Restoring brain function after stroke - bridging the gap between animals and humans

Stroke is the leading cause of complex adult disability in the world. Recovery from stroke is often incomplete, which leaves many people dependent on others for their care. The improvement of long-term outcomes should, therefore, be a clinical and research priority. As a result of advances in our understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in recovery and repair after stroke, therapeutic opportunities to promote recovery through manipulation of poststroke plasticity have never been greater. This work has almost exclusively been carried out in preclinical animal models of stroke with little translation into human studies. The challenge ahead is to develop a mechanistic understanding of recovery from stroke in humans. Advances in neuroimaging techniques now enable us to reconcile behavioural accounts of recovery with molecular and cellular changes. Consequently, clinical trials can be designed in a stratified manner that takes into account when an intervention should be delivered and who is most likely to benefit. This approach is expected to lead to a substantial change in how restorative therapeutic strategies are delivered in patients after stroke

Ueber das Daempfungs- und Ermuedungsverhalten einiger Faserverbundwerkstoffe

The present study investigates the influence of fatigue load on the stress-strain behavior of balanced angular laminates. The nonlinear behavior is described by an elastic-viscoplastic material model. The model parameters are determined, and the model behavior is used to draw conclusions to the micromechanical supporting behavior of the materials under investigation. A loading and measurement system was developed to carry out the experiments. This system exposes fiber composite specimens to loads with a preselectable deformation profile and analyses the stress-strain curves of the specimens under investigation. By appropriately selecting the electrical and mechanical components, and using a computer program for control, measurement and analysis, adapted to the same, it is possible to make a very exact determination of the time relation of strain and stress, which is of significance to this study. Owing to the almost identical setup of the measurement facilities for stress and strain, errors in the measurement of the phase position of both parameters were minimized. In specified load cycle number intervals during fatigue loading, the rheologic behavior of the specimens under investigation was registered under load via four strain amplitudes and three-and-a-half frequency decades. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman