Associations between Coherent Neural Activity

Objective: Worldwide, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and illness. One common strategy for reducing the prevalence of cigarette smoking and other health risk behaviors is the use of graphic warning labels (GWLs). This has led to widespread interest from the perspective of health psychology in understanding the mechanisms of GWL effectiveness. Here we investigated differences in how the brain responds to negative, graphic warning label-inspired antismoking ads and neutral control ads, and we probed how this response related to future behavior. Method: A group of smokers (N = 45) viewed GWL-inspired and control antismoking ads while undergoing fMRI, and their smoking behavior was assessed before and one month after the scan. We examined neural coherence between two regions in the brain’s valuation network, the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and ventralstriatum (VS). Results: We found that greater neural coherence in the brain’s valuation network during GWL ads (relative to control ads) preceded later smoking reduction. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the integration of information about message value may be key for message influence. Understanding how the brain responds to health messaging and relates to future behavior could ultimately contribute to the design of effective messaging campaigns, as well as more broadly to theories of message effects and persuasion across domains

Comparison of different wheelchair seating on thermoregulation and perceptual responses in thermoneutral and hot conditions in children

We examined the effects of 4 different wheelchair seatings on physiological and perceptual measures in 21 healthy, pre-pubertal children (9 ± 2 years). Participants were able-bodied and did not regularly use a wheelchair. Participants sat for 2 h in Neutral (∼22.5 °C, ∼40%RH) and Hot (∼35 °C, ∼37%RH) conditions. Four seating technologies were: standard incontinent cover and cushion (SEAT1); standard incontinent cover with new cushion (SEAT2) were tested in Neutral and Hot; new non-incontinent cover with new cushion (SEAT3); new incontinent cover and new cushion (SEAT4) were tested in Neutral only. Measurements included skin blood flow (SkBF), sweating rate (SR) and leg skin temperature (TlegB) on the bottom of the leg (i.e. skin-seat interface), heart rate (HR), mean skin temperature, tympanic temperature, thermal comfort, and thermal sensation. During Neutral, SkBF and TlegB were lower (∼50% and ∼1 °C, respectively) and SR higher (∼0.5 mg cm−2·min−1) (p  0.05). During Hot, HR and temperatures were higher than in Neutral but there were no differences (p > 0.05) between SEATs. New cover and cushion improved thermoregulatory responses during Neutral but not Hot. An impermeable incontinent cover negated improvements from cushion design. Seat cover appears more important than seat cushion during typical room conditions

Effect of passive heat exposure on cardiac autonomic function in healthy children

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of passive heat stress on heart rate variability parameters in healthy children. Method: Fifteen children (9.3±1.6 years) of both sexes (8 male) participated in two randomized experimental conditions separated by 5 to 12 days. Children were seated for 2 h in an environmental chamber for 2 sessions: Neutral (22.4±0.1°C, 40.4±6.5%RH) and Hot (34.9±0.3°C, 36.6±6.2%RH) conditions. Electrocardiogram, mean skin temperature, tympanic temperature, and blood pressure were recorded. Five min epochs were averaged for analysis of cardiac autonomic function over the 2 h protocol. Result: Mean skin and tympanic temperatures and heart rate increased during the Hot condition (all p<0.01) while mean arterial pressure decreased (p<0.01). During the Hot condition, root-mean-square difference of successive normal RR intervals (45±9 to 38±7 ms), low- (LF, 1536±464 vs. 935±154 ms2) and high-frequency power (HF, 1544±693 vs. 866±355 ms2) decreased, whereas LF/HF ratio increased (1.64±0.24 vs. 2.40±0.23 au); all indices were different from Neutral (all p<0.05). These were all unchanged throughout the Neutral condition (all p>0.05), except for LF/HF ratio which decreased during the Neutral condition (p<0.05). Conclusion: Mild hyperthermia elicited marked changes in cardiac autonomic control in young children. These data suggest that, in healthy children, vagal withdrawal is responsible for the cardiac autonomic response to hyperthermia.Canadian Institutes of Health Researc

Social Preferences and the Efficiency of Bilateral Exchange

Under what conditions do social preferences, such as altruism or a concern for fair outcomes, generate efficient trade? I analyze theoretically a simple bilateral exchange game: Each player sequentially takes an action that reduces his own material payoff but increases the other player’s. Each player’s preferences may depend on both his/her own material payoff and the other player’s. I identify necessary conditions and sufficient conditions on the players’ preferences for the outcome of their interaction to be Pareto efficient. The results have implications for interpreting the rotten kid theorem, gift exchange in the laboratory, and gift exchange in the field

High-throughput screen using a single-cell tyrosine phosphatase assay reveals biologically active inhibitors of tyrosine phosphatase CD45

Many cellular signaling events are regulated by tyrosine phosphorylation and mediated by the opposing actions of protein tyrosine kinases and phosphatases. Protein tyrosine phosphatases are emerging as drug targets, but poor cell permeability of inhibitors has limited the development of drugs targeting these enzymes [Tautz L, et al. (2006) Expert Opin Ther Targets 10:157–177]. Here we developed a method to monitor tyrosine phosphatase activity at the single-cell level and applied it to the identification of cell-permeable inhibitors. The method takes advantage of the fluorogenic properties of phosphorylated coumaryl amino propionic acid (pCAP), an analog of phosphotyrosine, which can be incorporated into peptides. Once delivered into cells, pCAP peptides were dephosphorylated by protein tyrosine phosphatases, and the resulting cell fluorescence could be monitored by flow cytometry and high-content imaging. The robustness and sensitivity of the assay was validated using peptides preferentially dephosphorylated by CD45 and T-cell tyrosine phosphatase and available inhibitors of these two enzymes. The assay was applied to high-throughput screening for inhibitors of CD45, an important target for autoimmunity and infectious diseases [Hermiston ML, et al. (2003) Annu Rev Immunol 21:107–137]. We identified four CD45 inhibitors that showed activity in T cells and macrophages. These results indicate that our assay can be applied to primary screening for inhibitors of CD45 and of other protein tyrosine phosphatases to increase the yield of biologically active inhibitors

Generation of nonclassical biphoton states through cascaded quantum walks on a nonlinear chip

We demonstrate a nonlinear optical chip that generates photons with reconfigurable nonclassical spatial correlations. We employ a quadratic nonlinear waveguide array, where photon pairs are generated through spontaneous parametric down-conversion and simultaneously spread through quantum walks between the waveguides. Because of the quantum interference of these cascaded quantum walks, the emerging photons can become entangled over multiple waveguide positions. We experimentally observe highly nonclassical photon-pair correlations, confirming the high fidelity of on-chip quantum interference. Furthermore, we demonstrate biphoton-state tunability by spatial shaping and frequency tuning of the classical pump beam

NuGrid stellar data set. 1. Stellar yields from H to Bi for stars with metallicities Z=0.02 and Z=0.01

We provide a set of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis calculations that applies established physics assumptions simultaneously to low- and intermediate-mass and massive star models. Our goal is to provide an internally consistent and comprehensive nuclear production and yield database for applications in areas such as presolar grain studies. Our non-rotating models assume convective boundary mixing (CBM) where it has been adopted before. We include 8 (12) initial masses for Z = 0.01 (0.02). Models are followed either until the end of the asymptotic giant branch phase or the end of Si burning, complemented by simple analytic core-collapse supernova (SN) models with two options for fallback and shock velocities. The explosions show which pre-SN yields will most strongly be effected by the explosive nucleosynthesis. We discuss how these two explosion parameters impact the light elements and the s and p process. For low- and intermediate-mass models, our stellar yields from H to Bi include the effect of CBM at the He-intershell boundaries and the stellar evolution feedback of the mixing process that produces the ¹³C pocket. All post-processing nucleosynthesis calculations use the same nuclear reaction rate network and nuclear physics input. We provide a discussion of the nuclear production across the entire mass range organized by element group. The entirety of our stellar nucleosynthesis profile and time evolution output are available electronically, and tools to explore the data on the NuGrid VOspace hosted by the Canadian Astronomical Data Centre are introduced

Alinhamento interpessoal, representacional e morfossintático na Gramática Discursivo-Funcional

Este artigo se debruça sobre o mapeamento entre os Níveis Interpessoal, Representacional e Morfossintático da gramática, o chamado alinhamento, segundo o arcabouço da Gramática Discursivo-Funcional (GDF). Propõe uma tipologia das línguas baseada no que a sua organização morfossintática codifica: distinções pragmáticas (p.ex. em Tagalo), distinções semânticas (p.ex. em Achém), ou distinções inerentes à morfossintaxe (p.ex. em Inglês, Basco ou a língua Kham). A inclusão tanto do Sujeito como do Objeto e de línguas tanto acusativas como ergativas no tratamento do alinhamento morfossintático permitiu-nos abranger tipos tipologicamente mais variáveis e demonstrar o potencial da GDF para a análise contrastiva das línguas.<br>Within the framework of Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG), alignment concerns the relations between the Interpersonal, Representational and Morphosyntactic Levels of grammar. This article proposes a typology of languages based upon what we find to be encoded in their morphosyntactic organization: pragmatic distinctions (as in Tagalog), semantic distinctions (as in Acheh), or distinctions inherent to the morphosyntax (as in English, Basque and Kham). By including both subject and object, and both accusative and ergative languages in our treatment of morphosyntactic alignment, we provide a better coverage of typological variation and show the potential of FDG for cross-linguistic analysis