Probing the relevance of the hippocampus for conflict-induced memory improvement

The hippocampus plays a key role for episodic memory. In addition, a small but growing number of studies has shown that it also contributes to the resolution of response conflicts. It is less clear how these two functions are related, and how they are affected by hippocampal lesions in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Previous studies suggested that conflict stimuli might be better remembered, but whether the hippocampus is critical for supporting this interaction between conflict processing and memory formation is unknown. Here, we tested 19 patients with MTLE due to hippocampal sclerosis and 19 matched healthy controls. Participants performed a face-word Stroop task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) followed by a recognition task for the faces. We tested whether memory performance and activity in brain regions implicated in long-term memory were modulated by conflict during encoding, and whether this differed between MTLE patients and controls. In controls, we largely replicated previous findings of improved memory for conflict stimuli. While MTLE patients showed response time slowing during conflict trials as well, they did not exhibit a memory benefit. In controls, neural activity of conflict resolution and memory encoding interacted within a hippocampal region of interest. Here, left hippocampal recruitment was less efficient for memory performance in incongruent trials than in congruent trials, suggesting an intrahippocampal competition for limited resources. They also showed an involvement of precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex during conflict resolution. Both effects were not observed in MTLE patients, where activation of the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex instead predicted later memory. Further research is needed to find out whether our findings reflect widespread functional reorganization of the episodic memory network due to hippocampal dysfunction

Shared Data and Algorithms for Deep Learning in Fundamental Physics

We introduce a collection of datasets from fundamental physics research -- including particle physics, astroparticle physics, and hadron- and nuclear physics -- for supervised machine learning studies. These datasets, containing hadronic top quarks, cosmic-ray induced air showers, phase transitions in hadronic matter, and generator-level histories, are made public to simplify future work on cross-disciplinary machine learning and transfer learning in fundamental physics. Based on these data, we present a simple yet flexible graph-based neural network architecture that can easily be applied to a wide range of supervised learning tasks in these domains. We show that our approach reaches performance close to state-of-the-art dedicated methods on all datasets. To simplify adaptation for various problems, we provide easy-to-follow instructions on how graph-based representations of data structures, relevant for fundamental physics, can be constructed and provide code implementations for several of them. Implementations are also provided for our proposed method and all reference algorithms.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 5 table

SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern B.1.1.7: Diagnostic Sensitivity of Three Antigen-Detecting Rapid Tests.

Funder: Foundation for Innovative New DiagnosticsFunder: World Health OrganizationFunder: Ministry of Science, Research and Culture, State of Baden Wuerttemberg, German

New Generation ENaC Inhibitors Detach Cystic Fibrosis Airway Mucus Bundles via Sodium/Hydrogen Exchanger Inhibition

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Structure-Activity Studies Of 7-Heteroaryl-3-Azabicyclo[3.3.1]Non-6-Enes: A Novel Class Of Highly Potent Nicotinic Receptor Ligands

The potential for nicotinic ligands with affinity for the α4β2 or α7 subtypes to treat such diverse diseases as nicotine addiction, neuropathic pain, and neurodegenerative and cognitive disorders has been exhibited clinically for several compounds while preclinical activity in relevant in vivo models has been demonstrated for many more. For several therapeutic programs, we sought nicotinic ligands with various combinations of affinity and function across both subtypes, with an emphasis on dual α4β2-α7 ligands, to explore the possibility of synergistic effects. We report here the structure-activity relationships (SAR) for a novel series of 7-heteroaryl-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]non-6-enes and characterize many of the analogues for activity at multiple nicotinic subtypes. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Sleep spindles and intelligence:evidence for a sexual dimorphism

Contains fulltext : 136083.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Sleep spindles are thalamocortical oscillations in nonrapid eye movement sleep, which play an important role in sleep-related neuroplasticity and offline information processing. Sleep spindle features are stable within and vary between individuals, with, for example, females having a higher number of spindles and higher spindle density than males. Sleep spindles have been associated with learning potential and intelligence; however, the details of this relationship have not been fully clarified yet. In a sample of 160 adult human subjects with a broad IQ range, we investigated the relationship between sleep spindle parameters and intelligence. In females, we found a positive age-corrected association between intelligence and fast sleep spindle amplitude in central and frontal derivations and a positive association between intelligence and slow sleep spindle duration in all except one derivation. In males, a negative association between intelligence and fast spindle density in posterior regions was found. Effects were continuous over the entire IQ range. Our results demonstrate that, although there is an association between sleep spindle parameters and intellectual performance, these effects are more modest than previously reported and mainly present in females. This supports the view that intelligence does not rely on a single neural framework, and stronger neural connectivity manifesting in increased thalamocortical oscillations in sleep is one particular mechanism typical for females but not males.11 p

Nuclear Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein co-regulates T cell factor 1-mediated transcription in T cells

Background: The Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) family of actin-nucleating factors are present in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus. The role of nuclear WASp for T cell development remains incompletely defined. Methods: We performed WASp chromatin immunoprecipitation and deep sequencing (ChIP-seq) in thymocytes and spleen CD4+ T cells. Results: WASp was enriched at genic and intergenic regions and associated with the transcription start sites of protein-coding genes. Thymocytes and spleen CD4+ T cells showed 15 common WASp-interacting genes, including the gene encoding T cell factor (TCF)12. WASp KO thymocytes had reduced nuclear TCF12 whereas thymocytes expressing constitutively active WASpL272P and WASpI296T had increased nuclear TCF12, suggesting that regulated WASp activity controlled nuclear TCF12. We identify a putative DNA element enriched in WASp ChIP-seq samples identical to a TCF1-binding site and we show that WASp directly interacted with TCF1 in the nucleus. Conclusions: These data place nuclear WASp in proximity with TCF1 and TCF12, essential factors for T cell development. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13073-017-0481-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Mini percutaneous nephrolithotripsy as treatment modality for kidney stones

Cilj: Prikazati naše rezultate u liječenju pacijenata s bubrežnim kamencima metodom miniperkutane nefrolitotripsije (miniPCNL). Pacijenti i metode: Retrospektivnim istraživanjem obuhvatili smo pacijente Klinike za urologiju, Kliničkog bolničkog centra u Rijeci koji su između 1. kolovoza 2015. i 31. prosinca 2016. godine zbog bubrežnih kamenaca liječeni metodom miniPCNL-a. Rezultati: U promatranom razdoblju u našem centru operirano je 6 pacijenata ovom metodom, od kojih je jedan bio s transplantiranim bubregom. U svih pacijenata uspješno je učinjena litotripsija s holmium-laserom. Na kontrolnom RTG-u nije bilo ostatnih fragmenata. U četvoro pacijenata poslijeoperativno je došlo do razvoja febriliteta koji je uspješno liječen antibiotskom terapijom. Niti u jednog pacijenta nije bila potrebna reoperacija, dodatne procedure niti potreba za davanjem krvi. Zaključak: Miniperkutana nefrolitotripsija je minimalno invazivna metoda koja se pokazala uspješnom i sigurnom u liječenju nefrolitijaze.Aim: To present our results in the treatment of nephrolithiasis using mini percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (miniPCNL). Patients and methods: We retrospectively analyzed all patients with nephrolithiasis treated with miniPCNL in Department of Urology, University Hospital Rijeka from August 1st 2015 to December 31st 2016. Results: In observed period 6 patients were operated with this novel method and one has transplanted kidney. In allpatients lithotripsy was successfully performed with holmium laser. On the control x-ray the residual fragments were not found in any patients. Postoperatively, in four patients febrility was noticed and successfully treated with antibiotics. Neither the one patient need reoperation, auxiliary procedures or blood transfusion. Conclusion: Mini percutaneous nephrolithotripsy is a minimally-invasive method which is successfull and safe method in the treatment of kidney stones