Notes

Main-Side Sequence Hydrogen Bonding-Based Self-Healable Memory together with Very Stretchable, Excellent Mechanical Properties regarding Self-Healing Acid-Base Resistant Coating.
Exposure to a pathogen primes many organisms to respond faster or more efficiently to subsequent exposures. Such priming can be non-specific or specific, and has been found to extend across generations. Disentangling and quantifying specific and non-specific effects is essential for understanding the genetic epidemiology of a system. By combining a large infection experiment and mathematical modelling, we disentangle different transgenerational effects in the crustacean model Daphnia magna exposed to different strains of the bacterial parasite Pasteuria ramosa. In the experiment, we exposed hosts to a high dose of one of three parasite strains, and subsequently challenged their offspring with multiple doses of the same (homologous) or a different (heterologous) strain. We find that exposure of Daphnia to Pasteuria decreases the susceptibility of their offspring by approximately 50%. This transgenerational protection is not larger for homologous than for heterologous parasite challenges. Methodologically, our work represents an important contribution not only to the analysis of immune priming in ecological systems but also to the experimental assessment of vaccines. We present, for the first time, an inference framework to investigate specific and non-specific effects of immune priming on the susceptibility distribution of hosts-effects that are central to understanding immunity and the effect of vaccines.Contagious yawning has been suggested to be a potential signal of empathy in non-human animals. However, few studies have been able to robustly test this claim. Here, we ran a Bayesian multilevel reanalysis of six studies of contagious yawning in dogs. This provided robust support for claims that contagious yawning is present in dogs, but found no evidence that dogs display either a familiarity or gender bias in contagious yawning, two predictions made by the contagious yawning-empathy hypothesis. Furthermore, in an experiment testing the prosociality bias, a novel prediction of the contagious yawning-empathy hypothesis, dogs did not yawn more in response to a prosocial demonstrator than to an antisocial demonstrator. find more As such, these strands of evidence suggest that contagious yawning, although present in dogs, is not mediated by empathetic mechanisms. This calls into question claims that contagious yawning is a signal of empathy in mammals.Background Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine tumor with an increasing incidence. Limited treatment options are available for patients with advanced or recurrent metastatic disease, resulting in a poor prognosis. Surufatinib targets multiple kinases (vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 and colony stimulating factor-1 receptor) involved in tumor angiogenesis and tumor immune evasion. Surufatinib has demonstrated promising antitumor activity in various advanced solid tumors. This study aimed to determine the objective response rate (ORR) of surufatinib in patients with locally advanced or distant metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), or medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Methods This Phase II, open-label study by Simon's two-stage design was conducted at 10 sites across China. Patients with radioiodine (RAI)-refractory DTC with locally advanced disease or distant metastasis (DTC1); who received limited initial surgery and then developed locally advantension (20.3%), proteinuria (11.9%), and then elevated blood pressure, hypertriglyceridemia, and pulmonary inflammation (5.1% each). Conclusions Surufatinib demonstrated promising efficacy with a tolerable and manageable safety profile for patients with locally advanced or metastatic MTC, RAI-refractory DTC, or locally advanced, unresectable recurrences unable to receive RAI.Bisphenol A (BPA) is an emerging pollutant of global concern. Viviparous fish Goodea atripinnis is endemic to the Central Mexican Plateau where BPA was detected; however, few studies examined the influence of this chemical on native viviparous fish. The effects of BPA (sublethal dose) were determined on DNA integrity and Foxl2 expression in G. atripinnis gonads, and interactions of BPA with FOXL2 protein. Genotoxicity analysis revealed that % comets, at 14 and 28 days and comet tail length (at 14 days) were significantly higher in exposed compared to controls. In general, the % DNA tail was not markedly higher in BPA-treated fish; however, tail moment related to tail length exhibited significant increases in DNA damage. RT-qPCR assays showed Foxl2 overexpression after 14 and 28 days of exposure in females; while in males, Foxl2 was overexpressed after 28 days. In silico analysis demonstrated that BPA interacted with seven residues located in FOXL2 homeodomain. In summary, sublethal BPA doses induced DNA damage and changes in Foxl2 expression in gonadal cells of G. atripinnis, which may adversely affect reproduction in BPA-exposed wild populations. Foxl2 overexpression and BPA-FOXL2 interaction suggested alterations in processes involving Foxl2. Viviparous fish may thus serve as potential non-conventional models for assessing pollutants effects.Synaptic plasticity, the activity-dependent change in neuronal connection strength, has long been considered an important component of learning and memory. Computational and engineering work corroborate the power of learning through the directed adjustment of connection weights. Here we review the fundamental elements of four broadly categorized forms of synaptic plasticity and discuss their functional capabilities and limitations. Although standard, correlation-based, Hebbian synaptic plasticity has been the primary focus of neuroscientists for decades, it is inherently limited. Three-factor plasticity rules supplement Hebbian forms with neuromodulation and eligibility traces, while true supervised types go even further by adding objectives and instructive signals. Finally, a recently discovered hippocampal form of synaptic plasticity combines the above elements, while leaving behind the primary Hebbian requirement. We suggest that the effort to determine the neural basis of adaptive behavior could benefit from renewed experimental and theoretical investigation of more powerful directed types of synaptic plasticity. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 43 is July 8, 2020. Please see http//www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.While neurons and circuits are almost unequivocally considered to be the computational units and actuators of behavior, a complete understanding of the nervous system must incorporate glial cells. Far beyond a copious but passive substrate, glial influence is inextricable from neuronal physiology, whether during developmental guidance and synaptic shaping or through the trophic support, neurotransmitter and ion homeostasis, cytokine signaling and immune function, and debris engulfment contributions that this class provides throughout an organism's life. With such essential functions, among a growing literature of nuanced roles, it follows that glia are consequential to behavior in adult animals, with novel genetic tools allowing for the investigation of these phenomena in living organisms. We discuss here the relevance of glia for maintaining circadian rhythms and also for serving functions of sleep. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 43 is July 8, 2020. Please see http//www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.Cells of the oligodendrocyte lineage express a wide range of Ca2+ channels and receptors that regulate oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) and oligodendrocyte formation and function. Here we define those key channels and receptors that regulate Ca2+ signaling and OPC development and myelination. We then discuss how the regulation of intracellular Ca2+ in turn affects OPC and oligodendrocyte biology in the healthy nervous system and under pathological conditions. Activation of Ca2+ channels and receptors in OPCs and oligodendrocytes by neurotransmitters converges on regulating intracellular Ca2+, making Ca2+ signaling a central candidate mediator of activity-driven myelination. Indeed, recent evidence indicates that localized changes in Ca2+ in oligodendrocytes can regulate the formation and remodeling of myelin sheaths and perhaps additional functions of oligodendrocytes and OPCs. Thus, decoding how OPCs and myelinating oligodendrocytes integrate and process Ca2+ signals will be important to fully understand central nervous system formation, health, and function. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 43 is July 8, 2020. Please see http//www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.Itch is a unique sensation that helps organisms scratch away external threats; scratching itself induces an immune response that can contribute to more itchiness. Itch is induced chemically in the peripheral nervous system via a wide array of receptors. Given the superficial localization of itch neuron terminals, cells that dwell close to the skin contribute significantly to itch. Certain mechanical stimuli mediated by recently discovered circuits also contribute to the itch sensation. Ultimately, in the spinal cord, and likely in the brain, circuits that mediate touch, pain, and itch engage in cross modulation. Much of itch perception is still a mystery, but we present in this review the known ligands and receptors associated with itch. We also describe experiments and findings from investigations into the spinal and supraspinal circuitry responsible for the sensation of itch. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 43 is July 8, 2020. Please see http//www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.Intriguing properties of photoemission from free, unsupported particles and droplets were predicted nearly 50 years ago, though experiments were a technical challenge. The last few decades have seen a surge of research in the field, due to advances in aerosol technology (generation, characterization, and transfer into vacuum), the development of photoelectron imaging spectrometers, and advances in vacuum ultraviolet and ultrafast light sources. Particles and droplets offer several advantages for photoemission studies. For example, photoemission spectra are dependent on the particle's size, shape, and composition, providing a wealth of information that allows for the retrieval of genuine electronic properties of condensed phase. In this review, with a focus on submicrometer-sized, dielectric particles and droplets, we explain the utility of photoemission from such systems, summarize several applications from the literature, and present some thoughts on future research directions. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Volume 71 is April 20, 2020. Please see http//www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.Ever since Clausius in 1865 and Boltzmann in 1877, the concepts of entropy and of its maximization have been the foundations for predicting how material equilibria derive from microscopic properties. But, despite much work, there has been no equally satisfactory general variational principle for nonequilibrium situations. However, in 1980, a new avenue was opened by E.T. Jaynes and by Shore and Johnson. We review here maximum caliber, which is a maximum-entropy-like principle that can infer distributions of flows over pathways, given dynamical constraints. This approach is providing new insights, particularly into few-particle complex systems, such as gene circuits, protein conformational reaction coordinates, network traffic, bird flocking, cell motility, and neuronal firing. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Volume 71 is April 20, 2020. Please see http//www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Read More: https://www.selleckchem.com/products/cx-5461.html