Mechanical characteristics of BMSCs-intervened sciatic nerve in chronic alcohol-intoxicated animal model.

OBJECTIVE: To study the mechanical properties of sciatic nerve in rats with chronic alcoholism (CA) and intervened with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and to provide biomechanical basis for clinical practice. METHODS: the serum of the BMSCs-intervened CA rats was sampled and determined the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), metallothionein (CAS, MT), and Glutathione/r -glutamyl cysteinyl/glycine (GSH); meanwhile, the rats' sciatic nerve was tested the tensile and observed the histomorphological changes. RESULTS: The mechanical properties of sciatic nerve in BMSCs-intervened CA rats, as well as the serum levels of MT and GSH, were significantly different from those in the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-intervened CA rats (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: BMSCs intervention can restore the levels of MT, GSH, MDA, histomorphology, and tensile mechanical properties in CA animal model, and its effects on repairing sciatic nerve are obvious.

Sex Differences in Body Mass Index and Obesity in Chinese Patients With Chronic Schizophrenia.

Sex differences in schizophrenia have been well recognized. However, sex differences in obesity associated with antipsychotics have received little systematic study. This study was conducted to compare sex difference effects of antipsychotics and related risk factors on obesity and body mass index (BMI) in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. A total of 204 inpatients with chronic schizophrenia (males/females = 140/66) were recruited. Demographic and clinical data were collected, and serum glucose and lipid levels were measured. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess patients' psychopathology. The prevalence of obesity in female patients (21/66, 31.82%) was approximately 2 times that of male patients (22/140, 15.83%; P < 0.001) and women also had higher BMI than men (25.49 ± 4.42 kg/m versus 23.95 ± 3.67 kg/m; P < 0.005). Regression analyses showed that obesity was associated with type 2 diabetes (P < 0.05) and triglycerides (P < 0.05) in women, and limited to triglyceride in men (P < 0.01). Further correlation analysis showed that BMI was associated with the PANSS negative symptom subscore (P < 0.001) and the PANSS total score (P < 0.01) in men. In addition, women had higher low-density lipoprotein plasma levels than men. Our findings suggest that there are significant sex differences in bodyweight and obesity in chronic medicated patients with schizophrenia, with worse lipid metabolic dysfunction in female patients.

Mechanical and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of the Amino Silicone Oil Emulsion Modified Ramie Fiber Reinforced Composites.

The mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties, interface adhesion and microstructures of the amino silicone oil emulsion (ASO) modified short ramie fiber reinforced polypropylene composites (RFPCs) with different fiber fractions were investigated. The RFPCs were made through a combined process of extrusion and injection molding. Mechanical property tests of the RFPCs revealed enhancements in tensile and flexural strengths with increase of the fiber fraction due to the high stiffness of the fiber filler and a better interfacial bonding from ASO treatment. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results indicated that fiber incorporation plays an important role in DMA parameters (storage modulus, loss modulus, and damping ratio) at Tg by forming an improved interfacial adhesion and providing more effective stress transfer rate and energy dissipation between matrix and fiber. The phase behavior analysis suggests all the RFPCs are a kind of heterogeneity system based on the Cole-Cole plot analysis.

Crystal growth kinetics, microstructure and electrochemical properties of LiFePO4/carbon nanocomposites fabricated using a chelating structure phosphorus source.

LiFePO4/carbon (LFP/C) nanocomposites were fabricated using bis(hexamethylene triamine penta (methylene phosphonic acid)) (BHMTPMPA) as a new and environment-friendly phosphorus source. The activation energy of the fabricated LFP/C was first investigated in depth based on the theoretical Arrhenius equation and experimental results of the LFP/C composite particle size distribution to explore the grain growth dynamics of the LFP/C particles during the sintering process. The results indicate that the activation energy is lower than 3.82 kJ mol-1 when the sintering temperature is within the range of 600-800 °C, which suggests that the crystal growth kinetics of the LFP/C particles is diffusion-controlled. The diffusion-controlled mechanism results from the mutual effects of chelation with Fe2+ cations, in situ formation of carbon layers and high concentration of hard aggregates due to the use of an organic phosphorous source (BHMTPMPA). The diffusion-controlled mechanism of the LFP/C effectively reduces the LFP particle size and hinders the growth of anomalous crystals, which may further result in nanosized LFP particles and good electrochemical performances. SEM and TEM analyses show that the prepared LFP/C has a uniform particle size of about 300 nm, which further confirms the effects of the diffusion-controlled mechanism of the LFP/C particle crystal growth kinetics. Electrochemical tests also verify the significant influence of the diffusion-controlled mechanism. The electrical conductivity and Li-ion diffusion coefficient (D Li +) of the fabricated LFP/C nanocomposite are 1.56 × 10-1 S cm-1 and 6.24 × 10-11 cm2 s-1, respectively, due to the chelating structure of the phosphorus source. The fabricated LFP/C nanocomposite exhibits a high reversible capacity of 166.9 mA h g-1 at 0.2C rate, and presents an excellent rate capacity of 134.8 mA h g-1 at 10C.

Estimating the size and number of autophagic bodies by electron microscopy.

Much recent and ongoing research is focused on understanding the mechanisms and regulation of autophagy, a cellular self-degradation pathway with many links to human health. Although many assays exist to measure the total magnitude of autophagy, electron microscopy remains the tool of choice for the determination of the size and the number of autophagosomes formed in a given mutant or under given induction conditions. Here we present a detailed protocol for measuring autophagic bodies in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by electron microscopy. Furthermore, we present an improved mathematical method for estimating body size and a new method for estimating body number. Finally, we include a discussion of the merits and limitations of these methods and an example of their application to autophagic bodies formed in the ume6∆ strain.