Involvement of galanin and galanin receptor 1 in nociceptive modulation in the central nucleus of amygdala in normal and neuropathic rats.

The present study was performed to explore the role of galanin and galanin receptor 1 (GalR 1) in nociceptive modulation in the central nucleus of amygdala (CeA) in normal rats and rats with neuropathy, and the involvement of GalR 1 and PKC was also investigated. The hindpaw withdrawal latencies (HWLs) to thermal and mechanical stimulations were increased in a dose-dependent manner after intra-CeA injection of galanin in both normal rats and rats with neuropathy. The increased HWLs were significantly attenuated by intra-CeA injection of galanin receptor antagonist M40, indicating an involvement of galanin receptor in nociceptive modulation in CeA. Furthermore, intra-CeA administration of the GalR 1 agonist M 617 induced increases in HWLs in normal rats, suggesting that GalR 1 may be involved in galanin-induce antinociception in CeA. Additionally, intra-CeA injection of the PKC inhibitor inhibited galanin-induced antinociception, showing an involvement of PKC in galanin-induced antinociception in CeA of normal rats. Moreover, there was a significant increase in GalR1 content in CeA in rats with neuropathy than that in normal rats. These results illustrated that galanin induced antinociception in CeA in normal rats and rats with neuropathy, and there is an up-regulation of GalR1 expression in rats with neuropathy.

Li4Ti5O12/TiO2 hollow spheres composed nanoflakes with preferentially exposed Li4Ti5O12 (011) facets for high-rate lithium ion batteries.

Li4Ti5O12/TiO2 hollow spheres composed of nanoflakes with preferentially exposed Li4Ti5O12 (011) facets have been successfully fabricated via a facile hydrothermal processing route and following calcination. These hollow spheres show good electrochemical performance in terms of high capacity (266 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 A g(-1)), and excellent rate capability (110 mAh g(-1) at 4.0 A g(-1) up to 100 cycles), attributed to unique morphology, preferred facet orientation of the nanoflakes and microscopic structure of the hollow spheres. The preferentially exposed Li4Ti5O12 (011) facets leads to fast lithium insertion/deinsertion processes in materials because of shorten lithium ion diffusion length, proved to be highly effective in improving the electrochemical properties of the hollow spheres. The excellent electrochemical performance makes these hollow spheres promising anode material for lithium ion batteries with high power and energy densities.

Hierarchical Li4Ti5O12/TiO2 composite tubes with regular structural imperfection for lithium ion storage.

Hierarchical Li4Ti5O12/TiO2 tubes composed of ultrathin nanoflakes have been successfully fabricated via the calcination of the hydrothermal product of a porous amorphous TiO2 precursor and lithium hydroxide monohydrate. The hierarchical tubes are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy techniques. These nanoflakes exhibit a quite complex submicroscopic structure with regular structural imperfection, including a huge number of grain boundaries and dislocations. The lithium ion storage property of these tubes is evaluated by galvanostatic discharge/charge experiment. The product shows initial discharge capacities of 420, 225, and 160 mAh g(-1) at 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 A g(-1), respectively. After 100 cycles, the discharge capacity is 139 mAh g(-1) at 1.0 A g(-1) with a capacity retention of 87%, demonstrating good high-rate performance and good cycleability. The high electrochemical performance is attributed to unique structure and morphology of the tubes. The regular structural imperfection existed in the nanoflakes also benefit to lithium ion storage property of these tubes. The hierarchical Li4Ti5O12/TiO2 tubes are a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries with high power and energy densities.

Room-temperature spontaneous crystallization of porous amorphous titania into a high-surface-area anatase photocatalyst.

Room-temperature spontaneous crystallization of porous amorphous titania to a high-surface-area anatase material was observed in the absence of any solvent, additive and catalyst. The as-obtained porous titania serves as an efficient photocatalyst for H2 evolution, and its activity is more than twice that of the benchmark P25 TiO2.

Amorphous silicon with high specific surface area prepared by a sodiothermic reduction method for supercapacitors.

A sodiothermic reduction method has been developed for the preparation of porous silicon using aluminosilicate zeolite NaY as a precursor. The porous silicon with a specific surface area of approximately 570 m(2) g(-1) shows distinct capacitive behavior when used as an electrode material for supercapacitors.

[Detection of aml-1/eto fusion gene in patients with acute myeloid leukemia by real-time quantitative RT-PCR].

This study was aimed to construct the standard product for detecting the aml1/eto fusion gene by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RQ-RT-PCR), monitoring minimal residual disease (MRD) in the patents with AML-M(2). Having obtained the aml1/eto fusion gene from the patients by the RT-PCR with a pair of specific primers, the RNA standard product as 10(10) copies was gained after amplifying and transcribing in vitro and was used for detecting bone marrow and peripheral blood samples from 37 patients. The results indicated that the standard product constructed above displayed a standard curve which showed a linear correlation of the Ct with the log of the RNA concentration of each standard dilution. The average relative levels of aml1/eto fusion gene in the patients at diagnosis and the patients in relapse were higher than those in patients ongoing complete remission (CR) (p < 0.05). The relative level of aml1/eto fusion gene of the follow-up patients was higher at diagnosis, and lower in patients ongoing CR, then went up again at relapse. The patients whose relative level of aml1/eto fusion gene in CR decreased by 2 log even lower than at diagnosis had a lower risk of relapse. If the relative level of aml1/eto fusion gene kept increasing, the patients had a poor prognosis. It is concluded that RQ-RT-PCR is a sensitive, specific, reliable and reproducible method for monitoring aml1/eto fusion gene. Application of RQ-RT-PCR to detect aml1/eto fusion gene for monitoring MRD in AML-M(2) is helpful to assess the response of therapy and estimate the risk of relapse, RQ-RT-PCR may become an important method to decide the time for intensified therapy and prolong CR for patients.