Antipsychotic sensitivity in normal pressure hydrocephalus

Normal pressure hydrocephalus is characterized by a clinically progressive triad of an abnormal gait, dementia and urinary incontinence, which might present as paranoid psychosis, mood disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and, occasionally, with frontal lobe symptoms. We are reporting a patient having schizophrenia with intolerance to even low dose of antipsychotics, who was subsequently revealed to be having communicating hydrocephalus.     

Subthreshold corticospinal control of anticipatory actions in humans

Previous findings suggest that, by influencing the subthreshold state of motoneurons, the corticospinal pathways can set and reset the threshold position at which wrist muscle recruitment begins. Here we assumed that the corticospinal system can change the threshold position in a similar way before anticipated perturbation to pre-determine an appropriate emerging response to it. We first analyzed motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied to the wrist area of motor cortex before unloading of preloaded wrist flexors, i.e. before the subsequent involuntary wrist motion to another position (natural unloading). Subjects then learned to diminish the post-unloading movement extent without activating antagonist (extensor) muscles before unloading or making intentional movement corrections after unloading (adjusted unloading). Although activity levels of wrist muscles before unloading were similar, MEPs of extensor but not pre-loaded flexor muscles were higher before adjusted unloading. We also applied TMS in combination with a torque pulse that shortened extensor muscles such that the MEP occurred when the motoneuronal excitability was minimized. Although diminished following muscle shortening, MEPs before adjusted unloading were still higher than before natural unloading. Results suggest that the corticospinal system, possibly together with other descending systems participated in the tonic subthreshold facilitation of antagonist motoneurons before adjusted unloading, which appears sufficient in modifying motor commands and motion leading to adjusted unloading. This study reinforces previous findings that descending systems, in particular, the corticospinal system can employ threshold position control during and after learning a novel action.     

Active and biomimetic nanofilters for selective protein separation

Selective protein channels in cell and nuclear membranes act as gateways to control the passage of molecules across. The selectivity of these channels stems from attractive potentials of the binding sites in the transmembrane proteins. These channels can filter out small volume of solutions with high precision. Motivated from this phenomenon, we report biomimetic facilitated transport modality to selectively separate a target molecule from a mixture of molecules. The attractive potential is generated by specific antibodies immobilized inside 15 nm diameter polycarbonate nanochannels. Two proteins with similar physicochemical properties (Bovine Serum Albumin 66 kDa, and Human Hemoglobin 65 kDa) are chosen as model molecules. The protein molecules are mixed in ratios of 1:1, 1:20 and 1:40 (Hb:BSA), and separation of molecules is demonstrated. The selectivity of membrane can be switched from Hb to BSA by changing the immobilized antibody inside the membrane channels. This approach can be used to selectively enrich any target molecule from a complex sample to enhance signal-to-noise ratio for early disease diagnosis.     

Efficacy of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells in cardiac muscle repair in an experimental acute myocardial infarction model using nude rats (Crl:NIH-Fox1RNU)

This study was designed to compare the efficacy of intraventricular (IV), intramyocardial (IM) or combined IV and IM injections of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs) administered either immediately, 5, or 10 days after induction of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a nude rat model. Acute myocardial infarction was induced in 99, adult (250–350 g BW), male nude rats strain Crl:NIH-Fox1^RNU. Rats received either no cells (group I, n?=?15) or 2 million, hADSCs as follows: group II (n?=?19) IV injection immediately after AMI; group III (n?=?18) IV injection 5 days after AMI; group IV (n?=?15) IV injection 5 days and IM injection 10 days after AMI; group V (n?=?17) IV injection immediately after AMI and IM injection 10 days after AMI and group VI (n?=?15) IM injection 10 days after AMI. Tissue sections from hearts were studied using H&E and immunohistochemistry. In the control group, there was a tendency toward granulation tissue formation, active phagocytosis, and variable angiogenesis when evaluated at 10 days, early fibrosis when evaluated at 30 days, and established fibrosis when evaluated at 60 days. However, hADSC-treated groups showed a tendency toward cardiomyocyte regeneration and prominent angiogenesis when evaluated at 10 days and smaller infarction size when evaluated at 30 and 60 days. The present study showed a significantly decreased amount of scar tissue following myocardial infarction and enhanced regenerative capacity of myocardial cells following a single, intraventricular injection of 2 million hADSCs immediately after AMI.