Surveying and analyzing injection responses for patterns with horizontal wells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fedenczuk, L.; Hoffman, K.

1998-12-31

A novel method for visualizing injection responses in patterns that include horizontal and/or vertical wells is described. Understanding fluid communication between the horizontal well and the surrounding injectors is essential to estimating the effectiveness of the waterflood. Armed with the understanding of responses, injection patterns can be optimized, production rates can be increased and more efficient oil recovery can be achieved. In this study the time lags of correlations and a new parameter, the waterflood response type is introduced. The response type is based on the oil and total fluid responses. In addition spider diagrams are introduced to help visualizing the correlations, time lags and response types. Integration of the results with geology, petrophysics and completion techniques can help to find the cause and effect rules in waterflood fields. 6 refs., 10 figs.

Effects of low temperature on breathing pattern and ventilatory responses during hibernation in the golden-mantled ground squirrel.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Cheryl L; Milsom, William K

2017-07-01

During entrance into hibernation in golden-mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus lateralis), ventilation decreases as metabolic rate and body temperature fall. Two patterns of respiration occur during deep hibernation. At 7 °C body temperature (T b ), a breathing pattern characterized by episodes of multiple breaths (20.6 ± 1.9 breaths/episode) separated by long apneas or nonventilatory periods (T nvp ) (mean = 11.1 ± 1.2 min) occurs, while at 4 °C T b , a pattern in which breaths are evenly distributed and separated by a relatively short T nvp (0.5 ± 0.05 min) occurs. Squirrels exhibiting each pattern have similar metabolic rates and levels of total ventilation (0.2 and 0.23 ml O 2 /hr/kg and 0.11 and 0.16 ml air/min/kg, respectively). Squirrels at 7 °C T b exhibit a significant hypoxic ventilatory response, while squirrels at 4 °C T b do not respond to hypoxia at any level of O 2 tested. Squirrels at both temperatures exhibit a significant hypercapnic ventilatory response, but the response is significantly reduced in the 4 °C T b squirrels. Carotid body denervation has little effect on the breathing patterns or on the hypercapnic ventilatory responses. It does reduce the magnitude and threshold for the hypoxic ventilatory response. Taken together the data suggest that (1) the fundamental rhythm generator remains functional at low temperatures; (2) the hypercapnic ventilatory response arises from central chemoreceptors that remain functional at very low temperatures; (3) the hypoxic ventilatory response arises from both carotid body and aortic chemoreceptors that are silenced at lower temperatures; and (4) there is a strong correlation between breathing pattern and chemosensitivity.

Variability of electricity load patterns and its effect on demand response: A critical peak pricing experiment on Korean commercial and industrial customers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Dongsik; Eom, Jiyong; Jae Park, Min; Jeung Rho, Jae

2016-01-01

To the extent that demand response represents an intentional electricity usage adjustment to price changes or incentive payments, consumers who exhibit more-variable load patterns on normal days may be capable of altering their loads more significantly in response to dynamic pricing plans. This study investigates the variation in the pre-enrollment load patterns of Korean commercial and industrial electricity customers and their impact on event-day loads during a critical peak pricing experiment in the winter of 2013. Contrary to conventional approaches to profiling electricity loads, this study proposes a new clustering technique based on variability indices that collectively represent the potential demand–response resource that these customers would supply. Our analysis reveals that variability in pre-enrollment load patterns does indeed have great predictive power for estimating their impact on demand–response loads. Customers in relatively low-variability clusters provided limited or no response, whereas customers in relatively high-variability clusters consistently presented large load impacts, accounting for most of the program-level peak reductions. This study suggests that dynamic pricing programs themselves may not offer adequate motivation for meaningful adjustments in load patterns, particularly for customers in low-variability clusters. - Highlights: • A method of clustering customers by variability indices is developed. • Customers in high-variability clusters provide substantial peak reductions. • Low-variability clusters exhibit limited reductions. • For low-variability customers, alternative policy instruments is well advised. • A model of discerning customer's demand response potential is suggested.

Suggestibility as a predictor of response to antidepressants: A preliminary prospective trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Nitzan, Uri; Chalamish, Yossi; Krieger, Israel; Erez, Hany Burstein; Braw, Yoram; Lichtenberg, Pesach

2015-10-01

The growing awareness that so many do not respond adequately to antidepressant (AD) pharmacotherapy has sparked research seeking to characterize those who do. While the pharmacological mechanisms of AD treatment have been extensively evaluated, much remains unknown about the placebo component of the response to medication. This study examined the association between suggestibility levels and response to ADs amongst depressed patients. Twenty unipolar depression outpatients, recruited before starting AD monotherapy, received clear, standardized instructions that the therapeutic effects of AD, though not side effects, would require 2-4 weeks. At baseline (T1), 1 week (T2), and 1 month (T3), participants were evaluated for depressive symptoms, using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression-17 items (HAM-D); for anxiety by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A); for side effects by the Antidepressant Side Effect Checklist (ASEC); and for suggestibility, using the Multidimensional Iowa Suggestibility Scale (MISS). High levels of baseline suggestibility were associated with less improvement in depression level and more side-effects during the first week. In accordance with our hypothesis the more suggestible patients improved more between T2 and T3. No significant correlations were found between baseline suggestibility levels and change in anxiety. Small sample size and a self-report questionnaire assessing suggestibility were limitations. This study offers a potentially new and clinically useful approach to understanding and predicting who will respond to AD treatment. Suggestibility seems to play a role, presumably by shaping expectation, in response to AD treatment. We hope that this avenue will be further explored. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Plasma-Sprayed Titanium Patterns for Enhancing Early Cell Responses

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yunqi; Xie, Youtao; Pan, Houhua; Zheng, Xuebin; Huang, Liping; Ji, Fang; Li, Kai

2016-06-01

Titanium coating has been widely used as a biocompatible metal in biomedical applications. However, the early cell responses and long-term fixation of titanium implants are not satisfied. To obviate these defects, in this paper, micro-post arrays with various widths (150-1000 μm) and intervals (100-300 μm) were fabricated on the titanium substrate by template-assisted plasma spraying technology. In vitro cell culture experiments showed that MC3T3-E1 cells exhibited significantly higher osteogenic differentiation as well as slightly improved adhesion and proliferation on the micro-patterned coatings compared with the traditional one. The cell number on the pattern with 1000 µm width reached 130% after 6 days of incubation, and the expressions of osteopontin (OPN) as well as osteocalcin (OC) were doubled. No obvious difference was found in cell adhesion on various size patterns. The present micro-patterned coatings proposed a new modification method for the traditional plasma spraying technology to enhance the early cell responses and convenience for the bone in-growth.

Patterns of evolution of MHC class II genes of crows (Corvus suggest trans-species polymorphism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John A. Eimes

2015-03-01

Full Text Available A distinguishing characteristic of genes that code for the major histocompatibility complex (MHC is that alleles often share more similarity between, rather than within species. There are two likely mechanisms that can explain this pattern: convergent evolution and trans-species polymorphism (TSP, in which ancient allelic lineages are maintained by balancing selection and retained by descendant species. Distinguishing between these two mechanisms has major implications in how we view adaptation of immune genes. In this study we analyzed exon 2 of the MHC class IIB in three passerine bird species in the genus Corvus: jungle crows (Corvus macrorhynchos japonensis American crows (C. brachyrhynchos and carrion crows (C. corone orientalis. Carrion crows and American crows are recently diverged, but allopatric, sister species, whereas carrion crows and jungle crows are more distantly related but sympatric species, and possibly share pathogens linked to MHC IIB polymorphisms. These patterns of evolutionary divergence and current geographic ranges enabled us to test for trans-species polymorphism and convergent evolution of the MHC IIB in crows. Phylogenetic reconstructions of MHC IIB sequences revealed several well supported interspecific clusters containing all three species, and there was no biased clustering of variants among the sympatric carrion crows and jungle crows. The topologies of phylogenetic trees constructed from putatively selected sites were remarkably different than those constructed from putatively neutral sites. In addition, trees constructed using non-synonymous substitutions from a continuous fragment of exon 2 had more, and generally more inclusive, supported interspecific MHC IIB variant clusters than those constructed from the same fragment using synonymous substitutions. These phylogenetic patterns suggest that recombination, especially gene conversion, has partially erased the signal of allelic ancestry in these species. While

Human physiological benefits of viewing nature: EEG responses to exact and statistical fractal patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagerhall, C M; Laike, T; Küller, M; Marcheschi, E; Boydston, C; Taylor, R P

2015-01-01

Psychological and physiological benefits of viewing nature have been extensively studied for some time. More recently it has been suggested that some of these positive effects can be explained by nature's fractal properties. Virtually all studies on human responses to fractals have used stimuli that represent the specific form of fractal geometry found in nature, i.e. statistical fractals, as opposed to fractal patterns which repeat exactly at different scales. This raises the question of whether human responses like preference and relaxation are being driven by fractal geometry in general or by the specific form of fractal geometry found in nature. In this study we consider both types of fractals (statistical and exact) and morph one type into the other. Based on the Koch curve, nine visual stimuli were produced in which curves of three different fractal dimensions evolve gradually from an exact to a statistical fractal. The patterns were shown for one minute each to thirty-five subjects while qEEG was continuously recorded. The results showed that the responses to statistical and exact fractals differ, and that the natural form of the fractal is important for inducing alpha responses, an indicator of a wakefully relaxed state and internalized attention.

Hot utilitarianism and cold deontology: Insights from a response patterns approach to sacrificial and real world dilemmas.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosas, Alejandro; Viciana, Hugo; Caviedes, Esteban; Arciniegas, Alejandra

2018-04-18

Research on moral judgment with moral dilemmas suggests that "utilitarian" responses (UR) to sacrificial high-conflict dilemmas are due to decreased harm aversion, not only in individuals with clinical conditions, but also in healthy participants with high scores in antisocial personality traits. We investigated the patterns of responses to different dilemma types in healthy participants and present evidence that some URs to sacrificial dilemmas are morally motivated, as indicated by their empathic concern (EC) or primary psychopathy (PP) scores. In study 1 (N = 230) we tested students with four categories of sacrificial dilemmas featuring innocent victims. In study 2 (N = 590) we tested students with two categories of sacrificial dilemmas and two "real-world" moral dilemmas, where the agent can improve the lot of strangers by making a personal sacrifice. Results in both studies showed no decreased harm aversion in a pattern where the only UR is to the sacrificial dilemma where the number of saved people is very high, and significantly lower harm aversion only in the pattern of all-deontological respondents in Study 2. The analysis by response patterns allowed a better discrimination of the moral motivations of participants and showed that at least some of them express moral concerns in their URs.

Landform elevation suggests ecohydrologic footprints in subsurface geomorphology

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, A. C.; Watts, D.; Kaplan, D. A.; Mclaughlin, D. L.; Heffernan, J. B.; Martin, J. B.; Murray, A.; Osborne, T.; Cohen, M. J.; Kobziar, L. N.

2012-12-01

Many landscapes exhibit patterns in their arrangement of biota, or in their surface geomorphology as a result of biotic activity. Examples occur around the globe and include northern peatlands, Sahelian savannas, and shallow marine reefs. Such self-organized patterning is strongly suggestive of coupled, reciprocal feedbacks (i.e. locally positive, and distally negative) among biota and their environment. Much research on patterned landscapes has concerned emergent biogeomorphologic surfaces such as those found in peatlands, or the influence of biota on soil formation or transport. Our research concerns ecohydrologic feedbacks hypothesized to produce patterned occurrence of depressions in a subtropical limestone karst landscape. Our findings show strong evidence of self-organized patterning, in the form of overdispersed dissolution basins. Distributions of randomized bedrock elevation measurements on the landscape are bimodal, with means clustered about either higher- or lower-elevation modes. Measurements on the thin mantle of soil overlying this landscape, however, display reduced bimodality and mode separation. These observations indicate abiotic processes in diametric opposition to the biogenic forces which may be responsible for generating landscape pattern. Correlograms show higher spatial autocorrelation among soil measurements compared to bedrock measurements, and measurements of soil-layer thickness show high negative correlation with bedrock elevation. Our results are consistent with predictions of direct ecohydrologic feedbacks that would produce patterned "footprints" directly on bedrock, and of abiotic processes operating to obfuscate this pattern. The study suggests new steps to identify biogeochemical mechanisms for landscape patterning: an "ecological drill" by which plant communities modify geology.

Mediation and Moderation of Psychological Pain Treatments: Response Expectancies and Hypnotic Suggestibility

Science.gov (United States)

Milling, Leonard S.; Reardon, John M.; Carosella, Gina M.

2006-01-01

The mediator role of response expectancies and the moderator role of hypnotic suggestibility were evaluated in the analogue treatment of pain. Approximately 1,000 participants were assessed for hypnotic suggestibility. Later, as part of a seemingly unrelated experiment, 188 of these individuals were randomly assigned to distraction,…

Transformative Learning: Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response and Technology-Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2008-09-01

Psychophysiologic Response and Technology -Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Leigh W. Jerome, Ph.D...NUMBER Transformative Learning : Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response and Technology - Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems 5b. GRANT NUMBER...project entitled “Transformative Learning : Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response in Technology Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems.” The

Mechanical response of wall-patterned GaAs surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Bourhis, E.; Patriarche, G.

2005-01-01

Wall-patterned GaAs surfaces have been elaborated by photolithography and dry etching. Different surfaces were produced in order to change the aspect ratio of the walls formed at the substrate surface. The mechanical behaviour of individual walls was investigated by nanoindentation and the responses were compared to that of a standard bulk reference (flat surface). Deviation from the bulk response is detected in a load range of 1-25 mN depending on the aspect ratio of the walls. A central plastic zone criterion is proposed in view of transmission electron microscopy images of indented walls and allows the prediction of the response deviation of a given wall if its width is known. The mechanical response of the different types of walls is further investigated in terms of stiffness, total penetration of indenter and apparent hardness, and is scanned in relation to the proximity of a wall side. Overall results show that contact stiffness remains almost unaffected by aspect ratio, while penetration drastically increases because of the free sides of the wall as compared to a flat surface (bulk substrate). The application of substrate patterning for optoelectronic devices is discussed in the perspective of eliminating residual dislocations appearing in mismatched structures

Ancestral patterning of tergite formation in a centipede suggests derived mode of trunk segmentation in trilobites.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Ortega-Hernández

derived morphogenetic patterning mechanism responsible for the reiterated occurrence of different types of trunk dorsoventral segmental mismatch in several phylogenetically distant, extinct and extant, arthropod groups.

Post-spike hyperpolarization participates in the formation of auditory behavior-related response patterns of inferior collicular neurons in Hipposideros pratti.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Y-L; Fu, Z-Y; Yang, M-J; Wang, J; Peng, K; Yang, L-J; Tang, J; Chen, Q-C

2015-03-19

To probe the mechanism underlying the auditory behavior-related response patterns of inferior collicular neurons to constant frequency-frequency modulation (CF-FM) stimulus in Hipposideros pratti, we studied the role of post-spike hyperpolarization (PSH) in the formation of response patterns. Neurons obtained by in vivo extracellular (N=145) and intracellular (N=171) recordings could be consistently classified into single-on (SO) and double-on (DO) neurons. Using intracellular recording, we found that both SO and DO neurons have a PSH with different durations. Statistical analysis showed that most SO neurons had a longer PSH duration than DO neurons (p<0.01). These data suggested that the PSH directly participated in the formation of SO and DO neurons, and the PSH elicited by the CF component was the main synaptic mechanism underlying the SO and DO response patterns. The possible biological significance of these findings relevant to bat echolocation is discussed. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of survey mode on response patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Anne Illemann; Ekholm, Ola; Glümer, Charlotte

2014-01-01

.7%). Marital status, ethnic background and highest completed education were associated with non-response in both modes. Furthermore, sex and age were associated with non-response in the self-administered mode. No significant mode effects were observed for indicators related to use of health services......BACKGROUND: While face-to-face interviews are considered the gold standard of survey modes, self-administered questionnaires are often preferred for cost and convenience. This article examines response patterns in two general population health surveys carried out by face-to-face interview and self......-administered questionnaire, respectively. METHOD: Data derives from a health interview survey in the Region of Southern Denmark (face-to-face interview) and The Danish Health and Morbidity Survey 2010 (self-administered questionnaire). Identical questions were used in both surveys. Data on all individuals were obtained from...

Not all group hypnotic suggestibility scales are created equal: individual differences in behavioral and subjective responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Sean M; Lynn, Steven Jay; Pekala, Ronald J

2009-03-01

To examine the influence of hypnotic suggestibility testing as a source of individual differences in hypnotic responsiveness, we compared behavioral and subjective responses on three scales of hypnotic suggestibility: The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS: A; Shor, R. E., Orne, E. C. (1962). Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Berlin: Consulting Psychologists Press); the Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale (CURSS; Spanos, N. P., Radtke, H. L., Hodgins, D. C., Stam, H. J., Bertrand, L. D. (1983b). The Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale: Normative data and psychometric properties. Psychological Reports, 53, 523-535); and the Group Scale of Hypnotic Ability (GSHA; Hawkins, R., Wenzel, L. (1999). The Group Scale of Hypnotic Ability and response booklet. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 27, 20-31). Behavioral and subjective responses to the CURSS were significantly different than those on the HGSHS: A and GSHA. More participants were classified as "low suggestible" on the CURSS and they reported subjective experiences more similar to everyday mentation. Attitudes and expectancies of participants who received the GSHA were less predictive of responding, but rates of responding and subjective experiences were similar on the GSHA and the HGSHS: A. Discussion focuses on implications for the use of group hypnotic suggestibility scales.

Fabrications and Applications of Stimulus-Responsive Polymer Films and Patterns on Surfaces: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jem-Kun Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the past two decades, we have witnessed significant progress in developing high performance stimuli-responsive polymeric materials. This review focuses on recent developments in the preparation and application of patterned stimuli-responsive polymers, including thermoresponsive layers, pH/ionic-responsive hydrogels, photo-responsive film, magnetically-responsive composites, electroactive composites, and solvent-responsive composites. Many important new applications for stimuli-responsive polymers lie in the field of nano- and micro-fabrication, where stimuli-responsive polymers are being established as important manipulation tools. Some techniques have been developed to selectively position organic molecules and then to obtain well-defined patterned substrates at the micrometer or submicrometer scale. Methods for patterning of stimuli-responsive hydrogels, including photolithography, electron beam lithography, scanning probe writing, and printing techniques (microcontact printing, ink-jet printing were surveyed. We also surveyed the applications of nanostructured stimuli-responsive hydrogels, such as biotechnology (biological interfaces and purification of biomacromoles, switchable wettability, sensors (optical sensors, biosensors, chemical sensors, and actuators.

Intraspecific niche models for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) suggest potential variability in population-level response to climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Maguire, Kaitlin C.; Shinneman, Douglas; Potter, Kevin M.; Hipkins, Valerie D.

2018-01-01

Unique responses to climate change can occur across intraspecific levels, resulting in individualistic adaptation or movement patterns among populations within a given species. Thus, the need to model potential responses among genetically distinct populations within a species is increasingly recognized. However, predictive models of future distributions are regularly fit at the species level, often because intraspecific variation is unknown or is identified only within limited sample locations. In this study, we considered the role of intraspecific variation to shape the geographic distribution of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), an ecologically and economically important tree species in North America. Morphological and genetic variation across the distribution of ponderosa pine suggest the need to model intraspecific populations: the two varieties (var. ponderosa and var. scopulorum) and several haplotype groups within each variety have been shown to occupy unique climatic niches, suggesting populations have distinct evolutionary lineages adapted to different environmental conditions. We utilized a recently-available, geographically-widespread dataset of intraspecific variation (haplotypes) for ponderosa pine and a recently-devised lineage distance modeling approach to derive additional, likely intraspecific occurrence locations. We confirmed the relative uniqueness of each haplotype-climate relationship using a niche-overlap analysis, and developed ecological niche models (ENMs) to project the distribution for two varieties and eight haplotypes under future climate forecasts. Future projections of haplotype niche distributions generally revealed greater potential range loss than predicted for the varieties. This difference may reflect intraspecific responses of distinct evolutionary lineages. However, directional trends are generally consistent across intraspecific levels, and include a loss of distributional area and an upward shift in elevation. Our results

Intraspecific niche models for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) suggest potential variability in population-level response to climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Maguire, Kaitlin C; Shinneman, Douglas J; Potter, Kevin M; Hipkins, Valerie D

2018-03-14

Unique responses to climate change can occur across intraspecific levels, resulting in individualistic adaptation or movement patterns among populations within a given species. Thus, the need to model potential responses among genetically distinct populations within a species is increasingly recognized. However, predictive models of future distributions are regularly fit at the species level, often because intraspecific variation is unknown or is identified only within limited sample locations. In this study, we considered the role of intraspecific variation to shape the geographic distribution of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), an ecologically and economically important tree species in North America. Morphological and genetic variation across the distribution of ponderosa pine suggest the need to model intraspecific populations: the two varieties (var. ponderosa and var. scopulorum) and several haplotype groups within each variety have been shown to occupy unique climatic niches, suggesting populations have distinct evolutionary lineages adapted to different environmental conditions. We utilized a recently-available, geographically-widespread dataset of intraspecific variation (haplotypes) for ponderosa pine and a recently-devised lineage distance modeling approach to derive additional, likely intraspecific occurrence locations. We confirmed the relative uniqueness of each haplotype-climate relationship using a niche-overlap analysis, and developed ecological niche models (ENMs) to project the distribution for two varieties and eight haplotypes under future climate forecasts. Future projections of haplotype niche distributions generally revealed greater potential range loss than predicted for the varieties. This difference may reflect intraspecific responses of distinct evolutionary lineages. However, directional trends are generally consistent across intraspecific levels, and include a loss of distributional area and an upward shift in elevation. Our results

Autonomic nervous system response patterns specificity to basic emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Collet, C; Vernet-Maury, E; Delhomme, G; Dittmar, A

1997-01-12

The aim of this study was to test the assumption that the autonomic nervous system responses to emotional stimuli are specific. A series of six slides was randomly presented to the subjects while six autonomic nervous system (ANS) parameters were recorded: skin conductance, skin potential, skin resistance, skin blood flow, skin temperature and instantaneous respiratory frequency. Each slide induced a basic emotion: happiness, surprise, anger, fear, sadness and disgust. Results have been first considered with reference to electrodermal responses (EDR) and secondly through thermo-vascular and respiratory variations. Classical as well as original indices were used to quantify autonomic responses. The six basic emotions were distinguished by Friedman variance analysis. Thus, ANS values corresponding to each emotion were compared two-by-two. EDR distinguished 13 emotion-pairs out of 15. 10 emotion-pairs were separated by skin resistance as well as skin conductance ohmic perturbation duration indices whereas conductance amplitude was only capable of distinguishing 7 emotion-pairs. Skin potential responses distinguished surprise and fear from sadness, and fear from disgust, according to their elementary pattern analysis in form and sign. Two-by-two comparisons of skin temperature, skin blood flow (estimated by the new non-oscillary duration index) and instantaneous respiratory frequency, enabled the distinction of 14 emotion-pairs out of 15. 9 emotion-pairs were distinguished by the non-oscillatory duration index values. Skin temperature was demonstrated to be different i.e. positive versus negative in response to anger and fear. The instantaneous respiratory frequency perturbation duration index was the only one capable of separating sadness from disgust. From the six ANS parameters study, different autonomic patterns were identified, each characterizing one of the six basic emotion used as inducing signals. No index alone, nor group of parameters (EDR and thermovascular

Tungstate-induced color-pattern modifications of butterfly wings are independent of stress response and ecdysteroid effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Otaki, Joji M; Ogasawara, Tsuyoshi; Yamamoto, Haruhiko

2005-06-01

Systemic injections of sodium tungstate, a protein-tyrosine phosphatase (PTPase) inhibitor, to pupae immediately after pupation have been shown to efficiently produce characteristic color-pattern modifications on the wings of many species of butterflies. Here we demonstrated that the tungstate-induced modification pattern was entirely different from other chemically-induced ones in a species of nymphalid butterfly Junonia (Precis) orithya. In this species, the systemic injections of tungstate produced characteristic expansion of black area and shrinkage of white area together with the move of parafocal elements toward the wing base. Overall, pattern boundaries became obscure. In contrast, an entirely different modification pattern, overall darkening of wings, was observed by the injections of stress-inducing chemicals, thapsigargin, ionomycin, or geldanamycin, to pupae under the rearing conditions for the adult summer form. On the ventral wings, this darkening was due to an increase of the proportion of peppered dark scales, which was reminiscent of the natural fall form of this species. Under the same rearing conditions, the injections of ecdysteroid, which is a well-known hormone being responsible for the seasonal polyphenism of nymphalid butterflies, yielded overall expansion of orange area especially around eyespots. Taken together, we conclude that the tungstate-induced modifications are clearly distinguishable from those of stress response and ecdysteroid effect. This conclusion then suggests that the putative PTPase signaling pathway that is sensitive to tungstate uniquely contributes to the wing-wide color-pattern development in butterflies.

Spatial Pattern and Scale Influence Invader Demographic Response to Simulated Precipitation Change in an Annual Grassland Community.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meghan J Skaer Thomason

Full Text Available It is important to predict which invasive species will benefit from future changes in climate, and thereby identify those invaders that need particular attention and prioritization of management efforts. Because establishment, persistence, and spread determine invasion success, this prediction requires detailed demographic information. Explicit study of the impact of pattern on demographic response is particularly important for species that are naturally patchy, such as the invasive grass, Aegilops triuncialis. In the northern California Coast Range, where climate change may increase or decrease mean annual rainfall, we conducted a field experiment to understand the interaction of climate change and local-scale patterning on the demography of A. triuncialis. We manipulated precipitation (reduced, ambient, or augmented, seed density, and seeding pattern. Demographic and environmental data were collected for three years following initial seeding. Pattern and scale figure prominently in the demographic response of A. triuncialis to precipitation manipulation. Pattern interacts with precipitation and seeding density in its influence on per-plant seed output. Although per-plot seed production was highest when seeds were not aggregated, per-plant seed output was higher in aggregated patches. Results suggest aggregation of invasive A. triuncialis reduces the detrimental impact of interspecific competition in its invaded community, and that interspecific competition per se has a stronger impact than intraspecific competition.

Physiological stress response patterns during a blood donation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoogerwerf, M D; Veldhuizen, I J T; Tarvainen, M P; Merz, E-M; Huis In 't Veld, E M J; de Kort, W L A M; Sluiter, J K; Frings-Dresen, M H W

2018-03-24

Donating blood is associated with increased psychological stress. This study investigates whether a blood donation induces physiological stress and if response patterns differ by gender, donation experience and non-acute stress. In 372 donors, physiological stress [blood pressure, pulse rate, pulse rate variability (PRV)] was measured at seven moments during routine donation. PRV was assessed using time domain [root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD)] and frequency domain [high frequency (HF) and low frequency (LF) power] parameters. Non-acute stress was assessed by questionnaire. Shape and significance of time course patterns were assessed by fitting multilevel models for each stress measure and comparing men and women, first-time and experienced donors, and donors with high and low levels of non-acute stress. Significant response patterns were found for all stress measures, where levels of systolic blood pressure (F(1,1315) = 24·2, P blood pressure (F(1,1326) = 50·9, P blood pressure/pulse rate in women; higher pulse rate in first-time donors; higher RMSSD at arrival and from screening until leaving in first-time donors; and higher LF and HF in first-time donors. This study shows an increase in physiological stress related to needle insertion, followed by a decrease when leaving the donation centre. Some group effects were also found. © 2018 International Society of Blood Transfusion.

Responses to Deficiencies and Suggestions, AIHA Site Assessment July 12-14, 2016

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bennett, Jack T. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Harding, Ruth N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2016-08-11

These are the responses to the deficiencies and suggestions found during the American Industrial Hygiene Association external site assessment carried out July 12-14, 2016 in the Analytical Services and Instrumentation Division Analytical Laboratory.

Brain response pattern identification of fMRI data using a particle swarm optimization-based approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xinpei; Chou, Chun-An; Sayama, Hiroki; Chaovalitwongse, Wanpracha Art

2016-09-01

Many neuroscience studies have been devoted to understand brain neural responses correlating to cognition using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In contrast to univariate analysis to identify response patterns, it is shown that multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) of fMRI data becomes a relatively effective approach using machine learning techniques in the recent literature. MVPA can be considered as a multi-objective pattern classification problem with the aim to optimize response patterns, in which informative voxels interacting with each other are selected, achieving high classification accuracy associated with cognitive stimulus conditions. To solve the problem, we propose a feature interaction detection framework, integrating hierarchical heterogeneous particle swarm optimization and support vector machines, for voxel selection in MVPA. In the proposed approach, we first select the most informative voxels and then identify a response pattern based on the connectivity of the selected voxels. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was examined for the Haxby's dataset of object-level representations. The computational results demonstrated higher classification accuracy by the extracted response patterns, compared to state-of-the-art feature selection algorithms, such as forward selection and backward selection.

Effects of hemisphere speech dominance and seizure focus on patterns of behavioral response errors for three types of stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Rausch, R; MacDonald, K

1997-03-01

We used a protocol consisting of a continuous presentation of stimuli with associated response requests during an intracarotid sodium amobarbital procedure (IAP) to study the effects of hemisphere injected (speech dominant vs. nondominant) and seizure focus (left temporal lobe vs. right temporal lobe) on the pattern of behavioral response errors for three types of visual stimuli (pictures of common objects, words, and abstract forms). Injection of the left speech dominant hemisphere compared to the right nondominant hemisphere increased overall errors and affected the pattern of behavioral errors. The presence of a seizure focus in the contralateral hemisphere increased overall errors, particularly for the right temporal lobe seizure patients, but did not affect the pattern of behavioral errors. Left hemisphere injections disrupted both naming and reading responses at a rate similar to that of matching-to-sample performance. Also, a short-term memory deficit was observed with all three stimuli. Long-term memory testing following the left hemisphere injection indicated that only for pictures of common objects were there fewer errors during the early postinjection period than for the later long-term memory testing. Therefore, despite the inability to respond to picture stimuli, picture items, but not words or forms, could be sufficiently encoded for later recall. In contrast, right hemisphere injections resulted in few errors, with a pattern suggesting a mild general cognitive decrease. A selective weakness in learning unfamiliar forms was found. Our findings indicate that different patterns of behavioral deficits occur following the left vs. right hemisphere injections, with selective patterns specific to stimulus type.

Effects of information type on children's interrogative suggestibility: is Theory-of-Mind involved?

Science.gov (United States)

Hünefeldt, Thomas; Rossi-Arnaud, Clelia; Furia, Augusta

2009-08-01

This research was aimed at learning more about the different psychological mechanisms underlying children's suggestibility to leading questions, on the one hand, and children's suggestibility to negative feedback, on the other, by distinguishing between interview questions concerning different types of information. Results showed that, unlike the developmental pattern of children's suggestibility to leading questions, the developmental pattern of children's suggestibility to negative feedback differed depending on whether the interview questions concerned external facts (physical states and events) or internal facts (mental states and events). This difference was not manifested in response to questions concerning central versus peripheral facts. Results are interpreted in terms of the hypothesis that children's suggestibility to negative feedback is differently affected by "Theory-of-Mind" abilities than children's suggestibility to leading questions. Further research is needed in order to test this hypothesis.

Evidence of an evolutionary hourglass pattern in herbivory-induced transcriptomic responses.

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Durrant, Matthew; Boyer, Justin; Zhou, Wenwu; Baldwin, Ian T; Xu, Shuqing

2017-08-01

Herbivory-induced defenses are specific and activated in plants when elicitors, frequently found in the herbivores' oral secretions, are introduced into wounds during attack. While complex signaling cascades are known to be involved, it remains largely unclear how natural selection has shaped the evolution of these induced defenses. We analyzed herbivory-induced transcriptomic responses in wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, using a phylotranscriptomic approach that measures the origin and sequence divergence of herbivory-induced genes. Highly conserved and evolutionarily ancient genes of primary metabolism were activated at intermediate time points (2-6 h) after elicitation, while less constrained and young genes associated with defense signaling and biosynthesis of specialized metabolites were activated at early (before 2 h) and late (after 6 h) stages of the induced response, respectively - a pattern resembling the evolutionary hourglass pattern observed during embryogenesis in animals and the developmental process in plants and fungi. The hourglass patterns found in herbivory-induced defense responses and developmental process are both likely to be a result of signaling modularization and differential evolutionary constraints on the modules involved in the signaling cascade. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Mouse V1 population correlates of visual detection rely on heterogeneity within neuronal response patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Montijn, Jorrit S; Goltstein, Pieter M; Pennartz, Cyriel MA

2015-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of the primary sensory cortex for the detection, discrimination, and awareness of visual stimuli, but it is unknown how neuronal populations in this area process detected and undetected stimuli differently. Critical differences may reside in the mean strength of responses to visual stimuli, as reflected in bulk signals detectable in functional magnetic resonance imaging, electro-encephalogram, or magnetoencephalography studies, or may be more subtly composed of differentiated activity of individual sensory neurons. Quantifying single-cell Ca2+ responses to visual stimuli recorded with in vivo two-photon imaging, we found that visual detection correlates more strongly with population response heterogeneity rather than overall response strength. Moreover, neuronal populations showed consistencies in activation patterns across temporally spaced trials in association with hit responses, but not during nondetections. Contrary to models relying on temporally stable networks or bulk signaling, these results suggest that detection depends on transient differentiation in neuronal activity within cortical populations. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10163.001 PMID:26646184

Alternative responses to predation in two headwater stream minnows is reflected in their contrasting diel activity patterns.

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Kadye, Wilbert T; Booth, Anthony J

2014-01-01

Animals exhibit diel periodicity in their activity in part to meet energy requirements whilst evading predation. A competing hypothesis suggests that partitioning of diel activities is less important because animals capitalise on opportunity. To test these hypotheses we examined the diel activity patterns for two cyprinid minnows, chubbyhead barb Barbus anoplus and the Eastern Cape redfin minnow Pseudobarbus afer that both occur within headwater streams in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Chubbyhead barbs exhibited consistent nocturnal activity based on both field and laboratory observations. Due to the absence of fish predators within its habitat, its nocturnal behaviour suggests a response to the cost associated with diurnal activity, such as predation risk by diving and wading birds. In contrast, redfin minnows showed high diurnal activity and a shoaling behaviour in the wild, whereas, in the laboratory, they showed high refuge use during the diel cycle. Despite their preference for refuge in the laboratory, they were diurnally active, a behaviour that was consistent with observations in the wild. The diurnal activity of this species suggests a response to the cost associated with nocturnal activity. Such a cost could be inferred from the presence of the longfin eel, a native predator that was active at night, whereas the daytime shoaling behaviour suggests an anti-predator mechanism to diurnal visual predators. The implications of these findings relate to the impacts associated with the potential invasions by non-native piscivores that occur in the mainstem sections. Diurnal activity patterns for redfin minnows, that are IUCN-listed as endangered, may, in part, explain their susceptibility to high predation by visual non-native piscivores, such as bass and trout. In contrast, the nocturnal habits of chubbyhead barbs suggest a probable pre-adaptation to visual predation. The likelihood of invasion by nocturnally-active sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus

Alternative responses to predation in two headwater stream minnows is reflected in their contrasting diel activity patterns.

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Wilbert T Kadye

Full Text Available Animals exhibit diel periodicity in their activity in part to meet energy requirements whilst evading predation. A competing hypothesis suggests that partitioning of diel activities is less important because animals capitalise on opportunity. To test these hypotheses we examined the diel activity patterns for two cyprinid minnows, chubbyhead barb Barbus anoplus and the Eastern Cape redfin minnow Pseudobarbus afer that both occur within headwater streams in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Chubbyhead barbs exhibited consistent nocturnal activity based on both field and laboratory observations. Due to the absence of fish predators within its habitat, its nocturnal behaviour suggests a response to the cost associated with diurnal activity, such as predation risk by diving and wading birds. In contrast, redfin minnows showed high diurnal activity and a shoaling behaviour in the wild, whereas, in the laboratory, they showed high refuge use during the diel cycle. Despite their preference for refuge in the laboratory, they were diurnally active, a behaviour that was consistent with observations in the wild. The diurnal activity of this species suggests a response to the cost associated with nocturnal activity. Such a cost could be inferred from the presence of the longfin eel, a native predator that was active at night, whereas the daytime shoaling behaviour suggests an anti-predator mechanism to diurnal visual predators. The implications of these findings relate to the impacts associated with the potential invasions by non-native piscivores that occur in the mainstem sections. Diurnal activity patterns for redfin minnows, that are IUCN-listed as endangered, may, in part, explain their susceptibility to high predation by visual non-native piscivores, such as bass and trout. In contrast, the nocturnal habits of chubbyhead barbs suggest a probable pre-adaptation to visual predation. The likelihood of invasion by nocturnally-active sharptooth catfish

Near-infrared light-responsive dynamic wrinkle patterns.

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Li, Fudong; Hou, Honghao; Yin, Jie; Jiang, Xuesong

2018-04-01

Dynamic micro/nanopatterns provide an effective approach for on-demand tuning of surface properties to realize a smart surface. We report a simple yet versatile strategy for the fabrication of near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive dynamic wrinkles by using a carbon nanotube (CNT)-containing poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomer as the substrate for the bilayer systems, with various functional polymers serving as the top stiff layers. The high photon-to-thermal energy conversion of CNT leads to the NIR-controlled thermal expansion of the elastic CNT-PDMS substrate, resulting in dynamic regulation of the applied strain (ε) of the bilayer system by the NIR on/off cycle to obtain a reversible wrinkle pattern. The switchable surface topological structures can transfer between the wrinkled state and the wrinkle-free state within tens of seconds via NIR irradiation. As a proof-of-concept application, this type of NIR-driven dynamic wrinkle pattern was used in smart displays, dynamic gratings, and light control electronics.

Simple regional strain pattern analysis to predict response to cardiac resynchronization therapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Risum, Niels; Jons, Christian; Olsen, Niels T

2012-01-01

A classical strain pattern of early contraction in one wall and prestretching of the opposing wall followed by late contraction has previously been associated with left bundle branch block (LBBB) activation and short-term response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Aims of this study were...... to establish the long-term predictive value of an LBBB-related strain pattern and to identify changes in contraction patterns during short-term and long-term CRT....

A comparison of facial color pattern and gazing behavior in canid species suggests gaze communication in gray wolves (Canis lupus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sayoko Ueda

Full Text Available As facial color pattern around the eyes has been suggested to serve various adaptive functions related to the gaze signal, we compared the patterns among 25 canid species, focusing on the gaze signal, to estimate the function of facial color pattern in these species. The facial color patterns of the studied species could be categorized into the following three types based on contrast indices relating to the gaze signal: A-type (both pupil position in the eye outline and eye position in the face are clear, B-type (only the eye position is clear, and C-type (both the pupil and eye position are unclear. A-type faces with light-colored irises were observed in most studied species of the wolf-like clade and some of the red fox-like clade. A-type faces tended to be observed in species living in family groups all year-round, whereas B-type faces tended to be seen in solo/pair-living species. The duration of gazing behavior during which the facial gaze-signal is displayed to the other individual was longest in gray wolves with typical A-type faces, of intermediate length in fennec foxes with typical B-type faces, and shortest in bush dogs with typical C-type faces. These results suggest that the facial color pattern of canid species is related to their gaze communication and that canids with A-type faces, especially gray wolves, use the gaze signal in conspecific communication.

Effects of feed forms on growth pattern, behavioural responses and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Effects of feed forms on growth pattern, behavioural responses and feacal microbial load ... load and behavioural activities (eating, drinking, physical pen interaction and ... Total organism counts varied significantly (p<0.05) with pigs on T1, T2, ...

Regular Topographic Patterning of Karst Depressions Suggests Landscape Self-Organization

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Quintero, C.; Cohen, M. J.

2017-12-01

Thousands of wetland depressions that are commonly host to cypress domes dot the sub-tropical limestone landscape of South Florida. The origin of these depression features has been the topic of debate. Here we build upon the work of previous surveyors of this landscape to analyze the morphology and spatial distribution of depressions on the Big Cypress landscape. We took advantage of the emergence and availability of high resolution Light Direction and Ranging (LiDAR) technology and ArcMap GIS software to analyze the structure and regularity of landscape features with methods unavailable to past surveyors. Six 2.25 km2 LiDAR plots within the preserve were selected for remote analysis and one depression feature within each plot was selected for more intensive sediment and water depth surveying. Depression features on the Big Cypress landscape were found to show strong evidence of regular spatial patterning. Periodicity, a feature of regularly patterned landscapes, is apparent in both Variograms and Radial Spectrum Analyses. Size class distributions of the identified features indicate constrained feature sizes while Average Nearest Neighbor analyses support the inference of dispersed features with non-random spacing. The presence of regular patterning on this landscape strongly implies biotic reinforcement of spatial structure by way of the scale dependent feedback. In characterizing the structure of this wetland landscape we add to the growing body of work dedicated to documenting how water, life and geology may interact to shape the natural landscapes we see today.

Detecting Aberrant Response Patterns in the Rasch Model. Rapport 87-3.

Science.gov (United States)

Kogut, Jan

In this paper, the detection of response patterns aberrant from the Rasch model is considered. For this purpose, a new person fit index, recently developed by I. W. Molenaar (1987) and an iterative estimation procedure are used in a simulation study of Rasch model data mixed with aberrant data. Three kinds of aberrant response behavior are…

European temperature responses to blocking and ridge regional patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Sousa, Pedro M.; Trigo, Ricardo M.; Barriopedro, David; Soares, Pedro M. M.; Santos, João A.

2018-01-01

Blocking occurrence and its impacts on European temperature have been studied in the last decade. However, most previous studies on blocking impacts have focused on winter only, disregarding its fingerprint in summer and differences with other synoptic patterns that also trigger temperature extremes. In this work, we provide a clear distinction between high-latitude blocking and sub-tropical ridges occurring in three sectors of the Euro-Atlantic region, describing their climatology and consequent impacts on European temperature during both winter and summer. Winter blocks (ridges) are generally associated to colder (warmer) than average conditions over large regions of Europe, in some areas with anomalies larger than 5 °C, particularly for the patterns occurring in the Atlantic and Central European sectors. During summer, there is a more regional response characterized by above average temperature for both blocking and ridge patterns, especially those occurring in continental areas, although negative temperature anomalies persist in southernmost areas during blocking. An objective analysis of the different forcing mechanisms associated to each considered weather regime has been performed, quantifying the importance of the following processes in causing the temperature anomalies: horizontal advection, vertical advection and diabatic heating. While during winter advection processes tend to be more relevant to explain temperature responses, in summer radiative heating under enhanced insolation plays a crucial role for both blocking and ridges. Finally, the changes in the distributions of seasonal temperature and in the frequencies of extreme temperature indices were also examined for specific areas of Europe. Winter blocking and ridge patterns are key drivers in the occurrence of regional cold and warm extreme temperatures, respectively. In summer, they are associated with substantial changes in the frequency of extremely warm days, but with different signatures in

Infants' brain responses to speech suggest analysis by synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhl, Patricia K; Ramírez, Rey R; Bosseler, Alexis; Lin, Jo-Fu Lotus; Imada, Toshiaki

2014-08-05

Historic theories of speech perception (Motor Theory and Analysis by Synthesis) invoked listeners' knowledge of speech production to explain speech perception. Neuroimaging data show that adult listeners activate motor brain areas during speech perception. In two experiments using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated motor brain activation, as well as auditory brain activation, during discrimination of native and nonnative syllables in infants at two ages that straddle the developmental transition from language-universal to language-specific speech perception. Adults are also tested in Exp. 1. MEG data revealed that 7-mo-old infants activate auditory (superior temporal) as well as motor brain areas (Broca's area, cerebellum) in response to speech, and equivalently for native and nonnative syllables. However, in 11- and 12-mo-old infants, native speech activates auditory brain areas to a greater degree than nonnative, whereas nonnative speech activates motor brain areas to a greater degree than native speech. This double dissociation in 11- to 12-mo-old infants matches the pattern of results obtained in adult listeners. Our infant data are consistent with Analysis by Synthesis: auditory analysis of speech is coupled with synthesis of the motor plans necessary to produce the speech signal. The findings have implications for: (i) perception-action theories of speech perception, (ii) the impact of "motherese" on early language learning, and (iii) the "social-gating" hypothesis and humans' development of social understanding.

Dryland responses to global change suggest the potential for rapid non-linear responses to some changes but resilience to others

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Reed, S.; Ferrenberg, S.; Tucker, C.; Rutherford, W. A.; Wertin, T. M.; McHugh, T. A.; Morrissey, E.; Kuske, C.; Belnap, J.

2017-12-01

Drylands represent our planet's largest terrestrial biome, making up over 35% of Earth's land surface. In the context of this vast areal extent, it is no surprise that recent research suggests dryland inter-annual variability and responses to change have the potential to drive biogeochemical cycles and climate at the global-scale. Further, the data we do have suggest drylands can respond rapidly and non-linearly to change. Nevertheless, our understanding of the cross-system consistency of and mechanisms behind dryland responses to a changed environment remains relatively poor. This poor understanding hinders not only our larger understanding of terrestrial ecosystem function, but also our capacity to forecast future global biogeochemical cycles and climate. Here we present data from a series of Colorado Plateau manipulation experiments - including climate, land use, and nitrogen deposition manipulations - to explore how vascular plants, microbial communities, and biological soil crusts (a community of mosses, lichens, and/or cyanobacteria living in the interspace among vascular plants in arid and semiarid ecosystems worldwide) respond to a host of environmental changes. These responses include not only assessments of community composition, but of their function as well. We will explore photosynthesis, net soil CO2 exchange, soil carbon stocks and chemistry, albedo, and nutrient cycling. The experiments were begun with independent questions and cover a range of environmental change drivers and scientific approaches, but together offer a relatively holistic picture of how some drylands can change their structure and function in response to change. In particular, the data show very high ecosystem vulnerability to particular drivers, but surprising resilience to others, suggesting a multi-faceted response of these diverse systems.

Priming of the Arabidopsis pattern-triggered immunity response upon infection by necrotrophic Pectobacterium carotovorum bacteria.

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Po-Wen, Chen; Singh, Prashant; Zimmerli, Laurent

2013-01-01

Boosted responsiveness of plant cells to stress at the onset of pathogen- or chemically induced resistance is called priming. The chemical β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) enhances Arabidopsis thaliana resistance to hemibiotrophic bacteria through the priming of the salicylic acid (SA) defence response. Whether BABA increases Arabidopsis resistance to the necrotrophic bacterium Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum (Pcc) is not clear. In this work, we show that treatment with BABA protects Arabidopsis against the soft-rot pathogen Pcc. BABA did not prime the expression of the jasmonate/ethylene-responsive gene PLANT DEFENSIN 1.2 (PDF1.2), the up-regulation of which is usually associated with resistance to necrotrophic pathogens. Expression of the SA marker gene PATHOGENESIS RELATED 1 (PR1) on Pcc infection was primed by BABA treatment, but SA-defective mutants demonstrated a wild-type level of BABA-induced resistance against Pcc. BABA primed the expression of the pattern-triggered immunity (PTI)-responsive genes FLG22-INDUCED RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE 1 (FRK1), ARABIDOPSIS NON-RACE SPECIFIC DISEASE RESISTANCE GENE (NDR1)/HAIRPIN-INDUCED GENE (HIN1)-LIKE 10 (NHL10) and CYTOCHROME P450, FAMILY 81 (CYP81F2) after inoculation with Pcc or after treatment with purified bacterial microbe-associated molecular patterns, such as flg22 or elf26. PTI-mediated callose deposition was also potentiated in BABA-treated Arabidopsis, and BABA boosted Arabidopsis stomatal immunity to Pcc. BABA treatment primed the PTI response in the SA-defective mutants SA induction deficient 2-1 (sid2-1) and phytoalexin deficient 4-1 (pad4-1). In addition, BABA priming was associated with open chromatin configurations in the promoter region of PTI marker genes. Our data indicate that BABA primes the PTI response upon necrotrophic bacterial infection and suggest a role for the PTI response in BABA-induced resistance. © 2012 THE AUTHORS. MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY © 2012 BSPP AND BLACKWELL PUBLISHING LTD.

Stressor-induced proteome alterations in zebrafish: A meta-analysis of response patterns

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Groh, Ksenia J., E-mail: ksenia.groh@eawag.ch [Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf (Switzerland); ETH Zürich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, 8093 Zürich (Switzerland); Suter, Marc J.-F. [Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf (Switzerland); ETH Zürich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Department of Environmental Systems Science, 8092 Zürich (Switzerland)

2015-02-15

. We suggest that the results of any differential proteomics experiment performed with zebrafish should be interpreted keeping in mind the list of the most frequent responders that we have identified. Similar reservations should apply to any other species where proteome responses are analyzed by global proteomics methods. Careful consideration of the reliability and significance of observed changes is necessary in order not to over-interpret the experimental results and to prevent the proliferation of false positive linkages between the chemical and the cellular functions it perturbs. We further discuss the implications of the identified “top lists” of frequently responding proteins and protein families, and suggest further directions for proteomics research in ecotoxicology. Apart from improving the proteome coverage, further research should focus on defining the significance of the observed stress response patterns for organism phenotypes and on searching for common upstream regulators that can be targeted by specific assays.

Stressor-induced proteome alterations in zebrafish: A meta-analysis of response patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groh, Ksenia J.; Suter, Marc J.-F.

2015-01-01

. We suggest that the results of any differential proteomics experiment performed with zebrafish should be interpreted keeping in mind the list of the most frequent responders that we have identified. Similar reservations should apply to any other species where proteome responses are analyzed by global proteomics methods. Careful consideration of the reliability and significance of observed changes is necessary in order not to over-interpret the experimental results and to prevent the proliferation of false positive linkages between the chemical and the cellular functions it perturbs. We further discuss the implications of the identified “top lists” of frequently responding proteins and protein families, and suggest further directions for proteomics research in ecotoxicology. Apart from improving the proteome coverage, further research should focus on defining the significance of the observed stress response patterns for organism phenotypes and on searching for common upstream regulators that can be targeted by specific assays

Demand response driven load pattern elasticity analysis for smart households

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paterakis, N.G.; Catalao, J.P.S.; Tascikaraoglu, A.; Bakirtzis, A.G.; Erdinc, O.

2015-01-01

The recent interest in smart grid vision enables several smart applications in different parts of the power grid structure, where specific importance should be given to the demand side. As a result, changes in load patterns due to demand response (DR) activities at end-user premises, such as smart

Dialysate White Blood Cell Change after Initial Antibiotic Treatment Represented the Patterns of Response in Peritoneal Dialysis-Related Peritonitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tantiyavarong, Pichaya; Traitanon, Opas; Chuengsaman, Piyatida; Patumanond, Jayanton; Tasanarong, Adis

2016-01-01

Background. Patients with peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis usually have different responses to initial antibiotic treatment. This study aimed to explore the patterns of response by using the changes of dialysate white blood cell count on the first five days of the initial antibiotic treatment. Materials and Methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted. All peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis episodes from January 2014 to December 2015 were reviewed. We categorized the patterns of antibiotic response into 3 groups: early response, delayed response, and failure group. The changes of dialysate white blood cell count for each pattern were determined by multilevel regression analysis. Results. There were 644 episodes in 455 patients: 378 (58.7%) of early response, 122 (18.9%) of delayed response, and 144 (22.3%) of failure episodes. The patterns of early, delayed, and failure groups were represented by the average rate reduction per day of dialysate WBC of 68.4%, 34.0%, and 14.2%, respectively (p value patterns, which were categorized by types of responses, have variable rates of WBC declining. Clinicians should focus on the delayed response and failure patterns in order to make a decision whether to continue medical therapies or to aggressively remove the peritoneal catheter.

MRI patterns in prolonged low response states following traumatic brain injury in children and adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick, Peter D; Mabry, Jennifer L; Gurka, Matthew J; Buck, Marcia L; Boatwright, Evelyn; Blackman, James A

2007-01-01

To explore the relationship between location and pattern of brain injury identified on MRI and prolonged low response state in children post-traumatic brain injury (TBI). This observational study compared 15 children who spontaneously recovered within 30 days post-TBI to 17 who remained in a prolonged low response state. 92.9% of children with brain stem injury were in the low response group. The predicted probability was 0.81 for brain stem injury alone, increasing to 0.95 with a regional pattern of injury to the brain stem, basal ganglia, and thalamus. Low response state in children post-TBI is strongly correlated with two distinctive regions of injury: the brain stem alone, and an injury pattern to the brain stem, basal ganglia, and thalamus. This study demonstrates the need for large-scale clinical studies using MRI as a tool for outcome assessment in children and adolescents following severe TBI.

Cyclic lipopeptides from Bacillus subtilis activate distinct patterns of defence responses in grapevine.

Science.gov (United States)

Farace, Giovanni; Fernandez, Olivier; Jacquens, Lucile; Coutte, François; Krier, François; Jacques, Philippe; Clément, Christophe; Barka, Essaid Ait; Jacquard, Cédric; Dorey, Stéphan

2015-02-01

Non-self-recognition of microorganisms partly relies on the perception of microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) and leads to the activation of an innate immune response. Bacillus subtilis produces three main families of cyclic lipopeptides (LPs), namely surfactins, iturins and fengycins. Although LPs are involved in induced systemic resistance (ISR) activation, little is known about defence responses induced by these molecules and their involvement in local resistance to fungi. Here, we showed that purified surfactin, mycosubtilin (iturin family) and plipastatin (fengycin family) are perceived by grapevine plant cells. Although surfactin and mycosubtilin stimulated grapevine innate immune responses, they differentially activated early signalling pathways and defence gene expression. By contrast, plipastatin perception by grapevine cells only resulted in early signalling activation. Gene expression analysis suggested that mycosubtilin activated salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) signalling pathways, whereas surfactin mainly induced an SA-regulated response. Although mycosubtilin and plipastatin displayed direct antifungal activity, only surfactin and mycosubtilin treatments resulted in a local long-lasting enhanced tolerance to the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea in grapevine leaves. Moreover, challenge with specific strains overproducing surfactin and mycosubtilin led to a slightly enhanced stimulation of the defence response compared with the LP-non-producing strain of B. subtilis. Altogether, our results provide the first comprehensive view of the involvement of LPs from B. subtilis in grapevine plant defence and local resistance against the necrotrophic pathogen Bo. cinerea. Moreover, this work is the first to highlight the ability of mycosubtilin to trigger an immune response in plants. © 2014 BSPP AND JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD.

AUDITORY NUCLEI: DISTINCTIVE RESPONSE PATTERNS TO WHITE NOISE AND TONES IN UNANESTHETIZED CATS.

Science.gov (United States)

GALIN, D

1964-10-09

Electrical responses to "white" noise and tonal stimuli were recorded from unanesthetized cats with permanently implanted bipolar electrodes. The cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus, and medial geniculate each showed distinctive patterns of evoked activity. White noise and tones produced qualitatively different types of response. A decrease in activity characterized the response of the inferior colliculus to tonal stimuli.

Complex patterns of response to oral hygiene instructions: longitudinal evaluation of periodontal patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Amoo-Achampong, Felice; Vitunac, David E; Deeley, Kathleen; Modesto, Adriana; Vieira, Alexandre R

2018-05-02

Oral hygiene instruction is an intervention widely practiced but increased knowledge about oral health does not necessarily dramatically impact oral disease prevalence in populations. We aimed to measure plaque and bleeding in periodontal patients over time to determine patterns of patient response to oral hygiene instructions. Longitudinal plaque and bleeding index data were evaluated in 227 periodontal patients to determine the impact of oral hygiene instructions. Over multiple visits, we determined relative plaque accumulation and gingival bleeding for each patient. Subsequently, we grouped them in three types of oral hygiene status in response to initial instructions, using the longitudinal data over the period they were treated and followed for their periodontal needs. These patterns of oral hygiene based on the plaque and gingival bleeding indexes were evaluated based on age, sex, ethnic background, interleukin 1 alpha and beta genotypes, diabetes status, smoking habits, and other concomitant diseases. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to determine if any differences between these variables were statistically significant with alpha set at 0.05. Three patterns in response to oral hygiene instructions emerged. Plaque and gingival bleeding indexes improved, worsened, or fluctuated over time in the periodontal patients studied. Out of all the confounders considered, only ethnic background showed statistically significant differences. White individuals more often than other ethnic groups fluctuated in regards to oral hygiene quality after instructions. There are different responses to professional oral hygiene instructions. These responses may be related to ethnicity.

Response pattern's of immunoglobulins evaluation in different lineages of mice infected with T. cruzi

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Andreia dos Santos

2006-01-01

The present work has employed different mice lineages (A/J, C57BL/6, B6AF1, BXA1 and BXA2) that were challenged with different doses of T. cruzi. The objective was to evaluate the pattern of immunoglobulins response presented by resistant and susceptible mice to T. cruzi as well as the lineages developed from the matting between them. So that evaluation was done by using lineages serums' sample, analyzed by ELISA's method. In agreement with the results observed all the lineages presented higher response to IgG2a and IgG2b, if compared with the titles to IgG1. IgG1 immunoglobulins involve a type Th2 pattern response which expressed allergic immunological responses, while IgG2 involves a pattern response Th1 that expresses cellular immunological response. The different lineages used in this research also presented different immunological response pattern by the infection with T. cruzi. Mice of the lineage C57BL/6 are resistant to the infection, while the animals of the lineage A/J are susceptible. The animals of the lineage B6AF1 are more resistant to the infection than their original parental C57BL/6. The immunological response developed by hybrid mice present traces of both susceptible and resistant parental A/J and C57BL/6, respectively. The animals of the lineage BXA1 can be considered resistant to the infection, but they don't present the same control as that presented by those of the lineages B6AF1 and C57BL/6. The animals of the lineage BXA2 can be considered susceptible to the infection, but they can control it for a long period, surviving like this, longer than the animals of the lineage A/J. In addition it was observed that the IgG2b immunoglobulins are very important to the resistance of mice to T. cruzi infection. (author)

Genome-wide analysis of ABA-responsive elements ABRE and CE3 reveals divergent patterns in Arabidopsis and rice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riaño-Pachón Diego

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In plants, complex regulatory mechanisms are at the core of physiological and developmental processes. The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA is involved in the regulation of various such processes, including stomatal closure, seed and bud dormancy, and physiological responses to cold, drought and salinity stress. The underlying tissue or plant-wide control circuits often include combinatorial gene regulatory mechanisms and networks that we are only beginning to unravel with the help of new molecular tools. The increasing availability of genomic sequences and gene expression data enables us to dissect ABA regulatory mechanisms at the individual gene expression level. In this paper we used an in-silico-based approach directed towards genome-wide prediction and identification of specific features of ABA-responsive elements. In particular we analysed the genome-wide occurrence and positional arrangements of two well-described ABA-responsive cis-regulatory elements (CREs, ABRE and CE3, in thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa. Results Our results show that Arabidopsis and rice use the ABA-responsive elements ABRE and CE3 distinctively. Earlier reports for various monocots have identified CE3 as a coupling element (CE associated with ABRE. Surprisingly, we found that while ABRE is equally abundant in both species, CE3 is practically absent in Arabidopsis. ABRE-ABRE pairs are common in both genomes, suggesting that these can form functional ABA-responsive complexes (ABRCs in Arabidopsis and rice. Furthermore, we detected distinct combinations, orientation patterns and DNA strand preferences of ABRE and CE3 motifs in rice gene promoters. Conclusion Our computational analyses revealed distinct recruitment patterns of ABA-responsive CREs in upstream sequences of Arabidopsis and rice. The apparent absence of CE3s in Arabidopsis suggests that another CE pairs with ABRE to establish a functional ABRC capable of

Genome-wide analysis of ABA-responsive elements ABRE and CE3 reveals divergent patterns in Arabidopsis and rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Porras, Judith L; Riaño-Pachón, Diego Mauricio; Dreyer, Ingo; Mayer, Jorge E; Mueller-Roeber, Bernd

2007-08-01

In plants, complex regulatory mechanisms are at the core of physiological and developmental processes. The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) is involved in the regulation of various such processes, including stomatal closure, seed and bud dormancy, and physiological responses to cold, drought and salinity stress. The underlying tissue or plant-wide control circuits often include combinatorial gene regulatory mechanisms and networks that we are only beginning to unravel with the help of new molecular tools. The increasing availability of genomic sequences and gene expression data enables us to dissect ABA regulatory mechanisms at the individual gene expression level. In this paper we used an in-silico-based approach directed towards genome-wide prediction and identification of specific features of ABA-responsive elements. In particular we analysed the genome-wide occurrence and positional arrangements of two well-described ABA-responsive cis-regulatory elements (CREs), ABRE and CE3, in thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa). Our results show that Arabidopsis and rice use the ABA-responsive elements ABRE and CE3 distinctively. Earlier reports for various monocots have identified CE3 as a coupling element (CE) associated with ABRE. Surprisingly, we found that while ABRE is equally abundant in both species, CE3 is practically absent in Arabidopsis. ABRE-ABRE pairs are common in both genomes, suggesting that these can form functional ABA-responsive complexes (ABRCs) in Arabidopsis and rice. Furthermore, we detected distinct combinations, orientation patterns and DNA strand preferences of ABRE and CE3 motifs in rice gene promoters. Our computational analyses revealed distinct recruitment patterns of ABA-responsive CREs in upstream sequences of Arabidopsis and rice. The apparent absence of CE3s in Arabidopsis suggests that another CE pairs with ABRE to establish a functional ABRC capable of interacting with transcription factors. Further studies will be

Surface pH changes suggest a role for H+/OH- channels in salinity response of Chara australis.

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Absolonova, Marketa; Beilby, Mary J; Sommer, Aniela; Hoepflinger, Marion C; Foissner, Ilse

2018-05-01

To understand salt stress, the full impact of salinity on plant cell physiology has to be resolved. Electrical measurements suggest that salinity inhibits the proton pump and opens putative H + /OH - channels all over the cell surface of salt sensitive Chara australis (Beilby and Al Khazaaly 2009; Al Khazaaly and Beilby 2012). The channels open transiently at first, causing a characteristic noise in membrane potential difference (PD), and after longer exposure remain open with a typical current-voltage (I/V) profile, both abolished by the addition of 1 mM ZnCl 2 , the main known blocker of animal H + channels. The cells were imaged with confocal microscopy, using fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) coupled to dextran 70 to illuminate the pH changes outside the cell wall in artificial fresh water (AFW) and in saline medium. In the early saline exposure, we observed alkaline patches (bright fluorescent spots) appearing transiently in random spatial distribution. After longer exposure, some of the spots became fixed in space. Saline also abolished or diminished the pH banding pattern observed in the untreated control cells. ZnCl 2 suppressed the alkaline spot formation in saline and the pH banding pattern in AFW. The osmotic component of the saline stress did not produce transient bright spots or affect banding. The displacement of H + from the cell wall charges, the H + /OH - channel conductance/density, and self-organization are discussed. No homologies to animal H + channels were found. Salinity activation of the H + /OH - channels might contribute to saline response in roots of land plants and leaves of aquatic angiosperms.

Hypnosis, suggestion, and suggestibility: an integrative model.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Steven Jay; Laurence, Jean-Roch; Kirsch, Irving

2015-01-01

This article elucidates an integrative model of hypnosis that integrates social, cultural, cognitive, and neurophysiological variables at play both in and out of hypnosis and considers their dynamic interaction as determinants of the multifaceted experience of hypnosis. The roles of these variables are examined in the induction and suggestion stages of hypnosis, including how they are related to the experience of involuntariness, one of the hallmarks of hypnosis. It is suggested that studies of the modification of hypnotic suggestibility; cognitive flexibility; response sets and expectancies; the default-mode network; and the search for the neurophysiological correlates of hypnosis, more broadly, in conjunction with research on social psychological variables, hold much promise to further understanding of hypnosis.

Selective insectivory at Toro-Semliki, Uganda: comparative analyses suggest no 'savanna' chimpanzee pattern.

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Webster, Timothy H; McGrew, William C; Marchant, Linda F; Payne, Charlotte L R; Hunt, Kevin D

2014-06-01

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) insectivory across Africa is ubiquitous. Insects provide a significant nutritional payoff and may be important for chimpanzees in dry, open habitats with narrow diets. We tested this hypothesis at Semliki, Uganda, a long-term dry study site. We evaluated prospects for insectivory by measuring insect abundance along de novo transects and trails, monitoring social insect colonies, and surveying available raw materials for elementary technology. We determined the frequency and nature of insectivory through behavioral observation and fecal analysis. We then compared our results with those from 15 other long-term chimpanzee study sites using a cluster analysis. We found that Semliki chimpanzees are one of the most insectivorous populations studied to date in terms of frequency of consumption, but they are very selective in their insectivory, regularly consuming only weaver ants (Oecophylla longinoda) and honey and bees from hives of Apis mellifera. This selectivity obtains despite having a full range of typical prey species available in harvestable quantities. We suggest that Semliki chimpanzees may face ecological time constraints and therefore bias their predation toward prey taxa that can be quickly consumed. Geographical proximity correlated with the results of the cluster analysis, while rainfall, a relatively gross measure of environment, did not. Because broad taxonomic groups of insects were used in analyses, prey availability was unlikely to have a strong effect on this pattern. Instead, we suggest that transmission of cultural knowledge may play a role in determining chimpanzee prey selection across Africa. Further study is needed to test these hypotheses. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soil Landscape Pattern Changes in Response to Rural Anthropogenic Activity across Tiaoxi Watershed, China

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Xiao, Rui; Jiang, Diwei; Christakos, George; Fei, Xufeng; Wu, Jiaping

2016-01-01

Soil sealing (loss of soil resources due to extensive land covering for the purpose of house building, road construction etc.) and subsequent soil landscape pattern changes constitute typical environmental problems in many places worldwide. Previous studies concentrated on soil sealing in urbanized regions, whereas rural areas have not been given sufficient attention. Accordingly, this paper studies soil landscape pattern dynamics (i.e., landscape pattern changes in response to rural anthropogenic activities) in the Tiaoxi watershed (Zhejiang province, eastern China), in which surface sealing is by far the predominant component of human forcing with respect to environmental change. A novel approach of quantifying the impacts of rural anthropogenic activities on soil resources is presented. Specifically, quantitative relationships were derived between five soil landscape pattern metrics (patch density, edge density, shape index, Shannon’s diversity index and aggregation index) and three rural anthropogenic activity indicators (anthropogenic activity intensity, distance to towns, and distance to roads) at two landscape block scales (3 and 5 km) between 1985 and 2010. The results showed that the Tiaoxi watershed experienced extensive rural settlement expansion and high rates of soil sealing. Soil landscapes became more fragmented, more irregular, more isolated, and less diverse. Relationships between soil landscape pattern changes and rural anthropogenic activities differed with the scale (spatial and temporal) and variable considered. In particular, the anthropogenic activity intensity was found to be the most important indicator explaining social development intensity, whereas the other two proximity indicators had a significant impact at certain temporal interval. In combination with scale effects, spatial dependency (correlation) was shown to play a key role that should be carefully taken into consideration in any relevant environmental study. Overall, the

Organization patterns responsibilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beuerle, H.J.

1975-01-01

To guarantee safety and safe operation of a nuclear power station the technical facilities must be supplemented by suitable administrative measures. Thus, the organization pattern of the nuclear power station or of the nuclear power station undertaking will also exert a corresponding influence. (orig./TK) [de

Pattern of neural responses to verbal fluency shows diagnostic specificity for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walshe Muriel

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Impairments in executive function and language processing are characteristic of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Their functional neuroanatomy demonstrate features that are shared as well as specific to each disorder. Determining the distinct pattern of neural responses in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may provide biomarkers for their diagnoses. Methods 104 participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI scans while performing a phonological verbal fluency task. Subjects were 32 patients with schizophrenia in remission, 32 patients with bipolar disorder in an euthymic state, and 40 healthy volunteers. Neural responses to verbal fluency were examined in each group, and the diagnostic potential of the pattern of the neural responses was assessed with machine learning analysis. Results During the verbal fluency task, both patient groups showed increased activation in the anterior cingulate, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right putamen as compared to healthy controls, as well as reduced deactivation of precuneus and posterior cingulate. The magnitude of activation was greatest in patients with schizophrenia, followed by patients with bipolar disorder and then healthy individuals. Additional recruitment in the right inferior frontal and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortices was observed in schizophrenia relative to both bipolar disorder and healthy subjects. The pattern of neural responses correctly identified individual patients with schizophrenia with an accuracy of 92%, and those with bipolar disorder with an accuracy of 79% in which mis-classification was typically of bipolar subjects as healthy controls. Conclusions In summary, both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are associated with altered function in prefrontal, striatal and default mode networks, but the magnitude of this dysfunction is particularly marked in schizophrenia. The pattern of response to verbal fluency is highly

Development of infant mismatch responses to auditory pattern changes between 2 and 4 months old.

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He, Chao; Hotson, Lisa; Trainor, Laurel J

2009-02-01

In order to process speech and music, the auditory cortex must learn to process patterns of sounds. Our previous studies showed that with a stream consisting of a repeating (standard) sound, younger infants show an increase in the amplitude of a positive slow wave in response to occasional changes (deviants) in pitch or duration, whereas older infants show a faster negative response that resembles mismatch negativity (MMN) in adults (Trainor et al., 2001, 2003; He et al., 2007). MMN reflects an automatic change-detection process that does not require attention, conscious awareness or behavioural response for its elicitation (Picton et al., 2000; Näätänen et al., 2007). It is an important tool for understanding auditory perception because MMN reflects a change-detection mechanism, and not simply that repetition of a stimulus results in a refractory state of sensory neural circuits while occasional changes to a new sound activate new non-refractory neural circuits (Näätänen et al., 2005). For example, MMN is elicited by a change in the pattern of a repeating note sequence, even when no new notes are introduced that could activate new sensory circuits (Alain et al., 1994, 1999;Schröger et al., 1996). In the present study, we show that in response to a change in the pattern of two repeating tones, MMN in 4-month-olds remains robust whereas the 2-month-old response does not. This indicates that the MMN response to a change in pattern at 4 months reflects the activation of a change-detection mechanism similarly as in adults.

Vocal responses of austral forest frogs to amplitude and degradation patterns of advertisement calls.

Science.gov (United States)

Penna, Mario; Moreno-Gómez, Felipe N; Muñoz, Matías I; Cisternas, Javiera

2017-07-01

Degradation phenomena affecting animal acoustic signals may provide cues to assess the distance of emitters. Recognition of degraded signals has been extensively demonstrated in birds, and recently studies have also reported detection of degraded patterns in anurans that call at or above ground level. In the current study we explore the vocal responses of the syntopic burrowing male frogs Eupsophus emiliopugini and E. calcaratus from the South American temperate forest to synthetic conspecific calls differing in amplitude and emulating degraded and non-degraded signal patterns. The results show a strong dependence of vocal responses on signal amplitude, and a general lack of differential responses to signals with different pulse amplitude modulation depths in E. emiliopugini and no effect of relative amplitude of harmonics in E. calcaratus. Such limited discrimination of signal degradation patterns from non-degraded signals is likely related to the burrowing habits of these species. Shelters amplify outgoing and incoming conspecific vocalizations, but do not counteract signal degradation to an extent comparable to calling strategies used by other frogs. The limited detection abilities and resultant response permissiveness to degraded calls in these syntopic burrowing species would be advantageous for animals communicating in circumstances in which signal alteration prevails. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adults usually believe young children: the influence of eliciting questions and suggestibility presentations on perceptions of children's disclosures.

Science.gov (United States)

Laimon, Rachel L; Poole, Debra A

2008-12-01

Do people realize the danger of asking misinformed children yes-no questions? Study 1 confirmed that disclosures children made during free recall in an earlier suggestibility study were more accurate than disclosures following "yes" responses to yes-no questions, which in turn were more accurate than disclosures following "no" responses. In Studies 2 and 3, college students watched interviews of children and judged the veracity of these three disclosure patterns. Participants generally believed false reports representing the first two patterns, although watching expert testimony that included a videotaped example of a false report reduced trust in prompted disclosures. Results document the need to inform forensic decision-makers about the circumstances associated with erroneous responses to yes-no questions.

Psychological and hormonal stress response patterns during a blood donation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoogerwerf, M D; Veldhuizen, I J T; Merz, E-M; de Kort, W L A M; Frings-Dresen, M H W; Sluiter, J K

2017-11-01

Donating blood has been associated with increased stress responses, with scarce evidence indicating that levels of psychological and hormonal stress are higher pre-donation than post-donation. We investigated whether a blood donation induces psychological and/or hormonal stress during the course of a blood donation, and whether responses differed between men and women, first-time and experienced donors and donors with high or low non-acute stress. In 363 donors, psychological (donation-stress and arousal) and hormonal (cortisol) stress were measured by questionnaire and salivary sample at seven key moments during a routine donation. Non-acute stress was assessed by a questionnaire. Repeated measurement analyses were performed, using the last measurement (leaving the donation center) as reference value. Levels of donation-stress, arousal and cortisol were significantly higher during donation than when leaving the donation center. When compared with men, women reported higher levels of donation-stress and cortisol in the first part of the visit. When compared with first-time donors, experienced donors reported lower levels of donation-stress during the first part of the visit, and higher levels of arousal but less reactivity throughout the visit. When compared to donors high on non-acute stress, donors low on non-acute stress reported lower levels of donation-stress during the first part of the visit, and showed less cortisol reactivity throughout the visit. Donating blood influences psychological and hormonal stress response patterns. The response patterns differ between women and men, first-time and experienced donors and between donors high and low on non-acute stress. © 2017 International Society of Blood Transfusion.

Understanding response patterns in dyadic conflict: An interactive approach combining self-construal and opponent's dominance-submissiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Au, Al K C; Lam, Shui-Fong

2017-04-01

Previous works on the effect of self-construal in interpersonal behaviours tend to adopt a main effect approach. The present research proposes an interactive approach in understanding two response patterns in dyadic conflict by combining self-construal and the stance of the opponent. Independent self-construal was hypothesised to be associated with a self-centred pattern of conflict response, which is characterised by taking contending responses regardless of whether the stance of the opponent is dominant or submissive. Relational self-construal was hypothesised to be associated with a tuning-in pattern of conflict response, which is characterised by showing contending responses when the opponent is submissive but yielding responses when the opponent is dominant. With trait self-construal measured and opponent's stance manipulated, Study 1 provided initial support for the hypotheses. Study 2 showed a three-way interaction effect between trait self-construal, manipulated self-construal and the opponent's stance on actual conflict responses during discussion of a scenario. The effect of self-construal manipulation was only observed among people who were low in trait independent self-construal and average in trait relational self-construal. The results pinpoint the importance of considering personal and opponent factors simultaneously in understanding the dynamics of dyadic conflict processes. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Transcriptional Responses of Chilean Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Under Water Deficit Conditions Uncovers ABA-Independent Expression Patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, Andrea; Zurita-Silva, Andres; Maldonado, Jonathan; Silva, Herman

2017-01-01

HIGHLIGHTS R49 genotype displayed best performance on selected physiological parameters and highest tolerance to drought.R49 drought over-represented transcripts has exhibited 19% of genes (306 contigs) that presented no homology to published databases.Expression pattern for canonical responses to drought such as ABA biosynthesis and other genes induced in response to drought were assessed by qPCR. Global freshwater shortage is one of the biggest challenges of our time, often associated to misuse, increased consumption demands and the effects of climate change, paralleled with the desertification of vast areas. Chenopodium quinoa (Willd.) represents a very promising species, due to both nutritional content and cultivation under water constraint. We characterized drought tolerance of three Chilean genotypes and selected Genotype R49 (Salares ecotype) based upon Relative Water Content (RWC), Electrolyte Leakage (EL) and maximum efficiency of photosystem II (F v /F m ) after drought treatment, when compared to another two genotypes. Exploratory RNA-Seq of R49 was generated by Illumina paired-ends method comparing drought and control irrigation conditions. We obtained 104.8 million reads, with 54 million reads for control condition and 51 million reads for drought condition. Reads were assembled in 150,952 contigs, were 31,523 contigs have a reading frame of at least 300 nucleotides (100 aminoacids). BLAST2GO annotation showed a 15% of genes without homology to NCBI proteins, but increased to 19% (306 contigs) when focused into drought-induced genes. Expression pattern for canonical drought responses such as ABA biosynthesis and other genes induced were assessed by qPCR, suggesting novelty of R49 drought responses.

AFLP genome scans suggest divergent selection on colour patterning in allopatric colour morphs of a cichlid fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattersdorfer, Karin; Koblmüller, Stephan; Sefc, Kristina M

2012-07-01

Genome scan-based tests for selection are directly applicable to natural populations to study the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms behind phenotypic differentiation. We conducted AFLP genome scans in three distinct geographic colour morphs of the cichlid fish Tropheus moorii to assess whether the extant, allopatric colour pattern differentiation can be explained by drift and to identify markers mapping to genomic regions possibly involved in colour patterning. The tested morphs occupy adjacent shore sections in southern Lake Tanganyika and are separated from each other by major habitat barriers. The genome scans revealed significant genetic structure between morphs, but a very low proportion of loci fixed for alternative AFLP alleles in different morphs. This high level of polymorphism within morphs suggested that colour pattern differentiation did not result exclusively from neutral processes. Outlier detection methods identified six loci with excess differentiation in the comparison between a bluish and a yellow-blotch morph and five different outlier loci in comparisons of each of these morphs with a red morph. As population expansions and the genetic structure of Tropheus make the outlier approach prone to false-positive signals of selection, we examined the correlation between outlier locus alleles and colour phenotypes in a genetic and phenotypic cline between two morphs. Distributions of allele frequencies at one outlier locus were indeed consistent with linkage to a colour locus. Despite the challenges posed by population structure and demography, our results encourage the cautious application of genome scans to studies of divergent selection in subdivided and recently expanded populations. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

EXAMINATION OF THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE SYSTEM IN KOREA AND SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO TRANSPORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sei-Chang OH, Ph.D.

2004-01-01

This research focuses on the examination of current emergency medical response system related to the transport of emergency vehicles and suggests some transport-related ideas to improve the system in Korea. The study aimed to investigate the present emergency medical response system and identify problems, questionnaire survey and literature review were carried. The ideas include the improvement of emergency information flow and the development of preferential treatment methods for emergency vehicles. To improve the emergency information flow, this research studied the bridge between emergency medical information center and traffic information center and proposed the efficient utilization of traffic information for the better treatment of an emergency. When it comes to the movement of emergency vehicles, various preferential treatment methods were suggested.

Spatial and temporal patterns of floral scent emission in Dianthus inoxianus and electroantennographic responses of its hawkmoth pollinator.

Science.gov (United States)

Balao, Francisco; Herrera, Javier; Talavera, Salvador; Dötterl, Stefan

2011-05-01

Scent emission is important in nocturnal pollination systems, and plant species pollinated by nocturnal insects often present characteristic odor compositions and temporal patterns of emission. We investigated the temporal (day/night; flower lifetime) and spatial (different flower parts, nectar) pattern of flower scent emission in nocturnally pollinated Dianthusinoxianus, and determined which compounds elicit physiological responses on the antennae of the sphingid pollinator Hyles livornica. The scent of D.inoxianus comprises 68 volatile compounds, but is dominated by aliphatic 2-ketones and sesquiterpenoids, which altogether make up 82% of collected volatiles. Several major and minor compounds elicit electrophysiological responses in the antennae of H. livornica. Total odor emission does not vary along day and night hours, and neither does along the life of the flower. However, the proportion of compounds eliciting physiological responses varies between day and night. All flower parts as well as nectar release volatiles. The scent of isolated flower parts is dominated by fatty acid derivatives, whereas nectar is dominated by benzenoids. Dissection (= damage) of flowers induced a ca. 20-fold increase in the rate of emission of EAD-active volatiles, especially aliphatic 2-ketones. We suggest that aliphatic 2-ketones might contribute to pollinator attraction in D. inoxianus, even though they have been attributed an insect repellent function in other plant species. We also hypothesize that the benzenoids in nectar may act as an honest signal ('nectar guide') for pollinators. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Salivary alpha amylase diurnal pattern and stress response are associated with body mass index in low-income preschool-aged children.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Alison L; Sturza, Julie; Rosenblum, Katherine; Vazquez, Delia M; Kaciroti, Niko; Lumeng, Julie C

2015-03-01

Physiological stress responses are proposed as a pathway through which stress can "get under the skin" and lead to health problems, specifically obesity. We tested associations of salivary alpha amylase (sAA) diurnal patterns and stress responses with body mass index (BMI) in young, low-income children (51% male; 54% non-Hispanic white). Diurnal saliva samples were collected three times per day across three days for 269 children (M age 50.8 months, SD 6.3). Individual sAA intercept and slope values were calculated using random effect models to represent morning sAA levels and rate of sAA change across the day. A subset of children (n=195; M age 56.6 months, SD 6.9) participated in a lab-based behavioral stress protocol. Area under the curve increase (AUCI) across four timepoints was calculated to represent increase in sAA output during stress elicitation. Children were weighed and height measured and BMI z-score was calculated. Linear regression was used to evaluate associations of sAA intercept, sAA slope, and sAA AUCI with BMI z-score, controlling for child age, sex, and race/ethnicity; maternal weight status; and family income-to-needs ratio. Diurnal and stress-response sAA patterns were related to child adiposity: for each 1-standard deviation unit (SDU) decrease in morning sAA level, the child's BMI z-score increased by 0.11 (SE 0.05) SDU's (pstress elicitation, the child's BMI z-score increased by 0.14 (SE 0.06) SDU's (pstress responses and atypical diurnal patterns of sAA have been found following exposure to chronic life stressors such as poverty. Findings suggest that associations of stress, sAA, and elevated body mass index may develop very early in the lifespan. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Utilizing the response patterns of a temperature modulated chemoresistive gas sensor for gas diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amini, Amir; Ghafarinia, Vahid

2011-01-01

The observed features in the temporal response patterns of a temperature-modulated chemoresistive gas sensor were used for gas diagnosis. The patterns were recorded for clean air and air contaminated with different levels of some volatile organic compounds while a staircase heating voltage waveform had been applied to the microheater of a tin oxide gas sensor that modulated its operating temperature. Combining the steady-state and transient parameters of the recorded responses in the 50-400 deg. C range resulted in discriminatory feature vectors which were utilized for contaminant classification. The information content of these feature vectors was proved sufficient for discrimination of methanol, ethanol, 1-butanol, and acetone contaminations in a wide concentration range.

Utilizing the response patterns of a temperature modulated chemoresistive gas sensor for gas diagnosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amini, Amir [Jannatabad College, Sama Organization, Islamic Azad University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ghafarinia, Vahid, E-mail: amir.amini.elec@gmail.com, E-mail: ghafarinia@ee.kntu.ac.ir [Electrical Engineering Department, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2011-02-15

The observed features in the temporal response patterns of a temperature-modulated chemoresistive gas sensor were used for gas diagnosis. The patterns were recorded for clean air and air contaminated with different levels of some volatile organic compounds while a staircase heating voltage waveform had been applied to the microheater of a tin oxide gas sensor that modulated its operating temperature. Combining the steady-state and transient parameters of the recorded responses in the 50-400 deg. C range resulted in discriminatory feature vectors which were utilized for contaminant classification. The information content of these feature vectors was proved sufficient for discrimination of methanol, ethanol, 1-butanol, and acetone contaminations in a wide concentration range.

Patterns of cross-sensitivity in the responses of clonal subpopulations isolated from the RIF-1 mouse sarcoma to selected nitrosoureas and nitrogen mustards.

Science.gov (United States)

Reeve, J. G.; Wright, K. A.; Workman, P.

1984-01-01

The response of clonal subpopulations isolated from the RIF-1 mouse sarcoma to melphalan treatment is independent of cell ploidy, whereas a clear relationship exists between ploidy and cell sensitivity to CCNU treatment. In the present study RIF-1 clones have been exposed to nitrogen mustard, aniline mustard and chlorambucil, and to nitrosoureas BCNU, MeCCNU and chlorozotocin, in order to evaluate whether or not the different physiochemical and biological activities of these agents would affect the patterns of drug sensitivity obtained for melphalan and CCNU. Irrespective of the different lipophilicities, transport properties and chemical reactivities of the nitrogen mustards, RIF-1 clones showed the same pattern of sensitivity as previously observed for melphalan. Similarly, RIF-1 clones when exposed to nitrosoureas BCNU, MeCCNU and chlorozotocin, showed the same pattern of sensitivity as that obtained for CCNU exposure. These data suggest (a) that the variation in the sensitivity of RIF-1 clones to treatment by the nitrogen mustards is unlikely to reflect differences in either membrane permeability or in drug transport and (b) that the ploidy dependent nitrosourea responses shown by RIF-1 clones similarly do not reflect differences in drug uptake. PMID:6466534

Presence of Tube isoforms in Litopenaeus vannamei suggests various regulatory patterns of signal transduction in invertebrate NF-κB pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chaozheng; Chen, Yixiao; Weng, Shaoping; Li, Sedong; Zuo, Hongliang; Yu, Xiaoqiang; Li, Haoyang; He, Jianguo; Xu, Xiaopeng

2014-02-01

The toll-like receptor (TLR)/NF-κB signaling pathways play critical roles in the innate immune system. The intracellular signal transduction of most TLR pathways in invertebrate cells is triggered by formation of a heterotrimeric complex composed of MyD88, Tube and Pelle. In this study, we identified a Litopenaeus vannamei Pelle (LvPelle) and an isoform of L. vannamei Tube (LvTube) designated as LvTube-1. The interactions among LvPelle, LvTube/LvTube-1 and LvMyD88/LvMyD88-1 were elucidated and their functions during pathogen infections were investigated. Knockdowns of LvPelle and LvTube/LvTube-1 using RNAi strategy led to higher mortalities of shrimps during Vibrio parahemolyticus infection, and could reduce the genome copy number of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in the infected muscle tissue but did not affect the mortality caused by WSSV infection. The effects of LvPelle and LvTube/LvTube-1 on promoters containing NF-κB binding motifs were analyzed by dual-luciferase reporter assays and the results demonstrated that LvTube-1 could activate the NF-κB activity to significantly higher level than LvTube did. Moreover, tissue distributions of LvTube and LvTube-1 mRNAs and their expression profiles during pathogen and immune stimulant challenges were different, indicating that they could play different roles in immune responses. This is the first report of Tube isoforms in invertebrates. Together with our previous study on LvMyD88 isoforms, our results suggest that various isoforms of adaptor components may be involved in various regulatory patterns of signal transduction in invertebrate TLR/NF-κB pathway and this could be a strategy adopted by invertebrates to modulate immune responses. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hemoparasites in a wild primate: Infection patterns suggest interaction of Plasmodium and Babesia in a lemur species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Springer

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Hemoparasites can cause serious morbidity in humans and animals and often involve wildlife reservoirs. Understanding patterns of hemoparasite infections in natural populations can therefore inform about emerging disease risks, especially in the light of climate change and human disruption of natural ecosystems. We investigated the effects of host age, sex, host group size and season on infection patterns of Plasmodium sp., Babesia sp. and filarial nematodes in a population of wild Malagasy primates, Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi, as well as the effects of these infections on hematological variables. We tested 45 blood samples from 36 individuals and identified two species of Plasmodium, one species of Babesia and two species of filarial nematodes. Plasmodium spp. and Babesia sp. infections showed opposite patterns of age-dependency, with babesiosis being prevalent among young animals, while older animals were infected with Plasmodium sp. In addition, Babesia sp. infection was a statistically significant negative predictor of Plasmodium sp. infection. These results suggest that Plasmodium and Babesia parasites may interact within the host, either through cross-immunity or via resource competition, so that Plasmodium infections can only establish after babesiosis has resolved. We found no effects of host sex, host group size and season on hemoparasite infections. Infections showed high prevalences and did not influence hematological variables. This preliminary evidence supports the impression that the hosts and parasites considered in this study appear to be well-adapted to each other, resulting in persistent infections with low pathogenic and probably low zoonotic potential. Our results illustrate the crucial role of biodiversity in host-parasite relationships, specifically how within-host pathogen diversity may regulate the abundance of parasites.

Hemoparasites in a wild primate: Infection patterns suggest interaction of Plasmodium and Babesia in a lemur species.

Science.gov (United States)

Springer, Andrea; Fichtel, Claudia; Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien; Leendertz, Fabian H; Kappeler, Peter M

2015-12-01

Hemoparasites can cause serious morbidity in humans and animals and often involve wildlife reservoirs. Understanding patterns of hemoparasite infections in natural populations can therefore inform about emerging disease risks, especially in the light of climate change and human disruption of natural ecosystems. We investigated the effects of host age, sex, host group size and season on infection patterns of Plasmodium sp., Babesia sp. and filarial nematodes in a population of wild Malagasy primates, Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi), as well as the effects of these infections on hematological variables. We tested 45 blood samples from 36 individuals and identified two species of Plasmodium, one species of Babesia and two species of filarial nematodes. Plasmodium spp. and Babesia sp. infections showed opposite patterns of age-dependency, with babesiosis being prevalent among young animals, while older animals were infected with Plasmodium sp. In addition, Babesia sp. infection was a statistically significant negative predictor of Plasmodium sp. infection. These results suggest that Plasmodium and Babesia parasites may interact within the host, either through cross-immunity or via resource competition, so that Plasmodium infections can only establish after babesiosis has resolved. We found no effects of host sex, host group size and season on hemoparasite infections. Infections showed high prevalences and did not influence hematological variables. This preliminary evidence supports the impression that the hosts and parasites considered in this study appear to be well-adapted to each other, resulting in persistent infections with low pathogenic and probably low zoonotic potential. Our results illustrate the crucial role of biodiversity in host-parasite relationships, specifically how within-host pathogen diversity may regulate the abundance of parasites.

Hemoparasites in a wild primate: Infection patterns suggest interaction of Plasmodium and Babesia in a lemur species☆

Science.gov (United States)

Springer, Andrea; Fichtel, Claudia; Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien; Leendertz, Fabian H.; Kappeler, Peter M.

2015-01-01

Hemoparasites can cause serious morbidity in humans and animals and often involve wildlife reservoirs. Understanding patterns of hemoparasite infections in natural populations can therefore inform about emerging disease risks, especially in the light of climate change and human disruption of natural ecosystems. We investigated the effects of host age, sex, host group size and season on infection patterns of Plasmodium sp., Babesia sp. and filarial nematodes in a population of wild Malagasy primates, Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi), as well as the effects of these infections on hematological variables. We tested 45 blood samples from 36 individuals and identified two species of Plasmodium, one species of Babesia and two species of filarial nematodes. Plasmodium spp. and Babesia sp. infections showed opposite patterns of age-dependency, with babesiosis being prevalent among young animals, while older animals were infected with Plasmodium sp. In addition, Babesia sp. infection was a statistically significant negative predictor of Plasmodium sp. infection. These results suggest that Plasmodium and Babesia parasites may interact within the host, either through cross-immunity or via resource competition, so that Plasmodium infections can only establish after babesiosis has resolved. We found no effects of host sex, host group size and season on hemoparasite infections. Infections showed high prevalences and did not influence hematological variables. This preliminary evidence supports the impression that the hosts and parasites considered in this study appear to be well-adapted to each other, resulting in persistent infections with low pathogenic and probably low zoonotic potential. Our results illustrate the crucial role of biodiversity in host-parasite relationships, specifically how within-host pathogen diversity may regulate the abundance of parasites. PMID:26767166

Processing of complex auditory patterns in musicians and nonmusicians.

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Boh, Bastiaan; Herholz, Sibylle C; Lappe, Claudia; Pantev, Christo

2011-01-01

In the present study we investigated the capacity of the memory store underlying the mismatch negativity (MMN) response in musicians and nonmusicians for complex tone patterns. While previous studies have focused either on the kind of information that can be encoded or on the decay of the memory trace over time, we studied capacity in terms of the length of tone sequences, i.e., the number of individual tones that can be fully encoded and maintained. By means of magnetoencephalography (MEG) we recorded MMN responses to deviant tones that could occur at any position of standard tone patterns composed of four, six or eight tones during passive, distracted listening. Whereas there was a reliable MMN response to deviant tones in the four-tone pattern in both musicians and nonmusicians, only some individuals showed MMN responses to the longer patterns. This finding of a reliable capacity of the short-term auditory store underlying the MMN response is in line with estimates of a three to five item capacity of the short-term memory trace from behavioural studies, although pitch and contour complexity covaried with sequence length, which might have led to an understatement of the reported capacity. Whereas there was a tendency for an enhancement of the pattern MMN in musicians compared to nonmusicians, a strong advantage for musicians could be shown in an accompanying behavioural task of detecting the deviants while attending to the stimuli for all pattern lengths, indicating that long-term musical training differentially affects the memory capacity of auditory short-term memory for complex tone patterns with and without attention. Also, a left-hemispheric lateralization of MMN responses in the six-tone pattern suggests that additional networks that help structuring the patterns in the temporal domain might be recruited for demanding auditory processing in the pitch domain.

Processing of complex auditory patterns in musicians and nonmusicians.

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Bastiaan Boh

Full Text Available In the present study we investigated the capacity of the memory store underlying the mismatch negativity (MMN response in musicians and nonmusicians for complex tone patterns. While previous studies have focused either on the kind of information that can be encoded or on the decay of the memory trace over time, we studied capacity in terms of the length of tone sequences, i.e., the number of individual tones that can be fully encoded and maintained. By means of magnetoencephalography (MEG we recorded MMN responses to deviant tones that could occur at any position of standard tone patterns composed of four, six or eight tones during passive, distracted listening. Whereas there was a reliable MMN response to deviant tones in the four-tone pattern in both musicians and nonmusicians, only some individuals showed MMN responses to the longer patterns. This finding of a reliable capacity of the short-term auditory store underlying the MMN response is in line with estimates of a three to five item capacity of the short-term memory trace from behavioural studies, although pitch and contour complexity covaried with sequence length, which might have led to an understatement of the reported capacity. Whereas there was a tendency for an enhancement of the pattern MMN in musicians compared to nonmusicians, a strong advantage for musicians could be shown in an accompanying behavioural task of detecting the deviants while attending to the stimuli for all pattern lengths, indicating that long-term musical training differentially affects the memory capacity of auditory short-term memory for complex tone patterns with and without attention. Also, a left-hemispheric lateralization of MMN responses in the six-tone pattern suggests that additional networks that help structuring the patterns in the temporal domain might be recruited for demanding auditory processing in the pitch domain.

Dynamic response and transfer function of social systems: A neuro-inspired model of collective human activity patterns.

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Lymperopoulos, Ilias N

2017-10-01

The interaction of social networks with the external environment gives rise to non-stationary activity patterns reflecting the temporal structure and strength of exogenous influences that drive social dynamical processes far from an equilibrium state. Following a neuro-inspired approach, based on the dynamics of a passive neuronal membrane, and the firing rate dynamics of single neurons and neuronal populations, we build a state-of-the-art model of the collective social response to exogenous interventions. In this regard, we analyze online activity patterns with a view to determining the transfer function of social systems, that is, the dynamic relationship between external influences and the resulting activity. To this end, first we estimate the impulse response (Green's function) of collective activity, and then we show that the convolution of the impulse response with a time-varying external influence field accurately reproduces empirical activity patterns. To capture the dynamics of collective activity when the generating process is in a state of statistical equilibrium, we incorporate into the model a noisy input convolved with the impulse response function, thus precisely reproducing the fluctuations of stationary collective activity around a resting value. The outstanding goodness-of-fit of the model results to empirical observations, indicates that the model explains human activity patterns generated by time-dependent external influences in various socio-economic contexts. The proposed model can be used for inferring the temporal structure and strength of external influences, as well as the inertia of collective social activity. Furthermore, it can potentially predict social activity patterns. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evidence for universality and cultural variation of differential emotion response patterning.

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Scherer, K R; Wallbott, H G

1994-02-01

The major controversy concerning psychobiological universality of differential emotion patterning versus cultural relativity of emotional experience is briefly reviewed. Data from a series of cross-cultural questionnaire studies in 37 countries on 5 continents are reported and used to evaluate the respective claims of the proponents in the debate. Results show highly significant main effects and strong effect sizes for the response differences across 7 major emotions (joy, fear, anger, sadness, disgust, shame, and guilt). Profiles of cross-culturally stable differences among the emotions with respect to subjective feeling, physiological symptoms, and expressive behavior are also reported. The empirical evidence is interpreted as supporting theories that postulate both a high degree of universality of differential emotion patterning and important cultural differences in emotion elicitation, regulation, symbolic representation, and social sharing.

Patterns in response to chronic terrorism threats: A construct of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses among Israeli citizens.

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Cohen-Louck, Keren; Saka, Yael

2017-10-01

Israeli citizens are exposed to unpredictable and chronic terrorism threats that significantly jeopardize their personal sense of safety. The purpose of the present study is to present how Israeli discourse is structured with regard to emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to chronic terrorism threats and to understand the range of responses as well as map the risk and protective factors of this existential threat. Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 Israeli adults (22 women and 18 men). Qualitative analysis revealed three patterns of responses to ongoing terrorism: emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. Emotional responses include fear, worry, sense of empathy, and detachment. Cognitive responses include situational assessment and pursuit of solutions, the use of traumatic imagining, beliefs in fate and luck, and optimism. Behavioral responses include looking for information, alertness, and habituation. The findings also revealed another response, which combines cognitive and behavioral responses. Some of the responses are innovative and unique to the threat of terrorism. Mapping the responses revealed mental health risk factors, as well as protective factors that can help structure personal and national resilience. These findings have implications on the treatment and prevention of personal and social pathologies, and how to effectively cope with terrorism threats. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Transcriptomics reveal several gene expression patterns in the piezophile Desulfovibrio hydrothermalis in response to hydrostatic pressure.

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Amira Amrani

Full Text Available RNA-seq was used to study the response of Desulfovibrio hydrothermalis, isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal chimney on the East-Pacific Rise at a depth of 2,600 m, to various hydrostatic pressure growth conditions. The transcriptomic datasets obtained after growth at 26, 10 and 0.1 MPa identified only 65 differentially expressed genes that were distributed among four main categories: aromatic amino acid and glutamate metabolisms, energy metabolism, signal transduction, and unknown function. The gene expression patterns suggest that D. hydrothermalis uses at least three different adaptation mechanisms, according to a hydrostatic pressure threshold (HPt that was estimated to be above 10 MPa. Both glutamate and energy metabolism were found to play crucial roles in these mechanisms. Quantitation of the glutamate levels in cells revealed its accumulation at high hydrostatic pressure, suggesting its role as a piezolyte. ATP measurements showed that the energy metabolism of this bacterium is optimized for deep-sea life conditions. This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms linked to hydrostatic pressure adaptation in sulfate-reducing bacteria.

Transcriptomics Reveal Several Gene Expression Patterns in the Piezophile Desulfovibrio hydrothermalis in Response to Hydrostatic Pressure

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Amrani, Amira; Bergon, Aurélie; Holota, Hélène; Tamburini, Christian; Garel, Marc; Ollivier, Bernard; Imbert, Jean; Dolla, Alain; Pradel, Nathalie

2014-01-01

RNA-seq was used to study the response of Desulfovibrio hydrothermalis, isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal chimney on the East-Pacific Rise at a depth of 2,600 m, to various hydrostatic pressure growth conditions. The transcriptomic datasets obtained after growth at 26, 10 and 0.1 MPa identified only 65 differentially expressed genes that were distributed among four main categories: aromatic amino acid and glutamate metabolisms, energy metabolism, signal transduction, and unknown function. The gene expression patterns suggest that D. hydrothermalis uses at least three different adaptation mechanisms, according to a hydrostatic pressure threshold (HPt) that was estimated to be above 10 MPa. Both glutamate and energy metabolism were found to play crucial roles in these mechanisms. Quantitation of the glutamate levels in cells revealed its accumulation at high hydrostatic pressure, suggesting its role as a piezolyte. ATP measurements showed that the energy metabolism of this bacterium is optimized for deep-sea life conditions. This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms linked to hydrostatic pressure adaptation in sulfate-reducing bacteria. PMID:25215865

Shorebird Migration Patterns in Response to Climate Change: A Modeling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, James A.

2010-01-01

The availability of satellite remote sensing observations at multiple spatial and temporal scales, coupled with advances in climate modeling and information technologies offer new opportunities for the application of mechanistic models to predict how continental scale bird migration patterns may change in response to environmental change. In earlier studies, we explored the phenotypic plasticity of a migratory population of Pectoral sandpipers by simulating the movement patterns of an ensemble of 10,000 individual birds in response to changes in stopover locations as an indicator of the impacts of wetland loss and inter-annual variability on the fitness of migratory shorebirds. We used an individual based, biophysical migration model, driven by remotely sensed land surface data, climate data, and biological field data. Mean stop-over durations and stop-over frequency with latitude predicted from our model for nominal cases were consistent with results reported in the literature and available field data. In this study, we take advantage of new computing capabilities enabled by recent GP-GPU computing paradigms and commodity hardware (general purchase computing on graphics processing units). Several aspects of our individual based (agent modeling) approach lend themselves well to GP-GPU computing. We have been able to allocate compute-intensive tasks to the graphics processing units, and now simulate ensembles of 400,000 birds at varying spatial resolutions along the central North American flyway. We are incorporating additional, species specific, mechanistic processes to better reflect the processes underlying bird phenotypic plasticity responses to different climate change scenarios in the central U.S.

Patterns of Song across Natural and Anthropogenic Soundscapes Suggest That White-Crowned Sparrows Minimize Acoustic Masking and Maximize Signal Content.

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Elizabeth P Derryberry

Full Text Available Soundscapes pose both evolutionarily recent and long-standing sources of selection on acoustic communication. We currently know more about the impact of evolutionarily recent human-generated noise on communication than we do about how natural sounds such as pounding surf have shaped communication signals over evolutionary time. Based on signal detection theory, we hypothesized that acoustic phenotypes will vary with both anthropogenic and natural background noise levels and that similar mechanisms of cultural evolution and/or behavioral flexibility may underlie this variation. We studied song characteristics of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli across a noise gradient that includes both anthropogenic and natural sources of noise in San Francisco and Marin counties, California, USA. Both anthropogenic and natural soundscapes contain high amplitude low frequency noise (traffic or surf, respectively, so we predicted that birds would produce songs with higher minimum frequencies in areas with higher amplitude background noise to avoid auditory masking. We also anticipated that song minimum frequencies would be higher than the projected lower frequency limit of hearing based on site-specific masking profiles. Background noise was a strong predictor of song minimum frequency, both within a local noise gradient of three urban sites with the same song dialect and cultural evolutionary history, and across the regional noise gradient, which encompasses 11 urban and rural sites, several dialects, and several anthropogenic and natural sources of noise. Among rural sites alone, background noise tended to predict song minimum frequency, indicating that urban sites were not solely responsible for driving the regional pattern. These findings support the hypothesis that songs vary with local and regional soundscapes regardless of the source of noise. Song minimum frequency from five core study sites was also higher than the lower frequency

Patterns of Song across Natural and Anthropogenic Soundscapes Suggest That White-Crowned Sparrows Minimize Acoustic Masking and Maximize Signal Content.

Science.gov (United States)

Derryberry, Elizabeth P; Danner, Raymond M; Danner, Julie E; Derryberry, Graham E; Phillips, Jennifer N; Lipshutz, Sara E; Gentry, Katherine; Luther, David A

2016-01-01

Soundscapes pose both evolutionarily recent and long-standing sources of selection on acoustic communication. We currently know more about the impact of evolutionarily recent human-generated noise on communication than we do about how natural sounds such as pounding surf have shaped communication signals over evolutionary time. Based on signal detection theory, we hypothesized that acoustic phenotypes will vary with both anthropogenic and natural background noise levels and that similar mechanisms of cultural evolution and/or behavioral flexibility may underlie this variation. We studied song characteristics of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli) across a noise gradient that includes both anthropogenic and natural sources of noise in San Francisco and Marin counties, California, USA. Both anthropogenic and natural soundscapes contain high amplitude low frequency noise (traffic or surf, respectively), so we predicted that birds would produce songs with higher minimum frequencies in areas with higher amplitude background noise to avoid auditory masking. We also anticipated that song minimum frequencies would be higher than the projected lower frequency limit of hearing based on site-specific masking profiles. Background noise was a strong predictor of song minimum frequency, both within a local noise gradient of three urban sites with the same song dialect and cultural evolutionary history, and across the regional noise gradient, which encompasses 11 urban and rural sites, several dialects, and several anthropogenic and natural sources of noise. Among rural sites alone, background noise tended to predict song minimum frequency, indicating that urban sites were not solely responsible for driving the regional pattern. These findings support the hypothesis that songs vary with local and regional soundscapes regardless of the source of noise. Song minimum frequency from five core study sites was also higher than the lower frequency limit of hearing

Response patterns in adult forest trees to chronic ozone stress: identification of variations and consistencies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nunn, Angela J.; Reiter, Ilja M.; Haeberle, Karl-Heinz; Langebartels, Christian; Bahnweg, Guenther; Pretzsch, Hans; Sandermann, Heinrich; Matyssek, Rainer

2005-01-01

The responsiveness of adult beech and spruce trees to chronic O 3 stress was studied at a free-air O 3 exposure experiment in Freising/Germany. Over three growing seasons, gas exchange characteristics, biochemical parameters, macroscopic O 3 injury and the phenology of leaf organs were investigated, along with assessments of branch and stem growth as indications of tree performance. To assess response pattern to chronic O 3 stress in adult forest trees, we introduce a new evaluation approach, which provides a comprehensive, readily accomplishable overview across several tree-internal scaling levels, different canopy regions and growing seasons. This new approach, based on a three-grade colour coding, combines statistical analysis and the proficient ability of the 'human eye' in pattern recognition. - Responses of adult forest trees to chronic O 3 stress can be visualized in a survey table applying a three-grade colour coding to each investigated parameter

Play It Again: Neural Responses to Reunion with Excluders Predicted by Attachment Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

White, Lars O.; Wu, Jia; Borelli, Jessica L.; Mayes, Linda C.; Crowley, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Reunion behavior following stressful separations from caregivers is often considered the single most sensitive clue to infant attachment patterns. Extending these ideas to middle childhood/early adolescence, we examined participants' neural responses to reunion with peers who had previously excluded them. We recorded event-related potentials…

Pilot test of a novel food response and attention training treatment for obesity: Brain imaging data suggest actions shape valuation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stice, E.; Yokum, S.; Veling, H.P.; Kemps, E.; Lawrence, N.S.

2017-01-01

Elevated brain reward and attention region response, and weaker inhibitory region response to high-calorie food images have been found to predict future weight gain. These findings suggest that an intervention that reduces reward and attention region response and increases inhibitory control region

Meta-analysis of breast cancer microarray studies in conjunction with conserved cis-elements suggest patterns for coordinate regulation

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Lundberg Cathryn

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene expression measurements from breast cancer (BrCa tumors are established clinical predictive tools to identify tumor subtypes, identify patients showing poor/good prognosis, and identify patients likely to have disease recurrence. However, diverse breast cancer datasets in conjunction with diagnostic clinical arrays show little overlap in the sets of genes identified. One approach to identify a set of consistently dysregulated candidate genes in these tumors is to employ meta-analysis of multiple independent microarray datasets. This allows one to compare expression data from a diverse collection of breast tumor array datasets generated on either cDNA or oligonucleotide arrays. Results We gathered expression data from 9 published microarray studies examining estrogen receptor positive (ER+ and estrogen receptor negative (ER- BrCa tumor cases from the Oncomine database. We performed a meta-analysis and identified genes that were universally up or down regulated with respect to ER+ versus ER- tumor status. We surveyed both the proximal promoter and 3' untranslated regions (3'UTR of our top-ranking genes in each expression group to test whether common sequence elements may contribute to the observed expression patterns. Utilizing a combination of known transcription factor binding sites (TFBS, evolutionarily conserved mammalian promoter and 3'UTR motifs, and microRNA (miRNA seed sequences, we identified numerous motifs that were disproportionately represented between the two gene classes suggesting a common regulatory network for the observed gene expression patterns. Conclusion Some of the genes we identified distinguish key transcripts previously seen in array studies, while others are newly defined. Many of the genes identified as overexpressed in ER- tumors were previously identified as expression markers for neoplastic transformation in multiple human cancers. Moreover, our motif analysis identified a collection of

Spatial and temporal expression patterns of auxin response transcription factors in the syncytium induced by the beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii in Arabidopsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hewezi, Tarek; Piya, Sarbottam; Richard, Geoffrey; Rice, J Hollis

2014-09-01

Plant-parasitic cyst nematodes induce the formation of a multinucleated feeding site in the infected root, termed the syncytium. Recent studies point to key roles of the phytohormone auxin in the regulation of gene expression and establishment of the syncytium. Nevertheless, information about the spatiotemporal expression patterns of the transcription factors that mediate auxin transcriptional responses during syncytium formation is limited. Here, we provide a gene expression map of 22 auxin response factors (ARFs) during the initiation, formation and maintenance stages of the syncytium induced by the cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii in Arabidopsis. We observed distinct and overlapping expression patterns of ARFs throughout syncytium development phases. We identified a set of ARFs whose expression is predominantly located inside the developing syncytium, whereas others are expressed in the neighbouring cells, presumably to initiate specific transcriptional programmes required for their incorporation within the developing syncytium. Our analyses also point to a role of certain ARFs in determining the maximum size of the syncytium. In addition, several ARFs were found to be highly expressed in fully developed syncytia, suggesting a role in maintaining the functional phenotype of mature syncytia. The dynamic distribution and overlapping expression patterns of various ARFs seem to be essential characteristics of ARF activity during syncytium development. © 2014 BSPP AND JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD.

Pattern analysis of defecography in patients with chronic functional constipation: is it predictable for the responsiveness of biofeedback therapy?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Hye Rin; Kim, Ah Young; Hong, Seong Sook; Byun, Jae Ho; Myung Seung Jae; Ha, Hyun Kwon [University of Ulsan of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2005-08-15

To determine of pattern analysis of defecography can predict the responsiveness of biofeedback therapy in patients with chronic functional constipation. Over a two-year period, 104 patients with chronic functional constipation underwent defecography and biofeedback therapy. Two blinded readers analyzed the defecographic findings and classified them into six types; I = normal defecation, II = hypertonic lower anal sphincter (poor anal opening due to a persistent contraction of the lower anal sphincter), III dyskinetic puborectal sling (inadequate laxity of the puborectal sling), IV spastic pelvic floor syndrome (persistent contraction of both the puborectal sling and the lower and sphincter), V unclassified (including paradoxical contraction of the anal sphincter), VI anatomical obstruction. In addition, the degree of rectal contraction during defecation was scored (grade 0 to 3). After biofeedback therapy, the differences in the defecography patterns or rectal contraction between the two groups, the responsive or non-responsive group, were analyzed. The defecograms revealed that the type IV of the spastic pelvic floor syndrome was most common (50 of 104 patients, 48%), followed by II (21/104, 20%), III (12/104, 11.5%), V (9/104, 9%) and VI (12/104, 11.5%). Biofeedback therapy showed a therapeutic response in 71 out of 104 patients (68%) but failed in 33 patients (32%). However, there were no significant differences in the defecographic pattern between the responsive and non-responsive groups ({rho} = 0.630). The defecograms revealed contractions in 78 patients (75%) and moderate to vigorous contractions (more than grade 2) in 66 patients. Most of the biofeedback-responsive group showed rectal contractions (66 of 71 patients, 93%, {rho} < 0.001). In patients with chronic functional constipation, there was no significant difference in the morphological patterns of the defecogram between the responsive and non-responsive biofeedback groups. However, the presence of

Pattern analysis of defecography in patients with chronic functional constipation: is it predictable for the responsiveness of biofeedback therapy?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Hye Rin; Kim, Ah Young; Hong, Seong Sook; Byun, Jae Ho; Myung Seung Jae; Ha, Hyun Kwon

2005-01-01

To determine of pattern analysis of defecography can predict the responsiveness of biofeedback therapy in patients with chronic functional constipation. Over a two-year period, 104 patients with chronic functional constipation underwent defecography and biofeedback therapy. Two blinded readers analyzed the defecographic findings and classified them into six types; I = normal defecation, II = hypertonic lower anal sphincter (poor anal opening due to a persistent contraction of the lower anal sphincter), III dyskinetic puborectal sling (inadequate laxity of the puborectal sling), IV spastic pelvic floor syndrome (persistent contraction of both the puborectal sling and the lower and sphincter), V unclassified (including paradoxical contraction of the anal sphincter), VI anatomical obstruction. In addition, the degree of rectal contraction during defecation was scored (grade 0 to 3). After biofeedback therapy, the differences in the defecography patterns or rectal contraction between the two groups, the responsive or non-responsive group, were analyzed. The defecograms revealed that the type IV of the spastic pelvic floor syndrome was most common (50 of 104 patients, 48%), followed by II (21/104, 20%), III (12/104, 11.5%), V (9/104, 9%) and VI (12/104, 11.5%). Biofeedback therapy showed a therapeutic response in 71 out of 104 patients (68%) but failed in 33 patients (32%). However, there were no significant differences in the defecographic pattern between the responsive and non-responsive groups (ρ = 0.630). The defecograms revealed contractions in 78 patients (75%) and moderate to vigorous contractions (more than grade 2) in 66 patients. Most of the biofeedback-responsive group showed rectal contractions (66 of 71 patients, 93%, ρ < 0.001). In patients with chronic functional constipation, there was no significant difference in the morphological patterns of the defecogram between the responsive and non-responsive biofeedback groups. However, the presence of rectal

Chromosome driven spatial patterning of proteins in bacteria.

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Saeed Saberi

Full Text Available The spatial patterning of proteins in bacteria plays an important role in many processes, from cell division to chemotaxis. In the asymmetrically dividing bacteria Caulobacter crescentus, a scaffolding protein, PopZ, localizes to both poles and aids the differential patterning of proteins between mother and daughter cells during division. Polar patterning of misfolded proteins in Escherichia coli has also been shown, and likely plays an important role in cellular ageing. Recent experiments on both of the above systems suggest that the presence of chromosome free regions along with protein multimerization may be a mechanism for driving the polar localization of proteins. We have developed a simple physical model for protein localization using only these two driving mechanisms. Our model reproduces all the observed patterns of PopZ and misfolded protein localization--from diffuse, unipolar, and bipolar patterns and can also account for the observed patterns in a variety of mutants. The model also suggests new experiments to further test the role of the chromosome in driving protein patterning, and whether such a mechanism is responsible for helping to drive the differentiation of the cell poles.

Weather patterns, food security and humanitarian response in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Haile, Menghestab

2005-11-29

Although considerable achievements in the global reduction of hunger and poverty have been made, progress in Africa so far has been very limited. At present, a third of the African population faces widespread hunger and chronic malnutrition and is exposed to a constant threat of acute food crisis and famine. The most affected are rural households whose livelihood is heavily dependent on traditional rainfed agriculture. Rainfall plays a major role in determining agricultural production and hence the economic and social well being of rural communities. The rainfall pattern in sub-Saharan Africa is influenced by large-scale intra-seasonal and inter-annual climate variability including occasional El Niño events in the tropical Pacific resulting in frequent extreme weather event such as droughts and floods that reduce agricultural outputs resulting in severe food shortages. Households and communities facing acute food shortages are forced to adopt coping strategies to meet the immediate food requirements of their families. These extreme responses may have adverse long-term, impacts on households' ability to have sustainable access to food as well as the environment. The HIV/AIDS crisis has also had adverse impacts on food production activities on the continent. In the absence of safety nets and appropriate financial support mechanisms, humanitarian aid is required to enable households effectively cope with emergencies and manage their limited resources more efficiently. Timely and appropriate humanitarian aid will provide households with opportunities to engage in productive and sustainable livelihood strategies. Investments in poverty reduction efforts would have better impact if complemented with timely and predictable response mechanisms that would ensure the protection of livelihoods during crisis periods whether weather or conflict-related. With an improved understanding of climate variability including El Niño, the implications of weather patterns for the food

Pattern recognition receptor-mediated cytokine response in infants across 4 continents.

Science.gov (United States)

Smolen, Kinga K; Ruck, Candice E; Fortuno, Edgardo S; Ho, Kevin; Dimitriu, Pedro; Mohn, William W; Speert, David P; Cooper, Philip J; Esser, Monika; Goetghebuer, Tessa; Marchant, Arnaud; Kollmann, Tobias R

2014-03-01

Susceptibility to infection as well as response to vaccination varies among populations. To date, the underlying mechanisms responsible for these clinical observations have not been fully delineated. Because innate immunity instructs adaptive immunity, we hypothesized that differences between populations in innate immune responses may represent a mechanistic link to variation in susceptibility to infection or response to vaccination. Determine whether differences in innate immune responses exist among infants from different continents of the world. We determined the innate cytokine response following pattern recognition receptor (PRR) stimulation of whole blood from 2-year-old infants across 4 continents (Africa, North America, South America, and Europe). We found that despite the many possible genetic and environmental exposure differences in infants across 4 continents, innate cytokine responses were similar for infants from North America, South America, and Europe. However, cells from South African infants secreted significantly lower levels of cytokines than did cells from infants from the 3 other sites, and did so following stimulation of extracellular and endosomal but not cytosolic PRRs. Substantial differences in innate cytokine responses to PRR stimulation exist among different populations of infants that could not have been predicted. Delineating the underlying mechanism(s) for these differences will not only aid in improving vaccine-mediated protection but possibly also provide clues for the susceptibility to infection in different regions of the world. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Oxide nanoparticle EUV resists: toward understanding the mechanism of positive and negative tone patterning

KAUST Repository

Chakrabarty, Souvik; Ouyang, Christine; Krysak, Marie; Trikeriotis, Markos; Cho, Kyoungyoung; Giannelis, Emmanuel P.; Ober, Christopher K.

2013-01-01

DUV, EUV and e-beam patterning of hybrid nanoparticle photoresists have been reported previously by Ober and coworkers. The present work explores the underlying mechanism that is responsible for the dual tone patterning capability of these photoresist materials. Spectroscopic results correlated with mass loss and dissolution studies suggest a ligand exchange mechanism responsible for altering the solubility between the exposed and unexposed regions. © 2013 SPIE.

Oxide nanoparticle EUV resists: toward understanding the mechanism of positive and negative tone patterning

KAUST Repository

Chakrabarty, Souvik

2013-04-01

DUV, EUV and e-beam patterning of hybrid nanoparticle photoresists have been reported previously by Ober and coworkers. The present work explores the underlying mechanism that is responsible for the dual tone patterning capability of these photoresist materials. Spectroscopic results correlated with mass loss and dissolution studies suggest a ligand exchange mechanism responsible for altering the solubility between the exposed and unexposed regions. © 2013 SPIE.

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

Institutional and programmatic suggestions for satisfying public policy responsibilities in a retail competitive electric industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tonn, B.E.; Schweitzer, M. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

1997-01-01

The emergence of retail competition in the US electric power industry places at risk various environmental and social programmes such as demand side management, low income programmes and renewable energy. This paper presents institutional and programmatic suggestions for satisfying these kinds of public policy responsibilities in a disintegrated industry. Suggestions include customer owned electricity franchises, electricity facility siting marketplaces, electric industry foresight councils, model systems programmes, integrated social services programmes, collaborative electric service programmes, ISO standards and portfolio standards. These recommendations would be funded by a national transmission charge, a state level distribution charge and franchise level sales taxes, to be paid by transmission organizations, distribution organizations and electricity consumers, respectively. (author)

Towards a Pattern Language Approach to Document Description

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Robert Waller

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Pattern libraries, originating in architecture, are a common way to share design solutions in interaction design and software engineering. Our aim in this paper is to consider patterns as a way of describing commonly-occurring document design solutions to particular problems, from two points of view. First, we are interested in their use as exemplars for designers to follow, and second, we suggest them as a means of understanding linguistic and graphical data for their organization into corpora that will facilitate descriptive work. We discuss the use of patterns across a range of disciplines before suggesting the need to place patterns in the context of genres, with each potentially belonging to a “home genre” in which it originates and to which it makes an implicit intertextual reference intended to produce a particular reader response in the form of a reading strategy or interpretative stance. We consider some conceptual and technical issues involved in the descriptive study of patterns in naturally-occurring documents, including the challenges involved in building a document corpus.

Patterns of physiological and affective responses to vehicle pass-by noises

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Gert Notbohm

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Traffic noise is considered causing annoyance and severe health effects like cardiovascular disease (CVD. The present laboratory study examines the importance of individual factors, namely age, gender and personality traits on short term physiological and affective response to vehicle pass-by noises. Four groups of subjects (20-30 vs. 40-55 year-old male or female, n = 66 in total were exposed to a series of vehicle pass-by noises. Physiological responses (finger-pulse amplitude [FPA], skin conductance level [SCL] were registered during the exposure; affective responses and judgements regarding the sounds were assessed by questionnaires. Noise sensitivity and sensation seeking were measured by validated questionnaires. The results show different patterns of response depending on age, gender and personality. The strongest sympathetic stress reaction as measured by SCL was found for the older female group. In regression analysis, the SCL response was predicted by the female gender and low score of sensation seeking only (adjusted R2 = 0.139. The FPA response was strongest among the young men and age was the only significant predictor. For affective responses of pleasantness and activation, regression analysis proved noise sensitivity and sensation seeking to be significant predictors (adjusted R2 = 0.187 respectively 0.154. Age, gender and personality influence physiological and affective reactions to traffic noise, which might affect health conditions. Especially, a potential risk of older women for CVD owing to noise should be investigated further. Individual sensitiveness in terms of noise sensitivity or sensation seeking proves to be important for explaining differences in response to noise.

Nuclear distributions of NUP62 and NUP214 suggest architectural diversity and spatial patterning among nuclear pore complexes.

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Yayoi Kinoshita

Full Text Available The shape of nuclei in many adherent cultured cells approximates an oblate ellipsoid, with contralateral flattened surfaces facing the culture plate or the medium. Observations of cultured cell nuclei from orthogonal perspectives revealed that nucleoporin p62 (NUP62 and nucleoporin 214 (NUP214 are differentially distributed between nuclear pore complexes on the flattened surfaces and peripheral rim of the nucleus. High resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED immunofluorescence microscopy resolved individual NPCs, and suggested both heterogeneity and microheterogeneity in NUP62 and NUP214 immunolabeling among in NPC populations. Similar to nuclear domains and interphase chromosome territories, architectural diversity and spatial patterning of NPCs may be an intrinsic property of the nucleus that is linked to the functions and organization of underlying chromatin.

Tailor-made cell patterning using a near-infrared-responsive composite gel composed of agarose and carbon nanotubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koga, Haruka; Nakazawa, Kohji; Sada, Takao; Fujigaya, Tsuyohiko; Nakashima, Naotoshi

2013-01-01

Micropatterning is useful for regulating culture environments. We developed a highly efficient near-infrared-(NIR)-responsive gel and established a new technique that enables cell patterning by NIR irradiation. As a new culture substratum, we designed a tissue culture plate that was coated with a composite gel composed of agarose and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A culture plate coated with agarose only showed no response to NIR irradiation. In contrast, NIR laser irradiation induced heat generation by CNTs; this permitted local solation of the CNT/agarose gel, and consequently, selective cell-adhesive regions were exposed on the tissue culture plate. The solation area was controlled by the NIR intensity, magnification of the object lens and CNT concentration in the gel. Furthermore, we formed circular patterns of HeLa cells and linear patterns of 3T3 cells on the same culture plate through selective and stepwise NIR irradiation of the CNT/agarose gel, and we also demonstrated that individual 3T3 cells migrated along a linear path formed on the CNT/agarose gel by NIR irradiation. These results indicate that our technique is useful for tailor-made cell patterning of stepwise and/or complex cell patterns, which has various biological applications such as stepwise co-culture and the study of cell migration. (paper)

Association Between Inflammatory Diet Pattern and Risk of Colorectal Carcinoma Subtypes Classified by Immune Responses to Tumor.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Li; Nishihara, Reiko; Qian, Zhi Rong; Tabung, Fred K; Nevo, Daniel; Zhang, Xuehong; Song, Mingyang; Cao, Yin; Mima, Kosuke; Masugi, Yohei; Shi, Yan; da Silva, Annacarolina; Twombly, Tyler; Gu, Mancang; Li, Wanwan; Hamada, Tsuyoshi; Kosumi, Keisuke; Inamura, Kentaro; Nowak, Jonathan A; Drew, David A; Lochhead, Paul; Nosho, Katsuhiko; Wu, Kana; Wang, Molin; Garrett, Wendy S; Chan, Andrew T; Fuchs, Charles S; Giovannucci, Edward L; Ogino, Shuji

2017-12-01

Dietary patterns affect systemic and local intestinal inflammation, which have been linked to colorectal carcinogenesis. Chronic inflammation can interfere with the adaptive immune response. We investigated whether the association of a diet that promotes intestinal inflammation with risk of colorectal carcinoma was stronger for tumors with lower lymphocytic reactions than tumors with higher lymphocytic reactions. We collected data from the molecular pathological epidemiology databases of 2 prospective cohort studies: the Nurses' Health Study (since 1976) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (since 1986). We used duplication-method time-varying Cox proportional cause-specific hazards regression to assess the association of empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP) score (derived from food frequency questionnaire data) with colorectal carcinoma subtype. Foods that contribute to high EDIP scores include red and processed meats, refined grains, carbonated beverages, and some vegetables; foods that contribute to low EDIP scores include beer, wine, coffee, tea, yellow and leafy vegetables, and fruit juice. Colorectal tissue samples were analyzed histologically for patterns of lymphocytic reactions (Crohn's-like lymphoid reaction, peritumoral lymphocytic reaction, intratumoral periglandular reaction, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes). During follow-up of 124,433 participants, we documented 1311 incident colon and rectal cancer cases with available tissue data. The association between the EDIP and colorectal cancer risk was significant (P trend  = .02), and varied with degree of peritumoral lymphocytic reaction (P heterogeneity colorectal cancer with an absent or low peritumoral lymphocytic reaction (highest vs lowest EDIP score quintile hazard ratio, 2.60; 95% confidence interval, 1.60-4.23; P trend .80). In 2 prospective cohort studies, we associated inflammatory diets with a higher risk of colorectal cancer subtype that contains little or no peritumoral

Simulating carbon dioxide exchange rates of deciduous tree species: evidence for a general pattern in biochemical changes and water stress response.

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Reynolds, Robert F; Bauerle, William L; Wang, Ying

2009-09-01

Deciduous trees have a seasonal carbon dioxide exchange pattern that is attributed to changes in leaf biochemical properties. However, it is not known if the pattern in leaf biochemical properties - maximum Rubisco carboxylation (V(cmax)) and electron transport (J(max)) - differ between species. This study explored whether a general pattern of changes in V(cmax), J(max), and a standardized soil moisture response accounted for carbon dioxide exchange of deciduous trees throughout the growing season. The model MAESTRA was used to examine V(cmax) and J(max) of leaves of five deciduous trees, Acer rubrum 'Summer Red', Betula nigra, Quercus nuttallii, Quercus phellos and Paulownia elongata, and their response to soil moisture. MAESTRA was parameterized using data from in situ measurements on organs. Linking the changes in biochemical properties of leaves to the whole tree, MAESTRA integrated the general pattern in V(cmax) and J(max) from gas exchange parameters of leaves with a standardized soil moisture response to describe carbon dioxide exchange throughout the growing season. The model estimates were tested against measurements made on the five species under both irrigated and water-stressed conditions. Measurements and modelling demonstrate that the seasonal pattern of biochemical activity in leaves and soil moisture response can be parameterized with straightforward general relationships. Over the course of the season, differences in carbon exchange between measured and modelled values were within 6-12 % under well-watered conditions and 2-25 % under water stress conditions. Hence, a generalized seasonal pattern in the leaf-level physiological change of V(cmax) and J(max), and a standardized response to soil moisture was sufficient to parameterize carbon dioxide exchange for large-scale evaluations. Simplification in parameterization of the seasonal pattern of leaf biochemical activity and soil moisture response of deciduous forest species is demonstrated. This

Theoretical study of the high-latitude ionosphere's response to multicell convection patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sojka, J.J.; Schunk, R.W.

1987-01-01

It is well known that the convection electric fields have an important effect on the ionosphere at high latitudes and that a quantitative understanding of their effect requires a knowledge of the plasma convection pattern. When the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is southward, plasma convection at F region altitudes displays a two-cell pattern with antisunward flow over the polar cap and return flow at lower latitudes. However, when the IMF is northward, multiple convection cells can exist, with both sunward flow and auroral precipitation (theta aurora) in the polar cap. The characteristic ionospheric signatures associated with multicell convection patterns were studied with the aid of a three-dimensional time-dependent ionospheric model. Two-, three-, and four-cell patterns were considered and the ionosphere's response was calculated for the same cross-tail potential and for solar maximum and winter conditions in the northern hemisphere. As expected, there are major distinguishing ionospheric features associated with the different convection patterns, particularly in the polar cap. For two-cell convection the antisunward flow the plasma from the dayside into the polar cap. For two-cell convection the antisunward flow of plasma from the dayside into the polar cap acts to maintain the densities in this region in winter. For four-cell convection, on the other hand, the two aditional convection cells in the polar cap are in darkness most of the time, and the resulting O + decay acts to produce twin polar holes that are separated by a sun-aligned ridge of enhanced ionization due to theta aurora precipitation

Extracting gene expression patterns and identifying co-expressed genes from microarray data reveals biologically responsive processes

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Paules Richard S

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A common observation in the analysis of gene expression data is that many genes display similarity in their expression patterns and therefore appear to be co-regulated. However, the variation associated with microarray data and the complexity of the experimental designs make the acquisition of co-expressed genes a challenge. We developed a novel method for Extracting microarray gene expression Patterns and Identifying co-expressed Genes, designated as EPIG. The approach utilizes the underlying structure of gene expression data to extract patterns and identify co-expressed genes that are responsive to experimental conditions. Results Through evaluation of the correlations among profiles, the magnitude of variation in gene expression profiles, and profile signal-to-noise ratio's, EPIG extracts a set of patterns representing co-expressed genes. The method is shown to work well with a simulated data set and microarray data obtained from time-series studies of dauer recovery and L1 starvation in C. elegans and after ultraviolet (UV or ionizing radiation (IR-induced DNA damage in diploid human fibroblasts. With the simulated data set, EPIG extracted the appropriate number of patterns which were more stable and homogeneous than the set of patterns that were determined using the CLICK or CAST clustering algorithms. However, CLICK performed better than EPIG and CAST with respect to the average correlation between clusters/patterns of the simulated data. With real biological data, EPIG extracted more dauer-specific patterns than CLICK. Furthermore, analysis of the IR/UV data revealed 18 unique patterns and 2661 genes out of approximately 17,000 that were identified as significantly expressed and categorized to the patterns by EPIG. The time-dependent patterns displayed similar and dissimilar responses between IR and UV treatments. Gene Ontology analysis applied to each pattern-related subset of co-expressed genes revealed underlying

Patterns of bacteria-host associations suggest different ecological strategies between two reef building cold-water coral species

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Meistertzheim, Anne.-Leila; Lartaud, Franck; Arnaud-Haond, Sophie; Kalenitchenko, Dimitri; Bessalam, Manon; Le Bris, Nadine; Galand, Pierre E.

2016-08-01

Cold-water corals (CWC) are main ecosystem engineers of the deep sea, and their reefs constitute hot-spots of biodiversity. However, their ecology remains poorly understood, particularly, the nature of the holobiont formed by corals with their associated bacterial communities. Here, we analyzed Madrepora oculata and Lophelia pertusa samples, collected from one location in a Mediterranean canyon in two different seasons (autumn and spring), in order to test for species specificity and temporal stability of the host-bacteria associations. The 16S rRNA sequencing revealed host-specific patterns of bacterial communities associated with L. pertusa and M. oculata, both in terms of community composition and diversity. All analyzed M. oculata polyps exhibited temporally and spatially similar bacterial communities dominated by haplotypes homologous to the known cnidarians-associated genus Endozoicomonas. In contrast, the bacterial communities associated with L. pertusa varied among polyps from the same colony, as well as among distinct colonies and between seasons. While the resilient consortium formed by M. oculata and its bacterial community fit the definition of holobiont, the versatility of the L. pertusa microbiome suggests that this association is more influenced by the environmental conditions or nutritional status. Our results thus highlight distinct host/microbes association strategies for these two closely related Scleractinians sharing the same habitat, suggesting distinct sensitivity to environmental change.

Giant panda foraging and movement patterns in response to bamboo shoot growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mingchun; Zhang, Zhizhong; Li, Zhong; Hong, Mingsheng; Zhou, Xiaoping; Zhou, Shiqiang; Zhang, Jindong; Hull, Vanessa; Huang, Jinyan; Zhang, Hemin

2018-03-01

Diet plays a pivotal role in dictating behavioral patterns of herbivorous animals, particularly specialist species. The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is well-known as a bamboo specialist. In the present study, the response of giant pandas to spatiotemporal variation of bamboo shoots was explored using field surveys and GPS collar tracking. Results show the dynamics in panda-bamboo space-time relationships that have not been previously articulated. For instance, we found a higher bamboo stump height of foraged bamboo with increasing elevation, places where pandas foraged later in spring when bamboo shoots become more fibrous and woody. The time required for shoots to reach optimum height for foraging was significantly delayed as elevation increased, a pattern which corresponded with panda elevational migration patterns beginning from the lower elevational end of Fargesia robusta distribution and gradually shifting upward until the end of the shooting season. These results indicate that giant pandas can respond to spatiotemporal variation of bamboo resources, such as available shoots. Anthropogenic interference of low-elevation F. robusta habitat should be mitigated, and conservation attention and increased monitoring should be given to F. robusta areas at the low- and mid-elevation ranges, particularly in the spring shooting season.

Global patterns in lake ecosystem responses to warming based on the temperature dependence of metabolism.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraemer, Benjamin M; Chandra, Sudeep; Dell, Anthony I; Dix, Margaret; Kuusisto, Esko; Livingstone, David M; Schladow, S Geoffrey; Silow, Eugene; Sitoki, Lewis M; Tamatamah, Rashid; McIntyre, Peter B

2017-05-01

Climate warming is expected to have large effects on ecosystems in part due to the temperature dependence of metabolism. The responses of metabolic rates to climate warming may be greatest in the tropics and at low elevations because mean temperatures are warmer there and metabolic rates respond exponentially to temperature (with exponents >1). However, if warming rates are sufficiently fast in higher latitude/elevation lakes, metabolic rate responses to warming may still be greater there even though metabolic rates respond exponentially to temperature. Thus, a wide range of global patterns in the magnitude of metabolic rate responses to warming could emerge depending on global patterns of temperature and warming rates. Here we use the Boltzmann-Arrhenius equation, published estimates of activation energy, and time series of temperature from 271 lakes to estimate long-term (1970-2010) changes in 64 metabolic processes in lakes. The estimated responses of metabolic processes to warming were usually greatest in tropical/low-elevation lakes even though surface temperatures in higher latitude/elevation lakes are warming faster. However, when the thermal sensitivity of a metabolic process is especially weak, higher latitude/elevation lakes had larger responses to warming in parallel with warming rates. Our results show that the sensitivity of a given response to temperature (as described by its activation energy) provides a simple heuristic for predicting whether tropical/low-elevation lakes will have larger or smaller metabolic responses to warming than higher latitude/elevation lakes. Overall, we conclude that the direct metabolic consequences of lake warming are likely to be felt most strongly at low latitudes and low elevations where metabolism-linked ecosystem services may be most affected. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Functional dissection of drought-responsive gene expression patterns in Cynodon dactylon L.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Changsoo; Lemke, Cornelia; Paterson, Andrew H

2009-05-01

Water deficit is one of the main abiotic factors that affect plant productivity in subtropical regions. To identify genes induced during the water stress response in Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon), cDNA macroarrays were used. The macroarray analysis identified 189 drought-responsive candidate genes from C. dactylon, of which 120 were up-regulated and 69 were down-regulated. The candidate genes were classified into seven groups by cluster analysis of expression levels across two intensities and three durations of imposed stress. Annotation using BLASTX suggested that up-regulated genes may be involved in proline biosynthesis, signal transduction pathways, protein repair systems, and removal of toxins, while down-regulated genes were mostly related to basic plant metabolism such as photosynthesis and glycolysis. The functional classification of gene ontology (GO) was consistent with the BLASTX results, also suggesting some crosstalk between abiotic and biotic stress. Comparative analysis of cis-regulatory elements from the candidate genes implicated specific elements in drought response in Bermudagrass. Although only a subset of genes was studied, Bermudagrass shared many drought-responsive genes and cis-regulatory elements with other botanical models, supporting a strategy of cross-taxon application of drought-responsive genes, regulatory cues, and physiological-genetic information.

Temporal pattern changes in duodenal protein tyrosine nitration events in response to Eimeria acervulina infection in chickens.

Science.gov (United States)

Elsasser, Ted H; Miska, Kate; Kahl, Stanislaw; Fetterer, Raymond H; Martínez Ramirez, Alfredo

2018-06-04

Intracellular generation of nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anion (SOA) can result in the formation of 3'-nitrotyrosine proteins (NTp). Nitrated proteins usually are associated with significant perturbation in protein function, apoptosis, autophagy, and cell death. We undertook the present study to establish the temporal dynamics of NTp generation in cytokeratin-18-positive epithelial cells (ETCs) of broiler chickens in response to infection with Eimeria acervulina. Duodenal tissue was harvested from noninfected (NOI) and infected (INF) broilers on days (d) 1, 3, 6, 7, and 10 postinfection (PI) and fixed, embedded, and sectioned for quantitative image analysis, immunohistochemistry with antibodies specific to NTp and the SOA-generating enzyme xanthine oxidase (XO). The pixel density characteristics for NTp and XO representative of ETCs demonstrated that NTp and XO increased in intestinal villi as early as d1 PI (P ETCs through d6 PI. For XO, increases in cell content increased only through d3. On d6 and d7 PI, high levels of NTp were present in immune infiltrating cells (IIC) where no XO was detected. The increases in ETC NTp occurred in a defined pattern, significant by villus-to-crypt location for day of infection, initiating in the distal villus and progressing down into the crypts. Two NTp patterns were observed for ETCs: a high level associated with ETCs harboring parasites and a low-level increase in ETCs not containing Eimeria but in proximity to such. The data suggest that NTp and XO responses may mediate some of the processes through which ETCs respond to Eimeria to limit the extent of infection by this pathogen.

Biodiversity patterns of epifaunal assemblages associated with the gorgonians Eunicella gazella and Leptogorgia lusitanica in response to host, space and time

KAUST Repository

Carvalho, Susana; Cú rdia, Joã o; Pereira, Fá bio; Guerra-Garcí a, José Manuel; Santos, Miguel N.; Cunha, Marina R.

2014-01-01

Patterns of biodiversity (alpha- and beta-diversity), abundance and community structure of the epifaunal assemblages associated with two gorgonians, Eunicella gazella and Leptogorgia lusitanica, were analysed in relation to host, colony size, location and time. Colony size and time were the major factors shaping attendant assemblages. Patterns of alpha-diversity and beta-diversity were host-dependent. Assemblages associated with E. gazella showed a significant inter-annual variability for most of the metrics analysed, while in those associated with L. lusitanica only Shannon-Wiener varied significantly between years. In L lusitanica Hurlbert's expected number of taxa was significantly lower in small-sized than in medium- to large-sized colonies, but an opposite pattern was detected for beta-diversity, reflecting the higher heterogeneity among small-sized colonies. The dbRDA analysis segregated the assemblages associated with each of the two hosts; the faunal patterns were mainly explained by colony size related attributes (area, number of branches and, to a lesser extent, width) and the "colonial" epibiont cover. However, we suggest that altogether they may act as a metacommunity, with high temporal and spatial fluidity in their composition and structure related to multiple factors including not only a component of stochasticity but also life history events, biotic interactions and response to habitat heterogeneity and environmental variability. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Biodiversity patterns of epifaunal assemblages associated with the gorgonians Eunicella gazella and Leptogorgia lusitanica in response to host, space and time

KAUST Repository

Carvalho, Susana

2014-01-01

Patterns of biodiversity (alpha- and beta-diversity), abundance and community structure of the epifaunal assemblages associated with two gorgonians, Eunicella gazella and Leptogorgia lusitanica, were analysed in relation to host, colony size, location and time. Colony size and time were the major factors shaping attendant assemblages. Patterns of alpha-diversity and beta-diversity were host-dependent. Assemblages associated with E. gazella showed a significant inter-annual variability for most of the metrics analysed, while in those associated with L. lusitanica only Shannon-Wiener varied significantly between years. In L lusitanica Hurlbert\\'s expected number of taxa was significantly lower in small-sized than in medium- to large-sized colonies, but an opposite pattern was detected for beta-diversity, reflecting the higher heterogeneity among small-sized colonies. The dbRDA analysis segregated the assemblages associated with each of the two hosts; the faunal patterns were mainly explained by colony size related attributes (area, number of branches and, to a lesser extent, width) and the "colonial" epibiont cover. However, we suggest that altogether they may act as a metacommunity, with high temporal and spatial fluidity in their composition and structure related to multiple factors including not only a component of stochasticity but also life history events, biotic interactions and response to habitat heterogeneity and environmental variability. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulated Vegetation Response to Climate Change in California: The Importance of Seasonal Production Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, J. B.; Pitts, B.

2013-12-01

MC1 dynamic global vegetation model simulates vegetation response to climate change by simulating vegetation production, soil biogeochemistry, plant biogeography and fire. It has been applied at a wide range of spatial scales, yet the spatio-temporal patterns of simulated vegetation production, which drives the model's response to climate change, has not been examined in detail. We ran MC1 for California at a relatively fine scale, 30 arc-seconds, for the historical period (1895-2006) and for the future (2007-2100), using downscaled data from four CMIP3-based climate projections: A2 and B1 GHG emissions scenarios simulated by PCM and GFDL GCMs. The use of these four climate projections aligns our work with a body of climate change research work commissioned by the California Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program. The four climate projections vary not only in terms of changes in their annual means, but in the seasonality of projected climate change. We calibrated MC1 using MODIS NPP data for 2000-2011 as a guide, and adapting a published technique for adjusting simulated vegetation production by increasing the simulated plant rooting depths. We evaluated the simulation results by comparing the model output for the historical period with several benchmark datasets, summarizing by EPA Level 3 Ecoregions. Multi-year summary statistics of model predictions compare moderately well with Kuchler's potential natural vegetation map, National Biomass and Carbon Dataset, Leenhouts' compilation of fire return intervals, and, of course, the MODIS NPP data for 2000-2011. When we compared MC1's monthly NPP values with MODIS monthly GPP data (2000-2011), however, the seasonal patterns compared very poorly, with NPP/GPP ratio for spring (Mar-Apr-May) often exceeding 1, and the NPP/GPP ratio for summer (Jun-Jul-Aug) often flattening to zero. This suggests MC1's vegetation production algorithms are overly biased for spring production at the cost of summer production. We

Urethral pressure response patterns induced by squeeze in continent and incontinent women.

Science.gov (United States)

Teleman, Pia M; Mattiasson, Anders

2007-09-01

Our aim was to compare the urethral pressure response pattern to pelvic floor muscle contractions in 20-27 years old, nulliparous continent women (n = 31) to that of continent (n = 28) and formerly untreated incontinent (n = 59) (53-63 years old) women. These women underwent urethral pressure measurements during rest and repeated pelvic muscle contractions. The response to the contractions was graded 0-4. The young continent women showed a mean urethral pressure response of 2.8, the middle-aged continent women 2.2 (NS vs young continent), and the incontinent women 1.5 (p continent, p continent). Urethral pressures during rest were significantly higher in the younger women than in both groups of middle-aged women. The decreased ability to increase urethral pressure on demand seen in middle-aged incontinent women compared to continent women of the same age as well as young women seems to be a consequence of a neuromuscular disorder rather than of age.

Innate immune responses activated in Arabidopsis roots by microbe-associated molecular patterns.

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Millet, Yves A; Danna, Cristian H; Clay, Nicole K; Songnuan, Wisuwat; Simon, Matthew D; Werck-Reichhart, Danièle; Ausubel, Frederick M

2010-03-01

Despite the fact that roots are the organs most subject to microbial interactions, very little is known about the response of roots to microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). By monitoring transcriptional activation of beta-glucuronidase reporters and MAMP-elicited callose deposition, we show that three MAMPs, the flagellar peptide Flg22, peptidoglycan, and chitin, trigger a strong tissue-specific response in Arabidopsis thaliana roots, either at the elongation zone for Flg22 and peptidoglycan or in the mature parts of the roots for chitin. Ethylene signaling, the 4-methoxy-indole-3-ylmethylglucosinolate biosynthetic pathway, and the PEN2 myrosinase, but not salicylic acid or jasmonic acid signaling, play major roles in this MAMP response. We also show that Flg22 induces the cytochrome P450 CYP71A12-dependent exudation of the phytoalexin camalexin by Arabidopsis roots. The phytotoxin coronatine, an Ile-jasmonic acid mimic produced by Pseudomonas syringae pathovars, suppresses MAMP-activated responses in the roots. This suppression requires the E3 ubiquitin ligase COI1 as well as the transcription factor JIN1/MYC2 but does not rely on salicylic acid-jasmonic acid antagonism. These experiments demonstrate the presence of highly orchestrated and tissue-specific MAMP responses in roots and potential pathogen-encoded mechanisms to block these MAMP-elicited signaling pathways.

Sequential response patterns to chemotherapy and radiotherapy in head and neck cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, W.K.; O'Donoghue, G.M.; Sheetz, S.

1985-01-01

Surgery and/or radiotherapy have been the standard therapies for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck region. Despite major improvement in these therapeutic techniques, the control rate in cases of advanced cancer remains poor. More recently, induction chemotherapy as initial treatment has been used in previously untreated squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. For the last 6 years at the Boston Veterans Administration (V.A.) Medical Center, initial induction chemotherapy followed by surgery and/or radiotherapy has been employed in the treatment of advanced head and neck cancer. The use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy has allowed the authors to monitor and correlate sequential response patterns produced by each modality of treatment. The authors have observed that responders to chemotherapy can be predicted to have further response to subsequent radiotherapy

Attend or defend? Sex differences in behavioral, autonomic, and respiratory response patterns to emotion-eliciting films.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilhelm, Frank H; Rattel, Julina A; Wegerer, Melanie; Liedlgruber, Michael; Schweighofer, Simon; Kreibig, Sylvia D; Kolodyazhniy, Vitaliy; Blechert, Jens

2017-12-01

Sex differences in emotional reactivity have been studied primarily for negative but less so for positive stimuli; likewise, sex differences in the psychophysiological response-patterning during such stimuli are poorly understood. Thus, the present study examined sex differences in response to negative/positive and high/low arousing films (classified as threat-, loss-, achievement-, and recreation-related, vs. neutral films), while measuring 18 muscular, autonomic, and respiratory parameters. Sex differences emerged for all films, but were most prominent for threat-related films: Despite equivalent valence and arousal ratings, women displayed more facial-muscular and respiratory responding than men and pronounced sympathetic activation (preejection period, other cardiovascular and electrodermal measures), while men showed coactivated sympathetic/parasympathetic responding (including increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia). This indicates a prototypical threat-related defense response in women, while men showed a pattern of sustained orienting, which can be understood as a shift toward less threat proximity in the defense cascade model. Clinical implications are discussed within a socio-evolutionary framework. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Metastatic pattern and DNA ploidy in stage IV breast cancer at initial diagnosis. Relation to response and survival.

Science.gov (United States)

De Lena, M; Romero, A; Rabinovich, M; Leone, B; Vallejo, C; Machiavelli, M; Cuevas, M; Rodriguez, R; Lacava, J; Perez, J

1993-06-01

Sixty-nine patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) at initial diagnosis were analyzed to verify if metastatic pattern and clinical outcome are related to DNA ploidy determined by flow cytometry (FCM). Characteristics of 55 fully evaluable patients were as follows: median age: 61 years; postmenopausal: 75%; bone-only metastases (BM): 60%; extraosseous-only metastases (EM): 40%. Overall response rates (CR + PR) obtained with different chemotherapies and/or hormonal therapies were 58% and 68% for patients with BM and EM, respectively. Sixty percent of specimens resulted aneuploid, and the mean coefficient of variation of the complete series was 5.1%. In the whole group of patients DNA ploidy of primary tumor did not predict the metastatic pattern and had no influence upon response to treatment, duration of response, time to progression, and overall survival. When analyses were carried out according to metastatic pattern, those patients with BM showed similar results. However, within the group with EM, those with diploid tumors presented a significantly better survival (median 18 vs 13 months, p = .04). FCM-DNA analysis seems to identify a subgroup of patients with poor prognosis constituted by those who had aneuploid primary tumors and metastases to extraosseous sites.

Female pattern hair loss: Current treatment concepts

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Quan Q Dinh

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Quan Q Dinh, Rodney SinclairDepartment of Dermatology, St Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy, Victoria, AustraliaAbstract: Fewer than 45% of women go through life with a full head of hair. Female pattern hair loss is the commonest cause of hair loss in women and prevalence increases with advancing age. Affected women may experience psychological distress and impaired social functioning. In most cases the diagnosis can be made clinically and the condition treated medically. While many women using oral antiandrogens and topical minoxidil will regrow some hair, early diagnosis and initiation of treatment is desirable as these treatments are more effective at arresting progression of hair loss than stimulating regrowth. Adjunctive nonpharmacological treatment modalities such as counseling, cosmetic camouflage and hair transplantation are important measures for some patients. The histology of female pattern hair loss is identical to that of male androgenetic alopecia. While the clinical pattern of the hair loss differs between men, the response to oral antiandrogens suggests that female pattern hair loss is an androgen dependant condition, at least in the majority of cases. Female pattern hair loss is a chronic progressive condition. All treatments need to be continued to maintain the effect. An initial therapeutic response often takes 12 or even 24 months. Given this delay, monitoring for treatment effect through clinical photography or standardized clinical severity scales is helpful.Keywords: female pattern hair loss, androgenetic alopecia

Self-Organized Patterns Induced by Neimark-Sacker, Flip and Turing Bifurcations in a Discrete Predator-Prey Model with Lesie-Gower Functional Response

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Feifan Zhang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The formation of self-organized patterns in predator-prey models has been a very hot topic recently. The dynamics of these models, bifurcations and pattern formations are so complex that studies are urgently needed. In this research, we transformed a continuous predator-prey model with Lesie-Gower functional response into a discrete model. Fixed points and stability analyses were studied. Around the stable fixed point, bifurcation analyses including: flip, Neimark-Sacker and Turing bifurcation were done and bifurcation conditions were obtained. Based on these bifurcation conditions, parameters values were selected to carry out numerical simulations on pattern formation. The simulation results showed that Neimark-Sacker bifurcation induced spots, spirals and transitional patterns from spots to spirals. Turing bifurcation induced labyrinth patterns and spirals coupled with mosaic patterns, while flip bifurcation induced many irregular complex patterns. Compared with former studies on continuous predator-prey model with Lesie-Gower functional response, our research on the discrete model demonstrated more complex dynamics and varieties of self-organized patterns.

Network Analysis Reveals a Common Host–Pathogen Interaction Pattern in Arabidopsis Immune Responses

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Hong Li

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Many plant pathogens secrete virulence effectors into host cells to target important proteins in host cellular network. However, the dynamic interactions between effectors and host cellular network have not been fully understood. Here, an integrative network analysis was conducted by combining Arabidopsis thaliana protein–protein interaction network, known targets of Pseudomonas syringae and Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis effectors, and gene expression profiles in the immune response. In particular, we focused on the characteristic network topology of the effector targets and differentially expressed genes (DEGs. We found that effectors tended to manipulate key network positions with higher betweenness centrality. The effector targets, especially those that are common targets of an individual effector, tended to be clustered together in the network. Moreover, the distances between the effector targets and DEGs increased over time during infection. In line with this observation, pathogen-susceptible mutants tended to have more DEGs surrounding the effector targets compared with resistant mutants. Our results suggest a common plant–pathogen interaction pattern at the cellular network level, where pathogens employ potent local impact mode to interfere with key positions in the host network, and plant organizes an in-depth defense by sequentially activating genes distal to the effector targets.

Analysis of Microbe-Associated Molecular Pattern-Responsive Synthetic Promoters with the Parsley Protoplast System.

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Kanofsky, Konstantin; Lehmeyer, Mona; Schulze, Jutta; Hehl, Reinhard

2016-01-01

Plants recognize pathogens by microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) and subsequently induce an immune response. The regulation of gene expression during the immune response depends largely on cis-sequences conserved in promoters of MAMP-responsive genes. These cis-sequences can be analyzed by constructing synthetic promoters linked to a reporter gene and by testing these constructs in transient expression systems. Here, the use of the parsley (Petroselinum crispum) protoplast system for analyzing MAMP-responsive synthetic promoters is described. The synthetic promoter consists of four copies of a potential MAMP-responsive cis-sequence cloned upstream of a minimal promoter and the uidA reporter gene. The reporter plasmid contains a second reporter gene, which is constitutively expressed and hence eliminates the requirement of a second plasmid used as a transformation control. The reporter plasmid is transformed into parsley protoplasts that are elicited by the MAMP Pep25. The MAMP responsiveness is validated by comparing the reporter gene activity from MAMP-treated and untreated cells and by normalizing reporter gene activity using the constitutively expressed reporter gene.

Suggestibility and negative priming: two replication studies.

Science.gov (United States)

David, Daniel; Brown, Richard J

2002-07-01

Research suggests that inhibiting the effect of irrelevant stimuli on subsequent thought and action (cognitive inhibition) may be an important component of suggestibility. Two small correlation studies were conducted to address the relationship between different aspects of suggestibility and individual differences in cognitive inhibition, operationalized as the degree of negative priming generated by to-be-ignored stimuli in a semantic categorization task. The first study found significant positive correlations between negative priming, hypnotic suggestibility, and creative imagination; a significant negative correlation was obtained between negative priming and interrogative suggestibility, demonstrating the discriminant validity of the study results. The second study replicated the correlation between negative priming and hypnotic suggestibility, using a different suggestibility measurement procedure that assessed subjective experience and hypnotic involuntariness as well as objective responses to suggestions. These studies support the notion that the ability to engage in cognitive inhibition may be an important component of hypnotic responsivity and maybe of other forms of suggestibility.

T-cell response in human leishmaniasis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kharazmi, A; Kemp, K; Ismail, A

1999-01-01

In the present communication we provide evidence for the existence of a Th1/Th2 dichotomy in the T-cell response to Leishmania antigens in human leishmaniasis. Our data suggest that the pattern of IL-4 and IFN-gamma response is polarised in these patients. Lymphocytes from individuals recovered...... from cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) responded by IFN-gamma production following stimulation with Leishmania antigens whereas cells from patients recovered from visceral leishmaniasis (VL) showed a mixed pattern of IFN-gamma and IL-4 responses. The cells producing these cytokines were predominantly CD4......+. Furthermore, IL-10 plays an important role in the development of post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) from VL. The balance between the parasitic-specific T-cell response plays an important regulatory role in determining the outcome of Leishmania infections in humans....

Priors engaged in long-latency responses to mechanical perturbations suggest a rapid update in state estimation.

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Frédéric Crevecoeur

Full Text Available In every motor task, our brain must handle external forces acting on the body. For example, riding a bike on cobblestones or skating on irregular surface requires us to appropriately respond to external perturbations. In these situations, motor predictions cannot help anticipate the motion of the body induced by external factors, and direct use of delayed sensory feedback will tend to generate instability. Here, we show that to solve this problem the motor system uses a rapid sensory prediction to correct the estimated state of the limb. We used a postural task with mechanical perturbations to address whether sensory predictions were engaged in upper-limb corrective movements. Subjects altered their initial motor response in ∼60 ms, depending on the expected perturbation profile, suggesting the use of an internal model, or prior, in this corrective process. Further, we found trial-to-trial changes in corrective responses indicating a rapid update of these perturbation priors. We used a computational model based on Kalman filtering to show that the response modulation was compatible with a rapid correction of the estimated state engaged in the feedback response. Such a process may allow us to handle external disturbances encountered in virtually every physical activity, which is likely an important feature of skilled motor behaviour.

Pilot test of a novel food response and attention training treatment for obesity: Brain imaging data suggest actions shape valuation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stice, Eric; Yokum, Sonja; Veling, Harm; Kemps, Eva; Lawrence, Natalia S

2017-07-01

Elevated brain reward and attention region response, and weaker inhibitory region response to high-calorie food images have been found to predict future weight gain. These findings suggest that an intervention that reduces reward and attention region response and increases inhibitory control region response to such foods might reduce overeating. We conducted a randomized pilot experiment that tested the hypothesis that a multi-faceted food response and attention training with personalized high- and low-calorie food images would produce changes in behavioral and neural responses to food images and body fat compared to a control training with non-food images among community-recruited overweight/obese adults. Compared to changes observed in controls, completing the intervention was associated with significant reductions in reward and attention region response to high-calorie food images (Mean Cohen's d = 1.54), behavioral evidence of learning, reductions in palatability ratings and monetary valuation of high-calorie foods (p = 0.009, d's = 0.92), and greater body fat loss over a 4-week period (p = 0.009, d = 0.90), though body fat effects were not significant by 6-month follow-up. Results suggest that this multifaceted response and attention training intervention was associated with reduced reward and attention region responsivity to food cues, and a reduction in body fat. Because this implicit training treatment is both easy and inexpensive to deliver, and does not require top-down executive control that is necessary for negative energy balance obesity treatment, it may prove useful in treating obesity if future studies can determine how to create more enduring effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Symbiotic specificity, association patterns, and function determine community responses to global changes: defining critical research areas for coral-Symbiodinium symbioses.

Science.gov (United States)

Fabina, Nicholas S; Putnam, Hollie M; Franklin, Erik C; Stat, Michael; Gates, Ruth D

2013-11-01

Climate change-driven stressors threaten the persistence of coral reefs worldwide. Symbiotic relationships between scleractinian corals and photosynthetic endosymbionts (genus Symbiodinium) are the foundation of reef ecosystems, and these associations are differentially impacted by stress. Here, we couple empirical data from the coral reefs of Moorea, French Polynesia, and a network theoretic modeling approach to evaluate how patterns in coral-Symbiodinium associations influence community stability under climate change. To introduce the effect of climate perturbations, we simulate local 'extinctions' that represent either the loss of coral species or the ability to engage in symbiotic interactions. Community stability is measured by determining the duration and number of species that persist through the simulated extinctions. Our results suggest that four factors greatly increase coral-Symbiodinium community stability in response to global changes: (i) the survival of generalist hosts and symbionts maximizes potential symbiotic unions; (ii) elevated symbiont diversity provides redundant or complementary symbiotic functions; (iii) compatible symbiotic assemblages create the potential for local recolonization; and (iv) the persistence of certain traits associate with symbiotic diversity and redundancy. Symbiodinium may facilitate coral persistence through novel environmental regimes, but this capacity is mediated by symbiotic specificity, association patterns, and the functional performance of the symbionts. Our model-based approach identifies general trends and testable hypotheses in coral-Symbiodinium community responses. Future studies should consider similar methods when community size and/or environmental complexity preclude experimental approaches. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Visually guided avoidance in the chameleon (Chamaeleo chameleon): response patterns and lateralization.

Science.gov (United States)

Lustig, Avichai; Ketter-Katz, Hadas; Katzir, Gadi

2012-01-01

The common chameleon, Chamaeleo chameleon, is an arboreal lizard with highly independent, large-amplitude eye movements. In response to a moving threat, a chameleon on a perch responds with distinct avoidance movements that are expressed in its continuous positioning on the side of the perch distal to the threat. We analyzed body-exposure patterns during threat avoidance for evidence of lateralization, that is, asymmetry at the functional/behavioral levels. Chameleons were exposed to a threat approaching horizontally from the left or right, as they held onto a vertical pole that was either wider or narrower than the width of their head, providing, respectively, monocular or binocular viewing of the threat. We found two equal-sized sub-groups, each displaying lateralization of motor responses to a given direction of stimulus approach. Such an anti-symmetrical distribution of lateralization in a population may be indicative of situations in which organisms are regularly exposed to crucial stimuli from all spatial directions. This is because a bimodal distribution of responses to threat in a natural population will reduce the spatial advantage of predators.

Visually guided avoidance in the chameleon (Chamaeleo chameleon: response patterns and lateralization.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avichai Lustig

Full Text Available The common chameleon, Chamaeleo chameleon, is an arboreal lizard with highly independent, large-amplitude eye movements. In response to a moving threat, a chameleon on a perch responds with distinct avoidance movements that are expressed in its continuous positioning on the side of the perch distal to the threat. We analyzed body-exposure patterns during threat avoidance for evidence of lateralization, that is, asymmetry at the functional/behavioral levels. Chameleons were exposed to a threat approaching horizontally from the left or right, as they held onto a vertical pole that was either wider or narrower than the width of their head, providing, respectively, monocular or binocular viewing of the threat. We found two equal-sized sub-groups, each displaying lateralization of motor responses to a given direction of stimulus approach. Such an anti-symmetrical distribution of lateralization in a population may be indicative of situations in which organisms are regularly exposed to crucial stimuli from all spatial directions. This is because a bimodal distribution of responses to threat in a natural population will reduce the spatial advantage of predators.

Gut microbiome and innate immune response patterns in IgE-associated eczema.

Science.gov (United States)

West, C E; Rydén, P; Lundin, D; Engstrand, L; Tulic, M K; Prescott, S L

2015-09-01

Gut microbiome patterns have been associated with predisposition to eczema potentially through modulation of innate immune signalling. We examined gut microbiome development in the first year of life in relation to innate immune responses and onset of IgE-associated eczema over the first 2.5 years in predisposed children due to maternal atopy [www.anzctr.org.au, trial ID ACTRN12606000280505]. Microbial composition and diversity were analysed with barcoded 16S rRNA 454 pyrosequencing in stool samples in pregnancy and at ages 1 week, 1 month and 12 months in infants (n = 10) who developed IgE-associated eczema and infants who remained free of any allergic symptoms at 2.5 years of age (n = 10). Microbiome data at 1 week and 1 month were analysed in relation to previously assessed immune responses to TLR 2 and 4 ligands at 6 months of age. The relative abundance of Gram-positive Ruminococcaceae was lower at 1 week of age in infants developing IgE-associated eczema, compared with controls (P = 0.0047). At that age, the relative abundance of Ruminococcus was inversely associated with TLR2 induced IL-6 (-0.567, P = 0.042) and TNF-α (-0.597, P = 0.032); there was also an inverse association between the abundance of Proteobacteria (comprising Gram-negative taxa) and TLR4-induced TNF-α (rs = -0.629, P = 0.024). This relationship persisted at 1 month, with inverse associations between the relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae (within the Proteobacteria phylum) and TLR4-induced TNF-α (rs = -0.697, P = 0.038) and Enterobacteriaceae and IL-6 (rs = -0.709, P = 0.035). Mothers whose infants developed IgE-associated eczema had lower α-diversity of Bacteroidetes (P = 0.04) although this was not seen later in their infants. At 1 year, α-diversity of Actinobacteria was lower in infants with IgE-associated eczema compared with controls (P = 0.002). Our findings suggest that reduced relative abundance of potentially immunomodulatory gut bacteria is associated with exaggerated

Evolution of HVR-1 quasispecies after 1-year treatment in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients according to the pattern of response to highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Solmone, Mariacarmela; Girardi, Enrico; Lalle, Eleonora; Abbate, Isabella; D'Arminio Monforte, Antonella; Cozzi-Lepri, Alessandro; Alessandrini, Anna; Piscopo, Rita; Ebo, Francesca; Cosco, Lucio; Antonucci, Giorgio; Ippolito, Giuseppe; Capobianchi, Maria R

2006-01-01

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) variability is mainly attributed to the ability of the virus to respond to host immune pressure, acting as a driving force for the evolution of quasispecies. This study was aimed at studying the changes in HVR-1 heterogeneity and the evolution of HCV quasispecies in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients according to the pattern of response to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Sixteen HIV/HCV-coinfected patients harbouring HCV genotype 1 and who had been on HAART for at least 1 year, 8 showing increasing CD4+ T-cell counts (immunological responders) and 8 showing a stable or decreasing CD4+ T-cell counts (immunological nonresponders), were selected from a prospective cohort study. After 1 year of HAART, 11 patients showed HIV viral load HVR-1 region of HCV. Nonsynonymous/synonymous substitutions ratio (Ka/Ks), aminoacidic complexity (normalized Shannon entropy) and diversity (p-distance), were considered as parameters of quasispecies heterogeneity. After 1 year of HAART, heterogeneity of HVR-1 quasispecies significantly decreased in virological non-responders, whereas the heterogeneity tended to increase in virological responders. The differences in the evolution were less stringent, when considering immunological response. On the other hand, profound qualitative modifications of HVR-1 quasispecies were observed only in patients with both immunological and virological HAART response. On the whole, these findings suggest that, in patients undergoing HAART, the extent of HCV variability and the evolution of HVR-1 quasispecies is influenced by the pattern of response to antiretroviral therapy.

The grapevine kinome: annotation, classification and expression patterns in developmental processes and stress responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Kaikai; Wang, Xiaolong; Liu, Jinyi; Tang, Jun; Cheng, Qunkang; Chen, Jin-Gui; Cheng, Zong-Ming Max

2018-01-01

Protein kinases (PKs) have evolved as the largest family of molecular switches that regulate protein activities associated with almost all essential cellular functions. Only a fraction of plant PKs, however, have been functionally characterized even in model plant species. In the present study, the entire grapevine kinome was identified and annotated using the most recent version of the grapevine genome. A total of 1168 PK-encoding genes were identified and classified into 20 groups and 121 families, with the RLK-Pelle group being the largest, with 872 members. The 1168 kinase genes were unevenly distributed over all 19 chromosomes, and both tandem and segmental duplications contributed to the expansion of the grapevine kinome, especially of the RLK-Pelle group. Ka/Ks values indicated that most of the tandem and segmental duplication events were under purifying selection. The grapevine kinome families exhibited different expression patterns during plant development and in response to various stress treatments, with many being coexpressed. The comprehensive annotation of grapevine kinase genes, their patterns of expression and coexpression, and the related information facilitate a more complete understanding of the roles of various grapevine kinases in growth and development, responses to abiotic stress, and evolutionary history.

Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt

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Åshild Ø. Pedersen

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The western Palaearctic tundra is a breeding habitat for large populations of European geese. After their arrival in spring, pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus forage extensively on below-ground plant parts, using a feeding technique called grubbing that has substantial impact on the tundra vegetation. Previous studies have shown a high frequency of grubbing in lowland fen vegetation. In the present study, we examined the occurrence of grubbing in other habitat types on Spitsbergen, in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Goose grubbing was surveyed along 19 altitudinal transects, going from the valley bottom to altitudes dominated by scree. Grubbing was more frequent in the wet habitat type at low altitudes compared to the drier habitat type at higher altitudes. For the dry habitat type, a higher frequency of grubbing was found in study plots with a south-east facing exposure where snowmelt is expected to be early. This suggests that pink-footed geese primarily use dry vegetation types for grubbing when they are snow-free in early spring and the availability of snow-free patches of the preferred wet vegetation types in the lowlands is limited. Dry vegetation types have poorer recovery rates from disturbance than wet ones. Sites with early snowmelt and dry vegetation types may therefore be at greater risk of long-term habitat degradation. We conclude that the high growth rate of the Svalbard-breeding pink-footed goose population suggests that increasing impacts of grubbing can be expected and argue that a responsible monitoring of the effects on the tundra ecosystem is crucial.

Use of Sine Shaped High-Frequency Rhythmic Visual Stimuli Patterns for SSVEP Response Analysis and Fatigue Rate Evaluation in Normal Subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmadreza Keihani

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Recent EEG-SSVEP signal based BCI studies have used high frequency square pulse visual stimuli to reduce subjective fatigue. However, the effect of total harmonic distortion (THD has not been considered. Compared to CRT and LCD monitors, LED screen displays high-frequency wave with better refresh rate. In this study, we present high frequency sine wave simple and rhythmic patterns with low THD rate by LED to analyze SSVEP responses and evaluate subjective fatigue in normal subjects.Materials and Methods: We used patterns of 3-sequence high-frequency sine waves (25, 30, and 35 Hz to design our visual stimuli. Nine stimuli patterns, 3 simple (repetition of each of above 3 frequencies e.g., P25-25-25 and 6 rhythmic (all of the frequencies in 6 different sequences e.g., P25-30-35 were chosen. A hardware setup with low THD rate (<0.1% was designed to present these patterns on LED. Twenty two normal subjects (aged 23–30 (25 ± 2.1 yrs were enrolled. Visual analog scale (VAS was used for subjective fatigue evaluation after presentation of each stimulus pattern. PSD, CCA, and LASSO methods were employed to analyze SSVEP responses. The data including SSVEP features and fatigue rate for different visual stimuli patterns were statistically evaluated.Results: All 9 visual stimuli patterns elicited SSVEP responses. Overall, obtained accuracy rates were 88.35% for PSD and > 90% for CCA and LASSO (for TWs > 1 s. High frequency rhythmic patterns group with low THD rate showed higher accuracy rate (99.24% than simple patterns group (98.48%. Repeated measure ANOVA showed significant difference between rhythmic pattern features (P < 0.0005. Overall, there was no significant difference between the VAS of rhythmic [3.85 ± 2.13] compared to the simple patterns group [3.96 ± 2.21], (P = 0.63. Rhythmic group had lower within group VAS variation (min = P25-30-35 [2.90 ± 2.45], max = P35-25-30 [4.81 ± 2.65] as well as least individual pattern VAS (P25

Quality control of the soil moisture probe response patterns from a green infrastructure site using Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and association rule learning

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Z.; Bedig, A.; Quigley, M.; Montalto, F. A.

2017-12-01

In-situ field monitoring can help to improve the design and management of decentralized Green Infrastructure (GI) systems in urban areas. Because of the vast quantity of continuous data generated from multi-site sensor systems, cost-effective post-construction opportunities for real-time control are limited; and the physical processes that influence the observed phenomena (e.g. soil moisture) are hard to track and control. To derive knowledge efficiently from real-time monitoring data, there is currently a need to develop more efficient approaches to data quality control. In this paper, we employ dynamic time warping method to compare the similarity of two soil moisture patterns without ignoring the inherent autocorrelation. We also use a rule-based machine learning method to investigate the feasibility of detecting anomalous responses from soil moisture probes. The data was generated from both individual and clusters of probes, deployed in a GI site in Milwaukee, WI. In contrast to traditional QAQC methods, which seek to detect outliers at individual time steps, the new method presented here converts the continuous time series into event-based symbolic sequences from which unusual response patterns can be detected. Different Matching rules are developed on different physical characteristics for different seasons. The results suggest that this method could be used alternatively to detect sensor failure, to identify extreme events, and to call out abnormal change patterns, compared to intra-probe and inter-probe historical observations. Though this algorithm was developed for soil moisture probes, the same approach could easily be extended to advance QAQC efficiency for any continuous environmental datasets.

Improved prognostic classification of breast cancer defined by antagonistic activation patterns of immune response pathway modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teschendorff, Andrew E; Gomez, Sergio; Arenas, Alex; El-Ashry, Dorraya; Schmidt, Marcus; Gehrmann, Mathias; Caldas, Carlos

2010-01-01

Elucidating the activation pattern of molecular pathways across a given tumour type is a key challenge necessary for understanding the heterogeneity in clinical response and for developing novel more effective therapies. Gene expression signatures of molecular pathway activation derived from perturbation experiments in model systems as well as structural models of molecular interactions ('model signatures') constitute an important resource for estimating corresponding activation levels in tumours. However, relatively few strategies for estimating pathway activity from such model signatures exist and only few studies have used activation patterns of pathways to refine molecular classifications of cancer. Here we propose a novel network-based method for estimating pathway activation in tumours from model signatures. We find that although the pathway networks inferred from cancer expression data are highly consistent with the prior information contained in the model signatures, that they also exhibit a highly modular structure and that estimation of pathway activity is dependent on this modular structure. We apply our methodology to a panel of 438 estrogen receptor negative (ER-) and 785 estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancers to infer activation patterns of important cancer related molecular pathways. We show that in ER negative basal and HER2+ breast cancer, gene expression modules reflecting T-cell helper-1 (Th1) and T-cell helper-2 (Th2) mediated immune responses play antagonistic roles as major risk factors for distant metastasis. Using Boolean interaction Cox-regression models to identify non-linear pathway combinations associated with clinical outcome, we show that simultaneous high activation of Th1 and low activation of a TGF-beta pathway module defines a subtype of particularly good prognosis and that this classification provides a better prognostic model than those based on the individual pathways. In ER+ breast cancer, we find that

A comparative experimental approach to ecotoxicology in shallow-water and deep-sea holothurians suggests similar behavioural responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Alastair; Wright, Roseanna; Mevenkamp, Lisa; Hauton, Chris

2017-10-01

Exploration of deep-sea mineral resources is burgeoning, raising concerns regarding ecotoxicological impacts on deep-sea fauna. Assessing toxicity in deep-sea species is technologically challenging, which promotes interest in establishing shallow-water ecotoxicological proxy species. However, the effects of temperature and hydrostatic pressure on toxicity, and how adaptation to deep-sea environmental conditions might moderate these effects, are unknown. To address these uncertainties we assessed behavioural and physiological (antioxidant enzyme activity) responses to exposure to copper-spiked artificial sediments in a laboratory experiment using a shallow-water holothurian (Holothuria forskali), and in an in situ experiment using a deep-sea holothurian (Amperima sp.). Both species demonstrated sustained avoidance behaviour, evading contact with contaminated artificial sediment. However, A. sp. demonstrated sustained avoidance of 5mgl -1 copper-contaminated artificial sediment whereas H. forskali demonstrated only temporary avoidance of 5mgl -1 copper-contaminated artificial sediment, suggesting that H. forskali may be more tolerant of metal exposure over 96h. Nonetheless, the acute behavioural response appears consistent between the shallow-water species and the deep-sea species, suggesting that H. forskali may be a suitable ecotoxicological proxy for A. sp. in acute (≤24h) exposures, which may be representative of deep-sea mining impacts. No antioxidant response was observed in either species, which was interpreted to be the consequence of avoiding copper exposure. Although these data suggest that shallow-water taxa may be suitable ecotoxicological proxies for deep-sea taxa, differences in methodological and analytical approaches, and in sex and reproductive stage of experimental subjects, require caution in assessing the suitability of H. forskali as an ecotoxicological proxy for A. sp. Nonetheless, avoidance behaviour may have bioenergetic consequences that

Response of coral assemblages to thermal stress: are bleaching intensity and spatial patterns consistent between events?

Science.gov (United States)

Penin, Lucie; Vidal-Dupiol, Jeremie; Adjeroud, Mehdi

2013-06-01

Mass bleaching events resulting in coral mortality are among the greatest threats to coral reefs, and are projected to increase in frequency and intensity with global warming. Achieving a better understanding of the consistency of the response of coral assemblages to thermal stress, both spatially and temporally, is essential to determine which reefs are more able to tolerate climate change. We compared variations in spatial and taxonomic patterns between two bleaching events at the scale of an island (Moorea Island, French Polynesia). Despite similar thermal stress and light conditions, bleaching intensity was significantly lower in 2007 (approximately 37 % of colonies showed signs of bleaching) than in 2002, when 55 % of the colonies bleached. Variations in the spatial patterns of bleaching intensity were consistent between the two events. Among nine sampling stations at three locations and three depths, the stations at which the bleaching response was lowest in 2002 were those that showed the lowest levels of bleaching in 2007. The taxonomic patterns of susceptibility to bleaching were also consistent between the two events. These findings have important implications for conservation because they indicate that corals are capable of acclimatization and/or adaptation and that, even at small spatial scales, some areas are consistently more susceptible to bleaching than others.

INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MODULATED LUMINANCE PATTERNS AND RANDOM-DOT PATTERNS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

CORNELISSEN, FW; KOOIJMAN, AC

1994-01-01

It has been suggested that density modulated random-dot patterns can be used to study higher order pattern vision [Van Meeteren and Barlow (1981) Vision Research, 21, 765-777]. The high contrast dots of which the pattern is composed, are assumed to be reliably transduced-and transmitted by the lower

Global metabolomic responses of Nitrosomonas europaea 19718 to cold stress and altered ammonia feeding patterns

KAUST Repository

Lu, Huijie; Ulanov, Alexander V.; Nobu, Masaru; Liu, Wen-Tso

2015-01-01

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg The model ammonia-oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea represents one of the environmentally and biotechnologically significant microorganisms. Genome-based studies over the last decade have led to many intriguing discoveries about its cellular biochemistry and physiology. However, knowledge regarding the regulation of overall metabolic routes in response to various environmental stresses is limited due to a lack of comprehensive, time-resolved metabolomic analyses. In this study, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolic profiling was performed to characterize the temporal variations of N. europaea 19718 intercellular metabolites in response to varied temperature (23 and 10 °C) and ammonia feeding patterns (shock loading and continuous feeding of 20 mg N/L). Approximately 87 metabolites were successfully identified and mapped to the existing pathways of N. europaea 19718, allowing interpretation of the influence of temperature and feeding pattern on metabolite levels. In general, varied temperature had a more profound influence on the overall metabolism than varied feeding patterns. Total extracellular metabolite concentrations (relative to internal standards and normalized to biomass weight) were lower under cold stress and shock loading conditions compared with the control (continuous feeding at 23 °C). Cold stress caused the widespread downregulation of metabolites involved in central carbon metabolism, amino acid, and lipid synthesis (e.g., malonic acid, succinic acid, putrescine, and phosphonolpyruvate). Metabolites that showed differences under varied feeding patterns were mainly involved in nucleotide acid, amino acid, and lipid metabolism (e.g., adenine, uracil, and spermidine). This study highlighted the roles of central carbon and nitrogen metabolism in countering cold stress and altered ammonia availability. In addition, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data from three

Global metabolomic responses of Nitrosomonas europaea 19718 to cold stress and altered ammonia feeding patterns

KAUST Repository

Lu, Huijie

2015-11-05

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg The model ammonia-oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea represents one of the environmentally and biotechnologically significant microorganisms. Genome-based studies over the last decade have led to many intriguing discoveries about its cellular biochemistry and physiology. However, knowledge regarding the regulation of overall metabolic routes in response to various environmental stresses is limited due to a lack of comprehensive, time-resolved metabolomic analyses. In this study, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolic profiling was performed to characterize the temporal variations of N. europaea 19718 intercellular metabolites in response to varied temperature (23 and 10 °C) and ammonia feeding patterns (shock loading and continuous feeding of 20 mg N/L). Approximately 87 metabolites were successfully identified and mapped to the existing pathways of N. europaea 19718, allowing interpretation of the influence of temperature and feeding pattern on metabolite levels. In general, varied temperature had a more profound influence on the overall metabolism than varied feeding patterns. Total extracellular metabolite concentrations (relative to internal standards and normalized to biomass weight) were lower under cold stress and shock loading conditions compared with the control (continuous feeding at 23 °C). Cold stress caused the widespread downregulation of metabolites involved in central carbon metabolism, amino acid, and lipid synthesis (e.g., malonic acid, succinic acid, putrescine, and phosphonolpyruvate). Metabolites that showed differences under varied feeding patterns were mainly involved in nucleotide acid, amino acid, and lipid metabolism (e.g., adenine, uracil, and spermidine). This study highlighted the roles of central carbon and nitrogen metabolism in countering cold stress and altered ammonia availability. In addition, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data from three

Global metabolomic responses of Nitrosomonas europaea 19718 to cold stress and altered ammonia feeding patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Huijie; Ulanov, Alexander V; Nobu, Masaru; Liu, Wen-Tso

2016-02-01

The model ammonia-oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea represents one of the environmentally and biotechnologically significant microorganisms. Genome-based studies over the last decade have led to many intriguing discoveries about its cellular biochemistry and physiology. However, knowledge regarding the regulation of overall metabolic routes in response to various environmental stresses is limited due to a lack of comprehensive, time-resolved metabolomic analyses. In this study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolic profiling was performed to characterize the temporal variations of N. europaea 19718 intercellular metabolites in response to varied temperature (23 and 10 °C) and ammonia feeding patterns (shock loading and continuous feeding of 20 mg N/L). Approximately 87 metabolites were successfully identified and mapped to the existing pathways of N. europaea 19718, allowing interpretation of the influence of temperature and feeding pattern on metabolite levels. In general, varied temperature had a more profound influence on the overall metabolism than varied feeding patterns. Total extracellular metabolite concentrations (relative to internal standards and normalized to biomass weight) were lower under cold stress and shock loading conditions compared with the control (continuous feeding at 23 °C). Cold stress caused the widespread downregulation of metabolites involved in central carbon metabolism, amino acid, and lipid synthesis (e.g., malonic acid, succinic acid, putrescine, and phosphonolpyruvate). Metabolites that showed differences under varied feeding patterns were mainly involved in nucleotide acid, amino acid, and lipid metabolism (e.g., adenine, uracil, and spermidine). This study highlighted the roles of central carbon and nitrogen metabolism in countering cold stress and altered ammonia availability. In addition, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data from three studies on N. europaea were compared to achieve a

Overlapping Patterns of Rapid Evolution in the Nucleic Acid Sensors cGAS and OAS1 Suggest a Common Mechanism of Pathogen Antagonism and Escape.

Science.gov (United States)

Hancks, Dustin C; Hartley, Melissa K; Hagan, Celia; Clark, Nathan L; Elde, Nels C

2015-05-01

A diverse subset of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) detects pathogen-associated nucleic acids to initiate crucial innate immune responses in host organisms. Reflecting their importance for host defense, pathogens encode various countermeasures to evade or inhibit these immune effectors. PRRs directly engaged by pathogen inhibitors often evolve under recurrent bouts of positive selection that have been described as molecular 'arms races.' Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) was recently identified as a key PRR. Upon binding cytoplasmic double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) from various viruses, cGAS generates the small nucleotide secondary messenger cGAMP to signal activation of innate defenses. Here we report an evolutionary history of cGAS with recurrent positive selection in the primate lineage. Recent studies indicate a high degree of structural similarity between cGAS and 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthase 1 (OAS1), a PRR that detects double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), despite low sequence identity between the respective genes. We present comprehensive comparative evolutionary analysis of cGAS and OAS1 primate sequences and observe positive selection at nucleic acid binding interfaces and distributed throughout both genes. Our data revealed homologous regions with strong signatures of positive selection, suggesting common mechanisms employed by unknown pathogen encoded inhibitors and similar modes of evasion from antagonism. Our analysis of cGAS diversification also identified alternately spliced forms missing multiple sites under positive selection. Further analysis of selection on the OAS family in primates, which comprises OAS1, OAS2, OAS3 and OASL, suggests a hypothesis where gene duplications and domain fusion events result in paralogs that provide another means of escaping pathogen inhibitors. Together our comparative evolutionary analysis of cGAS and OAS provides new insights into distinct mechanisms by which key molecular sentinels of the innate immune system have adapted

Overlapping Patterns of Rapid Evolution in the Nucleic Acid Sensors cGAS and OAS1 Suggest a Common Mechanism of Pathogen Antagonism and Escape.

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Dustin C Hancks

2015-05-01

Full Text Available A diverse subset of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs detects pathogen-associated nucleic acids to initiate crucial innate immune responses in host organisms. Reflecting their importance for host defense, pathogens encode various countermeasures to evade or inhibit these immune effectors. PRRs directly engaged by pathogen inhibitors often evolve under recurrent bouts of positive selection that have been described as molecular 'arms races.' Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS was recently identified as a key PRR. Upon binding cytoplasmic double-stranded DNA (dsDNA from various viruses, cGAS generates the small nucleotide secondary messenger cGAMP to signal activation of innate defenses. Here we report an evolutionary history of cGAS with recurrent positive selection in the primate lineage. Recent studies indicate a high degree of structural similarity between cGAS and 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthase 1 (OAS1, a PRR that detects double-stranded RNA (dsRNA, despite low sequence identity between the respective genes. We present comprehensive comparative evolutionary analysis of cGAS and OAS1 primate sequences and observe positive selection at nucleic acid binding interfaces and distributed throughout both genes. Our data revealed homologous regions with strong signatures of positive selection, suggesting common mechanisms employed by unknown pathogen encoded inhibitors and similar modes of evasion from antagonism. Our analysis of cGAS diversification also identified alternately spliced forms missing multiple sites under positive selection. Further analysis of selection on the OAS family in primates, which comprises OAS1, OAS2, OAS3 and OASL, suggests a hypothesis where gene duplications and domain fusion events result in paralogs that provide another means of escaping pathogen inhibitors. Together our comparative evolutionary analysis of cGAS and OAS provides new insights into distinct mechanisms by which key molecular sentinels of the innate immune system

Divergent and nonuniform gene expression patterns in mouse brain

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, John A.; Royall, Joshua J.; Bertagnolli, Darren; Boe, Andrew F.; Burnell, Josh J.; Byrnes, Emi J.; Copeland, Cathy; Desta, Tsega; Fischer, Shanna R.; Goldy, Jeff; Glattfelder, Katie J.; Kidney, Jolene M.; Lemon, Tracy; Orta, Geralyn J.; Parry, Sheana E.; Pathak, Sayan D.; Pearson, Owen C.; Reding, Melissa; Shapouri, Sheila; Smith, Kimberly A.; Soden, Chad; Solan, Beth M.; Weller, John; Takahashi, Joseph S.; Overly, Caroline C.; Lein, Ed S.; Hawrylycz, Michael J.; Hohmann, John G.; Jones, Allan R.

2010-01-01

Considerable progress has been made in understanding variations in gene sequence and expression level associated with phenotype, yet how genetic diversity translates into complex phenotypic differences remains poorly understood. Here, we examine the relationship between genetic background and spatial patterns of gene expression across seven strains of mice, providing the most extensive cellular-resolution comparative analysis of gene expression in the mammalian brain to date. Using comprehensive brainwide anatomic coverage (more than 200 brain regions), we applied in situ hybridization to analyze the spatial expression patterns of 49 genes encoding well-known pharmaceutical drug targets. Remarkably, over 50% of the genes examined showed interstrain expression variation. In addition, the variability was nonuniformly distributed across strain and neuroanatomic region, suggesting certain organizing principles. First, the degree of expression variance among strains mirrors genealogic relationships. Second, expression pattern differences were concentrated in higher-order brain regions such as the cortex and hippocampus. Divergence in gene expression patterns across the brain could contribute significantly to variations in behavior and responses to neuroactive drugs in laboratory mouse strains and may help to explain individual differences in human responsiveness to neuroactive drugs. PMID:20956311

Comparing genomic expression patterns across plant species reveals highly diverged transcriptional dynamics in response to salt stress

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Close Timothy J

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rice and barley are both members of Poaceae (grass family but have a marked difference in salt tolerance. The molecular mechanism underlying this difference was previously unexplored. This study employs a comparative genomics approach to identify analogous and contrasting gene expression patterns between rice and barley. Results A hierarchical clustering approach identified several interesting expression trajectories among rice and barley genotypes. There were no major conserved expression patterns between the two species in response to salt stress. A wheat salt-stress dataset was queried for comparison with rice and barley. Roughly one-third of the salt-stress responses of barley were conserved with wheat while overlap between wheat and rice was minimal. These results demonstrate that, at transcriptome level, rice is strikingly different compared to the more closely related barley and wheat. This apparent lack of analogous transcriptional programs in response to salt stress is further highlighted through close examination of genes associated with root growth and development. Conclusion The analysis provides support for the hypothesis that conservation of transcriptional signatures in response to environmental cues depends on the genetic similarity among the genotypes within a species, and on the phylogenetic distance between the species.

Low back pain in drivers exposed to whole body vibration: analysis of a dose-response pattern

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tiemessen, I. J. H.; Hulshof, C. T. J.; Frings-Dresen, M. H. W.

2008-01-01

Analysis of a dose-response pattern between exposure to whole body vibration (WBV) and low back pain (LBP) in a group of drivers. This study assessed individual factors, work-related risk factors, various LBP outcome measures and LBP disability in a group of drivers (n = 571) approached at baseline

Response of Surface Soil Hydrology to the Micro-Pattern of Bio-Crust in a Dry-Land Loess Environment, China.

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Wei Wei

Full Text Available The specific bio-species and their spatial patterns play crucial roles in regulating eco-hydrologic process, which is significant for large-scale habitat promotion and vegetation restoration in many dry-land ecosystems. Such effects, however, are not yet fully studied. In this study, 12 micro-plots, each with size of 0.5 m in depth and 1 m in length, were constructed on a gentle grassy hill-slope with a mean gradient of 8° in a semiarid loess hilly area of China. Two major bio-crusts, including mosses and lichens, had been cultivated for two years prior to the field simulation experiments, while physical crusts and non-crusted bare soils were used for comparison. By using rainfall simulation method, four designed micro-patterns (i.e., upper bio-crust and lower bare soil, scattered bio-crust, upper bare soil and lower bio-crust, fully-covered bio-crust to the soil hydrological response were analyzed. We found that soil surface bio-crusts were more efficient in improving soil structure, water holding capacity and runoff retention particularly at surface 10 cm layers, compared with physical soil crusts and non-crusted bare soils. We re-confirmed that mosses functioned better than lichens, partly due to their higher successional stage and deeper biomass accumulation. Physical crusts were least efficient in water conservation and erosion control, followed by non-crusted bare soils. More importantly, there were marked differences in the efficiency of the different spatial arrangements of bio-crusts in controlling runoff and sediment generation. Fully-covered bio-crust pattern provides the best option for soil loss reduction and runoff retention, while a combination of upper bio-crust and lower bare soil pattern is the least one. These findings are suggested to be significant for surface-cover protection, rainwater infiltration, runoff retention, and erosion control in water-restricted and degraded natural slopes.

Response of Surface Soil Hydrology to the Micro-Pattern of Bio-Crust in a Dry-Land Loess Environment, China

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Wei; Yu, Yun; Chen, Liding

2015-01-01

The specific bio-species and their spatial patterns play crucial roles in regulating eco-hydrologic process, which is significant for large-scale habitat promotion and vegetation restoration in many dry-land ecosystems. Such effects, however, are not yet fully studied. In this study, 12 micro-plots, each with size of 0.5 m in depth and 1 m in length, were constructed on a gentle grassy hill-slope with a mean gradient of 8° in a semiarid loess hilly area of China. Two major bio-crusts, including mosses and lichens, had been cultivated for two years prior to the field simulation experiments, while physical crusts and non-crusted bare soils were used for comparison. By using rainfall simulation method, four designed micro-patterns (i.e., upper bio-crust and lower bare soil, scattered bio-crust, upper bare soil and lower bio-crust, fully-covered bio-crust) to the soil hydrological response were analyzed. We found that soil surface bio-crusts were more efficient in improving soil structure, water holding capacity and runoff retention particularly at surface 10 cm layers, compared with physical soil crusts and non-crusted bare soils. We re-confirmed that mosses functioned better than lichens, partly due to their higher successional stage and deeper biomass accumulation. Physical crusts were least efficient in water conservation and erosion control, followed by non-crusted bare soils. More importantly, there were marked differences in the efficiency of the different spatial arrangements of bio-crusts in controlling runoff and sediment generation. Fully-covered bio-crust pattern provides the best option for soil loss reduction and runoff retention, while a combination of upper bio-crust and lower bare soil pattern is the least one. These findings are suggested to be significant for surface-cover protection, rainwater infiltration, runoff retention, and erosion control in water-restricted and degraded natural slopes. PMID:26207757

Response of Surface Soil Hydrology to the Micro-Pattern of Bio-Crust in a Dry-Land Loess Environment, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Wei; Yu, Yun; Chen, Liding

2015-01-01

The specific bio-species and their spatial patterns play crucial roles in regulating eco-hydrologic process, which is significant for large-scale habitat promotion and vegetation restoration in many dry-land ecosystems. Such effects, however, are not yet fully studied. In this study, 12 micro-plots, each with size of 0.5 m in depth and 1 m in length, were constructed on a gentle grassy hill-slope with a mean gradient of 8° in a semiarid loess hilly area of China. Two major bio-crusts, including mosses and lichens, had been cultivated for two years prior to the field simulation experiments, while physical crusts and non-crusted bare soils were used for comparison. By using rainfall simulation method, four designed micro-patterns (i.e., upper bio-crust and lower bare soil, scattered bio-crust, upper bare soil and lower bio-crust, fully-covered bio-crust) to the soil hydrological response were analyzed. We found that soil surface bio-crusts were more efficient in improving soil structure, water holding capacity and runoff retention particularly at surface 10 cm layers, compared with physical soil crusts and non-crusted bare soils. We re-confirmed that mosses functioned better than lichens, partly due to their higher successional stage and deeper biomass accumulation. Physical crusts were least efficient in water conservation and erosion control, followed by non-crusted bare soils. More importantly, there were marked differences in the efficiency of the different spatial arrangements of bio-crusts in controlling runoff and sediment generation. Fully-covered bio-crust pattern provides the best option for soil loss reduction and runoff retention, while a combination of upper bio-crust and lower bare soil pattern is the least one. These findings are suggested to be significant for surface-cover protection, rainwater infiltration, runoff retention, and erosion control in water-restricted and degraded natural slopes.

Metabolic Response on Post-therapy FDG-PET Predicts Patterns of Failure After Radiotherapy for Cervical Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwarz, Julie K.; Siegel, Barry A.; Dehdashti, Farrokh; Grigsby, Perry W.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To determine the patterns of failure in patients with cervical cancer treated with definitive radiotherapy and evaluated for metabolic response with early posttherapy 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Methods and Materials: The records of 238 patients with cervical cancer were reviewed. All patients were treated with a combination of external radiotherapy and intracavitary brachytherapy. Two hundred and nineteen patients (92%) received concurrent chemotherapy. All patients underwent pretreatment FDG-PET, and posttherapy FDG-PET was performed within 8–16 weeks of the completion of radiotherapy. Posttherapy FDG-PET results were categorized as complete metabolic response (CMR), partial metabolic response (PMR), and progressive disease (PD). Failure patterns were categorized as none, isolated local failure (central pelvis ± pelvic lymph nodes), distant failure, or combined local plus distant failure. Results: Of the 91 patients (38%) who had a recurrence, 22 had isolated local failures, and 69 had distant failures (49 distant failures and 20 combined local plus distant failures). Of the 173 patients with a CMR, 40 (23%) experienced treatment failure. All 25 patients with PD experienced treatment failure, which was distant in 24 patients (96%). Among the 40 patients with PMR, no failure has been observed for 14 patients (35%). Of the 26 failures within the PMR group, 15 (58%) were limited to the pelvis. Differences in the patterns of failure between the three groups (CMR, PMR, PD) were statistically significant (chi-square test; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The majority of failures after definitive radiotherapy for cervical cancer include distant failures, even in the setting of concurrent chemotherapy. PMR within the cervix or lymph nodes is more commonly associated with isolated local recurrence.

Application of the ex-Gaussian function to the effect of the word blindness suggestion on Stroop task performance suggests no word blindness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Andrew Parris

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present paper was to apply the ex-Gaussian function to data reported by Parris et al. (2012 given its utility in studies involving the Stroop task. Parris et al. showed an effect of the word blindness suggestion when Response-Stimulus Interval (RSI was 500ms but not when it was 3500ms. Analysis revealed that: 1 The effect of the suggestion on interference is observed in µ, supporting converging evidence indicating the suggestion operates over response competition mechanisms; and, 2 Contrary to Parris et al., an effect of the suggestion was observed in µ when RSI was 3500ms. The reanalysis of the data from Parris et al. (2012 supports the utility of ex-Gaussian analysis in revealing effects that might otherwise be thought of as absent. We suggest that word reading itself is not suppressed by the suggestion but instead that response conflict is dealt with more effectively.

Visual Attention Patterns of Women with Androphilic and Gynephilic Sexual Attractions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Samantha J; Fretz, Katherine M; Chivers, Meredith L

2017-01-01

Women who report exclusive sexual attractions to men (i.e., androphilia) exhibit gender-nonspecific patterns of sexual response-similar magnitude of genital response to both male and female targets. Interestingly, women reporting any degree of attraction to women (i.e., gynephilia) show significantly greater sexual responses to stimuli depicting female targets compared to male targets. At present, the mechanism(s) underlying these patterns are unknown. According to the information processing model (IPM), attentional processing of sexual cues initiates sexual responding; thus, attention to sexual cues may be one mechanism to explain the observed within-gender differences in specificity findings among women. The purpose of the present study was to examine patterns of initial and controlled visual attention among women with varying sexual attractions. We used eye tracking to assess visual attention to sexually preferred and nonpreferred cues in a sample of 164 women who differed in their degree of androphilia and gynephilia. We found that both exclusively and predominantly androphilic women showed gender-nonspecific patterns of initial attention. In contrast, ambiphilic (i.e., concurrent androphilia and gynephilia) and predominantly/exclusively gynephilic women oriented more quickly toward female targets. Controlled attention patterns mirrored patterns of self-reported sexual attractions for three of these four groups of women, such that gender-specific patterns of visual attention were found for androphilic and gynephilic women. Ambiphilic women looked significantly longer at female targets compared to male targets. These findings support predictions from the IPM and suggest that both initial and controlled attention to sexual cues may be mechanisms contributing to within-gender variation in sexual responding.

Validity of a Test of Children's Suggestibility for Predicting Responses to Two Interview Situations Differing in Their Degree of Suggestiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Finnila, Katarina; Mahlberg, Nina; Santtila, Pekka; Sandnabba, Kenneth; Niemi, Pekka

2003-01-01

Examined the relative contributions of internal and external sources of variation in children's suggestibility in interrogative situations. Found that internal sources of individual differences in suggestibility measured on a suggestibility test did influence children's answers during an interview, but that external sources or interview styles had…

Photosensitive response of azobenzene containing films towards pure intensity or polarization interference patterns

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yadavalli, Nataraja Sekhar; Santer, Svetlana, E-mail: santer@uni-potsdam.de [Department of Experimental Physics, Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam (Germany); Saphiannikova, Marina [Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, 01069 Dresden (Germany)

2014-08-04

In this paper, we report on differences in the response of photosensitive azobenzene containing films upon irradiation with the intensity or polarization interference patterns. Two materials are studied differing in the molecular weight: an azobenzene-containing polymer and a molecular glass formed from a much smaller molecule consisting of three connected azobenzene units. Topography changes occurring along with the changes in irradiation conditions are recorded using a homemade set-up combining an optical part for generation and shaping of interference patterns and an atomic force microscope for acquiring the kinetics of film deformation. In this way, we could reveal the unique behavior of photosensitive materials during the first few minutes of irradiation: the change in topography is initially driven by an increase in the azobenzene free volume along with the trans-cis isomerization, followed by the mass transport finally resulting in the surface relief grating. This study demonstrates the great potential of our setup to experimentally highlight puzzling processes governing the formation of surface relief gratings.

Listening to sound patterns as a dynamic activity

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Mari Riess

2003-04-01

The act of listening to a series of sounds created by some natural event is described as involving an entrainmentlike process that transpires in real time. Some aspects of this dynamic process are suggested. In particular, real-time attending is described in terms of an adaptive synchronization activity that permits a listener to target attending energy to forthcoming elements within an acoustical pattern (e.g., music, speech, etc.). Also described are several experiments that illustrate features of this approach as it applies to attending to musiclike patterns. These involve listeners' responses to changes in either the timing or the pitch structure (or both) of various acoustical sequences.

Distal-less induces elemental color patterns in Junonia butterfly wings.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhungel, Bidur; Ohno, Yoshikazu; Matayoshi, Rie; Iwasaki, Mayo; Taira, Wataru; Adhikari, Kiran; Gurung, Raj; Otaki, Joji M

2016-01-01

The border ocellus, or eyespot, is a conspicuous color pattern element in butterfly wings. For two decades, it has been hypothesized that transcription factors such as Distal-less (Dll) are responsible for eyespot pattern development in butterfly wings, based on their expression in the prospective eyespots. In particular, it has been suggested that Dll is a determinant for eyespot size. However, functional evidence for this hypothesis has remained incomplete, due to technical difficulties. Here, we show that ectopically expressed Dll induces ectopic elemental color patterns in the adult wings of the blue pansy butterfly, Junonia orithya (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). Using baculovirus-mediated gene transfer, we misexpressed Dll protein fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP) in pupal wings, resulting in ectopic color patterns, but not the formation of intact eyespots. Induced changes included clusters of black and orange scales (a basic feature of eyespot patterns), black and gray scales, and inhibition of cover scale development. In contrast, ectopic expression of GFP alone did not induce any color pattern changes using the same baculovirus-mediated gene transfer system. These results suggest that Dll plays an instructive role in the development of color pattern elements in butterfly wings, although Dll alone may not be sufficient to induce a complete eyespot. This study thus experimentally supports the hypothesis of Dll function in eyespot development.

Posttraumatic stress disorder among refugees: Measurement invariance of Harvard Trauma Questionnaire scores across global regions and response patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Andrew; Verkuilen, Jay; Ho, Emily; Fan, Yuyu

2015-12-01

Despite the central role of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in international humanitarian aid work, there has been little examination of the measurement invariance of PTSD measures across culturally defined refugee subgroups. This leaves mental health workers in disaster settings with little to support inferences made using the results of standard clinical assessment tools, such as the severity of symptoms and prevalence rates. We examined measurement invariance in scores from the most widely used PTSD measure in refugee populations, the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ; Mollica et al., 1992), in a multinational and multilingual sample of asylum seekers from 81 countries of origin in 11 global regions. Clustering HTQ responses to justify grouping regional groups by response patterns resulted in 3 groups for testing measurement invariance: West Africans, Himalayans, and all others. Comparing log-likelihood ratios showed that while configural invariance seemed to hold, metric and scalar invariance did not. These findings call into question the common practice of using standard cut-off scores on PTSD measures across culturally dissimilar refugee populations. In addition, high correlation between factors suggests that the construct validity of scores from North American and European measures of PTSD may not hold globally. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Doppler laser imaging predicts response to topical minoxidil in the treatment of female pattern hair loss.

Science.gov (United States)

McCoy, J; Kovacevic, M; Situm, M; Stanimirovic, A; Bolanca, Z; Goren, A

2016-01-01

Topical minoxidil is the only drug approved by the US FDA for the treatment of female pattern hair loss. Unfortunately, following 16 weeks of daily application, less than 40% of patients regrow hair. Several studies have demonstrated that sulfotransferase enzyme activity in plucked hair follicles predicts topical minoxidil response in female pattern hair loss patients. However, due to patients’ discomfort with the procedure, and the time required to perform the enzymatic assay it would be ideal to develop a rapid, non-invasive test for sulfotransferase enzyme activity. Minoxidil is a pro-drug converted to its active form, minoxidil sulfate, by sulfotransferase enzymes in the outer root sheath of hair. Minoxidil sulfate is the active form required for both the promotion of hair regrowth and the vasodilatory effects of minoxidil. We thus hypothesized that laser Doppler velocimetry measurement of scalp blood perfusion subsequent to the application of topical minoxidil would correlate with sulfotransferase enzyme activity in plucked hair follicles. In this study, plucked hair follicles from female pattern hair loss patients were analyzed for sulfotransferase enzyme activity. Additionally, laser Doppler velocimetry was used to measure the change in scalp perfusion at 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes, after the application of minoxidil. In agreement with our hypothesis, we discovered a correlation (r=1.0) between the change in scalp perfusion within 60 minutes after topical minoxidil application and sulfotransferase enzyme activity in plucked hairs. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the feasibility of using laser Doppler imaging as a rapid, non-invasive diagnostic test to predict topical minoxidil response in the treatment of female pattern hair loss.

Hepatitis C Virus Frameshift/Alternate Reading Frame Protein Suppresses Interferon Responses Mediated by Pattern Recognition Receptor Retinoic-Acid-Inducible Gene-I.

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Seung Bum Park

Full Text Available Hepatitis C virus (HCV actively evades host interferon (IFN responses but the mechanisms of how it does so are not completely understood. In this study, we present evidence for an HCV factor that contributes to the suppression of retinoic-acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I-mediated IFN induction. Expression of frameshift/alternate reading frame protein (F/ARFP from HCV -2/+1 frame in Huh7 hepatoma cells suppressed type I IFN responses stimulated by HCV RNA pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP and poly(IC. The suppression occurred independently of other HCV factors; and activation of interferon stimulated genes, TNFα, IFN-λ1, and IFN-λ2/3 was likewise suppressed by HCV F/ARFP. Point mutations in the full-length HCV sequence (JFH1 genotype 2a strain were made to introduce premature termination codons in the -2/+1 reading frame coding for F/ARFP while preserving the original reading frame, which enhanced IFNα and IFNβ induction by HCV. The potentiation of IFN response by the F/ARFP mutations was diminished in Huh7.5 cells, which already have a defective RIG-I, and by decreasing RIG-I expression in Huh7 cells. Furthermore, adding F/ARFP back via trans-complementation suppressed IFN induction in the F/ARFP mutant. The F/ARFP mutants, on the other hand, were not resistant to exogenous IFNα. Finally, HCV-infected human liver samples showed significant F/ARFP antibody reactivity, compared to HCV-uninfected control livers. Therefore, HCV F/ARFP likely cooperates with other viral factors to suppress type I and III IFN induction occurring through the RIG-I signaling pathway. This study identifies a novel mechanism of pattern recognition receptor modulation by HCV and suggests a biological function of the HCV alternate reading frame in the modulation of host innate immunity.

Hemoparasites in a wild primate: Infection patterns suggest interaction of Plasmodium and Babesia in a lemur species

OpenAIRE

Andrea Springer; Claudia Fichtel; Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer; Fabian H. Leendertz; Peter M. Kappeler

2015-01-01

Hemoparasites can cause serious morbidity in humans and animals and often involve wildlife reservoirs. Understanding patterns of hemoparasite infections in natural populations can therefore inform about emerging disease risks, especially in the light of climate change and human disruption of natural ecosystems. We investigated the effects of host age, sex, host group size and season on infection patterns of Plasmodium sp., Babesia sp. and filarial nematodes in a population of wild Malagasy pr...

Modeling of gene expression pattern alteration by p,p′-DDE and dieldrin in largemouth bass

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Reyero, Natalia; Barber, David; Gross, Timothy; Denslow, Nancy

2006-01-01

In this study, largemouth bass (LMB) were subchronically exposed to p,p′-DDE or dieldrin in their diet to evaluate the effect of exposure on expression of genes involved in reproduction and steroid homeostasis. Using real-time PCR, we detected a different gene expression pattern for each OCP, suggesting that they each affect LMB in a different way. We also detected a different expression pattern among sexes, suggesting that sexes are affected differently by OCPs perhaps reflecting the different adaptive responses of each sex to dysregulation caused by OCP exposure.

Sex hormones affect acute and chronic stress responses in sexually dimorphic patterns: Consequences for depression models.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Lei; Chen, Yi-Xi; Hu, Yu-Ting; Wu, Xue-Yan; He, Yang; Wu, Juan-Li; Huang, Man-Li; Mason, Matthew; Bao, Ai-Min

2018-05-21

Alterations in peripheral sex hormones may play an important role in sex differences in terms of stress responses and mood disorders. It is not yet known whether and how stress-related brain systems and brain sex steroid levels fluctuate in relation to changes in peripheral sex hormone levels, or whether the different sexes show different patterns. We aimed to investigate systematically, in male and female rats, the effect of decreased circulating sex hormone levels following gonadectomy on acute and chronic stress responses, manifested as changes in plasma and hypothalamic sex steroids and hypothalamic stress-related molecules. Experiment (Exp)-1: Rats (14 males, 14 females) were gonadectomized or sham-operated (intact); Exp-2: gonadectomized and intact rats (28 males, 28 females) were exposed to acute foot shock or no stressor; and Exp-3: gonadectomized and intact rats (32 males, 32 females) were exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) or no stressor. For all rats, plasma and hypothalamic testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), and the expression of stress-related molecules were determined, including corticotropin-releasing hormone, vasopressin, oxytocin, aromatase, and the receptors for estrogens, androgens, glucocorticoids, and mineralocorticoids. Surprisingly, no significant correlation was observed in terms of plasma sex hormones, brain sex steroids, and hypothalamic stress-related molecule mRNAs (p > 0.113) in intact or gonadectomized, male or female, rats. Male and female rats, either intact or gonadectomized and exposed to acute or chronic stress, showed different patterns of stress-related molecule changes. Diminished peripheral sex hormone levels lead to different peripheral and central patterns of change in the stress response systems in male and female rats. This has implications for the choice of models for the study of the different types of mood disorders which also show sex differences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Republic of Georgia estimates for prevalence of drug use: Randomized response techniques suggest under-estimation.

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Kirtadze, Irma; Otiashvili, David; Tabatadze, Mzia; Vardanashvili, Irina; Sturua, Lela; Zabransky, Tomas; Anthony, James C

2018-06-01

Validity of responses in surveys is an important research concern, especially in emerging market economies where surveys in the general population are a novelty, and the level of social control is traditionally higher. The Randomized Response Technique (RRT) can be used as a check on response validity when the study aim is to estimate population prevalence of drug experiences and other socially sensitive and/or illegal behaviors. To apply RRT and to study potential under-reporting of drug use in a nation-scale, population-based general population survey of alcohol and other drug use. For this first-ever household survey on addictive substances for the Country of Georgia, we used the multi-stage probability sampling of 18-to-64-year-old household residents of 111 urban and 49 rural areas. During the interviewer-administered assessments, RRT involved pairing of sensitive and non-sensitive questions about drug experiences. Based upon the standard household self-report survey estimate, an estimated 17.3% [95% confidence interval, CI: 15.5%, 19.1%] of Georgian household residents have tried cannabis. The corresponding RRT estimate was 29.9% [95% CI: 24.9%, 34.9%]. The RRT estimates for other drugs such as heroin also were larger than the standard self-report estimates. We remain unsure about what is the "true" value for prevalence of using illegal psychotropic drugs in the Republic of Georgia study population. Our RRT results suggest that standard non-RRT approaches might produce 'under-estimates' or at best, highly conservative, lower-end estimates. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The dependencies of fronto-parietal BOLD responses evoked by covert visual search suggest eye-centred coding.

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Atabaki, A; Dicke, P W; Karnath, H-O; Thier, P

2013-04-01

Visual scenes explored covertly are initially represented in a retinal frame of reference (FOR). On the other hand, 'later' stages of the cortical network allocating spatial attention most probably use non-retinal or non-eye-centred representations as they may ease the integration of different sensory modalities for the formation of supramodal representations of space. We tested if the cortical areas involved in shifting covert attention are based on eye-centred or non-eye-centred coding by using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects were scanned while detecting a target item (a regularly oriented 'L') amidst a set of distractors (rotated 'L's). The array was centred either 5° right or left of the fixation point, independent of eye-gaze orientation, the latter varied in three steps: straight relative to the head, 10° left or 10° right. A quantitative comparison of the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses for the three eye-gaze orientations revealed stronger BOLD responses in the right intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the right frontal eye field (FEF) for search in the contralateral (i.e. left) eye-centred space, independent of whether the array was located in the right or left head-centred hemispace. The left IPS showed the reverse pattern, i.e. an activation by search in the right eye-centred hemispace. In other words, the IPS and the right FEF, members of the cortical network underlying covert search, operate in an eye-centred FOR. © 2013 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Pattern analysis of total item score and item response of the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6 in a nationally representative sample of US adults

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Shinichiro Tomitaka

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Background Several recent studies have shown that total scores on depressive symptom measures in a general population approximate an exponential pattern except for the lower end of the distribution. Furthermore, we confirmed that the exponential pattern is present for the individual item responses on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D. To confirm the reproducibility of such findings, we investigated the total score distribution and item responses of the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6 in a nationally representative study. Methods Data were drawn from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS, which comprises four subsamples: (1 a national random digit dialing (RDD sample, (2 oversamples from five metropolitan areas, (3 siblings of individuals from the RDD sample, and (4 a national RDD sample of twin pairs. K6 items are scored using a 5-point scale: “none of the time,” “a little of the time,” “some of the time,” “most of the time,” and “all of the time.” The pattern of total score distribution and item responses were analyzed using graphical analysis and exponential regression model. Results The total score distributions of the four subsamples exhibited an exponential pattern with similar rate parameters. The item responses of the K6 approximated a linear pattern from “a little of the time” to “all of the time” on log-normal scales, while “none of the time” response was not related to this exponential pattern. Discussion The total score distribution and item responses of the K6 showed exponential patterns, consistent with other depressive symptom scales.

Pattern analysis and suggestion of energy efficiency retrofit for existing residential buildings in China's northern heating region

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Lv Shilei; Wu Yong; Sun Jinying

2009-01-01

In China, Energy Efficiency Retrofit for Existing Residential Buildings (EERFERB) is faced with a fast development status. The Central Government decided to prompt the retrofit of 1.5x10 8 m 2 existing residential buildings in China's northern heating region during the '11th Five-Years Plan'. But, at present, the relative incentive policies and measurements are very insufficient. Especially, on the aspect of the retrofit pattern about the organization, retrofit content, investing and financing mode, the policy and management and other factors, no existing successful one can be spreaded into the whole northern heating region. This research not only analyzed the foreign advanced methods, drew lessons from their retrofit in Germany and Poland, but contrasted and analyzed energy efficiency retrofit demonstrations from Harbin, Tianjin, Tangshan and Baotou in China to get our domestic successful patterns and experience. Finally, some recommended retrofit patterns are presented, which can be applied for the instruction and decision-making for the Chinese local governments.

Multivariate pattern dependence.

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Stefano Anzellotti

2017-11-01

Full Text Available When we perform a cognitive task, multiple brain regions are engaged. Understanding how these regions interact is a fundamental step to uncover the neural bases of behavior. Most research on the interactions between brain regions has focused on the univariate responses in the regions. However, fine grained patterns of response encode important information, as shown by multivariate pattern analysis. In the present article, we introduce and apply multivariate pattern dependence (MVPD: a technique to study the statistical dependence between brain regions in humans in terms of the multivariate relations between their patterns of responses. MVPD characterizes the responses in each brain region as trajectories in region-specific multidimensional spaces, and models the multivariate relationship between these trajectories. We applied MVPD to the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS and to the fusiform face area (FFA, using a searchlight approach to reveal interactions between these seed regions and the rest of the brain. Across two different experiments, MVPD identified significant statistical dependence not detected by standard functional connectivity. Additionally, MVPD outperformed univariate connectivity in its ability to explain independent variance in the responses of individual voxels. In the end, MVPD uncovered different connectivity profiles associated with different representational subspaces of FFA: the first principal component of FFA shows differential connectivity with occipital and parietal regions implicated in the processing of low-level properties of faces, while the second and third components show differential connectivity with anterior temporal regions implicated in the processing of invariant representations of face identity.

Objective assessment of chromatic and achromatic pattern adaptation reveals the temporal response properties of different visual pathways.

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Robson, Anthony G; Kulikowski, Janus J

2012-11-01

The aim was to investigate the temporal response properties of magnocellular, parvocellular, and koniocellular visual pathways using increment/decrement changes in contrast to elicit visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Static achromatic and isoluminant chromatic gratings were generated on a monitor. Chromatic gratings were modulated along red/green (R/G) or subject-specific tritanopic confusion axes, established using a minimum distinct border criterion. Isoluminance was determined using minimum flicker photometry. Achromatic and chromatic VEPs were recorded to contrast increments and decrements of 0.1 or 0.2 superimposed on the static gratings (masking contrast 0-0.6). Achromatic increment/decrement changes in contrast evoked a percept of apparent motion when the spatial frequency was low; VEPs to such stimuli were positive in polarity and largely unaffected by high levels of static contrast, consistent with transient response mechanisms. VEPs to finer achromatic gratings showed marked attenuation as static contrast was increased. Chromatic VEPs to R/G or tritan chromatic contrast increments were of negative polarity and showed progressive attenuation as static contrast was increased, in keeping with increasing desensitization of the sustained responses of the color-opponent visual pathways. Chromatic contrast decrement VEPs were of positive polarity and less sensitive to pattern adaptation. The relative contribution of sustained/transient mechanisms to achromatic processing is spatial frequency dependent. Chromatic contrast increment VEPs reflect the sustained temporal response properties of parvocellular and koniocellular pathways. Cortical VEPs can provide an objective measure of pattern adaptation and can be used to probe the temporal response characteristics of different visual pathways.

Diurnal Cortisol Patterns and Dexamethasone Suppression Test Responses in Healthy Young Adults Born Preterm at Very Low Birth Weight.

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Nina Kaseva

Full Text Available Early life stress, such as painful and stressful procedures during neonatal intensive care after preterm birth, can permanently affect physiological, hormonal and neurobiological systems. This may contribute to altered programming of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA and provoke changes in HPAA function with long-term health impacts. Previous studies suggest a lower HPAA response to stress in young adults born preterm compared with controls born at term. We assessed whether these differences in HPAA stress responsiveness are reflected in everyday life HPAA functioning, i.e. in diurnal salivary cortisol patterns, and reactivity to a low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (DST, in unimpaired young adults born preterm at very low birth weight (VLBW; <1500 g.The participants were recruited from the Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults cohort study. At mean age 23.3 years (2.1 SD, 49 VLBW and 36 controls born at term participated in the study. For cortisol analyzes, saliva samples were collected on two consecutive days at 0, 15, 30 and 60 min after wake-up, at 12:00 h, 17:00 h and 22:00 h. After the last salivary sample of the first study day the participants were instructed to take a 0.5 mg dexamethasone tablet.With mixed-effects model no difference was seen in overall diurnal salivary cortisol between VLBW and control groups [13.9% (95% CI: -11.6, 47.0, P = 0.31]. Salivary cortisol increased similarly after awakening in both VLBW and control participants [mean difference -2.9% (29.2, 33.0, P = 0.85]. Also reactivity to the low-dose DST (awakening cortisol ratio day2/day1 was similar between VLBW and control groups [-1.1% (-53.5, 103.8, P = 0.97].Diurnal cortisol patterns and reactivity to a low-dose DST in young adulthood were not associated with preterm birth.

Physiological limitation at alpine treeline: relationships of threshold responses of conifers to their establishment patterns

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Germino, M. J.; Lazarus, B.; Castanha, C.; Moyes, A. B.; Kueppers, L. M.

2014-12-01

An understanding of physiological limitations to tree establishment at alpine treeline form the basis for predicting how this climate-driven boundary will respond to climate shifts. Most research on this topic has focused on limitations related to carbon balance and growth of trees. Carbon balance could limit survival and establishment primarily through slow-acting, chronic means. We asked whether tree survival and thus establishment patterns reflect control by chronic effects in comparison to acute, threshold responses, such as survival of frost events. Seedling survivorship patterns were compared to thresholds in freezing (temperature causing leaf freezing, or freezing point, FP; and physiological response to freezing) and water status (turgor loss point, TLP; and related physiological adjustments). Subject seedlings were from forest, treeline, and alpine sites in the Alpine Treeline Warming Experiment in Colorado, and included limber and lodgepole pine (a low-elevation species), and Engelmann Spruce. Preliminary results show survival increases with seedling age, but the only corresponding increase in stress acclimation was photosynthetic resistance to freezing and TLP, not FP. Differences in survivorship among the species were not consistent with variation in FP but they generally agreed with variation in photosynthetic resistance to deep freezing and to early-season drought avoidance. Mortality of limber pine increased 35% when minimum temperatures decreased below -9C, which compares with FPs of >-8.6C, and about 1/3 of its mortality occurred during cold/wet events, particularly in the alpine. The other major correlate of mortality is midsummer drying events, as previously reported. Also in limber pine, the TLP for year-old seedlings (-2.5 MPa) corresponded with seasonal-drought mortality. In summary, we show several examples of correspondence in physiological thresholds to mortality events within a species, although the relationships are not strong. Across

Preliminary Finnish measures of eating competence suggest association with health-promoting eating patterns and related psychobehavioral factors in 10-17 year old adolescents.

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Tanja, Tilles-Tirkkonen; Outi, Nuutinen; Sakari, Suominen; Jarmo, Liukkonen; Kaisa, Poutanen; Leila, Karhunen

2015-05-21

Eating competence is an attitudinal and behavioral concept, based on The Satter Eating Competence Model. In adults, it has been shown to be associated with a higher quality of diet. Eating competence or its association with the quality of diet has not been studied in adolescents. The aim of the current study was to explore the utility of using a preliminary Finnish translation of the ecSI 2.0 for evaluating presumed eating competence and its association with food selection, meal patterns and related psychobehavioral factors in 10-17 year old adolescents. Altogether 976 10-17 years old Finnish adolescents filled in the study questionnaire. When exploring the construct validity of ecSI 2.0, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated acceptable model fit and all four components of the ecSI 2.0 (eating attitudes, food acceptance, internal regulation of food intake, management of eating context) correlated with each other and were internally consistent. Over half (58%) of the adolescents scored 32 or higher and were thus classified as presumably eating competent (pEC). Eating competence was associated with greater meal frequency, more frequent consumption of vegetables and fruits, and more health-promoting family eating patterns. In addition the pEC, adolescents more often perceived their body size as appropriate, had less often tried to lose weight and had a higher self-esteem and a stronger sense of coherence than the not pEC ones. Family eating patterns and self-esteem were the main underlying factors of eating competence. In conclusion, this preliminary study suggests eating competence could be a useful concept to characterize eating patterns and related behaviors and attitudes in adolescents. However, these preliminary findings need to be confirmed in further studies with an instrument fully validated for this age group.

Patterning of leaf vein networks by convergent auxin transport pathways.

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Sawchuk, Megan G; Edgar, Alexander; Scarpella, Enrico

2013-01-01

The formation of leaf vein patterns has fascinated biologists for centuries. Transport of the plant signal auxin has long been implicated in vein patterning, but molecular details have remained unclear. Varied evidence suggests a central role for the plasma-membrane (PM)-localized PIN-FORMED1 (PIN1) intercellular auxin transporter of Arabidopsis thaliana in auxin-transport-dependent vein patterning. However, in contrast to the severe vein-pattern defects induced by auxin transport inhibitors, pin1 mutant leaves have only mild vein-pattern defects. These defects have been interpreted as evidence of redundancy between PIN1 and the other four PM-localized PIN proteins in vein patterning, redundancy that underlies many developmental processes. By contrast, we show here that vein patterning in the Arabidopsis leaf is controlled by two distinct and convergent auxin-transport pathways: intercellular auxin transport mediated by PM-localized PIN1 and intracellular auxin transport mediated by the evolutionarily older, endoplasmic-reticulum-localized PIN6, PIN8, and PIN5. PIN6 and PIN8 are expressed, as PIN1 and PIN5, at sites of vein formation. pin6 synthetically enhances pin1 vein-pattern defects, and pin8 quantitatively enhances pin1pin6 vein-pattern defects. Function of PIN6 is necessary, redundantly with that of PIN8, and sufficient to control auxin response levels, PIN1 expression, and vein network formation; and the vein pattern defects induced by ectopic PIN6 expression are mimicked by ectopic PIN8 expression. Finally, vein patterning functions of PIN6 and PIN8 are antagonized by PIN5 function. Our data define a new level of control of vein patterning, one with repercussions on other patterning processes in the plant, and suggest a mechanism to select cell files specialized for vascular function that predates evolution of PM-localized PIN proteins.

Patterning of leaf vein networks by convergent auxin transport pathways.

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Megan G Sawchuk

Full Text Available The formation of leaf vein patterns has fascinated biologists for centuries. Transport of the plant signal auxin has long been implicated in vein patterning, but molecular details have remained unclear. Varied evidence suggests a central role for the plasma-membrane (PM-localized PIN-FORMED1 (PIN1 intercellular auxin transporter of Arabidopsis thaliana in auxin-transport-dependent vein patterning. However, in contrast to the severe vein-pattern defects induced by auxin transport inhibitors, pin1 mutant leaves have only mild vein-pattern defects. These defects have been interpreted as evidence of redundancy between PIN1 and the other four PM-localized PIN proteins in vein patterning, redundancy that underlies many developmental processes. By contrast, we show here that vein patterning in the Arabidopsis leaf is controlled by two distinct and convergent auxin-transport pathways: intercellular auxin transport mediated by PM-localized PIN1 and intracellular auxin transport mediated by the evolutionarily older, endoplasmic-reticulum-localized PIN6, PIN8, and PIN5. PIN6 and PIN8 are expressed, as PIN1 and PIN5, at sites of vein formation. pin6 synthetically enhances pin1 vein-pattern defects, and pin8 quantitatively enhances pin1pin6 vein-pattern defects. Function of PIN6 is necessary, redundantly with that of PIN8, and sufficient to control auxin response levels, PIN1 expression, and vein network formation; and the vein pattern defects induced by ectopic PIN6 expression are mimicked by ectopic PIN8 expression. Finally, vein patterning functions of PIN6 and PIN8 are antagonized by PIN5 function. Our data define a new level of control of vein patterning, one with repercussions on other patterning processes in the plant, and suggest a mechanism to select cell files specialized for vascular function that predates evolution of PM-localized PIN proteins.

Cross-Coupled Eye Movement Supports Neural Origin of Pattern Strabismus

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Ghasia, Fatema F.; Shaikh, Aasef G.; Jacobs, Jonathan; Walker, Mark F.

2015-01-01

Purpose. Pattern strabismus describes vertically incomitant horizontal strabismus. Conventional theories emphasized the role of orbital etiologies, such as abnormal fundus torsion and misaligned orbital pulleys as a cause of the pattern strabismus. Experiments in animal models, however, suggested the role of abnormal cross-connections between the neural circuits. We quantitatively assessed eye movements in patients with pattern strabismus with a goal to delineate the role of neural circuits versus orbital etiologies. Methods. We measured saccadic eye movements with high-precision video-oculography in 14 subjects with pattern strabismus, 5 with comitant strabismus, and 15 healthy controls. We assessed change in eye position in the direction orthogonal to that of the desired eye movement (cross-coupled responses). We used fundus photography to quantify the fundus torsion. Results. We found cross-coupling of saccades in all patients with pattern strabismus. The cross-coupled responses were in the same direction in both eyes, but larger in the nonviewing eye. All patients had clinically apparent inferior oblique overaction with abnormal excylotorsion. There was no correlation between the amount of the fundus torsion or the grade of oblique overaction and the severity of cross-coupling. The disconjugacy in the saccade direction and amplitude in pattern strabismics did not have characteristics predicted by clinically apparent inferior oblique overaction. Conclusions. Our results validated primate models of pattern strabismus in human patients. We found no correlation between ocular torsion or oblique overaction and cross-coupling. Therefore, we could not ascribe cross-coupling exclusively to the orbital etiology. Patients with pattern strabismus could have abnormalities in the saccade generators. PMID:26024072

Tissue accumulation of microplastics in mice and biomarker responses suggest widespread health risks of exposure

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Deng, Yongfeng; Zhang, Yan; Lemos, Bernardo; Ren, Hongqiang

2017-04-01

Microplastics (MPs) are a significant environmental health issue and increasingly greater source of concern. MPs have been detected in oceans, rivers, sediments, sewages, soil and even table salts. MPs exposure on marine organisms and humans has been documented, but information about the toxicity of MPs in mammal is limited. Here we used fluorescent and pristine polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) particles with two diameters (5 μm and 20 μm) to investigate the tissue distribution, accumulation, and tissue-specific health risk of MPs in mice. Results indicated that MPs accumulated in liver, kidney and gut, with a tissue-accumulation kinetics and distribution pattern that was strongly depended on the MPs particle size. In addition, analyses of multiple biochemical biomarkers and metabolomic profiles suggested that MPs exposure induced disturbance of energy and lipid metabolism as well as oxidative stress. Interestingly, blood biomarkers of neurotoxicity were also altered. Our results uncovered the distribution and accumulation of MPs across mice tissues and revealed significant alteration in several biomarkers that indicate potential toxicity from MPs exposure. Collectively, our data provided new evidence for the adverse consequences of MPs.

Hormonal responses during early embryogenesis in maize.

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Chen, Junyi; Lausser, Andreas; Dresselhaus, Thomas

2014-04-01

Plant hormones have been shown to regulate key processes during embryogenesis in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, but the mechanisms that determine the peculiar embryo pattern formation of monocots are largely unknown. Using the auxin and cytokinin response markers DR5 and TCSv2 (two-component system, cytokinin-responsive promoter version #2), as well as the auxin efflux carrier protein PIN1a (PINFORMED1a), we have studied the hormonal response during early embryogenesis (zygote towards transition stage) in the model and crop plant maize. Compared with the hormonal response in Arabidopsis, we found that detectable hormone activities inside the developing maize embryo appeared much later. Our observations indicate further an important role of auxin, PIN1a and cytokinin in endosperm formation shortly after fertilization. Apparent auxin signals within adaxial endosperm cells and cytokinin responses in the basal endosperm transfer layer as well as chalazal endosperm are characteristic for early seed development in maize. Moreover, auxin signalling in endosperm cells is likely to be involved in exogenous embryo patterning as auxin responses in the endosperm located around the embryo proper correlate with adaxial embryo differentiation and outgrowth. Overall, the comparison between Arabidopsis and maize hormone response and flux suggests intriguing mechanisms in monocots that are used to direct their embryo patterning, which is significantly different from that of eudicots.

Neural patterning of human induced pluripotent stem cells in 3-D cultures for studying biomolecule-directed differential cellular responses.

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Yan, Yuanwei; Bejoy, Julie; Xia, Junfei; Guan, Jingjiao; Zhou, Yi; Li, Yan

2016-09-15

Appropriate neural patterning of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is critical to generate specific neural cells/tissues and even mini-brains that are physiologically relevant to model neurological diseases. However, the capacity of signaling factors that regulate 3-D neural tissue patterning in vitro and differential responses of the resulting neural populations to various biomolecules have not yet been fully understood. By tuning neural patterning of hiPSCs with small molecules targeting sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling, this study generated different 3-D neuronal cultures that were mainly comprised of either cortical glutamatergic neurons or motor neurons. Abundant glutamatergic neurons were observed following the treatment with an antagonist of SHH signaling, cyclopamine, while Islet-1 and HB9-expressing motor neurons were enriched by an SHH agonist, purmorphamine. In neurons derived with different neural patterning factors, whole-cell patch clamp recordings showed similar voltage-gated Na(+)/K(+) currents, depolarization-evoked action potentials and spontaneous excitatory post-synaptic currents. Moreover, these different neuronal populations exhibited differential responses to three classes of biomolecules, including (1) matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors that affect extracellular matrix remodeling; (2) N-methyl-d-aspartate that induces general neurotoxicity; and (3) amyloid β (1-42) oligomers that cause neuronal subtype-specific neurotoxicity. This study should advance our understanding of hiPSC self-organization and neural tissue development and provide a transformative approach to establish 3-D models for neurological disease modeling and drug discovery. Appropriate neural patterning of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is critical to generate specific neural cells, tissues and even mini-brains that are physiologically relevant to model neurological diseases. However, the capability of sonic hedgehog-related small molecules to tune

Making assessments while taking repeated risks: a pattern of multiple response pathways.

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Pleskac, Timothy J; Wershbale, Avishai

2014-02-01

Beyond simply a decision process, repeated risky decisions also require a number of cognitive processes including learning, search and exploration, and attention. In this article, we examine how multiple response pathways develop over repeated risky decisions. Using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) as a case study, we show that 2 different response pathways emerge over the course of the task. The assessment pathway is a slower, more controlled pathway where participants deliberate over taking a risk. The 2nd pathway is a faster, more automatic process where no deliberation occurs. Results imply the slower assessment pathway is taken as choice conflict increases and that the faster automatic response is a learned response. Based on these results, we modify an existing formal cognitive model of decision making during the BART to account for these dual response pathways. The slower more deliberative response process is modeled with a sequential sampling process where evidence is accumulated to a threshold, while the other response is given automatically. We show that adolescents with conduct disorder and substance use disorder symptoms not only evaluate risks differently during the BART but also differ in the rate at which they develop the more automatic response. More broadly, our results suggest cognitive models of judgment decision making need to transition from treating observed decisions as the result of a single response pathway to the result of multiple response pathways that change and develop over time.

Predicting survey responses: how and why semantics shape survey statistics on organizational behaviour.

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Jan Ketil Arnulf

Full Text Available Some disciplines in the social sciences rely heavily on collecting survey responses to detect empirical relationships among variables. We explored whether these relationships were a priori predictable from the semantic properties of the survey items, using language processing algorithms which are now available as new research methods. Language processing algorithms were used to calculate the semantic similarity among all items in state-of-the-art surveys from Organisational Behaviour research. These surveys covered areas such as transformational leadership, work motivation and work outcomes. This information was used to explain and predict the response patterns from real subjects. Semantic algorithms explained 60-86% of the variance in the response patterns and allowed remarkably precise prediction of survey responses from humans, except in a personality test. Even the relationships between independent and their purported dependent variables were accurately predicted. This raises concern about the empirical nature of data collected through some surveys if results are already given a priori through the way subjects are being asked. Survey response patterns seem heavily determined by semantics. Language algorithms may suggest these prior to administering a survey. This study suggests that semantic algorithms are becoming new tools for the social sciences, opening perspectives on survey responses that prevalent psychometric theory cannot explain.

1H NMR spectra of vertebrate [2Fe-2S] ferredoxins. Hyperfine resonances suggest different electron delocalization patterns from plant ferredoxins

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Skjeldal, L.; Markley, J.L.; Coghlan, V.M.; Vickery, L.E.

1991-01-01

The authors report the observation of paramagnetically shifted (hyperfine) proton resonances from vertebrate mitochondrial [2Fe-2S] ferredoxins. The hyperfine signals of human, bovine, and chick [2Fe-2S] ferredoxins are described and compared with those of Anabena 7120 vegetative ferredoxin, a plant-type [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin studied previously. The hyperfine resonances of the three vertebrate ferredoxins were very similar to one another both in the oxidized state and in the reduced state, and slow (on the NMR scale) electron self-exchange was observed in partially reduced samples. For the oxidized vertebrate ferredoxins, hyperfine signals were observed downfield of the diamagnetic envelope from +13 to +50 ppm, and the general pattern of peaks and their anti-Curie temperature dependence are similar to those observed for the oxidized plant-type ferredoxins. For the reduced vertebrate ferredoxins, hyperfine signals were observed for the oxidized plant-type ferredoxins. For the reduced vertebrate ferredoxins, hyperfine signals were observed both upfield (-2 to -18 ppm) and downfield (+15 to +45 ppm), and all were found to exhibit Curie-type temperature dependence. These results indicate that the contact-shifted resonances in the reduced vertebrate ferredoxins detect different spin magnetization from those in the reduced plant ferredoxins and suggest that plant and vertebrate ferredoxins have fundamentally different patterns of electron delocalization in the reduced [2Fe-2S] center

The spatial pattern of leaf phenology and its response to climate change in China.

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Dai, Junhu; Wang, Huanjiong; Ge, Quansheng

2014-05-01

Leaf phenology has been shown to be one of the most important indicators of the effects of climate change on biological systems. Few such studies have, however, been published detailing the relationship between phenology and climate change in Asian contexts. With the aim of quantifying species' phenological responsiveness to temperature and deepening understandings of spatial patterns of phenological and climate change in China, this study analyzes the first leaf date (FLD) and the leaf coloring date (LCD) from datasets of four woody plant species, Robinia pseudoacacia, Ulmus pumila, Salix babylonica, and Melia azedarach, collected from 1963 to 2009 at 47 Chinese Phenological Observation Network (CPON) stations spread across China (from 21° to 50° N). The results of this study show that changes in temperatures in the range of 39-43 days preceding the date of FLD of these plants affected annual variations in FLD, while annual variations in temperature in the range of 71-85 days preceding LCD of these plants affected the date of LCD. Average temperature sensitivity of FLD and LCD for these plants was -3.93 to 3.30 days °C(-1) and 2.11 to 4.43 days °C⁻¹, respectively. Temperature sensitivity of FLD was found to be stronger at lower latitudes or altitude as well as in more continental climates, while the response of LCD showed no consistent pattern. Within the context of significant warming across China during the study period, FLD was found to have advanced by 5.44 days from 1960 to 2009; over the same period, LCD was found to have been delayed by 4.56 days. These findings indicate that the length of the growing season of the four plant species studied was extended by a total of 10.00 days from 1960 to 2009. They also indicate that phenological response to climate is highly heterogeneous spatially.

Innate Immune Responses Activated in Arabidopsis Roots by Microbe-Associated Molecular Patterns[W][OA

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Millet, Yves A.; Danna, Cristian H.; Clay, Nicole K.; Songnuan, Wisuwat; Simon, Matthew D.; Werck-Reichhart, Danièle; Ausubel, Frederick M.

2010-01-01

Despite the fact that roots are the organs most subject to microbial interactions, very little is known about the response of roots to microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). By monitoring transcriptional activation of β-glucuronidase reporters and MAMP-elicited callose deposition, we show that three MAMPs, the flagellar peptide Flg22, peptidoglycan, and chitin, trigger a strong tissue-specific response in Arabidopsis thaliana roots, either at the elongation zone for Flg22 and peptidoglycan or in the mature parts of the roots for chitin. Ethylene signaling, the 4-methoxy-indole-3-ylmethylglucosinolate biosynthetic pathway, and the PEN2 myrosinase, but not salicylic acid or jasmonic acid signaling, play major roles in this MAMP response. We also show that Flg22 induces the cytochrome P450 CYP71A12-dependent exudation of the phytoalexin camalexin by Arabidopsis roots. The phytotoxin coronatine, an Ile-jasmonic acid mimic produced by Pseudomonas syringae pathovars, suppresses MAMP-activated responses in the roots. This suppression requires the E3 ubiquitin ligase COI1 as well as the transcription factor JIN1/MYC2 but does not rely on salicylic acid–jasmonic acid antagonism. These experiments demonstrate the presence of highly orchestrated and tissue-specific MAMP responses in roots and potential pathogen-encoded mechanisms to block these MAMP-elicited signaling pathways. PMID:20348432

Spatially pooled contrast responses predict neural and perceptual similarity of naturalistic image categories.

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Iris I A Groen

Full Text Available The visual world is complex and continuously changing. Yet, our brain transforms patterns of light falling on our retina into a coherent percept within a few hundred milliseconds. Possibly, low-level neural responses already carry substantial information to facilitate rapid characterization of the visual input. Here, we computationally estimated low-level contrast responses to computer-generated naturalistic images, and tested whether spatial pooling of these responses could predict image similarity at the neural and behavioral level. Using EEG, we show that statistics derived from pooled responses explain a large amount of variance between single-image evoked potentials (ERPs in individual subjects. Dissimilarity analysis on multi-electrode ERPs demonstrated that large differences between images in pooled response statistics are predictive of more dissimilar patterns of evoked activity, whereas images with little difference in statistics give rise to highly similar evoked activity patterns. In a separate behavioral experiment, images with large differences in statistics were judged as different categories, whereas images with little differences were confused. These findings suggest that statistics derived from low-level contrast responses can be extracted in early visual processing and can be relevant for rapid judgment of visual similarity. We compared our results with two other, well- known contrast statistics: Fourier power spectra and higher-order properties of contrast distributions (skewness and kurtosis. Interestingly, whereas these statistics allow for accurate image categorization, they do not predict ERP response patterns or behavioral categorization confusions. These converging computational, neural and behavioral results suggest that statistics of pooled contrast responses contain information that corresponds with perceived visual similarity in a rapid, low-level categorization task.

Spatially Pooled Contrast Responses Predict Neural and Perceptual Similarity of Naturalistic Image Categories

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Groen, Iris I. A.; Ghebreab, Sennay; Lamme, Victor A. F.; Scholte, H. Steven

2012-01-01

The visual world is complex and continuously changing. Yet, our brain transforms patterns of light falling on our retina into a coherent percept within a few hundred milliseconds. Possibly, low-level neural responses already carry substantial information to facilitate rapid characterization of the visual input. Here, we computationally estimated low-level contrast responses to computer-generated naturalistic images, and tested whether spatial pooling of these responses could predict image similarity at the neural and behavioral level. Using EEG, we show that statistics derived from pooled responses explain a large amount of variance between single-image evoked potentials (ERPs) in individual subjects. Dissimilarity analysis on multi-electrode ERPs demonstrated that large differences between images in pooled response statistics are predictive of more dissimilar patterns of evoked activity, whereas images with little difference in statistics give rise to highly similar evoked activity patterns. In a separate behavioral experiment, images with large differences in statistics were judged as different categories, whereas images with little differences were confused. These findings suggest that statistics derived from low-level contrast responses can be extracted in early visual processing and can be relevant for rapid judgment of visual similarity. We compared our results with two other, well- known contrast statistics: Fourier power spectra and higher-order properties of contrast distributions (skewness and kurtosis). Interestingly, whereas these statistics allow for accurate image categorization, they do not predict ERP response patterns or behavioral categorization confusions. These converging computational, neural and behavioral results suggest that statistics of pooled contrast responses contain information that corresponds with perceived visual similarity in a rapid, low-level categorization task. PMID:23093921

Recombination pattern reanalysis of some HIV-1 circulating recombination forms suggest the necessity and difficulty of revision.

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Lei Jia

Full Text Available Recombination is one of the major mechanisms underlying the generation of HIV-1 variability. Currently 61 circulating recombinant forms of HIV-1 have been identified. With the development of recombination detection techniques and accumulation of HIV-1 reference stains, more accurate mosaic structures of circulating recombinant forms (CRFs, like CRF04 and CRF06, have undergone repeated analysis and upgrades. Such revisions may also be necessary for other CRFs. Unlike previous studies, whose results are based primarily on a single recombination detection program, the current study was based on multiple recombination analysis, which may have produced more impartial results.Representative references of 3 categories of intersubtype recombinants were selected, including BC recombinants (CRF07 and CRF08, BG recombinants (CRF23 and CRF24, and BF recombinants (CRF38 and CRF44. They were reanalyzed in detail using both the jumping profile hidden Markov model and RDP3.The results indicate that revisions and upgrades are very necessary and the entire re-analysis suggested 2 types of revision: (i length of inserted fragments; and (ii number of inserted fragments. The reanalysis also indicated that determination of small regions of about 200 bases or fewer should be performed with more caution.Results indicated that the involvement of multiple recombination detection programs is very necessary. Additionally, results suggested two major challenges, one involving the difficulty of accurately determining the locations of breakpoints and the second involving identification of small regions of about 200 bases or fewer with greater caution. Both indicate the complexity of HIV-1 recombination. The resolution would depend critically on development of a recombination analysis algorithm, accumulation of HIV-1 stains, and a higher sequencing quality. With the changes in recombination pattern, phylogenetic relationships of some CRFs may also change. All these results may

Using the ovarian sensitivity index to define poor, normal, and high response after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation in the long gonadotropin-releasing hormone-agonist protocol: suggestions for a new principle to solve an old problem.

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Huber, Malin; Hadziosmanovic, Nermin; Berglund, Lars; Holte, Jan

2013-11-01

To explore the utility of using the ratio between oocyte yield and total dose of FSH, i.e., the ovarian sensitivity index (OSI), to define ovarian response patterns. Retrospective cross-sectional study. University-affiliated private center. The entire unselected cohort of 7,520 IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatments (oocyte pick-ups [OPUs]) during an 8-year period (long GnRH agonist-recombinant FSH protocol). None. The distribution of the OSI (oocytes recovered × 1,000/total dose of FSH), the cutoff levels for poor and high response, set at ±1 SD, and the relationship between OSI and treatment outcome. OSI showed a log-normal distribution with cutoff levels for poor and high response at 1.697/IU and 10.07/IU, respectively. A nomogram is presented. Live-birth rates per OPU were 10.5 ± 0.1%, 26.9 ± 0.6%, and 36.0 ± 1.4% for poor, normal, and high response treatments, respectively. The predictive power (C-statistic) for OSI to predict live birth was superior to that of oocyte yield. The OSI improves the definition of ovarian response patterns because it takes into account the degree of stimulation. The nomogram presents evidence-based cutoff levels for poor, normal, and high response and could be used for unifying study designs involving ovarian response patterns. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Patterns of stress responses shift during seasonal life-history transitions: An analysis comparing baseline, maximal and integrated corticosterone in female red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis).

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Dayger, Catherine A; Lutterschmidt, Deborah I

2017-05-15

Glucocorticoids often rise and fall with a variety of external and internal cues and frequently vary among life-history stages. This suggests that changing glucocorticoids may coordinate life-history transitions. To explore this hypothesis, we asked if the time-course of stress-induced glucocorticoid levels differ between two life-history transitions (i.e., spring and fall migration) in female red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis). We collected non-migratory females from a communal den and migratory females from a road along the migration route and treated them with 4h of capture stress; plasma corticosterone was measured before, during and after capture stress. During the spring, den-collected females exhibited a stress-induced peak in corticosterone at an earlier sampling time than migrating, road-collected females. Because the pattern of corticosterone responses varied with migratory state, negative feedback on and/or sensitivity of the hypothalamus-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis may be linked to spring migration. During the fall, capture stress elicited an increase in corticosterone in den-collected females but not in migrating, road-collected females. Baseline corticosterone was higher and both maximal and integrated corticosterone responses were lower during the fall compared to spring, indicating that stress responses are smaller when baseline corticosterone is elevated, perhaps due to a "ceiling effect". These data suggest that HPA axis regulation changes during seasonal migration, possibly via altering negative feedback, HPA axis sensitivity, or some other mechanism. This study supports the hypothesis that glucocorticoids coordinate life-history events and suggests that examining a suite of stress response characteristics is most informative for understanding the function of HPA modulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

RETAIL ORGANIZATION, A SUGGESTED ADULT DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION COURSE OUTLINE.

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MAURO, RALPH N.; AND OTHERS

THIS SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR A COURSE ON RETAIL ORGANIZATION IS PLANNED FOR FIVE 2-HOUR SESSIONS ON (1) EVOLUTION OF RETAIL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, (2) ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING CONCEPTS, PRINCIPLES, AND PRACTICES, (3) TYPICAL RETAIL ORGANIZATION PATTERNS, (4) ORGANIZATIONAL AND FUNCTIONAL ANAYSIS, INCLUDING MERCHANDISING, SALES PROMOTION, AND…

Patterns of unexpected in-hospital deaths: a root cause analysis

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Curry J Paul

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Respiratory alarm monitoring and rapid response team alerts on hospital general floors are based on detection of simple numeric threshold breaches. Although some uncontrolled observation trials in select patient populations have been encouraging, randomized controlled trials suggest that this simplistic approach may not reduce the unexpected death rate in this complex environment. The purpose of this review is to examine the history and scientific basis for threshold alarms and to compare thresholds with the actual pathophysiologic patterns of evolving death which must be timely detected. Methods The Pubmed database was searched for articles relating to methods for triggering rapid response teams and respiratory alarms and these were contrasted with the fundamental timed pathophysiologic patterns of death which evolve due to sepsis, congestive heart failure, pulmonary embolism, hypoventilation, narcotic overdose, and sleep apnea. Results In contrast to the simplicity of the numeric threshold breach method of generating alerts, the actual patterns of evolving death are complex and do not share common features until near death. On hospital general floors, unexpected clinical instability leading to death often progresses along three distinct patterns which can be designated as Types I, II and III. Type I is a pattern comprised of hyperventilation compensated respiratory failure typical of congestive heart failure and sepsis. Here, early hyperventilation and respiratory alkalosis can conceal the onset of instability. Type II is the pattern of classic CO2 narcosis. Type III occurs only during sleep and is a pattern of ventilation and SPO2 cycling caused by instability of ventilation and/or upper airway control followed by precipitous and fatal oxygen desaturation if arousal failure is induced by narcotics and/or sedation. Conclusion The traditional threshold breach method of detecting instability on hospital wards was not

Changes of population trends and mortality patterns in response to the reintroduction of large predators: The case study of African ungulates

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Grange, Sophie; Owen-Smith, Norman; Gaillard, Jean-Michel; Druce, Dave J.; Moleón, Marcos; Mgobozi, Mandisa

2012-07-01

Large predators have been reintroduced to an increasing number of protected areas in South Africa. However, the conditions allowing both prey and predator populations to be sustained in enclosed areas are still unclear as there is a lack of understanding of the consequences of such reintroductions for ungulate population dynamics. Variation in lion numbers, two decades after their first release, offered a special opportunity to test the effects of predation pressure on the population dynamics of seven ungulate species in the 960 km2 Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP), South Africa. We used two different approaches to examine predator-prey relationships: the population response of ungulates to predation pressure after accounting for possible confounding factors, and the pattern of ungulate adult mortality observed from carcass records. Rainfall patterns affected observed mortalities of several ungulate species in HiP. Although lion predation accounted for most ungulate mortality, it still had no detectable influence on ungulate population trends and mortality patterns, with one possible exception. This evidence suggests that the lion population had not yet attained the maximum abundance potentially supported by their ungulate prey; but following recent increases in lion numbers it will probably occur soon. It remains uncertain whether a quasi-stable balance will be reached between prey and predator populations, or whether favoured prey species will be depressed towards levels potentially generating oscillatory dynamics in this complex large mammal assemblage. We specifically recommend a continuous monitoring of predator and prey populations in HiP since lions are likely to show more impacts on their prey species in the next years.

Population responses in V1 encode different figures by response amplitude.

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Gilad, Ariel; Slovin, Hamutal

2015-04-22

The visual system simultaneously segregates between several objects presented in a visual scene. The neural code for encoding different objects or figures is not well understood. To study this question, we trained two monkeys to discriminate whether two elongated bars are either separate, thus generating two different figures, or connected, thus generating a single figure. Using voltage-sensitive dyes, we imaged at high spatial and temporal resolution V1 population responses evoked by the two bars, while keeping their local attributes similar among the two conditions. In the separate condition, unlike the connected condition, the population response to one bar is enhanced, whereas the response to the other is simultaneously suppressed. The response to the background remained unchanged between the two conditions. This divergent pattern developed ∼200 ms poststimulus onset and could discriminate well between the separate and connected single trials. The stimulus separation saliency and behavioral report were highly correlated with the differential response to the bars. In addition, the proximity and/or the specific location of the connectors seemed to have only a weak effect on this late activity pattern, further supporting the involvement of top-down influences. Additional neural codes were less informative about the separate and connected conditions, with much less consistency and discriminability compared with a response amplitude code. We suggest that V1 is involved in the encoding of each figure by different neuronal response amplitude, which can mediate their segregation and perception. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/356335-15$15.00/0.

Gain-of-function screen for genes that affect Drosophila muscle pattern formation.

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Nicole Staudt

2005-10-01

Full Text Available This article reports the production of an EP-element insertion library with more than 3,700 unique target sites within the Drosophila melanogaster genome and its use to systematically identify genes that affect embryonic muscle pattern formation. We designed a UAS/GAL4 system to drive GAL4-responsive expression of the EP-targeted genes in developing apodeme cells to which migrating myotubes finally attach and in an intrasegmental pattern of cells that serve myotubes as a migration substrate on their way towards the apodemes. The results suggest that misexpression of more than 1.5% of the Drosophila genes can interfere with proper myotube guidance and/or muscle attachment. In addition to factors already known to participate in these processes, we identified a number of enzymes that participate in the synthesis or modification of protein carbohydrate side chains and in Ubiquitin modifications and/or the Ubiquitin-dependent degradation of proteins, suggesting that these processes are relevant for muscle pattern formation.

Metacognition of agency is reduced in high hypnotic suggestibility.

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Terhune, Devin B; Hedman, Love R A

2017-11-01

A disruption in the sense of agency is the primary phenomenological feature of response to hypnotic suggestions but its cognitive basis remains elusive. Here we tested the proposal that distorted volition during response to suggestions arises from poor metacognition pertaining to the sources of one's control. Highly suggestible and control participants completed a motor task in which performance was reduced through surreptitious manipulations of cursor lag and stimuli speed. Highly suggestible participants did not differ from controls in performance or metacognition of performance, but their sense of agency was less sensitive to cursor lag manipulations, suggesting reduced awareness that their control was being manipulated. These results indicate that highly suggestible individuals have aberrant metacognition of agency and may be a valuable population for studying distortions in the sense of agency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preliminary Finnish Measures of Eating Competence Suggest Association with Health-Promoting Eating Patterns and Related Psychobehavioral Factors in 10–17 Year Old Adolescents

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Tilles-Tirkkonen Tanja

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Eating competence is an attitudinal and behavioral concept, based on The Satter Eating Competence Model. In adults, it has been shown to be associated with a higher quality of diet. Eating competence or its association with the quality of diet has not been studied in adolescents. The aim of the current study was to explore the utility of using a preliminary Finnish translation of the ecSI 2.0 for evaluating presumed eating competence and its association with food selection, meal patterns and related psychobehavioral factors in 10–17 year old adolescents. Altogether 976 10–17 years old Finnish adolescents filled in the study questionnaire. When exploring the construct validity of ecSI 2.0, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA indicated acceptable model fit and all four components of the ecSI 2.0 (eating attitudes, food acceptance, internal regulation of food intake, management of eating context correlated with each other and were internally consistent. Over half (58% of the adolescents scored 32 or higher and were thus classified as presumably eating competent (pEC. Eating competence was associated with greater meal frequency, more frequent consumption of vegetables and fruits, and more health-promoting family eating patterns. In addition the pEC, adolescents more often perceived their body size as appropriate, had less often tried to lose weight and had a higher self-esteem and a stronger sense of coherence than the not pEC ones. Family eating patterns and self-esteem were the main underlying factors of eating competence. In conclusion, this preliminary study suggests eating competence could be a useful concept to characterize eating patterns and related behaviors and attitudes in adolescents. However, these preliminary findings need to be confirmed in further studies with an instrument fully validated for this age group.

Preliminary Finnish Measures of Eating Competence Suggest Association with Health-Promoting Eating Patterns and Related Psychobehavioral Factors in 10–17 Year Old Adolescents

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Tanja, Tilles-Tirkkonen; Outi, Nuutinen; Sakari, Suominen; Jarmo, Liukkonen; Kaisa, Poutanen; Leila, Karhunen

2015-01-01

Eating competence is an attitudinal and behavioral concept, based on The Satter Eating Competence Model. In adults, it has been shown to be associated with a higher quality of diet. Eating competence or its association with the quality of diet has not been studied in adolescents. The aim of the current study was to explore the utility of using a preliminary Finnish translation of the ecSI 2.0 for evaluating presumed eating competence and its association with food selection, meal patterns and related psychobehavioral factors in 10–17 year old adolescents. Altogether 976 10–17 years old Finnish adolescents filled in the study questionnaire. When exploring the construct validity of ecSI 2.0, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated acceptable model fit and all four components of the ecSI 2.0 (eating attitudes, food acceptance, internal regulation of food intake, management of eating context) correlated with each other and were internally consistent. Over half (58%) of the adolescents scored 32 or higher and were thus classified as presumably eating competent (pEC). Eating competence was associated with greater meal frequency, more frequent consumption of vegetables and fruits, and more health-promoting family eating patterns. In addition the pEC, adolescents more often perceived their body size as appropriate, had less often tried to lose weight and had a higher self-esteem and a stronger sense of coherence than the not pEC ones. Family eating patterns and self-esteem were the main underlying factors of eating competence. In conclusion, this preliminary study suggests eating competence could be a useful concept to characterize eating patterns and related behaviors and attitudes in adolescents. However, these preliminary findings need to be confirmed in further studies with an instrument fully validated for this age group. PMID:26007335

No-reference stereoscopic image quality measurement based on generalized local ternary patterns of binocular energy response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Wujie; Yu, Lu

2015-01-01

Perceptual no-reference (NR) quality measurement of stereoscopic images has become a challenging issue in three-dimensional (3D) imaging fields. In this article, we propose an efficient binocular quality-aware features extraction scheme, namely generalized local ternary patterns (GLTP) of binocular energy response, for general-purpose NR stereoscopic image quality measurement (SIQM). More specifically, we first construct the binocular energy response of a distorted stereoscopic image with different stimuli of amplitude and phase shifts. Then, the binocular quality-aware features are generated from the GLTP of the binocular energy response. Finally, these features are mapped to the subjective quality score of the distorted stereoscopic image by using support vector regression. Experiments on two publicly available 3D databases confirm the effectiveness of the proposed metric compared with the state-of-the-art full reference and NR metrics. (paper)

l-Dopa responsiveness is associated with distinctive connectivity patterns in advanced Parkinson's disease.

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Akram, Harith; Wu, Chengyuan; Hyam, Jonathan; Foltynie, Thomas; Limousin, Patricia; De Vita, Enrico; Yousry, Tarek; Jahanshahi, Marjan; Hariz, Marwan; Behrens, Timothy; Ashburner, John; Zrinzo, Ludvic

2017-06-01

Neuronal loss and dopamine depletion alter motor signal processing between cortical motor areas, basal ganglia, and the thalamus, resulting in the motor manifestations of Parkinson's disease. Dopamine replacement therapy can reverse these manifestations with varying degrees of improvement. To evaluate functional connectivity in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease and changes in functional connectivity in relation to the degree of response to l-dopa, 19 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in the on-medication state. Scans were obtained on a 3-Tesla scanner in 3 × 3 × 2.5 mm 3 voxels. Seed-based bivariate regression analyses were carried out with atlas-defined basal ganglia regions as seeds, to explore relationships between functional connectivity and improvement in the motor section of the UPDRS-III following an l-dopa challenge. False discovery rate-corrected P was set at basal ganglia resting-state functional connectivity patterns associated with different degrees of l-dopa responsiveness in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. l-Dopa exerts a graduated influence on remapping connectivity in distinct motor control networks, potentially explaining some of the variance in treatment response. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Genome-wide investigation and expression analysis suggest diverse roles and genetic redundancy of Pht1 family genes in response to Pi deficiency in tomato.

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Chen, Aiqun; Chen, Xiao; Wang, Huimin; Liao, Dehua; Gu, Mian; Qu, Hongye; Sun, Shubin; Xu, Guohua

2014-03-11

Phosphorus (P) deficiency is one of the major nutrient stresses limiting plant growth. The uptake of P by plants is well considered to be mediated by a number of high-affinity phosphate (Pi) transporters belonging to the Pht1 family. Although the Pht1 genes have been extensively identified in several plant species, there is a lack of systematic analysis of the Pht1 gene family in any solanaceous species thus far. Here, we report the genome-wide analysis, phylogenetic evolution and expression patterns of the Pht1 genes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). A total of eight putative Pht1 genes (LePT1 to 8), distributed on three chromosomes (3, 6 and 9), were identified through extensive searches of the released tomato genome sequence database. Chromosomal organization and phylogenetic tree analysis suggested that the six Pht1 paralogues, LePT1/3, LePT2/6 and LePT4/5, which were assigned into three pairs with very close physical distance, were produced from recent tandem duplication events that occurred after Solanaceae splitting with other dicot families. Expression analysis of these Pht1 members revealed that except LePT8, of which the transcript was undetectable in all tissues, the other seven paralogues showed differential but partial-overlapping expression patterns. LePT1 and LePT7 were ubiquitously expressed in all tissues examined, and their transcripts were induced abundantly in response to Pi starvation; LePT2 and LePT6, the two paralogues harboring identical coding sequence, were predominantly expressed in Pi-deficient roots; LePT3, LePT4 and LePT5 were strongly activated in the roots colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi under low-P, but not high-P condition. Histochemical analysis revealed that a 1250-bp LePT3 promoter fragment and a 471-bp LePT5 promoter fragment containing the two elements, MYCS and P1BS, were sufficient to direct the GUS reporter expression in mycorrhizal roots and were limited to distinct cells harboring AM fungal structures

Expression patterns of WRKY genes in di-haploid Populus simonii × P. nigra in response to salinity stress revealed by quantitative real-time PCR and RNA sequencing.

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Wang, Shengji; Wang, Jiying; Yao, Wenjing; Zhou, Boru; Li, Renhua; Jiang, Tingbo

2014-10-01

Spatio-temporal expression patterns of 13 out of 119 poplar WRKY genes indicated dynamic and tissue-specific roles of WRKY family proteins in salinity stress tolerance. To understand the expression patterns of poplar WRKY genes under salinity stress, 51 of the 119 WRKY genes were selected from di-haploid Populus simonii × P. nigra by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). We used qRT-PCR to profile the expression of the top 13 genes under salinity stress across seven time points, and employed RNA-Seq platforms to cross-validate it. Results demonstrated that all the 13 WRKY genes were expressed in root, stem, and leaf tissues, but their expression levels and overall patterns varied notably in these tissues. Regarding overall gene expression in roots, the 13 genes were significantly highly expressed at all six time points after the treatment, reaching the plateau of expression at hour 9. In leaves, the 13 genes were similarly up-regulated from 3 to 12 h in response to NaCl treatment. In stems, however, expression levels of the 13 genes did not show significant changes after the NaCl treatment. Regarding individual gene expression across the time points and the three tissues, the 13 genes can be classified into three clusters: the lowly expressed Cluster 1 containing PthWRKY28, 45 and 105; intermediately expressed Clusters 2 including PthWRKY56, 88 and 116; and highly expressed Cluster 3 consisting of PthWRKY41, 44, 51, 61, 62, 75 and 106. In general, genes in Cluster 2 and 3 displayed a dynamic pattern of "induced amplification-recovering", suggesting that these WRKY genes and corresponding pathways may play a critical role in mediating salt response and tolerance in a dynamic and tissue-specific manner.

Catalog Learning: Carabid Beetles Learn to Manipulate with Innate Coherent Behavioral Patterns

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Zhanna Reznikova

2013-07-01

Full Text Available One of the most fascinating problems in comparative psychology is how learning contributes to solving specific functional problems in animal life, and which forms of learning our species shares with non-human animals. Simulating a natural situation of territorial conflicts between predatory carabids and red wood ants in field and laboratory experiments, we have revealed a relatively simple and quite natural form of learning that has been overlooked. We call it catalog learning, the name we give to the ability of animals to establish associations between stimuli and coherent behavioral patterns (patterns consist of elementary motor acts that have a fixed order. Instead of budgeting their motor acts gradually, from chaotic to rational sequences in order to learn something new, which is characteristic for a conditioning response, animals seem to be “cataloguing” their repertoire of innate coherent behavioral patterns in order to optimize their response to a certain repetitive event. This form of learning can be described as “stimulus-pattern” learning. In our experiments four “wild” carabid species, whose cognitive abilities have never been studied before, modified their behavior in a rather natural manner in order to avoid damage from aggressive ants. Beetles learned to select the relevant coherent behavioral patterns from the set of seven patterns, which are common to all four species and apparently innate. We suggest that this form of learning differs from the known forms of associative learning, and speculate that it is quite universal and can be present in a wide variety of species, both invertebrate and vertebrate. This study suggests a new link between the concepts of cognition and innateness.

Development of food acceptance patterns in the first years of life.

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Birch, L L

1998-11-01

As young omnivores, children make the transition from the exclusive milk diet of infancy to consuming a variety of foods. They must learn to accept a set of the foods available in their environmental niche, and they 'come equipped' with a set of predispositions that facilitate the development of food acceptance patterns, constrained by predisposition and limited by what is offered to them. While children are predisposed to like sweet or salty foods and to avoid sour or bitter foods, their preferences for the majority of foods are shaped by repeated experience. The predispositions that shape food acceptance patterns also include neophobia and the predisposition to learn to prefer and accept new foods when they are offered repeatedly. In addition, the predisposition for associative conditioning affects children's developing food acceptance patterns, resulting in preferences for foods offered in positive contexts, while foods presented in negative contexts will become more disliked via the learning of associations with the social and environmental contexts. Children also learn to prefer energy-dense foods when consumption of those foods is followed by positive post-ingestive consequences, such as those produced when high-energy-density foods are eaten when hungry. Although children are predisposed to be responsive to the energy content of foods in controlling their intake, they are also responsive to parents' control attempts. We have seen that these parental control attempts can refocus the child away from responsiveness to internal cues of hunger and satiety and towards external factors such as the presence of palatable foods. This analysis suggests that taking a closer look at what children are learning about food and eating may provide clues regarding the formation of children's food acceptance patterns, and that this approach also suggests potential causative factors implicated in the aetiology of obesity and the emergence of weight concerns. Current data

Dating couples' attachment styles and patterns of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to a relationship conflict.

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Powers, Sally I; Pietromonaco, Paula R; Gunlicks, Meredith; Sayer, Aline

2006-04-01

This study investigated theoretically predicted links between attachment style and a physiological indicator of stress, salivary cortisol levels, in 124 heterosexual dating couples. Cortisol was assessed at 7 points before and after an experimental conflict negotiation task, creating a trajectory of stress reactivity and recovery for each participant. Growth modeling of cortisol data tested hypotheses that (a) insecurely attached individuals show patterns of greater physiological stress reactions to interpersonal conflict than do securely attached individuals and (b) people with insecurely attached partners show patterns of greater stress in reaction to relationship conflict than those with securely attached partners. Hypothesis 1 was supported, but men and women differed in the type of insecure attachment that predicted stress trajectories. Hypothesis 2 was supported for men, but not for women. The discussion emphasizes the role of gender role norms and partner characteristics in understanding connections between adult attachment and patterns of cortisol responses to interpersonal stress.

Right fusiform response patterns reflect visual object identity rather than semantic similarity.

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Bruffaerts, Rose; Dupont, Patrick; De Grauwe, Sophie; Peeters, Ronald; De Deyne, Simon; Storms, Gerrit; Vandenberghe, Rik

2013-12-01

We previously reported the neuropsychological consequences of a lesion confined to the middle and posterior part of the right fusiform gyrus (case JA) causing a partial loss of knowledge of visual attributes of concrete entities in the absence of category-selectivity (animate versus inanimate). We interpreted this in the context of a two-step model that distinguishes structural description knowledge from associative-semantic processing and implicated the lesioned area in the former process. To test this hypothesis in the intact brain, multi-voxel pattern analysis was used in a series of event-related fMRI studies in a total of 46 healthy subjects. We predicted that activity patterns in this region would be determined by the identity of rather than the conceptual similarity between concrete entities. In a prior behavioral experiment features were generated for each entity by more than 1000 subjects. Based on a hierarchical clustering analysis the entities were organised into 3 semantic clusters (musical instruments, vehicles, tools). Entities were presented as words or pictures. With foveal presentation of pictures, cosine similarity between fMRI response patterns in right fusiform cortex appeared to reflect both the identity of and the semantic similarity between the entities. No such effects were found for words in this region. The effect of object identity was invariant for location, scaling, orientation axis and color (grayscale versus color). It also persisted for different exemplars referring to a same concrete entity. The apparent semantic similarity effect however was not invariant. This study provides further support for a neurobiological distinction between structural description knowledge and processing of semantic relationships and confirms the role of right mid-posterior fusiform cortex in the former process, in accordance with previous lesion evidence. © 2013.

Visual Discomfort From Flash Afterimages of Riloid Patterns.

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O'Hare, Louise

2017-06-01

Op-art-based stimuli have been shown to be uncomfortable, possibly due to a combination of fixational eye movements (microsaccades) and excessive cortical responses. Efforts have been made to measure illusory phenomena arising from these stimuli in the absence of microsaccades, but there has been no attempt thus far to decouple the effects of the cortical response from the effect of fixational eye movements. This study uses flash afterimages to stabilise the image on the retina and thus reduce the systematic effect of eye movements, in order to investigate the role of the brain in discomfort from op-art-based stimuli. There was a relationship between spatial frequency and the magnitude of the P300 response, showing a similar pattern to that of discomfort judgements, which suggests that there might be a role of discomfort and excessive neural responses independently from the effects of microsaccades.

Pattern Recognition Control Design

Science.gov (United States)

Gambone, Elisabeth A.

2018-01-01

Spacecraft control algorithms must know the expected vehicle response to any command to the available control effectors, such as reaction thrusters or torque devices. Spacecraft control system design approaches have traditionally relied on the estimated vehicle mass properties to determine the desired force and moment, as well as knowledge of the effector performance to efficiently control the spacecraft. A pattern recognition approach was used to investigate the relationship between the control effector commands and spacecraft responses. Instead of supplying the approximated vehicle properties and the thruster performance characteristics, a database of information relating the thruster ring commands and the desired vehicle response was used for closed-loop control. A Monte Carlo simulation data set of the spacecraft dynamic response to effector commands was analyzed to establish the influence a command has on the behavior of the spacecraft. A tool developed at NASA Johnson Space Center to analyze flight dynamics Monte Carlo data sets through pattern recognition methods was used to perform this analysis. Once a comprehensive data set relating spacecraft responses with commands was established, it was used in place of traditional control methods and gains set. This pattern recognition approach was compared with traditional control algorithms to determine the potential benefits and uses.

Betting on Illusory Patterns: Probability Matching in Habitual Gamblers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaissmaier, Wolfgang; Wilke, Andreas; Scheibehenne, Benjamin; McCanney, Paige; Barrett, H Clark

2016-03-01

Why do people gamble? A large body of research suggests that cognitive distortions play an important role in pathological gambling. Many of these distortions are specific cases of a more general misperception of randomness, specifically of an illusory perception of patterns in random sequences. In this article, we provide further evidence for the assumption that gamblers are particularly prone to perceiving illusory patterns. In particular, we compared habitual gamblers to a matched sample of community members with regard to how much they exhibit the choice anomaly 'probability matching'. Probability matching describes the tendency to match response proportions to outcome probabilities when predicting binary outcomes. It leads to a lower expected accuracy than the maximizing strategy of predicting the most likely event on each trial. Previous research has shown that an illusory perception of patterns in random sequences fuels probability matching. So does impulsivity, which is also reported to be higher in gamblers. We therefore hypothesized that gamblers will exhibit more probability matching than non-gamblers, which was confirmed in a controlled laboratory experiment. Additionally, gamblers scored much lower than community members on the cognitive reflection task, which indicates higher impulsivity. This difference could account for the difference in probability matching between the samples. These results suggest that gamblers are more willing to bet impulsively on perceived illusory patterns.

Amygdala and fusiform gyrus temporal dynamics: Responses to negative facial expressions

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Rauch Scott L

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The amygdala habituates in response to repeated human facial expressions; however, it is unclear whether this brain region habituates to schematic faces (i.e., simple line drawings or caricatures of faces. Using an fMRI block design, 16 healthy participants passively viewed repeated presentations of schematic and human neutral and negative facial expressions. Percent signal changes within anatomic regions-of-interest (amygdala and fusiform gyrus were calculated to examine the temporal dynamics of neural response and any response differences based on face type. Results The amygdala and fusiform gyrus had a within-run "U" response pattern of activity to facial expression blocks. The initial block within each run elicited the greatest activation (relative to baseline and the final block elicited greater activation than the preceding block. No significant differences between schematic and human faces were detected in the amygdala or fusiform gyrus. Conclusion The "U" pattern of response in the amygdala and fusiform gyrus to facial expressions suggests an initial orienting, habituation, and activation recovery in these regions. Furthermore, this study is the first to directly compare brain responses to schematic and human facial expressions, and the similarity in brain responses suggest that schematic faces may be useful in studying amygdala activation.

Patterns of Precipitation and Streamflow Responses to Moisture Fluxes during Atmospheric Rivers

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Henn, B. M.; Wilson, A. M.; Asgari Lamjiri, M.; Ralph, M.

2017-12-01

Precipitation from landfalling atmospheric rivers (ARs) have been shown to dominate the hydroclimate of many parts of the world. ARs are associated with saturated, neutrally-stable profiles in the lower atmosphere, in which forced ascent by topography induces precipitation. Understanding the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation over complex terrain during AR-driven precipitation is critical for accurate forcing of distributed hydrologic models and streamflow forecasts. Past studies using radar wind profilers and radiosondes have demonstrated predictability of precipitation rates based on upslope water vapor flux over coastal terrain, with certain levels of moisture flux exhibiting the greatest influence on precipitation. Additionally, these relationships have been extended to show that streamflow in turn responds predictably to upslope vapor flux. However, past studies have focused on individual pairs of profilers and precipitation gauges; the question of how orographic precipitation in ARs is distributed spatially over complex terrain, at different topographic scales, is less well known. Here, we examine profiles of atmospheric moisture transport from radiosondes and wind profilers, against a relatively dense network of precipitation gauges, as well as stream gauges, to assess relationships between upslope moisture flux and the spatial response of precipitation and streamflow. We focus on California's Russian River watershed in the 2016-2017 cool season, when regular radiosonde launches were made at two locations during an active sequence of landfalling ARs. We examine how atmospheric water vapor flux results in precipitation patterns across gauges with different topographic relationships to the prevailing moisture-bearing winds, and conduct a similar comparison of runoff volume response from several unimpaired watersheds in the upper Russian watershed, taking into account antecedent soil moisture conditions that influence runoff generation. Finally

Enhancing business intelligence by means of suggestive reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Qazi, Atika; Raj, Ram Gopal; Tahir, Muhammad; Cambria, Erik; Syed, Karim Bux Shah

2014-01-01

Appropriate identification and classification of online reviews to satisfy the needs of current and potential users pose a critical challenge for the business environment. This paper focuses on a specific kind of reviews: the suggestive type. Suggestions have a significant influence on both consumers' choices and designers' understanding and, hence, they are key for tasks such as brand positioning and social media marketing. The proposed approach consists of three main steps: (1) classify comparative and suggestive sentences; (2) categorize suggestive sentences into different types, either explicit or implicit locutions; (3) perform sentiment analysis on the classified reviews. A range of supervised machine learning approaches and feature sets are evaluated to tackle the problem of suggestive opinion mining. Experimental results for all three tasks are obtained on a dataset of mobile phone reviews and demonstrate that extending a bag-of-words representation with suggestive and comparative patterns is ideal for distinguishing suggestive sentences. In particular, it is observed that classifying suggestive sentences into implicit and explicit locutions works best when using a mixed sequential rule feature representation. Sentiment analysis achieves maximum performance when employing additional preprocessing in the form of negation handling and target masking, combined with sentiment lexicons.

Patterns of intraspecific variability in the response to caloric restriction

Science.gov (United States)

Gribble, Kristin E.; Kaido, Oksana; Jarvis, George; Mark Welch, David B.

2014-01-01

Caloric restriction (CR) is cited as the most robust means of increasing lifespan across a range of taxa, yet there is a high degree of variability in the response to CR, both within and between species. To examine the intraspecific evolutionary conservation of lifespan extension by CR, we tested the effects of chronic caloric restriction (CCR) at multiple food levels and of intermittent fasting (IF) in twelve isolates from the Brachionus plicatilis species complex of monogonont rotifers. While CCR generally increased or did not change lifespan and total fecundity, IF caused increased, unchanged, or decreased lifespan, depending upon the isolate, and decreased total fecundity in all but one isolate. Lifespan under ad libitum (AL) feeding varied among isolates and predicted the lifespan response to CR: longer-lived isolates under AL were less likely to have a significant increase in lifespan under CCR and were more likely to have a significantly shortened lifespan under IF. Lifespan under AL conditions and the response to CR were not correlated with hydroperiodicity of native habitat or with time in culture. Lack of trade-off between lifespan and fecundity under CCR, and differences in lifespan and fecundity under CCR and IF, even when average food intake was similar, suggest that longevity changes are not always directly determined by energy intake and that CCR and IF regimens extend lifespan through diverse genetic mechanisms. PMID:24384399

Soil erosion dynamics response to landscape pattern

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ouyang, W.; Skidmore, A.K.; Hao, F.; Wang, T.

2010-01-01

Simulating soil erosion variation with a temporal land use database reveals long-term fluctuations in landscape patterns, as well as priority needs for soil erosion conservation. The application of a multi-year land use database in support of a Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) led to an accurate

Recurrent, robust and scalable patterns underlie human approach and avoidance.

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Byoung Woo Kim

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Approach and avoidance behavior provide a means for assessing the rewarding or aversive value of stimuli, and can be quantified by a keypress procedure whereby subjects work to increase (approach, decrease (avoid, or do nothing about time of exposure to a rewarding/aversive stimulus. To investigate whether approach/avoidance behavior might be governed by quantitative principles that meet engineering criteria for lawfulness and that encode known features of reward/aversion function, we evaluated whether keypress responses toward pictures with potential motivational value produced any regular patterns, such as a trade-off between approach and avoidance, or recurrent lawful patterns as observed with prospect theory.Three sets of experiments employed this task with beautiful face images, a standardized set of affective photographs, and pictures of food during controlled states of hunger and satiety. An iterative modeling approach to data identified multiple law-like patterns, based on variables grounded in the individual. These patterns were consistent across stimulus types, robust to noise, describable by a simple power law, and scalable between individuals and groups. Patterns included: (i a preference trade-off counterbalancing approach and avoidance, (ii a value function linking preference intensity to uncertainty about preference, and (iii a saturation function linking preference intensity to its standard deviation, thereby setting limits to both.These law-like patterns were compatible with critical features of prospect theory, the matching law, and alliesthesia. Furthermore, they appeared consistent with both mean-variance and expected utility approaches to the assessment of risk. Ordering of responses across categories of stimuli demonstrated three properties thought to be relevant for preference-based choice, suggesting these patterns might be grouped together as a relative preference theory. Since variables in these patterns have been

Career Patterns of Supply Chain Executives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flöthmann, Christoph; Hoberg, Kai

2017-01-01

career patterns for SCEs. They differ in terms of the individuals' previous professional experience, educational background, and the time they needed to arrive in an executive position. By characterizing the backgrounds and career paths of SCEs, we show that supply chain management (SCM) is truly a cross......This exploratory study analyzes the careers of 307 supply chain executives (SCEs). Motivated by career theory, our findings create new knowledge about the educational backgrounds and career paths that lead to SCE positions. Based on an optimal matching analysis, we are able to distinguish among six......-functional profession. Our findings suggest that previous staff responsibility appears to be a more important hiring criterion than extensive SCM experience. While 56% of the executives had prior staff responsibility, only 12% of the cumulated careers were actually spent inside the SCM function....

Enhanced Arabidopsis pattern-triggered immunity by overexpression of cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, Yu-Hung; Chang, Yu-Hsien; Huang, Pin-Yao; Huang, Jing-Bo; Zimmerli, Laurent

2015-01-01

Upon recognition of microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) such as the bacterial flagellin (or the derived peptide flg22) by pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) such as the FLAGELLIN SENSING2 (FLS2), plants activate the pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) response. The L-type lectin receptor kinase-VI.2 (LecRK-VI.2) is a positive regulator of Arabidopsis thaliana PTI. Cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases (CRKs) possess two copies of the C-X8-C-X2-C (DUF26) motif in their extracellular domains and are thought to be involved in plant stress resistance, but data about CRK functions are scarce. Here, we show that Arabidopsis overexpressing the LecRK-VI.2-responsive CRK4, CRK6, and CRK36 demonstrated an enhanced PTI response and were resistant to virulent bacteria Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. Notably, the flg22-triggered oxidative burst was primed in CRK4, CRK6, and CRK36 transgenics and up-regulation of the PTI-responsive gene FLG22-INDUCED RECEPTOR-LIKE 1 (FRK1) was potentiated upon flg22 treatment in CRK4 and CRK6 overexpression lines or constitutively increased by CRK36 overexpression. PTI-mediated callose deposition was not affected by overexpression of CRK4 and CRK6, while CRK36 overexpression lines demonstrated constitutive accumulation of callose. In addition, Pst DC3000-mediated stomatal reopening was blocked in CRK4 and CRK36 overexpression lines, while overexpression of CRK6 induced constitutive stomatal closure suggesting a strengthening of stomatal immunity. Finally, bimolecular fluorescence complementation and co-immunoprecipitation analyses in Arabidopsis protoplasts suggested that the plasma membrane localized CRK4, CRK6, and CRK36 associate with the PRR FLS2. Association with FLS2 and the observation that overexpression of CRK4, CRK6, and CRK36 boosts specific PTI outputs and resistance to bacteria suggest a role for these CRKs in Arabidopsis innate immunity.

Experience from implementing international standards in national emergency response planning national adjustments and suggestions for improvements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naadland Holo, E.

2003-01-01

Full text: A process has been going on for some time in Norway to establish a harmonized background for emergency response planning for any kind of nuclear or radiological accident. The national emergency preparedness organisation with the crisis committee for nuclear accident, consisting of representatives from civil defence, defence, police-, health-, and food control authorities, has the authority to implement countermeasures to protect health, environment and national interests in case of an accident or in case of nuclear terrorism. However, in an early phase, the response plans need to be fully harmonized to ensure that every operational level knows their responsibility and the responsibilities of others. Our intention is to implement the IAEA standard 'preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency'. We believe this will simplify national and international communication and also simplify the crisis management if an accident occurs. In revising the national plans, and also the planning basis at regional and local level, as well as the planning basis for response to accidents at national nuclear facilities and in connection with arrival of nuclear submarines in Norwegian harbours, we have seen the need to make national adjustments to the international standards. In addition to the standard, there exist several other processes and routines for reporting different kinds of incidents. We have seen a need to coordinate this internally at the competent authority to simplify the routines. This paper will focus on the challenges we have met, our national solutions and some suggestions for simplification. National adjustments to the international standard. - Firstly, the threat categorization needs to be adjusted. First of all, we do not have nuclear power plants in Norway. In the aftermath of 11 September 2001 we also have focused more an the potential for nuclear terrorism. Nuclear terrorism is unlikely but puts up some new requirements in the

Overspecification of colour, pattern, and size: Salience, absoluteness, and consistency

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Sammie eTarenskeen

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The rates of overspecification of colour, pattern, and size are compared, to investigate how salience and absoluteness contribute to the production of overspecification. Colour and pattern are absolute attributes, whereas size is relative and less salient. Additionally, a tendency towards consistent responses is assessed. Using a within-participants design, we find similar rates of colour and pattern overspecification, which are both higher than the rate of size overspecification. Using a between-participants design, however, we find similar rates of pattern and size overspecification, which are both lower than the rate of colour overspecification. This indicates that although many speakers are more likely to include colour than pattern (probably because colour is more salient, they may also treat pattern like colour due to a tendency towards consistency. We find no increase in size overspecification when the salience of size is increased, suggesting that speakers are more likely to include absolute than relative attributes. However, we do find an increase in size overspecification when mentioning the attributes is triggered, which again shows that speakers tend refer in a consistent manner, and that there are circumstances in which even size overspecification is frequently produced.

Chronic malaria revealed by a new fluorescence pattern on the antinuclear autoantibodies test.

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Benjamin Hommel

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Several clinical forms of malaria such as chronic carriage, gestational malaria or hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly may follow a cryptic evolution with afebrile chronic fatigue sometimes accompanied by anemia and/or splenomegaly. Conventional parasitological tests are often negative or not performed, and severe complications may occur. Extensive explorations of these conditions often include the search for antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA. METHODS: We analysed fluorescence patterns in the ANA test in patients with either chronic cryptic or acute symptomatic malaria, then conducted a one-year prospective study at a single hospital on all available sera drawn for ANA detections. We then identified autoantibodies differentially expressed in malaria patients and in controls using human protein microarray. RESULTS: We uncovered and defined a new, malaria-related, nucleo-cytoplasmic ANA pattern displaying the specific association of a nuclear speckled pattern with diffuse cytoplasmic perinuclearly-enhanced fluorescence. In the one-year prospective analysis, 79% of sera displaying this new nucleo-cytoplasmic fluorescence were from patients with malaria. This specific pattern, not seen in other parasitic diseases, allowed a timely reorientation of the diagnosis toward malaria. To assess if the autoantibody immune response was due to autoreactivity or molecular mimicry we isolated 42 autoantigens, targets of malarial autoantibodies. BLAST analysis indicated that 23 of recognized autoantigens were homologous to plasmodial proteins suggesting autoimmune responses directly driven by the plasmodial infection. CONCLUSION: In patients with malaria in whom parasitological tests have not been performed recognition of this new, malaria-related fluorescence pattern on the ANA test is highly suggestive of the diagnosis and triggers immediate, easy confirmation and adapted therapy.

Impulsivity, self-control, and hypnotic suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Ludwig, V U; Stelzel, C; Krutiak, H; Prunkl, C E; Steimke, R; Paschke, L M; Kathmann, N; Walter, H

2013-06-01

Hypnotic responding might be due to attenuated frontal lobe functioning after the hypnotic induction. Little is known about whether personality traits linked with frontal functioning are associated with responsiveness to hypnotic suggestions. We assessed whether hypnotic suggestibility is related to the traits of self-control and impulsivity in 154 participants who completed the Brief Self-Control Scale, the Self-Regulation Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), and the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS:A). BIS-11 non-planning impulsivity correlated positively with HGSHS:A (Bonferroni-corrected). Furthermore, in the best model emerging from a stepwise multiple regression, both non-planning impulsivity and self-control positively predicted hypnotic suggestibility, and there was an interaction of BIS-11 motor impulsivity with gender. For men only, motor impulsivity tended to predict hypnotic suggestibility. Hypnotic suggestibility is associated with personality traits linked with frontal functioning, and hypnotic responding in men and women might differ. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genomic Features That Predict Allelic Imbalance in Humans Suggest Patterns of Constraint on Gene Expression Variation

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Fédrigo, Olivier; Haygood, Ralph; Mukherjee, Sayan; Wray, Gregory A.

2009-01-01

Variation in gene expression is an important contributor to phenotypic diversity within and between species. Although this variation often has a genetic component, identification of the genetic variants driving this relationship remains challenging. In particular, measurements of gene expression usually do not reveal whether the genetic basis for any observed variation lies in cis or in trans to the gene, a distinction that has direct relevance to the physical location of the underlying genetic variant, and which may also impact its evolutionary trajectory. Allelic imbalance measurements identify cis-acting genetic effects by assaying the relative contribution of the two alleles of a cis-regulatory region to gene expression within individuals. Identification of patterns that predict commonly imbalanced genes could therefore serve as a useful tool and also shed light on the evolution of cis-regulatory variation itself. Here, we show that sequence motifs, polymorphism levels, and divergence levels around a gene can be used to predict commonly imbalanced genes in a human data set. Reduction of this feature set to four factors revealed that only one factor significantly differentiated between commonly imbalanced and nonimbalanced genes. We demonstrate that these results are consistent between the original data set and a second published data set in humans obtained using different technical and statistical methods. Finally, we show that variation in the single allelic imbalance-associated factor is partially explained by the density of genes in the region of a target gene (allelic imbalance is less probable for genes in gene-dense regions), and, to a lesser extent, the evenness of expression of the gene across tissues and the magnitude of negative selection on putative regulatory regions of the gene. These results suggest that the genomic distribution of functional cis-regulatory variants in the human genome is nonrandom, perhaps due to local differences in evolutionary

Response patterns of phytoplankton growth to variations in resuspension in the German Bight revealed by daily MERIS data in 2003 and 2004

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Jian Su

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Chlorophyll (chl a concentration in coastal seas exhibits variability on various spatial and temporal scales. Resuspension of particulate matter can somewhat limit algal growth, but can also enhance productivity because of the intrusion of nutrient-rich pore water from sediments or bottom water layers into the whole water column. This study investigates whether characteristic changes in net phytoplankton growth can be directly linked to resuspension events within the German Bight. Satellite-derived chl a were used to derive spatial patterns of net rates of chl a increase/decrease (NR in 2003 and 2004. Spatial correlations between NR and mean water column irradiance were analysed. High correlations in space and time were found in most areas of the German Bight (R2 > 0.4, suggesting a tight coupling between light availability and algal growth during spring. These correlations were reduced within a distinct zone in the transition between shallow coastal areas and deeper offshore waters. In summer and autumn, a mismatch was found between phytoplankton blooms (chl a > 6 mg m−3 and spring-tidal induced resuspension events as indicated by bottom velocity, suggesting that there is no phytoplankton resuspension during spring tides. It is instead proposed here that frequent and recurrent spring-tidal resuspension events enhance algal growth by supplying remineralized nutrients. This hypothesis is corroborated by a lag correlation analysis between resuspension events and in-situ measured nutrient concentrations. This study outlines seasonally different patterns in phytoplankton productivity in response to variations in resuspension, which can serve as a reference for modelling coastal ecosystem dynamics.

A tripolar pattern as an internal mode of the East Asian summer monsoon

Science.gov (United States)

Hirota, Nagio; Takahashi, Masaaki

2012-11-01

A tripolar anomaly pattern with centers located around the Philippines, China/Japan, and East Siberia dominantly appears in climate variations of the East Asian summer monsoon. In this study, we extracted this pattern as the first mode of a singular value decomposition (SVD1) over East Asia. The squared covariance fraction of SVD1 was 59 %, indicating that this pattern can be considered a dominant pattern of climate variations. Moreover, the results of numerical experiments suggested that the structure is also a dominant pattern of linear responses, even if external forcing is distributed homogeneously over the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, the tripolar pattern can be considered an internal mode that is characterized by the internal atmospheric processes. In this pattern, the moist processes strengthen the circulation anomalies, the dynamical energy conversion supplies energy to the anomalies, and the Rossby waves propagate northward in the lower troposphere and southeastward in the upper troposphere. These processes are favorable for the pattern to have large amplitude and to influence a large area.

A tripolar pattern as an internal mode of the East Asian summer monsoon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirota, Nagio; Takahashi, Masaaki [University of Tokyo, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, Chiba (Japan)

2012-11-15

A tripolar anomaly pattern with centers located around the Philippines, China/Japan, and East Siberia dominantly appears in climate variations of the East Asian summer monsoon. In this study, we extracted this pattern as the first mode of a singular value decomposition (SVD1) over East Asia. The squared covariance fraction of SVD1 was 59 %, indicating that this pattern can be considered a dominant pattern of climate variations. Moreover, the results of numerical experiments suggested that the structure is also a dominant pattern of linear responses, even if external forcing is distributed homogeneously over the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, the tripolar pattern can be considered an internal mode that is characterized by the internal atmospheric processes. In this pattern, the moist processes strengthen the circulation anomalies, the dynamical energy conversion supplies energy to the anomalies, and the Rossby waves propagate northward in the lower troposphere and southeastward in the upper troposphere. These processes are favorable for the pattern to have large amplitude and to influence a large area. (orig.)

Levels and patterns of nucleotide variation in domestication QTL regions on rice chromosome 3 suggest lineage-specific selection.

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Xianfa Xie

Full Text Available Oryza sativa or Asian cultivated rice is one of the major cereal grass species domesticated for human food use during the Neolithic. Domestication of this species from the wild grass Oryza rufipogon was accompanied by changes in several traits, including seed shattering, percent seed set, tillering, grain weight, and flowering time. Quantitative trait locus (QTL mapping has identified three genomic regions in chromosome 3 that appear to be associated with these traits. We would like to study whether these regions show signatures of selection and whether the same genetic basis underlies the domestication of different rice varieties. Fragments of 88 genes spanning these three genomic regions were sequenced from multiple accessions of two major varietal groups in O. sativa--indica and tropical japonica--as well as the ancestral wild rice species O. rufipogon. In tropical japonica, the levels of nucleotide variation in these three QTL regions are significantly lower compared to genome-wide levels, and coalescent simulations based on a complex demographic model of rice domestication indicate that these patterns are consistent with selection. In contrast, there is no significant reduction in nucleotide diversity in the homologous regions in indica rice. These results suggest that there are differences in the genetic and selective basis for domestication between these two Asian rice varietal groups.

Placebo-suggestion modulates conflict resolution in the Stroop Task.

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Pedro A Magalhães De Saldanha da Gama

Full Text Available Here, we ask whether placebo-suggestion (without any form of hypnotic induction can modulate the resolution of cognitive conflict. Naïve participants performed a Stroop Task while wearing an EEG cap described as a "brain wave" machine. In Experiment 1, participants were made to believe that the EEG cap would either enhance or decrease their color perception and performance on the Stroop task. In Experiment 2, participants were explicitly asked to imagine that their color perception and performance would be enhanced or decreased (non-hypnotic imaginative suggestion. We observed effects of placebo-suggestion on Stroop interference on accuracy: interference was decreased with positive suggestion and increased with negative suggestion compared to baseline. Intra-individual variability was also increased under negative suggestion compared to baseline. Compliance with the instruction to imagine a modulation of performance, on the other hand, did not influence accuracy and only had a negative impact on response latencies and on intra-individual variability, especially in the congruent condition of the Stroop Task. Taken together, these results demonstrate that expectations induced by a placebo-suggestion can modulate our ability to resolve cognitive conflict, either facilitating or impairing response accuracy depending on the suggestion's contents. Our results also demonstrate a dissociation between placebo-suggestion and non-hypnotic imaginative suggestion.

Whole blood gene expression in adolescent chronic fatigue syndrome: an exploratory cross-sectional study suggesting altered B cell differentiation and survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Chinh Bkrong; Alsøe, Lene; Lindvall, Jessica M; Sulheim, Dag; Fagermoen, Even; Winger, Anette; Kaarbø, Mari; Nilsen, Hilde; Wyller, Vegard Bruun

2017-05-11

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a prevalent and disabling condition affecting adolescents. The pathophysiology is poorly understood, but immune alterations might be an important component. This study compared whole blood gene expression in adolescent CFS patients and healthy controls, and explored associations between gene expression and neuroendocrine markers, immune markers and clinical markers within the CFS group. CFS patients (12-18 years old) were recruited nation-wide to a single referral center as part of the NorCAPITAL project. A broad case definition of CFS was applied, requiring 3 months of unexplained, disabling chronic/relapsing fatigue of new onset, whereas no accompanying symptoms were necessary. Healthy controls having comparable distribution of gender and age were recruited from local schools. Whole blood samples were subjected to RNA sequencing. Immune markers were blood leukocyte counts, plasma cytokines, serum C-reactive protein and immunoglobulins. Neuroendocrine markers encompassed plasma and urine levels of catecholamines and cortisol, as well as heart rate variability indices. Clinical markers consisted of questionnaire scores for symptoms of post-exertional malaise, inflammation, fatigue, depression and trait anxiety, as well as activity recordings. A total of 29 CFS patients and 18 healthy controls were included. We identified 176 genes as differentially expressed in patients compared to controls, adjusting for age and gender factors. Gene set enrichment analyses suggested impairment of B cell differentiation and survival, as well as enhancement of innate antiviral responses and inflammation in the CFS group. A pattern of co-expression could be identified, and this pattern, as well as single gene transcripts, was significantly associated with indices of autonomic nervous activity, plasma cortisol, and blood monocyte and eosinophil counts. Also, an association with symptoms of post-exertional malaise was demonstrated. Adolescent CFS is

Enhancing Business Intelligence by Means of Suggestive Reviews

Science.gov (United States)

Qazi, Atika

2014-01-01

Appropriate identification and classification of online reviews to satisfy the needs of current and potential users pose a critical challenge for the business environment. This paper focuses on a specific kind of reviews: the suggestive type. Suggestions have a significant influence on both consumers' choices and designers' understanding and, hence, they are key for tasks such as brand positioning and social media marketing. The proposed approach consists of three main steps: (1) classify comparative and suggestive sentences; (2) categorize suggestive sentences into different types, either explicit or implicit locutions; (3) perform sentiment analysis on the classified reviews. A range of supervised machine learning approaches and feature sets are evaluated to tackle the problem of suggestive opinion mining. Experimental results for all three tasks are obtained on a dataset of mobile phone reviews and demonstrate that extending a bag-of-words representation with suggestive and comparative patterns is ideal for distinguishing suggestive sentences. In particular, it is observed that classifying suggestive sentences into implicit and explicit locutions works best when using a mixed sequential rule feature representation. Sentiment analysis achieves maximum performance when employing additional preprocessing in the form of negation handling and target masking, combined with sentiment lexicons. PMID:25054188

Enhancing Business Intelligence by Means of Suggestive Reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atika Qazi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Appropriate identification and classification of online reviews to satisfy the needs of current and potential users pose a critical challenge for the business environment. This paper focuses on a specific kind of reviews: the suggestive type. Suggestions have a significant influence on both consumers’ choices and designers’ understanding and, hence, they are key for tasks such as brand positioning and social media marketing. The proposed approach consists of three main steps: (1 classify comparative and suggestive sentences; (2 categorize suggestive sentences into different types, either explicit or implicit locutions; (3 perform sentiment analysis on the classified reviews. A range of supervised machine learning approaches and feature sets are evaluated to tackle the problem of suggestive opinion mining. Experimental results for all three tasks are obtained on a dataset of mobile phone reviews and demonstrate that extending a bag-of-words representation with suggestive and comparative patterns is ideal for distinguishing suggestive sentences. In particular, it is observed that classifying suggestive sentences into implicit and explicit locutions works best when using a mixed sequential rule feature representation. Sentiment analysis achieves maximum performance when employing additional preprocessing in the form of negation handling and target masking, combined with sentiment lexicons.

Response Pattern Based on the Amplitude of Ear Canal Recorded Cochlear Microphonic Waveforms across Acoustic Frequencies in Normal Hearing Subjects

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Ming

2012-01-01

Low-frequency otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are often concealed by acoustic background noise such as those from a patient’s breathing and from the environment during recording in clinics. When using electrocochleaography (ECochG or ECoG), such as cochlear microphonics (CMs), acoustic background noise do not contaminate the recordings. Our objective is to study the response pattern of CM waveforms (CMWs) to explore an alternative approach in assessing cochlear functions. In response to a 14-mse...

Analyzing a problem-solution pattern in the transcription of a conversation: suggestions for the ELF classroom

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Navas Brenes, César A.

2005-12-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes a problem-solution pattern shown in the transcription of a conversation. This analysis is based on a conversation that has been elicited from three native speakers of English. These speakers were given a topic that dealt with the problem of children being constantly exposed to violent video games. As a result, the writer recorded an oral text that contains several elements related to a problem-solution pattern such as the main issue, opinions, personal examples, possible solutions, and the evaluation of these solutions. The writer analyzed this pattern in terms of discourse analysis using idea units from the transcription. Moreover, the writer will point out how appropriate this transcription is for preparing teaching tasks for the EFL classroom. Este artículo analiza el patrón estructural de la solución de un problema evidente en la transcripción de una conversación. El análisis esta basado en un diálogo obtenido de tres hablantes nativos de la lengua inglesa. El autor suministró a dichas personas un tema relacionado con el problema de la exposición de niños al contenido violento de los juegos de video. Como resultado, el escritor obtuvo una grabación del texto oral que contiene varios elementos relacionados con el patrón estructural de la solución de un problema. Algunos de estos elementos son el problema principal, opiniones, ejemplos personales, soluciones viables al problema, y la evaluación de dichas soluciones. El autor analizó algunas líneas de la transcripción con la ayuda de algunos conceptos relacionados con el análisis del discurso. Cabe destacar que el uso de tales trascripciones es muy apropiado en la preparación de actividades para una clase de inglés como lengua extranjera.

Emotional responses to music: towards scientific perspectives on music therapy.

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Suda, Miyuki; Morimoto, Kanehisa; Obata, Akiko; Koizumi, Hideaki; Maki, Atsushi

2008-01-08

Neurocognitive research has the potential to identify the relevant effects of music therapy. In this study, we examined the effect of music mode (major vs. minor) on stress reduction using optical topography and an endocrinological stress marker. In salivary cortisol levels, we observed that stressful conditions such as mental fatigue (thinking and creating a response) was reduced more by major mode music than by minor mode music. We suggest that music specifically induces an emotional response similar to a pleasant experience or happiness. Moreover, we demonstrated the typical asymmetrical pattern of stress responses in upper temporal cortex areas, and suggested that happiness/sadness emotional processing might be related to stress reduction by music.

Predicting pathologic tumor response to chemoradiotherapy with histogram distances characterizing longitudinal changes in 18F-FDG uptake patterns

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Tan, Shan; Zhang, Hao; Zhang, Yongxue; Chen, Wengen; D’Souza, Warren D.; Lu, Wei

2013-01-01

(AUC = 0.87), and match distance (AUC = 0.84). These crossbin histogram distance features showed slightly higher prediction accuracy than texture features on post-PET images. Conclusions: The results suggest that longitudinal patterns in 18F-FDG uptake characterized using histogram distances provide useful information for predicting the pathologic response of esophageal cancer to CRT. PMID:24089897

Neural Activity Patterns in the Human Brain Reflect Tactile Stickiness Perception

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Kim, Junsuk; Yeon, Jiwon; Ryu, Jaekyun; Park, Jang-Yeon; Chung, Soon-Cheol; Kim, Sung-Phil

2017-01-01

Our previous human fMRI study found brain activations correlated with tactile stickiness perception using the uni-variate general linear model (GLM) (Yeon et al., 2017). Here, we conducted an in-depth investigation on neural correlates of sticky sensations by employing a multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) on the same dataset. In particular, we statistically compared multi-variate neural activities in response to the three groups of sticky stimuli: A supra-threshold group including a set of sticky stimuli that evoked vivid sticky perception; an infra-threshold group including another set of sticky stimuli that barely evoked sticky perception; and a sham group including acrylic stimuli with no physically sticky property. Searchlight MVPAs were performed to search for local activity patterns carrying neural information of stickiness perception. Similar to the uni-variate GLM results, significant multi-variate neural activity patterns were identified in postcentral gyrus, subcortical (basal ganglia and thalamus), and insula areas (insula and adjacent areas). Moreover, MVPAs revealed that activity patterns in posterior parietal cortex discriminated the perceptual intensities of stickiness, which was not present in the uni-variate analysis. Next, we applied a principal component analysis (PCA) to the voxel response patterns within identified clusters so as to find low-dimensional neural representations of stickiness intensities. Follow-up clustering analyses clearly showed separate neural grouping configurations between the Supra- and Infra-threshold groups. Interestingly, this neural categorization was in line with the perceptual grouping pattern obtained from the psychophysical data. Our findings thus suggest that different stickiness intensities would elicit distinct neural activity patterns in the human brain and may provide a neural basis for the perception and categorization of tactile stickiness. PMID:28936171

Radiolabelled somatostatin analogue treatment in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours: factors associated with response and suggestions for therapeutic sequence

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Campana, Davide; Nori, Francesca; Cacciari, Giulia; Tomassetti, Paola [University of Bologna, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Bologna (Italy); Capurso, Gabriele; Panzuto, Francesco; Delle Fave, Gianfranco [University of Rome, Digestive and Liver Disease Unit, Rome (Italy); Partelli, Stefano [Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Department of Surgery, Negrar (Italy); University of Verona, Department of Surgery, Verona (Italy); Universita Politecnica delle Marche, Pancreas Surgical Unit, Ancona (Italy); Tamburrino, Domenico; Falconi, Massimo [University of Verona, Department of Surgery, Verona (Italy); Universita Politecnica delle Marche, Pancreas Surgical Unit, Ancona (Italy)

2013-08-15

Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) is a relatively new treatment modality for patients with unresectable or metastatic gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP NETs). The aim of this study was to determine the time to progression of patients treated with PRRT and to identify the prognostic factors related to treatment response. Patients with sporadic GEP NETs prospectively treated with PRRT were retrospectively analysed. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). A total of 69 patients (37 men and 32 women; 45 with pancreatic and 24 with gastrointestinal lesion; 22 NET G1 and 41 NET G2) were treated with {sup 90}Y or {sup 177}Lu. The objective response rate was 27.5 % (partial response, PR), while 50.7 % had stable disease and 23.2 % had progressive disease. Significant differences in PFS were observed in relationship to the stage of the disease (44 months for stage III, 23 months for stage IV), the evidence of a PR 6 months after the end of the PRRT (39 months in patients with a PR, 22 months in patients without a PR) and previous transarterial chemoembolization (TACE, yes 13 months vs no 31 months). Stage IV, NET G2 and previous TACE were found to be significant factors for tumour progression at multivariate analysis. Low tumour burden and a low proliferation index represent independent prognostic factors for long PFS, while previous chemoembolization techniques represent independent prognostic factors for early tumour progression and shorter PFS. Our data suggest that chemoembolization techniques to reduce the hepatic tumour burden should be avoided. (orig.)

Voices that want to be heard: Using bereaved Danish students suggestions to update school bereavement response plans.

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Lytje, Martin

2018-04-01

This study explored how Danish students experienced returning to school following parental bereavement. Eighteen focus group interviews were conducted with 39 participants aged 9 to 17. All participants had experienced the loss of a primary caregiver. Data collection was divided into two phases. In Phase I, 22 participants from four grief groups were interviewed 4 times over the course of a year. During Phase II, confirmatory focus groups were undertaken with the 17 participants. This article explores the findings related to ideas and suggestions made by the students about how the Danish school response could be improved to better meet their needs. The presentation of data is divided into seven themes, which are: Desired school response; Desired support from teachers; Desired boundaries between students and teachers; Desired collaboration; Desired support from peers; Desired rules and structure, and; Desires related to gifts and rituals. Study findings indicate that most students want to be included and have a say when the school plans how to respond to their loss. Students further highlight a need for teacher support when having to reconnect with the class; a need for set rules in relation to leaving the class when feeling sad, and; a need for schools to see the loss as a life-changing event, and grief as something that does not simply disappear after a few months. The article concludes by discussing the ways in which the recommendations provided by the participants can be incorporated into a modern revision of Danish school bereavement response plans.

Degree of suppression of associations to stages of addiction by the response of "high".

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Haertzen, C A; Ross, F E

1980-05-01

Male heroin or opiate addicts (N = 78) had a great inclination to give the association "to be high" to the names of nine drugs of abuse in a multiple-forced-choice association test irrespective of whether they had weak or strong habits for the drugs used as stimulus words. The tendency to give the "high" response was so great that other responses indicative of stages of addiction, steps in drug-taking, or drug effects were suppressed below the chance level. When scales were scored so that the response of "high" had no effect, the habit status of the sample revealed by associations with a specific set of words became clearer. A pattern of a strong habit for opiates evoked by opiate names became more evident after elimination of the effect of the response to "high," as did the strong habit pattern in response to drug relevant words. However, the pattern of responses characteristic of a nonaddictive status evoked by clean words remained relatively stable even including the effect of the response of "high." The study suggests that more meaningful responses are found when the response options are multiple rather than fixed.

Hysteresis responses of evapotranspiration to meteorological factors at a diel timescale: patterns and causes.

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Han Zheng

Full Text Available Evapotranspiration (ET is an important component of the water cycle in terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding the ways in which ET changes with meteorological factors is central to a better understanding of ecological and hydrological processes. In this study, we used eddy covariance measurements of ET from a typical alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem in China to investigate the hysteresis response of ET to environmental variables including air temperature (Ta, vapor pressure deficit (VPD and net radiation (Rn at a diel timescale. Meanwhile, the simulated ET by Priestly-Taylor equation was used to interpret the measured ET under well-watered conditions. Pronounced hysteresis was observed in both Ta and VPD response curves of ET. At a similar Ta and VPD, ET was always significantly depressed in the afternoon compared with the morning. But the hysteresis response of ET to Rn was not evident. Similar hysteresis patterns were also observed in the Ta/VPD response curves of simulated ET. The magnitudes of the measured and simulated hysteresis loops showed similar seasonal variation, with relatively smaller values occurring from May to September, which agreed well with the lifetime of plants and the period of rainy season at this site. About 62% and 23% of changes in the strength of measured ET-Ta and ET-VPD loops could be explained by the changes in the strength of simulated loops, respectively. Thus, the time lag between Rn and Ta/VPD is the most important factor generating and modulating the ET-Ta/VPD hysteresis, but plants and water status also contribute to the hysteresis response of ET. Our research confirmed the different hysteresis in the responses of ET to meteorological factors and proved the vital role of Rn in driving the diel course of ET.

Genome-wide Ancestry Patterns in Rapanui Suggest Pre-European Admixture with Native Americans

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Moreno-Mayar, J. Víctor; Rasmussen, Simon; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine

2014-01-01

Background: Rapa Nui (Easter Island), located in the easternmost corner of the Polynesian Triangle, is one of the most isolated locations on the planet inhabited by humans. Archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that the island was first colonized by Polynesians around AD 1200, during...

Zymosan-induced immune challenge modifies the stress response of hypoxic air-breathing fish (Anabas testudineus Bloch): Evidence for reversed patterns of cortisol and thyroid hormone interaction, differential ion transporter functions and non-specific immune response.

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Simi, S; Peter, Valsa S; Peter, M C Subhash

2017-09-15

Fishes have evolved physiological mechanisms to exhibit stress response, where hormonal signals interact with an array of ion transporters and regulate homeostasis. As major ion transport regulators in fish, cortisol and thyroid hormones have been shown to interact and fine-tune the stress response. Likewise, in fishes many interactions have been identified between stress and immune components, but the physiological basis of such interaction has not yet delineated particularly in air-breathing fish. We, therefore, investigated the responses of thyroid hormones and cortisol, ion transporter functions and non-specific immune response of an obligate air-breathing fish Anabas testudineus Bloch to zymosan treatment or hypoxia stress or both, to understand how immune challenge modifies the pattern of stress response in this fish. Induction of experimental peritonitis in these fish by zymosan treatment (200ngg -1 ) for 24h produced rise in respiratory burst and lysozomal activities in head kidney phagocytes. In contrast, hypoxia stress for 30min in immune-challenged fish reversed these non-specific responses of head kidney phagocytes. The decline in plasma cortisol in zymosan-treated fish and its further suppression by hypoxia stress indicate that immune challenge suppresses the cortisol-driven stress response of this fish. Likewise, the decline in plasma T 3 and T 4 after zymosan-treatment and the rise in plasma T 4 after hypoxia stress in immune-challenged fish indicate a critical role for thyroid hormone in immune-stress response due to its differential sensitivity to both immune and stress challenges. Further, analysis of the activity pattern of ion-dependent ATPases viz. Na + /K + -ATPase, H + /K + -ATPase and Na + /NH 4 + -ATPase indicates a functional interaction of ion transport system with the immune response as evident in its differential and spatial modifications after hypoxia stress in immune-challenged fish. The immune-challenge that produced differential

Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) change their activity patterns in response to frugivory.

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Masi, Shelly; Cipolletta, Chloé; Robbins, Martha M

2009-02-01

The most important environmental factor explaining interspecies variation in ecology and sociality of the great apes is likely to be variation in resource availability. Relatively little is known about the activity patterns of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), which inhabit a dramatically different environment from the well-studied mountain gorillas (G. beringei beringei). This study aims to provide a detailed quantification of western lowland gorillas' activity budgets using direct observations on one habituated group in Bai Hokou, Central African Republic. We examined how activity patterns of both sexes are shaped by seasonal frugivory. Activity was recorded with 5-min instantaneous sampling between December 2004 and December 2005. During the high-frugivory period the gorillas spent less time feeding and more time traveling than during the low-frugivory period. The silverback spent less time feeding but more time resting than both females and immatures, which likely results from a combination of social and physiological factors. When compared with mountain gorillas, western lowland gorillas spend more time feeding (67 vs. 55%) and traveling (12 vs. 6.5%), but less time resting (21 vs. 34%) and engaging in social/other activities (0.5 vs. 3.6%). This disparity in activity budgets of western lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas may be explained by the more frugivorous diet and the greater dispersion of food resources experienced by western lowland gorillas. Like other apes, western lowland gorillas change their activity patterns in response to changes in the diet. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

fMRI activation patterns in an analytic reasoning task: consistency with EEG source localization

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Li, Bian; Vasanta, Kalyana C.; O'Boyle, Michael; Baker, Mary C.; Nutter, Brian; Mitra, Sunanda

2010-03-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used to model brain activation patterns associated with various perceptual and cognitive processes as reflected by the hemodynamic (BOLD) response. While many sensory and motor tasks are associated with relatively simple activation patterns in localized regions, higher-order cognitive tasks may produce activity in many different brain areas involving complex neural circuitry. We applied a recently proposed probabilistic independent component analysis technique (PICA) to determine the true dimensionality of the fMRI data and used EEG localization to identify the common activated patterns (mapped as Brodmann areas) associated with a complex cognitive task like analytic reasoning. Our preliminary study suggests that a hybrid GLM/PICA analysis may reveal additional regions of activation (beyond simple GLM) that are consistent with electroencephalography (EEG) source localization patterns.

Modelling of Arabidopsis LAX3 expression suggests auxin homeostasis.

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Mellor, Nathan; Péret, Benjamin; Porco, Silvana; Sairanen, Ilkka; Ljung, Karin; Bennett, Malcolm; King, John

2015-02-07

Emergence of new lateral roots from within the primary root in Arabidopsis has been shown to be regulated by the phytohormone auxin, via the expression of the auxin influx carrier LAX3, mediated by the ARF7/19 IAA14 signalling module (Swarup et al., 2008). A single cell model of the LAX3 and IAA14 auxin response was formulated and used to demonstrate that hysteresis and bistability may explain the experimentally observed 'all-or-nothing' LAX3 spatial expression pattern in cortical cells containing a gradient of auxin concentrations. The model was tested further by using a parameter fitting algorithm to match model output with qRT-PCR mRNA expression data following exogenous auxin treatment. It was found that the model is able to show good agreement with the data, but only when the exogenous auxin signal is degraded over time, at a rate higher than that measured in the experimental medium, suggesting the triggering of an endogenous auxin homeostasis mechanism. Testing the model over a more physiologically relevant range of extracellular auxin shows bistability and hysteresis still occur when using the optimised parameters, providing the rate of LAX3 active auxin transport is sufficiently high relative to passive diffusion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines in Prostate Cancer: The Quest for Intermediate Markers of Response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Joseph W.; Bilusic, Marijo; Heery, Christopher J.; Madan, Ravi A.

2012-01-01

Despite recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, no prospectively validated intermediate biomarkers exist to predict response. These biomarkers are highly desirable given modern immunotherapy’s paradoxical pattern of clinical benefit; that is, improvement in overall survival without short-term change in progression. Immunotherapy clinical trials have evaluated biomarkers that may correlate with clinical outcomes. Many of them are performed on peripheral blood to evaluate the systemic response, such as tumor-targeted humoral and cellular immunity, and cytokine responses. Accumulating evidence suggests that immune infiltrates in tumors may suggest evidence for the therapy’s mechanism of action, and have greater potential for providing prognostic and predictive information. In addition, a non-immunologic biomarker, such as tumor growth kinetics, may explain this paradoxical pattern of clinical benefit, and predict survival in patients treated with an immunotherapy. Prospective assessment and validation of these and other intermediate markers would be required to better understand their potential clinical role

Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines in Prostate Cancer: The Quest for Intermediate Markers of Response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Joseph W.; Bilusic, Marijo; Heery, Christopher J.; Madan, Ravi A., E-mail: madanr@mail.nih.gov [Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States); Medical Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States)

2012-11-21

Despite recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, no prospectively validated intermediate biomarkers exist to predict response. These biomarkers are highly desirable given modern immunotherapy’s paradoxical pattern of clinical benefit; that is, improvement in overall survival without short-term change in progression. Immunotherapy clinical trials have evaluated biomarkers that may correlate with clinical outcomes. Many of them are performed on peripheral blood to evaluate the systemic response, such as tumor-targeted humoral and cellular immunity, and cytokine responses. Accumulating evidence suggests that immune infiltrates in tumors may suggest evidence for the therapy’s mechanism of action, and have greater potential for providing prognostic and predictive information. In addition, a non-immunologic biomarker, such as tumor growth kinetics, may explain this paradoxical pattern of clinical benefit, and predict survival in patients treated with an immunotherapy. Prospective assessment and validation of these and other intermediate markers would be required to better understand their potential clinical role.

Phylogeography in Nassarius mud snails: Complex patterns in congeneric species.

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Chuanliang Pu

Full Text Available One major goal for phylogeographical studies is to elucidate respective roles of multiple evolutionary and ecological forces that shape the current distribution patterns. In marine and coastal ecosystems, it has been generated a common realization that species with enormous population size and pelagic larval stages can disperse across broad geographical scales, leading to weak or even no phylogeographical structure across large geographical scales. However, the violation of such realization has been frequently reported, and it remains largely unexplored on mechanisms responsible for various phylogeographical patterns observed in different species at varied geographical scales. Here, we used a species-rich genus Nassarius to assess and compare phylogeographical patterns in congeneric species, and discuss causes and consequences underlying varied phylogeographical patterns. Interestingly, we observed complex phylogeographical patterns both within single species and across multiple species, and multiple analyses showed varied levels of genetic heterogeneity among sites within and across species. Available evidence suggests that related species with similar biological characteristics may not be necessary to result in consistent phylogeographical patterns. Multiple factors, including larval ecology, interactions between dispersal and natural selection, and human activity-mediated dispersal, can partially explain the complex patterns observed in this study. Deep investigations should be performed on these factors, particularly their respective roles in determining evolutionary/ecological processes to form phylogeographical patterns in species with high dispersal capacities in marine and coastal ecosystems.

Bullous pemphigoid antigen localization suggests an intracellular association with hemidesmosomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Westgate, G E; Weaver, A C; Couchman, J R

1985-01-01

immunofluorescent staining for BPA is linear at the basement membrane zone (BMZ) of skin and many other epithelial tissues. At higher magnification however, we observed a punctate staining pattern for BPA which was regular in appearance and suggested localization of BPA to discrete structures at the BMZ. Subsequent...... intracellularly both in vivo and in vitro. We suggest that BPA is not normally a lamina lucida component, but that it may form part of a linkage between the cytoskeleton and the basement membrane....

Quantifying stimulus-response rehabilitation protocols by auditory feedback in Parkinson's disease gait pattern

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Pineda, Gustavo; Atehortúa, Angélica; Iregui, Marcela; García-Arteaga, Juan D.; Romero, Eduardo

2017-11-01

External auditory cues stimulate motor related areas of the brain, activating motor ways parallel to the basal ganglia circuits and providing a temporary pattern for gait. In effect, patients may re-learn motor skills mediated by compensatory neuroplasticity mechanisms. However, long term functional gains are dependent on the nature of the pathology, follow-up is usually limited and reinforcement by healthcare professionals is crucial. Aiming to cope with these challenges, several researches and device implementations provide auditory or visual stimulation to improve Parkinsonian gait pattern, inside and outside clinical scenarios. The current work presents a semiautomated strategy for spatio-temporal feature extraction to study the relations between auditory temporal stimulation and spatiotemporal gait response. A protocol for auditory stimulation was built to evaluate the integrability of the strategy in the clinic practice. The method was evaluated in transversal measurement with an exploratory group of people with Parkinson's (n = 12 in stage 1, 2 and 3) and control subjects (n =6). The result showed a strong linear relation between auditory stimulation and cadence response in control subjects (R=0.98 +/-0.008) and PD subject in stage 2 (R=0.95 +/-0.03) and stage 3 (R=0.89 +/-0.05). Normalized step length showed a variable response between low and high gait velocity (0.2> R >0.97). The correlation between normalized mean velocity and stimulus was strong in all PD stage 2 (R>0.96) PD stage 3 (R>0.84) and controls (R>0.91) for all experimental conditions. Among participants, the largest variation from baseline was found in PD subject in stage 3 (53.61 +/-39.2 step/min, 0.12 +/- 0.06 in step length and 0.33 +/- 0.16 in mean velocity). In this group these values were higher than the own baseline. These variations are related with direct effect of metronome frequency on cadence and velocity. The variation of step length involves different regulation strategies and

Different gene-specific mechanisms determine the 'revised-response' memory transcription patterns of a subset of A. thaliana dehydration stress responding genes.

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Liu, Ning; Ding, Yong; Fromm, Michael; Avramova, Zoya

2014-05-01

Plants that have experienced several exposures to dehydration stress show increased resistance to future exposures by producing faster and/or stronger reactions, while many dehydration stress responding genes in Arabidopsis thaliana super-induce their transcription as a 'memory' from the previous encounter. A previously unknown, rather unusual, memory response pattern is displayed by a subset of the dehydration stress response genes. Despite robustly responding to a first stress, these genes return to their initial, pre-stressed, transcript levels during the watered recovery; surprisingly, they do not respond further to subsequent stresses of similar magnitude and duration. This transcriptional behavior defines the 'revised-response' memory genes. Here, we investigate the molecular mechanisms regulating this transcription memory behavior. Potential roles of abscisic acid (ABA), of transcription factors (TFs) from the ABA signaling pathways (ABF2/3/4 and MYC2), and of histone modifications (H3K4me3 and H3K27me3) as factors in the revised-response transcription memory patterns are elucidated. We identify the TF MYC2 as the critical component for the memory behavior of a specific subset of MYC2-dependent genes. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Typhoid fever in young children in Bangladesh: clinical findings, antibiotic susceptibility pattern and immune responses.

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Farhana Khanam

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Children bear a large burden of typhoid fever caused by Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S. Typhi in endemic areas. However, immune responses and clinical findings in children are not well defined. Here, we describe clinical and immunological characteristics of young children with S. Typhi bacteremia, and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of isolated strains.As a marker of recent infection, we have previously characterized antibody-in-lymphocyte secretion (TPTest during acute typhoid fever in adults. We similarly assessed membrane preparation (MP IgA responses in young children at clinical presentation, and then 7-10 days and 21-28 days later. We also assessed plasma IgA, IgG and IgM responses and T cell proliferation responses to MP at these time points. We compared responses in young children (1-5 years with those seen in older children (6-17 years, adults (18-59 years, and age-matched healthy controls.We found that, compared to age-matched controls patients in all age cohorts had significantly more MP-IgA responses in lymphocyte secretion at clinical presentation, and the values fell in all groups by late convalescence. Similarly, plasma IgA responses in patients were elevated at presentation compared to controls, with acute and convalescent IgA and IgG responses being highest in adults. T cell proliferative responses increased in all age cohorts by late convalescence. Clinical characteristics were similar in all age cohorts, although younger children were more likely to present with loss of appetite, less likely to complain of headache compared to older cohorts, and adults were more likely to have ingested antibiotics. Multi-drug resistant strains were present in approximately 15% of each age cohort, and 97% strains had resistance to nalidixic acid.This study demonstrates that S. Typhi bacteremia is associated with comparable clinical courses, immunologic responses in various age cohorts, including in young children, and that TPTest

Temporal dynamics of host molecular responses differentiate symptomatic and asymptomatic influenza a infection.

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Yongsheng Huang

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Exposure to influenza viruses is necessary, but not sufficient, for healthy human hosts to develop symptomatic illness. The host response is an important determinant of disease progression. In order to delineate host molecular responses that differentiate symptomatic and asymptomatic Influenza A infection, we inoculated 17 healthy adults with live influenza (H3N2/Wisconsin and examined changes in host peripheral blood gene expression at 16 timepoints over 132 hours. Here we present distinct transcriptional dynamics of host responses unique to asymptomatic and symptomatic infections. We show that symptomatic hosts invoke, simultaneously, multiple pattern recognition receptors-mediated antiviral and inflammatory responses that may relate to virus-induced oxidative stress. In contrast, asymptomatic subjects tightly regulate these responses and exhibit elevated expression of genes that function in antioxidant responses and cell-mediated responses. We reveal an ab initio molecular signature that strongly correlates to symptomatic clinical disease and biomarkers whose expression patterns best discriminate early from late phases of infection. Our results establish a temporal pattern of host molecular responses that differentiates symptomatic from asymptomatic infections and reveals an asymptomatic host-unique non-passive response signature, suggesting novel putative molecular targets for both prognostic assessment and ameliorative therapeutic intervention in seasonal and pandemic influenza.

Early transcriptional response to aminoglycoside antibiotic suggests alternate pathways leading to apoptosis of sensory hair cells in the mouse inner ear

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Neil eSegil

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Aminoglycoside antibiotics are the drug of choice for treating many bacterial infections, but their administration results in hearing loss in nearly one fourth of the patients who receive them. Several biochemical pathways have been implicated in aminoglycoside antibiotic ototoxicity; however, little is known about how hair cells respond to aminoglycoside antibiotics at the transcriptome level. Here we have investigated the genome-wide response to the aminoglycoside antibiotic gentamicin. Using organotypic cultures of the perinatal organ of Corti, we performed RNA sequencing using cDNA libraries obtained from FACS-purified hair cells. Within 3 hours of gentamicin treatment, the messenger RNA level of more than three thousand genes in hair cells changed significantly. Bioinformatic analysis of these changes highlighted several known signal transduction pathways, including the JNK pathway and the NF-κB pathway, in addition to genes involved in the stress response, apoptosis, cell cycle control, and DNA damage repair. In contrast, only 698 genes, mainly involved in cell cycle and metabolite biosynthetic processes, were significantly affected in the non-hair cell population. The gene expression profiles of hair cells in response to gentamicin share a considerable similarity with those previously observed in gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity. Our findings suggest that previously observed early responses to gentamicin in hair cells in specific signaling pathways are reflected in changes in gene expression. Additionally, the observed changes in gene expression of cell cycle regulatory genes indicate a disruption of the postmitotic state, which may suggest an alternative pathway regulating gentamicin-induced hair cell death. This work provides a more comprehensive view of aminoglycoside antibiotic ototoxicity, and thus contribute to identifying potential pathways or therapeutic targets to alleviate this important side effect of aminoglycoside

Excessive biologic response to IFNβ is associated with poor treatment response in patients with multiple sclerosis.

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Richard A Rudick

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Interferon-beta (IFNβ is used to inhibit disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS, but its mechanisms of action are incompletely understood, individual treatment response varies, and biological markers predicting response to treatment have yet to be identified. METHODS: The relationship between the molecular response to IFNβ and treatment response was determined in 85 patients using a longitudinal design in which treatment effect was categorized by brain magnetic resonance imaging as good (n = 70 or poor response (n = 15. Molecular response was quantified using a customized cDNA macroarray assay for 166 IFN-regulated genes (IRGs. RESULTS: The molecular response to IFNβ differed significantly between patients in the pattern and number of regulated genes. The molecular response was strikingly stable for individuals for as long as 24 months, however, suggesting an individual 'IFN response fingerprint'. Unexpectedly, patients with poor response showed an exaggerated molecular response. IRG induction ratios demonstrated an exaggerated molecular response at both the first and 6-month IFNβ injections. CONCLUSION: MS patients exhibit individually unique but temporally stable biological responses to IFNβ. Poor treatment response is not explained by the duration of biological effects or the specific genes induced. Rather, individuals with poor treatment response have a generally exaggerated biological response to type 1 IFN injections. We hypothesize that the molecular response to type I IFN identifies a pathogenetically distinct subset of MS patients whose disease is driven in part by innate immunity. The findings suggest a strategy for biologically based, rational use of IFNβ for individual MS patients.

Stage-specific sampling by pattern recognition receptors during Candida albicans phagocytosis.

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Sigrid E M Heinsbroek

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Candida albicans is a medically important pathogen, and recognition by innate immune cells is critical for its clearance. Although a number of pattern recognition receptors have been shown to be involved in recognition and phagocytosis of this fungus, the relative role of these receptors has not been formally examined. In this paper, we have investigated the contribution of the mannose receptor, Dectin-1, and complement receptor 3; and we have demonstrated that Dectin-1 is the main non-opsonic receptor involved in fungal uptake. However, both Dectin-1 and complement receptor 3 were found to accumulate at the site of uptake, while mannose receptor accumulated on C. albicans phagosomes at later stages. These results suggest a potential role for MR in phagosome sampling; and, accordingly, MR deficiency led to a reduction in TNF-alpha and MCP-1 production in response to C. albicans uptake. Our data suggest that pattern recognition receptors sample the fungal phagosome in a sequential fashion.

Innate immune humoral factors, C1q and factor H, with differential pattern recognition properties, alter macrophage response to carbon nanotubes.

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Pondman, Kirsten M; Pednekar, Lina; Paudyal, Basudev; Tsolaki, Anthony G; Kouser, Lubna; Khan, Haseeb A; Shamji, Mohamed H; Ten Haken, Bennie; Stenbeck, Gudrun; Sim, Robert B; Kishore, Uday

2015-11-01

Interaction between the complement system and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can modify their intended biomedical applications. Pristine and derivatised CNTs can activate complement primarily via the classical pathway which enhances uptake of CNTs and suppresses pro-inflammatory response by immune cells. Here, we report that the interaction of C1q, the classical pathway recognition molecule, with CNTs involves charge pattern and classical pathway activation that is partly inhibited by factor H, a complement regulator. C1q and its globular modules, but not factor H, enhanced uptake of CNTs by macrophages and modulated the pro-inflammatory immune response. Thus, soluble complement factors can interact differentially with CNTs and alter the immune response even without complement activation. Coating CNTs with recombinant C1q globular heads offers a novel way of controlling classical pathway activation in nanotherapeutics. Surprisingly, the globular heads also enhance clearance by phagocytes and down-regulate inflammation, suggesting unexpected complexity in receptor interaction. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) maybe useful in the clinical setting as targeting drug carriers. However, it is also well known that they can interact and activate the complement system, which may have a negative impact on the applicability of CNTs. In this study, the authors functionalized multi-walled CNT (MWNT), and investigated the interaction with the complement pathway. These studies are important so as to gain further understanding of the underlying mechanism in preparation for future use of CNTs in the clinical setting. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential response of Acidobacteria subgroups to forest-to-pasture conversion and their biogeographic patterns in the western Brazilian Amazon

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Acacio Aparecido Navarrete

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Members of the phylum Acidobacteria are among the most abundant soil bacteria on Earth, but little is known about their response to environmental changes. We asked how the relative abundance and biogeographic patterning of this phylum and its subgroups responded to forest-to-pasture conversion in soils of the western Brazilian Amazon. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes was employed to assess the abundance and composition of the Acidobacteria community across 54 soil samples taken using a spatially nested sampling scheme at the landscape level. Numerically, Acidobacteria represented 20% of the total bacterial community in forest soils and 11% in pasture soils. Overall, 15 different Acidobacteria subgroups of the current 26 subgroups were detected, with Acidobacteria subgroups 1, 3, 5, and 6 accounting together for 87% of the total Acidobacteria community in forest soils and 75% in pasture soils. Concomitant with changes in soil chemistry after forest-to-pasture conversion - particularly an increase in properties linked to soil acidity and nutrient availability - we observed an increase in the relative abundances of Acidobacteria subgroups 4, 10, 17, and 18, and a decrease in the relative abundances of other Acidobacteria subgroups in pasture relative to forest soils. The composition of the total Acidobacteria community as well as the most abundant Acidobacteria subgroups (1, 3, 5, and 6 was significantly more similar in composition across space in pasture soils than in forest soils. These results suggest that preponderant responses of Acidobacteria subgroups, especially subgroups 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, to forest-to-pasture conversion effects in soils could be used to define management-indicators of agricultural practices in the Amazon Basin. These acidobacterial responses are at least in part through alterations on acidity- and nutrient-related properties of the Amazon soils.

Differential Response of Acidobacteria Subgroups to Forest-to-Pasture Conversion and Their Biogeographic Patterns in the Western Brazilian Amazon

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Navarrete, Acacio A.; Venturini, Andressa M.; Meyer, Kyle M.; Klein, Ann M.; Tiedje, James M.; Bohannan, Brendan J. M.; Nüsslein, Klaus; Tsai, Siu M.; Rodrigues, Jorge L. M.

2015-01-01

Members of the phylum Acidobacteria are among the most abundant soil bacteria on Earth, but little is known about their response to environmental changes. We asked how the relative abundance and biogeographic patterning of this phylum and its subgroups responded to forest-to-pasture conversion in soils of the western Brazilian Amazon. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes was employed to assess the abundance and composition of the Acidobacteria community across 54 soil samples taken using a spatially nested sampling scheme at the landscape level. Numerically, Acidobacteria represented 20% of the total bacterial community in forest soils and 11% in pasture soils. Overall, 15 different Acidobacteria subgroups of the current 26 subgroups were detected, with Acidobacteria subgroups 1, 3, 5, and 6 accounting together for 87% of the total Acidobacteria community in forest soils and 75% in pasture soils. Concomitant with changes in soil chemistry after forest-to-pasture conversion—particularly an increase in properties linked to soil acidity and nutrient availability—we observed an increase in the relative abundances of Acidobacteria subgroups 4, 10, 17, and 18, and a decrease in the relative abundances of other Acidobacteria subgroups in pasture relative to forest soils. The composition of the total Acidobacteria community as well as the most abundant Acidobacteria subgroups (1, 3, 5, and 6) was significantly more similar in composition across space in pasture soils than in forest soils. These results suggest that preponderant responses of Acidobacteria subgroups, especially subgroups 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, to forest-to-pasture conversion effects in soils could be used to define management-indicators of agricultural practices in the Amazon Basin. These acidobacterial responses are at least in part through alterations on acidity- and nutrient-related properties of the Amazon soils. PMID:26733981

Recurrent, Robust and Scalable Patterns Underlie Human Approach and Avoidance

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Kennedy, David N.; Lehár, Joseph; Lee, Myung Joo; Blood, Anne J.; Lee, Sang; Perlis, Roy H.; Smoller, Jordan W.; Morris, Robert; Fava, Maurizio

2010-01-01

Background Approach and avoidance behavior provide a means for assessing the rewarding or aversive value of stimuli, and can be quantified by a keypress procedure whereby subjects work to increase (approach), decrease (avoid), or do nothing about time of exposure to a rewarding/aversive stimulus. To investigate whether approach/avoidance behavior might be governed by quantitative principles that meet engineering criteria for lawfulness and that encode known features of reward/aversion function, we evaluated whether keypress responses toward pictures with potential motivational value produced any regular patterns, such as a trade-off between approach and avoidance, or recurrent lawful patterns as observed with prospect theory. Methodology/Principal Findings Three sets of experiments employed this task with beautiful face images, a standardized set of affective photographs, and pictures of food during controlled states of hunger and satiety. An iterative modeling approach to data identified multiple law-like patterns, based on variables grounded in the individual. These patterns were consistent across stimulus types, robust to noise, describable by a simple power law, and scalable between individuals and groups. Patterns included: (i) a preference trade-off counterbalancing approach and avoidance, (ii) a value function linking preference intensity to uncertainty about preference, and (iii) a saturation function linking preference intensity to its standard deviation, thereby setting limits to both. Conclusions/Significance These law-like patterns were compatible with critical features of prospect theory, the matching law, and alliesthesia. Furthermore, they appeared consistent with both mean-variance and expected utility approaches to the assessment of risk. Ordering of responses across categories of stimuli demonstrated three properties thought to be relevant for preference-based choice, suggesting these patterns might be grouped together as a relative preference

Diurnal pattern of serum BDNF before partial sleep deprivation in stress-related mood disorders – an association with therapy response in major depression

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Maria Giese

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Background : Depression is one of the most prevalent forms of mood disorders. Compelling evidence suggests that mood disorders are characterized by reduced neuronal plasticity, which can be brought about by exposure to stress. Furthermore, there is good agreement in considering key proteins such as the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, as a central player for the effects of stress on brain function and plasticity and psychopathological implications. Still, there is a high non-responder rate in antidepressant therapy, which explains the need to find reliable predictors for adequate treatment. Previous studies revealed that plasma and serum BDNF levels in depressed patients were significantly lower than in healthy controls. Since the protein can cross the blood brain-barrier serum content correspondingly correlates with cortical BDNF concentrations suggesting BDNF levels as a promising candidate biomarker for depression and antidepressant treatment response. Methods : To investigate the association between serum BDNF levels and treatment outcome, blood was drawn from 28 patients with a major depressive episode (DMS-IV, ICD-10 that participated in a double-blind placebo controlled treatment study. All patients were treated with a stable mirtazapine monotherapy. Partial sleep deprivation (PSD was performed after one week. Placebo controlled additional morning treatment with the stimulant modafinil to reduce microsleep throughout the day was started during PSD and maintained over two weeks. Serum concentrations of BDNF and cortisol were assessed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA from day 1 (“before PSD” at 8 am, 2 pm, 8 pm and day 2 (“after PSD” at 8 am, 2 pm and 8 pm. Samples were appropriately diluted and detection of soluble BDNF or cortisol was carried out in an antibody sandwich format in duplicates and means were calculated for the corresponding group. Moreover, sleep EEG and microsleep episodes were

Patterns of Sympathetic Responses Induced by Different Stress Tasks

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Fechir, M; Schlereth, T; Purat, T; Kritzmann, S; Geber, C; Eberle, T; Gamer, M; Birklein, F

2008-01-01

Stress tasks are used to induce sympathetic nervous system (SNS) arousal. However, the efficacy and the patterns of SNS activation have not been systematically compared between different tasks. Therefore, we analyzed SNS activation during the following stress tasks: Presentation of negative, positive, and – as a control – neutral affective pictures, Color-Word interference test (CWT), mental arithmetic under time limit, singing a song aloud, and giving a spontaneous talk. We examined 11 healthy subjects and recorded the following SNS parameters: Activation of emotional sweating by quantitative sudometry, skin vasoconstriction by laser-Doppler flowmetry, heart rate by ECG, blood pressure by determination of pulse wave transit time (PWTT), and electromyographic (EMG) activity of the trapezius muscle. Moreover, subjective stress ratings were acquired for each task using a visual analog scale. All tasks were felt significantly stressful when compared to viewing neutral pictures. However, SNS activation was not reliable: Affective pictures did not induce a significant SNS response; singing, giving a talk and mental arithmetic selectively increased heart rate and emotional sweating. Only the CWT globally activated the SNS. Regarding all tasks, induction of emotional sweating, increase of heart rate and blood pressure significantly correlated with subjective stress ratings, in contrast to EMG and skin vasoconstriction. Our results show that the activation of the SNS widely varies depending on the stress task. Different stress tasks differently activate the SNS, which is an important finding when considering sympathetic reactions - in clinical situations and in research. PMID:19018304

Underlying neural alpha frequency patterns associated with intra-hemispheric inhibition during an interhemispheric transfer task.

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Simon-Dack, Stephanie L; Kraus, Brian; Walter, Zachary; Smith, Shelby; Cadle, Chelsea

2018-05-18

Interhemispheric transfer measured via differences in right- or left-handed motoric responses to lateralized visual stimuli, known as the crossed-uncrossed difference (CUD), is one way of identifying patterns of processing that are vital for understanding the transfer of neural signals. Examination of interhemispheric transfer by means of the CUD is not entirely explained by simple measures of response time. Multiple processes contribute to wide variability observed in CUD reaction times. Prior research has suggested that intra-hemispheric inhibitory processes may be involved in regulation of speed of transfer. Our study examined electroencephalography recordings and time-locked alpha frequency activity while 18 participants responded to lateralized targets during performance of the Poffenberger Paradigm. Our results suggest that there are alpha frequency differences at fronto-central lateral electrodes based on target, hand-of-response, and receiving hemisphere. These findings suggest that early motoric inhibitory mechanisms may help explain the wide range of variability typically seen with the CUD. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Elevated dopamine alters consummatory pattern generation and increases behavioral variability during learning

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Mark A. Rossi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The role of dopamine in controlling behavior remains poorly understood. In this study we examined licking behavior in an established hyperdopaminergic mouse model—dopamine transporter knockout (DAT KO mice. DAT KO mice showed higher rates of licking, which is due to increased perseveration of licking in a bout. By contrast, they showed increased individual lick durations, and reduced inter-lick-intervals. During extinction, both KO and control mice transiently increased variability in lick pattern generation while reducing licking rate, yet they showed very different behavioral patterns. Control mice gradually increased lick duration as well as variability. By contrast, DAT KO mice exhibited more immediate (within 10 licks adjustments—an immediate increase in lick duration variability, as well as more rapid extinction. These results suggest that the level of dopamine can modulate the persistence and pattern generation of a highly stereotyped consummatory behavior like licking, as well as new learning in response to changes in environmental feedback. Increased dopamine in DAT KO mice not only increased perseveration of bouts and individual lick duration, but also increased the behavioral variability in response to the extinction contingency and the rate of extinction.

The role of warning behaviors in threat assessment: an exploration and suggested typology.

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Reid Meloy, J; Hoffmann, Jens; Guldimann, Angela; James, David

2012-01-01

The concept of warning behaviors offers an additional perspective in threat assessment. Warning behaviors are acts which constitute evidence of increasing or accelerating risk. They are acute, dynamic, and particularly toxic changes in patterns of behavior which may aid in structuring a professional's judgment that an individual of concern now poses a threat - whether the actual target has been identified or not. They require an operational response. A typology of eight warning behaviors for assessing the threat of intended violence is proposed: pathway, fixation, identification, novel aggression, energy burst, leakage, directly communicated threat, and last resort warning behaviors. Previous research on risk factors associated with such warning behaviors is reviewed, and examples of each warning behavior from various intended violence cases are presented, including public figure assassination, adolescent and adult mass murder, corporate celebrity stalking, and both domestic and foreign acts of terrorism. Practical applications and future research into warning behaviors are suggested. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Behavioral and brain pattern differences between acting and observing in an auditory task

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Ventouras Errikos M

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent research has shown that errors seem to influence the patterns of brain activity. Additionally current notions support the idea that similar brain mechanisms are activated during acting and observing. The aim of the present study was to examine the patterns of brain activity of actors and observers elicited upon receiving feedback information of the actor's response. Methods The task used in the present research was an auditory identification task that included both acting and observing settings, ensuring concurrent ERP measurements of both participants. The performance of the participants was investigated in conditions of varying complexity. ERP data were analyzed with regards to the conditions of acting and observing in conjunction to correct and erroneous responses. Results The obtained results showed that the complexity induced by cue dissimilarity between trials was a demodulating factor leading to poorer performance. The electrophysiological results suggest that feedback information results in different intensities of the ERP patterns of observers and actors depending on whether the actor had made an error or not. The LORETA source localization method yielded significantly larger electrical activity in the supplementary motor area (Brodmann area 6, the posterior cingulate gyrus (Brodmann area 31/23 and the parietal lobe (Precuneus/Brodmann area 7/5. Conclusion These findings suggest that feedback information has a different effect on the intensities of the ERP patterns of actors and observers depending on whether the actor committed an error. Certain neural systems, including medial frontal area, posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus may mediate these modulating effects. Further research is needed to elucidate in more detail the neuroanatomical and neuropsychological substrates of these systems.

Ripple/Carcinoid pattern sebaceoma with apocrine differentiation.

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Misago, Noriyuki; Narisawa, Yutaka

2011-02-01

Sebaceoma is a benign sebaceous neoplasm, which has been reported to show characteristic growth patterns, such as, ripple, labyrinthine/sinusoidal, and carcinoid-like patterns. Another recent finding regarding in sebaceoma is the observation of apocrine differentiation within the sebaceoma lesion. This report describes a case of carcinoid (a partial ripple and labyrinthine) pattern sebaceoma with apocrine differentiation with a literature review and immunohistochemical studies. The various characteristic growth patterns in sebaceoma were suggested to simply be variations of the same growth pattern arranged in cords, namely, a unified term "ripple/carcinoid pattern." The primitive sebaceous germinative cells in sebaceoma may still have the ability to undergo apocrine differentiation. Most of the reports so far on sebaceoma with apocrine differentiation, including the present case, describe a ripple/carcinoid pattern, thus suggesting that ripple/carcinoid pattern sebaceoma is composed of more primitive sebaceous germinative cells than conventional sebaceoma.

Suggestibility and suggestive modulation of the Stroop effect.

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Kirsch, Irving

2011-06-01

Although the induction of a hypnotic state does not seem necessary for suggestive modulation of the Stroop effect, this important phenomenon has seemed to be dependent on the subject's level of hypnotic suggestibility. Raz and Campbell's (2011) study indicates that suggestion can modulate the Stroop effect substantially in very low suggestible subjects, as well as in those who are highly suggestible. This finding casts doubt on the presumed mechanism by which suggestive modulation is brought about. Research aimed at uncovering the means by which low suggestible individuals are able to modulate the Stroop effect would be welcome, as would assessment of this effect in moderately suggestible people. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Temporal-pattern recognition by single neurons in a sensory pathway devoted to social communication behavior.

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Carlson, Bruce A

2009-07-29

Sensory systems often encode stimulus information into the temporal pattern of action potential activity. However, little is known about how the information contained within these patterns is extracted by postsynaptic neurons. Similar to temporal coding by sensory neurons, social information in mormyrid fish is encoded into the temporal patterning of an electric organ discharge. In the current study, sensitivity to temporal patterns of electrosensory stimuli was found to arise within the midbrain posterior exterolateral nucleus (ELp). Whole-cell patch recordings from ELp neurons in vivo revealed three patterns of interpulse interval (IPI) tuning: low-pass neurons tuned to long intervals, high-pass neurons tuned to short intervals, and bandpass neurons tuned to intermediate intervals. Many neurons within each class also responded preferentially to either increasing or decreasing IPIs. Playback of electric signaling patterns recorded from freely behaving fish revealed that the IPI and direction tuning of ELp neurons resulted in selective responses to particular social communication displays characterized by distinct IPI patterns. The postsynaptic potential responses of many neurons indicated a combination of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input, and the IPI tuning of ELp neurons was directly related to rate-dependent changes in the direction and amplitude of postsynaptic potentials. These results suggest that differences in the dynamics of short-term synaptic plasticity in excitatory and inhibitory pathways may tune central sensory neurons to particular temporal patterns of presynaptic activity. This may represent a general mechanism for the processing of behaviorally relevant stimulus information encoded into temporal patterns of activity by sensory neurons.

Impatience versus achievement strivings in the Type A pattern: Differential effects on students' health and academic achievement

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Spence, Janet T.; Helmreich, Robert L.; Pred, Robert S.

1987-01-01

Psychometric analyses of college students' responses to the Jenkins Activity Survey, a self-report measure of the Type A behavior pattern, revealed the presence of two relatively independent factors. Based on these analyses, two scales, labeled Achievement Strivings (AS) and Impatience and Irritability (II), were developed. In two samples of male and female college students, scores on AS but not on II were found to be significantly correlated with grade point average. Responses to a health survey, on the other hand, indicated that frequency of physical complaints was significantly correlated with II but not with AS. These results suggest that there are two relatively independent factors in the Type A pattern that have differential effects on performance and health. Future research on the personality factors related to coronary heart disease and other disorders might more profitably focus on the syndrome reflected in the II scale than on the Type A pattern.

Contrasting activity patterns of sympatric and allopatric black and grizzly bears

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Schwartz, C.C.; Cain, S.L.; Podruzny, S.; Cherry, S.; Frattaroli, L.

2010-01-01

The distribution of grizzly (Ursus arctos) and American black bears (U. americanus) overlaps in western North America. Few studies have detailed activity patterns where the species are sympatric and no studies contrasted patterns where populations are both sympatric and allopatric. We contrasted activity patterns for sympatric black and grizzly bears and for black bears allopatric to grizzly bears, how human influences altered patterns, and rates of grizzlyblack bear predation. Activity patterns differed between black bear populations, with those sympatric to grizzly bears more day-active. Activity patterns of black bears allopatric with grizzly bears were similar to those of female grizzly bears; both were crepuscular and day-active. Male grizzly bears were crepuscular and night-active. Both species were more night-active and less day-active when ???1 km from roads or developments. In our sympatric study area, 2 of 4 black bear mortalities were due to grizzly bear predation. Our results suggested patterns of activity that allowed for intra- and inter-species avoidance. National park management often results in convergence of locally high human densities in quality bear habitat. Our data provide additional understanding into how bears alter their activity patterns in response to other bears and humans and should help park managers minimize undesirable bearhuman encounters when considering needs for temporal and spatial management of humans and human developments in bear habitats. ?? 2010 The Wildlife Society.

Clarification of the Memory Artefact in the Assessment of Suggestibility

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Willner, P.

2008-01-01

Aim: The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) assesses suggestibility by asking respondents to recall a short story, followed by exposure to leading questions and pressure to change their responses. Suggestibility, as assessed by the GSS, appears to be elevated in people with intellectual disabilities (ID). This has been shown to reflect to some…

Neural activity patterns in response to interspecific and intraspecific variation in mating calls in the túngara frog.

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Mukta Chakraborty

2010-09-01

Full Text Available During mate choice, individuals must classify potential mates according to species identity and relative attractiveness. In many species, females do so by evaluating variation in the signals produced by males. Male túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus can produce single note calls (whines and multi-note calls (whine-chucks. While the whine alone is sufficient for species recognition, females greatly prefer the whine-chuck when given a choice.To better understand how the brain responds to variation in male mating signals, we mapped neural activity patterns evoked by interspecific and intraspecific variation in mating calls in túngara frogs by measuring expression of egr-1. We predicted that egr-1 responses to conspecific calls would identify brain regions that are potentially important for species recognition and that at least some of those brain regions would vary in their egr-1 responses to mating calls that vary in attractiveness. We measured egr-1 in the auditory brainstem and its forebrain targets and found that conspecific whine-chucks elicited greater egr-1 expression than heterospecific whines in all but three regions. We found no evidence that preferred whine-chuck calls elicited greater egr-1 expression than conspecific whines in any of eleven brain regions examined, in contrast to predictions that mating preferences in túngara frogs emerge from greater responses in the auditory system.Although selectivity for species-specific signals is apparent throughout the túngara frog brain, further studies are necessary to elucidate how neural activity patterns vary with the attractiveness of conspecific mating calls.

Efficacy and safety of dextrose-insulin in unmasking non-diagnostic Brugada ECG patterns.

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Velázquez-Rodríguez, Enrique; Rodríguez-Piña, Horacio; Pacheco-Bouthillier, Alex; Jiménez-Cruz, Marcelo Paz

Typical diagnostic, coved-type 1, Brugada ECG patterns fluctuate spontaneously over time with a high proportion of non-diagnostic ECG patterns. Insulin modulates ion transport mechanisms and causes hyperpolarization of the resting potential. We report our experience with unmasking J-ST changes in response to a dextrose-insulin test. Nine patients, mean age 40.5±19.4years (range: 15-65years), presented initially with a non-diagnostic ECG pattern, which was suggestive of Brugada syndrome (group I). They were compared with 10 patients with normal ECG patterns (group II). Participants received an infusion of 50g of 50% dextrose, followed by 10IU of intravenous regular insulin. Positive changes were defined by conversion to a diagnostic ECG pattern. The dextrose-insulin test was positive in six of seven (85.7%) patients (kappa 0.79, p=0.02) that was confirmed with a pharmacologic test (kappa 1, p=0.003). One had an inconclusive test, and two with a negative test had an early repolarization ECG pattern. All subjects in group II had a negative test (pECG patterns. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multilevel regression models describing regional patterns of invertebrate and algal responses to urbanization across the USA

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Cuffney, T.F.; Kashuba, R.; Qian, S.S.; Alameddine, I.; Cha, Y.K.; Lee, B.; Coles, J.F.; McMahon, G.

2011-01-01

Multilevel hierarchical regression was used to examine regional patterns in the responses of benthic macroinvertebrates and algae to urbanization across 9 metropolitan areas of the conterminous USA. Linear regressions established that responses (intercepts and slopes) to urbanization of invertebrates and algae varied among metropolitan areas. Multilevel hierarchical regression models were able to explain these differences on the basis of region-scale predictors. Regional differences in the type of land cover (agriculture or forest) being converted to urban and climatic factors (precipitation and air temperature) accounted for the differences in the response of macroinvertebrates to urbanization based on ordination scores, total richness, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera richness, and average tolerance. Regional differences in climate and antecedent agriculture also accounted for differences in the responses of salt-tolerant diatoms, but differences in the responses of other diatom metrics (% eutraphenic, % sensitive, and % silt tolerant) were best explained by regional differences in soils (mean % clay soils). The effects of urbanization were most readily detected in regions where forest lands were being converted to urban land because agricultural development significantly degraded assemblages before urbanization and made detection of urban effects difficult. The effects of climatic factors (temperature, precipitation) on background conditions (biogeographic differences) and rates of response to urbanization were most apparent after accounting for the effects of agricultural development. The effects of climate and land cover on responses to urbanization provide strong evidence that monitoring, mitigation, and restoration efforts must be tailored for specific regions and that attainment goals (background conditions) may not be possible in regions with high levels of prior disturbance (e.g., agricultural development). ?? 2011 by The North American

Use of Sine Shaped High-Frequency Rhythmic Visual Stimuli Patterns for SSVEP Response Analysis and Fatigue Rate Evaluation in Normal Subjects.

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Keihani, Ahmadreza; Shirzhiyan, Zahra; Farahi, Morteza; Shamsi, Elham; Mahnam, Amin; Makkiabadi, Bahador; Haidari, Mohsen R; Jafari, Amir H

2018-01-01

Background: Recent EEG-SSVEP signal based BCI studies have used high frequency square pulse visual stimuli to reduce subjective fatigue. However, the effect of total harmonic distortion (THD) has not been considered. Compared to CRT and LCD monitors, LED screen displays high-frequency wave with better refresh rate. In this study, we present high frequency sine wave simple and rhythmic patterns with low THD rate by LED to analyze SSVEP responses and evaluate subjective fatigue in normal subjects. Materials and Methods: We used patterns of 3-sequence high-frequency sine waves (25, 30, and 35 Hz) to design our visual stimuli. Nine stimuli patterns, 3 simple (repetition of each of above 3 frequencies e.g., P25-25-25) and 6 rhythmic (all of the frequencies in 6 different sequences e.g., P25-30-35) were chosen. A hardware setup with low THD rate ( 90% for CCA and LASSO (for TWs > 1 s). High frequency rhythmic patterns group with low THD rate showed higher accuracy rate (99.24%) than simple patterns group (98.48%). Repeated measure ANOVA showed significant difference between rhythmic pattern features ( P rhythmic [3.85 ± 2.13] compared to the simple patterns group [3.96 ± 2.21], ( P = 0.63). Rhythmic group had lower within group VAS variation (min = P25-30-35 [2.90 ± 2.45], max = P35-25-30 [4.81 ± 2.65]) as well as least individual pattern VAS (P25-30-35). Discussion and Conclusion: Overall, rhythmic and simple pattern groups had higher and similar accuracy rates. Rhythmic stimuli patterns showed insignificantly lower fatigue rate than simple patterns. We conclude that both rhythmic and simple visual high frequency sine wave stimuli require further research for human subject SSVEP-BCI studies.

Combinations of response-reinforcer relations in periodic and aperiodic schedules.

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Kuroda, Toshikazu; Cançado, Carlos R X; Lattal, Kennon A; Elcoro, Mirari; Dickson, Chata A; Cook, James E

2013-03-01

Key pecking of 4 pigeons was studied under a two-component multiple schedule in which food deliveries were arranged according to a fixed and a variable interfood interval. The percentage of response-dependent food in each component was varied, first in ascending (0, 10, 30, 70 and 100%) and then in descending orders, in successive conditions. The change in response rates was positively related to the percentage of response-dependent food in each schedule component. Across conditions, positively accelerated and linear patterns of responding occurred consistently in the fixed and variable components, respectively. These results suggest that the response-food dependency determines response rates in periodic and aperiodic schedules, and that the temporal distribution of food determines response patterns independently of the response-food dependency. Running rates, but not postfood pauses, also were positively related to the percentage of dependent food in each condition, in both fixed and variable components. Thus, the relation between overall response rate and the percentage of dependent food was mediated by responding that occurred after postfood pausing. The findings together extend previous studies wherein the dependency was either always present or absent, and increase the generality of the effects of variations in the response-food dependency from aperiodic to periodic schedules. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Correlation of uptake patterns on single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT)and treatment response in patients with knee pain

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Koh, Geon; Hwang, Kyung Hoon; Lee, Hae Jin; Kim, Seog Gyun; Lee, Beom Koo

2016-01-01

To determine whether treatment response in patients with knee pain could be predicted using uptake patterns on single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) images. Ninety-five patients with knee pain who had undergone SPECT/CT were included in this retrospective study. Subjects were divided into three groups: increased focal uptake (FTU), increased irregular tracer uptake (ITU), and no tracer uptake (NTU). A numeric rating scale (NRS-11) assessed pain intensity. We analyzed the association between uptake patterns and treatment response using Pearson's chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. Uptake was quantified from SPECT/CT with region of interest (ROI) counting, and an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) calculated agreement. We used Student' t-test to calculate statistically significant differences of counts between groups and the Pearson correlation to measure the relationship between counts and initial NRS-1k1. Multivariate logistic regression analysis determined which variables were significantly associated with uptake. The FTU group included 32 patients; ITU, 39; and NTU, 24. With conservative management, 64 % of patients with increased tracer uptake (TU, both focal and irregular) and 36 % with NTU showed positive response. Conservative treatment response of FTU was better than NTU, but did not differ from that of ITU. Conservative treatment response of TU was significantly different from that of NTU (OR 3.1; p 0.036). Moderate positive correlation was observed between ITU and initial NRS-11. Age and initial NRS-11 significantly predicted uptake. Patients with uptake in their knee(s) on SPECT/CT showed positive treatment response under conservative treatment

Correlation of uptake patterns on single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT)and treatment response in patients with knee pain

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Koh, Geon; Hwang, Kyung Hoon; Lee, Hae Jin; Kim, Seog Gyun; Lee, Beom Koo [Gachon University Gil Hospital, Incheon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

To determine whether treatment response in patients with knee pain could be predicted using uptake patterns on single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) images. Ninety-five patients with knee pain who had undergone SPECT/CT were included in this retrospective study. Subjects were divided into three groups: increased focal uptake (FTU), increased irregular tracer uptake (ITU), and no tracer uptake (NTU). A numeric rating scale (NRS-11) assessed pain intensity. We analyzed the association between uptake patterns and treatment response using Pearson's chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. Uptake was quantified from SPECT/CT with region of interest (ROI) counting, and an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) calculated agreement. We used Student' t-test to calculate statistically significant differences of counts between groups and the Pearson correlation to measure the relationship between counts and initial NRS-1k1. Multivariate logistic regression analysis determined which variables were significantly associated with uptake. The FTU group included 32 patients; ITU, 39; and NTU, 24. With conservative management, 64 % of patients with increased tracer uptake (TU, both focal and irregular) and 36 % with NTU showed positive response. Conservative treatment response of FTU was better than NTU, but did not differ from that of ITU. Conservative treatment response of TU was significantly different from that of NTU (OR 3.1; p 0.036). Moderate positive correlation was observed between ITU and initial NRS-11. Age and initial NRS-11 significantly predicted uptake. Patients with uptake in their knee(s) on SPECT/CT showed positive treatment response under conservative treatment.

Low-intensity focused ultrasound alters the latency and spatial patterns of sensory-evoked cortical responses in vivo

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Jonathan A. N.; Gumenchuk, Iryna

2018-06-01

Objective. The use of transcranial, low intensity focused ultrasound (FUS) is an emerging neuromodulation technology that shows promise for both therapeutic and research applications. Among many, one of the most exciting applications is the use of FUS to rehabilitate or augment human sensory capabilities. While there is compelling empirical evidence demonstrating this capability, basic questions regarding the spatiotemporal extent of the modulatory effects remain. Our objective was to assess the basic, yet often overlooked hypothesis that FUS in fact alters sensory-evoked neural activity within the region of the cerebral cortex at the beam’s focus. Approach. To address this knowledge gap, we developed an approach to optically interrogate patterns of neural activity in the cortex directly at the acoustic focus, in vivo. Implementing simultaneous wide-field optical imaging and FUS stimulation in mice, our experiments probed somatosensory-evoked electrical activity through the use of voltage sensitive dyes (VSDs) and, in transgenic mice expressing GCaMP6f, monitored associated Ca2+ responses. Main results. Our results demonstrate that low-intensity FUS alters both the kinetics and spatial patterns of neural activity in primary somatosensory cortex at the acoustic focus. When preceded by 1 s of pulsed ultrasound at intensities below 1 W cm‑2 (I sppa), the onset of sensory-evoked cortical responses occurred 3.0  ±  0.7 ms earlier and altered the surface spatial morphology of Ca2+ responses. Significance. These findings support the heretofore unconfirmed assumption that FUS-induced sensory modulation reflects, at least in part, altered reactivity in primary sensory cortex at the site of sonication. The findings are significant given the interest in using FUS to target and alter spatial aspects of sensory receptive fields on the cerebral cortex.

Low-intensity focused ultrasound alters the latency and spatial patterns of sensory-evoked cortical responses in vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Jonathan A N; Gumenchuk, Iryna

2018-02-13

The use of transcranial, low intensity focused ultrasound (FUS) is an emerging neuromodulation technology that shows promise for both therapeutic and research applications. Among many, one of the most exciting applications is the use of FUS to rehabilitate or augment human sensory capabilities. While there is compelling empirical evidence demonstrating this capability, basic questions regarding the spatiotemporal extent of the modulatory effects remain. Our objective was to assess the basic, yet often overlooked hypothesis that FUS in fact alters sensory-evoked neural activity within the region of the cerebral cortex at the beam's focus. To address this knowledge gap, we developed an approach to optically interrogate patterns of neural activity in the cortex directly at the acoustic focus, in vivo. Implementing simultaneous wide-field optical imaging and FUS stimulation in mice, our experiments probed somatosensory-evoked electrical activity through the use of voltage sensitive dyes (VSDs) and, in transgenic mice expressing GCaMP6f, monitored associated Ca 2+ responses. Our results demonstrate that low-intensity FUS alters both the kinetics and spatial patterns of neural activity in primary somatosensory cortex at the acoustic focus. When preceded by 1 s of pulsed ultrasound at intensities below 1 W cm -2 (I sppa ), the onset of sensory-evoked cortical responses occurred 3.0  ±  0.7 ms earlier and altered the surface spatial morphology of Ca 2+ responses. These findings support the heretofore unconfirmed assumption that FUS-induced sensory modulation reflects, at least in part, altered reactivity in primary sensory cortex at the site of sonication. The findings are significant given the interest in using FUS to target and alter spatial aspects of sensory receptive fields on the cerebral cortex.

Vaginal epithelial cell-derived S100 alarmins induced by Candida albicans via pattern recognition receptor interactions are sufficient but not necessary for the acute neutrophil response during experimental vaginal candidiasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Yano, Junko; Palmer, Glen E; Eberle, Karen E; Peters, Brian M; Vogl, Thomas; McKenzie, Andrew N; Fidel, Paul L

2014-02-01

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), caused by Candida albicans, affects women worldwide. Animal and clinical studies suggest that the immunopathogenic inflammatory condition of VVC is initiated by S100 alarmins in response to C. albicans, which stimulate polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) migration to the vagina. The purpose of this study was to extend previous in vitro data and determine the requirement for the alarmin S100A8 in the PMN response and to evaluate pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that initiate the response. For the former, PMN migration was evaluated in vitro or in vivo in the presence or absence of S100 alarmins initiated by several approaches. For the latter, vaginal epithelial cells were evaluated for PRR expression and C. albicans-induced S100A8 and S100A9 mRNAs, followed by evaluation of the PMN response in inoculated PRR-deficient mice. Results revealed that, consistent with previously reported in vitro data, eukaryote-derived S100A8, but not prokaryote-derived recombinant S100A8, induced significant PMN chemotaxis in vivo. Conversely, a lack of biologically active S100A8 alarmin, achieved by antibody neutralization or by using S100A9(-/-) mice, had no effect on the PMN response in vivo. In PRR analyses, whereas Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)- and SIGNR1-deficient vaginal epithelial cells showed a dramatic reduction in C. albicans-induced S100A8/S100A9 mRNAs in vitro, inoculated mice deficient in these PRRs showed PMN migration similar to that in wild-type controls. These results suggest that S100A8 alarmin is sufficient, but not necessary, to induce PMN migration during VVC and that the vaginal PMN response to C. albicans involves PRRs in addition to SIGNR1 and TLR4, or other induction pathways.

Design nanocrack patterns in heterogeneous films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salac, David; Lu Wei

2006-01-01

Nanowires have significant potential in future technologies such as nanomechanical devices and electronics. Recent experiments suggest that nanowires with sub-100 nm diameters may be fabricated by filling cracks with various materials. The geometry of cracks becomes important on such a length scale, and the practical application of the approach requires an understanding of crack evolution in heterogeneous films. This paper proposes a level-set approach to model directed nanocracks on pre-patterned substrates. The approach does not require the explicit tracking of crack fronts and thus allows the simulation of complex crack patterns. Results indicate that pre-patterning a substrate can lead to various well controlled nanocrack patterns, suggesting a possibility to make designed and complex nanowires difficult to obtain with other methods

Patterned Colloidal Photonic Crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Jue; Li, Mingzhu; Song, Yanlin

2018-03-01

Colloidal photonic crystals (PCs) have been well developed because they are easy to prepare, cost-effective, and versatile with regards to modification and functionalization. Patterned colloidal PCs contribute a novel approach to constructing high-performance PC devices with unique structures and specific functions. In this review, an overview of the strategies for fabricating patterned colloidal PCs, including patterned substrate-induced assembly, inkjet printing, and selective immobilization and modification, is presented. The advantages of patterned PC devices are also discussed in detail, for example, improved detection sensitivity and response speed of the sensors, control over the flow direction and wicking rate of microfluidic channels, recognition of cross-reactive molecules through an array-patterned microchip, fabrication of display devices with tunable patterns, well-arranged RGB units, and wide viewing-angles, and the ability to construct anti-counterfeiting devices with different security strategies. Finally, the perspective of future developments and challenges is presented. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Gene expression patterns in CD4+ peripheral blood cells in healthy subjects and stage IV melanoma patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Felts, Sara J; Van Keulen, Virginia P; Scheid, Adam D; Allen, Kathleen S; Bradshaw, Renee K; Jen, Jin; Peikert, Tobias; Middha, Sumit; Zhang, Yuji; Block, Matthew S; Markovic, Svetomir N; Pease, Larry R

2015-11-01

Melanoma patients exhibit changes in immune responsiveness in the local tumor environment, draining lymph nodes, and peripheral blood. Immune-targeting therapies are revolutionizing melanoma patient care increasingly, and studies show that patients derive clinical benefit from these newer agents. Nonetheless, predicting which patients will benefit from these costly therapies remains a challenge. In an effort to capture individual differences in immune responsiveness, we are analyzing patterns of gene expression in human peripheral blood cells using RNAseq. Focusing on CD4+ peripheral blood cells, we describe multiple categories of immune regulating genes, which are expressed in highly ordered patterns shared by cohorts of healthy subjects and stage IV melanoma patients. Despite displaying conservation in overall transcriptome structure, CD4+ peripheral blood cells from melanoma patients differ quantitatively from healthy subjects in the expression of more than 2000 genes. Moreover, 1300 differentially expressed genes are found in transcript response patterns following activation of CD4+ cells ex vivo, suggesting that widespread functional discrepancies differentiate the immune systems of healthy subjects and melanoma patients. While our analysis reveals that the transcriptome architecture characteristic of healthy subjects is maintained in cancer patients, the genes expressed differentially among individuals and across cohorts provide opportunities for understanding variable immune states as well as response potentials, thus establishing a foundation for predicting individual responses to stimuli such as immunotherapeutic agents.

A second life for old data: Global patterns in pollution ecology revealed from published observational studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kozlov, Mikhail V., E-mail: mikoz@utu.fi [Section of Ecology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku (Finland); Zvereva, Elena L. [Section of Ecology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku (Finland)

2011-05-15

A synthesis of research on the responses of terrestrial biota (1095 effect sizes) to industrial pollution (206 point emission sources) was conducted to reveal regional and global patterns from small-scale observational studies. A meta-analysis, in combination with other statistical methods, showed that the effects of pollution depend on characteristics of the specific polluter (type, amount of emission, duration of impact on biota), the affected organism (trophic group, life history), the level at which the response was measured (organism, population, community), and the environment (biome, climate). In spite of high heterogeneity in responses, we have detected several general patterns. We suggest that the development of evolutionary adaptations to pollution is a common phenomenon and that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms. We argue that community- and ecosystem-level responses to pollution should be explored directly, rather than deduced from organism-level studies. - Research synthesis demonstrated that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms.

A second life for old data: Global patterns in pollution ecology revealed from published observational studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozlov, Mikhail V.; Zvereva, Elena L.

2011-01-01

A synthesis of research on the responses of terrestrial biota (1095 effect sizes) to industrial pollution (206 point emission sources) was conducted to reveal regional and global patterns from small-scale observational studies. A meta-analysis, in combination with other statistical methods, showed that the effects of pollution depend on characteristics of the specific polluter (type, amount of emission, duration of impact on biota), the affected organism (trophic group, life history), the level at which the response was measured (organism, population, community), and the environment (biome, climate). In spite of high heterogeneity in responses, we have detected several general patterns. We suggest that the development of evolutionary adaptations to pollution is a common phenomenon and that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms. We argue that community- and ecosystem-level responses to pollution should be explored directly, rather than deduced from organism-level studies. - Research synthesis demonstrated that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms.

Reversible patterning of spherical shells through constrained buckling

Science.gov (United States)

Marthelot, J.; Brun, P.-T.; Jiménez, F. López; Reis, P. M.

2017-07-01

Recent advances in active soft structures envision the large deformations resulting from mechanical instabilities as routes for functional shape morphing. Numerous such examples exist for filamentary and plate systems. However, examples with double-curved shells are rarer, with progress hampered by challenges in fabrication and the complexities involved in analyzing their underlying geometrical nonlinearities. We show that on-demand patterning of hemispherical shells can be achieved through constrained buckling. Their postbuckling response is stabilized by an inner rigid mandrel. Through a combination of experiments, simulations, and scaling analyses, our investigation focuses on the nucleation and evolution of the buckling patterns into a reticulated network of sharp ridges. The geometry of the system, namely, the shell radius and the gap between the shell and the mandrel, is found to be the primary ingredient to set the surface morphology. This prominence of geometry suggests a robust, scalable, and tunable mechanism for reversible shape morphing of elastic shells.

Four integration patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bygstad, Bendik; Nielsen, Peter Axel; Munkvold, Bjørn Erik

2010-01-01

This paper aims to contribute to a theory of integration within the field of IS project management. Integration is a key IS project management issue when new systems are developed and implemented into an increasingly integrated information infrastructure in corporate and governmental organizations....... Expanding the perspective of traditional project management research, we draw extensively on central insights from IS research. Building on socio-technical IS research and Software Engineering research we suggest four generic patterns of integration: Big Bang, Stakeholder Integration, Technical Integration...... and Socio-Technical Integration. We analyze and describe the advantages and disadvantages of each pattern. The four patterns are ideal types. To explore the forces and challenges in these patterns three longitudinal case studies were conducted. In particular we investigate the management challenges for each...

Suggestion of optimal radiation fields in rectal cancer patients after surgical resection for the development of the patterns of care study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jong Hoon; Park, Jin Hong; Kim, Dae Yong [College of Medicine, Ulsan Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)] [and others

2003-06-01

To suggest the optimal radiation fields after a surgical resection based on a nationwide survey on the principles of radiotherapy for rectal cancer in the Korean Patterns of Care Study. A consensus committee, composed of radiation oncologists from 18 hospitals in Seoul Metropolitan area, developed a survey format to analyze radiation oncologist's treatment principles for rectal cancer after a surgical resection. The survey format included 19 questions on the principles of defining field margins, and was sent to the radiation oncologists in charge of gastrointestinal malignancies in all Korean hospitals (48 hospitals). Thirty three (69%) oncologists replied. On the basis of the replies and literature review, the committee developed guidelines for the optimal radiation fields for rectal cancer. The following guidelines were developed: superior border between the lower tip of the L5 vertebral body and upper sacroiliac joint; inferior border 2-3 cm distal to the anastomosis in patient whose sphincter was saved, and 2-3 cm distal to the perineal scar in patients whose anal sphincter was sacrificed; anterior margin at the posterior tip of the symphysis pubis or 2-3 cm anterior to the vertebral body, to include the internal iliac lymph node and posterior margin 1.5-2 cm posterior to the anterior surface of the sacrum, to include the presacral space with enough margin. Comparison with the guidelines, the replies on the superior margin coincided in 23 cases (70%), the inferior margin after sphincter saving surgery in 13 (39%), the inferior margin after abdominoperineal resection in 32 (97%), the lateral margin in 32 (97%), the posterior margins in 32 (97%) and the anterior margin in 16 (45%). These recommendations should be tailored to each patient according to the clinical characteristics such as tumor location, pathological and operative findings, for the optimal treatment. The adequacy of these guidelines should be proved by following the Korean Patterns of Care

Suggestion of optimal radiation fields in rectal cancer patients after surgical resection for the development of the patterns of care study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong Hoon; Park, Jin Hong; Kim, Dae Yong

2003-01-01

To suggest the optimal radiation fields after a surgical resection based on a nationwide survey on the principles of radiotherapy for rectal cancer in the Korean Patterns of Care Study. A consensus committee, composed of radiation oncologists from 18 hospitals in Seoul Metropolitan area, developed a survey format to analyze radiation oncologist's treatment principles for rectal cancer after a surgical resection. The survey format included 19 questions on the principles of defining field margins, and was sent to the radiation oncologists in charge of gastrointestinal malignancies in all Korean hospitals (48 hospitals). Thirty three (69%) oncologists replied. On the basis of the replies and literature review, the committee developed guidelines for the optimal radiation fields for rectal cancer. The following guidelines were developed: superior border between the lower tip of the L5 vertebral body and upper sacroiliac joint; inferior border 2-3 cm distal to the anastomosis in patient whose sphincter was saved, and 2-3 cm distal to the perineal scar in patients whose anal sphincter was sacrificed; anterior margin at the posterior tip of the symphysis pubis or 2-3 cm anterior to the vertebral body, to include the internal iliac lymph node and posterior margin 1.5-2 cm posterior to the anterior surface of the sacrum, to include the presacral space with enough margin. Comparison with the guidelines, the replies on the superior margin coincided in 23 cases (70%), the inferior margin after sphincter saving surgery in 13 (39%), the inferior margin after abdominoperineal resection in 32 (97%), the lateral margin in 32 (97%), the posterior margins in 32 (97%) and the anterior margin in 16 (45%). These recommendations should be tailored to each patient according to the clinical characteristics such as tumor location, pathological and operative findings, for the optimal treatment. The adequacy of these guidelines should be proved by following the Korean Patterns of Care Study

An Analysis of Differential Response Patterns on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-IIIB in Struggling Adult Readers and Third-Grade Children

Science.gov (United States)

Pae, Hye K.; Greenberg, Daphne; Williams, Rihana S.

2012-01-01

This study examines the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-IIIB (PPVT-IIIB) performance of 130 adults identified as struggling readers, in comparison to 175 third-grade children. Response patterns to the items on the PPVT-IIIB by these two groups were investigated, focusing on items, semantic categories, and lexical features, including word length,…

Influence of cueing on the preparation and execution of untrained and trained complex motor responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.R. Alouche

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the influence of cueing on the performance of untrained and trained complex motor responses. Healthy adults responded to a visual target by performing four sequential movements (complex response or a single movement (simple response of their middle finger. A visual cue preceded the target by an interval of 300, 1000, or 2000 ms. In Experiment 1, the complex and simple responses were not previously trained. During the testing session, the complex response pattern varied on a trial-by-trial basis following the indication provided by the visual cue. In Experiment 2, the complex response and the simple response were extensively trained beforehand. During the testing session, the trained complex response pattern was performed in all trials. The latency of the untrained and trained complex responses decreased from the short to the medium and long cue-target intervals. The latency of the complex response was longer than that of the simple response, except in the case of the trained responses and the long cue-target interval. These results suggest that the preparation of untrained complex responses cannot be completed in advance, this being possible, however, for trained complex responses when enough time is available. The duration of the 1st submovement, 1st pause and 2nd submovement of the untrained and the trained complex responses increased from the short to the long cue-target interval, suggesting that there is an increase of online programming of the response possibly related to the degree of certainty about the moment of target appearance.

Investigating and Managing the Characteristics of Travel Behavior and Travel Patterns for the University of Kufa and Suggestion a Future Transportation Plan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Athab Al-Jameel

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Educational institutions are one of the main trip generators and distributors in the cities around the world. The main campus of the University of Kufa has more than 10 faculties with more than 12,000 people (staff and students. This makes the university is one of the high attracting area of trips in the city. These attracted trips use different modes of transportation such as taxi, private car, min-bus and even walking mode. This study aims to investigate the travel behavior and travel patterns for the current trips and put the suitable suggestions for shifting the travel characteristics using efficient modern modes of transportation. More than 4000 samples have been investigated using interviews asking about the origin, the purpose of trips and the mode of trips. The results of this analysis indicate the urgent need for improving the current transportation system by encouraging public transport such as bus and tram. Moreover, there is a need for improving the design and traffic management for the gates of the university.

Motor unit recruitment patterns 1: responses to changes in locomotor velocity and incline.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodson-Tole, Emma F; Wakeling, James M

2008-06-01

Mammalian skeletal muscles are composed of a mixture of motor unit types, which contribute a range of mechanical and physiological properties to the muscle. For a muscle to effectively contribute to smooth, co-ordinated movement it must activate an appropriate number and combination of motor units to generate the required force over a suitable time period. Much evidence exists indicating that motor units are activated in an orderly fashion, from the slowest through to the fastest. A growing body of evidence, however, indicates that such a recruitment strategy does not always hold true. Here we investigate how motor unit recruitment patterns were influenced by changes in locomotor velocity and incline. Kinematics data and myoelectric signals were collected from three rat ankle extensor muscles during running on a treadmill at nine velocity and incline combinations. Wavelet and principal component analysis were used to simultaneously decompose the signals into time and frequency space. The relative frequency components of the signals were quantified during 20 time windows of a stride from each locomotor condition. Differences in signal frequency components existed between muscles and locomotor conditions. Faster locomotor velocities led to a relative increase in high frequency components, whereas greater inclines led to a relative increase in the low frequency components. These data were interpreted as representing changes in motor unit recruitment patterns in response to changes in the locomotor demand. Motor units were not always recruited in an orderly manner, indicating that recruitment is a multi-factorial phenomenon that is not yet fully understood.

Career patterns of healthcare executives.

Science.gov (United States)

Fahey, D F; Myrtle, R C

2001-02-01

This research examines the job and career changes of healthcare executives and managers working in different segments of the healthcare industry in the western United States. The results suggest that the job and career patterns in the healthcare delivery sector are undergoing significant transformation. One third of the respondents reports that at least one of their last four job changes was involuntary or unplanned. One half of those attempted to make a career change. This study identifies four different executive and management career patterns. The most common was one of multiple career changes. The second pattern was that of a single career change, followed by a 'traditional' career in which one did not seek a career change. The final pattern was characterized as a movement back and forth between two different segments of the healthcare industry. Age, gender, marital status and education were not associated with any specific career pattern. The need to achieve results early in the respondent's career had a strong influence on career patterns. This study confirms the fluidity of career movement and the changing permeability between the various segments of the healthcare industry. It also suggests that career success increasingly will require broad management experience in those different segments.

The Russian food, alcohol and tobacco consumption patterns during transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Rizov, Marian; Herzfeld, Thomas; Huffman, Sonya K

2012-12-01

The paper presents evidence on the impact of individual characteristics as well as regional macroeconomic factors on changes in fat, protein, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and on diet's diversity during the transition period 1994 - 2004 in Russia. The results from estimating first difference demand functions using Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) data suggest that individual characteristics such as initial consumption patterns, gender, education, household income, and access to a garden plot all have a significant impact on the consumption behaviour. Regarding the macroeconomic variables, inflation has a significant impact on alcohol and tobacco consumption, while unemployment significantly impacts only smoking behaviour. Russian consumers respond to own prices of fat and protein as well as to own prices of alcohol and tobacco but to a lesser extent. Analysis of subsamples based on different initial consumption patterns reveals significant heterogeneity in consumption responses.

Motivation alters response bias and neural activation patterns in a perceptual decision-making task.

Science.gov (United States)

Reckless, G E; Bolstad, I; Nakstad, P H; Andreassen, O A; Jensen, J

2013-05-15

Motivation has been demonstrated to affect individuals' response strategies in economic decision-making, however, little is known about how motivation influences perceptual decision-making behavior or its related neural activity. Given the important role motivation plays in shaping our behavior, a better understanding of this relationship is needed. A block-design, continuous performance, perceptual decision-making task where participants were asked to detect a picture of an animal among distractors was used during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The effect of positive and negative motivation on sustained activity within regions of the brain thought to underlie decision-making was examined by altering the monetary contingency associated with the task. In addition, signal detection theory was used to investigate the effect of motivation on detection sensitivity, response bias and response time. While both positive and negative motivation resulted in increased sustained activation in the ventral striatum, fusiform gyrus, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, only negative motivation resulted in the adoption of a more liberal, closer to optimal response bias. This shift toward a liberal response bias correlated with increased activation in the left DLPFC, but did not result in improved task performance. The present findings suggest that motivation alters aspects of the way perceptual decisions are made. Further, this altered response behavior is reflected in a change in left DLPFC activation, a region involved in the computation of perceptual decisions. Copyright © 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inter-individual variability of stone marten behavioral responses to a highway.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Ascensão

Full Text Available Efforts to reduce the negative impacts of roads on wildlife may be hindered if individuals within the population vary widely in their responses to roads and mitigation strategies ignore this variability. This knowledge is particularly important for medium-sized carnivores as they are vulnerable to road mortality, while also known to use available road passages (e.g., drainage culverts for safely crossing highways. Our goal in this study was to assess whether this apparently contradictory pattern of high road-kill numbers associated with a regular use of road passages is attributable to the variation in behavioral responses toward the highway between individuals. We investigated the responses of seven radio-tracked stone martens (Martes foina to a highway by measuring their utilization distribution, response turning angles and highway crossing patterns. We compared the observed responses to simulated movement parameterized by the observed space use and movement characteristics of each individual, but naïve to the presence of the highway. Our results suggested that martens demonstrate a diversity of responses to the highway, including attraction, indifference, or avoidance. Martens also varied in their highway crossing patterns, with some crossing repeatedly at the same location (often coincident with highway passages. We suspect that the response variability derives from the individual's familiarity of the landscape, including their awareness of highway passage locations. Because of these variable yet potentially attributable responses, we support the use of exclusionary fencing to guide transient (e.g., dispersers individuals to existing passages to reduce the road-kill risk.

Neuroanatomical heterogeneity of essential tremor according to propranolol response.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seok Jong Chung

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Recent studies have suggested that essential tremor (ET is a more complex and heterogeneous clinical entity than initially thought. In the present study, we assessed the pattern of cortical thickness and diffusion tensor white matter (WM changes in patients with ET according to the response to propranolol to explore the pathogenesis underlying the clinical heterogeneity of ET. METHODS: A total of 32 patients with drug naive ET were recruited prospectively from the Movement Disorders outpatient clinic. The patients were divided into a propranolol-responder group (n = 18 and a non-responder group (n = 14. We analyzed the pattern of cortical thickness and diffusion tensor WM changes between these two groups and performed correlation analysis between imaging and clinical parameters. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics, general cognition, or results of detailed neuropsychological tests between the groups. The non-responder group showed more severe cortical atrophy in the left orbitofrontal cortex and right temporal cortex relative to responders. However, the responders exhibited significantly lower fractional anisotropy values in the bilateral frontal, corpus callosal, and right parietotemporal WM compared with the non-responder group. There were no significant clusters where the cortical thickness or WM alterations were significantly correlated with initial tremor severity or disease duration. CONCLUSIONS: The present data suggest that patients with ET have heterogeneous cortical thinning and WM alteration with respect to responsiveness to propranolol, suggesting that propranolol responsiveness may be a predictive factor to determine ET subtypes in terms of neuroanatomical heterogeneity.

Pain, psychological distress and motor pattern in women with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) - symptom characteristics and therapy suggestions.

Science.gov (United States)

Haugstad, Gro Killi; Wojniusz, Slawomir; Kirste, Unni Merete; Kirschner, Rolf Steinar; Lilleheie, Ingvild; Haugstad, Tor Sigbjørn

2018-04-25

Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) represent a longstanding pain syndrome that affects large numbers of women worldwide. However, no standardized guidelines for PVD treatment exist. In a cross-sectional pilot study we examined 30 PVD patients on multidimensional parameters including pain, psychological distress and quality of movement, in order to obtain a broader understanding of the somatic and psychological symptoms in PVD, and for the future to develop better interventions. Additionally, we compare the findings to previously published results regarding the same parameters in women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP). Thirty women with PVD recruited from a tertiary care university clinic of gynecology were assessed for demographic data, pain intensity (VAS), psychological distress (GHQ-30 and Tampa scale of Kinesophobia) and quality of movement (standardized Mensendieck test, SMT). Average age of the PVD women was 24.7±3.60 years, 60% of them were in permanent relationships, all were nulliparous, none had been subjected to surgical procedures, 100% were working full or part time and 90% were educated to at least undergraduate level. Mean VAS score was 7.77±1.97 (mean±SD), kinesiophobia 24.4±3.95 and anxiety domain of GHQ-30 9.73±4.06. SMT scores were particularly low for the domains of respiration and gait (less than 50% of optimal scores). PVD women display reduced quality of movement, especially for gait and respiration patterns, increased level of anxiety and high average pain scores. These findings are similar to what we have previously reported in CPP patients. However, in contrast to CPP group, PVD women are on average younger, have higher work participation, higher education level and have not been subjected to surgical procedures. Since PVD women display similar, although somewhat less severe, symptom profile than CPP, we suggest that a multidimensional approach to treatment, such as "somatocognitive therapy" should be investigated in this group as it has

Structural and functional correlates of hypnotic depth and suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

McGeown, William Jonathan; Mazzoni, Giuliana; Vannucci, Manila; Venneri, Annalena

2015-02-28

This study explores whether self-reported depth of hypnosis and hypnotic suggestibility are associated with individual differences in neuroanatomy and/or levels of functional connectivity. Twenty-nine people varying in suggestibility were recruited and underwent structural, and after a hypnotic induction, functional magnetic resonance imaging at rest. We used voxel-based morphometry to assess the correlation of grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) against the independent variables: depth of hypnosis, level of relaxation and hypnotic suggestibility. Functional networks identified with independent components analysis were regressed with the independent variables. Hypnotic depth ratings were positively correlated with GM volume in the frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Hypnotic suggestibility was positively correlated with GM volume in the left temporal-occipital cortex. Relaxation ratings did not correlate significantly with GM volume and none of the independent variables correlated with regional WM volume measures. Self-reported deeper levels of hypnosis were associated with less connectivity within the anterior default mode network. Taken together, the results suggest that the greater GM volume in the medial frontal cortex and ACC, and lower connectivity in the DMN during hypnosis facilitate experiences of greater hypnotic depth. The patterns of results suggest that hypnotic depth and hypnotic suggestibility should not be considered synonyms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differential associations between sensory response patterns and language, social, and communication measures in children with autism or other developmental disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Linda R; Patten, Elena; Baranek, Grace T; Poe, Michele; Boyd, Brian A; Freuler, Ashley; Lorenzi, Jill

2011-12-01

To examine patterns of sensory responsiveness (i.e., hyperresponsiveness, hyporesponsiveness, and sensory seeking) as factors that may account for variability in social-communicative symptoms of autism and variability in language, social, and communication skill development in children with autism or other developmental disabilities (DDs). Children with autistic disorder (AD; n = 72, mean age = 52.3 months) and other DDs (n = 44, mean age = 48.1 months) participated in a protocol measuring sensory response patterns; social-communicative symptoms of autism; and language, social, and communication skills. Hyporesponsiveness was positively associated with social-communicative symptom severity, with no significant group difference in the association. Hyperresponsiveness was not significantly associated with social-communicative symptom severity. A group difference emerged for sensory seeking and social-communicative symptom severity, with a positive association for the AD group only. For the 2 groups of children combined, hyporesponsiveness was negatively associated with language skills and social adaptive skills. Sensory seeking also was negatively associated with language skills. These associations did not differ between the 2 groups. Aberrant sensory processing may play an important role in the pathogenesis of autism and other DDs as well as in the rate of acquisition of language, social, and communication skills.

Abnormal language-related oscillatory responses in primary progressive aphasia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Kielar

Full Text Available Patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA may react to linguistic stimuli differently than healthy controls, reflecting degeneration of language networks and engagement of compensatory mechanisms. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG to evaluate oscillatory neural responses in sentence comprehension, in patients with PPA and age-matched controls. Participants viewed sentences containing semantically and syntactically anomalous words that evoke distinct oscillatory responses. For age-matched controls, semantic anomalies elicited left-lateralized 8–30 Hz power decreases distributed along ventral brain regions, whereas syntactic anomalies elicited bilateral power decreases in both ventral and dorsal regions. In comparison to controls, patients with PPA showed altered patterns of induced oscillations, characterized by delayed latencies and attenuated amplitude, which were correlated with linguistic impairment measured offline. The recruitment of right hemisphere temporo-parietal areas (also found in controls was correlated with preserved semantic processing abilities, indicating that preserved neural activity in these regions was able to support successful semantic processing. In contrast, syntactic processing was more consistently impaired in PPA, regardless of neural activity patterns, suggesting that this domain of language is particularly vulnerable to the neuronal loss. In addition, we found that delayed peak latencies of oscillatory responses were associated with lower accuracy for detecting semantic anomalies, suggesting that language deficits observed in PPA may be linked to delayed or slowed information processing. Keywords: MEG oscillations, Primary progressive aphasia (PPA, Sentence comprehension

Apparatus for generating nonlinear pulse patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, N.M.I.

Apparatus for generating a plurality of nonlinear pulse patterns from a single linear pulse pattern. A first counter counts the pulses of the linear pulse pattern and a second counter counts the pulses of the nonlinear pulse pattern. A comparator compares the counts of both counters, and in response to an equal count, a gate is enabled to gate a pulse of the linear pattern as a pulse of the nonlinear pattern, the latter also resetting the first counter. Presettable dividers divide the pulses of each pattern before they are counted by the respective counters. Apparatus for generating a logarithmic pulse pattern from a linear pulse pattern to any log base is described. In one embodiment, a shift register is used in place of the second counter to be clocked by each pulse of the logarithmic pattern to generate the pattern. In another embodiment, a memory stores the logarithmic pattern and is addressed by the second counter which is clocked by the pulses of the logarithmic pulse pattern.

Changes in muscle activation patterns in response to enhanced sensory input during treadmill stepping in infants born with myelomeningocele

OpenAIRE

Pantall, Annette; Teulier, Caroline; Ulrich, Beverly D.

2012-01-01

Infants with myelomeningocele (MMC) increase step frequency in response to modifications to the treadmill surface. The aim was to investigate how these modifications impacted the electromyographic (EMG) patterns. We analyzed EMG from 19 infants aged 2–10 months, with MMC at the lumbosacral level. We supported infants upright on the treadmill for 12 trials, each 30 seconds long. Modifications included visual flow, unloading, weights, Velcro and lcriction. Surface electrodes recorded EMG from t...

Movement pattern and physiological response in recreational small-sided football - effect of number of players with a fixed pitch size

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Randers, Morten Bredsgaard; Ørntoft, Christina Øyangen; Hagman, Marie von Ahnen

2018-01-01

Recreational soccer is an effective health-promoting activity, but it is unclear how different game formats influence internal and external load. Thus, to be able to advise how to maximise the outcome of recreational football, we examined movement pattern and physiological response in 11 untrained...... men (32.6 ± 6.7 yrs, 23.3 ± 4.9 fat%, 43.4 ± 5.3 ml·min(-1)·kg(-1)) during three football sessions comprising 4 × 12 min of 3v3, 5v5 or 7v7 with a constant pitch size of 20 × 40 m. Movement pattern, heart rate (HR), blood lactate and RPE were measured during and after the 12-min periods. Greater (P...

Explicitly Questioning the Nature of Suggestibility in Preschoolers' Memory and Retention.

Science.gov (United States)

Newcombe, Peter A.; Siegal, Michael

1997-01-01

Investigated preschoolers' suggestible responses on memory tests. Found that exposure to misleading information produced significantly less accurate responses under nonexplicit questioning in recognizing the original from the misleading information than consistent information exposure. Explicit questioning produced more accuracy at seven weeks…

Patterns for collaborative work in health care teams.

Science.gov (United States)

Grando, Maria Adela; Peleg, Mor; Cuggia, Marc; Glasspool, David

2011-11-01

The problem of designing and managing teams of workers that can collaborate working together towards common goals is a challenging one. Incomplete or ambiguous specification of responsibilities and accountabilities, lack of continuity in teams working in shifts, inefficient organization of teams due to lack of information about workers' competences and lack of clarity to determine if the work is delegated or assigned are examples of important problems related to collaborative work in healthcare teams. Here we address these problems by specifying goal-based patterns for abstracting the delegation and assignment of services. The proposed patterns should provide generic and reusable solutions and be flexible enough to be customizable at run time to the particular context of execution. Most importantly the patterns should support a mechanism for detecting abnormal events (exceptions) and for transferring responsibility and accountability for recovering from exceptions to the appropriate actor. To provide a generic solution to the problematic issues arising from collaborative work in teams of health workers we start from definitions of standard terms relevant for team work: competence, responsibility, and accountability. We make explicit the properties satisfied by service assignment and delegation in terms of competences, responsibilities, and accountability in normal scenarios and abnormal situations that require the enactment of recovery strategies. Based on these definitions we specify (1) a basic terminology, (2) design patterns for service assignment and delegation (with and without supervision), and (3) an exception manager for detecting and recovering from exceptions. We use a formal framework to specify design patterns and exceptions. We have proved using Owicki-Gries Theory that the proposed patterns satisfy the properties that characterize service assignment and delegation in terms of competence, responsibility and accountability in normal and abnormal

Hierarchical Self Assembly of Patterns from the Robinson Tilings: DNA Tile Design in an Enhanced Tile Assembly Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Padilla, Jennifer E; Liu, Wenyan; Seeman, Nadrian C

2012-06-01

We introduce a hierarchical self assembly algorithm that produces the quasiperiodic patterns found in the Robinson tilings and suggest a practical implementation of this algorithm using DNA origami tiles. We modify the abstract Tile Assembly Model, (aTAM), to include active signaling and glue activation in response to signals to coordinate the hierarchical assembly of Robinson patterns of arbitrary size from a small set of tiles according to the tile substitution algorithm that generates them. Enabling coordinated hierarchical assembly in the aTAM makes possible the efficient encoding of the recursive process of tile substitution.

Tree-shoot elongation patterns in a gamma-irradiated northern forest community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buech, R.R.; Salmonson, B.J.

1977-01-01

Shoot elongation in the upper crowns of seven tree species was studied in a gamma-irradiated northern forest community near Rhinelander, Wis. Observations on the pattern and duration of shoot elongation are presented for the irradiation (1972) and postirradiation (1973) growing seasons. The gymnosperm Abies balsamea was the most radiosensitive species. Significant alteration in pattern and duration was observed in 1973 at exposure rates of 4 to 25 r/20-hr day; 31 r/20-hr day was lethal. At the other extreme, 116 r/20-hr day produced no significant effects on Acer saccharum shoot elongation pattern or duration. Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Populus tremuloides, Quercus rubra, and Tilia americana were intermediate in radiosensitivity. Observed responses to radiation were alteration in the elongation pattern, suppression of internodal elongation, and death. Effects of the 1972 growing-season exposure were most obvious in the subsequent growing seasons. Retardation of initial elongation was characteristic of all species. Cessation of elongation was variable, even within species (e.g., P. tremuloides). The results suggest that bud differentiation and morphology and dependency on food reserves contributed to the lag in manifestation of radiation damage. The resultant crown characteristics are described and explained

Encoding of temporal signals by the TGF-β pathway and implications for embryonic patterning

Science.gov (United States)

Sorre, Benoit; Warmflash, Aryeh; Brivanlou, Ali H.; Siggia, Eric D.

2014-01-01

Summary Genetics and biochemistry have defined the components and wiring of the signaling pathways that pattern the embryo. Among them, the TGF-β pathway has the potential to behave as a morphogen: invitro experiments have clearly established that it can dictate cell fate in a concentration dependent manner. How morphogens convey positional information in a developing embryo, where signal levels are changing with time, is less understood. Using integrated microfluidic cell culture and time-lapse microscopy, we demonstrate here that the speed of ligand presentation has a key and previously unexpected influence on TGF-β signaling outcomes. The response to a TGF-β concentration step is transient and adaptive, slowly increasing the ligand concentration diminishes the response and well-spaced pulses of ligand combine additively resulting in greater pathway output than with constant stimulation. Our results suggest that in an embryonic context, the speed of change of ligand concentration is an instructive signal for patterning. PMID:25065773

Sex differences in patterns of genital sexual arousal: measurement artifacts or true phenomena?

Science.gov (United States)

Suschinsky, Kelly D; Lalumière, Martin L; Chivers, Meredith L

2009-08-01

Sex differences in patterns of sexual arousal have been reported recently. Men's genital arousal is typically more category-specific than women's, such that men experience their greatest genital arousal to stimuli depicting their preferred sex partners whereas women experience significant genital arousal to stimuli depicting both their preferred and non-preferred sex partners. In addition, men's genital and subjective sexual arousal patterns are more concordant than women's: The correlation between genital and subjective sexual arousal is much larger in men than in women. These sex differences could be due to low response-specificity in the measurement of genital arousal in women. The most commonly used measure of female sexual arousal, vaginal photoplethysmography, has not been fully validated and may not measure sexual arousal specifically. A total of 20 men and 20 women were presented with various sexual and non-sexual emotionally laden short film clips while their genital and subjective sexual arousal were measured. Results suggest that vaginal photoplethysmography is a measure of sexual arousal exclusively. Women's genital responses were highest during sexual stimuli and absent during all non-sexual stimuli. Sex differences in degree of category-specificity and concordance were replicated: Men's genital responses were more category-specific than women's and men's genital and subjective sexual arousal were more strongly correlated than women's. The results from the current study support the continued use of vaginal photoplethysmography in investigating sex differences in patterns of sexual arousal.

Particles from wood smoke and traffic induce differential pro-inflammatory response patterns in co-cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kocbach, Anette; Herseth, Jan Inge; Lag, Marit; Refsnes, Magne; Schwarze, Per E.

2008-01-01

The inflammatory potential of particles from wood smoke and traffic has not been well elucidated. In this study, a contact co-culture of monocytes and pneumocytes was exposed to 10-40 μg/cm 2 of particles from wood smoke and traffic for 12, 40 and 64 h to determine their influence on pro-inflammatory cytokine release (TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8) and viability. To investigate the role of organic constituents in cytokine release the response to particles, their organic extracts and the washed particles were compared. Antagonists were used to investigate source-dependent differences in intercellular signalling (TNF-α, IL-1). The cytotoxicity was low after exposure to particles from both sources. However, wood smoke, and to a lesser degree traffic-derived particles, induced a reduction in cell number, which was associated with the organic fraction. The release of pro-inflammatory cytokines was similar for both sources after 12 h, but traffic induced a greater release than wood smoke particles with increasing exposure time. The organic fraction accounted for the majority of the cytokine release induced by wood smoke, whereas the washed traffic particles induced a stronger response than the corresponding organic extract. TNF-α and IL-1 antagonists reduced the release of IL-8 induced by particles from both sources. In contrast, the IL-6 release was only reduced by the IL-1 antagonist during exposure to traffic-derived particles. In summary, particles from wood smoke and traffic induced differential pro-inflammatory response patterns with respect to cytokine release and cell number. Moreover, the influence of the organic particle fraction and intercellular signalling on the pro-inflammatory response seemed to be source-dependent

Expression patterns of odorant receptors and response properties of olfactory sensory neurons in aged mice.

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Lee, Anderson C; Tian, Huikai; Grosmaitre, Xavier; Ma, Minghong

2009-10-01

The sense of smell deteriorates in normal aging, but the underling mechanisms are still elusive. Here we investigated age-related alterations in expression patterns of odorant receptor (OR) genes and functional properties of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs)-2 critical factors that define the odor detection threshold in the olfactory epithelium. Using in situ hybridization for 9 representative OR genes, we compared the cell densities of each OR in coronal nose sections at different ages (3-27 months). The cell density for different ORs peaked at different time points and a decline was observed for 6 of 9 ORs at advanced ages. Using patch clamp recordings, we then examined the odorant responses of individual OSNs coexpressing a defined OR (MOR23) and green fluorescent protein. The MOR23 neurons recorded from aged animals maintained a similar sensitivity and dynamic range in response to the cognate odorant (lyral) as those from younger mice. The results indicate that although the cell densities of OSNs expressing certain types of ORs decline at advanced ages, individual OSNs can retain their sensitivity. The implications of these findings in age-related olfactory deterioration are discussed.

Comparing Response Times and Error Rates in a Simultaneous Masking Paradigm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F Hermens

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In simultaneous masking, performance on a foveally presented target is impaired by one or more flanking elements. Previous studies have demonstrated strong effects of the grouping of the target and the flankers on the strength of masking (e.g., Malania, Herzog & Westheimer, 2007. These studies have predominantly examined performance by measuring offset discrimination thresholds as a measure of performance, and it is therefore unclear whether other measures of performance provide similar outcomes. A recent study, which examined the role of grouping on error rates and response times in a speeded vernier offset discrimination task, similar to that used by Malania et al. (2007, suggested a possible dissociation between the two measures, with error rates mimicking threshold performance, but response times showing differential results (Panis & Hermens, 2014. We here report the outcomes of three experiments examining this possible dissociation, and demonstrate an overall similar pattern of results for error rates and response times across a broad range of mask layouts. Moreover, the pattern of results in our experiments strongly correlates with threshold performance reported earlier (Malania et al., 2007. Our results suggest that outcomes in a simultaneous masking paradigm do not critically depend on the outcome measure used, and therefore provide evidence for a common underlying mechanism.

Precision medicine for hepatocelluar carcinoma using molecular pattern diagnostics: results from a preclinical pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Rahul; Cao, Yuan; Hoffmeier, Klaus; Krezdorn, Nicolas; Jost, Lukas; Meisel, Alejandro Rodriguez; Jüngling, Ruth; Dituri, Francesco; Mancarella, Serena; Rotter, Björn; Winter, Peter; Giannelli, Gianluigi

2017-06-08

The aim of this study was to design a road map for personalizing cancer therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by using molecular pattern diagnostics. As an exploratory study, we investigated molecular patterns of tissues of two tumors from individual HCC patients, which in previous experiments had shown contrasting reactions to the phase 2 transforming growth factor beta receptor 1 inhibitor galunisertib. Cancer-driving molecular patterns encompass - inter alias - altered transcription profiles and somatic mutations in coding regions differentiating tumors from their respective peritumoral tissues and from each other. Massive analysis of cDNA ends and all-exome sequencing demonstrate a highly divergent transcriptional and mutational landscape, respectively, for the two tumors, that offers potential explanations for the tumors contrasting responses to galunisertib. Molecular pattern diagnostics (MPDs) suggest alternative, individual-tumor-specific therapies, which in both cases deviate from the standard sorafenib treatment and from each other. Suggested personalized therapies use kinase inhibitors and immune-focused drugs as well as low-toxicity natural compounds identified using an advanced bioinformatics routine included in the MPD protocol. The MPD pipeline we describe here for the prediction of suitable drugs for treatment of two contrasting HCCs may serve as a blueprint for the design of therapies for various types of cancer.

Blood drop patterns: Formation and applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ruoyang; Zhang, Liyuan; Zang, Duyang; Shen, Wei

2016-05-01

The drying of a drop of blood or plasma on a solid substrate leads to the formation of interesting and complex patterns. Inter- and intra-cellular and macromolecular interactions in the drying plasma or blood drop are responsible for the final morphologies of the dried patterns. Changes in these cellular and macromolecular components in blood caused by diseases have been suspected to cause changes in the dried drop patterns of plasma and whole blood, which could be used as simple diagnostic tools to identify the health of humans and livestock. However, complex physicochemical driving forces involved in the pattern formation are not fully understood. This review focuses on the scientific development in microscopic observations and pattern interpretation of dried plasma and whole blood samples, as well as the diagnostic applications of pattern analysis. Dried drop patterns of plasma consist of intricate visible cracks in the outer region and fine structures in the central region, which are mainly influenced by the presence and concentration of inorganic salts and proteins during drying. The shrinkage of macromolecular gel and its adhesion to the substrate surface have been thought to be responsible for the formation of the cracks. Dried drop patterns of whole blood have three characteristic zones; their formation as functions of drying time has been reported in the literature. Some research works have applied engineering treatment to the evaporation process of whole blood samples. The sensitivities of the resultant patterns to the relative humidity of the environment, the wettability of the substrates, and the size of the drop have been reported. These research works shed light on the mechanisms of spreading, evaporation, gelation, and crack formation of the blood drops on solid substrates, as well as on the potential applications of dried drop patterns of plasma and whole blood in diagnosis. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterisation of cell death inducing Phytophthora capsici CRN effectors suggests diverse activities in the host nucleus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remco eStam

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Plant-Microbe interactions are complex associations that feature recognition of Pathogen Associated Molecular Patterns by the plant immune system and dampening of subsequent responses by pathogen encoded secreted effectors. With large effector repertoires now identified in a range of sequenced microbial genomes, much attention centres on understanding their roles in immunity or disease. These studies not only allow identification of pathogen virulence factors and strategies, they also provide an important molecular toolset suited for studying immunity in plants. The Phytophthora intracellular effector repertoire encodes a large class of proteins that translocate into host cells and exclusively target the host nucleus. Recent functional studies have implicated the CRN protein family as an important class of diverse effectors that target distinct subnuclear compartments and modify host cell signalling. Here, we characterised three necrosis inducing CRNs and show that there are differences in the levels of cell death. We show that only expression of CRN20_624 has an additive effect on PAMP induced cell death but not AVR3a induced ETI. Given their distinctive phenotypes, we assessed localisation of each CRN with a set of nuclear markers and found clear differences in CRN subnuclear distribution patterns. These assays also revealed that expression of CRN83_152 leads to a distinct change in nuclear chromatin organisation, suggesting a distinct series of events that leads to cell death upon over-expression. Taken together, our results suggest diverse functions carried by CRN C-termini, which can be exploited to identify novel processes that take place in the host nucleus and are required for immunity or susceptibility.

Multidimensional biochemical information processing of dynamical patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasegawa, Yoshihiko

2018-02-01

Cells receive signaling molecules by receptors and relay information via sensory networks so that they can respond properly depending on the type of signal. Recent studies have shown that cells can extract multidimensional information from dynamical concentration patterns of signaling molecules. We herein study how biochemical systems can process multidimensional information embedded in dynamical patterns. We model the decoding networks by linear response functions, and optimize the functions with the calculus of variations to maximize the mutual information between patterns and output. We find that, when the noise intensity is lower, decoders with different linear response functions, i.e., distinct decoders, can extract much information. However, when the noise intensity is higher, distinct decoders do not provide the maximum amount of information. This indicates that, when transmitting information by dynamical patterns, embedding information in multiple patterns is not optimal when the noise intensity is very large. Furthermore, we explore the biochemical implementations of these decoders using control theory and demonstrate that these decoders can be implemented biochemically through the modification of cascade-type networks, which are prevalent in actual signaling pathways.

Modulation of neuronal responses during covert search for visual feature conjunctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Buracas, Giedrius T; Albright, Thomas D

2009-09-29

While searching for an object in a visual scene, an observer's attentional focus and eye movements are often guided by information about object features and spatial locations. Both spatial and feature-specific attention are known to modulate neuronal responses in visual cortex, but little is known of the dynamics and interplay of these mechanisms as visual search progresses. To address this issue, we recorded from directionally selective cells in visual area MT of monkeys trained to covertly search for targets defined by a unique conjunction of color and motion features and to signal target detection with an eye movement to the putative target. Two patterns of response modulation were observed. One pattern consisted of enhanced responses to targets presented in the receptive field (RF). These modulations occurred at the end-stage of search and were more potent during correct target identification than during erroneous saccades to a distractor in RF, thus suggesting that this modulation is not a mere presaccadic enhancement. A second pattern of modulation was observed when RF stimuli were nontargets that shared a feature with the target. The latter effect was observed during early stages of search and is consistent with a global feature-specific mechanism. This effect often terminated before target identification, thus suggesting that it interacts with spatial attention. This modulation was exhibited not only for motion but also for color cue, although MT neurons are known to be insensitive to color. Such cue-invariant attentional effects may contribute to a feature binding mechanism acting across visual dimensions.

Assessment of the quality and quantity of naturally induced antibody responses to EBA175RIII-V in Ghanaian children living in two communities with varying malaria transmission patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abagna, Hamza B; Acquah, Festus K; Okonu, Ruth

2018-01-01

of malaria parasites, which can enhance immune responses against parasite antigens. This study determined the prevalence and relative avidities of naturally induced antibodies to EBA175RIII-VLl in asymptomatic children living in two communities with varying malaria transmission patterns. METHODS: An asexual...... each study site however, children living in Obom had significantly higher EBA175RIII-VLl antibody concentrations than children living in Abura (P 0.05, Mann-Whitney test). Over the course of the study, the relative antibody avidities of EBA175RIII-VLl IgG antibodies were similar within and between......BACKGROUND: Recent global reports on malaria suggest significant decrease in disease severity and an increase in control interventions in many malaria endemic countries, including Ghana. However, a major driving force sustaining malaria transmission in recent times is the asymptomatic carriage...

A Western Dietary Pattern Increases Prostate Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Fabiani, Roberto; Minelli, Liliana; Bertarelli, Gaia; Bacci, Silvia

2016-10-12

Dietary patterns were recently applied to examine the relationship between eating habits and prostate cancer (PC) risk. While the associations between PC risk with the glycemic index and Mediterranean score have been reviewed, no meta-analysis is currently available on dietary patterns defined by "a posteriori" methods. A literature search was carried out (PubMed, Web of Science) to identify studies reporting the relationship between dietary patterns and PC risk. Relevant dietary patterns were selected and the risks estimated were calculated by a random-effect model. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs), for a first-percentile increase in dietary pattern score, were combined by a dose-response meta-analysis. Twelve observational studies were included in the meta-analysis which identified a "Healthy pattern" and a "Western pattern". The Healthy pattern was not related to PC risk (OR = 0.96; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88-1.04) while the Western pattern significantly increased it (OR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.08-1.65). In addition, the "Carbohydrate pattern", which was analyzed in four articles, was positively associated with a higher PC risk (OR = 1.64; 95% CI: 1.35-2.00). A significant linear trend between the Western ( p = 0.011) pattern, the Carbohydrate ( p = 0.005) pattern, and the increment of PC risk was observed. The small number of studies included in the meta-analysis suggests that further investigation is necessary to support these findings.

DNA methylation patterns of genes related to immune response in the different clinical forms of oral lichen planus.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Aline Fernanda; de Resende, Renata Gonçalves; de Lacerda, Júlio César Tanos; Pereira, Núbia Braga; Melo, Leonardo Augusto; Diniz, Marina Gonçalves; Gomes, Carolina Cavalieri; Gomez, Ricardo Santiago

2018-01-01

The oral lichen planus is a chronic inflammatory disease. Although its aetiology is not well understood, the role of T lymphocytes in its inflammatory events is recognised. Identifying the epigenetic mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this immune-mediated condition is fundamental for understanding the inflammatory reaction that occurs in the disease. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the methylation pattern of 21 immune response-related genes in the different clinical forms of oral lichen planus. A cross-sectional study was performed to analyse the DNA methylation patterns in three distinct groups of oral lichen planus: (i) reticular/plaque lesions; (ii) erosive lesions; (iii) normal oral mucosa (control group). After DNA extraction from biopsies, the samples were submitted to digestions by methylation-sensitive and methylation-dependent enzymes and double digestion. The relative percentage of methylated DNA for each gene was provided using real-time polymerase chain reaction arrays. Hypermethylation of the STAT5A gene was observed only in the control group (59.0%). A higher hypermethylation of the ELANE gene was found in reticular/plaque lesions (72.1%) compared to the erosive lesions (50.0%). Our results show variations in the methylation profile of immune response-related genes, according to the clinical type of oral lichen planus after comparing with the normal oral mucosa. Further studies are necessary to validate these findings using gene expression analysis. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Understanding hypnosis metacognitively: rTMS applied to left DLPFC increases hypnotic suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Dienes, Zoltan; Hutton, Sam

2013-02-01

According to the cold control theory of hypnosis (Dienes and Perner, 2007), hypnotic response occurs because of inaccurate higher order thoughts of intending. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a region likely involved in constructing accurate higher order thoughts. Thus, disrupting DLPFC with low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) should make it harder to be aware of intending to perform an action. That is, it should be easier to respond to a hypnotic suggestion. Twenty-four medium hypnotisable subjects received low frequency rTMS to the left DLPFC and to a control site, the vertex, in counterbalanced order. The hypnotist was blind to which site had been stimulated. Subjects rated how strongly they expected to respond to each suggestion, and gave ratings on a 0-5 scale of the extent to which they experienced the response, for four suggestions (magnetic hands, arm levitation, rigid arm and taste hallucination). The experimenter also rated behavioural response. Low frequency rTMS to the DLPFC rather than vertex increased the degree of combined behavioural and subjective response. Further, subjects did not differ in their expectancy that they would respond in the two conditions, so the rTMS had an effect on hypnotic response above and beyond expectancies. The results support theories, including cold control theory, postulating a component of hypofrontality in hypnotic response. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cuttlefish dynamic camouflage: responses to substrate choice and integration of multiple visual cues.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Justine J; Mäthger, Lydia M; Barbosa, Alexandra; Buresch, Kendra C; Sogin, Emilia; Schwartz, Jillian; Chubb, Charles; Hanlon, Roger T

2010-04-07

Prey camouflage is an evolutionary response to predation pressure. Cephalopods have extensive camouflage capabilities and studying them can offer insight into effective camouflage design. Here, we examine whether cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, show substrate or camouflage pattern preferences. In the first two experiments, cuttlefish were presented with a choice between different artificial substrates or between different natural substrates. First, the ability of cuttlefish to show substrate preference on artificial and natural substrates was established. Next, cuttlefish were offered substrates known to evoke three main camouflage body pattern types these animals show: Uniform or Mottle (function by background matching); or Disruptive. In a third experiment, cuttlefish were presented with conflicting visual cues on their left and right sides to assess their camouflage response. Given a choice between substrates they might encounter in nature, we found no strong substrate preference except when cuttlefish could bury themselves. Additionally, cuttlefish responded to conflicting visual cues with mixed body patterns in both the substrate preference and split substrate experiments. These results suggest that differences in energy costs for different camouflage body patterns may be minor and that pattern mixing and symmetry may play important roles in camouflage.

Sleep/wake firing patterns of human genioglossus motor units.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, E Fiona; Fridel, Keith W; Rice, Amber D

2007-12-01

Although studies of the principal tongue protrudor muscle genioglossus (GG) suggest that whole muscle GG electromyographic (EMG) activities are preserved in nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, it is unclear what influence sleep exerts on individual GG motor unit (MU) activities. We characterized the firing patterns of human GG MUs in wakefulness and NREM sleep with the aim of determining 1) whether the range of MU discharge patterns evident in wakefulness is preserved in sleep and 2) what effect the removal of the "wakefulness" input has on the magnitude of the respiratory modulation of MU activities. Microelectrodes inserted into the extrinsic tongue protrudor muscle, the genioglossus, were used to follow the discharge of single MUs. We categorized MU activities on the basis of the temporal relationship between the spike train and the respiration cycle and quantified the magnitude of the respiratory modulation of each MU using the eta (eta(2)) index, in wakefulness and sleep. The majority of MUs exhibited subtle increases or decreases in respiratory modulation but were otherwise unaffected by NREM sleep. In contrast, 30% of MUs exhibited marked sleep-associated changes in discharge frequency and respiratory modulation. We suggest that GG MUs should not be considered exclusively tonic or phasic; rather, the discharge pattern appears to be a flexible feature of GG activities in healthy young adults. Whether such flexibility is important in the response to changes in the chemical and/or mechanical environment and whether it is preserved as a function of aging or in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea are critical questions for future research.

Emergence time and skin melanin spot patterns do not correlate with growth performance, social competitive ability or stress response in farmed rainbow trout

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gesto, Manuel; Skov, Peter Vilhelm; Jokumsen, Alfred

2017-01-01

dissimilarities in the acute stress responses, emergence fraction displayed no correlation with growth rates, or the ability to compete for feed. Within the whole group of fish utilized in the experiments, no relationship between skinmelanin spot pattern and growth performance, stress response intensity......, or competitive ability was found. Altogether, the differences in physiological traits related to emergence time were not as strong as those found in earlier studies. It is hypothesized, that the origin and degree of domestication of the fish might be partly responsible for this. The predictive value of skin...... spots or emergence time to infer the fish stress coping style in farmed fish is also discussed...

Responses Following Sexual and Non-Sexual Assault.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothbaum, Barbara Olasov; And Others

Assault victims exhibit a variety of emotional responses including fear, depression, and sexual impairment. For most assault victims, these responses decline over time. This study examined the pattern of post-assault responses during the first 12 weeks and compared the pattern of responses following rape with non-sexual criminal assault reactions.…

Specific gene expression responses to parasite genotypes reveal redundancy of innate immunity in vertebrates.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Haase

Full Text Available Vertebrate innate immunity is the first line of defense against an invading pathogen and has long been assumed to be largely unspecific with respect to parasite/pathogen species. However, recent phenotypic evidence suggests that immunogenetic variation, i.e. allelic variability in genes associated with the immune system, results in host-parasite genotype-by-genotype interactions and thus specific innate immune responses. Immunogenetic variation is common in all vertebrate taxa and this reflects an effective immunological function in complex environments. However, the underlying variability in host gene expression patterns as response of innate immunity to within-species genetic diversity of macroparasites in vertebrates is unknown. We hypothesized that intra-specific variation among parasite genotypes must be reflected in host gene expression patterns. Here we used high-throughput RNA-sequencing to examine the effect of parasite genotypes on gene expression patterns of a vertebrate host, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus. By infecting naïve fish with distinct trematode genotypes of the species Diplostomum pseudospathaceum we show that gene activity of innate immunity in three-spined sticklebacks depended on the identity of an infecting macroparasite genotype. In addition to a suite of genes indicative for a general response against the trematode we also find parasite-strain specific gene expression, in particular in the complement system genes, despite similar infection rates of single clone treatments. The observed discrepancy between infection rates and gene expression indicates the presence of alternative pathways which execute similar functions. This suggests that the innate immune system can induce redundant responses specific to parasite genotypes.

On Suggestibility and Placebo: A Follow-Up Study.

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Lifshitz, Michael; Sheiner, Eli O; Olson, Jay A; Thériault, Rémi; Raz, Amir

2017-04-01

Identifying what makes some people respond well to placebos remains a major challenge. Here, we attempt to replicate an earlier study in which we found a relationship between hypnotic suggestibility and subjective ratings of relaxation following the ingestion of a placebo sedative (Sheiner, Lifshitz, & Raz, 2016). To assess the reliability of this effect, we tested 34 participants using a similar design. Participants ingested a placebo capsule in one of two conditions: (1) relaxation, wherein we described the capsule as a herbal sedative, or (2) control, wherein we described the capsule as inert. To index placebo response, we collected measures of blood pressure and heart rate, as well as self-report ratings of relaxation and drowsiness. Despite using a similar experimental design as in our earlier study, we were unable to replicate the correlation between hypnotic suggestibility and placebo response. Furthermore, whereas in our former experiment we observed a change in subjective ratings of relaxation but no change in physiological measures, here we found that heart rate dropped in the relaxation condition while subjective ratings remained unchanged. Even within a consistent context of relaxation, therefore, our present results indicate that placebos may induce effects that are fickle, tenuous, and unreliable. Although we had low statistical power, our findings tentatively accord with the notion that placebo response likely involves a complex, multifaceted interaction between traits, expectancies, and contexts.

Behavioural responses of the yellow emitting annelid Tomopteris helgolandica to photic stimuli.

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Gouveneaux, Anaïd; Gielen, Marie-Charlotte; Mallefet, Jérôme

2018-05-01

In contrast to most mesopelagic bioluminescent organisms specialised in the emission and reception of blue light, the planktonic annelid Tomopteris helgolandica produces yellow light. This unusual feature has long been suggested to serve for intraspecific communication. Yet, this virtually admitted hypothesis has never been tested. In this behavioural study of spectral colour sensitivity, we first present an illustrated repertoire of the postures and action patterns described by captive specimens. Then video tracking and motion analysis are used to quantify the behavioural responses of singled out worms to photic stimuli imitating intraspecific (yellow) or interspecific (blue) bioluminescent signals. We show the ability of T. helgolandica to react and to contrast its responses to bioluminescent-like blue and yellow light signals. In particular, the attractive effect of yellow light and the variation of angular velocity observed according to the pattern of yellow stimuli (flashes versus glows) support the intraspecific communication hypothesis. However, given the behavioural patterns of T. helgolandica, including mechanically induced light emission, the possibility that bioluminescence may be part of escape/defence responses to predation, should remain an open question. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

State responses to biotechnology.

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Harris, Rebecca C

2015-01-01

This article reviews biotechnology legislation in the 50 states for 11 policy areas spanning 1990-2010, an era of immense growth in biotechnology, genetic knowledge, and significant policy development. Policies regarding health insurance, life insurance, long-term care insurance, DNA data bank collection, biotech research protection, biotech promotion and support, employment discrimination, genetic counselor licensing, human cloning, and genetic privacy each represent major policy responses arising from biotechnology and coinciding with key areas of state regulation (insurance, criminal justice, economic development, labor law, health and safety, privacy, and property rights). This analysis seeks to answer three questions regarding biotechnology legislation at the state level: who is acting (policy adoption), when is policy adopted (policy timing), and what is policy doing (policy content). Theoretical concerns examine state ideology (conservative or liberal), policy type (economic or moral), and the role of external events (federal law, news events, etc.) on state policy adoption. Findings suggest ideological patterns in adoption, timing, and content of biotech policy. Findings also suggest economic policies tend to be more uniform in content than moral policies, and findings also document a clear link between federal policy development, external events, and state policy response.

Distinct Trajectories of Cortisol Response to Prolonged Acute Stress Are Linked to Affective Responses and Hippocampal Gray Matter Volume in Healthy Females.

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Admon, Roee; Treadway, Michael T; Valeri, Linda; Mehta, Malavika; Douglas, Samuel; Pizzagalli, Diego A

2017-08-16

The development of robust laboratory procedures for acute stress induction over the last decades has greatly advanced our understanding of stress responses in humans and their underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Nevertheless, attempts to uncover linear relationships among endocrine, neural, and affective responses to stress have generally yielded inconsistent results. Here, 79 healthy females completed a well established laboratory procedure of acute stress induction that was modified to prolong its effect. Endocrinological and subjective affect assessments revealed stress-induced increases in cortisol release and negative affect that persisted 65 and 100 min after stress onset, respectively, confirming a relatively prolonged acute stress induction. Applying latent class linear mixed modeling on individuals' patterns of cortisol responses identified three distinct trajectories of cortisol response: the hyper-response ( n = 10), moderate-response ( n = 21), and mild-response ( n = 48) groups. Notably, whereas all three groups exhibited a significant stress-induced increase in cortisol release and negative affect, the hyper-response and mild-response groups both reported more negative affect relative to the moderate-response group. Structural MRI revealed no group differences in hippocampal and amygdala volumes, yet a continuous measure of cortisol response (area under the curve) showed that high and low levels of stress-induced cortisol release were associated with less hippocampal gray matter volume compared with moderate cortisol release. Together, these results suggest that distinct trajectories of cortisol response to prolonged acute stress among healthy females may not be captured by conventional linear analyses; instead, quadratic relations may better describe links between cortisol response to stress and affective responses, as well as hippocampal structural variability. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Despite substantial research, it is unclear whether and how

Validity of in vitro tests on aqueous spray pumps as surrogates for nasal deposition, absorption, and biologic response.

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Suman, Julie D; Laube, Beth L; Dalby, Richard

2006-01-01

This research investigated the impact of the full range of in vitro spray characterization tests described in the FDA Draft Bioequivalence Guidance on nasal deposition pattern, pharmacokinetics, and biological response to nicotine administered by two aqueous nasal spray pumps in human volunteers. Nicotine was selected as a model drug (even though it is not locally acting) based on its ability to alter cardiac function and available plasma assay. Significant differences in pump performance-including mean volume diameters, spray angle, spray width, and ovality ratios-were observed between the two pumps. There were no significant differences in deposition pattern, or pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic response to the nasally administered nicotine. Although there were statistical differences in the in vitro tests between the two pumps, these differences did not result in significant alterations in the site of droplet deposition within the nose, the rate and extent of nicotine absorption, or the physiologic response it induced. These results suggest that current measures of in vitro performance, particularly spray angle and spray pattern (ovality), may not be clinically relevant. Additional research is needed to define what spray pump characteristics are likely to produce differences in deposition pattern and drug response.

Legacy nutrient dynamics and patterns of catchment response under changing land use and management

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Attinger, S.; Van, M. K.; Basu, N. B.

2017-12-01

Watersheds are complex heterogeneous systems that store, transform, and release water and nutrients under a broad distribution of both natural and anthropogenic controls. Many current watershed models, from complex numerical models to simpler reservoir-type models, are considered to be well-developed in their ability to predict fluxes of water and nutrients to streams and groundwater. They are generally less adept, however, at capturing watershed storage dynamics. In other words, many current models are run with an assumption of steady-state dynamics, and focus on nutrient flows rather than changes in nutrient stocks within watersheds. Although these commonly used modeling approaches may be able to adequately capture short-term watershed dynamics, they are unable to represent the clear nonlinearities or hysteresis responses observed in watersheds experiencing significant changes in nutrient inputs. To address such a lack, we have, in the present work, developed a parsimonious modeling approach designed to capture long-term catchment responses to spatial and temporal changes in nutrient inputs. In this approach, we conceptualize the catchment as a biogeochemical reactor that is driven by nutrient inputs, characterized internally by both biogeochemical degradation and residence or travel time distributions, resulting in a specific nutrient output. For the model simulations, we define a range of different scenarios to represent real-world changes in land use and management implemented to improve water quality. We then introduce the concept of state-space trajectories to describe system responses to these potential changes in anthropogenic forcings. We also increase model complexity, in a stepwise fashion, by dividing the catchment into multiple biogeochemical reactors, coupled in series or in parallel. Using this approach, we attempt to answer the following questions: (1) What level of model complexity is needed to capture observed system responses? (2) How can we

Exercise effects on lipids in persons with varying dietary patterns - Does diet matter if they exercise? Responses in STRRIDE I

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Huffman, Kim M.; Hawk, Victoria H.; Henes, Sarah T.; Ocampo, Christine I.; Orenduff, Melissa C.; Slentz, Cris A.; Johnson, Johanna L.; Houmard, Joseph A.; Samsa, Gregory P.; Kraus, William E.; Bales, Connie W.

2012-01-01

Background The standard clinical approach for reducing cardiovascular disease risk due to dyslipidemia is to prescribe changes in diet and physical activity. The purpose of the current study was to determine if, across a range of dietary patterns, there were variable lipoprotein responses to an aerobic exercise training intervention. Methods Subjects were participants in the Studies of a Targeted Risk Reduction Intervention through Defined Exercise (STRRIDE I), a supervised exercise program in sedentary, overweight subjects randomized to 6 months of inactivity or one of 3 aerobic exercise programs. To characterize diet patterns observed during the study, we calculated a modified z-score that included intakes of total fat, saturated fat, trans fatty acids, cholesterol, omega-3 fatty acids and fiber as compared to the 2006 AHA diet recommendations. Linear models were used to evaluate relationships between diet patterns and exercise effects on lipoproteins/lipids. Results Independent of diet, exercise had beneficial effects on LDL-cholesterol particle number, LDL-cholesterol size, HDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol size, and triglycerides (Pdiet pattern that closely adhered to AHA recommendations was not related to changes in these or any other serum lipids or lipoproteins in any of the exercise groups. Conclusions We found that even in sedentary individuals whose habitual diets vary in the extent of adherence to AHA dietary recommendations, a rigorous, supervised exercise intervention can achieve significant beneficial lipid effects. PMID:22795291

In vivo evidence suggesting reciprocal renal hypoxia-inducible factor-1 upregulation and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 activation in response to hypoxic and non-hypoxic stimuli.

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Nechemia-Arbely, Yael; Khamaisi, Mogher; Rosenberger, Christian; Koesters, Robert; Shina, Ahuva; Geva, Carmit; Shriki, Anat; Klaus, Stephen; Rosen, Seymour; Rose-John, Stefan; Galun, Eithan; Axelrod, Jonathan H; Heyman, Samuel N

2013-04-01

In vitro studies suggest that combined activation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) promotes the hypoxia response. However, their interrelationship in vivo remains poorly defined. The present study investigated the possible relationship between HIF-1 upregulation and STAT3 activation in the rodent kidney in vivo. Activation of HIF-1 and STAT3 was analysed by immunohistochemical staining and western blot analysis in: (i) models of hypoxia-associated kidney injury induced by radiocontrast media or rhabdomyolysis; (ii) following activation of STAT3 by the interleukin (IL)-6-soluble IL-6 receptor complex; or (iii) following HIF-1α stabilization using hypoxic and non-hypoxic stimuli (mimosine, FG-4497, CO, CoCl(2)) and in targeted von Hippel-Lindau-knockout mice. Western blot analysis and immunostaining revealed marked induction of both transcription factors under all conditions tested, suggesting that in vivo STAT3 can trigger HIF and vice versa. Colocalization of HIF-1α and phosphorylated STAT3 was detected in some, but not all, renal cell types, suggesting that in some cells a paracrine mechanism may be responsible for the reciprocal activation of the two transcription factors. Nevertheless, in several cell types spatial concordance was observed under the majority of conditions tested, suggesting that HIF-1 and STAT3 may act as cotranscription factors. These in vivo studies suggest that, in response to renal hypoxic-stress, upregulation of HIF-1 and activation of STAT3 may be both reciprocal and cell type dependent. © 2013 The Authors Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Dissociation, personality, suggestibility, alexithymia, and problems with emotional regulation: A correlational study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ángeles Serrano

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The present paper explores the relationship between psychological and somatic dissociation and different personality and emotional variables, including suggestibility, alexithymia, and emotional regulation and dysregulation. The results with a sample of 355 partipants of a normal population reveal that there is a positive relationship between both types of dissociation, suggestibility and emotional dysregulation. Likewise, there were different patterns of personality associated both to psychological and somatic dissociation. Correlations found in this study put forward the importance to take into account both types of dissociactive symptoms, psychological and somatic ones.

Exploring networks of activism on corporate social responsibility: Suggestions for a research agenda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Bakker, F.G.A.

2012-01-01

One increasingly important development for which firms need to find innovative solutions is the growing attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The shaping of CSR can be seen as a process in which firms and a variety of other actors are involved. This paper highlights the role of

Seasonal climate change patterns due to cumulative CO2 emissions

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Partanen, Antti-Ilari; Leduc, Martin; Damon Matthews, H.

2017-07-01

Cumulative CO2 emissions are near linearly related to both global and regional changes in annual-mean surface temperature. These relationships are known as the transient climate response to cumulative CO2 emissions (TCRE) and the regional TCRE (RTCRE), and have been shown to remain approximately constant over a wide range of cumulative emissions. Here, we assessed how well this relationship holds for seasonal patterns of temperature change, as well as for annual-mean and seasonal precipitation patterns. We analyzed an idealized scenario with CO2 concentration growing at an annual rate of 1% using data from 12 Earth system models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Seasonal RTCRE values for temperature varied considerably, with the highest seasonal variation evident in the Arctic, where RTCRE was about 5.5 °C per Tt C for boreal winter and about 2.0 °C per Tt C for boreal summer. Also the precipitation response in the Arctic during boreal winter was stronger than during other seasons. We found that emission-normalized seasonal patterns of temperature change were relatively robust with respect to time, though they were sub-linear with respect to emissions particularly near the Arctic. Moreover, RTCRE patterns for precipitation could not be quantified robustly due to the large internal variability of precipitation. Our results suggest that cumulative CO2 emissions are a useful metric to predict regional and seasonal changes in precipitation and temperature. This extension of the TCRE framework to seasonal and regional climate change is helpful for communicating the link between emissions and climate change to policy-makers and the general public, and is well-suited for impact studies that could make use of estimated regional-scale climate changes that are consistent with the carbon budgets associated with global temperature targets.

Searching for serial refreshing in working memory: Using response times to track the content of the focus of attention over time.

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Vergauwe, Evie; Hardman, Kyle O; Rouder, Jeffrey N; Roemer, Emily; McAllaster, Sara; Cowan, Nelson

2016-12-01

One popular idea is that, to support the maintenance of a set of elements over brief periods of time, the focus of attention rotates among the different elements, thereby serially refreshing the content of working memory (WM). In the research reported here, probe letters were presented between to-be-remembered letters, and response times to these probes were used to infer the status of the different items in WM. If the focus of attention cycles from one item to the next, its content should be different at different points in time, and this should be reflected in a change in the response time patterns over time. Across a set of four experiments, we demonstrated a striking pattern of invariance in the response time patterns over time, suggesting either that the content of the focus of attention did not change over time or that response times cannot be used to infer the content of the focus of attention. We discuss how this pattern constrains models of WM, attention, and human information processing.

Is high hypnotic suggestibility necessary for successful hypnotic pain intervention?

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Milling, Leonard S

2008-04-01

Hypnotic suggestibility is a trait-like, individual difference variable reflecting the general tendency to respond to hypnosis and hypnotic suggestions. Research with standardized measures of hypnotic suggestibility has demonstrated that there are substantial individual differences in this variable. Higher suggestibility has been found to be associated with greater relief from hypnotic pain interventions. Although individuals in the high suggestibility range show the strongest response to hypnotic analgesia, people of medium suggestibility, who represent approximately one third of the population, also have been found to obtain significant relief from hypnosis. Thus, high hypnotic suggestibility is not necessary for successful hypnotic pain intervention. However, the available evidence does not support the efficacy of hypnotic pain interventions for people who fall in the low hypnotic suggestibility range. However, some studies suggest that these individuals may benefit from imaginative analgesia suggestions, or suggestions for pain reduction that are delivered while the person is not in hypnosis.

Science's disparate responsibilities: Patterns across European countries.

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Mejlgaard, Niels

2018-04-01

It is a distinctive feature of European science policy that science is expected to meet economic and broader societal objectives simultaneously. Science should be governed democratically and take significant responsibilities towards the economy, the political system and civil society, but the coherency of these multiple claims is underexplored. Using metrics that emerge from both quantitative and qualitative studies, we examine the interrelatedness of different responsibilities at the level of countries. A total of 33 European Union member states and associated countries are included in the analysis. We find no trade-off between economic and broader societal contributions. Europe is, however, characterised by major divisions in terms of the location of science in society. There is a significant East-West divide, and Europe appears to be far from accomplishing an integrated European Research Area.

Single cell analysis of innate cytokine responses to pattern recognition receptor stimulation in children across four continents

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Smolen, Kinga K; Cai, Bing; Fortuno, Edgardo S; Gelinas, Laura; Larsen, Martin; Speert, David P; Chamekh, Mustapha; Kollmann, Tobias R

2014-01-01

Innate immunity instructs adaptive immunity, and suppression of innate immunity is associated with increased risk for infection. We had previously shown that whole blood cellular components from a cohort of South African children secreted significantly lower levels of most cytokines following stimulation of pattern recognition receptors (PRR) as compared to whole blood from cohorts of Ecuadorian, Belgian, or Canadian children. To begin dissecting the responsible molecular mechanisms, we now set out to identify the relevant cellular source of these differences. Across the four cohorts represented in our study, we identified significant variation in the cellular composition of whole blood; however, significant reduction of the intracellular cytokine production on the single cell level was only detected in South African childrens’ monocytes, cDC, and pDC. We also uncovered a marked reduction in polyfunctionality for each of these cellular compartments in South African children as compared to children from other continents. Together our data identify differences in cell composition as well as profoundly lower functional responses of innate cells in our cohort of South African children. A possible link between altered innate immunity and increased risk for infection or lower response to vaccines in South African infants needs to be explored. PMID:25135829

Types of suggestibility: Relationships among compliance, indirect, and direct suggestibility.

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Polczyk, Romuald; Pasek, Tomasz

2006-10-01

It is commonly believed that direct suggestibility, referring to overt influence, and indirect suggestibility, in which the intention to influence is hidden, correlate poorly. This study demonstrates that they are substantially related, provided that they tap similar areas of influence. Test results from 103 students, 55 women and 48 men, were entered into regression analyses. Indirect suggestibility, as measured by the Sensory Suggestibility Scale for Groups, and compliance, measured by the Gudjonsson Compliance Scale, were predictors of direct suggestibility, assessed with the Barber Suggestibility Scale. Spectral analyses showed that indirect suggestibility is more related to difficult tasks on the BSS, but compliance is more related to easy tasks on this scale.

Theory of Mind, Inhibitory Control, and Preschool-Age Children's Suggestibility in Different Interviewing Contexts

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Scullin, Matthew H.; Bonner, Karri

2006-01-01

The current study examined the relations among 3- to 5-year-olds' theory of mind, inhibitory control, and three measures of suggestibility: yielding to suggestive questions (yield), shifting answers in response to negative feedback (shift), and accuracy in response to misleading questions during a pressured interview about a live event. Theory of…

Dietary patterns, food groups, and rectal cancer risk in Whites and African-Americans.

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Williams, Christina Dawn; Satia, Jessie A; Adair, Linda S; Stevens, June; Galanko, Joseph; Keku, Temitope O; Sandler, Robert S

2009-05-01

Associations between individual foods and nutrients and colorectal cancer have been inconsistent, and few studies have examined associations between food, nutrients, dietary patterns, and rectal cancer. We examined the relationship between food groups and dietary patterns and risk for rectal cancer in non-Hispanic Whites and African-Americans. Data were from the North Carolina Colon Cancer Study-Phase II and included 1,520 Whites (720 cases, 800 controls) and 384 African-Americans (225 cases, 159 controls). Diet was assessed using the Diet History Questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Among Whites, non-whole grains and white potatoes were associated with elevated risk for rectal cancer whereas fruit, vegetables, dairy, fish, and poultry were associated with reduced risk. In African-Americans, high consumption of other fruit and added sugar suggested elevated risk. We identified three major dietary patterns in Whites and African-Americans. The high fat/meat/potatoes pattern was observed in both race groups but was only positively associated with risk in Whites (odds ratio, 1.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-3.15). The vegetable/fish/poultry and fruit/whole grain/dairy patterns in Whites had significant inverse associations with risk. In African-Americans, there was a positive dose-response for the fruit/vegetables pattern (P(trend) pattern (P(trend) dietary patterns with rectal cancer risk differ between Whites and African-Americans, highlighting the importance of examining diet and cancer relationships in racially diverse populations.

Multivariate patterns of biochemical responses of Pinus ponderosa trees at field plots in the San Bernardino Mountains, southern California.

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Tausz, M; Bytnerowicz, A; Arbaugh, M J; Wonisch, A; Grill, D

2001-03-01

Most environmental stress conditions promote the production of potentially toxic active oxygen species in plant cells. Plants respond with changes in their antioxidant and photoprotective systems. Antioxidants and pigments have been widely used to measure these responses. Because trees are exposed to multiple man-made and natural stresses, their responses are not reflected by changes in single stress markers, but by complex biochemical changes. To evaluate such response patterns, explorative multivariate statistics have been used. In the present study, 12 biochemical variables (chloroplast pigments, state of the xanthophyll cycle, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbate and dehydroascorbate, glutathione and oxidized glutathione) were measured in previous-year needles of field-grown Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws. The trees were sampled in two consecutive years in the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California, where a pollution gradient is overlaid by gradients in natural stresses (drought, altitude). To explore irradiance effects, needle samples were taken directly in the field (sun exposed) and from detached, dark-adapted branches. A principal component analysis on this data set (n = 80) resulted in four components (Components 1-4) that explained 67% of the variance in the original data. Component 1 was positively loaded by concentrations of alpha-tocopherol, total ascorbate and xanthophyll cycle pools, as well as by the proportion of de-epoxides in the xanthophyll cycle. It was negatively loaded by the proportion of dehydroascorbate in the ascorbate pool. Component 2 was negatively loaded by chlorophyll concentrations, and positively loaded by the ratios of lutein and beta-carotene to chlorophyll and by the de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle. Component 3 was negatively loaded by GSH concentrations and positively loaded by the proportions of GSSG and tocopherol concentrations. Component 4 was positively loaded by neoxanthin and negatively loaded by beta

Local processes and regional patterns - Interpreting a multi-decadal altimetry record of Greenland Ice Sheet changes

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Csatho, B. M.; Schenk, A. F.; Babonis, G. S.; van den Broeke, M. R.; Kuipers Munneke, P.; van der Veen, C. J.; Khan, S. A.; Porter, D. F.

2016-12-01

This study presents a new, comprehensive reconstruction of Greenland Ice Sheet elevation changes, generated using the Surface Elevation And Change detection (SERAC) approach. 35-year long elevation-change time series (1980-2015) were obtained at more than 150,000 locations from observations acquired by NASA's airborne and spaceborne laser altimeters (ATM, LVIS, ICESat), PROMICE laser altimetry data (2007-2011) and a DEM covering the ice sheet margin derived from stereo aerial photographs (1970s-80s). After removing the effect of Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) and the elastic crustal response to changes in ice loading, the time series were partitioned into changes due to surface processes and ice dynamics and then converted into mass change histories. Using gridded products, we examined ice sheet elevation, and mass change patterns, and compared them with other estimates at different scales from individual outlet glaciers through large drainage basins, on to the entire ice sheet. Both the SERAC time series and the grids derived from these time series revealed significant spatial and temporal variations of dynamic mass loss and widespread intermittent thinning, indicating the complexity of ice sheet response to climate forcing. To investigate the regional and local controls of ice dynamics, we examined thickness change time series near outlet glacier grounding lines. Changes on most outlet glaciers were consistent with one or more episodes of dynamic thinning that propagates upstream from the glacier terminus. The spatial pattern of the onset, duration, and termination of these dynamic thinning events suggest a regional control, such as warming ocean and air temperatures. However, the intricate spatiotemporal pattern of dynamic thickness change suggests that, regardless of the forcing responsible for initial glacier acceleration and thinning, the response of individual glaciers is modulated by local conditions. We use statistical methods, such as principal

Dissociative tendencies and individual differences in high hypnotic suggestibility.

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Terhune, Devin Blair; Cardeña, Etzel; Lindgren, Magnus

2011-03-01

Inconsistencies in the relationship between dissociation and hypnosis may result from heterogeneity among highly suggestible individuals, in particular the existence of distinct highly suggestible subtypes that are of relevance to models of psychopathology and the consequences of trauma. This study contrasted highly suggestible subtypes high or low in dissociation on measures of hypnotic responding, cognitive functioning, and psychopathology. Twenty-one low suggestible (LS), 19 low dissociative highly suggestible (LDHS), and 11 high dissociative highly suggestible (HDHS) participants were administered hypnotic suggestibility scales and completed measures of free recall, working memory capacity, imagery, fantasy-proneness, psychopathology, and exposure to stressful life events. HDHS participants were more responsive to positive and negative hallucination suggestions and experienced greater involuntariness during hypnotic responding. They also exhibited impaired working memory capacity, elevated pathological fantasy and dissociative symptomatology, and a greater incidence of exposure to stressful life events. In contrast, LDHS participants displayed superior object visual imagery. These results provide further evidence for two highly suggestible subtypes: a dissociative subtype characterised by deficits in executive functioning and a predisposition to psychopathology, and a subtype that exhibits superior imagery and no observable deficits in functioning.

Searching for Truth: Internet Search Patterns as a Method of Investigating Online Responses to a Russian Illicit Drug Policy Debate

OpenAIRE

Zheluk, Andrey; Gillespie, James A; Quinn, Casey

2012-01-01

Background This is a methodological study investigating the online responses to a national debate over an important health and social problem in Russia. Russia is the largest Internet market in Europe, exceeding Germany in the absolute number of users. However, Russia is unusual in that the main search provider is not Google, but Yandex. Objective This study had two main objectives. First, to validate Yandex search patterns against those provided by Google, and second, to test this method's a...

The PWR loading pattern optimization in X-IMAGE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stevens, J.G.; Smith, K.S.; Rempe, K.R.; Downar, T.J.

1993-01-01

The design of reactor core loading patterns is difficult due to the staggering number of patterns. The integer nature and nonlinear neutronic response of core design preclude simple prescriptions for generation of the feasible patterns, much less optimization among feasible candidates. Fortunately, recent developments in optimization, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and the speed and low cost of engineering workstations combine to make loading pattern automation possible. The optimization module SIMAN has been added to X-IMAGE to automatically generate high-quality core loadings

Sexual Arousal Patterns of Autogynephilic Male Cross-Dressers.

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Hsu, Kevin J; Rosenthal, A M; Miller, David I; Bailey, J Michael

2017-01-01

Men's sexual arousal patterns have been an important window into the nature of their erotic interests. Autogynephilia is a natal male's paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of being a woman. Autogynephilic arousal per se is difficult to assess objectively, because it is inwardly focused. However, assessing sexual arousal patterns of autogynephilic males in response to external stimuli is also potentially useful. For example, there is substantial association between autogynephilia and gynandromorphophilia (GAMP), or sexual attraction to gynandromorphs (GAMs), colloquially "she-males." GAMP men's sexual arousal patterns in response to GAM, female, and male stimuli have recently been characterized. In the present study, we extended this understanding by comparing the sexual arousal patterns of autogynephilic male cross-dressers, GAMP men, heterosexual men, and homosexual men. Erotic stimuli included sexually explicit videos of men, women, and GAMs. Autogynephilic men were much more similar in their arousal patterns to heterosexual and GAMP men than to homosexual men. However, similar to GAMP men, autogynephilic men showed increased arousal by GAM stimuli relative to female stimuli compared with heterosexual men.

Transcriptional Innate Immune Response of the Developing Chicken Embryo to Newcastle Disease Virus Infection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megan A. Schilling

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Traditional approaches to assess the immune response of chickens to infection are through animal trials, which are expensive, require enhanced biosecurity, compromise welfare, and are frequently influenced by confounding variables. Since the chicken embryo becomes immunocompetent prior to hatch, we here characterized the transcriptional response of selected innate immune genes to Newcastle disease virus (NDV infection in chicken embryos at days 10, 14, and 18 of embryonic development. The results suggest that the innate immune response 72 h after challenge of 18-day chicken embryo is both consistent and robust. The expression of CCL5, Mx1, and TLR3 in lung tissues of NDV challenged chicken embryos from the outbred Kuroiler and Tanzanian local ecotype lines showed that their expression was several orders of magnitude higher in the Kuroiler than in the local ecotypes. Next, the expression patterns of three additional innate-immunity related genes, IL-8, IRF-1, and STAT1, were examined in the highly congenic Fayoumi (M5.1 and M15.2 and Leghorn (Ghs6 and Ghs13 sublines that differ only at the microchromosome bearing the major histocompatibility locus. The results show that the Ghs13 Leghorn subline had a consistently higher expression of all genes except IL-8 and expression seemed to be subline-dependent rather than breed-dependent, suggesting that the innate immune response of chicken embryos to NDV infection may be genetically controlled by the MHC-locus. Taken together, the results suggest that the chicken embryo may represent a promising model to studying the patterns and sources of variation of the avian innate immune response to infection with NDV and related pathogens.

Transcriptional Innate Immune Response of the Developing Chicken Embryo to Newcastle Disease Virus Infection

Science.gov (United States)

Schilling, Megan A.; Katani, Robab; Memari, Sahar; Cavanaugh, Meredith; Buza, Joram; Radzio-Basu, Jessica; Mpenda, Fulgence N.; Deist, Melissa S.; Lamont, Susan J.; Kapur, Vivek

2018-01-01

Traditional approaches to assess the immune response of chickens to infection are through animal trials, which are expensive, require enhanced biosecurity, compromise welfare, and are frequently influenced by confounding variables. Since the chicken embryo becomes immunocompetent prior to hatch, we here characterized the transcriptional response of selected innate immune genes to Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection in chicken embryos at days 10, 14, and 18 of embryonic development. The results suggest that the innate immune response 72 h after challenge of 18-day chicken embryo is both consistent and robust. The expression of CCL5, Mx1, and TLR3 in lung tissues of NDV challenged chicken embryos from the outbred Kuroiler and Tanzanian local ecotype lines showed that their expression was several orders of magnitude higher in the Kuroiler than in the local ecotypes. Next, the expression patterns of three additional innate-immunity related genes, IL-8, IRF-1, and STAT1, were examined in the highly congenic Fayoumi (M5.1 and M15.2) and Leghorn (Ghs6 and Ghs13) sublines that differ only at the microchromosome bearing the major histocompatibility locus. The results show that the Ghs13 Leghorn subline had a consistently higher expression of all genes except IL-8 and expression seemed to be subline-dependent rather than breed-dependent, suggesting that the innate immune response of chicken embryos to NDV infection may be genetically controlled by the MHC-locus. Taken together, the results suggest that the chicken embryo may represent a promising model to studying the patterns and sources of variation of the avian innate immune response to infection with NDV and related pathogens. PMID:29535762

Genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity suggest therapeutic implications in SCN2A-related disorders.

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Wolff, Markus; Johannesen, Katrine M; Hedrich, Ulrike B S; Masnada, Silvia; Rubboli, Guido; Gardella, Elena; Lesca, Gaetan; Ville, Dorothée; Milh, Mathieu; Villard, Laurent; Afenjar, Alexandra; Chantot-Bastaraud, Sandra; Mignot, Cyril; Lardennois, Caroline; Nava, Caroline; Schwarz, Niklas; Gérard, Marion; Perrin, Laurence; Doummar, Diane; Auvin, Stéphane; Miranda, Maria J; Hempel, Maja; Brilstra, Eva; Knoers, Nine; Verbeek, Nienke; van Kempen, Marjan; Braun, Kees P; Mancini, Grazia; Biskup, Saskia; Hörtnagel, Konstanze; Döcker, Miriam; Bast, Thomas; Loddenkemper, Tobias; Wong-Kisiel, Lily; Baumeister, Friedrich M; Fazeli, Walid; Striano, Pasquale; Dilena, Robertino; Fontana, Elena; Zara, Federico; Kurlemann, Gerhard; Klepper, Joerg; Thoene, Jess G; Arndt, Daniel H; Deconinck, Nicolas; Schmitt-Mechelke, Thomas; Maier, Oliver; Muhle, Hiltrud; Wical, Beverly; Finetti, Claudio; Brückner, Reinhard; Pietz, Joachim; Golla, Günther; Jillella, Dinesh; Linnet, Karen M; Charles, Perrine; Moog, Ute; Õiglane-Shlik, Eve; Mantovani, John F; Park, Kristen; Deprez, Marie; Lederer, Damien; Mary, Sandrine; Scalais, Emmanuel; Selim, Laila; Van Coster, Rudy; Lagae, Lieven; Nikanorova, Marina; Hjalgrim, Helle; Korenke, G Christoph; Trivisano, Marina; Specchio, Nicola; Ceulemans, Berten; Dorn, Thomas; Helbig, Katherine L; Hardies, Katia; Stamberger, Hannah; de Jonghe, Peter; Weckhuysen, Sarah; Lemke, Johannes R; Krägeloh-Mann, Ingeborg; Helbig, Ingo; Kluger, Gerhard; Lerche, Holger; Møller, Rikke S

2017-05-01

Mutations in SCN2A, a gene encoding the voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.2, have been associated with a spectrum of epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we report the phenotypes of 71 patients and review 130 previously reported patients. We found that (i) encephalopathies with infantile/childhood onset epilepsies (≥3 months of age) occur almost as often as those with an early infantile onset (<3 months), and are thus more frequent than previously reported; (ii) distinct phenotypes can be seen within the late onset group, including myoclonic-atonic epilepsy (two patients), Lennox-Gastaut not emerging from West syndrome (two patients), and focal epilepsies with an electrical status epilepticus during slow sleep-like EEG pattern (six patients); and (iii) West syndrome constitutes a common phenotype with a major recurring mutation (p.Arg853Gln: two new and four previously reported children). Other known phenotypes include Ohtahara syndrome, epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures, and intellectual disability or autism without epilepsy. To assess the response to antiepileptic therapy, we retrospectively reviewed the treatment regimen and the course of the epilepsy in 66 patients for which well-documented medical information was available. We find that the use of sodium channel blockers was often associated with clinically relevant seizure reduction or seizure freedom in children with early infantile epilepsies (<3 months), whereas other antiepileptic drugs were less effective. In contrast, sodium channel blockers were rarely effective in epilepsies with later onset (≥3 months) and sometimes induced seizure worsening. Regarding the genetic findings, truncating mutations were exclusively seen in patients with late onset epilepsies and lack of response to sodium channel blockers. Functional characterization of four selected missense mutations using whole cell patch-clamping in tsA201 cells-together with data from the literature-suggest that

Novel expression patterns of metabotropic glutamate receptor 6 in the zebrafish nervous system.

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Ying-Yu Huang

Full Text Available The metabotropic glutamate receptor 6 (mGluR6 or GRM6 belongs to the class III of the metabotropic glutamate receptor family. It is the only known mGluR that mediates direct synaptic transmission in the nervous system and is thought to mediate the ON-response in the ON-pathway of the vertebrate retina. Phylogenetic and gene structure analysis indicated that the zebrafish genome harbours two mglur6 paralogs, mglur6a and mglur6b. Besides expression in the inner nuclear layer and distinct regions in the brain, both mglur6 paralogs are expressed in ganglion cells of the retina, an expression pattern which can also be observed in the downstream effector molecules gnaoa and gnaob. This unexpected expression pattern is consistent with immunohistological labeling using a peptide antibody specific for the mGluR6b paralog. These expression patterns contradict the existing view that mGluR6 is solely located on ON-bipolar cells where it functions in signal transmission. Consistent with expression in ON-bipolar cells, we report a decreased b-wave amplitude in the electroretinogram after morpholino-based downregulation of mGluR6b, showing a function in the ON response. Our data suggest more widespread functions of mGluR6 mediated signaling in the central nervous system, possibly including sign reversing synapses in the inner retina.

Comparing success levels of different neural network structures in extracting discriminative information from the response patterns of a temperature-modulated resistive gas sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini-Golgoo, S. M.; Bozorgi, H.; Saberkari, A.

2015-06-01

Performances of three neural networks, consisting of a multi-layer perceptron, a radial basis function, and a neuro-fuzzy network with local linear model tree training algorithm, in modeling and extracting discriminative features from the response patterns of a temperature-modulated resistive gas sensor are quantitatively compared. For response pattern recording, a voltage staircase containing five steps each with a 20 s plateau is applied to the micro-heater of the sensor, when 12 different target gases, each at 11 concentration levels, are present. In each test, the hidden layer neuron weights are taken as the discriminatory feature vector of the target gas. These vectors are then mapped to a 3D feature space using linear discriminant analysis. The discriminative information content of the feature vectors are determined by the calculation of the Fisher’s discriminant ratio, affording quantitative comparison among the success rates achieved by the different neural network structures. The results demonstrate a superior discrimination ratio for features extracted from local linear neuro-fuzzy and radial-basis-function networks with recognition rates of 96.27% and 90.74%, respectively.

Comparing success levels of different neural network structures in extracting discriminative information from the response patterns of a temperature-modulated resistive gas sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosseini-Golgoo, S M; Bozorgi, H; Saberkari, A

2015-01-01

Performances of three neural networks, consisting of a multi-layer perceptron, a radial basis function, and a neuro-fuzzy network with local linear model tree training algorithm, in modeling and extracting discriminative features from the response patterns of a temperature-modulated resistive gas sensor are quantitatively compared. For response pattern recording, a voltage staircase containing five steps each with a 20 s plateau is applied to the micro-heater of the sensor, when 12 different target gases, each at 11 concentration levels, are present. In each test, the hidden layer neuron weights are taken as the discriminatory feature vector of the target gas. These vectors are then mapped to a 3D feature space using linear discriminant analysis. The discriminative information content of the feature vectors are determined by the calculation of the Fisher’s discriminant ratio, affording quantitative comparison among the success rates achieved by the different neural network structures. The results demonstrate a superior discrimination ratio for features extracted from local linear neuro-fuzzy and radial-basis-function networks with recognition rates of 96.27% and 90.74%, respectively. (paper)

The frequency pattern of dumpy mutations induced by x-rays in the successive stages of oocytes of Drosophila

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyamoto, Tomio; Nakao, Yoshio

1978-01-01

The frequency patterns of the different kinds of dumpy mutations induced by x-rays (1,500 and 3,000R) in the successive stages of oocyte development were investigated by transferring the inseminated females daily to fresh vials for 12 days. Under this transferring procedure, the first egg-laying period represents oocytes irradiated when they are at stage 14, and the subsequent ones represent progressively earlier stages of oocyte development at the time of irradiation. The results obtained indicate that (1) the overall yield of complete dumpy mutations recovered in the first six day egg-laying periods (1st-6th day) are relatively higher than that in the subsequent six day periods (7th-12th day), showing a response pattern with a higher mutation frequency in the early egg-laying periods and a lower frequency in the late egg-laying periods; (2) the frequency patterns for the exceptions of the ol and lv types and those of ov and olv types through the sampling periods are practically similar to those observed in the total dumpy mutations; (3) a somewhat peculiar frequency pattern, which seems to be variable by dose, is found in the yield of the o and v exceptions. At the exposure level of 1,500R, no definite difference in response pattern for these exceptions is found, though a response pattern which is practically similar to that observed in the total dumpy mutations is found at the exposure level of 3,000R. The foregoing findings seem to indicate that the different kinds of dumpy exceptions are affected at various degrees by the difference in the cell stages of oocyte. This may possibly suggest that these exceptions are different from each other in the nature of their mutations, that is to say, whether they are associated with chromosome breakage events or not. (auth.)

The convection patterns in microemulsions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korneta, W.; Lopez Quintela, M.A.; Fernandez Novoa, A.

1991-07-01

The Rayleigh-Benard convection in the microemulsion consisting of water (7.5%), cyclohexan (oil-61.7%) and diethylenglycolmonobutylether (surfactant-30.8%) is studied from the onset of convection to the phase separation. The five classes of convection patterns are observed and recorded on the video: localized travelling waves, travelling waves, travelling waves and localized steady rolls, steady rolls and steady polygons. The Fourier transforms and histograms of these patterns are presented. The origin of any pattern is discussed. The intermittent behaviour close to the phase separation was observed. Possible applications of the obtained results are suggested. (author). 6 refs, 4 figs

Response pattern's of immunoglobulins evaluation in different lineages of mice infected with T. cruzi; Avaliacao do padrao de resposta de imunoglobulinas em diferentes linhagens de camundongos frente a infeccao por T.cruzi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Andreia dos Santos

2006-07-01

The present work has employed different mice lineages (A/J, C57BL/6, B6AF1, BXA1 and BXA2) that were challenged with different doses of T. cruzi. The objective was to evaluate the pattern of immunoglobulins response presented by resistant and susceptible mice to T. cruzi as well as the lineages developed from the matting between them. So that evaluation was done by using lineages serums' sample, analyzed by ELISA's method. In agreement with the results observed all the lineages presented higher response to IgG2a and IgG2b, if compared with the titles to IgG1. IgG1 immunoglobulins involve a type Th2 pattern response which expressed allergic immunological responses, while IgG2 involves a pattern response Th1 that expresses cellular immunological response. The different lineages used in this research also presented different immunological response pattern by the infection with T. cruzi. Mice of the lineage C57BL/6 are resistant to the infection, while the animals of the lineage A/J are susceptible. The animals of the lineage B6AF1 are more resistant to the infection than their original parental C57BL/6. The immunological response developed by hybrid mice present traces of both susceptible and resistant parental A/J and C57BL/6, respectively. The animals of the lineage BXA1 can be considered resistant to the infection, but they don't present the same control as that presented by those of the lineages B6AF1 and C57BL/6. The animals of the lineage BXA2 can be considered susceptible to the infection, but they can control it for a long period, surviving like this, longer than the animals of the lineage A/J. In addition it was observed that the IgG2b immunoglobulins are very important to the resistance of mice to T. cruzi infection. (author)

Motivations and usage patterns of Weibo.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lixuan; Pentina, Iryna

2012-06-01

Referred to as "Weibo," microblogging in China has witnessed an exponential growth. In addition to the Twitter-like functionality, Weibo allows rich media uploads into user feeds, provides threaded comments, and offers applications, games, and Weibo medals. This expanded functionality, as well as the observed differences in trending content, suggests potentially different user motivations to join Weibo and their usage patterns compared to Twitter. This pioneering study identifies dominant Weibo user motivations and their effects on usage patterns. We discuss the findings of an online survey of 234 Weibo users and suggest managerial implications and future research directions.

Recommendations and Suggestions of the IRRS Mission in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novosel, N.

2016-01-01

According to the Act on Radiological and Nuclear Safety, Director General of the State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety (SORNS) is obliged to conduct self-assessment of the national legislative framework and of the competent authorities and to provide for international audit of important segments of the national legislative framework and competent authorities with the purpose of continuous improvement of radiological and nuclear safety. SORNS as a state administration body competent for activities pertaining to radiological and nuclear safety, submitted in April 2013 the request to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct an Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission. SORNS conducted a self-assessment in preparation for the mission and prepared a preliminary action plan. The results of SORNS self-assessment and supporting documentation were provided to the IRRS review team as advance reference material for the mission. IRRS mission took place in Zagreb from 7 to 17 Jun 2015. The IRRS team carried out the review in the following areas: responsibilities and functions of the government; the global nuclear safety regime; responsibilities and functions of the regulatory body; the management system of the regulatory body; the activities of the regulatory body including authorization, review and assessment, inspection and enforcement processes; development and content of regulations and guides; emergency preparedness and response; occupational radiation protection, patient protection, public and environmental exposure control, waste management and decommissioning. The IRRS team identified a number of recommendations and suggestions where improvements in the area of radiological and nuclear safety are necessary or desirable. Those recommendations and suggestions were translated and approved by the Government in the form of the Governmental conclusion. This conclusion presents the action plan for the SORNS and other governmental bodies and

Spatial Patterns of Inshore Marine Soundscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

McWilliam, Jamie

2016-01-01

Passive acoustic monitoring was employed to investigate spatial patterns of soundscapes within a marine reserve. High energy level broadband snaps dominated nearly all habitat soundscapes. Snaps, the principal acoustic feature of soundscapes, were primarily responsible for the observed spatial patterns, and soundscapes appeared to retain a level of compositional and configurational stability. In the presence of high-level broadband snaps, soundscape composition was more influenced by geographic location than habitat type. Future research should focus on investigating the spatial patterns of soundscapes across a wider range of coastal and offshore seascapes containing a variety of distinct ecosystems and habitats.

Neighbor Detection Induces Organ-Specific Transcriptomes, Revealing Patterns Underlying Hypocotyl-Specific Growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohnen, Markus V; Schmid-Siegert, Emanuel; Trevisan, Martine; Petrolati, Laure Allenbach; Sénéchal, Fabien; Müller-Moulé, Patricia; Maloof, Julin; Xenarios, Ioannis; Fankhauser, Christian

2016-12-01

In response to neighbor proximity, plants increase the growth of specific organs (e.g., hypocotyls) to enhance access to sunlight. Shade enhances the activity of Phytochrome Interacting Factors (PIFs) by releasing these bHLH transcription factors from phytochrome B-mediated inhibition. PIFs promote elongation by inducing auxin production in cotyledons. In order to elucidate spatiotemporal aspects of the neighbor proximity response, we separately analyzed gene expression patterns in the major light-sensing organ (cotyledons) and in rapidly elongating hypocotyls of Arabidopsis thaliana PIFs initiate transcriptional reprogramming in both organs within 15 min, comprising regulated expression of several early auxin response genes. This suggests that hypocotyl growth is elicited by both local and distal auxin signals. We show that cotyledon-derived auxin is both necessary and sufficient to initiate hypocotyl growth, but we also provide evidence for the functional importance of the local PIF-induced response. With time, the transcriptional response diverges increasingly between organs. We identify genes whose differential expression may underlie organ-specific elongation. Finally, we uncover a growth promotion gene expression signature shared between different developmentally regulated growth processes and responses to the environment in different organs. © 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

Developmental heterogeneity in DNA packaging patterns influences T-cell activation and transmigration.

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Soumya Gupta

Full Text Available Cellular differentiation programs are accompanied by large-scale changes in nuclear organization and gene expression. In this context, accompanying transitions in chromatin assembly that facilitates changes in gene expression and cell behavior in a developmental system are poorly understood. Here, we address this gap and map structural changes in chromatin organization during murine T-cell development, to describe an unusual heterogeneity in chromatin organization and associated functional correlates in T-cell lineage. Confocal imaging of DNA assembly in cells isolated from bone marrow, thymus and spleen reveal the emergence of heterogeneous patterns in DNA organization in mature T-cells following their exit from the thymus. The central DNA pattern dominated in immature precursor cells in the thymus whereas both central and peripheral DNA patterns were observed in naïve and memory cells in circulation. Naïve T-cells with central DNA patterns exhibited higher mechanical pliability in response to compressive loads in vitro and transmigration assays in vivo, and demonstrated accelerated expression of activation-induced marker CD69. T-cell activation was characterized by marked redistribution of DNA assembly to a central DNA pattern and increased nuclear size. Notably, heterogeneity in DNA patterns recovered in cells induced into quiescence in culture, suggesting an internal regulatory mechanism for chromatin reorganization. Taken together, our results uncover an important component of plasticity in nuclear organization, reflected in chromatin assembly, during T-cell development, differentiation and transmigration.

Distinctive hippocampal zinc distribution patterns following stress exposure in an animal model of PTSD.

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Sela, Hagit; Cohen, Hagit; Karpas, Zeev; Zeiri, Yehuda

2017-03-22

Emerging evidence suggests that zinc (Zn) deficiency is associated with depression and anxiety in both human and animal studies. The present study sought to assess whether there is an association between the magnitude of behavioral responses to stress and patterns of Zn distribution. The work has focused on one case study, the association between an animal model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the Zn distribution in the rat hippocampus. Behaviors were assessed with the elevated plus-maze and acoustic startle response tests 7 days later. Preset cut-off criteria classified exposed animals according to their individual behavioral responses. To further characterize the distribution of Zn that occurs in the hippocampus 8 days after the exposure, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) imaging was used. It has been found that Zn distribution in the dentate gyrus (DG) sub-region in the hippocampus is clearly more widely spread for rats that belong to the extreme behavioral response (EBR) group as compared to the control group. Comparison of the Zn concentration changes in the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) and the DG sub-regions of the hippocampus shows that the concentration changes are statistically significantly higher in the EBR rats compared to the rats in the control and minimal behavioral response (MBR) groups. In order to understand the mechanism of stress-induced hippocampal Zn dyshomeostasis, relative quantitative analyses of metallothionein (MT), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and caspase 3 immunoreactivity were performed. Significant differences in the number of caspase-ir and Bcl-2 cells were found in the hippocampal DG sub-region between the EBR group and the control and MBR groups. The results of this study demonstrate a statistically significant association between the degree of behavioral disruption resulting from stress exposure and the patterns of Zn distribution and concentration changes in the various hippocampal regions

Topographic Patterns of Mortality and Succession in the Alpine Treeline Ecotone Suggest Hydrologic Controls on Post-Fire Tree Establishment

Science.gov (United States)

McCaffrey, D. R.; Hopkinson, C.

2017-12-01

Alpine Treeline Ecotone (ATE), the transition zone between closed canopy forest and alpine tundra, is a prominent vegetation pattern in mountain regions. At continental scales, the elevation of ATE is negatively correlated with latitude and is generally explained by thermal limitations. However, at landscape scales, precipitation and moisture regimes can suppress ATE elevation below thermal limits, causing variability and patterning in ATE position. Recent studies have investigated the relative effects of hydroclimatic variables on ATE position at multiple scales, but less attention has been given to interactions between hydroclimatic variables and disturbance agents, such as fire. Observing change in the ATE at sufficient spatial resolution and temporal extent to identify correlations between topographic variables and disturbance agents has proved challenging. Recent advances in monoplotting have enabled the extraction of canopy cover information from oblique photography, at a resolution of 20 m. Using airborne lidar and repeat photography from the Mountain Legacy Project, we observed canopy cover change in West Castle Watershed (Alberta, Canada; 103 km2; 49.3° N, 114.4° W) over a 92-year period (i.e. 1914-2006). Two wildfires, occurring 1934 and 1936, affected 63% of the watershed area, providing an opportunity to contrast topographic patterns of mortality and succession in the ATE, while factoring by exposure to fire. Slope aspect was a strong predictor of mortality and succession: the frequency of mortality was four times higher in fire-exposed areas, with 72% of all mortality occurring on south- and east-facing slope aspects; the frequency of succession was balanced between fire-exposed and unexposed areas, with 66% of all succession occurred on north- and east-facing slope aspects. Given previous experiments have demonstrated that moisture limitation inhibits tree establishment, suppressing elevation of ATE below thermal growth boundaries, we hypothesize

Genomic patterns in Acropora cervicornis show extensive population structure and variable genetic diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Drury, Crawford; Schopmeyer, Stephanie; Goergen, Elizabeth; Bartels, Erich; Nedimyer, Ken; Johnson, Meaghan; Maxwell, Kerry; Galvan, Victor; Manfrino, Carrie; Lirman, Diego

2017-08-01

Threatened Caribbean coral communities can benefit from high-resolution genetic data used to inform management and conservation action. We use Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS) to investigate genetic patterns in the threatened coral, Acropora cervicornis , across the Florida Reef Tract (FRT) and the western Caribbean. Results show extensive population structure at regional scales and resolve previously unknown structure within the FRT. Different regions also exhibit up to threefold differences in genetic diversity (He), suggesting targeted management based on the goals and resources of each population is needed. Patterns of genetic diversity have a strong spatial component, and our results show Broward and the Lower Keys are among the most diverse populations in Florida. The genetic diversity of Caribbean staghorn coral is concentrated within populations and within individual reefs (AMOVA), highlighting the complex mosaic of population structure. This variance structure is similar over regional and local scales, which suggests that in situ nurseries are adequately capturing natural patterns of diversity, representing a resource that can replicate the average diversity of wild assemblages, serving to increase intraspecific diversity and potentially leading to improved biodiversity and ecosystem function. Results presented here can be translated into specific goals for the recovery of A. cervicornis , including active focus on low diversity areas, protection of high diversity and connectivity, and practical thresholds for responsible restoration.

Maize maintains growth in response to decreased nitrate supply through a highly dynamic and developmental stage-specific transcriptional response

KAUST Repository

Plett, Darren

2015-06-02

Elucidation of the gene networks underlying the response to N supply and demand will facilitate the improvement of the N uptake efficiency of plants. We undertook a transcriptomic analysis of maize to identify genes responding to both a non-growth-limiting decrease in NO3- provision and to development-based N demand changes at seven representative points across the life cycle. Gene co-expression networks were derived by cluster analysis of the transcript profiles. The majority of NO3--responsive transcription occurred at 11 (D11), 18 (D18) and 29 (D29) days after emergence, with differential expression predominating in the root at D11 and D29 and in the leaf at D18. A cluster of 98 probe sets was identified, the expression pattern of which is similar to that of the high-affinity NO3- transporter (NRT2) genes across the life cycle. The cluster is enriched with genes encoding enzymes and proteins of lipid metabolism and transport, respectively. These are candidate genes for the response of maize to N supply and demand. Only a few patterns of differential gene expression were observed over the entire life cycle; however, the composition of the classes of the genes differentially regulated at individual time points was unique, suggesting tightly controlled regulation of NO3--responsive gene expression. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Maize maintains growth in response to decreased nitrate supply through a highly dynamic and developmental stage-specific transcriptional response

KAUST Repository

Plett, Darren; Baumann, Ute; Schreiber, Andreas W.; Holtham, Luke; Kalashyan, Elena; Toubia, John; Nau, John; Beatty, Mary; Rafalski, Antoni; Dhugga, Kanwarpal S.; Tester, Mark A.; Garnett, Trevor; Kaiser, Brent N.

2015-01-01

Elucidation of the gene networks underlying the response to N supply and demand will facilitate the improvement of the N uptake efficiency of plants. We undertook a transcriptomic analysis of maize to identify genes responding to both a non-growth-limiting decrease in NO3- provision and to development-based N demand changes at seven representative points across the life cycle. Gene co-expression networks were derived by cluster analysis of the transcript profiles. The majority of NO3--responsive transcription occurred at 11 (D11), 18 (D18) and 29 (D29) days after emergence, with differential expression predominating in the root at D11 and D29 and in the leaf at D18. A cluster of 98 probe sets was identified, the expression pattern of which is similar to that of the high-affinity NO3- transporter (NRT2) genes across the life cycle. The cluster is enriched with genes encoding enzymes and proteins of lipid metabolism and transport, respectively. These are candidate genes for the response of maize to N supply and demand. Only a few patterns of differential gene expression were observed over the entire life cycle; however, the composition of the classes of the genes differentially regulated at individual time points was unique, suggesting tightly controlled regulation of NO3--responsive gene expression. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The structural and functional differentiation of hair cells in a lizard's basilar papilla suggests an operational principle of amniote cochleas.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiappe, M Eugenia; Kozlov, Andrei S; Hudspeth, A J

2007-10-31

The hair cells in the mammalian cochlea are of two distinct types. Inner hair cells are responsible for transducing mechanical stimuli into electrical responses, which they forward to the brain through a copious afferent innervation. Outer hair cells, which are thought to mediate the active process that sensitizes and tunes the cochlea, possess a negligible afferent innervation. For every inner hair cell, there are approximately three outer hair cells, so only one-quarter of the hair cells directly deliver information to the CNS. Although this is a surprising feature for a sensory system, the occurrence of a similar innervation pattern in birds and crocodilians suggests that the arrangement has an adaptive value. Using a lizard with highly developed hearing, the tokay gecko, we demonstrate in the present study that the same principle operates in a third major group of terrestrial animals. We propose that the differentiation of hair cells into signaling and amplifying classes reflects incompatible strategies for the optimization of mechanoelectrical transduction and of an active process based on active hair-bundle motility.

Cortical activity patterns predict robust speech discrimination ability in noise

Science.gov (United States)

Shetake, Jai A.; Wolf, Jordan T.; Cheung, Ryan J.; Engineer, Crystal T.; Ram, Satyananda K.; Kilgard, Michael P.

2012-01-01

The neural mechanisms that support speech discrimination in noisy conditions are poorly understood. In quiet conditions, spike timing information appears to be used in the discrimination of speech sounds. In this study, we evaluated the hypothesis that spike timing is also used to distinguish between speech sounds in noisy conditions that significantly degrade neural responses to speech sounds. We tested speech sound discrimination in rats and recorded primary auditory cortex (A1) responses to speech sounds in background noise of different intensities and spectral compositions. Our behavioral results indicate that rats, like humans, are able to accurately discriminate consonant sounds even in the presence of background noise that is as loud as the speech signal. Our neural recordings confirm that speech sounds evoke degraded but detectable responses in noise. Finally, we developed a novel neural classifier that mimics behavioral discrimination. The classifier discriminates between speech sounds by comparing the A1 spatiotemporal activity patterns evoked on single trials with the average spatiotemporal patterns evoked by known sounds. Unlike classifiers in most previous studies, this classifier is not provided with the stimulus onset time. Neural activity analyzed with the use of relative spike timing was well correlated with behavioral speech discrimination in quiet and in noise. Spike timing information integrated over longer intervals was required to accurately predict rat behavioral speech discrimination in noisy conditions. The similarity of neural and behavioral discrimination of speech in noise suggests that humans and rats may employ similar brain mechanisms to solve this problem. PMID:22098331

Expression patterns of endogenous avian retrovirus ALVE1 and its response to infection with exogenous avian tumour viruses.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xuming; Zhu, Wenqi; Chen, Shihao; Liu, Yangyang; Sun, Zhen; Geng, Tuoyu; Song, Chengyi; Gao, Bo; Wang, Xiaoyan; Qin, Aijian; Cui, Hengmi

2017-01-01

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are genomic elements that are present in a wide range of vertebrates and have been implicated in a variety of human diseases, including cancer. However, the characteristic expression patterns of ERVs, particularly in virus-induced tumours, is not fully clear. DNA methylation was analysed by bisulfite pyrosequencing, and gene expression was analysed by RT-qPCR. In this study, we first found that the endogenous avian retrovirus ALVE1 was highly expressed in some chicken tissues (including the heart, bursa, thymus, and spleen) at 2 days of age, but its expression was markedly decreased at 35 days of age. In contrast, the CpG methylation level of ALVE1 was significantly lower in heart and bursa at 2 days than at 35 days of age. Moreover, we found that the expression of ALVE1 was significantly inhibited in chicken embryo fibroblast cells (CEFs) and MSB1 cells infected with avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALVJ) and reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) at the early stages of infection. In contrast, the expression of the ALVE1 env gene was significantly induced in CEFs and MSB1 cells infected with Marek's disease virus (MDV). However, the methylation and expression levels of the ALVE1 long terminal repeat (LTR) did not show obvious alterations in response to viral infection. The present study revealed the expression patterns of ALVE1 in a variety of chicken organs and tissues and in chicken cells in response to avian tumour virus infection. These findings may be of significance for understanding the role and function of ERVs that are present in the host genome.

The Relationship Between Morphological Symmetry and Immune Response in Wild-Caught Adult Bush-Crickets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Åsa Berggren

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Despite interest in the relationship between fluctuating asymmetry (FA, immune response and ecological factors in insects, little data are available from wild populations. In this study we measured FA and immune response in 370 wild-caught male bush-crickets, Metrioptera roeseli, from 20 experimentally introduced populations in southern-central Sweden. Individuals with more-symmetric wings had a higher immune response as measured by the cellular encapsulation of a surgically-implanted nylon monofilament. However, we found no relationship between measures of FA in other organs (i.e. tibia and maxillary palp and immune response, suggesting that this pattern may reflect differing selection pressures.

The developmental pattern of stimulus and response interference in a color-object Stroop task: an ERP study

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Jongen Ellen MM

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Several studies have shown that Stroop interference is stronger in children than in adults. However, in a standard Stroop paradigm, stimulus interference and response interference are confounded. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether interference at the stimulus level and the response level are subject to distinct maturational patterns across childhood. Three groups of children (6–7 year-olds, 8–9 year-olds, and 10–12 year-olds and a group of adults performed a manual Color-Object Stroop designed to disentangle stimulus interference and response interference. This was accomplished by comparing three trial types. In congruent (C trials there was no interference. In stimulus incongruent (SI trials there was only stimulus interference. In response incongruent (RI trials there was stimulus interference and response interference. Stimulus interference and response interference were measured by a comparison of SI with C, and RI with SI trials, respectively. Event-related potentials (ERPs were measured to study the temporal dynamics of these processes of interference. Results There was no behavioral evidence for stimulus interference in any of the groups, but in 6–7 year-old children ERPs in the SI condition in comparison with the C condition showed an occipital P1-reduction (80–140 ms and a widely distributed amplitude enhancement of a negative component followed by an amplitude reduction of a positive component (400–560 ms. For response interference, all groups showed a comparable reaction time (RT delay, but children made more errors than adults. ERPs in the RI condition in comparison with the SI condition showed an amplitude reduction of a positive component over lateral parietal (-occipital sites in 10–12 year-olds and adults (300–540 ms, and a widely distributed amplitude enhancement of a positive component in all age groups (680–960 ms. The size of the enhancement correlated positively

Effect of cortisol infusion patterns and castration on metabolic and immunological indices of stress response in cattle.

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Ting, S T L; Earley, B; Crowe, M A

2004-05-01

This study tested the hypotheses that: (1) either acute stress induced by Burdizzo castration, or cortisol infusion would modulate plasma glucose, insulin and growth hormone (GH) concentrations; and (2) immune modulation induced by cortisol would be dependent on the pattern, intensity and duration of circulating cortisol concentrations. Fifty 9.2-month-old Holstein x Friesian bulls (232 +/- 2.0 kg) were blocked by weight and randomly assigned to one of five treatments (n = 10 per treatment): (1) sham handled control; (2) Burdizzo castration; (3) hydrocortisone infusion to mimic the castration-induced secretion pattern of cortisol; (4) hourly pulse infusion of hydrocortisone; and (5) sustained infusion of hydrocortisone for 8h. Blood samples were collected intensively on day 0, and weekly from days 1 to 35. Castration acutely increased plasma cortisol, GH and haptoglobin concentrations, suppressed lymphocyte in vitro interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production, but had no effect on plasma glucose and insulin concentrations. Cortisol infusion to simulate the castration-induced secretion pattern of cortisol, and pulse infusion of cortisol did not suppress the IFN-gamma production. A sustained infusion of cortisol resulted in the transient suppression of IFN-gamma production. Moreover, the sustained cortisol infusion resulted in increased plasma glucose, insulin and GH concentrations. The overall 14-day feed intakes and 35-day growth rates were not affected by treatments. In conclusion, cortisol infusion to induce immune suppression in vivo occurred only at pharmacological doses. Within physiological ranges, cortisol was not associated with the suppression of immune function, indicating that during castration cortisol per se is not responsible for the suppression of in vitro IFN-gamma production.

How small communities respond to environmental change: patterns from tropical to polar ecosystems

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Henry P. Huntington

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Local communities throughout the world are experiencing extensive social, cultural, economic, environmental, and climatic changes. Rather than passively accepting the effects of such changes, many communities are responding in various ways to take advantage of opportunities and to minimize negative impacts. We review examples from 13 cases around the world to identify patterns in how communities have been able to respond to change. Communities are able to respond by making changes in the time and location of activities, by using different species, by developing or using new technologies, and by organizing themselves internally or in networks. The possible responses a community can make on its own constitute the autonomous response space. When communities work with others to respond, they are in the collaborative response space. These findings suggest that assessments concerning climate and other forms of change should include local responses as a foundation for policy recommendations, recognizing that both autonomous and collaborative responses can contribute to adaptation. Policies designed to achieve adaptation or sustainability should consider ways to expand the autonomous response space, thus freeing local initiative, while also making the collaborative response space more cooperative, thus providing support to communities rather than imposing limitations.

Tuck in Your Shirt, You Squid: Suggestions in ESL.

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Banerjee, Janet; Carrell, Patricia L.

1988-01-01

An English discourse completion questionnaire consisting of 60 situations designed to elicit suggestions in English was administered to 28 native speakers of Chinese or Malay and to 12 native speakers of American English. Non-native speakers of English were more direct in their responses. Native and non-native speakers significantly differed in…

Relation between salivary cortisol as stress biomarker and dietary pattern in children.

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Michels, Nathalie; Sioen, Isabelle; Braet, Caroline; Huybrechts, Inge; Vanaelst, Barbara; Wolters, Maike; De Henauw, Stefaan

2013-09-01

Psychological stress has been suggested to result in hormonal effects (e.g. changes in cortisol pattern) that may change food selection in unhealthy ways. This study examines whether children's dietary pattern is indeed related to salivary cortisol levels. In 323 children (5-10 years old) participating in the Belgian ChiBS study, salivary cortisol samples, a biomarker for stress, was sampled when waking up, 30 and 60 min after wake up and in the evening on two consecutive weekdays. Data on the children's dietary pattern (frequency of sweet foods, fatty foods, snacks, fruit and vegetables) was collected with a food frequency questionnaire. Multilevel time modelling was used with adjustments for sex, age, body mass index, parental education and wake up time. Higher overall cortisol levels and a large cortisol awakening response (CAR) were associated with more frequent consumption of sweet foods. A steeper diurnal cortisol decline was associated with a higher sweet, fatty and snack food consumption frequency. No associations with fruit and vegetables consumption were found. High cortisol levels were linked to an unhealthier dietary pattern (more fatty food, snacks and especially sweet food). This supports the theory of cortisol-induced comfort food preference and strengthens the stress-diet relation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

It's about time: a comparison of Canadian and American time-activity patterns.

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Leech, Judith A; Nelson, William C; Burnett, Richard T; Aaron, Shawn; Raizenne, Mark E

2002-11-01

This study compares two North American time-activity data bases: the National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS) of 9386 interviewees in 1992-1994 in the continental USA with the Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey (CHAPS) of 2381 interviewees in 1996-1997 in four major Canadian cities. Identical surveys and methodology were used to collect this data: random sample telephone selection within the identified telephone exchanges, computer-assisted telephone interviews, overselection of children and weekends in the 24-h recall diary and the same interviewers. Very similar response rates were obtained: 63% (NHAPS) and 64.5% (CHAPS). Results of comparisons by age within major activity and location groups suggest activity and location patterns are very similar (most differences being less than 1% or 14 min in a 24-h day) with the exception of seasonal differences. Canadians spend less time outdoors in winter and less time indoors in summer than their U.S. counterparts. When exposure assessments use time of year or outdoor/indoor exposure gradients, these differences may result in significant differences in exposure assessments. Otherwise, the 24-h time activity patterns of North Americans are remarkably similar and use of the combined data set for some exposure assessments may be feasible.

An interspecific fungal hybrid reveals cross-kingdom rules for allopolyploid gene expression patterns.

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Murray P Cox

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Polyploidy, a state in which the chromosome complement has undergone an increase, is a major force in evolution. Understanding the consequences of polyploidy has received much attention, and allopolyploids, which result from the union of two different parental genomes, are of particular interest because they must overcome a suite of biological responses to this merger, known as "genome shock." A key question is what happens to gene expression of the two gene copies following allopolyploidization, but until recently the tools to answer this question on a genome-wide basis were lacking. Here we utilize high throughput transcriptome sequencing to produce the first genome-wide picture of gene expression response to allopolyploidy in fungi. A novel pipeline for assigning sequence reads to the gene copies was used to quantify their expression in a fungal allopolyploid. We find that the transcriptional response to allopolyploidy is predominantly conservative: both copies of most genes are retained; over half the genes inherit parental gene expression patterns; and parental differential expression is often lost in the allopolyploid. Strikingly, the patterns of gene expression change are highly concordant with the genome-wide expression results of a cotton allopolyploid. The very different nature of these two allopolyploids implies a conserved, eukaryote-wide transcriptional response to genome merger. We provide evidence that the transcriptional responses we observe are mostly driven by intrinsic differences between the regulatory systems in the parent species, and from this propose a mechanistic model in which the cross-kingdom conservation in transcriptional response reflects conservation of the mutational processes underlying eukaryotic gene regulatory evolution. This work provides a platform to develop a universal understanding of gene expression response to allopolyploidy and suggests that allopolyploids are an exceptional system to investigate gene

Natural-trap ursid mortality and the Kurtén Response.

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Wolverton, Steve

2006-05-01

Ursid mortality data have long been used to evaluate associations between cave-bear remains (Ursus deningeri and U. spelaeus) and hominin (Homo sp.) remains. Typically, such ursid assemblages produce mortality patterns that indicate that juvenile and old bears died during hibernation, a pattern that is used to suggest that humans and bears occupied the same caves at different times. However, a different kind of mortality pattern can also be used to suggest human influence on cave bears, particularly under circumstances when bears and humans compete for habitat. In particular, data from Lawson Cave and Jerry Long Cave, Missouri indicate that young-adult North American black bears (Ursus americanus) are prone to capture in natural-trap caves. Similar faunal data from Sima de los Huesos in Spain, where cave-bear and hominin remains are found in the same deposit, might also suggest that the bears died from falling into a natural trap. It is concluded that mortality analysis of ursid remains from caves is a useful tool with which to evaluate accumulation histories of cave deposits and relations between humans, artifacts, and cave-bear remains. In particular, ursid mortality data are relevant to the Kurtén Response, a hypothesis reiterated in the recent literature that implicates human encroachment on ursid habitat (e.g., cave den sites) as a potential cause in cave-bear extinction.

Global gene expression patterns in the post-pneumonectomy lung of adult mice

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Ingenito Edward P

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Adult mice have a remarkable capacity to regenerate functional alveoli following either lung resection or injury that exceeds the regenerative capacity observed in larger adult mammals. The molecular basis for this unique capability in mice is largely unknown. We examined the transcriptomic responses to single lung pneumonectomy in adult mice in order to elucidate prospective molecular signaling mechanisms used in this species during lung regeneration. Methods Unilateral left pneumonectomy or sham thoracotomy was performed under general anesthesia (n = 8 mice per group for each of the four time points. Total RNA was isolated from the remaining lung tissue at four time points post-surgery (6 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days and analyzed using microarray technology. Results The observed transcriptomic patterns revealed mesenchymal cell signaling, including up-regulation of genes previously associated with activated fibroblasts (Tnfrsf12a, Tnc, Eln, Col3A1, as well as modulation of Igf1-mediated signaling. The data set also revealed early down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine transcripts and up-regulation of genes involved in T cell development/function, but few similarities to transcriptomic patterns observed during embryonic or post-natal lung development. Immunohistochemical analysis suggests that early fibroblast but not myofibroblast proliferation is important during lung regeneration and may explain the preponderance of mesenchymal-associated genes that are over-expressed in this model. This again appears to differ from embryonic alveologenesis. Conclusion These data suggest that modulation of mesenchymal cell transcriptome patterns and proliferation of S100A4 positive mesenchymal cells, as well as modulation of pro-inflammatory transcriptome patterns, are important during post-pneumonectomy lung regeneration in adult mice.

The design of and chronic tissue response to a composite nerve electrode with patterned stiffness

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Freeberg, M. J.; Stone, M. A.; Triolo, R. J.; Tyler, D. J.

2017-06-01

Objective. As neural interfaces demonstrate success in chronic applications, a novel class of reshaping electrodes with patterned regions of stiffness will enable application to a widening range of anatomical locations. Patterning stiff regions and flexible regions of the electrode enables nerve reshaping while accommodating anatomical constraints of various implant locations ranging from peripheral nerves to spinal and autonomic plexi. Approach. Introduced is a new composite electrode enabling patterning of regions of various electrode mechanical properties. The initial demonstration of the composite’s capability is the composite flat interface nerve electrode (C-FINE). The C-FINE is constructed from a sandwich of patterned PEEK within layers of pliable silicone. The shape of the PEEK provides a desired pattern of stiffness: stiff across the width of the nerve to reshape the nerve, but flexible along its length to allow for bending with the nerve. This is particularly important in anatomical locations near joints or organs, and in constrained compartments. We tested pressure and volume design constraints in vitro to verify that the C-FINE can attain a safe cuff-to-nerve ratio (CNR) without impeding intraneural blood flow. We measured nerve function as well as nerve and axonal morphology following 3 month implantation of the C-FINE without wires on feline peripheral nerves in anatomically constrained areas near mobile joints and major blood vessels in both the hind and fore limbs. Main Results. In vitro inflation tests showed effective CNRs (1.93  ±  0.06) that exceeded the industry safety standard of 1.5 at an internal pressure of 20 mmHg. This is less than the 30 mmHg shown to induce loss of conduction or compromise blood flow. Implanted cats showed no changes in physiology or electrophysiology. Behavioral signs were normal suggesting healthy nerves. Motor nerve conduction velocity and compound motor action potential did not change significantly

Modeling patterns of coral bleaching at a remote Central Pacific atoll.

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Williams, Gareth J; Knapp, Ingrid S; Maragos, James E; Davy, Simon K

2010-09-01

A mild bleaching event (9.2% prevalence) at Palmyra Atoll occurred in response to the 2009 ENSO, when mean water temperature reached 29.8-30.1 degrees C. Prevalence among both abundant and sparse taxa varied with no clear pattern in susceptibility relating to coral morphology. Seven taxon-specific models showed that turbidity exacerbated while prior exposure to higher background temperatures alleviated bleaching, with these predictors explaining an average 16.3% and 11.5% variation in prevalence patterns, respectively. Positive associations occurred between bleaching prevalence and both immediate temperature during the bleaching event (average 8.4% variation explained) and increased sand cover (average 3.7%). Despite these associations, mean unexplained variation in prevalence equalled 59%. Lower bleaching prevalence in areas experiencing higher background temperatures suggests acclimation to temperature stress among several coral genera, while WWII modifications may still be impacting the reefs via shoreline sediment re-distribution and increased turbidity, exacerbating coral bleaching susceptibility during periods of high temperature stress. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Stomatal responses to flooding of the intercellular air spaces suggest a vapor-phase signal between the mesophyll and the guard cells.

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Sibbernsen, Erik; Mott, Keith A

2010-07-01

Flooding the intercellular air spaces of leaves with water was shown to cause rapid closure of stomata in Tradescantia pallida, Lactuca serriola, Helianthus annuus, and Oenothera caespitosa. The response occurred when water was injected into the intercellular spaces, vacuum infiltrated into the intercellular spaces, or forced into the intercellular spaces by pressurizing the xylem. Injecting 50 mm KCl or silicone oil into the intercellular spaces also caused stomata to close, but the response was slower than with distilled water. Epidermis-mesophyll grafts for T. pallida were created by placing the epidermis of one leaf onto the exposed mesophyll of another leaf. Stomata in these grafts opened under light but closed rapidly when water was allowed to wick between epidermis and the mesophyll. When epidermis-mesophyll grafts were constructed with a thin hydrophobic filter between the mesophyll and epidermis stomata responded normally to light and CO(2). These data, when taken together, suggest that the effect of water on stomata is caused partly by dilution of K(+) in the guard cell and partly by the existence of a vapor-phase signal that originates in the mesophyll and causes stomata to open in the light.

Movement response patterns of livestock to rainfall variability in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Livestock movement patterns indicated that forage is the motivation for winter movements and water is the motivation for summer. The movement followed a predictable ... The latter can be considered as a 'key resource' area to sustain animal numbers through critical periods of low rainfall. Overall, seasonal movement ...

Receptive fields of locust brain neurons are matched to polarization patterns of the sky.

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Bech, Miklós; Homberg, Uwe; Pfeiffer, Keram

2014-09-22

Many animals, including insects, are able to use celestial cues as a reference for spatial orientation and long-distance navigation [1]. In addition to direct sunlight, the chromatic gradient of the sky and its polarization pattern are suited to serve as orientation cues [2-5]. Atmospheric scattering of sunlight causes a regular pattern of E vectors in the sky, which are arranged along concentric circles around the sun [5, 6]. Although certain insects rely predominantly on sky polarization for spatial orientation [7], it has been argued that detection of celestial E vector orientation may not suffice to differentiate between solar and antisolar directions [8, 9]. We show here that polarization-sensitive (POL) neurons in the brain of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria can overcome this ambiguity. Extracellular recordings from POL units in the central complex and lateral accessory lobes revealed E vector tunings arranged in concentric circles within large receptive fields, matching the sky polarization pattern at certain solar positions. Modeling of neuronal responses under an idealized sky polarization pattern (Rayleigh sky) suggests that these "matched filter" properties allow locusts to unambiguously determine the solar azimuth by relying solely on the sky polarization pattern for compass navigation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patterns of long-term and short-term responses in adult patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a completer cohort of 12 weeks or more with atomoxetine.

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Sobanski, E; Leppämäki, S; Bushe, C; Berggren, L; Casillas, M; Deberdt, W

2015-11-01

Atomoxetine is a well-established pharmacotherapy for adult ADHD. Long-term studies show incremental reductions in symptoms over time. However, clinical experience suggests that patients differ in their response patterns. From 13 Eli Lilly-sponsored studies, we pooled and analyzed data for adults with ADHD who completed atomoxetine treatment at long-term (24 weeks; n=1443) and/or short-term (12 weeks; n=2830) time-points, and had CAARS-Inv:SV total and CGI-S data up to or after these time-points and at Week 0 (i.e. at baseline, when patients first received atomoxetine). The goal was to identify and describe distinct trajectories of response to atomoxetine using hierarchical clustering methods and linear mixed modelling. Based on the homogeneity of changes in CAARS-Inv:SV total scores, 5 response clusters were identified for patients who completed long-term (24 weeks) treatment with atomoxetine, and 4 clusters were identified for patients who completed short-term (12 weeks) treatment. Four of the 5 long-term clusters (comprising 95% of completer patients) showed positive trajectories: 2 faster responding clusters (L1 and L2), and 2 more gradually responding clusters (L3 and L4). Responses (i.e.≥30% reduction in CAARS-Inv:SV total score, and CGI-S score≤3) were observed at 8 and 24 weeks in 80% and 95% of completers in Cluster L1, versus 5% and 48% in Cluster L4. While many adults with ADHD responded relatively rapidly to atomoxetine, others responded more gradually without a clear plateau at 24 weeks. Longer-term treatment may be associated with greater numbers of responders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Motor Asymmetry and Substantia Nigra Volume Are Related to Spatial Delayed Response Performance in Parkinson Disease

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Foster, Erin R.; Black, Kevin J.; Antenor-Dorsey, Jo Ann V.; Perlmutter, Joel S.; Hershey, Tamara

2008-01-01

Studies suggest motor deficit asymmetry may help predict the pattern of cognitive impairment in individuals with Parkinson disease (PD). We tested this hypothesis using a highly validated and sensitive spatial memory task, spatial delayed response (SDR), and clinical and neuroimaging measures of PD asymmetry. We predicted SDR performance would be…

Cytokines, Chaperones and Neuroinflammatory Responses in Heroin-Related Death: What Can We Learn from Different Patterns of Cellular Expression?

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Vittorio Fineschi

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Heroin (3,6-diacetylmorphine has various effects on the central nervous system with several neuropathological alterations including hypoxic-ischemic brain damage from respiratory depressing effects and neuroinflammatory response. Both of these mechanisms induce the release of cytokines, chemokines and other inflammatory mediators by the activation of many cell types such as leucocytes and endothelial and glial cells, especially microglia, the predominant immunocompetent cell type within the central nervous system. The aim of this study is to clarify the correlation between intravenous heroin administration in heroin related death and the neuroinflammatory response. We selected 45 cases among autopsies executed for heroin-related death (358 total cases; immunohistochemical studies and Western blotting analyses were used to investigate the expression of brain markers such as tumor necrosis factor-α, oxygen-regulated protein 150, (interleukins IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-15, cyclooxygenase-2, heat shock protein 70, and CD68 (MAC387. Findings demonstrated that morphine induces inflammatory response and cytokine release. In particular, oxygen-regulated protein 150, cyclooxygenase-2, heat shock protein 70, IL-6 and IL-15 cytokines were over-expressed with different patterns of cellular expression.

Evaluation of the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale (FIQL) using item response theory reveals limitations and suggests revisions.

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Peterson, Alexander C; Sutherland, Jason M; Liu, Guiping; Crump, R Trafford; Karimuddin, Ahmer A

2018-06-01

The Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale (FIQL) is a commonly used patient-reported outcome measure for fecal incontinence, often used in clinical trials, yet has not been validated in English since its initial development. This study uses modern methods to thoroughly evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the FIQL and its potential for differential functioning by gender. This study analyzed prospectively collected patient-reported outcome data from a sample of patients prior to colorectal surgery. Patients were recruited from 14 general and colorectal surgeons in Vancouver Coastal Health hospitals in Vancouver, Canada. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess construct validity. Item response theory was used to evaluate test reliability, describe item-level characteristics, identify local item dependence, and test for differential functioning by gender. 236 patients were included for analysis, with mean age 58 and approximately half female. Factor analysis failed to identify the lifestyle, coping, depression, and embarrassment domains, suggesting lack of construct validity. Items demonstrated low difficulty, indicating that the test has the highest reliability among individuals who have low quality of life. Five items are suggested for removal or replacement. Differential test functioning was minimal. This study has identified specific improvements that can be made to each domain of the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale and to the instrument overall. Formatting, scoring, and instructions may be simplified, and items with higher difficulty developed. The lifestyle domain can be used as is. The embarrassment domain should be significantly revised before use.

Open to Suggestion.

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Journal of Reading, 1987

1987-01-01

Offers (1) suggestions for improving college students' study skills; (2) a system for keeping track of parent, teacher, and community contacts; (3) suggestions for motivating students using tic tac toe; (4) suggestions for using etymology to improve word retention; (5) a word search grid; and (6) suggestions for using postcards in remedial reading…

Percolator: Scalable Pattern Discovery in Dynamic Graphs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choudhury, Sutanay; Purohit, Sumit; Lin, Peng; Wu, Yinghui; Holder, Lawrence B.; Agarwal, Khushbu

2018-02-06

We demonstrate Percolator, a distributed system for graph pattern discovery in dynamic graphs. In contrast to conventional mining systems, Percolator advocates efficient pattern mining schemes that (1) support pattern detection with keywords; (2) integrate incremental and parallel pattern mining; and (3) support analytical queries such as trend analysis. The core idea of Percolator is to dynamically decide and verify a small fraction of patterns and their in- stances that must be inspected in response to buffered updates in dynamic graphs, with a total mining cost independent of graph size. We demonstrate a) the feasibility of incremental pattern mining by walking through each component of Percolator, b) the efficiency and scalability of Percolator over the sheer size of real-world dynamic graphs, and c) how the user-friendly GUI of Percolator inter- acts with users to support keyword-based queries that detect, browse and inspect trending patterns. We also demonstrate two user cases of Percolator, in social media trend analysis and academic collaboration analysis, respectively.

Bone-only versus visceral-only metastatic pattern in breast cancer: analysis of 150 patients. A GOCS study. Grupo Oncológico Cooperativo del Sur.