Effect of Gloriosa superba and Catharanthus roseus Extracts on IFN-γ-Induced Keratin 17 Expression in HaCaT Human Keratinocytes

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Nattaporn Pattarachotanant

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Gloriosa superba and Catharanthus roseus are useful in traditional medicine for treatment of various skin diseases and cancer. However, their molecular effect on psoriasis has not been investigated. In this study, the effect of ethanol extracts derived from G. superba leaves and C. roseus stems on the expression of psoriatic marker, keratin 17 (K17, was investigated in human keratinocytes using biochemical and molecular experimental approaches. Both extracts could reduce the expression of K17 in a dose-dependent manner through JAK/STAT pathway as demonstrated by an observation of reduced phosphorylation of STAT3 (p-STAT3. The inhibitory activity of G. superba extract was more potent than that of C. roseus. The Pearson's correlation between K17 and cell viability was shown positive. Taken together, the extracts of G. superba and C. roseus may be developed as alternative therapies for psoriasis.

The Complete Plastid Genome Sequence of Madagascar Periwinkle Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don: Plastid Genome Evolution, Molecular Marker Identification, and Phylogenetic Implications in Asterids

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Ku, Chuan; Chung, Wan-Chia; Chen, Ling-Ling; Kuo, Chih-Horng

2013-01-01

The Madagascar periwinkle ( Catharanthus roseus in the family Apocynaceae) is an important medicinal plant and is the source of several widely marketed chemotherapeutic drugs. It is also commonly grown for its ornamental values and, due to ease of infection and distinctiveness of symptoms, is often used as the host for studies on phytoplasmas, an important group of uncultivated plant pathogens. To gain insights into the characteristics of apocynaceous plastid genomes (plastomes), we used a reference-assisted approach to assemble the complete plastome of C . roseus , which could be applied to other C . roseus -related studies. The C . roseus plastome is the second completely sequenced plastome in the asterid order Gentianales. We performed comparative analyses with two other representative sequences in the same order, including the complete plastome of Coffea arabica (from the basal Gentianales family Rubiaceae) and the nearly complete plastome of Asclepias syriaca (Apocynaceae). The results demonstrated considerable variations in gene content and plastome organization within Apocynaceae, including the presence/absence of three essential genes (i.e., accD, clpP, and ycf1) and large size changes in non-coding regions (e.g., rps2-rpoC2 and IRb-ndhF). To find plastome markers of potential utility for Catharanthus breeding and phylogenetic analyses, we identified 41 C . roseus -specific simple sequence repeats. Furthermore, five intergenic regions with high divergence between C . roseus and three other euasterids I taxa were identified as candidate markers. To resolve the euasterids I interordinal relationships, 82 plastome genes were used for phylogenetic inference. With the addition of representatives from Apocynaceae and sampling of most other asterid orders, a sister relationship between Gentianales and Solanales is supported. PMID:23825699

Development of efficient catharanthus roseus regeneration and transformation system using agrobacterium tumefaciens and hypocotyls as explants

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Wang Quan

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As a valuable medicinal plant, Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus produces many terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs, such as vindoline, ajamlicine, serpentine, catharanthine, vinblastine and vincristine et al. Some of them are important components of drugs treating cancer and hypertension. However, the yields of these TIAs are low in wild-type plants, and the total chemical synthesis is impractical in large scale due to high-cost and their complicated structures. The recent development of metabolic engineering strategy offers a promising solution. In order to improve the production of TIAs in C. roseus, the establishment of an efficient genetic transformation method is required. Results To develop a genetic transformation method for C. roseus, Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA105 was employed which harbors a binary vector pCAMBIA2301 containing a report β-glucuronidase (GUS gene and a selectable marker neomycin phosphotransferase II gene (NTPII. The influential factors were investigated systematically and the optimal transformation condition was achieved using hypocotyls as explants, including the sonication treatment of 10 min with 80 W, A. tumefaciens infection of 30 min and co-cultivation of 2 d in 1/2 MS medium containing 100 μM acetosyringone. With a series of selection in callus, shoot and root inducing kanamycin-containing resistance media, we successfully obtained stable transgenic regeneration plants. The expression of GUS gene was confirmed by histochemistry, polymerase chain reaction, and genomic southern blot analysis. To prove the efficiency of the established genetic transformation system, the rate-limiting gene in TIAs biosynthetic pathway, DAT, which encodes deacetylvindoline-4-O-acetyltransferase, was transferred into C. roseus using this established system and 9 independent transgenic plants were obtained. The results of metabolite analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC

Radiolytically degraded sodium alginate enhances plant growth, physiological activities and alkaloids production in Catharanthus roseus L.

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M. Naeem

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Catharanthus roseus (L. G. Don (Family Apocynaceae is a medicinal plant that produces indole alkaloids used in cancer chemotherapy. The anticancerous alkaloids, viz. vinblastine and vincristine, are mainly present in the leaves of C. roseus. High demand and low yield of these alkaloids in the plant has led to explore the alternative means for their production. Gamma irradiated sodium alginate (ISA has proved as a plant growth promoting substance for various medicinal and agricultural crops. A pot culture experiment was carried out to explore the effect of ISA on plant growth, physiological activities and production of anticancer alkaloids (vinblastine and vincristine in C. roseus at 120 and 150 days after planting (DAP. Foliar application of ISA (0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg L−1 significantly improved the performance of C. roseus. 80 mg L−1 of ISA enhanced the leaf-yield by 25.3 and 30.2% and the herbage-yield by 29.4 and 34.4% at 120 and 150 DAP, respectively, as compared to the control. The spray treatment of ISA at 80 mg L−1 improved the yield of vinblastine by 66.7 and 71.4% and of vincristine by 67.6 and 75.6% at 120 and 150 DAP, respectively, in comparison to the control. As compared to control, the application of ISA at 80 mg L−1 resulted in the maximum swell in the content and yield of vindoline, increasing them by 18.9 and 20.8% and by 81.8 and 87.2% at 120 and 150 DAP, respectively.

A Simplified Procedure for Indole Alkaloid Extraction from Catharanthus roseus Combined with a Semi-synthetic Production Process for Vinblastine

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Marja-Liisa Riekkola

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Dried leaves of Catharanthus roseus were extracted with aqueous acidic 0.1 M solution of HCl. Alkaloid-embonate complexes were obtained as precipitates by treating the extract with an alkaline (NaOH solution of embonic acid (4,4-methylene-bis-3-hydroxynaphtalenecarboxylic acid. The precipitate mainly consisted of catharanthine and vindoline embonates and it was directly used as the starting material for a semi-synthesis of the anti-cancer bisindole alkaloid vinblastine. The coupling reaction involved oxidation of catharanthine in aqueous acidic medium by singlet oxygen (1O2, continuously produced in situ by the reaction between H2O2 with NaClO. An excess of NaBH4 was used for the reduction step. Analysis of the reaction mixture indicated a maximum yield of 20% for vinblastine at pH 8.3, based on the initial amount of catharanthine concentration. Direct-injection electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in positive ion mode was used for the identification of vinblastine. The mass spectra of vinblastine were dominated by the corresponding protonated molecular ion [M+H]+ at m/z 811 and the characteristic fragment ions matched with those of the standard compound.

Somatic Embryos in Catharanthus roseus: A Scanning Electron Microscopic Study

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Junaid ASLAM

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Catharanthus roseus (L. G. Don is an important medicinal plant as it contains several anti-cancerous compounds, like vinblastine and vincristine. Plant tissue culture technology (organogenesis and embryogenesis has currently been used in fast mass propagating raw materials for secondary metabolite synthesis. In this present communication, scanning electron microscopic (SEM study of somatic embryos was conducted and discussed. The embryogenic callus was first induced from hypocotyls of in vitro germinated seeds on which somatic embryos, differentiated in numbers, particularly on 2,4-D (1.0 mg/L Murashige and Skoog (MS was medium. To understand more about the regeneration method and in vitro formed embryos SEM was performed. The SEM study revealed normal somatic embryo origin and development from globular to heart-, torpedo- and then into cotyledonary-stage of embryos. At early stage, the embryos were clustered together in a callus mass and could not easily be detached from the parental tissue. The embryos were often long cylindrical structure with or without typical notch at the tip. Secondary embryos were also formed on primary embryo structure. The advanced cotyledonary embryos showed prominent roots and shoot axis, which germinated into plantlets. The morphology, structure and other details of somatic embryos at various stages were presented.

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles from Catharanthus roseus leaf extract and assessing their antioxidant, antimicrobial, and wound-healing activities.

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Al-Shmgani, Hanady S A; Mohammed, Wasnaa H; Sulaiman, Ghassan M; Saadoon, Ali H

2017-09-01

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Catharanthus roseus leaf extract was carried out, and their characterization, as well as antioxidant, antimicrobial, and wound-healing activities were evaluated. Color change, UV-vis spectrum, XRD, FTIR, and AFM assessments supported the biosynthesis and characterization of AgNPs. The synthesized AgNPs showed strong in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities against various pathogens. The in vivo assessment of wound healing in AgNPs-treated mice revealed their effectiveness in closuring and reducing size of wounds. Such potent bioactivity may justify their biomedical use as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents for controlling various health-related diseases, particularly in wound healing.

Morphogenetic and chemical stability of long-term maintained Agrobacterium-mediated transgenic Catharanthus roseus plants.

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Verma, Priyanka; Sharma, Abhishek; Khan, Shamshad Ahmad; Mathur, Ajay Kumar; Shanker, Karuna

2015-01-01

Transgenic Catharanthus roseus plants (transgenic Dhawal [DT] and transgenic Nirmal [NT]) obtained from the Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizognenes-mediated transformations, respectively, have been maintained in vitro for 5 years. Plants were studied at regular intervals for various parameters such as plant height, leaf size, multiplication rate, alkaloid profile and presence of marker genes. DT plant gradually lost the GUS gene expression and it was not detected in the fifth year while NT plant demonstrated the presence of genes rolA, rolB and rolC even in the fifth year, indicating the more stable nature of Ri transgene. Vindoline content in the DT was two times more than in non-transformed control plants. Alkaloid and tryptophan profiles were almost constant during the 5 years. The cluster analysis revealed that the DT plant is more close to the control Nirmal plant followed by NT plant.

Differential network analysis reveals evolutionary complexity in secondary metabolism of Rauvolfia serpentina over Catharanthus roseus

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Shivalika Pathania

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Comparative co-expression analysis of multiple species using high-throughput data is an integrative approach to determine the uniformity as well as diversification in biological processes. Rauvolfia serpentina and Catharanthus roseus, both members of Apocyanacae family, are reported to have remedial properties against multiple diseases. Despite of sharing upstream of terpenoid indole alkaloid pathway, there is significant diversity in tissue-specific synthesis and accumulation of specialized metabolites in these plants. This led us to implement comparative co-expression network analysis to investigate the modules and genes responsible for differential tissue-specific expression as well as species-specific synthesis of metabolites. Towards these goals differential network analysis was implemented to identify candidate genes responsible for diversification of metabolites profile. Three genes were identified with significant difference in connectivity leading to differential regulatory behavior between these plants. These mechanisms may be responsible for diversification of secondary metabolism, and thereby for species-specific metabolite synthesis. The network robustness of R. serpentina, determined based on topological properties, was also complemented by comparison of gene-metabolite networks of both plants, and may have evolved to have complex metabolic mechanisms as compared to C. roseus under the influence of various stimuli. This study reveals evolution of complexity in secondary metabolism of Rauvolfia serpentina, and key genes that contribute towards diversification of specific metabolites.

Differential Network Analysis Reveals Evolutionary Complexity in Secondary Metabolism of Rauvolfia serpentina over Catharanthus roseus.

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Pathania, Shivalika; Bagler, Ganesh; Ahuja, Paramvir S

2016-01-01

Comparative co-expression analysis of multiple species using high-throughput data is an integrative approach to determine the uniformity as well as diversification in biological processes. Rauvolfia serpentina and Catharanthus roseus, both members of Apocyanacae family, are reported to have remedial properties against multiple diseases. Despite of sharing upstream of terpenoid indole alkaloid pathway, there is significant diversity in tissue-specific synthesis and accumulation of specialized metabolites in these plants. This led us to implement comparative co-expression network analysis to investigate the modules and genes responsible for differential tissue-specific expression as well as species-specific synthesis of metabolites. Toward these goals differential network analysis was implemented to identify candidate genes responsible for diversification of metabolites profile. Three genes were identified with significant difference in connectivity leading to differential regulatory behavior between these plants. These genes may be responsible for diversification of secondary metabolism, and thereby for species-specific metabolite synthesis. The network robustness of R. serpentina, determined based on topological properties, was also complemented by comparison of gene-metabolite networks of both plants, and may have evolved to have complex metabolic mechanisms as compared to C. roseus under the influence of various stimuli. This study reveals evolution of complexity in secondary metabolism of R. serpentina, and key genes that contribute toward diversification of specific metabolites.

Effect of Chromium on Antioxidant Potential of Catharanthus roseus Varieties and Production of Their Anticancer Alkaloids: Vincristine and Vinblastine

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Tandon, Pramod Kumar; Khatoon, Sayyada

2014-01-01

Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don, a medicinal plant, has a very important place in the traditional as well as modern pharmaceutical industry. Two common varieties of this plant rosea and alba are named so because of pink and white coloured flowers, respectively. This plant comprises of about 130 terpenoid indole alkaloids and two of them, vincristine and vinblastine, are common anticancer drugs. The effect of chromium (Cr) on enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant components and on secondary metabolites vincristine and vinblastine was studied under pot culture conditions of both varieties of C. roseus. Antioxidant responses of these varieties were analyzed under 0, 10, 50, and 100 μM chromium (Cr) level in order to investigate the plant's protective mechanisms against Cr induced oxidative stress. The results indicated that Cr affects all the studied parameters and decreases growth performance. However, vincristine and vinblastine contents were increased under Cr stress. Results are quite encouraging, as this plant shows good antioxidant potential and increased the level of active constituents under Cr stress. PMID:24734252

Effect of Chromium on Antioxidant Potential of Catharanthus roseus Varieties and Production of Their Anticancer Alkaloids: Vincristine and Vinblastine

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Vartika Rai

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Catharanthus roseus (L. G. Don, a medicinal plant, has a very important place in the traditional as well as modern pharmaceutical industry. Two common varieties of this plant rosea and alba are named so because of pink and white coloured flowers, respectively. This plant comprises of about 130 terpenoid indole alkaloids and two of them, vincristine and vinblastine, are common anticancer drugs. The effect of chromium (Cr on enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant components and on secondary metabolites vincristine and vinblastine was studied under pot culture conditions of both varieties of C. roseus. Antioxidant responses of these varieties were analyzed under 0, 10, 50, and 100 μM chromium (Cr level in order to investigate the plant’s protective mechanisms against Cr induced oxidative stress. The results indicated that Cr affects all the studied parameters and decreases growth performance. However, vincristine and vinblastine contents were increased under Cr stress. Results are quite encouraging, as this plant shows good antioxidant potential and increased the level of active constituents under Cr stress.

Heteromeric and homomeric geranyl diphosphate synthases from Catharanthus roseus and their role in monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthesis.

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Rai, Avanish; Smita, Shachi S; Singh, Anup Kumar; Shanker, Karuna; Nagegowda, Dinesh A

2013-09-01

Catharanthus roseus is the sole source of two most important monoterpene indole alkaloid (MIA) anti-cancer agents: vinblastine and vincristine. MIAs possess a terpene and an indole moiety derived from terpenoid and shikimate pathways, respectively. Geranyl diphosphate (GPP), the entry point to the formation of terpene moiety, is a product of the condensation of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) by GPP synthase (GPPS). Here, we report three genes encoding proteins with sequence similarity to large subunit (CrGPPS.LSU) and small subunit (CrGPPS.SSU) of heteromeric GPPSs, and a homomeric GPPSs. CrGPPS.LSU is a bifunctional enzyme producing both GPP and geranyl geranyl diphosphate (GGPP), CrGPPS.SSU is inactive, whereas CrGPPS is a homomeric enzyme forming GPP. Co-expression of both subunits in Escherichia coli resulted in heteromeric enzyme with enhanced activity producing only GPP. While CrGPPS.LSU and CrGPPS showed higher expression in older and younger leaves, respectively, CrGPPS.SSU showed an increasing trend and decreased gradually. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment of leaves significantly induced the expression of only CrGPPS.SSU. GFP localization indicated that CrGPPS.SSU is plastidial whereas CrGPPS is mitochondrial. Transient overexpression of AmGPPS.SSU in C. roseus leaves resulted in increased vindoline, immediate monomeric precursor of vinblastine and vincristine. Although C. roseus has both heteromeric and homomeric GPPS enzymes, our results implicate the involvement of only heteromeric GPPS with CrGPPS.SSU regulating the GPP flux for MIA biosynthesis.

Aislamiento de consorcios de hongos micorrícicos arbusculares de plantas medicinales y su efecto en el crecimiento de vinca (Catharanthus roseus Isolation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi consortia from medicinal plants and their effectiveness on growth of vinca (Catharanthus roseus

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CLAUDIA DE LA ROSA-MERA

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Este trabajo consistió en propagar e identificar hongos micorrícicos arbusculares (HMA recolectados de plantas medicinales (PM de áreas naturales de bosques mixtos, y seleccionar consorcios micorrícicos con base en la promoción del crecimiento de vinca Catharanthus roseus (L G. Don, planta medicinal cuyos alcaloides tienen propiedades antineoplásicas. En la primera fase experimental se recolectaron raíces y suelo rizosférico de 13 PM establecidas en campo para evaluar el porcentaje de colonización total (PCT y cuantificar el número de esporas; además, se tomó una parte del suelo para establecer plantas trampa en invernadero durante 10 meses, y posteriormente evaluar el PCT e identificar los principales géneros de HMA. Todas las PM en su condición natural presentaron colonización micorrícica, observándose cuatro géneros de HMA (Glomus, Acaulospora, Gigaspora y Scutellospora, de los cuales Acaulospora y Glomus fueron los predominantes. En la segunda fase experimental se seleccionaron ocho consorcios con base en el PCT (> 40 % obtenido en las plantas trampa, que correspondieron a las muestras recolectadas de Adiantum capillus-veneris L., Castilleja tenuiflora Benth., Erigeron karvinskianus DC., Pimpinella anisum L., Plantago major L., Ricinus communis L., Rubus fruticosus L. y Rumex mexicanus Meisn. Estos consorcios fueron inoculados en plántulas de C. roseus para evaluar su capacidad de estimular el crecimiento de esta especie en condiciones de invernadero. Después de 70 días, a pesar de presentar un solo género predominante (Glomus, el consorcio aislado de R. mexicanus promovió de manera más consistente el crecimiento de C. roseus (número de hojas, área foliar y peso seco foliar en comparación con el resto de los consorcios micorrícicos.This study consisted on propagating and identifying arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF collected from medicinal plants (MP of natural areas of mixed forest (Estado de Mexico, and

Studies on induced mutation frequency in Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don by gamma rays and EMS individually and in combination

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Venkateswarlu, M.; Susheelamma, B.N.; Kumar, P.; Subhash, K.

1988-01-01

Seeds of pink flowered (PF) and white flowered (WF) Catharanthus roseus were soaked in distilled water for 24 h and treated with gamma rays and 0.1% EMS separately and in combination. Six types of chlorophyll mutations, viz., xantha, albina, chlorina, viridis, maculata and tigrina were recovered to M 2 generation of both forms. The frequency of chlorophyll mutations was found to be dependent on the dose, of gamma rays and duration of treatment with EMS. Higher frequency of chlorophyll mutations was noticed in PF, which is mutagenically more sensitive than WF. It was also noticed that the combination treatments of gamma rays and EMS enhanced the frequency of chlorophyll mutations

Somatic Embryos in Catharanthus roseus: A Scanning Electron Microscopic Study

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Junaid ASLAM

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Catharanthus roseus (L. G. Don is an important medicinal plant as it contains several anti-cancerous compounds, like vinblastine and vincristine. Plant tissue culture technology (organogenesis and embryogenesis has currently been used in fast mass propagating raw materials for secondary metabolite synthesis. In this present communication, scanning electron microscopic (SEM study of somatic embryos was conducted and discussed. The embryogenic callus was first induced from hypocotyls of in vitro germinated seeds on which somatic embryos, differentiated in numbers, particularly on 2,4-D (1.0 mg/L Murashige and Skoog (MS was medium. To understand more about the regeneration method and in vitro formed embryos SEM was performed. The SEM study revealed normal somatic embryo origin and development from globular to heart-, torpedo- and then into cotyledonary-stage of embryos. At early stage, the embryos were clustered together in a callus mass and could not easily be detached from the parental tissue. The embryos were often long cylindrical structure with or without typical notch at the tip. Secondary embryos were also formed on primary embryo structure. The advanced cotyledonary embryos showed prominent roots and shoot axis, which germinated into plantlets. The morphology, structure and other details of somatic embryos at various stages were presented.

Leaf blight of catharanthus roseus (l). g. don caused by macrophomina phaseolina (tassi) goid and its in vitro control through bio-pesticides

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Mridha, M.A.U.; Rehman, M.M.

2015-01-01

Catharanthus roseus (L.).G. Don, a highly valued medicinal plant suffers from a serious disease. A survey on the symptom and severity of the leaf blight of C. roseus was performed in the nurseries of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences (IFESCU), Bangladesh Council of Industrial Research (BCSIR) and Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI), Bangladesh. An observation was also made in the avenues and garden of King Saud University (KSU), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. No disease was recorded in KSU, but severe infections were found in all the locations surveyed in Bangladesh. The highest infection percentage and the highest disease index were found in BCSIR nursery followed by BFRI and the lowest was recorded in IFESCU nursery. Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid was isolated and it was proved to be pathogenic. This is the first report of leaf blight of C. roseus caused by M. phaseolina. Azadirachta indica, Ocimum sanctum Vitex negundo, Mucuna pruriens, Calotropis procera, Terminalia arjuna, Allium sativum, Zingiber officinalis and Allium cepa were used as biopesticides. Out of the nine plant species screened, T. arjuna showed the highest (58.37%) inhibition percentage which was followed by A. indica (55.72%) and the lowest (27.4%) inhibition percentage were obtained with V. negundo whereas the rest of the plant extracts showed more or less same inhibitory effect. (author)

Biochemical and Ultrastructural Changes in Sida cordifolia L. and Catharanthus roseus L. to Auto Pollution.

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Verma, Vijeta; Chandra, Neelam

2014-01-01

Auto pollution is the by-product of our mechanized mobility, which adversely affects both plant and human life. However, plants growing in the urban locations provide a great respite to us from the brunt of auto pollution by absorbing the pollutants at their foliar surface. Foliar surface configuration and biochemical changes in plant species, namely, Sida cordifolia L. and Catharanthus roseus L. grown at roadside (polluted site 1, Talkatora; polluted site 2, Charbagh) in Lucknow city and in the garden of the university campus, which has been taken as reference site, were investigated. It was observed that air pollution caused by auto exhaust showed marked alterations in photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll, carotenoid, and phaeophytin), and relative water content was reduced while antioxidative enzymes like catalase and peroxidase were found to be enhanced. The changes in the foliar configuration reveal marked alteration in epidermal traits, with decreased number of stomata, stomatal indices, and epidermal cells per unit area, while length and breadth of stomata and epidermal cells were found to be increased in leaves samples wich can be used as biomarkers of auto pollution.

Effects of Salicylic acid and Humic acid on Vegetative Indices of Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseusL.

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E. Chamani

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Vinca flower (Catharanthus roseus L. is one of the most important medicinal plants of Apocynaceae (31, 27. Tropical plant native to a height of 30 to 35 centimeters (9 and a perennial shrub which is grown in cold areas for one year (27.One of the plants in the world today as a medicinal plant used the periwinkle plant. Among the 130 indole – terpenoids alkaloids which have been identified in the plant periwinkle vinca alkaloids vincristine and vinblastin are the most important component is used to treat a variety of cancers. Including therapies that are used for a variety of cancer, chemotherapy to help Vinca alkaloids collection (including vincristine and…. Vinblastin as effective member of this category, due to the low percentage of venom and effects at very low doses, is widely used today. These materials are generally formed as inhibitors of mitotic spindle in dividing cells have been identified. Vinblastin with these structural changes in connection kinotokor - microtubules and centrosomes in a dividing cell, the mitotic spindle stop (45.Salicylic acid belongs to a group of phenolic compounds found in plants, and today is widely regarded as a hormone-like substance. These classes of compounds act as growth regulators. Humic substances are natural organic compounds that contain 50 to 90% of organic matter, peat, charcoal, rotten food and non-living organic materials are aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (2. Materials and Methods: In this experiment, vinca F2 seeds in the mixed 4: 1 perlite and peat moss to the planting trays were sown. The seedlings at the 6-leaf stage were transfered to the main pot (pot height 30 and 25 cm diameter The pots bed soil mix consisting of 2 parts soil to one part sand and one part peat moss (v / v were used and after the establishment of seedlings in pots every two weeks with. Salicylic acid and humic acid concentrations 0 (control, 10, 100, 500 and 1000 mg were treated as a foliar spray

Investigation of the chemomarkers correlated with flower colour in different organs of Catharanthus roseus using NMR-based metabolomics.

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Pan, Qifang; Dai, Yuntao; Nuringtyas, Tri Rini; Mustafa, Natali Rianika; Schulte, Anna Elisabeth; Verpoorte, Robert; Choi, Young Hae

2014-01-01

Flower colour is a complex phenomenon that involves a wide range of secondary metabolites of flowers, for example phenolics and carotenoids as well as co-pigments. Biosynthesis of these metabolites, though, occurs through complicated pathways in many other plant organs. The analysis of the metabolic profile of leaves, stems and roots, for example, therefore may allow the identification of chemomarkers related to the final expression of flower colour. To investigate the metabolic profile of leaves, stems, roots and flowers of Catharanthus roseus and the possible correlation with four flower colours (orange, pink, purple and red). (1) H-NMR and multivariate data analysis were used to characterise the metabolites in the organs. The results showed that flower colour is characterised by a special pattern of metabolites such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, organic acids and sugars. The leaves, stems and roots also exhibit differences in their metabolic profiles according to the flower colour. Plants with orange flowers featured a relatively high level of kaempferol analogues in all organs except roots. Red-flowered plants showed a high level of malic acid, fumaric acid and asparagine in both flowers and leaves, and purple and pink flowering plants exhibited high levels of sucrose, glucose and 2,3-dihydroxy benzoic acid. High concentrations of quercetin analogues were detected in flowers and leaves of purple-flowered plants. There is a correlation between the metabolites specifically associated to the expression of different flower colours and the metabolite profile of other plant organs and it is therefore possible to predict the flower colours by detecting specific metabolites in leaves, stems or roots. This may have interesting application in the plant breeding industry. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sombreamento de plantas de Catharanthus roseus (L. G. Don 'Pacifica White' por malhas coloridas: desenvolvimento vegetativo Shading of 'Pacifica White' Catharanthus roseus (L. G. Don plants with colored nets: vegetative development

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Anderson Adriano Martins Melo

2009-04-01

Full Text Available As malhas coloridas têm sido utilizadas para manipular o desenvolvimento vegetativo, melhorando a utilização da radiação solar por plantas ornamentais. Objetivou-se, neste trabalho estudar o efeito da redução de 50% da radiação fotossinteticamente ativa sobre o crescimento vegetativo de plantas de Catharanthus roseus (L. G. Don, por meio de malhas azul e vermelha e malha preta, em comparação com plantas crescidas na ausência de sombreamento (pleno sol. As plantas foram obtidas a partir de sementes e tratadas por 180 dias. Foram avaliados o ganho de biomassa e a distribuição de matéria seca nas plantas, o conteúdo de pigmentos foliares (clorofilas e carotenóides e de nitrogênio foliar. A malha vermelha provocou um aumento de matéria seca total e de área foliar das plantas em comparação com as malhas azul, preta e ao tratamento a pleno sol, porém, exceto em relação a esse tratamento, a malha vermelha causou menor conteúdo de nitrogênio e pigmentos foliares. A maior relação raiz/parte aérea e relação clorofila a/b, menores razões de área foliar e de massa foliar das plantas crescidas a pleno sol em relação às plantas sombreadas indicam um efeito mais proeminente da irradiância mais alta do que da alteração do espectro de luz. O sombreamento altera significativamente a distribuição de matéria seca e o uso de malhas de diferentes cores modifica o conteúdo de pigmentos fotossintéticos dessa espécie.Colored shade nets have been used to manipulate the vegetative development, improving the utilization of solar radiation by ornamental plants. This work aimed to study the effect of 50% reduction of PAR on vegetative growth of plants of Catharanthus roseus (L. G. Don, using blue and red nets, and black net, in comparison to plants growing under full sunlight (lack of shading. The plants were obtained from seeds and treated for 180 days. Biomass increment and distribution, pigment content (chlorophylls and

Dust loadings on some common plants near Lucknow city. [Acacia melanoxylon, Bauhinia malabarica, Bougain-villea glabra, Calotropis procera, Catharanthus roseus, Eucalyptus globulus, Ipomoea fistulosa and Peltophorum pterocarpum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yunus, M.; Dwivedi, A.K.; Kulshreshtha, K.; Ahmad, K.J.

1985-01-01

Eight plant species - Acacia melanoxylon, Bauhinia malabarica, Bougain-villea glabra, Calotropis procera, Catharanthus roseus, Eucalyptus globulus, Ipomoea fistulosa and Peltophorum pterocarpum - were collected from a newly established suburb colony of Lucknow city, where the major pollutant is dust, to study the dust cleansing efficiency of the plant canopy and also to establish the correlation between the leaf morphological characteristics and their dust trapping potential. The dust load, in milligrams per square centimeter of leaf surface, was measured and related to foliar epidermal and cuticular characteristics, and morphological features.

Salicylic Acid Alters Antioxidant and Phenolics Metabolism in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Key words: Antioxidant enzymes; Catharanthus roseus; indole alkaloids; phenolic metabolism; salicylic acid; salinity stress. Abbreviations: CAT - catalase; Chl - chlorophyll; Car - carotenoids; DTNB - 5,5-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid; GR - glutathione reductase; GST - Glutathione-S-transferase; H2O2 - hydrogen peroxide; ...

Proliferation and ajmalicine biosynthesis of Catharanthus roseus (L). G. Don adventitious roots in self-built temporary immersion system

Science.gov (United States)

Phuc, Vo Thanh; Trung, Nguyen Minh; Thien, Huynh Tri; Tien, Le Thi Thuy

2017-09-01

Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don) is a medicinal plant containing about 130 types of alkaloids that have important pharmacological effects. Ajmalicine in periwinkle root is an antihypertensive drug used in treatment of high blood pressure. Adventitious roots obtained from periwinkle leaves of in vitro shoots grew well in quarter-strength MS medium supplemented with 0.3 mg/l IBA and 20 g/l sucrose. Dark condition was more suitable for root growth than light. However, callus formation also took place in addition to the growth of adventitious roots. Temporary immersion system was applied in the culture of adventitious roots in order to reduce the callus growth rate formed in shake flask cultures. The highest growth index of roots was achieved using the system with 5-min immersion every 45 min (1.676 ± 0.041). The roots cultured in this system grew well without callus formation. Ajmalicine content was highest in the roots cultured with 5-min immersion every 180 min (950 μg/g dry weight).

Evaluation of phytoremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon and heavy metals with using Catharanthus roseus

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Mehri Askary Mehrabadi

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Crude oil pollution is an inevitable worldwide phenomenon in oil producing and consuming areas that stems from human error, accidental discharge and other sources. The aim of this study was to evaluate the phytoremediation potential of vinca in petroleum-polluted soil. The experiment was laid out as a completely randomized design in 3 replications with different concentrations of crude oil (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 % V/W in pot planting stage. At the end of the 70-day period, soil samples were analyzed for total hydrocarbons removal. Contents of pb, zn and Ni were measured by atomic absorption from the soils and the leaves. Statistical analysis of data were performed on the basis of duncan’s test and by using of SPSS16 software. In concentrations higher than 3 % no growth was observed. The growth parameters such as stem length, stem fresh and dry matter decreased progressively from 0.5-3 % crude oil in soil. The results showed heavy metal accumulation in plant leaves and reduction of them in the soil. Heavy metals containing zinc, lead and nickel in plant increased in different concentration of crude oil. Total hydrocarbons and heavy metals containing zinc, lead and nickel reduced were in planted contaminated soil. This study showed that Periwinkle was able to grow and survive in low concentrations of oil and reduced pollutants in the soil. Based upon these results, Catharanthus roseus can be used as phytoremediator of petroleum-contaminated soil in low concentrations.

Ornamental Exterior versus Therapeutic Interior of Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus: The Two Faces of a Versatile Herb

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naghmeh Nejat

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Catharanthus roseus (L. known as Madagascar periwinkle (MP is a legendary medicinal plant mostly because of possessing two invaluable antitumor terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs, vincristine and vinblastine. The plant has also high aesthetic value as an evergreen ornamental that yields prolific blooms of splendid colors. The plant possesses yet another unique characteristic as an amiable experimental host for the maintenance of the smallest bacteria found on earth, the phytoplasmas and spiroplasmas, and serves as a model for their study. Botanical information with respect to synonyms, vernacular names, cultivars, floral morphology, and reproduction adds to understanding of the plant while the geography and ecology of periwinkle illustrate the organism’s ubiquity. Good agronomic practices ensure generous propagation of healthy plants that serve as a source of bioactive compounds and multitudinous horticultural applications. The correlation between genetic diversity, variants, and TIA production exists. MP is afflicted with a whole range of diseases that have to be properly managed. The ethnobotanical significance of MP is exemplified by its international usage as a traditional remedy for abundant ailments and not only for cancer. TIAs are present only in micro quantities in the plant and are highly poisonous per se rendering a challenge for researchers to increase yield and reduce toxicity.

Genetic Variant Detected by RAPD-PCR and ISSR in Catharanthus roseus (L.) Cells Exposed to Low Doses of Gamma Rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salama, I.M.; Ali, G.M.

2016-01-01

Catherine's roseus (L.) (C. roseus) 10 samples, genetically different of irradiated and control cell suspension culture were detected by both random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (Raped-Pcr) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR). The RAPD-PCR and ISSR-PCR profiles were used for building phenetic trees by using Totallab Quant software, showing similarity in the topology of the trees. Both dendograms presented three major clusters that 10 samples irradiated and control, according to genetic similarity. The control and the irradiated samples at 2.5 and 4 Gy, which are highly in the similarity index recorded as 0.101, while the lowest similarity index recorded was 0.058, which was observed between 3.5 and 4.5 Gy. A dendrogram RAPD-PCR for the genetic relationships among the 10 samples irradiated and control of C. roseus the cell suspension culture taxa was carried out. The 10 samples irradiated and control from C. roseus cell suspension culture taxa were separated into three clusters; cluster one included 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 Gy, while the cluster two included control, 2, 2.5, 3.5, 4 and 4.5 Gy. The cluster three included 4.5 and 5 Gy. The best doses of gamma rays were from 0.5 to 5 Gy in order to C. roseus cells genome manipulation and induced mutations. The genome modification was the stimulation of the gene expression changes in order to changes of physiological cell and production of cell lines. The aim of the production cell lines to elicit cells enjoys the attributes of high productivity, secondary products, which are used in widely used in the pharmaceutical industry.

Patterns of indole alkaloids synthesis in response to heat shock, 5-azacytidine and Na-butyrate treatment of cultured catharanthus roseus mesophyll protoplasts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saleem, M.; Cutler, A.J.

1986-01-01

Alkaloids of C. roseus are in high demand for therapeutic and other reasons. Cultured Catharanthus cells can produce limited quantities of these alkaloids. The authors have found that cultured mesophyll protoplasts in the presence of 14 C-Tryptamine are capable of synthesizing alkaloids. The pattern of alkaloids synthesis changes when protoplasts are subjected to a heat shock at 37 0 C. The heat shocked protoplasts incorporated 33% more 14 C-Tryptamine and produced 3 new types of alkaloids. Treatment of protoplasts with 5-azacytidine, a DNA hypomethylating agent and Na-butyrate which induces hyperacetylation of histones produced qualitative and quantitative changes in the alkaloid pattern. Four new alkaloids following the above treatments were detected by TLC and HPLC of the extracts. It is suggested that the alkaloid pattern of the cultured protoplasts can be altered by treatment with compounds known as regulators of gene expression. Work is in progress to isolate and identify these new alkaloids

Pouvoir pathogène de Botrytis cinerea sur Catharanthus roseus à ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SARAH

38,53 et C.I=1274.41 pour BC1). Au 31ème ... Conclusion et application de la recherche : l'étude a montré le pouvoir pathogène de B. cinerea sur C. roseus à différents ..... 1977; Kosuge et Hewitt, 1964). Et permettent à des.

Gene transcript profiles of the TIA biosynthetic pathway in response to ethylene and copper reveal their interactive role in modulating TIA biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Ya-Jie; Liu, Jia; Guo, Xiao-Rui; Zu, Yuan-Gang; Tang, Zhong-Hua

2015-05-01

Research on transcriptional regulation of terpenoid indole alkaloid (TIA) biosynthesis of the medicinal plant, Catharanthus roseus, has largely been focused on gene function and not clustering analysis of multiple genes at the transcript level. Here, more than ten key genes encoding key enzyme of alkaloid synthesis in TIA biosynthetic pathways were chosen to investigate the integrative responses to exogenous elicitor ethylene and copper (Cu) at both transcriptional and metabolic levels. The ethylene-induced gene transcripts in leaves and roots, respectively, were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) and the results showed the overall expression of TIA pathway genes indicated as the Q value followed a standard normal distribution after ethylene treatments. Peak gene expression was at 15-30 μM of ethephon, and the pre-mature leaf had a higher Q value than the immature or mature leaf and root. Treatment with elicitor Cu found that Cu up-regulated overall TIA gene expression more in roots than in leaves. The combined effects of Cu and ethephon on TIA gene expression were stronger than their separate effects. It has been documented that TIA gene expression is tightly regulated by the transcriptional factor (TF) ethylene responsive factor (ERF) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. The loading plot combination with correlation analysis for the genes of C. roseus showed that expression of the MPK gene correlated with strictosidine synthase (STR) and strictosidine b-D-glucosidase(SGD). In addition, ERF expression correlated with expression of secologanin synthase (SLS) and tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC), specifically in roots, whereas MPK and myelocytomatosis oncogene (MYC) correlated with STR and SGD genes. In conclusion, the ERF regulates the upstream pathway genes in response to heavy metal Cu mainly in C. roseus roots, while the MPK mainly participates in regulating the STR gene in response to ethylene in pre-mature leaf. Interestingly, the

Effects of GA3, BA, Thiamine and Ascorbic Acid on Some Morphological and Biochemical Characteristics of Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus L.

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F. Baniasadi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Catharanthus roseus (L. belongs to Apocynaceae family is an important medicinal plant and also cultivated as an ornamental plant almost throughout the tropical and subtropical areas all over the world. Recently, the uses of natural substances are considered very helpful to improve plant growth and development. Application of plant growth regulators (PGRs and vitamins are reported in many horticultural crops. Ascorbic acid is the most abundant antioxidant in plant which protects plant cells. This substance affects cell differentiation and growth. Now a day it is considered as a plant growth regulator. Thiamine or vitamin B1 is water soluble and one of the B complex vitamins. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the ascorbic acid, thiamine, BA and GA on growth and biochemical parameters of periwinkle. Materials and Methods: The experiment was perform as a completely randomized design with 5 replications at research greenhouse of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman in 2014.The treatments used include spraying water (control, ascorbic acid 100 mg.l-1, gibberellic acid 100 mg.l-1, thiamine 100 mg.l-1, BA 200 mg. l-1 and combinations of two, three and four of them to determine the response of plants to these substances alone or in combination of them. When the seedlings become on 6-leavs stage, the first foliar spray was carried out. In other two steps was repeated with interval of 10 days. In this study, longevity of the flower, flower diameter, the number of lateral branches, branches length, fresh and dry weight, chlorophyll content and reduced sugars were measured. Chlorophyll content and reduced sugars were measured according to method of Somogy (1952 and Lichtenthder (1987, respectively. Results and Discussion: The results showed that the effect of thiamine on the number of flowers was more pronounced than other substances. The lowest number of flowers per plant was found in plants treated with gibberellic acid

Biotransformations with plant tissue cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Carew, D P; Bainbridge, T

1976-01-01

Suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus, Apocynum cannabinum and Conium maculatum were examined for their capacity to transform aniline, anisole, acetanilide, benzoic acid and coumarin. None of the cultures transformed acetanilide but each produced acetanilide when fed aniline. All three cultures converted benzoic acid to its para-hydroxy derivative. Coumarin was selectively hydroxylated at the 7-position by Catharanthus and Conium and anisole was O-demethylated only by older Catharanthus tissue.

(Catharanthus roseus) tissue culture

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2008-08-18

Aug 18, 2008 ... Abbreviations: NAA, Naphthalen acetic acid; Kin, Kinetin; MS,. Murashige and .... Acidic phase was isolated by sulphuric acid (5%) and ... reaction with Ceric Ammonium Sulfate (CAS) and Ultra violet (UV) detection (λ=254 ...

Comparative studies of elemental composition in leaves and flowers of Catharanthus roseus growing in Bangladesh

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Shahin Aziz

2016-01-01

Conclusions: The elemental composition in both leaves and flowers of C. roseus were found to be different. Therefore, different parts of this medicinal plant are enriched in some micro and macro nutrients like Fe, Ca, Na, K, Zn, which are very important for biological metabolic system as well as human health.

Retrobiosynthetic study of salicylic acid in Catharanthus roseus cell suspension cultures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mustafa, Natali Rianika

2007-01-01

Salicylic acid (SA) is an important signal compound in systemic acquired resistance in plants. The level of this C6C1 compound in plants increases after a pathogenic attack. There are two biosynthetic pathways of SA, the phenylalanine pathway, which is thought to occur in plants, and the

Effects of ambient and elevated CO2 on growth, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic pigments, antioxidants, and secondary metabolites of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G Don. grown under three different soil N levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Aradhana; Agrawal, Madhoolika

2015-03-01

Catharanthus roseus L. plants were grown under ambient (375 ± 30 ppm) and elevated (560 ± 25 ppm) concentrations of atmospheric CO2 at different rates of N supply (without supplemental N, 0 kg N ha(-1); recommended N, 50 kg N ha(-1); and double recommended N, 100 kg N ha(-1)) in open top chambers under field condition. Elevated CO2 significantly increased photosynthetic pigments, photosynthetic efficiency, and organic carbon content in leaves at recommended (RN) and double recommended N (DRN), while significantly decreased total nitrogen content in without supplemental N (WSN). Activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase were declined, while glutathione reductase, peroxidase, and phenylalanine-ammonia lyase were stimulated under elevated CO2. However, the responses of the above enzymes were modified with different rates of N supply. Elevated CO2 significantly reduced superoxide production rate, hydrogen peroxide, and malondialdehyde contents in RN and DRN. Compared with ambient, total alkaloids content increased maximally at recommended level of N, while total phenolics in WSN under elevated CO2. Elevated CO2 stimulated growth of plants by increasing plant height and numbers of branches and leaves, and the magnitude of increment were maximum in DRN. The study suggests that elevated CO2 has positively affected plants by increasing growth and alkaloids production and reducing the level of oxidative stress. However, the positive effects of elevated CO2 were comparatively lesser in plants grown under limited N availability than in moderate and higher N availability. Furthermore, the excess N supply in DRN has stimulated the growth but not the alkaloids production under elevated CO2.

Strategies for engineering plant natural products: the iridoid-derived monoterpene indole alkaloids of Catharanthus roseus.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Sarah E

2012-01-01

The manipulation of pathways to make unnatural variants of natural compounds, a process often termed combinatorial biosynthesis, has been robustly successful in prokaryotic systems. The development of approaches to generate new-to-nature compounds from plant-based pathways is, in comparison, much less advanced. Success will depend on the specific chemistry of the pathway, as well as on the suitability of the plant system for transformation and genetic manipulation. As plant pathways are elucidated, and can be heterologously expressed in hosts that are more amenable to genetic manipulation, biosynthetic production of new-to-nature compounds from plant pathways will become more widespread. In this chapter, some of the key strategies that have been developed for metabolic engineering of plant pathways, namely directed biosynthesis, mutasynthesis, and pathway incorporation of engineered enzymes are highlighted. The iridoid-derived monoterpene indole alkaloids from C. roseus, which are the focus of this chapter, provide an excellent system for developing these strategies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Journal of Genetics, Volume 92, 2013

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

tropic mutants of Mendelian inheritance in Catharanthus roseus. (Research ... bioinformatics. Molecular adaptation within the coat protein-encoding gene of .... based NCII designs: a simulation study (Research article) 529 common bean.

Oxidative stress and production of bioactive monoterpene indole alkaloids: biotechnological implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuura, Hélio Nitta; Rau, Mariana Ritter; Fett-Neto, Arthur Germano

2014-02-01

Monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs) encompass plant natural products with important pharmacological relevance. They include the anti-tumoral MIAs found in Catharanthus roseus and Camptotheca acuminata. The often low yields of bioactive alkaloids in plants has prompted research to identify the factors regulating MIA production. Oxidative stress is a general response associated with biotic and abiotic stresses leading to several secondary responses, including elicitation of MIA production. These changes in secondary metabolism may take place directly or via second messengers, such as Ca(2+) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). H2O2 is the main ROS that participates in MIA biosynthesis. This review analyzes the links between oxidative stress, elicitation of bioactive MIA production and their potential roles in antioxidant defense, as well as exploring the implications to developing biotechnological strategies relevant for alkaloid supply.

The endophyte Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens reduces symptoms caused by Xylella fastidiosa in Catharanthus roseus.

Science.gov (United States)

Lacava, Paulo Teixeira; Li, Wenbin; Araújo, Welington Luiz; Azevedo, João Lúcio; Hartung, John Stephen

2007-10-01

Citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC) is a disease of the sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.)], which is caused by Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca, a phytopathogenic bacterium that has been shown to infect all sweet orange cultivars. Sweet orange trees have been occasionally observed to be infected by Xylella fastidiosa without evidencing severe disease symptoms, whereas other trees in the same grove may exhibit severe disease symptoms. The principal endophytic bacterial species isolated from such CVC-asymptomatic citrus plants is Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens. The Madagascar periwinkle [Citrus sinensis (L.)] is a model plant which has been used to study X. fastidiosa in greenhouse environments. In order to characterize the interactions of X. fastidiosa and C. flaccumfaciens, periwinkle plants were inoculated separately with C. flaccumfaciens, X. fastidiosa, and both bacteria together. The number of flowers produced by the plants, the heights of the plants, and the exhibited disease symptoms were evaluated. PCR-primers for C. flaccumfaciens were designed in order to verify the presence of this endophytic bacterium in plant tissue, and to complement an existing assay for X. fastidiosa. These primers were capable of detecting C. flaccumfaciens in the periwinkle in the presence of X. fastidiosa. X. fastidiosa induced stunting and reduced the number of flowers produced by the periwinkle. When C. flaccumfaciens was inoculated together with X. fastidiosa, no stunting was observed. The number of flowers produced by our doubly- inoculated plants was an intermediate between the number produced by the plants inoculated with either of the bacteria separately. Our data indicate that C. flaccumfaciens interacted with X. fastidiosa in C. roseus, and reduced the severity of the disease symptoms induced by X. fastidiosa. Periwinkle is considered to be an excellent experimental system by which the interaction of C. flaccumfaciens and other endophytic bacteria with X. fastidiosa can be

Kõige tõsisem taim vähktõve vastu : [roosa lõunahali

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2011-01-01

Roosa lõunahali (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don. Sünonüümid: Ammocallis rosea (L.) Small, Lochnera rosea (L.) Rchb., Vinca rosea L. Kasutamisest rahvameditsiinis ja farmakoteraapias (ravimpreparaadid vinblastiin, vinkristiin)

Bioremediation of contaminated surface water by immobilized Micrococcus roseus.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, H; Li, P; Hua, T; Zhang, Y; Xiong, X; Gong, Z

2005-08-01

The problems caused by contaminated surface water have gradually become more serious in recent years. Although various remediation technologies were investigated, unfortunately, no efficient method was developed. In this paper, a new bioremediation technology was studied using Micrococcus roseus, which was immobilized in porous spherical beads by an improved polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) - sodium alginate (SA) embedding method. The experimental results indicated that COD removal rate could reach 64.7 % within 72 hours when immobilized M. roseus beads were used, which was ten times as high as that of free cells. The optimum inoculation rate of immobilized M. roseus beads was 10 % (mass percent of the beads in water sample, g g(-1)). Suitable aeration was proved necessary to enhance the bioremediation process. The immobilized cells had an excellent tolerance to pH and temperature changes, and were also more resistant to heavy metal stress compared with free cells. The immobilized M. roseus beads had an excellent regeneration capacity and could be reused after 180-day continuous usage. The Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) analysis showed that the bead microstructure was suitable for M. roseus growth, however, some defect structures should still be improved.

Catharanthus alkaloids XXXII: isolation of alkaloids from Catharanthus trichophyllus roots and structure elucidation of cathaphylline.

Science.gov (United States)

Cordell, G A; Farnsworth, N R

1976-03-01

Further examination of the cytotoxic alkaloid fractions of Catharanthus trichophyllus roots afforded nine alkaloids. Two of these alkaloids, lochnericine and horhammericine, are responsible for part of the cytotoxic activity. The structure elucidation of cathaphylline, a new beta-anilino acrylate derivative, is described.

Structural determinants of reductive terpene cyclization in iridoid biosynthesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kries, Hajo; Caputi, Lorenzo; Stevenson, Clare E M

2016-01-01

The carbon skeleton of ecologically and pharmacologically important iridoid monoterpenes is formed in a reductive cyclization reaction unrelated to canonical terpene cyclization. Here we report the crystal structure of the recently discovered iridoid cyclase (from Catharanthus roseus) bound...

Journal of Genetics | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Effective population size and evolutionary dynamics in outbred laboratory ... lamina mutants of Catharanthus roseus possessing Mendelian inheritance ..... Molecular characterization and expression analysis of fat mass and .... QTL mapping for combining ability in different population-based NCII designs: a simulation study.

Transcriptional profiling of three key genes of terpenoid indole ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SAM

2014-03-19

Mar 19, 2014 ... indole alkaloid pathway in Catharanthus roseus under different tissue culture .... R 5'-GCA GCA GAC ACT CAA AAT CTC CTC C-3'. 62. CYP72A1 ... generated using both the software programs, and Microsoft Excel. The ΔΔCT ...

Alternative extraction of alkaloid anticarcinogens from Brazilian "vinca rosea" using Ion exchange chromatography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sérgio Freire de Carvalhaes

Full Text Available Extracts in ethanol and ethanol-ammonia of dried leaves from Catharanthus roseus, gathered at Rio de Janeiro state, were adsorbed in a strongly acidic cation exchange resin with sulfonic acid group, using the finite bath method, resulting in an alkaloid retained fraction and an acidic and neutral unretained fraction. High Performance Liquid Chromatography showed the isolation of the alkaloid fraction to be highly selective and with good performance, with an absence of alkaloids in the unretained fraction, while the retained fraction presented 1,54-6,35 mg/g of vindoline and 0,12-0,91 mg/g of vinblastine, common for an alkaloid-rich concentrate, usually obtained by classic extraction with several steps using solvents.

Understanding CrRLK1L Function

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nissen, Karen Stoltenberg; Willats, William George Tycho; Malinovsky, Frederikke Gro

2016-01-01

To develop successfully in an ever-changing environment, it is essential for plants to monitor and control their growth. Therefore, cell expansion is carefully regulated to establish correct cell shape and size. In this review, we explore the role of the Catharanthus roseus receptor-like kinase (...

Invasive alien plant species used for the treatment of various ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Results: The study revealed that Schinus molle L., Catharanthus roseus (L.), Datura stramonium L., Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw., Opuntia ficus- indica, Sambucus canadensis L., Ricinus communis L., Melia azedarch L., Argemone ochroleuca and Eriobotrya japonica are used for treatment of various diseases such as chest ...

Pleiotropic phenotypes of the salt-tolerant and cytosine ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

of Catharanthus roseus possessing Mendelian inheritance. Renu Kumari, Vishakha ...... Bowman J. L. 2004 Class III HD-Zip gene regulation, the golden fleece of .... Arabidopsis has multiple effects on plant development, includ- ing early flowering and .... germination is revealed by the misexpression of a homologous gene ...

Journal of Genetics | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Genetics. Sushil Kumar. Articles written in Journal of Genetics. Volume 79 Issue 3 2000 pp 97-104. Induced mutation to monocotyledony in periwinkle, Catharanthus roseus, and suppression of mutant phenotype by kinetin · Shashi Pandey Rai Sushil Kumar · More Details Abstract Fulltext PDF.

Induced mutation to monocotyledony in periwinkle, Catharanthus ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

(i) insufficiency in endogenous kinetin may lead to monocotyledonous embryo patterning and (ii) dicotyledonous em- ... Induced-mutagenesis experiments in plants have so far .... C. roseus is a small perennial herb of family Apocyna-.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization for phytoplasma and endophytic bacteria localization in plant tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulgari, Daniela; Casati, Paola; Faoro, Franco

2011-11-01

In the present study, we developed a rapid and efficient fluorescence in situ hybridization assay (FISH) in non-embedded tissues of the model plant Catharanthus roseus for co-localizing phytoplasmas and endophytic bacteria, opening new perspectives for studying the interaction between these microorganisms. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Brassinosteroid biosynthesis is modulated via a transcription factor cascade of COG1, PIF4, and PIF5

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Wei, Z.; Yuan, T.; Tarkowská, Danuše; Kim, J.; Nam, H. G.; Novák, Ondřej; He, K.; Gou, X.; Li, J.

2017-01-01

Roč. 174, č. 2 (2017), s. 1260-1273 ISSN 0032-0889 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LK21306; GA ČR GA14-34792S Institutional support: RVO:61389030 Keywords : GSK3-LIKE KINASE BIN2 * ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA * CATHARANTHUS-ROSEUS Subject RIV: EF - Botanics OBOR OECD: Plant sciences, botany Impact factor: 6.456, year: 2016

Rhabdobacter roseus gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahal, Ram Hari; Kim, Jaisoo

2016-01-01

An aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, oxidase- and catalase-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped, pink-pigmented bacterium, designated strain R49T, was isolated from soil. Flexirubin-type pigments were absent. Phylogenetic analysis based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain R49T formed a lineage within the family Cytophagaceae of the phylum Bacteroidetes that was distinct from the most closely related genera Dyadobacter (91.98-93.85 % sequence similarity), Persicitalea (88.69 %) and Runella (84.79-85.81 %). The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7) and the major polar lipid was phosphatidylethanolamine. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), iso-C15 : 0, C16 : 1ω5c, C16 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH. The DNA G+C content of strain R49T was 53.9 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic analysis, strain R49T represents a novel species of a new genus in the family Cytophagaceae, for which the name Rhabdobacter roseus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Rhabdobacter roseus is R49T ( = KEMB 9005-318T = KACC 18395T = JCM 30685T).

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

Pouvoir pathogène de Botrytis cinerea sur Catharanthus roseus à différents stades végétatifs. Abstract PDF · Vol 79 (2014) - Articles Inventaire des champignons ectomycorhiziens du Maroc Abstract PDF · Vol 81 (2014) - Articles Effet in vitro de différents niveaux NPK sur la croissance mycélienne et la sporulation de cinq ...

Heterologous expression of a Rauvolfia cDNA encoding strictosidine glucosidase, a biosynthetic key to over 2000 monoterpenoid indole alkaloids.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerasimenko, Irina; Sheludko, Yuri; Ma, Xueyan; Stöckigt, Joachim

2002-04-01

Strictosidine glucosidase (SG) is an enzyme that catalyses the second step in the biosynthesis of various classes of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids. Based on the comparison of cDNA sequences of SG from Catharanthus roseus and raucaffricine glucosidase (RG) from Rauvolfia serpentina, primers for RT-PCR were designed and the cDNA encoding SG was cloned from R. serpentina cell suspension cultures. The active enzyme was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. Analysis of its deduced amino-acid sequence assigned the SG from R. serpentina to family 1 of glycosyl hydrolases. In contrast to the SG from C. roseus, the enzyme from R. serpentina is predicted to lack an uncleavable N-terminal signal sequence, which is believed to direct proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum. The temperature and pH optimum, enzyme kinetic parameters and substrate specificity of the heterologously expressed SG were studied and compared to those of the C. roseus enzyme, revealing some differences between the two glucosidases. In vitro deglucosylation of strictosidine by R. serpentina SG proceeds by the same mechanism as has been shown for the C. roseus enzyme preparation. The reaction gives rise to the end product cathenamine and involves 4,21-dehydrocorynantheine aldehyde as an intermediate. The enzymatic hydrolysis of dolichantoside (Nbeta-methylstrictosidine) leads to several products. One of them was identified as a new compound, 3-isocorreantine A. From the data it can be concluded that the divergence of the biosynthetic pathways leading to different classes of indole alkaloids formed in R. serpentina and C. roseus cell suspension cultures occurs at a later stage than strictosidine deglucosylation.

Acquisition of dwarf male "harems" by recently settled females of Osedax roseus n. sp. (Siboglinidae; Annelida)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rouse, G W; Worsaae, K; Johnson, S. B.

2008-01-01

After the deployment of several whale carcasses in Monterey Bay, California, a time-series analysis revealed the presence of a new species of Osedax, a genus of bone-eating siboglinid annelids. That species is described here as Osedax roseus n. sp. It is the fifth species described since the erec......After the deployment of several whale carcasses in Monterey Bay, California, a time-series analysis revealed the presence of a new species of Osedax, a genus of bone-eating siboglinid annelids. That species is described here as Osedax roseus n. sp. It is the fifth species described since...... in Osedax. Of the previously described species in this genus, Osedax roseus n. sp. is most similar to O. rubiplumus, but it has several anatomical differences, as well as much smaller females, dwarf males, and eggs. Osedax roseus n. sp. is markedly divergent (minimally 16.6%) for mitochondrial cytochrome...

The seco-iridoid pathway from Catharanthus roseus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Miettinen, K.; Dong, L.; Navrot, N.; Burlat, V.; Schneider, T.; Pollier, J.; Woittiez, L.S.; Krol, van der A.R.; Lugan, R.; Llc, T.; Verpoorte, R.; Oksman-Caldentey, K.M.; Martinoia, E.; Bouwmeester, H.J.

2014-01-01

The (seco)iridoids and their derivatives, the monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs), form two large families of plant-derived bioactive compounds with a wide spectrum of high-value pharmacological and insect-repellent activities. Vinblastine and vincristine, MIAs used as anticancer drugs, are

Antidiabetic screening and scoring of eleven plants traditionally used in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van de Venter, M

2008-09-01

Full Text Available 1 cCannabis sativa L. Cannabaceae L Aq 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 2 Org 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cissampelos capensis L.f. Menispermaceae L Aq 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 2 L Org 2 -1 2 -1 1 5 -2 3 Org 2 -1 2 -1 0 4 -2 2 cCatharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don. Apocynaceae T Aq 2...

Taxonomy and Traditional Medicinal Uses of Apocynaceae (Dogbane) Family of Rajshahi District, Bangladesh

OpenAIRE

Mahbubur Rahman AHM; Mahfuza Akter

2015-01-01

Taxonomy and traditional medicinal uses on the family Apocynaceae growing throughout the Rajshahi district has been made. A total of 14 species under 12 genera belonging to the family Apocynaceae were collected and identified. Out of the total number of species Allamanda cathartica Linn, Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br. Carissa carandas Linn, Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don, Ichnocarpus frutescens (L.) R. Br., Nerium oleander Linn., Plumeria alba Linn., Plumeria rubra Linn., Rauvolfia serpentina...

Transfer experiments, light microscopy and electron microscopy studies on the contribution of procaryotes to the novel forest decline patterns. Final report. Uebertragungsversuche, licht- und elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen zur Pruefung der ursaechlichen Beteiligung von Prokaryonten (MLO, RLO) an den neuartigen Waldschaeden. Abschlussbericht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petzold, H.

1989-01-01

The now terminated research project was to clarify if procaryotes are a causal part of the novel damage to forests. For this extensive microscopic analyses on differently damaged spruce trees and several silver firs from the forest damage areas in the Fichtelgebirge and Bayerischer Wald mountains were made. Beyond this it was attempted to transfer possible phytopathogenic agents from damaged forest trees to healthy young trees of the same kind by pruning. In addition it was attempted to transfer with the aid of parasitic plants of the species Cuscuta possibly occurring mycoplasms of trees suffering from acute yellowing to the test plant Catharanthus roseus, the most suitable for this. Additional tests served to transfer defined MLO from Catharanthus onto healthy seedlings of diverse deciduous and coniferous trees to determine if forest trees are susceptible to the mycoplasmoses common in Germany. (orig./MG).

L-Amino Acids Elicit Diverse Response Patterns in Taste Sensory Cells: A Role for Multiple Receptors

Science.gov (United States)

Pal Choudhuri, Shreoshi; Delay, Rona J.; Delay, Eugene R.

2015-01-01

Umami, the fifth basic taste, is elicited by the L-amino acid, glutamate. A unique characteristic of umami taste is the response potentiation by 5’ ribonucleotide monophosphates, which are also capable of eliciting an umami taste. Initial reports using human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells suggested that there is one broadly tuned receptor heterodimer, T1r1+T1r3, which detects L-glutamate and all other L-amino acids. However, there is growing evidence that multiple receptors detect glutamate in the oral cavity. While much is understood about glutamate transduction, the mechanisms for detecting the tastes of other L-amino acids are less well understood. We used calcium imaging of isolated taste sensory cells and taste cell clusters from the circumvallate and foliate papillae of C57BL/6J and T1r3 knockout mice to determine if other receptors might also be involved in detection of L-amino acids. Ratiometric imaging with Fura-2 was used to study calcium responses to monopotassium L-glutamate, L-serine, L-arginine, and L-glutamine, with and without inosine 5’ monophosphate (IMP). The results of these experiments showed that the response patterns elicited by L-amino acids varied significantly across taste sensory cells. L-amino acids other than glutamate also elicited synergistic responses in a subset of taste sensory cells. Along with its role in synergism, IMP alone elicited a response in a large number of taste sensory cells. Our data indicate that synergistic and non-synergistic responses to L-amino acids and IMP are mediated by multiple receptors or possibly a receptor complex. PMID:26110622

Genomic analysis of Melioribacter roseus, facultatively anaerobic organotrophic bacterium representing a novel deep lineage within Bacteriodetes/Chlorobi group.

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Vitaly V Kadnikov

Full Text Available Melioribacter roseus is a moderately thermophilic facultatively anaerobic organotrophic bacterium representing a novel deep branch within Bacteriodetes/Chlorobi group. To better understand the metabolic capabilities and possible ecological functions of M. roseus and get insights into the evolutionary history of this bacterial lineage, we sequenced the genome of the type strain P3M-2(T. A total of 2838 open reading frames was predicted from its 3.30 Mb genome. The whole proteome analysis supported phylum-level classification of M. roseus since most of the predicted proteins had closest matches in Bacteriodetes, Proteobacteria, Chlorobi, Firmicutes and deeply-branching bacterium Caldithrix abyssi, rather than in one particular phylum. Consistent with the ability of the bacterium to grow on complex carbohydrates, the genome analysis revealed more than one hundred glycoside hydrolases, glycoside transferases, polysaccharide lyases and carbohydrate esterases. The reconstructed central metabolism revealed pathways enabling the fermentation of complex organic substrates, as well as their complete oxidation through aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Genes encoding the photosynthetic and nitrogen-fixation machinery of green sulfur bacteria, as well as key enzymes of autotrophic carbon fixation pathways, were not identified. The M. roseus genome supports its affiliation to a novel phylum Ignavibateriae, representing the first step on the evolutionary pathway from heterotrophic ancestors of Bacteriodetes/Chlorobi group towards anaerobic photoautotrophic Chlorobi.

Isolation and Identification of Echinenone from Micrococcus roseus

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Schwartzel, E. H.; Cooney, J. J.

1970-01-01

An orange carotenoid from Micrococcus roseus was purified by solvent partitioning followed by column and thin-layer chromatography. Absorption spectra, chromatographic mobility, and partition coefficient suggested that the pigment was echinenone (4-keto-β-carotene). Reduction yielded a pigment with the spectral and polar properties of isocryptoxanthin (4-hydroxy-β-carotene), the expected product. The orange pigment and its reduction product co-chromatographed with the respective authentic pigments, confirming the original pigment as echinenone. To our knowledge echinenone has not been identified previously as a bacterial pigment. PMID:5473895

Cesiribacter roseus sp. nov., a pink-pigmented bacterium isolated from desert sand.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ming; Qi, Huan; Luo, Xuesong; Dai, Jun; Peng, Fang; Fang, Chengxiang

2012-01-01

A pink-pigmented, Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile, strictly aerobic bacterium, designated strain 311(T), was isolated from desert sand in Xinjiang, China. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 311(T) was related closely to Cesiribacter andamanensis AMV16(T) (94.6% similarity). The DNA G+C content of strain 311(T) was 47.1 mol% and the major respiratory quinone was menaquinone 7 (MK-7). The main cellular fatty acids were C(16:1)ω5c (29.9%), iso-C(15:0) (21.9%), iso-C(17:0) 3-OH (13.3%) and summed feature 4 (iso-C(17:1) I and/or anteiso-C(17:1) B; 13.0%). Based on phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data and phylogenetic analysis, strain 311(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Cesiribacter, for which the name Cesiribacter roseus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 311(T) (=CCTCC AB 207142(T) =KACC 15456(T)).

Differential responses of seven contrasting species to high light using pigment and chlorophyll a fluorescence

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Mittal S.

2011-05-01

Full Text Available High light intensity may induce severe photodamage to chloroplast and consequently cause decreases in the yield capacity of plants and destruction of pigments, causing an overall yellowing of the foliage. Thus, study related to light adaptation becomes necessary to understand adaptation processes in higher plants on the basis of which they are characterized as full sunlight or shade plants. Chlorophyll can be regarded as an intrinsic fluorescent probe of the photosynthetic system. The ecophysiological parameter related to plant performance and fitness i.e. in-situ chlorophyll fluorescence measurements were determined for different plant species in the medicinal plant garden of Banasthali University, Rajasthan. Miniaturized Pulse Amplitude Modulated Photosynthetic Yield Analyzers are primarily designed for measuring effective quantum yield (ΔF/Fm’ of photosystem II under momentary ambient light in the field. Photosynthetic yield measurements and light-response curves suggested a gradation of sun-adapted to shade-adapted behaviour of these plants in following order Withania somnifera> Catharanthus roseus> Datura stamonium> Vasica minora> Vasica adulta> Rauwolfia serpentina. As indicated by light response curves and pigment analysis, Datura stramonium, Withania somnifera and Catharanthus roseus competed well photosynthetically and are favoured while Rauwolfia serpentina, Vasica minora, Vasica adulta and Plumbago zeylanica were observed to be less competent photosynthetically. These light response curves and resultant cardinal points study gave insight into the ecophysiological characterization of the photosynthetic capacity of the plant and provides highly interesting parameters like electron transport rate, photo-inhibition, photosynthetically active photon flux density and yield on the basis of which light adaptability was screened for seven medicinally important plants.

Effects of a combination of elicitation and precursor feeding on grape amino acid composition through foliar applications to Garnacha vineyard.

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Gutiérrez-Gamboa, Gastón; Portu, Javier; López, Rosa; Santamaría, Pilar; Garde-Cerdán, Teresa

2018-04-01

Vine foliar applications of phenylalanine (Phe) or methyl jasmonate (MeJ) could improve the synthesis of secondary metabolites. However, there are no reports focusing on the effects of elicitation supported by precursor feeding on must amino acid composition in grapevines. The aim of this research was to study the effect of the elicitation of methyl jasmonate (MeJ) supported by phenylalanine (Phe) as a precursor feeding (MeJ+Phe) and its application individually on must amino acid composition. Results showed that foliar Phe and MeJ treatments decreased the concentration of most of the studied amino acids with respect to the control (p≤0.05). MeJ+Phe treatment did not affect must nitrogen content. Musts obtained from MeJ+Phe showed higher concentration of several amino acids than samples from Phe and MeJ applications. Therefore, other sources of precursor feeding could support elicitation, to improve amino acid composition and be considered as a tool for viticulture. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intermittent apnea elicits inactivity-induced phrenic motor facilitation via a retinoic acid- and protein synthesis-dependent pathway.

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Baertsch, Nathan A; Baker, Tracy L

2017-11-01

Respiratory motoneuron pools must provide rhythmic inspiratory drive that is robust and reliable, yet dynamic enough to respond to respiratory challenges. One form of plasticity that is hypothesized to contribute to motor output stability by sensing and responding to inadequate respiratory neural activity is inactivity-induced phrenic motor facilitation (iPMF), an increase in inspiratory output triggered by a reduction in phrenic synaptic inputs. Evidence suggests that mechanisms giving rise to iPMF differ depending on the pattern of reduced respiratory neural activity (i.e., neural apnea). A prolonged neural apnea elicits iPMF via a spinal TNF-α-induced increase in atypical PKC activity, but little is known regarding mechanisms that elicit iPMF following intermittent neural apnea. We tested the hypothesis that iPMF triggered by intermittent neural apnea requires retinoic acid and protein synthesis. Phrenic nerve activity was recorded in urethane-anesthetized and -ventilated rats treated intrathecally with an inhibitor of retinoic acid synthesis (4-diethlyaminobenzaldehyde, DEAB), a protein synthesis inhibitor (emetine), or vehicle (artificial cerebrospinal fluid) before intermittent (5 episodes, ~1.25 min each) or prolonged (30 min) neural apnea. Both DEAB and emetine abolished iPMF elicited by intermittent neural apnea but had no effect on iPMF elicited by a prolonged neural apnea. Thus different patterns of reduced respiratory neural activity elicit phenotypically similar iPMF via distinct spinal mechanisms. Understanding mechanisms that allow respiratory motoneurons to dynamically tune their output may have important implications in the context of respiratory control disorders that involve varied patterns of reduced respiratory neural activity, such as central sleep apnea and spinal cord injury. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We identify spinal retinoic acid and protein synthesis as critical components in the cellular cascade whereby repetitive reductions in respiratory

Synthesis of UDP-apiose in Bacteria: The marine phototroph Geminicoccus roseus and the plant pathogen Xanthomonas pisi.

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James Amor Smith

Full Text Available The branched-chain sugar apiose was widely assumed to be synthesized only by plant species. In plants, apiose-containing polysaccharides are found in vascularized plant cell walls as the pectic polymers rhamnogalacturonan II and apiogalacturonan. Apiosylated secondary metabolites are also common in many plant species including ancestral avascular bryophytes and green algae. Apiosyl-residues have not been documented in bacteria. In a screen for new bacterial glycan structures, we detected small amounts of apiose in methanolic extracts of the aerobic phototroph Geminicoccus roseus and the pathogenic soil-dwelling bacteria Xanthomonas pisi. Apiose was also present in the cell pellet of X. pisi. Examination of these bacterial genomes uncovered genes with relatively low protein homology to plant UDP-apiose/UDP-xylose synthase (UAS. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these bacterial UAS-like homologs belong in a clade distinct to UAS and separated from other nucleotide sugar biosynthetic enzymes. Recombinant expression of three bacterial UAS-like proteins demonstrates that they actively convert UDP-glucuronic acid to UDP-apiose and UDP-xylose. Both UDP-apiose and UDP-xylose were detectable in cell cultures of G. roseus and X. pisi. We could not, however, definitively identify the apiosides made by these bacteria, but the detection of apiosides coupled with the in vivo transcription of bUAS and production of UDP-apiose clearly demonstrate that these microbes have evolved the ability to incorporate apiose into glycans during their lifecycles. While this is the first report to describe enzymes for the formation of activated apiose in bacteria, the advantage of synthesizing apiose-containing glycans in bacteria remains unknown. The characteristics of bUAS and its products are discussed.

An abundant 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' tuf b strain is associated with grapevine, stinging nettle and Hyalesthes obsoletus.

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Aryan, A; Brader, G; Mörtel, J; Pastar, M; Riedle-Bauer, M

2014-10-01

Bois noir (BN) associated with ' Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' (Stolbur) is regularly found in Austrian vine growing regions. Investigations between 2003 and 2008 indicated sporadic presence of the confirmed disease vector Hyalesthes obsoletus and frequent infections of bindweed and grapevine. Infections of nettles were rare. In contrast present investigations revealed a mass occurrence of H. obsoletus almost exclusively on stinging nettle. The high population densities of H. obsoletus on Urtica dioica were accompanied by frequent occurrence of ' Ca. P. solani' in nettles and planthoppers. Sequence analysis of the molecular markers secY, stamp, tuf and vmp1 of stolbur revealed a single genotype named CPsM4_At1 in stinging nettles and more than 64 and 90 % abundance in grapevine and H. obsoletus , respectively. Interestingly, this genotype showed tuf b type restriction pattern previously attributed to bindweed associated ' Ca. P. solani' strains, but a different sequence assigned as tuf b2 compared to reference tuf b strains. All other marker genes of CPsM4_At1 clustered with tuf a and nettle derived genotypes verifying distinct nettle phytoplasma genotypes. Transmission experiments with H. obsoletus and Anaceratagallia ribauti resulted in successful transmission of five different strains including the major genotype to Catharanthus roseus and in transmission of the major genotype to U. dioica . Altogether, five nettle and nine bindweed associated genotypes were described. Bindweed types were verified in 34 % of grapevine samples, in few positive Reptalus panzeri , rarely in bindweeds and occasionally in Catharanthus roseus infected by H. obsoletus or A. ribauti . ' Candidatus Phytoplasma convolvuli' (bindweed yellows) was ascertained in nettle and bindweed samples.

Respiratory Pathways Reconstructed by Multi-Omics Analysis in Melioribacter roseus, Residing in a Deep Thermal Aquifer of the West-Siberian Megabasin

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Gavrilov, Sergey; Podosokorskaya, Olga; Alexeev, Dmitry; Merkel, Alexander; Khomyakova, Maria; Muntyan, Maria; Altukhov, Ilya; Butenko, Ivan; Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Elizaveta; Govorun, Vadim; Kublanov, Ilya

2017-01-01

Melioribacter roseus, a representative of recently proposed Ignavibacteriae phylum, is a metabolically versatile thermophilic bacterium, inhabiting subsurface biosphere of the West-Siberian megabasin and capable of growing on various substrates and electron acceptors. Genomic analysis followed by inhibitor studies and membrane potential measurements of aerobically grown M. roseus cells revealed the activity of aerobic respiratory electron transfer chain comprised of respiratory complexes I and IV, and an alternative complex III. Phylogeny reconstruction revealed that oxygen reductases belonged to atypical cc(o/b)o3-type and canonical cbb3–type cytochrome oxidases. Also, two molybdoenzymes of M. roseus were affiliated either with Ttr or Psr/Phs clades, but not with typical respiratory arsenate reductases of the Arr clade. Expression profiling, both at transcripts and protein level, allowed us to assign the role of the terminal respiratory oxidase under atmospheric oxygen concentration for the cc(o/b)o3 cytochrome oxidase, previously proposed to serve for oxygen detoxification only. Transcriptomic analysis revealed the involvement of both molybdoenzymes of M. roseus in As(V) respiration, yet differences in the genomic context of their gene clusters allow to hypothesize about their distinct roles in arsenate metabolism with the ‘Psr/Phs’-type molybdoenzyme being the most probable candidate respiratory arsenate reductase. Basing on multi-omics data, the pathways for aerobic and arsenate respiration were proposed. Our results start to bridge the vigorously increasing gap between homology-based predictions and experimentally verified metabolic processes, what is especially important for understudied microorganisms of novel lineages from deep subsurface environments of Eurasia, which remained separated from the rest of the biosphere for several geological periods. PMID:28713355

Respiratory Pathways Reconstructed by Multi-Omics Analysis in Melioribacter roseus, Residing in a Deep Thermal Aquifer of the West-Siberian Megabasin

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Sergey Gavrilov

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Melioribacter roseus, a representative of recently proposed Ignavibacteriae phylum, is a metabolically versatile thermophilic bacterium, inhabiting subsurface biosphere of the West-Siberian megabasin and capable of growing on various substrates and electron acceptors. Genomic analysis followed by inhibitor studies and membrane potential measurements of aerobically grown M. roseus cells revealed the activity of aerobic respiratory electron transfer chain comprised of respiratory complexes I and IV, and an alternative complex III. Phylogeny reconstruction revealed that oxygen reductases belonged to atypical cc(o/bo3-type and canonical cbb3–type cytochrome oxidases. Also, two molybdoenzymes of M. roseus were affiliated either with Ttr or Psr/Phs clades, but not with typical respiratory arsenate reductases of the Arr clade. Expression profiling, both at transcripts and protein level, allowed us to assign the role of the terminal respiratory oxidase under atmospheric oxygen concentration for the cc(o/bo3 cytochrome oxidase, previously proposed to serve for oxygen detoxification only. Transcriptomic analysis revealed the involvement of both molybdoenzymes of M. roseus in As(V respiration, yet differences in the genomic context of their gene clusters allow to hypothesize about their distinct roles in arsenate metabolism with the ‘Psr/Phs’-type molybdoenzyme being the most probable candidate respiratory arsenate reductase. Basing on multi-omics data, the pathways for aerobic and arsenate respiration were proposed. Our results start to bridge the vigorously increasing gap between homology-based predictions and experimentally verified metabolic processes, what is especially important for understudied microorganisms of novel lineages from deep subsurface environments of Eurasia, which remained separated from the rest of the biosphere for several geological periods.

Micropropagation and maintenance of phytoplasmas in tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertaccini, Assunta; Paltrinieri, Samanta; Martini, Marta; Tedeschi, Mara; Contaldo, Nicoletta

2013-01-01

Maintenance of phytoplasma strains in tissue culture is achievable for all strains transmitted to periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), and also for other naturally infected plant host species. Shoots of 1-3 cm length are grown in a solid medium containing Murashige and Skoog (MS) micro- and macroelements and 0.12 mg/L benzylaminopurine. The continued presence of phytoplasmas in infected shoots of periwinkle that have been maintained in micropropagation for up to 20 years can be shown by diagnostic methods such as nested PCR tests using the 16S rDNA gene (see Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,and 26 for phytoplasma diagnostic methods).

Unsaturated fatty acids show clear elicitation responses in a modified local lymph node assay with an elicitation phase, and test positive in the direct peptide reactivity assay.

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Yamashita, Kunihiko; Shinoda, Shinsuke; Hagiwara, Saori; Miyazaki, Hiroshi; Itagaki, Hiroshi

2015-12-01

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Test Guidelines (TG) adopted the murine local lymph node assay (LLNA) and guinea pig maximization test (GPMT) as stand-alone skin sensitization test methods. However, unsaturated carbon-carbon double-bond and/or lipid acids afforded false-positive results more frequently in the LLNA compared to those in the GPMT and/or in human subjects. In the current study, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, undecylenic, fumaric, maleic, and succinic acid and squalene were tested in a modified LLNA with an elicitation phase (LLNA:DAE), and in a direct peptide reactivity assay (DPRA) to evaluate their skin-sensitizing potential. Oleic, linoleic, linolenic, undecylenic and maleic acid were positive in the LLNA:DAE, of which three, linoleic, linolenic, and maleic acid were positive in the DPRA. Furthermore, the results of the cross-sensitizing tests using four LLNA:DAE-positive chemicals were negative, indicating a chemical-specific elicitation response. In a previous report, the estimated concentration needed to produce a stimulation index of 3 (EC3) of linolenic acid, squalene, and maleic acid in the LLNA was LLNA. However, the skin-sensitizing potential of all LLNA:DAE-positive chemicals was estimated as weak. These results suggested that oleic, linoleic, linolenic, undecylenic, and maleic acid had skin-sensitizing potential, and that the LLNA overestimated the skin-sensitizing potential compared to that estimated by the LLNA:DAE.

Umboniibacter roseus sp. nov., isolated from coastal seawater.

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Hye-Ri; Kim, Mibang; Shin, Kee-Sun

2015-11-01

A Gram-reaction-negative, non-motile, strictly aerobic, dark pink-pigmented and rod-shaped bacterial isolate, designated 14-121-B13T, was isolated from surface seawater off the coast of the South Sea at Namhae-gun, Republic of Korea. Cells were catalase- and oxidase-positive and required NaCl for growth. Strain 14-121-B13T grew optimally at 30 °C, in the presence of 2 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 7.5-8.0.Neighbour-joining, maximum-likelihood and maximum-parsimony phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 14-121-B13T clustered with the type strain of Umboniibacter marinipuniceus, with which it exhibited 96.7 % sequence similarity. The DNA G+C content of strain 14-121-B13T was 48.9 mol%. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) and C16 : 0. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone Q-7 and the polar lipids detected in strain 14-121-B13T were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified aminolipid, unidentified phospholipids, unidentified aminophospholipids and unidentified lipids. Based on the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data presented, strain 14-121-B13T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus, Umboniibacter for which the name Umboniibacter roseus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 14-121-B13T ( = DSM 29882T = KCTC 42467T).

An exploration of the potential mechanisms and translational potential of five medicinal plants for applications in Alzheimer’s disease

Science.gov (United States)

Shakir, Taner; Coulibaly, Ahmed Y; Kehoe, Patrick G

2013-01-01

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, and represents a vast worldwide socio-economic burden, and in the absence of a current cure, effective therapeutic strategies are still needed. Cholinergic and cerebral blood flow deficits, excessive levels of oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and glutamate excitatory mechanisms are all believed to contribute to the development and progression of the disease. Scoparia dulcis, Catharanthus roseus, Sesamum indicum, Erythrina senegalensis and Vigna unguiculata represent five plants that have been used as traditional medicines for the treatment of AD in certain cultures. Review of the scientific literature was conducted to explore the properties of these plants that might be beneficial and explain what would be perceived by many to be largely anecdotal evidence of their benefit. All plants were found to possess varying levels of anti-oxidant capability. Scoparia dulcis was also found to potentiate nerve growth factor-like effects upon cell lines. Catharanthus roseus appears to inhibit acetylcholinesterase with relatively high potency, while Sesamum indicum demonstrated the strongest antioxidant ability. Comparisons with currently used plant derived therapeutics illustrate how these plants may be likely to have some therapeutic benefits in AD. The evidence presented also highlights how appropriate dietary supplementation with some of these plants in various cultural settings might have effects analogous or complementary to the so-called protective Mediterranean diet. However, prior to embarking on making any formal recommendations to this end, further rigorous evaluation is needed to better elucidate the breadth and potential toxicological aspects of medicinal properties harboured by these plants. This would be vital to ensuring a more informed and safe delivery of preparations of these plants if they were to be considered as a form of dietary supplementation and where appropriate, how these might

An exploration of the potential mechanisms and translational potential of five medicinal plants for applications in Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Shakir, Taner; Coulibaly, Ahmed Y; Kehoe, Patrick G

2013-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, and represents a vast worldwide socio-economic burden, and in the absence of a current cure, effective therapeutic strategies are still needed. Cholinergic and cerebral blood flow deficits, excessive levels of oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and glutamate excitatory mechanisms are all believed to contribute to the development and progression of the disease. Scoparia dulcis, Catharanthus roseus, Sesamum indicum, Erythrina senegalensis and Vigna unguiculata represent five plants that have been used as traditional medicines for the treatment of AD in certain cultures. Review of the scientific literature was conducted to explore the properties of these plants that might be beneficial and explain what would be perceived by many to be largely anecdotal evidence of their benefit. All plants were found to possess varying levels of anti-oxidant capability. Scoparia dulcis was also found to potentiate nerve growth factor-like effects upon cell lines. Catharanthus roseus appears to inhibit acetylcholinesterase with relatively high potency, while Sesamum indicum demonstrated the strongest antioxidant ability. Comparisons with currently used plant derived therapeutics illustrate how these plants may be likely to have some therapeutic benefits in AD. The evidence presented also highlights how appropriate dietary supplementation with some of these plants in various cultural settings might have effects analogous or complementary to the so-called protective Mediterranean diet. However, prior to embarking on making any formal recommendations to this end, further rigorous evaluation is needed to better elucidate the breadth and potential toxicological aspects of medicinal properties harboured by these plants. This would be vital to ensuring a more informed and safe delivery of preparations of these plants if they were to be considered as a form of dietary supplementation and where appropriate, how these might interact

Mass attenuation coefficients of X-rays in different medicinal plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morabad, R B [Department of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Physics, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga 585106, Karnataka (India); Kerur, B.R. [Department of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Physics, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga 585106, Karnataka (India)], E-mail: kerurbrk@yahoo.com

2010-02-15

The mass attenuation coefficients of specific parts of several plants, (fruits, leaves, stem and seeds) often used as medicines in the Indian herbal system, have been measured employing NaI (TI)) detector. The electronic setup used is a NaI (TI) detector, which is coupled to MCA for analysis of the spectrum. A source of {sup 241}Am is used to get X-rays in the energy range 8-32 keV from Cu, Rb, Mo, Ag and Ba targets. In the present study, the measured mass attenuation coefficient of Ocimum sanctum, Catharanthus roseus, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Azadirachta indica, Aegle marmelos, Zingiber officinalis, Emblica officinalis, Anacardium occidentale, Momordica charantia and Syzygium cumini show a linear relation with the energy.

Mass attenuation coefficients of X-rays in different medicinal plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morabad, R.B.; Kerur, B.R.

2010-01-01

The mass attenuation coefficients of specific parts of several plants, (fruits, leaves, stem and seeds) often used as medicines in the Indian herbal system, have been measured employing NaI (TI)) detector. The electronic setup used is a NaI (TI) detector, which is coupled to MCA for analysis of the spectrum. A source of 241 Am is used to get X-rays in the energy range 8-32 keV from Cu, Rb, Mo, Ag and Ba targets. In the present study, the measured mass attenuation coefficient of Ocimum sanctum, Catharanthus roseus, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Azadirachta indica, Aegle marmelos, Zingiber officinalis, Emblica officinalis, Anacardium occidentale, Momordica charantia and Syzygium cumini show a linear relation with the energy.

Some biological activities of pigments extracted from Micrococcus roseus (PTCC 1411) and Rhodotorula glutinis (PTCC 5257).

Science.gov (United States)

Rostami, Hossein; Hamedi, Hassan; Yolmeh, Mahmoud

2016-12-01

The importance of replacing synthetic pigments with natural types is increasing day by day in the food industry due to the harmful effects of some synthetic pigments. Microorganisms are a major source of natural pigments, which nowadays have attracted the attention of researchers. In this study, carotenoid pigments were produced by Micrococcus roseus and Rhodotorula glutinis, and some of their biological properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated. Given the results, bacteria, especially gram-positive bacteria, had higher sensitivity to the pigments extracted from M. roseus (PEM) and R. glutinis (PER) compared to molds so that Bacillus cereus and Alternaria citri had the highest and the lowest sensitivity, respectively. PER showed a higher antioxidant activity compared with PEM in the various methods of measuring antioxidant activity. In vitro and in vivo anti-tumor-promoting activities of PER were measured significantly more than PEM (P <0.05). Both pigment extracts remarkably inhibited the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced inflammation, so that ID 50 (50% inhibitory dose) of PEM and PER were 0.22 and 0.09 mg/ear, respectively. © The Author(s) 2016.

Molecular interaction of selected phytochemicals under the charged environment of Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) model.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Saumya K; Khedkar, Vijay M; Jha, Prakash C; Jasrai, Yogesh T; Pandya, Himanshu A; George, Linz-Buoy; Highland, Hyacinth N; Skelton, Adam A

2016-01-01

Phytochemicals of Catharanthus roseus Linn. and Tylophora indica have been known for their inhibition of malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum in cell culture. Resistance to chloroquine (CQ), a widely used antimalarial drug, is due to the CQ resistance transporter (CRT) system. The present study deals with computational modeling of Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) protein and development of charged environment to mimic a condition of resistance. The model of PfCRT was developed using Protein homology/analogy engine (PHYRE ver 0.2) and was validated based on the results obtained using PSI-PRED. Subsequently, molecular interactions of selected phytochemicals extracted from C. roseus Linn. and T. indica were studied using multiple-iterated genetic algorithm-based docking protocol in order to investigate the translocation of these legends across the PfCRT protein. Further, molecular dynamics studies exhibiting interaction energy estimates of these compounds within the active site of the protein showed that compounds are more selective toward PfCRT. Clusters of conformations with the free energy of binding were estimated which clearly demonstrated the potential channel and by this means the translocation across the PfCRT is anticipated.

In vitro antiplasmodial activity of ethanolic extracts of South Indian medicinal plants against Plasmodium falciparum

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Sundaram Ravikumar

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: To explore the antiplasmodial potential of Catharanthus roseus L (C. roseus, Coccinea grandis (C. grandis, Thevetia peruviana (T. peruviana, Prosopis juliflora (P. juliflora, Acacia nilotica (A. nilotica, Azadirachta indica (A. indica (Abr. Juss and Morinda pubescens (M. pubescens. Methods: The C. roseus L, C. grandis, T. peruviana, P. juliflora, A. nilotica, A. indica (Abr. Juss and M. pubescens were collected from Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India and the extraction was carried out in ethanol. The filter sterilized extracts (100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25 and 3.125 毺 g/mL were tested for antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum. The phytochemical constituents in the potential extracts were also detected. Results: Of the selected plants species, the bark extract of A. indica (Abr. Juss showed excellent antiplasmodial activity (IC50 29.77 毺 g/mL followed by leaf extract of A. indica (Abr. Juss (IC50 47.20 毺 g/mL and leaf extract of C. roseus L (IC50 49.63 毺 g/mL. The leaf, bark and flower extracts of P. juliflora showed IC50 values of more than 100 毺 g/mL. Statistical analysis reveals significant antiplasmodial activity (P<0.01 between the concentrations and time of exposure. Additionally, no chemical injury was found in the erythrocytes incubated with the ethanolic extract of all the tested plants. The in vitro antiplasmodial activity might be due to the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, carbohydrates, flavonoids, phenols, saponins, triterpenoids, proteins and tannins in the ethanolic extracts of the tested plants. Conclusions: The ethanolic bark extracts of A. indica (Abr. Juss possess lead compounds for the development of antiplasmodial drugs.

Meiothermus roseus sp. nov., a thermophilic bacterium isolated from a geothermal area.

Science.gov (United States)

Ming, Hong; Duan, Yan-Yan; Guo, Qian-Qian; Yin, Yi-Rui; Zhou, En-Min; Liu, Lan; Li, Shuai; Nie, Guo-Xing; Li, Wen-Jun

2015-10-01

Two closely related thermophilic bacterial strains, designated YIM 71031(T) and YIM 71039, were isolated from a hot spring in Tengchong county, Yunnan province, south-western China. The novel isolates were observed to be Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped and yellow-pigmented bacteria. The strains were found to be able to grow at 37-65 °C, pH 6.0-9.0 and with a NaCl tolerance up to 1.0 % (w/v). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences placed these two isolates in the genus Meiothermus. They were found to be closely related to Meiothermus timidus DSM 17022(T) (98.6 % similarity), and formed a cluster with this species. The predominant menaquinone was identified as MK-8 and the major fatty acids (>10 %) as anteiso-C15:0, iso-C15:0, anteiso-C17:0, iso-C16:0 and C16:0. The genomic DNA G+C contents of strains YIM 71031(T) and YIM 71039 were determined to be 64.0 and 65.4 mol%, respectively. DNA-DNA hybridizations showed low values between strains YIM 71031(T) and YIM 71039 and their closely related neighbour M. timidus DSM 17022(T). Morphological phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic results suggest that strains YIM 71031(T) and YIM 71039 are representatives of a new species within the genus Meiothermus, for which the name Meiothermus roseus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 71031(T) (=KCTC 42495(T) =NBRC 110900(T)).

Ethnomedicines used in Trinidad and Tobago for urinary problems and diabetes mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Lans, Cheryl A

2006-10-13

This paper is based on ethnobotanical interviews conducted from 1996-2000 in Trinidad and Tobago with thirty male and female respondents. A non-experimental validation was conducted on the plants used for urinary problems and diabetes mellitus: This is a preliminary step to establish that the plants used are safe or effective, to help direct clinical trials, and to inform Caribbean physicians of the plants' known properties to avoid counter-prescribing. The following plants are used to treat diabetes: Antigonon leptopus, Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa, Bixa orellana, Bontia daphnoides, Carica papaya, Catharanthus roseus, Cocos nucifera, Gomphrena globosa, Laportea aestuans, Momordica charantia, Morus alba, Phyllanthus urinaria and Spiranthes acaulis. Apium graviolens is used as a heart tonic and for low blood pressure. Bixa orellana, Bontia daphnoides, Cuscuta americana and Gomphrena globosa are used for jaundice. The following plants are used for hypertension: Aloe vera, Annona muricata, Artocarpus altilis, Bixa orellana, Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa, Bonta daphnoides, Carica papaya, Cecropia peltata, Citrus paradisi, Cola nitida, Crescentia cujete, Gomphrena globosa, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Kalanchoe pinnata, Morus alba, Nopalea cochinellifera, Ocimum campechianum, Passiflora quadrangularis, Persea americana and Tamarindus indicus. The plants used for kidney problems are Theobroma cacao, Chamaesyce hirta, Flemingia strobilifera, Peperomia rotundifolia, Petiveria alliacea, Nopalea cochinellifera, Apium graveolens, Cynodon dactylon, Eleusine indica, Gomphrena globosa, Pityrogramma calomelanos and Vetiveria zizanioides. Plants are also used for gall stones and for cooling. Chamaesyce hirta, Cissus verticillata, Kalanchoe pinnata, Peperomia spp., Portulaca oleraceae, Scoparia dulcis, and Zea mays have sufficient evidence to support their traditional use for urinary problems, "cooling" and high cholesterol. Eggplant extract as a hypocholesterolemic agent has some support but

Enhanced daidzin production from jasmonic and acetyl salicylic acid elicited hairy root cultures of Psoralea corylifolia L. (Fabaceae).

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Zaheer, Mohd; Reddy, Vudem Dashavantha; Giri, Charu Chandra

2016-07-01

Daidzin (7-O-glucoside of daidzein) has several pharmacological benefits in herbal remedy, as antioxidant and shown antidipsotropic activity. Hairy root culture of Psoralea corylifolia L. was developed for biomass and enhanced daidzin production using signalling compounds such as jasmonic acid (JA) and acetyl salicylic acid (ASA). Best response of 2.8-fold daidzin (5.09% DW) with 1 μM JA treatment after second week and 7.3-fold (3.43% DW) with 10 μM JA elicitation after 10th week was obtained from hairy roots compared to untreated control. ASA at 10 μM promoted 1.7-fold increase in daidzin (1.49% DW) content after seventh week compared to control (0.83% DW). Addition of 25 μM ASA resulted in 1.44% DW daidzin (1.5-fold increase) with 0.91% DW in control after fifth week and 1.44% DW daidzin (2.3-fold increase) after eighth week when compared to untreated control (0.62% DW). Reduced biomass with increased daidzin content was facilitated by elicited hairy root cultures.

Leaf and root glucosinolate profiles of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) as a systemic response to methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zang, Yun-xiang; Ge, Jia-li; Huang, Ling-hui; Gao, Fei; Lv, Xi-shan; Zheng, Wei-wei; Hong, Seung-beom; Zhu, Zhu-jun

2015-08-01

Glucosinolates (GSs) are an important group of defensive phytochemicals mainly found in Brassicaceae. Plant hormones jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) are major regulators of plant response to pathogen attack. However, there is little information about the interactive effect of both elicitors on inducing GS biosynthesis in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis). In this study, we applied different concentrations of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and/or SA onto the leaf and root of Chinese cabbage to investigate the time-course interactive profiles of GSs. Regardless of the site of the elicitation and the concentrations of the elicitors, the roots accumulated much more GSs and were more sensitive and more rapidly responsive to the elicitors than leaves. Irrespective of the elicitation site, MeJA had a greater inducing and longer lasting effect on GS accumulation than SA. All three components of indole GS (IGS) were detected along with aliphatic and aromatic GSs. However, IGS was a major component of total GSs that accumulated rapidly in both root and leaf tissues in response to MeJA and SA elicitation. Neoglucobrassicin (neoGBC) did not respond to SA but to MeJA in leaf tissue, while it responded to both SA and MeJA in root tissue. Conversion of glucobrassicin (GBC) to neoGBC occurred at a steady rate over 3 d of elicitation. Increased accumulation of 4-methoxy glucobrassicin (4-MGBC) occurred only in the root irrespective of the type of elicitors and the site of elicitation. Thus, accumulation of IGS is a major metabolic hallmark of SA- and MeJA-mediated systemic response systems. SA exerted an antagonistic effect on the MeJA-induced root GSs irrespective of the site of elicitation. However, SA showed synergistic and antagonistic effects on the MeJA-induced leaf GSs when roots and leaves are elicitated for 3 d, respectively.

An assay for secologanin in plant tissues based on enzymatic conversion into strictosidine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallard, Didier; van der Heijden, Robert; Contin, Adriana

1998-01-01

strictosidine, a reaction catalysed by the enzyme strictosidine synthase (STR; E.C. 4.3.3.2). Subsequently, the formation of strictosidine is quantified by HPLC. STR was isolated from transgenic Nicotiana tabacum cells expressing a cDNA-derived gene coding for STR from Catharanthus roseus. The high specificity......The secoiridoid glucoside secologanin is the terpenoid building block in the biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids. A method for its determination in plant tissues and cell suspension cultures has been developed. This assay is based on the condensation of secologanin with tryptamine, yielding...... of STR for secologanin, in combination with a sensitive and selective HPLC system, allows a simple extraction of secologanin from plant tissue. The detection limit of this methos is 15 ng secologanin. Using this assay, secologanin contents were determined in tissues of various plant species; Lonicera...

New records of xanthid crabs Atergatis roseus (Rüppell, 1830 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura from Iraqi coast, south of Basrah city, Iraq

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Khaled Khassaf Al-Khafaji

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Specimens of the The Brachyuran crab Atergatis roseus (Ruppell, 1830, were collected for first times from Iraqi coast, south Al-Faw, Basrah city, Iraq, in coast of northwest of Arabian Gulf. Morphological features and distribution pattern of this species are highlighted and a figure is provided. The material was mostly collected from the shallow subtidal and intertidal areas using trawl net and hand.

High quality draft genome sequence and analysis of Pontibacter roseus type strain SRC-1T (DSM 17521T) isolated from muddy waters of a drainage system in Chandigarh, India

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mukherjee, Supratim; Lapidus, Alla; Shapiro, Nicole; Cheng, Jan-Fang; Han, James; Reddy, TBK; Huntemann, Marcel; Ivanova, Natalia; Mikhailova, Natalia; Chen, Amy; Palaniappan, Krishna; Spring, Stefan; Göker, Markus; Markowitz, Victor; Woyke, Tanja; Tindall, Brian J.; Klenk, Hans-Peter; Kyrpides, Nikos C.; Pati, Amrita

2015-01-01

Pontibacter roseus Suresh et al 2006 is a member of genus Pontibacter family Cytophagaceae, class Cytophagia. While the type species of the genus Pontibacter actiniarum was isolated in 2005 from a marine environment, subsequent species of the same genus have been found in different types of habitats ranging from seawater, sediment, desert soil, rhizosphere, contaminated sites, solar saltern and muddy water. Here we describe the features of Pontibacter roseus strain SRC-1T along with its complete genome sequence and annotation from a culture of DSM 17521T. The 4,581,480 bp long draft genome consists of 12 scaffolds with 4,003 protein-coding and 50 RNA genes and is a part of Genomic encyclopedia of Type Strains, Phase I: the one thousand microbial genomes (KMG-I) project.

Production and optimization of carotenoid-enriched dried distiller's grains with solubles by Phaffia rhodozyma and Sporobolomyces roseus fermentation of whole stillage.

Science.gov (United States)

Ananda, Nanjundaswamy; Vadlani, Praveen V

2010-11-01

Whole stillage--a co-product of grain-based ethanol--is used as an animal feed in the form of dried distiller's grain with solubles (DDGS). Since animals cannot synthesize carotenoids and animal feed is generally poor in carotenoids, about 30-120 ppm of total carotenoids are added to animal feed to improve animal health, enhance meat color and quality, and increase vitamin A levels in milk and meat. The main objective of this study was to produce carotenoid (astaxanthin and β-carotene)-enriched DDGS by submerged fermentation of whole stillage. Mono- and mixed cultures of red yeasts, Phaffia rhodozyma (ATCC 24202) and Sporobolomyces roseus (ATCC 28988), were used to produce astaxanthin and β-carotene. Media optimization was carried out in shake flasks using response surface methodology (RSM). Macro ingredients, namely whole stillage, corn steep liquor and glycerol, were fitted to a second-degree polynomial in RSM. Under optimized conditions, astaxanthin and β-carotene yields in mixed culture and P. rhodozyma monoculture were 5 and 278, 97, and 275 μg/g, respectively, while S. roseus produced 278 μg/g of β-carotene. Since the carotenoid yields are almost twice the quantity used in animal feed, the carotenoid-enriched DDGS has potential application as "value-added animal feed or feed blends."

Analysis of iridoids content and expression studies of genes encoding early enzymes in the indol terpenoid biosynthesis pathway in Catharanthus roseus Análisis de iridoides y expresión de genes que codifican enzimas tempranas en la síntesis de alcaloides indol terpenoicos en Catharanthus roseus

OpenAIRE

Leech Mark; Palacios-Rojas Natalia

2004-01-01

Terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIA) are of pharmaceutical importance, however the industrial use of these compouds is very limited because its accumulation is very low in plant tissues. TIA are derived f rom the shikimate and terpenoid pathways, which supply secologanin and tryptamine, the indole and iridoid moieties, respectively. Secololganin is a terpenoid which is belived to be synthesised the MEP pathway rather than by the acetate/mevalonic acid pathway. Secologanin is thought to be a limit...

Ethnomedicines used in Trinidad and Tobago for urinary problems and diabetes mellitus

Science.gov (United States)

Lans, Cheryl A

2006-01-01

Background This paper is based on ethnobotanical interviews conducted from 1996–2000 in Trinidad and Tobago with thirty male and female respondents. Methods A non-experimental validation was conducted on the plants used for urinary problems and diabetes mellitus: This is a preliminary step to establish that the plants used are safe or effective, to help direct clinical trials, and to inform Caribbean physicians of the plants' known properties to avoid counter-prescribing. Results The following plants are used to treat diabetes: Antigonon leptopus, Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa, Bixa orellana, Bontia daphnoides, Carica papaya, Catharanthus roseus, Cocos nucifera, Gomphrena globosa, Laportea aestuans, Momordica charantia, Morus alba, Phyllanthus urinaria and Spiranthes acaulis. Apium graviolens is used as a heart tonic and for low blood pressure. Bixa orellana, Bontia daphnoides, Cuscuta americana and Gomphrena globosa are used for jaundice. The following plants are used for hypertension: Aloe vera, Annona muricata, Artocarpus altilis, Bixa orellana, Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa, Bonta daphnoides, Carica papaya, Cecropia peltata, Citrus paradisi, Cola nitida, Crescentia cujete, Gomphrena globosa, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Kalanchoe pinnata, Morus alba, Nopalea cochinellifera, Ocimum campechianum, Passiflora quadrangularis, Persea americana and Tamarindus indicus. The plants used for kidney problems are Theobroma cacao, Chamaesyce hirta, Flemingia strobilifera, Peperomia rotundifolia, Petiveria alliacea, Nopalea cochinellifera, Apium graveolens, Cynodon dactylon, Eleusine indica, Gomphrena globosa, Pityrogramma calomelanos and Vetiveria zizanioides. Plants are also used for gall stones and for cooling. Conclusion Chamaesyce hirta, Cissus verticillata, Kalanchoe pinnata, Peperomia spp., Portulaca oleraceae, Scoparia dulcis, and Zea mays have sufficient evidence to support their traditional use for urinary problems, "cooling" and high cholesterol. Eggplant extract as a

Ethnomedicines used in Trinidad and Tobago for urinary problems and diabetes mellitus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lans Cheryl A

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper is based on ethnobotanical interviews conducted from 1996–2000 in Trinidad and Tobago with thirty male and female respondents. Methods A non-experimental validation was conducted on the plants used for urinary problems and diabetes mellitus: This is a preliminary step to establish that the plants used are safe or effective, to help direct clinical trials, and to inform Caribbean physicians of the plants' known properties to avoid counter-prescribing. Results The following plants are used to treat diabetes: Antigonon leptopus, Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa, Bixa orellana, Bontia daphnoides, Carica papaya, Catharanthus roseus, Cocos nucifera, Gomphrena globosa, Laportea aestuans, Momordica charantia, Morus alba, Phyllanthus urinaria and Spiranthes acaulis. Apium graviolens is used as a heart tonic and for low blood pressure. Bixa orellana, Bontia daphnoides, Cuscuta americana and Gomphrena globosa are used for jaundice. The following plants are used for hypertension: Aloe vera, Annona muricata, Artocarpus altilis, Bixa orellana, Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa, Bonta daphnoides, Carica papaya, Cecropia peltata, Citrus paradisi, Cola nitida, Crescentia cujete, Gomphrena globosa, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Kalanchoe pinnata, Morus alba, Nopalea cochinellifera, Ocimum campechianum, Passiflora quadrangularis, Persea americana and Tamarindus indicus. The plants used for kidney problems are Theobroma cacao, Chamaesyce hirta, Flemingia strobilifera, Peperomia rotundifolia, Petiveria alliacea, Nopalea cochinellifera, Apium graveolens, Cynodon dactylon, Eleusine indica, Gomphrena globosa, Pityrogramma calomelanos and Vetiveria zizanioides. Plants are also used for gall stones and for cooling. Conclusion Chamaesyce hirta, Cissus verticillata, Kalanchoe pinnata, Peperomia spp., Portulaca oleraceae, Scoparia dulcis, and Zea mays have sufficient evidence to support their traditional use for urinary problems, "cooling" and high cholesterol

A Picrinine N-Methyltransferase Belongs to a New Family of γ-Tocopherol-Like Methyltransferases Found in Medicinal Plants That Make Biologically Active Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids1[OPEN

Science.gov (United States)

Levac, Dylan; Cázares, Paulo; Yu, Fang

2016-01-01

Members of the Apocynaceae plant family produce a large number of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) with different substitution patterns that are responsible for their various biological activities. A novel N-methyltransferase involved in the vindoline pathway in Catharanthus roseus showing distinct similarity to γ-tocopherol C-methyltransferases was used in a bioinformatic screen of transcriptomes from Vinca minor, Rauvolfia serpentina, and C. roseus to identify 10 γ-tocopherol-like N-methyltransferases from a large annotated transcriptome database of different MIA-producing plant species (www.phytometasyn.ca). The biochemical function of two members of this group cloned from V. minor (VmPiNMT) and R. serpentina (RsPiNMT) have been characterized by screening their biochemical activities against potential MIA substrates harvested from the leaf surfaces of MIA-accumulating plants. The approach was validated by identifying the MIA picrinine from leaf surfaces of Amsonia hubrichtii as a substrate of VmPiNMT and RsPiNMT. Recombinant proteins were shown to have high substrate specificity and affinity for picrinine, converting it to N-methylpicrinine (ervincine). Developmental studies with V. minor and R. serpentina showed that RsPiNMT and VmPiNMT gene expression and biochemical activities were highest in younger leaf tissues. The assembly of at least 150 known N-methylated MIAs within members of the Apocynaceae family may have occurred as a result of the evolution of the γ-tocopherol-like N-methyltransferase family from γ-tocopherol methyltransferases. PMID:26848097

Inactivation of cephapirin sodium by the radiation-resistant strain micrococcus roseus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tawfik, Z.S.

1991-01-01

The susceptibility of the radioresistant mutants B. firmus, B.megaterium, B, laterosporus, M. roseus and M. luteus to the betalactam antibiotic cephapirin sodium was estimated using the microbiological assay technique. All the studied species were found to be sensitive to the concerned antibiotic except the radioresistant mutant M. rosues. Accordingly, the inactivation of betalactam, antibiotic cephapirin sodium, by this mutant strain was interesting to be investigated. A microbiological assay was used to determine the potency of the studied antibiotic and its degraded compound produced after its incubation with the above mentioned mutant strain for different periods of time in basal salt mineral medium.Results obtained for antibiotic samples extracted after 7-day incubation with the mutant strain indicated that the antibiotic was metabolized by this mutant strain to inactive products. These results were confirmed by chromatograms of the antibiotic samples, extracted from cultures with the mutant incubated for zero, 7 and 14 days. Degraded products were eluted at retention time values different from those observed for the noninucubated antibiotic samples. The inactivation of the antibiotic by the studied mutant starin seems to be due to extracellular enzymes in the surrounding medium.1 tab

Effect of jasmonic acid elicitation on the yield, chemical composition, and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of essential oil of lettuce leaf basil (Ocimum basilicum L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Złotek, Urszula; Michalak-Majewska, Monika; Szymanowska, Urszula

2016-12-15

The effect of elicitation with jasmonic acid (JA) on the plant yield, the production and composition of essential oils of lettuce leaf basil was evaluated. JA-elicitation slightly affected the yield of plants and significantly increased the amount of essential oils produced by basil - the highest oil yield (0.78±0.005mL/100gdw) was achieved in plants elicited with 100μM JA. The application of the tested elicitor also influenced the chemical composition of basil essential oils - 100μM JA increased the linalool, eugenol, and limonene levels, while 1μM JA caused the highest increase in the methyl eugenol content. Essential oils from JA-elicited basil (especially 1μM and 100μM) exhibited more effective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential; therefore, this inducer may be a very useful biochemical tool for improving production and composition of herbal essential oils. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Isolation, characterization and chromatography based purification of antibacterial compound isolated from rare endophytic actinomycetes Micrococcus yunnanensis

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Ravi Ranjan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Endophytic actinomycetes are considered as one of the relatively unexplored potential sources in search of antibiotic producer against antibiotic resistant pathogens. A potent strain isolated from Catharanthus roseus that displays antibacterial potential against antibiotic resistant human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus was characterized and designated as Micrococcus yunnanensis strain rsk5. Rsk5 is capable of producing optimum antibacterial metabolites on starch casein medium at 30 °C, pH 5 and 2% NaCl condition. The crude antibacterial agent was extracted from fermentation broth by ethyl acetate and separated by TLC using chloroform-methanol (24:1, v/v solvent system with Rf value of 0.26. It was partially purified by flash chromatography, followed by HPLC and analyzed by ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer to get absorption maxima at 208.4 nm. The ESI-MS spectra showed molecular ion peaks at m/z 472.4 [M-H], which does not match with any known antibacterial compound.

Isolation, characterization and chromatography based purification of antibacterial compound isolated from rare endophytic actinomycetes Micrococcus yunnanensis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranjan, Ravi; Jadeja, Vasantba

2017-10-01

Endophytic actinomycetes are considered as one of the relatively unexplored potential sources in search of antibiotic producer against antibiotic resistant pathogens. A potent strain isolated from Catharanthus roseus that displays antibacterial potential against antibiotic resistant human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus was characterized and designated as Micrococcus yunnanensis strain rsk5. Rsk5 is capable of producing optimum antibacterial metabolites on starch casein medium at 30 °C, pH 5 and 2% NaCl condition. The crude antibacterial agent was extracted from fermentation broth by ethyl acetate and separated by TLC using chloroform-methanol (24:1, v/v) solvent system with R f value of 0.26. It was partially purified by flash chromatography, followed by HPLC and analyzed by ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer to get absorption maxima at 208.4 nm. The ESI-MS spectra showed molecular ion peaks at m / z 472.4 [M-H], which does not match with any known antibacterial compound.

Spiribacter roseus sp. nov., a moderately halophilic species of the genus Spiribacter from salterns.

Science.gov (United States)

León, María José; Vera-Gargallo, Blanca; Sánchez-Porro, Cristina; Ventosa, Antonio

2016-10-01

Four pink-pigmented, non-motile, Gram-staining-negative and moderately halophilic curved rods, designated strains SSL50T, SSL25, SSL97 and SSL4, were isolated from a saltern located in Isla Cristina, Huelva, south-west Spain. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that they were members of the genus Spiribacter, most closely related to Spiribacter curvatus UAH-SP71T (99.3-99.5 % sequence similarity) and Spiribacter salinus M19-40T (96.5-96.7 %). Other related strains were Alkalilimnicola ehrlichii MLHE-1T (95.1-95.3 %), Arhodomonas recens RS91T (95.1-95.2 %) and Arhodomonas aquaeolei ATCC 49307T (95.0-95.1 %), all members of the family Ectothiorhodospiraceae. The major fatty acids were C18 : 1ω6c and/or C18 : 1ω7c, C16 : 0 and C12 : 0. The DNA G+C range was 64.0-66.3 mol%. The DNA-DNA hybridization values between strains SSL50T, SSL25, SSL97, SSL4 and S. piribacter. curvatus UAH-SP71T were 37-49 %. The average nucleotide identity (ANIb) values between the genome of strain SSL50T and those of the two other representatives of the genus Spiribacter, S. curvatus UAH-SP71T and S. salinus M19-40T, were 82.4 % and 79.1 %, respectively, supporting the proposal of a novel species of the genus Spiribacter. On the basis of the polyphasic analysis, the four new isolates are considered to represent a novel species of the genus Spiribacter, for which the name Spiribacter roseus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SSL50T (=CECT 9117T=IBRC-M 11076T).

Strictosidine activation in Apocynaceae: towards a "nuclear time bomb"?

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Guirimand Grégory

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The first two enzymatic steps of monoterpene indole alkaloid (MIA biosynthetic pathway are catalysed by strictosidine synthase (STR that condensates tryptamine and secologanin to form strictosidine and by strictosidine β-D-glucosidase (SGD that subsequently hydrolyses the glucose moiety of strictosidine. The resulting unstable aglycon is rapidly converted into a highly reactive dialdehyde, from which more than 2,000 MIAs are derived. Many studies were conducted to elucidate the biosynthesis and regulation of pharmacologically valuable MIAs such as vinblastine and vincristine in Catharanthus roseus or ajmaline in Rauvolfia serpentina. However, very few reports focused on the MIA physiological functions. Results In this study we showed that a strictosidine pool existed in planta and that the strictosidine deglucosylation product(s was (were specifically responsible for in vitro protein cross-linking and precipitation suggesting a potential role for strictosidine activation in plant defence. The spatial feasibility of such an activation process was evaluated in planta. On the one hand, in situ hybridisation studies showed that CrSTR and CrSGD were coexpressed in the epidermal first barrier of C. roseus aerial organs. However, a combination of GFP-imaging, bimolecular fluorescence complementation and electromobility shift-zymogram experiments revealed that STR from both C. roseus and R. serpentina were localised to the vacuole whereas SGD from both species were shown to accumulate as highly stable supramolecular aggregates within the nucleus. Deletion and fusion studies allowed us to identify and to demonstrate the functionality of CrSTR and CrSGD targeting sequences. Conclusions A spatial model was drawn to explain the role of the subcellular sequestration of STR and SGD to control the MIA metabolic flux under normal physiological conditions. The model also illustrates the possible mechanism of massive activation of the

Strictosidine activation in Apocynaceae: towards a "nuclear time bomb"?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background The first two enzymatic steps of monoterpene indole alkaloid (MIA) biosynthetic pathway are catalysed by strictosidine synthase (STR) that condensates tryptamine and secologanin to form strictosidine and by strictosidine β-D-glucosidase (SGD) that subsequently hydrolyses the glucose moiety of strictosidine. The resulting unstable aglycon is rapidly converted into a highly reactive dialdehyde, from which more than 2,000 MIAs are derived. Many studies were conducted to elucidate the biosynthesis and regulation of pharmacologically valuable MIAs such as vinblastine and vincristine in Catharanthus roseus or ajmaline in Rauvolfia serpentina. However, very few reports focused on the MIA physiological functions. Results In this study we showed that a strictosidine pool existed in planta and that the strictosidine deglucosylation product(s) was (were) specifically responsible for in vitro protein cross-linking and precipitation suggesting a potential role for strictosidine activation in plant defence. The spatial feasibility of such an activation process was evaluated in planta. On the one hand, in situ hybridisation studies showed that CrSTR and CrSGD were coexpressed in the epidermal first barrier of C. roseus aerial organs. However, a combination of GFP-imaging, bimolecular fluorescence complementation and electromobility shift-zymogram experiments revealed that STR from both C. roseus and R. serpentina were localised to the vacuole whereas SGD from both species were shown to accumulate as highly stable supramolecular aggregates within the nucleus. Deletion and fusion studies allowed us to identify and to demonstrate the functionality of CrSTR and CrSGD targeting sequences. Conclusions A spatial model was drawn to explain the role of the subcellular sequestration of STR and SGD to control the MIA metabolic flux under normal physiological conditions. The model also illustrates the possible mechanism of massive activation of the strictosidine vacuolar pool

Geminicoccus roseus gen. nov., sp. nov., an aerobic phototrophic Alphaproteobacterium isolated from a marine aquaculture biofilter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foesel, Bärbel U.; Gößner, Anita S.; Drake, Harold L.

2007-01-01

A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, diplococcoid bacterium (strain D2-3T) was isolated from the biofilter of a recirculating marine aquaculture system. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of D2-3T indicated that the new organism occupied a novel lineage within the α-1 subclass...... of the DNA was 60.3±0.1 mol%. Phylogenetic, morphological, physiological, and biochemical analyses demonstrated that D2-3T represented a new aerobic phototrophic genus, for which the name Geminicoccus roseus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed for the type species (D2-3T=DSM 18922T=ATCC BAA-1445T)....

Gamma irradiation effect on the formation of Clonal variation from catharantus roseus plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Syukur, Sumaryati

2000-01-01

Clonal variation have been found in Catharantus roseus plant after gamma irradiation. Several doses have been used to produce clonal variation. The most effective doses used to perform better clonal variation was 20 krad. About 103 seeds irradiated for every radiation treatment, but only several clones were grown better than wild type. We have success to get (M) seeds the expected mutant. The seeds from selected mutant are bigger when compare to the wild type and growth better on medium containing 5-methyl Tryptophan (5-MT). The chlorophyll content is higher (almost twice) as compared to the wild type. Fulther experiment continue to do in vitro culture in order to develop embryonic callus from leaf tip and leaf base. Several manipulation of auxin and cytokini have been used to differentiate the callus formation. Modified MS medium with kinetin and cytokinin (10:1) can induce globular embryo like structure. Dragendrof alkaloid reagent were used to determine high alkaloid clones from the expected mutant. TLC analysis from callus mutant shows 3 clear bands with subsequence Rf about 0.22, 0.58 while control shows two smearing bands at 0.21 and 0.52

Beneficial behavior of nitric oxide in copper-treated medicinal plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shiliang; Yang, Rongjie; Pan, Yuanzhi; Ren, Bo; Chen, Qibing; Li, Xi; Xiong, Xi; Tao, Jianjun; Cheng, Qingsu; Ma, Mingdong

2016-08-15

Despite numerous reports implicating nitric oxide (NO) in the environmental-stress responses of plants, the specific metabolic and ionic mechanisms of NO-mediated adaptation to metal stress remain unclear. Here, the impacts of copper (Cu) and NO donor (SNP, 50μM) alone or in combination on the well-known medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus L. were investigated. Our results showed that Cu markedly increased Cu(2+) accumulation, decreased NO production, and disrupted mineral equilibrium and proton pumps, thereby stimulating a burst of ROS; in addition, SNP ameliorates the negative toxicity of Cu, and cPTIO reverses this action. Furthermore, the accumulations of ROS and NO resulted in reciprocal changes. Interestingly, nearly all of the investigated amino acids and the total phenolic content in the roots were promoted by the SNP treatment but were depleted by the Cu+SNP treatment, which is consistent with the self-evident increases in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity and total soluble phenol content induced by SNP. Unexpectedly, leaf vincristine and vinblastine as well as the total alkaloid content (ca. 1.5-fold) were decreased by Cu but markedly increased by SNP (+38% and +49% of the control levels). This study provides the first evidence of the beneficial behavior of NO, rather than other compounds, in depleting Cu toxicity by regulating mineral absorption, reestablishing ATPase activities, and stimulating secondary metabolites. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Current glimpse of airborne allergenic pollen in Indian subcontinent

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Kavita Ghosal

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Respiratory allergic diseases such as bronchial asthma, rhinitis, urticaria, atopic dermatitis have been steadily increasing all over the world, including India. Owing to its alarming trend, several aerobiological surveys have been undertaken in different parts of India to delineate the variety of pollen and spore load. In this review, we have reported the current state of aerobiological knowladge in India with particular reference to allergenic airborn pollen occurence in 2001–2015. Pollen have been found to contribute a significant proportion in the air and caused allergy symptoms in the local inhabitants. Aerobiological records, a questionnaire survey and hospitalization records have been employed for the analysis. Holoptelea integrifolia, Amaranthus spinosus in northern region, Sorghum vulgare, Pennisetum, Gynandropsis gynandra, Parthenium hysterophorus, Dolichandrone platycalyx in southern regions, and Parthenium hysterophorus from the western region; Cynodon dactylon, Cenchrus ciliaris in the central area; Acacia auriculiformis, Cleome gynandra, Catharanthus roseus, Phoenix sylvestris, Areca catechu, and Lantana camara in the eastern regions as potential aeroallergens in India. The statistical approach confirmed the correlation between hospitalization rate associated with allergy-related health troubles and the prevalent allergenic pollen in the air. The Poaceae group has been found to be dominant throughout India. Immuno-biochemical studies identified various protein with allergenic potential found in the pollen recorded. Epitope identification and homology of the major allergenic protein Cat r1 of Catharanthus sp and Par j 1 of Parietaria judaica have been found. Identification of allergenic pollen grains and the modern approach concerning cross-reactivity and epitope revelation of dominant airborne pollen have important clinical implications for the prevention, diagnosis and treatments of allergic diseases in India.

Candidatus Phytoplasma malaysianum, a novel taxon associated with virescence and phyllody of Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus)

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This study addressed the taxonomic position and group classification of a phytoplasma responsible for virescence and phyllody symptoms in naturally diseased Madagascar periwinkle plants in western Malaysia. Unique regions in the 16S rRNA gene from the Malaysian periwinkle virescence (MaPV) phytopla...

Beneficial behavior of nitric oxide in copper-treated medicinal plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Shiliang, E-mail: liushiliang9@163.com [College of Landscape Architecture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130 (China); Yang, Rongjie; Pan, Yuanzhi [College of Landscape Architecture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130 (China); Ren, Bo [Institute of Biotechnology & Breeding, Sichuan Academy of Forestry, Chengdu, Sichuan 610081 (China); Chen, Qibing; Li, Xi [College of Landscape Architecture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130 (China); Xiong, Xi [College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 (United States); Tao, Jianjun [College of Landscape Architecture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130 (China); Cheng, Qingsu [Division of Life Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Department of Electrical & Biomedical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557 (United States); Ma, Mingdong, E-mail: 610245498@qq.com [College of Landscape Architecture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130 (China)

2016-08-15

Highlights: • Endogenous NO and ROS accumulation were inversely related. • Selected amino acids in the roots were increased by SNP. • NO induced regulation of phenolic metabolism for protection against Cu toxicity. • SNP improved the vincristine, vinblastine and total alkaloid contents in Cu-treated plants. - Abstract: Despite numerous reports implicating nitric oxide (NO) in the environmental-stress responses of plants, the specific metabolic and ionic mechanisms of NO-mediated adaptation to metal stress remain unclear. Here, the impacts of copper (Cu) and NO donor (SNP, 50 μM) alone or in combination on the well-known medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus L. were investigated. Our results showed that Cu markedly increased Cu{sup 2+} accumulation, decreased NO production, and disrupted mineral equilibrium and proton pumps, thereby stimulating a burst of ROS; in addition, SNP ameliorates the negative toxicity of Cu, and cPTIO reverses this action. Furthermore, the accumulations of ROS and NO resulted in reciprocal changes. Interestingly, nearly all of the investigated amino acids and the total phenolic content in the roots were promoted by the SNP treatment but were depleted by the Cu + SNP treatment, which is consistent with the self-evident increases in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity and total soluble phenol content induced by SNP. Unexpectedly, leaf vincristine and vinblastine as well as the total alkaloid content (ca. 1.5-fold) were decreased by Cu but markedly increased by SNP (+38% and +49% of the control levels). This study provides the first evidence of the beneficial behavior of NO, rather than other compounds, in depleting Cu toxicity by regulating mineral absorption, reestablishing ATPase activities, and stimulating secondary metabolites.

Reverse zymography alone does not confirm presence of a protease inhibitor.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Sangita; Bhattacharyya, Debasish

2013-03-01

Reverse zymography is applied for identification and semi-quantification of protease inhibitors that are of protein in nature. However, a protein that shows band in reverse zymography against a protease used for digestion of the gel need not be an inhibitor; it might be resistant to degradation by the protease. We demonstrate that in reverse zymography, avidin, streptavidin and the leaf extract of Catharanthus roseus behave like inhibitors of proteases like papain, ficin, bromelain extracts from pineapple leaf, stem and fruit and trypsin. Still, they do not act as inhibitors of those proteases when enzyme assays were done in solution. In reverse zymography, the extract of pineapple crown leaf shows two major inhibitor bands against its own proteases. Identification of these proteins from sequences derived from MALDI TOF MS analysis indicated that they are fruit and stem bromelains. Avidin, streptavidin and bromelains are 'kinetically stable proteins' that are usually resistant to proteolysis. Thus, it is recommended that identification of an inhibitor of a protease by reverse zymography should be supported by independent assay methods for confirmation.

Magnetic field exposure stiffens regenerating plant protoplast cell walls.

Science.gov (United States)

Haneda, Toshihiko; Fujimura, Yuu; Iino, Masaaki

2006-02-01

Single suspension-cultured plant cells (Catharanthus roseus) and their protoplasts were anchored to a glass plate and exposed to a magnetic field of 302 +/- 8 mT for several hours. Compression forces required to produce constant cell deformation were measured parallel to the magnetic field by means of a cantilever-type force sensor. Exposure of intact cells to the magnetic field did not result in any changes within experimental error, while exposure of regenerating protoplasts significantly increased the measured forces and stiffened regenerating protoplasts. The diameters of intact cells or regenerating protoplasts were not changed after exposure to the magnetic field. Measured forces for regenerating protoplasts with and without exposure to the magnetic field increased linearly with incubation time, with these forces being divided into components based on the elasticity of synthesized cell walls and cytoplasm. Cell wall synthesis was also measured using a cell wall-specific fluorescent dye, and no changes were noted after exposure to the magnetic field. Analysis suggested that exposure to the magnetic field roughly tripled the Young's modulus of the newly synthesized cell wall without any lag.

Pretreatment of Parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) Suspension Cultures with Methyl Jasmonate Enhances Elicitation of Activated Oxygen Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Kauss, H.; Jeblick, W.; Ziegler, J.; Krabler, W.

1994-01-01

Suspension-cultured cells of parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) were used to demonstrate an influence of jasmonic acid methyl ester (JAME) on the elicitation of activated oxygen species. Preincubation of the cell cultures for 1 d with JAME greatly enhanced the subsequent induction by an elicitor preparation from cell walls of Phytophtora megasperma f. sp. glycinea (Pmg elicitor) and by the polycation chitosan. Shorter preincubation times with JAME were less efficient, and the effect was saturated at about 5 [mu]M JAME. Treatment of the crude Pmg elicitor with trypsin abolished induction of activated oxygen species, an effect similar to that seen with elicitation of coumarin secretion. These results suggest that JAME conditioned the parsley suspension cells in a time-dependent manner to become more responsive to elicitation, reminiscent of developmental effects caused by JAME in whole plants. It is interesting that pretreatment of the parsley cultures with 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic and 5-chlorosalicylic acid only slightly enhanced the elicitation of activated oxygen species, whereas these substances greatly enhanced the elicitation of coumarin secretion. Therefore, these presumed inducers of systemic acquired resistance exhibit a specificity different from JAME. PMID:12232189

Induction of phenolic compounds in Hypericum perforatum L. cells by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Conceição, Luis F R; Ferreres, Federico; Tavares, Rui M; Dias, Alberto C P

2006-01-01

Changes in phenolic metabolism after elicitation with Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (CG) has been studied in Hypericum perforatum L. (HP) cell suspension cultures. Soluble phenolics were analysed by HPLC-DAD and HPLC-DAD-MS/MS. HP cultures elicited with the CG elicitor showed a significant increase in xanthone accumulation. Xanthone accumulation increased twelve fold when the cells were primed with methyl-jasmonate (MeJ) or salicylic acid (SA), before elicitation. HP cultures exposed only to MeJ produced a set of flavonoids, the flavones which represent a substantial part (approx. 40%) of the total flavonoids accumulated in these cells. The possible importance of xanthones as a component of defence mechanism of HP against biotic stress is discussed.

Stable and High Ajmalicine or Serpentine Production of Gamma Radiation Induction Mutant Catharantus Roseus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sumaryati Syukur

2004-01-01

Catharantus roseus Mutant have been selected by gamma irradiation with 20 krad doses of radiation and characterized as biochemical mutant with anti-feed back inhibition mechanism of tritophan decarboxylase (TDR) enzyme in biosynthetic path way of indole alkaloid. Production of indole alkaloid mainly ajmalicine with high economical values as a pharmaceutical drug for heart attack have been studied by using cell suspension cultures with several variation of medium, elicitors and stress osmosis. This treatment produced variation of indole alkaloid ajmalicine and serpentine. Several induction methods using Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium and polyethylene glycol PEG (6000) 1 to 7%, with hormones concentration of 2,4-D and kinetin as (10 : 1), showed optimal results of ajmalicine range between 20 and 50 nmol/gFW, and serpentine 10 to 60 nmol/gFW. This production increases ten time in mutant (20 Krad) by stress osmotic condition and performed long term stability in culture without subculture. In this paper explanation in detail about the selection methods, stability of mutant and the production of indole alkaloid ajmalicine and serpentine during growth phase, such as adaptation, log, and stationar in suspention culture of mutan cells. (author)

Effect of plant and fungous metabolites on Meloidogyne exigua Efeito de metabólitos vegetais e fúngicos sobre Meloidogyne exigua

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Daniel Rufino Amaral

2009-01-01

Full Text Available As nematodes cause great damage to Brazilian coffee production, effective methods to control these parasites are necessary. In a previous work Allium cepa L., Cajanus cajan (L. Mill., Crotalaria juncea L., Ficus elastica Roxb., Ruta graveolens L., Stylosanthes guianensis Aubl., Leucaena leucocephala (Lam. Dewit., Brachiaria decumbens Stapf., Catharanthus roseus G. Don, Tagetes minuta L., Ricinus communis L. and Coffea arabica L. produced active substances against Meloidogyne exigua Goeldi, a nematode widely disseminated through Brazilian coffee fields. Thus, aqueous extracts of such plants, collected in a different season from that of the previous work, as well as crude metabolites produced in liquid medium by Fusarium moniliforme Shelden and Cylindrocarpon magnusianum (Sacc. Woll., were submitted to in vitro assays with M. exigua second-stage juveniles (J2. All plants and fungi produced active substances against J2. Therefore, their metabolites were applied to six-month-old coffee plants inoculated with M. exigua. After 90 days in a greenhouse, those samples obtained from A. cepa, L. leucocephala, R. graveolens and F. moniliforme inhibited the production of galls and eggs by M. exigua, demonstrating potential to control such parasite.Os nematóides acarretam grandes perdas aos produtores brasileiros de café, sendo necessário o desenvolvimento de métodos eficientes para o seu controle. Em trabalho anterior, Allium cepa L., Cajanus cajan (L. Mill., Crotalaria juncea L., Ficus elastica Roxb., Ruta graveolens L., Stylosanthes guianensis Aubl., Leucaena leucocephala (Lam. Dewit., Brachiaria decumbens Stapf., Catharanthus roseus G. Don, Tagetes minuta L., Ricinus communis L. e Coffea arabica L. produziram substâncias ativas contra o nematóide Meloidogyne exigua Goeldi, que é amplamente disseminado pelos cafezais brasileiros. Dando continuidade a esse trabalho, extratos aquosos das plantas mencionadas, coletadas em época diferente daquela

Development of transcriptomic resources for interrogating the biosynthesis of monoterpene indole alkaloids in medicinal plant species.

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Elsa Góngora-Castillo

Full Text Available The natural diversity of plant metabolism has long been a source for human medicines. One group of plant-derived compounds, the monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs, includes well-documented therapeutic agents used in the treatment of cancer (vinblastine, vincristine, camptothecin, hypertension (reserpine, ajmalicine, malaria (quinine, and as analgesics (7-hydroxymitragynine. Our understanding of the biochemical pathways that synthesize these commercially relevant compounds is incomplete due in part to a lack of molecular, genetic, and genomic resources for the identification of the genes involved in these specialized metabolic pathways. To address these limitations, we generated large-scale transcriptome sequence and expression profiles for three species of Asterids that produce medicinally important MIAs: Camptotheca acuminata, Catharanthus roseus, and Rauvolfia serpentina. Using next generation sequencing technology, we sampled the transcriptomes of these species across a diverse set of developmental tissues, and in the case of C. roseus, in cultured cells and roots following elicitor treatment. Through an iterative assembly process, we generated robust transcriptome assemblies for all three species with a substantial number of the assembled transcripts being full or near-full length. The majority of transcripts had a related sequence in either UniRef100, the Arabidopsis thaliana predicted proteome, or the Pfam protein domain database; however, we also identified transcripts that lacked similarity with entries in either database and thereby lack a known function. Representation of known genes within the MIA biosynthetic pathway was robust. As a diverse set of tissues and treatments were surveyed, expression abundances of transcripts in the three species could be estimated to reveal transcripts associated with development and response to elicitor treatment. Together, these transcriptomes and expression abundance matrices provide a rich resource

Development of Transcriptomic Resources for Interrogating the Biosynthesis of Monoterpene Indole Alkaloids in Medicinal Plant Species

Science.gov (United States)

Góngora-Castillo, Elsa; Childs, Kevin L.; Fedewa, Greg; Hamilton, John P.; Liscombe, David K.; Magallanes-Lundback, Maria; Mandadi, Kranthi K.; Nims, Ezekiel; Runguphan, Weerawat; Vaillancourt, Brieanne; Varbanova-Herde, Marina; DellaPenna, Dean; McKnight, Thomas D.; O’Connor, Sarah; Buell, C. Robin

2012-01-01

The natural diversity of plant metabolism has long been a source for human medicines. One group of plant-derived compounds, the monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs), includes well-documented therapeutic agents used in the treatment of cancer (vinblastine, vincristine, camptothecin), hypertension (reserpine, ajmalicine), malaria (quinine), and as analgesics (7-hydroxymitragynine). Our understanding of the biochemical pathways that synthesize these commercially relevant compounds is incomplete due in part to a lack of molecular, genetic, and genomic resources for the identification of the genes involved in these specialized metabolic pathways. To address these limitations, we generated large-scale transcriptome sequence and expression profiles for three species of Asterids that produce medicinally important MIAs: Camptotheca acuminata, Catharanthus roseus, and Rauvolfia serpentina. Using next generation sequencing technology, we sampled the transcriptomes of these species across a diverse set of developmental tissues, and in the case of C. roseus, in cultured cells and roots following elicitor treatment. Through an iterative assembly process, we generated robust transcriptome assemblies for all three species with a substantial number of the assembled transcripts being full or near-full length. The majority of transcripts had a related sequence in either UniRef100, the Arabidopsis thaliana predicted proteome, or the Pfam protein domain database; however, we also identified transcripts that lacked similarity with entries in either database and thereby lack a known function. Representation of known genes within the MIA biosynthetic pathway was robust. As a diverse set of tissues and treatments were surveyed, expression abundances of transcripts in the three species could be estimated to reveal transcripts associated with development and response to elicitor treatment. Together, these transcriptomes and expression abundance matrices provide a rich resource for

Phagostimulants for the Asian citrus psyllid also elicit volatile release from citrus leaves

Science.gov (United States)

Chemical cues that elicit orientation by the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), are of great interest because it is the primary vector of the causal pathogen of citrus greening disease. We identified an optimal blend ratio of formic and acetic acids that stimulate...

OFICINA DE ORIGAMI: ATIVIDADE DESENVOLVIDA NO ENSINO FUNDAMENTAL A PARTIR DO TEMA OLIMPÍADAS

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Joyce dos Santos Vieira

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Utilizar diferentes metodologias e ferramentas em sala de aula exige do professor conhecimento e interesse por propiciarem um estímulo no processo de ensino-aprendizagem dos alunos. Neste trabalho foi desenvolvida uma oficina de origami para uma turma do 6º Ano do Ensino Fundamental da E.E.E.F.M. ”Professor Pedro Simão” no município de Alegre-ES. O objetivo da mesma foi confeccionar/representar alguns animais e plantas da fauna e flora brasileira para compor uma maquete para o projeto da escola com o tema das olimpíadas. A oficina foi realizada em três aulas com a confecção dos modelos de uma borboleta, um macaco e da flor vinca Catharanthus roseus, abordando a sustentabilidade e a preservação ambiental, ambos os temas relacionados às olimpíadas. A participação e o empenho dos alunos foram surpreendentes, evidenciando que atividades diferenciadas podem aproximar o aluno de qualquer tema que o professor queira abordar, quando trabalhado de forma contextualizada, propiciando uma interação entre alunos e professores.

Tests for Transmission of Prunus Necrotic Ringspot and Two Nepoviruses by Criconemella xenoplax.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, W Q; Barnett, O W; Westcott, S W; Scott, S W

1990-10-01

In two of three trials, detectable color reactions in ELISA for Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) were observed for Criconemella xenoplax handpicked from the root zone of infected peach trees. Criconemella xenoplax (500/pot) handpicked from root zones of peach trees infected with PNRSV failed to transmit the virus to cucumber or peach seedlings. The nematode also failed to transmit tomato ringspot (TomRSV) or tobacco ringspot viruses between cucumbers, although Xiphinema americanum transmitted TomRSV under the same conditions. Plants of peach, cucumber, Chenopodium quinoa, and Catharanthus roseus were not infected by PNRSV when grown in soil containing C. xenoplax collected from root zones of PNRSV-infected trees. Shirofugen cherry scions budded on Mazzard cherry seedling rootstocks remained symptomless when transplanted into root zones of PNRSV-infected trees. Virus transmission was not detected by ELISA when C. xenoplax individuals were observed to feed on cucumber root explants that were infected with PNRSV and subsequently fed on roots of Prunus besseyi in agar cultures. Even if virus transmission by C. xenoplax occurs via contamination rather than by a specific mechanism, it must be rare.

Medicinal plants in the treatment of cancer

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Nenad M. Zlatić

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to present a review of highly developed medicinal usages of plants in the treatment of cancer. In the last decades, the cancer treatment has been included in this range of plant use, due to plant active substances. Active substances or secondary metabolites are generally known for their widespread application. When it comes to the cancer treatment, these substances affect the uncontrolled cell division. Therefore, the plants which are the source of these substances are proved to be irreplaceable in this field of medicine. This paper deals with some of the most significant plants well known for their multiple aspects of beneficial medicinal influence. The group of the plants described is comprised of the following species: Taxus brevifolia (Taxaceae, Catharanthus roseus (Apocynaceae, Podophyllum peltatum (Berberidaceae, Camptotheca accuminata (Cornaceae, and Cephalotaxus harringtonia (Cephalotaxaceae. The comprehensive description of the plants in this paper includes the morphological characteristics, the features and the representation of the molecular structures of active substances, the particular influence that these active substances have and the general importance of the substances as seen from the aspect of cancer treatment mostly with reference to the impacts on cell cycle.

The Eschericia coli Growth Inhibition Activity of Some Fermented Medicinal Plant Leaf Extract from the Karo Highland, North Sumatra

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NOVIK NURHIDAYAT

2009-10-01

Full Text Available A lot of traditional medicinal plant has antibacterial acitivities. Most of these plants are freshly chewed or grounded and used directly to treat infectious bacterial deseases. However, some practices employ a traditionally spontaneous fermentation on boiled extracted leaf, root or other parts of the plant. This work reports a laboratory stimulated spontaneous fermentation of leaf extracts from selected medicinal plants collected from the Karo Higland. The spontaenous fermentation was stimulated to be carried out by the Acetobacter xylinum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The anti-infectious agent activity was assayed on the Eschericia coli growth inhibition. A complementary non fermented leaf extract was also made and assayed as a comparative measure. Indeed, the fermented leaf extract of bitter bush (Eupatorium pallescens, cacao (Theobroma cacao, avocado (Persia gratissima, passion fruit (Passiflora edulis, cassava (Cassava utillissima, diamond flower (Hedyotis corymbosa, periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus, and gandarusa (Justicia gendarussa have relatively higher anti-E.coli acitivity than those of non fermented ones. However, there were no anti-E.coli activity was detected in both fermented and non fermented leaf extract of the guava (Psidium guajava and common betel (Piper nigrum.

A comparison of five elicitation techniques for elicitation of attributes of low involvement products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech-Larsen, Tino; Nielsen, Niels Asger

1999-01-01

of dimensions directed from theories of consumer buying behaviour. Although a number of differences between the techniques are identified in the study, the main findings are that the robustness of the different techniques for attribute elicitation is considerable Udgivelsesdato: JUN......The critical first step for most instruments used in analysing consumer choice and motivation is the identification of product attributes which are important to the consumer and for which there are differences among the available product alternatives. A number of techniques, ranging from...... the complex elicitation of idiosyncratic attributes or simpler picking procedures, has been developed to elicitate such attributes. The purpose of the study presented here is to com-pare attributes of a low involvement product, viz. vegetable oil, elicited by five different techniques on a number...

9-methoxycanthin-6-one production in elicited hairy roots culture of Eurycoma longifolia

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Abdullah, Nazirah; Ismail, Ismanizan; Hassan, Nor Hasnida; Basherudin, Norlia

2016-11-01

Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali) is a highly sought after medicinal plant in Malaysia. Propagation of E. longifolia through tissue culture has been reported in order to cater the industry demands for planting and raw materials as well as for conservation purposes. E. longifolia hairy roots culture has been developed using Agrobacterium rhizogenes for the production of Tongkat Ali phytochemicals. Effects of three elicitors; methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, and yeast extract at different concentrations were evaluated on the production of 9-methoxycanthin-6-one in E. longifolia hairy roots. The cultures were elicited at early exponential growth phase, followed by extraction of 9-methoxycanthin-6-one using methanol and HPLC analysis. Elicitation with methyl jasmonate at all concentrations increased 9-methoxycanthin-6-one up to 1-3 fold and treatment with (0.1 mM) was most efficient in enhancing 9-methoxycanthin-6-one production up to 3.902 mg/g dry weight after 7 days (168 hours) elicitation.

Requirements Elicitation Problems: A Literature Analysis

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Bill Davey

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Requirements elicitation is the process through which analysts determine the software requirements of stakeholders. Requirements elicitation is seldom well done, and an inaccurate or incomplete understanding of user requirements has led to the downfall of many software projects. This paper proposes a classification of problem types that occur in requirements elicitation. The classification has been derived from a literature analysis. Papers reporting on techniques for improving requirements elicitation practice were examined for the problem the technique was designed to address. In each classification the most recent or prominent techniques for ameliorating the problems are presented. The classification allows the requirements engineer to be sensitive to problems as they arise and the educator to structure delivery of requirements elicitation training.

Belief Elicitation in Experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blanco, Mariana; Engelmann, Dirk; Koch, Alexander

Belief elicitation in economics experiments usually relies on paying subjects according to the accuracy of stated beliefs in addition to payments for other decisions. Such incentives, however, allow risk-averse subjects to hedge with their stated beliefs against adverse outcomes of other decisions......-belief elicitation treatment using a financial investment frame, where hedging arguably would be most natural....

Role of local neurons in cerebrocortical vasodilation elicited from cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iadecola, C.; Arneric, S.P.; Baker, H.D.; Tucker, L.W.; Reis, D.J.

1987-01-01

The vasodilation elicited in cerebral cortex by stimulation of the cerebellar fastigial nucleus (FN) is mediated by input pathways coming from the basal forebrain. The authors studied whether these pathways mediate the cortical vasodilation via a direct action on local blood vessels or via interposed local neurons. Neurons were destroyed in the primary sensory cortex by local microinjection of the excitotoxin ibotenic acid (IBO). Five days later rats were anesthetized, paralyzed, and ventilated. Arterial pressure and blood gases were controlled, and FN was stimulated electrically. Local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) was measured using the [ 14 C]iodoantipyrine technique with autoradiography. Five days after IBO, neurons were destroyed in a restricted cortical area, and afferent fibers and terminals were preserved. The selectivity of the neuronal loss was established by histological and biochemical criteria and by transport of horseradish, peroxidase from or into the lesion. Within the lesion, resting LCBF was unaffected, but the increase in LCBF evoked from the FN was abolished. In contrast the vasodilation elicited by hypercapnia was preserved. In the rest of the brain the vasodilation elicited from FN was largely unaffected. The authors conclude that the vasodilation evoked from FN in cerebral cortex depends on the integrity of a restricted population of local neurons that interact with the local microvasculature

Eliciting Sound Memories.

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Harris, Anna

2015-11-01

Sensory experiences are often considered triggers of memory, most famously a little French cake dipped in lime blossom tea. Sense memory can also be evoked in public history research through techniques of elicitation. In this article I reflect on different social science methods for eliciting sound memories such as the use of sonic prompts, emplaced interviewing, and sound walks. I include examples from my research on medical listening. The article considers the relevance of this work for the conduct of oral histories, arguing that such methods "break the frame," allowing room for collaborative research connections and insights into the otherwise unarticulatable.

Phospholipase C mediates (±)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI)-, but not lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)-elicited head bobs in rabbit medial prefrontal cortex.

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Schindler, Emmanuelle A D; Harvey, John A; Aloyo, Vincent J

2013-01-23

The phenethylamine and indoleamine classes of hallucinogens demonstrate distinct pharmacological properties, although they share a serotonin(2A) (5-HT(2A)) receptor mechanism of action (MOA). The 5-HT(2A) receptor signals through phosphatidylinositol (PI) hydrolysis, which is initiated upon activation of phospholipase C (PLC). The role of PI hydrolysis in the effects of hallucinogens remains unclear. In order to better understand the role of PI hydrolysis in the MOA of hallucinogens, the PLC inhibitor, 1-[6-((17β-3-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-yl)amino)hexyl]-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (U73122), was used to study the effects of two hallucinogens, the phenethylamine, (±)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI), and the indoleamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). PI hydrolysis was quantified through release of [3H]inositol-4-phosphate from living rabbit frontocortical tissue prisms. Head bobs were counted after hallucinogens were infused into the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of rabbits. Both DOI and LSD stimulated PI hydrolysis in frontocortical tissue through activation of PLC. DOI-stimulated PI hydrolysis was blocked by 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor antagonist, ketanserin, whereas the LSD signal was blocked by 5-HT(2B/2C) receptor antagonist, SB206553. When infused into the mPFC, both DOI- and LSD-elicited head bobs. Pretreatment with U73122 blocked DOI-, but not LSD-elicited head bobs. The two hallucinogens investigated were distinct in their activation of the PI hydrolysis signaling pathway. The serotonergic receptors involved with DOI and LSD signals in frontocortical tissue were different. Furthermore, PLC activation in mPFC was necessary for DOI-elicited head bobs, whereas LSD-elicited head bobs were independent of this pathway. These novel findings urge closer investigation into the intracellular mechanism of action of these unique compounds. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Expert Panel Elicitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, M. [Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Waste Management and Environmental Protection; Hora, S.C. [Univ. of Hawaii, Hilo, HI (United States)

2005-09-15

Scientists are now frequently in a situation where data cannot be easily assessed, since they may have conflicting or uncertain sources. While expert judgment reflects private choices, it is possible both reduce the personal aspect as well as in crease confidence in the judgments by using formal protocols for choice and elicitation of experts. A full-scale elicitation made on seismicity following glaciation, now in its late phase and presented here in a preliminary form, illustrates the value of the technique and some essential issues in connection with the decision to launch such a project. The results show an unusual low variation between the experts.

Elicitation of ostomy pouch preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonnichsen, Ole

2011-01-01

Background: Previous studies about patients who have undergone ostomy surgery commonly address the issues of the surgery, complications, preoperative counseling, quality of life, and psychosocial changes following surgery. Only a limited number of studies deal with how technical improvements...... in stoma care would affect patients and, to the author's knowledge, the present study is the first to elicit preferences for potential improvements in ostomy pouches in the form of monetary values. Objective: This article examines and measures Swedish patients' preferences for potential improvements...... in ostomy pouch attributes. The theory, study design, elicitation procedure, and resulting preference structure of the sample is described. Methods: A discrete-choice experiment (DCE) was used to elicit preferences. Respondents were asked to choose between alternatives in choice sets, in which each...

A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW ABOUT SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ELICITATION

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LENIS R. WONG

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Requirements Elicitation is recognized as one of the most important activity in software development process as it has direct impact on its success. Although there are many proposals for improving this task, still there are issues which have to be solved. This paper aims to identify the current status of the latest researches related to software requirements elicitation through general framework for literature review, in order to answer the following research questions: Q1 What aspects have been covered by different proposal of requirements elicitation? Q2 What activities of the requirements elicitation process have been covered? And Q3 What factors influence on requirements elicitation and how? A cross-analysis of the outcome was performed. One of the results showed that requirements elicitation process needs improvements.

Boosting Sensitivity in Liquid Chromatography–Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance–Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Product Ion Analysis of Monoterpene Indole Alkaloids

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Ryo eNakabayashi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In metabolomics, the analysis of product ions in tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS is noteworthy to chemically assign structural information. However, the development of relevant analytical methods are less advanced. Here, we developed a method to boost sensitivity in liquid chromatography–Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance–tandem mass spectrometry analysis (MS/MS boost analysis. To verify the MS/MS boost analysis, both quercetin and uniformly labeled 13C quercetin were analyzed, revealing that the origin of the product ions is not the instrument, but the analyzed compounds resulting in sensitive product ions. Next, we applied this method to the analysis of monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs. The comparative analyses of MIAs having indole basic skeleton (ajmalicine, catharanthine, hirsuteine, and hirsutine and oxindole skeleton (formosanine, isoformosanine, pteropodine, isopteropodine, rhynchophylline, isorhynchophylline, and mitraphylline identified 86 and 73 common monoisotopic ions, respectively. The comparative analyses of the three pairs of stereoisomers showed more than 170 common monoisotopic ions in each pair. This method was also applied to the targeted analysis of MIAs in Catharanthus roseus and Uncaria rhynchophylla to profile indole and oxindole compounds using the product ions. This analysis is suitable for chemically assigning features of the metabolite groups, which contributes to targeted metabolome analysis.

STIMULATION PAR LES CYTOKININES DE L’ACCUMULATION ALCALOÏDIQUE DANS DES SUSPENSIONS CELLULAIRES: IMPLICATION DE L’ETHYLENE COMME SECOND MESSAGER ?

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A YAHIA

1999-12-01

Full Text Available Dans ce travail, nous avons cherché à savoir si l’éthylène pouvait être impliquée lors de la stimulation de la production alcaloïdique par les cytokinines dans les suspensions cellulaires de Catharanthus roseus. La stratégie expérimentale a été double: 1 modifier les teneurs en éthylène endogène en traitant les cellules par différents agonistes ou antagonistes de la voie de biosynthèse de l’éthylène, 2 soumettre les cellules à des apports exogène d’éthylène.      Les résultats obtenus montrent que les inhibiteurs de l’éthylène AVG, Co+2  bloquent partiellement la stimulation alcaloïdique dans les cellules traitées par les cytokinines alors que le précurseur de l’éthylène ACC n’a pas d’effet sur la production alcaloïdique dans les cellules non traitées par les cytokinines. En revanche, lorsque l’éthylène est apporté de manière exogène (traitement par l’éthephon, la production alcaloïdique est multipliée par quatre.

Cholinesterase inhibitor (Altenuene) from an endophytic fungus Alternaria alternata: optimization, purification and characterization.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhagat, J; Kaur, A; Kaur, R; Yadav, A K; Sharma, V; Chadha, B S

2016-10-01

The aim of this study was to screen endophytic fungi isolated from Vinca rosea for their potential to produce acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors. Endophytic fungi isolated from V. rosea (Catharanthus roseus), were screened for AChE inhibitor production using Ellman's method. Maximum inhibition against AChE (78%) was observed in an isolate VS-10, identified to be Alternaria alternata on morphological and molecular basis. The isolate also inhibited butyrylcholinesterase (73%). Significant increase (1·3 fold) was achieved after optimization of process parameters using one variable at time approach. The inhibitor was purified using chromatographic techniques. The structure elucidation of the inhibitor was carried out using spectroscopic techniques and was identified to be 'altenuene'. The purified inhibitor possessed antioxidant potential as revealed by dot blot assay. The insecticidal potential of purified inhibitor was evaluated by feeding Spodoptora litura on diet amended with inhibitor. It evinced significant larval mortality. Endophytic A. alternata can serve as a source of dual cholinesterase inhibitor 'altenuene' with significant antioxidant and insecticidal activity. This is the first report on acetylcholinestearse inhibitory activity of altenuene. Alternaria alternata has the potential to produce a dual ChE inhibitor with antioxidant activity useful in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and in agriculture as biocontrol agent. © 2016 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Boosting Sensitivity in Liquid Chromatography–Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance–Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Product Ion Analysis of Monoterpene Indole Alkaloids

Science.gov (United States)

Nakabayashi, Ryo; Tsugawa, Hiroshi; Kitajima, Mariko; Takayama, Hiromitsu; Saito, Kazuki

2015-01-01

In metabolomics, the analysis of product ions in tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is noteworthy to chemically assign structural information. However, the development of relevant analytical methods are less advanced. Here, we developed a method to boost sensitivity in liquid chromatography–Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance–tandem mass spectrometry analysis (MS/MS boost analysis). To verify the MS/MS boost analysis, both quercetin and uniformly labeled 13C quercetin were analyzed, revealing that the origin of the product ions is not the instrument, but the analyzed compounds resulting in sensitive product ions. Next, we applied this method to the analysis of monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs). The comparative analyses of MIAs having indole basic skeleton (ajmalicine, catharanthine, hirsuteine, and hirsutine) and oxindole skeleton (formosanine, isoformosanine, pteropodine, isopteropodine, rhynchophylline, isorhynchophylline, and mitraphylline) identified 86 and 73 common monoisotopic ions, respectively. The comparative analyses of the three pairs of stereoisomers showed more than 170 common monoisotopic ions in each pair. This method was also applied to the targeted analysis of MIAs in Catharanthus roseus and Uncaria rhynchophylla to profile indole and oxindole compounds using the product ions. This analysis is suitable for chemically assigning features of the metabolite groups, which contributes to targeted metabolome analysis. PMID:26734034

Feeding by whiteflies suppresses downstream jasmonic acid signaling by eliciting salicylic acid signaling.

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Zhang, Peng-Jun; Li, Wei-Di; Huang, Fang; Zhang, Jin-Ming; Xu, Fang-Cheng; Lu, Yao-Bin

2013-05-01

Phloem-feeding whiteflies in the species complex Bemisia tabaci cause extensive crop damage worldwide. One of the reasons for their "success" is their ability to suppress the effectual jasmonic acid (JA) defenses of the host plant. However, little is understood about the mechanisms underlying whitefly suppression of JA-regulated defenses. Here, we showed that the expression of salicylic acid (SA)-responsive genes (EDS1 and PR1) in Arabidopsis thaliana was significantly enhanced during feeding by whitefly nymphs. Whereas upstream JA-responsive genes (LOX2 and OPR3) also were induced, the downstream JA-responsive gene (VSP1) was repressed, i.e., whiteflies only suppressed downstream JA signaling. Gene-expression analyses with various Arabidopsis mutants, including NahG, npr-1, ein2-1, and dde2-2, revealed that SA signaling plays a key role in the suppression of downstream JA defenses by whitefly feeding. Assays confirmed that SA activation enhanced whitefly performance by suppressing downstream JA defenses.

Jasmonic and salicylic acids enhanced phytochemical production and biological activities in cell suspension cultures of spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb).

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Ill-Min; Rekha, Kaliyaperumal; Rajakumar, Govindasamy; Thiruvengadam, Muthu

2017-03-01

In vitro cell suspension culture was established for the production of commercially valuable phytochemicals in Momordica dioica. The influence of elicitors in jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) increased their effect on phytochemical production and biomass accumulation in M. dioica. The results indicate that compared with non-elicited cultures, JA- and SA-elicited cell suspension cultures had significantly enhanced phenolic, flavonoid, and carotenoid production, as well as antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative activities. Furthermore, elicited cultures produced 22 phenolic compounds, such as flavonols, hydroxycinnamic acids, and hydroxybenzoic acids. Greater biomass production, phytochemical accumulation, and biological activity occurred in JA- than in SA-elicited cell cultures. This study is the first to successfully establish M. dioica cell suspension cultures for the production of phenolic compounds and carotenoids, as well as for biomass accumulation.

The Interview as an Approach to Elicit Requirements

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Luz Marina Iriarte

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In many software projects requirements elicitation is incomplete or inconsistent. One issue that works for this is presented has to be with the requirements engineers use a single method to do it, which can cause a deficiency in the expected results. Among the factors contributing to the success of this stage of the life cycle is an adequate selection of the elicitation technique and other approaches needed. This article describes an experimental study to elicit requirements, in which was applied a combination of methods and techniques, and discusses the advantages of doing it this way. The results obtained allow concluding that to achieve adequate elicitation is necessary to combine several techniques and methods.

Plants know where it hurts: root and shoot jasmonic acid induction elicit differential responses in Brassica oleracea.

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Tom O G Tytgat

Full Text Available Plants respond to herbivore attack by rapidly inducing defenses that are mainly regulated by jasmonic acid (JA. Due to the systemic nature of induced defenses, attack by root herbivores can also result in a shoot response and vice versa, causing interactions between above- and belowground herbivores. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions. We investigated whether plants respond differently when roots or shoots are induced. We mimicked herbivore attack by applying JA to the roots or shoots of Brassica oleracea and analyzed molecular and chemical responses in both organs. In shoots, an immediate and massive change in primary and secondary metabolism was observed. In roots, the JA-induced response was less extensive and qualitatively different from that in the shoots. Strikingly, in both roots and shoots we also observed differential responses in primary metabolism, development as well as defense specific traits depending on whether the JA induction had been below- or aboveground. We conclude that the JA response is not only tissue-specific but also dependent on the organ that was induced. Already very early in the JA signaling pathway the differential response was observed. This indicates that both organs have a different JA signaling cascade, and that the signal eliciting systemic responses contains information about the site of induction, thus providing plants with a mechanism to tailor their responses specifically to the organ that is damaged.

Green Software Engineering Adaption In Requirement Elicitation Process

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Umma Khatuna Jannat

2015-08-01

Full Text Available A recent technology investigates the role of concern in the environment software that is green software system. Now it is widely accepted that the green software can fit all process of software development. It is also suitable for the requirement elicitation process. Now a days software companies have used requirements elicitation techniques in an enormous majority. Because this process plays more and more important roles in software development. At the present time most of the requirements elicitation process is improved by using some techniques and tools. So that the intention of this research suggests to adapt green software engineering for the intention of existing elicitation technique and recommend suitable actions for improvement. This research being involved qualitative data. I used few keywords in my searching procedure then searched IEEE ACM Springer Elsevier Google scholar Scopus and Wiley. Find out articles which published in 2010 until 2016. Finding from the literature review Identify 15 traditional requirement elicitations factors and 23 improvement techniques to convert green engineering. Lastly The paper includes a squat review of the literature a description of the grounded theory and some of the identity issues related finding of the necessity for requirements elicitation improvement techniques.

Environmental characteristics of shallow bottoms used by Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus in a northern Adriatic lagoon

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Scarton Francesco

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Since the beginning of this century, Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus flocks have been observed regularly when feeding in the large extensions of shallow bottoms in the Lagoon of Venice (NE Italy, the largest lagoon along the Mediterranean. Nowadays thousands of flamingos are present throughout the year. Between 2013 and 2017 I collected data on the environmental features of the shallow bottoms used by feeding flocks, along with measurements of flight initiation distance (FID of Greater Flamingo in response to the approach of boats and pedestrians. Shallow bottoms were shown to be used when covered with approximately 10 to 60 cm of water. All the feeding sites were in open landscapes, with low occurrence of saltmarshes in a radius of 500 m. The bottoms were barely covered with seagrasses (<4% of the surface around the survey points and were mostly silty. Feeding flocks were on average 1.2 km far from the nearest road or dyke, while the mean distance from channels that could be used by boats was about 420 m. The mean FID caused by boats or pedestrians was 241 m ± 117 m (N = 31, ± 1 SD without significant differences between those for the two disturbance sources. The use of shallow bottoms by the Greater Flamingo appears governed primarily by the tidal cycle, but boat disturbance probably modifies this effect. According to FID values, a set-back distance of 465 m is suggested to reduce the disturbance caused by boats and pedestrians to the flamingo feeding flocks.

Molecular Mechanisms Elicited by d-Aspartate in Leydig Cells and Spermatogonia

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Maria Maddalena Di Fiore

2016-07-01

Full Text Available A bulk of evidence suggests that d-aspartate (d-Asp regulates steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis in vertebrate testes. This review article focuses on intracellular signaling mechanisms elicited by d-Asp possibly via binding to the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR in both Leydig cells, and spermatogonia. In Leydig cells, the amino acid upregulates androgen production by eliciting the adenylate cyclase-cAMP and/or mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK pathways. d-Asp treatment enhances gene and protein expression of enzymes involved in the steroidogenic cascade. d-Asp also directly affects spermatogonial mitotic activity. In spermatogonial GC-1 cells, d-Asp induces phosphorylation of MAPK and AKT serine-threonine kinase proteins, and stimulates expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA and aurora kinase B (AURKB. Further stimulation of spermatogonial GC-1 cell proliferation might come from estradiol/estrogen receptor β (ESR2 interaction. d-Asp modulates androgen and estrogen levels as well as the expression of their receptors in the rat epididymis by acting on mRNA levels of Srd5a1 and Cyp19a1 enzymes, hence suggesting involvement in spermatozoa maturation.

Needs Elicitation for Novel Pervasive Healthcare Technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorpe, Julia Rosemary; Forchhammer, B. H.; Maier, Anja

2016-01-01

for pervasive healthcare technology, in which established methods for engaging users to elicit their needs can be difficult or even impossible to apply. In this paper we document our needs elicitation process in a relevant example as a method story, and present our findings and reflections on this as the key...

Accumulation of Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids in Periwinkle Seedlings ("Catharanthus roseus") as a Model for the Study of Plant-Environment Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda-Ham, Maria de Lourdes; Islas-Flores, Ignacio; Vazquez-Flota, Felipe

2007-01-01

Alkaloids are part of the chemical arsenal designed to protect plants against an adverse environment. Therefore, their synthesis and accumulation are frequently induced in response to certain environmental conditions and are mediated by chemical signals, which are formed as the first responses to the external stimulus. A set of experiments using…

The bile acid deoxycholate elicits defences in Arabidopsis and reduces bacterial infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Zarattini, Marco; Launay, Alban; Farjad, Mahsa; Wénès, Estelle; Taconnat, Ludivine; Boutet, Stéphanie; Bernacchia, Giovanni; Fagard, Mathilde

2017-05-01

Disease has an effect on crop yields, causing significant losses. As the worldwide demand for agricultural products increases, there is a need to pursue the development of new methods to protect crops from disease. One mechanism of plant protection is through the activation of the plant immune system. By exogenous application, 'plant activator molecules' with elicitor properties can be used to activate the plant immune system. These defence-inducing molecules represent a powerful and often environmentally friendly tool to fight pathogens. We show that the secondary bile acid deoxycholic acid (DCA) induces defence in Arabidopsis and reduces the proliferation of two bacterial phytopathogens: Erwinia amylovora and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. We describe the global defence response triggered by this new plant activator in Arabidopsis at the transcriptional level. Several induced genes were selected for further analysis by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. We describe the kinetics of their induction and show that abiotic stress, such as moderate drought or nitrogen limitation, does not impede DCA induction of defence. Finally, we investigate the role in the activation of defence by this bile acid of the salicylic acid biosynthesis gene SID2, of the receptor-like kinase family genes WAK1-3 and of the NADPH oxidase-encoding RbohD gene. Altogether, we show that DCA constitutes a promising molecule for plant protection which can induce complementary lines of defence, such as callose deposition, reactive oxygen species accumulation and the jasmonic acid and salicylic acid signalling pathways. © 2016 BSPP AND JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD.

Proposal for a Five-Step Method to Elicit Expert Judgment

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Duco Veen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Elicitation is a commonly used tool to extract viable information from experts. The information that is held by the expert is extracted and a probabilistic representation of this knowledge is constructed. A promising avenue in psychological research is to incorporated experts’ prior knowledge in the statistical analysis. Systematic reviews on elicitation literature however suggest that it might be inappropriate to directly obtain distributional representations from experts. The literature qualifies experts’ performance on estimating elements of a distribution as unsatisfactory, thus reliably specifying the essential elements of the parameters of interest in one elicitation step seems implausible. Providing feedback within the elicitation process can enhance the quality of the elicitation and interactive software can be used to facilitate the feedback. Therefore, we propose to decompose the elicitation procedure into smaller steps with adjustable outcomes. We represent the tacit knowledge of experts as a location parameter and their uncertainty concerning this knowledge by a scale and shape parameter. Using a feedback procedure, experts can accept the representation of their beliefs or adjust their input. We propose a Five-Step Method which consists of (1 Eliciting the location parameter using the trial roulette method. (2 Provide feedback on the location parameter and ask for confirmation or adjustment. (3 Elicit the scale and shape parameter. (4 Provide feedback on the scale and shape parameter and ask for confirmation or adjustment. (5 Use the elicited and calibrated probability distribution in a statistical analysis and update it with data or to compute a prior-data conflict within a Bayesian framework. User feasibility and internal validity for the Five-Step Method are investigated using three elicitation studies.

Evaluation of the Larvicidal Efficacy of Five Indigenous Weeds against an Indian Strain of Dengue Vector, Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae)

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Aarti; Kumar, Sarita; Tripathi, Pushplata

2016-01-01

Background and Objectives. Aedes aegypti, dengue fever mosquito, is primarily associated with the transmission of dengue and chikungunya in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The present investigations were carried out to assess the larvicidal efficiency of five indigenous weeds against Ae. aegypti. Methods. The 1,000 ppm hexane and ethanol extracts prepared from the leaves and stem of five plants (Achyranthes aspera, Cassia occidentalis, Catharanthus roseus, Lantana camara, and Xanthium strumarium) were screened for their larvicidal activity against early fourth instars of dengue vector. The extracts which could cause 80–100% mortality were further investigated for their efficacy. Results. The preliminary screening established the efficacy of hexane extracts as compared to the ethanol extracts. Further investigations revealed the highest larvicidal potential of A. aspera extracts exhibiting LC50 value of 82.555 ppm and 68.133 ppm, respectively. Further, their leaf extracts showed 5–85.9% higher larvicidal activity and stem extracts exhibited 0.23- to 0.85-fold more efficiency than the other four extracts. Conclusion. The present investigations suggest the possible use of A. aspera as an ideal ecofriendly, larvicidal agent for the control of dengue vector, Ae. aegypti. Future studies are, however, required to explore and identify the bioactive component involved and its mode of action. PMID:26941996

Evaluation of the Larvicidal Efficacy of Five Indigenous Weeds against an Indian Strain of Dengue Vector, Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aarti Sharma

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives. Aedes aegypti, dengue fever mosquito, is primarily associated with the transmission of dengue and chikungunya in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The present investigations were carried out to assess the larvicidal efficiency of five indigenous weeds against Ae. aegypti. Methods. The 1,000 ppm hexane and ethanol extracts prepared from the leaves and stem of five plants (Achyranthes aspera, Cassia occidentalis, Catharanthus roseus, Lantana camara, and Xanthium strumarium were screened for their larvicidal activity against early fourth instars of dengue vector. The extracts which could cause 80–100% mortality were further investigated for their efficacy. Results. The preliminary screening established the efficacy of hexane extracts as compared to the ethanol extracts. Further investigations revealed the highest larvicidal potential of A. aspera extracts exhibiting LC50 value of 82.555 ppm and 68.133 ppm, respectively. Further, their leaf extracts showed 5–85.9% higher larvicidal activity and stem extracts exhibited 0.23- to 0.85-fold more efficiency than the other four extracts. Conclusion. The present investigations suggest the possible use of A. aspera as an ideal ecofriendly, larvicidal agent for the control of dengue vector, Ae. aegypti. Future studies are, however, required to explore and identify the bioactive component involved and its mode of action.

Processing methods for differential analysis of LC/MS profile data

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Orešič Matej

2005-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC/MS has been widely used in proteomics and metabolomics research. In this context, the technology has been increasingly used for differential profiling, i.e. broad screening of biomolecular components across multiple samples in order to elucidate the observed phenotypes and discover biomarkers. One of the major challenges in this domain remains development of better solutions for processing of LC/MS data. Results We present a software package MZmine that enables differential LC/MS analysis of metabolomics data. This software is a toolbox containing methods for all data processing stages preceding differential analysis: spectral filtering, peak detection, alignment and normalization. Specifically, we developed and implemented a new recursive peak search algorithm and a secondary peak picking method for improving already aligned results, as well as a normalization tool that uses multiple internal standards. Visualization tools enable comparative viewing of data across multiple samples. Peak lists can be exported into other data analysis programs. The toolbox has already been utilized in a wide range of applications. We demonstrate its utility on an example of metabolic profiling of Catharanthus roseus cell cultures. Conclusion The software is freely available under the GNU General Public License and it can be obtained from the project web page at: http://mzmine.sourceforge.net/.

Cytotoxic effect of Erythroxylum suberosum combined with radiotherapy in head and neck cancer cell lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macedo, Taysa B.C.; Torres, Hianne M.; Yamamoto-Silva, Fernanda Paula; Silva, Maria Alves G.; Elias, Silvia T.; Silveira, Damaris; Magalhaes, Perola O.; Lofrano-Porto, Adriana; Guerra, Eliete N.S.

2016-01-01

The mouth and oropharynx cancer is the 6 th most common type of cancer in the world. The treatment may involve surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. More than 50% of drugs against cancer were isolated from natural sources, such as Catharanthus roseus and epipodophyllotoxin, isolated from Podophyllum. The biggest challenge is to maximize the control of the disease, while minimizing morbidity and toxicity to the surrounding normal tissues. The Erythroxylum suberosum is a common plant in the Brazilian Cerrado biome and is popularly known as 'cabelo-de-negro'. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of Erythroxylum suberosum plant extracts of the Brazilian Cerrado biome associated with radiotherapy in human cell lines of oral and hypopharynx carcinomas. Cells were treated with aqueous, ethanolic and hexanic extracts of Erythroxylum suberosum and irradiated at 4 Gy, 6 Gy and 8 Gy. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT assay and the absorbance was measured at 570 nm in a Beckman Counter reader. Cisplatin, standard chemotherapy, was used as positive control. The use of Erythroxylum suberosum extracts showed a possible radiosensitizing effect in vitro for head and neck cancer. The cytotoxicity effect in the cell lines was not selective and it is very similar to the effect of standard chemotherapy. The aqueous extract of Erythroxylum suberosum, combined with radiotherapy was the most cytotoxic extract to oral and hypopharynx carcinomas. (author)

[Neurological syndromes linked with the intake of plants and fungi containing a toxic component (I). Neurotoxic syndromes caused by the ingestion of plants, seeds and fruits].

Science.gov (United States)

Carod-Artal, F J

A wide range of plants, seeds and fruits used for nutritional and medicinal purposes can give rise to neurotoxic symptoms. We review the neurological pathology associated with the acute or chronic consumption of plants, seeds and fruits in human beings and in animals. Of the plants that can trigger acute neurotoxic syndromes in humans, some of the most notable include Mandragora officinalis, Datura stramonium, Conium maculatum (hemlock), Coriaria myrtifolia (redoul), Ricinus communis, Gloriosa superba, Catharanthus roseus, Karwinskia humboldtiana and Podophyllum pelatum. We also survey different neurological syndromes linked with the ingestion of vegetable foodstuffs that are rich in cyanogenic glycosides, Jamaican vomiting sickness caused by Blighia sapida, Parkinson dementia ALS of Guam island and exposition to Cycas circinalis, Guadeloupean parkinsonism and exposition to Annonaceae, konzo caused by ingestion of wild manioc and neurolathyrism from ingestion of Lathyrus sativus, the last two being models of motor neurone disease. Locoism is a chronic disease that develops in livestock feeding on plants belonging to Astragalus and Oxytropis sp., Sida carpinifolia and Ipomea carnea, which are rich in swainsonine, a toxin that inhibits the enzyme alpha mannosidase and induces a cerebellar syndrome. The ingestion of neurotoxic seeds, fruits and plants included in the diet and acute poisoning by certain plants can give rise to different neurological syndromes, some of which are irreversible.

Cytotoxic effect of Erythroxylum suberosum combined with radiotherapy in head and neck cancer cell lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macedo, Taysa B.C.; Torres, Hianne M.; Yamamoto-Silva, Fernanda Paula; Silva, Maria Alves G. [Universidade Federal de Goias (UFG), Goiania, GO (Brazil). Escola de Odontologia; Elias, Silvia T.; Silveira, Damaris; Magalhaes, Perola O.; Lofrano-Porto, Adriana; Guerra, Eliete N.S., E-mail: elieteneves@unb.br [Universidade de Brasilia (UnB), Brasilia, DF (Brazil). Faculdade de Ciencias da Saude

2016-01-15

The mouth and oropharynx cancer is the 6{sup th} most common type of cancer in the world. The treatment may involve surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. More than 50% of drugs against cancer were isolated from natural sources, such as Catharanthus roseus and epipodophyllotoxin, isolated from Podophyllum. The biggest challenge is to maximize the control of the disease, while minimizing morbidity and toxicity to the surrounding normal tissues. The Erythroxylum suberosum is a common plant in the Brazilian Cerrado biome and is popularly known as 'cabelo-de-negro'. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of Erythroxylum suberosum plant extracts of the Brazilian Cerrado biome associated with radiotherapy in human cell lines of oral and hypopharynx carcinomas. Cells were treated with aqueous, ethanolic and hexanic extracts of Erythroxylum suberosum and irradiated at 4 Gy, 6 Gy and 8 Gy. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT assay and the absorbance was measured at 570 nm in a Beckman Counter reader. Cisplatin, standard chemotherapy, was used as positive control. The use of Erythroxylum suberosum extracts showed a possible radiosensitizing effect in vitro for head and neck cancer. The cytotoxicity effect in the cell lines was not selective and it is very similar to the effect of standard chemotherapy. The aqueous extract of Erythroxylum suberosum, combined with radiotherapy was the most cytotoxic extract to oral and hypopharynx carcinomas. (author)

Phytochemica: a platform to explore phytochemicals of medicinal plants

Science.gov (United States)

Pathania, Shivalika; Ramakrishnan, Sai Mukund; Bagler, Ganesh

2015-01-01

Plant-derived molecules (PDMs) are known to be a rich source of diverse scaffolds that could serve as the basis for rational drug design. Structured compilation of phytochemicals from traditional medicinal plants can facilitate prospection for novel PDMs and their analogs as therapeutic agents. Atropa belladonna, Catharanthus roseus, Heliotropium indicum, Picrorhiza kurroa and Podophyllum hexandrum are important Himalayan medicinal plants, reported to have immense therapeutic properties against various diseases. We present Phytochemica, a structured compilation of 963 PDMs from these plants, inclusive of their plant part source, chemical classification, IUPAC names, SMILES notations, physicochemical properties and 3-dimensional structures with associated references. Phytochemica is an exhaustive resource of natural molecules facilitating prospection for therapeutic molecules from medicinally important plants. It also offers refined search option to explore the neighbourhood of chemical space against ZINC database to identify analogs of natural molecules at user-defined cut-off. Availability of phytochemical structured dataset may enable their direct use in in silico drug discovery which will hasten the process of lead identification from natural products under proposed hypothesis, and may overcome urgent need for phytomedicines. Compilation and accessibility of indigenous phytochemicals and their derivatives can be a source of considerable advantage to research institutes as well as industries. Database URL: home.iitj.ac.in/∼bagler/webservers/Phytochemica PMID:26255307

Phytochemica: a platform to explore phytochemicals of medicinal plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Pathania, Shivalika; Ramakrishnan, Sai Mukund; Bagler, Ganesh

2015-01-01

Plant-derived molecules (PDMs) are known to be a rich source of diverse scaffolds that could serve as the basis for rational drug design. Structured compilation of phytochemicals from traditional medicinal plants can facilitate prospection for novel PDMs and their analogs as therapeutic agents. Atropa belladonna, Catharanthus roseus, Heliotropium indicum, Picrorhiza kurroa and Podophyllum hexandrum are important Himalayan medicinal plants, reported to have immense therapeutic properties against various diseases. We present Phytochemica, a structured compilation of 963 PDMs from these plants, inclusive of their plant part source, chemical classification, IUPAC names, SMILES notations, physicochemical properties and 3-dimensional structures with associated references. Phytochemica is an exhaustive resource of natural molecules facilitating prospection for therapeutic molecules from medicinally important plants. It also offers refined search option to explore the neighbourhood of chemical space against ZINC database to identify analogs of natural molecules at user-defined cut-off. Availability of phytochemical structured dataset may enable their direct use in in silico drug discovery which will hasten the process of lead identification from natural products under proposed hypothesis, and may overcome urgent need for phytomedicines. Compilation and accessibility of indigenous phytochemicals and their derivatives can be a source of considerable advantage to research institutes as well as industries. home.iitj.ac.in/∼bagler/webservers/Phytochemica. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

Application and Evaluation of an Expert Judgment Elicitation Procedure for Correlations.

Science.gov (United States)

Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, Mariëlle; van de Schoot-Hubeek, Wenneke; Lek, Kimberley; Hoijtink, Herbert; van de Schoot, Rens

2017-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to apply and evaluate a procedure to elicit expert judgments about correlations, and to update this information with empirical data. The result is a face-to-face group elicitation procedure with as its central element a trial roulette question that elicits experts' judgments expressed as distributions. During the elicitation procedure, a concordance probability question was used to provide feedback to the experts on their judgments. We evaluated the elicitation procedure in terms of validity and reliability by means of an application with a small sample of experts. Validity means that the elicited distributions accurately represent the experts' judgments. Reliability concerns the consistency of the elicited judgments over time. Four behavioral scientists provided their judgments with respect to the correlation between cognitive potential and academic performance for two separate populations enrolled at a specific school in the Netherlands that provides special education to youth with severe behavioral problems: youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and youth with diagnoses other than ASD. Measures of face-validity, feasibility, convergent validity, coherence, and intra-rater reliability showed promising results. Furthermore, the current study illustrates the use of the elicitation procedure and elicited distributions in a social science application. The elicited distributions were used as a prior for the correlation, and updated with data for both populations collected at the school of interest. The current study shows that the newly developed elicitation procedure combining the trial roulette method with the elicitation of correlations is a promising tool, and that the results of the procedure are useful as prior information in a Bayesian analysis.

CCSI Risk Estimation: An Application of Expert Elicitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engel, David W.; Dalton, Angela C.

2012-10-01

The Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative (CCSI) is a multi-laboratory simulation-driven effort to develop carbon capture technologies with the goal of accelerating commercialization and adoption in the near future. One of the key CCSI technical challenges is representing and quantifying the inherent uncertainty and risks associated with developing, testing, and deploying the technology in simulated and real operational settings. To address this challenge, the CCSI Element 7 team developed a holistic risk analysis and decision-making framework. The purpose of this report is to document the CCSI Element 7 structured systematic expert elicitation to identify additional risk factors. We review the significance of and established approaches to expert elicitation, describe the CCSI risk elicitation plan and implementation strategies, and conclude by discussing the next steps and highlighting the contribution of risk elicitation toward the achievement of the overarching CCSI objectives.

Expert elicitation and the problem of detecting undeclared activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pilat, Joseph F.; Sylvester, Kori Budlong; Stanbro, William D.

2002-01-01

Measures applicable to the detection of undeclared activities are not well established, and their effectiveness is uncertain. To detect clandestine paths, the IAEA is still developing processes and procedures. As the Agency gains experience with new measures and with integrated safeguards, dealing with such problems may become more experience-based and perhaps more closely parallel the process with current safeguards where detection probabilities for the measures to be utilized on declared paths are well characterized. Whether or not this point will be reached for undeclared and mixed paths, the only tool that appears suitable at present for the purpose of generating a reasonable detection probability that can over time be tested against reality and, if necessary, adjusted is formal expert judgment, or expert elicitation. Formal expert elicitation is a structured process that makes use of people knowledgeable in certain areas to make assessments. To provide a 'proof of principle' of this methodology for presentation to the Agency, experts in nuclear technology, nonproliferation, safeguards and open source information, as well as in formal expert elicitation processes, engaged in three illustrative expert elicitations on assessing information analysis as a means to detect undeclared activities. These elicitations were successful. This paper will discuss the process of and issues raised by the elicitations.

Eliciting and communicating expert judgments: Methodology and application to nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winterfeldt, D. von

1989-01-01

The most ambitious and certainly the most extensive formal expert judgment process was the elicitation of numerous events and uncertain quantities for safety issues in five nuclear power plants in the U.S. The general methodology for formal expert elicitations are described. An overview of the expert elicitation process of NUREG 1150 is provided and the elicitation of probabilities for the interfacing systems loss of coolant accident LOCA (ISL) in PWRs is given as an example of this elicitation process. Some lessons learned from this study are presented. (DG)

The preparation and properties of a highly specific antiserum elicited with 3-dehydrocholylglycine 3-succinyl-bovine serum albumin conjugate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orban, E.C.; Pal, Z.

1986-01-01

This report describes the synthesis of a new cholylglycine derivative-bovine serum albumin conjugate. The hapten is linked to the carrier protein at the C-3 position, through a hemisuccinate bridge. Antiserum elicited by this antigen is highly specific to cholylglycine. Cross-reactions with free cholic acid (less than 0.1%) or cholyltaurine (0.5%) are minimal. (author)

Time course of brain activation elicited by basic emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hot, Pascal; Sequeira, Henrique

2013-11-13

Whereas facial emotion recognition protocols have shown that each discrete emotion has a specific time course of brain activation, there is no electrophysiological evidence to support these findings for emotional induction by complex pictures. Our objective was to specify the differences between the time courses of brain activation elicited by feelings of happiness and, with unpleasant pictures, by feelings of disgust and sadness. We compared event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by the watching of high-arousing pictures from the International Affective Picture System, selected to induce specific emotions. In addition to a classical arousal effect on late positive components, we found specific ERP patterns for each emotion in early temporal windows (emotion to be associated with different brain processing after 140 ms, whereas happiness and sadness differed in ERPs elicited at the frontal and central sites after 160 ms. Our findings highlight the limits of the classical averaging of ERPs elicited by different emotions inside the same valence and suggest that each emotion could elicit a specific temporal pattern of brain activation, similar to those observed with emotional face recognition.

Convergence of hepcidin deficiency, systemic iron overloading, heme accumulation, and REV-ERBα/β activation in aryl hydrocarbon receptor-elicited hepatotoxicity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fader, Kelly A.; Nault, Rance [Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Institute for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Kirby, Mathew P.; Markous, Gena [Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Matthews, Jason [Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0316 (Norway); Zacharewski, Timothy R., E-mail: tzachare@msu.edu [Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Institute for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)

2017-04-15

Persistent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists elicit dose-dependent hepatic lipid accumulation, oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrosis in mice. Iron (Fe) promotes AhR-mediated oxidative stress by catalyzing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. To further characterize the role of Fe in AhR-mediated hepatotoxicity, male C57BL/6 mice were orally gavaged with sesame oil vehicle or 0.01–30 μg/kg 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) every 4 days for 28 days. Duodenal epithelial and hepatic RNA-Seq data were integrated with hepatic AhR ChIP-Seq, capillary electrophoresis protein measurements, and clinical chemistry analyses. TCDD dose-dependently repressed hepatic expression of hepcidin (Hamp and Hamp2), the master regulator of systemic Fe homeostasis, resulting in a 2.6-fold increase in serum Fe with accumulating Fe spilling into urine. Total hepatic Fe levels were negligibly increased while transferrin saturation remained unchanged. Furthermore, TCDD elicited dose-dependent gene expression changes in heme biosynthesis including the induction of aminolevulinic acid synthase 1 (Alas1) and repression of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (Urod), leading to a 50% increase in hepatic hemin and a 13.2-fold increase in total urinary porphyrins. Consistent with this heme accumulation, differential gene expression suggests that heme activated BACH1 and REV-ERBα/β, causing induction of heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1) and repression of fatty acid biosynthesis, respectively. Collectively, these results suggest that Hamp repression, Fe accumulation, and increased heme levels converge to promote oxidative stress and the progression of TCDD-elicited hepatotoxicity. - Highlights: • TCDD represses hepatic hepcidin expression, leading to systemic iron overloading. • Dysregulation of heme biosynthesis is consistent with heme and porphyrin accumulation. • Heme-activated REV-ERBα/β repress circadian-regulated hepatic lipid metabolism. • Disruption of iron

Phenylbutyrate improves nitrogen disposal via alternative pathway without eliciting an increase in protein breakdown and catabolism in control and ornithine transcarbamylace-deficient patients

Science.gov (United States)

Phenylbutyrate (PB) is a drug used in urea cycle disorder patients to elicit alternative pathways for nitrogen disposal. However, PB decreases plasma branched chain amino acid (BCAA) concentrations and prior research suggests that PB may increase leucine oxidation, indicating increased protein degra...

Elicited vs. voluntary promises

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ismayilov, H.; Potters, Jan

2017-01-01

We set up an experiment with pre-play communication to study the impact of promise elicitation by trustors from trustees on trust and trustworthiness. When given the opportunity a majority of trustors solicits a promise from the trustee. This drives up the promise making rate by trustees to almost

Synergistic effects of polyploidization and elicitation on biomass and hyoscyamine content in hairy roots of Datura stramonium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belabbassi, O.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Description of the subject. The hyoscyamine, a tropane alkaloid, widely used in medicine, can be produced from Datura sp. (Solanaceae. However, its content in the spontaneous roots remains low; therefore, hairy roots (HRs were envisaged as a potential alternative to improve its biosynthesis. The hairy roots are characterized by a good genetic stability and a rapid growth. Indeed, Datura stramonium HRs have widely been studied in the perspective of improving the yield of hyoscyamine. This study is part of this same perspective. Objectives. This paper aims to study the effects of polyploidization of HRs induced by colchicine in synergy with elicitation (with acetylsalicylic [ASA] or salicylic acids [SA] on the hyoscyamine content in D. stramonium. Method. Colchicine was applied at different concentrations and periods, on a selected hairy root line (LDS of D. stramonium obtained by infection with Agrobactrium rhizogenes strain A4. The selection of tetraploid HR lines was performed by the cytogenetic analysis using light microscopy. The effect of polyploidization and elicitation was studied on the biomass (dry weight and hyoscyamine content of HRs. Results. The untreated HR line (control shows a diploid level with 2n = 24 chromosomes. However, the HR lines treated with colchicine show, in most cases, an endoreduplication of their genetic material. The survival rate of endoreduplicated lines varies between 30% and 93%, depending on concentration and exposure time to colchicine. Moreover, the tetraploid HR line shows an increase in its biomass and hyoscyamine content in comparison to the diploid HR line (LDS. Further, elicitation of HRs by ASA or AS at the 10-4 M concentration causes a low decrease or increase in dry weight, respectively. However, the same treatments show a significant increase in the yield of hyoscyamine in elicited HR lines. Consequently, our work indicates that the combination of polyploidy and elicitation can lead to significant

Eliciting expert opinion for economic models: an applied example.

Science.gov (United States)

Leal, José; Wordsworth, Sarah; Legood, Rosa; Blair, Edward

2007-01-01

Expert opinion is considered as a legitimate source of information for decision-analytic modeling where required data are unavailable. Our objective was to develop a practical computer-based tool for eliciting expert opinion about the shape of the uncertainty distribution around individual model parameters. We first developed a prepilot survey with departmental colleagues to test a number of alternative approaches to eliciting opinions on the shape of the uncertainty distribution around individual parameters. This information was used to develop a survey instrument for an applied clinical example. This involved eliciting opinions from experts to inform a number of parameters involving Bernoulli processes in an economic model evaluating DNA testing for families with a genetic disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The experts were cardiologists, clinical geneticists, and laboratory scientists working with cardiomyopathy patient populations and DNA testing. Our initial prepilot work suggested that the more complex elicitation techniques advocated in the literature were difficult to use in practice. In contrast, our approach achieved a reasonable response rate (50%), provided logical answers, and was generally rated as easy to use by respondents. The computer software user interface permitted graphical feedback throughout the elicitation process. The distributions obtained were incorporated into the model, enabling the use of probabilistic sensitivity analysis. There is clearly a gap in the literature between theoretical elicitation techniques and tools that can be used in applied decision-analytic models. The results of this methodological study are potentially valuable for other decision analysts deriving expert opinion.

Oncolytic Immunotherapy: Dying the Right Way is a Key to Eliciting Potent Antitumor Immunity

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Zong Sheng eGuo

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Oncolytic viruses (OVs are novel immunotherapeutic agents whose anticancer effects come from both oncolysis and elicited antitumor immunity. OVs induce mostly immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD, including immunogenic apoptosis, necrosis/necroptosis, pyroptosis and autophagic cell death, leading to exposure of calreticulin and heat-shock proteins to the cell surface, and/or released ATP, high mobility group box-1 [HMGB1], uric acid, and other DAMPs as well as PAMPs as danger signals, along with tumor-associated antigens, to activate dendritic cells (DCs and elicit adaptive antitumor immunity. Dying the right way may greatly potentiate adaptive antitumor immunity. The mode of cancer cell death may be modulated by individual OVs and cancer cells as they often encode and express genes that inhibit/promote apoptosis, necroptosis or autophagic cell death. We can genetically engineer OVs with death-pathway-modulating genes and thus skew the infected cancer cells towards certain death pathways for the enhanced immunogenicity. Strategies combining with some standard therapeutic regimens may also change the immunological consequence of cancer cell death. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of danger signals, modes of cancer cell death induced by OVs, the induced danger signals and functions in eliciting subsequent antitumor immunity. We also discuss potential combination strategies to target cells into specific modes of ICD and enhance cancer immunogenicity, including blockade of immune checkpoints, in order to break immune tolerance, improve antitumor immunity and thus the overall therapeutic efficacy.

Effects of coronatine elicitation on growth and metabolic profiles of Lemna paucicostata culture.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-Young Kim

Full Text Available In this study, the effects of coronatine treatment on the growth, comprehensive metabolic profiles, and productivity of bioactive compounds, including phenolics and phytosterols, in whole plant cultures of Lemna paucicostata were investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. To determine the optimal timing of coronatine elicitation, coronatine was added on days 0, 23, and 28 after inoculation. The total growth of L. paucicostata was not significantly different between the coronatine treated groups and the control. The coronatine treatment in L. paucicostata induced increases in the content of hydroxycinnamic acids, such as caffeic acid, isoferulic acid, ρ-coumaric acid, sinapic acid, and phytosterols, such as campesterol and β-sitosterol. The productivity of these useful metabolites was highest when coronatine was added on day 0 and harvested on day 32. These results suggest that coronatine treatment on day 0 activates the phenolic and phytosterol biosynthetic pathways in L. paucicostata to a greater extent than in the control. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to investigate the effects of coronatine on the alteration of metabolism in L. paucicostata based on GC-MS profiling. The results of this research provide a foundation for designing strategies for enhanced production of useful metabolites for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries by cultivation of L. paucicostata.

Video elicitation interviews: a qualitative research method for investigating physician-patient interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Stephen G; Fetters, Michael D

2012-01-01

We describe the concept and method of video elicitation interviews and provide practical guidance for primary care researchers who want to use this qualitative method to investigate physician-patient interactions. During video elicitation interviews, researchers interview patients or physicians about a recent clinical interaction using a video recording of that interaction as an elicitation tool. Video elicitation is useful because it allows researchers to integrate data about the content of physician-patient interactions gained from video recordings with data about participants' associated thoughts, beliefs, and emotions gained from elicitation interviews. This method also facilitates investigation of specific events or moments during interactions. Video elicitation interviews are logistically demanding and time consuming, and they should be reserved for research questions that cannot be fully addressed using either standard interviews or video recordings in isolation. As many components of primary care fall into this category, high-quality video elicitation interviews can be an important method for understanding and improving physician-patient interactions in primary care.

Video Elicitation Interviews: A Qualitative Research Method for Investigating Physician-Patient Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Stephen G.; Fetters, Michael D.

2012-01-01

We describe the concept and method of video elicitation interviews and provide practical guidance for primary care researchers who want to use this qualitative method to investigate physician-patient interactions. During video elicitation interviews, researchers interview patients or physicians about a recent clinical interaction using a video recording of that interaction as an elicitation tool. Video elicitation is useful because it allows researchers to integrate data about the content of physician-patient interactions gained from video recordings with data about participants’ associated thoughts, beliefs, and emotions gained from elicitation interviews. This method also facilitates investigation of specific events or moments during interactions. Video elicitation interviews are logistically demanding and time consuming, and they should be reserved for research questions that cannot be fully addressed using either standard interviews or video recordings in isolation. As many components of primary care fall into this category, high-quality video elicitation interviews can be an important method for understanding and improving physician-patient interactions in primary care. PMID:22412003

Eliciting and communicating expert judgments: methodology and application to nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winterfeldt, D. von; Commission of the European Communities, Ispra

1989-01-01

Expert judgment has always been used informally in the analysis of complex engineering problems. Increasingly, however, the use of expert judgment has been formalized by eliciting judgments in an explicit, documented and often quantitative way. In nuclear safety studies the need for formal elicitation of expert judgments arises because of the lack of data and experiences, the need to adapt model results to the specific circumstances of a plant, and the large uncertainties surrounding the events and quantities that characterize an accident sequence. The recognition of the need for a formal elicitation of expert judgments has led to one of the most extensive expert elicitation processes to date in the context of the NUREG 1150 study. About 30 safety issues were quantified using expert judgments about probabilities of various uncertain events and quantities, ranging from the failure of a check valve in the cooling system to the pressure built up due to hydrogen production to release fractions of various radionuclides. In total, some 1000 probability distributions were elicited from some 50 experts. This paper first motivates the use of formal expert elicitation in complex engineering studies and describes the methodology of formal expert elicitation. Subsequently, it describes the overall approach of NUREG 1150 and provides an example of the elicitation of the probability of a bypass failure in a pressurized water reactor. The paper ends by discussing some lessons learned, problems encountered and by providing some recommendations

A peroxidase-dependent apoplastic oxidative burst in cultured Arabidopsis cells functions in MAMP-elicited defense.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Jose A; Daudi, Arsalan; Finch, Paul; Butt, Vernon S; Whitelegge, Julian P; Souda, Puneet; Ausubel, Frederick M; Bolwell, G Paul

2012-04-01

Perception by plants of so-called microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) such as bacterial flagellin, referred to as pattern-triggered immunity, triggers a rapid transient accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). We previously identified two cell wall peroxidases, PRX33 and PRX34, involved in apoplastic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Here, we describe the generation of Arabidopsis tissue culture lines in which the expression of PRX33 and PRX34 is knocked down by antisense expression of a heterologous French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) peroxidase cDNA construct. Using these tissue culture lines and two inhibitors of ROS generation, azide and diphenylene iodonium, we found that perxoxidases generate about half of the H2O2 that accumulated in response to MAMP treatment and that NADPH oxidases and other sources such as mitochondria account for the remainder of the ROS. Knockdown of PRX33/PRX34 resulted in decreased expression of several MAMP-elicited genes, including MYB51, CYP79B2, and CYP81F2. Similarly, proteomic analysis showed that knockdown of PRX33/PRX34 led to the depletion of various MAMP-elicited defense-related proteins, including the two cysteine-rich peptides PDF2.2 and PDF2.3. Knockdown of PRX33/PRX34 also led to changes in the cell wall proteome, including increases in enzymes involved in cell wall remodeling, which may reflect enhanced cell wall expansion as a consequence of reduced H2O2-mediated cell wall cross-linking. Comparative metabolite profiling of a CaCl2 extract of the PRX33/PRX34 knockdown lines showed significant changes in amino acids, aldehydes, and keto acids but not fatty acids and sugars. Overall, these data suggest that PRX33/PRX34-generated ROS production is involved in the orchestration of pattern-triggered immunity in tissue culture cells.

The potential for using visual elicitation in understanding preschool ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We explore the use of video and photo elicitation in a research study undertaken to understand the way in which preschool teachers perceive and construct their provision of children's educational experiences. We explore the value of visually elicited interviews based on video footage and photographs captured during ...

Explaining choice option attractiveness by beliefs elicited by the laddering method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunert, Klaus G.; Bech-Larsen, Tino

2005-01-01

option. The laddering method is used to elicit beliefs of all three types for a choice between conventional and organic pork. As a benchmark, beliefs were also elicited in the traditional way advocated by Ajzen and Fishbein. Using both sets of beliefs in a subsequent survey, it was shown that the beliefs...... elicited by the laddering method increase explanatory power with regard to choice option attractiveness beyond the beliefs elicited by the Ajzen and Fishbein method, and that this additional explanatory power was due to those beliefs which relate the choice option to concepts with a higher level...

Responsibilities in the Usability Requirements Elicitation Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianella Aveledo

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Like any other software system quality attribute, usability places requirements on software components. In particular, it has been demonstrated that certain usability features have a direct impact throughout the software process. This paper details an approach that looks at how to deal with certain usability features in the early software development stages. In particular, we consider usability features as functional usability requirements using patterns that have been termed usability patterns to elicit requirements. Additionally, we clearly establish the responsibilities of all the players at the usability requirements elicitation stage.

Elicitation of Valerenic Acid in the Hairy Root Cultures of Valeriana ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: To investigate the effect of magnesium and calcium as abiotic elicitors on Valeriana officinalis hairy roots for scale-up production of valerenic acid. Methods: Hairy roots were established in different explants of Valeriana officinalis via a mikimopine type strain of Agrobacterium rhizogenes 'A13'. Transgenic status of ...

Extinction and renewal of cue-elicited reward-seeking.

Science.gov (United States)

Bezzina, Louise; Lee, Jessica C; Lovibond, Peter F; Colagiuri, Ben

2016-12-01

Reward cues can contribute to overconsumption of food and drugs and can relapse. The failure of exposure therapies to reduce overconsumption and relapse is generally attributed to the context-specificity of extinction. However, no previous study has examined whether cue-elicited reward-seeking (as opposed to cue-reactivity) is sensitive to context renewal. We tested this possibility in 160 healthy volunteers using a Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT) design involving voluntary responding for a high value natural reward (chocolate). One reward cue underwent Pavlovian extinction in the same (Group AAA) or different context (Group ABA) to all other phases. This cue was compared with a second non-extinguished reward cue and an unpaired control cue. There was a significant overall PIT effect with both reward cues eliciting reward-seeking on test relative to the unpaired cue. Pavlovian extinction substantially reduced this effect, with the extinguished reward cue eliciting less reward-seeking than the non-extinguished reward cue. Most interestingly, extinction of cue-elicited reward-seeking was sensitive to renewal, with extinction less effective for reducing PIT when conducted in a different context. These findings have important implications for extinction-based interventions for reducing maladaptive reward-seeking in practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Minocycline inhibits D-amphetamine-elicited action potential bursts in a central snail neuron.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Y-H; Lin, P-L; Wong, R-W; Wu, Y-T; Hsu, H-Y; Tsai, M-C; Lin, M-J; Hsu, Y-C; Lin, C-H

2012-10-25

Minocycline is a second-generation tetracycline that has been reported to have powerful neuroprotective properties. In our previous studies, we found that d-amphetamine (AMPH) elicited action potential bursts in an identifiable RP4 neuron of the African snail, Achatina fulica Ferussac. This study sought to determine the effects of minocycline on the AMPH-elicited action potential pattern changes in the central snail neuron, using the two-electrode voltage clamping method. Extracellular application of AMPH at 300 μM elicited action potential bursts in the RP4 neuron. Minocycline dose-dependently (300-900 μM) inhibited the action potential bursts elicited by AMPH. The inhibitory effects of minocycline on AMPH-elicited action potential bursts were restored by forskolin (50 μM), an adenylate cyclase activator, and by dibutyryl cAMP (N(6),2'-O-Dibutyryladenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate; 1mM), a membrane-permeable cAMP analog. Co-administration of forskolin (50 μM) plus tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA; 5mM) or co-administration of TEA (5mM) plus dibutyryl cAMP (1mM) also elicited action potential bursts, which were prevented and inhibited by minocycline. In addition, minocycline prevented and inhibited forskolin (100 μM)-elicited action potential bursts. Notably, TEA (50mM)-elicited action potential bursts in the RP4 neuron were not affected by minocycline. Minocycline did not affect steady-state outward currents of the RP4 neuron. However, minocycline did decrease the AMPH-elicited steady-state current changes. Similarly, minocycline decreased the effects of forskolin-elicited steady-state current changes. Pretreatment with H89 (N-[2-(p-Bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide dihydrochloride; 10 μM), a protein kinase A inhibitor, inhibited AMPH-elicited action potential bursts and decreased AMPH-elicited steady-state current changes. These results suggest that the cAMP-protein kinase A signaling pathway and the steady-state current are involved in

Modeling shoot-tip temperature in the greenhouse environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faust, J.E.; Heins, R.D.

1998-01-01

An energy-balance model is described that predicts vinca (Catharanthus roseus L.) shoot-tip temperature using four environmental measurements: solar radiation and dry bulb, wet bulb, and glazing material temperature. The time and magnitude of the differences between shoot-tip and air temperature were determined in greenhouses maintained at air temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30, or 35 °C. At night, shoot-tip temperature was always below air temperature. Shoot-tip temperature decreased from 0.5 to 5 °C below air temperature as greenhouse glass temperature decreased from 2 to 15 °C below air temperature. During the photoperiod under low vapor-pressure deficit (VPD) and low air temperature, shoot-tip temperature increased ≈4 °C as solar radiation increased from 0 to 600 W·m -2 . Under high VPD and high air temperature, shoot-tip temperature initially decreased 1 to 2 °C at sunrise, then increased later in the morning as solar radiation increased. The model predicted shoot-tip temperatures within ±1 °C of 81% of the observed 1-hour average shoot-tip temperatures. The model was used to simulate shoot-tip temperatures under different VPD, solar radiation, and air temperatures. Since the rate of leaf and flower development are influenced by the temperature of the meristematic tissues, a model of shoot-tip temperature will be a valuable tool to predict plant development in greenhouses and to control the greenhouse environment based on a plant temperature setpoint. (author)

Análisis de iridoides y expresión de genes que codifican enzimas tempranas en la síntesis de alcaloides indol terpenoicos en Catharanthus roseus Analysis of iridoids content and expression studies of genes encoding early enzymes in the indol terpenoid biosynthesis pathway in Catharanthus roseus

OpenAIRE

Palacios-Rojas Natalia; Leech Mark

2004-01-01

Los alcaloides indol terpenoicos (TIA) son metabolitos secundarios de importancia medicinal por sus propiedades como agentes anticancerígenos, entre otras. Sin embargo, su explotación en la industria farmacéutica se ha visto limitada, ya que la acumulación de estos compuestos en las plantas que los producen es mínima. Dichos alcaloides son biosintetizados por la vía del shikimato y de los terpenoides, los cuales proveen los precursores: secologanina y triptamina, respectivamente. La secologan...

A method to elicit beliefs as most likely intervals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schlag, K.H.; van der Weele, J.J.

2015-01-01

We show how to elicit the beliefs of an expert in the form of a "most likely interval", a set of future outcomes that are deemed more likely than any other outcome. Our method, called the Most Likely Interval elicitation rule (MLI), asks the expert for an interval and pays according to how well the

Impact of salicylic acid- and jasmonic acid-regulated defences on root colonization by Trichoderma harzianum T-78.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Medina, Ainhoa; Appels, Freek V W; van Wees, Saskia C M

2017-08-03

We recently found that the beneficial fungus Trichoderma harzianum T-78 primes tomato plants for salicylic acid (SA)- and jasmonic acid (JA)-regulated defenses, resulting in enhanced resistance against the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. By using SA- and JA-impaired mutant lines and exogenous hormonal application, here we investigated whether the SA- and JA-pathways also have a role in T-78 root colonization of Arabidopsis thaliana. Endophytic colonization by T-78 was faster in the SA-impaired mutant sid2 than in the wild type. Moreover, elicitation of SA-dependent defenses by SA application reduced T-78 colonization, indicating that the SA-pathway affects T-78 endophytism. In contrast, elicitation of the JA-pathway, which antagonized SA-dependent defenses, resulted in enhanced endophytic colonization by T-78. These findings are in line with our previous observation that SA-dependent defenses are repressed by T-78, which likely aids colonization by the endophytic fungus.

Species delimitation in frogs from South American temperate forests: The case of Eupsophus, a taxonomically complex genus with high phenotypic variation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudio Correa

Full Text Available One of the most characteristic and abundant amphibian taxa of South American temperate forests is Eupsophus. The ten currently recognized species of the genus have been divided in two species groups, roseus and vertebralis, but most of them, eight, belong to the roseus group. Recent phylogeographic and phylogenetic studies have suggested that species diversity of the roseus group could be underestimated. An examination of the literature shows that species of the roseus group exhibit high levels of variation in their external characteristics, particularly those used as diagnostic characters, which compromises their taxonomy and hinders their field recognition. High levels of variation were also observed in several new populations of the roseus group discovered in southern Chile (36°-40°S, which could not be identified to the species level by their external characteristics. On the other hand, the literature reveals a scarse karyotype differentiation and a high bioacoustic uniformity among the species of the roseus group. We performed a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear genes to reevaluate the species diversity of the roseus group, including all the nominal species of Eupsophus and new populations. This analysis was complemented with three species delimitation approaches, General Mixed Yule Coalescent, multi-rate Poisson Tree Process and Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery. We favored a conservative delimitation of only four species for the roseus group, a result more consistent with the distribution of pairwise genetic distances, and the available chromosome and bioacoustic evidence. The four recognized lineages, which have nearly completely allopatric distributions, are named after the earliest nominal species that they include, but because high levels of phenotypic variation, they are not diagnosable by consistent differences in external morphology. We discuss the implications of this new proposal for the taxonomy and

Gustatory sensation of (L)- and (D)-amino acids in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawai, Misako; Sekine-Hayakawa, Yuki; Okiyama, Atsushi; Ninomiya, Yuzo

2012-12-01

Amino acids are known to elicit complex taste, but most human psychophysical studies on the taste of amino acids have focused on a single basic taste, such as umami (savory) taste, sweetness, or bitterness. In this study, we addressed the potential relationship between the structure and the taste properties of amino acids by measuring the human gustatory intensity and quality in response to aqueous solutions of proteogenic amino acids in comparison to D-enantiomers. Trained subjects tasted aqueous solution of each amino acid and evaluated the intensities of total taste and each basic taste using a category-ratio scale. Each basic taste of amino acids showed the dependency on its hydrophobicity, size, charge, functional groups on the side chain, and chirality of the alpha carbon. In addition, the overall taste of amino acid was found to be the combination of basic tastes according to the partial structure. For example, hydrophilic non-charged middle-sized amino acids elicited sweetness, and L-enantiomeric hydrophilic middle-sized structure was necessary for umami taste. For example, L-serine had mainly sweet and minor umami taste, and D-serine was sweet. We further applied Stevens' psychophysical function to relate the total-taste intensity and the concentration, and found that the slope values depended on the major quality of taste (e.g., bitter large, sour small).

Fatty acids in beef from grain- and grass-fed cattle: the unique South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: Different fatty acids elicit different responses in the human body once ingested. Although red meat is often considered to be a source of fatty acids which has a negative impact on human health, many studies have reflected variability in the quantity and quality of fatty acids found in red meat produced on different ...

Application of expert elicitation techniques in human reliability, assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanyasi Rao, V.V.S.; Saraf, R.K.; Ghosh, A.K.; Kushwaha, H.S.

2006-01-01

Expert elicitation techniques are being used, in the area of technological forecasting, in estimating data needed for analysis when it is either difficult to arrive at the data by experimental means or when it is quite involved to plan and conduct the experiment. In this study, expert elicitation techniques are applied to the evaluation of the frequencies of the various accident sequences that can result from the initiating event (IE) 'High Pressure Process Water (HPPW) system failure' in typical Indian Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (IPHWR) of the older generation. The Operating Procedure under Emergency Conditions (OPEC) for this IE involves human actions according to a pre-defined procedure. The Human Error Probabilities for all these human actions are obtained using expert elicitation techniques. These techniques aim at eliciting the opinion of the experts in the area of interest with regard to the issue in question. The uncertainty is analysed by employing the measure of dissonance and the most probable range of human error probabilities are arrived at by maximizing this measure. These values are combined using the same procedures mentioned above to yield a distribution representing the uncertainty associated with the predictions. (author)

Do community and autonomy moral violations elicit different emotions?

Science.gov (United States)

Kollareth, Dolichan; Kikutani, Mariko; Shirai, Mariko; Russell, James A

2018-06-11

According to one important set of theories, different domains of immorality are linked to different discrete emotions-panculturally. Violations against the community elicit contempt, whereas violations against an individual elicit anger. To test this theory, American, Indian and Japanese participants (N = 480) indicated contempt and anger reactions (with verbal rating and face selection) to both the types of immorality. To remedy method problems in previous research, community and autonomy violations were created for the same story-frame, by varying the target to be either the community or an individual. Community and autonomy violations did not differ significantly in the emotion elicited: overall, both types of violations elicited more anger than contempt (and more negative emotion of any kind than positive emotion). By verbal rating, Americans and Indians reported more anger than contempt for both types of violation, whereas Japanese reported more contempt than anger for both types. By face selection, the three cultural groups selected anger more than contempt for both types of violation. The results speak against defining distinct domains of morality by their association with distinct emotions. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

Elicitation threshold of cobalt chloride

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fischer, Louise A; Johansen, Jeanne D; Voelund, Aage

2016-01-01

: On the basis of five included studies, the ED10 values of aqueous cobalt chloride ranged between 0.0663 and 1.95 µg cobalt/cm(2), corresponding to 30.8-259 ppm. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis provides an overview of the doses of cobalt that are required to elicit allergic cobalt contactdermatitis in sensitized...

Film clips and narrative text as subjective emotion elicitation techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Zupan, Barbra; Babbage, Duncan R

2017-01-01

Film clips and narrative text are useful techniques in eliciting emotion in a laboratory setting but have not been examined side-by-side using the same methodology. This study examined the self-identification of emotions elicited by film clip and narrative text stimuli to confirm that selected stimuli appropriately target the intended emotions. Seventy participants viewed 30 film clips, and 40 additional participants read 30 narrative texts. Participants identified the emotion experienced (happy, sad, angry, fearful, neutral-six stimuli each). Eighty-five percent of participants self-identified the target emotion for at least two stimuli for all emotion categories of film clips, except angry (only one) and for all categories of narrative text, except fearful (only one). The most effective angry text was correctly identified 74% of the time. Film clips were more effective in eliciting all target emotions in participants for eliciting the correct emotion (angry), intensity rating (happy, sad), or both (fearful).

Improvement of Requirement Elicitation Process through Cognitive Psychology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sana Fatima

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Proper requirement elicitation is necessary for client satisfaction along with the overall project success, but requirement engineers face problems in understanding user requirements and the users of the required system fail to make requirement engineering team understand what they actually want. It is then responsibility of requirement engineers to extract proper requirements. This paper discusses how to use cognitive psychology and learning style models (LSM to understand the psychology of clients. Moreover, it also discusses usage of proper elicitation technique according to one’s learning style and gather the right requirements.

TRAC-Monterey FY16 Work Program Development and Report of Research Elicitation

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

any changes to priorities or additional projects that require immediate research. Work Program; Research Elicitation Unclassified UU UU UU UU 35 MAJ...conduct analysis for the Army. 1 Marks, Chris, Nesbitt, Peter. TRAC FY14 Research Requirements Elicitation . Technical Report TRAC-M-TM-13-059. 700 Dyer... Requirements Elicitation Interviews Interview Guide: 1. Describe a research requirement in the areas of topics, techniques, and methodologies. 2

Raw drone milk of honeybees elicits uterotrophic effect in rats: evidence for estrogenic activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Seres, Adrienn B; Ducza, Eszter; Báthori, Mária; Hunyadi, Attila; Béni, Zoltán; Dékány, Miklós; Gáspár, Róbert

2013-05-01

Numerous honeybee products are used in medicine, but the literature furnishes no information concerning the effects of the drone milk (DM), although drone brood, which is similar to DM, was reported to elicit a hormone-like strengthening effect. In certain countries, DM is traditionally used to treat infertility and to promote vitality in both men and women. The aim of this study was to determine the putative estrogen hormone-like effect of raw DM in rats and to identify the effective compounds. Uterotrophic assays revealed that DM increased the relative weight of the immature rat uterus. This effect was confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain-reaction and Western blot methods, in which the mRNA and protein expression of the estrogen-dependent peptide complement component C3 was determined. Column chromatography and uterotrophic assays were used to fractionate and check bioactivity, respectively. The active compound after the last fractionation was identified by the nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry techniques as E-dec-2-enedioic acid, which is very similar to the fatty acids with estrogenic activity that were previously isolated from royal jelly. These results lead us to suppose that E-dec-2-enedioic acid is responsible for the estrogen-like effect of DM. This appears to be the first report on the pharmacological effects of DM and E-dec-2-enedioic acid in mammals.

Pattern visual evoked potentials elicited by organic electroluminescence screen.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumoto, Celso Soiti; Shinoda, Kei; Matsumoto, Harue; Funada, Hideaki; Sasaki, Kakeru; Minoda, Haruka; Iwata, Takeshi; Mizota, Atsushi

2014-01-01

To determine whether organic electroluminescence (OLED) screens can be used as visual stimulators to elicit pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (p-VEPs). Checkerboard patterns were generated on a conventional cathode-ray tube (S710, Compaq Computer Co., USA) screen and on an OLED (17 inches, 320 × 230 mm, PVM-1741, Sony, Tokyo, Japan) screen. The time course of the luminance changes of each monitor was measured with a photodiode. The p-VEPs elicited by these two screens were recorded from 15 eyes of 9 healthy volunteers (22.0 ± 0.8 years). The OLED screen had a constant time delay from the onset of the trigger signal to the start of the luminescence change. The delay during the reversal phase from black to white for the pattern was 1.0 msec on the cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen and 0.5 msec on the OLED screen. No significant differences in the amplitudes of P100 and the implicit times of N75 and P100 were observed in the p-VEPs elicited by the CRT and the OLED screens. The OLED screen can be used as a visual stimulator to elicit p-VEPs; however the time delay and the specific properties in the luminance change must be taken into account.

Entropy-optimal weight constraint elicitation with additive multi-attribute utility models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Valkenhoef , van Gert; Tervonen, Tommi

2016-01-01

We consider the elicitation of incomplete preference information for the additive utility model in terms of linear constraints on the weights. Eliciting incomplete preferences using holistic pair-wise judgments is convenient for the decision maker, but selecting the best pair-wise comparison is

Eliciting Subjective Probabilities with Binary Lotteries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrison, Glenn W.; Martínez-Correa, Jimmy; Swarthout, J. Todd

objective probabilities. Drawing a sample from the same subject population, we find evidence that the binary lottery procedure induces linear utility in a subjective probability elicitation task using the Quadratic Scoring Rule. We also show that the binary lottery procedure can induce direct revelation...

Sample Size for Measuring Grammaticality in Preschool Children from Picture-Elicited Language Samples

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenberg, Sarita L.; Guo, Ling-Yu

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a shorter language sample elicited with fewer pictures (i.e., 7) would yield a percent grammatical utterances (PGU) score similar to that computed from a longer language sample elicited with 15 pictures for 3-year-old children. Method: Language samples were elicited by asking forty…

Gustatory stimuli representing different perceptual qualities elicit distinct patterns of neuropeptide secretion from taste buds.

Science.gov (United States)

Geraedts, Maartje C P; Munger, Steven D

2013-04-24

Taste stimuli that evoke different perceptual qualities (e.g., sweet, umami, bitter, sour, salty) are detected by dedicated subpopulations of taste bud cells that use distinct combinations of sensory receptors and transduction molecules. Here, we report that taste stimuli also elicit unique patterns of neuropeptide secretion from taste buds that are correlated with those perceptual qualities. We measured tastant-dependent secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucagon, and neuropeptide Y (NPY) from circumvallate papillae of Tas1r3(+/+), Tas1r3(+/-) and Tas1r3 (-/-) mice. Isolated tongue epithelia were mounted in modified Ussing chambers, permitting apical stimulation of taste buds; secreted peptides were collected from the basal side and measured by specific ELISAs. Appetitive stimuli (sweet: glucose, sucralose; umami: monosodium glutamate; polysaccharide: Polycose) elicited GLP-1 and NPY secretion and inhibited basal glucagon secretion. Sweet and umami stimuli were ineffective in Tas1r3(-/-) mice, indicating an obligatory role for the T1R3 subunit common to the sweet and umami taste receptors. Polycose responses were unaffected by T1R3 deletion, consistent with the presence of a distinct polysaccharide taste receptor. The effects of sweet stimuli on peptide secretion also required the closing of ATP-sensitive K(+) (KATP) channels, as the KATP channel activator diazoxide inhibited the effects of glucose and sucralose on both GLP-1 and glucagon release. Both sour citric acid and salty NaCl increased NPY secretion but had no effects on GLP-1 or glucagon. Bitter denatonium showed no effects on these peptides. Together, these results suggest that taste stimuli of different perceptual qualities elicit unique patterns of neuropeptide secretion from taste buds.

Eliciting Information on Sensitive Matters Without Inviting ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Eliciting Information on Sensitive Matters. Without Inviting Respondents' ... methods based on Randomized Response tech- niques. ... while collecting data on some sensitive issues are well ..... Suppose there is an association of professionals.

Pattern Visual Evoked Potentials Elicited by Organic Electroluminescence Screen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Celso Soiti Matsumoto

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To determine whether organic electroluminescence (OLED screens can be used as visual stimulators to elicit pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (p-VEPs. Method. Checkerboard patterns were generated on a conventional cathode-ray tube (S710, Compaq Computer Co., USA screen and on an OLED (17 inches, 320 × 230 mm, PVM-1741, Sony, Tokyo, Japan screen. The time course of the luminance changes of each monitor was measured with a photodiode. The p-VEPs elicited by these two screens were recorded from 15 eyes of 9 healthy volunteers (22.0 ± 0.8 years. Results. The OLED screen had a constant time delay from the onset of the trigger signal to the start of the luminescence change. The delay during the reversal phase from black to white for the pattern was 1.0 msec on the cathode-ray tube (CRT screen and 0.5 msec on the OLED screen. No significant differences in the amplitudes of P100 and the implicit times of N75 and P100 were observed in the p-VEPs elicited by the CRT and the OLED screens. Conclusion. The OLED screen can be used as a visual stimulator to elicit p-VEPs; however the time delay and the specific properties in the luminance change must be taken into account.

MST4 kinase phosphorylates ACAP4 protein to orchestrate apical membrane remodeling during gastric acid secretion.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Xiao; Yao, Phil Y; Jiang, Jiying; Zhang, Yin; Su, Zeqi; Yao, Wendy; Wang, Xueying; Gui, Ping; Mullen, McKay; Henry, Calmour; Ward, Tarsha; Wang, Wenwen; Brako, Larry; Tian, Ruijun; Zhao, Xuannv; Wang, Fengsong; Cao, Xinwang; Wang, Dongmei; Liu, Xing; Ding, Xia; Yao, Xuebiao

2017-09-29

Digestion in the stomach depends on acidification of the lumen. Histamine-elicited acid secretion is triggered by activation of the PKA cascade, which ultimately results in the insertion of gastric H,K-ATPases into the apical plasma membranes of parietal cells. Our recent study revealed the functional role of PKA-MST4-ezrin signaling axis in histamine-elicited acid secretion. However, it remains uncharacterized how the PKA-MST4-ezrin signaling axis operates the insertion of H,K-ATPases into the apical plasma membranes of gastric parietal cells. Here we show that MST4 phosphorylates ACAP4, an ARF6 GTPase-activating protein, at Thr 545 Histamine stimulation activates MST4 and promotes MST4 interaction with ACAP4. ACAP4 physically interacts with MST4 and is a cognate substrate of MST4 during parietal cell activation. The phosphorylation site of ACAP4 by MST4 was mapped to Thr 545 by mass spectrometric analyses. Importantly, phosphorylation of Thr 545 is essential for acid secretion in parietal cells because either suppression of ACAP4 or overexpression of non-phosphorylatable ACAP4 prevents the apical membrane reorganization and proton pump translocation elicited by histamine stimulation. In addition, persistent overexpression of MST4 phosphorylation-deficient ACAP4 results in inhibition of gastric acid secretion and blockage of tubulovesicle fusion to the apical membranes. Significantly, phosphorylation of Thr 545 enables ACAP4 to interact with ezrin. Given the location of Thr 545 between the GTPase-activating protein domain and the first ankyrin repeat, we reason that MST4 phosphorylation elicits a conformational change that enables ezrin-ACAP4 interaction. Taken together, these results define a novel molecular mechanism linking the PKA-MST4-ACAP4 signaling cascade to polarized acid secretion in gastric parietal cells. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

PABRE-Proj: applying patterns in requirements elicitation

OpenAIRE

Palomares Bonache, Cristina; Quer Bosor, Maria Carme; Franch Gutiérrez, Javier

2013-01-01

Software requirement patterns have been proposed as a type of artifact for fostering requirements reuse. In this paper, we present PABRE-Proj, a tool aimed at supporting requirements elicitation and specification. Peer Reviewed

Eliciting User Requirements Using Appreciative Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzales, Carol Kernitzki

2010-01-01

Many software development projects fail because they do not meet the needs of users, are over-budget, and abandoned. To address this problem, the user requirements elicitation process was modified based on principles of Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry, commonly used in organizational development, aims to build organizations, processes,…

State-of-the-Art Prescriptive Criteria Weight Elicitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mona Riabacke

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Comparatively few of the vast amounts of decision analytical methods suggested have been widely spread in actual practice. Some approaches have nevertheless been more successful in this respect than others. Quantitative decision making has moved from the study of decision theory founded on a single criterion towards decision support for more realistic decision-making situations with multiple, often conflicting, criteria. Furthermore, the identified gap between normative and descriptive theories seems to suggest a shift to more prescriptive approaches. However, when decision analysis applications are used to aid prescriptive decision-making processes, additional demands are put on these applications to adapt to the users and the context. In particular, the issue of weight elicitation is crucial. There are several techniques for deriving criteria weights from preference statements. This is a cognitively demanding task, subject to different biases, and the elicited values can be heavily dependent on the method of assessment. There have been a number of methods suggested for assessing criteria weights, but these methods have properties which impact their applicability in practice. This paper provides a survey of state-of-the-art weight elicitation methods in a prescriptive setting.

Glutamine-Elicited Secretion of Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Is Governed by an Activated Glutamate Dehydrogenase.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, Lotta E; Shcherbina, Liliya; Al-Majdoub, Mahmoud; Vishnu, Neelanjan; Arroyo, Claudia Balderas; Aste Carrara, Jonathan; Wollheim, Claes B; Fex, Malin; Mulder, Hindrik; Wierup, Nils; Spégel, Peter

2018-03-01

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), secreted from intestinal L cells, glucose dependently stimulates insulin secretion from β-cells. This glucose dependence prevents hypoglycemia, rendering GLP-1 analogs a useful and safe treatment modality in type 2 diabetes. Although the amino acid glutamine is a potent elicitor of GLP-1 secretion, the responsible mechanism remains unclear. We investigated how GLP-1 secretion is metabolically coupled in L cells (GLUTag) and in vivo in mice using the insulin-secreting cell line INS-1 832/13 as reference. A membrane-permeable glutamate analog (dimethylglutamate [DMG]), acting downstream of electrogenic transporters, elicited similar alterations in metabolism as glutamine in both cell lines. Both DMG and glutamine alone elicited GLP-1 secretion in GLUTag cells and in vivo, whereas activation of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) was required to stimulate insulin secretion from INS-1 832/13 cells. Pharmacological inhibition in vivo of GDH blocked secretion of GLP-1 in response to DMG. In conclusion, our results suggest that nonelectrogenic nutrient uptake and metabolism play an important role in L cell stimulus-secretion coupling. Metabolism of glutamine and related analogs by GDH in the L cell may explain why GLP-1 secretion, but not that of insulin, is activated by these secretagogues in vivo. © 2017 by the American Diabetes Association.

Effects of penicillin on procaine-elicited bursts of potential in central neuron of snail, Achatina fulica.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yi-Hung; Lu, Kuan-Ling; Hsiao, Ru-Wan; Lee, Ya-Ling; Tsai, Hong-Chieh; Lin, Chia Hsien; Tsai, Ming-Cheng

2008-08-01

Effects of penicillin on changes in procaine-elicited bursts of potential (BoP) were studied in a central neuron (RP4) of snail, Achatina fulica Ferussac. Procaine elicited BoP in the RP4 neuron while penicillin elicited depolarization of the neuron. Penicillin decreased the BoP elicited by procaine in a concentration-dependent manner. The effect of penicillin on the procaine-elicited BoP was not altered in the preparations treated with ascorbate or L-NAME (N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester). However, the inhibitory effect of penicillin on the procaine-elicited BoP was enhanced with a decrease in extracellular sodium ion. Sodium ion was one of the important ions contributing to the action potential of the neuron. Two-electrode voltage-clamp studies revealed that penicillin decreased the fast sodium inward current of the neuron. It is concluded that penicillin inhibited the BoP elicited by procaine and sodium ion altered the effect of penicillin on procaine-elicited BoP.

Salient Beliefs in Majoring in Management Information Systems: An Elicitation Study

Science.gov (United States)

Chipidza, Wallace; Green, Gina; Riemenschneider, Cindy

2016-01-01

Research utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior to understand behavior should first elicit beliefs about the phenomenon from the target population. In order to understand the reasons why students choose to major or not major in Management Information Systems (MIS), we elicited beliefs from 136 students attending university in the United States…

Belief elicitation in experiments: Is there a hedging problem?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blanco, Mariana; Engelmann, Dirk; Koch, Alexander

2010-01-01

Belief-elicitation experiments usually reward accuracy of stated beliefs in addition to payments for other decisions. But this allows risk-averse subjects to hedge with their stated beliefs against adverse outcomes of the other decisions. So can we trust the existing belief-elicitation results...... opportunities are very prominent. If hedging opportunities are transparent, and incentives to hedge are strong, many subjects do spot hedging opportunities and respond to them. The bias can go beyond players actually hedging themselves, because some expect others to hedge and best respond to this....

Stimulation of apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter expands the bile acid pool and generates bile acids with positive feedback properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudling, Mats; Bonde, Ylva

2015-01-01

Bile acid synthesis has been considered a prototype for how a physiological process is controlled by end product feedback inhibition. By this feedback inhibition, bile acid concentrations are kept within safe ranges. However, careful examination of published rodent data strongly suggests that bile acid synthesis is also under potent positive feedback control by hydrophilic bile acids. Current concepts on the regulation of bile acid synthesis are derived from mouse models. Recent data have shown that mice have farnesoid X receptor (FXR) antagonistic bile acids capable of quenching responses elicited by FXR agonistic bile acids. This is important to recognize to understand the regulation of bile acid synthesis in the mouse, and in particular to clarify if mouse model findings are valid also in the human situation. In addition to classic end product feedback inhibition, regulation of bile acid synthesis in the mouse largely appears also to be driven by changes in hepatic levels of murine bile acids such as α- and β-muricholic acids. This has not been previously recognized. Stimulated bile acid synthesis or induction of the apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter in the intestine, increase the availability of chenodeoxycholic acid in the liver, thereby promoting hepatic conversion of this bile acid into muricholic acids. Recognition of these mechanisms is essential for understanding the regulation of bile acid synthesis in the mouse, and for our awareness of important species differences in the regulation of bile acid synthesis in mice and humans. 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Unusual binding of ursodeoxycholic acid to ileal bile acid binding protein: role in activation of FXRα[S

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Changming; Filipp, Fabian V.; Smith, Jeffrey W.

2012-01-01

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA, ursodiol) is used to prevent damage to the liver in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. The drug also prevents the progression of colorectal cancer and the recurrence of high-grade colonic dysplasia. However, the molecular mechanism by which UDCA elicits its beneficial effects is not entirely understood. The aim of this study was to determine whether ileal bile acid binding protein (IBABP) has a role in mediating the effects of UDCA. We find that UDCA binds to a single site on IBABP and increases the affinity for major human bile acids at a second binding site. As UDCA occupies one of the bile acid binding sites on IBABP, it reduces the cooperative binding that is often observed for the major human bile acids. Furthermore, IBABP is necessary for the full activation of farnesoid X receptor α (FXRα) by bile acids, including UDCA. These observations suggest that IBABP may have a role in mediating some of the intestinal effects of UDCA. PMID:22223860

Saturated Zone Flow and Transport Expert Elicitation Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coppersmith, Kevin J.; Perman, Roseanne C.

1998-01-01

This report presents results of the Saturated Zone Flow and Transport Expert Elicitation (SZEE) project for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This project was sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and managed by Geomatrix Consultants, Inc. (Geomatrix), for TRW Environmental Safety Systems, Inc. The DOE's Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (referred to as the YMP) is intended to evaluate the suitability of the site for construction of a mined geologic repository for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The SZEE project is one of several that involve the elicitation of experts to characterize the knowledge and uncertainties regarding key inputs to the Yucca Mountain Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA). The objective of the current project was to characterize the uncertainties associated with certain key issues related to the saturated zone system in the Yucca Mountain area and downgradient region. An understanding of saturated zone processes is critical to evaluating the performance of the potential high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. A major goal of the project was to capture the uncertainties involved in assessing the saturated flow processes, including uncertainty in both the models used to represent the physical processes controlling saturated zone flow and transport, and the parameter values used in the models. So that the analysis included a wide range of perspectives, multiple individual judgments were elicited from members of an expert panel. The panel members, who were experts from within and outside the Yucca Mountain project, represented a range of experience and expertise. A deliberate process was followed in facilitating interactions among the experts, in training them to express their uncertainties, and in eliciting their interpretations. The resulting assessments and probability distributions, therefore, provide a reasonable aggregate representation of the knowledge and

Proteins differentially expressed in elicited cell suspension culture of Podophyllum hexandrum with enhanced podophyllotoxin content

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Bhattacharyya Dipto

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Podophyllotoxin (PTOX, the precursor for semi-synthesis of cancer therapeutics like etoposide, teniposide and etophos, is primarily obtained from an endangered medicinal herb, Podophyllum hexandrum Royle. PTOX, a lignan is biosynthetically derived from the phenylpropanoid pathway. The aim of this study is to investigate changes in the P. hexandrum cell proteome potentially related to PTOX accumulation in response to methyl jasmonate (MeJA elicitation. High-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE followed by colloidal Coomassie staining and mass spectrometric analysis was used to detect statistically significant changes in cell’s proteome. Result The HPLC analysis showed approximately 7–8 fold change in accumulation of PTOX, in the 12day old cell suspension culture (i.e. after 9days of elicitation elicited with 100 μM MeJA as compared to the control. Using 2-DE a total of 233 spots was detected, out of which 105 spots were identified by MALDI TOF-TOF MS/MS. Data were subjected to functional annotation from a biological point of view through KEGG. The phenylpropanoid and monolignol pathway enzymes were identified, amongst these, chalcone synthase, polyphenol oxidase, caffeoyl CoA 3-O-methyltransferase, S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent methyltransferases, caffeic acid-O-methyl transferase etc. are noted as important. The relation of other differentially accumulated proteins with varied effects caused by elicitors on P. hexandrum cells namely stress and defense related protein, transcription and DNA replication and signaling are also discussed. Conclusions Elicitor-induced PTOX accumulation in P. hexandrum cell cultures provides a responsive model system to profile modulations in proteins related to phenylpropanoid/monolignol biosynthesis and other defense responses. Present findings form a baseline for future investigation on a non-sequenced medicinal herb P. hexandrum at molecular level.

Plant innate immunity induced by flagellin suppresses the hypersensitive response in non-host plants elicited by Pseudomonas syringae pv. averrhoi.

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Chia-Fong Wei

Full Text Available A new pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. averrhoi (Pav, which causes bacterial spot disease on carambola was identified in Taiwan in 1997. Many strains of this pathovar have been isolated from different locations and several varieties of hosts. Some of these strains, such as HL1, are nonmotile and elicit a strong hypersensitive response (HR in nonhost tobacco leaves, while other strains, such as PA5, are motile and elicit a weak HR. Based on the image from a transmission electron microscope, the results showed that HL1 is flagellum-deficient and PA5 has normal flagella. Here we cloned and analyzed the fliC gene and glycosylation island from Pav HL1 and PA5. The amino acid sequences of FliC from HL1 and PA5 are identical to P. s. pvs. tabaci (Pta, glycinea and phaseolicola and share very high similarity with other pathovars of P. syringae. In contrast to the flagellin mutant PtaΔfliC, PA5ΔfliC grows as well as wild type in the host plant, but it elicits stronger HR than wild type does in non-host plants. Furthermore, the purified Pav flagellin, but not the divergent flagellin from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, is able to impair the HR induced by PA5ΔfliC. PA5Δfgt1 possessing nonglycosylated flagella behaved as its wild type in both bacterial growth in host and HR elicitation. Flagellin was infiltrated into tobacco leaves either simultaneously with flagellum-deficient HL1 or prior to the inoculation of wild type HL1, and both treatments impaired the HR induced by HL1. Moreover, the HR elicited by PA5 and PA5ΔfliC was enhanced by the addition of cycloheximide, suggesting that the flagellin is one of the PAMPs (pathogen-associated molecular patterns contributed to induce the PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI. Taken together, the results shown in this study reveal that flagellin in Pav is capable of suppressing HR via PTI induction during an incompatible interaction.

Plant Innate Immunity Induced by Flagellin Suppresses the Hypersensitive Response in Non-Host Plants Elicited by Pseudomonas syringae pv. averrhoi

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Chia-Fong; Hsu, Shih-Tien; Deng, Wen-Ling; Wen, Yu-Der; Huang, Hsiou-Chen

2012-01-01

A new pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. averrhoi (Pav), which causes bacterial spot disease on carambola was identified in Taiwan in 1997. Many strains of this pathovar have been isolated from different locations and several varieties of hosts. Some of these strains, such as HL1, are nonmotile and elicit a strong hypersensitive response (HR) in nonhost tobacco leaves, while other strains, such as PA5, are motile and elicit a weak HR. Based on the image from a transmission electron microscope, the results showed that HL1 is flagellum-deficient and PA5 has normal flagella. Here we cloned and analyzed the fliC gene and glycosylation island from Pav HL1 and PA5. The amino acid sequences of FliC from HL1 and PA5 are identical to P. s. pvs. tabaci (Pta), glycinea and phaseolicola and share very high similarity with other pathovars of P. syringae. In contrast to the flagellin mutant PtaΔfliC, PA5ΔfliC grows as well as wild type in the host plant, but it elicits stronger HR than wild type does in non-host plants. Furthermore, the purified Pav flagellin, but not the divergent flagellin from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, is able to impair the HR induced by PA5ΔfliC. PA5Δfgt1 possessing nonglycosylated flagella behaved as its wild type in both bacterial growth in host and HR elicitation. Flagellin was infiltrated into tobacco leaves either simultaneously with flagellum-deficient HL1 or prior to the inoculation of wild type HL1, and both treatments impaired the HR induced by HL1. Moreover, the HR elicited by PA5 and PA5ΔfliC was enhanced by the addition of cycloheximide, suggesting that the flagellin is one of the PAMPs (pathogen-associated molecular patterns) contributed to induce the PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Taken together, the results shown in this study reveal that flagellin in Pav is capable of suppressing HR via PTI induction during an incompatible interaction. PMID:22911741

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antibacterial Potentials of Nigella sativa L. Suspension Cultures under Elicitation

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Hera Chaudhry

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Nigella sativa L. (family Ranunculaceae is an annual herb of immense medicinal properties because of its major active components (i.e., thymoquinone (TQ, thymohydroquinone (THQ, and thymol (THY. Plant tissue culture techniques like elicitation, Agrobacterium mediated transformation, hairy root culture, and so on, are applied for substantial metabolite production. This study enumerates the antibacterial and antioxidant potentials of N. sativa epicotyl suspension cultures under biotic and abiotic elicitation along with concentration optimization of the elicitors for enhanced TQ and THY production. Cultures under different concentrations of pectin and manganese chloride (MnCl2 elicitation (i.e., 5 mg/L, 10 mg/L, and 15 mg/L showed that the control, MnCl2 10 mg/L, and pectin 15 mg/L suspension extracts greatly inhibited the growth of E. coli, S. typhimurium, and S. aureus (MIC against E. coli, i.e., 2.35±0.8, 2.4±0.2, and 2.46±0.5, resp.. Elicitation decreased SOD enzyme activity whereas CAT enzyme activity increased remarkably under MnCl2 elicitation. MnCl2 10 mg/L and pectin 15 mg/L elicitation enhanced the DPPH radical inhibition ability, but ferric scavenging activity was comparable to the control. TQ and THY were quantified by LC-MS/MS in the cultures with high bioactive properties revealing maximum content under MnCl2 10 mg/L elicitation. Therefore, MnCl2 elicitation can be undertaken on large scale for sustainable metabolite production.

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antibacterial Potentials of Nigella sativa L. Suspension Cultures under Elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhry, Hera; Fatima, Nida; Ahmad, Iffat Zareen

2015-01-01

Nigella sativa L. (family Ranunculaceae) is an annual herb of immense medicinal properties because of its major active components (i.e., thymoquinone (TQ), thymohydroquinone (THQ), and thymol (THY)). Plant tissue culture techniques like elicitation, Agrobacterium mediated transformation, hairy root culture, and so on, are applied for substantial metabolite production. This study enumerates the antibacterial and antioxidant potentials of N. sativa epicotyl suspension cultures under biotic and abiotic elicitation along with concentration optimization of the elicitors for enhanced TQ and THY production. Cultures under different concentrations of pectin and manganese chloride (MnCl2) elicitation (i.e., 5 mg/L, 10 mg/L, and 15 mg/L) showed that the control, MnCl2 10 mg/L, and pectin 15 mg/L suspension extracts greatly inhibited the growth of E. coli, S. typhimurium, and S. aureus (MIC against E. coli, i.e., 2.35 ± 0.8, 2.4 ± 0.2, and 2.46 ± 0.5, resp.). Elicitation decreased SOD enzyme activity whereas CAT enzyme activity increased remarkably under MnCl2 elicitation. MnCl2 10 mg/L and pectin 15 mg/L elicitation enhanced the DPPH radical inhibition ability, but ferric scavenging activity was comparable to the control. TQ and THY were quantified by LC-MS/MS in the cultures with high bioactive properties revealing maximum content under MnCl2 10 mg/L elicitation. Therefore, MnCl2 elicitation can be undertaken on large scale for sustainable metabolite production.

Changes in glucose-elicited blood metabolite responses following weight loss and long term weight maintenance in obese individuals with impaired glucose tolerance.

Science.gov (United States)

Geidenstam, Nina; Danielsson, Anders P H; Spégel, Peter; Ridderstråle, Martin

2016-03-01

Weight loss improves insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in obese subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), but the long term dynamic effects on blood metabolites other than glucose during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), are largely unknown. Here, we studied changes in OGTT-elicited metabolite patterns in obese subjects during a diet-induced weight loss study. Blood samples from 14 obese individuals with IGT were collected at 0, 30 and 120 min during a standard 75 g OGTT at baseline (BMI 44 ± 2 kg/m(2)), after weight loss (BMI 36 ± 2 kg/m(2)) and after weight maintenance (BMI 35 ± 2 kg/m(2)). Serum metabolite levels were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and compared to a lean glucose tolerant group. Changes in the OGTT-elicited metabolite patterns occurred differentially during weight loss and weight maintenance. Enhanced suppression of aromatic amino acids were associated with decreased insulinogenic index observed after weight loss (tyrosine: r=0.72, p=0.013; phenylalanine: r=0.63, p=0.039). The OGTT-elicited suppression and/or lack of increase in levels of glutamate, glutamine, isoleucine, leucine, and the fatty acids laurate, oleate and palmitate, improved towards the lean profile after weight maintenance, paralleling an improvement in glucose tolerance. The greater heterogeneity in the response before and after weight loss in the obese, compared to lean subjects, was markedly reduced after weight maintenance. Diet-induced weight loss followed by weight maintenance results in changes in metabolite profiles associated with either hepatic insulin sensitivity or peripheral glucose tolerance. Our results highlight the importance of evaluating the effects of weight loss and weight maintenance separately. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluación del uso de señales visuales y de localización por el colibrí cola-ancha (Selasphorus platycercus al visitar flores de Penstemon roseus Evaluation of the use of visual and location cues by the Broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercusforaging in flowers of Penstemon roseus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillermo Pérez

2012-03-01

Full Text Available En los colibríes la memoria espacial desempeña un papel importante durante el forrajeo. Éste se basa en el uso de señales específicas (visuales o en señales espaciales (localización de flores y plantas con néctar. Sin embargo, el uso de estas señales por los colibríes puede variar de acuerdo con la escala espacial que enfrentan cuando visitan flores de una o más plantas durante el forrajeo; ésto se puso a prueba con individuos del colibrí cola-ancha Selasphorus platycercus. Por otro lado, para evaluar la posible variación en el uso de las señales, se llevaron a cabo experimentos en condiciones semi-naturales utilizando flores de la planta Penstemon roseus, nativa del sitio de estudio. A través de la manipulación de la presencia/ausencia de una recompensa (néctar y señales visuales, evaluamos el uso de la memoria espacial durante el forrajeo entre 2 plantas (experimento 1 y dentro de una sola planta (experimento 2. Los resultados demostraron que los colibríes utilizaron la memoria de localización de la planta de cuyas flores obtuvieron recompensa, independientemente de la presencia de señales visuales. Por el contrario, en flores individuales de una sola planta, después de un corto periodo de aprendizaje los colibríes pueden utilizar las señales visuales para guiar su forrajeo y discriminar las flores sin recompensa. Asimismo, en ausencia de señales visuales los individuos basaron su forrajeo en la memoria de localización de la flor con recompensa visitada previamente. Estos resultados sugieren plasticidad en el comportamiento de forrajeo de los colibríes influenciada por la escala espacial y por la información adquirida en visitas previas.In hummingbirds spatial memory plays an important role during foraging. It is based in use of specific cues (visual or spatial cues (location of flowers and plants with nectar. However, use of these cues by hummingbirds may change according to the spatial scale they face when visit

What monitor can replace the cathode-ray tube for visual stimulation to elicit multifocal electroretinograms?

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumoto, Celso Soiti; Shinoda, Kei; Matsumoto, Harue; Seki, Keisuke; Nagasaka, Eiichiro; Iwata, Takeshi; Mizota, Atsushi

2014-08-05

To compare a conventional cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and liquid crystal display (LCD) screens as visual stimulators to elicit multifocal electroretinograms (mfERGs), mfERGs were recorded from seven eyes of seven healthy volunteers (21 ± 2 years). The mfERGs elicited by a conventional CRT screen (S710, Compaq Computer Co.) were compared to those elicited by a studio-grade master OLED monitor (PVM-1741, Sony, Japan) and a conventional LCD (S1721, Flexscan, Eizo Nanao Corp., Japan). The luminance changes of each monitor were measured with a photodiode. CRT, OLED, and LCD screens with a frame frequency of 60 Hz were studied. A hexagonal stimulus array with 61 stimulus elements was created on each monitor. The serial white stimuli of the OLED screen at 60 Hz did not fuse, and that of the LCD screens fused. The amplitudes of P1 and P2 of the first-order kernels of the mfERGs were not significantly different from those elicited by the CRT and OLED screens, and the P1 amplitude of the first-order kernel elicited by the LCD stimuli was significantly smaller than that elicited by the CRT in all the groups of the averaged hexagonal elements. The implicit times were approximately 10 ms longer in almost all components elicited by the LCD screen compared to those elicited by the CRT screen. The mfERGs elicited by monitors other than the CRT should be carefully interpreted, especially those elicited by LCD screens. The OLED had good performance, and we conclude that it can replace the CRT as a stimulator for mfERGs; however, a collection of normative data is recommended. © 2014 ARVO.

Anion sensing with a Lewis acidic BODIPY-antimony(v) derivative.

Science.gov (United States)

Christianson, Anna M; Gabbaï, François P

2017-02-21

We describe the synthesis of a BODIPY dye substituted with a Lewis acidic antimony(v) moiety. This compound, which has been fully characterized, shows a high affinity for small anions including fluoride and cyanide, the complexation of which elicits a fluorescence turn-on response.

The capsaicin cough reflex in eczema patients with respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elberling, Jesper; Dirksen, Asger; Johansen, Jeanne Duus

2006-01-01

Respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume are common in the population but have unclear pathophysiology. Increased capsaicin cough responsiveness has been associated with the symptoms, but it is unknown whether the site of the symptoms in the airways influences this association. The aim of this st......Respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume are common in the population but have unclear pathophysiology. Increased capsaicin cough responsiveness has been associated with the symptoms, but it is unknown whether the site of the symptoms in the airways influences this association. The aim...... of this study was to investigate the association between the site of airway symptoms elicited by perfume and cough responsiveness to bronchial challenge with capsaicin. 21 eczema patients with respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume were compared with 21 healthy volunteers in a sex- and age-matched case...... control study. The participants completed a symptom questionnaire and underwent a bronchial challenge with capsaicin. Lower, but not upper, respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume were associated with increased capsaicin cough responsiveness. Having severe symptoms to perfume (n=11) did not relate...

The role of retinoic acid in tolerance and immunity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Jason A; Grainger, John R; Spencer, Sean P; Belkaid, Yasmine

2011-07-22

Vitamin A elicits a broad array of immune responses through its metabolite, retinoic acid (RA). Recent evidence indicates that loss of RA leads to impaired immunity, whereas excess RA can potentially promote inflammatory disorders. In this review, we discuss recent advances showcasing the crucial contributions of RA to both immunological tolerance and the elicitation of adaptive immune responses. Further, we provide a comprehensive overview of the cell types and factors that control the production of RA and discuss how host perturbations may affect the ability of this metabolite to control tolerance and immunity or to instigate pathology. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Elicitation support requirements of multi-expertise teams

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bitter-Rijpkema, M.; Martens, R.L.; Jochems, W.M.G.

2005-01-01

Tools to support knowledge elicitation are more and more used in situations where employees or students collaborate using the computer. Studies indicate that there exist differences between experts and novices regarding their methods of work and reasoning. However, the commonly preferred approach

An alternative approach for eliciting willingness-to-pay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura J. Damschroder

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Open-ended methods that elicit willingness-to-pay (WTP in terms of absolute dollars often result in high rates of questionable and highly skewed responses, insensitivity to changes in health state, and raise an ethical issue related to its association with personal income. We conducted a 2x2 randomized trial over the Internet to test 4 WTP formats: 1 WTP in dollars; 2 WTP as a percentage of financial resources; 3 WTP in terms of monthly payments; and 4 WTP as a single lump-sum amount. WTP as a percentage of financial resources generated fewer questionable values, had better distribution properties, greater sensitivity to severity of health states, and was not associated with income. WTP elicited on a monthly basis also showed promise.

Eliciting Spill: A methodological note

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Alvita Nathaniel, Ph.D.

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Classic grounded theory is an inductive process that focuses on the experiences and perceptions of research participants (Glaser, 1978, 1998. Although grounded theorists may utilize other types of data, most are likely to gather information through qualitative interviews. The theorist seeks to understand what is going on as people resolve their main concern in a given substantive area. People know what is important to them and most want to tell their stories. They feel encouraged to talk when they recognize that their stories are valued. Once the informant realizes that he or she is being heard, the story flows. This is what Glaser refers to as “spill.” When this occurs, the theorist becomes a vessel to receive the story. As Glaser describes it, “The researcher will become a ‘big ear’ to pour into incessantly” (1998, p. 124. But, as easy as this seems, the researcher must overcome certain positivist tendencies to allow this to happen. Rather than asking a list of pre-planned questions, the grounded theorist will try to develop one question that will trigger the telling of a story. Eliciting spill requires a deliberate process that employs a deep understanding of the fundamentals of classic grounded theory. Derived from Glaser’s writings, the following are suggestions intended to help the novice grounded theorist to elicit spill.

In vitro release of arachidonic acid and in vivo responses to respirable fractions of cotton dust

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomson, T.A.; Edwards, J.H.; Al-Zubaidy, T.S.; Brown, R.C.; Poole, A.; Nicholls, P.J.

1986-01-01

It was considered that the fall in lung function seen after exposure to cotton dust may be attributable in part to the activity of arachidonic acid metabolites, such as leucotrienes as well as to the more established release of histamine by cotton dust. However, we found that cotton and barley dusts elicited poor release of arachidonic acid from an established macrophage like cell line compared with that observed with other organic dusts. In the experimental animal, pulmonary cellular responses to both cotton and barley dust were similar to those evoked by moldy hay and pigeon dropping dusts, although after multiple doses a more severe response was seen to cotton and barley. Since both moldy hay and pigeon droppings elicit a greater arachidonic acid release than cotton or barley, a role for arachidonic acid in inducing the cellular response is less likely than other factors. There are limitations to our conclusions using this system, i.e., the arachidonic acid may be released in a nonmetabolized form, although it is noted that the two dusts with the greatest arachidonic acid release produce their clinical responses in humans largely by hypersensitivity mechanisms

Patient Health Goals Elicited During Home Care Admission: A Categorization.

Science.gov (United States)

Sockolow, Paulina; Radhakrishnan, Kavita; Chou, Edgar Y; Wojciechowicz, Christine

2017-11-01

Home care agencies are initiating "patient health goal elicitation" activities as part of home care admission planning. We categorized elicited goals and identified "clinically informative" goals at a home care agency. We examined patient goals that admitting clinicians documented in the point-of-care electronic health record; conducted content analysis on patient goal data to develop a coding scheme; grouped goal themes into codes; assigned codes to each goal; and identified goals that were in the patient voice. Of the 1,763 patient records, 16% lacked a goal; only 15 goals were in a patient's voice. Nurse and physician experts identified 12 of the 20 codes as clinically important accounting for 82% of goal occurrences. The most frequent goal documented was safety/falls (23%). Training and consistent communication of the intent and operationalization of patient goal elicitation may address the absence of patient voice and the less than universal recording of home care patients' goals.

Real-time elicitation of moral emotions using a prejudice paradigm.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melike Marethe Fourie

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Moral emotions are critically important in guiding appropriate social conduct. Empirical investigation of these emotions remains a challenge, however, because of the difficulty in eliciting them reliably in controlled settings. Here we describe a novel prejudice paradigm that aimed to elicit both negatively- and positively-valenced moral emotions in real-time. Low-prejudice females (N = 46 who met highly specific demographic and personality-based screening criteria completed a series of Implicit Association Tests (IATs. Feedback following these IATs was pre-programmed to either endorse participants’ nonprejudiced self-standards (positive condition, or to contradict their self-standards (negative condition, in response to sensitive social topics. Neutral condition IATs reflected participants’ attitudes toward non-sensitive social topics. Results demonstrated that the IATs were successful in eliciting moral-positive emotions (satisfaction and pride, and moral-negative emotions (primarily guilt. In addition, participants high in self-reported punishment sensitivity, as assessed by the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS scale, reported greater guilt.

Real-time elicitation of moral emotions using a prejudice paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Fourie, Melike M; Kilchenmann, Nadine; Malcolm-Smith, Susan; Thomas, Kevin G F

2012-01-01

Moral emotions are critically important in guiding appropriate social conduct. Empirical investigation of these emotions remains a challenge, however, because of the difficulty in eliciting them reliably in controlled settings. Here we describe a novel prejudice paradigm that aimed to elicit both negatively and positively valenced moral emotions in real-time. Low-prejudice females (N = 46) who met highly specific demographic and personality-based screening criteria completed a series of Implicit Association Tests (IATs). Feedback following these IATs was pre-programmed to either endorse participants' non-prejudiced self-standards (positive condition), or to contradict their self-standards (negative condition), in response to sensitive social topics. Neutral condition IATs reflected participants' attitudes toward non-sensitive social topics. Results demonstrated that the IATs were successful in eliciting moral-positive emotions (satisfaction and pride) and moral-negative emotions (primarily guilt). In addition, participants high in self-reported punishment sensitivity, as assessed by the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) scale, reported greater guilt.

Real-Time Elicitation of Moral Emotions Using a Prejudice Paradigm

Science.gov (United States)

Fourie, Melike M.; Kilchenmann, Nadine; Malcolm-Smith, Susan; Thomas, Kevin G. F. 

2012-01-01

Moral emotions are critically important in guiding appropriate social conduct. Empirical investigation of these emotions remains a challenge, however, because of the difficulty in eliciting them reliably in controlled settings. Here we describe a novel prejudice paradigm that aimed to elicit both negatively and positively valenced moral emotions in real-time. Low-prejudice females (N = 46) who met highly specific demographic and personality-based screening criteria completed a series of Implicit Association Tests (IATs). Feedback following these IATs was pre-programmed to either endorse participants’ non-prejudiced self-standards (positive condition), or to contradict their self-standards (negative condition), in response to sensitive social topics. Neutral condition IATs reflected participants’ attitudes toward non-sensitive social topics. Results demonstrated that the IATs were successful in eliciting moral-positive emotions (satisfaction and pride) and moral-negative emotions (primarily guilt). In addition, participants high in self-reported punishment sensitivity, as assessed by the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) scale, reported greater guilt. PMID:22888322

Acid stimulation (sour taste elicits GABA and serotonin release from mouse taste cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yijen A Huang

Full Text Available Several transmitter candidates including serotonin (5-HT, ATP, and norepinephrine (NE have been identified in taste buds. Recently, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA as well as the associated synthetic enzymes and receptors have also been identified in taste cells. GABA reduces taste-evoked ATP secretion from Receptor cells and is considered to be an inhibitory transmitter in taste buds. However, to date, the identity of GABAergic taste cells and the specific stimulus for GABA release are not well understood. In the present study, we used genetically-engineered Chinese hamster ovary (CHO cells stably co-expressing GABA(B receptors and Gαqo5 proteins to measure GABA release from isolated taste buds. We recorded robust responses from GABA biosensors when they were positioned against taste buds isolated from mouse circumvallate papillae and the buds were depolarized with KCl or a stimulated with an acid (sour taste. In contrast, a mixture of sweet and bitter taste stimuli did not trigger GABA release. KCl- or acid-evoked GABA secretion from taste buds was Ca(2+-dependent; removing Ca(2+ from the bathing medium eliminated GABA secretion. Finally, we isolated individual taste cells to identify the origin of GABA secretion. GABA was released only from Presynaptic (Type III cells and not from Receptor (Type II cells. Previously, we reported that 5-HT released from Presynaptic cells inhibits taste-evoked ATP secretion. Combined with the recent findings that GABA depresses taste-evoked ATP secretion, the present results indicate that GABA and 5-HT are inhibitory transmitters in mouse taste buds and both likely play an important role in modulating taste responses.

Risk-Informed SSCs Categorization: Elicitation Method of Expert's Opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Mee Jeong; Yang, Joon Eon; Kim, Kil Yoo

2005-01-01

The regulations have been performing by deterministic way since nuclear power plants have been operating. However, some SSCs identified as safety-significance by deterministic way, were turned out to be low or non safety-significant and some SSCs identified as non-safety significance were turned out to be high safety-significant according to the results of PSA. Considering these risk insights, Regulatory Guide 1.174 and 10CFR50.69 were drawn up, and we can re-categorize the SSCs according to their safety significance. Therefore, a study and an interest about the risk-informed SSCs re-categorization and treatment has been continued. The objective of this regulatory initiative is to adjust the scope of equipment subject to special regulatory treatment to better focus licensee and regulatory attention and resources on equipment that has safety significance. Current most regulations define the plant equipment necessary to meet deterministic regulatory basis as 'safety-related.' This equipment is subject to special treatment regulations. Other plant equipment is categorized as 'non-safety related,' and is not subject to a select number of special treatment requirement or a subset of those requirement. However, risk information is not a magic tool making a decision but a supporting tool to categorize SSCs. This is because only small parts of a plant are modeled in PSA model. Thus, engineering and deterministic judgments are also used for risk-informed SSCs categorization, and expert opinion elicitation is very important for risk-informed SSCs categorization. Therefore, we need a rational method to elicit the expert's opinions, and in this study, we developed a systematic method for expert elicitation to categorize the nuclear power plants' SSCs. Current states for SSCs categorization of the USA and the existing methods for expert elicitation were surveyed and more systematic way eliciting the expert opinions and combining was developed. To validate the developed method

Eliciting nicotine craving with virtual smoking cues.

Science.gov (United States)

Gamito, Pedro; Oliveira, Jorge; Baptista, André; Morais, Diogo; Lopes, Paulo; Rosa, Pedro; Santos, Nuno; Brito, Rodrigo

2014-08-01

Craving is a strong desire to consume that emerges in every case of substance addiction. Previous studies have shown that eliciting craving with an exposure cues protocol can be a useful option for the treatment of nicotine dependence. Thus, the main goal of this study was to develop a virtual platform in order to induce craving in smokers. Fifty-five undergraduate students were randomly assigned to two different virtual environments: high arousal contextual cues and low arousal contextual cues scenarios (17 smokers with low nicotine dependency were excluded). An eye-tracker system was used to evaluate attention toward these cues. Eye fixation on smoking-related cues differed between smokers and nonsmokers, indicating that smokers focused more often on smoking-related cues than nonsmokers. Self-reports of craving are in agreement with these results and suggest a significant increase in craving after exposure to smoking cues. In sum, these data support the use of virtual environments for eliciting craving.

The capsaicin cough reflex in eczema patients with respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume.

Science.gov (United States)

Elberling, Jesper; Dirksen, Asger; Johansen, Jeanne Duus; Mosbech, Holger

2006-03-01

Respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume are common in the population but have unclear pathophysiology. Increased capsaicin cough responsiveness has been associated with the symptoms, but it is unknown whether the site of the symptoms in the airways influences this association. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the site of airway symptoms elicited by perfume and cough responsiveness to bronchial challenge with capsaicin. 21 eczema patients with respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume were compared with 21 healthy volunteers in a sex- and age-matched case control study. The participants completed a symptom questionnaire and underwent a bronchial challenge with capsaicin. Lower, but not upper, respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume were associated with increased capsaicin cough responsiveness. Having severe symptoms to perfume (n=11) did not relate to the site of the symptoms in the airways and was not associated with increased capsaicin cough responsiveness. In conclusion, respiratory symptoms elicited by perfume may reflect local hyperreactivity related to defensive reflexes in the airways, and measurements of the capsaicin cough reflex are relevant when patients with lower respiratory symptoms related to environmental perfume exposures are investigated.

Elicitation of preferences for improvements in ostomy pouches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonnichsen, Ole

This paper attempts to examine and measure ostomates’ preferences for improvements in ostomy pouches. Described are the study design, elicitation procedure and resulting preference structure of the Swedish ostomate sample. The method used to elicit the preferences is a Discrete Choice Experiment...... (DCE), where respondents are asked to choose between alternatives in choice sets. Each alternative is comprised of a number of attributes relating to the adhesive, filter and flexibility of ostomy pouches. The choice between alternatives made by the respondent implies an implicit trade-off between...... the attributes and allows for the estimation of individuals’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for the attributes of ostomy pouches when cost is included as an attribute. The data consists of 254 ostomates responding to the survey. The respondents have positive WTP for all improvement attributes presented to them...

Poly(ester amide)s based on (L)-lactic acid oligomers and α-amino acids: influence of the α-amino acid side chain in the poly(ester amide)s properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca, Ana C; Coelho, Jorge F J; Valente, Joana F A; Correia, Tiago R; Correia, Ilídio J; Gil, Maria H; Simões, Pedro N

2013-01-01

Novel biodegradable and low cytotoxic poly(ester amide)s (PEAs) based on α-amino acids and (L)-lactic acid (L-LA) oligomers were successfully synthesized by interfacial polymerization. The chemical structure of the new polymers was confirmed by spectroscopic analyses. Further characterization suggests that the α-amino acid plays a critical role on the final properties of the PEA. L-phenylalanine provides PEAs with higher glass transition temperature, whereas glycine enhances the crystallinity. The hydrolytic degradation in PBS (pH = 7.4) at 37 °C also depends on the α-amino acid, being faster for glycine-based PEAs. The cytotoxic profiles using fibroblast human cells indicate that the PEAs did not elicit an acute cytotoxic effect. The strategy presented in this work opens the possibility of synthesizing biodegradable PEAs with low citotoxicity by an easy and fast method. It is worth to mention also that the properties of these materials can be fine-tuned only by changing the α-amino acid.

Belief Elicitation to Populate Health Economic Models of Medical Diagnostic Devices in Development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haakma, Wieke; Steuten, Lotte Maria Gertruda; Bojke, Laura; IJzerman, Maarten Joost

2014-01-01

Background and Objective Bayesian methods can be used to elicit experts’ beliefs about the clinical value of healthcare technologies. This study investigates a belief–elicitation method for estimating diagnostic performance in an early stage of development of photoacoustic mammography (PAM) imaging

Emotion Eliciting in Affective Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lai, Yoke Chin

2014-01-01

A successful product needs the designer’s conceptual model congruent with the user’s mental model. The fundamental affective design principle also applies to assistive product design. Eliciting effectively the user’s mental model has been a big challenge for most novice designers. This paper outl...... with 3D digital prototype as emotion stimulus. To form a closed loop reflective model, the emotion response from the user is assessed with an emotion assessment tool. Emotion ontology is established to form the backbone of the emotion assessment tool....

Eliciting illegal migration rates through list randomization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McKenzie, D.; Siegel, M.

2013-01-01

Most migration surveys do not ask about the legal status of migrants due to concerns about the sensitivity of this question. List randomization is a technique that has been used in a number of other social science applications to elicit sensitive information. We trial this technique by adding it to

A new method for eliciting three speaking styles in the laboratory

OpenAIRE

Harnsberger, James D.; Wright, Richard; Pisoni, David B.

2008-01-01

In this study, a method was developed to elicit three different speaking styles, reduced, citation, and hyperarticulated, using controlled sentence materials in a laboratory setting. In the first set of experiments, the reduced style was elicited by having twelve talkers read a sentence while carrying out a distractor task that involved recalling from short-term memory an individually-calibrated number of digits. The citation style corresponded to read speech in the laboratory. The hyperartic...

Elicitation Support Requirements of Multi-Expertise Teams

Science.gov (United States)

Bitter-Rijpkema, Marlies; Martens, Rob; Jochems, Wim

2005-01-01

Tools to support knowledge elicitation are used more and more in situations where employees or students collaborate using the computer. Studies indicate that differences exist between experts and novices regarding their methods of work and reasoning. However, the commonly preferred approach tends to deal with team members as a single system with…

Elicitation of andrographolide in the suspension cultures of Andrographis paniculata.

Science.gov (United States)

Gandi, Suryakala; Rao, Kiranmayee; Chodisetti, Bhuvaneswari; Giri, Archana

2012-12-01

Andrographis paniculata belonging to the family Acanthaceae produces a group of diterpene lactones, one of which is the pharmaceutically important-andrographolide. It is known to possess various important biological properties like anticancer, anti-HIV, anti-inflammatory, etc. This is the first report on the production of andrographolide in the cell suspension cultures of Andrographis paniculata by 'elicitation'. Elicitation was attempted to enhance the andrographolide content in the suspension cultures of Andrographis paniculata and also to ascertain its stimulation under stress conditions or in response to pathogen attack. The maximum andrographolide production was found to be 1.53 mg/g dry cell weight (DCW) at the end of stationary phase during the growth curve. The biotic elicitors (yeast, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Agrobacterium rhizogenes 532 and Agrobacterium tumefaciens C 58) were more effective in eliciting the response when compared to the abiotic elicitors (CdCl(2), AgNO(3), CuCl(2) and HgCl(2)). Yeast has shown to stimulate maximum accumulation of 13.5 mg/g DCW andrographolide, which was found to be 8.82-fold higher than the untreated cultures.

Enhanced production of azadirachtin by hairy root cultures of Azadirachta indica A. Juss by elicitation and media optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Satdive, Ramesh K; Fulzele, Devanand P; Eapen, Susan

2007-02-01

Azadirachtin is one of the most potent biopesticides so far developed from a plant sources. Influence of different culture media and elicitation on growth and production of azadirachtin by hairy root cultures of Azadirachta indica was studied. Out of the three media tested, namely Ohyama and Nitsch, Gamborg's and Murashige and Skoog's basal media, hairy roots cultured on Ohyama and Nitsch's basal medium produced maximum yield of azadirachtin (0.0166% dry weight, DW). Addition of biotic elicitor enhanced the production of azadirachtin by approximately 5-fold (0.074% DW), while signal compounds such as jasmonic acid and salicylic acid showed a approximately 6 (0.095% DW) and approximately 9-fold (0.14% DW) enhancement, respectively, in the production of azadirachtin as compared to control cultures on Ohyama and Nitsch medium. Extracts from hairy roots were found to be superior to those from the leaves for antifeedant activity against the larvae of Spodoptera litura.

Toxicogenomic Dissection of the Perfluorooctanoic Acid Transcript Profile in Mouse Liver: Evidence for Involvement of the Nuclear Receptors PPARα and CAR

Science.gov (United States)

A number of perfluorinated alkyl acids including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) elicit effects similar to peroxisome proliferator chemicals (PPC) in mouse and rat liver. There is strong evidence that PPC cause many of their effects related to liver carcinogenesis through the nucle...

Stone Soup: Photo-Elicitation as a Learning Tool in the Food Geography Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtz, Hilda E.; Wood, Jason

2014-01-01

This paper showcases self-reflective and inclusive pedagogy using photo-elicitation in a food geography course assignment. The Stone Soup project positions students as both researchers and participant-subjects in a participant-driven photo-elicitation (PDPE) study of students' foodways. Student papers for this assignment demonstrate rich…

Identifying and Responding to Personal Stressors: Utilizing Photo Elicitation in Health Education Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Theresa

2014-01-01

The "Photo Elicitation Project" teaching idea applies the techniques of photo elicitation to stress prevention and management. This activity is designed to help students identify their personal stressors and to determine which stress prevention strategies are most useful for them. Objectives: students will be able to (a) identify current…

Conditioned craving cues elicit an automatic approach tendency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Gucht, D.; Vansteenwegen, D.; Van den Bergh, O.; Beckers, T.

2008-01-01

In two experiments, we used a Pavlovian differential conditioning procedure to induce craving for chocolate. As a result of repeated pairing with chocolate intake, initially neutral cues came to elicit an automatic approach tendency in a speeded stimulus-response compatibility reaction time task.

Toxicogenomic Dissection of the Perfluorooctanoic Acid Transcript Profile in Mouse Liver: Evidence for the Involvement of Nuclear Receptors PPARα and CAR

Science.gov (United States)

A number of perfluorinated alkyl acids including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) elicit effects similar to peroxisome proliferator chemicals (PPC) in mouse and rat liver. There is strong evidence that PPC cause many of their effects linked to liver cancer through the nuclear recep...

Biomass production by Antarctic yeast strains: an investigation on the lipid composition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zlatanov, M.; Antova, G.; Angelova-Romova, M.; Pavlova, K.; Georgieva, K.; Rousenova-Videva, S.

2010-01-01

Psychrophilic yeast strains Rhodotorula glutinis AL_1_0_7, Sporobolomyces roseus AL_1_0_8, Cryptococcus albidus AL_5_5, Cryptococcus laurentii AL_5_6 and Cryptococcus laurentii AL_5_8 isolated from soil sample taken from the region of the Bulgarien base on Livingston Island, Antarctica, were studied. The biomass production was followed after cultivation of the yeasts in a medium with pH 5.3 at 15°C for 120 h. The biomass concentration by psychrophilic yeast strains was: R. glutinis AL_1_0_7-6.05 g/l, S. roseus AL108-5.78 g/l, Cr. albidus AL_5_5, Cr. laurentii AL_5_6 and Cr. laurentii AL_5_8-6.52 g/l, 6.84 g/l and 6.24 g/l, respectively. The extracted and separated lipids from the samples were supplied to analysis and the compositions of fatty acids, phospholipids, sterols as well as tocopherols were determined. Unsaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic (58.6-63.5%) and of saturated palmitic (18.2-24.5%), predominated in triacylglycerols. Sterols (0.1-0.3%) were valued in the dry yeast biomass. The content of phospholipids, mainly phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositole and phosphatidylethanolamine was found to be in the range of 0.2-1.6%. The quantity of tocopherols was 0-26.3 mg/kg. All of tocopherol classes were established.

Requirements Elicitation in a Telemedicine Pain-treatment Trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Widya, I.A.; Bults, Richard G.A.; van Beijnum, Bernhard J.F.; Sandsjö, L.; Schaake, L.; Huis in 't Veld, M.H.A.; Jones, Valerie M.; Hermens, Hermanus J.; Ryan, K.; Robinson, W.

2009-01-01

This paper presents the early phase requirements elicitation for a work-related neck-shoulder pain teletreatment trial and the assessment of those requirements in respect of their importance to the trial and the feasibility of the needed software adaptations of the telemedicine system within the

Eliciting and Applying Local Research Knowledge for Peacebuilding ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

gs

Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) are pleased to announce a jointly-funded research initiative Eliciting and Applying Local Research. Knowledge for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding. The research initiative seeks to increase the level of recognition and ...

The cyst nematode SPRYSEC protein RBP-1 elicits Gpa2- and RanGAP2-dependent plant cell death.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Ann Sacco

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Plant NB-LRR proteins confer robust protection against microbes and metazoan parasites by recognizing pathogen-derived avirulence (Avr proteins that are delivered to the host cytoplasm. Microbial Avr proteins usually function as virulence factors in compatible interactions; however, little is known about the types of metazoan proteins recognized by NB-LRR proteins and their relationship with virulence. In this report, we demonstrate that the secreted protein RBP-1 from the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida elicits defense responses, including cell death typical of a hypersensitive response (HR, through the NB-LRR protein Gpa2. Gp-Rbp-1 variants from G. pallida populations both virulent and avirulent to Gpa2 demonstrated a high degree of polymorphism, with positive selection detected at numerous sites. All Gp-RBP-1 protein variants from an avirulent population were recognized by Gpa2, whereas virulent populations possessed Gp-RBP-1 protein variants both recognized and non-recognized by Gpa2. Recognition of Gp-RBP-1 by Gpa2 correlated to a single amino acid polymorphism at position 187 in the Gp-RBP-1 SPRY domain. Gp-RBP-1 expressed from Potato virus X elicited Gpa2-mediated defenses that required Ran GTPase-activating protein 2 (RanGAP2, a protein known to interact with the Gpa2 N terminus. Tethering RanGAP2 and Gp-RBP-1 variants via fusion proteins resulted in an enhancement of Gpa2-mediated responses. However, activation of Gpa2 was still dependent on the recognition specificity conferred by amino acid 187 and the Gpa2 LRR domain. These results suggest a two-tiered process wherein RanGAP2 mediates an initial interaction with pathogen-delivered Gp-RBP-1 proteins but where the Gpa2 LRR determines which of these interactions will be productive.

Comparison of elicitation potential of chloroatranol and atranol - 2 allergens in oak moss absolute

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, J.D.; Bernard, G.; Gimenez-Arnau, E.

2006-01-01

of chloroatranol relative to atranol based on testing with equimolar concentrations was 217% (95% confidence interval 116-409%). Both substances elicited reactions at very low levels of exposure. It is concluded that the differences in elicitation capacity between the 2 substances are counterbalanced by exposure...

Eliciting Help Without Pity: The Effect of Changing Media Images on Perceptions of Disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamenetsky, Stuart B; Dimakos, Christina; Aslemand, Asal; Saleh, Amani; Ali-Mohammed, Saamiyah

2016-01-01

This study investigated whether newer, more positive disability charity images can elicit helping behavior without producing pity. One hundred sixty-one university undergraduate students were presented with 35 older (1960-1990) and newer (1991-2010) disability charity images and completed a questionnaire about each image. Results indicate that overall, identification with depicted individuals was low; positive attitudes and perceptions of capabilities were moderate to high. Newer images led to more positive responses, but no significant difference in willingness to help. Eliciting pity through negative depictions of disability appears not to be a necessary precondition for eliciting helping behavior toward people with disabilities.

Using process elicitation and validation to understand and improve chemotherapy ordering and delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Mertens, Wilson C; Christov, Stefan C; Avrunin, George S; Clarke, Lori A; Osterweil, Leon J; Cassells, Lucinda J; Marquard, Jenna L

2012-11-01

Chemotherapy ordering and administration, in which errors have potentially severe consequences, was quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated by employing process formalism (or formal process definition), a technique derived from software engineering, to elicit and rigorously describe the process, after which validation techniques were applied to confirm the accuracy of the described process. The chemotherapy ordering and administration process, including exceptional situations and individuals' recognition of and responses to those situations, was elicited through informal, unstructured interviews with members of an interdisciplinary team. The process description (or process definition), written in a notation developed for software quality assessment purposes, guided process validation (which consisted of direct observations and semistructured interviews to confirm the elicited details for the treatment plan portion of the process). The overall process definition yielded 467 steps; 207 steps (44%) were dedicated to handling 59 exceptional situations. Validation yielded 82 unique process events (35 new expected but not yet described steps, 16 new exceptional situations, and 31 new steps in response to exceptional situations). Process participants actively altered the process as ambiguities and conflicts were discovered by the elicitation and validation components of the study. Chemotherapy error rates declined significantly during and after the project, which was conducted from October 2007 through August 2008. Each elicitation method and the subsequent validation discussions contributed uniquely to understanding the chemotherapy treatment plan review process, supporting rapid adoption of changes, improved communication regarding the process, and ensuing error reduction.

Eliciting and Defining Requirements Based on Metaevaluation: the Case of the CRAS 2008 Census

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edilson Ferneda

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The Brazilian Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger (MDS regularly promotes the evaluation of its social programs, such as those developed in the Reference Centers for Social Assistance (CRAS. Such evaluations make use of a web system that supports the collection and processing of information as well as the dissemination of its results to local, regional and central government officials through the so-called CRAS Census. A meta-evaluation of the CRAS 2008 Census was carried out based on criteria specified by the Joint Committee (1994, from which we elicited requirements that enabled improvements of the web system. The article reports new requirements elicited from the meta-evaluation of the CRAS 2008 Census, held in the period 2009-2010. The approach of meta-evaluation as an alternative source of requirements elicitation took into consideration results from evaluations of social programs in order to identify system problems without the usual need of intense interaction with users. This approach revealed opportunities for improvements in the evaluation process that led to the elicitation of requirements for the computerized system. Some of the elicited features were incorporated into the Census 2010 and others may be incorporated in future censuses.

Earthquakes and Tectonics Expert Judgment Elicitation Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coppersmith, K.J.; Perman, R.C.; Youngs, R.R.

1993-02-01

This report summarizes the results of the Earthquakes and Tectonics Expert Judgement Excitation Project sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) to demonstrate methods for the excitation of expert judgement, and (2) to quantify the uncertainties associated with earthquake and tectonics issues for use in the EPRI-HLW performance assessment. Specifically, the technical issue considered is the probability of differential fault displacement through the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. For this study, a strategy for quantifying uncertainties was developed that relies on the judgements of multiple experts. A panel of seven geologists and seismologists was assembled to quantify the uncertainties associated with earthquake and tectonics issues for the performance assessment model. A series of technical workshops focusing on these issues were conducted. Finally, each expert was individually interviewed in order to elicit his judgement regarding the technical issues and to provide the technical basis for his assessment. This report summarizes the methodologies used to elicit the judgements of the earthquakes and tectonics experts (termed ''specialists''), and summarizes the technical assessments made by the expert panel

Neuronal Activation in the Medulla Oblongata during Selective Elicitation of the Laryngeal Adductor Response

Science.gov (United States)

Ambalavanar, Ranjinidevi; Tanaka, Yasumasa; Selbie, W. Scott; Ludlow, Christy L.

2008-01-01

Swallow and cough are complex motor patterns elicited by rapid and intense electrical stimulation of the internal branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (ISLN). The laryngeal adductor response (LAR) includes only a laryngeal response, is elicited by single stimuli to the ISLN, and is thought to represent the brain stem pathway involved in laryngospasm. To identify which regions in the medulla are activated during elicitation of the LAR alone, single electrical stimuli were presented once every 2 s to the ISLN. Two groups of 5 cats each were studied; an experimental group with unilateral ISLN stimulation at 0.5 Hz and a surgical control group. Three additional cats were studied to evaluate whether other oral, pharyngeal or respiratory muscles were activated during ISLN stimulation eliciting LAR. We quantified up to 22 sections for each of 14 structures in the medulla to determine if regions had increased Fos-like immunoreactive neurons in the experimental group. Significant increases (p medulla. PMID:15212423

Belief elicitation in experiments: is there a hedging problem?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Blanco, M.; Engelmann, Dirk; Koch, A. K.; Normann, H.-T.

2010-01-01

Roč. 13, č. 4 (2010), s. 412-438 ISSN 1386-4157 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70850503 Keywords : belief elicitation * hedging * experimental methodology Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 1.868, year: 2010

Non-linear feeding functional responses in the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) predict immediate negative impact of wetland degradation on this flagship species

Science.gov (United States)

Deville, Anne-Sophie; Grémillet, David; Gauthier-Clerc, Michel; Guillemain, Matthieu; Von Houwald, Friederike; Gardelli, Bruno; Béchet, Arnaud

2013-01-01

Accurate knowledge of the functional response of predators to prey density is essential for understanding food web dynamics, to parameterize mechanistic models of animal responses to environmental change, and for designing appropriate conservation measures. Greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), a flagship species of Mediterranean wetlands, primarily feed on Artemias (Artemia spp.) in commercial salt pans, an industry which may collapse for economic reasons. Flamingos also feed on alternative prey such as Chironomid larvae (e.g., Chironomid spp.) and rice seeds (Oryza sativa). However, the profitability of these food items for flamingos remains unknown. We determined the functional responses of flamingos feeding on Artemias, Chironomids, or rice. Experiments were conducted on 11 captive flamingos. For each food item, we offered different ranges of food densities, up to 13 times natural abundance. Video footage allowed estimating intake rates. Contrary to theoretical predictions for filter feeders, intake rates did not increase linearly with increasing food density (type I). Intake rates rather increased asymptotically with increasing food density (type II) or followed a sigmoid shape (type III). Hence, flamingos were not able to ingest food in direct proportion to their abundance, possibly because of unique bill structure resulting in limited filtering capabilities. Overall, flamingos foraged more efficiently on Artemias. When feeding on Chironomids, birds had lower instantaneous rates of food discovery and required more time to extract food from the sediment and ingest it, than when filtering Artemias from the water column. However, feeding on rice was energetically more profitable for flamingos than feeding on Artemias or Chironomids, explaining their attraction for rice fields. Crucially, we found that food densities required for flamingos to reach asymptotic intake rates are rarely met under natural conditions. This allows us to predict an immediate

Memory-based pre-attentive auditory N1 elicited by sound movement.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohoyama, Keiko; Motomura, Eishi; Inui, Koji; Nishihara, Makoto; Otsuru, Naofumi; Oi, Motoyasu; Kakigi, Ryusuke; Okada, Motohiro

2012-07-01

Quickly detecting changes in the surrounding environment is one of the most important functions of sensory processing. Comparison of a new event with preceding sensory conditions is necessary for the change-detection process. A sudden change in a continuous sound elicits auditory evoked potentials that peak approximately 100 ms after the onset of the change (Change-N1). In the present study, we recorded Change-N1 under an oddball paradigm in 19 healthy subjects using an abruptly moving sound (SM-stimulus) as a deviant stimulus and investigated effects of the probability of the SM-stimulus to reveal whether Change-N1 is a memory-based response. We compared the amplitude and latency of Change-N1 elicited by the SM-stimulus among three probability conditions (33, 50 and 100%). As the probability of the SM-stimulus decreased, the amplitude of Change-N1 increased and its latency decreased. The present results indicate that the preceding sensory history affects Change-N1 elicited by the SM-stimulus. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

Action potential bursts in central snail neurons elicited by paeonol: roles of ionic currents

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yi-hung; Lin, Pei-lin; Hsu, Hui-yu; Wu, Ya-ting; Yang, Han-yin; Lu, Dah-yuu; Huang, Shiang-suo; Hsieh, Ching-liang; Lin, Jaung-geng

2010-01-01

Aim: To investigate the effects of 2′-hydroxy-4′-methoxyacetophenone (paeonol) on the electrophysiological behavior of a central neuron (right parietal 4; RP4) of the giant African snail (Achatina fulica Ferussac). Methods: Intracellular recordings and the two-electrode voltage clamp method were used to study the effects of paeonol on the RP4 neuron. Results: The RP4 neuron generated spontaneous action potentials. Bath application of paeonol at a concentration of ≥500 μmol/L reversibly elicited action potential bursts in a concentration-dependent manner. Immersing the neurons in Co2+-substituted Ca2+-free solution did not block paeonol-elicited bursting. Pretreatment with the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor KT-5720 or the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor Ro 31-8220 did not affect the action potential bursts. Voltage-clamp studies revealed that paeonol at a concentration of 500 μmol/L had no remarkable effects on the total inward currents, whereas paeonol decreased the delayed rectifying K+ current (IKD) and the fast-inactivating K+ current (IA). Application of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP 5 mmol/L), an inhibitor of IA, or charybdotoxin 250 nmol/L, an inhibitor of the Ca2+-activated K+ current (IK(Ca)), failed to elicit action potential bursts, whereas tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA 50 mmol/L), an IKD blocker, successfully elicited action potential bursts. At a lower concentration of 5 mmol/L, TEA facilitated the induction of action potential bursts elicited by paeonol. Conclusion: Paeonol elicited a bursting firing pattern of action potentials in the RP4 neuron and this activity relates closely to the inhibitory effects of paeonol on the IKD. PMID:21042287

Conditioned responses elicited by experimentally produced cues for smoking.

Science.gov (United States)

Mucha, R F; Pauli, P; Angrilli, A

1998-03-01

Several theories of drug-craving postulate that a signal for drug elicits conditioned responses. However, depending on the theory, a drug cue is said to elicit drug similar, drug compensatory, positive motivational, and negative motivational effects. Since animal data alone cannot tease apart the relative importance of different cue-related processes in the addict, we developed and examined a model of drug cues in the human based on a two-sound, differential conditioning procedure using smoking as the reinforcer. After multiple pairings of a sound with smoking, there was a preference for the smoking cue on a conditioned preference test. The acute effects of smoking (increased heart rate, respiration rate, skin conductance level, skin conductance fluctuations, EEG beta power and trapezius EMG, decreased alpha power) were not affected by the smoking cue, although subjects drew more on their cigarette in the presence of the smoking cue than in the presence of a control cue. Moreover, the cue did not change baseline behaviour except for a possible increase in EEG beta power and an increase in trapezius EMG at about the time when smoking should have occurred. The findings confirm the value of experimental models of drug cues in the human for comparing different cue phenomena in the dependent individual. They indicate that an acquired signal for drug in the human may elicit incentive motivational effects and associated preparatory motor responses in addition to possible conditioned tolerance.

Micropropagation of Salvia wagneriana Polak and hairy root cultures with rosmarinic acid production.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruffoni, Barbara; Bertoli, Alessandra; Pistelli, Laura; Pistelli, Luisa

2016-01-04

Salvia wagneriana Polak is a tropical species native to Central America, well adapted to grow in the Mediterranean basin for garden decoration. Micropropagation has been assessed from axillary shoots of adult plants using a Murashige and Skoog basal medium, with the addition of 1.33-μM 6-benzylaminopurine for shoot proliferation; the subsequent rooting phase occurred in plant growth regulator-free medium. The plants were successfully acclimatised with high survival frequency. Hairy roots were induced after co-cultivation of leaf lamina and petiole fragments with Agrobacterium rhizogenes and confirmed by PCR. The establishment and proliferation of the selected HRD3 line were obtained in hormone-free liquid medium and the production of rosmarinic acid (RA) was evaluated after elicitation. The analysis of RA was performed by LC-ESI-DAD-MS in the hydroalcoholic extracts. The addition of casein hydrolysate increased the RA production, whereas no enrichment was observed after the elicitation with jasmonic acid.

Stimulus-Elicited Connectivity Influences Resting-State Connectivity Years Later in Human Development: A Prospective Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabard-Durnam, Laurel Joy; Gee, Dylan Grace; Goff, Bonnie; Flannery, Jessica; Telzer, Eva; Humphreys, Kathryn Leigh; Lumian, Daniel Stephen; Fareri, Dominic Stephen; Caldera, Christina; Tottenham, Nim

2016-04-27

Although the functional architecture of the brain is indexed by resting-state connectivity networks, little is currently known about the mechanisms through which these networks assemble into stable mature patterns. The current study posits and tests the long-term phasic molding hypothesis that resting-state networks are gradually shaped by recurring stimulus-elicited connectivity across development by examining how both stimulus-elicited and resting-state functional connections of the human brain emerge over development at the systems level. Using a sequential design following 4- to 18-year-olds over a 2 year period, we examined the predictive associations between stimulus-elicited and resting-state connectivity in amygdala-cortical circuitry as an exemplar case (given this network's protracted development across these ages). Age-related changes in amygdala functional connectivity converged on the same regions of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and inferior frontal gyrus when elicited by emotional stimuli and when measured at rest. Consistent with the long-term phasic molding hypothesis, prospective analyses for both connections showed that the magnitude of an individual's stimulus-elicited connectivity unidirectionally predicted resting-state functional connectivity 2 years later. For the amygdala-mPFC connection, only stimulus-elicited connectivity during childhood and the transition to adolescence shaped future resting-state connectivity, consistent with a sensitive period ending with adolescence for the amygdala-mPFC circuit. Together, these findings suggest that resting-state functional architecture may arise from phasic patterns of functional connectivity elicited by environmental stimuli over the course of development on the order of years. A fundamental issue in understanding the ontogeny of brain function is how resting-state (intrinsic) functional networks emerge and relate to stimulus-elicited functional connectivity. Here, we posit and test the long

Distributed and Collaborative Requirements Elicitation Based on Social Intelligence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wen, Bin; Luo, Z.; Liang, P.

2012-01-01

Requirements is the formal expression of user's needs. Also, requirements elicitation is the process of activity focusing on requirements collection. Traditional acquisition methods, such as interview, observation and prototype, are unsuited for the service-oriented software development featuring in

The potential for using visual elicitation in understanding preschool ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We explore the use of video and photo elicitation in a research study undertaken to ... system, in the District Centres for Early Childhood Education (DICECE), in Kenya. In this paper ..... photographs and even direct to a hand-held computer”.

Engaging Young Children in Research through Photo Elicitation

Science.gov (United States)

Pyle, Angela

2013-01-01

Embracing the new sociology of childhood, this paper describes a participatory research method built on a belief in the competency of young children. The paper begins with a critical review of the photo elicitation literature exploring the varied levels of children's participation. Drawing on the strengths of the previous research, a multi-step…

N400 elicited by incongruent ending words of Chinese idioms in healthy adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xing-shi; Tang, Yun-xiang; Xiao, Ze-ping; Wang, Ji-jun; Zhang, Ming-dao; Zhang, Zai-fu; Hu, Zhen-yu; Lou, Fei-ying; Chen, Chong; Zhang, Tian-hong

2010-03-20

Prior research about N400 has been mainly based on English stimuli, while the cognitive processing of Chinese characters is still unclear. The aim of the present study was to further investigate the semantic processing of Chinese idioms. Event related potentials (ERP) component N400 was elicited by 38 pairs of matching (congruent) and mismatching (incongruent) ended Chinese idioms: ending words with same phoneme but different shape and meaning (sPdSdM), with similar shape but different phoneme and meaning (sSdPdM), with same meaning but different phoneme and shape (sMdPdS), and words with different phoneme, shape and meaning (dPdSdM) and recorded by Guangzhou Runjie WJ-1 ERP instruments. In 62 right-handed healthy adults (age 19 - 50 years), N400 amplitudes and latencies were compared between matching and mismatching conditions at Fz, Cz and Pz. N400 showed a midline distribution and could be elicited in electrodes Fz, Cz and Pz. The mean values of N400 latencies and amplitudes were obtained for matching and mismatching ending words in healthy adults. Significant differences were found in N400 latencies and amplitudes in matching and mismatching ending-words idioms in healthy adults (P idioms, N400 latencies were prolonged and the amplitudes were increased in mismatching ones. N400s elicited by different types of stimuli showed different latencies and amplitudes, and longest N400 latency and largest N400 amplitude were elicited by ending-words with dPdSdM. No gender difference was found of N400 latency and amplitude in this study (P > 0.05). Compared with English stimuli, Chinese ideographic words could provide more flexible stimuli for N400 research in that the words have 3-dimension changes - phoneme, shape and meaning. Features of N400 elicited by matching and mismatching ending words in Chinese idioms are mainly determined by the meaning of the word. Some issues of N400 elicited by Chinese characters deserve further research.

Impact of Requirements Elicitation Processes on Success of Information System Development Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bormane Līga

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Requirements articulating user needs and corresponding to enterprise business processes are a key to successful implementation of information system development projects. However, the parties involved in projects frequently are not able to agree on a common development vision and have difficulties expressing their needs. Several industry experts have acknowledged that requirements elicitation is one of the most difficult tasks in development projects. This study investigates the impact of requirements elicitation processes on project outcomes depending on the applied project development methodology.

Development of a respiratory sensitization/elicitation protocol of toluene diisocyanate (TDI) in Brown Norway rats to derive an elicitation-based occupational exposure level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pauluhn, Jürgen

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) was unequivocally identified as asthmagens in BN-rats. • The elicitation response on BAL-PMN was threshold-dose dependent. • The elicitation of asthma-like responses follow a concentration × time-relationship. • The human-equivalent dose–response was duplicated in rats. • The derived occupational exposure level (OEL) matches current standards. - Abstract: Toluene diisocyanate (TDI), a known human asthmagen, was investigated in skin-sensitized Brown Norway rats for its concentration × time (C × t)-response relationship on elicitation-based endpoints. The major goal of study was to determine the elicitation inhalation threshold dose in sensitized, re-challenged Brown Norway rats, including the associated variables affecting the dosimetry of inhaled TDI-vapor in rats and as to how these differences can be translated to humans. Attempts were made to duplicate at least some traits of human asthma by using skin-sensitized rats which were subjected to single or multiple inhalation-escalation challenge exposures. Two types of dose-escalation protocols were used to determine the elicitation-threshold C × t; one used a variable C (C var ) and constant t (t const ), the other a constant C (C const ) and variable t (t var ). The selection of the ''minimal irritant'' C was based an ancillary pre-studies. Neutrophilic granulocytes (PMNs) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) were considered as the endpoint of choice to integrate the allergic pulmonary inflammation. These were supplemented by physiological measurements characterizing nocturnal asthma-like responses and increased nitric oxide in exhaled breath (eNO). The C const × t var regimen yielded the most conclusive dose–response relationship as long C was high enough to overcome the scrubbing capacity of the upper airways. Based on ancillary pre-studies in naïve rats, the related human-equivalent respiratory tract irritant threshold

Risk-Informed SSCs Categorization: Elicitation Method of Expert's Opinion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, Mee Jeong; Yang, Joon Eon; Kim, Kil Yoo

2005-01-15

The regulations have been performing by deterministic way since nuclear power plants have been operating. However, some SSCs identified as safety-significance by deterministic way, were turned out to be low or non safety-significant and some SSCs identified as non-safety significance were turned out to be high safety-significant according to the results of PSA. Considering these risk insights, Regulatory Guide 1.174 and 10CFR50.69 were drawn up, and we can re-categorize the SSCs according to their safety significance. Therefore, a study and an interest about the risk-informed SSCs re-categorization and treatment has been continued. The objective of this regulatory initiative is to adjust the scope of equipment subject to special regulatory treatment to better focus licensee and regulatory attention and resources on equipment that has safety significance. Current most regulations define the plant equipment necessary to meet deterministic regulatory basis as 'safety-related.' This equipment is subject to special treatment regulations. Other plant equipment is categorized as 'non-safety related,' and is not subject to a select number of special treatment requirement or a subset of those requirement. However, risk information is not a magic tool making a decision but a supporting tool to categorize SSCs. This is because only small parts of a plant are modeled in PSA model. Thus, engineering and deterministic judgments are also used for risk-informed SSCs categorization, and expert opinion elicitation is very important for risk-informed SSCs categorization. Therefore, we need a rational method to elicit the expert's opinions, and in this study, we developed a systematic method for expert elicitation to categorize the nuclear power plants' SSCs. Current states for SSCs categorization of the USA and the existing methods for expert elicitation were surveyed and more systematic way eliciting the expert opinions and combining was developed. To

Functional Imaging of Human Vestibular Cortex Activity Elicited by Skull Tap and Auditory Tone Burst

Science.gov (United States)

Noohi, Fatemeh; Kinnaird, Catherine; Wood, Scott; Bloomberg, Jacob; Mulavara, Ajitkumar; Seidler, Rachael

2014-01-01

The aim of the current study was to characterize the brain activation in response to two modes of vestibular stimulation: skull tap and auditory tone burst. The auditory tone burst has been used in previous studies to elicit saccular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMP) (Colebatch & Halmagyi 1992; Colebatch et al. 1994). Some researchers have reported that airconducted skull tap elicits both saccular and utricle VEMPs, while being faster and less irritating for the subjects (Curthoys et al. 2009, Wackym et al., 2012). However, it is not clear whether the skull tap and auditory tone burst elicit the same pattern of cortical activity. Both forms of stimulation target the otolith response, which provides a measurement of vestibular function independent from semicircular canals. This is of high importance for studying the vestibular disorders related to otolith deficits. Previous imaging studies have documented activity in the anterior and posterior insula, superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, pre and post central gyri, inferior frontal gyrus, and the anterior cingulate cortex in response to different modes of vestibular stimulation (Bottini et al., 1994; Dieterich et al., 2003; Emri et al., 2003; Schlindwein et al., 2008; Janzen et al., 2008). Here we hypothesized that the skull tap elicits the similar pattern of cortical activity as the auditory tone burst. Subjects put on a set of MR compatible skull tappers and headphones inside the 3T GE scanner, while lying in supine position, with eyes closed. All subjects received both forms of the stimulation, however, the order of stimulation with auditory tone burst and air-conducted skull tap was counterbalanced across subjects. Pneumatically powered skull tappers were placed bilaterally on the cheekbones. The vibration of the cheekbone was transmitted to the vestibular cortex, resulting in vestibular response (Halmagyi et al., 1995). Auditory tone bursts were also delivered for comparison. To validate

Cue-elicited anxiety and craving for food using virtual reality scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrer-García, Marta; Gutiérrez-Maldonado, José; Pla, Joana

2013-01-01

Cue exposure therapy has been reported to be an effective intervention for reducing binge eating behavior in patients with eating disorders and obesity. However, in vivo food exposure conducted in the therapist's office presents logistical problems and lacks ecological validity. This study proposes the use of virtual reality technology as an alternative to in vivo exposure, and assesses the ability of different virtual environments to elicit anxiety and craving for food in a non-clinical sample. The results show that exposure to virtual environments provokes changes in reported craving for food. High-calorie food cues are the ones that elicit the highest increases in craving.

Experimental elicitation with hydroxyisohexyl-3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde-containing deodorants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Pia Haslund; Jensen, Charlotte Devantier; Rastogi, Suresh

2007-01-01

Hydroxyisohexyl-3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (HICC) known as Lyral is a frequent allergen. It is used in more than 50% of marketed deodorants. The aim of the present study was to determine elicitation thresholds for HICC under simulated conditions of deodorant use. 15 patients with previously...

Periodic modulation of repetitively elicited monosynaptic reflexes of the human lumbosacral spinal cord

OpenAIRE

Hofstoetter, Ursula S.; Danner, Simon M.; Freundl, Brigitta; Binder, Heinrich; Mayr, Winfried; Rattay, Frank; Minassian, Karen

2015-01-01

In individuals with motor-complete spinal cord injury, epidural stimulation of the lumbosacral spinal cord at 2 Hz evokes unmodulated reflexes in the lower limbs, while stimulation at 22–60 Hz can generate rhythmic burstlike activity. Here we elaborated on an output pattern emerging at transitional stimulation frequencies with consecutively elicited reflexes alternating between large and small. We analyzed responses concomitantly elicited in thigh and leg muscle groups bilaterally by epidural...

Amylolitic microbes of nira and laru from Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ELIDAR NAIOLA

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Thirty nine isolates of microorganisms were isolated from the nira (palm sap from inflorescence stalk of Corypha utan Lamk. or Borassus flabellifer L., laru (fermented palm sap and their ability to produce amylase has been done. The result of screening showed that eight isolates were positive in the starch iodine test, but their amylolitic activities relatively lower. The amylolitic activities show that laru is not potential source of microbial amylases. In liquid media containing 2% soluble starch, three isolates of fungi (LG4, LMS1, and MI-1 produce amylase and reached a maximum activity at 3 days fermentation, with levels 56.31x102 , 46.78x102 and 41.49x102 U/mL (one unit activity is define as micromoles of glucose produce per mL per minute. Two yeast isolates which isolated from laru or kayu laru were showed their ability to ferment the gula aer and produce ethanol, CO2 and some organic acids, it were identified as Pichia anomala. The other bacterial isolates were identified as Bacillus licheniformis BL43, Chromobacterium sp., Lactobacillus sp., Micrococcus roseus (Staphylococcus roseus, and Bacillus coagulans, its show the lower amylase activities.

Effect of abiotic elicitation on main health-promoting compounds, antioxidant activity and commercial quality of butter lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Złotek, Urszula; Świeca, Michał; Jakubczyk, Anna

2014-04-01

The study presents changes in the phytochemical levels, antiradical activity and quality of lettuce caused by different chemical elicitors: arachidonic acid (AA), jasmonic acid (JA), and abscisic acid (ABA). The application of 1 μM and 100 μM JA induced an increase in the concentration of phenolic compounds, including flavonoids and phenolic acids. Flavonoid levels were also increased after treatment with 100 μM AA and ABA. Some of the elicitor concentrations used also caused an increase in the levels of other phytochemicals, such as chlorophyll a (1 μM and 100 μM AA, 50 μM ABA); chlorophyll b (100 μM AA); carotenoids (100 μM AA, 1 μM JA and 100 μM ABA) and vitamin C (100 μM AA, 100 μM JA). The highest antiradical activity was noted after treatment with 100 μM AA, 100 μM JA. 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging ability was positively and significantly correlated with flavonoid, chlorophyll and carotenoid levels. These results may suggest that the antiradical activity of lettuce was determined not only by phenolics, but also by other bioactive compounds. Elicitation did not change the sensory quality of lettuce. Therefore, treatment with elicitors could be a useful tool for improving the health-promoting qualities of lettuce without the loss of sensory quality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of radioimmunoassay for pantothenic acid in biological tissues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wyse, B.W.

1977-01-01

The purpose of this research was to develop a radioimmunoassay for quantitating pantothenic acid levels in biological tissues and to compare the new method with a microbiological procedure. Since pantothenic acid is a nonantigenic compound with a small molecular weight, it was treated as a hapten and conjugated with an immunogenic protein. A new technique for covalently linking haptens with primary alcohol groups to proteins was developed. To prepare an antiserum for the radioimmunoassay, pantothenic acid-bovine serum albumin antigen was injected into the foot pads of rabbits. As antibodies to pantothenic acid hapten were elicited they were characterized using three classical techniques: ring precipitant test, gel diffusion (Ouchterlony), and skin test (Arthus). For the radioimmunoassay an appropriate dilution of antiserum was incubated in the presence of tritium labeled pantothenic acid and non-radioactive pantothenic acid for the standard curve or tissue extracts containing pantothenic acid. After incubation overnight, the antibodies were precipitated and solubilized and the radioactivity was counted in a liquid scintillation counter. Blood pantothenic acid levels of sixty-eight senior citizens were determined by the radioimmunoassay and by microbiological assay with Lactobacillus plantarum. A highly significant correlation was found between the two assays

Delphi Fuzzy Elicitation Technique in the Determination of Third ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Delphi technique via the expert elicitation method becomes extremely handy particularly in view of limited availability of data in determining failure probabilities of onshore transmission pipelines in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria occasioned by third party activity. Using, ten (10) experts opinion elucidated individually ...

Scenario-based Requirements Elicitation in a Pain-teletreatment Application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Widya, I.A.; Bults, Richard G.A.; Huis in 't Veld, M.H.A.; Vollenbroek-Hutten, Miriam Marie Rosé; Shishkov, Boris; Cordeiro, J.; Ranchordas, A.

2009-01-01

This paper proposes a way to elicit requirements in the domain of eHealth, in particular telemedicine treatment, that is in alignment with the evidence based working practice in medicine. In collaboration with ICT developers, medical professionals co-shape the intended system, which has to support

The Time-Dose-Response Relationship for Elicitation of Contact Dermatitis in Isoeugenol Allergic Individuals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, K. E.; Johansen, J. D.; Bruze, M.

2001-01-01

The elicitation response in allergic contact dermatitis is dose dependent, but the time-concentration relationship for elicitation has not previously been described. In this study 27 isoeugenol-sensitive patients participated in serial dilution patch tests with isoeugenol and a double-blinded Rep......The elicitation response in allergic contact dermatitis is dose dependent, but the time-concentration relationship for elicitation has not previously been described. In this study 27 isoeugenol-sensitive patients participated in serial dilution patch tests with isoeugenol and a double......-blinded Repeated Open Application Test (ROAT) using two concentrations of isoeugenol, 0.2 and 0.05%. Seven controls without isoeugenol allergy were also included. The participants applied 3.72 +/- 1.57 (mean +/- SD) mg/cm(2) of coded isoeugenol solutions twice a day to a 3 x 3 cm(2) area on the volar aspect...... of the right and left arm, respectively. For each test site the applications continued until a reaction appeared or for a maximum of 28 days. The minimal criteria for a positive reaction regarded as allergic contact dermatitis was persistent erythema at the ROAT test site. All controls were negative and 16...

Photo-Elicitation and Visual Semiotics: A Unique Methodology for Studying Inclusion for Children with Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Stockall, Nancy

2013-01-01

The methodology in this paper discusses the use of photographs as an elicitation strategy that can reveal the thinking processes of participants in a qualitatively rich manner. Photo-elicitation techniques combined with a Piercian semiotic perspective offer a unique method for creating a frame of action for later participant analysis. Illustrative…

Dopamine D4 receptor polymorphism modulates cue-elicited heroin craving in Chinese.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Chunhong; Li, Yifeng; Jiang, Kaida; Zhang, Dandan; Xu, Yifeng; Lin, Ling; Wang, Qiuying; Zhao, Min; Jin, Li

2006-06-01

Subjective craving, which contributes to the continuation of drug use in active abuser and the occurrence of relapse in detoxified abusers, is considered to be a central phenomenon in addiction. Dopamine pathway has been implicated in the mechanism underlying the cue-elicited craving for a variety of addictive substances. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that heroin addicts carrying D4 dopamine receptor gene (DRD4) variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) long type allele would have higher craving after exposure to a heroin-related cue. Craving was induced by a series of exposure to neutral and heroin-related cue and were assessed in a cohort of Chinese heroin abusers (n=420) recruited from the Voluntary Drug Dependence Treatment Center at Shanghai. Significantly stronger cue-elicited heroin craving was found in individuals carrying DRD4 VNTR long type allele than the non-carriers (F=31.040, pcue-elicited craving in heroin dependence, indicating DRD4 VNTR represents one of potential genetic risk factors for cue-induced craving.

Exposure to the taste of alcohol elicits activation of the mesocorticolimbic neurocircuitry.

Science.gov (United States)

Filbey, Francesca M; Claus, Eric; Audette, Amy R; Niculescu, Michelle; Banich, Marie T; Tanabe, Jody; Du, Yiping P; Hutchison, Kent E

2008-05-01

A growing number of imaging studies suggest that alcohol cues, mainly visual, elicit activation in mesocorticolimbic structures. Such findings are consistent with the growing recognition that these structures play an important role in the attribution of incentive salience and the pathophysiology of addiction. The present study investigated whether the presentation of alcohol taste cues can activate brain regions putatively involved in the acquisition and expression of incentive salience. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we recorded BOLD activity while delivering alcoholic tastes to 37 heavy drinking but otherwise healthy volunteers. The results yielded a pattern of BOLD activity in mesocorticolimbic structures (ie prefrontal cortex, striatum, ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra) relative to an appetitive control. Further analyses suggested strong connectivity between these structures during cue-elicited urge and demonstrated significant positive correlations with a measure of alcohol use problems (ie the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test). Thus, repeated exposure to the taste alcohol in the scanner elicits activation in mesocorticolimbic structures, and this activation is related to measures of urge and severity of alcohol problems.

Effects of adjuvants on IgG subclasses elicited by virus-like Particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Visciano Maria Luisa

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Virus-Like Particles (VLPs represent an efficient strategy to present and deliver conformational antigens to the immune system, inducing both arms of the adaptive immune response. Moreover, their particulate structure surrounded by cell membrane provides an adjuvanted effect to VLP-based immunizations. In the present study, the elicitation of different patterns of IgG subclasses by VLPs, administered in CpG ODN1826 or poly(I:C adjuvants, has been evaluated in an animal model. Results Adjuvanted VLPs elicited a higher titer of total specific IgG compared to VLPs alone. Furthermore, while VLPs alone induced a balanced TH2 pattern, VLPs formulated with either adjuvant elicited a TH1-biased IgG subclasses (IgG2a and IgG3, with poly(I:C more potent than CpG ODN1826. Conclusions The results confirmed that adjuvants efficiently improve antigen immunogenicity and represent a suitable strategy to skew the adaptive immune response toward the differentiation of the desired T helper subset, also using VLPs as antigen.

Cellular requirements for cutaneous sensitivity elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoki, I

1985-01-01

The role of glass-adherent cells in cutaneous sensitivity (CS) elicitation has been analyzed in this study. CS responses have been revealed to be mediated by at least two distinct subsets of genetically restricted T cells: I-restricted 'DTH-like' T cells and K/D-restricted 'CTL-like' T cells. Both T-cell responses require I-A-positive glass-adherent cell populations, which lack T-cell markers, to manifest their activities. The role of the adherent cells is different in the 'DTH-like' responses and the 'CTL-like' responses. The disparities between the present results and previous contentions are discussed in this paper.

Elicitation of Pharmacologically Active Substances in Intact Medical Plant

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kužel, S.; Vydra, J.; Tříska, Jan; Vrchotová, Naděžda; Hrubý, Martin; Cígler, P.

2009-01-01

Roč. 57, č. 17 (2009), s. 7907-7911 ISSN 0021-8561 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520; CEZ:AV0Z40500505 Keywords : elicitation * medical plant * Echinacea purpurea * secondary metabolite * foliar application * phenolics Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation Impact factor: 2.469, year: 2009

Eliciting ethical and social values in health technology assessment: A participatory approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bombard, Yvonne; Abelson, Julia; Simeonov, Dorina; Gauvin, Francois-Pierre

2011-07-01

Despite a growing consensus that ethical and social values should be addressed in health technology assessment (HTA) processes, there exist a variety of methods for doing so. There is growing interest in involving citizens in policy development to ensure that decisions are legitimate, and reflect the broad social values of the public. We sought to bring these issues together by employing a participatory approach to elicit ethical and social values in HTA. Our primary objective was to elicit a set of ethical and social values from citizens that could be used to guide Ontario's HTA evidentiary review and appraisal process. A secondary objective was to explore the feasibility of using participatory approaches to elicit these values. A 14-person Citizens' Reference Panel on Health Technologies was established to provide input to the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee in developing its recommendations. A mixed methods approach was used where informed, deliberative discussions were combined with pre- and post-questionnaires, which assessed the relative importance of various ethical and social values as well as their stability over time. Over the course of five meetings, panel members progressed toward the identification of a set of core values -universal access, choice and quality care. These values were consistently prioritized as the core values that should be considered in the evaluation of health technologies and ensuing recommendations. Sustained and deliberative methods, like a citizens' panel, offer a promising approach for eliciting ethical and social values into HTA. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating unknown parameters in haemophilia using expert judgement elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, K; Lewandowski, D; Janssen, M P

2013-09-01

The increasing attention to healthcare costs and treatment efficiency has led to an increasing demand for quantitative data concerning patient and treatment characteristics in haemophilia. However, most of these data are difficult to obtain. The aim of this study was to use expert judgement elicitation (EJE) to estimate currently unavailable key parameters for treatment models in severe haemophilia A. Using a formal expert elicitation procedure, 19 international experts provided information on (i) natural bleeding frequency according to age and onset of bleeding, (ii) treatment of bleeds, (iii) time needed to control bleeding after starting secondary prophylaxis, (iv) dose requirements for secondary prophylaxis according to onset of bleeding, and (v) life-expectancy. For each parameter experts provided their quantitative estimates (median, P10, P90), which were combined using a graphical method. In addition, information was obtained concerning key decision parameters of haemophilia treatment. There was most agreement between experts regarding bleeding frequencies for patients treated on demand with an average onset of joint bleeding (1.7 years): median 12 joint bleeds per year (95% confidence interval 0.9-36) for patients ≤ 18, and 11 (0.8-61) for adult patients. Less agreement was observed concerning estimated effective dose for secondary prophylaxis in adults: median 2000 IU every other day The majority (63%) of experts expected that a single minor joint bleed could cause irreversible damage, and would accept up to three minor joint bleeds or one trauma related joint bleed annually on prophylaxis. Expert judgement elicitation allowed structured capturing of quantitative expert estimates. It generated novel data to be used in computer modelling, clinical care, and trial design. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Structured tradeoffs preference elicitation: Evaluating CRWMS design and operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartman, H.

1994-01-01

Preliminary studies over the past few years have yielded multiple design and operations alternatives for the planned Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System (CRWMS). Waste isolation, pre-closure health and safety, and life cycle cost are among the many factors considered in developing these alternatives. The task of CRWMS designers is complicated by substantial heat and nuclear radiation energy output of the spent nuclear fuel and high level waste intended for disposal in an underground repository. Not only must the usual effectiveness, operability and cost objectives be balanced, but done so in the context of a constantly changing environment. Particular alternatives sometimes are favored by virtue of their outstanding performance relative to one of these factors. The Ultimate success of the potential repository, however, depends on reaching a defensible and traceable final decision through simultaneous and systematic weighing of all relevant factors. This paper documents the outcome of Structured Tradeoffs Preference (STP) elicitation as a method for the simultaneous and systematic weighing of factors relevant to repository thermal loading, waste package (WP) design, and emplacement mode decisions. The study provided a low-cost early indication of directions of further research on CRWMS design and operations likely to be most fruitful. The method of STP elicitation was utilized to avoid potential biases documented in other efforts which use only unstructured decision making, or open-quotes well-considered judgmentclose quotes. The STP elicitation procedure presented here complements the use of a parameter network-model pyramid suggested elsewhere in this proceedings to provide a framework for precisely articulating technical questions needing answers. It also forms an independent crosscheck of systems engineering study results and performance assessment modeling

Emotion elicitation: A comparison of pictures and films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meike Katrin Uhrig

2016-02-01

Full Text Available AbstractPictures and film clips are widely used and accepted stimuli to elicit emotions. Based on theoretical arguments it is often assumed that the emotional effects of films exceed those of pictures, but to date this assumption has not been investigated directly. The aim of the present study was to compare pictures and films in terms of their capacity to induce emotions verified by means of explicit measures. Stimuli were (a single pictures presented for 6 s, (b a set of three consecutive pictures with emotionally congruent contents presented for 2 s each, (c short film clips with a duration of 6 s. A total of 144 participants rated their emotion and arousal states following stimulus presentation. Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed that the film clips and 3-picture version were as effective as the classical 1-picture method to elicit positive emotions, however, modulation towards positive valence was little. Modulation toward negative valence was more effective in general. Film clips were less effective than pictorial stimuli in producing the corresponding emotion states (all p < .001 and were less arousing (all p ≤ .02. Possible reasons for these unexpected results are discussed.

Emotion Elicitation: A Comparison of Pictures and Films.

Science.gov (United States)

Uhrig, Meike K; Trautmann, Nadine; Baumgärtner, Ulf; Treede, Rolf-Detlef; Henrich, Florian; Hiller, Wolfgang; Marschall, Susanne

2016-01-01

Pictures and film clips are widely used and accepted stimuli to elicit emotions. Based on theoretical arguments it is often assumed that the emotional effects of films exceed those of pictures, but to date this assumption has not been investigated directly. The aim of the present study was to compare pictures and films in terms of their capacity to induce emotions verified by means of explicit measures. Stimuli were (a) single pictures presented for 6 s, (b) a set of three consecutive pictures with emotionally congruent contents presented for 2 s each, (c) short film clips with a duration of 6 s. A total of 144 participants rated their emotion and arousal states following stimulus presentation. Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed that the film clips and 3-picture version were as effective as the classical 1-picture method to elicit positive emotions, however, modulation toward positive valence was little. Modulation toward negative valence was more effective in general. Film clips were less effective than pictorial stimuli in producing the corresponding emotion states (all p < 0.001) and were less arousing (all p ≤ 0.02). Possible reasons for these unexpected results are discussed.

Interviewing strategically to elicit admissions from guilty suspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Tekin, Serra; Granhag, Pär Anders; Strömwall, Leif; Giolla, Erik Mac; Vrij, Aldert; Hartwig, Maria

2015-06-01

In this article we introduce a novel interviewing tactic to elicit admissions from guilty suspects. By influencing the suspects' perception of the amount of evidence the interviewer holds against them, we aimed to shift the suspects' counterinterrogation strategies from less to more forthcoming. The proposed tactic (SUE-Confrontation) is a development of the Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) framework and aims to affect the suspects' perception by confronting them with statement-evidence inconsistencies. Participants (N = 90) were asked to perform several mock criminal tasks before being interviewed using 1 of 3 interview techniques: (a) SUE-Confrontation, (b) Early Disclosure of Evidence, or (c) No Disclosure of Evidence. As predicted, the SUE-Confrontation interview generated more statement-evidence inconsistencies from suspects than the Early Disclosure interview. Importantly, suspects in the SUE-Confrontation condition (vs. Early and No disclosure conditions) admitted more self-incriminating information and also perceived the interviewer to have had more information about the critical phase of the crime (the phase where the interviewer lacked evidence). The findings show the adaptability of the SUE-technique and how it may be used as a tool for eliciting admissions. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Trichoderma harzianum elicits induced resistance in sunflower challenged by Rhizoctonia solani.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, B N; Singh, A; Singh, B R; Singh, H B

2014-03-01

To investigate the efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum NBRI-1055 (denoted as 'T-1055') in suppression of seedling blight of sunflower caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn and their impact on host defence responses. T-1055 was applied as seed treatment, soil application and combined application (seed treatment + soil application). Higher protection afforded by combined application of T-1055 was associated with the marked induction of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (PO) and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) activities. The activities of PAL and PPO reached maximum at 10 days after sowing (DAS), while PO and CAD levels reached maximum at 12 DAS. This was further supported by the accumulation of total phenolic content that showed an increase up to threefold at 14 DAS. In addition, HPLC analysis revealed that the contents of ferulic and p-coumaric acids increased by 6·3 and 4·6 times, respectively, at 14 DAS. Amount of gallic acid was also little more than double. Lignin deposition in sunflower root increased by 2·7, 3·4 and 3·7 times through combined application of T-1055 at 16, 18 and 20 DAS, respectively. Combined application also increased the accumulation of PR-2 and PR-3 proteins by 3·3 and 3·9 times, respectively, at 12 DAS in followed by seed treatment alone. The combined application of T-1055 triggered defence responses in an enhanced level in sunflower than the soil and seed alone and provided better protection against Rhizoctonia seedling blight. Rhizospheric fungal bioagent 'T-1055' can enhance protection in sunflower against the R. solani pathogen through augmented elicitation of host defence responses. © 2013 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

The soil microbiota harbors a diversity of carbapenem-hydrolyzing β-lactamases of potential clinical relevance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gudeta, Dereje Dadi; Bortolaia, Valeria; Amos, Greg

2016-01-01

to identification of seven new MBLs in presumptive Pedobacter roseus (PEDO-1), Pedobacter borealis (PEDO-2), Pedobacter kyungheensis (PEDO-3), Chryseobacterium piscium (CPS-1), Epilithonimonas tenax (ESP-1), Massilia oculi (MSI-1), and Sphingomonas sp. (SPG-1). Carbapenemase production was likely an intrinsic...... (PEDO-1), an unusual amino acid residue at a key position for MBL structure and catalysis (CPS-1), and overlap with a putative OXA β-lactamase (MSI-1). Heterologous expression of PEDO-1, CPS-1, and ESP-1in E. coli significantly increased the MICs of ampicillin, ceftazidime, cefpodoxime, cefoxitin...

Phytohormone abscisic acid elicits antinociceptive effects in rats through the activation of opioid and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors β/δ.

Science.gov (United States)

Mollashahi, Mahtab; Abbasnejad, Mehdi; Esmaeili-Mahani, Saeed

2018-08-05

The phytohormone abscisic acid exists in animal tissues particularly in the brain. However, its neurophysiological effects have not yet been fully clarified. This study was designed to evaluate the possible antinociceptive effects of abscisic acid on animal models of pain and determine its possible signaling mechanism. Tail-flick, hot-plate and formalin tests were used to assess the nociceptive threshold. All experiments were carried out on male Wistar rats. To determine the role of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ (PPARβ/δ) and opioid receptors on the induction of abscisic acid antinociception, specific antagonists were injected 15 min before abscisic acid. The data showed that abscisic acid (5, 10 and 15 µg/rat, i.c.v.) significantly decreased pain responses in formalin test. In addition, it could also produce dose-dependent antinociceptive effect in tail-flick and hot-plate tests. Administration of PPARβ/δ antagonist (GSK0660, 80 nM, i.c.v.) significantly attenuated the antinociceptive effect of abscisic acid in all tests. The antinociceptive effects of abscisic acid were completely inhibited by naloxone (6 µg, i.c.v.) during the time course of tail-flick and hot-plate tests. The results indicated that the central injection of abscisic acid has potent pain-relieving property which is mediated partly via the PPAR β/δ and opioid signaling. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Step-Wise Approach to Elicit Triangular Distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, Marc W.

2013-01-01

Adapt/combine known methods to demonstrate an expert judgment elicitation process that: 1.Models expert's inputs as a triangular distribution, 2.Incorporates techniques to account for expert bias and 3.Is structured in a way to help justify expert's inputs. This paper will show one way of "extracting" expert opinion for estimating purposes. Nevertheless, as with most subjective methods, there are many ways to do this.

Research Synthesis Methods in an Age of Globalized Risks: Lessons from the Global Burden of Foodborne Disease Expert Elicitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hald, Tine; Angulo, Fred; Bin Hamzah, Wan Mansor

2016-01-01

We live in an age that increasingly calls for national or regional management of global risks. This article discusses the contributions that expert elicitation can bring to efforts to manage global risks and identifies challenges faced in conducting expert elicitation at this scale. In doing so...... it draws on lessons learned from conducting an expert elicitation as part of the World Health Organizations (WHO) initiative to estimate the global burden of foodborne disease; a study commissioned by the Foodborne Disease Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG). Expert elicitation is designed to fill gaps...

Essential role for retinoic acid in the promotion of CD4+ T cell effector responses via retinoic acid receptor alpha

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, J.A.; Cannons, J.L.; Grainger, J.R.; Santos, L.M. Dos; Hand, T.W.; Naik, S.; Wohlfert, E.A.; Chou, D.B.; Oldenhove, G.; Robinson, M.; Grigg, M.E.; Kastenmayer, R.; Schwartzberg, P.L.; Belkaid, Y.

2012-01-01

SUMMARY Vitamin A and its metabolite, retinoic acid (RA), have recently been implicated in the regulation of immune homeostasis via the peripheral induction of regulatory T cells. Here we show that RA is also required to elicit proinflammatory CD4+ helper T cell responses to infection and mucosal vaccination. Retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) is the critical mediator of these effects. Strikingly, antagonism of RAR signaling and deficiency in RARα(Rara−/−) results in a cell autonomous CD4+ T cell activation defect. Altogether, these findings reveal a fundamental role for the RA/RARα axis in the development of both regulatory and inflammatory arms of adaptive immunity and establish nutritional status as a broad regulator of adaptive T cell responses. PMID:21419664

"I Don't Know What's Right Anymore": Engaging Distressed Interviewees Using Graphic-Elicitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geoff Kuehne

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Graphic-elicitation appears to be a research method that potentially has much to offer, particularly so when working with distressed and disaffected groups. It can be especially suited to presenting contentious ideas with unwelcome implications to sceptical interviewees, in this case irrigation farmers who were questioning aspects of climate change. Five images were introduced in the course of conducting in-depth personal interviews. The interviews were recorded and analysed for recurrent themes related to the images. The graphic-elicitation method allowed some participants to preserve or build their sense of optimism by viewing the graphic-elicitation images in particular ways—they saw in them what they wanted to see. Encouraged by the images some attempted to transfer their felt responsibility toward climate change responses to the government and upstream irrigators by blaming them for their low water availability. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs130321

Defense responses in plants of Eucalyptus elicited by Streptomyces and challenged with Botrytis cinerea.

Science.gov (United States)

Salla, Tamiris D; Astarita, Leandro V; Santarém, Eliane R

2016-04-01

Elicitation of E. grandis plants with Streptomyces PM9 reduced the gray-mold disease, through increasing the levels of enzymes directly related to the induction of plant defense responses, and accumulation of specific phenolic compounds. Members of Eucalyptus are economically important woody species, especially as a raw material in many industrial sectors. Species of this genus are susceptible to pathogens such as Botrytis cinerea (gray mold). Biological control of plant diseases using rhizobacteria is one alternative to reduce the use of pesticides and pathogen attack. This study evaluated the metabolic and phenotypic responses of Eucalyptus grandis and E. globulus plants treated with Streptomyces sp. PM9 and challenged with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea. Metabolic responses were evaluated by assessing the activities of the enzymes polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase as well as the levels of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. The incidence and progression of the fungal disease in PM9-treated plants and challenged with B. cinerea were evaluated. Treatment with Streptomyces sp. PM9 and challenge with B. cinerea led to changes in the activities of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase as well as in the levels of phenolic compounds in the plants at different time points. Alterations in enzymes of PM9-treated plants were related to early defense responses in E. grandis. Gallic and chlorogenic acids were on average more abundant, although caffeic acid, benzoic acid and catechin were induced at specific time points during the culture period. Treatment with Streptomyces sp. PM9 significantly delayed the establishment of gray mold in E. grandis plants. These results demonstrate the action of Streptomyces sp. PM9 in inducing plant responses against B. cinerea, making this organism a potential candidate for biological control in Eucalyptus.

Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal plants used by patients with psoriasis in the West Bank of Palestine.

Science.gov (United States)

Shawahna, Ramzi; Jaradat, Nidal Amin

2017-01-03

Psoriasis is a frequent skin inflammatory disorder that inflicts millions of patients around the globe. To meet their healthcare needs, patients with psoriasis often seek treatment outside the allopathic paradigm. Use of medicinal plants has emerged as one of the most common and preferred modalities of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The aim of this study was to investigate the use of medicinal plants by patients with psoriasis in the West Bank of Palestine. The current study was a questionnaire based cross-sectional descriptive study on the use of medicinal plants by psoriasis patients in the West Bank of Palestine. A sample of 149 patients with psoriasis who were visiting outpatient clinics responded to the questionnaire in face to face interviews. Medicinal plants were used by 81 (54.4%) patients with psoriasis. Patients used 33 medicinal plants belonging to 26 families. Plants belonging to Lamiaceae and Leguminosae were the most commonly used by the study patients. Aloe vera, Trigonella arabica, Catharanthus roseus and Anthemis cotula were the most frequently used medicinal plants to treat psoriasis. Leaves and fruits were the most commonly used parts by the study patients. Paste was the most commonly used form of preparation. The use of medicinal plants was significantly associated with age and monthly household income of the patients. Enhancement of immunity, improving conventional therapy and reduction of side effects were the most commonly self-reported reasons for using medicinal plants. Patients with psoriasis in Palestine seem to use medicinal plants as a CAM modality to manage their psoriasis. Many medicinal plants were commonly used by patients with psoriasis. More randomized clinical trials are needed to demonstrate safety and efficacy for the majority of these medicinal plants reported to be used by patients with psoriasis in Palestine.

PRODUCTION OF ENRICHED BIOMASS BY RED YEASTS OF SPOROBOLOMYCES SP. GROWN ON WASTE SUBSTRATES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilia Breierova

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Carotenoids and ergosterol are industrially significant metabolites probably involved in yeast stress response mechanisms. Thus, controlled physiological and nutrition stress including use of waste substrates can be used for their enhanced production. In this work two red yeast strains of the genus Sporobolomyces (Sporobolomyces roseus, Sporobolomyces shibatanus were studied. To increase the yield of metabolites at improved biomass production, several types of exogenous as well as nutrition stress were tested. Each strain was cultivated at optimal growth conditions and in medium with modified carbon and nitrogen sources. Synthetic media with addition of complex substrates (e.g. yeast extract and vitamin mixtures as well as some waste materials (whey, apple fibre, wheat, crushed pasta were used as nutrient sources. Peroxide and salt stress were applied too, cells were exposed to oxidative stress (2-10 mM H2O2 and osmotic stress (2-10 % NaCl. During the experiment, growth characteristics and the production of biomass, carotenoids and ergosterol were evaluated. In optimal conditions tested strains substantially differed in biomass as well as metabolite production. S.roseus produced about 50 % of biomass produced by S.shibatanus (8 g/L. Oppositely, production of pigments and ergosterol by S.roseus was 3-4 times higher than in S.shibatanus. S.roseus was able to use most of waste substrates, the best production of ergosterol (8.9 mg/g d.w. and beta-carotene (4.33 mg/g d.w. was obtained in medium with crushed pasta hydrolyzed by mixed enzyme from Phanerochaetae chrysosporium. Regardless very high production of carotenes and ergosterol, S.roseus is probably not suitable for industrial use because of relatively low biomass production.

Neoechinorhynchus (Neoechinorhynchus) chimalapasensis n. sp. (Acanthocephala: Neoechinorhynchidae) from the freshwater fish Awaous banana (Valenciennes) (Gobiidae) in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Salgado-Maldonado, Guillermo; Caspeta-Mandujano, Juan Manuel; Martínez-Ramírez, Emilio

2010-03-01

Neoechinorhynchus (Neoechinorhynchus) chimalapasensis n. sp. (Eoacanthocephala: Neoechinorhynchidae) is described from the intestine of Awaous banana (Valenciennes) (Pisces: Gobiidae) collected in the Río Negro, a tributary in the upper Río Coatzacoalcos basin, Santa María Chimalapa, Oaxaca State, Mexico. It is the third species of Neoechinorhynchus Stiles & Hassall, 1905 described from Mexican freshwater fishes, although 36 other species are known from freshwater fishes in the Americas. Like four other species of Neoechinorhynchus from freshwater fishes in North America and Mexico, N. (N.) limi Muzzall & Buckner, 1982, (N.) rutili (Müller, 1780) Stiles & Hassall, 1905, N. (N.) salmonis Ching, 1984 and N. (N.) roseus Salgado-Maldonado, 1978, males and females of the new species are less than 20 mm in length, lack conspicuous sexual dimorphism in size, have a small proboscis of about 0.1 mm in length with the largest hooks being the anteriormost, about 30-90 microm in length and of equal size, and have subequal lemnisci, larger than the proboscis receptacle but still relatively short and, in males, generally restricted to a position considerably anterior to the testes. The new species is closest to N. (N.) roseus, but it is distinguished from it by having: (1) a slightly larger cylindrical proboscis with almost parallel sides versus a globular proboscis with a rounded tip which is shorter and somewhat wider in N. (N.) roseus; (2) smaller but robust anterior proboscis hooks that do not reach the equatorial level or extend beyond the hooks of the middle circle as in N. (N.) roseus; and (3) the female gonopore situated ventrally subterminal, as opposed to being a significant distance anteriorly to the posterior extremity in N. (N.) roseus.

Bile acids induce necrosis in pancreatic stellate cells dependent on calcium entry and sodium‐driven bile uptake

Science.gov (United States)

Jakubowska, Monika A.; Gerasimenko, Julia V.; Gerasimenko, Oleg V.; Petersen, Ole H.

2016-01-01

Key points Acute biliary pancreatitis is a sudden and severe condition initiated by bile reflux into the pancreas.Bile acids are known to induce Ca2+ signals and necrosis in isolated pancreatic acinar cells but the effects of bile acids on stellate cells are unexplored.Here we show that cholate and taurocholate elicit more dramatic Ca2+ signals and necrosis in stellate cells compared to the adjacent acinar cells in pancreatic lobules; whereas taurolithocholic acid 3‐sulfate primarily affects acinar cells.Ca2+ signals and necrosis are strongly dependent on extracellular Ca2+ as well as Na+; and Na+‐dependent transport plays an important role in the overall bile acid uptake in pancreatic stellate cells.Bile acid‐mediated pancreatic damage can be further escalated by bradykinin‐induced signals in stellate cells and thus killing of stellate cells by bile acids might have important implications in acute biliary pancreatitis. Abstract Acute biliary pancreatitis, caused by bile reflux into the pancreas, is a serious condition characterised by premature activation of digestive enzymes within acinar cells, followed by necrosis and inflammation. Bile acids are known to induce pathological Ca2+ signals and necrosis in acinar cells. However, bile acid‐elicited signalling events in stellate cells remain unexplored. This is the first study to demonstrate the pathophysiological effects of bile acids on stellate cells in two experimental models: ex vivo (mouse pancreatic lobules) and in vitro (human cells). Sodium cholate and taurocholate induced cytosolic Ca2+ elevations in stellate cells, larger than those elicited simultaneously in the neighbouring acinar cells. In contrast, taurolithocholic acid 3‐sulfate (TLC‐S), known to induce Ca2+ oscillations in acinar cells, had only minor effects on stellate cells in lobules. The dependence of the Ca2+ signals on extracellular Na+ and the presence of sodium–taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP) indicate a Na

Good Food, Bad Food, and White Rice: Understanding Child Feeding Using Visual-Narrative Elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wentworth, Chelsea

2017-01-01

Visual-narrative elicitation, a process combining photo elicitation and pile sorting in applied medical anthropology, sheds light on food consumption patterns in urban areas of Vanuatu where childhood malnutrition is a persistent problem. Groups of participants took photographs of the foods they feed their children, and the resources and barriers they encounter in accessing foodstuffs. This revealed how imported and local foods are assigned value as "good" or "bad" foods when contributing to dietary diversity and creating appropriate meals for children, particularly in the context of consuming white rice. The process of gathering and working with photographs illuminated the complex negotiations in which caregivers engaged when making food and nutritional choices for their children. At the nexus of visual and medical anthropology, the visual-narrative elicitation process yielded nuanced, comprehensive understandings of how caregivers value the various foods they feed their children.

Eliciting Perceptual Ground Truth for Image Segmentation

OpenAIRE

Hodge, Victoria Jane; Eakins, John; Austin, Jim

2006-01-01

In this paper, we investigate human visual perception and establish a body of ground truth data elicited from human visual studies. We aim to build on the formative work of Ren, Eakins and Briggs who produced an initial ground truth database. Human subjects were asked to draw and rank their perceptions of the parts of a series of figurative images. These rankings were then used to score the perceptions, identify the preferred human breakdowns and thus allow us to induce perceptual rules for h...

Viewing pain and happy faces elicited similar changes in postural body sway.

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Juan Gea

Full Text Available Affective facial expressions are potent social cues that can induce relevant physiological changes, as well as behavioral dispositions in the observer. Previous studies have revealed that angry faces induced significant reductions in body sway as compared with neutral and happy faces, reflecting an avoidance behavioral tendency as freezing. The expression of pain is usually considered an unpleasant stimulus, but also a relevant cue for delivering effective care and social support. Nevertheless, there are few data about behavioral dispositions elicited by the observation of pain expressions in others. The aim of the present research was to evaluate approach-avoidance tendencies by using video recordings of postural body sway when participants were standing and observing facial expressions of pain, happy and neutral. We hypothesized that although pain faces would be rated as more unpleasant than the other faces, they would provoke significant changes in postural body sway as compared to neutral facial expressions. Forty healthy female volunteers (mean age 25 participated in the study. Amplitude of forward movements and backward movements in the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral axes were obtained. Statistical analyses revealed that pain faces were the most unpleasant stimuli, and that both happy and pain faces were more arousing than neutral ones. Happy and pain faces also elicited greater amplitude of body sway in the anterior-posterior axes as compared with neutral faces. In addition, significant positive correlations were found between body sway elicited by pain faces and pleasantness and empathic ratings, suggesting that changes in postural body sway elicited by pain faces might be associated with approach and cooperative behavioral responses.

Elicited Imitation for Brazilian Portuguese

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Lonsdale, Deryle W.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Elicited imitation (EI is an approach to measuring oral proficiency that consists of having test takers hear a sentence and repeat the sentence exactly as they heard it. Though indirect in nature, EI has successfully shown to correlate with previously established oral proficiency examinations, such as the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI (Lonsdale and Christensen 2014, Matsushita and Lonsdale 2014, Millard 2011, Thompson 2013. This paper discusses the development, administration, and evaluation of an EI test for the Brazilian Portuguese language. We first discuss the relevant background of oral proficiency examination and EI. After presenting the pertinent research questions, we explain the methodology used to develop the EI test, recruit participants, and administer the test. We present the results and analysis and then summarize the findings, limitations, and possible future work

Persuasion Through Emotion? An Experimental Test of the Emotion-Eliciting Nature of Populist Communication

OpenAIRE

Wirz, Dominique

2018-01-01

Populist parties have been extremely successful in recent years. It is often argued that their focus on emotion-eliciting appeals instead of rational arguments contributes to this success; however, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support this assumption. The objective of this article is to test whether populist appeals do indeed elicit emotions and whether this increases the persuasiveness of the appeals. An experiment was conducted (N = 580) comparing populist and nonpopulist appeal...

Defining DSL design principles for enhancing the requirements elicitation process

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Gustavo Arroyo

2012-03-01

Full Text Available La Elicitación de Requisitos propicia el entendimiento de las necesidades de los usuarios con respecto a un desarrollo de software. Los métodos que se emplean provienen de las ciencias sociales por lo que se carece de una retroalimentación ejecutable. Consecuentemente, la primera versión del software podría no cumplir con las expectativas. El uso de DSLs como herramientas para el descubrimiento de requisitos es una idea aceptada, desafortunadamente, muy pocos trabajos en la literatura se enfocan en la definición de principios de diseño de DSLs. En este trabajo planteamos principios de diseño de DSLs orientados a la elicitación de requisitos, enseguida, generamos casos de prueba en ANTLR, Ruby y Curry. También, enunciamos el perfil que debe tener el nuevo analista de software. Con ello, se incrementa la retroalimentación entre los involucrados en el desarrollo de software y se mejora el producto.Requirements elicitation is concerned with learning and understanding the needs of users w.r.t. a new software development. Frequently the methods employed for requirements elicitation are adapted from areas like social sciences that do not include executable (prototype based on feedback. As a consequence, it is relatively common to discover that the first release does not fit the requirements defined at the beginning of the project. Using domain-specific languages (DSLs as an auxiliary tool for requirements elicitation is a commonly well accepted idea. Unfortunately, there are few works in the literature devoted to the definition of design principles for DSLs to be experienced in the frameworks for DSL developing such as ANTLR, Ruby, and Curry. We propose design principles for the DSL development (regardless of paradigm which are sufficient to model the domain in a requirements phase. Further more we enunciate a new profile for the requirements analyst and a set of elicitation steps. The use of DSLs not only giveus an immediate feedback with

Pre-Service Teachers' Modelling Processes through Engagement with Model Eliciting Activities with a Technological Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Daher, Wajeeh M.; Shahbari, Juhaina Awawdeh

2015-01-01

Engaging mathematics students with modelling activities helps them learn mathematics meaningfully. This engagement, in the case of model eliciting activities, helps the students elicit mathematical models by interpreting real-world situation in mathematical ways. This is especially true when the students utilize technology to build the models.…

Photo elicitation interviews as a way of accessing primary school students' attitudes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nissen, Stine Karen; Schmidt, Maria Christina Secher; Tonnesen, Pia Beck

explores the potential of photo-elicitation interviews as a qualitative path to affect. This particular type of interview is shaped as conversations about self-produced images of mathematics. When conducting the photo elicitation interviews, researchers also introduce their own photographs......The identification of the right prompts, to which young children can respond easily, is a challenge to researchers, even more so when it comes to studies of affect (McDonough and Sullivan, 2014). Attempting to capture 3rd grade students’ verbalized perspectives on mathematics, this study also...... into the interview context, along with the photographs of the child's experiences. Both serve as the basis for a child-directed interview (Clark, 1999)....

Muscular reflexes elicited by electrical stimulation of the anterior cruciate ligament in humans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dyhre-Poulsen, P; Krogsgaard, M R

2000-01-01

no sign of ACL disease, thin wire electrodes were inserted into the proximal and mid parts of the ACL. Postoperatively, the sensory nerve fibers inside the ACL were stimulated electrically while motor activity in the knee muscles was recorded using electromyography. In seven of the eight patients......, a muscular contraction of the semitendinosus muscle could be elicited with stimulus trains consisting of at least two stimuli. The latency was 95 +/- 35 ms. Stimulation during isometric contraction of either extensor or flexor muscles elicited a short, complete inhibition of the muscle activity...

Photo-elicitation in lifelong learning of teachers of elementary education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Bautista García-Vera

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this article we present and analyze a plan of teacher training. This plan is promoted and supported in the photographs taken by two teachers in their classrooms. Subsequently, through two focus groups, one for each class, we reflect and debate on the content of the photographs. This study is based on three areas of theorizing: teacher reflection on own practice, the essence of experiential image and multimodal literacy of teacher and, finally, the value of the photo- elicitation as a means of storytelling. The question generator that plan was how to materialize represent delayed or experiential image of the teacher to encourage description and, therefore, understanding the experiences of your practice? The response we obtained using photo - elicitation is helping us to further investigate with rigor in human experiences unrelated to the hegemonic visual communication methodologies. Among its benefits within the teacher training, is to recreate the action out of what happened in it and, in parallel, offering the possibility of making visible and discuss conflicts and ethical dilemmas present in it. Thus, the photo- elicitation situations are warm to analyze how and why a teacher has made a decision and no other, because when asked by a choice made is forced to explain his theories, beliefs, values, attitudes.., and only when made explicit, when subjected to public scrutiny, is aware of them. We note that the change in teachers is only possible when it is aware of his theories, beliefs ... and what they entail in teaching.

[Acid-base homeostasis and the thyro-parathyroid glands].

Science.gov (United States)

Cuisinier-Gleizes, P; George, A; Thomasset, M; Mathieu, H

1975-05-12

Chronic metabolic acidosis entails hyperparathyroidism and osteopathy. In order to elucidate the role of the thyroparathyroids in this bone lesion production the effects of acidic diet for 7 weeks were studied in parathyroidectomized (PTX), thyroparathyroidectomized (TPTX) and shamoperated (Sh-O) growing rats. In all animals urinary excretion of calcium, phosphate, ammonium and titrable acidity was similarly increased. The rise in hydroxyproline excretion and urinary 85-sr (that was injected previous to acidic feeding) was more marked in PTX and TPTX rats. Moreover, in these animals the serum calcium level was increased, the blood pH was decreased. According to these data, an acidic diet intake that is not sufficient to elicit a fall in blood pH of normal young rats can induce severe acidosis in chronically parathyroidectomized or thyroparathyroidectomized animals; moreover the bone resorption appears more marked. It is concluded that parathyroids are involved in the extra-cellular fluid defense mechanism against acidosis by a no bone resorptive mechanism. We hypothesize that the parathyroids permit the necessary and adequate supply of bicarbonates by the bone to maintain blood pH homeostasis.

Elicitation effects of synthetic 1,2,4,5-tetraoxane and 2,5-diphenyltiophene in shoot cultures of two Nepeta species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmitrović Slavica

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The present study was aimed to investigate the elicitation possibility of the main secondary metabolites production in Nepeta cataria L. and N. pannonica L. plants, by exposing them to synthetic compounds from the group of tetraoxanes and tiophenes. The effect of DO63 (1,2,4,5-tetraoxane and DOVF15 (2,5-diphenyl-tiophene on the production of cis,trans-nepetalactone (NL and rosmarinic acid (RA in two Nepeta species, was investigated in shoots grown on culture medium with addition of synthetic compounds in concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 2 mg L-1. The content of targeted metabolites in tested in vitro shoots depended on the type and the concentration of applied synthetic compounds. Application of DO63, primarily in concentration of 0.1 mg L-1 to 1 mg L-1, affected only NL production in both Nepeta species resulting in increased NL content in treated shoots, while production of RA was not influenced. Addition of DOVF15 caused decrease of RA content in N. pannonica shoots and increase in N. cataria shoots, whereas NL production was not affected. The presented results highlight the possibility of DO63 and DOVF15 application for the elicitation of the main secondary metabolites production in species from the genus Nepeta. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 172008 i br. 173024

ALUMINUM TOXICITY VS SALICYLIC ACID EFFECTS IN PEARL MILLET METHYLOME.

OpenAIRE

Baba Ngom; Edward Mamati; Ibrahima Sarr; Josphert Kimatu.

2018-01-01

Aluminum toxicity is one of most distributed plant abiotic stress in the world, causing root inhibition and therefore crop losses. Plants continuously adapt its defense to abiotic stresses through different mechanisms including DNA methylation. The methylome variation is influenced by external cues from environment or by hormonal signals. Salicylic acid is one of the most important hormones in plants, directing growth and defense. Its application is seen having the capacity to elicit plant de...

Diagrams and Relational Maps: The Use of Graphic Elicitation Techniques with Interviewing for Data Collection, Analysis, and Display

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea J. Copeland PhD

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Graphic elicitation techniques, which ask research participants to provide visual data representing personal understandings of concepts, experiences, beliefs, or behaviors, can be especially useful in helping participants to express complex or abstract ideas or opinions. The benefits and drawbacks of using graphic elicitation techniques for data collection, data analysis, and data display in qualitative research studies are analyzed using examples from a research study that employed data matrices and relational maps in conjunction with semi-structured interviews. Results from this analysis demonstrate that the use of these combined techniques for data collection facilitates triangulation and helps to establish internal consistency of data, thereby increasing the trustworthiness of the interpretation of that data and lending support to validity and reliability claims. Findings support the notion that graphic elicitation techniques can be highly useful in qualitative research studies at the data collection, the data analysis, and the data reporting stages. For example, this study found that graphic elicitation techniques are especially useful for eliciting data related to emotions and emotional experiences.

Brain-heart linear and nonlinear dynamics during visual emotional elicitation in healthy subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Valenza, G; Greco, A; Gentili, C; Lanata, A; Toschi, N; Barbieri, R; Sebastiani, L; Menicucci, D; Gemignani, A; Scilingo, E P

2016-08-01

This study investigates brain-heart dynamics during visual emotional elicitation in healthy subjects through linear and nonlinear coupling measures of EEG spectrogram and instantaneous heart rate estimates. To this extent, affective pictures including different combinations of arousal and valence levels, gathered from the International Affective Picture System, were administered to twenty-two healthy subjects. Time-varying maps of cortical activation were obtained through EEG spectral analysis, whereas the associated instantaneous heartbeat dynamics was estimated using inhomogeneous point-process linear models. Brain-Heart linear and nonlinear coupling was estimated through the Maximal Information Coefficient (MIC), considering EEG time-varying spectra and point-process estimates defined in the time and frequency domains. As a proof of concept, we here show preliminary results considering EEG oscillations in the θ band (4-8 Hz). This band, indeed, is known in the literature to be involved in emotional processes. MIC highlighted significant arousal-dependent changes, mediated by the prefrontal cortex interplay especially occurring at intermediate arousing levels. Furthermore, lower and higher arousing elicitations were associated to not significant brain-heart coupling changes in response to pleasant/unpleasant elicitations.

Quantification of the Impact of the HIV-1-Glycan Shield on Antibody Elicitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tongqing Zhou

2017-04-01

Full Text Available While the HIV-1-glycan shield is known to shelter Env from the humoral immune response, its quantitative impact on antibody elicitation has been unclear. Here, we use targeted deglycosylation to measure the impact of the glycan shield on elicitation of antibodies against the CD4 supersite. We engineered diverse Env trimers with select glycans removed proximal to the CD4 supersite, characterized their structures and glycosylation, and immunized guinea pigs and rhesus macaques. Immunizations yielded little neutralization against wild-type viruses but potent CD4-supersite neutralization (titers 1: >1,000,000 against four-glycan-deleted autologous viruses with over 90% breadth against four-glycan-deleted heterologous strains exhibiting tier 2 neutralization character. To a first approximation, the immunogenicity of the glycan-shielded protein surface was negligible, with Env-elicited neutralization (ID50 proportional to the exponential of the protein-surface area accessible to antibody. Based on these high titers and exponential relationship, we propose site-selective deglycosylated trimers as priming immunogens to increase the frequency of site-targeting antibodies.

Quantification of the Impact of the HIV-1-Glycan Shield on Antibody Elicitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Tongqing; Doria-Rose, Nicole A.; Cheng, Cheng; Stewart-Jones, Guillaume B. E.; Chuang, Gwo-Yu; Chambers, Michael; Druz, Aliaksandr; Geng, Hui; McKee, Krisha; Kwon, Young Do; O’Dell, Sijy; Sastry, Mallika; Schmidt, Stephen D.; Xu, Kai; Chen, Lei; Chen, Rita E.; Louder, Mark K.; Pancera, Marie; Wanninger, Timothy G.; Zhang, Baoshan; Zheng, Anqi; Farney, S. Katie; Foulds, Kathryn E.; Georgiev, Ivelin S.; Joyce, M. Gordon; Lemmin, Thomas; Narpala, Sandeep; Rawi, Reda; Soto, Cinque; Todd, John-Paul; Shen, Chen-Hsiang; Tsybovsky, Yaroslav; Yang, Yongping; Zhao, Peng; Haynes, Barton F.; Stamatatos, Leonidas; Tiemeyer, Michael; Wells, Lance; Scorpio, Diana G.; Shapiro, Lawrence; McDermott, Adrian B.; Mascola, John R.; Kwong, Peter D.

2017-04-01

While the HIV-1-glycan shield is known to shelter Env from the humoral immune response, its quantitative impact on antibody elicitation has been unclear. Here, we use targeted deglycosylation to measure the impact of the glycan shield on elicitation of antibodies against the CD4 supersite. We engineered diverse Env trimers with select glycans removed proximal to the CD4 supersite, characterized their structures and glycosylation, and immunized guinea pigs and rhesus macaques. Immunizations yielded little neutralization against wild-type viruses but potent CD4-supersite neutralization (titers 1: >1,000,000 against four-glycan-deleted autologous viruses with over 90% breadth against four-glycan-deleted heterologous strains exhibiting tier 2 neutralization character). To a first approximation, the immunogenicity of the glycan-shielded protein surface was negligible, with Env-elicited neutralization (ID50) proportional to the exponential of the protein-surface area accessible to antibody. Based on these high titers and exponential relationship, we propose site-selective deglycosylated trimers as priming immunogens to increase the frequency of site-targeting antibodies.

Interviewing strategically to elicit admissions from guilty suspects

OpenAIRE

Tekin, Serra; Granhag, Pär Anders; Strömwall, Leif; Giolla, Erik Mac; Vrij, Aldert; Hartwig, Maria

2015-01-01

In this article we introduce a novel interviewing tactic to elicit admissions from guilty suspects. By influencing the suspects’ perception of the amount of evidence the interviewer holds against them, we aimed to shift the suspects’ counterinterrogation strategies from less to more forthcoming. The proposed tactic (SUE-Confrontation) is a development of the Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) framework and aims to affect the suspects’ perception by confronting them with statement-evidence incons...

The Lookahead Principle for Preference Elicitation: Experimental Results

OpenAIRE

Viappiani, Paolo; Faltings, Boi; Pu, Pearl

2006-01-01

Preference-based search is the problem of finding an item that matches best with a user's preferences. User studies show that example-based tools for preference-based search can achieve significantly higher accuracy when they are complemented with suggestions chosen to inform users about the available choices. We discuss the problem of eliciting preferences in example-based tools and present the lookahead principle for generating suggestions. We compare two different implementations of this p...

Incentives for Truthful Information Elicitation of Continuous Signals

OpenAIRE

Radanovic, Goran; Faltings, Boi

2014-01-01

We consider settings where a collective intelligence is formed by aggregating information contributed from many independent agents, such as product reviews, community sensing, or opinion polls. We propose a novel mechanism that elicits both private signals and beliefs. The mechanism extends the previous versions of the Bayesian Truth Serum (the original BTS, the RBTS, and the multi-valued BTS), by allowing small populations and non-binary private signals, while not requiring additional assump...

Eliciting consumer preferences for health plans.

Science.gov (United States)

Booske, B C; Sainfort, F; Hundt, A S

1999-10-01

To examine (1) what people say is important to them in choosing a health plan; (2) the effect, if any, that giving health plan information has on what people say is important to them; and (3) the effect of preference elicitation methods on what people say is important. A random sample of 201 Wisconsin state employees who participated in a health plan choice experiment during the 1995 open enrollment period. We designed a computer system to guide subjects through the review of information about health plan options. The system began by eliciting the stated preferences of the subjects before they viewed the information, at time 0. Subjects were given an opportunity to revise their preference structures first after viewing summary information about four health plans (time 1) and then after viewing more extensive, detailed information about the same options (time 2). At time 2, these individuals were also asked to rate the relative importance of a predefined list of health plan features presented to them. Data were collected on the number of attributes listed at each point in time and the importance weightings assigned to each attribute. In addition, each item on the attribute list was content analyzed. The provision of information changes the preference structures of individuals. Costs (price) and coverage dominated the attributes cited both before and after looking at health plan information. When presented with information on costs, quality, and how plans work, many of these relatively well educated consumers revised their preference structures; yet coverage and costs remained the primary cited attributes. Although efforts to provide health plan information should continue, decisions on the information to provide and on making it available are not enough. Individuals need help in understanding, processing, and using the information to construct their preferences and make better decisions.

Attributes Of Quality Scenarios/Scenario Sets Used In Software Requirements Elicitation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Braun, Kimberly

1997-01-01

.... This thesis examines scenarios used in software requirements elicitation. Many different definitions, formats, and ideas exist on scenarios, but no thorough work has been done on what makes a good, quality scenario and scenario set...

Military training elicits marked increases in plasma metabolomic signatures of energy metabolism, lipolysis, fatty acid oxidation, and ketogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Karl, J Philip; Margolis, Lee M; Murphy, Nancy E; Carrigan, Christopher T; Castellani, John W; Madslien, Elisabeth H; Teien, Hilde-Kristin; Martini, Svein; Montain, Scott J; Pasiakos, Stefan M

2017-09-01

Military training studies provide unique insight into metabolic responses to extreme physiologic stress induced by multiple stressor environments, and the impacts of nutrition in mediating these responses. Advances in metabolomics have provided new approaches for extending current understanding of factors modulating dynamic metabolic responses in these environments. In this study, whole-body metabolic responses to strenuous military training were explored in relation to energy balance and macronutrient intake by performing nontargeted global metabolite profiling on plasma collected from 25 male soldiers before and after completing a 4-day, 51-km cross-country ski march that produced high total daily energy expenditures (25.4 MJ/day [SD 2.3]) and severe energy deficits (13.6 MJ/day [SD 2.5]). Of 737 identified metabolites, 478 changed during the training. Increases in 88% of the free fatty acids and 91% of the acylcarnitines, and decreases in 88% of the mono- and diacylglycerols detected within lipid metabolism pathways were observed. Smaller increases in 75% of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, and 50% of the branched-chain amino acid metabolites detected were also observed. Changes in multiple metabolites related to lipid metabolism were correlated with body mass loss and energy balance, but not with energy and macronutrient intakes or energy expenditure. These findings are consistent with an increase in energy metabolism, lipolysis, fatty acid oxidation, ketogenesis, and branched-chain amino acid catabolism during strenuous military training. The magnitude of the energy deficit induced by undereating relative to high energy expenditure, rather than macronutrient intake, appeared to drive these changes, particularly within lipid metabolism pathways. © 2017 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

Elicited Bid Functions in a (a)Symmetric First-Price Auctions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pezanis-Christou, P.; Sadrieh, A.

2003-01-01

We report on a series of experiments that examine bidding behavior in first-price sealed bid auctions with symmetric and asymmetric bidders.To study the extent of strategic behavior, we use an experimental design that elicits bidders complete bid functions in each round (auction) of the

Counterconditioning reduces cue-induced craving and actual cue-elicited consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Gucht, Dinska; Baeyens, Frank; Vansteenwegen, Debora; Hermans, Dirk; Beckers, Tom

2010-10-01

Cue-induced craving is not easily reduced by an extinction or exposure procedure and may constitute an important route toward relapse in addictive behavior after treatment. In the present study, we investigated the effectiveness of counterconditioning as an alternative procedure to reduce cue-induced craving, in a nonclinical population. We found that a cue, initially paired with chocolate consumption, did not cease to elicit craving for chocolate after extinction (repeated presentation of the cue without chocolate consumption), but did so after counterconditioning (repeated pairing of the cue with consumption of a highly disliked liquid, Polysorbate 20). This effect persisted after 1 week. Counterconditioning moreover was more effective than extinction in disrupting reported expectancy to get to eat chocolate, and also appeared to be more effective in reducing actual cue-elicited chocolate consumption. These results suggest that counterconditioning may be more promising than cue exposure for the prevention of relapse in addictive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Eliciting promises from children reduces cheating.

Science.gov (United States)

Heyman, Gail D; Fu, Genyue; Lin, Jianyan; Qian, Miao K; Lee, Kang

2015-11-01

Widespread cheating can undermine rules that are necessary for maintaining social order. Preventing cheating can be a challenge, especially with regard to children, who as a result of their limited executive function skills may have particular difficulty with resisting temptation to cheat. We examined one approach designed to help children resist this temptation: eliciting a verbal commitment to not cheat. We tested 4- to 7-year-olds (total N = 330) and found that starting at 5 years of age, a verbal commitment to not cheat led to a substantial reduction in cheating. The results suggest that verbal commitments can be used to help children overcome temptations and comply with rules. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exercise Lowers Threshold and Increases Severity, but Wheat-Dependent, Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis Can Be Elicited at Rest

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Morten J.; Eller, Esben; Mortz, Charlotte G.

2018-01-01

of specific IgE (sIgE) were followed by an oral food challenge with gluten at rest and in combination with treadmill exercise. Results: A clinical reaction was elicited in 47 of 71 (66%), and in 26 of these (37%) the reaction could be elicited at rest. The median dose required at rest was 48 g (8-80 g...... with exercise. Conclusions: A challenge test with gluten at rest and combined exercise is a safe confirmatory test for WDEIA. A reaction can be elicited at rest (without exercise), but exercise is able to lower the threshold and increase the severity....

Bioactivities, biosynthesis and biotechnological production of phenolic acids in Salvia miltiorrhiza.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Min; Huang, Fenfen; Deng, Changping; Wang, Yao; Kai, Guoyin

2018-05-10

Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen in Chinese), is a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal plant, which is used as not only human medicine but also health-promotion food. Danshen has been extensively used for the treatment of various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. As a major group of bioactive constituents from S. miltiorrhiza, water-soluble phenolic acids such as salvianolic acid B possessed good bioactivities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and other health-promoting activities. It is of significance to improve the production of phenolic acids by modern biotechnology approaches to meet the increasing market demand. Significant progresses have been made in understanding the biosynthetic pathway and regulation mechanism of phenolic acids in S.miltiorrhiza, which will facilitate the process of targeted metabolic engineering or synthetic biology. Furthermore, multiple biotechnology methods such as in vitro culture, elicitation, hairy roots, endophytic fungi and bioreactors have been also used to obtain pharmaceutically active phenolic acids from S. miltiorrhiza. In this review, recent advances in bioactivities, biosynthetic pathway and biotechnological production of phenolic acid ingredients were summarized and future prospective was also discussed.

Concurrent Data Elicitation Procedures, Processes, and the Early Stages of L2 Learning: A Critical Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Leow, Ronald P.; Grey, Sarah; Marijuan, Silvia; Moorman, Colleen

2014-01-01

Given the current methodological interest in eliciting direct data on the cognitive processes L2 learners employ as they interact with L2 data during the early stages of the learning process, this article takes a critical and comparative look at three concurrent data elicitation procedures currently employed in the SLA literature: Think aloud (TA)…

Analysis of creative mathematical thinking ability by using model eliciting activities (MEAs)

Science.gov (United States)

Winda, A.; Sufyani, P.; Elah, N.

2018-05-01

Lack of creative mathematical thinking ability can lead to not accustomed with open ended problem. Students’ creative mathematical thinking ability in the first grade at one of junior high school in Tangerang City is not fully developed. The reason of students’ creative mathematical thinking ability is not optimally developed is so related with learning process which has done by the mathematics teacher, maybe the learning design that teacher use is unsuitable for increasing students’ activity in the learning process. This research objective is to see the differences in students’ ways of answering the problems in terms of students’ creative mathematical thinking ability during the implementation of Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs). This research use post-test experimental class design. The indicators for creative mathematical thinking ability in this research arranged in three parts, as follow: (1) Fluency to answer the problems; (2) Flexibility to solve the problems; (3) Originality of answers. The result of this research found that by using the same learning model and same instrument from Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) there are some differences in the way students answer the problems and Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) can be one of approach used to increase students’ creative mathematical thinking ability.

Neutrosophic Logic for Mental Model Elicitation and Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Pérez-Teruel

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Mental models are personal, internal representations of external reality that people use to interact with the world around them. They are useful in multiple situations such as muticriteria decision making, knowledge management, complex system learning and analysis. In this paper a framework for mental models elicitation and analysis based on neutrosophic Logic is presented. An illustrative example is provided to show the applicability of the proposal. The paper ends with conclusion future research directions.

Eliciting geologists' tacit model of the uncertainty of mapped geological boundaries

Science.gov (United States)

Lark, R. M.; Lawley, R. S.; Barron, A. J. M.; Aldiss, D. T.; Ambrose, K.; Cooper, A. H.; Lee, J. R.; Waters, C. N.

2015-01-01

It is generally accepted that geological linework, such as mapped boundaries, are uncertain for various reasons. It is difficult to quantify this uncertainty directly, because the investigation of error in a boundary at a single location may be costly and time consuming, and many such observations are needed to estimate an uncertainty model with confidence. However, it is also recognized across many disciplines that experts generally have a tacit model of the uncertainty of information that they produce (interpretations, diagnoses etc.) and formal methods exist to extract this model in usable form by elicitation. In this paper we report a trial in which uncertainty models for mapped boundaries in six geological scenarios were elicited from a group of five experienced geologists. In five cases a consensus distribution was obtained, which reflected both the initial individually elicted distribution and a structured process of group discussion in which individuals revised their opinions. In a sixth case a consensus was not reached. This concerned a boundary between superficial deposits where the geometry of the contact is hard to visualize. The trial showed that the geologists' tacit model of uncertainty in mapped boundaries reflects factors in addition to the cartographic error usually treated by buffering linework or in written guidance on its application. It suggests that further application of elicitation, to scenarios at an appropriate level of generalization, could be useful to provide working error models for the application and interpretation of linework.

Severity of dependence modulates smokers' neuronal cue reactivity and cigarette craving elicited by tobacco advertisement.

Science.gov (United States)

Vollstädt-Klein, Sabine; Kobiella, Andrea; Bühler, Mira; Graf, Caroline; Fehr, Christoph; Mann, Karl; Smolka, Michael N

2011-01-01

Smoking-related cues elicit craving and mesocorticolimbic brain activation in smokers. Severity of nicotine dependence seems to moderate cue reactivity, but the direction and mechanisms of its influence remains unclear. Although tobacco control policies demand a ban on tobacco advertising, cue reactivity studies in smokers so far have not employed tobacco advertisement as experimental stimuli. We investigated whether tobacco advertisement elicits cue reactivity at a behavioral (subjective craving) and a neural level (using functional magnetic resonance imaging) in 22 smokers and 21 never-smokers. Moreover, we studied the influence of severity of dependence on cue reactivity. In smokers, tobacco advertisement elicited substantially more craving than control advertisement whereas never-smokers reported no cue induced craving. Surprisingly, neuronal cue reactivity did not differ between smokers and never-smokers. Moderately dependent smokers' craving increased over the course of the experiment, whereas highly dependent smokers' craving was unaffected. Moderately dependent smokers' brain activity elicited by tobacco advertisement was higher in the amygdala, hippocampus, putamen and thalamus compared with highly dependent smokers. Furthermore, limbic brain activation predicted picture recognition rates after the scanning session, even in never-smokers. Our findings show that tobacco advertisement elicits cigarette craving and neuronal cue reactivity primarily in moderately dependent smokers, indicating that they might be particularly responsive towards external smoking-related cues. On the other hand, neuronal cue reactivity and cigarette craving in highly dependent smokers is more likely triggered by internal cues such as withdrawal symptoms. Tobacco advertisement seems to likewise appeal to smokers and non-smokers, clarifying the potential danger especially for young non-smokers. © 2010 The Authors, Addiction Biology © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Uncertainty in geological linework: communicating the expert's tacit model to the data user(s) by expert elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawley, Russell; Barron, Mark; Lark, Murray

2015-04-01

At BGS, expert elicitation has been used to evaluate uncertainty of surveyed boundaries in several, common, geological scenarios. As a result, a 'collective' understanding of the issues surrounding each scenario has emerged. The work has provoked wider debate in three key areas: a) what can we do to resolve those scenarios where a 'consensus' of understanding cannot be achieved b) what does it mean for survey practices and subsequent use of maps in 3D models c) how do we communicate the 'collective' understanding of geological mapping (with or without consensus for specific scenarios). Previous work elicited expert judgement for uncertainty in six contrasting mapping scenarios. In five cases it was possible to arrive at a consensus model; in a sixth case experts with different experience (length of service, academic background) took very different views of the nature of the mapping problem. The scenario concerned identification of the boundary between two contrasting tills (one derived from Triassic source materials being red in colour; the other, derived from Jurassic materials being grey in colour). Initial debate during the elicitation identified that the colour contrast should provide some degree of confidence in locating the boundary via traditional auger-traverse survey methods. However, as the elicitation progressed, it became clear that the complexities of the relationship between the two Tills were not uniformly understood across the experts and the panel could not agree a consensus regarding the spatial uncertainty of the boundary. The elicitation process allowed a significant degree of structured knowledge-exchange between experts of differing backgrounds and was successful in identifying a measure of uncertainty for what was considered a contentious scenario. However, the findings have significant implications for a boundary-scenario that is widely mapped across the central regions of Great Britain. We will discuss our experience of the use of

Investigation of bias of hedonic scores when co-eliciting product attribute information using CATA questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jaeger, Sara R.; Giacalone, Davide; Roigard, Cristina M.

2013-01-01

(appearance, aroma, flavour, taste, aftertaste, mouthfeel). The present research suggests that co-elicitation of hedonic scores and product attribute information using CATA questions may bias the hedonic scores, but not that it certainly will do so. This needs to be recognised, leading to more widespread......Sensory and consumer scientists disagree on the practice of concurrently obtaining sensory information in hedonic tests. This is in part due to different mindsets about what consumers are able to do and evidence that such co-elicitation may bias hedonic scores. Check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions...... have been claimed to have a smaller effect on hedonic scores than other attribute such as just-about-right or intensity scales. In this research, nine studies using consumers as participants examined effects on hedonic product scores when sensory attribute information was co-elicited using CATA...

Constructive Preference Elicitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paolo Dragone

2018-01-01

Full Text Available When faced with large or complex decision problems, human decision makers (DM can make costly mistakes, due to inherent limitations of their memory, attention, and knowledge. Preference elicitation tools assist the decision maker in overcoming these limitations. They do so by interactively learning the DM’s preferences through appropriately chosen queries and suggesting high-quality outcomes based on the preference estimates. Most state-of-the-art techniques, however, fail in constructive settings, where the goal is to synthesize a custom or entirely novel configuration rather than choosing the best option among a given set of candidates. Many wide-spread problems are constructive in nature: customizing composite goods such as cars and computers, bundling products, recommending touristic travel plans, designing apartments, buildings, or urban layouts, etc. In these settings, the full set of outcomes is humongous and can not be explicitly enumerated, and the solution must be synthesized via constrained optimization. In this article, we describe recent approaches especially designed for constructive problems, outlining the underlying ideas and their differences as well as their limitations. In presenting them, we especially focus on novel issues that the constructive setting brings forth, such as how to deal with sparsity of the DM’s preferences, how to properly frame the interaction, and how to achieve efficient synthesis of custom instances.

Effect of elicitation on picrotin and picrotoxinin production from in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Picrorhiza kurrooa Royel ex. Benth. is an important medicinal plant of Himalayan region and a good source of iridoid glycosides. Picrotin and picrotoxinin are compounds produced by P. kurrooa which are widely used in treatment of hepatic diseases. Elicitation is one of the best effective methods which enhance secondary ...

Conditioning stimulation techniques for enhancement of transcranially elicited evoked motor responses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Journee, H. -L.; Polak, H. E.; De Kleuver, M.

2007-01-01

Introduction. - In spite of the use of multipulse, transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) is still insufficient in a subgroup of patients to elicit motor-evoked potentials during intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM). Classic facilitation methods used in awake patients are precluded

Requirements model generation to support requirements elicitation: The Secure Tropos experience

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kiyavitskaya, N.; Zannone, N.

2008-01-01

In recent years several efforts have been devoted by researchers in the Requirements Engineering community to the development of methodologies for supporting designers during requirements elicitation, modeling, and analysis. However, these methodologies often lack tool support to facilitate their

Comparison of UV irradiation and p-fluorphenylaline as selective agents for production of aromatic compounds in plant cell culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quesnel, A.A.; Ellis, B.E.

1989-01-01

Resistance to UV irradiation, and to the toxicity of p-fluorophenylalanine, can both be mediateted in plants by enhanced synthesis of aromatic compounds. These selective agents were applied to cell cultures of Nicotiana tabacum, Anchusa officinalis and Catharanthus roseur, and the production of aromatic metabolites in the resulting resistant lines of each species was compared. While Nicotiana and Anchusa cultures responded to each selective agent ith an enhanced accumulation of aromatic compounds, the Catharanthus cultures acquired resistance through other, unknown, mechanisms. Some degree of cross-resistance was observed between cultures selected individually for resistance to each agent (author). 26 refs.; 2 figs.; 1 tab

Knowledge acquisition in ecological poduct design: the effects of computer-mediated communication and elicitation method

OpenAIRE

Sauer, J.; Schramme, S.; Rüttinger, B.

2000-01-01

This article presents a study that examines multiple effects of using different means of computer-mediated communication and knowledge elicitation methods during a product design process. The experimental task involved a typical scenario in product design, in which a knowledge engineer consults two experts to generate knowledge about a design issue. Employing a 3x2 between-subjects design, three conference types (face-to-face, computer, multivedia) and two knowledge elicitation methods (struc...

Vibrio elicits targeted transcriptional responses from copepod hosts.

Science.gov (United States)

Almada, Amalia A; Tarrant, Ann M

2016-06-01

Copepods are abundant crustaceans that harbor diverse bacterial communities, yet the nature of their interactions with microbiota are poorly understood. Here, we report that Vibrio elicits targeted transcriptional responses in the estuarine copepod Eurytemora affinis We pre-treated E. affinis with an antibiotic cocktail and exposed them to either a zooplankton specialist (Vibrio sp. F10 9ZB36) or a free-living species (Vibrio ordalii 12B09) for 24 h. We then identified via RNA-Seq a total of 78 genes that were differentially expressed following Vibrio exposure, including homologs of C-type lectins, chitin-binding proteins and saposins. The response differed between the two Vibrio treatments, with the greatest changes elicited upon inoculation with V. sp. F10 We suggest that these differentially regulated genes play important roles in cuticle integrity, the innate immune response, and general stress response, and that their expression may enable E. affinis to recognize and regulate symbiotic vibrios. We further report that V. sp. F10 culturability is specifically altered upon colonization of E. affinis These findings suggest that rather than acting as passive environmental vectors, copepods discriminately interact with vibrios, which may ultimately impact the abundance and activity of copepod-associated bacteria. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Abscisic acid negatively regulates elicitor-induced synthesis of capsidiol in wild tobacco.

Science.gov (United States)

Mialoundama, Alexis Samba; Heintz, Dimitri; Debayle, Delphine; Rahier, Alain; Camara, Bilal; Bouvier, Florence

2009-07-01

In the Solanaceae, biotic and abiotic elicitors induce de novo synthesis of sesquiterpenoid stress metabolites known as phytoalexins. Because plant hormones play critical roles in the induction of defense-responsive genes, we have explored the effect of abscisic acid (ABA) on the synthesis of capsidiol, the major wild tobacco (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) sesquiterpenoid phytoalexin, using wild-type plants versus nonallelic mutants Npaba2 and Npaba1 that are deficient in ABA synthesis. Npaba2 and Npaba1 mutants exhibited a 2-fold higher synthesis of capsidiol than wild-type plants when elicited with either cellulase or arachidonic acid or when infected by Botrytis cinerea. The same trend was observed for the expression of the capsidiol biosynthetic genes 5-epi-aristolochene synthase and 5-epi-aristolochene hydroxylase. Treatment of wild-type plants with fluridone, an inhibitor of the upstream ABA pathway, recapitulated the behavior of Npaba2 and Npaba1 mutants, while the application of exogenous ABA reversed the enhanced synthesis of capsidiol in Npaba2 and Npaba1 mutants. Concomitant with the production of capsidiol, we observed the induction of ABA 8'-hydroxylase in elicited plants. In wild-type plants, the induction of ABA 8'-hydroxylase coincided with a decrease in ABA content and with the accumulation of ABA catabolic products such as phaseic acid and dihydrophaseic acid, suggesting a negative regulation exerted by ABA on capsidiol synthesis. Collectively, our data indicate that ABA is not required per se for the induction of capsidiol synthesis but is essentially implicated in a stress-response checkpoint to fine-tune the amplification of capsidiol synthesis in challenged plants.

Graph and Network for Model Elicitation (GNOME Phase 2)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-01

GRAPH AND NETWORK FOR MODEL ELICITATION (GNOME PHASE II) CUBRC FEBRUARY 2013 FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT APPROVED FOR...NUMBER 00 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 01 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) CUBRC 4455 Genesee St. Buffalo, NY 14225 8. PERFORMING...Explorer Since the previous version of GNOME was developed as an Eclipse RCP plug-in, it allowed CUBRC to develop the Model Explorer separately without

Non-Functional Requirements Elicitation and Incorporation into Class Diagrams

OpenAIRE

Song , Xiaoyu; Duan , Zhenhua; Tian , Cong

2010-01-01

International audience; Top-quality software architecture should consider both functional and non-functional aspects of systems and their association. In the the existing literature, considerable efforts have been directed at functional requirement analysis and design, regardless of the non-functional aspects. This disassociation makes architecture comprehension and evolution hard. This paper proposes a strategy on how to elicit non-functional requirements and incorporate them into the design...

Understanding hospital meal experiences by means of Participant-Driven-Photo-Elicitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Justesen, Lise; Mikkelsen, Bent Egberg; Gyimóthy, Szilvia

2014-01-01

A patients’ hospital meal experiences can be complex and often difficult to capture using traditional methods. This study investigated patients’ hospital meal experiences using participant-driven-photo-elicitation (PDPE). PDPE invites respondents to photograph their daily lives and combines this ...

Infection-derived lipids elicit a novel immune deficiency circuitry in arthropods

Science.gov (United States)

The insect Immune Deficiency (IMD) pathway resembles the tumor necrosis factor receptor network in mammals and senses diaminopimelic-type peptidoglycans present in Gram-negative bacteria. Whether unidentified chemical moieties elicit the IMD signaling cascade remains unknown. Here, we disclose thoug...

Variation in accumulation of isoflavonoids in Phaseoleae seedlings elicited by Rhizopus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aisyah, Siti; Gruppen, Harry; Andini, Silvia; Bettonvil, Monique; Severing, Eduard; Vincken, Jean Paul

2016-01-01

Seeds from seven species of tribe Phaseoleae, i.e. Phaseolus, Vigna, Lablab and Psophocarpus, were investigated for inducibility of isoflavonoids by germination with or without subsequent elicitation with Rhizopus oryzae. Germination alone poorly induced isoflavonoid production (in the range of

N400 elicited by incongruent ending words of Chinese idioms in healthy adults

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

CHEN Xing-shi; ZHANG Tian-hong; TANG Yun-xiang; XIAO Ze-ping; WANG Ji-jun; ZHANG Ming-dao; ZHANG Zai-fu; HU Zhen-yu; LOU Fei-ying; CHEN Chong

2010-01-01

Background Prior research about N400 has been mainly based on English stimuli,while the cognitive.processing of Chinese characters is still unclear.The aim of the present study was to further investigate the semantic processing of Chinese idioms.Methods Event related potentials (ERP) component N400 was elicited by 38 pairs of matching (congruent) and mismatching (incongruent) ended Chinese idioms:ending words with same phoneme but different shape and meaning (sPdSdM),with similar shape but different phoneme and meaning(sSdPdM),with same meaning but different phoneme and shape(sMdPdS),and words with different phoneme,shape and meaning(dPdSdM)and recorded by Guangzhou Runjie WJ-1 ERP instruments.In 62 right-handed healthy adults(age 19-50 years),N400 amplitudes and latencies were compared between matching and mismatching conditions at Fz,Cz and Pz.Results N400 showed a midline distribution and could be elicited in electrodes Fz, Cz and Pz.The mean values of N400 latencies and amplitudes were obtained for matching and mismatching ending werds in healthy adults.Significant differences were found in N400 latencies and amplitudes in matching and mismatching ending-werds idioms in healthy adults(P0.05).Conclusions Compared with English stimuli.Chinese ideographic words could provide more flexible stimuli for N400 research in that the werds have 3-dimension changes-phoneme.shape and meaning.Features of N400 elicited by matching and mismatching ending words in Chinese idioms are mainly determined by the meaning of the werd.Some issues of N400 elicited by Chinese characters deserve further research.

Cross-elicitation responses to 2-methoxymethyl-p-phenylenediamine under hair dye use conditions in p-phenylenediamine-allergic individuals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bloemeke, B.; Pot, L. M.; Coenraads, P. -J.; Hennen, J.; Kock, M.; Goebel, C.

Background The factors influencing elicitation responses in individuals allergic to p-phenylenediamine (PPD) in hair dyes are not well understood. Objectives Investigation of the elicitation response to the new, less-sensitizing PPD alternative 2-methoxymethyl-p-phenylenediamine (ME-PPD) under

Weak Organic Acids Decrease Borrelia burgdorferi Cytoplasmic pH, Eliciting an Acid Stress Response and Impacting RpoN- and RpoS-Dependent Gene Expression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel P. Dulebohn

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi survives in its tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, or within various hosts. To transition between and survive in these distinct niches, B. burgdorferi changes its gene expression in response to environmental cues, both biochemical and physiological. Exposure of B. burgdorferi to weak monocarboxylic organic acids, including those detected in the blood meal of fed ticks, decreased the cytoplasmic pH of B. burgdorferi in vitro. A decrease in the cytoplasmic pH induced the expression of genes encoding enzymes that have been shown to restore pH homeostasis in other bacteria. These include putative coupled proton/cation exchangers, a putative Na+/H+ antiporter, a neutralizing buffer transporter, an amino acid deaminase and a proton exporting vacuolar-type VoV1 ATPase. Data presented in this report suggested that the acid stress response triggered the expression of RpoN- and RpoS-dependent genes including important virulence factors such as outer surface protein C (OspC, BBA66, and some BosR (Borreliaoxidative stress regulator-dependent genes. Because the expression of virulence factors, like OspC, are so tightly connected by RpoS to general cellular stress responses and cell physiology, it is difficult to separate transmission-promoting conditions in what is clearly a multifactorial and complex regulatory web.

Elicitation of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) cell suspension culture for enhancement of inulin production and altered degree of polymerisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Chunquan; Zhou, Dong; Wang, Haitao; Han, Dongming; Wang, Yang; Yan, Xiufeng

2017-01-01

Plant cell suspension cultures have emerged as a potential source of secondary metabolites for food additives and pharmaceuticals. In this study inulin accumulation and its degree of polymerisation (DP) in the treated cells in the same medium were investigated after treatment with six types of elicitors. An in vitro cell suspension culture of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) was optimised by adding an extra nitrogen source. According to the growth kinetics, a maximum biomass of 5.48 g L -1 was obtained from the optimal cell suspension medium consisted of Murashige and Skoog basic medium (MS) + 1.0 mg L -1 α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) + 1.0 mg L -1 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA) + 0.5 mg L -1 proline + 1.0 mg L -1 glutamine. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA, 250 µmol L -1 ) treatment for 15 days led to the highest levels of inulin (2955.27 ± 9.81 mg L -1 compared to control of 1217.46 ± 0.26 mg L -1 ). The elicited effect of five elicitors to the suspension cells of Jerusalem artichoke is as follows: AgNO 3 (Ag, 10 µmol L -1 ), salicylic acid (SA, 75 µmol L -1 ), chitosan (KJT, 40 mg L -1 ), Trichoderma viride (Tv, 90 mg L -1 ), yeast extract (YE, 0.25 mg L -1 ), and the corresponding content of inulin is increased by 2.05-, 1.93-, 1.76-, 1.44- and 1.18-fold compared to control, respectively. The obvious effect on the percentage of lower DP in inulin was observed in cells treated with 40 mg L -1 KJT, 0.25 mg L -1 YE and 10 µmol L -1 Ag. Among the six types of elicitors, the descending order of inulin content is MeJA > Ag > SA > KJT > Tv > YE. For the purpose inulin with lower DP and its application to prebiotic food, three elicitors, including KJT, YE and Ag, can be used for the elicitation. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Impaired respiration elicits SrrAB-dependent programmed cell lysis and biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus

Science.gov (United States)

Mashruwala, Ameya A; van de Guchte, Adriana; Boyd, Jeffrey M

2017-01-01

Biofilms are communities of microorganisms attached to a surface or each other. Biofilm-associated cells are the etiologic agents of recurrent Staphylococcus aureus infections. Infected human tissues are hypoxic or anoxic. S. aureus increases biofilm formation in response to hypoxia, but how this occurs is unknown. In the current study we report that oxygen influences biofilm formation in its capacity as a terminal electron acceptor for cellular respiration. Genetic, physiological, or chemical inhibition of respiratory processes elicited increased biofilm formation. Impaired respiration led to increased cell lysis via divergent regulation of two processes: increased expression of the AtlA murein hydrolase and decreased expression of wall-teichoic acids. The AltA-dependent release of cytosolic DNA contributed to increased biofilm formation. Further, cell lysis and biofilm formation were governed by the SrrAB two-component regulatory system. Data presented support a model wherein SrrAB-dependent biofilm formation occurs in response to the accumulation of reduced menaquinone. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23845.001 PMID:28221135

Anticipating requirements changes-using futurology in requirements elicitation

OpenAIRE

Pimentel, João Henrique; Santos, Emanuel; Castro, Jaelson; Franch Gutiérrez, Javier

2012-01-01

It is well known that requirements changes in a later phase of software developments is a major source of software defects and costs. Thus, the need of techniques to control or reduce the amount of changes during software development projects. The authors advocate the use of foresight methods as a valuable input to requirements elicitation, with the potential to decrease the number of changes that would be required after deployment, by anticipating them. In this paper, the authors define a pr...

Antidepressant-like responses in the forced swimming test elicited by glutathione and redox modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosa, Juliana M; Dafre, Alcir Luiz; Rodrigues, Ana Lúcia S

2013-09-15

Glutathione (GSH) displays a broad range of functions, among them a role as a neuromodulator with some neuroprotective properties. Taking into account that oxidative stress has been associated with depressive disorders, this study investigated the possibility that GSH, a major cell antioxidant, elicits an antidepressant-like effect in mice. Thus, GSH was administered by i.c.v. route to mice that were tested in the forced swimming test and in the tail suspension test, two predictive tests for antidepressant drug activity. In addition, GSH metabolism and the redox environment were modulated in order to study the possible mechanisms underlying the effects of GSH in the forced swimming test. The administration of GSH decreased the immobility time in the forced swimming test (300-3000nmol/site) and tail suspension test (100-1000nmol/site), consistent with an antidepressant-like effect. GSH depletion elicited by l-buthionine sulfoximine (3.2μmol/site, i.c.v.) did not alter the antidepressant-like effect of GSH, whereas the inhibition of extracellular GSH catabolism by acivicin (100nmol/site, i.c.v.) prevented the antidepressant-like effect of GSH. Moreover, a sub-effective dose (0.01nmol/site, i.c.v.) of the oxidizing agent DTNB (5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)) potentiated the effect of GSH (100nmol/site, i.c.v.), while the pretreatment (25-100mg/kg, i.p.) with the reducing agent DTT (dl-dithiothreitol) prevented the antidepressant-like effect of GSH (300nmol/site, i.c.v.). DTNB (0.1nmol/site, i.c.v.), produced an antidepressant-like effect, per se, which was abolished by DTT (25mg/kg, i.p.). The results show, for the first time, that centrally administered GSH produces an antidepressant-like effect in mice, which can be modulated by the GSH metabolism and the thiol/disulfide reagents. The redox environment may constitute a new venue for future antidepressant-drug development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Measure of Proficiency or Short-Term Memory? Validation of an Elicited Imitation Test for SLA Research

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Youjin; Tracy-Ventura, Nicole; Jung, Yeonjoo

2016-01-01

Elicited imitation requires listeners to listen and repeat sentences as accurately as possible. In second language acquisition (SLA) research it has been used for a variety of purposes. Recently, versions of the same elicited imitation test (EIT) have been created in 6 languages with the purpose of measuring second language proficiency (Ortega…

A framework for characterizing usability requirements elicitation and analysis methodologies (UREAM)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trienekens, J.J.M.; Kusters, R.J.; Mannaert, H.

2012-01-01

Dedicated methodologies for the elicitation and analysis of usability requirements have been proposed in literature, usually developed by usability experts. The usability of these approaches by non-expert software engineers is not obvious. In this paper, the objective is to support developers and

Pursenality : A photo-ethnographic method for self-elicitation and co-creation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, J.W.; Mulder, I.J.; Best, S.E.

2013-01-01

The current work introduces pursenality, a photoethnographic method for self-elicitation and cocreation, which elaborates upon current photography methods used in (design) ethnography. In total 91 bachelor students in the 6th semester participated in a purse diary study and used the pursenality

The perspective awareness model - Eliciting multiple perspectives to formulate high quality decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boucher, Laurel

2013-01-01

A great deal of attention is given to the importance of communication in environmental remediation and radioactive waste management. However, very little attention is given to eliciting multiple perspectives so as to formulate high quality decisions. Plans that are based on a limited number of perspectives tend to be narrowly focused whereas those that are based on a wide variety of perspectives tend to be comprehensive, higher quality, and more apt to be put into application. In addition, existing methods of dialogue have built-in limitations in that they typically draw from the predominant thinking patterns which focus in some areas but ignore others. This can result in clarity but a lack of comprehensiveness. This paper presents a Perspective Awareness Model which helps groups such as partnering teams, interagency teams, steering committees, and working groups elicit a wide net of perspectives and viewpoints. The paper begins by describing five factors that makes cooperation among such groups challenging. Next, a Perspective Awareness Model that makes it possible to manage these five factors is presented. The two primary components of this model --- the eight 'Thinking Directions' and the 'Shared Documentation' --- are described in detail. Several examples are given to illustrate how the Perspective Awareness Model can be used to elicit multiple perspectives to formulate high quality decisions in the area of environmental remediation and radioactive waste management. (authors)

Eliciting hyperparameters of prior distributions for the parameters of paired comparison models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasir Abbas

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA In the study of paired comparisons (PC, items may be ranked or issues may be prioritized through subjective assessment of certain judges. PC models are developed and then used to serve the purpose of ranking. The PC models may be studied through classical or Bayesian approach. Bayesian inference is a modern statistical technique used to draw conclusions about the population parameters. Its beauty lies in incorporating prior information about the parameters into the analysis in addition to current information (i.e. data. The prior and current information are formally combined to yield a posterior distribution about the population parameters, which is the work bench of the Bayesian statisticians. However, the problems the Bayesians face correspond to the selection and formal utilization of prior distribution. Once the type of prior distribution is decided to be used, the problem of estimating the parameters of the prior distribution (i.e. elicitation still persists. Different methods are devised to serve the purpose. In this study an attempt is made to use Minimum Chi-square (hence forth MCS for the elicitation purpose. Though it is a classical estimation technique, but is used here for the election purpose. The entire elicitation procedure is illustrated through a numerical data set.

Discrete emotions predict changes in cognition, judgment, experience, behavior, and physiology: a meta-analysis of experimental emotion elicitations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lench, Heather C; Flores, Sarah A; Bench, Shane W

2011-09-01

Our purpose in the present meta-analysis was to examine the extent to which discrete emotions elicit changes in cognition, judgment, experience, behavior, and physiology; whether these changes are correlated as would be expected if emotions organize responses across these systems; and which factors moderate the magnitude of these effects. Studies (687; 4,946 effects, 49,473 participants) were included that elicited the discrete emotions of happiness, sadness, anger, and anxiety as independent variables with adults. Consistent with discrete emotion theory, there were (a) moderate differences among discrete emotions; (b) differences among discrete negative emotions; and (c) correlated changes in behavior, experience, and physiology (cognition and judgment were mostly not correlated with other changes). Valence, valence-arousal, and approach-avoidance models of emotion were not as clearly supported. There was evidence that these factors are likely important components of emotion but that they could not fully account for the pattern of results. Most emotion elicitations were effective, although the efficacy varied with the emotions being compared. Picture presentations were overall the most effective elicitor of discrete emotions. Stronger effects of emotion elicitations were associated with happiness versus negative emotions, self-reported experience, a greater proportion of women (for elicitations of happiness and sadness), omission of a cover story, and participants alone versus in groups. Conclusions are limited by the inclusion of only some discrete emotions, exclusion of studies that did not elicit discrete emotions, few available effect sizes for some contrasts and moderators, and the methodological rigor of included studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

Lexical Difficulty--Using Elicited Imitation to Study Child L2

Science.gov (United States)

Campfield, Dorota E.

2017-01-01

This paper reports a post-hoc analysis of the influence of lexical difficulty of cue sentences on performance in an elicited imitation (EI) task to assess oral production skills for 645 child L2 English learners in instructional settings. This formed part of a large-scale investigation into effectiveness of foreign language teaching in Polish…

The human chorionic gonadotropin-beta arginine68 to glutamic acid substitution fixes the conformation of the C-terminal peptide

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Charrel-Dennis, Marie; Terrazzini, Nadia; McBride, Jeffrey D

2005-01-01

Wild-type human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) has been used as a contraceptive vaccine. However, extensive sequence homology with LH elicits production of cross-reactive antibodies. Substitution of arginine(68) of the beta-subunit (hCG(beta)) with glutamic acid (R68E) profoundly reduces the cross...

The influence of the ratio bias phenomenon on the elicitation of health states utilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose-Luis Pinto-Prades

2006-11-01

Full Text Available This paper tests whether logically equivalent risk formats can lead to different health state utilities elicited by means of the traditional standard gamble (SG method and a modified version of the method that we call ``double lottery.'' We compare utilities for health states elicited when probabilities are framed in terms of frequencies with respect to 100 people in the population (i.e., X out of 100 who follow a medical treatment will die with SG utilities elicited for frequencies with respect to 1,000 people in the population (i.e., Y out of 1,000 who follow a medical treatment will die. We found that people accepted a lower risk of death when success and failure probabilities were framed as frequencies type ``Y deaths out of 1,000'' rather than as frequencies type ``X deaths out of 100'' and hence the utilities for health outcomes were higher when the denominator was 1000 than when it was 100. This framing effect, known as Ratio Bias, may have important consequences in resource allocation decisions.

Preference Elicitation and Negotiation in a Group Recommender System

OpenAIRE

Álvarez Márquez , Jesús ,; Ziegler , Jurgen

2015-01-01

International audience; We present a novel approach to group recommender systems that better takes into account the social interaction in a group when formulating, discussing and negotiating the features of the item to be jointly selected. Our approach provides discussion support in a collaborative preference elicitation and negotiation process. Individual preferences are continuously aggregated and immediate feedback of the resulting recommendations is provided. We also support the last stag...

RiskREP: Risk-Based Security Requirements Elicitation and Prioritization (extended version)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Herrmann, Andrea; Morali, A.

2010-01-01

Today, companies are required to be in control of the security of their IT assets. This is especially challenging in the presence of limited budgets and conflicting requirements. Here, we present Risk-Based Requirements Elicitation and Prioritization (RiskREP), a method for managing IT security

Group elicitations yield more consistent, yet more uncertain experts in understanding risks to ecosystem services in New Zealand bays

KAUST Repository

Singh, Gerald G.; Sinner, Jim; Ellis, Joanne; Kandlikar, Milind; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Satterfield, Terre; Chan, Kai

2017-01-01

The elicitation of expert judgment is an important tool for assessment of risks and impacts in environmental management contexts, and especially important as decision-makers face novel challenges where prior empirical research is lacking or insufficient. Evidence-driven elicitation approaches typically involve techniques to derive more accurate probability distributions under fairly specific contexts. Experts are, however, prone to overconfidence in their judgements. Group elicitations with diverse experts can reduce expert overconfidence by allowing cross-examination and reassessment of prior judgements, but groups are also prone to uncritical

Group elicitations yield more consistent, yet more uncertain experts in understanding risks to ecosystem services in New Zealand bays

KAUST Repository

Singh, Gerald G.

2017-08-02

The elicitation of expert judgment is an important tool for assessment of risks and impacts in environmental management contexts, and especially important as decision-makers face novel challenges where prior empirical research is lacking or insufficient. Evidence-driven elicitation approaches typically involve techniques to derive more accurate probability distributions under fairly specific contexts. Experts are, however, prone to overconfidence in their judgements. Group elicitations with diverse experts can reduce expert overconfidence by allowing cross-examination and reassessment of prior judgements, but groups are also prone to uncritical

The Role of Elicited Verbal Imitation in Toddlers' Word Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hodges, Rosemary; Munro, Natalie; Baker, Elise; McGregor, Karla; Docking, Kimberley; Arciuli, Joanne

2016-01-01

This study is about the role of elicited verbal imitation in toddler word learning. Forty-eight toddlers were taught eight nonwords linked to referents. During training, they were asked to imitate the nonwords. Naming of the referents was tested at three intervals (one minute later [uncued], five minutes, and 1-7 days later [cued]) and recognition…

Eliciting the Dutch loan phoneme /g/ with the Menu Task

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hamann, S.; de Jonge, A.

2015-01-01

This article introduces the menu task, which can be used to elicit infrequent sounds such as loan phonemes that only occur in a restricted set of words. The menu task is similar to the well-known map task and involves the interaction of two participants to create a menu on the basis of a list of

Elicited Production of Relative Clauses in Children with Williams Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Zukowski, Andrea

2009-01-01

Relative clauses have been implicated alternately as a strength and a weakness in the language of people with Williams Syndrome (WS). To clarify the facts, an elicited production test was administered to 10 people with WS (age 10-16 years), 10 typically developing children (age 4-7 years), and 12 typically developing adults. Nearly every WS…

Functional Imaging of Human Vestibular Cortex Activity Elicited by Skull Tap and Auditory Tone Burst

Science.gov (United States)

Noohi, F.; Kinnaird, C.; Wood, S.; Bloomberg, J.; Mulavara, A.; Seidler, R.

2016-01-01

The current study characterizes brain activation in response to two modes of vestibular stimulation: skull tap and auditory tone burst. The auditory tone burst has been used in previous studies to elicit either the vestibulo-spinal reflex (saccular-mediated colic Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (cVEMP)), or the ocular muscle response (utricle-mediated ocular VEMP (oVEMP)). Some researchers have reported that air-conducted skull tap elicits both saccular and utricle-mediated VEMPs, while being faster and less irritating for the subjects. However, it is not clear whether the skull tap and auditory tone burst elicit the same pattern of cortical activity. Both forms of stimulation target the otolith response, which provides a measurement of vestibular function independent from semicircular canals. This is of high importance for studying otolith-specific deficits, including gait and balance problems that astronauts experience upon returning to earth. Previous imaging studies have documented activity in the anterior and posterior insula, superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, inferior frontal gyrus, and the anterior cingulate cortex in response to different modes of vestibular stimulation. Here we hypothesized that skull taps elicit similar patterns of cortical activity as the auditory tone bursts, and previous vestibular imaging studies. Subjects wore bilateral MR compatible skull tappers and headphones inside the 3T GE scanner, while lying in the supine position, with eyes closed. Subjects received both forms of the stimulation in a counterbalanced fashion. Pneumatically powered skull tappers were placed bilaterally on the cheekbones. The vibration of the cheekbone was transmitted to the vestibular system, resulting in the vestibular cortical response. Auditory tone bursts were also delivered for comparison. To validate our stimulation method, we measured the ocular VEMP outside of the scanner. This measurement showed that both skull tap and auditory

Eliciting conditional and unconditional rank correlations from conditional probabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morales, O.; Kurowicka, D.; Roelen, A.

2008-01-01

Causes of uncertainties may be interrelated and may introduce dependencies. Ignoring these dependencies may lead to large errors. A number of graphical models in probability theory such as dependence trees, vines and (continuous) Bayesian belief nets [Cooke RM. Markov and entropy properties of tree and vine-dependent variables. In: Proceedings of the ASA section on Bayesian statistical science, 1997; Kurowicka D, Cooke RM. Distribution-free continuous Bayesian belief nets. In: Proceedings of mathematical methods in reliability conference, 2004; Bedford TJ, Cooke RM. Vines-a new graphical model for dependent random variables. Ann Stat 2002; 30(4):1031-68; Kurowicka D, Cooke RM. Uncertainty analysis with high dimensional dependence modelling. New York: Wiley; 2006; Hanea AM, et al. Hybrid methods for quantifying and analyzing Bayesian belief nets. In: Proceedings of the 2005 ENBIS5 conference, 2005; Shachter RD, Kenley CR. Gaussian influence diagrams. Manage Sci 1998; 35(5) .] have been developed to capture dependencies between random variables. The input for these models are various marginal distributions and dependence information, usually in the form of conditional rank correlations. Often expert elicitation is required. This paper focuses on dependence representation, and dependence elicitation. The techniques presented are illustrated with an application from aviation safety

Identification of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acid (HMG) as a hypoglycemic principle of Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides).

Science.gov (United States)

Witherup, K M; McLaughlin, J L; Judd, R L; Ziegler, M H; Medon, P J; Keller, W J

1995-08-01

Bioactivity-directed fractionation, using brine shrimp lethality and murine hypoglycemia, of an ethanol extract prepared from Tillandsia usneoides, led to the isolation of four apparently bioactive compounds from the water-soluble fraction. The compounds were identified as citric acid, succinic acid, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acid (HMG), and 3,6,3',5'-tetramethoxy-5,7,4'-trihydroxyflavone-7-O-beta-D-g lucoside. The brine shrimp lethality of the acids was simply due to acidity; however, HMG elicited significant hypoglycemic responses in fasting normal mice. Ethyl and methyl esters of citric acid were prepared and tested in the murine hypoglycemic assay. Five of the predominant sugars were identified by tlc. Free thymidine was also isolated. Further evaluation of HMG and other potential inhibitors of HMG CoA lyase, in the treatment of symptoms of diabetes mellitus, is suggested.

A guide on the elicitation of expert knowledge in constructing BBN for quantitative reliability assessment of safety critical software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eom, H. S.; Kang, H. G.; Chang, S. C.; Ha, J. J.

2003-08-01

This report describes the methodology which could elicit probabilistic representation from the experts' knowledge or qualitative data. It is necessary to elicit expert's knowledge while we quantitatively assess the reliability of safety critical software using Bayesian Belief Nets(BBNs). Especially in composing the node probability table and in making out the input data for BBN model, experts' qualitative judgment or qualitative data should be converted into probabilistic representation. This conversion process is vulnerable to bias or error. The purpose of the report is to provide the guideline to avoid the occurrence of this kinds of bias/error or to eliminate them which is included in the existing data prepared by experts. The contents of the report are: o The types and the explanation of bias and error The types of bias and error which might be occur in the process of eliciting the expert's knowledge. o The procedure of expert's judgment elicitation. The process and techniques to avoid bias and error in eliciting the expert's judgments. o The examples of expert's knowledge appeared in the BBNs The examples of expert's knowledge (probability values) appeared in the BBNs for assessing the safety of digital system

Integrating Effectiveness, Transparency and Fairness into a Value Elicitation Process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fortier, Michael; Sheng, Grant

2001-01-01

As part of the evaluation of Canada's proposed nuclear fuel waste disposal concept, the Federal Environmental Assessment and Review Panel (FEARP) undertook an extensive, nation-wide public hearing process. The hearing process itself was contentious and has been criticized on numerous grounds. It is our contention that the fundamental weakness of the FEARP process was that it was designed as an information-based forum, as opposed to a value-based forum.' Our observations and analyses of these hearings indicate that the FEARP envisioned a different purpose and a different outcome of this process than the public in general. As a result, public acceptability for the Concept or even the assessment process itself was not garnered due to a failure in the process to identify, address and incorporate values. To address this, we proposed a seven-step value elicitation process specifically designed to assess public acceptability of the disposal concept. An unfortunate consequence of the flawed public consultation process employed by the FEARP is that it is unclear exactly what it is the public finds unacceptable. Both from discussions and observations, it is difficult to ascertain whether the unacceptability lies with the Concept itself and/or the process by which the Concept was to be assessed. As a result, there is uncertainty as to what questions should be asked and how should the 'unacceptability' be addressed. In other words, does Canada need a new concept? Does Canada need to develop a mechanism for assessing the public acceptability of the Concept? Or both? The inability of the current process to answer such fundamental questions demonstrates the importance of developing an effective public acceptability and consultation process. We submit that, to create an acceptable Public Participation mechanism, it is necessary to found the construction of such a mechanism on the principles of effectiveness, transparency and fairness. Moreover, we believe that the larger decision

Integrating Effectiveness, Transparency and Fairness into a Value Elicitation Process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fortier, Michael; Sheng, Grant [York Univ., Toronto, ON (Canada). Faculty of Environmental Studies; Collins, Alison [York Centre for Applied Sustainability, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2001-07-01

As part of the evaluation of Canada's proposed nuclear fuel waste disposal concept, the Federal Environmental Assessment and Review Panel (FEARP) undertook an extensive, nation-wide public hearing process. The hearing process itself was contentious and has been criticized on numerous grounds. It is our contention that the fundamental weakness of the FEARP process was that it was designed as an information-based forum, as opposed to a value-based forum.' Our observations and analyses of these hearings indicate that the FEARP envisioned a different purpose and a different outcome of this process than the public in general. As a result, public acceptability for the Concept or even the assessment process itself was not garnered due to a failure in the process to identify, address and incorporate values. To address this, we proposed a seven-step value elicitation process specifically designed to assess public acceptability of the disposal concept. An unfortunate consequence of the flawed public consultation process employed by the FEARP is that it is unclear exactly what it is the public finds unacceptable. Both from discussions and observations, it is difficult to ascertain whether the unacceptability lies with the Concept itself and/or the process by which the Concept was to be assessed. As a result, there is uncertainty as to what questions should be asked and how should the 'unacceptability' be addressed. In other words, does Canada need a new concept? Does Canada need to develop a mechanism for assessing the public acceptability of the Concept? Or both? The inability of the current process to answer such fundamental questions demonstrates the importance of developing an effective public acceptability and consultation process. We submit that, to create an acceptable Public Participation mechanism, it is necessary to found the construction of such a mechanism on the principles of effectiveness, transparency and fairness. Moreover, we believe that

A Framework for Requirement Elicitation, Analysis, Documentation and Prioritisation under Uncertainty

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rajabali Nejad, Mohammadreza; Mladenov, V.

2015-01-01

This paper offers a pluralistic framework for coping with requirements in the early phases of design where there is lack of knowledge about a system, its architect and functions. The framework is used to elicit, analyze, document and prioritize the requirements. It embeds probabilistic approach and

Safety Risk Knowledge Elicitation in Support of Aeronautical R and D Portfolio Management: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Ann T.; Ancel, Ersin; Jones, Sharon Monica; Reveley, Mary S.; Luxhoj, James T.

2012-01-01

Aviation is a problem domain characterized by a high level of system complexity and uncertainty. Safety risk analysis in such a domain is especially challenging given the multitude of operations and diverse stakeholders. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projects that by 2025 air traffic will increase by more than 50 percent with 1.1 billion passengers a year and more than 85,000 flights every 24 hours contributing to further delays and congestion in the sky (Circelli, 2011). This increased system complexity necessitates the application of structured safety risk analysis methods to understand and eliminate where possible, reduce, and/or mitigate risk factors. The use of expert judgments for probabilistic safety analysis in such a complex domain is necessary especially when evaluating the projected impact of future technologies, capabilities, and procedures for which current operational data may be scarce. Management of an R&D product portfolio in such a dynamic domain needs a systematic process to elicit these expert judgments, process modeling results, perform sensitivity analyses, and efficiently communicate the modeling results to decision makers. In this paper a case study focusing on the application of an R&D portfolio of aeronautical products intended to mitigate aircraft Loss of Control (LOC) accidents is presented. In particular, the knowledge elicitation process with three subject matter experts who contributed to the safety risk model is emphasized. The application and refinement of a verbal-numerical scale for conditional probability elicitation in a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) is discussed. The preliminary findings from this initial step of a three-part elicitation are important to project management practitioners as they illustrate the vital contribution of systematic knowledge elicitation in complex domains.

Identification and modulation of the key amino acid residue responsible for the pH sensitivity of neoculin, a taste-modifying protein.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ken-ichiro Nakajima

Full Text Available Neoculin occurring in the tropical fruit of Curculigo latifolia is currently the only protein that possesses both a sweet taste and a taste-modifying activity of converting sourness into sweetness. Structurally, this protein is a heterodimer consisting of a neoculin acidic subunit (NAS and a neoculin basic subunit (NBS. Recently, we found that a neoculin variant in which all five histidine residues are replaced with alanine elicits intense sweetness at both neutral and acidic pH but has no taste-modifying activity. To identify the critical histidine residue(s responsible for this activity, we produced a series of His-to-Ala neoculin variants and evaluated their sweetness levels using cell-based calcium imaging and a human sensory test. Our results suggest that NBS His11 functions as a primary pH sensor for neoculin to elicit taste modification. Neoculin variants with substitutions other than His-to-Ala were further analyzed to clarify the role of the NBS position 11 in the taste-modifying activity. We found that the aromatic character of the amino acid side chain is necessary to elicit the pH-dependent sweetness. Interestingly, since the His-to-Tyr variant is a novel taste-modifying protein with alternative pH sensitivity, the position 11 in NBS can be critical to modulate the pH-dependent activity of neoculin. These findings are important for understanding the pH-sensitive functional changes in proteinaceous ligands in general and the interaction of taste receptor-taste substance in particular.

Eliciting health care priorities in developing countries: experimental evidence from Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

Font, Joan Costa; Forns, Joan Rovira; Sato, Azusa

2016-02-01

Although some methods for eliciting preferences to assist participatory priority setting in health care in developed countries are available, the same is not true for poor communities in developing countries whose preferences are neglected in health policy making. Existing methods grounded on self-interested, monetary valuations that may be inappropriate for developing country settings where community care is provided through 'social allocation' mechanisms. This paper proposes and examines an alternative methodology for eliciting preferences for health care programmes specifically catered for rural and less literate populations but which is still applicable in urban communities. Specifically, the method simulates a realistic collective budget allocation experiment, to be implemented in both rural and urban communities in Guatemala. We report evidence revealing that participatory budget-like experiments are incentive compatible mechanisms suitable for revealing collective preferences, while simultaneously having the advantage of involving communities in health care reform processes. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Gaseous 3-pentanol primes plant immunity against a bacterial speck pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato via salicylic acid and jasmonic acid-dependent signaling pathways in Arabidopsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Geun C; Choi, Hye K; Ryu, Choong-Min

2015-01-01

3-Pentanol is an active organic compound produced by plants and is a component of emitted insect sex pheromones. A previous study reported that drench application of 3-pentanol elicited plant immunity against microbial pathogens and an insect pest in crop plants. Here, we evaluated whether 3-pentanol and the derivatives 1-pentanol and 2-pentanol induced plant systemic resistance using the in vitro I-plate system. Exposure of Arabidopsis seedlings to 10 μM and 100 nM 3-pentanol evaporate elicited an immune response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. We performed quantitative real-time PCR to investigate the 3-pentanol-mediated Arabidopsis immune responses by determining Pathogenesis-Related (PR) gene expression levels associated with defense signaling through salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and ethylene signaling pathways. The results show that exposure to 3-pentanol and subsequent pathogen challenge upregulated PDF1.2 and PR1 expression. Selected Arabidopsis mutants confirmed that the 3-pentanol-mediated immune response involved SA and JA signaling pathways and the NPR1 gene. Taken together, this study indicates that gaseous 3-pentanol triggers induced resistance in Arabidopsis by priming SA and JA signaling pathways. To our knowledge, this is the first report that a volatile compound of an insect sex pheromone triggers plant systemic resistance against a bacterial pathogen.

Gaseous 3-pentanol primes plant immunity against a bacterial speck pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato via salicylic acid and jasmonic acid-dependent signaling pathways in Arabidopsis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geun Cheol eSong

2015-10-01

Full Text Available 3-Pentanol is an active organic compound produced by plants and is a component of emitted insect sex pheromones. A previous study reported that drench application of 3-pentanol elicited plant immunity against microbial pathogens and an insect pest in crop plants. Here, we evaluated whether 3-pentanol and the derivatives 1-pentanol and 2-pentanol induced plant systemic resistance using the in vitro I-plate system. Exposure of Arabidopsis seedlings to 10 M and 100 nM 3-pentanol evaporate elicited an immune response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. We performed quantitative real-time PCR to investigate the 3-pentanol-mediated Arabidopsis immune responses by determining Pathogenesis-Related (PR gene expression levels associated with defense signaling through SA, JA, and ethylene signaling pathways. The results show that exposure to 3-pentanol and subsequent pathogen challenge upregulated PDF1.2 and PR1 expression. Selected Arabidopsis mutants confirmed that the 3-pentanol-mediated immune response involved salicylic acid (SA and jasmonic acid (JA signaling pathways and the NPR1 gene. Taken together, this study indicates that gaseous 3-pentanol triggers induced resistance in Arabidopsis by priming SA and JA signaling pathways. To our knowledge, this is the first report that a volatile compound of an insect sex pheromone triggers plant systemic resistance against a bacterial pathogen.

Electronic health records: eliciting behavioral health providers' beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Shank, Nancy; Willborn, Elizabeth; Pytlikzillig, Lisa; Noel, Harmonijoie

2012-04-01

Interviews with 32 community behavioral health providers elicited perceived benefits and barriers of using electronic health records. Themes identified were (a) quality of care, (b) privacy and security, and (c) delivery of services. Benefits to quality of care were mentioned by 100% of the providers, and barriers by 59% of providers. Barriers involving privacy and security concerns were mentioned by 100% of providers, and benefits by 22%. Barriers to delivery of services were mentioned by 97% of providers, and benefits by 66%. Most providers (81%) expressed overall positive support for electronic behavioral health records.

Unattractive infant faces elicit negative affect from adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Schein, Stevie S; Langlois, Judith H

2015-02-01

We examined the relationship between infant attractiveness and adult affect by investigating whether differing levels of infant facial attractiveness elicit facial muscle movement correlated with positive and negative affect from adults (N=87) using electromyography. Unattractive infant faces evoked significantly more corrugator supercilii and levator labii superioris movement (physiological correlates of negative affect) than attractive infant faces. These results suggest that unattractive infants may be at risk for negative affective responses from adults, though the relationship between those responses and caregiving behavior remains elusive. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Análisis de iridoides y expresión de genes que codifican enzimas tempranas en la síntesis de alcaloides indol terpenoicos en catharanthus roseus

OpenAIRE

Palacios-Rojas, Natalia; Leech, Mark

2007-01-01

Los alcaloides indol terpenoicos (TIA) son metabolitos secundarios de importancia medicinal por sus propiedades como agentes anticancerígenos, entre otras. Sin embargo, su explotación en la industria farmacéutica se ha visto limitada, ya que la acumulación de estos compuestos en las plantas que los producen es mínima. Dichos alcaloides son biosintetizados por la vía del shikimato y de los terpenoides, los cuales proveen los precursores: secologanina y triptamina, respectivamente. La secologan...

Detection of pyrrolizidine alkaloids using flow analysis with both acidic potassium permanganate and tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorman, Bree A.; Barnett, Neil W.; Bos, Richard

2005-01-01

For the first time, analytically useful chemiluminescence was elicited from the reactions of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Heliotrine, retronecine, supinine, monocrotaline and echinatine N-oxide yielded chemiluminescence upon reaction with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) whilst lasiocarpine, its N-oxide and supinine elicited light upon reaction with acidic potassium permanganate. Detection limits for heliotrine were 1.25 x 10 -7 M and 9 x 10 -9 M for tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) perchlorate with flow injection analysis (FIA) and the silica-immobilised reagent (4-[4-(dichloromethylsilanyl)-butyl]-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine)bis (2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) with sequential injection analysis (SIA), respectively. Lasiocarpine was detectable at 1.4 x 10 -7 M using acidic potassium permanganate with FIA. Additionally, the silica-immobilised reagent was optimised with respect to the oxidant (ammonium ceric nitrate) concentration and the aspiration times which afforded a detection limit for codeine of 5 x 10 -10 M using SIA

Children with Autism Respond Differently to Spontaneous, Elicited and Deferred Imitation

Science.gov (United States)

Heimann, M.; Nordqvist, E.; Strid, K.; Connant Almrot, J.; Tjus, T.

2016-01-01

Background: Imitation, a key vehicle for both cognitive and social development, is often regarded as more difficult for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) than for children with Down syndrome (DS) or typically developing (TD) children. The current study investigates similarities and differences in observed elicited, spontaneous and…

Allergens in combination have a synergistic effect on the elicitation response

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, J D; Skov, L; Volund, A

1998-01-01

Perfume ingredients were chosen as model substances to study the effect of allergens in combination on the elicitation response. Two groups of eczema patients were studied. One consisted of 18 subjects with a contact allergy to two fragrance substances and the other was a control group of 15 subj...

The use of multi-criteria decision analysis weight elicitation techniques in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

van Til, Janine A; Dolan, James G; Stiggelbout, Anne M; Groothuis, Karin C G M; Ijzerman, Maarten J

2008-04-01

To test the applicability of multi-criteria decision analysis preference elicitation techniques in cognitively impaired individuals. A convenience sample of 16 cognitively impaired subjects and 12 healthy controls was asked to participate in a small pilot study. The subjects determined the relative importance of four decision criteria using five different weight elicitation techniques, namely simple multi-attribute rating technique, simple multi-attribute rating technique using swing weights, Kepner-Tregoe weighting, the analytical hierarchical process, and conjoint analysis. Conjoint analysis was judged to be the easiest method for weight elicitation in the control group (Z = 10.00; p = 0.04), while no significant differences in difficulty rating between methods was found in cognitively impaired subjects. Conjoint analysis elicitates weights and rankings significantly different from other methods. Subjectively, cognitively impaired subjects were positive about the use of the weight elicitation techniques. However, it seems the use of swing weights can result in the employment of shortcut strategies. The results of this pilot study suggest that individuals with mild cognitive impairment are willing and able to use multi-criteria elicitation methods to determine criteria weights in a decision context, although no preference for a method was found. The same methodologic and practical issues can be identified in cognitively impaired individuals as in healthy controls and the choice of method is mostly determined by the decision context.

The capsaicin cough reflex in patients with symptoms elicited by odorous chemicals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holst, H; Arendt-Nielsen, L; Mosbech, H

2010-01-01

Patients with multiple chemical sensitivity and eczema patients with airway symptoms elicited by odorous chemicals have enhanced cough reflex to capsaicin when applying the tidal breathing method. The aims of the present study were to test whether the capsaicin induced cough reflex was enhanced...... when applying the single breath inhalation method in similar groups of patients with symptoms related to odorous chemicals e.g. other persons wearing of perfume; and to investigate to what extent the reporting of lower airway symptoms influenced the cough reflex. Sixteen patients fulfilling Cullen......'s criteria for multiple chemical sensitivity and 15 eczema patients with airway symptoms elicited by odorous chemicals were compared with 29 age-matched, healthy controls. We measured C5--the capsaicin concentration causing five coughs or more--using the single breath inhalation test. No difference was found...

Auto-Interviewing, Auto-Ethnography and Critical Incident Methodology for Eliciting a Self-Conceptualised Worldview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Béatrice Boufoy-Bastick

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Knowing oneself has been an age-old humanistic concern for many western and oriental philosophers. The same concern is now shared by modern psychologists and anthropologists who seek to understand the "self" and others by eluci­dating their worldviews. This paper presents an auto-anthropological methodology which can ef­fec­tively elucidate one's worldview. This intro­spective qualitative methodology uses integratively three methodological processes, namely auto-inter­viewing, auto-ethnography and critical incident technique to elicit baseline cultural data. The paper reports on how this methodology was used to elicit my current worldview. It first explains how emic data were educed and rendered in emo­tionally enhanced narratives, which were then deconstructed to elicit the major recurring themes in the etic interpretive content analysis. To illus­trate this auto-anthropological methodology, two cultural life events have been used: a critical incident in Singapore and a consciousness raising process in Fiji. The first event revealed my own education ideology while the second made me realise my mitigated support for cultural diversity. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0401371

Deliberative Teacher Education beyond Boundaries: Discursive Practices for Eliciting Gender Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney Simmie, Geraldine; Lang, Manfred

2018-01-01

This study uses boundary crossing in activity theory as one normative framework for opening a deliberative inquiry in new discursive spaces to elicit "gender awareness" in teachers' practices. We illustrate this framework by drawing from data in one European teacher education project. Seven case studies were conducted and data were…

Cleavage-Independent HIV-1 Trimers From CHO Cell Lines Elicit Robust Autologous Tier 2 Neutralizing Antibodies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shridhar Bale

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Native flexibly linked (NFL HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env trimers are cleavage-independent and display a native-like, well-folded conformation that preferentially displays broadly neutralizing determinants. The NFL platform simplifies large-scale production of Env by eliminating the need to co-transfect the precursor-cleaving protease, furin that is required by the cleavage-dependent SOSIP trimers. Here, we report the development of a CHO-M cell line that expressed BG505 NFL trimers at a high level of homogeneity and yields of ~1.8 g/l. BG505 NFL trimers purified by single-step lectin-affinity chromatography displayed a native-like closed structure, efficient recognition by trimer-preferring bNAbs, no recognition by non-neutralizing CD4 binding site-directed and V3-directed antibodies, long-term stability, and proper N-glycan processing. Following negative-selection, formulation in ISCOMATRIX adjuvant and inoculation into rabbits, the trimers rapidly elicited potent autologous tier 2 neutralizing antibodies. These antibodies targeted the N-glycan “hole” naturally present on the BG505 Env proximal to residues at positions 230, 241, and 289. The BG505 NFL trimers that did not expose V3 in vitro, elicited low-to-no tier 1 virus neutralization in vivo, indicating that they remained intact during the immunization process, not exposing V3. In addition, BG505 NFL and BG505 SOSIP trimers expressed from 293F cells, when formulated in Adjuplex adjuvant, elicited equivalent BG505 tier 2 autologous neutralizing titers. These titers were lower in potency when compared to the titers elicited by CHO-M cell derived trimers. In addition, increased neutralization of tier 1 viruses was detected. Taken together, these data indicate that both adjuvant and cell-type expression can affect the elicitation of tier 2 and tier 1 neutralizing responses in vivo.

Eliciting design patterns for e-learning systems

Science.gov (United States)

Retalis, Symeon; Georgiakakis, Petros; Dimitriadis, Yannis

2006-06-01

Design pattern creation, especially in the e-learning domain, is a highly complex process that has not been sufficiently studied and formalized. In this paper, we propose a systematic pattern development cycle, whose most important aspects focus on reverse engineering of existing systems in order to elicit features that are cross-validated through the use of appropriate, authentic scenarios. However, an iterative pattern process is proposed that takes advantage of multiple data sources, thus emphasizing a holistic view of the teaching learning processes. The proposed schema of pattern mining has been extensively validated for Asynchronous Network Supported Collaborative Learning (ANSCL) systems, as well as for other types of tools in a variety of scenarios, with promising results.

Physiological roles of acid-base sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Lonny R; Buck, Jochen

2015-01-01

Acid-base homeostasis is essential for life. The macromolecules upon which living organisms depend are sensitive to pH changes, and physiological systems use the equilibrium between carbon dioxide, bicarbonate, and protons to buffer their pH. Biological processes and environmental insults are constantly challenging an organism's pH; therefore, to maintain a consistent and proper pH, organisms need sensors that measure pH and that elicit appropriate responses. Mammals use multiple sensors for measuring both intracellular and extracellular pH, and although some mammalian pH sensors directly measure protons, it has recently become apparent that many pH-sensing systems measure pH via bicarbonate-sensing soluble adenylyl cyclase.

Abscisic Acid Negatively Regulates Elicitor-Induced Synthesis of Capsidiol in Wild Tobacco1[W

Science.gov (United States)

Mialoundama, Alexis Samba; Heintz, Dimitri; Debayle, Delphine; Rahier, Alain; Camara, Bilal; Bouvier, Florence

2009-01-01

In the Solanaceae, biotic and abiotic elicitors induce de novo synthesis of sesquiterpenoid stress metabolites known as phytoalexins. Because plant hormones play critical roles in the induction of defense-responsive genes, we have explored the effect of abscisic acid (ABA) on the synthesis of capsidiol, the major wild tobacco (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) sesquiterpenoid phytoalexin, using wild-type plants versus nonallelic mutants Npaba2 and Npaba1 that are deficient in ABA synthesis. Npaba2 and Npaba1 mutants exhibited a 2-fold higher synthesis of capsidiol than wild-type plants when elicited with either cellulase or arachidonic acid or when infected by Botrytis cinerea. The same trend was observed for the expression of the capsidiol biosynthetic genes 5-epi-aristolochene synthase and 5-epi-aristolochene hydroxylase. Treatment of wild-type plants with fluridone, an inhibitor of the upstream ABA pathway, recapitulated the behavior of Npaba2 and Npaba1 mutants, while the application of exogenous ABA reversed the enhanced synthesis of capsidiol in Npaba2 and Npaba1 mutants. Concomitant with the production of capsidiol, we observed the induction of ABA 8′-hydroxylase in elicited plants. In wild-type plants, the induction of ABA 8′-hydroxylase coincided with a decrease in ABA content and with the accumulation of ABA catabolic products such as phaseic acid and dihydrophaseic acid, suggesting a negative regulation exerted by ABA on capsidiol synthesis. Collectively, our data indicate that ABA is not required per se for the induction of capsidiol synthesis but is essentially implicated in a stress-response checkpoint to fine-tune the amplification of capsidiol synthesis in challenged plants. PMID:19420326

Detection of pyrrolizidine alkaloids using flow analysis with both acidic potassium permanganate and tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gorman, Bree A. [School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. 3217 (Australia); Barnett, Neil W. [School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. 3217 (Australia)]. E-mail: barnie@deakin.edu.au; Bos, Richard [School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. 3217 (Australia)

2005-06-13

For the first time, analytically useful chemiluminescence was elicited from the reactions of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Heliotrine, retronecine, supinine, monocrotaline and echinatine N-oxide yielded chemiluminescence upon reaction with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) whilst lasiocarpine, its N-oxide and supinine elicited light upon reaction with acidic potassium permanganate. Detection limits for heliotrine were 1.25 x 10{sup -7} M and 9 x 10{sup -9} M for tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) perchlorate with flow injection analysis (FIA) and the silica-immobilised reagent (4-[4-(dichloromethylsilanyl)-butyl]-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine)bis (2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) with sequential injection analysis (SIA), respectively. Lasiocarpine was detectable at 1.4 x 10{sup -7} M using acidic potassium permanganate with FIA. Additionally, the silica-immobilised reagent was optimised with respect to the oxidant (ammonium ceric nitrate) concentration and the aspiration times which afforded a detection limit for codeine of 5 x 10{sup -10} M using SIA.

Differences between Spontaneous and Elicited Expressive Communication in Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Hsu-Min

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between spontaneous and elicited expressive communication in Australian and Taiwanese children with autism who were nonverbal or had limited speech. Thirty-four children with autism (17 Australian and 17 Taiwanese children) participated in this study. Each participant was observed for 2…

Experimental elicitation with hydroxyisohexyl-3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde-containing deodorants.

Science.gov (United States)

Jørgensen, Pia Haslund; Jensen, Charlotte Devantier; Rastogi, Suresh; Andersen, Klaus Ejner; Johansen, Jeanne Duus

2007-03-01

Hydroxyisohexyl-3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (HICC) known as Lyral is a frequent allergen. It is used in more than 50% of marketed deodorants. The aim of the present study was to determine elicitation thresholds for HICC under simulated conditions of deodorant use. 15 patients with previously diagnosed contact allergy to HICC were patch tested with 5 solutions of HICC-scented and HICC-unscented deodorants. Patients and 10 healthy controls performed a use test in the axillae using deodorants scented with HICC in increasing concentrations and unscented deodorants as control. The concentration of HICC was increased every second week (200, 600, and 1800 p.p.m.) until either a reaction developed or for 6 weeks. 14 patients completed the study, and all developed unilateral eczema from the HICC-containing deodorant, while controls were all negative (P= 0.004). In 9/14 patients, a positive use test developed during the first 2 weeks to the deodorant containing 200 p.p.m. HICC. Positive correlations were found between the day of positive use and patch test threshold concentration of the HICC solutions (r= 0.71, P= 0.01) as well as the patch test thresholds of the HICC-scented deodorants (r= 0.74, P= 0.007). In conclusion, HICC elicits allergic contact dermatitis in a high proportion of sensitized individuals at common usage concentrations in deodorants.

Serelaxin Elicits Bronchodilation and Enhances β-Adrenoceptor-mediated Airway Relaxation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maggie Lam

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Treatment with β-adrenoceptor agonists does not fully overcome the symptoms associated with severe asthma. Serelaxin elicits potent uterine and vascular relaxation via its cognate receptor, RXFP1, and nitric oxide (NO signaling, and is being clinically evaluated for the treatment of acute heart failure. However, its direct bronchodilator efficacy has yet to be explored. Tracheal rings were prepared from male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-350g and tricolor guinea pigs, and precision cut lung slices (PCLS containing intrapulmonary airways were prepared from rats only. Recombinant human serelaxin (rhRLX alone and in combination with rosiglitazone (PPARγ agonist; recently described as a novel dilator or β-adrenoceptor agonists (isoprenaline, salbutamol were added either to pre-contracted airways, or before contraction with methacholine or endothelin-1. Regulation of rhRLX responses by epithelial removal, indomethacin (cyclooxygenase inhibitor, L-NAME (nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, SQ22536 (adenylate cyclase inhibitor and ODQ (guanylate cyclase inhibitor were also evaluated. Immunohistochemistry was used to localize RXFP1 to airway epithelium and smooth muscle. rhRLX elicited relaxation in rat trachea and PCLS, more slowly than rosiglitazone or isoprenaline, but potentiated relaxation to both these dilators. It markedly increased β-adrenoceptor agonist potency in guinea pig trachea. rhRLX, rosiglitazone and isoprenaline pretreatment also inhibited the development of rat tracheal contraction. Bronchoprotection by rhRLX increased with longer pre-incubation time, and was partially reduced by epithelial removal, indomethacin and/or L-NAME. SQ22536 and ODQ also partially inhibited rhRLX-mediated relaxation in both intact and epithelial-denuded trachea. RXFP1 expression in airway was at higher levels in epithelium than smooth muscle.In summary, rhRLX elicits large and small airway relaxation via epithelial-dependent and -independent mechanisms, likely

Rhes deletion is neuroprotective in the 3-nitropropionic acid model of Huntington's disease

OpenAIRE

Mealer, Robert G.; Subramaniam, Srinivasa; Snyder, Solomon H.

2013-01-01

Although the mutated protein causing Huntington's disease (HD) is expressed throughout the body, the major pathology of HD is localized to the striatum of the brain. We previously reported that the striatal-enriched protein Rhes binds the mutated huntingtin protein and enhances its cytotoxicity. We now demonstrate that Rhes-deleted mice are dramatically protected from neurotoxicity and motor dysfunction in a striatal-specific model of HD elicited by 3-nitropropionic acid. This finding suggest...

Eliciting Audience's Experience to Improve Interactive Art Installation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baharin, Hanif; Morrison, Ann

2006-01-01

Designing with the users in mind is one of the widely accepted design practices in the Interaction Design field. On the other hand, it can be said that audience's experience is the heart of an interactive art. Since Interaction Design has shown that user's involvement in the design process can...... be beneficial, it is speculated that involving the audiences in the creative process of developing an interactive art piece can make the artist improve the art in general and the audience's experience in particular. In this paper, the experience of eliciting the experience of the audiences of an interactive art...

Brain activity elicited by positive and negative feedback in preschool-aged children.

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Xiaoqin Mai

2011-04-01

Full Text Available To investigate the processing of positive vs. negative feedback in children aged 4-5 years, we devised a prize-guessing game that is analogous to gambling tasks used to measure feedback-related brain responses in adult studies. Unlike adult studies, the feedback-related negativity (FRN elicited by positive feedback was as large as that elicited by negative feedback, suggesting that the neural system underlying the FRN may not process feedback valence in early childhood. In addition, positive feedback, compared with negative feedback, evoked a larger P1 over the occipital scalp area and a larger positive slow wave (PSW over the right central-parietal scalp area. We believe that the PSW is related to emotional arousal and the intensive focus on positive feedback that is present in the preschool and early school years has adaptive significance for both cognitive and emotional development during this period.

Brief environmental enrichment elicits metaplasticity of hippocampal synaptic potentiation in vivo

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Denise eManahan-Vaughan

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Long-term environmental enrichment (EE elicits enduring effects on the adult brain, including altered synaptic plasticity. Synaptic plasticity may underlie memory formation and includes robust (>24h and weak (<2h forms of long-term potentiation (LTP and long-term depression (LTD. Most studies of the effect of EE on synaptic efficacy have examined the consequences of very prolonged EE-exposure. It is unclear whether brief exposure to EE can alter synaptic plasticity. Clarifying this issue could help develop strategies to address cognitive deficits arising from neglect in children or adults.We assessed whether short-term EE elicits alterations in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and if social context may play a role. Adult mice were exposed to EE for 14 consecutive days. We found that robust late-LTP (>24h and short-term depression (<2h at Schaffer-collateral-CA1 synapses in freely behaving mice were unaltered, whereas early-LTP (E-LTP, <2h was significantly enhanced by EE. Effects were transient: E-LTP returned to control levels 1 week after cessation of EE. Six weeks later animals were re-exposed to EE for 14d. Under these conditions, E-LTP was facilitated into L-LTP (>24h, suggesting that metaplasticity was induced during the first EE experience and that EE-mediated modifications are cumulative. Effects were absent in mice that underwent solitary enrichment or were group-housed without EE. These data suggest that EE in naïve animals strengthens E-LTP, and also promotes L-LTP in animals that underwent EE in the past. This indicates that brief exposure to EE, particularly under social conditions can elicit lasting positive effects on synaptic strength that may have beneficial consequences for cognition that depends on synaptic plasticity.

Expert elicitation, uncertainty, and the value of information in controlling invasive species

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Fred A.; Smith, Brian J.; Bonneau, Mathieu; Martin, Julien; Romagosa, Christina; Mazzotti, Frank J.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Reed, Robert; Eckles, Jennifer Kettevrlin; Vitt, Laurie J.

2017-01-01

We illustrate the utility of expert elicitation, explicit recognition of uncertainty, and the value of information for directing management and research efforts for invasive species, using tegu lizards (Salvator merianae) in southern Florida as a case study. We posited a post-birth pulse, matrix model in which four age classes of tegus are recognized: hatchlings, 1 year-old, 2 year-olds, and 3 + year-olds. This matrix model was parameterized using a 3-point process to elicit estimates of tegu demographic rates in southern Florida from 10 herpetology experts. We fit statistical distributions for each parameter and for each expert, then drew and pooled a large number of replicate samples from these to form a distribution for each demographic parameter. Using these distributions, as well as the observed correlations among elicited values, we generated a large sample of matrix population models to infer how the tegu population would respond to control efforts. We used the concepts of Pareto efficiency and stochastic dominance to conclude that targeting older age classes at relatively high rates appears to have the best chance of minimizing tegu abundance and control costs. We conclude that expert opinion combined with an explicit consideration of uncertainty can be valuable in conducting an initial assessment of what control strategy, effort, and monetary resources are needed to reduce and eventually eliminate the invader. Scientists, in turn, can use the value of information to focus research in a way that not only increases the efficacy of control, but minimizes costs as well.

High spatial validity is not sufficient to elicit voluntary shifts of attention.

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Pauszek, Joseph R; Gibson, Bradley S

2016-10-01

Previous research suggests that the use of valid symbolic cues is sufficient to elicit voluntary shifts of attention. The present study interpreted this previous research within a broader theoretical context which contends that observers will voluntarily use symbolic cues to orient their attention in space when the temporal costs of using the cues are perceived to be less than the temporal costs of searching without the aid of the cues. In this view, previous research has not addressed the sufficiency of valid symbolic cues, because the temporal cost of using the cues is usually incurred before the target display appears. To address this concern, 70%-valid spatial word cues were presented simultaneously with a search display. In addition, other research suggests that opposing cue-dependent and cue-independent spatial biases may operate in these studies and alter standard measures of orienting. After identifying and controlling these opposing spatial biases, the results of two experiments showed that the word cues did not elicit voluntary shifts of attention when the search task was relatively easy but did when the search task was relatively difficult. Moreover, the findings also showed that voluntary use of the word cues changed over the course of the experiment when the task was difficult, presumably because the temporal cost of searching without the cue lessened as the task got easier with practice. Altogether, the present findings suggested that the factors underlying voluntary control are multifaceted and contextual, and that spatial validity alone is not sufficient to elicit voluntary shifts of attention.

Event-related potentials elicited by pre-attentive emotional changes in temporal context.

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Tomomi Fujimura

Full Text Available The ability to detect emotional change in the environment is essential for adaptive behavior. The current study investigated whether event-related potentials (ERPs can reflect emotional change in a visual sequence. To assess pre-attentive processing, we examined visual mismatch negativity (vMMN: the negative potentials elicited by a deviant (infrequent stimulus embedded in a sequence of standard (frequent stimuli. Participants in two experiments pre-attentively viewed visual sequences of Japanese kanji with different emotional connotations while ERPs were recorded. The visual sequence in Experiment 1 consisted of neutral standards and two types of emotional deviants with a strong and weak intensity. Although the results indicated that strongly emotional deviants elicited more occipital negativity than neutral standards, it was unclear whether these negativities were derived from emotional deviation in the sequence or from the emotional significance of the deviants themselves. In Experiment 2, the two identical emotional deviants were presented against different emotional standards. One type of deviants was emotionally incongruent with the standard and the other type of deviants was emotionally congruent with the standard. The results indicated that occipital negativities elicited by deviants resulted from perceptual changes in a visual sequence at a latency of 100-200 ms and from emotional changes at latencies of 200-260 ms. Contrary to the results of the ERP experiment, reaction times to deviants showed no effect of emotional context; negative stimuli were consistently detected more rapidly than were positive stimuli. Taken together, the results suggest that brain signals can reflect emotional change in a temporal context.

Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in leather and elicitation of eczema

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Malene Barré; Menne, Torkil; Johansen, Jeanne Duus

2006-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation between the content of Cr(VI) and soluble Cr(III) in leather and the ability of the leather to elicit eczema in chromium allergic patients. An array of chromium-tanned leather samples was analysed for the content of total Cr(VI) and sol...

Distinct gut-derived lactic acid bacteria elicit divergent dendritic cell-mediated NK cell responses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fink, Lisbeth Nielsen; Zeuthen, Louise Hjerrild; Christensen, Hanne

2007-01-01

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are abundant in the gastrointestinal tract where they continuously regulate the immune system. NK cells are potently activated by dendritic cells (DCs) matured by inflammatory stimuli, and NK cells are present in the gut epithelium and in mesenteric lymph nodes......, but it is not known how NK-DC interactions are affected by the predominantly non-pathogenic LAB. We demonstrate that human DCs exposed to different strains of gut-derived LAB consistently induce proliferation, cytotoxicity and activation markers in autologous NK cells. On the contrary, strains of LAB differ greatly...... in their ability to induce DC-dependent IFN-gamma production by NK cells. This suggests that DCs stimulated by gut LAB may expand the pool of NK cells and increase their cytotoxic potential. Specific LAB, inducing high levels of IL-12 in DCs, may promote amplification of a type-1 response via potent stimulation...

A Benzothiadiazole Primes Parsley Cells for Augmented Elicitation of Defense Responses

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Katz, Vera A.; Thulke, Oliver U.; Conrath, Uwe

1998-01-01

Systemic acquired resistance is an important component of the disease-resistance arsenal of plants, and is associated with an enhanced potency for activating local defense responses upon pathogen attack. Here we demonstrate that pretreatment with benzothiadiazole (BTH), a synthetic activator of acquired resistance in plants, augmented the sensitivity for low-dose elicitation of coumarin phytoalexin secretion by cultured parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) cells. Enhanced coumarin secretion was associated with potentiated activation of genes encoding Phe ammonia-lyase (PAL). The augmentation of PAL gene induction was proportional to the length of pretreatment with BTH, indicating time-dependent priming of the cells. In contrast to the PAL genes, those for anionic peroxidase were directly induced by BTH in the absence of elicitor, thus confirming a dual role for BTH in the activation of plant defenses. Strikingly, the ability of various chemicals to enhance plant disease resistance correlated with their capability to potentiate parsley PAL gene elicitation, emphasizing an important role for defense response potentiation in acquired plant disease resistance. PMID:9701589

Effects of L-cysteine on reinstatement of ethanol-seeking behavior and on reinstatement-elicited extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation in the rat nucleus accumbens shell.

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Peana, Alessandra T; Giugliano, Valentina; Rosas, Michela; Sabariego, Marta; Acquas, Elio

2013-01-01

Alcoholism is a neuroadaptive disorder, and the understanding of the mechanisms of the high rates of relapse, which characterize it, represents one of the most demanding challenges in alcoholism and addiction research. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is an intracellular kinase, critical for neuroplasticity in the adult brain that is suggested to play a fundamental role in the molecular mechanisms underlying drug addiction and relapse. We previously observed that a nonessential amino acid, L-cysteine, significantly decreases oral ethanol (EtOH) self-administration, reinstatement of EtOH-drinking behavior, and EtOH self-administration break point. Here, we tested whether L-cysteine can affect the ability of EtOH priming to induce reinstatement of EtOH-seeking behavior. In addition, we determined the ability of EtOH priming to induce ERK phosphorylation as well as the ability of L-cysteine to affect reinstatement-elicited ERK activation. To these purposes, Wistar rats were trained to nose-poke for a 10% v/v EtOH solution. After stable drug-taking behavior was obtained, nose-poking for EtOH was extinguished, and reinstatement of drug seeking, as well as reinstatement-elicited pERK, was determined after an oral, noncontingent, priming of EtOH (0.08 g/kg). Rats were pretreated with either saline or L-cysteine (80 to 120 mg/kg) 30 minutes before testing for reinstatement. The findings of this study confirm that the noncontingent delivery of a nonpharmacologically active dose of EtOH to rats, whose previous self-administration behavior had been extinguished, results in significant reinstatement into EtOH-seeking behavior. In addition, the results indicate that reinstatement selectively activates ERK phosphorylation in the shell of the nucleus accumbens (Acb) and that pretreatment with L-cysteine reduces either reinstatement of EtOH seeking and reinstatement-elicited pERK in the AcbSh. Altogether, these results indicate that L-cysteine could be an effective

A Comparison of Active and Passive Virtual Reality Exposure Scenarios to Elicit Social Anxiety

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Yoones A. Sekhavat

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Social phobia is an anxiety disorder that results in an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations. As a safe and controlled tool, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET has been used to treat anxiety disorders and phobias. This paper aims to study whether VRET with active scenarios can challenge a person more than passive scenarios. By comparing participants who were exposed to active and passive scenarios in VRET, we show that active scenarios are more effective than passive scenarios to elicit social anxiety in healthy participants. We focus on eliciting social anxiety and creating the sense of presence as two parameters enhancing the efficacy of VRET scenarios.

Anxiolytic-like effects of ursolic acid in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Colla, André R S; Rosa, Julia M; Cunha, Mauricio P; Rodrigues, Ana Lúcia S

2015-07-05

Ursolic acid is a pentacyclic triterpenoid that possesses several biological and neuropharmacological effects including antidepressant-like activity. Anxiety disorders represent common and disability psychiatric conditions that are often associated with depressive symptoms. This work investigated the anxiolytic-like effects of ursolic acid administration in different behavioral paradigms that evaluate anxiety in mice: open field test, elevated plus maze test, light/dark box test and marble burying test. To this end, mice were administered with ursolic acid (0.1, 1 and 10mg/kg, p.o.) or diazepam (2mg/kg, p.o.), positive control, and submitted to the behavioral tests. The results show that ursolic acid (10mg/kg) elicited an anxiolytic-like effect observed by the increased total time in the center and decreased number of rearings responses in the open field test and an increased percentage of entries and total time spent in the open arms of elevated plus maze, similarly to diazepam. No significant effects of ursolic acid were shown in the light/dark box and marble burying test. These data indicate that ursolic acid exhibits anxiolytic-like effects in the open field and elevated plus maze test, but not in the light/dark box and marble burying test, showing the relevance of testing several behavioral paradigms in the evaluation of anxiolytic-like actions. Of note, the results extend the understanding on the effects of ursolic acid in the central nervous system and suggest that it may be a novel approach for the management of anxiety-related disorders. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Autobiographical memories of young adults elicited by positive musical stimuli

OpenAIRE

Gonçalves, Ana Margarida Silva

2015-01-01

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia Studies on autobiographical memories have shown the presence of three main components: childhood amnesia, recency effect and reminiscence bump (Rubin, 1986). Previous research suggests that autobiographical memories elicited by positive stimuli are associated with highly, specific and generally pleasant episodes (Krumhansl & Zupnick, 2013). Music has an important and highly emotional and social role in individual’s lives. The p...

Drug-elicited systemic allergic (contact) dermatitis - update and possible pathomechanisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maibach, H.I.; Thyssen, Jacob Pontoppidan

2008-01-01

. A heterogeneous clinical picture, in combination with limited insight to its pathomechanisms, makes such systemic reactions an area in need of further study. This article summarizes knowledge about systemic dermatitis elicited by drugs, with a special emphasis on possible pathomechanisms. A list of putative...... be misleading because skin contact is not a prerequisite, we suggest that the term 'systemic allergic dermatitis' should be used in the future Udgivelsesdato: 2008...

Elicitation of expert prior opinion: application to the MYPAN trial in childhood polyarteritis nodosa.

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Lisa V Hampson

Full Text Available Definitive sample sizes for clinical trials in rare diseases are usually infeasible. Bayesian methodology can be used to maximise what is learnt from clinical trials in these circumstances. We elicited expert prior opinion for a future Bayesian randomised controlled trial for a rare inflammatory paediatric disease, polyarteritis nodosa (MYPAN, Mycophenolate mofetil for polyarteritis nodosa.A Bayesian prior elicitation meeting was convened. Opinion was sought on the probability that a patient in the MYPAN trial treated with cyclophosphamide would achieve disease remission within 6-months, and on the relative efficacies of mycophenolate mofetil and cyclophosphamide. Expert opinion was combined with previously unseen data from a recently completed randomised controlled trial in ANCA associated vasculitis.A pan-European group of fifteen experts participated in the elicitation meeting. Consensus expert prior opinion was that the most likely rates of disease remission within 6 months on cyclophosphamide or mycophenolate mofetil were 74% and 71%, respectively. This prior opinion will now be taken forward and will be modified to formulate a Bayesian posterior opinion once the MYPAN trial data from 40 patients randomised 1:1 to either CYC or MMF become available.We suggest that the methodological template we propose could be applied to trial design for other rare diseases.

A structured review of health utility measures and elicitation in advanced/metastatic breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Yanni; Wolfram, Verena; Cook, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Health utilities are increasingly incorporated in health economic evaluations. Different elicitation methods, direct and indirect, have been established in the past. This study examined the evidence on health utility elicitation previously reported in advanced/metastatic breast cancer and aimed to link these results to requirements of reimbursement bodies. Searches were conducted using a detailed search strategy across several electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and EconLit databases), online sources (Cost-effectiveness Analysis Registry and the Health Economics Research Center), and web sites of health technology assessment (HTA) bodies. Publications were selected based on the search strategy and the overall study objectives. A total of 768 publications were identified in the searches, and 26 publications, comprising 18 journal articles and eight submissions to HTA bodies, were included in the evidence review. Most journal articles derived utilities from the European Quality of Life Five-Dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D). Other utility measures, such as the direct methods standard gamble (SG), time trade-off (TTO), and visual analog scale (VAS), were less frequently used. Several studies described mapping algorithms to generate utilities from disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) instruments such as European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire - Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire - Breast Cancer 23 (EORTC QLQ-BR23), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General questionnaire (FACT-G), and Utility-Based Questionnaire-Cancer (UBQ-C); most used EQ-5D as the reference. Sociodemographic factors that affect health utilities, such as age, sex, income, and education, as well as disease progression, choice of utility elicitation method, and country settings, were identified within the journal articles. Most

Business Process Elicitation, Modeling, and Reengineering: Teaching and Learning with Simulated Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Jeyaraj, Anand

2010-01-01

The design of enterprise information systems requires students to master technical skills for elicitation, modeling, and reengineering business processes as well as soft skills for information gathering and communication. These tacit skills and behaviors cannot be effectively taught students but rather experienced and learned by students. This…

In vitro propagation and production of cardiotonic glycosides in shoot cultures of Digitalis purpurea L. by elicitation and precursor feeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Patil, Jitendra Gopichand; Ahire, Mahendra Laxman; Nitnaware, Kirti Manik; Panda, Sayantan; Bhatt, Vijay P; Kishor, Polavarapu B Kavi; Nikam, Tukaram Dayaram

2013-03-01

Digitalis purpurea L. (Scrophulariaceae; Foxglove) is a source of cardiotonic glycosides such as digitoxin and digoxin which are commercially applied in the treatment to strengthen cardiac diffusion and to regulate heart rhythm. This investigation deals with in vitro propagation and elicited production of cardiotonic glycosides digitoxin and digoxin in shoot cultures of D. purpurea L. In vitro germinated seedlings were used as a primary source of explants. Multiple shoot formation was achieved for three explant types (nodal, internodal, and leaf) cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with several treatments of cytokinins (6-benzyladenine-BA; kinetin-Kin; and thidiazuron-TDZ) and auxins (indole-3-acetic acid-IAA; α-naphthaleneacetic acid-NAA; and 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid-2,4-D). Maximum multiple shoots (12.7 ± 0.6) were produced from nodal explants on MS + 7.5 μM BA. Shoots were rooted in vitro on MS containing 15 μM IAA. Rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized. To further maintain the multiple shoot induction, mother tissue was cut into four equal parts and repeatedly sub-cultured on fresh shoot induction liquid medium after each harvest. On adaptation of this strategy, an average of 18 shoots per explant could be produced. This strategy was applied for the production of biomass and glycosides digitoxin and digoxin in shoot cultures on MS medium supplemented with 7.5 μM BA and several treatments with plant growth regulators, incubation period, abiotic (salicylic acid, mannitol, sorbitol, PEG-6000, NaCl, and KCl), biotic (Aspergillus niger, Helminthosporium sp., Alternaria sp., chitin, and yeast extract) elicitors, and precursors (progesterone, cholesterol, and squalene). The treatment of KCl, mycelial mass of Helminthosporium sp., and progesterone were highly effective for the production of cardenolides. In the presence of progesterone (200 to 300 mg/l), digitoxin and digoxin accumulation was enhanced by 9.1- and 11.9-folds

Eliciting Patients’ Health Concerns in Consulting Rooms and Wards in Vietnamese Public Hospitals

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Huong Thi Linh Nguyen

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This article examines the doctor’s elicitation of the patient’s presenting health concern in two clinical settings in the Vietnamese public hospital system: the consulting room and the ward. The data were taken from 66 audio-recorded consultations. Our analysis shows that the elicitors used by the doctor in the consulting room often communicate a weak epistemic stance towards the patient’s health issue, while those used in the ward tend to signal a strong epistemic stance. In addition, this contrast between the elicitors employed in the consulting room and the ward is evident in our data regardless of whether the consultation is a first visit or a same follow-up (in which the doctor is the same one that treated the patient on their last visit, though the contrast is less clear for different follow-ups (in which the doctor has not treated the patient before. An additional finding is that the clinical setting has some bearing on the use of inappropriate elicitation formats (in which the doctor opens the visit with an elicitor which is more appropriate for another type of visit. The precise way in which each of the consulting room and the ward operates is, of course, a feature of the Vietnamese public hospital system itself. Hence, the overall contrast between the elicitors and elicitation formats used in these two settings illustrates how, on a more general level, the institutional context can have an impact on doctor-patient communication.

Mirth and laughter elicited by electrical stimulation of the human anterior cingulate cortex.

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Caruana, Fausto; Avanzini, Pietro; Gozzo, Francesca; Francione, Stefano; Cardinale, Francesco; Rizzolatti, Giacomo

2015-10-01

Laughter is a complex motor behavior that, typically, expresses mirth. Despite its fundamental role in social life, knowledge about the neural basis of laughter is very limited and mostly based on a few electrical stimulation (ES) studies carried out in epileptic patients. In these studies laughter was elicited from temporal areas where it was accompanied by mirth and from frontal areas plus an anterior cingulate case where laughter without mirth was observed. On the basis of these findings, it has been proposed a dichotomy between temporal lobe areas processing the emotional content of laughter and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and motor areas responsible of laughter production. The present study is aimed to understand the role of ACC in laughter. We report the effects of stimulation of 10 rostral, pregenual ACC (pACC) patients in which the ES elicited laughter. In half of the patients ES elicited a clear burst of laughter with mirth, while in the other half mirth was not evident. This large dataset allow us to offer a more reliable picture of the functional contribute of this region in laughter, and to precisely localize it in the cingulate cortex. We conclude that the pACC is involved in both the motor and the affective components of emotions, and challenge the validity of a sharp dichotomy between motor and emotional centers for laughing. Finally, we suggest a possible anatomical network for the production of positive emotional expressions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DMPD: Macrophage activation through CCR5- and CXCR4-mediated gp120-elicited signalingpathways. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available 12960231 Macrophage activation through CCR5- and CXCR4-mediated gp120-elicited sign...82. Epub 2003 Jul 22. (.png) (.svg) (.html) (.csml) Show Macrophage activation through CCR5- and CXCR4-media...on through CCR5- and CXCR4-mediated gp120-elicited signalingpathways. Authors Lee C, Liu QH, Tomkowicz B, Yi

Amino and fatty acid dynamics of octopus (Octopus vulgaris) early life stages under ocean warming.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Vanessa M; Faleiro, Filipa; Baptista, Miguel; Pimentel, Marta S; Paula, José R; Couto, Ana; Bandarra, Narcisa; Anacleto, Patrícia; Marques, António; Rosa, Rui

2016-01-01

The oceans are becoming warmer, and the higher temperatures are expected to have a major impact on marine life at different levels of biological organization, especially at the most vulnerable early life stages. Thus, we hypothesize that the future warmer scenarios (here +3 °C) will affect the biochemical composition (amino acid - AA, and fatty acid-FA) of octopod (Octopus vulgaris) embryos and recently-hatched pelagic paralarvae. The main essential amino acids found in octopus embryos were arginine, leucine and lysine; while aspartic and glutamic acids, and taurine were the main non-essential amino acids. Palmitic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids were the main FAs found in octopus tissues. Relevant ontogenetic changes were observed, namely a steep decrease in the content of many AAs, and a selective retention of FAs, thus evidencing the protein-based metabolism of these cephalopods. Temperature per si did not elicit significant changes in the overall FA composition, but was responsible for a significant decrease in the content of several AAs, indicating increased embryonic consumption. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expert Elicitation Methods in Quantifying the Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance from Offshore Renewable Energy Developments.

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Donovan, Carl; Harwood, John; King, Stephanie; Booth, Cormac; Caneco, Bruno; Walker, Cameron

2016-01-01

There are many developments for offshore renewable energy around the United Kingdom whose installation typically produces large amounts of far-reaching noise, potentially disturbing many marine mammals. The potential to affect the favorable conservation status of many species means extensive environmental impact assessment requirements for the licensing of such installation activities. Quantification of such complex risk problems is difficult and much of the key information is not readily available. Expert elicitation methods can be employed in such pressing cases. We describe the methodology used in an expert elicitation study conducted in the United Kingdom for combining expert opinions based on statistical distributions and copula-like methods.

Using Psychophysiological Measures to Examine the Temporal Profile of Verbal Humor Elicitation.

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Chris M Fiacconi

Full Text Available Despite its pervasiveness in popular culture, there remains much to be learned about the psychological and physiological processes that underlie our experience of humor. In the present study, we examined the temporal profile of verbal humor elicitation using psychophysiological measures of heart rate (HR and facial electromyography (EMG. Consistent with recent prior research on cardiovascular changes to perceived humor, we found that HR acceleration was greater for jokes relative to non-jokes, and was positively related to the level of perceived humor elicited by these jokes. In addition, activity recorded from the zygomaticus major muscle that controls smiling was found to be greater for jokes relative to non-jokes. To link these physiological changes to the psychological processes that govern humor comprehension, we took the initial inflection point of the zygomatic EMG response as a marker for the onset of humor comprehension, and used this marker to probe the pattern of cardiovascular activity at this time-point. We estimated the onset of the humor response to occur during the initial HR deceleration phase, and found that jokes relative to non-jokes elicited a decreased HR response at this time-point. This result questions the previously forwarded notion that the psychological "moment of insight" that signals the start of the humor response is always associated with heightened cardiovascular activity. This discrepancy is discussed in relation to possible differences in the cognitive processes required to comprehend different forms of humor. At a broader level, our results also demonstrate the advantages of combining different psychophysiological measures to examine psychological phenomena, and illustrate how one such measure can constrain the interpretation of others.

Using Psychophysiological Measures to Examine the Temporal Profile of Verbal Humor Elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiacconi, Chris M; Owen, Adrian M

2015-01-01

Despite its pervasiveness in popular culture, there remains much to be learned about the psychological and physiological processes that underlie our experience of humor. In the present study, we examined the temporal profile of verbal humor elicitation using psychophysiological measures of heart rate (HR) and facial electromyography (EMG). Consistent with recent prior research on cardiovascular changes to perceived humor, we found that HR acceleration was greater for jokes relative to non-jokes, and was positively related to the level of perceived humor elicited by these jokes. In addition, activity recorded from the zygomaticus major muscle that controls smiling was found to be greater for jokes relative to non-jokes. To link these physiological changes to the psychological processes that govern humor comprehension, we took the initial inflection point of the zygomatic EMG response as a marker for the onset of humor comprehension, and used this marker to probe the pattern of cardiovascular activity at this time-point. We estimated the onset of the humor response to occur during the initial HR deceleration phase, and found that jokes relative to non-jokes elicited a decreased HR response at this time-point. This result questions the previously forwarded notion that the psychological "moment of insight" that signals the start of the humor response is always associated with heightened cardiovascular activity. This discrepancy is discussed in relation to possible differences in the cognitive processes required to comprehend different forms of humor. At a broader level, our results also demonstrate the advantages of combining different psychophysiological measures to examine psychological phenomena, and illustrate how one such measure can constrain the interpretation of others.

Chemical and Sensory Evaluation of Silicone and Polylactic Acid-Based Remedial Treatments for Elevated Methoxypyrazine Levels in Wine

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Andreea Botezatu

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Alkylmethoxypyrazines (MPs are a class of compounds that can elicit undesirable aroma and flavor characteristics in wine, and resist remediation using traditional wine making approaches. MPs are grape-derived constituents as well as contaminants from Coccinellidae beetles present during wine processing; the latter eliciting an off-flavor referred to as ‘ladybug taint’. In this study we investigated the capacity of two plastic polymers—one silicone-based, the other polylactic acid-based—applied with varying surface areas to reduce concentrations of isopropylmethoxypyrazine (IPMP, sec-butylmethoxypyrazine (SBMP and isobutylmethoxypyrazine (IBMP in a Merlot wine using multi-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and headspace solid phase microextraction (SPME-MDGCMS. The impact of treatments on the sensory characteristics of the wine (descriptive analysis and volatile aroma compounds (VOCs (SPME-MDGCMS was also investigated. Results showed substantial reductions for all of the target odorants: up to 38%, 44% and 39% for IPMP, SBMP and IBMP, respectively, for the silicone polymer, and up to 75%, 78% and 77% for IPMP, SBMP and IBMP, respectively, for the polylactic acid polymer. These polymers had no or minimal effect on VOCs at applications of 200 cm2/L for silicone or for all polylactic acid treatments. Sensory impacts were less clear, but generally showed minimal effect from the treatments. Taken overall, the data confirm the utility of both polylactic acid and silicone polymers in reducing elevated levels of grape-derived MPs, as well as potentially improving wine contaminated by ladybug taint.

Timescale Halo: Average-Speed Targets Elicit More Positive and Less Negative Attributions than Slow or Fast Targets

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, Ivan; Preston, Jesse Lee; Hepler, Justin

2014-01-01

Research on the timescale bias has found that observers perceive more capacity for mind in targets moving at an average speed, relative to slow or fast moving targets. The present research revisited the timescale bias as a type of halo effect, where normal-speed people elicit positive evaluations and abnormal-speed (slow and fast) people elicit negative evaluations. In two studies, participants viewed videos of people walking at a slow, average, or fast speed. We find evidence for a timescale halo effect: people walking at an average-speed were attributed more positive mental traits, but fewer negative mental traits, relative to slow or fast moving people. These effects held across both cognitive and emotional dimensions of mind and were mediated by overall positive/negative ratings of the person. These results suggest that, rather than eliciting greater perceptions of general mind, the timescale bias may reflect a generalized positivity toward average speed people relative to slow or fast moving people. PMID:24421882

Attributes of low involvement products: A comparison of five elicitation techniques and a test of their nomological validity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech-Larsen, Tino; Nielsen, Niels Asger; Grunert, Klaus G.

attributes, which are important to consumers, is the critical first step in the majority of consumer behavior studies. 2. A number of techniques, ranging from the complicated elicitation of idiosyncratic attributes, to simpler techniques, as picking from a pre-specified list of attributes, has been developed...... negatively to the abstraction level and the number of attributes involved in the choice task. 4. The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to: (a) compare different elicitation techniques on a number of different criteria, such as: importance to consumers, ability to discriminate between brands......, predictive ability, time use, and number of attributes elicited; and to (b) test the nomological validity of the basic assumptions regarding attributes and consumer choices for a low involvement product (veg oil). 5. The study presented is part of the project Rape seed oil for human consumption. Although...

Collage Life Story Elicitation Technique: A Representational Technique for Scaffolding Autobiographical Memories

Science.gov (United States)

van Schalkwyk, Gertina J.

2010-01-01

A basic premise in narrative therapy and inquiry is that life story telling is a mechanism by which experiences are rendered meaningful within some form of structure. However, narrative inquiry has to take cognisance of difficulties ensuing from discursive practices for different populations when eliciting their life stories. In this article I…

Eliciting and activating funds of knowledge in an environmental science community college classroom: An action research study

Science.gov (United States)

van Niel, John J.

Many non-traditional students are currently underperforming in college and yet may have untapped knowledge and skills that could support their academic success if appropriately utilized. Previous practices that students experience as a part of their lives are what Gonzales and other researchers call "funds of knowledge" (FOK). There is ample evidence to show that utilization of students' FOK in K-12 instructional contexts can be beneficial. In contrast, little formal FOK research has been done with higher education students. To address this gap, this study explores how environmental college courses could be designed so as to better elicit and capitalize on students' FOK, with the ultimate goal of increasing student engagement and learning. More specifically, using an action research paradigm, I designed, implemented and studied an intervention in two sections of the required environmental science course I taught in Fall 2009 at the community college where I am employed. The intervention consisted of two phases: (1) eliciting FOK from the students enrolled in one section of the course through a draft survey, and (2) refining that survey tool in order to better elicit FOK, development of other methods of elicitation of FOK and activating (or incorporating) the FOK thus identified as relevant to enhance the learning experience of the students in both sections of the course. The designs of the intervention as well as data collection and analysis were informed by the following research questions: Q1. What are effective strategies for eliciting FOK that may be generalized to the practices of other college instructors? Q2. What relevant FOK do students bring to this class? Q3. What were instances where FOK were activated in the course? Q4. What are effective strategies for activating FOK that may be generalized to the practices of other college instructors? Q5. What evidence was there that students took up new practices due to the intervention? Data were collected from a

Laboratory evaluation of lactic acid on attraction of Culex spp. (Diptera: Culicidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Allan, Sandra A; Bernier, Ulrich R; Kline, Daniel L

2010-12-01

The role of lactic acid was evaluated for attraction of Culex nigripalpus, Culex quinquefasciatus, Culex tarsalis, and Aedes aegypti in the laboratory using a dual-port olfactometer. When lactic acid was combined with chicken odor, attraction was increased for Cx. quinquefasciatus compared to chicken odor alone but not for Cx. nigripalpus, Cx. tarsalis, and Ae. aegypti. Lactic acid combined with hand odor did not change attraction of Cx. tarsalis and Ae. aegypti but decreased attraction of Cx. nigripalpus and Cx. quinquefasciatus. The addition of lactic acid to CO(2) increased attraction of Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus but reduced attraction of Cx. nigripalpus and Cx. tarsalis. Use of commercial lactic acid baits with CO(2) resulted in a similar trend except for Cx. nigripalpus which showed no difference. A blend of lactic acid, acetone, and dimethyl disulfide was attractive to Ae. aegypti (63.4%) but elicited low responses by all Culex spp. (1.3-26.8%). Addition of the blend to CO(2) increased attraction of Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus but reduced attraction of Cx. nigripalpus and Cx. tarsalis. The mixture of compounds plus CO(2) was as attractive as a hand for Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. tarsalis, and Ae. aegypti. © 2010 The Society for Vector Ecology.

A Fuzzy Galois Lattices Approach to Requirements Elicitation for Cloud Services

OpenAIRE

Todoran Koitz Irina; Glinz Martin

2015-01-01

The cloud paradigm has become increasingly attractive throughout the recent years due to its both technical and economic foreseen impact. Therefore, researchers’ and practitioners’ attention has been drawn to enhancing the technological characteristics of cloud services, such as performance, scalability or security. However, the topic of identifying and understanding cloud consumers’ real needs has largely been ignored. Existing requirements elicitation methods are not appropriate for the clo...

Promoting environmental sustainability via an expert elicitation process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swor, Tom; Canter, Larry

2011-01-01

Environmental sustainability (ES) planning was applied to the 981-mile, commercially navigable Ohio River. Navigation improvement needs were identified within the broad study along with actions to restore aquatic and riparian ecological resources to a higher state of sustainability. The actions were identified via an Expert Elicitation Process (EEP) involving aquatic and riparian/terrestrial experts knowledgeable of Ohio River resources. The received information was synthesized into goals for the selected resources (Valued Ecosystem Components - or VECs), actions or measures to attain the goals, and monitoring to evaluate conditions. Finally, 26 types of ES actions were identified and classified into three ES alternatives. These alternatives were then evaluated relative to key decision criteria, and such evaluations, based on pertinent decision criteria, were also conducted for four navigation improvement alternatives. Finally, the best combination of ES and navigation alternatives was identified. The key lessons derived from this use of EEP were that: (1) EEP can support the preliminary identification of ES measures; however, more detailed study of specific designs and cost evaluations will be necessary; (2) the method promotes collaboration between key scientists and policymakers from governmental agencies and private sectors, and such collaboration will ultimately provide the foundation for implementation of sustainability actions; and (3) an effective EEP does not occur by accident, it requires careful planning, implementation, and documentation. - Research Highlights: → Use of an Expert Elicitation Process (EEP) is demonstrated in this study. → EEP was used to identify Environmental Sustainability (ES) needs for the Ohio River. → EEP helped develop consensus among resource experts on ES needs. → EEP promotes collaboration to identify and contribute to common resource goals. → EEP may be used in assessing cumulative effects and formulating restoration

Current Population Status and Activity Pattern of Lesser Flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor and Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus in Abijata-Shalla Lakes National Park (ASLNP, Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tewodros Kumssa

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A study of the population status, habitat preference, and activity pattern of nonbreeding flamingos was carried out in Lakes Abijata, Shalla, and Chitu, part of the Great Rift Valley, Ethiopia, from 2011 to 2013. The current population status and habitat preference of flamingos in the area are still poorly known. Likewise, data on diurnal and seasonal activity pattern of the species are scarce and this leads to the misunderstanding of how Flamingos use local wetlands throughout the different seasons. Data regarding population size and activity pattern were gathered during the wet and dry seasons. Point-count method was used to estimate the population size. Behaviors were recorded using scan sampling techniques. A total of 53671 individuals representing two species of flamingo were counted during both wet and dry seasons from the three lakes. There were more flamingos during the dry season than the wet season in Lake Abijata contrary to Lakes Shalla and Chitu during the wet season. Lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor were the most abundant species comprising 95.39%, while Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus accounted for 4.61% of the total population. Lake Abijata is the major stronghold of Lesser Flamingos in the area. There was significant variation in the mean number of both species during the wet and dry season in the different study sites of the lake, respectively. The species were known to use varied habitats within the lakes. The Lesser Flamingo mainly preferred the shoreline and mudflat areas of the lakes. However, Greater Flamingo on several occasions showed preference to offshore area of the lakes. Seasonal average flock sizes were not similar between the species. There was a strong relationship between time allocated to each activity and time of day. Feeding activity varied among daylight hours and was higher in the evening (76.5% and late morning (74.56% and least during midday (54%. Some variations in activity breakdown were

Cocoa butter and safflower oil elicit different effects on hepatic gene expression and lipid metabolism in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Gustavsson, Carolina; Parini, Paolo; Ostojic, Jovanca; Cheung, Louisa; Hu, Jin; Zadjali, Fahad; Tahir, Faheem; Brismar, Kerstin; Norstedt, Gunnar; Tollet-Egnell, Petra

2009-11-01

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of cocoa butter and safflower oil on hepatic transcript profiles, lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity in healthy rats. Cocoa butter-based high-fat feeding for 3 days did not affect plasma total triglyceride (TG) levels or TG-rich VLDL particles or hepatic insulin sensitivity, but changes in hepatic gene expression were induced that might lead to increased lipid synthesis, lipotoxicity, inflammation and insulin resistance if maintained. Safflower oil increased hepatic beta-oxidation, was beneficial in terms of circulating TG-rich VLDL particles, but led to reduced hepatic insulin sensitivity. The effects of safflower oil on hepatic gene expression were partly overlapping with those exerted by cocoa butter, but fewer transcripts from anabolic pathways were altered. Increased hepatic cholesterol levels and increased expression of hepatic CYP7A1 and ABCG5 mRNA, important gene products in bile acid production and cholesterol excretion, were specific effects elicited by safflower oil only. Common effects on gene expression included increased levels of p8, DIG-1 IGFBP-1 and FGF21, and reduced levels of SCD-1 and SCD-2. This indicates that a lipid-induced program for hepatic lipid disposal and cell survival was induced by 3 days of high-fat feeding, independent on the lipid source. Based on the results, we speculate that hepatic TG infiltration leads to reduced expression of SCD-1, which might mediate either neutral, beneficial or unfavorable effects on hepatic metabolism upon high-fat feeding, depending on which fatty acids were provided by the diet.

A structured review of health utility measures and elicitation in advanced/metastatic breast cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Y

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Yanni Hao,1 Verena Wolfram,2 Jennifer Cook2 1Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ, USA; 2Adelphi Values, Bollington, UK Background: Health utilities are increasingly incorporated in health economic evaluations. Different elicitation methods, direct and indirect, have been established in the past. This study examined the evidence on health utility elicitation previously reported in advanced/metastatic breast cancer and aimed to link these results to requirements of reimbursement bodies. Methods: Searches were conducted using a detailed search strategy across several electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and EconLit databases, online sources (Cost-effectiveness Analysis Registry and the Health Economics Research Center, and web sites of health technology assessment (HTA bodies. Publications were selected based on the search strategy and the overall study objectives. Results: A total of 768 publications were identified in the searches, and 26 publications, comprising 18 journal articles and eight submissions to HTA bodies, were included in the evidence review. Most journal articles derived utilities from the European Quality of Life Five-Dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D. Other utility measures, such as the direct methods standard gamble (SG, time trade-off (TTO, and visual analog scale (VAS, were less frequently used. Several studies described mapping algorithms to generate utilities from disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL instruments such as European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire – Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire – Breast Cancer 23 (EORTC QLQ-BR23, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – General questionnaire (FACT-G, and Utility-Based Questionnaire-Cancer (UBQ-C; most used EQ-5D as the reference. Sociodemographic factors that affect health utilities, such as age, sex

Chimeric rhinoviruses displaying MPER epitopes elicit anti-HIV neutralizing responses.

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Guohua Yi

Full Text Available The development of an effective AIDS vaccine has been a formidable task, but remains a critical necessity. The well conserved membrane-proximal external region (MPER of the HIV-1 gp41 glycoprotein is one of the crucial targets for AIDS vaccine development, as it has the necessary attribute of being able to elicit antibodies capable of neutralizing diverse isolates of HIV.Guided by X-ray crystallography, molecular modeling, combinatorial chemistry, and powerful selection techniques, we designed and produced six combinatorial libraries of chimeric human rhinoviruses (HRV displaying the MPER epitopes corresponding to mAbs 2F5, 4E10, and/or Z13e1, connected to an immunogenic surface loop of HRV via linkers of varying lengths and sequences. Not all libraries led to viable chimeric viruses with the desired sequences, but the combinatorial approach allowed us to examine large numbers of MPER-displaying chimeras. Among the chimeras were five that elicited antibodies capable of significantly neutralizing HIV-1 pseudoviruses from at least three subtypes, in one case leading to neutralization of 10 pseudoviruses from all six subtypes tested.Optimization of these chimeras or closely related chimeras could conceivably lead to useful components of an effective AIDS vaccine. While the MPER of HIV may not be immunodominant in natural infection by HIV-1, its presence in a vaccine cocktail could provide critical breadth of protection.

Fuzzy rationality and parameter elicitation in decision analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolova, Natalia D.; Tenekedjiev, Kiril I.

2010-07-01

It is widely recognised by decision analysts that real decision-makers always make estimates in an interval form. An overview of techniques to find an optimal alternative among such with imprecise and interval probabilities is presented. Scalarisation methods are outlined as most appropriate. A proper continuation of such techniques is fuzzy rational (FR) decision analysis. A detailed representation of the elicitation process influenced by fuzzy rationality is given. The interval character of probabilities leads to the introduction of ribbon functions, whose general form and special cases are compared with the p-boxes. As demonstrated, approximation of utilities in FR decision analysis does not depend on the probabilities, but the approximation of probabilities is dependent on preferences.

Students' Affordance of Teleologic Explanations and Anthropomorphic Language in Eliciting Concepts in Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Bautista, Romiro G.

2015-01-01

This study ascertains that the students' affordance of teleologic explanations and anthropomorphic language in eliciting concepts in Physics is influenced by their age and learning exposure and experience. Using Explicative-Reductive Method of Descriptive Research, this study focused on the determinants of students' affordance of…

User needs elicitation via analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A case study on a Computed Tomography (CT) scanner.

Science.gov (United States)

Pecchia, Leandro; Martin, Jennifer L; Ragozzino, Angela; Vanzanella, Carmela; Scognamiglio, Arturo; Mirarchi, Luciano; Morgan, Stephen P

2013-01-05

The rigorous elicitation of user needs is a crucial step for both medical device design and purchasing. However, user needs elicitation is often based on qualitative methods whose findings can be difficult to integrate into medical decision-making. This paper describes the application of AHP to elicit user needs for a new CT scanner for use in a public hospital. AHP was used to design a hierarchy of 12 needs for a new CT scanner, grouped into 4 homogenous categories, and to prepare a paper questionnaire to investigate the relative priorities of these. The questionnaire was completed by 5 senior clinicians working in a variety of clinical specialisations and departments in the same Italian public hospital. Although safety and performance were considered the most important issues, user needs changed according to clinical scenario. For elective surgery, the five most important needs were: spatial resolution, processing software, radiation dose, patient monitoring, and contrast medium. For emergency, the top five most important needs were: patient monitoring, radiation dose, contrast medium control, speed run, spatial resolution. AHP effectively supported user need elicitation, helping to develop an analytic and intelligible framework of decision-making. User needs varied according to working scenario (elective versus emergency medicine) more than clinical specialization. This method should be considered by practitioners involved in decisions about new medical technology, whether that be during device design or before deciding whether to allocate budgets for new medical devices according to clinical functions or according to hospital department.

Eliciting, Identifying, Interpreting, and Responding to Students' Ideas: Teacher Candidates' Growth in Formative Assessment Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Gotwals, Amelia Wenk; Birmingham, Daniel

2016-06-01

With the goal of helping teacher candidates become well-started beginners, it is important that methods courses in teacher education programs focus on high-leverage practices. Using responsive teaching practices, specifically eliciting, identifying, interpreting, and responding to students' science ideas (i.e., formative assessment), can be used to support all students in learning science successfully. This study follows seven secondary science teacher candidates in a yearlong practice-based methods course. Course assignments (i.e., plans for and reflections on teaching) as well as teaching videos were analyzed using a recursive qualitative approach. In this paper, we present themes and patterns in teacher candidates' abilities to elicit, identify, interpret, and respond to students' ideas. Specifically, we found that those teacher candidates who grew in the ways in which they elicited students' ideas from fall to spring were also those who were able to adopt a more balanced reflection approach (considering both teacher and student moves). However, we found that even the teacher candidates who grew in these practices did not move toward seeing students' ideas as nuanced; rather, they saw students' ideas in a dichotomous fashion: right or wrong. We discuss implications for teacher preparation, specifically for how to promote productive reflection and tools for better understanding students' ideas.

PAMP-induced defense responses in potato require both salicylic acid and jasmonic acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Halim, Vincentius A; Altmann, Simone; Ellinger, Dorothea; Eschen-Lippold, Lennart; Miersch, Otto; Scheel, Dierk; Rosahl, Sabine

2009-01-01

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-induced defense responses in potato (Solanum tuberosum), the role of the signaling compounds salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) was analyzed. Pep-13, a PAMP from Phytophthora, induces the accumulation of SA, JA and hydrogen peroxide, as well as the activation of defense genes and hypersensitive-like cell death. We have previously shown that SA is required for Pep-13-induced defense responses. To assess the importance of JA, RNA interference constructs targeted at the JA biosynthetic genes, allene oxide cyclase and 12-oxophytodienoic acid reductase, were expressed in transgenic potato plants. In addition, expression of the F-box protein COI1 was reduced by RNA interference. Plants expressing the RNA interference constructs failed to accumulate the respective transcripts in response to wounding or Pep-13 treatment, neither did they contain significant amounts of JA after elicitation. In response to infiltration of Pep-13, the transgenic plants exhibited a highly reduced accumulation of reactive oxygen species as well as reduced hypersensitive cell death. The ability of the JA-deficient plants to accumulate SA suggests that SA accumulation is independent or upstream of JA accumulation. These data show that PAMP responses in potato require both SA and JA and that, in contrast to Arabidopsis, these compounds act in the same signal transduction pathway. Despite their inability to fully respond to PAMP treatment, the transgenic RNA interference plants are not altered in their basal defense against Phytophthora infestans.

Alcohol abuse and docosahexaenoic acid: Effects on cerebral circulation and neurosurvival

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael A Collins

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are major and yet surprisingly unacknowledged worldwide causes of brain damage, cognitive impairment, and dementia. Chronic abuse of alcohol is likely to elicit significant changes in essential polyenoic fatty acids and the membrane phospholipids (PLs that covalently contain them in brain membranes. Among the fatty acids of the omega-3 polyenoic class, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, which is relatively concentrated in mammalian brain, has proven particularly important for proper brain development as well as neurosurvival and protection. DHA losses in brains of chronic alcohol-treated animals may contribute to alcohol′s neuroinflammatory and neuropathological sequelae; indeed, DHA supplementation has beneficial effects, including the possibility that its documented augmenting effects on cerebral circulation could be important. The neurochemical mechanisms by which DHA exerts its effects encompass several signaling routes involving both the membrane PLs in which DHA is esterified as well as unique neuroactive metabolites of the free fatty acid itself. In view of indications that brain DHA deficits are a deleterious outcome of human alcoholism, increasing brain DHA via supplementation during detoxification of alcoholics could potentially fortify against dependence-related neuroinjury.

Elicitation of hypersensitive responses in Nicotiana glutinosa by the suppressor of RNA silencing protein P0 from poleroviruses.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ken-Der; Empleo, Roman; Nguyen, Tan Tri V; Moffett, Peter; Sacco, Melanie Ann

2015-06-01

Plant disease resistance (R) proteins that confer resistance to viruses recognize viral gene products with diverse functions, including viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs). The P0 protein from poleroviruses is a VSR that targets the ARGONAUTE1 (AGO1) protein for degradation, thereby disrupting RNA silencing and antiviral defences. Here, we report resistance against poleroviruses in Nicotiana glutinosa directed against Turnip yellows virus (TuYV) and Potato leafroll virus (PLRV). The P0 proteins from TuYV (P0(T) (u) ), PLRV (P0(PL) ) and Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (P0(CA) ) were found to elicit a hypersensitive response (HR) in N. glutinosa accession TW59, whereas other accessions recognized P0(PL) only. Genetic analysis showed that recognition of P0(T) (u) by a resistance gene designated RPO1 (Resistance to POleroviruses 1) is inherited as a dominant allele. Expression of P0 from a Potato virus X (PVX) expression vector transferred recognition to the recombinant virus on plants expressing RPO1, supporting P0 as the unique Polerovirus factor eliciting resistance. The induction of HR required a functional P0 protein, as P0(T) (u) mutants with substitutions in the F-box motif that abolished VSR activity were unable to elicit HR. We surmised that the broad P0 recognition seen in TW59 and the requirement for the F-box protein motif could indicate detection of P0-induced AGO1 degradation and disruption of RNA silencing; however, other viral silencing suppressors, including the PVX P25 that also causes AGO1 degradation, failed to elicit HR in N. glutinosa. Investigation of P0 elicitation of RPO1 could provide insight into P0 activities within the cell that trigger resistance. © 2014 BSPP AND JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD.

Expert Panel Elicitation of Seismicity Following Glaciation in Sweden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hora, Stephen; Jensen, Mikael

2005-12-01

The Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate and the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company have jointly carried out a project on expert panel elicitation on the issue of glacial induced Swedish earthquakes. Following a broad nomination procedure, 5 experts were chosen by a selection committee of 4 professors within Earth sciences disciplines. The 5 experts presented judgments about the frequency of earthquakes greater the magnitude 6 within 10 km for two Swedish sites, Oskarshamn and Forsmark, in connection with a glaciation cycle. The experts' median value vas 0,1 earthquakes for one glaciation cycle

Expert Panel Elicitation of Seismicity Following Glaciation in Sweden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hora, Stephen; Jensen, Mikael (eds.)

2005-12-15

The Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate and the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company have jointly carried out a project on expert panel elicitation on the issue of glacial induced Swedish earthquakes. Following a broad nomination procedure, 5 experts were chosen by a selection committee of 4 professors within Earth sciences disciplines. The 5 experts presented judgments about the frequency of earthquakes greater the magnitude 6 within 10 km for two Swedish sites, Oskarshamn and Forsmark, in connection with a glaciation cycle. The experts' median value vas 0,1 earthquakes for one glaciation cycle.

Impaired swimming performance of acid-exposed Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus L

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hunter, L.A. (North/South Consultants Inc., Winnipeg, MB (Canada)); Scherer, E. (Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, Freshwater Inst. Science Lab., Winnipeg, MB (Canada))

1988-01-01

Effects of increased ambient acidity are of particular interest, as the formation of metabolic and respiratory acids and acceleration of branchial ion loss during vigorous swimming duplicates or compounds effects of exposure to environmental acidity. Three year old Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.) were exposed to five levels of acidity between pH 6 and pH 3.8. Swimming performance as determined by critical swimming speeds was 67.5 cm {center dot} s{sup -1} or 4.4 body lengths per second for untreated fish (pH 7.8). Performance declined sharply below pH 4.5; at pH 3.8 it was reduced by 35% after 7 days of exposure. Tailbeat frequencies and ventilation rates showed no dose-response effects. This would support the assumption that afferent and efferent neuromuscular functions may have remained unimpaired under increased ambient acidity so that the stimulus of directed water current continued to elicit forced swimming, causing (forcing) the fish to use the entire scope for activity available at the various pH levels. At swimming speeds between 20 and 50 cm {center dot} s{sup -1}, ventilation rates at all levels of acidity were higher than at the control level. Based on this, spontaneous, i.e., non-forced swimming activity may show a lower response threshold. 19 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

Effects of intravenous nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs on a C-fiber reflex elicited by a wide range of stimulus intensities in the rat.

Science.gov (United States)

Bustamante, D; Paeile, C; Willer, J C; Le Bars, D

1996-03-01

A C-fiber reflex elicited by electrical stimulation within the territory of the sural nerve, was recorded from the ipsilateral biceps femoris muscle in anesthetized rats. The temporal evolution of the response was studied using a constant stimulus intensity (3 x threshold) and recruitment curves were built by varying stimulus intensity from 0 to 7 x threshold. The i.v. administration of aspirin, indomethacin, ketoprofen, paracetamol (= acetaminophen) and lysine clonixinate resulted in dose-dependent depressions of the C-fiber reflex by up to 30 to 40%. By contrast, saline was ineffective. High doses of the effective drugs that produced large disturbances in heart rate and/or acid-base equilibrium were not considered in the pharmacological analysis. When a constant level of stimulation was used, different dose-dependent profiles of drug action were observed. Aspirin induced a slow and gradual depression, although indomethacin, ketoprofen and paracetamol produced a peak effect within the first 10-min period and then reached a steady state phase for up to 30 min. The depressive effects of lysine clonixinate appeared more stable. When recruitment curves were built with a range of nociceptive stimulus intensities, all the drugs produced a dose-dependent decrease in the slopes and the areas under the recruitment curves without any major modification in the thresholds. The order of potency was the same for both stimulation paradigms, e.g., aspirin lysine clonixinate = ketoprofen < indomethacin. It is concluded that NSAID elicit significant antinociceptive effects at a central level, which do not depend on the existence of a hyperalgesic or inflammatory state.

Early Morphological Productivity in Hungarian: Evidence from Sentence Repetition and Elicited Production

Science.gov (United States)

Gabor, Balint; Lukacs, Agnes

2012-01-01

This paper investigates early productivity of morpheme use in Hungarian children aged between 2 ; 1 and 5 ; 3. Hungarian has a rich morphology which is the core marker of grammatical functions. A new method is introduced using the novel word paradigm in a sentence repetition task with masked inflections (i.e. a disguised elicited production task).…

Hospitability of ornamental and medicinal plants to root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita race 2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco José Carvalho Moreira

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The correct identification of species and genus of nematodes that affect a particular culture is of great importance to form a quantity of information that will be useful to laboratories for diagnosis and control of these pathogens. Because of the increase in the production of ornamental and medicinal plants in the of Cear. á State, the agricultural importance of the genus Meloidogyne and the scarcity of information on the hospitability this pathogen in these species, in that it was to evaluate the susceptibility testing of 30 species, and 20 ornamental (Antirrhimum majus, Gazania ringens, Carthamus tinctorius, Bryophyllum cayicinum, Ceasalpinia pulcherrima, Thumbergia alata, Petunia hibryda, Exacum affine, Catharanthus roseus, Opuntia sp., Sansevieria trifasciata, Asparagus densiflorus, Hibiscus mutabilis-roreus, Impatiens balsamiana, Celosia spicata, Antirrhimum sp., Dianthus chinensis, Zinnia elegans, Tagetes patula, Capsicum annuum and 10 medicinal (Peumus boldus, Ocimum gratissimum, Mentha arvensis var. piperascens, Mentha x Vilosa, Plectranthus amboinicus, Ocimum bassilicum, Rosmarinus officinalis, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba, Cymbopogon winterianus. The test was conducted in a greenhouse, of the Phytosanitary Sector, Department of Plant Science, Federal University of Ceará. The inoculation was conducted with 4,000 eggs/J2 for pot. Evaluation of the plants gave to 60 days after inoculation. Evaluated is the reaction of the plants, measuring up: number of galls and eggs, egg mass index, reproduction factor and reduce the reproduction factor. From these variables it was classified the reaction of plants to the nematode by means of five criterions. Of ownership of the results, it was verified that of the ornamental plants only species T. patula didn’t presented galls in your root system. Concerning medicinal species M. vilosa, C. citrates, L. alba, C. winterianus and P. boldus showed no galls in their root systems. Thus, concluded

Explaining Distortions in Utility Elicitation through the Rank-Dependent Model for Risky Choices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.P. Wakker (Peter); A.M. Stiggelbout (Anne)

1995-01-01

textabstractThe standard gamble (SG) method has been accepted as the gold standard for the elicitation of utility when risk or uncertainty is involved in decisions, and thus for the measurement of utility in medical decisions. Unfortunately, the SG method is distorted by a general dislike for

Uncertainty in geological linework: communicating the expert's tacit model to the data user(s) by expert elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawley, Russell; Barron, Mark; Lee, Katy

2014-05-01

Uncertainty in geological linework: communicating the expert's tacit model to the data user(s) by expert elicitation. R. Lawley, M. Barron and K. Lee. NERC - British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK, NG12 5GG The boundaries mapped in traditional field geological survey are subject to a wide range of inherent uncertainties. A map at a survey-scale of 1:10,000 is created by a combination of terrain interpretation, direct observations from boreholes and exposures (often sparsely distributed), and indirect interpretation of proxy variables such as soil properties, vegetation and remotely sensed images. A critical factor influencing the quality of the final map is the skill and experience of the surveyor to bring this information together in a coherent conceptual model. The users of geological data comprising or based on mapped boundaries are increasingly aware of these uncertainties, and want to know how to manage them. The growth of 3D modelling, which takes 2D surveys as a starting point, adds urgency to the need for a better understanding of survey uncertainties; particularly where 2D mapping of variable vintage has been compiled into a national coverage. Previous attempts to apply confidence on the basis of metrics such as data density, survey age or survey techniques have proved useful for isolating single, critical, factors but do not generally succeed in evaluating geological mapping 'in the round', because they cannot account for the 'conceptual' skill set of the surveyor. The British Geological Survey (BGS) is using expert elicitation methods to gain a better understanding of uncertainties within the national geological map of Great Britain. The expert elicitation approach starts with the assumption that experienced surveyors have an intuitive sense of the uncertainty of the boundaries that they map, based on a tacit model of geology and its complexity and the nature of the surveying process. The objective of

Eliciting Naturalistic Cortical Responses with a Sensory Prosthesis via Optimized Microstimulation

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-12

Eliciting naturalistic cortical responses with a sensory prosthesis via optimized microstimulation John S Choi1, Austin J Brockmeier2, David B...applied to single electrodes in the ventral caudal thalamus evoke percepts that are both place and modality-specific, and yet ‘unnatural’ in feeling ...information on touch parameters, they do so with the same timing, as would be expected for a biomimetic sensory prosthesis . The discriminability of natural

Eliciting the Intension of Drug Value Sets – Principles and Quality Assurance Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Bahr, Nathan J.; Nelson, Scott D.; Winnenburg, Rainer; Bodenreider, Olivier

2018-01-01

Value sets (VSs) used in electronic clinical quality measures are lists of codes from standard terminologies (“extensional” VSs), whose purpose (“intension”) is not always explicitly stated. We elicited the intension for the 09/01/2014 release of extensional medication value sets by comparison to drug classes from the October 2014 release of RxClass. Value sets matched drug classes if they shared common ingredients, as evidenced by Jaccard similarity score. We elicited the intension of 80 extensional value sets. The average Jaccard similarity was 0.65 for single classes and 0.80 for combination classes, with 34% (27/80) of the value sets having high similarity scores. Manual review by a pharmacist indicated 51% (41/80) of the drug classes selected as the best mapping for a value set matched the intension reflected in that value set name. This approach has the potential for facilitating the development and maintenance of medication value sets. PMID:29295218

No association between oxytocin receptor (OXTR gene polymorphisms and experimentally elicited social preferences.

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Coren L Apicella

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Oxytocin (OXT has been implicated in a suite of complex social behaviors including observed choices in economic laboratory experiments. However, actual studies of associations between oxytocin receptor (OXTR gene variants and experimentally elicited social preferences are rare. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We test hypotheses of associations between social preferences, as measured by behavior in two economic games, and 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs of the OXTR gene in a sample of Swedish twins (n = 684. Two standard economic games, the dictator game and the trust game, both involving real monetary consequences, were used to elicit such preferences. After correction for multiple hypothesis testing, we found no significant associations between any of the 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs and behavior in either of the games. CONCLUSION: We were unable to replicate the most significant association reported in previous research between the amount donated in a dictator game and an OXTR genetic variant.

Eliciting Preferences of Multimorbid Elderly Adults in Family Practice Using an Outcome Prioritization Tool

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Summeren, Jojanneke J. G. T.; Haaijer-Ruskamp, Flora M.; Schuling, Jan

2016-01-01

ObjectivesTo explore an outcome prioritization tool (OPT) in eliciting individuals' preferred health outcomes (remaining alive, maintaining independence, reducing pain, reducing other symptoms) in the context of medication review in family practice. DesignCross-sectional pilot study with

Phenotypic assessment of THC discriminative stimulus properties in fatty acid amide hydrolase knockout and wildtype mice

OpenAIRE

Walentiny, D. Matthew; Vann, Robert E.; Wiley, Jenny L.

2015-01-01

A number of studies have examined the ability of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide to elicit Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-like subjective effects, as modeled through the THC discrimination paradigm. In the present study, we compared transgenic mice lacking fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), the enzyme primarily responsible for anandamide catabolism, to wildtype counterparts in a THC discrimination procedure. THC (5.6 mg/kg) served as a discriminative stimulus in both genotypes, with sim...

Elicitation and use of expert judgment in performance assessment for high-level radioactive waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonano, E.J.; Hora, S.C.; Keeney, R.L.; von Winterfeldt, D.

1990-05-01

This report presents the concept of formalizing the elicitation and use of expert judgment in the performance assessment of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repositories in deep geologic formations. The report begins with a discussion of characteristics (advantages and disadvantages) of formalizing expert judgment examples of previous uses of expert judgment in radioactive waste programs, criteria that can assist in deciding when to formalize expert judgment, and the relationship of formal use of expert judgment to data collection and modeling. The current state of the art with respect to the elicitation, use, and communication of formal expert judgment is presented. The report concludes with a discussion on potential applications of formal expert judgment in performance assessment of HLW repositories. 93 refs

Improving the Communication Skills of IS Developers during Requirements Elicitation Using Experiential Learning

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Qurban, Mustafa H.; Austria, Richmond D.

2009-01-01

The improvement of communication skills among Information Systems (IS) developers can be considered as a strategy to mitigate the risk of project failure during IS design. This paper addresses issues on various communication barriers normally encountered during its requirements elicitation (RE) stage. This study aims to adopt experiential learning…

Motivating and achievement-eliciting pop-ups in online environments: A user experience perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bittner, Jenny; Zondervan, Robin

2015-01-01

The aim of the present research was to develop pop-up windows that motivate users and evoke a positive user experience. Several variants of achievement eliciting pop-ups were designed and tested on a real business-website. A pre-test examined the effectiveness of 24 combinations of pictures and

Ferulic Acid, But Not All Hydroxycinnamic Acids, Is a Novel T3SS Inducer of Ralstonia solanacearum and Promotes Its Infection Process in Host Plants under Hydroponic Condition

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Yong Zhang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs are typical monocyclic phenylpropanoids, including cinnamic acid (Cin, coumaric acid (Cou, caffeic acid (Caf, ferulic acid (FA and their isomers, and involved in the interactions between pathogens and host plants. Here, we focused on the impact of HCAs on expression of type III secretion system (T3SS in Ralstonia solanacearum. FA significantly induced the expression of the T3SS and some type III effectors (T3Es genes in hrp-inducing medium, while did not the other HCAs. However, exogenously supplemented FA did not affect the T3SS expression in planta and the elicitation of the hypersensitive response (HR in tobacco leaves. Consistent with its central roles in pathogenicity, the FA-induced expression of the T3SS led to significant promotion on infection process of R. solanacearum in tomato plants under hydroponics cultivation. Moreover, the FA-induced expression of the T3SS was specifically mediated by the well-characterized signaling cascade PrhA-prhI/R-PrhJ-HrpG-HrpB, independent of the other known regulatory pathways. In summary, our results demonstrated that FA, a novel inducer of the T3SS in R. solanacearum, was able to promote its infection process in host plants under hydroponics condition.

A heteromeric Texas coral snake toxin targets acid-sensing ion channels to produce pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohlen, Christopher J; Chesler, Alexander T; Sharif-Naeini, Reza; Medzihradszky, Katalin F; Zhou, Sharleen; King, David; Sánchez, Elda E; Burlingame, Alma L; Basbaum, Allan I; Julius, David

2011-11-16

Natural products that elicit discomfort or pain represent invaluable tools for probing molecular mechanisms underlying pain sensation. Plant-derived irritants have predominated in this regard, but animal venoms have also evolved to avert predators by targeting neurons and receptors whose activation produces noxious sensations. As such, venoms provide a rich and varied source of small molecule and protein pharmacophores that can be exploited to characterize and manipulate key components of the pain-signalling pathway. With this in mind, here we perform an unbiased in vitro screen to identify snake venoms capable of activating somatosensory neurons. Venom from the Texas coral snake (Micrurus tener tener), whose bite produces intense and unremitting pain, excites a large cohort of sensory neurons. The purified active species (MitTx) consists of a heteromeric complex between Kunitz- and phospholipase-A2-like proteins that together function as a potent, persistent and selective agonist for acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), showing equal or greater efficacy compared with acidic pH. MitTx is highly selective for the ASIC1 subtype at neutral pH; under more acidic conditions (pH 100-fold) proton-evoked activation of ASIC2a channels. These observations raise the possibility that ASIC channels function as coincidence detectors for extracellular protons and other, as yet unidentified, endogenous factors. Purified MitTx elicits robust pain-related behaviour in mice by activation of ASIC1 channels on capsaicin-sensitive nerve fibres. These findings reveal a mechanism whereby snake venoms produce pain, and highlight an unexpected contribution of ASIC1 channels to nociception. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Event-related potentials elicited by social commerce and electronic-commerce reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Yan; Yao, Zhong; Cong, Fengyu; Zhang, Linlin

2015-12-01

There is an increasing interest regarding the use of electroencephalography (EEG) in social commerce and electronic commerce (e-commerce) research. There are several reviews in the field of social commerce or e-commerce; these have great potential value and mining them is fundamental and significant. To our knowledge, EEG is rarely applied to study these. In this study, we examined the neural correlates of social commerce reviews (SCRs) and e-commerce reviews (ECRs) by using them as stimuli to evoke event-related potentials. All SCRs were from friends through a social media platform, whereas ECRs were from strangers through an e-commerce platform. The experimental design was similar to that of a priming paradigm, and included 40 pairs of stimuli consisting of product information (prime stimulus) and reviews (target stimulus). The results showed that the P300 component was successfully evoked by SCR and ECR stimuli. Moreover, the P300 components elicited by SCRs had higher amplitudes than those elicited by ECRs. These findings indicate that participants paid more attention to SCRs than to ECRs. In addition, the associations between neural responses and reviews in social commerce have the potential to assist companies in studying consumer behaviors, thus permitting them to enhance their social commerce strategies.

Aviation Safety Risk Modeling: Lessons Learned From Multiple Knowledge Elicitation Sessions

Science.gov (United States)

Luxhoj, J. T.; Ancel, E.; Green, L. L.; Shih, A. T.; Jones, S. M.; Reveley, M. S.

2014-01-01

Aviation safety risk modeling has elements of both art and science. In a complex domain, such as the National Airspace System (NAS), it is essential that knowledge elicitation (KE) sessions with domain experts be performed to facilitate the making of plausible inferences about the possible impacts of future technologies and procedures. This study discusses lessons learned throughout the multiple KE sessions held with domain experts to construct probabilistic safety risk models for a Loss of Control Accident Framework (LOCAF), FLightdeck Automation Problems (FLAP), and Runway Incursion (RI) mishap scenarios. The intent of these safety risk models is to support a portfolio analysis of NASA's Aviation Safety Program (AvSP). These models use the flexible, probabilistic approach of Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) and influence diagrams to model the complex interactions of aviation system risk factors. Each KE session had a different set of experts with diverse expertise, such as pilot, air traffic controller, certification, and/or human factors knowledge that was elicited to construct a composite, systems-level risk model. There were numerous "lessons learned" from these KE sessions that deal with behavioral aggregation, conditional probability modeling, object-oriented construction, interpretation of the safety risk results, and model verification/validation that are presented in this paper.

Proteomic characterization of the acid tolerance response in Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus CAUH1 and functional identification of a novel acid stress-related transcriptional regulator Ldb0677.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Zhengyuan; Douillard, François P; An, Haoran; Wang, Guohong; Guo, Xinghua; Luo, Yunbo; Hao, Yanling

2014-06-01

To overcome the deleterious effects of acid stress, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus (L. bulgaricus) elicits an adaptive response to acid stress. In this study, proteomics approach complemented by transcriptional analysis revealed some cellular changes in L. bulgaricus CAUH1 during acid adaptation. We observed an increase of glycolysis-associated proteins, promoting an optimal utilization of carbohydrates. Also, rerouting of the pyruvate metabolism to fatty acid biosynthesis was observed, indicating a possible modification of the cell membrane rigidity and impermeability. In addition, expression of ribosomal protein S1 (RpsA) was repressed; however, the expression of EF-Tu, EF-G and TypA was up-regulated at both protein and transcript levels. This suggests a reduction of protein synthesis in response to acid stress along with possible enhancement of the translational accuracy and protein folding. It is noteworthy that the putative transcriptional regulator Ldb0677 was 1.84-fold up-regulated. Heterologous expression of Ldb0677 was shown to significantly enhance acid resistance in host strain Lactococcus lactis. To clarify its role in transcriptional regulation network, the DNA-binding specificity of Ldb0677 was determined using bacterial one-hybrid and electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The identification of a binding motif (SSTAGACR) present in the promoter regions of 22 genes indicates that it might function as a major regulator in acid stress response in L. bulgaricus. © 2013 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A critical and interpretive literature review of birthing women's non-elicited pain language.

Science.gov (United States)

Power, Stephanie; Bogossian, Fiona E; Sussex, Roland; Strong, Jenny

2017-10-01

Standardised pain assessment i.e. the McGill Pain Questionnaire provide an elicited pain language. Midwives observe spontaneous non-elicited pain language to guide their assessment of how a woman is coping with labour. This paper examined the labour pain experience using the questions: What type of pain language do women use? Do any of the words match the descriptors of standardised pain assessments? What type of information doverbal and non-verbal cues provide to the midwife? A literature search was conducted in 2013. Studies were included if they had pain as the primary outcome and examined non-elicited pain language from the maternal perspective. A total of 12 articles were included. The analysis revealed six categories in which labour pain can be viewed: 'positive', 'negative', 'physical', 'emotional', 'transcendent' and 'natural'. Women's language comprised i.e. prefixes and suffixes, which indicate the qualities of pain, and figurative language. Language indicated location of pain, gave insight into other life phenomena i.e. death, and shared similarities with standardised pain assessmentdescriptors. Labour cues were 'functional', 'dysfunctional,' or 'neutral' (part of the physiological childbirth process), and were verbal, non-verbal, emotional, psychological, physical behaviour or reactions, or tactile. Labour can bring about a spectrum of sensations and therefore emotions from happiness and pleasure to suffering and grief. Spontaneous pain language comprises verbal language and non-verbal behaviour. Narratives are an effective form of pain communication in that they provide details regarding the quality, nature and dimensions of pain, and details notcaptured in quantitative data. Copyright © 2017 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Antigenicity of envelop and non-structural proteins of dengue serotypes and their potentiality to elicit specifi antibody

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Ramesh Venkatachalam

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: To find out the antigenic nature of envelop (E and non-structural (NS proteins and their ability to induce specific antibodies, and to investigate specific antibody produced by specific dengue virus (DENV serotypes. Methods: Amino acid sequences of E and NS proteins of dengue serotypes were analysed by using VaxiJen antigen predicition server. The transmembrane of topology analyses were conducted by using transmembrane prediction using hidden markov models. The Hex dock server was used for docking. Results: The antigenicity score and exomembrane potentiality of E and NS proteins were calculated. All those proteins were antigenic; these antigens were made to interact with antibodies such as immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M. Higher energy values of immunoglobulin M were found in DENV-1 and DENV-2, and more energy values were found in immunoglobulin G of DENV-3, DENV-4, NS-1, NS-3 and NS-5. Conclusions: In the present study, DENV-1 and DENV-2 are positive to immunoglobulin M and involved in the primary infection. DENV 3, DENV 4 and all the NS proteins (NS-1, NS-3, NS-5 which elicit immunoglobulin G are involved in the secondary infection.

Uncertainty in mapped geological boundaries held by a national geological survey:eliciting the geologists' tacit error model

Science.gov (United States)

Lark, R. M.; Lawley, R. S.; Barron, A. J. M.; Aldiss, D. T.; Ambrose, K.; Cooper, A. H.; Lee, J. R.; Waters, C. N.

2015-06-01

It is generally accepted that geological line work, such as mapped boundaries, are uncertain for various reasons. It is difficult to quantify this uncertainty directly, because the investigation of error in a boundary at a single location may be costly and time consuming, and many such observations are needed to estimate an uncertainty model with confidence. However, it is recognized across many disciplines that experts generally have a tacit model of the uncertainty of information that they produce (interpretations, diagnoses, etc.) and formal methods exist to extract this model in usable form by elicitation. In this paper we report a trial in which uncertainty models for geological boundaries mapped by geologists of the British Geological Survey (BGS) in six geological scenarios were elicited from a group of five experienced BGS geologists. In five cases a consensus distribution was obtained, which reflected both the initial individually elicited distribution and a structured process of group discussion in which individuals revised their opinions. In a sixth case a consensus was not reached. This concerned a boundary between superficial deposits where the geometry of the contact is hard to visualize. The trial showed that the geologists' tacit model of uncertainty in mapped boundaries reflects factors in addition to the cartographic error usually treated by buffering line work or in written guidance on its application. It suggests that further application of elicitation, to scenarios at an appropriate level of generalization, could be useful to provide working error models for the application and interpretation of line work.

Gastric secretion elicited by conditioning in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Caboclo, José Liberato Ferreira; Cury, Francico de Assis; Borin, Aldenis Albanese; Caboclo, Luís Otávio Sales Ferreira; Ribeiro, Maria Fernanda Sales Caboclo; de Freitas, Pedro José; Andersson, Sven

2009-01-01

To investigate whether interdigestive gastric acid secretion can be controlled by a possible memory-related cortical mechanism. To evaluate gastric secretion in rats, we used a methodology that allows gastric juice collection in rats in their habitual conditions (without any restraining) by pairing sound as the conditioning stimulus (CS) and food as the unconditioning stimulus (US). The levels of gastric acid secretion under basal conditions and under sound stimulation were recorded and the circulating gastrin levels determined. When the gastric juice was collected in the course of the conditioning procedure, the results showed that under noise stimulation a significant increase in gastric acid secretion occurred after 10 days of conditioning (p<0.01). The significance was definitively demonstrated after 13 days of conditioning (p<0.001). Basal secretions of the conditioned rats reached a significant level after 16 days of conditioning. The levels of noise-stimulated gastric acid secretion were the highest so far described in physiological experiments carried out in rats and there were no significant increases in the circulating gastrin levels. The results point to the important role played by cortical structures in the control of interdigestive gastric acid secretion in rats. If this mechanism is also present in humans, it may be involved in diseases caused by inappropriate gastric acid secretion during the interprandial periods.

Synergism in the effect of prior jasmonic acid application on herbivore-induced volatile emission by Lima bean plants: transcription of a monoterpene synthase gene and volatile emission

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Menzel, T.R.; Weldegergis, B.T.; David, A.; Boland, W.; Gols, R.; Loon, van J.J.A.; Dicke, M.

2014-01-01

Jasmonic acid (JA) plays a central role in induced plant defence e.g. by regulating the biosynthesis of herbivore-induced plant volatiles that mediate the attraction of natural enemies of herbivores. Moreover, exogenous application of JA can be used to elicit plant defence responses similar to those

Prior Elicitation, Assessment and Inference with a Dirichlet Prior

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Michael Evans

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Methods are developed for eliciting a Dirichlet prior based upon stating bounds on the individual probabilities that hold with high prior probability. This approach to selecting a prior is applied to a contingency table problem where it is demonstrated how to assess the prior with respect to the bias it induces as well as how to check for prior-data conflict. It is shown that the assessment of a hypothesis via relative belief can easily take into account what it means for the falsity of the hypothesis to correspond to a difference of practical importance and provide evidence in favor of a hypothesis.

Elicitation of dopaminergic features of Parkinson's disease in C. elegans by monocrotophos, an organophosphorous insecticide.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Shaheen Jafri; Rajini, Padmanabhan Sharda

2012-12-01

Positive correlations have been suggested between usage of pesticides and the incidence of Parkinson's disease (PD) through epidemiological as well as few experimental evidences. Organophosphorus insecticides (OPI), which are extensively used in agricultural and household insect control, have been the subject of increasing concern in the past decades due to their neurotoxic potential. However, very few studies have demonstrated the potentials of OPI to induce features of PD in model organisms. In the present study, Caenorhabditis elegans was selected as the model organism to evaluate the potential of monocrotophos (MCP), an OPI, to elicit dopaminergic features of Parkinson's disease in terms of dopamine content, basic movement and integrity of dopaminergic neurons along with its effect on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and life span. All the responses elicited by MCP were compared with that elicited by 1-methyl-4-phenyl- 1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) in both N2 and BZ555 worms. N2 worms were exposed to varying concentrations of MCP (50, 100 and 200 μM) or MPTP (200, 300 and 400 μM) for 48 hours and locomotory rate, as measured by the number of body bends made in 20 seconds, was enumerated. Worms subjected to the same dose paradigms were also analyzed for the dopamine content by HPLC. The results indicated a significant reduction in the dopamine levels in the worms that were treated with MCP/MPTP and this correlated with the changes in locomotion compared to untreated worms. Worms treated with MCP also exhibited significant reduction in AChE activity. Both MPTP and MCP caused a marked reduction in life span in the worms. Transgenic worms (BZ555, which has GFP tagged to its 8 dopaminergic neurons) exposed to MCP and MPTP at the above concentrations showed a dose-dependent reduction in the number of green pixels in CEP and ADE neurons which also correlated with the neurodegeneration as visualized by decreased fluorescence in photomicrographs. Taken

Graphical User Interfaces Reverse Engineering for Requirements Elicitation - Literature Review

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Carol Jaimes

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper exhibits a synthesis of the use of legacy systems GUI reverse engineering as a tool to software requirements elicitation. It presents a literature review describing the approaches related to the topic. This work primary goal is to determine the major investigations in this area, and if there are techniques focused exclusively on the observation of the legacy applications GUI to obtain software requirements in a standard format, without the use of source code, data structures, documentation or sophisticated algorithms for the application analysis.

Elicitive Conflict Transformation and New Media: In Search for a Common Ground

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Wolfgang Suetzl

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Advocates of elicitive conflict transformation (ECT maintain that the parties to a conflict are the most important resource in efforts to render that conflict less violent. According to them, the transformation of the conflict is immanent to the conflict itself. The claim of ECT theorists is that classical conflict resolution has mostly aimed at overcoming a conflict by means of neutral mediation, while conflict transformation is not primarily concerned with terminating a conflict and considers the conflict worker as part of the conflict system. Although ECT is a communication-based model of conflict management and relies on human media, its media-theoretical aspects are not made explicit, raising the question of what role technological media play in the communicative processes that make up ECT techniques. Through an examination of the claimed differences between conflict resolution and conflict transformation, and focusing on the common roots of new media and the elicitive model in systems and cybernetic theory, this paper asks whether any peacebuilding potential of new media could be found in a specific anti-propagandistic quality of distributed technological media. It concludes by looking at any such potential in social media.