Perspective taking and theory of mind in hide and seek

Does theory of mind play a significant role in where people choose to hide an item or where they search for an item that has been hidden? Adapting the "Hide-Find Paradigm" of Anderson et al. (2014), participants viewed homogenous or popout visual arrays on a touchscreen table. Their task was to indicate where in the array they would hide an item, or to search for an item that had been hidden, by either a friend or a foe. Critically, participants believed that their sitting location at the touchtable was the same as - or opposite to - their partner's location. Replicating Anderson et al. participants tended to (1) select items nearer to themselves on homogenous displays, and this bias was stronger for a friend than foe; and (2) select popout items, and again, more for a friend than foe. These biases were observed only when participants believed that they shared the same physical perspective as their partner. Collectively the data indicate that theory of mind plays a significant role in hiding and finding, and demonstrate that the hide-find paradigm is a powerful tool for investigating theory of mind in adults

Influence of an outpatient multidisciplinary pain management program on the health-related quality of life and the physical fitness of chronic pain patients

BACKGROUND: Approximately 10 to 20 percent of the population is suffering from chronic pain. Since this represents a major contribution to the costs of the health care system, more efficient measures and interventions to treat these patients are sought. RESULTS: The development of general health and physical activity of patients with chronic pain was assessed in an interdisciplinary outpatient pain management program (IOPP). 36 patients with an average age of 48 years were included in the IOPP. Subjective assessment of well-being was performed at five time points (baseline, post intervention and 3, 6, and 12 months thereafter) by using standardized questionnaires. The study focused on the quality of life survey Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36, which is a validated instrument with established reliability and sensitivity. In addition, the patients participated in physical assessment testing strength, power, endurance, and mobility. Prior to therapy a substantial impairment was found on different levels. Marked improvements in the psychological parameters were obtained by the end of the program. No success was achieved with regard to the physical assessments. CONCLUSION: Although many different studies have evaluated similar programs, only few of them have attained positive results such as improvements of general quality of life or of physical strength. Often no difference from the control group could be detected only some months after the intervention. In the present study no significant persistent improvement of well-being occurred. Possible reasons are either wrong instruments, wrong selection of patients or wrong interventions

Transcription Profiling of Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen (EBNA)-1 Expressing Cells Suggests Targeting of Chromatin Remodeling Complexes

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encoded nuclear antigen (EBNA)-1 regulates virus replication and transcription, and participates in the remodeling of the cellular environment that accompanies EBV induced B-cell immortalization and malignant transformation. The putative cellular targets of these effects of EBNA-1 are largely unknown. To address this issue we have profiled the transcriptional changes induced by short- and long-term expression of EBNA-1 in the EBV negative B-cell lymphoma BJAB. Three hundred and nineteen cellular genes were regulated in a conditional transfectant shortly after EBNA-1 induction while a ten fold higher number of genes was regulated upon continuous EBNA-1 expression. Promoter analysis of the differentially regulated genes demonstrated a significant enrichment of putative EBNA-1 binding sites suggesting that EBNA-1 may directly influence the transcription of a subset of genes. Gene ontology analysis of forty seven genes that were consistently regulated independently on the time of EBNA-1 expression revealed an unexpected enrichment of genes involved in the maintenance of chromatin architecture. The interaction network of the affected gene products suggests that EBNA-1 may promote a broad rearrangement of the cellular transcription landscape by altering the expression of key components of chromatin remodeling complexes

Combined Tumor Cell-Based Vaccination and Interleukin-12 Gene Therapy Polarizes the Tumor Microenvironment in Mice

Tumor progression depends on tumor milieu, which influences neovasculature formation and immunosuppression. Combining immunotherapy with antiangiogenic/antivascular therapy might be an effective therapeutic approach. The aim of our study was to elaborate an anticancer therapeutic strategy based on the induction of immune response which leads to polarization of tumor milieu. To achieve this, we developed a tumor cell-based vaccine. CAMEL peptide was used as a B16-F10 cell death-inducing agent. The lysates were used as a vaccine to immunize mice bearing B16-F10 melanoma tumors. To further improve the therapeutic effect of the vaccine, we combined it with interleukin (IL)-12 gene therapy. IL-12, a cytokine with antiangiogenic properties, activates nonspecific and specific immune responses. We observed that combined therapy is significantly more effective (as compared with monotherapies) in inhibiting tumor growth. Furthermore, the tested combination polarizes the tumor microenvironment, which results in a switch from a proangiogenic/immunosuppressive to an antiangiogenic/immunostimulatory one. The switch manifests itself as a decreased number of tumor blood vessels, increased levels of tumor-infiltrating CD4+, CD8+ and NK cells, as well as lower level of suppressor lymphocytes (Treg). Our results suggest that polarizing tumor milieu by such combined therapy does inhibit tumor growth and seems to be a promising therapeutic strategy

Selective Hyper-responsiveness of the Interferon System in Major Depressive Disorders and Depression Induced by Interferon Therapy

Though an important percentage of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) undergoing interferon (IFN) therapy develop depressive symptoms, the role of the IFN system in the pathogenesis of depressive disorders is not well understood.50 patients with HCV infection were treated with standard combination therapy (pegylated IFN-α2a/ribavirin). IFN-induced gene expression was analyzed to identify genes which are differentially regulated in patients with or without IFN-induced depression. For validation, PBMC from 22 psychiatric patients with a severe depressive episode (SDE) and 11 controls were cultivated in vitro with pegylated IFN-α2a and gene expression was analyzed.IFN-induced depression in HCV patients was associated with selective upregulation of 15 genes, including 6 genes that were previously described to be relevant for major depressive disorders or neuronal development. In addition, increased endogenous IFN-production and selective hyper-responsiveness of these genes to IFN stimulation were observed in SDE patients.Our data suggest that selective hyper-responsiveness to exogenous (IFN therapy) or endogenous (depressive disorders) type I IFNs may lead to the development of depressive symptoms. These data could lead to the discovery of novel therapeutic approaches to treat IFN-induced and major depressive disorders

Early phase of plasticity-related gene regulation and SRF dependent transcription in the hippocampus

Hippocampal organotypic cultures are a highly reliable in vitro model for studying neuroplasticity: in this paper, we analyze the early phase of the transcriptional response induced by a 20 \ub5M gabazine treatment (GabT), a GABA-Ar antagonist, by using Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarray, RT-PCR based time-course and chromatin-immuno-precipitation. The transcriptome profiling revealed that the pool of genes up-regulated by GabT, besides being strongly related to the regulation of growth and synaptic transmission, is also endowed with neuro-protective and pro-survival properties. By using RT-PCR, we quantified a time-course of the transient expression for 33 of the highest up-regulated genes, with an average sampling rate of 10 minutes and covering the time interval [10 3690] minutes. The cluster analysis of the time-course disclosed the existence of three different dynamical patterns, one of which proved, in a statistical analysis based on results from previous works, to be significantly related with SRF-dependent regulation (p-value<0.05). The chromatin immunoprecipitation (chip) assay confirmed the rich presence of working CArG boxes in the genes belonging to the latter dynamical pattern and therefore validated the statistical analysis. Furthermore, an in silico analysis of the promoters revealed the presence of additional conserved CArG boxes upstream of the genes Nr4a1 and Rgs2. The chip assay confirmed a significant SRF signal in the Nr4a1 CArG box but not in the Rgs2 CArG box

Ty1-copia group retrotransposon sequences in amphibia and reptilia.

We have isolated sequences belonging to Ty1-copia group retrotransposons from the genomes of an amphibian (Pyxicephalus adspersa) and three reptiles (Conolophus subscristatus, Amblyrynchus cristatus and Pytas mucosus). Two different sequences were found in the amphibian (Tpa1 and Tpa2). Each is present in several copies per genome and absent from the genomes of two other amphibian species. The C. subcristatus sequence Tcs1 is present in multiple copies in both its host genome (Galapagos land iguana) and the genome of the related Galapagos marine iguana (A. cristatus). There is little or no polymorphism in Tcs1 insertions between different individual animals, suggesting that this sequence is not transposing rapidly in either iguana genome. The P. mucosus sequence Tpm1 shows a discontinuous distribution in snake species, suggesting that it has either been lost from many lineages during vertical germline transmission or has been transferred horizontally in some snake species. Phylogenetic comparisons of all these sequences with each other and with other members of this retrotransposon group from other animals and plants show that sequences within a particular vertebrate species are most closely related to each other, consistent with a vertical transmission model for their evolution