electrode arrays enabled the concurrent evaluation of glutamate in a network, the frontal cortex: including the cingulate, prelimbic, infralimbic and dorsal peduncle regions. Regions within the frontal cortex exhibited varying phasic glutamate patterns in awake animals.Comparison with existing method: Existing methodologies to measure glutamate neurotransmission employ single-sided biosensors or biosensors capable of measuring neurochemicals at only one location in space.
Multi-site, biomorphic neurochemical biosensors provide a method for simultaneously measuring glutamate in multiple areas of a neural network in the brain.
Fetoscopic repair of spina bifida: safer and better? Pedreira, D. A. L.; Reece, E. A.; Chmait, R. H. ...
Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology,
August 2016, 2016-Aug, 2016-08-00, 20160801, Letnik:
48, Številka:
2
Journal Article
There is a need to better understand the etiotypes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) beyond the tobacco-smoke (TS-COPD). Wood smoke COPD (WS-COPD) is characterized by greater airway ...compromise, milder emphysema, and slower rate of lung function decline than TS-COPD. However, it is unclear if these two etiotypes of COPD have differences in sputum biomarker concentrations. Objective was to compare sputum levels of selected sputum biomarkers between WS-COPD and TS-COPD, and healthy controls.
Eighty-eight women (69±12 years) were recruited and classified into: WS-COPD (n=31), TS-COPD (n=29) and controls (n=28). Using ELISA, we determined induced sputum levels of metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5), interleukin-8 (IL-8), chemokine ligand 16 (CCL16/HCC-4) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-1). Differences were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney-
tests and correlation between airflow limitation and biomarkers by Spearman's test.
At similar degree of airflow obstruction, anthropometrics and medications use, the level of sputum CCL5 was higher in TS-COPD than WS-COPD (p=0.03) without differences in MMP-9, IL-8, CCL16/HCC-4, and VEGF-1. Women with WS-COPD and TS-COPD showed significantly higher sputum levels of MMP-9, IL-8 and CCL5 compared with controls (p<0.001). FEV
% predicted correlated negatively with levels of MMP-9 (rho:-0.26; P=0.016), CCL5 (rho:-0.37; P=0.001), IL-8 (rho:-0.42; P<0.001) and VEGF (rho:-0.22; P=0.04).
While sputum concentrations of MMP-9, IL-8, and CCL5 were higher in COPD women compared with controls, women with TS-COPD had higher levels of CCL5 compared with those with WS-COPD. Whether this finding relates to differences in pathobiological pathways remains to be determined.
A direct correlation between adequate nutrition and health is a universally accepted truth. The Western lifestyle, with a high intake of simple sugars, saturated fat, and physical inactivity, ...promotes pathologic conditions. The main adverse consequences range from cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome to several cancers. Dietary components influence tissue homeostasis in multiple ways and many different functional foods have been associated with various health benefits when consumed. Natural products are an important and promising source for drug discovery. Many anti-inflammatory natural products activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR); therefore, compounds that activate or modulate PPAR-gamma (PPAR-γ) may help to fight all of these pathological conditions. Consequently, the discovery and optimization of novel PPAR-γ agonists and modulators that would display reduced side effects is of great interest. In this paper, we present some of the main naturally derived products studied that exert an influence on metabolism through the activation or modulation of PPAR-γ, and we also present PPAR-γ-related diseases that can be complementarily treated with nutraceutics from functional foods.
In superconducting quantum circuits, aluminum is one of the most widely used materials. It is currently also the superconductor of choice for the development of topological qubits. However, ...aluminum‐based devices suffer from poor magnetic field compatibility. Herein, this limitation is resolved by showing that adatoms of heavy elements (e.g., platinum) increase the critical field of thin aluminum films by more than a factor of two. Using tunnel junctions, it is shown that the increased field resilience originates from spin‐orbit scattering introduced by Pt. This property is exploited in the context of the superconducting proximity effect in semiconductor–superconductor hybrids, where it is shown that InSb nanowires strongly coupled to Al/Pt films can maintain superconductivity up to 7 T. The two‐electron charging effect is shown to be robust against the presence of heavy adatoms. Additionally, non‐local spectroscopy is used in a three‐terminal geometry to probe the bulk of hybrid devices, showing that it remains free of sub‐gap states. Finally, it is demonstrated that proximitized semiconductor states maintain their ability to Zeeman‐split in an applied magnetic field. Combined with the chemical stability and well‐known fabrication routes of aluminum, Al/Pt emerges as the natural successor to Al‐based systems and is a compelling alternative to other superconductors, whenever high‐field resilience is required.
In superconducting quantum circuits, aluminum is one of the most widely used materials. Aluminum‐based devices suffer from poor magnetic field compatibility. In this article, this limitation is resolved by showing that adatoms of heavy elements (e.g., platinum) increase the critical field of thin aluminum films by more than a factor of two.
Inhibitors of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease have entered clinical study as potential therapeutic agents for HIV-1 infection. The clinical efficacy of HIV-1 reverse ...transcriptase inhibitors has been limited by the emergence of resistant viral variants. Similarly, variants expressing resistance to protease inhibitors have been derived in cell culture. We now report the characterization of resistant variants isolated from patients undergoing therapy with the protease inhibitor MK-639 (formerly designated L-735,524). Five of these variants, isolated from four patients, exhibited cross-resistance to all members of a panel of six structurally diverse protease inhibitors. This suggests that combination therapy with multiple protease inhibitors may not prevent loss of antiviral activity resulting from resistance selection. In addition, previous therapy with one compound may abrogate the benefit of subsequent treatment with a second inhibitor.
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