Microfluidic Device for Continuous Magnetophoretic Separation of Red Blood Cells

This paper presents a microfluidic device for magnetophoretic separation red blood cells from blood under contionous flow. The separation method consist of continous flow of a blood sample (diluted in PBS) through a microfluidic channel which presents on the bottom "dots" of feromagnetic layer. By appling a magnetic field perpendicular on the flowing direction, the feromagnetic "dots" generates a gradient of magnetic field which amplifies the magnetic force. As a result, the red blood cells are captured on the bottom of the microfluidic channel while the rest of the blood is collected at the outlet. Experimental results show that an average of 95 % of red blood cells are trapped in the deviceComment: Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association (http://irevues.inist.fr/handle/2042/16838

BCL11B is a general transcriptional repressor of the HIV-1 long terminal repeat in T lymphocytes through recruitment of the NuRD complex

AbstractIn this study we provide evidence that the transcription factor BCL11B represses expression from the HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) in T lymphocytes through direct association with the HIV-1 LTR. We also demonstrate that the NuRD corepressor complex mediates BCL11B transcriptional repression of the HIV-1 LTR. In addition, BCL11B and the NuRD complex repressed TAT-mediated transactivation of the HIV-1 LTR in T lymphocytes, pointing to a potential role in initiation of silencing. In support of all the above results, we demonstrate that BCL11B affects HIV-1 replication and virus production, most likely by blocking LTR transcriptional activity. BCL11B showed specific repression for the HIV-1 LTR sequences isolated from seven different HIV-1 subtypes, demonstrating that it is a general transcriptional repressor for all LTRs

Individual Differences in Reinforcement Learning: Behavioral, Electrophysiological, and Neuroimaging Correlates

During reinforcement learning, phasic modulations of activity in midbrain dopamine neurons are conveyed to the dorsal anterior cingulate Cortex (dACC) and basal ganglia (BG) and serve to guide adaptive responding. While the animal literature supports a role for the dACC in integrating reward history over time, most human electrophysiological Studies of dACC function have focused on responses to single positive and negative outcomes. The present electrophysiological study investigated the role of the dACC in probabilistic reward learning in healthy subjects using a task that required integration of reinforcement history over time. We recorded the feedback-related negativity (FRN) to reward feedback in subjects who developed a response bias toward a more frequently rewarded ("rich") stimulus ("learners") versus subjects who did not ("non-learners"). Compared to non-learners, learners showed more positive (i.e., smaller) FRNs and greater dACC activation upon receiving reward for correct identification of the rich stimulus. In addition, dACC activation and a bias to select the rich Stimulus were positively correlated. The same participants also completed a monetary incentive delay (MID) task administered during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Compared to non-learners, learners displayed stronger BG responses to reward in the MID task. These findings raise the possibility that learners in the probabilistic reinforcement task were characterized by stronger dACC and BG responses to rewarding outcomes. Furthermore, these results highlight the importance of the dACC to probabilistic reward learning in humans.Psycholog

Determining Romania's Position in Europe According to the Optimized Global Food Security Index in 2018

This article aims to analyze how the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) has evolved across the European countries for the period 2012-2018. In this respect, we have taken as a starting point the Report of Global Food Security Index 2018 as well as the scientific literature from the main stream of publications focusing on food security. The data presented were analyzed and presented statistically, on the basis of which we prepared tables relevant to the proposed goal. The aim of this research is to determine the most vulnerable countries in terms of food security. We analyzed the evolution of the Global Food Security Index for the period 2012-2018, and the subcategories of indicators underlying the determination of the overall GFSI index score: food affordability, food availability, food quality and safety. We also looked at the adjustment indicator data used to determine the GFSI index, natural resources and adaptability. The natural resources and adaptive capacity indicator measure the exposure of a country to the impact of a changing climate; its susceptibility to the risks of the natural resources and how a country adapts to these risks. When applied, it acts as an adjustment factor for countries' food security scores. The originality of the paper is to build a globally optimized index for GFSI to provide a comparative analysis of European countries in terms of food security, highlighting Romania's position in this scientific approach. The motivation for calculating the optimized global food security index lies in the fact that it has only sub-indicators contributing to significant achievements, and its refining has gone through mathematical processing that led to a more relevant hierarchy. The indicator categories selected within this article are based on the analysis conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Research Division of The Economist that is the world leader in global business intelligence in the above-mentioned report. On the basis of the analysis we drew conclusions regarding the food security in Romania compared to the European countrie

Clinical and management aspects of the idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura

Catedra Hematologie şi Oncologie a U.S.M.F. „N. Testemiţanu” (şeful catedrei – prof. univ., dr.hab.şt.med. I. Corcimaru), IMSP Institutul Oncologic (director – prof., dr.hab.şt.med. V. Cernat)The aspects of the clinical evolution, diagnosis and treatment of the idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura were studied in 50 patients. It has been established that the disease developed mostly in young females. The hemorrhagic syndrome had the microcirculatory petechial-echymotic pattern. Although the direct clinico-hematologic response to the treatment with corticosteroid hormones was registered in 86% of patients, in all cases the platelets count decreased within the next 3 – 5 months up to the initial values. Splenectomy allowed to аchieve the recovery in 84% of patients. Particularităţile evoluţiei clinice, diagnosticului şi tratamentului purpurei trombocitopenice idiopatice au fost studiate la 50 pacienţi. A fost stabilit că maladia mai frecvent s-a dezvoltat la femei de vîrstă tînără. Sindromul hemoragic trombocitopenic a avut un caracter microcirculator peteşial-echimatos. Deşi răspunsul clinico-hematologic nemijlocit la tratamentul cu corticosteroizi a fost înregistrat la 86% de pacienţi, în toate cazurile peste 3 – 5 luni numărul trombocitar a scăzut pînă la valorile iniţiale. Splenectomia a permis de a obţine vindecare la 84% de pacienţi

Reduced Caudate and Nucleus Accumbens Response to Rewards in Unmedicated Subjects with Major Depressive Disorder

Objective: Major depressive disorder is characterized by impaired reward processing, possibly due to dysfunction in the basal ganglia. However, few neuroimaging studies of depression have distinguished between anticipatory and consummatory phases of reward processing. Using functional MRI (fMRI) and a task that dissociates anticipatory and consummatory phases of reward processing, the authors tested the hypothesis that individuals with major depression would show reduced reward-related responses in basal ganglia structures. Method: A monetary incentive delay task was presented to 30 unmedicated individuals with major depressive disorder and 31 healthy comparison subjects during fMRI scanning. Whole-brain analyses focused on neural responses to reward-predicting cues and rewarding outcomes (i.e., monetary gains). Secondary analyses focused on the relationship between anhedonic symptoms and basal ganglia volumes. Results: Relative to comparison subjects, participants with major depression showed significantly weaker responses to gains in the left nucleus accumbens and the caudate bilaterally. Group differences in these regions were specific to rewarding outcomes and did not generalize to neutral or negative outcomes, although relatively reduced responses to monetary penalties in the major depression group emerged in other caudate regions. By contrast, evidence for group differences during reward anticipation was weaker, although participants with major depression showed reduced activation to reward cues in a small sector of the left posterior putamen. In the major depression group, anhedonic symptoms and depression severity were associated with reduced caudate volume bilaterally. Conclusions: These results suggest that basal ganglia dysfunction in major depression may affect the consummatory phase of reward processing. Additionally, morphometric results suggest that anhedonia in major depression is related to caudate volume.Psycholog

Reduced Caudate and Nucleus Accumbens Response to Rewards in Unmedicated Subjects with Major Depressive Disorder

Objective: Major depressive disorder is characterized by impaired reward processing, possibly due to dysfunction in the basal ganglia. However, few neuroimaging studies of depression have distinguished between anticipatory and consummatory phases of reward processing. Using functional MRI (fMRI) and a task that dissociates anticipatory and consummatory phases of reward processing, the authors tested the hypothesis that individuals with major depression would show reduced reward-related responses in basal ganglia structures. Method: A monetary incentive delay task was presented to 30 unmedicated individuals with major depressive disorder and 31 healthy comparison subjects during fMRI scanning. Whole-brain analyses focused on neural responses to reward-predicting cues and rewarding outcomes (i.e., monetary gains). Secondary analyses focused on the relationship between anhedonic symptoms and basal ganglia volumes. Results: Relative to comparison subjects, participants with major depression showed significantly weaker responses to gains in the left nucleus accumbens and the caudate bilaterally. Group differences in these regions were specific to rewarding outcomes and did not generalize to neutral or negative outcomes, although relatively reduced responses to monetary penalties in the major depression group emerged in other caudate regions. By contrast, evidence for group differences during reward anticipation was weaker, although participants with major depression showed reduced activation to reward cues in a small sector of the left posterior putamen. In the major depression group, anhedonic symptoms and depression severity were associated with reduced caudate volume bilaterally. Conclusions: These results suggest that basal ganglia dysfunction in major depression may affect the consummatory phase of reward processing. Additionally, morphometric results suggest that anhedonia in major depression is related to caudate volume.Psycholog

Clinical and serological features of systemic sclerosis in a multicenter African American cohort: Analysis of the genome research in African American scleroderma patients clinical database.

Racial differences exist in the severity of systemic sclerosis (SSc). To enhance our knowledge about SSc in African Americans, we established a comprehensive clinical database from the largest multicenter cohort of African American SSc patients assembled to date (the Genome Research in African American Scleroderma Patients (GRASP) cohort).African American SSc patients were enrolled retrospectively and prospectively over a 30-year period (1987-2016), from 18 academic centers throughout the United States. The cross-sectional prevalence of sociodemographic, clinical, and serological features was evaluated. Factors associated with clinically significant manifestations of SSc were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analyses.The study population included a total of 1009 African American SSc patients, comprised of 84% women. In total, 945 (94%) patients met the 2013 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) classification criteria for SSc, with the remaining 64 (6%) meeting the 1980 ACR or CREST (calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, telangiectasia) criteria. While 43% were actively employed, 33% required disability support. The majority (57%) had the more severe diffuse subtype and a young age at symptom onset (39.1 ± 13.7 years), in marked contrast to that reported in cohorts of predominantly European ancestry. Also, 1 in 10 patients had a severe Medsger cardiac score of 4. Pulmonary fibrosis evident on computed tomography (CT) chest was present in 43% of patients and was significantly associated with anti-topoisomerase I positivity. 38% of patients with CT evidence of pulmonary fibrosis had a severe restrictive ventilator defect, forced vital capacity (FVC) ≤50% predicted. A significant association was noted between longer disease duration and higher odds of pulmonary hypertension, telangiectasia, and calcinosis. The prevalence of potentially fatal scleroderma renal crisis was 7%, 3.5 times higher than the 2% prevalence reported in the European League Against Rheumatism Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) cohort.Our study emphasizes the unique and severe disease burden of SSc in African Americans compared to those of European ancestry