Positive effects of a computerised working memory and executive function training on sentence comprehension in aphasia.

Aphasia, the language disorder following brain damage, is frequently accompanied by deficits of working memory (WM) and executive functions (EFs). Recent studies suggest that WM, together with certain EFs, can play a role in sentence comprehension in individuals with aphasia (IWA), and that WM can be enhanced with intensive practice. Our aim was to investigate whether a combined WM and EF training improves the understanding of spoken sentences in IWA.

The Ubiquitin-Proteasome System: Potential Therapeutic Targets for Alzheimer's Disease and Spinal Cord Injury.

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is a crucial protein degradation system in eukaryotes. Herein, we will review advances in the understanding of the role of several proteins of the UPS in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). The UPS consists of many factors that include E3 ubiquitin ligases, ubiquitin hydrolases, ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like molecules, and the proteasome itself.

Redox Zonation and Oscillation in the Hyporheic Zone of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta: Implications for the Fate of Groundwater Arsenic during Discharge.

Riverbank sediment cores and pore waters, shallow well waters, seepage waters and river waters were collected along the Meghna Riverbank in Gazaria Upazila, Bangladesh in Jan. 2006 and Oct.-Nov.

Distribution of Linearly Polarized Gluons and Elliptic Azimuthal Anisotropy in Deep Inelastic Scattering Dijet Production at High Energy.

We determine the distribution of linearly polarized gluons of a dense target at small x by solving the Balitsky-Jalilian-Marian-Iancu-McLerran-Weigert-Leonidov-Kovner rapidity evolution equations. From these solutions, we estimate the amplitude of ∼cos2ϕ azimuthal asymmetries in deep inelastic scattering dijet production at high energies. We find sizable long-range in rapidity azimuthal asymmetries with a magnitude in the range of v_{2}=⟨cos2ϕ⟩∼10%.

The effect of ultralow-dose antibiotics exposure on soil nitrate and N2O flux.

Exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics has been shown to alter the metabolic activity of micro-organisms, but the impact on soil denitrification and N2O production has rarely been reported. In this study, incubation and column transport experiments were conducted on soils exposed to as many as four antibiotics in the ng · kg(-1) range (several orders of magnitude below typical exposure rates) to evaluate the impact of ultralow dose exposure on net nitrate losses and soil N2O flux over time. Under anaerobic incubation conditions, three antibiotics produced statistically significant dose response curves in which denitrification was stimulated at some doses and inhibited at others.

Cadmium and zinc partitioning and accumulation during grain filling in two near isogenic lines of durum wheat.

Plants can readily accumulate cadmium (Cd), transferring this element to edible leaves, fruits, and seeds. Rice and wheat are among the top crop sources of Cd. Toxic heavy metals like Cd have chemical properties similar to essential micronutrients such as zinc (Zn) and are generally transported in plants by the same transporters as those essential micronutrients.

Ab initio Calculation of the np→dγ Radiative Capture Process.

Lattice QCD calculations of two-nucleon systems are used to isolate the short-distance two-body electromagnetic contributions to the radiative capture process np→dγ, and the photo-disintegration processes γ^{(*)}d→np. In nuclear potential models, such contributions are described by phenomenological meson-exchange currents, while in the present work, they are determined directly from the quark and gluon interactions of QCD. Calculations of neutron-proton energy levels in multiple background magnetic fields are performed at two values of the quark masses, corresponding to pion masses of m_{π}~450 and 806 MeV, and are combined with pionless nuclear effective field theory to determine the amplitudes for these low-energy inelastic processes.

Acoustical analysis of Canadian French word-final vowels in varying phonetic contexts.

This study analyzed Canadian French (CF) vowels /i y ø e ɛ o u a/ in word-final position. Of particular interest was the stability of /e-ɛ/; although some dialects of French have merged /e-ɛ/ to /e/ in word-final context, this contrast is maintained in CF. The present study investigated the stability of this contrast in various preceding phonetic contexts and in lexical vs morphological contrasts.

The Phytoene synthase gene family of apple (Malus x domestica) and its role in controlling fruit carotenoid content.

Background: Carotenoid compounds play essential roles in plants such as protecting the photosynthetic apparatus and in hormone signalling. Coloured carotenoids provide yellow, orange and red colour to plant tissues, as well as offering nutritional benefit to humans and animals. The enzyme phytoene synthase (PSY) catalyses the first committed step of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway and has been associated with control of pathway flux.

Updated Next-to-Next-to-Leading-Order QCD Predictions for the Weak Radiative B-Meson Decays.

Weak radiative decays of the B mesons belong to the most important flavor changing processes that provide constraints on physics at the TeV scale. In the derivation of such constraints, accurate standard model predictions for the inclusive branching ratios play a crucial role. In the current Letter we present an update of these predictions, incorporating all our results for the O(α_{s}^{2}) and lower-order perturbative corrections that have been calculated after 2006.

Neural measures of a Japanese consonant length discrimination by Japanese and American English listeners: Effects of attention.

This study examined automaticity of discrimination of a Japanese length contrast for consonants (miʃi vs. miʃʃi) in native (Japanese) and non-native (American-English) listeners using behavioral measures and the event-related potential (ERP) mismatch negativity (MMN). Attention to the auditory input was manipulated either away from the auditory input via a visual oddball task (Visual Attend), or to the input by asking the listeners to count auditory deviants (Auditory Attend).

Control of carotenoid biosynthesis through a heme-based cis-trans isomerase.

Plants synthesize carotenoids, which are essential for plant development and survival. These metabolites also serve as essential nutrients for human health. The biosynthetic pathway for all plant carotenoids occurs in chloroplasts and other plastids and requires 15-cis-ζ-carotene isomerase (Z-ISO).

The effect of plausibility on sentence comprehension among older adults and its relation to cognitive functions.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Older adults show age-related decline in complex-sentence comprehension. This has been attributed to a decrease in cognitive abilities that may support language processing, such as working memory (e.g.

Neuroinflammation and J2 prostaglandins: linking impairment of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway and mitochondria to neurodegeneration.

The immune response of the CNS is a defense mechanism activated upon injury to initiate repair mechanisms while chronic over-activation of the CNS immune system (termed neuroinflammation) may exacerbate injury. The latter is implicated in a variety of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, HIV dementia, and prion diseases. Cyclooxygenases (COX-1 and COX-2), which are key enzymes in the conversion of arachidonic acid into bioactive prostanoids, play a central role in the inflammatory cascade.

Magnetic moments of light nuclei from lattice quantum chromodynamics.

We present the results of lattice QCD calculations of the magnetic moments of the lightest nuclei, the deuteron, the triton, and ^{3}He, along with those of the neutron and proton. These calculations, performed at quark masses corresponding to m_{π}∼800  MeV, reveal that the structure of these nuclei at unphysically heavy quark masses closely resembles that at the physical quark masses. In particular, we find that the magnetic moment of ^{3}He differs only slightly from that of a free neutron, as is the case in nature, indicating that the shell-model configuration of two spin-paired protons and a valence neutron captures its dominant structure.

The phylogenetic position and taxonomic status of the Rainbow Tree Snake Gonyophis margaritatus (Peters, 1871) (Squamata: Colubridae) .

Molecular phylogenies have provided strong evidence for clarifying the taxonomy of groups with ambiguous morphological traits, thus avoiding potentially misleading conclusions based on evolutionary convergence of these traits. For snakes, established molecular databases along with new sequences from rare species allows us to estimate phylogenies, to clarify the phylogenetic relationships and test the monophyly of most taxonomic groups. Using one mitochondrial gene and five nuclear loci, we evaluate the taxonomic status of a rare Southeast Asian serpent, the Rainbow Tree Snake Gonyophis margaritatus (Squamata: Colubridae) by inferring a molecular phylogeny of 101 snake species.

Region and context-specific intracellular responses associated with cocaine-induced conditioned place preference expression.

The development and maintenance of cocaine addiction depend heavily on learned reward-environment associations that can induce drug-seeking behavior and relapse. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these cue-induced conditioned responses is important for relapse prevention. To test whether intracellular responses measured after cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) expression are context-dependent, we re-exposed cocaine-treated rats (drug-free) to an environment previously paired with cocaine or saline, 24h after the CPP test.

Phylogenetic niche conservatism and the evolutionary basis of ecological speciation.

Phylogenetic niche conservatism (PNC) typically refers to the tendency of closely related species to be more similar to each other in terms of niche than they are to more distant relatives. This has been implicated as a potential driving force in speciation and other species-richness patterns, such as latitudinal gradients. However, PNC has not been very well defined in most previous studies.

Effectiveness of phylogenomic data and coalescent species-tree methods for resolving difficult nodes in the phylogeny of advanced snakes (Serpentes: Caenophidia).

Next-generation genomic sequencing promises to quickly and cheaply resolve remaining contentious nodes in the Tree of Life, and facilitates species-tree estimation while taking into account stochastic genealogical discordance among loci. Recent methods for estimating species trees bypass full likelihood-based estimates of the multi-species coalescent, and approximate the true species-tree using simpler summary metrics. These methods converge on the true species-tree with sufficient genomic sampling, even in the anomaly zone.

High-yield photolytic generation of brominated single-walled carbon nanotubes and their application for gas sensing.

We present a facile and efficient photobromination technique for the covalent sidewall functionalization of SWNT using N-bromosuccinamide as the bromine source. The modified bromine functionalized SWNTs are used as active agents in a resistance measuring electrode system for sensing and discrimination of analyte vapors.

PACAP27 prevents Parkinson-like neuronal loss and motor deficits but not microglia activation induced by prostaglandin J2.

Neuroinflammation is a major risk factor in Parkinson's disease (PD). Alternative approaches are needed to treat inflammation, as anti-inflammatory drugs such as NSAIDs that inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) can produce devastating side effects, including heart attack and stroke. New therapeutic strategies that target factors downstream of COX-2, such as prostaglandin J2 (PGJ2), hold tremendous promise because they will not alter the homeostatic balance offered by COX-2 derived prostanoids.

Verbal strategies and nonverbal cues in school-age children with and without specific language impairment (SLI).

Background: Considerable evidence suggests that performance across a variety of cognitive tasks is effectively supported by the use of verbal and nonverbal strategies. Studies exploring the usefulness of such strategies in children with specific language impairment (SLI) are scarce and report inconsistent findings.

Aims: To examine the effects of induced labelling and auditory cues on the performance of children with and without SLI during a categorization task.

Whole shoot mineral partitioning and accumulation in pea (Pisum sativum).

Several grain legumes are staple food crops that are important sources of minerals for humans; unfortunately, our knowledge is incomplete with respect to the mechanisms of translocation of these minerals to the vegetative tissues and loading into seeds. Understanding the mechanism and partitioning of minerals in pea could help in developing cultivars with high mineral density. A mineral partitioning study was conducted in pea to assess whole-plant growth and mineral content and the potential source-sink remobilization of different minerals, especially during seed development.

Evaluating clinically significant change in mother and child functioning: comparison of traditional and enhanced behavioral parent training.

The Strategies to Enhance Positive Parenting (STEPP) program, an enhanced behavioral parent training (BPT) intervention, was developed to improve engagement in and outcomes following treatment for single-mother families of school-age youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A previous randomized clinical trial of the STEPP program demonstrated that the intervention resulted in statistically significant improvements at the group-level in child oppositional behavior, various areas of child impairment, parental stress, and parenting behavior, relative to a wait-list control condition and a traditional BPT group. Despite benefits at the group-level, little is known about outcomes at the individual-level of enhanced BPT relative to traditional BPT for various child- and parent-level outcomes.