A Novel Contrast-Enhanced Brain Mimicking Hydrogel for Testing Implantable Brain Electrodes
Paralysis is a debilitating disorder that does not currently have safe and effective treatments. Implantable brain electrodes can be used to read brain waves and convert them into a corresponding motor function to restore movement in paralyzed patients. Tissue deformation induced around the implant site is believed to reduce their viability through the foreign body response. Developing electrodes that minimize deformation is challenging because the mechanical aspects of deformation are not fully understood and non-animal tissue models for testing electrodes are unavailable. Development of pre-clinical models for in vitro testing of the mechanical properties of electrodes can lead to a better understanding of this prevalent problem. The objective of this study was to construct a novel contrast-enhanced, brain mimicking hydrogel using photopolymerizable polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer that contains alginate microspheres with enclosed gadolinium (Gd) contrast agent. 1.5% alginate microspheres were constructed with enclosed Gd-DTPA-BSA contrast agent and successively added into 10% PEG. Then, this mixture was photopolymerized using a 5 mW/cm2UV lamp to result in a successful brain mimicking hydrogel. Rheological testing showed that its elastic modulus was approximately 1.5 kPa, which is similar to that of a normal human brain. The model is valuable because the presence of the contrast agent in the hydrogel resulted in distinct bright spots on the MRI. This can facilitate the visualization of tissue deformation caused by electrode insertion via comparison of pre-insertion and post-insertion images. This brain-mimicking model has the potential to improve understanding of neural deformation from electrode implants in order to assist patients suffering from paralysis.
Pleistocene mammals of a river basin of Adycha
The paper represents the results of study of remains of mammalians which inhabited the Adycha-River basin (Verkhoyansky Region) during the Pleistocene Epoch. All studied materials belong to the Museum of Paleontology and Ethnography of the Adychinskaya Secondary School. For a long time, People have been finding ancient animal bones on the Adycha-River banks, and since 1955, the teacher, Bozhedonov Nikolai Gerasimovich, has been organizing exploring local lore expeditions for school children purposed for mammoth fauna investigation and material collection for the school museum. In this research collected material was classified, measurements of the Pleistocene Period animal bones were made. On the basis of it we came to conclusion that during the Pleistocene Epoch, very rare species of animals inhabited the Adycha-River basin. To our opinion, the Adycha-River basin is a unique site for research activity. Comparative measurements of the Pleistocene Periods animal bones were made. Of flu work we know measurements of the Early and Middle Pleistocene Period elephant’s bones which inhabited the Adycha-River basin. Elephants inhabited with mammoth. To our opinion, they didn’t yield to size to mammoth. In that time the Adycha-River basin, was been inhabited by camelopard, bison and Soergelia.\r Museum has 2 skull’s fragments and ovibos fronts part of horny stream. Geological age which is Early Pleistocene or late Pleistocene. These bones concern to Praeovibos. Distance between horns is more 100 mm. If we compare with ovibos skull of the Late Pleistocene we see that distance between horns is longer for the 10 time. We couldn’t found such comparisons at scientist’s works. It results that the more distance between horns is longer the more ancient, and skull’s sizes are much less.\r 7-8 km lower of Betenkes, in disclosing “?????? ???????” and sand bank “??????”, was been founded 3 crag’s part of skull of Soergelia, metacarpal bone and 2 skull’s fragments with horns part. On the Adycha-River basin was bun founded above all quantity of soergelias remains.\r In the Pleistocene Period inhabited a lot of horses. Which remains he have now. Our horse’s height in crest is from 142 to 156 sm. And what about of horses of the Early Pleistocene, it is more than 230 sm.\r Molar teeth of the Early Pleistocene Epoch horse are more for the 2.5 times than of contemporaneous analog.
Association of a Novel Hsp70 Species with Brain Aging and Proteasome Dysfunction
Most neurological diseases are characterized by the presence of protein aggregates,\r suggesting that aberrations in protein homeostasis are associated with neuronal demise. In eukaryotic cells, protein homeostasis is maintained by the chaperone, ubiquitin proteasome (UPS) and autophagy systems. As age is a risk factor for several types of neurodegenerative diseases, the function of these various protein homeostatic systems could become compromised with age. To understand the events that occur during normal aging, we examined the expression of key markers associated with the aforementioned systems in mice aged 1, 3, and >18 months. We found that proteasome activity and the amount of proteasome-related structures remained unaffected with age. Interestingly though, an agerelated increase of a novel Hsp70 chaperone protein species (herein designated Hsp70*) was observed. The expression of Hsp70* is also increased markedly in cells treated with pharmacological agents that promote proteasome inhibition, suggesting a functional interaction between the chaperone system and the UPS. Taken together, our results suggest that there is some form of crosstalk between the chaperone system and the UPS involving the observed HSP70 species.
A.L.E.R.T
My project ‘Avert’ (To avert and vertebrae combined) involves research into posture related back problems and a solution to help prevent back pain by maintaining correct posture. My solution is a chain-like structure fitted with 24 sensors that is sewn into a Skins compression top. When worn the chain is aligned with the user’s spine from the lower back to the base of the neck and moulds to the spine as it moves. As everybody’s back is slightly different it is important that the device can recognise the difference between what may be bad posture for one person, yet relatively normal for another. To solve this the device takes an initial reading of the user’s spine in correct posture and saves it as a reference measurement. Bad posture is defined by the device as angles that exceed the natural movement of individual vertebrae and their platelets. While in use the 24 sensors are continually measuring the shape of the user’s spine and comparing it with the original reference measurement taken earlier. If any measurement links to unhealthy posture a light will flash and an alarm will sound either aloud or through headphones until the posture is corrected. This device can be worn during light activity and non contact sports to encourage the user to maintain correct and healthy posture. The device can also record and save poor posture measurements that can be uploaded later to a software program I designed to draw the shape of the spine as a vector diagram. The device can also be plugged directly into a computer so that the user can see the shape of their spine as it moves in real time. I, along with others, tested my solution with many activities and found Avert to be a beneficial and reliable product as it successfully detects slouching and many potentially problematic spine shapes. Throughout my research I gained a thorough understanding about the potential damage bad posture can cause and the endless number of activities it occurs in. With further development I feel there is a huge potential for Avert to become a marketable product used not only for posture correction in everyday activity, but for many other purposes such as physiotherapy, biomechanics and athletic performance. Many people have approached me with praise and requests for the Avert system which is extremely exciting and also rewarding to know that my research has the potential to help people.
Carbon nanotubes as efficient nanosieve for controlled assembly of nanoparticles
In this work, techniques to explore the capabilities of multi-walled carbon nanotubes\r (MWNTs) in sorting nanoparticles (NPs) were presented. A droplet of a solution comprising of quantum dots (QDs) with various sizes was deposited on an aligned array of intertwined MWNTs. Photoluminescence (PL) and fluorescence microscopy (FM) revealed that MWNTs were effective nano-sieves that could effectively sort out QDs with a size difference of ~ 2.1 nm.\r Cadmium Selenide/Zinc Sulfide (CdSe/ZnS)core-shell QDs and Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) QDs were used to explore whether chemical properties of NPs affect the sieving capability of MWNTs. Further investigation on the effects of micro-patterning on the sieving ability of MWNTs was also carried out.PL and FM results suggested that micro-patterning could aid in separation of QDs and thus improve sieving capability of MWNTs. With the above findings, QDs emitting different colors as a result of size difference could efficiently be assembled onto the MWNTs en route to three-dimensional architectures with controlled assembly of NPs.\r Together with controlled laser power to remove desired amounts of QDs decorated MWNTs, a multi-colored display could be achieved. Further experiments were also carried out to determine the feasibility of introducing MWNTs as filters for NPs. Dilute solutions containing NPs such as gold colloid was run through these MWNTs filters by gravity. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) images of the samples showed that MWNTs were successful in trapping the nanoparticles. Explorations into the length dependent effect of using MWNTs as filters, suggested that 300μm MWNTs are better nano-sieves compared to 50μm MWNTs.