ABSTRACT
Neuropathic pain is a condition with varying origins, including reduced dietary micronutrient intake. Phytate is a polyphosphate found in seeds and grains that can act as an antinutrient due to the ability of sequester essential divalent metals. Here we tested whether moderate dietary phytate intake could alter nociceptive pain. We subjected weaning mice to a chow supplemented with 1% phytate for eight weeks. Body weight gain, glycemic responses, food ingestion, water ingestion, and liver and adipose tissue weights were not altered compared to controls. We observed a decreased mechanical allodynia threshold in the intervention group, although there were no changes in heat- or cold-induced pain. Animals consuming phytate showed reduced spinal cord tumor necrosis factor (TNF), indicating altered inflammatory process. These data provide evidence for a subclinical induction of mechanical allodynia that is independent of phytate consumption in animals with otherwise normal phenotypic pattern.
ABSTRACT
A computational treatment of the constitutive equations of nematodynamics, based on the Leslie-Ericksen approach, is presented and discussed for a rotating planar nematic sample subjected to a constant magnetic field. The dynamics of the velocity v and director n fields is taken into account exactly. Coupled partial differential equations suitable to be solved numerically are worked out, in terms of derived functionals of v and n and of their spatial and time derivatives. Time-dependent patterns of the director are obtained using a finite-difference scheme in a spatial polar grid. Several experimental situations are analyzed, corresponding to common experimental setups: continuously rotating samples for different values of the rotational speed; 30 degrees and 90 degrees step-rotation experiments. A comparison is made to existing approximate treatments. Dependence upon the sample dimension is also discussed.
ABSTRACT
Computationally exact and approximate solutions of the Leslie-Ericksen equations for nematic liquid crystals in two dimensions are employed to calculate director distributions in cylindrical samples, rotating under the influence of a magnetic field. In particular, the time evolution of systems prepared initially in metastable states with respect to the magnetic field is investigated, and calculated director distributions are used to interpret rheo-NMR experiments in nematic liquid crystal polymers.
