Unconscious processing at the subjective threshold - semantic comprehension?

Our thoughts and behaviours can sometimes be influenced by stimuli that we are not consciously aware of having seen. For example, the presentation of a word that is blocked from entering conscious visual perception through masking can subsequently influence the cognitive processing of a further target word. However, the idea that unconscious cognition is sophisticated enough to process the semantic meaning of subliminal stimuli is controversial. This thesis attempts to explore the extent of subliminal priming. Empirical research centering on subjective methods of measuring conscious knowledge is presented in a series of three articles. The first article investigates the subliminal priming of negation. A series of experiments demonstrates that unconscious processing can accurately discriminate between two nouns beyond chance performance when subliminally instructed to either pick or not pick a given noun. This article demonstrates not only semantic processing of the instructional word, but also unconscious cognitive control by following a two-word subliminal instruction to not choose the primed noun. The second article investigates subliminal priming of active versus passive verb voice by presenting a prime sentence denoting one of two characters as either active or passive and asking which of two pictorial representations best matches the prime. The series of experiments demonstrates that overall, participants were able to identify the correct image for both active and passive conditions beyond chance expectations. This article suggests that individuals are able to process the meaning of word combinations that they are not aware of seeing. The third article attempts to determine whether subliminal processing is sophisticated enough to allow for the activation of specific anxieties relating to relationships. Whilst the findings reveal a small subliminal priming effect on generalised anxiety, the evidence regarding the subliminal priming of very specific anxieties is insensitive. The unconscious is shown in these experiments to be more powerful than previously supposed in terms of the fine grained processing of the semantics of word combinations, though not yet in terms of the fine grained resolution of emotional priming

Antioxidant and DPPH-Scavenging Activities of Compounds and Ethanolic Extract of the Leaf and Twigs of Caesalpinia bonduc L. Roxb.

Antioxidant effects of ethanolic extract of Caesalpinia bonduc and its isolated bioactive compounds were evaluated in vitro. The compounds included two new cassanediterpenes, 1α,7α-diacetoxy-5α,6β-dihydroxyl-cass-14(15)-epoxy-16,12-olide (1)and 12α-ethoxyl-1α,14β-diacetoxy-2α,5α-dihydroxyl cass-13(15)-en-16,12-olide(2); and others, bonducellin (3), 7,4’-dihydroxy-3,11-dehydrohomoisoflavanone (4), daucosterol (5), luteolin (6), quercetin-3-methyl ether (7) and kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1Ç2)-β-D-xylopyranoside (8). The antioxidant properties of the extract and compounds were assessed by the measurement of the total phenolic content, ascorbic acid content, total antioxidant capacity and 1-1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and hydrogen peroxide radicals scavenging activities.Compounds 3, 6, 7 and ethanolic extract had DPPH scavenging activities with IC50 values of 186, 75, 17 and 102 μg/ml respectively when compared to vitamin C with 15 μg/ml. On the other hand, no significant results were obtained for hydrogen peroxide radical. In addition, compound 7 has the highest phenolic content of 0.81±0.01 mg/ml of gallic acid equivalent while compound 8 showed the highest total antioxidant capacity with 254.31±3.54 and 199.82±2.78 μg/ml gallic and ascorbic acid equivalent respectively. Compound 4 and ethanolic extract showed a high ascorbic acid content of 2.26±0.01 and 6.78±0.03 mg/ml respectively.The results obtained showed the antioxidant activity of the ethanolic extract of C. bonduc and deduced that this activity was mediated by its isolated bioactive compounds

Determinants of paediatric asthma: a three-level approach

Tese de doutoramento em Ciências Biomédicas, apresentada ao Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar da Universidade do Porto, 2021Orientador Professor André Moreira (Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto); Coorientadores: Professor Eduardo de Oliveira Fernandes (Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto); Doutora Joana Madureira (Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto); Professora Idalina Beirão (Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar da Universidade do Porto)During the 20th century, urbanization has increasing and represented a major demographic and environmental change in developed countries. Urban living may offer a greater possibility to better health care, education and social services, but is also associated with increased exposure to air pollution, outdoors and indoors, loss of natural environments and biodiversity and lifestyle changes. Furthermore, this ever-changing urban environment has an impact on diseases patterns and prevalence, namely on noncommunicable diseases, such as asthma and allergy, and poses many challenges to understand the relationship between the changing on the urban environment and the children health. The overall aim of this thesis was to study the role of the environmental determinants of paediatric asthma.Ao longo do último século observou-se uma tendência crescente e rápida na urbanização, representando uma grande mudança demográfica e ambiental, principalmente nos países desenvolvidos. Apesar das cidades poderem oferecer oportunidades de acesso aos serviços de saúde, educação e sociais, estão também associadas a um aumento da exposição à poluição do ar, no exterior e no interior, diminuição de ambientes naturais e da biodiversidade e alterações nos estilos de vida. A alteração crescente do meio ambiente está igualmente associada ao aumento da prevalência de algumas doenças, nomeadamente, de doenças crónicas como a asma e as alergias e, representando por isso diversos desafios na compreensão da relação entre as mudanças no ambiente na saúde das crianças. O objetivo da presente tese é investigar o papel dos determinantes ambientais da asma e da alergia pediátrica.This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through the scholarship SFRH/BD/112269/2015 and by the Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000010 – Health, Comfort and Energy in the Built Environment (HEBE), cofinanced by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE2020), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), EXALAR 21 project financed by FEDER/FNR and by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (EXALAR 21 02/SAICT/2017 - Project nº 30193) and by EAACI Research Fellowship 2018, “How indoor environment can shape human microbiome: culture-independent approaches”info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Passive in-situ estrogenic potency sampling with DGT-YES

The purpose of this research was to investigate the presence of bisphenolic plastics and synthetic estrogens in municipal water systems, as well as along the Waikato River. The concentration of these compounds was assessed using a novel combination of methods that allowed the actual levels of endocrine disruption to be ascertained. This was based on diffusive gradients in thin films (DGTs) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis (HPLC/MS) and the Yeast Estrogen Screen (YES). DGT estimated time-integrated concentrations while HPLC/MS ensured a robust, automated and sensitive routine analysis. Most significantly, YES, a biomarker-based assay, was deployed to quantify the total estrogenic potency of the compounds adsorbed to the DGT matrix. The unique dimension of this research was to extend the application of DGTs to estrogen sampling and to combine the DGT and YES technique to provide in situ quantification of the estrogenic potency of water bodies through time. DGTs were developed specifically for the sampling of BPA, BPAF, E2 and EE2. Several physical-chemical and chemical analyses were conducted to attest the suitability of the agarose (1.5%) and agarose (1.5%) – activated charcoal (1%) chosen respectively as diffusive gel and binding gel. They were found to be suitable for the detection of organic molecules with a bigger steric hindrance and agarose (1.5%) – AC (1%) appeared suitable for long deployments thanks to its high thermal resistance. An HPLC-MS method was optimised to quantify the compounds of interest. A methanol (MeOH, NH4OH 0.06 M)/water (H2O, NH4OH 0.06 M) fast gradient elution program of 15 min was chosen to elute the analytes, MS parameters were optimized for each compound and the negative mode was selected to perform the fragmentation. LODs and LOQs of all targets resulted in the nanomolar range assuming 24 h as deployment time at 25°C with a 0.54 mm thick diffusive gel. The sensitivity of the method was increased in the sub-nanomolar range by adopting long deployment times (18 days) thus enhancing the accumulation of the targets.The YES was successfully developed to quantify the total estrogenic potency of the DGTs eluted. The dose-response calibration curve of E2, employed as a control, demonstrated LOD and experimental EC50 values in the sub-nanomolar range. EE2, BPA and BPAF demonstrated agonistic endocrine activity, in particular EE2 being more potent than E2, while BPAF and BPA were less potent. The environmental monitoring assessed the efficiency of removal of the selected ECs during the water treatment processes from river-to-tap and effluent-to-treated wastewater in Hamilton as well the water quality from source-to-outfall of the Waikato River. The HPLC-MS and YES results highlighted that primary treatments were not suitable for the removal of bisphenolic plastics and estrogens both at drinkable and wastewater treatment plants in Hamilton where they appear to worsen the water quality making these pollutants more available. At both treatment plants, the concentration and the estrogenic activity of the targets appeared to fluctuate around the same value, pointing out the inefficiency of removal of these compounds with the actual treatments. EE2 contributed the most to the estrogenic activity due to its higher concentration and higher potency at all sites. The concentration and the estrogenic potency of all targets were found to be higher downstream at all sites monitored along the Waikato River. EE2 was the compound with the highest concentration at all sites. A moderate worsening of water quality was apparent moving from Taupo to Tuakau. The most polluted sites were Hamilton and Huntley after the outlets of wastewater treatment plants that serve the main conurbations in the area. The EDC concentrations recorded in November 2017 and February 2018 during the monitoring of the Waikato River at Hamilton upstream and downstream sites showed a significant dilution due to the weather conditions. The data from a previous monitoring of the Waikato River adopting an SPE-HRGC/MS method were compared with those of the DGT-HPLC/MS investigation. The water quality appeared slightly worsened at all sites from 2013 to 2018 due to increased concentrations of BPA and EE2. The DGT-HPLC/MS quantification with the YES assay proved that not only active samplings but passive samplings as well can be coupled with a bioassay. This combined approach had the excellent potential to provide a reliable total estrogenic potency evaluation with time integrated concentrations. The use of the assay allowed estimation of the total estrogenic potency of the eluted DGT. The eluate appeared enriched by other compounds with estrogenic activity, suggesting this type of DGT could be suitable for the sampling and accumulation of other analytes that could be further investigated via HPLC/MS analysis. Compared to the traditional active approaches, DGT ensured sampling and concentration in one step, was easy to prepare and to use, required a very simple sample preparation step prior to analysis, and provided sensitivity in the sub-nanomolar range comparable to active sampling analyses. The YES assay was responsive, robust and easy to use compared to other assays that require laborious procedures and longer times for estrogenic potency evaluation and high sensitivity in the sub-nanomolar range comparable to other assays

1995 July, University of Memphis bulletin

Vol. 84, No. 4 of the University of Memphis bulletin containing the graduate catalog for 1995-96, 1995 July.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-ua-pub-bulletins/1181/thumbnail.jp