A ‘spoon full of sugar’ helps the medicine go down: how a participant friendly version of a psychophysics task significantly improves task engagement, performance and data quality in a typical adult sample

Few would argue that the unique insights brought by studying the typical and atypical development of psychological processes are essential to building a comprehensive understanding of the brain. Often, however, the associated challenges of working with non-standard adult populations results in the more complex psychophysical paradigms being rejected as too complex. Recently we created a child (and clinical group) friendly implementation of one such technique – the reverse correlation Bubbles approach and noted an associated performance boost in adult participants. Here, we compare the administration of three different versions of this participant-friendly task in the same adult participants to empirically confirm that introducing elements in the experiment with the sole purpose of improving the participant experience, not only boost the participant’s engagement and motivation for the task but results in significantly improved objective task performance and stronger statistical results

Dephosphorylated NSSR1 Is Induced by Androgen in Mouse Epididymis and Phosphorylated NSSR1 Is Increased during Sperm Maturation

NSSR1 (Neural salient serine/arginine rich protein 1, alternatively SRp38) is a newly identified RNA splicing factor and predominantly expressed in neural tissues. Here, by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescent staining, we showed that the expression of dephosphorylated NSSR1 increased significantly during development of the caput epididymis. In adult mice, phosphorylated NSSR1 was mainly expressed in the apical side of epithelial cells, and dephosphorylated NSSR1 in caput epididymis was upregulated in a testosterone dependent manner. In addition, subcellular immunoreactive distribution of NSSR1 varied in different regions of the epididymis. With respect to the sperm, phosphorylated NSSR1 was detected in the mid-piece of the tail as well as the acrosome. Furthermore, NSSR1 was released from the sperm head during the capacitation and acrosome reaction. These findings for the first time provide the evidence for the potential roles of NSSR1 in sperm maturation and fertilization

Health information seeking on the Internet: a double divide? Results from a representative survey in the Paris metropolitan area, France, 2005–2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Internet is a major source of information for professionals and the general public, especially in the field of health. However, despite ever-increasing connection rates, a digital divide persists in the industrialised countries. The objective of this study was to assess the determinants involved in: 1) having or not having Internet access; and 2) using or not using the Internet to obtain health information.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey of a representative random sample was conducted in the Paris metropolitan area, France, in the fall of 2005 (n = 3023).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Close to 70% of the adult population had Internet access, and 49% of Internet users had previously searched for medical information. Economic and social disparities observed in online health information seeking are reinforced by the economic and social disparities in Internet access, hence a double divide. While individuals who reported having a recent health problem were less likely to have Internet access (odds ratio (OR): 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53–0.98), it is they who, when they have Internet access, are the most likely to search for health information (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.11–1.87).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the French context of universal health insurance, access to the Internet varies according to social and socioeconomic status and health status, and its use for health information seeking varies also with health beliefs, but not to health insurance coverage or health-care utilisation. Certain economic and social inequalities seem to impact cumulatively on Internet access and on the use of the Internet for health information seeking. It is not obvious that the Internet is a special information tool for primary prevention in people who are the furthest removed from health concerns. However, the Internet appears to be a useful complement for secondary prevention, especially for better understanding health problems or enhancing therapeutic compliance.</p

Localization and Androgen Regulation of Metastasis-Associated Protein 1 in Mouse Epididymis

BACKGROUND: Metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1), the founding member of the MTA family of genes, can modulate transcription by influencing the status of chromatin remodeling. Despite its strong correlation with the metastatic potential of cancer cells, MTA1 can also regulate crucial cellular pathways by modifying the acetylation status. We have previously reported the presence of MTA1/MTA1 in human and mouse testes, providing the evidence for its involvement in the regulation of testicular function during murine spermatogenesis. The objective of present study was to further assess the localization of MTA1 in mouse epididymis on both transcriptional and translational level, and then to explore whether MTA1 expression is regulated by androgens and postnatal epididymal development. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mice were deprived of circulating androgen by bilaterally castration and were then supplemented with exogenous testosterone propionate for one week. MTA1 was immunolocalized in the epithelium of the entire epididymis with the maximal expression in the nuclei of principal cells and of clear cells in proximal region. Its expression decreased gradually after castration, whereas testosterone treatment could restore the expression, indicating that the expression of this gene is dependent on androgen. During postnatal development, the protein expression in the epididymis began to appear from day 7 to day 14, increased dramatically from postnatal day 28, and peaked at adulthood onwards, coinciding with both the well differentiated status of epididymis and the mature levels of circulating androgens. This region- and cell-specific pattern was also conservative in normal human epididymis. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the expression of MTA1 protein could be regulated by androgen pathway and its expression level is closely associated with the postnatal development of the epididymis, giving rise to the possibility that this gene plays a potential role in sperm maturation and fertility

An Epididymis-Specific Secretory Protein HongrES1 Critically Regulates Sperm Capacitation and Male Fertility

Mammalian sperm capacitation is an essential prerequisite to fertilizion. Although progress had been made in understanding the physiology and biochemistry of capacitation, little is known about the potential roles of epididymal proteins during this process. Here we report that HongrES1, a new member of the SERPIN (serine proteinase inhibitor) family exclusively expressed in the rat cauda epididymis and up-regulated by androgen, is secreted into the lumen and covers the sperm head. Co-culture of caudal sperms with HongrES1 antibody in vitro resulted in a significant increase in the percentage of capacitated spermatozoa. Furthermore, the percentage of capacitated spermatozoa clearly increased in rats when HongrES1 was down-regulated by RNAi in vivo. Remarkably, knockdown of HongrES1 in vivo led to reduced fertility accompanied with deformed appearance of fetuses and pups. These results identify HongrES1 as a novel and critical molecule in the regulation of sperm capacitation and male fertility

VASP: A Volumetric Analysis of Surface Properties Yields Insights into Protein-Ligand Binding Specificity

Many algorithms that compare protein structures can reveal similarities that suggest related biological functions, even at great evolutionary distances. Proteins with related function often exhibit differences in binding specificity, but few algorithms identify structural variations that effect specificity. To address this problem, we describe the Volumetric Analysis of Surface Properties (VASP), a novel volumetric analysis tool for the comparison of binding sites in aligned protein structures. VASP uses solid volumes to represent protein shape and the shape of surface cavities, clefts and tunnels that are defined with other methods. Our approach, inspired by techniques from constructive solid geometry, enables the isolation of volumetrically conserved and variable regions within three dimensionally superposed volumes. We applied VASP to compute a comparative volumetric analysis of the ligand binding sites formed by members of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR)-related lipid transfer (START) domains and the serine proteases. Within both families, VASP isolated individual amino acids that create structural differences between ligand binding cavities that are known to influence differences in binding specificity. Also, VASP isolated cavity subregions that differ between ligand binding cavities which are essential for differences in binding specificity. As such, VASP should prove a valuable tool in the study of protein-ligand binding specificity

Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change

Whether the characteristics of tropical cyclones have changed or will change in a warming climate — and if so, how — has been the subject of considerable investigation, often with conflicting results. Large amplitude fluctuations in the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones greatly complicate both the detection of long-term trends and their attribution to rising levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Trend detection is further impeded by substantial limitations in the availability and quality of global historical records of tropical cyclones. Therefore, it remains uncertain whether past changes in tropical cyclone activity have exceeded the variability expected from natural causes. However, future projections based on theory and high-resolution dynamical models consistently indicate that greenhouse warming will cause the globally averaged intensity of tropical cyclones to shift towards stronger storms, with intensity increases of 2–11% by 2100. Existing modelling studies also consistently project decreases in the globally averaged frequency of tropical cyclones, by 6–34%. Balanced against this, higher resolution modelling studies typically project substantial increases in the frequency of the most intense cyclones, and increases of the order of 20% in the precipitation rate within 100 km of the storm centre. For all cyclone parameters, projected changes for individual basins show large variations between different modelling studies.West Australian Government Indian Ocean Climate Initiativ