Exercise Training Alleviates Cognitive Functions in Diabetic Rats through HMGB1/RAGE/NF-kB Pathway

Objective: To observe the effect of exercise training on cognitive functions of diabetic rat model. Methods: Male SD rats were given a high fat and high sugar diet, except for control group. After 4 weeks, 35 mg /kg STZ was intraperitoneally injected to establish type 2 diabetes model rats. After successful modeling, rats were randomly divided into the model group, model + exercise group. Animals performed 5 days of consecutive treadmill exercise (60 min/day) with 22 m/min speeds for 60 days. After 60 days, behavioral tests were conducted by Morris water maze method. then rats were weighed and blood samples were obtained to detect blood glucose. Some animals were sacrificed to prepare serum to detect glycosylated hemoglobin. Brain tissues were taken to detect the protein expressions of HMGB1-/RAGE-/NF-κB signal pathway by Western Blot. The brains of other animals were perfused and taken for RAGE and NF-κB immunohistochemical staining.Results: Compared with control group, escape latency and probe distance in the model group were significantly prolonged, swimming time in the target quadrant was significantly shortened, and the number of crossing platform was significantly reduced. The average grayvalues of NF-κB and RAGE were significantly decreased. Expressions of HMGB1,RAGE,p-NF-кBp65 and p-IкBα were significantly up-regulated(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the model group, escape latency and probe distance were significantly shortened, swimming time in the target quadrant was prolonged and increased the number of crossing platform, it also reduced the fasting blood glucose, increased body weights, reduced the level of glycated hemoglobin, and significantly increased the mean grayvalues of NF-κB and RAGE. The protein expressions of HMGB1, RAGE, p-NF-кBp65 and p-IкBα were decreased in model + exercise group.Conclusion: Exercise training can ameliorate the cognitive dysfunction of diabetic rats, its mechanism may be related to reducing blood glucose, reducing the level of glycated hemoglobin and improving the HMGB1 /RAGE/NF-κB pathway in the brain tissue.

Tactile to visual number priming in the left intraparietal cortex of sighted Braille readers

Numbers can be presented in different notations and sensory modalities. It is currently debated to what extent these formats overlap onto a single representation. We asked whether such an overlap exists between symbolic numbers represented in two sensory modalities: Arabic digits and Braille numbers. A unique group of sighted Braille readers underwent extensive Braille reading training and was tested in an fMRI repetition-suppression paradigm with tactile Braille digit primes and visual Arabic digit targets. Our results reveal cross-modal priming: compared to repetition of two different quantities (e.g., Braille “5” and Arabic “2”), repetition of the same quantity presented in two modalities (e.g., Braille “5” and Arabic “5”) led to a reduction of activation in several sub-regions of the Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS), a key cortical region for magnitude processing. Thus, in sighted Braille readers, the representations of numbers read by sight and by touch overlap to a degree sufficient to cause repetition suppression. This effect was modulated by the numerical prime-probe distance. Altogether this indicates that the left parietal cortex hosts neural assemblies that are sensitive to numerical information from different notations (number words or Arabic digits) and modalities (tactile and visual).

Penetration depth study of 830 nm low-intensity laser therapy on living dog tissue

Background and Aim: Recent studies have shown that low-intensity laser therapy (LILT) enhances chronic wound healing, reduces pain, reduces inflammation, and improves post-operative rehabilitation. However, clinical outcomes in the veterinary use of LILT vary between different experimental studies. This is explained by improper laser parameter settings and limits of its penetration depth. This study aimed to investigate the penetration depth of 830 nm LILT on living dog tissue in different operating modes. This entailed continuous wave (CW) versus pulse wave (PW) and with contact versus non-contact techniques of the laser probe at different tissue-laser probe distances. The results can be applied for use in clinical practice. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four dogs that had undergone abdominal surgery were included in this study. The laser parameters were set at 200 mW, fluence of 4 J/cm2 and the laser power output denoted as mean output power (MOP) was measured by a power meter. Results: The MOP of the 830 nm CW laser was significantly higher than the PW laser (p<0.05). The MOP of the contact technique was significantly greater than that of the non-contact technique in both CW and PW modes (p<0.05). The MOP through the skin tissue was between 16.09 and 18.60 mW (8.05-9.30%) for the contact technique and 8.73 and 19.36 mW (4.37-9.68%) for the non-contact technique. In the muscle-skin layer, the MOP was between 0.50 and 1.56 mW (0.25-0.78%) and the MOP was not detected using the non-contact technique with a 5 cm tissue-laser probe distance. Conclusion: Our study indicates that 830 nm LILT (with laser parameter setting at 200 mW, fluence of 4 J/cm2 for both contact and non-contact techniques, and tissue-laser probe distance up to 5 cm) was appropriate for treatments within 14 mm of depth. However, the use of 830 nm LILT for an application in which the target tissue is deeper than 14 mm may limit its positive effect.

The Effect of Calcium on the Cohesive Strength and Flexural Properties of Low-Methoxyl Pectin Biopolymers

Pectin binds the mesothelial glycocalyx of visceral organs, suggesting its potential role as a mesothelial sealant. To assess the mechanical properties of pectin films, we compared pectin films with a less than 50% degree of methyl esterification (low-methoxyl pectin, LMP) to films with greater than 50% methyl esterification (high-methoxyl pectin, HMP). LMP and HMP polymers were prepared by step-wise dissolution and high-shear mixing. Both LMP and HMP films demonstrated a comparable clear appearance. Fracture mechanics demonstrated that the LMP films had a lower burst strength than HMP films at a variety of calcium concentrations and hydration states. The water content also influenced the extensibility of the LMP films with increased extensibility (probe distance) with an increasing water content. Similar to the burst strength, the extensibility of the LMP films was less than that of HMP films. Flexural properties, demonstrated with the 3-point bend test, showed that the force required to displace the LMP films increased with an increased calcium concentration (p < 0.01). Toughness, here reflecting deformability (ductility), was variable, but increased with an increased calcium concentration. Similarly, titrations of calcium concentrations demonstrated LMP films with a decreased cohesive strength and increased stiffness. We conclude that LMP films, particularly with the addition of calcium up to 10 mM concentrations, demonstrate lower strength and toughness than comparable HMP films. These physical properties suggest that HMP has superior physical properties to LMP for selected biomedical applications.

Estimation of electron temperature for SiO2 plasma induced by laser

In this work; Silicon dioxide (SiO2) were fabricated by pulsedlaser ablation (PLA). The electron temperature was calculated byreading the data of I-V curve of Langmuir probe which wasemployed as a diagnostic technique for measuring plasma properties.Pulsed Nd:YA Glaser was used for measuring the electrontemperature of SiO2 plasma plume under vacuum environment withvarying both pressure and axial distance from the target surface. Theelectron temperature has been measured experimentally and theeffects of each of pressure and Langmuir probe distance from thetarget were studied. An inverse relationship between electrontemperature and both pressure and axial distance was observed.