1,310 research outputs found

    Biosynthesis of the Egg-Laying Hormone (ELH) in the Bag Cell Neurons of Aplysia californica

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    Biosynthesis of the egg-laying hormone in the bag cell neurons of Aplysia californica was studied. Bag cells were incubated with leucine-3H in vitro for 30 min and rinsed for variable periods of time in a chase medium. The distribution of incorporated label among proteins within the cells was assayed by electrophoresis of an homogenate on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels. Results from rinse times shorter than 30 min revealed that the predominant synthetic product is a 25,000 dalton protein. With longer rinse times, this species was reduced and two species of lower molecular weight became prominent. This redistribution of radioactivity was quantitative and was not prevented by inhibition of protein synthesis during the rinse. A 10°C reduction in temperature (from 15°C) blocked the redistribution. These data are interpreted to indicate that the 25,000 dalton molecule is a precursor which is cleaved enzymatically to yield two lower molecular weight products. One product is a 12,000 dalton molecule which remains in the cell bodies. The other is a molecule of <10,000 daltons which is exported from the somata into the neurohemal regions of the connective tissue. Perfusion of these regions with high [K+] medium results in the release of this product into the medium. It is concluded that this product is the 6000 dalton egg-laying hormone (ELH)

    Polypeptide Secretion from the Isolated Parietovisceral Ganglion of Aplysia californica

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    In vitro studies of the secretory behavior of the parietovisceral ganglion in Aplysia californica were performed. The aim of these studies was to investigate the release of polypeptides in response to depolarizing stimuli, and, in particular, to determine if a specific polypeptide known to induce egg laying in the intact animal is secreted into the bathing medium. During continuous perfusion of a ganglion preincubated in leucine-3H the application of either high-potassium medium or a burst of electrical stimuli (via the pleurovisceral connective nerve) evoked a marked increase in the amount of trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-precipitable radioactivity recovered in the perfusate. Enhanced release could be detected within 80 sec of the initial exposure to high potassium; however, incubation of a ganglion in calcium-free media before the application of high-potassium medium abolished the increase of precipitable radioactivity. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of perfusate samples revealed a significant change in the polypeptide species washed from the ganglion during high-potassium depolarization. Bioassays confirmed that egg laying is induced when high-potassium medium used to bathe a ganglion is injected into a recipient animal. These and other results permit the conclusion that the bulk of the polypeptide material secreted from the ganglion in response to depolarization is a specific neurohormone produced by two identified cell clusters, the so-called bag cells

    Child court hearing in family cases: Questionnaire to assess the child needs during the juddes exploration

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    The basis of family law is the child's interest. This is related to the right to be listened to, but not as an obligation. As a consequence, there is a necessity for the judge to conduct a judicial exploration of the child. But, in general, the judges are not trained in this type of explorations, and they may consequently obtain erroneous information in their exploration. Therefore, in this work, we present the generation of a questionnaire that explores the judicial agents' necessities during judicial exploration of children. Five expert researchers in the subject participated in creating the questionnaire; five family judges participated in the pilot test; and in the final study, 63 family judges answered the final questionnaire. Global reliability was adequate (.858), as was the reliability for interviewer's skills, but it was not for the other areas of the questionnaire. An exploratory factor analysis showed a factor structure consisting of 5 factors that accounted for 46.12% of the total variance, but these five factors don't correspond to the factors provided by experts. But construct validity validated the structure provided by the experts (X^2 /df = 1.35; BBNNFI = .873; CFI = .879; IFI = .881; RMR = .139; SRMR = .153; RMSEA = .075). To sum up, we can say that the questionnaire could be improved, but the best areas are the stages of the interview and the interviewer's skills

    Thermal stress induces glycolytic beige fat formation via a myogenic state.

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    Environmental cues profoundly affect cellular plasticity in multicellular organisms. For instance, exercise promotes a glycolytic-to-oxidative fibre-type switch in skeletal muscle, and cold acclimation induces beige adipocyte biogenesis in adipose tissue. However, the molecular mechanisms by which physiological or pathological cues evoke developmental plasticity remain incompletely understood. Here we report a type of beige adipocyte that has a critical role in chronic cold adaptation in the absence of β-adrenergic receptor signalling. This beige fat is distinct from conventional beige fat with respect to developmental origin and regulation, and displays enhanced glucose oxidation. We therefore refer to it as glycolytic beige fat. Mechanistically, we identify GA-binding protein α as a regulator of glycolytic beige adipocyte differentiation through a myogenic intermediate. Our study reveals a non-canonical adaptive mechanism by which thermal stress induces progenitor cell plasticity and recruits a distinct form of thermogenic cell that is required for energy homeostasis and survival

    Emotional arousal in agenesis of the corpus callosum

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    While the processing of verbal and psychophysiological indices of emotional arousal have been investigated extensively in relation to the left and right cerebral hemispheres, it remains poorly understood how both hemispheres normally function together to generate emotional responses to stimuli. Drawing on a unique sample of nine high-functioning subjects with complete agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC), we investigated this issue using standardized emotional visual stimuli. Compared to healthy controls, subjects with AgCC showed a larger variance in their cognitive ratings of valence and arousal, and an insensitivity to the emotion category of the stimuli, especially for negatively-valenced stimuli, and especially for their arousal. Despite their impaired cognitive ratings of arousal, some subjects with AgCC showed large skin-conductance responses, and in general skin-conductance responses discriminated emotion categories and correlated with stimulus arousal ratings. We suggest that largely intact right hemisphere mechanisms can support psychophysiological emotional responses, but that the lack of interhemispheric communication between the hemispheres, perhaps together with dysfunction of the anterior cingulate cortex, interferes with normal verbal ratings of arousal, a mechanism in line with some models of alexithymia

    Tracking Electronic Resource Acquisitions: Using a Helpdesk System to Succeed where your ERMS Failed

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    From selection to license negotiation through activation, libraries need the ability to track the electronic resource acquisition process and support uninterrupted workflow through multiple people and/or departments. Existing systems store fragments of information about a resource, but they don’t support management of the progress of each resource through the electronic resource acquisition maze. Stanford and Claremont have configured the JIRA and Footprints ticketing systems to address this fundamental need. Our systems facilitate efficient and complete activation of e-resources, and allow greater transparency in the acquisitions process throughout the organization. We will demonstrate the key features & functionality of our independently configured systems and invite discussion about these critical improvements to electronic resource management systems

    Consumer Storytelling of Brand Archetypal Enactments

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    The study here probes the perspective that consumers use certain brands as actors that play roles in the consumers’ lives and that help consumers as protagonists to enact roles that give them the feelings of achievement, well-being, and/or emotional excitement. The method enables the uncovering of archetypes as unconscious forces that drive consumers to specific actions implicitly and to a less extent, explicitly. The study employs two techniques: degrees-of-freedom analysis (DFA) to test whether or not consumer stories fit a given archetypal theme and visual narrative art (VNA) to confirm whether or not consumer’s own stories enact a specific archetype and how such enactments are done. This study offers an alternative for survey auditing consumer-brand relationships; the study here describes and explains the importance of narratives in consumer behaviour and the use of archetypes as universal themes that aid understanding of brand-consumer relationships. The study describes DFA and VNA with two examples of the use of these analytics

    Mindfulness-based interventions for people diagnosed with a current episode of an anxiety or depressive disorder: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

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    Objective Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can reduce risk of depressive relapse for people with a history of recurrent depression who are currently well. However, the cognitive, affective and motivational features of depression and anxiety might render MBIs ineffective for people experiencing current symptoms. This paper presents a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of MBIs where participants met diagnostic criteria for a current episode of an anxiety or depressive disorder. Method Post-intervention between-group Hedges g effect sizes were calculated using a random effects model. Moderator analyses of primary diagnosis, intervention type and control condition were conducted and publication bias was assessed. Results Twelve studies met inclusion criteria (n = 578). There were significant post-intervention between-group benefits of MBIs relative to control conditions on primary symptom severity (Hedges g = −0.59, 95% CI = −0.12 to −1.06). Effects were demonstrated for depressive symptom severity (Hedges g = −0.73, 95% CI = −0.09 to −1.36), but not for anxiety symptom severity (Hedges g = −0.55, 95% CI = 0.09 to −1.18), for RCTs with an inactive control (Hedges g = −1.03, 95% CI = −0.40 to −1.66), but not where there was an active control (Hedges g = 0.03, 95% CI = 0.54 to −0.48) and effects were found for MBCT (Hedges g = −0.39, 95% CI = −0.15 to −0.63) but not for MBSR (Hedges g = −0.75, 95% CI = 0.31 to −1.81). Conclusions This is the first meta-analysis of RCTs of MBIs where all studies included only participants who were diagnosed with a current episode of a depressive or anxiety disorder. Effects of MBIs on primary symptom severity were found for people with a current depressive disorder and it is recommended that MBIs might be considered as an intervention for this population
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