1,065 research outputs found
Model for the Induction of Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity by Pre- and Postsynaptic Spike Trains
Spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), a process in which changes in synaptic strength are determined by the relative timing of pre- and postsynaptic activity, has been studied and modeled by a number of researchers, but many questions still remain. It has been suggested that STDP involves a postsynaptic chemical network with stable states corresponding to long term potentiation (LTP) and long term depression (LTD). It is believed that the switching between these states is driven by the postsynaptic Ca2+ concentration, but the manner in which the Ca2+ dynamics is able to trigger either LTP or LTD, depending on the relative timing of pre- and postsynaptic activity remains unclear.
We have investigated a model of STDP that combines (1) the tristable chemical network involving CaMKII and PP2A studied by Pi and Lisman [1], with (2) compartmental modeling of backpropagating action potentials (BPAPs), N-methyl D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), and voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs). In previous work we have studied how this model responds when a presynaptic pulse arrives either shortly before or shortly after a postsynaptic pulse (a BPAP), and shown how this model leads naturally to LTP when the presynaptic pulse arrives first, or LTD when the postsynaptic pulse arrives first, in agreement as found in experimental studies (e.g., [2] and [3]). The response to spike triplets and other more complex pre- and postsynaptic spike trains are also of interest. Experiments [4] have shown that the response to such multispike trains is not simply the sum of the responses to the component spike pairs. For example, the response to a spike triplet consisting of pre-post-presynaptic spikes is often not explained by the simple addition of the responses to a pre-post spike pair followed by a post-pre spike pair. Previous work has proposed only heuristic rules for such multispike responses. In this paper we describe the application of our model of STDP to multispike situations. Our model exhibits a non-additive response similar to that observed by Wang et al. [4], and gives insight into how this non-additivity arises from properties of the CaMKII/PP2A network
Creating traveling waves from standing waves from the gyrotropic paramagnetic properties of Fe ions in a high-Q whispering gallery mode sapphire resonator
We report observations of the gyrotropic change in magnetic susceptibility of
the Fe electron paramagnetic resonance at 12.037GHz (between spin states
and ) in sapphire with respect to applied magnetic field.
Measurements were made by observing the response of the high-Q Whispering
Gallery doublet (WGH) in a Hemex sapphire resonator cooled to 5
K. The doublets initially existed as standing waves at zero field and were
transformed to traveling waves due to the gyrotropic response.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Computation in Classical Mechanics
There is a growing consensus that physics majors need to learn computational
skills, but many departments are still devoid of computation in their physics
curriculum. Some departments may lack the resources or commitment to create a
dedicated course or program in computational physics. One way around this
difficulty is to include computation in a standard upper-level physics course.
An intermediate classical mechanics course is particularly well suited for
including computation. We discuss the ways we have used computation in our
classical mechanics courses, focusing on how computational work can improve
students' understanding of physics as well as their computational skills. We
present examples of computational problems that serve these two purposes. In
addition, we provide information about resources for instructors who would like
to include computation in their courses.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to American Journal of Physic
Could MicroRNAs be Useful Tools to Improve the Diagnosis and Treatment of Rare Gynecological Cancers? A Brief Overview
Gynecological cancers pose an important public health issue, with a high incidence among
women of all ages. Gynecological cancers such as malignant germ-cell tumors, sex-cord-stromal
tumors, uterine sarcomas and carcinosarcomas, gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, vulvar carcinoma
and melanoma of the female genital tract, are defined as rare with an annual incidence of
<6 per 100,000 women. Rare gynecological cancers (RGCs) are associated with poor prognosis, and
given the low incidence of each entity, there is the risk of delayed diagnosis due to clinical inexperience
and limited therapeutic options. There has been a growing interest in the field of microRNAs
(miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs of 22 nucleotides in length, because of their potential
to regulate diverse biological processes. miRNAs usually induce mRNA degradation and translational
repression by interacting with the 30 untranslated region (30-UTR) of target mRNAs, as well as
other regions and gene promoters, as well as activating translation or regulating transcription under
certain conditions. Recent research has revealed the enormous promise of miRNAs for improving the
diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of all major gynecological cancers. However, to date, only a few
studies have been performed on RGCs. In this review, we summarize the data currently available
regarding RGCs.peer-reviewe
Cultural diversity teaching and issues of uncertainty: the findings of a qualitative study
BACKGROUND: There is considerable ambiguity in the subjective dimensions that comprise much of the relational dynamic of the clinical encounter. Comfort with this ambiguity, and recognition of the potential uncertainty of particular domains of medicine (e.g.--cultural factors of illness expression, value bias in diagnoses, etc) is an important facet of medical education. This paper begins by defining ambiguity and uncertainty as relevant to clinical practice. Studies have shown differing patterns of students' tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty that appear to reflect extant attitudinal predispositions toward technology, objectivity, culture, value- and theory-ladeness, and the need for self-examination. This paper reports on those findings specifically related to the theme of uncertainty as relevant to teaching about cultural diversity. Its focus is to identify how and where the theme of certainty arose in the teaching and learning of cultural diversity, what were the attitudes toward this theme and topic, and how these attitudes and responses reflect and inform this area of medical pedagogy. METHODS: A semi-structured interview was undertaken with 61 stakeholders (including policymakers, diversity teachers, students and users). The data were analysed and themes identified. RESULTS: There were diverse views about what the term cultural diversity means and what should constitute the cultural diversity curriculum. There was a need to provide certainty in teaching cultural diversity with diversity teachers feeling under considerable pressure to provide information. Students discomfort with uncertainty was felt to drive cultural diversity teaching towards factual emphasis rather than reflection or taking a patient centred approach. CONCLUSION: Students and faculty may feel that cultural diversity teaching is more about how to avoid professional, medico-legal pitfalls, rather than improving the patient experience or the patient-physician relationship. There may be pressure to imbue cultural diversity issues with levels of objectivity and certainty representative of other aspects of the medical curriculum (e.g.--biochemistry). This may reflect a particular selection bias for students with a technocentric orientation. Inadvertently, medical education may enhance this bias through training effects, and accommodate disregard for subjectivity, over-reliance upon technology and thereby foster incorrect assumptions of objective certainty. We opine that it is important to teach students that technology cannot guarantee certainty, and that dealing with subjectivity, diversity, ambiguity and uncertainty is inseparable from the personal dimension of medicine as moral enterprise. Uncertainty is inherent in cultural diversity so this part of the curriculum provides an opportunity to address the issue as it relates to patient care
Novel associations for hypothyroidism include known autoimmune risk loci
Hypothyroidism is the most common thyroid disorder, affecting about 5% of the general population. Here we present the first large genome-wide association study of hypothyroidism, in 2,564 cases and 24,448 controls from the customer base of 23andMe, Inc., a personal genetics company. We identify four genome-wide significant associations, two of which are well known to be involved with a large spectrum of autoimmune diseases: rs6679677 near _PTPN22_ and rs3184504 in _SH2B3_ (p-values 3.5e-13 and 3.0e-11, respectively). We also report associations with rs4915077 near _VAV3_ (p-value 8.3e-11), another gene involved in immune function, and rs965513 near _FOXE1_ (p-value 3.1e-14). Of these, the association with _PTPN22_ confirms a recent small candidate gene study, and _FOXE1_ was previously known to be associated with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Although _SH2B3_ has been previously linked with a number of autoimmune diseases, this is the first report of its association with thyroid disease. The _VAV3_ association is novel. These results suggest heterogeneity in the genetic etiology of hypothyroidism, implicating genes involved in both autoimmune disorders and thyroid function. Using a genetic risk profile score based on the top association from each of the four genome-wide significant regions in our study, the relative risk between the highest and lowest deciles of genetic risk is 2.1
Expression and function of cathelicidin hCAP18/LL-37 in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by the accumulation of clonal Bcellsin peripheral blood and lymphoid tissues 1. Circulating CLL cells are non-dividing Blymphocytes, but a significant fraction of the clone proliferates in lymphoid tissues wherethey receive a plethora of signals from the microenvironment that promote their survivaland expansion 2. Cathelicidins are a family of proteins with antibacterial functions mainlyexpressed by neutrophils, macrophages and epithelial cells 3. In humans, the only memberof this family, hCAP18, is encoded by the gene CAMP. The cleavage of hCAP18 generatesthe antimicrobial peptide LL-37, which has been recently implicated in the promotion oftumor growth, through direct stimulation of malignant cells, initiation of angiogenesis andrecruitment of immune cells 4. In this study, we investigated the role of hCAP18/LL-37 inCLL.Fil: Podaza, Enrique Arturo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Palacios, Florencia. The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. Karches Center for Oncology Research; Estados UnidosFil: Croci Russo, Diego Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de HistologĂa y EmbriologĂa de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias MĂ©dicas. Instituto de HistologĂa y EmbriologĂa de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Risnik, Denise Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Yan, Xiao J.. The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. Karches Center for Oncology Research; Estados UnidosFil: AlmejĂșn, MarĂa BelĂ©n. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Colado, Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: ElĂas, Esteban Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Borge, Mercedes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Morande, Pablo ElĂas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Bezares, Raimundo F.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Dr. Teodoro Ălvarez"; ArgentinaFil: FernĂĄndez Grecco, Horacio. Sanatorio Municipal Dr. Julio MĂ©ndez. Servicio de HematologĂa; ArgentinaFil: Rabinovich, Gabriel AdriĂĄn. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de BiologĂa y Medicina Experimental. FundaciĂłn de Instituto de BiologĂa y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de BiologĂa y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Gamberale, Romina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Chiorazzi, Nicholas. The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. Karches Center for Oncology Research; Estados UnidosFil: Giordano, Mirta Nilda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; Argentin
Network analysis of inflammation and symptoms in recent onset schizophrenia and the influence of minocycline during a clinical trial
Abstract Attempts to delineate an immune subtype of schizophrenia have not yet led to the clear identification of potential treatment targets. An unbiased informatic approach at the level of individual immune cytokines and symptoms may reveal organisational structures underlying heterogeneity in schizophrenia, and potential for future therapies. The aim was to determine the network and relative influence of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines on depressive, positive, and negative symptoms. We further aimed to determine the effect of exposure to minocycline or placebo for 6 months on cytokine-symptom network connectivity and structure. Network analysis was applied to baseline and 6-month data from the large multi-center BeneMin trial of minocycline (Nâ=â207) in schizophrenia. Pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-Îł had the greatest influence in the inflammatory network and were associated with depressive symptoms and suspiciousness at baseline. At 6 months, the placebo group network connectivity was 57% stronger than the minocycline group, due to significantly greater influence of TNF-α, early wakening, and pathological guilt. IL-6 and its downstream impact on TNF-α, and IFN-Îł, could offer novel targets for treatment if offered at the relevant phenotypic profile including those with depression. Future targeted experimental studies of immune-based therapies are now needed
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