Beyond pleasure and arousal: appetitive erotic stimuli modulate electrophysiological brain correlates of early attentional processing.

Previous studies investigating affective reactions to pictures that elicit a specific effect have mainly focused on the dimensions valence and arousal. Using an event-related picture-viewing paradigm in electroencephalography, we investigated whether erotica - that is appetitive, evolutionarily relevant stimuli - have effects on early stages of attentional processing that are distinct from those of other positive and arousing stimuli. Seventeen male students viewed arousing photos of erotic, nude women or pictures of extreme sport scenes, as well as control pictures of attractive, dressed women or daily activities.

The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions.

Computational and experimental research has revealed that auditory sensory predictions are derived from regularities of the current environment by using internal generative models. However, so far, what has not been addressed is how the auditory system handles situations giving rise to redundant or even contradictory predictions derived from different sources of information. To this end, we measured error signals in the event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in response to violations of auditory predictions.

The kinase PKCα selectively upregulates interleukin-17A during Th17 cell immune responses.

Transforming growth-factor β (TGFβ) has been implicated in T helper 17 (Th17) cell biology and in triggering expression of interleukin-17A (IL-17A), which is a key Th17 cell cytokine. Deregulated TGFβ receptor (TGFβR) signaling has been implicated in Th17-cell-mediated autoimmune pathogenesis. Nevertheless, the full molecular mechanisms involved in the activation of the TGFβR pathway in driving IL-17A expression remain unknown.

Structure-activity relationships of antitubercular salicylanilides consistent with disruption of the proton gradient via proton shuttling.

A series of salicylanilides was synthesized based on a high-throughput screening hit against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A free phenolic hydroxyl on the salicylic acid moeity is required for activity, and the structure-activity relationship of the aniline ring is largely driven by the presence of electron withdrawing groups. We synthesized 94 analogs exploring substitutions of both rings and the linker region in this series and we have identified multiple compounds with low micromolar potency.

An Inv(16)(p13.3q24.3)-encoded CBFA2T3-GLIS2 fusion protein defines an aggressive subtype of pediatric acute megakaryoblastic leukemia.

To define the mutation spectrum in non-Down syndrome acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (non-DS-AMKL), we performed transcriptome sequencing on diagnostic blasts from 14 pediatric patients and validated our findings in a recurrency/validation cohort consisting of 34 pediatric and 28 adult AMKL samples. Our analysis identified a cryptic chromosome 16 inversion (inv(16)(p13.3q24.

Successful memory encoding is associated with increased cross-frequency coupling between frontal theta and posterior gamma oscillations in human scalp-recorded EEG.

Although previous studies have established that successful memory encoding is associated with increased synchronization of theta-band and gamma-band oscillations, it is unclear if there is a functional relationship between oscillations in these frequency bands. Using scalp-recorded EEG in healthy human participants, we demonstrate that cross-frequency coupling between frontal theta phase and posterior gamma power is enhanced during the encoding of visual stimuli which participants later on remember versus items which participants subsequently forget ("subsequent memory effect," SME). Conventional wavelet analyses and source localizations revealed SMEs in spectral power of theta-, alpha-, and gamma-band.

Sumatran orangutans differ in their cultural knowledge but not in their cognitive abilities.

Animal cultures are controversial because the method used to isolate culture in animals aims at excluding genetic and environmental influences rather than demonstrating social learning. Here, we analyzed these factors in parallel in captivity to determine their influences on tool use. We exposed Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) orphans from tool-using and non-tool-using regions (western swamps and eastern Langkat, respectively) that differed in both genetic and cultural backgrounds to a raking task and a honey-dipping task to assess their understanding of stick use.

Shifts in the ESR spectra of alkali-metal atoms (Li, Na, K, Rb) on helium nanodroplets.

He-droplet-induced changes of the hyperfine structure constants of alkali-metal atoms are investigated by a combination of relativistically corrected ab initio methods with a simulation of the helium density distribution based on He density functional theory. Starting from an accurate description of the variation of the hyperfine structure constant in the M-He diatomic systems (M=Li, Na, K, Rb) as a function of the interatomic distance we simulate the shifts induced by droplets of up to 10,000 (4)He atoms. All theoretical predictions for the relative shifts in the isotropic hyperfine coupling constants of the alkali-metal atoms attached to helium droplets of different size are then tied to a single, experimentally derived parameter of Rb.

Para-aminosalicylic acid acts as an alternative substrate of folate metabolism in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Folate biosynthesis is an established anti-infective target, and the antifolate para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) was one of the first anti-infectives introduced into clinical practice on the basis of target-based drug discovery. Fifty years later, PAS continues to be used to treat tuberculosis. PAS is assumed to inhibit dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by mimicking the substrate p-aminobenzoate (PABA).

Implicit and explicit contributions to object recognition: evidence from rapid perceptual learning.

The present study investigated implicit and explicit recognition processes of rapidly perceptually learned objects by means of steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP). Participants were initially exposed to object pictures within an incidental learning task (living/non-living categorization). Subsequently, degraded versions of some of these learned pictures were presented together with degraded versions of unlearned pictures and participants had to judge, whether they recognized an object or not.

Repetition suppression and effects of familiarity on blood oxygenation level dependent signal and gamma-band activity.

We used an identical repetition priming paradigm in functional MRI (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate brain networks modulated by stimulus repetition and familiarity. In particular, pictures of familiar or unfamiliar objects were presented sequentially, with stimulus repetitions occurring within few trials. The results of both studies indicated close agreement between the pattern found in fMRI-BOLD (blood oxygenation level dependent) responses and in source localizations of induced gamma-band activity derived from MEG.

Sharpening and formation: two distinct neuronal mechanisms of repetition priming.

The repetition of an object stimulus results in faster and better recognition of this object (repetition priming). This phenomenon is neuronally associated with a reduced firing rate of neurons (repetition suppression). It has been interpreted as a sharpening mechanism within the cell assembly representing the object.

Bionanotechnology application of polypeptides in a hair color product: self-assembly enables expression, processing, and functionality.

Bionanotechnology aims to impart new properties to materials from unique functionalities present in biomolecules. However, the promise of bionanotechnology has not materialized beyond the biomedical field due in large part to issues of scalability, purity, and cost of manufacturing. In this work we demonstrate an approach to co-engineer production and system functionality into a single polypeptide.

The influence of ecology on chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) cultural behavior: a case study of five Ugandan chimpanzee communities.

The influence of ecology on the development of behavioral traditions in animals is controversial, particularly for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), for which it is difficult to rule out environmental influences as a cause of widely observed community-specific behavioral differences. Here, we investigated 3 potential scenarios that could explain the natural variation in a key extractive tool behavior, "fluid-dip," among several communities of chimpanzees of the Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii subspecies in Uganda. We compared data from previous behavioral ecological studies, field experiments, and long-term records of chimpanzee tool-using behavior.

Quantitative analysis of motion artifacts in high-pitch dual-source computed tomography of the thorax.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to objectively analyze motion artifacts on thoracic computed tomography (CT) with dual-source high-pitch and single-source techniques when using a no-breath-hold technique to examine patients who have difficulty complying with breath-holding instructions.

Materials And Methods: A total of 120 patients who received CT of the thorax with a free-breathing technique in single-source (16 slices and 128 slices; pitch = 1.2) and dual-source (pitch = 3.

Releasing the brake: targeting Cbl-b to enhance lymphocyte effector functions.

The E3 ubiquitin ligase Cbl-b is an established nonredundant negative regulator of T-cell activation. Cbl-b fine-tunes the activation threshold of T cells and uncouples T cells from their vital need of a costimulatory signal to mount a productive immune response. Accordingly, mice deficient in cblb are prone to autoimmunity and reject tumors.

3-Meth-oxy-3-oxopropanaminium chloride.

In the title compound, C(4)H(10)NO(2) (+)·Cl(-), the central ethyl-ene bond of the cation adopts a gauche conformation. The three H atoms of the -NH(3) (+) group are engaged in strong and highly directional inter-molecular N-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, which result in a tape-like arrangement along [010] of the respective ion pairs. In addition, weak inter-molecular C-H⋯Cl and C-H⋯O inter-actions are present.

Methyl 6-amino-6-oxohexa-noate.

The title compound, C(7)H(13)NO(3), adopts an approximately planar conformation. The torsion angles in the aliphatic chain between the carbonyl group C atoms range from 172.97 (14) to 179.

Influences of encoding and retrieval on the steady-state visual evoked potential.

The steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) is a powerful tool to study basic perceptual functions in the human electroencephalogram (EEG) (e.g. selective attention).

Regular, brief mindfulness meditation practice improves electrophysiological markers of attentional control.

Mindfulness-based meditation practices involve various attentional skills, including the ability to sustain and focus ones attention. During a simple mindful breathing practice, sustained attention is required to maintain focus on the breath while cognitive control is required to detect mind wandering. We thus hypothesized that regular, brief mindfulness training would result in improvements in the self-regulation of attention and foster changes in neuronal activity related to attentional control.

Community-specific evaluation of tool affordances in wild chimpanzees.

The notion of animal culture, defined as socially transmitted community-specific behaviour patterns, remains controversial, notably because the definition relies on surface behaviours without addressing underlying cognitive processes. In contrast, human cultures are the product of socially acquired ideas that shape how individuals interact with their environment. We conducted field experiments with two culturally distinct chimpanzee communities in Uganda, which revealed significant differences in how individuals considered the affording parts of an experimentally provided tool to extract honey from a standardised cavity.

Intracranial meningiomas in patients with uterine sarcoma treated with long-term megestrol acetate therapy.

Objective: To report a series of four patients with uterine sarcoma, including one with müllerian adenosarcoma (MA) and three with low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LGESS), who developed intracranial meningiomas while receiving the progesterone agonist megestrol acetate.

Methods: The hospital records, imaging studies, and pathology slides of four patients who were treated for uterine sarcomas and subsequently developed intracranial meningiomas were reviewed.

Results: All patients underwent surgery for their gynecologic cancers and received maintenance therapy with long-term hormonal suppression with megestrol acetate.

Perceiving the tree in the woods: segregating brain responses to stimuli constituting natural scenes.

Conventional neuroscientific methods are inadequate for separating the brain responses related to the simultaneous processing of different parts of a natural scene. In the present human electroencephalogram (EEG) study, we overcame this limitation by tagging concurrently presented backgrounds and objects with different presentation frequencies. As a result, background and object elicited different steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs), which were separately quantified in the frequency domain.

1-Methyl-4-(4-nitro-benzo-yl)pyridinium perchlorate.

In the main mol-ecule of the title compound, C(13)H(11)N(2)O(3) (+)·ClO(4) (-), the two aromatic rings are twisted by 56.19 (3)° relative to each other and the nitro group is not coplanar with the benzene ring [36.43 (4)°].