Antinociceptive effects of lacosamide on spinal neuronal and behavioural measures of pain in a rat model of osteoarthritis.

Alterations in voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) function have been linked to chronic pain and are good targets for analgesics. Lacosamide (LCM) is a novel anticonvulsant that enhances the slow inactivation state of VGSCs. This conformational state can be induced by repeated neuronal firing and/or under conditions of sustained membrane depolarisation, as is expected for hyperexcitable neurones in pathological conditions such as epilepsy and neuropathy, and probably osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, therefore, we examined the antinociceptive effect of LCM on spinal neuronal and behavioural measures of pain, in vivo, in a rat OA model

Spectral Action for Robertson-Walker metrics

We use the Euler-Maclaurin formula and the Feynman-Kac formula to extend our previous method of computation of the spectral action based on the Poisson summation formula. We show how to compute directly the spectral action for the general case of Robertson-Walker metrics. We check the terms of the expansion up to a_6 against the known universal formulas of Gilkey and compute the expansion up to a_{10} using our direct method

Why Students Drop Out of School: A Review of 25 Years of Research

Reviews research on the underlying causes of the high school dropout crisis -- individual and institutional characteristics that predict whether a student is likely to drop out of high school. Discusses student engagement, deviance, and other models

"Things Are Different Now But": Older LGBT Adults' Experiences and Unmet Needs in Health Care.

Background: Approximately 2.7 million U.S. older adults self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT). Many felt unsafe revealing their sexual orientation until relatively recently, and may still not be "out" to medical providers. The aim of this study was to increase understanding of the experiences and needs of older LGBT adults when accessing care. Method: Individual semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 individuals aged 65 years or older from a local LGBT community. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analyzed via thematic analysis. Results: Major themes were "Outness," "Things are Different Now," and "Additional Resources." These describe participant comfort with being "out"; how treatment they received changed over time, and needed services or other options from the community. Conclusion: While many older LGBT adults are accustomed to navigating social mores to avoid negative experiences, nurses as well as other health care providers must be prepared to create trusting relationships with these individuals to provide truly comprehensive care

A new puzzle for random interaction

We continue a series of numerical experiments on many-body systems with random two-body interactions, by examining correlations in ratios in excitation energies of yrast $J$ = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 states. Previous studies, limited only to $J$ = 0,2,4 states, had shown strong correlations in boson systems but not fermion systems. By including $J \ge 6$ states and considering different scatter plots, strong and realistic correlations appear in both boson and fermion systems. Such correlations are a challenge to explanations of random interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Modeling pedestrian evacuation movement in a swaying ship

With the advance in living standard, cruise travel has been rapidly expanding around the world in recent years. The transportation of passengers in water has also made a rapid development. It is expected that ships will be more and more widely used. Unfortunately, ship disasters occurred in these years caused serious losses. It raised the concern on effectiveness of passenger evacuation on ships. The present study thus focuses on pedestrian evacuation features on ships. On ships, passenger movements are affected by the periodical water motion and thus are quite different from the characteristic when walking on static horizontal floor. Taking into consideration of this special feature, an agent-based pedestrian model is formulized and the effect of ship swaying on pedestrian evacuation efficiency is investigated. Results indicated that the proposed model can be used to quantify the special evacuation process on ships.Comment: Traffic and Granular Flow'15, At Delft, the Netherland

Return to driving after traumatic brain injury : a British perspective

Primary Objective: to identify current legal situation, and professional practice in assisting persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to return to safe driving after injury. Methods and Procedures A brief review of relevant literature, a description of the current statutory and quasi-statutory authorities regulating return to driving after TBI in the UK, and a description of the nature and resolution of clinical and practical dilemmas facing professionals helping return to safe driving after TBI. Each of the 15 UK mobility centres was contacted and literature requested; in addition a representative of each centre responded to a structured telephone survey. Main Outcome and Results: The current situation in Great Britain is described, with a brief analysis of the strengths and weaknesses both of the current statutory situation, and also the practical situation (driving centres), with suggestions for improvements in practice. Conclusion Although brain injury may cause serious limitations in driving ability, previous drivers are not routinely assessed or advised regarding return to driving after TBI

Electrophysiological evidence for voltage-gated calcium channel 2 (Cav2) modulation of mechano- and thermosensitive spinal neuronal responses in a rat model of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) remains one of the greatest healthcare burdens in western society, with chronic debilitating pain-dominating clinical presentation yet therapeutic strategies are inadequate in many patients. Development of better analgesics is contingent on improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms mediating OA pain. Voltage-gated calcium channels 2.2 (Cav2.2) play a critical role in spinal nociceptive transmission, therefore blocking Cav2.2 activity represents an attractive opportunity for OA pain treatment, but the only available licensed Cav2.2 antagonist ziconitide (PrilatTM) is of limited use. TROX-1 is an orally available, use dependent and state-selective Cav2 antagonist, exerting its analgesic effect primarily via Cav2.2 blockade, with an improved therapeutic window compared with ziconitide. Using a rat model of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA), 2mg, induced OA we used in vivo electrophysiology to assess the effects of spinal or systemic administration of TROX-1 on the evoked activity of wide dynamic range spinal dorsal horn neurons in response to electrical, natural mechanical (dynamic brush and von Frey 2, 8, 26 and 6g) and thermal (40, 45 and 45°C) stimuli applied to the peripheral receptive field. MIA injection into the knee joint resulted in mechanical hypersensitivity of the ipsilateral hind paw and weight-bearing asymmetry. Spinal administration of TROX-1 (0.1 and 1μg/50μl) produced a significant dose-related inhibition of dynamic brush, mechanical (von Frey filament (vF) 8, 26 and 60g) and noxious thermal-(45 and 48°C) evoked neuronal responses in MIA rats only. Systemic administration of TROX-1 produced a significant inhibition of the mechanical-(vF 8, 26 and 60g) evoked neuronal responses in MIA rats. TROX-1 did not produce any significant effect on any neuronal measure in Sham controls. Our in vivo electrophysiological results demonstrate a pathological state-dependent effect of TROX-1, which suggests an increased functional role of Cav2, likely Cav2.2, channels in mediating OA pain

Graphene as an electronic membrane

Experiments are finally revealing intricate facts about graphene which go beyond the ideal picture of relativistic Dirac fermions in pristine two dimensional (2D) space, two years after its first isolation. While observations of rippling added another dimension to the richness of the physics of graphene, scanning single electron transistor images displayed prevalent charge inhomogeneity. The importance of understanding these non-ideal aspects cannot be overstated both from the fundamental research interest since graphene is a unique arena for their interplay, and from the device applications interest since the quality control is a key to applications. We investigate the membrane aspect of graphene and its impact on the electronic properties. We show that curvature generates spatially varying electrochemical potential. Further we show that the charge inhomogeneity in turn stabilizes ripple formation.Comment: 6 pages, 11 figures. Updated version with new results about the re-hybridization of the electronic orbitals due to rippling of the graphene sheet. The re-hybridization adds the next-to-nearest neighbor hopping effect discussed in the previous version. New reference to recent STM experiments that give support to our theor