Atrial natriuretic peptide presence in parotid gland of human foetus at 13th week of development and in adult man

Our immunohistochemical study shows that atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is present in both human fetal and adult parotid gland. In the fetuses ANP is localized in cell clusters, while in adult parotid gland, the ANP is seen only in the wall of intra- and extralobular ducts. The results suggest that ANP might play a role in the differentiation of the parotid gland similarly as in brain and that during fetal growth ANP may play a role in the regulating the secretion of primitive salivary fluid, even if acini are still not developed. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2013, Vol. 51, No. 1, 55-58

Trajectory Discrimination and Peripersonal Space Perception in Newborns

The ability to discriminate the trajectories of moving objects is highly adaptive and fundamental for physical and social interactions. Therefore, we could reasonably expect sensitivity to different trajectories already at birth, as a precursor of later communicative and defensive abilities. To investigate this possibility, we measured newborns\u2019 looking behavior to evaluate their ability to discriminate between visual stimuli depicting motion along different trajectories happening within the space surrounding their body. Differently from previous studies, we did not take into account defensive reactions, which may not be elicited by impending collision as newborns might not categorize approaching stimuli as possible dangers. In two experiments, we showed that newborns display a spontaneous visual preference for trajectories directed toward their body. We found this visual preference when visual stimuli depicted motion in opposite directions (approaching vs. receding) as well as when they both moved toward the peripersonal space and differed only in their specific target (i.e., the body vs. the space around it). These findings suggest that at birth human infants seem to be already equipped with visual mechanisms predisposing them to perceive their presence in the environment and to adaptively focus their attention on the peripersonal space and their bodily self

Newborns Are Sensitive to Impending Collision Within Their Peripersonal Space

Immediately after birth, newborns are introduced within a highly stimulating environment, where many objects move close to them. It would therefore be adaptive for infants to pay more attention to objects that move towards them - on a colliding pathway - and could therefore come into contact and interact with them. The present study aimed at understanding if newborns are able to discriminate between colliding vs. noncolliding trajectories. To address this issue, we measured the looking behaviour of newborns who were presented with videos of different pairings of three events: approaching objects along a colliding course, approaching objects along a non-colliding trajectory, and receding objects. Results outlined that newborns preferred looking at the approaching and colliding movement than at both the receding and the approaching but non-colliding movements. Data also suggest the possible occurrence of a configural effect when two colliding events are displayed simultaneously. Furthermore newborns appeared to look longer at movements directed towards the Peripersonal Space than at those directed away from it

Rosiglitazone promotes AQP2 plasma membrane expression in renal cells via a Ca-dependent/cAMP-independent mechanism.

Background/Aims: Thiazolidinediones are highly beneficial in the treatment of type II diabetes. However, they are also associated with edema and increased risk of congestive heart failure. Several studies demonstrated that rosiglitazone (RGZ) increases the abundance of aquaporin-2 (AQP2) at the plasma membrane of renal cells. The aim of this study was to investigate whether RGZ might activate a transduction pathway facilitating AQP2 membrane accumulation in renal cells. Methods: We analyzed the effect of RGZ on renal AQP2 intracellular trafficking in MCD4 renal cells by confocal microscopy and apical surface biotinylation. Cytosolic Ca2+ dynamics were measured by a video-imaging approach in single cell. Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels expression was determined by RT-PCR. Results: We showed that in MCD4 cells, short-term exposure to RGZ dramatically increases the amount of apically expressed AQP2 independently on cAMP production, PKA activation and AQP2 phosphorylation. RGZ elicited a cytosolic Ca2+ transient due to Ca2+ influx prevented by ruthenium red, suggesting the involvement of TRP plasma membrane channels. We identified TRPV6 as the possible candidate mediating this effect. Conclusions: Taken together these results provide a possible molecular mechanism explaining the increased AQP2 membrane expression under RGZ treatment: in renal cells RGZ elicits Ca2+ transients facilitating AQP2 exposure at the apical plasma membrane, thus increasing collecting duct water permeability. Importantly, this effect suggests an unexplored application of RGZ in the treatment of pathological states characterized by impaired AQP2 trafficking at the plasma membrane

Human β3-Adrenoreceptor is Resistant to Agonist-Induced Desensitization in Renal Epithelial Cells

Background/Aims: We recently showed that the β3-adrenoreceptor (β3AR) is expressed in mouse kidney collecting ducts (CD) cells along with the type-2 vasopressin receptor (AVPR2). Interestingly, a single injection of a β3AR selective agonist promotes a potent antidiuretic effect in mice. Before considering the feasibility of chronic β3AR agonism to induce antidiuresis in vivo, we aimed to evaluate in vitro the signaling and desensitization profiles of human β3AR. Methods: Human β3AR desensitization was compared with that of human AVPR2 in cultured renal cells. Video imaging and FRET experiments were performed to dissect β3AR signaling under acute and chronic stimulation. Plasma membrane localization of β3AR, AVPR2 and AQP2 after agonist stimulation was studied by confocal microscopy. Receptors degradation was evaluated by Western blotting. Results: In renal cells acute stimulation with the selective β3AR agonist mirabegron, induced a dose-dependent increase in cAMP. Interestingly, chronic exposure to mirabegron promoted a significant increase of intracellular cAMP up to 12 hours. In addition, a slow and slight agonist-induced internalization and a delayed downregulation of β3AR was observed under chronic stimulation. Furthermore, chronic exposure to mirabegron promoted apical expression of AQP2 also up to 12 hours. Conversely, long-term stimulation of AVPR2 with dDAVP showed short-lasting receptor signaling, rapid internalization and downregulation and apical AQP2 expression for no longer than 3 h. Conclusions: Overall, we conclude that β3AR is less prone than AVPR2 to agonist-induced desensitization in renal collecting duct epithelial cells, showing sustained cAMP production, preserved membrane localization and delayed degradation after 12 hours agonist exposure. These results may be important for the potential use of chronic pharmacological stimulation of β3AR to promote antidiuresis overcoming in vivo renal concentrating defects caused by inactivating mutations of the AVPR2

The development of perceived maternal hostile, aggressive conflict from adolescence to early adulthood: Antecedents and outcomes

Abstract The goal of this study was to investigate the development of mothereadolescent hostile aggressive conflict (MHAC) from late adolescence to young adulthood. The role of child' depressive and delinquency problems and family characteristics, as well as the relation of level and change in MHAC to adolescents' delinquency and depression in early adulthood will be investigated. From the Genzano Longitudinal study 385 adolescents (51% males) participated in this study and completed self report measures. Latent growth curve modeling, separately by gender, indicated that the overall level MHAC exhibited a modest decline over time. For both males and females, depressive problems were associated to higher initial levels of MHAC and early maternal age predicted less decline of MHAC. Starting levels of MHAC were associated with Delinquency in males and with Depression in females, while the growth of MHAC was associated to delinquency in males and females and to depression in males

Why and How to Promote Adolescents’ Prosocial Behaviors: Direct, Mediated and Moderated Effects of the CEPIDEA School-Based Program

Prosocial behaviors are considered integral to intervention goals that seek to promote successful youth development. This study examines the effect of a school-based intervention program entirely designed to promote prosocial behaviors called Promoting Prosocial and Emotional Skills to Counteract Externalizing Problems in Adolescence (Italian acronym CEPIDEA). The CEPIDEA curriculum was incorporated into routine educational practices and included five major components that reflect the personal determinants of prosocial behavior during adolescence. The present study assessed 151 students (48.7% female; M(age) = 12.4) of the intervention school and 140 students (51.2% female; M(age) = 13.0) of the control school at three points. A multi-group latent curve analysis revealed that the intervention group, compared with the control group, showed an increase in prosocial behavior, interpersonal self-efficacy beliefs, and agreeableness along with a decrease in physical aggression above and beyond the normative developmental trend of the these variables. Participants of the intervention also obtained higher grades than the control group at the end of middle school. Moderation effects for prosocial behavior and agreeableness evidenced that those who benefited most from the intervention were those adolescents with lower normative development of prosocial behavior, low initial level of agreeableness, and high initial level of physical aggression. The results also showed that the increase of prosocial behaviors mediated the decline of verbal aggression in adolescents who had attended the intervention. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at promoting prosocial behaviors while having the potential to support positive outcomes may also counteract or redirect negative trajectories of functioning

Bias due to neutrinos must not uncorrect'd go

In cosmologies with massive neutrinos, the galaxy bias defined with respect to the total matter field (cold dark matter, baryons, and non-relativistic neutrinos) depends on the sum of the neutrino masses $M_{\nu}$, and becomes scale-dependent even on large scales. This effect has been usually neglected given the sensitivity of current surveys, but becomes a severe systematic for future surveys aiming to provide the first detection of non-zero $M_{\nu}$. The effect can be corrected for by defining the bias with respect to the density field of cold dark matter and baryons instead of the total matter field. In this work, we provide a simple prescription for correctly mitigating the neutrino-induced scale-dependent bias effect in a practical way. We clarify a number of subtleties regarding how to properly implement this correction in the presence of redshift-space distortions and non-linear evolution of perturbations. We perform a MCMC analysis on simulated galaxy clustering data that match the expected sensitivity of the \textit{Euclid} survey. We find that the neutrino-induced scale-dependent bias can lead to important shifts in both the inferred mean value of $M_{\nu}$, as well as its uncertainty. We show how these shifts propagate to other cosmological parameters correlated with $M_{\nu}$, such as the cold dark matter physical density $\Omega_{cdm} h^2$ and the scalar spectral index $n_s$. In conclusion, we find that correctly accounting for the neutrino-induced scale-dependent bias will be of crucial importance for future galaxy clustering analyses. We encourage the cosmology community to correctly account for this effect using the simple prescription we present in our work. The tools necessary to easily correct for the neutrino-induced scale-dependent bias will be made publicly available in an upcoming release of the Boltzmann solver \texttt{CLASS}.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, abstract abridged. Version accepted for publication in JCAP. The busy reader should skip to Sec. IID, V, and the figures. A "Note added" between conclusions and acknowledgements explains our choice of titl