Projection neurons in lamina III of the rat spinal cord are selectively innervated by local dynorphin-containing excitatory neurons

Large projection neurons in lamina III of the rat spinal cord that express the neurokinin 1 receptor are densely innervated by peptidergic primary afferent nociceptors and more sparsely by low-threshold myelinated afferents. However, we know little about their input from other glutamatergic neurons. Here we show that these cells receive numerous contacts from nonprimary boutons that express the vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (VGLUT2), and form asymmetrical synapses on their dendrites and cell bodies. These synapses are significantly smaller than those formed by peptidergic afferents, but provide a substantial proportion of the glutamatergic synapses that the cells receive (over a third of those in laminae I–II and half of those in deeper laminae). Surprisingly, although the dynorphin precursor preprodynorphin (PPD) was only present in 4–7% of VGLUT2 boutons in laminae I–IV, it was found in 58% of the VGLUT2 boutons that contacted these cells. This indicates a highly selective targeting of the lamina III projection cells by glutamatergic neurons that express PPD, and these are likely to correspond to local neurons (interneurons and possibly projection cells). Since many PPD-expressing dorsal horn neurons respond to noxious stimulation, this suggests that the lamina III projection cells receive powerful monosynaptic and polysynaptic nociceptive input. Excitatory interneurons in the dorsal horn have been shown to possess IA currents, which limit their excitability and can underlie a form of activity-dependent intrinsic plasticity. It is therefore likely that polysynaptic inputs to the lamina III projection neurons are recruited during the development of chronic pain states

Improving Link Reliability through Network Coding in Cooperative Cellular Networks

The paper proposes a XOR-based network coded cooperation protocol for the uplink transmission of relay assisted cellular networks and an algorithm for selection and assignment of the relay nodes. The performances of the cooperation protocol are expressed in terms of network decoder outage probability and Block Error Rate of the cooperating users. These performance indicators are analyzed theoretically and by computer simulations. The relay nodes assignment is based on the optimization, according to several criteria, of the graph that describes the cooperation cluster formed after an initial selection of the relay nodes. The graph optimization is performed using Genetic Algorithms adapted to the topology of the cooperation cluster and the optimization criteria considered

GENERATION OF MOUSE INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS BY PROTEIN TRANSDUCTION.

Somatic cell reprogramming has generated enormous interest after the first report by Yamanaka and his coworkers in 2006 on the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from mouse fibroblasts. Here we report the generation of stable iPSCs from mouse fibroblasts by recombinant protein transduction (Klf4, Oct4, Sox2 and c-Myc), a procedure designed to circumvent the risks caused by integration of exogenous sequences in the target cell genome associated with gene delivery systems. The recombinant proteins were fused in frame to the GST tag for affinity purification and to the TAT-NLS polypeptide to facilitate membrane penetration and nuclear localization. We performed the reprogramming procedure on embryonic fibroblasts from inbred (C57BL6) and outbred (ICR) mouse strains. The cells were treated with purified proteins four times, at 48-hour intervals, and cultured on mitomycin C treated MEF (mouse embryonic fibroblast) cells in complete embryonic stem cell medium until colonies formed. The iPSCs generated from the outbred fibroblasts exhibited similar morphology and growth properties to embryonic stem (ESC) cells and were sustained in an undifferentiated state for more than 20 passages. The cells were checked for pluripotency-related markers (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, cMyc, Nanog) by immunocytochemistry and by RT-PCR. The protein iPSCs (piPSCs) formed EBs and subsequently differentiated towards all three germ layer lineages. Importantly the piPSCs could incorporate into the blastocyst and led to variable degrees of chimerism in newborn mice. These data show that recombinant purified cell-penetrating proteins are capable of reprogramming mouse embryonic fibroblasts to iPSCs. We also demonstrated that the cells of the generated cell line satisfied all the requirements of bona fide mouse ESC cells: form round colonies with defined boundaries; have a tendency to attach together with high nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio; express key pluripotency markers; and are capable of in vitro differentiation into ecto-, endo-, and mesoderm, and in vivo chimera formation

Sustainable EPM rubber compounds

Two important aspects that should be considered when designing new, sustainable rubber products are the bio-based character of the rubber compound ingredients and the recyclability of the vulcanized rubber product. In this work, both are addressed by compounding a thermoreversible cross-linked EPM rubber with pyrolysis carbon black and squalane as sustainable filler and plasticizer, respectively. The resulting rubber product is fully reprocessable in the melt and it displays material properties comparable to those of compounds with conventional additives with high retention of the material properties upon reprocessing

Practical application of thermoreversibly Cross-linked rubber products

Currently, rubber products cannot simply be reprocessed after their product life, due to the irreversible cross-linking methods traditionally applied. The purpose of this work is to investigate how thermoreversible cross-linking of rubbers via Diels Alder chemistry can be used for the development of recyclable rubber products. Unfortunately, the applicability of the thermoreversible EPM-g-furan/BM system appears to be limited to room temperature applications, because of the rapid deterioration of the compression set at elevated temperatures compared to irreversibly cross-linked EPM. However, the use of EPM rubber modified with thiophene or cyclopentadiene moieties may extend the temperature application range and results in rubber products with acceptable properties. Finally, rubber products generally comprise fillers such as silica, carbon black or fibers. In this context, the reinforcing effect of short cut aramid fibers on the material properties of the newly developed thermoreversibly cross-linked EPM rubbers was also studied. The material properties of the resulting products were found to be comparable to those of a fiber reinforced, peroxide cured reference sample

Simulating the Lateral Transport of lchthyoplankton in the Potomac Estuary

Previous simulations of potential ichthyoplankton entrainment by power generating stations on the Potomac estuary have not included the influence of lateral transport in distributing eggs and larvae over the nursery area. Therefore, two-dimensional, vertically-averaged hydrodynamic and kinematic models of passive organism transport were developed to represent advective and dispersive processes near the proposed Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station. Although the more refined model did not substantially alter the estimate of ichthyoplankton entrainment, it did reveal that lateral inhomogeneities in hydrodynamics could engender several fold differences in entrainment probabilities on opposite sides of the estuary. Models of higher resolution and greater biological detail did not project greater total entrainment by the Douglas Point plant, because the volume of nontidal flow past the site was large in comparison to the proposed rate of cooling water withdrawal

Cross-linking of rubber in the presence of multi-functional cross-linking aids via thermoreversible Diels-Alder chemistry

Furan-functionalized polyketone (PK-FU) was added to a furan-functionalized ethylene-propylene rubber (EPM-FU). The mixture was subsequently cross-linked with a bismaleimide through Diels-Alder chemistry in order to improve the mechanical properties of the rubber. Infrared spectroscopy showed the reversible interaction between both polymers and the bismaleimide cross-linker. Likewise, mechanical measurements indicated the re-workability of the mixtures with no evident differences in storage modulus and mechanical properties after several heating cycles. The cross-link density and mechanical properties, such as hardness, tensile properties and compression set, could be modulated by changing the degree of furan functionalization of PK-FU and the PK-FU loading in the blends. It is concluded that PK-FU has some characteristics of an inert filler, but mainly acts as a multi-functional cross-linking aid, enabling larger amounts of bismaleimide to cross-link EPM-FU

Barriers to the development of palliative care in Western Europe

The Eurobarometer Survey of the <i>EAPC Task Force on the Development of Palliative Care in Europe</i> is part of a programme of work to produce comprehensive information on the provision of palliative care across Europe. Aim: To identify barriers to the development of palliative care in Western Europe. Method: A qualitative survey was undertaken amongst boards of national associations, eliciting opinions on opportunities for, and barriers to, palliative care development. By July 2006, 44/52 (85%) European countries had responded to the survey; we report here on the results from 22/25 (88%) countries in Western Europe. Analysis: Data from the Eurobarometer survey were analysed thematically by geographical region and by the degree of development of palliative care in each country. Results: From the data contained within the Eurobarometer, we identified six significant barriers to the development of palliative care in Western Europe: (i) Lack of palliative care education and training programmes (ii) Lack of awareness and recognition of palliative care (iii) Limited availability of/knowledge about opioid analgesics (iv) Limited funding (v) Lack of coordination amongst services (vi) Uneven palliative care coverage. Conclusion: Findings from the EAPC Eurobarometer survey suggest that barriers to the development of palliative care in Western Europe may differ substantially from each other in both their scope and context and that some may be considered to be of greater significance than others. A number of common barriers to the development of the discipline do exist and much work still remains to be done in the identified areas. This paper provides a road map of which barriers need to be addressed

Combined distributed turbo coding and space frequency block coding techniques

The distributed space-time (frequency) coding and distributed channel turbo coding used independently represent two cooperative techniques that can provide increased throughput and spectral efficiency at an imposed maximum Bit Error Rate (BER) and delay required from the new generation of cellular networks. This paper proposes two cooperative algorithms that employ jointly the two types of techniques, analyzes their BER and spectral efficiency performances versus the qualities of the channels involved, and presents some conclusions regarding the adaptive employment of these algorithms. © 2010 V. Bota et al.FP7/ICT/2007/21547