Group membership and racial bias modulate the temporal estimation of in-group/out-group body movements

Social group categorization has been mainly studied in relation to ownership manipulations involving highly-salient multisensory cues. Here, we propose a novel paradigm that can implicitly activate the embodiment process in the presence of group affiliation information, whilst participants complete a task irrelevant to social categorization. Ethnically White participants watched videos of White- and Black-skinned models writing a proverb. The writing was interrupted 7, 4 or 1 s before completion. Participants were tasked with estimating the residual duration following interruption. A video showing only hand kinematic traces acted as a control condition. Residual duration estimates for out-group and control videos were significantly lower than those for in-group videos only for the longest duration. Moreover, stronger implicit racial bias was negatively correlated to estimates of residual duration for out-group videos. The underestimation bias for the out-group condition might be mediated by implicit embodiment, affective and attentional processes, and finalized to a rapid out-group categorization

Cytomegalovirus infection in pediatric rheumatic diseases: a review

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is familiar to pediatric rheumatologists mainly as a cause of opportunistic disease in pharmacologically immune suppressed patients. However, HCMV also has a variety of immuno-modulatory effects, through which it may influence the course of rheumatic conditions. In this article we discuss the interplay between HCMV and the immune system, and review the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of HCMV infection in children with rheumatic disease

The use of mesenchymal stem cells for cartilage repair and regeneration: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The management of articular cartilage defects presents many clinical challenges due to its avascular, aneural and alymphatic nature. Bone marrow stimulation techniques, such as microfracture, are the most frequently used method in clinical practice however the resulting mixed fibrocartilage tissue which is inferior to native hyaline cartilage. Other methods have shown promise but are far from perfect. There is an unmet need and growing interest in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering to improve the outcome for patients requiring cartilage repair. Many published reviews on cartilage repair only list human clinical trials, underestimating the wealth of basic sciences and animal studies that are precursors to future research. We therefore set out to perform a systematic review of the literature to assess the translation of stem cell therapy to explore what research had been carried out at each of the stages of translation from bench-top (in vitro), animal (pre-clinical) and human studies (clinical) and assemble an evidence-based cascade for the responsible introduction of stem cell therapy for cartilage defects. This review was conducted in accordance to PRISMA guidelines using CINHAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and Web of Knowledge databases from 1st January 1900 to 30th June 2015. In total, there were 2880 studies identified of which 252 studies were included for analysis (100 articles for in vitro studies, 111 studies for animal studies; and 31 studies for human studies). There was a huge variance in cell source in pre-clinical studies both of terms of animal used, location of harvest (fat, marrow, blood or synovium) and allogeneicity. The use of scaffolds, growth factors, number of cell passages and number of cells used was hugely heterogeneous. SHORT CONCLUSIONS: This review offers a comprehensive assessment of the evidence behind the translation of basic science to the clinical practice of cartilage repair. It has revealed a lack of connectivity between the in vitro, pre-clinical and human data and a patchwork quilt of synergistic evidence. Drivers for progress in this space are largely driven by patient demand, surgeon inquisition and a regulatory framework that is learning at the same pace as new developments take place

Mechanisms of Na+ uptake, ammonia excretion, and their potential linkage in native Rio Negro tetras (Paracheirodon axelrodi, Hemigrammus rhodostomus, and Moenkhausia diktyota)

Mechanisms of Na+ uptake, ammonia excretion, and their potential linkage were investigated in three characids (cardinal, hemigrammus, moenkhausia tetras), using radiotracer flux techniques to study the unidirectional influx (Jin), efflux (Jout), and net flux rates (Jnet) of Na+ and Cl−, and the net excretion rate of ammonia (JAmm). The fish were collected directly from the Rio Negro, and studied in their native “blackwater” which is acidic (pH 4.5), ion-poor (Na+, Cl− ~20 µM), and rich in dissolved organic matter (DOM 11.5 mg C l−1). Jin Na, Jin Cl, and JAmm were higher than in previous reports on tetras obtained from the North America aquarium trade and/or studied in low DOM water. In all three species, Jin Na was unaffected by amiloride (10−4 M, NHE and Na+ channel blocker), but both Jin Na and Jin Cl were virtually eliminated (85–99 % blockade) by AgNO3 (10−7 M). A time course study on cardinal tetras demonstrated that Jin Na blockade by AgNO3 was very rapid (<5 min), suggesting inhibition of branchial carbonic anhydrase (CA), and exposure to the CA-blocker acetazolamide (10−4 M) caused a 50 % reduction in Jin Na .. Additionally, Jin Na was unaffected by phenamil (10−5 M, Na+ channel blocker), bumetanide (10−4 M, NKCC blocker), hydrochlorothiazide (5 × 10−3 M, NCC blocker), and exposure to an acute 3 unit increase in water pH. None of these treatments, including partial or complete elimination of Jin Na (by acetazolamide and AgNO3 respectively), had any inhibitory effect on JAmm. Therefore, Na+ uptake in Rio Negro tetras depends on an internal supply of H+ from CA, but does not fit any of the currently accepted H+-dependent models (NHE, Na+ channel/V-type H+-ATPase), or co-transport schemes (NCC, NKCC), and ammonia excretion does not fit the current “Na+/NH4 + exchange metabolon” paradigm. Na+, K+-ATPase and V-type H+-ATPase activities were present at similar levels in gill homogenates, Acute exposure to high environmental ammonia (NH4Cl, 10−3 M) significantly increased Jin Na, and NH4 + was equally or more effective than K+ in activating branchial Na+,(K+) ATPase activity in vitro. We propose that ammonia excretion does not depend on Na+ uptake, but that Na+ uptake (by an as yet unknown H+-dependent apical mechanism) depends on ammonia excretion, driven by active NH4 + entry via basolateral Na+,(K+)-ATPase. © 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg