Neuroadaptations in the Cellular and Postsynaptic Group 1 Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor mGluR5 and Homer Proteins Following Extinction of Cocaine Self-administration

This study examined the role of group1 metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR5 and associated postsynaptic scaffolding protein Homer1b/c in behavioral plasticity after three withdrawal treatments from cocaine self-administration. Rats self-administered cocaine or saline for 14 days followed by a withdrawal period during which rats underwent extinction training, remained in their home cages, orwere placed in the self-administration chambers in the absence of extinction. Subsequently, the tissue level and distribution of proteins in the synaptosomal fraction associated with the postsynaptic densitywere examined. Cocaine self-administration followed by home cage exposure reduced the mGluR5 protein in nucleus accumbens (NA) shell and dorsolateral striatum. While extinction training reduced mGluR5 protein in NAshell, NAcore and dorsolateral striatum did not display any change. The scaffolding protein PSD95 increased in NAcore of the extinguished animals. Extinction of drug seeking was associated with a significant decrease in the synaptosomal mGluR5 protein in NAshell and an increase in dorsolateral striatum, while that of NAcore was not modified. Interestingly, both Homer1b/c and PSD95 scaffolding proteins were decreased in the synaptosomal fraction after extinction training in NAshell but not NAcore. Extinguished drug-seeking behavior was also associated with an increase in the synaptosomal actin proteins in dorsolateral striatum. Therefore, extinction of cocaine seeking is associated with neuroadaptations in mGluR5 expression and distribution that are region-specific and consist of extinction-induced reversal of cocaine-induced adaptations aswell as emergent extinction-induced alterations. Concurrent plasticity in the scaffolding proteins further suggests that mGluR5 receptor neuroadaptations may have implications for synaptic function

Glutamatergic Plasticity in Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Ventral Tegmental Area Following Extended-Access Cocaine Self-Administration

Glutamate signaling in prefrontal cortex and ventral tegmental area plays an important role in the molecular and behavioral plasticity associated with addiction to drugs of abuse. The current study investigated the expression and postsynaptic density redistribution of glutamate receptors and synaptic scaffolding proteins in dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral tegmental area after cocaine self-administration. After 14 days of extended-access (6 h/day) cocaine self-administration, rats were exposed to one of three withdrawal regimen for 10 days. Animals either stayed in home cages (Home), returned to self-administration boxes with the levers withdrawn (Box), or underwent extinction training (Extinction). Extinction training was associated with significant glutamatergic plasticity. In dorsomedial prefrontal cortex of the Extinction group, there was an increase in postsynaptic density GluR1, PSD95, and actin proteins; while postsynaptic density mGluR5 protein decreased and there was no change in NMDAR1, Homer1b/c, or PICK1 proteins. These changes were not observed in ventromedial prefrontal cortex or ventral tegmental area. In ventral tegmental area, Extinction training reversed the decreased postsynaptic density NMDAR1 protein in the Home and Box withdrawal groups. These data suggest that extinction of drug seeking is associated with selective glutamatergic plasticity in prefrontal cortex and ventral tegmental area that include modulation of receptor trafficking to postsynaptic density

Cell encapsulation in liquified compartments: Protocol optimization and challenges

Cell encapsulation is a widely used technique in the field of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (TERM). However, for the particular case of liquefied compartmentalised systems, only a limited number of studies have been reported in the literature. We have been exploring a unique cell encapsulation system composed by liquefied and multilayered capsules. This system transfigured the concept of 3D scaffolds for TERM, and was already successfully applied for bone and cartilage regeneration. Due to a number of appealing features, we envisage that it can be applied in many other fields, including in advanced therapies or as disease models for drug discovery. In this review, we intend to highlight the advantages of this new system, while discussing the methodology, and sharing the protocol optimization and results. The different liquefied systems for cell encapsulation reported in the literature will be also discussed, considering the different encapsulation matrixes as core templates, the types of membranes, and the core liquefaction treatments.publishe

Accessibility to the public facilities: A mean to achieve civil rights of the people with disabilities in Iran

Objective: Civil rights may cover different aspects of citizens' lives. All the members of the society should have equal access to the public facilities and public transportation system. Barriers and obstacles in society may limit the accessibility of these facilities to the disabled people. Method: This article contains a part of the results in a phenomenological study of the Disability Rights. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe experiences of disability rights among 11 physically disabled that were living in Tehran, Iran. The study involves secondary analysis of in-depth transcribed interview data, using colazzi's method. Results:A total of 655 descriptive expressions were categorized in to 25 preliminary structural elements (sub themes). 7 essential structural elements (themes) emerged from an analysis of the sub themes. One of these themes was right to access which was emerged from an analysis of 6 sub themes. Conclusion: These sub themes that were obtained from an analysis of descriptive expressions of the participants, are: right to access to housing, right to access to education and information, right to access to job facilities, right to access to medical care and rehabilitation, right to access to rest, leisure and sport and right to access to places and transportation system. The right to access theme, was then categorized in to the civil rights field. In this article we will describe the right to access as it was experienced by those physically disabled people who participated in the interviews

Viscous microcapsules as microbioreactors to study mesenchymal stem/stromal cells osteolineage commitment

It is essential to design a multifunctional well-controlled platform to transfermechanical cues to the cells in different magnitudes. This study introduces aplatform, a miniaturized bioreactor, which enables to study the effect of shearstress in microsized compartmentalized structures. In this system, thewell-established cell encapsulation system of liquefied capsules (LCs) is usedas microbioreactors in which the encapsulated cells are exposed to variablecore viscosities to experience different mechanical forces under a 3D dynamicculture. The LC technology is joined with electrospraying to produce suchmicrobioreactors at high rates, thus allowing the application of microcapsulesfor high-throughput screening. Using this platform for osteogenicdifferentiation as an example, shows that microbioreactors with higher coreviscosity which produce higher shear stress lead to significantly higherosteogenic characteristics. Moreover, in this system the forces experienced bycells in each LC are simulated by computational modeling. The maximum wallshear stress applied to the cells inside the bioreactor with low, and high coreviscosity environment is estimated to be 297 and 1367 mPa, respectively, forthe experimental setup employed. This work outlines the potential of LCmicrobioreactors as a reliable in vitro customizable platform with a wide rangeof applications.publishe

Phase singularity annihilation in plasmonic nano-apertures via epsilon-near-zero metamaterials

In this work, we performed an extensive theoretical and experimental study to unveil the underlying mechanisms related to the intensified transmittance in epsilon-near-zero (ENZ)-integrated plasmonic nano-apertures. The occurrence of phase singularities at the incident side of plasmonic nano-apertures results in the reduction in transmittance. We show that transmittance enhancement in ENZ-integrated nano-slits is attributed to the annihilation of the phase singularities by the ENZ layer and subsequently the modification in plasmonic fields of metallic apertures. The singularity annihilation via ENZ metamaterials eliminates the abrupt changes in the phase of the Poynting vector underneath the slit, which results in a stronger cavity resonance inside the aperture. Due to this fact, a nano-aperture on top of an ENZ metamaterial is the only effective configuration to enhance the transmittance in ENZ-integrated nano-apertures. Hence, our study reveals the physics of the transmittance enhancement through ENZ-integrated plasmonic nano-apertures.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Humoral immune consequences of Staphylococcus aureus ST239-associated bacteremia

The humoral immune responses against 46 different staphylococcal antigens in 27 bacteremia patients infected by clonally related methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains of a single sequence type (ST) 239 were investigated. A group of non-infected patients (n = 31) hospitalized for different reasons served as controls. All strains were confirmed as ST 239 by S. aureus and mecA-specific PCR, spa, and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). In each bacteremia patient, a unique pattern of S. aureus antigen-specific immune responses after infection was observed. Antibody levels among bacteremia patients were significantly higher than controls for HlgB (P = 0.001), LukD (P = 0.009), LukF (P = 0.0001), SEA (P = 0.0001), SEB (P = 0.011), SEC (P = 0.010), SEQ (P = 0.049), IsaA (P = 0.043), IsdA (P = 0.038), IsdH (P = 0.01), SdrD (P = 0.001), SdrE (P = 0.046), EsxA (P = 0.0001), and SA0104 (P = 0.0001). On the other hand, the antibody levels were significantly higher among controls for SSL3 (P = 0.009), SSL9 (P = 0.002), and SSL10 (P = 0.007) when the IgG level on the day of infection was compared with that measured on the day of admission. Diversity was observed in the immune response against the antigens. However, a set of antigens (IsaA, IsdA, IsdH, SdrD, and HlgB) triggered a similar type of immune response in different individuals. We suggest that these antigens could be considered when developing a multi-component (passive) vaccine. SEA and/or its specific antibodies seem to play a critical role during ST239 MRSA bacteremia and SEA-targeted therapy may be a strategy to be considered

Convective drying of garlic (Allium sativum L.): Part I: Drying kinetics, mathematical modeling and change in color

Abstract Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is an important Allium spice that is a strong source of vitamin C and has antiseptic properties. From an economic point of view, the dried garlic slices are valuable products in Iran. The drying behavior of the garlic slices as a thin layer was investigated in a hot air dryer at the air temperatures of 50, 60 and 70˚C and slice thicknesses of 2, 3 and 4 mm. The effect of these conditions on the quality and appearance of garlic were also investigated. Both the drying air temperature and slice thickness affected the drying rate and time. The sample thickness increasing led to decreasing the drying rate. This reduction would affect the drying energy requirements significantly. In order to derive and select the appropriate drying model, nine mathematical models were fitted to the experimental data. According to the statistical criteria, the Weibull model was found to be adequate for describing the thin layer drying behavior of garlic slices. The final color characteristics values of dried garlic slices such as lightness, yellowness and redness were affected significantly by the air temperature and slice thickness at their studied ranges. Increasing in the both of air temperature and thickness of samples and decreasing in the moisture content of sample caused a darker dried-product. So using the low air temperature or thin slice is necessary to achieve best color and good appearance

A facile route for preparation of CdS nanoparticles

CdS nanoparticles have been synthesized by a chemical reaction route using ethylenediamine as a complexing agent. The nanoparticles were characterized using techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV–VIS absorption spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The absorption edge for the bulk hexagonal CdS is at 512 nm (2.42 eV). Comparing with the bulk CdS, it is believed that the blue shift in the absorption peak was caused by the quantum confinement effect. Photoluminescence measurements indicate CdS nanoparticles show fluorescence band with a maximum close to 315 nm

Circulating Progenitor Cells Identify Peripheral Arterial Disease in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

RATIONALE: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a clinical manifestation of extracoronary atherosclerosis. Despite sharing the same risk factors, only 20% to 30% of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) develop PAD. Decline in the number of bone marrow–derived circulating progenitor cells (PCs) is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Whether specific changes in PCs differentiate patients with both PAD and CAD from those with CAD alone is unknown. OBJECTIVE: Determine whether differences exist in PCs counts of CAD patients with and without known PAD. METHODS AND RESULTS: 1497 patients (mean age: 65 years; 62% men) with known CAD were identified in the Emory Cardiovascular Biobank. Presence of PAD (n=308) was determined by history, review of medical records, or imaging and was classified as carotid (53%), lower extremity (41%), upper extremity (3%), and aortic disease (33%). Circulating PCs were enumerated by flow cytometry. Patients with CAD and PAD had significantly lower PC counts compared with those with only CAD. In multivariable analysis, a 50% decrease in cluster of differentiation 34 (CD34+) or CD34+/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2+) counts was associated with a 31% (P=0.032) and 183% (P=0.002) increase in the odds of having PAD, respectively. CD34+ and CD34+/VEGFR2+ counts significantly improved risk prediction metrics for prevalent PAD. Low CD34+/VEGFR2+ counts were associated with a 1.40-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.03–1.91) and a 1.64-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.07–2.50) increases in the risk of mortality and PAD-related events, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PAD is associated with low CD34+ and CD34+/VEGFR2+ PC counts. Whether low PC counts are useful in screening for PAD needs to be investigated