Retinotopic organization of extrastriate cortex in the owl monkey—dorsal and lateral areas

Dense retinotopy data sets were obtained by microelectrode visual receptive field mapping in dorsal and lateral visual cortex of anesthetized owl monkeys. The cortex was then physically flatmounted and stained for myelin or cytochrome oxidase. Retinotopic mapping data were digitized, interpolated to a uniform grid, analyzed using the visual field sign technique—which locally distinguishes mirror image from nonmirror image visual field representations—and correlated with the myelin or cytochrome oxidase patterns. The region between V2 (nonmirror) and MT (nonmirror) contains three areas—DLp (mirror), DLi (nonmirror), and DLa/MTc (mirror). DM (mirror) was thin anteroposteriorly, and its reduced upper field bent somewhat anteriorly away from V2. DI (nonmirror) directly adjoined V2 (nonmirror) and contained only an upper field representation that also adjoined upper field DM (mirror). Retinotopy was used to define area VPP (nonmirror), which adjoins DM anteriorly, area FSTd (mirror), which adjoins MT ventrolaterally, and TP (mirror), which adjoins MT and DLa/MTc dorsoanteriorly. There was additional retinotopic and architectonic evidence for five more subdivisions of dorsal and lateral extrastriate cortex—TA (nonmirror), MSTd (mirror), MSTv (nonmirror), FSTv (nonmirror), and PP (mirror). Our data appear quite similar to data from marmosets, though our field sign-based areal subdivisions are slightly different. The region immediately anterior to the superiorly located central lower visual field V2 varied substantially between individuals, but always contained upper fields immediately touching lower visual field V2. This region appears to vary even more between species. Though we provide a summary diagram, given within- and between-species variation, it should be regarded as a guide to parsing complex retinotopy rather than a literal representation of any individual, or as the only way to agglomerate the complex mosaic of partial upper and lower field, mirror- and nonmirror-image patches into areas

Deleterious effects of calcium indicators within cells; an inconvenient truth

The study of cellular Ca⁠2+ signalling is indebted to Roger Tsien for the invention of fluorescent indicators that can be readily loaded into living cells and provide the means to measure cellular Ca⁠⁠2+ changes over long periods of time with sub-second resolution and microscopic precision. However, a recent study [1] reminds us that as useful as these tools are they need to be employed with caution as there can be off-target effects. This article summarises these recent findings within the wider context of confounding issues that can be encountered when using chemical and genetically-encoded Ca⁠⁠2+ indicators, and briefly discusses some approaches that may mitigate against misleading outcomes

Damage Caused by Wheeled Skidders on Cambisols of Central Europe

Machine traffic and timber skidding significantly affect the soil surface and soil properties. The effects are mostly negative and result in soil erosion, worsening of soil properties and inhibition of the growth of roots and soil organisms. In this study, we evaluated forest soil damage caused by the HSM 805 HD wheeled skidder during timber skidding in selected forest stands in the School Forest Enterprise in Zvolen. We estimated the limits for operation of forest machines in the stands and evaluated the moisture content and bulk density of the soil, CO2 concentration in the upper layer of the soil, determined the soil texture, Atterberg limits and critical moisture using the Proctor test, CBR test and examining the depth of ruts on skid trails. The measurements were taken from undisturbed forest soil unaffected by skidder traffic, the ruts and between the ruts. The results showed significant differences between the values of soil samples from undisturbed soil and the soil affected by the skidder. The exceeding of CO2 concentration limits and bulk density in the soil from the ruts were recorded in both stands. The methods used present the basic methodology for evaluating the effect of logging machinery on forest soil and for setting limits that will allow or prohibit the operation of logging machinery according to forest stand conditions. The moisture content of soil, when it changes from the solid to plastic phase, was chosen as the limit for machine operation. This value is also easy to measure

Damage Caused by Wheeled Skidders on Cambisols of Central Europe

Machine traffic and timber skidding significantly affect the soil surface and soil properties. The effects are mostly negative and result in soil erosion, worsening of soil properties and inhibition of the growth of roots and soil organisms. In this study, we evaluated forest soil damage caused by the HSM 805 HD wheeled skidder during timber skidding in selected forest stands in the School Forest Enterprise in Zvolen. We estimated the limits for operation of forest machines in the stands and evaluated the moisture content and bulk density of the soil, CO2 concentration in the upper layer of the soil, determined the soil texture, Atterberg limits and critical moisture using the Proctor test, CBR test and examining the depth of ruts on skid trails. The measurements were taken from undisturbed forest soil unaffected by skidder traffic, the ruts and between the ruts. The results showed significant differences between the values of soil samples from undisturbed soil and the soil affected by the skidder. The exceeding of CO2 concentration limits and bulk density in the soil from the ruts were recorded in both stands. The methods used present the basic methodology for evaluating the effect of logging machinery on forest soil and for setting limits that will allow or prohibit the operation of logging machinery according to forest stand conditions. The moisture content of soil, when it changes from the solid to plastic phase, was chosen as the limit for machine operation. This value is also easy to measure

Mental Processes and Strategic Equilibration: An fMRI Study of Selling Strategies in Second Price Auctions

This study is the first to attempt to isolate a relationship between cognitive activity and equilibration to a Nash Equilibrium. Subjects, while undergoing fMRI scans of brain activity, participated in second price auctions against a single competitor following predetermined strategy that was unknown to the subject. For this auction there is a unique strategy that will maximize the subjects' earnings, which is also a Nash equilibrium of the associated game theoretic model of the auction. As is the case with all games, the bidding strategies of subjects participating in second price auctions most often do not reflect the equilibrium bidding strategy at first but with experience, typically exhibit a process of equilibration, or convergence toward the equilibrium. This research is focused on the process of convergence

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry for screening of organohalogenated compounds in cat hair

The coupling of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry offers the best separation efficiency combined with accurate mass measurements over a wide mass range. The tremendous power of this screening tool is illustrated by trace qualitative screening analysis of organohalogenated compounds (OHCs) in pet cat hair. Tentative identification was supported by mass spectral database searches and elemental formula prediction from the experimentally determined accurate mass data. This screening approach resulted in the first tentative identification of pentabromoethylbenzene, decabromodiphenyl ethane, hexabromocyclododecane, trisbromoneopentyl alcohol, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate and tris(2-chloroisopropyl)phosphate in the South African indoor environment. A total of seventy-two OHCs were identified in the samples and include known flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and legacy contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine, organophosphorous and pyrethroid pesticides. The results obtained from cat hair indicate that these pets are exposed to complex mixtures of OHCs and the detection of these compounds suggests that non-invasive cat hair samples can be used to model indoor exposure with reference to external deposition of OHCs present in the air and dust surrounding people. Toddlers share the same environment as pet cats and therefore also the same health risks

Mapping the human cortical surface by combining quantitative T(1) with retinotopy

We combined quantitative relaxation rate (R1= 1/T1) mapping-to measure local myelination-with fMRI-based retinotopy. Gray-white and pial surfaces were reconstructed and used to sample R1 at different cortical depths. Like myelination, R1 decreased from deeper to superficial layers. R1 decreased passing from V1 and MT, to immediately surrounding areas, then to the angular gyrus. High R1 was correlated across the cortex with convex local curvature so the data was first "de-curved". By overlaying R1 and retinotopic maps, we found that many visual area borders were associated with significant R1 increases including V1, V3A, MT, V6, V6A, V8/VO1, FST, and VIP. Surprisingly, retinotopic MT occupied only the posterior portion of an oval-shaped lateral occipital R1 maximum. R1 maps were reproducible within individuals and comparable between subjects without intensity normalization, enabling multi-center studies of development, aging, and disease progression, and structure/function mapping in other modalities

Off‐target inhibition of NGLY1 by the poly‐caspase inhibitor Z‐VAD‐fmk induces cellular autophagy

The pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk acts as an inhibitor of peptide:N-glycanase (NGLY1); an endoglycosidase which cleaves N-inked glycans from glycoproteins exported from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) during ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Both pharmacological N-glycanase inhibition by Z-VAD-fmk and siRNA-mediated knockdown (KD) of NGLY1 induce GFP-LC3 positive puncta in HEK 293 cells. Activation of ER stress markers or induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are not observed under either condition. Moreover, Ca2+ handling is unaffected when observing release from intracellular stores. Under conditions of pharmacological NGLY1 inhibition or NGLY1 KD, upregulation of autophagosome formation without impairment of autophagic flux is observed. Enrichment of autophagosomes by immunoprecipitation (IP) and mass spectrometry-based proteomics analysis reveal comparable autophagosomal protein content. Gene ontology analysis of proteins enriched in autophagosome IPs shows overrepresentation of factors involved in protein translation, localization and targeting, RNA degradation and protein complex disassembly. Upregulation of autophagy represents a cellular adaptation to NGLY1 inhibition or KD, and ATG13-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) show reduced viability under these conditions. In contrast, treatment with pan-caspase inhibitor, Q-VD-OPh does not induce cellular autophagy. Therefore, experiments with Z-VAD-fmk are complicated by the effects of NGLY1 inhibition, including induction of autophagy, and Q-VD-OPh represents an alternative caspase inhibitor free from this limitation

NGLY1 knockdown or pharmacological inhibition induces cellular autophagy

Pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk acts as an inhibitor of peptide:N-glycanase (NGLY1); an endoglycosidase which cleaves N-linked glycans from glycoproteins exported from the endoplasmic reticulum during ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Pharmacological N-glycanase inhibition by Z-VAD-fmk or siRNA knockdown (KD) induces GFP-LC3 positive puncta in HEK 293 cells. Activation of ER stress markers or reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction are not observed. In NGLY1 inhibition or KD, upregulation of autophagosome formation without impairment of autophagic flux are observed. Enrichment and proteomics analysis of autophagosomes after Z-VAD-fmk treatment or NGLY1 KD reveals comparable autophagosomal protein content. Upregulation of autophagy represents a cellular adaptation to NGLY1 inhibition or KD, and ATG13-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) show reduced viability under these conditions. In contrast, treatment with pan-caspase inhibitor, Q-VD-OPh does not induce cellular autophagy. Therefore, experiments with Z-VAD-fmk are complicated by the effects of NGLY1 inhibition and Q-VD-OPh represents an alternative caspase inhibitor free from this limitation