Acute studies have shown that MC3/4-R stimulation increases sympathetic activity, but the role of adrenergic activation in mediating the cardiovascular and renal responses to chronic melanocortin 3- and 4-receptor (MC3/4-R) activation is unknown. The present study tested whether chronic MC3/4-R activation raises blood pressure and whether these changes are attenuated by alpha1+beta-adrenergic b...

Metformin, an antihyperglycemic agent used for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, lowers blood pressure in humans and experimental animals. We recently demonstrated that short-term administration of metformin may lower blood pressure by reducing sympathetic neural outflow. The present studies were initiated to determine whether long-term administration of metformin blunts salt-induced hyper...

Background & Aims: Release of proinflammatory cytokines after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of brain edema. Previous studies demonstrated that sex steroids decrease brain edema induced by TBI. In this study changes of brain cytokines after the administration of estrogen and progesterone 24 hours after TBI were evaluated. Materials and Methods: Female rats were divided into 7 gro...

BACKGROUND Etomidate (R-1-[1-ethylphenyl] imidazole-5-ethyl ester) is a widely used anesthetic drug that had been reported to contribute to cognitive deficits after general surgery. However, its underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we aimed to explore the neurobiological mechanisms of cognitive impairments that caused by etomidate. METHODS A total of 30 Sprague...

BACKGROUND This study examined the effects of chronic bradykinin infusion on hemodynamics and myocardial and endothelial functions during the development of heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Sixteen instrumented dogs were randomized to receive through the left atria either vehicle or bradykinin (1 microg/min) during ventricular pacing (250 bpm, 5 weeks). Hemodynamic and left ventricular (LV)...

The role of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) in the control of prolactin (PRL) secretion was analysed in prepubertal male rats. In experiment 1, males of different ages were decapitated after administration of NMDA or vehicle. In experiment 2, 30-day-old males were killed at different times after administration of vehicle, NMDA, MK-801 (a non-competitive NMDA antagonist) or NMDA plus MK-801. In expe...

injuries suffered in vehicle traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among children in many countries. prevention of injuries of children in raod accidents is still a challenge. the present lecture discuss the commonly injuried body regions in children involved in motor and non-motor vehicle traffic crashes. head, ribs and lung are commonly injured body regions among children under 8 yea...

This paper describes an autonomous vehicle navigation system based on Velodyne LIDAR. The system mainly focusing on an autonomy at the car park, and it includes following functions, 1) odometory correction, 2) 3D map building, 3) localization, 4) detecting human trajectories as well as static obstacles, 5) path planning, and 6) vehicle control to a given trajectory. All those functions are deve...

This paper documents the development and evaluation of an original flexible-wing-based Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) technology that reduces adverse effects of gusty wind conditions and unsteady aerodynamics, exhibits desirable flight stability, and enhances structural durability. The flexible wing concept has been demonstrated on aircraft with wingspans ranging from 18 inches to 5 inches. Salient fe...

BACKGROUND Heat-shock protein 70 (HSP 70) plays a role in myocardial protection. No studies are available, however, to show that direct gene transfer of HSP 70 reduces myocardial infarction in vivo. METHODS AND RESULTS Rabbit hearts were injected with vehicle or Ad.HSP70 at 3 sites (1.5x10(9) pfu, 50 microL/site) in the left ventricle (LV). Four days later, hearts were removed, and expression...