Gestational poly(I:C) attenuates, not exacerbates, the behavioral, cytokine and mTOR changes caused by isolation rearing in a rat 'dual-hit' model for neurodevelopmental disorders

Many psychiatric illnesses have a multifactorial etiology involving genetic and environmental risk factors that trigger persistent neurodevelopmental impairments. Several risk factors have been individually replicated in rodents, to understand disease mechanisms and evaluate novel treatments, particularly for poorly-managed negative and cognitive symptoms. However, the complex interplay between various factors remains unclear. Rodent dual-hit neurodevelopmental models offer vital opportunities to examine this and explore new strategies for early therapeutic intervention. This study combined gestational administration of polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C); PIC, to mimic viral infection during pregnancy) with post-weaning isolation of resulting offspring (to mirror adolescent social adversity). After in vitro and in vivo studies required for laboratory-specific PIC characterization and optimization, we administered 10 mg/kg i.p. PIC potassium salt to time-mated Lister hooded dams on gestational day 15. This induced transient hypothermia, sickness behavior and weight loss in the dams, and led to locomotor hyperactivity, elevated striatal cytokine levels, and increased frontal cortical JNK phosphorylation in the offspring at adulthood. Remarkably, instead of exacerbating the well-characterized isolation syndrome, gestational PIC exposure actually protected against a spectrum of isolation-induced behavioral and brain regional changes. Thus isolation reared rats exhibited locomotor hyperactivity, impaired associative memory and reversal learning, elevated hippocampal and frontal cortical cytokine levels, and increased mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation in the frontal cortex - which were not evident in isolates previously exposed to gestational PIC. Brains from adolescent littermates suggest little contribution of cytokines, mTOR or JNK to early development of the isolation syndrome, or resilience conferred by PIC. But notably hippocampal oxytocin, which can protect against stress, was higher in adolescent PIC-exposed isolates so might contribute to a more favorable outcome. These findings have implications for identifying individuals at risk for disorders like schizophrenia who may benefit from early therapeutic intervention, and justify preclinical assessment of whether adolescent oxytocin manipulations can modulate disease onset or progression.

Development and use of in vitro alternatives to animal testing by the pharmaceutical industry 1980–2013

An analysis of the use ofin vitrotechniques in preclinical safety testing revealed a marked increase to >180 000 tests/year by 2012. Step changes in uptake were notable in the three main areas of ADME, safety pharmacology and genetic toxicology, correlated with relevant ICH guidelines.

Fabrication of ultrahigh density metal-cell-metal crossbar memory devices with only two cycles of lithography and dry-etch procedures

A novel approach to the fabrication of metal-cell-metal trilayer memory devices was demonstrated by using only two cycles of lithography and dry-etch procedures. The fabricated ultrahigh density crossbar devices can be scaled down to ≤70 nm in half-pitch without alignment issues. Depending on the different dry-etch mechanisms in transferring high and low density nanopatterns, suitable dry-etch angles and methods are studied for the transfer of high density nanopatterns. Some novel process methods have also been developed to eliminate the sidewall and other conversion obstacles for obtaining high density of uniform metallic nanopatterns. With these methods, ultrahigh density trilayer crossbar devices (~2 × 10(10) bit cm(-2)-kilobit electronic memory), which are composed of built-in practical magnetoresistive nanocells, have been achieved. This scalable process that we have developed provides the relevant industries with a cheap means to commercially fabricate three-dimensional high density metal-cell-metal nanodevices.

Ultrastable absolute-phase common-path optical profiler based on computer-generated holography

A new scanning common-path interferometric profiler capable of absolute-phase measurement is described. The key element is a computer-generated hologram, which acts as the beam-splitting element. Unlike most absolute phase systems, it can be made entirely common path with respect to piston microphonics and is thus exceptionally stable. In addition to operating in scanning mode, the optical configuration permits simultaneous operation as a single-shot phase measuring interferometer and is thus capable of simultaneous form and texture measurements. The operation and stability of the scanning profiler are demonstrated experimentally.