Interactions between fMRI BOLD-activation during Reading Tasks and MRS-measured Metabolite Levels

Recent studies in the field of dyslexia have used magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to explore neurochemical manifestations of neurobiological differences in the brains of dyslexic adults compared to controls. This study examines the potential relationship between functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) BOLD (blood oxygen level demand) activation scores in response to cognitive tasks and MRS-measured levels of a metabolite and a neurotransmitter, N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) respectively, in the occipital region of brains of seven-year old children. Preliminary results from this multi-arm, longitudinal study indicate a significant positive correlation between fMRI BOLD signal elicited in response to picture-cues in the occipital region of interest bilaterally, and both GABA (R2=0.477 p=0.05, 2-tailed) and NAA (R2=0.587 p=0.01, 2-tailed) levels. The results suggest that the functional neuroanatomical circuitry involved in a cognitive task also has neurochemical indicators

Photosensitivity and Magnetosensitivity of The Drosophila Circadian Clock

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on December 15, 2015Thesis advisor: Da-Ming ZhuVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 50-52)Thesis (M.S.)-- Department of Physics and Astronomy. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2014The experiments in this thesis addressed whether magnetic fields can enhance entrainment (phase determination) of the circadian clock by light. The experiments were conducted using a species of small fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster. A solenoid was built in order to create the magnetic field.A magnetic field was produced inside a wire coil by passing an electric current through the coil, with the strength of the field proportional to the current. Light pulses were produced by a monochromator in the incubator, while the programmable timer within the constant temperature incubator was used to produce12 hr.: 12 hr. light:dark (LD) cycles or constant illumination with blue light (LL).The effects of these treatments on Drosophila locomotor activity rhythms were measured in activity monitors. For the first part of the study, magnetic field pulses of 4.5mT (160-fold increase of the earth’s magnetic field) delivered together with blue light pulses at ZT15 produced an enhanced phase delay in subsequent circadian locomotor behavior in constant darkness, compared with the effect of light alone or magnetic fields alone. The effect was saturable and was observed within blue wavelength range (450nm±0.003nm) but not at red wavelengths (700nm±0.013nm). The second part of the study showed that 12hr:12hr cycles of magnetic field strength (oscillating between earth’s magnetic field and 160 times earth’s magnetic field) could drive 24hr cycles of locomotor activity in LL but had no effect on circadian phase of locomotor activity in constant darkness. The effect in constant light did not require the normal CRY photoreceptor protein because it was still observed in cryᵇ mutant flies, which remained rhythmic in LL and magnetism with the phase of the magnetic field rather than that of the previous LD cycle. The results demonstrate that a strong magnetic field can entrain the circadian clock in a light-dependent but CRY-independent manner.Introduction -- Experimental methods -- Results & discussio

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Wireless Network Security: Challenges, Threats and Solutions. A Critical Review

Abstract: Wireless security is the avoidance of unlawful access or impairment to computers using wireless networks. Securing wireless network has been a research in the past two decades without coming up with prior solution to which security method should be employed to prevent unlawful access of data. The aim of this study was to review some literatures on wireless security in the areas of attacks, threats, vulnerabilities and some solutions to deal with those problems. It was found that attackers (hackers) have different mechanisms to attack the networks through bypassing the security trap developed by organizations and they may use one weak pint to attack the whole network of an organization. However the author suggested using firewall in each wireless access point as the counter measure to protect data of the whole organization not to be attacked

Impact of exchange rate system on imports and exports: Special reference with Sri Lanka after 1977

This study investigates the impact of exchange rate on exports and imports in Sri Lanka’s trade after liberalization policy. The multiple regression models were used to analyze the time series data for the period of 1980 to 2014. Ordinary Least Squares method is applied to check the relation between dependent variable (imports and exports) and independent variables (Exchange rate and inflation). The results of OLS show that exchange rate system has positive and significant effect on exports and imports in Sri Lanka after liberalization policy. The findings of the study indicate that exports and imports are increased during the post liberalization period. Therefore the free floating Exchange rate system could be able to increasing the exports and imports in the open economy in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the import dependent country. Therefore, the import expenditure is higher than the exports revenue. It leads to the budget deficit. To control this situation the government must be control the import items and inflationary situation in Sri Lanka. The government should take a necessary action against this problem