Neural signatures of reinforcement learning correlate with strategy adoption during spatial navigation.

Human navigation is generally believed to rely on two types of strategy adoption, route-based and map-based strategies. Both types of navigation require making spatial decisions along the traversed way although formal computational and neural links between navigational strategies and mechanisms of value-based decision making have so far been underexplored in humans. Here we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while subjects located different objects in a virtual environment.

Enhanced Voluntary Exercise Improves Functional Recovery following Spinal Cord Injury by Impacting the Local Neuroglial Injury Response and Supporting the Rewiring of Supraspinal Circuits.

Recent reports suggest that rehabilitation measures that increase physical activity of patients can improve functional outcome after incomplete spinal cord injuries (iSCI). To investigate the structural basis of exercise-induced recovery, we examined local and remote consequences of voluntary wheel training in spinal cord injured female mice. In particular, we explored how enhanced voluntary exercise influences the neuronal and glial response at the lesion site as well as the rewiring of supraspinal tracts after iSCI.

Integrated breathlessness services for people with chronic conditions.

Purpose Of Review: Optimal management of breathlessness requires generally more than one component. Breathlessness services aim to provide specific interventions and support for patients suffering from breathlessness due to any advanced disease and their carers. This review aims to describe recent studies evaluating the effects of breathlessness services for patients with advanced chronic conditions.

Blood Pressure and Cognitive Performance After a Single Administration of a Camphor-Crataegus Combination in Adolescents with Low Blood Pressure.

Low blood pressure is rather widespread among adolescents and frequently accompanied by complaints. Two single-center, double-blinded, randomized, and placebo-controlled trials were performed with adolescent participants in the age range of 14 - 17 y having a systolic blood pressure below 118 mmHg (boys) or 110 mmHg (girls). They received a single dose of 20 drops of a fixed combination of natural D-camphor and an ethanolic extract from fresh berries (CCC) or of an ethanolic placebo.

A novel concept for dynamic adjustment of auditory space.

Traditionally, the auditory system is thought to serve reliable sound localization. Stimulus-history driven feedback circuits in the early binaural pathway, however, contradict this canonical concept and raise questions about their functional significance. Here we show that stimulus-history dependent changes in absolute space perception are poorly captured by the traditional labeled-line and hemispheric-difference models of auditory space coding.

Epithelial Sodium Channel Regulates Adult Neural Stem Cell Proliferation in a Flow-Dependent Manner.

One hallmark of adult neurogenesis is its adaptability to environmental influences. Here, we uncovered the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) as a key regulator of adult neurogenesis as its deletion in neural stem cells (NSCs) and their progeny in the murine subependymal zone (SEZ) strongly impairs their proliferation and neurogenic output in the olfactory bulb. Importantly, alteration of fluid flow promotes proliferation of SEZ cells in an ENaC-dependent manner, eliciting sodium and calcium signals that regulate proliferation via calcium-release-activated channels and phosphorylation of ERK.

Precisely timed inhibition facilitates action potential firing for spatial coding in the auditory brainstem.

The integration of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs is fundamental to neuronal processing. In the mammalian auditory brainstem, neurons compare excitatory and inhibitory inputs from the ipsilateral and contralateral ear, respectively, for sound localization. However, the temporal precision and functional roles of inhibition in this integration process are unclear.

Lipid-coated mannitol core microparticles for sustained release of protein.

Parenteral sustained release systems for proteins which provide therapeutic levels over a longer period avoiding frequent administration, which preserve protein stability during manufacturing, storage and application and which are biodegradable and highly biocompatible in the body are intensively sought after. The aim of this study was to generate and study mannitol core microparticles loaded with a monoclonal antibody IgG1 and coated with lipid either hard fat or glyceryl stearate at different coating levels. The protein was stabilized with 22.

Gain-of-function analysis of cis-acting diversification elements in DT40 cells.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is required for the immunoglobulin diversification processes of somatic hypermutation, gene conversion and class-switch recombination. The targeting of AID's deamination activity is thought to be a combination of cis- and trans-acting elements, but has not been fully elucidated. Deletion analysis of putative proximal cis-regulatory motifs, while helpful, fails to identify additive versus cumulative effects, redundancy, and may create new motifs where none previously existed.

Redefining diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) for palliative care - a cross-sectional study in two German centres.

Background: Hospital costs and cost drivers in palliative care are poorly analysed. It remains unknown whether current German Diagnosis-Related Groups, mainly relying on main diagnosis or procedure, reproduce costs adequately. The aim of this study was therefore to analyse costs and reimbursement for inpatient palliative care and to identify relevant cost drivers.

Multiple stressor effects on biological quality elements in the Ebro River: Present diagnosis and predicted responses.

Multiple abiotic stressors affect the ecological status of water bodies. The status of waterbodies in the Ebro catchment (NE Spain) is evaluated using the biological quality elements (BQEs) of diatoms, invertebrates and macrophytes. The multi-stressor influence on the three BQEs was evaluated using the monitoring dataset available from the catchment water authority.

Detection of feline Coronavirus in effusions of cats with and without feline infectious peritonitis using loop-mediated isothermal amplification.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a fatal disease in cats worldwide. The aim of this study was to test two commercially available reaction mixtures in a reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay to detect feline Coronavirus (FCoV) in body cavity effusions of cats with and without FIP, in order to minimize the time from sampling to obtaining results. RNA was extracted from body cavity effusion samples of 71 cats, including 34 samples from cats with a definitive diagnosis of FIP, and 37 samples of control cats with similar clinical signs but other confirmed diseases.

How the Barn Owl Computes Auditory Space.

In a series of seminal behavioral and electrophysiological experiments, Knudsen and Konishi studied the mechanisms of hearing. Their 1979 article showed how the barn owl utilizes unique anatomical features for creating a systematic internal representation of auditory space. This established the barn owl as a prime model for studying sensory systems.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder and the risk of subsequent mental disorders: A community study of adolescents and young adults.

Background: Comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with other mental disorders has been demonstrated repeatedly. Few longitudinal studies, however, have evaluated the temporal association of prior OCD and subsequent mental disorders across the age period of highest risk for first onset of mental disorders. We examined associations between prior OCD and a broad range of subsequent mental disorders and simulated proportions of new onsets of mental disorders that could potentially be attributed to prior OCD, assuming a causal relationship.

Using DNA origami nanorulers as traceable distance measurement standards and nanoscopic benchmark structures.

In recent years, DNA origami nanorulers for superresolution (SR) fluorescence microscopy have been developed from fundamental proof-of-principle experiments to commercially available test structures. The self-assembled nanostructures allow placing a defined number of fluorescent dye molecules in defined geometries in the nanometer range. Besides the unprecedented control over matter on the nanoscale, robust DNA origami nanorulers are reproducibly obtained in high yields.

Guideline-compliant prescription of biologicals and possible barriers in dermatological practices in Bavaria.

Introduction: Psoriasis and urticaria are chronic inflammatory skin diseases, which account for a substantial socioeconomic burden and severely affect patients' quality of life. According to the respective German guidelines, biologicals can be used for the treatment of severe forms of these diseases. However, only a minority of patients receive this advised treatment.

Strong Plasmonic Enhancement of a Single Peridinin-Chlorophyll a-Protein Complex on DNA Origami-Based Optical Antennas.

In this contribution, we fabricate hybrid constructs based on a natural light-harvesting complex, peridinin-chlorophyll a-protein, coupled to dimer optical antennas self-assembled with the help of the DNA origami technique. This approach enables controlled positioning of individual complexes at the hotspot of the optical antennas based on large, colloidal gold and silver nanoparticles. Our approach allows us to selectively excite the different pigments present in the harvesting complex, reaching a fluorescence enhancement of 500-fold.

Symbolic universes between present and future of Europe. First results of the map of European societies' cultural milieu.

This paper reports the framework, method and main findings of an analysis of cultural milieus in 4 European countries (Estonia, Greece, Italy, and UK). The analysis is based on a questionnaire applied to a sample built through a two-step procedure of post-hoc random selection from a broader dataset based on an online survey. Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis-a combination of Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis.

Identification and genetic characterization of polyomaviruses in estrildid and fringillid finches.

Polyomavirus infections were detected in 40 companion bird individuals belonging to a broad species range of estrildid and fringillid finches and originating from 21 different bird aviaries. Based on partial virus protein 1 (VP1) sequences, the viruses were identified as Serinus canaria polyomavirus 1 and Pyrrhula pyrrhula polyomavirus 1. Serinus canaria polyomavirus 1 was found in 18 birds belonging to one estrildid and four fringillid species.

Methylation patterns in serum DNA for early identification of disseminated breast cancer.

Background: Monitoring treatment and early detection of fatal breast cancer (BC) remains a major unmet need. Aberrant circulating DNA methylation (DNAme) patterns are likely to provide a highly specific cancer signal. We hypothesized that cell-free DNAme markers could indicate disseminated breast cancer, even in the presence of substantial quantities of background DNA.

Preventable ADRs leading to hospitalization - results of a long-term prospective safety study with 6,427 ADR cases focusing on elderly patients.

Background: Studies evaluating the impact of age and potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) on avoidable adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are scarce.

Methods: In this prospective, multi-center, long-term (8.5 years) observational study, we analysed ADRs leading to hospitalization in departments of internal medicine.

Gender differences in the initiation of negotiations: A meta-analysis.

Gender differences in the initiation of negotiation have been suggested to reinforce unequal distributions of resources between men and women. Because previous research had yielded heterogeneous results, the authors conducted a meta-analysis investigating gender differences in initiating negotiation. On the basis of social role theory, they hypothesized that women are less likely to initiate negotiations than men, but also that the effect varies depending on characteristics of the immediate negotiation situation and the wider societal context.

The development of spontaneous facial responses to others' emotions in infancy: An EMG study.

Viewing facial expressions often evokes facial responses in the observer. These spontaneous facial reactions (SFRs) are believed to play an important role for social interactions. However, their developmental trajectory and the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms are still little understood.

Optical Nanoantenna for Single Molecule-Based Detection of Zika Virus Nucleic Acids without Molecular Multiplication.

Because of the limited signal-to-background ratio, molecular diagnostics requires molecular amplification of the target molecules or molecular signal amplification after target recognition. For direct molecular detection, we demonstrate a purely physical fluorescence enhancement process which can elevate the fluorescence signal of single fluorescent dyes by several orders of magnitude. To this end, DNA origami-based optical antennas with a height of around 125 nm are used, which utilize metallic nanoparticles to create a hotspot where fluorescence signals are enhanced by plasmonic effects.