Beyond stroke: Impact of the lesion side on the recovery of between-hands coordination

ObjectiveOne-fit-all post-stroke rehabilitation has limited plausibility. Better understanding the effects of the lesion location on the recovery process may help to develop new tailored therapeutic strategies to individuals. The purpose of this study was to assess the natural evolution of bimanual coordination over standard rehabilitation according to the lesion side, aiming to identify a potential responder-profile for bimanual-oriented therapy.Material/patientsTwelve hemiparetic, moderately impaired patients were included within 30 days after a first unilateral stroke. The kinematic and clinical assessments were performed once a week for 6 weeks and at 3 months after inclusion. The patients performed a reach-to-grasp task in unimanual condition followed by a synchronous bimanual condition. The clinical evaluation included the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Box and Block Test, 9-Hole Peg Test and Barthel Index.ResultsThe clinical scores indicated no difference in motor function between left- (LHD) and right-hemispheric damaged (RHD) patients over time. Interestingly, the LHD patients produced smoother bimanual reaching movements than the RHD patients while we found no effect of the lesion side on reaching kinematics of the paretic UL in unimanual condition. These inter-group differences disappeared after 5 weeks of standard therapy, likely indicating a time lag in motor recovery.DiscussionBecause the RHD patients were less prematurely coordinated again during bimanual movements than the LHD patients, they may benefit differently from a bimanual rehabilitation, and especially from the simultaneous involvement of the ipsilesional UL. It becomes necessary to investigate to what extent this difference due to lesion side may be integrated into the design of rehabilitation protocols

MoO3/CuI hybrid buffer layer for the optimization of organic solar cells based on a donor-acceptor triphenylamine

We investigate the effect of anode buffer layers (ABLs) on the performances of multi-layer heterojunction solar cells with thienylenevinylene-triphenylamine with peripheral dicyanovinylene groups (TDCV-TPA) as donor material and fullerene C-60 as acceptor. The deposition of a CuI layer between the ITO anode and the electron donor significantly improves the short-circuit current density (J(sc)) and fill factor (FF) but reduces the open-circuit voltage (V-oc). On the other hand, a MoO3 buffer layer increases the V-oc but leads to limited J(sc) and FF values, thus reducing power conversion efficiency (PCE). In this context, we show that the use of a hybrid anode buffer layer MoO3/CuI leads to a considerable improvement of the cells performances and a PCE of 2.50% has been achieved. These results are discussed on the basis of the dual function of MoO3 and CuI. While both of them reduce the hole injection barrier, CuI improves the conductivity of the organic film through an improvement of molecular order while MoO3 prevents leakage current through the diode. Finally the results of a cursory study of the ageing process provide further support to this interpretation of the effects of the various buffer layers. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Payments for ecosystem services and the fatal attraction of win-win solutions

In this commentary we critically discuss the suitability of payments for ecosystem services and the most important challenges they face. While such instruments can play a role in improving environmental governance, we argue that over-reliance on payments as win-win solutions might lead to ineffective outcomes, similar to earlier experience with integrated conservation and development projects. Our objective is to raise awareness, particularly among policy makers and practitioners, about the limitations of such instruments and to encourage a dialogue about the policy contexts in which they might be appropriate. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)1A autoreceptor adaptive changes in substance P (neurokinin 1) receptor knock-out mice mimic antidepressant-induced desensitization

Antagonists at substance P receptors of the neurokinin 1 (NK1) type have been shown to represent a novel class of antidepressant drugs, with comparable clinical efficacy to the selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Because 5-HT 1A receptors may be critically involved in the mechanisms of action of SSRIs, we examined whether these receptors could also be affected in a model of whole-life blockade of NK1 receptors, i.e. knock-out mice lacking the latter receptors (NK1Ϫ/Ϫ). 5-HT 1A receptor labeling by the selective antagonist radioligand receptor agonist ipsapirone to inhibit the discharge of serotoninergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus within brainstem slices, and reduced hypothermic response to 8-OH-DPAT, were noted in NK1Ϫ/Ϫ versus NK1ϩ/ϩ mice. On the other hand, cortical 5-HT overflow caused by systemic injection of the SSRI paroxetine was four-to sixfold higher in freely moving NK1Ϫ/Ϫ mutants than in wild-type NK1ϩ/ϩ mice. Accordingly, the constitutive lack of NK1 receptors appears to be associated with a downregulation/functional desensitization of 5-HT 1A autoreceptors resembling that induced by chronic treatment with SSRI antidepressants. Double immunocytochemical labeling experiments suggest that such a heteroregulation of 5-HT 1A autoreceptors in NK1Ϫ/Ϫ mutants does not reflect the existence of direct NK1-5-HT 1A receptor interactions in normal mice