Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess cognitive function in infants in rural Africa

Cortical mapping of cognitive function during infancy is poorly understood in low-income countries due to the lack of transportable neuroimaging methods. We have successfully piloted functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a neuroimaging tool in rural Gambia. Four-to-eight month old infants watched videos of Gambian adults perform social movements, while haemodynamic responses were recorded using fNIRS. We found distinct regions of the posterior superior temporal and inferior frontal cortex that evidenced either visual-social activation or vocally selective activation (vocal > non-vocal). The patterns of selective cortical activation in Gambian infants replicated those observed within similar aged infants in the UK. These are the first reported data on the measurement of localized functional brain activity in young infants in Africa and demonstrate the potential that fNIRS offers for field-based neuroimaging research of cognitive function in resource-poor rural communities

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess cognitive function in infants in rural Africa

Cortical mapping of cognitive function during infancy is poorly understood in low-income countries due to the lack of transportable neuroimaging methods. We have successfully piloted functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a neuroimaging tool in rural Gambia. Four-to-eight month old infants watched videos of Gambian adults perform social movements, while haemodynamic responses were recorded using fNIRS. We found distinct regions of the posterior superior temporal and inferior frontal cortex that evidenced either visual-social activation or vocally selective activation (vocal > non-vocal). The patterns of selective cortical activation in Gambian infants replicated those observed within similar aged infants in the UK. These are the first reported data on the measurement of localized functional brain activity in young infants in Africa and demonstrate the potential that fNIRS offers for field-based neuroimaging research of cognitive function in resource-poor rural communities

Chloroplast remodeling during state transitions in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as revealed by noninvasive techniques in vivo

International audiencePlants respond to changes in light quality by regulating the absorption capacity of their photosystems. These short-term adaptations use redox-controlled, reversible phosphorylation of the light-harvesting complexes (LHCIIs) to regulate the relative absorption cross-section of the two photosystems (PSs), commonly referred to as state transitions. It is acknowledged that state transitions induce substantial reorganizations of the PSs. However, their consequences on the chloroplast structure are more controversial. Here, we investigate how state transitions affect the chloroplast structure and function using complementary approaches for the living cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Using small-angle neutron scattering, we found a strong periodicity of the thylakoids in state 1, with characteristic repeat distances of ∼200 Å, which was almost completely lost in state 2. As revealed by circular dichroism, changes in the thylakoid periodicity were paralleled by modifications in the long-range order arrangement of the photosynthetic complexes, which was reduced by ∼20% in state 2 compared with state 1, but was not abolished. Furthermore, absorption spectroscopy reveals that the enhancement of PSI antenna size during state 1 to state 2 transition (∼20%) is not commensurate to the decrease in PSII antenna size (∼70%), leading to the possibility that a large part of the phosphorylated LHCIIs do not bind to PSI, but instead form energetically quenched complexes, which were shown to be either associated with PSII supercomplexes or in a free form. Altogether these noninvasive in vivo approaches allow us to present a more likely scenario for state transitions that explains their molecular mechanism and physiological consequences

Biliary Bicarbonate Secretion Constitutes a Protective Mechanism against Bile Acid-Induced Injury in Man

Background: Cholangiocytes expose a striking resistance against bile acids: while other cell types, such as hepatocytes, are susceptible to bile acid-induced toxicity and apoptosis already at micromolar concentrations, cholangiocytes are continuously exposed to millimolar concentrations as present in bile. We present a hypothesis suggesting that biliary secretion of HCO(3)(-) in man serves to protect cholangiocytes against bile acid-induced damage by fostering the deprotonation of apolar bile acids to more polar bile salts. Here, we tested if bile acid-induced toxicity is pH-dependent and if anion exchanger 2 (AE2) protects against bile acid-induced damage. Methods: A human cholangiocyte cell line was exposed to chenodeoxycholate (CDC), or its glycine conjugate, from 0.5 mM to 2.0 mM at pH 7.4, 7.1, 6.7 or 6.4, or after knockdown of AE2. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by WST and caspase-3/-7 assays, respectively. Results: Glycochenodeoxycholate (GCDC) uptake in cholangiocytes is pH-dependent. Furthermore, CDC and GCDC (pK(a) 4-5) induce cholangiocyte toxicity in a pH-dependent manner: 0.5 mM CDC and 1 mM GCDC at pH 7.4 had no effect on cell viability, but at pH 6.4 decreased viability by >80% and increased caspase activity almost 10- and 30-fold, respectively. Acidification alone had no effect. AE2 knockdown led to 3- and 2-fold enhanced apoptosis induced by 0.75 mM CDC or 2 mM GCDC at pH 7.4. Discussion: These data support our hypothesis of a biliary HCO(3)(-) umbrella serving to protect human cholangiocytes against bile acid-induced injury. AE2 is a key contributor to this protective mechanism. The development and progression of cholangiopathies, such as primary biliary cirrhosis, may be a consequence of genetic and acquired functional defects of genes involved in maintaining the biliary HCO(3)(-) umbrella. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Controlled release from zein matrices: Interplay of drug hydrophobicity and pH

Purpose: In earlier studies, the corn protein zein is found to be suitable as a sustained release agent, yet the range of drugs for which zein has been studied remains small. Here, zein is used as a sole excipient for drugs differing in hydrophobicity and isoelectric point: indomethacin, paracetamol and ranitidine. Methods: Caplets were prepared by hot-melt extrusion (HME) and injection moulding (IM). Each of the three model drugs were tested on two drug loadings in various dissolution media. The physical state of the drug, microstructure and hydration behaviour were investigated to build up understanding for the release behaviour from zein based matrix for drug delivery. Results: Drug crystallinity of the caplets increases with drug hydrophobicity. For ranitidine and indomethacin, swelling rates, swelling capacity and release rates were pH dependent as a consequence of the presence of charged groups on the drug molecules. Both hydration rates and release rates could be approached by existing models. Conclusion: Both the drug state as pH dependant electrostatic interactions are hypothesised to influence release kinetics. Both factors can potentially be used factors influencing release kinetics release, thereby broadening the horizon for zein as a tuneable release agent

Carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios of urine and faeces as novel nutritional biomarkers of meat and fish intake

Purpose Meat and fish consumption are associated with changes in the risk of chronic diseases. Intake is mainly assessed using self-reporting, as no true quantitative nutritional biomarker is available. The measurement of plasma fatty acids, often used as an alternative, is expensive and time-consuming. As meat and fish differ in their stable isotope ratios, δ13C and δ15N have been proposed as biomarkers. However, they have never been investigated in controlled human dietary intervention studies. Objective In a short-term feeding study, we investigated the suitability of δ13C and δ15N in blood, urine and faeces as biomarkers of meat and fish intake. Methods The dietary intervention study (n = 14) followed a randomised cross-over design with three eight-day dietary periods (meat, fish and half-meat–half-fish). In addition, 4 participants completed a vegetarian control period. At the end of each period, 24-h urine, fasting venous blood and faeces were collected and their δ13C and δ15N analysed. Results There was a significant difference between diets in isotope ratios in faeces and urine samples, but not in blood samples (Kruskal–Wallis test, p < 0.0001). In pairwise comparisons, δ13C and δ15N were significantly higher in urine and faecal samples following a fish diet when compared with all other diets, and significantly lower following a vegetarian diet. There was no significant difference in isotope ratio between meat and half-meat–half-fish diets for blood, urine or faecal samples. Conclusions The results of this study show that urinary and faecal δ13C and δ15N are suitable candidate biomarkers for short-term meat and fish intake

The Anisotropy of Cosmic Ray Arrival Direction around 10^18eV

Anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays around 10^{18}eV is studied using data from the Akeno 20 km^2 array and the Akeno Giant Air Shower Array (AGASA), using a total of about 216,000 showers observed over 15 years above 10^{17}eV. In the first harmonic analysis, we have found significant anisotropy of $\sim$ 4 % around 10^{18}eV, corresponding to a chance probability of $\sim 10^{-5}$ after taking the number of independent trials into account. With two dimensional analysis in right ascension and declination, this anisotropy is interpreted as an excess of showers near the directions of the Galactic Center and the Cygnus region. This is a clear evidence for the existence of the galactic cosmic ray up to the energy of 10^{18}eV. Primary particle which contribute this anisotropy may be proton or neutron.Comment: 4pages, three figures, to appear in Procedings of 26th ICRC(Salt Lake City

Transport properties of copper phthalocyanine based organic electronic devices

Ambipolar charge carrier transport in Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) is studied experimentally in field-effect transistors and metal-insulator-semiconductor diodes at various temperatures. The electronic structure and the transport properties of CuPc attached to leads are calculated using density functional theory and scattering theory at the non-equilibrium Green's function level. We discuss, in particular, the electronic structure of CuPc molecules attached to gold chains in different geometries to mimic the different experimental setups. The combined experimental and theoretical analysis explains the dependence of the mobilityand the transmission coefficient on the charge carrier type (electrons or holes) and on the contact geometry. We demonstrate the correspondence between our experimental results on thick films and our theoretical studies of single molecule contacts. Preliminary results for fluorinated CuPc are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures; to be published in Eur. Phys. J. Special Topic