Characterization of the electrical activity of the retina in the animal models of retinal degeneration has been carried out in part to understand the progression of retinal degenerative diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), but also to determine optimum stimulus paradigms for use with retinal prosthetic devices. The models most studied in this regard have been the two lines of mice deficient in the β-subunit of phosphodiesterase (rd1 and rd10 mice), where the degenerating retinas exhibit characteristic spontaneous hyperactivity and oscillatory local field potentials (LFPs). Additionally, there is a robust ~10 Hz rhythmic burst of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) spikes on the trough of the oscillatory LFP. In rd1 mice, the rhythmic burst of RGC spikes is always phase-locked with the oscillatory LFP and this phase-locking property is preserved regardless of postnatal ages. However, in rd10 mice, the frequency of the oscillatory rhythm changes according to postnatal age, suggesting that this rhythm might be a marker of the stage of degeneration. Furthermore when a biphasic current stimulus is applied to rd10 mice degenerate retina, distinct RGC response patterns that correlate with the stage of degeneration emerge. This review also considers the significance of these response properties.

Ultra-fine oxygen-deficient ferrites can decompose CO 2 gas, which causes the greenhouse effect, into C and O 2 at a low temperature of about 300 uC. In the present study, two ultra-fine powders of ternary ferrites of composition (Ni,Zn)Fe 2 O 4 , as potential catalysts for CO 2 decomposition, were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis or a coprecipitation method, and their abilities to decompose CO 2 investigated. X-Ray diffraction measurements identified the crystal structure of the ferrites as spinel-type. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of the ferrite prepared by hydrothermal synthesis was above 110 m 2 g 21 and larger than for the sample obtained by the coprecipitation method. Particle sizes were very small, about 5-10 nm, in the both specimens. The CO 2 decomposition efficiency of the reduced oxygen-deficient ternary ferrite prepared by hydrothermal synthesis was better than that of the coprecipitation sample. The difference of the CO 2 decomposition efficiency is discussed in terms of the morphology and crystallinity based on TEM observations.

The differentiation of leukemic cells into mature cells is a major strategy for treatment of leukemia. Many trials for more efficient differentiation of leukemic cells have been performed using single uses of differentiation inducers including interferon-α (IFN-α), interleukin-4 (IL-4), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or their combinations. Here we show that combination of TNF-α with DMSO enhances HL-60 cell differentiation. TNF-α enhanced DMSO-induced expression of CD11b and increase of G1 phase in the cell cycle, which are hallmarks for HL60 cell differentiation. Inhibition of ERK pathway, but not NF-κB pathway, abolished the enhancement of DMSO-induced HL-60 differentiation by TNF-α. These results suggest that TNF-α enhances HL-60 cells towards induction of differentiation by DMSO through activation of ERK/MAPK signaling pathway.