HDAC6 dysfunction contributes to impaired maturation of adult neurogenesis in vivo: vital role on functional recovery after ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Promoting post-stroke neurogenesis has long been proposed to be a therapeutic strategy for the enhancement of functional recovery after cerebral ischemic stroke. Despite numerous approaches have been widely reported the proliferation or differentiation of the neurogenic population therapeutic strategies by targeting adult neurogenesis not yet to be successfully clarified in clinical settings. Here, we hypothesized that alterations in microenvironment of the ischemic brain might impede the functional maturation of adult newly generated neurons that limits functional recovery after stroke. METHODS: The in vivo retroviral based labeling model was applied to directly birth-date and trace the maturation process of adult newly generating neurons after hypoxic challenge. A rehabilitation therapy procedure was adopted through the combination of task-specific motor rehabilitating training with environmental enrichment to promote functional recovery after stroke. In addition, a pharmacological or genetic suppression of HDAC6 was performed to evaluate the functional significance of HDAC6 in the pathology of ischemic stroke induced deficits. RESULTS: Serial morphological analyses at multiple stages along the maturation process showed significant retardation of the dendritic maturation on the newly generated neurons after stroke. Subsequent biochemical analyses revealed an aberrant nuclear translocation of HDAC6 that leads to the hyper-acetylation of α-tubulin (an indication of over-stabilized microtubules) after hypoxic challenge was observed at different time points after stroke. Furthermore, the mimicry experiments with either pharmacological or genetic suppression of HDAC6, phenocopied the stroke induced retardation in dendritic maturation of newly generating neurons in vivo. More importantly, we provide direct evidence showing the proper function of HDAC6 is required for rehabilitation therapy induced therapeutic benefits after stroke. CONCLUSION: Together, our current study unravels that dysfunction of HDAC6 contributes to stroke induced deficits in neurogenesis and provides an innovative therapeutic strategy that targets HDAC6 for promoting functional recovery toward the patients with stroke in clinic.

The effect of adding Bi3+ on the performance of a newly developed iron-copper redox flow battery.

In this paper, we propose a new, abundant, cost-effective, non-toxic, and environmentally benign iron-copper redox flow battery (Fe/Cu RFB), which employs Fe2+/Fe3+ and Cu+/Cu0 as the positive and negative electrolytes, respectively. The effect of graphite felt (GF) electrode modification and addition of Bi3+ into the electrolytes on the performance of the Fe/Cu RFB were investigated. It was found that the cell containing Bi3+ in the electrolytes revealed higher coulombic efficiency (89.18%) and energy efficiency (35.24%) than the cell without Bi3+ (CE = 84.10% and EE = 34.43%) at 20 mA cm-2. This is because after adding Bi3+, Cu metal precipitation was not observed on the electrode surface, which indicates that the deposition process was potentially reversible on the electrode material, thus leading to enhanced performance of the battery. Furthermore, the efficiencies of the battery are stable over 10 cycles, which demonstrates that Fe/Cu RFB exhibits good stability on the microwave heat treated GF plus one layer microwave heat treated carbon paper (HT-GF + HT-CP) electrode after adding Bi3+ into the electrolytes.

Hospital-based integrated diabetes care management: an overview.

To provide continuous, accessible, and quality care, a diabetes share-care program has been in place in Taiwan for several years. Lukang Christian Hospital, a member of the diabetes share-care network, endeavors to provide "patient-centered" care aimed at increasing care quality and reducing diabetic complications. Information technology has been employed by the hospital for monitoring care quality and analyzing cost-effectiveness. Structured health-care programs have also been developed to ensure the completeness of diabetes care and to encourage self-management of individuals at high risk for diabetes. The implementation of these strategies has led to progressive improvement in quality measures and spawned novel and creative ways to deliver care services.