Thalamocortical bistable switch as a theoretical model of fibromyalgia pathogenesis inferred from a literature survey

Fibromyalgia (FM) is an unsolved central pain processing disturbance. We aim to provide a unifying model for FM pathogenesis based on a loop network involving thalamocortical regions, i.e., the ventroposterior lateral thalamus (VPL), the somatosensory cortex (SC), and the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN). The dynamics of the loop have been described by three differential equations having neuron mean firing rates as variables and containing Hill functions to model mutual interactions among the loop elements. A computational analysis conducted with MATLAB has shown a transition from monostability to bistability of the loop behavior for a weakening of GABAergic transmission between TRN and VPL. This involves the appearance of a high-firing-rate steady state, which becomes dominant and is assumed to represent pathogenic pain processing giving rise to chronic pain. Our model is consistent with a bulk of literature evidence, such as neuroimaging and pharmacological data collected on FM patients, and with correlations between FM and immunoendocrine conditions, such as stress, perimenopause, chronic inflammation, obesity, and chronic dizziness. The model suggests that critical targets for FM treatment are to be found among immunoendocrine pathways leading to GABA/glutamate imbalance having an impact on the thalamocortical system

Effect of reprocessing cycles on the degradation of polypropylene copolymer filled with talc or montmorillonite during injection molding process

Mechanical recycling of polymeric materials is a favorable technique resulting in economic and environmental benefits, especially in the case of polymers with a high production volume as the polypropylene copolymer (PP). However, recycling by reprocessing techniques can lead to thermal, mechanical or thermo-oxidative degradation that can affect the structure of the polymer and subsequently the material properties. PP filled with montmorillonite (MMT) or talc are widely produced and studied, however, its degradation reactions by reprocessing cycles are poorly studied so far. In this study, the effects of reprocessing cycles in the structure and in the properties of the PP/MMT and PP/Talc were evaluated. The samples were mixed with 5% talc or MMT Cloisite C15A in a twin-screw extrusion. After extrusion, this filled material was submitted to five reprocessing cycles through an injection molding process. In order to evaluate the changes induced by reprocessing techniques, the samples were characterized by DSC, FT-IR, Izod impact and tensile strength tests. The study showed that Young modulus, elongation at brake and Izod impact were not affected by reprocessing cycles, except when using talc. In this case, the elongation at brake reduced until the fourth cycle, showing rigidity increase. The DSC results showed that melting and crystallization temperature were not affected. A comparison of FT-IR spectra of the reprocessed indicated that in both samples, between the first and the fifth cycle, no noticeable change has occurred. Thus, there is no evidence of thermo oxidative degradation. In general, these results suggest that PP reprocessing cycles using MMT or talc does not change the material properties until the fifth cycle

3,5-Diiodo-L-thyronine modulates the expression of genes of lipid metabolism in a rat model of fatty liver.

Recent reports demonstrated that 3,5-diiodo-l-thyronine (T(2)) was able to prevent lipid accumulation in the liver of rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD). In this study, we investigated how the rat liver responds to HFD and T(2) treatment by assessing the transcription profiles of some genes involved in the pathways of lipid metabolism: oxidation, storage and secretion. The mRNA levels of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARα, PPARγ and PPARδ), and of their target enzymes acyl-CoA oxidase and stearoyl-CoA desaturase were evaluated by real-time RT-PCR. Moreover, the expression of the adipose triglyceride lipase involved in lipid mobilisation, of the main PAT proteins acting in lipid droplet (LD) turnover, and of apoprotein B (apo B), the major protein component of very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs) were analysed. Overall, our data demonstrated that T(2) administration to HFD rats counteracts most of the hepatic transcriptional changes that occurred in response to the excess exogenous fat. In particular, our results suggest that T(2) may prevent the pathways leading to lipid storage in LDs, promote the processes of lipid mobilisation from LDs and secretion as VLDL, in addition to the stimulation of pathways of lipid oxidation. In conclusion, our findings might give an insight into the mechanisms underlying the anti-steatotic ability of T(2) and help to define the potential therapeutic role of T(2) for preventing or treating liver steatosis

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Proton spectra from Non-Mesonic Weak Decay of p-shell Lambda-Hypernuclei and evidence for the two-nucleon induced process

New spectra from the FINUDA experiment of the Non Mesonic Weak Decay (NMWD) proton kinetic energy for 9(Lambda)Be, 11(Lambda)B, 12(Lambda)C, 13(Lambda)C, 15 (Lambda)N and 16(Lambda)O are presented and discussed along with the published data on 5(Lambda)He and 7(Lambda)Li. Exploiting the large mass number range and the low energy threshold (15 MeV) for the proton detection of FINUDA, an evaluation of both Final State Interactions (FSI) and the two nucleon induced NMWD contributions to the decay process has been done. Based on this evaluation, a linear dependence of FSI on the hypernuclear mass number A is found and for the two nucleon stimulated decay rate the experimental value of Gamma2/Gammap=0.43+-0.25 is determined for the first time. A value for the two nucleon stimulated decay rate to the total decay rate Gamma2/GammaNMWD=0.24+-0.10 is also extracted.Comment: 11 pages and 2 figure

Measurements of Weak Decay Asymmetries of Λc+→pKS0\Lambda_c^+\to pK_S^0, Λπ+\Lambda\pi^+, Σ+π0\Sigma^+\pi^0, and Σ0π+\Sigma^0\pi^+

Using $e^+e^-\to\Lambda_c^+\bar\Lambda_c^-$ production from a 567 pb$^{-1}$ data sample collected by BESIII at 4.6 GeV, a full angular analysis is carried out simultaneously on the four decay modes of $\Lambda_c^+\to pK_S^0$, $\Lambda \pi^+$, $\Sigma^+\pi^0$, and $\Sigma^0\pi^+$. For the first time, the $\Lambda_c^+$ transverse polarization is studied in unpolarized $e^+e^-$ collisions, where a non-zero effect is observed with a statistical significance of 2.1$\sigma$. The decay asymmetry parameters of the $\Lambda_c^+$ weak hadronic decays into $pK_S^0$, $\Lambda\pi^+$, $\Sigma^+\pi^0$ and $\Sigma^0\pi^+$ are measured to be $0.18\pm0.43(\rm{stat})\pm0.14(\rm{syst})$, $-0.80\pm0.11(\rm{stat})\pm0.02(\rm{syst})$, $-0.57\pm0.10(\rm{stat})\pm0.07(\rm{syst})$, and $-0.73\pm0.17(\rm{stat})\pm0.07(\rm{syst})$, respectively. In comparison with previous results, the measurements for the $\Lambda\pi^+$ and $\Sigma^+\pi^0$ modes are consistent but with improved precision, while the parameters for the $pK_S^0$ and $\Sigma^0\pi^+$ modes are measured for the first time

Precise Measurements of Branching Fractions for Ds+D_s^+ Meson Decays to Two Pseudoscalar Mesons

We measure the branching fractions for seven $D_{s}^{+}$ two-body decays to pseudo-scalar mesons, by analyzing data collected at $\sqrt{s}=4.178\sim4.226$ GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. The branching fractions are determined to be $\mathcal{B}(D_s^+\to K^+\eta^{\prime})=(2.68\pm0.17\pm0.17\pm0.08)\times10^{-3}$, $\mathcal{B}(D_s^+\to\eta^{\prime}\pi^+)=(37.8\pm0.4\pm2.1\pm1.2)\times10^{-3}$, $\mathcal{B}(D_s^+\to K^+\eta)=(1.62\pm0.10\pm0.03\pm0.05)\times10^{-3}$, $\mathcal{B}(D_s^+\to\eta\pi^+)=(17.41\pm0.18\pm0.27\pm0.54)\times10^{-3}$, $\mathcal{B}(D_s^+\to K^+K_S^0)=(15.02\pm0.10\pm0.27\pm0.47)\times10^{-3}$, $\mathcal{B}(D_s^+\to K_S^0\pi^+)=(1.109\pm0.034\pm0.023\pm0.035)\times10^{-3}$, $\mathcal{B}(D_s^+\to K^+\pi^0)=(0.748\pm0.049\pm0.018\pm0.023)\times10^{-3}$, where the first uncertainties are statistical, the second are systematic, and the third are from external input branching fraction of the normalization mode $D_s^+\to K^+K^-\pi^+$. Precision of our measurements is significantly improved compared with that of the current world average values

Observation of the Singly Cabibbo-Suppressed Decay D+→ωπ+D^{+}\to\omega\pi^{+} and Evidence for D0→ωπ0D^{0}\to\omega\pi^{0}

Based on 2.93 fb$^{-1}$ $e^+e^-$ collision data taken at center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV by the BESIII detector, we report searches for the singly Cabibbo-suppressed decays $D^{+}\to\omega\pi^{+}$ and $D^{0}\to\omega\pi^{0}$. A double tag technique is used to measure the absolute branching fractions $\mathcal{B}(D^{+}\to\omega\pi^{+})=(2.79\pm0.57\pm0.16)\times 10^{-4}$ and $\mathcal{B}(D^{0}\to\omega\pi^{0})=(1.17\pm0.34\pm0.07)\times 10^{-4}$, with statistical significances of $5.5\sigma$ and $4.1\sigma$, respectively. We also present measurements of the absolute branching fractions for the related $\eta \pi$ decay modes. We find $\mathcal{B}(D^{+}\to\eta\pi^{+})=(3.07\pm0.22\pm0.13)\times10^{-3}$ and $\mathcal{B}(D^{0}\to\eta\pi^{0})=(0.65\pm0.09\pm0.04)\times10^{-3}$, which are consistent with the current world averages. The first and second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively