The auditory cortex of the bat Phyllostomus discolor: Localization and organization of basic response properties

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The mammalian auditory cortex can be subdivided into various fields characterized by neurophysiological and neuroarchitectural properties and by connections with different nuclei of the thalamus. Besides the primary auditory cortex, echolocating bats have cortical fields for the processing of temporal and spectral features of the echolocation pulses. This paper reports on location, neuroarchitecture and basic functional organization of the auditory cortex of the microchiropteran bat <it>Phyllostomus discolor </it>(family: Phyllostomidae).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The auditory cortical area of <it>P. discolor </it>is located at parieto-temporal portions of the neocortex. It covers a rostro-caudal range of about 4800 μm and a medio-lateral distance of about 7000 μm on the flattened cortical surface.</p> <p>The auditory cortices of ten adult <it>P. discolor </it>were electrophysiologically mapped in detail. Responses of 849 units (single neurons and neuronal clusters up to three neurons) to pure tone stimulation were recorded extracellularly. Cortical units were characterized and classified depending on their response properties such as best frequency, auditory threshold, first spike latency, response duration, width and shape of the frequency response area and binaural interactions.</p> <p>Based on neurophysiological and neuroanatomical criteria, the auditory cortex of <it>P. discolor </it>could be subdivided into anterior and posterior ventral fields and anterior and posterior dorsal fields. The representation of response properties within the different auditory cortical fields was analyzed in detail. The two ventral fields were distinguished by their tonotopic organization with opposing frequency gradients. The dorsal cortical fields were not tonotopically organized but contained neurons that were responsive to high frequencies only.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The auditory cortex of <it>P. discolor </it>resembles the auditory cortex of other phyllostomid bats in size and basic functional organization. The tonotopically organized posterior ventral field might represent the primary auditory cortex and the tonotopically organized anterior ventral field seems to be similar to the anterior auditory field of other mammals. As most energy of the echolocation pulse of <it>P. discolor </it>is contained in the high-frequency range, the non-tonotopically organized high-frequency dorsal region seems to be particularly important for echolocation.</p

Decline in Titers of Anti-Idiotypic Antibodies Specific to Autoantibodies to GAD65 (GAD65Ab) Precedes Development of GAD65Ab and Type 1 Diabetes.

The humoral Idiotypic Network consisting of antibodies and their anti-idiotypic antibodies (anti-Id) can be temporarily upset by antigen exposure. In the healthy immune response the original equilibrium is eventually restored through counter-regulatory mechanisms. In certain autoimmune diseases however, autoantibody levels exceed those of their respective anti-Id, indicating a permanent disturbance in the respective humoral Idiotypic Network. We investigated anti-Id directed to a major Type 1 diabetes (T1D)-associated autoantibody (GAD65Ab) in two independent cohorts during progression to disease. Samples taken from participants of the Natural History Study showed significantly lower anti-Id levels in individuals that later progressed to T1D compared to non-progressors (anti-Id antibody index of 0.06 vs. 0.08, respectively, p = 0.02). We also observed a significant inverse correlation between anti-Id levels and age at sampling, but only in progressors (p = 0.014). Finally, anti-Id levels in progressors showed a significant decline during progression as compared to longitudinal anti-Id levels in non-progressors (median rate of change: -0.0004 vs. +0.0004, respectively, p = 0.003), suggesting a loss of anti-Id during progression. Our analysis of the Diabetes Prediction in Skåne cohort showed that early in life (age 2) individuals at risk have anti-Id levels indistinguishable from those in healthy controls, indicating that low anti-Id levels are not an innate characteristic of the immune response in individuals at risk. Notably, anti-Id levels declined significantly in individuals that later developed GAD65Ab suggesting that the decline in anti-Id levels precedes the emergence of GAD65Ab (median rate of change: -0.005) compared to matched controls (median rate of change: +0.001) (p = 0.0016). We conclude that while anti-Id are present early in life, their levels decrease prior to the appearance of GAD65Ab and to the development of T1D

Housing Arrangement and Location Determine the Likelihood of Housing Loss Due to Wildfire

Surging wildfires across the globe are contributing to escalating residential losses and have major social, economic, and ecological consequences. The highest losses in the U.S. occur in southern California, where nearly 1000 homes per year have been destroyed by wildfires since 2000. Wildfire risk reduction efforts focus primarily on fuel reduction and, to a lesser degree, on house characteristics and homeowner responsibility. However, the extent to which land use planning could alleviate wildfire risk has been largely missing from the debate despite large numbers of homes being placed in the most hazardous parts of the landscape. Our goal was to examine how housing location and arrangement affects the likelihood that a home will be lost when a wildfire occurs. We developed an extensive geographic dataset of structure locations, including more than 5500 structures that were destroyed or damaged by wildfire since 2001, and identified the main contributors to property loss in two extensive, fire-prone regions in southern California. The arrangement and location of structures strongly affected their susceptibility to wildfire, with property loss most likely at low to intermediate structure densities and in areas with a history of frequent fire. Rates of structure loss were higher when structures were surrounded by wildland vegetation, but were generally higher in herbaceous fuel types than in higher fuel-volume woody types. Empirically based maps developed using housing pattern and location performed better in distinguishing hazardous from non-hazardous areas than maps based on fuel distribution. The strong importance of housing arrangement and location indicate that land use planning may be a critical tool for reducing fire risk, but it will require reliable delineations of the most hazardous locations

Methods for the guideline-based development of quality indicators--a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Quality indicators (QIs) are used in many healthcare settings to measure, compare, and improve quality of care. For the efficient development of high-quality QIs, rigorous, approved, and evidence-based development methods are needed. Clinical practice guidelines are a suitable source to derive QIs from, but no gold standard for guideline-based QI development exists. This review aims to identify, describe, and compare methodological approaches to guideline-based QI development.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We systematically searched medical literature databases (Medline, EMBASE, and CINAHL) and grey literature. Two researchers selected publications reporting methodological approaches to guideline-based QI development. In order to describe and compare methodological approaches used in these publications, we extracted detailed information on common steps of guideline-based QI development (topic selection, guideline selection, extraction of recommendations, QI selection, practice test, and implementation) to predesigned extraction tables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From 8,697 hits in the database search and several grey literature documents, we selected 48 relevant references. The studies were of heterogeneous type and quality. We found no randomized controlled trial or other studies comparing the ability of different methodological approaches to guideline-based development to generate high-quality QIs. The relevant publications featured a wide variety of methodological approaches to guideline-based QI development, especially regarding guideline selection and extraction of recommendations. Only a few studies reported patient involvement.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Further research is needed to determine which elements of the methodological approaches identified, described, and compared in this review are best suited to constitute a gold standard for guideline-based QI development. For this research, we provide a comprehensive groundwork.</p

Prevalence of headache in Europe: a review for the Eurolight project

The main aim of the present study was to do an update on studies on headache epidemiology as a preparation for the multinational European study on the prevalence and burden of headache and investigate the impact of different methodological issues on the results. The study was based on a previous study, and a systematic literature search was performed to identify the newest studies. More than 50% of adults indicate that they suffer from headache in general during the last year or less, but when asked specifically about tension-type headache, the prevalence was 60%. Migraine occurs in 15%, chronic headache in about 4% and possible medication overuse headache in 1–2%. Cluster headache has a lifetime prevalence of 0.2–0.3%. Most headaches are more prevalent in women, and somewhat less prevalent in children and youth. Some studies indicate that the headache prevalence is increasing during the last decades in Europe. As to methodological issues, lifetime prevalences are in general higher than 1-year prevalences, but the exact time frame of headache (1 year, 6 or 3 months, or no time frame stated) seems to be of less importance. Studies using personal interviews seem to give somewhat higher prevalences than those using questionnaires

Initial seeding of the embryonic thymus by immune-restricted lympho-myeloid progenitors

The final stages of restriction to the T cell lineage occur in the thymus after the entry of thymus-seeding progenitors (TSPs). The identity and lineage potential of TSPs remains unclear. Because the first embryonic TSPs enter a non-vascularized thymic rudiment, we were able to directly image and establish the functional and molecular properties of embryonic thymopoiesis-initiating progenitors (T-IPs) before their entry into the thymus and activation of Notch signaling. T-IPs did not include multipotent stem cells or molecular evidence of T cell-restricted progenitors. Instead, single-cell molecular and functional analysis demonstrated that most fetal T-IPs expressed genes of and had the potential to develop into lymphoid as well as myeloid components of the immune system. Moreover, studies of embryos deficient in the transcriptional regulator RBPJ demonstrated that canonical Notch signaling was not involved in pre-thymic restriction to the T cell lineage or the migration of T-IPs

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Significance Communicating in ways that motivate engagement in social distancing remains a critical global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study tested motivational qualities of messages about social distancing (those that promoted choice and agency vs. those that were forceful and shaming) in 25,718 people in 89 countries. The autonomy-supportive message decreased feelings of defying social distancing recommendations relative to the controlling message, and the controlling message increased controlled motivation, a less effective form of motivation, relative to no message. Message type did not impact intentions to socially distance, but people’s existing motivations were related to intentions. Findings were generalizable across a geographically diverse sample and may inform public health communication strategies in this and future global health emergencies. Abstract Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges