Breathe the Fresh Air; Review of Georgia Review, Fall 2008

The Fall 2008 issue of The Georgia Review contains five essays, two short stories, ten poems (including the latest by Albert Goldbarth), reviews by three contributors, artwork by Judy Pfaff, and excerpts from a new book featuring the correspondence between Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop

Inner Speech and Damasio's Theory for Modelling Robot's Emotions

In Affective Robotics, there is a growing emphasis on endowing robots with the ability to experience emotions, not just detect and recognise human emotions. Robots can appropriately respond to emotionally relevant events, simulating emotional behaviour, thus improving social interaction. This work analyses the robot’s emotional experiences by inner speech. Recent investigations demonstrated that the robot’s inner speech improves people’s trust and brings the robot closer to human cognition. Through inner speech, the robot overtly talks to itself and reasons about the context and inner processes. Based on Damasio’s theory, emotions emerge from implementing the dynamic interplay between bodily sensations and emotional cognitive processes. Integrating such a theory with self-talking capability and deploying the resulting model on a real robot makes such a robot able to experience emotions. Experiments demonstrate that people interacting with robots equipped with the proposed model recognise the robot’s emotional experiences, supporting a more empathetic and emotionally connected relationship

The Respiratory Syncytial Virus G Protein Conserved Domain Induces a Persistent and Protective Antibody Response in Rodents

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of severe upper and lower respiratory disease in infants and in the elderly. There are 2 main RSV subtypes A and B. A recombinant vaccine was designed based on the central domain of the RSV-A attachment G protein which we had previously named G2Na (aa130–230). Here we evaluated immunogenicity, persistence of antibody (Ab) response and protective efficacy induced in rodents by: (i) G2Na fused to DT (Diphtheria toxin) fragments in cotton rats. DT fusion did not potentiate neutralizing Ab responses against RSV-A or cross-reactivity to RSV-B. (ii) G2Nb (aa130–230 of the RSV-B G protein) either fused to, or admixed with G2Na. G2Nb did not induce RSV-B-reactive Ab responses. (iii) G2Na at low doses. Two injections of 3 µg G2Na in Alum were sufficient to induce protective immune responses in mouse lungs, preventing RSV-A and greatly reducing RSV-B infections. In cotton rats, G2Na-induced RSV-reactive Ab and protective immunity against RSV-A challenge that persisted for at least 24 weeks. (iv) injecting RSV primed mice with a single dose of G2Na/Alum or G2Na/PLGA [poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide]. Despite the presence of pre-existing RSV-specific Abs, these formulations effectively boosted anti-RSV Ab titres and increased Ab titres persisted for at least 21 weeks. Affinity maturation of these Abs increased from day 28 to day 148. These data indicate that G2Na has potential as a component of an RSV vaccine formulation

Detección por inmunofluorescencia de anticuerpos para citomegalovirus en mujeres embarazadas

Se estudiaron 299 muestras de suero de embarazadas cuyas edades estuvieron comprendidas entre 15 y 44 años. Dichas muestras fueron obtenidas entre julio de 1980 y junio de 1981 de pacientes a término de la gestación, hospitalizadas en la Maternidad Armando Castillo Plaza y de pacientes remitidas a diferentes edades de gestación a la Sección de Serología del Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo por médicos obstetras de la localidad. En cada una de esas muestras se investigó la presencia de anticuerpos para Cito megalovirus mediante la prueba de Inmunofluorescencia indirecta. Los resultados obtenidos demostraron que 138 muestras (46,2%) fueron positivas a la dilución 1:16 y 161 (53,8%) fueron negativas a esta misma dilución. En la investigación realizada en el presente estudio, encontramos que el 400f0 de las embarazadas del grupo etario de 15-19 años mostraron anticuerpos, y que este porcentaje se elevó al 48,9% en el grupo etario de 30-44 años

AJAM-A–tetraspanin–αvβ5 integrin complex regulates contact inhibition of locomotion

Contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) is a process that regulates cell motility upon collision with other cells. Improper regulation of CIL has been implicated in cancer cell dissemination. Here, we identify the cell adhesion molecule JAM-A as a central regulator of CIL in tumor cells. JAM-A is part of a multimolecular signaling complex in which tetraspanins CD9 and CD81 link JAM-A to αvβ5 integrin. JAM-A binds Csk and inhibits the activity of αvβ5 integrin-associated Src. Loss of JAM-A results in increased activities of downstream effectors of Src, including Erk1/2, Abi1, and paxillin, as well as increased activity of Rac1 at cell–cell contact sites. As a consequence, JAM-A-depleted cells show increased motility, have a higher cell–matrix turnover, and fail to halt migration when colliding with other cells. We also find that proper regulation of CIL depends on αvβ5 integrin engagement. Our findings identify a molecular mechanism that regulates CIL in tumor cells and have implications on tumor cell dissemination.publishedVersio

Definition of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is generally defined as the perception of sound in the absence of vibration of an external elastic body. If this definition appears useful to differentiate tinnitus from somatosounds, it is not suitable for distinguishing it from psychiatric hallucinations. Nor does this solution define a temporal limit of duration of the perception, which is important for distinguishing pathological tinnitus from those occasional noises that we all perceive from time to time. A complete definition appears necessary not only to achieve homogeneity in epidemiological studies but also to set up correct and personalized therapeutic schemes. An analogy with neuropsychiatric studies and, in particular, the concept of auditory hallucinosis are proposed by the authors to define tinnitus. According to the authors, tinnitus is auditory hallucinosis, and similarly, vertigo is spatial hallucinosis.</jats:p

Definition of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is generally defined as the perception of sound in the absence of vibration of an external elastic body. If this definition appears useful to differentiate tinnitus from somatosounds, it is not suitable for distinguishing it from psychiatric hallucinations. Nor does this solution define a temporal limit of duration of the perception, which is important for distinguishing pathological tinnitus from those occasional noises that we all perceive from time to time. A complete definition appears necessary not only to achieve homogeneity in epidemiological studies but also to set up correct and personalized therapeutic schemes. An analogy with neuropsychiatric studies and, in particular, the concept of auditory hallucinosis are proposed by the authors to define tinnitus. According to the authors, tinnitus is auditory hallucinosis, and similarly, vertigo is spatial hallucinosis