Gaze cueing and affective judgments of objects: I like what you look at

When we see another person look somewhere, we automatically attend to the same location in space. This joint attention emerges early in life and has a great impact on social interactions in development and in everyday adult life. The direction of another's gaze indicates what object is of current interest, which may be the target for a subsequent action. In this study, we found that objects that are looked at by other people are liked more than objects that do not receive the attention of other people (Experiment 1). This suggests that observing averted gaze can have an impact on the affective appraisals of objects in the environment. This liking effect was absent when an arrow was used to cue attention (Experiment 2). This underlines the importance of other people's interactions with objects for generating our own impressions of such stimuli in the world

Absolute quantitation of coronary steal induced by intravenous dipyridamole

AbstractOBJECTIVESThe study was done to determine whether coronary steal (defined as an absolute decrease in perfusion from resting blood flow) is induced by intravenous (IV) dipyridamole in patients with severe coronary artery disease (CAD).BACKGROUNDMyocardial ischemia during coronary vasodilation is usually attributed to coronary steal. However, there is limited data on the absolute magnitude of coronary steal in humans.METHODSEighteen patients with multivessel CAD underwent dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with 13NH3at rest and after infusion of IV dipyridamole. Eight myocardial sectors were analyzed per short axis slice and myocardial blood flow calculated with a two-compartment model in absolute terms.RESULTSCoronary steal occurred in 8 of the 18 patients. In the 8 patients with coronary steal, myocardial blood flow decreased from 90 ± 18 ml/100 g/min at rest to 68 ± 27 ml/100 g/min following dipyridamole in the segments with steal, and increased from 87 ± 19 to 138 ± 16 ml/100 g/min following dipyridamole in the segments without steal. Significant clinical correlates of coronary steal were either ST elevation or the combination of ST depression and angina.CONCLUSIONSCoronary vasodilation with IV dipyridamole is associated with significant reductions in blood flow to collateral-dependent myocardium consistent with coronary steal in about 45% of patients with severe CAD

Interior noise control ground test studies for advanced turboprop aircraft applications

The measurement and analysis procedures are documented, and the results of interior noise control ground tests conducted on a DC-9 aircraft test section are summarized. The objectives of these tests were to study the fuselage response characteristics of treated and untreated aircraft with aft-mount advanced turboprop engines and to analyze the effectiveness of selected noise control treatments in reducing passenger cabin noise on these aircraft. The results of fuselage structural mode surveys, cabin cavity surveys and sound intensity surveys are presented. The performance of various structural and cabin sidewall treatments is assessed, based on measurements of the resulting interior noise levels under simulated advanced turboprop excitation

HST observations of the Local Group dwarf galaxy Leo I

We present deep HST F555W (V) and F814W (I) observations of a central field in the Local Group dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy Leo I. The resulting color-magnitude diagram (CMD) reaches I \simeq 26 and reveals the oldest ~10-15 Gyr old turnoffs. Nevertheless, a horizontal branch is not obvious in the CMD. Given the low metallicity of the galaxy, this likely indicates that the first substantial star formation in the galaxy may have been somehow delayed in Leo I in comparison with the other dSph satellites of the Milky Way. The subgiant region is well and uniformly populated from the oldest turnoffs up to the 1 Gyr old turnoff, indicating that star formation has proceeded in a continuous way, with possible variations in intensity but no big gaps between successive bursts, over the galaxy's lifetime. The structure of the red-clump of core He-burning stars is consistent with the large amount of intermediate-age population inferred from the main sequence and the subgiant region. In spite of the lack of gas in Leo I, the CMD clearly shows star formation continuing until 1 Gyr ago and possibly until a few hundred Myrs ago in the central part of the galaxy.Comment: 26 pages with 8 figures (fig 2 not available electronically). To be published in ApJ, April 1 1999 (vol.514, #2

Antiplatelet Therapy and Platelet Function Testing

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58558/1/20370_ftp.pd

Analysis of a Proper-Motion Selected Sample of Stars in the Ursa Minor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

We have studied the stellar population and internal structure of the core of the Ursa Minor dwarf spheroidal galaxy, using a sample of stars selected to be members based on their proper motions. In agreement with previous studies, we find Ursa Minor to be dominated by an old, metal-poor stellar population. A small number of stars with high membership probabilities lie redward of the red giant branch. The brightest (V <= 18) such stars are known to be Carbon stars, rather than metal-rich first-ascent giants. A number of stars with high membership probabilities lie blueward of the red giant branch, and are more luminous than the horizontal branch. We speculate that these are post-horizontal branch stars. There may also be one or two stars in the post-AGB phase. Spectroscopy of the candidate post-HB and post-AGB stars is required to determine their nature. We recover the internal substructure in Ursa Minor that has been noted by several authors in the last 15 years. Using a variety of two- and three-dimensional statistical tests, we conclude that this substructure is statistically significant at the 0.005 level. There is no evidence that the regions of density excess have stellar populations that differ from the main body of Ursa Minor. The crossing time for a typical density excess is only ~5 million years. They are therefore clearly not due to intermediate age star-forming bursts. We conclude that they are instead due to tidal interactions between the Galaxy and Ursa Minor.Comment: LaTeX with AASTeX style file, 22 pages with 7 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (Dec. 2001

Reduction in BACE1 decreases body weight, protects against diet-induced obesity and enhances insulin sensitivity in mice

Insulin resistance and impaired glucose homoeostasis are important indicators of Type 2 diabetes and are early risk factors of AD (Alzheimer's disease). An essential feature of AD pathology is the presence of BACE1 (β-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme 1), which regulates production of toxic amyloid peptides. However, whether BACE1 also plays a role in glucose homoeostasis is presently unknown. We have used transgenic mice to analyse the effects of loss of BACE1 on body weight, and lipid and glucose homoeostasis. BACE1−/− mice are lean, with decreased adiposity, higher energy expenditure, and improved glucose disposal and peripheral insulin sensitivity than wild-type littermates. BACE1−/− mice are also protected from diet-induced obesity. BACE1-deficient skeletal muscle and liver exhibit improved insulin sensitivity. In a skeletal muscle cell line, BACE1 inhibition increased glucose uptake and enhanced insulin sensitivity. The loss of BACE1 is associated with increased levels of UCP1 (uncoupling protein 1) in BAT (brown adipose tissue) and UCP2 and UCP3 mRNA in skeletal muscle, indicative of increased uncoupled respiration and metabolic inefficiency. Thus BACE1 levels may play a critical role in glucose and lipid homoeostasis in conditions of chronic nutrient excess. Therefore strategies that ameliorate BACE1 activity may be important novel approaches for the treatment of diabetes

Differential expression of the inflammation marker IL12p40 in the at-risk mental state for psychosis: a predictor of transition to psychotic disorder?

Background: The identification of biomarkers of transition from the at-risk mental state (ARMS) to psychotic disorder is important because early treatment of psychosis is associated with improved outcome. Increasing evidence points to an inflammatory contribution to psychosis. We questioned whether raised levels of plasma inflammatory markers predict transition from ARMS to psychotic disorder and whether any such predictors could be reduced by omega-3 (ω-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Methods: We measured the levels of 40 neuroinflammation biomarkers using a commercially available immunoassay kit. Firstly, we compared inflammatory markers in subjects in the ARMS who transitioned to psychotic disorder (n = 11) compared to subjects who did not (n = 28). Then we compared inflammatory markers in all subjects before and after ω-3 PUFA treatment (n = 40). Results: Our data provides preliminary evidence that elevations in the baseline plasma levels of the inflammatory marker IL12/IL23p40 are associated with transition from ARMS to psychotic disorder. IL12/IL23p40 levels did not change following 12 weeks administration of ω-3 PUFAs. These findings provide evidence that elevated plasma IL12/IL23p40 is a potential biomarker of increased risk for transition to psychotic disorder. Conclusion: Further studies are required to confirm and extend this finding. Our results do not provide support for the possibility that administration of ω-3 PUFAs act to reduced transition to psychotic disorder by reducing blood levels of IL12/IL23p40. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Identifier: NCT00396643, last updated December 20, 2007. Retrospectively registered