423 research outputs found
The role of the left head of caudate in suppressing irrelevant words
Suppressing irrelevant words is essential to successful speech production and is expected to involve general control mechanisms that reduce interference from task-unrelated processing. To investigate the neural mechanisms that suppress visual word interference, we used fMRI and a Stroop task, using a block design with an event-related analysis. Participants indicated with a finger press whether a visual stimulus was colored pink or blue. The stimulus was either the written word "BLUE," the written word "PINK," or a string of four Xs, with word interference introduced when the meaning of the word and its color were "incongruent" (e.g., BLUE in pink hue) relative to congruent (e.g., BLUE in blue) or neutral (e.g., XXXX in pink). The participants also made color decisions in the presence of spatial interference rather than word interference (i.e., the Simon task). By blocking incongruent, congruent, and neutral trials, we identified activation related to the mechanisms that suppress interference as that which was greater at the end relative to the start of incongruency. This highlighted the role of the left head of caudate in the control of word interference but not spatial interference. The response in the left head of caudate contrasted to bilateral inferior frontal activation that was greater at the start than at the end of incongruency, and to the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus which responded to a change in the motor response. Our study therefore provides novel insights into the role of the left head of caudate in the mechanisms that suppress word interference
Oral cancer stem cells drive tumourigenesis through activation of stromal fibroblasts
Background
Cancer stem cells are responsible for tumour progression and chemoresistance. Fibroblasts surrounding a tumour also promote progression and fibroblast “activation” is an independent prognostic marker in oral cancer. Cancer stem cells may therefore promote tumourigenesis through communication with stromal fibroblasts.
Methods
Cancer stem cells were isolated from oral cancer cell lines by adherence to fibronectin or cisplatin resistance. Fibroblasts were exposed to conditioned medium from these cells, and the activation markers, alpha smooth muscle actin and interleukin‐6, were assessed using qPCR and immunofluorescence. Stem cell markers and smooth muscle actin were examined in oral cancer tissue using immunohistochemistry.
Results
Adherent and chemoresistant cells expressed increased levels of stem cell markers CD24, CD44 and CD29 compared with unsorted cells. Adherent cells exhibited lower growth rate, higher colony forming efficiency and increased cisplatin resistance than unsorted cells. Smooth muscle actin and Interleukin‐6 expression were increased in fibroblasts exposed to conditioned medium. In oral cancer tissue, there was a positive correlation between expression of αSMA and stem cell markers.
Conclusions
Adherence to fibronectin and chemoresistance isolates stem‐like cells that can activate fibroblasts, which together with a correlation between markers of both in vivo, provides a mechanism by which such cells drive tumourigenesis
WIMP Annual Modulation with Opposite Phase in Late-Infall Halo Models
We show that in the late-infall model of our galactic halo by P. Sikivie the
expected phase of the annual modulation of a WIMP halo signal in direct
detection experiments is opposite to the one usually expected. If a
non-virialized halo component due to the infall of (collisionless) dark matter
particles cannot be rejected, an annual modulation in a dark matter signal
should be looked for by experimenters without fixing the phase a-priori.
Moreover, WIMP streams coming to Earth from directions above and below the
galactic plane should be expected, with a characteristic pattern of arrival
directions.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Quantum spin systems at positive temperature
We develop a novel approach to phase transitions in quantum spin models based
on a relation to their classical counterparts. Explicitly, we show that
whenever chessboard estimates can be used to prove a phase transition in the
classical model, the corresponding quantum model will have a similar phase
transition, provided the inverse temperature and the magnitude of the
quantum spins \CalS satisfy \beta\ll\sqrt\CalS. From the quantum system we
require that it is reflection positive and that it has a meaningful classical
limit; the core technical estimate may be described as an extension of the
Berezin-Lieb inequalities down to the level of matrix elements. The general
theory is applied to prove phase transitions in various quantum spin systems
with \CalS\gg1. The most notable examples are the quantum orbital-compass
model on and the quantum 120-degree model on which are shown to
exhibit symmetry breaking at low-temperatures despite the infinite degeneracy
of their (classical) ground state.Comment: 47 pages, version to appear in CMP (style files included
Rare Decays of \Lambda_b->\Lambda + \gamma and \Lambda_b ->\Lambda + l^{+} l^{-} in the Light-cone Sum Rules
Within the Standard Model, we investigate the weak decays of and with the light-cone
sum rules approach. The higher twist distribution amplitudes of
baryon to the leading conformal spin are included in the sum rules for
transition form factors. Our results indicate that the higher twist
distribution amplitudes almost have no influences on the transition form
factors retaining the heavy quark spin symmetry, while such corrections can
result in significant impacts on the form factors breaking the heavy quark spin
symmetry. Two phenomenological models (COZ and FZOZ) for the wave function of
baryon are also employed in the sum rules for a comparison, which can
give rise to the form factors approximately 5 times larger than that in terms
of conformal expansion. Utilizing the form factors calculated in LCSR, we then
perform a careful study on the decay rate, polarization asymmetry and
forward-backward asymmetry, with respect to the decays of , .Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures, some typos are corrected and more references
are adde
QTL detection for milk production traits in goats using a longitudinal model
Summary Eight paternal half-sib families were used to identify chromosomal regions associated with variation in the lactation curves of dairy goats. DNA samples from 162 animals were amplified by PCR for 37 microsatellite markers, from Capra hircus autosomes CHI3, CHI6, CHI14 and CHI20. Milk samples were collected during 6 years, and there were 897 records for milk yield (MY) and 814 for fat (FP) and protein percentage (PP). The analysis was conducted in two stages. First, a random regression model with several fixed effects was fitted to describe the lactation function, using a scale (α) plus four shape parameters: β and γ, both associated with a decrease in the slope of the curve, and δ and φ that are related to the increase in slope. Predictions of α, β, γ, δ and φ were regressed using an interval mapping model, and F-tests were used to test for quantitative trait loci (QTL) effects. Significant (p < 0.05) QTLs were found for: (i) MY: CHI6 at 70-80 cM for all parameters; CHI14 at 14 cM for δ and φ; (ii) FP: CHI14, at 63 cM was associated with β; CHI20, at 72 cM, showed association with α; (iii) PP: chromosomal regions associated with β were found at 59 cM in CHI3 and at 55 cM in CHI20 with α and γ. Analyses using more families and more animals will be useful to confirm or to reject these findings. © 2008 Blackwell Verlag, Berlin.Fil: Roldán, D.L.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Genética; ArgentinaFil: Rabasa, Alicia Elvira. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Agronomía y Zootecnia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Saldaño, S.. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Agronomía y Zootecnia; ArgentinaFil: Holgado, F.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Tucuman-santiago del Estero. Campo Experimental Regional Leales; ArgentinaFil: Poli, M. A.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Genética; ArgentinaFil: Cantet, Rodolfo Juan Carlos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Animal; Argentin
Possible origins of macroscopic left-right asymmetry in organisms
I consider the microscopic mechanisms by which a particular left-right (L/R)
asymmetry is generated at the organism level from the microscopic handedness of
cytoskeletal molecules. In light of a fundamental symmetry principle, the
typical pattern-formation mechanisms of diffusion plus regulation cannot
implement the "right-hand rule"; at the microscopic level, the cell's
cytoskeleton of chiral filaments seems always to be involved, usually in
collective states driven by polymerization forces or molecular motors. It seems
particularly easy for handedness to emerge in a shear or rotation in the
background of an effectively two-dimensional system, such as the cell membrane
or a layer of cells, as this requires no pre-existing axis apart from the layer
normal. I detail a scenario involving actin/myosin layers in snails and in C.
elegans, and also one about the microtubule layer in plant cells. I also survey
the other examples that I am aware of, such as the emergence of handedness such
as the emergence of handedness in neurons, in eukaryote cell motility, and in
non-flagellated bacteria.Comment: 42 pages, 6 figures, resubmitted to J. Stat. Phys. special issue.
Major rewrite, rearranged sections/subsections, new Fig 3 + 6, new physics in
Sec 2.4 and 3.4.1, added Sec 5 and subsections of Sec
Measurement of the Branching Fraction for B->eta' K and Search for B->eta'pi+
We report measurements for two-body charmless B decays with an eta' meson in
the final state. Using 11.1X10^6 BBbar pairs collected with the Belle detector,
we find BF(B^+ ->eta'K^+)=(79^+12_-11 +-9)x10^-6 and BF(B^0 ->
eta'K^0)=(55^+19_-16 +-8)x10^-6, where the first and second errors are
statistical and systematic, respectively. No signal is observed in the mode B^+
-> eta' pi^+, and we set a 90% confidence level upper limit of BF(B^+->
eta'pi^+) eta'K^+- decays is
investigated and a limit at 90% confidence level of -0.20<Acp<0.32 is obtained.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Land Restoration for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - An International Resource Panel Think Piece
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