Electrophysiological characterization of texture information slip-resistance dependent in the rat vibrissal nerve

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies in tactile discrimination agree that rats are able to learn a rough-smooth discrimination task by actively touching (whisking) objects with their vibrissae. In particular, we focus on recent evidence of how neurons at different levels of the sensory pathway carry information about tactile stimuli. Here, we analyzed the multifiber afferent discharge of one vibrissal nerve during active whisking. Vibrissae movements were induced by electrical stimulation of motor branches of the facial nerve. We used sandpapers of different grain size as roughness discrimination surfaces and we also consider the change of vibrissal slip-resistance as a way to improve tactile information acquisition. The amplitude of afferent activity was analyzed according to its Root Mean Square value (RMS). The comparisons among experimental situation were quantified by using the information theory.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that the change of the vibrissal slip-resistance is a way to improve the roughness discrimination of surfaces. As roughness increased, the RMS values also increased in almost all cases. In addition, we observed a better discrimination performance in the retraction phase (maximum amount of information).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The evidence of amplitude changes due to roughness surfaces and slip-resistance levels allows to speculate that texture information is slip-resistance dependent at peripheral level.</p

Functional and genomic characterization of ligilactobacillus salivarius TUCO-L2 isolated from lama glama milk: a promising immunobiotic strain to combat infections

Potential probiotic or immunobiotic effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from the milk of the South American camelid llama (Lama glama) have not been reported in published studies. The aim of the present work was to isolate beneficial LAB from llama milk that can be used as potential probiotics active against bacterial pathogens. LAB strains were isolated from llama milk samples. In vitro functional characterization of the strains was performed by evaluating the resistance against gastrointestinal conditions and inhibition of the pathogen growth. Additionally, the adhesive and immunomodulatory properties of the strains were assessed. The functional studies were complemented with a comparative genomic evaluation and in vivo studies in mice. Ligilactobacillus salivarius TUCO-L2 showed enhanced probiotic/immunobiotic potential compared to that of other tested strains. The TUCO-L2 strain was resistant to pH and high bile salt concentrations and demonstrated antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative intestinal pathogens and adhesion to mucins and epithelial cells. L. salivarius TUCO-L2 modulated the innate immune response triggered by Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 activation in intestinal epithelial cells. This effect involved differential regulation of the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines mediated by the modulation of the negative regulators of the TLR signaling pathway. Moreover, the TUCO-L2 strain enhanced the resistance of mice to Salmonella infection. This is the first report on the isolation and characterization of a potential probiotic/immunobiotic strain from llama milk. The in vitro, in vivo, and in silico investigation performed in this study reveals several research directions that are needed to characterize the TUCO-L2 strain in detail to position this strain as a probiotic or immunobiotic that can be used against infections in humans or animals, including llama.Fil: Quilodrán Vega, Sandra. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Albarracín, Leonardo Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Mansilla, Flavia Ivana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Arce, Lorena Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Zhou, Binghui. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Islam, Md Aminul. Tohoku University; Japón. Bangladesh Agricultural University; BangladeshFil: Tomokiyo, Mikado. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Al Kassaa, Imad. Lebanese University. Faculty of Public Health; LíbanoFil: Suda, Yoshihito. Miyagi University; JapónFil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Tohoku University; Japó

مفاهيم موازية

Artistas de la exposición: AlAnood Mubarak, Berta Vicente Salas, Mohammed Al Kaabi, Pilar AlbarracínLa globalización nos permite ir de un lugar a otro en solo varias horas de vuelo, asistir al inspirador espectáculo de la vida al otro lado del planeta o incluso romper todo tipo de barreras físicas y mentales. ¿Pero cuánto nos parecemos? ¿Tenemos los mismos sueños? ¿O la misma visión del amor o del progreso? Y, ¿cómo podemos superar nuestras diferencias sin llegar a vivir “en paralelo”? Con esta exposición, impulsada por la Embajada de España en los Emiratos Árabes Unidos, se pondrá el foco en conceptos que son fundamentales en ambos países (Emiratos Árabes Unidos y España) y que, sin embargo, pueden unirnos o distanciarnos. Como marco, el asombroso trabajo de estos cuatro artistas que, con distintas trayectorias profesionales y vitales, nos cuentan historias desde diferentes perspectivas unidas por un lenguaje interno común: la fotografía y el videoarte