Decreased Interleukin-4 Release from the Neurons of the Locus Coeruleus in Response to Immobilization Stress

It has been demonstrated that immobilization (IMO) stress affects neuroimmune systems followed by alterations of physiology and behavior. Interleukin-4 (IL-4), an anti-inflammatory cytokine, is known to regulate inflammation caused by immune challenge but the effect of IMO on modulation of IL-4 expression in the brain has not been assessed yet. Here, it was demonstrated that IL-4 was produced by noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) of the brain and release of IL-4 was reduced in response to IMO. It was observed that IMO groups were more anxious than nontreated groups. Acute IMO (2 h/day, once) stimulated secretion of plasma corticosterone and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the LC whereas these increments were diminished in exposure to chronic stress (2 h/day, 21 consecutive days). Glucocorticoid receptor (GR), TH, and IL-4-expressing cells were localized in identical neurons of the LC, indicating that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal- (HPA-) axis and sympathetic-adrenal-medullary- (SAM-) axis might be involved in IL-4 secretion in the stress response. Accordingly, it was concluded that stress-induced decline of IL-4 concentration from LC neurons may be related to anxiety-like behavior and an inverse relationship exists between IL-4 secretion and HPA/SAM-axes activation

Effects of Native Language on Perception and Neurophysiologic Processing of English /r/ and /l/ by Native American, Korean, and Japanese Listeners

The perception of English liquids /r/ and /l/ is challenging for native Korean and Japanese adult speakers because these sounds are not phonemic in these languages. The Korean language has a partial phonetic model (intervocalic [ɾ]-[11]) that could potentially facilitate processing of English /r/ and /l/ but the Japanese language does not. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of native language on the neurophysiologic processing of English intervocalic /r/ and /l/ by native American, Korean and Japanese listeners using several event-related evoked potentials (ACC, MMN, & P3a) along with behavioral identification and discrimination. Three specific aims were investigated. The first aim was to examine the effects of native language on the perceptual identification and discrimination of English intervocalic /r/ and /l/. The second aim was to determine the effects of native language on the neurophysiologic encoding of English intervocalic /r/ and /l/ using the acoustic change complex (ACC). The third aim was to determine the effects of native language on the pre-attentive discrimination of and related attention shifting/orienting to English intervocalic /r/ and /l/ using the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a. Stimuli were a synthetic vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) continuum that generated percepts in American English listeners ranging from /iri/ to /ili/. Stimuli falling within- and across-phonetic category were presented using an oddball paradigm. The probability of occurrence of the deviant was 20%. Nine participants from each language group participated. Stimuli were presented via insert earphones at 70 dB SPL using an 1100 ms offset-to-onset interstimulus interval. The evoked potentials were recorded from surface electrodes using a Neuroscan system. Behavioral testing included a 2-alternative forced choice identification task and a 3-alternative forced choice oddity discrimination task. English medial /r/ and /l/ were perceived in a categorical manner by Americans, in a categorical-like manner by Koreans and in a non-categorical manner by Japanese. The midline-central ACC P1-N1-P2 responses did not differ significantly between language groups, suggesting little effect of native language on the primary cortical encoding of these sounds. In contrast, the lateral-temporal ACC T-complex differed across language groups, suggesting that native language influences secondary cortical processing of these sounds. The MMN also depended on native language, suggesting that native language influences automatic, pre-attentive discrimination of English medial /r/ and /l/. Both early (400-650 ms) and late (655-905 ms) responses were obtained for Americans and Koreans, whereas early responses were absent in Japanese. Early MMN responses were significantly larger for across-category pairs than for within-category pairs only in Americans and Koreans. Late MMN responses were significantly larger for across-category pairs than for within-category pairs only in Americans. Additionally, late MMN responses for the across category pairs were significantly larger in Americans compared to other language groups. The P3a had both early (600-700 ms) and late (900-1000 ms) responses, similar to MMN responses. Early P3a responses were present in Americans and Koreans and P3a latency for across-category pairs was shorter for Americans than for Koreans. Late P3a responses were obtained from all three language groups, and did not differ significantly across tokens or groups. The partial language model available to Koreans appears to facilitate both neurophysiologic processing and behavioral perception of English /r/ and /l/. The absence of such a model in Japanese results in perceptual processing difficulties and alterations of the neurophysiologic processing of these sounds. Native language influences the neurophysiologic processing, including encoding at the level of secondary auditory cortex, pre-attentive discrimination, attention-related processing, and behavioral identification and discrimination

Genetic analysis of muscle development in Drosophila melanogaster

The different thoracic muscles of Drosophila are affected specifically in the mutants: stripe (sr), erect wing (ewg), vertical wings (vtw), and nonjumper (nj). We have tested the extent of this specificity by means of a genetic analysis of these loci, multiple mutant combinations, and gene dosage experiments. A quantitative, rather than a qualitative, specificity is found in the mutant phenotypes. All muscles are altered by mutations in any given gene, but the severity of these alterations is muscle specific. The locus stripe seems to have a polar organization where different allelic combinations show quantitative specificity in the muscle affected. In addition to the muscle phenotypes, neural alterations are detected in these mutants. The synergism found between ewg, vtw and ewg, sr as well as the dosage effect of the distal end of the X chromosome upon the expression of ewg and sr suggests the existence of functional relationships among the loci analyzed.Peer Reviewe

Ferromagnetic properties of Zn1-xMnxO epitaxial thin films

We report on ferromagnetic characteristics of Zn1-xMnxO (x=0.1 and 0.3) thin films grown on Al2O3(00.1) substrates using laser molecular-beam epitaxy. By increasing the Mn content, the films exhibited increases in both the c-axis lattice constant and fundamental band gap energy. The Curie temperature obtained from temperature-dependent magnetization curves was 45 K for the film with x=0.3, depending on the Mn composition in the films. The remanent magnetization and coercive field of Zn0.9Mn0.1O at 5 K were 0.9 emu/g and 300 Oe, respectively. For Zn0.7Mn0.3O, the remanent magnetization at 5 K increased to 3.4 emu/g. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.open11509532sciescopu

Portulaca oleracea Ameliorates Diabetic Vascular Inflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction in db/db Mice

Type 2 diabetes is associated with significantly accelerated rates of micro- and macrovascular complications such as diabetic vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. In the present study, we investigated the protective effect of the aqueous extract of Portulaca oleracea L. (AP), an edible plant used as a folk medicine, on diabetic vascular complications. The db/db mice were treated with AP (300 mg/kg/day, p.o.) for 10 weeks, and AP treatment markedly lowered blood glucose, plasma triglyceride, plasma level of LDL-cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure in diabetic db/db mice. Furthermore, AP significantly increased plasma level of HDL-cholesterol and insulin level. The impairment of ACh- and SNP-induced vascular relaxation of aortic rings were ameliorated by AP treatment in diabetic db/db mice. This study also showed that overexpression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, E-selectin, MMP-2, and ET-1 were observed in aortic tissues of untreated db/db mice, which were significantly suppressed by treatment with AP. We also found that the insulin immunoreactivity of the pancreatic islets remarkably increased in AP treated db/db mice compared with untreated db/db mice. Taken together, AP suppresses hyperglycemia and diabetic vascular inflammation, and prevents the development of diabetic endothelial dysfunction for the development of diabetes and its vascular complications

Interaction of edge waves with swell on a beach

Excitation of edge waves on a beach by incoming swell is considered on the basis of shallow-water model. Subharmonic resonance mechanism of interaction is analyzed by multi-scaled expansion asymptotic techniques. The generation of edge waves between wave breakers is found to have a dynamic threshold. It is defined by intensity and frequency of incoming swell, geometry of a shore zone. Nonlinear no stationary wave solutions for the envelope of interacting edge waves are described by generalized Sine-Gordon model. An infinite set of exact solutions are received by the Lamb method for the phase synchronism regime of wave’s interaction