Neuroscience
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In the field of brain-to-text communication, it is difficult to finish highly dexterous behaviors of writing multi-character by motor-imagery-based brain-computer interface (MI-BCI), setting a barrier to restore communication in people who have lost the ability to move and speak. In this paper, we design and implement a multi-character classification scheme based on 29 characters of motor imagery (MI) electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, which contains 26 English letters and 3 punctuation marks. Firstly, we design a novel experimental paradigm to increase the variety of BCI inputs by asking subjects to imagine the movement of writing 29 characters instead of gross motor skills such as reaching or grasping. ⋯ Thirdly, we respectively employ k-nearest neighbor (kNN), support vector machine (SVM), extreme learning machine (ELM) and light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) to classify 29 characters and compare the results. We have implemented a complete scheme, including paradigm design, signal acquisition, feature extraction and classification, which can effectively classify 29 characters. The experimental results show that the KPCA has the best feature extraction effect and the kNN has the highest classification accuracy, with the final classification accuracy reaching 96.2%, which is better than other studies.
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Activation of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-positive sensory neurons in the tumor microenvironment has been shown to be involved in tumor growth. However, how CGRP-positive sensory neurons are activated requires elucidation. In this study, we focused on transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and examined the contribution of TRPV1 to tumor growth and cancer pain in a mouse cancer model in which Lewis lung carcinoma was subcutaneously inoculated in the left plantar region. ⋯ Cancer pain in TRPV1 knockout mice was significantly lower than that in WT mice. In conclusion, TRPV1 is involved in both tumor growth and cancer pain, potentially leading to a novel strategy for the treatment of cancer pain and cancer development. Cancer pain is also suggested to facilitate tumor growth.
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Ischemia-reperfusion (IR) induces a wide range of irreversible injuries. Cerebral IR injury (IRI) refers to additional brain tissue damage that occurs after blood flow is restored following cerebral ischemia. Currently, no established methods exist for treating IRI. ⋯ Mechanistically, UB was found to stimulate the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, as evidenced by the significant reduction in UB's neuroprotective effects upon administration of ATRA, an Nrf2 inhibitor. In summary, UB effectively inhibits oxidative stress induced by IR through the activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. These findings suggest that UB holds promise as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of IRI.
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Persistent stress increases the probability for developing depression significantly thereafter. Repeated social defeat stress is a widely used model to investigate depressive-like behavior in preclinical models. Hence, the repeated social defeat stress model provided an ideal animal model, through which the hypotheses of prevention and treatment can be investigated. ⋯ Most importantly, robust anti-depressant effects have been achieved through modulating the mGluR5 function. We found that single oral dose administration of CDPPB (20 mg/kg), to some extent, alleviated the social avoidance behaviors for the stress-susceptible mice. Our data implies that the CDPPB, a positive allosteric modulator of mGluR5, is a promising anti-depressant candidate with limited side effect.