MIF attenuates the suppressive effect of dexamethasone on IL-6 production by nasal polyp.

Background: Nasal polyposis (NP) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the upper airways, that characterized by inflammatory cells infiltration, extracellular matrix accumulation and oedema. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine, implicated in various inflammatory conditions, including NP pathogenesis. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory mediator able to antagonize the inhibitory effects of glucocorticoids on the expression of various cytokines and growth factors.

Brain potentials dissociate emotional and conceptual cross-modal priming of environmental sounds.

The attentional effects triggered by emotional stimuli in humans have been substantially investigated, but little is known about the impact of affective valence on the processing of meaning. Here, we used a cross-modal priming paradigm involving visually presented adjective-noun dyads and environmental sounds of controlled affective valence to test the contributions of conceptual relatedness and emotional congruence to priming. Participants undergoing event-related potential recording indicated whether target environmental sounds were related in meaning to adjective-noun dyads presented as primes.

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) immunocytochemical expression in breast ductal invasive carcinoma (DIC): correlation with clinicopathological parameters and tumor proliferative capacity.

Background: Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is an enzyme of the tyrosine kinase group linked to signaling pathways between cells and the extracellular matrix. In tumor cells in vitro, FAK expression correlated with their ability for invasion and metastasis. Additionally, in vivo FAK has been implicated in malignant transformation and disease progression.

Short-term learning of a visually guided power-grip task is associated with dynamic changes in EEG oscillatory activity.

Objective: Performing a motor task after a period of training has been associated with reduced cortical activity and changes in oscillatory brain activity. Little is known about whether learning also affects the neural network associated with motor preparation and post movement processes. Here we investigate how short-term motor learning affects oscillatory brain activity during the preparation, execution, and post-movement stage of a force-feedback task.