The neural bases of acquisitiveness: decisions to acquire and discard everyday goods differ across frames, items, and individuals.

The human tendency to acquire and keep large quantities of goods has become a serious concern, but has yet to be examined from a neuroscientific perspective. The mesolimbocortical system, particularly the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc), is implicated when humans and animals acquire rewards. However, this may not extend to acquisitiveness per se, which involves fairly mundane items and is interconnected with a failure to discard.

Multiferroic and fatigue behavior of BiFe(0.95)Mn(0.05)O3/Bi(0.90)La(0.10)Fe(0.85)Zn(0.15)O3 bilayered thin films.

Bilayered thin films consisting of BiFe(0.95)Mn(0.05)O(3) (BFMO) and Bi(0.

Cocaine facilitates PKC maturation by upregulating its phosphorylation at the activation loop in rat striatal neurons in vivo.

Newly synthesized protein kinase C (PKC) undergoes a series of phosphorylation to render a mature form of the enzyme. It is this mature PKC that possesses the catalytic competence to respond to second messengers for activation and downstream signaling. The first and rate-limiting phosphorylation occurs at a threonine residue in the activation loop (AL), which triggers the rest maturation processing of PKC and regulates PKC activity in response to cellular stimulation.

Modulation of acid-sensing ion channels: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential.

Increases in extracellular proton concentrations, which takes place in physiological conditions such as synaptic signaling and pathological conditions such as tissue inflammation, ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, and epileptic seizure, activates a unique family of membrane ion channels; the acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs). All ASICs belong to amiloride-sensitive degenerin/epithelial Na(+) channel superfamily. Four genes encoded at seven sub-units have been identified.

Comparison of epicardial potential maps derived from the 12-lead electrocardiograms with scintigraphic images during controlled myocardial ischemia.

Our aim was to cross-validate electrocardiographic (ECG) and scintigraphic imaging of acute myocardial ischemia. The former method was based on inverse calculation of heart-surface potentials from the body-surface ECGs, and the latter, on a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). A boundary-element torso model with 352 body-surface and 202 heart-surface nodes was used to perform the ECG inverse solution.

Retro-apical transection of the urethra during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in an Asian population.

Unlabelled: Retro-apical transection of urethra during RARP in an Asian population was found to be feasible. A dedicated team, using robot-assisted surgery, with a skillful assistant are required for the procedure to become standard practice. We would recommend the retro-apical approach for all patients receiving RARP, as it was not found to increase surgical risk or complication.

Increased expression of 14-3-3β promotes tumor progression and predicts extrahepatic metastasis and worse survival in hepatocellular carcinoma.

14-3-3β is implicated in cell survival, proliferation, migration, and tumor growth; however, its clinical relevance in tumor progression and metastasis have never been elucidated. To evaluate the clinical significance of 14-3-3β, we analyzed the association of 14-3-3β expression and clinicopathologic characteristics in primary and subsequent metastatic tumors of hepatocellular carcinoma patients. 14-3-3β was expressed abundantly in 40 of 55 (70.

Silica-shell cross-linked micelles encapsulating fluorescent conjugated polymers for targeted cellular imaging.

A bioinspired silification approach was successfully used to encapsulate fluorescent conjugated polymers inside silica-shell cross-linked polymeric micelles (CP-SSCL) in the highly benign synthesis environment of room temperature and near-neutral aqueous environment. Four different conjugated polymers were employed to demonstrate the versatility of the bioinspired silification, resulting in the formation of CP-SSCL with different emission wavelengths across the visible spectrum. The CP-SSCL are characterized by a large absorption coefficient and high quantum yield, indicating that they exhibit the required high fluorescence brightness for cellular imaging application.

Pore water transport of enterococci out of beach sediments.

Enterococci are used to evaluate the safety of beach waters and studies have identified beach sands as a source of these bacteria. In order to study and quantify the release of microbes from beach sediments, flow column systems were built to evaluate flow of pore water out of beach sediments. Results show a peak in enterococci (average of 10% of the total microbes in core) released from the sand core within one pore water volume followed by a marked decline to below detection.

Surgically curable non-iron deficiency microcytic anemia: Castleman's disease.

Background: Castleman's disease (CD) is a rare, benign lymphoproliferative disorder that can involve single lymph node stations or can be systemic. Unicentric CD in patients with microcytic anemia is rarely described in the English literature.

Case Report: We describe the case of a 19-year-old Chinese woman with hyaline vascular type of unicentric CD presenting as severe non-iron deficiency microcytic anemia.

Dynamic loss of surface-expressed AMPA receptors in mouse cortical and striatal neurons during anesthesia.

Ionotropic glutamate receptors, especially the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) receptor subtype, undergo dynamic trafficking between the surface membrane and intracellular organelles. This trafficking activity determines the efficacy and strength of excitatory synapses and is subject to modulation by changing synaptic inputs. Given the possibility that glutamate receptors in the central nervous system might be a sensitive target of anesthetic agents, this study investigated the possible impact of anesthesia on trafficking and subcellular expression of AMPA receptors in adult mouse brain neurons in vivo.

Intrinsically fluorescent carbon dots with tunable emission derived from hydrothermal treatment of glucose in the presence of monopotassium phosphate.

A facile method is developed to synthesize intrinsically fluorescent carbon dots by hydrothermal treatment of glucose in the presence of monopotassium phosphate. The fluorescence emission of the carbon dots thus produced is tunable by simply adjusting the concentration of monopotassium phosphate.

Performance of everolimus-eluting versus paclitaxel-eluting coronary stents in small vessels: results from the SPIRIT III and SPIRIT IV clinical trials.

Background: Higher rates of adverse cardiac events have been observed in patients with small vessel disease. Therefore, we compared an everolimus-eluting stent (EES) to a paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) for treatment of small (reference vessel diameter: RVD <2.5 mm) and larger vessels (≥2.

The impact of numeric and graphic displays of ST-segment deviation levels on cardiologists' decisions of reperfusion therapy for patients with acute coronary occlusion.

The study purpose is to determine whether numeric and/or graphic ST measurements added to the display of the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) would influence cardiologists' decision to provide myocardial reperfusion therapy. Twenty ECGs with borderline ST-segment deviation during elective percutaneous coronary intervention and 10 controls before balloon inflation were included. Only 5 of the 20 ECGs during coronary balloon occlusion met the 2007 American Heart Association guidelines for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Ferroelectric behavior in bismuth ferrite thin films of different thickness.

The ferroelectric behavior of BiFeO(3) thin films is modified by changing the film thicknesses, where the BiFeO(3) thin films with different thicknesses were grown on SrRuO(3)/Pt/TiO(2)/SiO(2)/Si(100) substrates by radio frequency sputtering. The mixture of (110) and (111) orientations is induced for all BiFeO(3) thin films regardless of their thicknesses, together with the columnar structure and the dense microstructure. Their dielectric behavior is almost independent of the film thickness where all thin films have a low dielectric loss.

Linking cocaine to endoplasmic reticulum in striatal neurons: role of glutamate receptors.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) controls protein folding. Accumulation of unfolded and misfolded proteins in the ER triggers an ER stress response to accelerate normal protein folding or if failed to cause apoptosis. The ER stress response is a conserved cellular response in mammalian cells and is sensitive to various physiological or pathophysiological stimuli.

A polymorphic -844T/C in FasL promoter predicts survival and relapse in non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Fas ligand (FasL) -844T/C polymorphism (rs763110) has a demonstrated association with lung cancer risk. FasL -844CC with higher FasL expression has been suggested to contribute to tumor progression via immune escape. However, the impact of FasL -844T/C polymorphism on the clinical outcome of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains to be identified.

Investigation of amygdala volume in men with the fragile X premutation.

Premutation fragile X carriers have a CGG repeat expansion (55 to 200 repeats) in the promoter region of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. Amygdala dysfunction has been observed in premutation symptomatology, and recent research has suggested the amygdala as an area susceptible to the molecular effects of the premutation. The current study utilizes structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the relationship between amygdala volume, CGG expansion size, FMR1 mRNA, and psychological symptoms in male premutation carriers without FXTAS compared with age and IQ matched controls.

Decreased fragile X mental retardation protein expression underlies amygdala dysfunction in carriers of the fragile X premutation.

Background: The fragile X premutation provides a unique opportunity for the study of genetic and brain mechanisms of behavior and cognition in the context of neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration. Although the neurodegenerative phenotype, fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, is well described, evidence of a causal link between the premutation and psychiatric disorder earlier in life, clear delineation of a behavioral/cognitive phenotype, and characterization of the physiological basis of observed symptoms have been elusive.

Methods: We completed functional magnetic resonance imaging targeting the amygdala with an emotion-matching task and concurrent infrared eye tracking, FMR1 molecular genetic testing, and neuropsychological assessment in 23 men with the premutation (mean age = 32.

Cocaine and HIV-1 interplay: molecular mechanisms of action and addiction.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is now being driven by drug-abusing populations. Epidemiological studies on drug abusers with AIDS link abuse of cocaine, even more than other drugs, to increased incidence of HIV seroprevalence and progression to AIDS. Both cell culture and animal studies demonstrate that cocaine can both potentiate HIV replication and can potentiate HIV proteins to cause enhanced glial cell activation, neurotoxicity, and breakdown of the blood-brain barrier.

Learning curve of robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy with 60 initial cases by a single surgeon.

Objective: We tracked various proficiency indicators for the learning curve as a single Taiwanese surgeon became familiar with robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy surgeries by performing 60 initial procedures.

Methods: Between December 2005 and December 2007, 60 consecutive patients were classified into Group 1 (Cases 1-30) or Group 2 (Cases 31-60). Pre-operative clinical characteristics, operative parameters, and postoperative parameters were assessed.

Cocaine increases phosphorylation of MeCP2 in the rat striatum in vivo: a differential role of NMDA receptors.

Methyl CpG-binding protein-2 (MeCP2) is a transcriptional regulator that binds to methylated DNA at CpG sites and functions to silence DNA transcription. MeCP2 is subject to the phosphorylation modification at serine 421 (S421), which releases MeCP2 from DNA and thus facilitates gene expression. As a transcriptional repressor densely expressed in limbic reward circuits of adult mammalian brains, MeCP2 is recently emerging as a critical epigenetic factor in experience-dependent neural plasticity and psychostimulant addiction.

Hyaluronan modulates accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and matrix metalloproteinase-3 in the synovium of rat adjuvant-induced arthritis model.

Introduction: Hypoxia is a feature of the inflamed synovium in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Intra-articular injection of hyaluronan (HA) may be considered a potential way to treat RA. However, the exact molecular mechanism of HA on decreased cellular responses to hypoxic environment is unclear.