Histidine-bridged cyclic peptide natural products: isolation, biosynthesis and synthetic studies.

The histidine bridge is a rare and often overlooked structural motif in macrocyclic peptide natural products, yet there are several examples in nature of cyclic peptides bearing this moiety that exhibit potent biological activity. These interesting compounds have been the focus of several studies reporting their isolation, biosynthesis and chemical synthesis over the last four decades. This review summarises the findings on the structure, biological activity and, where possible, proposed biosynthesis and progress towards the synthesis of histidine-bridged cyclic peptides.

Online Metaphor Comprehension in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Eye Tracking Study.

The aim of this study was to investigate novel metaphor comprehension in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous literature is conflicting about whether individuals with ASD have impairment in this particular type of figurative language. Participants in the study completed a visual world paradigm eye-tracking task, which involved selecting an interpretation of an auditorily presented sentence (i.

C-Terminal Decarboxylation of Proline-Derived Building Blocks for Protein-Binding Peptides.

Using a set of conformationally restricted Proline-derived Modules (ProMs), our group has recently succeeded in developing inhibitors for the enabled/vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein homology 1 (EVH1) domain, which is a key mediator of cell migration and plays an important role in tumor metastasis. While these (formally) pentapeptidic compounds show nanomolecular binding affinities towards EVH1, their drug-like properties and cell permeability need to be further optimized before they can be clinically tested as therapeutic agents against metastasis. In this study, we sought to improve these properties by removing the C-terminal carboxylic acid function of our peptoids, either by late-stage decarboxylation or by direct synthesis.

Disfluency across the lifespan: an individual differences investigation.

This study had two research objectives. The first was to examine age-related differences in the fluency of speech outputs, as prior research contains conflicting findings concerning whether older adults produce more disfluency than younger adults. The second was to examine cognitive individual differences, and their relationship with the production of disfluency.

A pH-Sensitive Double Chromophore Fluorescent Dye for Live-Tracking of Lipophagy.

Lipid droplet (LD) degradation provides metabolic energy and important building blocks for various cellular processes. The two major LD degradation pathways include autophagy (lipophagy), which involves delivery of LDs to autolysosomes, and lipolysis, which is mediated by lipases. While abnormalities in LD degradation are associated with various pathological disorders, our understanding of lipophagy is still rudimentary.

Intravesical Mycetoma misdiagnosed as enterovesical fistula.

Fungus formation in the urinary tract mainly occurs in immunosuppressed patients, and is a rare and dangerous complication of candiduria that is commonly misdiagnosed. We report a case of intravesical mycetoma associated with hydronephrosis, initially diagnosed as enterovesical fistula. Cystoscopy revealed spongy material within the urinary bladder, and histopathological examination showed Mycetoma of Candida species.

A Parental-Report Questionnaire for Language Abilities and Pragmatics in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The aim of this study was to test and validate a parental-report questionnaire, which assesses language abilities and pragmatics, in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We report two experiments: The first served as the initial test and the second sought to provide the first assessment of convergent validity. In total, we recruited 230 parents, where approximately two-thirds had a child with ASD.

Use of Parsing Heuristics in the Comprehension of Passive Sentences: Evidence from Dyslexia and Individual Differences.

This study examined the comprehension of passive sentences in order to investigate whether individuals with dyslexia rely on parsing heuristics in language comprehension to a greater extent than non-dyslexic readers. One hundred adults (50 dyslexics and 50 controls) read active and passive sentences, and we also manipulated semantic plausibility. Eye movements were monitored, while participants read each sentence, and afterwards, participants answered a comprehension question.

Comprehension and Eye Movements in the Processing of Subject- and Object-Relative Clauses: Evidence from Dyslexia and Individual Differences.

In this study, we examined eye movements and comprehension in sentences containing a relative clause. To date, few studies have focused on syntactic processing in dyslexia and so one goal of the study is to contribute to this gap in the experimental literature. A second goal is to contribute to theoretical psycholinguistic debate concerning the cause and the location of the processing difficulty associated with object-relative clauses.

An experimental eye-tracking study of text adaptation for readers with dyslexia: effects of visual support and word frequency.

Easy-to-read guidelines recommend visual support and lexical simplification to facilitate text processing, but few empirical studies confirm a positive effect from these recommendations in individuals with dyslexia. This study examined the influence of the visual support and lexical simplification on sentence processing through eye movements at both the text- and word-level, and the differences between readers with and without dyslexia. Furthermore, we explored the influence of reading experience and vocabulary, as control variables.

Are Linguistic Prediction Deficits Characteristic of Adults with Dyslexia?

Individuals with dyslexia show deficits in phonological abilities, rapid automatized naming, short-term/working memory, processing speed, and some aspects of sensory and visual processing. There is currently one report in the literature that individuals with dyslexia also show impairments in linguistic prediction. The current study sought to investigate prediction in language processing in dyslexia.

Effects of speech rate on anticipatory eye movements in the visual world paradigm: Evidence from aging, native, and non-native language processing.

Research has shown that suprasegmental cues in conjunction with visual context can lead to anticipatory (or predictive) eye movements. However, the impact of speech rate on anticipatory eye movements has received little empirical attention. The purpose of the current study was twofold.

Two Cases of Strictures after Percutaneous CT-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation for Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation is a safe and effective minimally invasive treatment option in selected patients with T1a tumors of the kidney with a low complication rate. We describe two cases that developed the rare but severe complication of thermal injury-induced strictures of the upper urinary tract and its consecutive management.

Developmental Dyslexia: Where Do We Go from Here?

This editorial follows an influential review paper published in Brain Sciences in 2018 ( by John Stein). In this editorial, I present a critical look at the arguments in Stein's review, with a particular view towards "looking ahead". In looking ahead, I will focus on why dyslexia has been largely neglected by psycholinguistics and, in particular, shortfalls in knowledge about sentence processing.

Overactive bladder symptoms in patients undergoing rigid and flexible cystoscopy.

Purpose: To evaluate overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms in patients undergoing diagnostic cystoscopy. Overall changes in the entire study population were assessed, as well as broken down by various subgroups.

Methods: A prospective multi-center study among consecutive 450 adults undergoing diagnostic cystoscopy was conducted.

Controllable coacervation of recombinantly produced spider silk protein using kosmotropic salts.

Recent developments suggest that the phase transition of natural and synthetic biomacromolecules represents an important and ubiquitous mechanism underlying structural assemblies toward the fabrication of high-performance materials. Such a transition results in the formation of condensed liquid droplets, described as condensates or coacervates. Being able to effectively control the assembly of such entities is essential for tuning the quality and their functionality.

The Relationship between Adult Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Criminogenic Cognitions.

The relationship between ADHD-in particular hyperactivity-and criminal behavior is well documented. The current study investigated the role of criminogenic cognitions in the explanation of this relationship by examining which symptoms of ADHD are associated with criminogenic cognitions. Community-recruited adults ( = 192) completed self-report questionnaires for symptoms of ADHD and criminogenic cognitions.

Syntactic ambiguity resolution in dyslexia: An examination of cognitive factors underlying eye movement differences and comprehension failures.

This study examined eye movements and comprehension of temporary syntactic ambiguities in individuals with dyslexia, as few studies have focused on sentence-level comprehension in dyslexia. We tested 50 participants with dyslexia and 50 typically developing controls, in order to investigate (a) whether dyslexics have difficulty revising temporary syntactic misinterpretations and (b) underlying cognitive factors (i.e.

Cellulose elementary fibril orientation in the spruce S transition layer.

The tight organization of major wood cell wall polymers limits the swellability, solubility and reactivity of cellulose fibers during the production of regenerated textile fibers, nanocellulose, bioethanol, and many other value-added products. However, the ultrastructural assembly of cellulose elementary fibrils (EF) and matrix materials in one of the outer layers, i.e.

Cued by What We See and Hear: Spatial Reference Frame Use in Language.

To what extent is the choice of what to say driven by seemingly irrelevant cues in the visual world being described? Among such cues, how does prior description affect how we process spatial scenes? When people describe where objects are located their use of spatial language is often associated with a choice of reference frame. Two experiments employing between-participants designs ( = 490) examined the effects of visual cueing and previous description on reference frame choice as reflected in spatial prepositions (, , etc.) to describe pictures of object pairs.

[Percutaneous CT-guided radiofrequency ablation for small renal masses : A retrospective, single center data analysis].

Background: The incidence of small renal masses has increased in recent decades. Standard surgical treatment may not be applicable in patients with advanced age or severe comorbidities. Therefore, minimally invasive therapeutic approaches, such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA), may be a therapeutic option for such patients.

Individual differences in the production of disfluency: A latent variable analysis of memory ability and verbal intelligence.

Recent work has begun to focus on the role that individual differences in executive function and intelligence have on the production of fluent speech. However, isolating the underlying causes of different types of disfluency has been difficult given the speed and complexity of language production. In this study, we focused on the role of memory abilities and verbal intelligence, and we chose a task that relied heavily on memory for successful performance.

The development of intention-based morality: The influence of intention salience and recency, negligence, and outcome on children's and adults' judgments.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the influences on 4-8 year-olds' and adults' moral judgments. In both, participants were told stories from previous studies that had indicated that children's judgments are largely outcome-based. Building on recent research in which one change to these studies' methods resulted in substantially more intention-based judgment, in Experiment 1 (N = 75) the salience and recency of intention information were increased, and in Experiment 2 (N = 99) carefulness information (i.

Speaker-Versus Listener-Oriented Disfluency: A Re-examination of Arguments and Assumptions from Autism Spectrum Disorder.

We re-evaluate conclusions about disfluency production in high-functioning forms of autism spectrum disorder (HFA). Previous studies examined individuals with HFA to address a theoretical question regarding speaker- and listener-oriented disfluencies. Individuals with HFA tend to be self-centric and have poor pragmatic language skills, and should be less likely to produce listener-oriented disfluency.