Antioxidant Molecular Brain Changes Parallel Adaptive Cardiovascular Response to Forced Running in Mice.

Physically active lifestyle has huge implications for the health and well-being of people of all ages. However, excessive training can lead to severe cardiovascular events such as heart fibrosis and arrhythmia. In addition, strenuous exercise may impair brain plasticity. Here we investigate the presence of any deleterious effects induced by chronic high-intensity exercise, although not reaching exhaustion. We analyzed cardiovascular, cognitive, and cerebral molecular changes in young adult male mice submitted to treadmill running for eight weeks at moderate or high-intensity regimens compared to sedentary mice. Exercised mice showed decreased weight gain, which was significant for the high-intensity group. Exercised mice showed cardiac hypertrophy but with no signs of hemodynamic overload. No morphological changes in the descending aorta were observed, either. High-intensity training induced a decrease in heart rate and an increase in motor skills. However, it did not impair recognition or spatial memory, and, accordingly, the expression of hippocampal and cerebral cortical neuroplasticity markers was maintained. Interestingly, proteasome enzymatic activity increased in the cerebral cortex of all trained mice, and catalase expression was significantly increased in the high-intensity group; both first-line mechanisms contribute to maintaining redox homeostasis. Therefore, physical exercise at an intensity that induces adaptive cardiovascular changes parallels increases in antioxidant defenses to prevent brain damage.

Correlating Optical and Electrical Dipole Moments To Pinpoint Phosphorescent Dye Alignment in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

Understanding the morphology of organic materials within optoelectronic thin film devices is of crucial importance for the development of state-of-the-art organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). In this context, the preferential alignment of organometallic Ir complexes has been in the focus of research to benefit from the improved light-outcoupling efficiencies. Although the emissive dipole orientation has been identified from an optical point of view and molecular dynamic simulations give first insights into film morphologies, new experimental techniques are necessary to pinpoint the exact alignment of phosphorescent dye molecules. In this work, optical characterization of luminescent thin films was combined with electrical measurements on bilayer devices to elucidate the orientation distribution of both, electrical and optical dipole moments of phosphorescent guest-host systems. The results not only confirm previous suggestions for the alignment mechanism of organometallic dyes but also disclose a direct correlation between the degree of electrical and optical dipole alignment, thus opening a roadway for achieving higher light-outcoupling efficiency in OLEDs.