Hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a devastating neonatal brain condition caused by lack of oxygen and limited blood flow. Environmental enrichment (EE) is a classic paradigm with a complex stimulation of physical, cognitive, and social components. EE can exert neuroplasticity and neuroprotective effects in immature brains. However, the exact mechanism of EE on the chronic condition of HIE remains unclear. HIE was induced by a permanent ligation of the right carotid artery, followed by an 8% O2 hypoxic condition for 1 h. At 6 weeks of age, HIE mice were randomly assigned to either standard cages or EE cages. In the behavioral assessments, EE mice showed significantly improved motor performances in rotarod tests, ladder walking tests, and hanging wire tests, compared with HIE control mice. EE mice also significantly enhanced cognitive performances in Y-maze tests. Particularly, EE mice showed a significant increase in Cav 2.1 (P/Q type) and presynaptic proteins by molecular assessments, and a significant increase of Cav 2.1 in histological assessments of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. These results indicate that EE can upregulate the expression of the Cav 2.1 channel and presynaptic proteins related to the synaptic vesicle cycle and neurotransmitter release, which may be responsible for motor and cognitive improvements in HIE. 相似文献
A recent development in tactile technology enables an improvement in the appreciation of the visual arts for people with visual impairment (PVI). The tactile sense, in conjunction with, or a possibly as an alternative to, the auditory sense, would allow PVIs to approach artwork in a more self‐driven and engaging way that would be difficult to achieve with just an auditory stimulus. Tactile colour pictograms (TCPs), which are raised geometric patterns, are ideographic characters that are designed to enable PVIs to identify colours and interpret information by touch. In this article, three TCPs are introduced to code colours in the Munsell colour system. Each colour pattern consists of a basic cell size of 10 mm × 10 mm to represent the patterns consistently in terms of regular shape. Each TCP consists of basic geometric patterns that are combined to create primary, secondary, and tertiary colour pictograms of shapes indicating colour hue, intensity and lightness. Each TCP represents 29 colours including six hues; they were then further expanded to represent 53 colours. Two of them did not increase the cell size, the other increased the cell size 1.5 times for some colours, such as yellow‐orange, yellow, blue, and blue‐purple. Our proposed TCPs use a slightly larger cell size compared to most tactile patterns currently used to indicate colour, but code for more colours. With user experience and identification tests, conducted with 23 visually impaired adults, the effectiveness of the TCPs suggests that they were helpful for the participants. 相似文献
In this study, we report highly transparent Y2O3 ceramics fabricated by hot-pressing only at 1500 °C without a HIP treatment, featuring in-line transmittance levels of 77% and 84% at a wavelength of 400 and 1100 nm, respectively with the grain size suppressed to 710 nm. The effect of the ball size during the grinding of Y2O3 powders on the correlation between the thus-prepared Y2O3 powders and the optical properties of the hot-pressed samples is demonstrated for the first time. With a decrease in the diameter of the ZrO2 balls from 5 mm to 1 mm, the milling efficiency was enhanced and admirable transparency of Y2O3 was attained at a short milling time. However, several micron-sized pores remained in the transparent specimens prepared with 1 mm balls, originating from the inhomogeneously packed region of the green body. Finally, the 2 mm was found to be optimum for obtaining a fine-grained and pore-free microstructure with the best in-line transmittance of Y2O3 ceramics. 相似文献
Hepatic fibrosis occurs when liver tissue becomes scarred from repetitive liver injury and inflammatory responses; it can progress to cirrhosis and eventually to hepatocellular carcinoma. Previously, we reported that neoagarooligosaccharides (NAOs), produced by the hydrolysis of agar by β-agarases, have hepatoprotective effects against acetaminophen overdose-induced acute liver injury. However, the effect of NAOs on chronic liver injury, including hepatic fibrosis, has not yet been elucidated. Therefore, we examined whether NAOs protect against fibrogenesis in vitro and in vivo. NAOs ameliorated PAI-1, α-SMA, CTGF and fibronectin protein expression and decreased mRNA levels of fibrogenic genes in TGF-β-treated LX-2 cells. Furthermore, downstream of TGF-β, the Smad signaling pathway was inhibited by NAOs in LX-2 cells. Treatment with NAOs diminished the severity of hepatic injury, as evidenced by reduction in serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels, in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis mouse models. Moreover, NAOs markedly blocked histopathological changes and collagen accumulation, as shown by H&E and Sirius red staining, respectively. Finally, NAOs antagonized the CCl4-induced upregulation of the protein and mRNA levels of fibrogenic genes in the liver. In conclusion, our findings suggest that NAOs may be a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of chronic liver injury via inhibition of the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. 相似文献
To achieve the stable dispersion of 1D van der Waals crystal Mo6S3I6 in aqueous media, the tri-block copolymer (Poloxamer) is used as dispersant. The head group of Poloxamer, hydrophobic polypropylene oxide parts can be adsorbed to Mo6S3I6 surface by hydrophobic interaction and the tail group with hydrophilic polyethylene oxide exposed to the outside of the Mo6S3I6 is soluble in water and can form sufficient steric hindrance, resulting in stable aqueous dispersion in nm scale. The excellent biocompatibility of aqueous dispersed nm scale 1D Mo6S3I6 was demonstrated by effective proliferation of C2C12 cells. 相似文献
We have performed the jig-free laser welding on the alkaline earth boro-aluminosilicate glass (Eagle XG, Corning), which is commonly used in the display devices, by using a picosecond pulsed laser. Two sheets of Eagle XG glasses with 0.5 mm thickness each were placed one on top of the other. Due to the jig-free laser welding, there was a very thin air gap between the two glasses, and the experiment proceeded by line scanning. The welding performance was evaluated by observing the optical images from the top view and the bottom view and comparing the line images. We could bond the two glass surfaces on the laser spot, and achieve the successful welding of such glasses in the scanning speeds from 10 mm/s to 50 mm/s with the laser irradiance from 50 TW/cm2(500 J/cm2) to 83 TW/cm2 (830 J/cm2). We demonstrated the feasibility of jig-free laser welding on the Eagle XG glass with the welding strength up to 50 MPa.
Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - Confocal fringe patterns of evaporating sessile drops have provided initial evidence of the presence of a sub-micron thin liquid film emanating from... 相似文献
Podocyte injury inevitably results in leakage of proteins from the glomerular filter and is vital in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). The underlying mechanisms of podocyte injury facilitate finding of new therapeutic targets for DN treatment and prevention. Tangeretin is an O-polymethoxylated flavone present in citrus peels with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This study investigated the renoprotective effects of tangeretin on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition-mediated podocyte injury and fibrosis through oxidative stress and hypoxia caused by hyperglycemia. Mouse podocytes were incubated in media containing 33 mM glucose in the absence and presence of 1–20 μM tangeretin for up to 6 days. The in vivo animal model employed db/db mice orally administrated with 10 mg/kg tangeretin for 8 weeks. Non-toxic tangeretin inhibited glucose-induced expression of the mesenchymal markers of N-cadherin and α-smooth muscle actin in podocytes. However, the reduced induction of the epithelial markers of E-cadherin and P-cadherin was restored by tangeretin in diabetic podocytes. Further, tangeretin enhanced the expression of the podocyte slit diaphragm proteins of nephrin and podocin down-regulated by glucose stimulation. The transmission electron microscopic images revealed that foot process effacement and loss of podocytes occurred in diabetic mouse glomeruli. However, oral administration of 10 mg/kg tangeretin reduced urine albumin excretion and improved foot process effacement of diabetic podocytes through inhibiting loss of slit junction and adherenes junction proteins. Glucose enhanced ROS production and HIF-1α induction in podocytes, leading to induction of oxidative stress and hypoxia. Similarly, in diabetic glomeruli reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and HIF-1α induction were observed. Furthermore, hypoxia-evoking cobalt chloride induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process and loss of slit diaphragm proteins and junction proteins in podocytes, which was inhibited by treating submicromolar tangeretin. Collectively, these results demonstrate that tangeretin inhibited podocyte injury and fibrosis through blocking podocyte EMT caused by glucose-induced oxidative stress and hypoxia. 相似文献