Cloning characterisation and expression of a G-protein-couple receptor from Lymnaea stagnalis and identification of a leucokinin-like peptide PSFHSWSamide as its endogenous ligand

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No evidence for verbal learning impairments in women with a history of childhood abuse

We examined verbal learning in 54 women with a history of childhood abuse and 40 women without trauma history. Although women with a history of abuse reported higher levels of psychological distress than controls, the two groups did not differ in their verbal learning performance

On the model-based design of front-to-total anti-roll moment distribution controllers for yaw rate tracking

In passenger cars active suspensions have been traditionally used to enhance comfort through body control, and handling through the reduction of the tyre load variations induced by road irregularities. However, active suspensions can also be designed to track a desired yaw rate profile through the control of the anti-roll moment distribution between the front and rear axles. The effect of the anti-roll moment distribution relates to the nonlinearity of tyre behaviour, which is difficult to capture in the linearised vehicle models normally used for control design. Hence, the tuning of anti-roll moment distribution controllers is usually based on heuristics. This paper includes an analysis of the effect of the lateral load transfer on the lateral axle force and cornering stiffness. A linearised axle force formulation is presented, and compared with a formulation from the literature, based on a quadratic relationship between cornering stiffness and load transfer. Multiple linearised vehicle models for control design are assessed in the frequency domain, and the respective controllers are tuned through optimisation routines. Simulation results from a nonlinear vehicle model are discussed to analyse the performance of the controllers, and show the importance of employing accurate models of the lateral load transfer effect during control design

The Lymnaea Cardioexcitatory Peptide (LyCEP) Receptor: A G-Protein–Coupled Receptor for a Novel Member of the RFamide Neuropeptide Family

A novel G-protein–coupled receptor (GRL106) resembling neuropeptide Y and tachykinin receptors was cloned from the molluscLymnaea stagnalis. Application of a peptide extract from the Lymnaea brain to Xenopus oocytes expressing GRL106 activated a calcium-dependent chloride channel. Using this response as a bioassay, we purified the ligand for GRL106,Lymnaea cardioexcitatory peptide (LyCEP), an RFamide-type decapeptide (TPHWRPQGRF-NH2) displaying significant similarity to the Achatina cardioexcitatory peptide (ACEP-1) as well as to the recently identified family of mammalian prolactin-releasing peptides. In the Lymnaeabrain, the cells that produce egg-laying hormone are the predominant site of GRL106 gene expression and appear to be innervated by LyCEP-containing fibers. Indeed, LyCEP application transiently hyperpolarizes isolated egg-laying hormone cells. In theLymnaea pericardium, LyCEP-containing fibers end blindly at the pericardial lumen, and the heart is stimulated by LyCEPin vitro. These data confirm that LyCEP is an RFamide ligand for GRL10

Six new species of Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960 (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea) from the gills of cichlids (Teleostei: Cichliformes) from the Lomami River Basin (DRC: Middle Congo)

Background Monogenea van Beneden, 1858 is a group of parasitic flatworms, commonly found infecting bony fish. Several genera, such as Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960, are reported to include potential pathogenic species that can negatively impact aquaculture fish stocks. They can switch from introduced to native fish and vice versa. In Africa (and all over the world), fish species belonging to Cichlidae are often kept in aquaculture and represent a major source of food. Thus, research on the biodiversity and occurrence of monogenean species on these fish is of importance for aquaculture and conservation. The present study is a survey of the diversity of species of Cichlidogyrus in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on three cichlid species: Orthochromis sp. 'Lomami', Serranochromis cf. macrocephalus, and Tilapia sparrmanii Smith, 1840. Methods Specimens of Cichlidogyrus were isolated from the gills and mounted on glass slides with Hoyer's medium. The genital and haptoral hard parts were measured and drawn using interference contrast. Results In total, six species of Cichlidogyrus were found, all new to science: C. bulbophallus n. sp. and C. pseudozambezensis n. sp. on S. cf. macrocephalus, C. flagellum n. sp. and C. lobus n. sp. on T. sparrmanii, C. ranula n. sp. on S. cf. macrocephalus and Orthochromis sp. 'Lomami', and C. maeander n. sp. found on Orthochromis sp. 'Lomami' and T. sparrmanii. The first four species are considered to be strict specialists, C. ranula n. sp. an intermediate generalist and C. maeander n. sp. a generalist. These parasite species show morphological similarities to species found in the Lower Guinea and Zambezi ichthyofaunal provinces, which might be explained by past river capture events between river systems of the Congo Province and both these regions. Conclusions Serranochromis cf. macrocephalus and Orthochromis sp. 'Lomami' can harbour respectively three and two species of Cichlidogyrus, all described in this study. Tilapia sparrmanii can harbour seven species, of which three are described in the present study. These results highlight the species diversity of this parasite genus in the Congo Basin.Peer reviewe

Fantasy proneness, but not self-reported trauma is related to DRM performance of woman reporting recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse

Extending a strategy previously used by Clancy, Schacter, McNally, and Pitman (2000), we administered a neutral and a trauma-related version of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm to a sample of women reporting recovered (n = 23) or repressed memories (n = 16) of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), women reporting having always remembered their abuse (n = 55), and women reporting no history of abuse (n = 20). We found that individuals reporting recovered memories of CSA are more prone than other participants to falsely recalling and recognizing neutral words that were never presented. Moreover, our study is the first to show that this finding even held when trauma-related material was involved. Correlational analyses revealed that fantasy proneness, but not self-reported traumatic experiences and dissociative symptoms were related to false recall and false recognition

Comparative transcriptome analysis of embryonic and adult stem cells with extended and limited differentiation capacity

Comparison of the transcriptomes of pluripotent embryonic stem cells, multipotent adult progenitor cells and lineage restricted mesenchymal stem cells identified a unique gene expression profile of multipotent adult progenitor cells

A glossary for research on human crowd dynamics

This article presents a glossary of terms that are frequently used in research on human crowds. This topic is inherently multidisciplinary as it includes work in and across computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, psychology and social science, for example. We do not view the glossary presented here as a collection of finalised and formal definitions. Instead, we suggest it is a snapshot of current views and the starting point of an ongoing process that we hope will be useful in providing some guidance on the use of terminology to develop a mutual understanding across disciplines. The glossary was developed collaboratively during a multidisciplinary meeting. We deliberately allow several definitions of terms, to reflect the confluence of disciplines in the field. This also reflects the fact not all contributors necessarily agree with all definitions in this glossary

Phantom headache: pain-memory-emotion hypothesis for chronic daily headache?

The neurobiology of chronic pain, including chronic daily headache (CDH) is not completely understood. “Pain memory” hypothesis is one of the mechanisms for phantom limb pain. We reviewed the literature to delineate a relation of “pain memory” for the development of CDH. There is a direct relation of pain to memory. Patients with poor memory have less chance to develop “pain memory”, hence less possibility to develop chronic pain. Progressive memory impairment may lead to decline in headache prevalence. A similar relation of pain is also noted with emotional or psychiatric symptoms. Literature review suggests that there is marked overlap in the neural network of pain to that of memory and emotions. We speculate that pain, memory, and emotions are interrelated in triangular pattern, and each of these three is related to other two in bidirectional pattern, i.e., stimulation of one of these will stimulate other symptoms/networks and vice versa (triangular theory for chronic pain). Longstanding or recurrent noxious stimuli will strengthen this interrelation, and this may be responsible for chronicity of pain. Reduction of both chronic pain and psychological symptoms by cognitive behavioral therapy or psychological interventions further suggests a bidirectional interrelation between pain and emotion. Longitudinal studies are warranted on the prevalence of headache and other painful conditions in patients with progressive memory impairment to delineate the relation of pain to memory. Interrelation of headache to emotional symptoms should also be explored

Gene Therapy Corrects Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells and Fibroblasts from Coq9R239X Mice

This study has been submitted to the patent's offices at the "University of Granada" and "Fundación Progreso y Salud". Please note that the results of this manuscript have been submitted to patent protection (application number P201630630; title: “Uses of Coenzyme Q biosynthetic proteins”; date:05/16/2016).Recent clinical trials have shown that in vivo and ex vivo gene therapy strategies can be an option for the treatment of several neurological disorders. Both strategies require efficient and safe vectors to 1) deliver the therapeutic gene directly into the CNS or 2) to genetically modify stem cells that will be used as Trojan horses for the systemic delivery of the therapeutic protein. A group of target diseases for these therapeutic strategies are mitochondrial encephalopathies due to mutations in nuclear DNA genes. In this study, we have developed a lentiviral vector (CCoq9WP) able to overexpress Coq9 mRNA and COQ9 protein in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) from Coq9R239X mice, an animal model of mitochondrial encephalopathy due to primary Coenzyme Q (CoQ) deficiency. Ectopic over-expression of Coq9 in both cell types restored the CoQ biosynthetic pathway and mitochondrial function, improving the fitness of the transduced cells. These results show the potential of the CCoq9WP lentiviral vector as a tool for gene therapy to treat mitochondrial encephalopathies.This work was supported by grants from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) from the European Union, to LCL through the research grants SAF2013-47761-R and SAF2015-65786-R; by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias ISCIII (Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) from the European Union through the research grants PI12/01097 and ISCIII Red de Terapia Celular TerCel RD12/0019/0006 to FM; by the Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía-FEDER/Fondo de Cohesion Europeo (FSE) de Andalucía through the research grants P10-CTS-6133 to LCL; P09-CTS-04532, PI-57069, PI-0001/2009 and PAIDI-Bio-326 to F.M.; PI-0160/2012 to KB and PI-0407/2012 to MC; by the NIH through the research P01HD080642 to LCL and by the foundation “todos somos raros, todos somos únicos” to LCL. LCL is supported by the ‘Ramón y Cajal’ National Programme, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (RYC-2011-07643)