Brain

Umbilical vein has been substituted for artery in vascular transplantation, but it remains unclear whether the stress relaxation and creep between these vessels are consistent. A recent study reported in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 32, 2013) showed that the stress decrease at 7 200 seconds was similar between the middle cerebral artery and fetal umbilical vein specimens, regardless of initial stress of 18.7 kPa or 22.5 kPa. However, the strain increase at 7 200 seconds of fetal umbilical veins was larger than that of middle cerebral arteries.

The viscoelasticity of natural and artificial biomaterials can be suitable for human physiological function by matching stress relaxation and creep properties. Dr. Chengdong Piao and colleagues from Second Hospital, Jilin University in China prepared sciatic nerve injury models by creating a 10 mm defect in sciatic nerve specimens harvested from fresh corpses, and defects were repaired by anastomosis with nerve autografts and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) tubes.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- High levels of "good" cholesterol and low levels of "bad" cholesterol are correlated with lower levels of the amyloid plaque deposition in the brain that is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, in a pattern that mirrors the relationship between good and bad cholesterol in cardiovascular disease, UC Davis researchers have found.

Unexpectedly, the researchers discovered that nicotine's ability to up-regulate ∝6* nAChRs relied on the retrograde transport of ∝6* nAChRs back from the Golgi to the ER by COPI-coated vesicles. The authors believe that Golgi–ER cycling (involving COPI vesicles) may be a common mechanism for up-regulation of other nAChRs by nicotine. Manipulation of this process could therefore help form new strategies for smoking cessation and neuroprotection against Parkinson's disease.

Surprisingly little is known about schizophrenia. It was only recognized as a medical condition in the past few decades, and its exact causes remain unclear. Since there is no objective test for schizophrenia, its diagnosis is based on an assortment of reported symptoms. The standard treatment, antipsychotic medication, works less than half the time and becomes increasingly ineffective over time.

DALLAS – Dec. 30, 2013 – For the estimated 10 percent of patients whose bodies reject a corneal transplant, the odds of a second transplant succeeding are poor. All that could change, however, based on a UT Southwestern Medical Center study that has found a way to boost the corneal transplant acceptance rate.

For the male canary, the ability to sing a pitch-perfect song is critical to wooing female canaries. As the seasons change, so does song quality and frequency. The hormone testosterone plays a role in this changing song behavior.

Hemiplegia caused by stroke indicates the dysfunctions of the neurological network between the brain and limbs. Under this condition, conventional acupuncture at the acupoints on the affected side can not transmit stimulus signal to the brain. Contralateral needling at unblocked collaterals can transmit signal into the brain and then regulate the affected limb. However, there is little well-designed and controlled clinical evidence for this practice. Prof.

Accumulating research indicates that melatonin has a major role in pain transmission and has an ultra-sensitizing effect. Dr. Fang Huang and colleagues from Sun Yat-sen University in China for the first time located the distribution of melatonin receptor 1 in the caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus. Their results, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 32, 2013), showed that when melatonin receptor 1 expression in the caudal spinal nucleus is significantly reduced, melatonin's regulatory effect on pain is attenuated.

A previous study of European Caucasian patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis demonstrated that a polymorphism in the microtubule-associated protein Tau (MAPT) gene was significantly associated with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathogenesis. To examine this in a different population, Daojun Hong and colleagues from Nanchang University further investigated the association of the MAPT gene with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the Chinese Han population.

Seventy year olds who don't frequently visit the doctor have something unexpected in common – most played high school sports. They were active on a team over 50 years ago and are more likely to be active into their late 70s.

West Orange, NJ. December 27, 2013. Stroke rehabilitation researchers report improvement in spatial neglect with prism adaptation therapy. This new study supports behavioral classification of patients with spatial neglect as a valuable tool for assigning targeted, effective early rehabilitation. Results of the study, "Presence of motor-intentional aiming deficit predicts functional improvement of spatial neglect with prism adaptation" DOI: 10.1177/1545968313516872 were published ahead of print in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair on December 27, 2013.

Rho-associated protein kinase is an essential regulator of cytoskeletal dynamics during the process of neurite extension. However, whether Rho kinase regulates microtubule remodeling or the distribution of adhesive proteins to mediate neurite outgrowth remains unclear. By using the ROCK inhibitor, Y-27632, and the agonist, lysophosphatidic acid, Kenen Chen and colleagues from First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University in China observed that neurite outgrowth, microtubule remodeling and vinculin redistribution were tightly regulated by ROCK.

Normobaric oxygen has the rapid and non-invasive characteristics and may have therapeutic effects on ischemic/hypoxic disease. Dr.

The chitosan molecule can promote nerve cell adherence and growth along the surface of the material. It can enhance the adherence and influx of Schwann cells, thus encouraging the growth of axons. However, physical nerve guidance by a nerve conduit may not be sufficient to foster optimal recovery. Dr.