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Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterised by intracellular deposits of the microtubule-associated protein tau. The most typical example of a tauopathy is Alzheimer’s disease. The importance of tau in neuronal dysfunction and degeneration has been demonstrated by the discovery of dominant mutations in the MAPT gene, encoding tau, in some rare dementias. Recent developments have shed light on the significance of tau phosphorylation and aggregation in pathogenesis. Furthermore, emerging evidence reveals the central role played by tau pre-mRNA processing in tauopathies. The present review focuses on the current understanding of tau-dependent pathogenic mechanisms and how realistic therapies for tauopathies can be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effects of sepsis, through the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory response, on plasma corticosterone and prolactin (PRL) levels during acute immobilization stress in normal and thyroidectomized rats. Thyroidectomized (TX) or sham-operated (N) rats were subjected to 120 min of immobilization stress. Rats were treated with an intraperitoneal injection of either LPS (250 µg (100 g body wt)-1) or the same volume of vehicle (saline solution), 90 min before the induction of stress. Blood samples for hormone assays were collected before sepsis and stress induction for baseline measures (-90 min), and during sepsis and immobilization stress for the measurement of prolactin and corticosterone levels by radioimmunoassay. Our results show that the thyroid hormones are necessary for a proper response of PRL and corticosterone release during immobilization stress. Although sepsis enhanced PRL secretion, this was not true of corticosterone release in either group of rats. Low levels of thyroid hormones partially block the release of PRL, but do not block corticosterone secretion during sepsis. Experimental Physiology (2003) 88.6, 755-760. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the Conradi-Hunermann syndrome with unilateral distribution in children. Description of the syndrome; Presentation of parakeratotic hyperkeratosis; Disappearance of the skin eruption.

Transparent polymer substrates have recently received increased attention for various flexible optoelectronic devices. Optoelectronic applications such as solar cells and light emitting-diodes would benefit from substrates with both high transparency and high haze, which increase how much light scatters into or out of the underlying photoactive layers. In this letter, we demonstrate a new flexible nanograss plastic substrate that displays the highest combination of transparency and haze in the literature for polyethylene terephthalate (PET). As opposed to other nanostructures that increase haze at the expense of transparency, our nanograss demonstrates the potential to improve both haze and transparency. Furthermore, the monolithic nanograss may be fabricated in a facile scalable maskless reactive ion etching process without the need for additional lithography or synthesis of nanostructures. Our 9 μm height nanograss sample exhibits a transparency and haze of 92.4% and 89.4%, respectively, and our 34 μm height nanograss displays a transparency and haze of 91.0% and 97.1%, respectively. We also performed durability experiments that demonstrate these nanostructured PET substrates are robust from bending and show similar transmission and haze values after 5000 cycles of bending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolated tungsten nanoparticles (a-W and b-W phase) were synthesized and epitaxially grown on alumina and spinel particle surfaces with an average tungsten size of [?]20 nm for a low tungsten content (of [?]1.5 vol%). Using tungsten (VI) ethoxide alcoholic solutions, tungsten trioxide hydrated precursors were attached to a ceramic grains surface as a nanoparticle coating. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) micrographs showed epitaxial interfaces between alumina, spinel and metallic tungsten. This epitaxial growth is assumed to be due to the effect of water vapour on the sublimation of ortho-tungstic acid during the reduction process in a hydrogen atmosphere. The planes involved in the epitaxy were found to be (2\bar {2} 0)_{\mathrm {Al_{2}O_{3}}} {\parallel } {({121})_{\mathrm {W}} } and ({311})_{\mathrm {MgAl_{2}O_{4}}} \| {({110})_{\mathrm {W}} } . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]