M.I.Tomorrow--visions for East Campus

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning and Dept. of Architecture, 1987.Bibliography: leaves [104]-[105].by Woo-Hyun Yang.M.S

The Role of the Medial Habenula Cholinergic System in Addiction and Emotion-Associated Behaviors

The habenula is a complex nucleus composed of lateral and medial subnuclei, which connect between the limbic forebrain and midbrain. Over the past few years, the lateral habenula has received considerable attention because of its potential roles in cognition and in the pathogenesis of various psychiatric disorders. Unlike extensively studied lateral habenula, anatomically and histologically distinct medial habenula remains largely understudied. The medial habenula can be further subdivided into a dorsal region containing excitatory neurons that express the tachykinin neuropeptide substance P and a ventral region containing dense cholinergic neurons. Although the medial habenula is the source of one of the major cholinergic pathways in the brain, relatively few studies have been conducted to understand its roles. Recently, however, the medial habenula cholinergic system has attracted more attention because of its potential to provide therapeutic targets for the treatment of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, drug addiction, and various mood disorders. Here, we discuss the role of the medial habenula cholinergic system in brain function

Generalized Lymphangiomatosis: Radiologic Findings in Three Pediatric Patients

Generalized lymphangiomatosis is a rare disease that is characterized by widespread bony and soft tissue involvement of lymphangioma. Radiological evaluation is crucial because the site and extent of the lymphangioma are important prognostic factors. We reported here on three cases of generalized lymphangiomatosis and all three cases showed similar radiologic findings, but a different clinical course. The CT, US and MR images showed sharply defined, non-enhanced cystic lesions involving the mediastinum, bones, spleen, lung and lower neck. The whole body MR imaging with the short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequence showed good capability for evaluating the extent of disease

Phytohormone abscisic acid control RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 gene expression and post-transcriptional gene silencing in rice cells

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 (RDR6) catalyses dsRNA synthesis for post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS)-associated amplification and the generation of endogeneous siRNAs involved in developmental determinations or stress responses. The functional importance of RDR6 in PTGS led us to examine its connection to the cellular regulatory network by analyzing the hormonal responses of RDR6 gene expression in a cultured cell system. Delivery of dsRNA, prepared in vitro, into cultured rice (Oryza sativa cv. Japonica Dongjin) cells successfully silenced the target isocitrate lyase (ICL) transcripts. Silencing was transient in the absence of abscisic acid (ABA), while it became persistent in the presence of ABA in growth medium. A transcription assay of the OsRDR6 promoter showed that it was positively regulated by ABA. OsRDR6-dependent siRNA(ICL) generation was also significantly up-regulated by ABA. The results showed that, among the five rice OsRDR isogenes, only OsRDR6 was responsible for the observed ABA-mediated amplification and silencing of ICL transcripts. We propose that ABA modulates PTGS through the transcriptional control of the OsRDR6 gene

‘Evidence of an auxin signal pathway, microRNA167-ARF8-GH3, and its response to exogenous auxin in cultured rice cells’

MicroRNA167 (miR167) was shown to cleave auxin responsive factor 8 (ARF8) mRNA in cultured rice cells. MiR167 level was found to be controlled by the presence of auxin in the growth medium. When cells grew in auxin-free medium, miR167 level decreased, resulting in an increase in the level of ARF8 mRNA. Cells growing in the normal growth medium containing auxin showed a reversed trend. It was also shown that expression of OsGH3-2, an rice IAA-conjugating enzyme, was positively regulated by ARF8. Delivery of synthesized miR167 into cells led to decrease of both ARF8 mRNA and OsGH3-2 mRNA. This study provides an evidence in which the exogeneous auxin signal is transduced to OsGH3-2 through miR167 and ARF8 in sequence. This proposed auxin signal transduction pathway, auxin-miR167-ARF8-OsGH3-2, could be, in conjunction with the other microRNA-mediated auxin signals, an important one for responding to exogeneous auxin and for determining the cellular free auxin level which guides appropriate auxin responses

A Study on the Factors That Influence the Acoustic Performance of a Steel Stud Wall Assembly

With the recent introduction of light gauge steel framing systems in the concrete-dominated Korean construction industry, more buildings are built with drywall that is mainly composed of steel studs and gypsum boards. While load-bearing steel studs are extensively applied in residential construction, nonload-bearing steel studs are applied in various building fields such as commercial, educational, as well as residential. As building projects involving steel stud walls are becoming to increase, higher demands in performance are requested from architects and builders, especially in the field of sound performance. A series of acoustic test were performed in the nationally certified sound-testing laboratory at Korean Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) in order to evaluate and analyze factors that influence acoustic performance of steel stud wall assemblies. Factors affecting the acoustic performance of steel stud walls that are analyzed in this paper include among others, the composition and structure of steel studs, stud spacing, stud thickness, stud size, use of resilient channel, screw spacing, etc. Factors relating to gypsum boards that were tested as part of the evaluation of acoustic performance are not included in this paper. Results of this study, which is co-funded by 3 major gypsum board companies in Korea, are being used to develop stud wall assemblies that meet the required acoustic performance for unit-to-unit separating walls, as well as present architects and builders with a better understanding on the sound behavior of steel stud drywall

IRSp53 Deletion in Glutamatergic and GABAergic Neurons and in Male and Female Mice Leads to Distinct Electrophysiological and Behavioral Phenotypes

IRSp53 (also known as BAIAP2) is an abundant excitatory postsynaptic scaffolding protein implicated in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), schizophrenia, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). IRSp53 is expressed in different cell types across different brain regions, although it remains unclear how IRSp53 deletion in different cell types affects brain functions and behaviors in mice. Here, we deleted IRSp53 in excitatory and inhibitory neurons in mice and compared resulting phenotypes in males and females. IRSp53 deletion in excitatory neurons driven by Emx1 leads to strong social deficits and hyperactivity without affecting anxiety-like behavior, whereas IRSp53 deletion in inhibitory neurons driven by Viaat has minimal impacts on these behaviors in male mice. In female mice, excitatory neuronal IRSp53 deletion induces hyperactivity but moderate social deficits. Excitatory neuronal IRSp53 deletion in male mice induces an increased ratio of evoked excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission (E/I ratio) in layer V pyramidal neurons in the prelimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas the same mutation does not alter the E/I ratio in female neurons. These results suggest that IRSp53 deletion in excitatory and inhibitory neurons and in male and female mice has distinct impacts on behaviors and synaptic transmission. Copyright © 2020 Kim, Noh, Kim, Yang, Kim and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).11Nsciescopu