A vesicle trafficking protein αSNAP regulates Paneth cell differentiation in vivo.

A soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor-attachment protein alpha (αSNAP) is a multifunctional scaffolding protein that regulates intracellular vesicle trafficking and signaling. In cultured intestinal epithelial cells, αSNAP has been shown to be essential for cell survival, motility, and adhesion; however, its physiologic functions in the intestinal mucosa remain unknown. In the present study, we used a mouse with a spontaneous hydrocephalus with hop gait (hyh) mutation of αSNAP to examine the roles of this trafficking protein in regulating intestinal epithelial homeostasis in vivo. Homozygous hyh mice demonstrated decreased expression of αSNAP protein in the intestinal epithelium, but did not display gross abnormalities of epithelial architecture in the colon and ileum. Such αSNAP depletion attenuated differentiation of small intestinal epithelial enteroids ex vivo. Furthermore, αSNAP-deficient mutant animals displayed reduced formation of lysozyme granules in small intestinal crypts and decreased expression of lysozyme and defensins in the intestinal mucosa, which is indicative of defects in Paneth cell differentiation. By contrast, development of Goblet cells, enteroendocrine cells, and assembly of enterocyte apical junctions was not altered in hyh mutant mice. Our data revealed a novel role of αSNAP in the intestinal Paneth cell differentiation in vivo

Imaging of congenital central nervous system infections

© 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Congenital central nervous system (CNS) infections are a cause of significant morbidity and mortality. The recent Zika virus outbreak raised awareness of congenital CNS infections. Imaging can be effective in diagnosing the presence and severity of infection. In this paper we review the clinical presentations and imaging characteristics of several common and less common congenital CNS infections

A 165 MS/s 8-bit CMOS A/D converter with background offset cancellation

Abstract A 8-bit A/D converter using an efficient architecture is described. An important feature of this is a background offset cancellation scheme. This A/D converter has been implemented in a 0.18pm digital CMOS technology. I t operates at up to 165 MS/s with an SNDR of 43.5 dB, a DNL of 0.7 LSB and a n INL of 1 LSB. It occupies a n active area of 0.9mm2 and has a power dissipation of 140 mW

Results of measurement of the night corpuscular flux on the MR-12 rockets in the JASPIC project (Soviet part of the program)

In June 1978, a joint Soviet-American project (JASPIC) was conducted, the goals of which were: (1) the study of the flows of spilling electrons which act upon the middle-latitude ionosphere under nocturnal conditions (nocturnal corpuscular source of ionization); and (2) the mutual comparison of procedures for recording corpuscular radiations in the upper atmosphere, using meteorological and geophysical rockets

Multimodal trajectory playback for teaching shape information and trajectories to visually impaired computer users

There are difficulties in presenting nontextual or dynamic information to blind or visually impaired users through computers. This article examines the potential of haptic and auditory trajectory playback as a method of teaching shapes and gestures to visually impaired people. Two studies are described which test the success of teaching simple shapes. The first study examines haptic trajectory playback alone, played through a force-feedback device, and compares performance of visually impaired users with sighted users. It demonstrates that the task is significantly harder for visually impaired users. The second study builds on these results, combining force-feedback with audio to teach visually impaired users to recreate shapes. The results suggest that users performed significantly better when presented with multimodal haptic and audio playback of the shape, rather than haptic only. Finally, an initial test of these ideas in an application context is described, with sighted participants describing drawings to visually impaired participants through touch and sound. This study demonstrates in what situations trajectory playback can prove a useful role in a collaborative setting