Working memory related brain network connectivity in individuals with schizophrenia and their siblings

A growing number of studies have reported altered functional connectivity in schizophrenia during putatively “task-free” states and during the performance of cognitive tasks. However, there have been few systematic examinations of functional connectivity in schizophrenia across rest and different task states to assess the degree to which altered functional connectivity reflects a stable characteristic or whether connectivity changes vary as a function of task demands. We assessed functional connectivity during rest and during three working memory loads of an N-back task (0-back, 1-back, 2-back) among: (1) individuals with schizophrenia (N = 19); (2) the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia (N = 28); (3) healthy controls (N = 10); and (4) the siblings of healthy controls (N = 17). We examined connectivity within and between four brain networks: (1) frontal–parietal (FP); (2) cingulo-opercular (CO); (3) cerebellar (CER); and (4) default mode (DMN). In terms of within-network connectivity, we found that connectivity within the DMN and FP increased significantly between resting state and 0-back, while connectivity within the CO and CER decreased significantly between resting state and 0-back. Additionally, we found that connectivity within both the DMN and FP was further modulated by memory load. In terms of between network connectivity, we found that the DMN became significantly more “anti-correlated” with the FP, CO, and CER networks during 0-back as compared to rest, and that connectivity between the FP and both CO and CER networks increased with memory load. Individuals with schizophrenia and their siblings showed consistent reductions in connectivity between both the FP and CO networks with the CER network, a finding that was similar in magnitude across rest and all levels of working memory load. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that altered functional connectivity in schizophrenia reflects a stable characteristic that is present across cognitive states

Characteristics of orange-whey fermented beverages

The aim of the present work was to determine the populations of ABT culture microorganisms in orange and orangewhey drinks after fermentation and during 28-day storage. The evaluation involved fermented fruit drinks without whey or with added acid or sweet (rennet) whey. The Streptococcus thermophilus and Bifidobacteria counts were initially 3.5×105–8.3×105 CFU cm−3 and 2.4×106–5.9×106 CFU cm−3, respectively, and did not increase during fermentation. However, an increase was observed in the Lb. acidophilus count, which amounted to 3.0×106–2.4×107 CFU cm−3 after fermentation. During storage, the Str. thermophilus and Lb. acidophilus counts remained constant, but that for Bifidobacteria fell to 103 CFU cm−3 after 28 days. Bacteria survivability was higher in drinks containing whey than in non-whey orange drinks. In 100 cm3, antioxidant activity against ABTS/DPPH radicals varied between 260 and 550 μmol TE; vitamin C content was in the range of 15.7–17.6 mg; polyphenols were 26.6–34.4 mg (+)catechin. In the sensory evaluation the best results were obtained for non-whey drinks and those containing 50% acid whey

Quantitative Methods for Tracking Cognitive Change 3 Years After Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Background: The analysis and interpretation of change in cognitive function test scores after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG). Longitudinal studies with multiple outcomes present considerable statistical challenges. Application of hierarchical linear statistical models can estimate the effects of a surgical intervention on the time course of multiple biomarkers. Methods: We use an analyze then summarize approach whereby we estimate the intervention effects separately for each cognitive test and then pool them, taking appropriate account of their statistical correlations. The model accounts for dropouts at follow-up, the chance of which may be related to past cognitive score, by implicitly imputing the missing data from individuals’ past scores and group patterns. We apply this approach to a study of the effects of CABG on the time course of cognitive function as measured by 16 separate neuropsychological test scores, clustered into 8 cognitive domains. The study includes measurements on 140 CABG patients and 92 nonsurgical controls at baseline, and 3, 12, and 36 months. Including a nonsurgical control group allows comparison of changes in cognition over time between the surgery group and patients with similar risk factors, controlling for potential effects of aging and vascular disease. Results: We find that CABG patients have very longitudinal changes from baseline in cognitive function similar to those observed for nonsurgical controls. Any small differences tend to favor greater improvement in CABG patients than in the nonsurgical controls. Conclusions: The methods used have application to a wide range of intervention studies in which multiple biomarkers are followed over time to quantify health effects. Software to implement the methods in commonly used statistical packages is available from the authors at http://www.biostat.jhsph.edu/research/software.shtml

Influence of vibratory stress relief on residual stresses in weldments and mechanical properties of struktural steel joint

The welding process can join two similar materials with a bond that has mechanical properties comparable to the original material. Unfortunately, this process induces residual stresses in the weldment, which, if left untreated, can cause distortion of the part, premature fatigue failure or cracking along the weld. A post-weld heat treatment is the traditional method of relieving these stresses, but is costly and a time consuming process. Heat treatment is required for weldments, which have heavy fatigue loading since the post-weld heat treatment reduces the residual stresses in the weldment and generates more uniform mechanical properties. Vibratory stress relief (VSR) techniques could be used to substitute the heat treatment for these types of weldments and save time and money. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the generation, measurement, and reduction of residual stresses. Residual stresses in the weld bead were measured by means of X-ray diffraction, ultrasonic technique and hole drilling methods. In addition, welded specimens were subjected to mechanical testing with purpose of determination of VSR effect on weld and heat-affected zone meta

A Fine-grained Multilingual Analysis Based on the Appraisal Theory: Application to Arabic and English Videos

International audienceThe objective of this paper is to compare the opinions of two videos in two different languages. To do so, a fine-grained approach inspired from the appraisal theory is used to analyze the content of the videos that concern the same topic. In general, the methods devoted to sentiment analysis concern the study of the polarity of a text or an utterance. The appraisal approach goes further than the basic polarity sentiments and consider more detailed sentiments by covering additional attributes of opinions such as: Attitude, Graduation and Engagement. In order to achieve such a comparison, in AMIS (Chist-Era project), we collected a corpus of 1503 Arabic and 1874 English videos. These videos need to be aligned in order to compare their contents, that is why we propose several methods to make them comparable. Then the best one is selected to align them and to constitute the data-set necessary for the fine-grained sentiment analysis

Bves and NDRG4 regulate directional epicardial cell migration through autocrine extracellular matrix deposition

Directional cell movement is universally required for tissue morphogenesis. Although it is known that cell/matrix interactions are essential for directional movement in heart development, the mechanisms governing these interactions require elucidation. Here we demonstrate that a novel protein/protein interaction between blood vessel epicardial substance (Bves) and N-myc downstream regulated gene 4 (NDRG4) is critical for regulation of epicardial cell directional movement, as disruption of this interaction randomizes migratory patterns. Our studies show that Bves/NDRG4 interaction is required for trafficking of internalized fibronectin through the “autocrine extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition” fibronectin recycling pathway. Of importance, we demonstrate that Bves/NDRG4-mediated fibronectin recycling is indeed essential for epicardial cell directional movement, thus linking these two cell processes. Finally, total internal reflectance fluorescence microscopy shows that Bves/NDRG4 interaction is required for fusion of recycling endosomes with the basal cell surface, providing a molecular mechanism of motility substrate delivery that regulates cell directional movement. This is the first evidence of a molecular function for Bves and NDRG4 proteins within broader subcellular trafficking paradigms. These data identify novel regulators of a critical vesicle-docking step required for autocrine ECM deposition and explain how Bves facilitates cell-microenvironment interactions in the regulation of epicardial cell–directed movement

mRNA Subtype of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Significantly Affects Key Characteristics of Head and Neck Cancer Cells

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) belong among severe and highly complex malignant diseases showing a high level of heterogeneity and consequently also a variance in therapeutic response, regardless of clinical stage. Our study implies that the progression of HNSCC may be supported by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumour microenvironment (TME) and the heterogeneity of this disease may lie in the level of cooperation between CAFs and epithelial cancer cells, as communication between CAFs and epithelial cancer cells seems to be a key factor for the sustained growth of the tumour mass. In this study, we investigated how CAFs derived from tumours of different mRNA subtypes influence the proliferation of cancer cells and their metabolic and biomechanical reprogramming. We also investigated the clinicopathological significance of the expression of these metabolism-related genes in tissue samples of HNSCC patients to identify a possible gene signature typical for HNSCC progression. We found that the right kind of cooperation between cancer cells and CAFs is needed for tumour growth and progression, and only specific mRNA subtypes can support the growth of primary cancer cells or metastases. Specifically, during coculture, cancer cell colony supporting effect and effect of CAFs on cell stiffness of cancer cells are driven by the mRNA subtype of the tumour from which the CAFs are derived. The degree of colony-forming support is reflected in cancer cell glycolysis levels and lactate shuttle-related transporters

Natural images from the birthplace of the human eye

Here we introduce a database of calibrated natural images publicly available through an easy-to-use web interface. Using a Nikon D70 digital SLR camera, we acquired about 5000 six-megapixel images of Okavango Delta of Botswana, a tropical savanna habitat similar to where the human eye is thought to have evolved. Some sequences of images were captured unsystematically while following a baboon troop, while others were designed to vary a single parameter such as aperture, object distance, time of day or position on the horizon. Images are available in the raw RGB format and in grayscale. Images are also available in units relevant to the physiology of human cone photoreceptors, where pixel values represent the expected number of photoisomerizations per second for cones sensitive to long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelengths. This database is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial Unported license to facilitate research in computer vision, psychophysics of perception, and visual neuroscience.Comment: Submitted to PLoS ON

Left gaze bias in humans, rhesus monkeys and domestic dogs

While viewing faces, human adults often demonstrate a natural gaze bias towards the left visual field, that is, the right side of the viewee’s face is often inspected first and for longer periods. Using a preferential looking paradigm, we demonstrate that this bias is neither uniquely human nor limited to primates, and provide evidence to help elucidate its biological function within a broader social cognitive framework. We observed that 6-month-old infants showed a wider tendency for left gaze preference towards objects and faces of different species and orientation, while in adults the bias appears only towards upright human faces. Rhesus monkeys showed a left gaze bias towards upright human and monkey faces, but not towards inverted faces. Domestic dogs, however, only demonstrated a left gaze bias towards human faces, but not towards monkey or dog faces, nor to inanimate object images. Our findings suggest that face- and species-sensitive gaze asymmetry is more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously recognised, is not constrained by attentional or scanning bias, and could be shaped by experience to develop adaptive behavioural significance

Development of Transient Recombinant Expression and Affinity Chromatography Systems for Human Fibrinogen

Fibrin forms the structural scaffold of blood clots and has great potential for biomaterial applications. Creating recombinant expression systems of fibrinogen, fibrin’s soluble precursor, would advance the ability to construct mutational libraries that would enable structure–function studies of fibrinogen and expand the utility of fibrin as a biomaterial. Despite these needs, recombinant fibrinogen expression systems, thus far, have relied on the time-consuming creation of stable cell lines. Here we present tests of a transient fibrinogen expression system that can rapidly generate yields of 8–12 mg/L using suspension HEK Expi293(TM) cells. We report results from two different plasmid systems encoding the fibrinogen cDNAs and two different transfection reagents. In addition, we describe a novel, affinity-based approach to purifying fibrinogen from complex media such as human plasma. We show that using a high-affinity peptide which mimics fibrin’s knob ‘A’ sequence enables the purification of 50–75% of fibrinogen present in plasma. Having robust expression and purification systems of fibrinogen will enable future studies of basic fibrin(ogen) biology, while paving the way for the ubiquitous use of fibrin as a biomaterial