Bringing action into the picture : how action influences visual awareness

This article discusses how the analysis of interactions between action and awareness allows us to better understand the mechanisms of visual awareness. We argue that action is one of several factors that influence visual awareness and we provide a number of examples. We also discuss the possible mechanisms that underlie these influences on both the cognitive and the neural levels. We propose that action affects visual awareness for the following reasons: (1) it serves as additional information in the process of evidence accumulation; (2) it restricts the number of alternatives in the decisional process; (3) it enables error detection and performance monitoring; and (4) it triggers attentional mechanisms that modify stimulus perception. We also discuss the possible neuronal mechanisms of the aforementioned effects, including feedback-dependent prefrontal cortex modulation of the activity of visual areas, error-based modulation, interhemispheric inhibition of motor cortices, and attentional modulation of visual cortex activity triggered by motor processing

Validity Issues of Open Source Licenses in European Union - The EU’s Solution

New available software’s and new ways to disseminate it equals new legal issues. This article is meant to point out a few possible problems regarding OpenSource/Free Software (OS/FS) and to introduce European Union Public License(EUPL)

Role of vegan and vegetarian diets in type 2 diabetes

Significant benefits could be achieved in diabetes management with vegetarian and vegan diets. Many reports in literature indicate that both, vegetarian and vegan diet bring a potential benefits in a treatment of type 2 diabetes. What is more vegetarian and vegan diets have a positive effect on anti-atherogenic process. Observational studies indicate that risk of developing diabetes is reduced by half in people during a vegetarian diet, compared to non-vegetarian

Patophysiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Clinically, NAFLD is the most common cause of asymptomatic increases in transaminases. NAFLD is also currently the most common liver disorder in developed countries, affecting 24% of the world's population. The prevalence of NAFLD in European societies is estimated in the range of 17-46% and shows an upward trend with the increasing incidence of obesity and type II diabetes. NAFLD occurs in about 7% of people without excess weight, however, they are usually people with impaired insulin sensitivity, leading a sedentary lifestyle, having an increased cardiovascular risk, with higher levels of hepatic lipids as a result of reduced fat accumulation and reduced mitochondrial activity in adipose tissue and increased de novo hepatic lipogenesis

Pterostilbene induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in MOLT4 human leukemia cells

Pterostilbene, a polyphenolic compound present in grapes and other fruits, has been demonstrated to inhibit growth and induce apoptosis and autophagy in some cancer cell types. We found that pterostilbene at the IC90 concentration of 44 µM inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in MOLT4 human leukemia cells. Treatment with pterostilbene resulted in a transient accumulation of cells in the G0/G1-cell cycle phase followed by the S-phase arrest. Pterostilbene-induced apoptotic death of MOLT4 cells was mediated by caspase-3 activation and was accompanied by the disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential, phosphatidylserine externalization and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. Our results suggest that pterostilbene could serve as a potential additional chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of leukemia

Major causes of insuline resistance

Causes of insulin resistance can be divided into innate and secondary. There are many reasons for insulin resistance, including genetic mutations like insulin receptor mutations, hormonal and pharmacological or immunological. However insulin resistance is most commonly associated with obesity. Obesity is associated with a low-grade inflammation of white adipose tissue (WAT) resulting from chronic activation of the innate immune system and which can subsequently lead to insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes

Plasticity of neuropeptidergic neoplasm cells in the primary and metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and highly aggressive cutaneous carcinoma with characteristics of neuroendocrine tumor. We performed immunohistochemical analysis to demonstrate the presence of various neuropeptides within cells of MCC resected from a 75-year old woman. The cells of primary tumor of cheek were compared with the cells of regional right submandibular metastatic tumor which was found eight months later. A double- staining IHC for the pan-neuronal marker, PGP 9.5, and selected neuropeptides in the tissue material obtained from both locations was performed. Single multipolar cells in the main mass of primary tumor stained positively for PGP 9.5 and such neuropeptides as GAL, VIP, PACAP, NPY and CGRP. Moreover, we demonstrated for the first time the presence of neuropeptides in metastatic MCC cells. In the metastatic tumor, cells showing the co-localization of PGP-9.5 and neuropeptides were more numerous, mostly of oval shape, and significantly smaller than in the primary tumor. Thus, the progression of MCC may be associated with the acquisition by its cells of new morphological and biological features

Paraoxonase 1 as an important antiatherogenic agent

The inverse relationship between High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) level and risk of ischaemic heart disease was proved by many epidemiological studies. Although the main mechanism of antiatherogenic activity of HDL is a reverse transport of cholesterol from peripheral tissues to the liver, HDL additionally carries some antioxidative enzymes like Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) which protects LDL and HDL lipoproteins from oxidative modification. A lot of antiatherogenic activities of HDL depends on PON1 activity