Jules Bernard Luys in Charcot’s Penumbra

Jules Bernard Luys (1828–1897) is a relatively unknown figure in 19th century French neuropsychiatry. Although greatly influenced by Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893), Luys worked in the shadow of the ‘master of La Salpêtrière’ for about a quarter of a century. When he arrived at this institution in 1862, he used microscopy and photomicrography to identify pathological lesions underlying locomotor ataxia and progressive muscular atrophy. He later made substantial contributions to our knowledge of normal human brain anatomy, including the elucidation of thalamic organization and the discovery of the subthalamic nucleus. Luys’s name has long been attached to the latter structure (corps de Luys), which is at the center of our current thinking about the functional organization of basal ganglia and the physiopathology of Parkinson’s disease. As head of the Maison de santé d’Ivry, Luys developed a highly original view of the functional organization of the normal human brain, while improving our understanding of the neuropathological and clinical aspects of mental illnesses. In 1886, Luys left La Salpêtrière and became chief physician at La Charité hospital. Following Charcot, whom he considered as the father of scientific hypnotism, Luys devoted the last part of his career to hysteria and hypnosis. However, Luys ventured too deeply into the minefield of hysteria. He initiated experiments as unconventional as the distant action of medication, and became one of the most highly caricatured examples of the fascination that hysteria exerted upon neurologists as well as laypersons at the end of the 19th century

Axonal collateralization in primate basal ganglia and related thalamic nuclei

This paper provides an overview of the major organizational features of the basal ganglia and related thalamic centers, as delineated by the application of single-axon or single-cell labeling procedures in primates. These studies have revealed that the striatum, the external pallidum and the subthalamic nucleus harbor several types of projection neurons endowed with a highly collateralized axon that allows these neurons to interact with most components of the basal ganglia. In contrast, the internal pallidum, which is a major output structure of the basal ganglia, contains only two types of projection neurons. First, there is a minority of “limbic” pallidal neurons with a poorly branched axon that arborized profusely within the lateral habenula, which stands out as the most densely innervated pallidal target. Second, there is a majority of pallidal “motor” neurons with a long (total axonal length up to 27 cm) and highly branched axon that provides collaterals to the ventral tiers thalamic nuclei, the brainstem pedunculopontine nucleus and the centre médian/parafascicular thalamic complex. This type of axon allows internal pallidal neurons to send efferent copies of the same information to the thalamus and brainstem and hence influence various neuronal systems scattered throughout the neuraxis. Pallidal information is conveyed to the cerebral cortex and the striatum via the thalamus, while it is projected back to different components of the basal ganglia via the numerous reentrant pathways that arise from the pedunculopontine nucleus. Virtually all neurons in the centre médian thalamic nucleus innervate massively the striatum and less prominently the primary motor cortex, which in turn projects to the striatum directly or via a collateral from long-range corticofugal pyramidal axons. The results call for a reappraisal of our current concept of the anatomical and functional organization of basal ganglia, which play a crucial role in sensorimotor integration. Our data indicate that basal ganglia and related thalamic nuclei form a widely distributed neuronal network, whose elements are endowed with a highly patterned set of axon collaterals. This morphological feature allows a complex and exquisitely precise interaction between the various basal ganglia and related thalamic nuclei. The elucidation of this finely tuned network is needed to understand the complex spatiotemporal sequence of neural events that ensures the flow of cortical information through the basal ganglia and thalamus

Alien Registration- Parent, Julie (Van Buren, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/32268/thumbnail.jp

Improved reversible and quantum circuits for Karatsuba-based integer multiplication

Integer arithmetic is the underpinning of many quantum algorithms, with applications ranging from Shor\u27s algorithm over HHL for matrix inversion to Hamiltonian simulation algorithms. A basic objective is to keep the required resources to implement arithmetic as low as possible. This applies in particular to the number of qubits required in the implementation as for the foreseeable future this number is expected to be small. We present a reversible circuit for integer multiplication that is inspired by Karatsuba\u27s recursive method. The main improvement over circuits that have been previously reported in the literature is an asymptotic reduction of the amount of space required from O(n^1.585) to O(n^1.427). This improvement is obtained in exchange for a small constant increase in the number of operations by a factor less than 2 and a small asymptotic increase in depth for the parallel version. The asymptotic improvement are obtained from analyzing pebble games on complete ternary trees

Striatal neurons expressing D1 and D2 receptors are morphologically distinct and differently affected by dopamine denervation in mice

The loss of nigrostriatal dopamine neurons in Parkinson’s disease induces a reduction in the number of dendritic spines on medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the striatum expressing D1 or D2 dopamine receptor. Consequences on MSNs expressing both receptors (D1/D2 MSNs) are currently unknown. We looked for changes induced by dopamine denervation in the density, regional distribution and morphological features of D1/D2 MSNs, by comparing 6-OHDA-lesioned double BAC transgenic mice (Drd1a-tdTomato/Drd2-EGFP) to sham-lesioned animals. D1/D2 MSNs are uniformly distributed throughout the dorsal striatum (1.9% of MSNs). In contrast, they are heterogeneously distributed and more numerous in the ventral striatum (14.6% in the shell and 7.3% in the core). Compared to D1 and D2 MSNs, D1/D2 MSNs are endowed with a smaller cell body and a less profusely arborized dendritic tree with less dendritic spines. The dendritic spine density of D1/D2 MSNs, but also of D1 and D2 MSNs, is significantly reduced in 6-OHDA-lesioned mice. In contrast to D1 and D2 MSNs, the extent of dendritic arborization of D1/D2 MSNs appears unaltered in 6-OHDA-lesioned mice. Our data indicate that D1/D2 MSNs in the mouse striatum form a distinct neuronal population that is affected differently by dopamine deafferentation that characterizes Parkinson’s disease

Net primary productivity and below-ground crop residue inputs for root crops: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.)

Root crops are significant in agro-ecosystems of temperate climates. However, the amounts of crop residues for these crop types are not well documented and they need to be accounted for in the modeling of soil organic carbon dynamics. Our objective was to review field measurements of root biomass left in the soil as crop residues at harvest for potato and sugar beet. We considered estimates for crop residue inputs as root biomass presented in the literature and some unpublished results. Our analysis showed that compared to, for example, cereals, the contribution of below-ground net primary productivity (NPP) to crop residues is at least two to three times lower for root crops. Indeed, the field measurements indicated that root biomass for topsoils only represents on average 25 to 30 g dry matter (DM) m(-2) yr(-1). Other estimates, albeit variable and region-specific, tended to be higher. We suggest relative plant DM allocation coefficients for agronomic yield (R-P), above-ground biomass (R-S) and root biomass (R-R) components, expressed as a proportion of total NPP. These coefficients, representative for temperate climates (0.739:0.236:0.025 for potato and 0.626:0.357:0.017 for sugar beet), should be useful in the modeling of agro-ecosystems that include root crops

XP-Antarctik Expedition: The Effect of a Month-Long Expedition in Antarctica on Physiological Performance

Antarctica is a challenging habitat for humans. A group of 6 explorers (3 women and 3 men) participated in an expedition in Antarctica. The objective was to observe the physiological acclimatization of the explorers using the following strategies: physical preparation, highcaloric nutritional intake, and the latest physiological monitoring and outdoor equipment. Anthropometric measures (dual x-ray absorptiometry), specific maximal aerobic test, maximal aerobic running speed test, submaximal aerobic cold testing, strength tests (grip strength, leg press and chin up), and endurance tests (bar suspension and chair position) were conducted pre- and post-expedition. Due to the sample size, a paired t-test was used for normally distributed data and non-parametric (Wilcoxon) to compare values pre- and post-expedition. Effect sizes are presented as Cohen’s d. The lean mass for the women was significantly higher after the expedition (45.4 ± 4.4 vs. 47.1 ± 4.1 kg; p = 0.040, d = 1.86); however, no significant difference was observed for the men (66.7 ± 7.3 vs. 66.0 ± 5.7 kg; p = 0.581, d = 0.11). Pre- and post-expedition values were significantly different for the specific maximal aerobic test, where the VO2peak was 40.8 ± 4.2 vs. 46.9 ± 7.4 ml/kg/min, respectively (p = 0.027, d = 1.01), but no significant difference was observed for the other aerobic tests. The muscular testing did not change significantly, except for the left leg one maximal repetition (295 ± 110 vs. 364 ± 135 lb, pre- and post-expedition respectively, p = 0.031, d = -0.56). The overall preparation for the expedition appears to be a key aspect in order to countermeasure the physical ability decay during an Antarctica expedition. However, further studies will need to be developed to discern the importance of the preparation components