Psychosis risk is associated with decreased white matter integrity in corticostriatal tracts

Psychosis is associated with increased striatal dopamine and it is thought that altered connectivity between the striatum and the cortex could contribute to psychosis. In particular, there is theory and research linking psychosis to altered connectivity between the striatum and several cortical networks, especially the limbic, default mode, and frontoparietal networks. However, it is still unclear whether psychosis risk is associated with altered white matter connectivity between the striatum with any cortical region. Further, no previous study has directly examined whether psychosis risk is associated with altered connectivity with specific cortical networks. In the current study, I examined integrity of white matter tracts in psychosis risk (n=18) and non-psychosis risk comparison participants (n=19). Tracts were identified using probabilistic tractography. I found that psychosis risk was associated with significantly decreased connectivity between the striatum and the limbic cortical network, especially in the right external capsule and with connections to the right prefrontal cortex. There was a trend for psychosis risk to also be associated with decreased striatal-default mode network connectivity. However, there were no significant group differences for striatal-frontoparietal network connectivity. Hence, the current research suggests that psychosis risk is associated with decreased white matter integrity in networks involved in processing emotional and personally relevant information.Includes bibliographical reference

Slx5/Slx8-dependent ubiquitin hotspots on chromatin contribute to stress tolerance

Chromatin is a highly regulated environment, and protein association with chromatin is often controlled by post-translational modifications and the corresponding enzymatic machinery. Specifically, SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligases (STUbLs) have emerged as key players in nuclear quality control, genome maintenance, and transcription. However, how STUbLs select specific substrates among myriads of SUMOylated proteins on chromatin remains unclear. Here, we reveal a remarkable co-localization of the budding yeast STUbL Slx5/Slx8 and ubiquitin at seven genomic loci that we term "ubiquitin hotspots". Ubiquitylation at these sites depends on Slx5/Slx8 and protein turnover on the Cdc48 segregase. We identify the transcription factor-like Ymr111c/Euc1 to associate with these sites and to be a critical determinant of ubiquitylation. Euc1 specifically targets Slx5/Slx8 to ubiquitin hotspots via bipartite binding of Slx5 that involves the Slx5 SUMO-interacting motifs and an additional, novel substrate recognition domain. Interestingly, the Euc1-ubiquitin hotspot pathway acts redundantly with chromatin modifiers of the H2A.Z and Rpd3L pathways in specific stress responses. Thus, our data suggest that STUbL-dependent ubiquitin hotspots shape chromatin during stress adaptation

Accuracy of computerized tomography in determining hepatic tumor size in patients receiving liver transplantation or resection

Computerized tomography (CT) of liver is used in oncologic practice for staging tumors, evaluating response to treatment, and screening patients for hepatic resection. Because of the impact of CT liver scan on major treatment decisions, it is important to assess its accuracy. Patients undergoing liver transplantation or resection provide a unique opportunity to test the accuracy of hepatic-imaging techniques by comparison of finding of preoperative CT scan with those at gross pathologic examination of resected specimens. Forty-one patients who had partial hepatic resection (34 patients) or liver transplantation (eight patients) for malignant (30 patients) or benign (11 patients) tumors were evaluable. Eight (47%) of 17 patients with primary malignant liver tumors, four (31%) of 13 patients with metastatic liver tumors, and two (20%) of 10 patients with benign liver tumors had tumor nodules in resected specimens that were not apparent on preoperative CT studies. These nodules varied in size from 0.1 to 1.6 cm. While 11 of 14 of these nodules were 1.0 cm. These results suggest that conventional CT alone may be insufficient to accurately determine the presence or absence of liver metastases, extent of liver involvement, or response of hepatic metastases to treatment

An African PhD Program in Information Systems: The Case of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

This case study is about the first Information Systems PhD program in Ethiopia and the region, a collaborative effort of thirteen universities around the globe. Fifteen faculty members traveled to Ethiopia to launch the program for classes, which will start in 2009. This paper depicts the program design and program development and an outline of the overall program. The authors share their personal experience in the development of this unique IS PhD program

European Corn Borer

NYS IPM Type: Vegetables IPM Fact Sheet; NYS IPM Type: Field Crops Fact SheetThe European corn borer is a major pest of corn and feeds on over 200 plant species including many weeds. This insect generally produces generations in June and August in most areas of the United States and the northeast. However, a strain producing only one annual generation In July may also be present in some fields. In some areas of the northeast, the single and multi-generatlon strains may be present together

Effective Baryon-Baryon Potentials in the Quark Delocalization and Color Screening Model

The quark delocalization and color screening model is used for a systematic study of the effective potential between baryons in the u,d and s sector. The model is constrained by the properties of baryons and N-N scattering. The effective potentials for the N-N (IJ=01,10,11,00) channels and the N-Lambda and N-Sigma (IJ = (1/2)1, (1/2)0, (3/2)1, (3/2)0) channels fit the N-N, N-Lambda and N-Sigma scattering data reasonably well. This model predicts: There are rather strong effective attractions between decuplet-baryons; the effective attractions between octet-baryons are weak or even repulsive; and the attractions between decuplet- and octet-baryons lie in between.Comment: 12 pp. RevTeX + 8 figs.ps, submitted to Nucl. Phys.

Clec9a-mediated ablation of conventional dendritic cells suggests a lymphoid path to generating dendritic cells In Vivo

Conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) are versatile activators of immune responses that develop as part of the myeloid lineage downstream of hematopoietic stem cells. We have recently shown that in mice precursors of cDCs, but not of other leukocytes, are marked by expression of DNGR-1/CLEC9A. To genetically deplete DNGR-1-expressing cDC precursors and their progeny, we crossed Clec9a-Cre mice to Rosa-lox-STOP-lox-diphtheria toxin (DTA) mice. These mice develop signs of age-dependent myeloproliferative disease, as has been observed in other DC-deficient mouse models. However, despite efficient depletion of cDC progenitors in these mice, cells with phenotypic characteristics of cDCs populate the spleen. These cells are functionally and transcriptionally similar to cDCs in wild type control mice but show somatic rearrangements of Ig-heavy chain genes, characteristic of lymphoid origin cells. Our studies reveal a previously unappreciated developmental heterogeneity of cDCs and suggest that the lymphoid lineage can generate cells with features of cDCs when myeloid cDC progenitors are impaired

Efficient Experimental and Data-Centered Workflow for Microstructure-Based Fatigue Data – Towards a Data Basis for Predictive AI Models

Background Early fatigue mechanisms for various materials are yet to be unveiled for the (very) high-cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime. This can be ascribed to a lack of available data capturing initial fatigue damage evolution, which continues to adversely affect data scientists and computational modeling experts attempting to derive microstructural dependencies from small sample size data and incomplete feature representations. Objective The aim of this work is to address this lack and to drive the digital transformation of materials such that future virtual component design can be rendered more reliable and more efficient. Achieving this relies on fatigue models that comprehensively capture all relevant dependencies. Methods To this end, this work proposes a combined experimental and data post-processing workflow to establish multimodal fatigue crack initiation and propagation data sets efficiently. It evolves around fatigue testing of mesoscale specimens to increase damage detection sensitivity, data fusion through multimodal registration to address data heterogeneity, and image-based data-driven damage localization. Results A workflow with a high degree of automation is established, that links large distortion-corrected microstructure data with damage localization and evolution kinetics. The workflow enables cycling up to the VHCF regime in comparatively short time spans, while maintaining unprecedented time resolution of damage evolution. Resulting data sets capture the interaction of damage with microstructural features and hold the potential to unravel a mechanistic understanding. Conclusions The proposed workflow lays the foundation for future data mining and data-driven modeling of microstructural fatigue by providing statistically meaningful data sets extendable to a wide range of materials