Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Human Intention Understanding in Temporo-Parietal Cortex: A Combined EEG/fMRI Repetition Suppression Paradigm

Inferring the intentions of other people from their actions recruits an inferior fronto-parietal action observation network as well as a putative social network that includes the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS). However, the functional dynamics within and among these networks remains unclear. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and high-density electroencephalogram (EEG), with a repetition suppression design, to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of decoding intentions. Suppression of fMRI activity to the repetition of the same intention was observed in inferior frontal lobe, anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS), and right STS. EEG global field power was reduced with repeated intentions at an early (starting at 60 ms) and a later (∼330 ms) period after the onset of a hand-on-object encounter. Source localization during these two intervals involved right STS and aIPS regions highly consistent with RS effects observed with fMRI. These results reveal the dynamic involvement of temporal and parietal networks at multiple stages during the intention decoding and without a strict segregation of intention decoding between these networks

ДИНАМИКА ФИЗИЧЕСКОЙ РАБОТОСПОСОБНОСТИ И КАЧЕСТВА ЖИЗНИ У ПАЦИЕНТОВ ПОСЛЕ ТРАНСПЛАНТАЦИИ СЕРДЦА

Aim: to estimate physical capacity and quality of life (QoL) and defi ne factors which impact on their dynamic in recipients after heart transplantation (HTx).Materials and methods. From January 2010 to September 2016 we performed 76 HTx (mean age – 45,4 ± 1,6 yrs). Physical activity (PA) was evaluated by IPAQ questionnaire, QoL – by SF-36 (6 months and 1 yr after HTx). Patients underwent cardiopulmonary exercise test (Oxycon Pro, Germany) before, 6 months (n = 32) and 1 yr (n = 31) after HTx.Results. In 6 months after HTx PC improved (VO2peak – 12,6 ± 0,5 and 17,3 ± 0,6 ml/min/kg, p < 0,001). One yr after HTx physically active recipients (n = 21) showed better results (VO2peak – 18,7 ± 0,9 vs. 16,7 ± 0,4 ml/min/kg, p < 0,05). Moreover, 6 months 59,4% (n = 19) and 1 yr after HTx 77,4% (n = 24) of all patients reached normal values, 20 of them were physically active. We did not fi nd any difference in results depending on heart failure severity, duration of illness and of time spent in HT waiting list. In 6 months after HTx physical health (PH) increased (32,2 ± 1,1 vs. 48,2 ± 1,6, p < 0,001), on the other hand, results of mental health (MH) were the same and remained stable in 1 yr after HTx. In addition, QoL was higher in physically active patients than in sedentary lifestyle ones. There was correlations between PH and PA duration (r = 0,4; p < 0,05), VO2peak (r = 0,3; p < 0,05), VO2 at AT (r = 0,4; p < 0,05) and VE/VCO2 (r = –0,5; p < 0,05).Conclusion. After heart transplantation physical capacity and physical health improved but physically active recipients showed better results. Factors affecting the increase in physical capacity were improvement in the functional state of the cardiovascular system and physical activity.Цель. Оценить уровень физической работоспособности (ФР) и качества жизни (КЖ) у реципиентов после трансплантации сердца (ТС) и выявить факторы, влияющие на динамику этих показателей.Материалы и методы. С января 2010-го по сентябрь 2016 г. было обследовано 76 реципиентов до и после ТС (средний возраст – 45,4 ± 1,6 года). Физическую активность (ФА) оценивали по результатам IPAQ-анкетирования (через 6 месяцев, 1 год после ТС). Уровень ФР определяли методом кардиореспираторного тестирования (Oxycon Pro, Germany) исходно, через 6 месяцев (n = 32) и 1 год (n = 31) после ТС; в эти же сроки оценивали КЖ (опросник SF-36).Результаты. Уровень ФР через 6 месяцев после ТС улучшился (VO2peak – 12,6 ± 0,5 и 17,3 ± 0,6 мл/мин/кг, p < 0,001) по сравнению с результатами до ТС. Через 1 год после ТС у физически активных реципиентов (n = 21) уровень ФР был выше, чем у пациентов, продолжавших вести сидячий образ жизни (VO2peak – 18,7 ± 0,9 и 16,7 ± 0,4 мл/мин/кг, p < 0,05). Через 6 месяцев 59,4% (n = 19) и 1 год после ТС 77,4% (n = 24) пациентов достигли нормальных значений VO2peak, характерных для данного пола и возраста (VO2peak ≥ 84% и/или 40–60% от VO2-АП), из них 20 реципиентов были физически активными. Различий в динамике ФР в зависимости от исходной тяжести хронической сердечной недостаточности, давности заболевания, длительности пребывания в листе ожидания ТС не было выявлено. Через 6 месяцев после ТС КЖ улучшилось в сфере физического благополучия (32,2 ± 1,1 и 48,2 ± 1,6, p < 0,001), не изменилось в сфере психологического благополучия и оставалось стабильным через 1 год после ТС. При этом КЖ у физически активных пациентов было выше, чем у тех, кто вел сидячий образ жизни. Выявлены корреляционные связи между показателем физического благополучия и длительностью ФА (r = 0,4; p < 0,05), VO2peak (r = 0,3; p < 0,05), VO2-АП (r = 0,4; p < 0,05), VE/VCO2 (r = –0,5; p < 0,5).Выводы. Уровни физической работоспособности и качества жизни в сфере физического благополучия у больных после трансплантации сердца улучшились, результаты были лучше у физически активных пациентов. Факторами, влияющими на прирост физической работоспособности, были улучшение функционального состояния сердечно-сосудистой системы и физическая активность

Immunoglobulin Genomics in the Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus)

In science, the guinea pig is known as one of the gold standards for modeling human disease. It is especially important as a molecular and cellular biology model for studying the human immune system, as its immunological genes are more similar to human genes than are those of mice. The utility of the guinea pig as a model organism can be further enhanced by further characterization of the genes encoding components of the immune system. Here, we report the genomic organization of the guinea pig immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy and light chain genes. The guinea pig IgH locus is located in genomic scaffolds 54 and 75, and spans approximately 6,480 kb. 507 VH segments (94 potentially functional genes and 413 pseudogenes), 41 DH segments, six JH segments, four constant region genes (μ, γ, ε, and α), and one reverse δ remnant fragment were identified within the two scaffolds. Many VH pseudogenes were found within the guinea pig, and likely constituted a potential donor pool for gene conversion during evolution. The Igκ locus mapped to a 4,029 kb region of scaffold 37 and 24 is composed of 349 Vκ (111 potentially functional genes and 238 pseudogenes), three Jκ and one Cκ genes. The Igλ locus spans 1,642 kb in scaffold 4 and consists of 142 Vλ (58 potentially functional genes and 84 pseudogenes) and 11 Jλ -Cλ clusters. Phylogenetic analysis suggested the guinea pig’s large germline VH gene segments appear to form limited gene families. Therefore, this species may generate antibody diversity via a gene conversion-like mechanism associated with its pseudogene reserves

Search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in the 2b+2l+ETmiss final state in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair (HH) production is presented, in which one of the Higgs bosons decays to a b-quark pair (bb ̄) and the other decays to WW*, ZZ*, or τ+τ−, with in each case a final state with l+l−+ neutrinos (l = e, μ). The analysis targets separately the gluon-gluon fusion and vector boson fusion production modes. Data recorded by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1, are used in this analysis. Events are selected to have exactly two b-tagged jets and two leptons with opposite electric charge and missing transverse momentum in the final state. These events are classified using multivariate analysis algorithms to separate the HH events from other Standard Model processes. No evidence of the signal is found. The observed (expected) upper limit on the cross-section for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production is determined to be 9.7 (16.2) times the Standard Model prediction at 95% confidence level. The Higgs boson self-interaction coupling parameter κλ and the quadrilinear coupling parameter κ2V are each separately constrained by this analysis to be within the ranges [−6.2, 13.3] and [−0.17, 2.4], respectively, at 95% confidence level, when all other parameters are fixed