2-Pentadecyl-2-oxazoline ameliorates memory impairment and depression-like behaviour in neuropathic mice: possible role of adrenergic alpha2- and H3 histamine autoreceptors

Neuropathic pain (NP) remains an untreatable disease due to the complex pathophysiology that involves the whole pain neuraxis including the forebrain. Sensory dysfunctions such as allodynia and hyperalgesia are only part of the symptoms associated with neuropathic pain that extend to memory and affectivity deficits. The development of multi-target molecules might be a promising therapeutic strategy against the symptoms associated with NP. 2-pentadecyl-2-oxazoline (PEA-OXA) is a plant-derived agent, which has shown effectiveness against chronic pain and associated neuropsychiatric disorders. The molecular mechanisms by which PEA-OXA exerts its effects are, however, only partially known. In the current study, we show that PEA-OXA, besides being an alpha2 adrenergic receptor antagonist, also acts as a modulator at histamine H3 receptors, and report data on its effects on sensory, affective and cognitive symptoms associated with the spared nerve injury (SNI) model of neuropathic pain in mice. Treatment for 14 days with PEA-OXA after the onset of the symptoms associated with neuropathic pain resulted in the following effects: (i) allodynia was decreased; (ii) affective/cognitive impairment associated with SNI (depression, spatial, and working memories) was counteracted; (iii) long-term potentiation in vivo in the lateral entorhinal cortex-dentate gyrus (perforant pathway, LPP) was ameliorated, (iv) hippocampal glutamate, GABA, histamine, norepinephrine and dopamine level alterations after peripheral nerve injury were reversed, (v) expression level of the TH positive neurons in the Locus Coeruleus were normalized. Thus, a 16-day treatment with PEA-OXA alleviates the sensory, emotional, cognitive, electrophysiological and neurochemical alterations associated with SNI-induced neuropathic pain

The new neuroscience school of therapeutic hypnosis, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation

Professor of General Psychology at the University of Salerno where he is a researcher & teacher of Psychological Research Methodology; he is a member of the European Science Foundation Managment Committee (ESF/COST). Abstract: We outline our expectations for a new bioinformatic and neuroscience of therapeutic hypnosis, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation based on the Human Genome Project. Just as The Human Genome Project identified the psychobiological foundations of modern medicine with the new technology of sequencing DNA during the past decade, we propose extending this bioinformatic knowledge base with the technologies of DNA/proteomic microarray research and brain imaging. We would implement this research program with an International PsychoSocial and Cultural Bioinformatics Project to explore the clinical foundations of therapeutic hypnosis, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation on all levels from the molecular-genomic to the psychological, cultural, social, and spiritual

Peculiar properties of nanogranular Nix Si100-x magnetic films obtained by ultrashort pulsed laser deposition

importanti effetti della morfologia nanoparticellare, ottenuta in modo peculiare con ablazione laser ultraveloce, sulle proprietà magnetiche collettiv

Evidence of giant magnetoresistance effect in heterogeneous nanogranular films produced by ultrashort pulsed laser deposition

Giant magnetoresistance effect is found in films of magnetic nanoparticles uniformly mixed with non-magnetic metallic nanoparticles produced by ultrashort pulsed laser deposition (uPLD). The uPLD, which uses femtosecond laser pulses, has been recently re

The Magnetic and Magneto-transport Properties of Nanogranular Films Produced by Ultrashort Pulsed Laser Deposition

Material synthesis using femtosecond pulsed laser deposition (fs-PLD) in vacuum is an important application because an interesting by-product of the process is the automatic generation of nanometer scale particles during ablation. The nanoparticle-assembled films show a structure with agglomerates of NPs, each one formed by closely connected NPs with a significant shape and orientation anisotropy and negligible coalescence, even at high NP volume fractions, though the precise nature of the interface remains uncertain, and an exchange interaction is active among the nearest NPs. The as-deposited monocomponent (Ni, Fe) and bicomponent (CoCu, FeAg) magnetic films present a high in-plane remanence ratio, relatively low values of the saturation and coercive fields and a steep slope near coercivity. Furthermore, the exchange interaction between hard magnetic nanoparticles (Terfenol-D) and soft magnetic nanoparticles (Iron) is active in the fs-PLD film, giving a cumulative magnetic response resulting from an average of the properties of the two component phase (exchange-spring magnets). In prospective the striking and intriguing properties of these nanogranular films appear very promising for potential application as permanent magnets and in data storage technology. Finally, giant magnetoresistance effect in films of magnetic nanoparticles uniformly mixed with non-magnetic metallic nanoparticles produced by uPLD, was investigated. As-deposited Co-Cu and Fe-Ag films in a moderate volume fraction range of magnetic component (15 – 25 %) present detectable values of this magnetoresistive effect, although the average size of the particles is higher than in typical nanogranular materials for magnetoresistive applications. Moreover, the magnetoresitive response at room temperature is a linear function of field that does not saturate up to external magnetizing field (at least up to 5 T) very higher than the value required for the saturation of the macroscopic magnetization. In prospective, by optimizing the production parameters, these nanogranular films appear very promising for potential applications in room-temperature magnetic sensor technology

Magnetic Behaviour of Ni Nanoparticles Films Produced by Two Laser Irradiations in Vacuum

Magnetic nanoparticles-assembled films are good candidates to obtain peculiar macroscopic magnetic properties which can be optimized for specific technological applications in a wide range of magnetomechanical and magnetoelectrical devices, by controlling the morphology and topology of the constituent nanoparticles (NPs). In fact, the physical properties of the systems of NPs associated to their small size and large surface-to-volume ratio can lead to peculiar properties that cannot be found in corresponding bulk materials. Despite the huge research efforts in the field of physical and chemical methods for the preparation of magnetic nanostructured systems - with reproducible narrow size distribution, controllable shape and proper NPs topology to tune suitable interplay between exchange and dipolar magnetic interactions - there is still a great need of simply, cost-effective synthesis techniques able to assure contemporaneously all the above mentioned characteristics. Femtosecond pulsed laser deposition (fs-PLD) in vacuum has been demonstrated to be a powerful and versatile tool for the production of metal and semiconductor nanoparticle-assembled films. In this work we study the possibility to modify the size and size distribution of the NPs produced by fs-PLD, by using the irradiation of the NPs plume with a secondary UV laser beam, and the consequent changes in the macroscopic magnetic behavior of the NP systems

Ultrafast pulsed laser deposition as a method for the synthesis of innovative magnetic films

Exchange-coupled monocomponent magnetic films constituted of disk-shaped Ni and Fe nanoparticles were produced by ultrafast pulsed laser deposition, in vacuum. These films show a peculiar cauliflower-like structure, made of granular agglomerates of nanoparticles sticking to one another with a significant shape and orientation anisotropy. Both as-deposited Ni and Fe films present hysteresis loops with a high in-plane remanence ratio (0.61 and 0.81 at 250 K, respectively), relatively low values of the saturation and coercive fields and a steep slope near coercivity. At temperature of 10 K and 250 K, the magnetization curves confirm the strong influence of the production technique on the topologic structure of these films, and consequently on their magnetic properties. In perspective, the striking and intriguing properties of these nanogranular films appear very promising for potential application as permanent magnets and in data storage technology

Magnetic Behavior of Ni Nanoparticle Films Produced by Two Laser Irradiations in Vacuum

Ni Nanoparticle assembled thin films were prepared using an unconventional approach based on the use of a secondary nanosecond (ns) ultraviolet (UV) laser irradiation interacting with the plume of ablated nanoparticles (NPs) during the femtosecond pulsed laser deposition (fs-PLD). The secondary laser beam determines the reduction of the NPs size and their dispersion by partial vaporization of the NPs during their flight from the target to the substrate. The proper selection of the time delay between fs and ns laser pulses allows the latter to interact selectively with different parts of the NPs plume, controlling, to a certain degree, the reduction of the NPs size and dispersion. Another original effect of the UV laser irradiation is the change in the deposited films topology, due to a reduction of the NP-aggregates density and size, fostering non-uniform dense assemblies of NPs with concentration well above the percolation threshold, with the consequent reduction of the influence of the exchange interactions on the macroscopic magnetic properties. The magnetic behavior of the films prepared using two laser beams with respect to that obtained in the case of fs-PLD only is characterized by higher H-c values (up to approximate to 70%) and a good compromise between the hysteresis loops squareness and moderate exchange interactions, strongly correlated with the NPs topology

Elastomagnetic and Elastoresistive Effects in CoFe Films Produced by Femtosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition

Femtosecond pulsed laser deposition, carried out in high vacuum, leads the ablation of any target material, producing a plume of nano-drops which are deposited on a substrate as particles, preserving the parent material composition. The deposited nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit a characteristic disk-shape with a major diameter ranging from 5 nm up to 60 nm and a thickness ranging from 1 nm up to 10 nm. Also when the particles form a thick layer, they remain separated by an interface of free volume. This characteristic morphology of the deposited films gives an interplay of interparticle and intraparticle physical correlations which deeply differentiates their properties from those of similar nanogranular films deposited by other techniques. This investigation is focused on the influence of the novel structural conditions on the coupling between strain and magnetization, and/or strain and resistivity, in Co(50)Fe(50) NP films deposited on Kapton substrate. Due to the NP nature of the films, these couplings are substantially different from standard magnetostrictive and piezoresistive effects. Magnetization and resistivity versus applied strain were studied, thus evidencing novel elastoresistive and elastomagnetic functionalities and evaluating their relative sensitivities. The limits and potentiality for the application of the new NP magnetic films in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) will be briefly discussed