The influence of mood on visual perception of neutral material

In the study we investigated how current mood affects spontaneous perceptual processes of neutral stimuli of low‑arousal, unrelated to any specific task. Two separate but similar procedures were carried out: one using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the other using electroencephalography based source localization. In both experiments, sessions of passive viewing of neutral pictures were preceded by either a negative or positive mood induction. In response to neutral stimuli, we observed higher activation of visual areas after positive mood induction and lower activations in medial prefrontal and right frontotemporal regions after negative mood induction. We conclude that in relatively safe laboratory conditions, after being exposed to negative emotional content, automatic processes of affective control are recruited by the prefrontal cortex. This results in attenuation of processing of incoming stimuli, as the stimuli do not carry salient information with respect to bottom‑up or top‑down processes. The observed effects may therefore represent an implicit mechanism of perceptual modulation

The dynamics of pain reappraisal : the joint contribution of cognitive change and mental load

This study was designed to investigate the neural mechanism of cognitive modulation of pain via a reappraisal strategy with high temporal resolution. The EEG signal was recorded from 29 participants who were instructed to down-regulate, up-regulate, or maintain their pain experience. The L2 minimum norm source reconstruction method was used to localize areas in which a significant effect of the instruction was present. Down-regulating pain by reappraisal exerted a robust effect on pain processing from as early as ~100 ms that diminished the activity of limbic brain regions: the anterior cingulate cortex, right orbitofrontal cortex, left anterior temporal region, and left insula. However, compared with the no-regulation condition, the neural activity was similarly attenuated in the up- and down-regulation conditions. We suggest that this effect could be ascribed to the cognitive load that was associated with the execution of a cognitively demanding reappraisal task that could have produced a general attenuation of pain-related areas regardless of the aim of the reappraisal task (i.e., up- or down-regulation attempts). These findings indicate that reappraisal effects reflect the joint influence of both reappraisal-specific (cognitive change) and unspecific (cognitive demand) factors, thus pointing to the importance of cautiously selected control conditions that allow the modulating impact of both processes to be distinguished

High working memory load impairs reappraisal but facilitates distraction : an event-related potential investigation

The present experiments investigated the impact of working memory (WM) load on emotion regulation (ER) efficacy using reappraisal (Experiment 1, n = 30) and distraction (Experiment 2, n = 30). Considering that WM is necessary for storage, elaboration, and manipulation of information and that reappraisal acts by storing, elaborating, and manipulating the stimulus meaning, we hypothesized that high (versus low) WM-load would reduce reappraisal efficacy. By contrast, given that distraction acts by blocking elaborated processing of the stimulus meaning, we expected that high WM-load would enhance distraction efficacy. To test these predictions, we employed a dual-task paradigm in which a low- or high WM-load task was combined with an ER (reappraisal or distraction) task. We measured the Late Positive Potential (LPP)–an electrocortical marker of sustained motivated attention, and a well-established index of emotional arousal–in response to negative pictures. Results confirmed that although reappraisal successfully reduced the LPP amplitude in the down- compared to up-regulation condition in low WM-load trials, high WM-load eliminated this difference, suggesting the disrupting influence of high WM-load on ER for reappraisal (Experiment 1). By contrast, although distraction failed to modulate the LPP amplitude in low WM-load trials, the difference between down- and no-regulation conditions was significant when distraction was combined with high WM-load, suggesting the facilitatory influence of high WM-load on ER for distraction (Experiment 2). Our findings show that the effect of WM-load on ER is strategy-dependent, and that the availability of WM resources is an important situational moderator of ER efficacy in healthy young adults

Interleukin-6 and its considerable role in the pathogenesis of thyrotoxicosis-related disturbances of bone turnover in postmenopausal women

Background: Thyrotoxicosis is more frequent in postmenopausal women than in the general population, effectively accelerating bone turnover. Interleukin-6 has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of bone disorders. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the role of IL-6 and its soluble receptor in the pathogenesis of thyrotoxicosis-related disturbances of bone turnover in oestrogen-deficient women. Material and methods: The study was carried out in 40 subjects with toxic nodular goitre in three groups: Group 1 &#8212; 13 premenopausal females, mean age 36 &#177; 15 years (PremTx&#8594;PremEu); Group 2 &#8212; 12 postmenopausal females, mean age 66 &#177; 14 years (PostTx&#8594;PostEu); and Group 3 &#8212; 15 males, mean age 45 &#177; 21 years (MTx&#8594;MEu). Overt thyrotoxicosis and euthyreosis after treatment with thyrostatics were confirmed by thyrotropin, free thyroxine and free triiodothyronin concentrations. Serum levels of bone turnover markers: TRACP5b and osteocalcin as well as serum IL-6 and IL-6sR were determined using ELISA kits. Results: TRACP5b/osteocalcin quotient was significantly elevated in the PostTx females compared to the PremTx women (p < 0.02). There was a positive correlation between serum TRACP5b and osteocalcin in the studied patients (R = 0.45, p < 0.001). Levels of serum IL-6 values were significantly elevated in PostTx: 3.0 (2.14&#8211;6.40) and MTx: 2.24 (1.60&#8211;5.10), compared to PremTx females: 1.39 (0.96&#8211;2.14) (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05 respectively). There were significant positive correlations between IL-6 and IL-6sR concentrations (R = 0.22, p < 0.05) and between IL-6sR and TRACP5b serum levels (R = 0.23, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that interleukin-6 plays a considerable role in the pathogenesis of thyrotoxicosis-related disturbances of bone turnover in oestrogen-deficient women. (Pol J Endocrinol 2011; 62 (4): 299&#8211;302)Wstęp: Nadczynność tarczycy występuje częściej u kobiet po menopauzie w porównaniu z populacją ogólną, skutecznie przyspieszając obrót kostny. Wykazano, że interleukina 6 (IL-6) odgrywa istotną rolę w regulacji obrotu kostnego. Uwzględniając ten fakt, celem obecnej pracy była próba oceny roli IL-6 i jej rozpuszczalnego receptora w patogenezie zaburzeń obrotu kostnego w przebiegu tyreotoksykozy u kobiet po menopauzie. Materiał i metody: Badanie przeprowadzono u 40 osób z nadczynnym wolem guzkowym w 3 grupach: 1 &#8212; 13 kobiet przed menopauzą w wieku 36 &#177; 15 lat (PremTx&#198;PremEu), 2 &#8212; 12 kobiet po menopauzie w wieku 66 &#177; 14 lat (PostTx&#198;PostEu) i 3 &#8212; 15 mężczyzn w wieku 45 &#177; 21 lat (MTx&#198;MEu). Stan czynnościowy tarczycy potwierdzono oznaczeniem TSH, fT3 i fT4 w surowicy. Markery obrotu kostnego: TRACP5b i osteokalcyna oraz IL-6 i IL-6sR w surowicy, oznaczono zestawami ELISA. Wyniki: Iloraz TRACP5b/osteokalcyna był istotnie zwiększony u kobiet PostTx w porównaniu z grupą PremTx (p < 0,02). Stwierdzono dodatnią korelację między TRACP5b i osteokalcyną (R = 0,45, p < 0,001). Stężenie IL-6 było istotnie zwiększone w grupie PostTx: 3,0 (2,14&#8211;6,40) i MTx: 2,24 (1,60&#8211;5,10) w porównaniu z odnotowanym u kobiet z grupy PremTx: 1,39 (0,96&#8211;2,14) (odpowiednio: p < 0,01 i p < 0,05). Wykazano istotną dodatnią korelację pomiędzy IL-6 i IL-6sR (R = 0,22, p < 0,05) oraz pomiędzy IL-6sR i TRACP5b (R = 0,23, p < 0,05). Wnioski: Podsumowując, wyniki obecnej pracy wskazują, że IL-6 odgrywa ważną rolę w patogenezie zaburzeń obrotu kostnego w przebiegu tyreotoksykozy u kobiet po menopauzie. (Endokrynol Pol 2011; 62 (4): 299&#8211;302

Offline rTMS inhibition of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex impairs reappraisal efficacy

In this study we verified the causal role of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in emotional regulation using a strategy of reappraisal, which involves intentionally changing the meaning of an affective event to reduce its emotional impact. Healthy participants (n = 26; mean age = 25.4) underwent three sessions of inhibitory continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) applied on three different days over the left or right DLPFC, or the vertex. After applying the stimulation protocol participants were presented with neutral and negative pictorial stimuli that had to be either passively watched or reappraised. The efficacy of emotional control was quantified using the Late Positive Potential (LPP), the neural marker of motivated attention and elaborated stimulus processing. The results showed that reappraisal was compromised after inhibitory stimulation of the right DLPFC compared to the vertex. This impairment of affective modulation was reflected in both early (350–750 ms) and late (750–1500 ms) time windows. As no session differences during the passive watching conditions were found, the decrease in reappraisal efficacy due to non-specific changes in basic perceptual processing was considered unlikely. Instead, we suggest that inhibition of the right DLPFC primarily affects the top-down mechanism of attentional deployment. This results in disturbances of attentional processes that are necessary to thoroughly elaborate the content of affective stimuli to enable their new, less negative interpretation

Total anomalous pulmonary vein drainage in a 60-year-old woman diagnosed in an ECG-gated multidetector computed tomography : a case report and review of literature

Purpose: Total anomalous pulmonary vein drainage (TAPVD) is a congenital cardiac defect in which there is no connection between pulmonary veins and the left atrium. Pulmonary veins form a confluence independent of the left atrium and drain to a systemic vein. TAPVD types are: supracardiac, cardiac, infracardiac, and mixed. TAPVD accounts for approximately 1.5-2.2% of all congenital heart diseases. This anomaly is usually diagnosed in the neonatal period, and it coexists with atrial septal defect. Adult cases of TAPVD are rarely reported. Case report: We report a rare case of a 60-year-old woman with incidentally found, uncorrected TAPVD in ECG-gated multidetector computed tomography. In previous echocardiographic examinations partial anomalous pulmonary venous return and atrial septal defect were diagnosed. Conclusions: ECG-gated multidetector computed tomography is a valuable diagnostic method for adults with congenital heart disease. It enables evaluation of coronary arteries and simultaneously provides detailed anatomy of great vessels

5-Fluoro-1,3-dihydro-2,1-benzoxaborol-1-ol

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C7H6BFO2, a broad-spectrum anti­fungal drug (AN2690), the planar [maximum deviation 0.035 (1) Å] mol­ecules form centrosymmetric R 2 2(8) dimers via strong O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The dimers are arranged into layers by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O and C—H⋯F hydrogen bonds. The symmetry of this two-dimensional supra­molecular assembly can be described by the layer group p and topologically classified as a simple uninodal four-connected two-dimensional network of a (4.4.4.4.6.6) topology. Further weak C—H⋯O inter­actions build up the three-dimensional structure

Profesjonalny system usług informacyjnych w Bibliotece Uniwersytetu Śląskiego

in the last years the tendency to change library services from information-communicative technologies to information oriented recipient became very distinct. The evolution of these services runs parallel to the changing needs of library users, including the academic libraries. The aim of this report is to present some chosen information services carried out by sections of the Library of the University of Silesia (Biblioteka Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, abrev. BUŚ) in Katowice, which are adjusting their information potential to the needs of library customers. The basic information tools used by the customers of BUŚ are library catalogues — traditional, electronic (which is a subject to retroconversion), its own (University of Silesia employees’ Bibliography of Achievements and Arton) and commercial data bases including electronic service of magazines. In cooperation with Silesian Library (Biblioteka Śląska) a project of Silesian Digital Library (Śląska Biblioteka Cyfrowa) is carried out (http://dlibra.sbc.katowice.pl/dlibra), the aim of it is to digitalize chosen parts of book collection of both libraries. The task of BUŚ employees is also educational and scientific activity. The librarians teach library classes and the use of data bases to group and individual customers of Silesian University Library. At the www site of the University of Silesia one can also find metainformation Internet sources (grouped formally and topically), interactive library advice system and OneLog for academic employees of the University of Silesia. Presented information services serve above all the improvement of customer service system of BUŚ, but what is more place this university library among the most advanced libraries which adjust completely their functions to the growing needs of contemporary library customers. The variety of service and cooperation with other libraries to put it into practice transform the BUŚ from a standard library to a hybrid library

The Memory-Modifying Potential of Optogenetics and the Need for Neuroethics

Optogenetics is an invasive neuromodulation technology involving the use of light to control the activity of individual neurons. Even though optogenetics is a relatively new neuromodulation tool whose various implications have not yet been scrutinized, it has already been approved for its first clinical trials in humans. As optogenetics is being intensively investigated in animal models with the aim of developing novel brain stimulation treatments for various neurological and psychiatric disorders, it appears crucial to consider both the opportunities and dangers such therapies may offer. In this review, we focus on the memory-modifying potential of optogenetics, investigating what it is capable of and how it differs from other memory modification technologies (MMTs). We then outline the safety challenges that need to be addressed before optogenetics can be used in humans. Finally, we re-examine crucial neuroethical concerns expressed in regard to other MMTs in the light of optogenetics and address those that appear to be unique to the memory-modifying potential of optogenetic technology