J. Neurochem. (2010) 115, 921–929. Abstract Antagonism of tumor necrosis factor‐alpha with etanercept has proved to be effective in the treatment of spinal cord injury and centrally endotoxin‐induced brain injury. However, etanercept may offer promise as therapy for traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this study, anesthetized rats, immediately after the onset of TBI, were divided into two major groups and given the vehicle solution (1 mL/kg of body weight) or etanercept (5 mg/kg of body weight) intraperitoneally once per 12 h for consecutive 3 days. Etanercept caused attenuation of TBI‐induced cerebral ischemia (e.g., increased cellular levels of glutamate and lactate‐to‐pyruvate ratio), damage (e.g., increased cellular levels of glycerol) and contusion and motor and cognitive function deficits. TBI‐induced neuronal apoptosis (e.g., increased numbers of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase αUTP nick‐end labeling and neuronal‐specific nuclear protein double‐positive cells), glial apoptosis (e.g., increased numbers of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase αUTP nick‐end labeling and glial fibrillary acidic protein double‐positive cells), astrocytic (e.g., increased numbers of glial fibrillary acidic protein positive cells) and microglial (e.g., increased numbers of ionized calcium‐binding adapter molecule 1‐positive cells) activation and activated inflammation (e.g., increased levels of tumor necrosis factor‐alpha, interleukin‐1β and interleukin‐6) were all significantly reduced by etanercept treatment. These findings suggest that etanercept may improve outcomes of TBI by penetrating into the cerebrospinal fluid in rats.

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The electrical-insulation degradation of BaTiO3 is now of growing interest as the BaTiO3-based dielectric layers of multilayer ceramic capacitors are getting thinner to submicron thicknesses. The degradation is understood to be due to the electrotransport of oxygen vacancies and may be monitored by the colors emanating from the cathode and/or anode. In the case of single crystal BaTiO3, a brown color emanates from the anode and a blue color from the cathode. We will experimentally review the generation of the colors in BaTiO3 in electric fields, and discuss their origins and kinetics of color front migration. From the latter the oxygen vacancy mobility against temperature in the range of 150–500°C is subsequently determined and compared with all the literature data that have normally been estimated by other means at elevated temperatures.

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Neurofeedback is a strong direct training method for brain function, wherein brain activity patterns are measured and displayed as feedback, and trainees try to stabilize the feedback signal onto certain desirable states to regulate their own mental states. Here, we introduce a novel neurofeedback method, using the mismatch negativity (MMN) responses elicited by similar sounds that cannot be consciously discriminated. Through neurofeedback training, without participants' attention to the auditory stimuli or awareness of what was to be learned, we found that the participants could unconsciously achieve a significant improvement in the auditory discrimination of the applied stimuli. Our method has great potential to provide effortless auditory perceptual training. Based on this method, participants do not need to make an effort to discriminate auditory stimuli, and can choose tasks of interest without boredom due to training. In particular, it could be used to train people to recognize speech sounds that do not exist in their native language and thereby facilitate foreign language learning.

Developing better three-way catalysts with improved low-temperature performance is essential for cold start emission control. Density functional theory in combination with microkinetics simulations is used to predict reactivity of CO/NO/H 2 mixtures on a small Pd cluster on CeO 2 (111). At low temperatures, N 2 O formation occurs via a N 2 O 2 dimer over metallic Pd 3 . Part of the N 2 O intermediate product re-oxidizes Pd, limiting NO conversion and requiring rich conditions to obtain high N 2 selectivity. High N 2 selectivity at elevated temperatures is due to N 2 O decomposition on oxygen vacancies. Doping CeO 2 by Fe is predicted to lead to more oxygen vacancies and a higher N 2 selectivity, which is validated by the lower onset of N 2 formation for a Pd catalyst supported on Fe-doped CeO 2 prepared by flame spray pyrolysis. Activating ceria surface oxygen by transition metal doping is a promising strategy to improve the performance of three-way catalysts.

This paper describes an infrared-sensing running wheel (ISRW) system for the quantitative measurement of effective exercise activity in rats. The ISRW system provides superior exercise training compared with commercially available traditional animal running platforms. Four infrared (IR) light-emitting diode/detector pairs embedded around the rim of the wheel detect the rat’s real-time position; the acrylic wheel has a diameter of 55 cm and a thickness of 15 cm, that is, it is larger and thicker than traditional exercise wheels, and it is equipped with a rubber track. The acrylic wheel hangs virtually frictionless, and a DC motor with an axially mounted rubber wheel, which has a diameter of 10 cm, drives the acrylic wheel from the outer edge. The system can automatically train rats to run persistently. The proposed system can determine effective exercise activity (EEA), with the IR sensors (which are connected to a conventional PC) recording the rat exercise behavior. A prototype of the system was verified by a hospital research group performing ischemic stroke experiments on rats by considering middle cerebral artery occlusion. The experimental data demonstrated that the proposed system provides greater neuroprotection in an animal stroke model compared with a conventional treadmill and a motorized running wheel for a given exercise intensity. The quantitative exercise effectiveness indicator showed a 92% correlation between an increase in the EEA and a decrease in the infarct volume. This indicator can be used as a noninvasive and objective reference in clinical animal exercise experiments.

When people learn foreign languages, they find it difficult to perceive speech sounds that are nonexistent in their native language, and extensive training is consequently necessary. Our previous studies have shown that by using neurofeedback based on the mismatch negativity event-related brain potential, participants could unconsciously achieve learning in the auditory discrimination of pure tones that could not be consciously discriminated without the neurofeedback. Here, we examined whether mismatch negativity neurofeedback is effective for helping someone to perceive new speech sounds in foreign language learning. We developed a task for training native Japanese speakers to discriminate between ‘l’ and ‘r’ sounds in English, as they usually cannot discriminate between these two sounds. Without participants attending to auditory stimuli or being aware of the nature of the experiment, neurofeedback training helped them to achieve significant improvement in unconscious auditory discrimination and recognition of the target words ‘light’ and ‘right’. There was also improvement in the recognition of other words containing ‘l’ and ‘r’ (e.g., ‘blight’ and ‘bright’), even though these words had not been presented during training. This method could be used to facilitate foreign language learning and can be extended to other fields of auditory and clinical research and even other senses.