Top-down and bottom-up modulation of language related areas – An fMRI Study

Background  

One major problem for cognitive neuroscience is to describe the interaction between stimulus and task driven neural modulation. We used fMRI to investigate this interaction in the human brain. Ten male subjects performed a passive listening and a semantic categorization task in a factorial design. In both tasks, words were presented auditorily at three different rates.     

Watching TV news as a memory task – brain activation and age effects

Background  

Neuroimaging studies which investigate brain activity underlying declarative memory processes typically use artificial, unimodal laboratory stimuli. In contrast, we developed a paradigm which much more closely approximates real-life situations of information encoding.     

A Study on Spectro-Analytical Aspects,DNA – Interaction,Photo-Cleavage,Radical Scavenging,Cytotoxic Activities,Antibacterial and Docking Properties of 3 – (1 – (6 – methoxybenzo [d] thiazol – 2 – ylimino) ethyl) – 6 – methyl – 3H – pyran - 2, 4 – dione and its Metal Complexes

The focus of the present work is on the design, synthesis, characterization, DNA-interaction, photo-cleavage, radical scavenging, in-vitro cytotoxicity, antimicrobial, docking and kinetic studies of Cu (II), Cd (II), Ce (IV) and Zr (IV) metal complexes of an imine derivative, 3 – (1 – (6 – methoxybenzo [d] thiazol – 2 – ylimino) ethyl) – 6 – methyl – 3H – pyran – 2, 4 – dione. The investigation of metal ligand interactions for the determination of composition of metal complexes, corresponding kinetic studies and antioxidant activity in solution was carried out by spectrophotometric methods. The synthesized metal complexes were characterized by EDX analysis, Mass, IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and UV–Visible spectra. DNA binding studies of metal complexes with Calf thymus (CT) DNA were carried out at room temperature by employing UV-Vis electron absorption, fluorescence emission and viscosity measurement techniques. The results revealed that these complexes interact with DNA through intercalation. The results of in vitro antibacterial studies showed the enhanced activity of chelating agent in metal chelated form and thus inferring scope for further development of new therapeutic drugs. Cell viability experiments indicated that all complexes showed significant dose dependent cytotoxicity in selected cell lines. The molecular modeling and docking studies were carried out with energy minimized structures of metal complexes to identify the receptor to metal interactions.     

Editorial – Topical Review

Starting from a family of equations of motion for the dynamics of extended systems whose trajectories sample constant pressure and temperature ensemble distributions (Ferrario, M., 1993, in Computer Simulation in Chemical Physics, edited by M. P. Allen and D. J. Tildesley (Dordrecht: Kluwer)), explicit time reversible integration schemes are derived through a straightforward Trotter factorization of the dynamic Liouville propagator, along the lines first described by Tuckerman, M., Martyna, G. J., and Berne, B. J., 1992, J. chem. Phys., 97, 1990. The original Andersen's constant-pressure dynamics are recovered in the limit of zero coupling with the Nose thermostat. Reversible integration schemes are derived as a generalization of the velocity Verlet algorithm, with direct handling of the velocity dependent forces in such a way that both predictions and relative iterative corrections are not required. For the sake of clarity both the equations of motion and the Trotter factorization are kept to the basic level. The proposed structure can accommodate easily, when needed, complications such as multiple timesteps and more effective thermostats (Nose-Hoover-chain). Finally, an application is made to a model molecular system subjected to holonomic constraints by means of the SHAKE algorithm. In the constant pressure case it is no longer possible to avoid using a prediction for the constraint contribution to the volume acceleration; however, recourse to a minimal iteration scheme still achieves excellent overall behaviour for the proposed integration algorithm, with no perceptible difference from the unconstrained case.     

fMRI在经颅直流电刺激研究中的应用进展

经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）是一种新颖的神经系统疾病治疗手段，可非侵入性调控中枢神经活动.它具有安全、成本低、疗效显著等特点，因此在神经科学等领域被大量研究和应用.功能磁共振成像（fMRI）具备高时空分辨率的优势，近年来被广泛用于tDCS治疗效果的评估及其作用机制的研究.本文从临床研究与动物模型实验两方面总结fMRI技术应用于tDCS研究中的最新进展，并讨论其应用前景.     

Nanodosimetry of 125I – Auger electrons – Experiment and modeling

The experiment with ¹²⁵I-Auger electrons, interacting with gaseous nitrogen with size equivalent to segment of DNA in mass per unit area scale, are described. The discrete ionization cluster-size distributions have been obtained. The shapes of which are definitely determined by the size of the interaction volumes. The volume sizes studied in the present work are comparable with a segment of DNA and of nucleosome. The experiments have been carried out with the set up, called Jet Counter, and are the first cluster-size distributions as yet measured for an Auger-electron emitter like ¹²⁵I. The experimental results have been compared with those obtained by Monte Carlo simulation. The results for ¹²⁵I have been compared with calculated cluster size distribution for ¹³¹I.     

Evolving network – simulation study

The Watts-Strogatz algorithm of transferring the square lattice to a small world network is modified by introducing preferential rewiring constrained by connectivity demand. The evolution of the network is two-step: sequential preferential rewiring of edges controlled by p and updating the information about changes done. The evolving system self-organizes into stationary states. The topological transition in the graph structure is noticed with respect to p. Leafy phase – a graph formed by multiple connected vertices (graph skeleton) with plenty of leaves attached to each skeleton vertex emerges when p is small enough to pretend asynchronous evolution. Tangling phase where edges of a graph circulate frequently among low degree vertices occurs when p is large. There exist conditions at which the resulting stationary network ensemble provides networks which degree distribution exhibit power-law decay in large interval of degrees.     

一种用于fMRI的嗅觉刺激装置优化与验证

为搭建可用于磁共振环境下的自动控制嗅觉刺激器,本文根据刺激装置搭建的通用要求和实验室已有装置的性能提出了改进需求和系统整体设计方案．刺激装置分为控制系统与气体输送系统两部分．控制系统的软件部分基于LabVIEW平台编程,采用了虚拟仪器方案,提供可输入刺激序列的人机界面,并根据不同的刺激需求来控制电磁阀动作,以切换不同气路．气体输送系统由4条可变支路和1条恒流支路组成,其中的3条可变气路由洁净空气分别通过装有不同气味液体的洗气瓶来产生3种刺激气味．系统搭建完成后,使用霍尼韦尔AWM43600空气流量传感器测量了系统气体流量波动率为0.3%,同时测得不同刺激气路切换时的切换响应时间为1.07 s．最后使用该刺激装置对8名被试进行嗅觉刺激的同时进行功能磁共振成像（fMRI）实验,实验采用了乙醇、吡啶和乙酸异戊酯3种刺激气味,fMRI图像结果显示被试的嗅觉受到刺激后,丘脑、杏仁核、梨状皮质、眶额皮层等嗅觉相关脑区激活．以上实验表明,本文搭建的指标可量化的刺激器更能满足嗅觉fMRI实验的要求．     

Boost-rotation symmetric spacetimes – Review

Boost-rotation symmetric spacetimes are the only locally asymptotically flat axially symmetric electrovacuum spacetimes with a further symmetry that are radiative. They are realized by uniformly accelerated particles of various kinds or black holes. Their general properties are summarized. Several examples of boost-rotation symmetric solutions of the Maxwell and Einstein equations are studied: uniformly accelerated electric and magnetic multipoles, the Bonnor-Swaminarayan solutions, the C-metric and the spinning C-metric.     

Pekeris approximation – another perspective

Inspired on the Pekeris approximation for the centrifugal term, we elaborate a method of resolution for the Schrödinger equation subject to a potential V(r)$V(r)$ of a form more general than the exponential one. Generalizing the Pekeris approximation, we solve the Schrödinger equation with Rosen–Morse and Manning–Rosen potentials including the centrifugal term. The bound state energy eigenvalues for these potentials and for arbitrary values of n and l quantum numbers are presented.     

一种用于fMRI的嗅觉刺激装置设计与验证

为了实现任务态f MRI的嗅觉刺激装置的设计和功能验证.满足嗅觉f MRI实验的自动化刺激要求.首先,针对嗅觉刺激和人体嗅觉感受的特点,结合使用环境的要求,总结嗅觉f MRI的实验设计方法,归纳出用于f MRI的嗅觉刺激装置的具体需求.将刺激装置分为气路系统和控制系统、气路系统采用洁净空气通过气味溶液产生相应的气味气体,通过多支路切换达到输出不同气味的目的;控制系统采用虚拟仪器方案,其软件基于Lab VIEW平台编程,提供可输入刺激序列的人机界面,并根据要求控制电磁阀切换不同气路.然后,使用该刺激装置对单个被试进行嗅觉刺激并成像,刺激气体采用乙酸异戊酯和吡啶,实验为组块设计,使用Siemens 3.0 T MRI仪器EPI序列进行扫描,数据处理采用基于Matlab软件的SPM8和Mars Ba R工具包.选取眶额叶和岛叶中的脑激活团簇作为感兴趣区域(ROI)进行分析,激活信号在时间上的强度变化与刺激序列变化基本一致,吡啶组块的激活信号强度大于乙酸异戊酯组块激活强度,且其强度变化比乙酸异戊酯组块更符合刺激序列.ROI分析证明刺激装置基本满足嗅觉f MRI实验需要,具有较强的可用性.此外,在相同的刺激时间和间隔时间下,人脑同一区域对不同刺激气味的激活反应可能不同.     

一种用于fMRI的温度觉刺激装置的设计与验证

介绍了一种用于功能磁共振成像(f MRI)的温度觉刺激装置的设计与验证,该装置能够用于f MRI温度觉的脑功能研究,满足温度觉f MRI实验的自动化刺激要求.整个刺激装置设计了以微控制器为核心的控制电路,通过数据采集卡能够与上位机Lab VIEW软件进行数据通讯,并将获取的数据通过特定的串口协议传递给数字PID温控模块,实现对刺激端温度的精确调控.最后,使用该刺激装置对多名被试进行了温度觉的脑功能实验,实验结果验证了该设计的可行性.     

On contour crossings in contour-advective simulations – part 1 – algorithm for detection and quantification

This is the first of two papers devoted to the analysis of contour crossing errors that occur in contour-advective simulations of fluid motion. Here an algorithm is presented for quantifying the error due to contour crossings. The first step is to determine the relative proximity of all possible pairs of contours. A digital representation of each contour is produced to aid in the corresponding calculation. Simple analysis of functions is then used to find any crossings between contours deemed close to each other by the digital representation method. Next, the area in error of a pair of crossing contours is calculated by identifying the polygon or polygons that approximately bound the erroneous region. Finally, some preliminary results of analysis of contour crossings that occur in contour-advective semi-lagrangian (CASL) simulations of single layer quasigeostrophic turbulence are presented. It is shown that the error due to contour crossings is small in the simulations considered here.     

Local activation of crystals by γ-rays and self-organization processes

It was shown that irradiation of the crystals with high-energy (up to 55 MeV) γ-rays leads to the prolonged self-organization of atomic displacements. A tiny portion (at about 10^?9 of the sample volume) of the initially excited atoms organize the entire crystal volume with respect to the time and the space.     

Radium equivalent and annual effective dose from geological samples from Pedra – Pernambuco – Brazil

The natural radioactivity of an uranium-anomalous area utilized for agricultural activities in Pedra, Brazil, was monitored. For this, samples from the granite and calcium-silicate amphibole rocks underlying this area and also from samples of the soil derived from these rocks were collected and analyzed by high-resolution gamma spectrometry. The equivalent radium (Ra_eq) was used as a reference for estimating the rate of the effective equivalent dose. The average, minimum and maximum values for the samples were of 319.2 Bq kg^?1 (91.1–758.5 Bq kg^?1) for soil; 327.5 Bq kg^?1 (36.3–1624.0 Bq kg^?1) for granitic rocks and 70,124.5 Bq kg^?1 (16,979.6–147,159.0 Bq kg^?1) for the calcium-silicate amphibole rocks. An estimation of the external exposition was carried out based on the calculation of the parameters obtained.     

DARWIN – The infrared space interferometer

The major technical elements of the DARWIN mission are described. These are based on the analysis and design work carried out by Alcatel Space during the course of an industrial contract issued by the European Space Agency, for the preliminary feasibility study of the mission. It is found that the initially chosen scientific and system requirements of the DARWIN mission, including that corresponding to the highly challenging task of detecting and spectrally analysing `Earth-like' exo-planets orbiting nearby stars, can be satisfied. It has also been shown that a complementary `imaging capability' could be implemented, using the same beam-combining optics as for the nulling mode of the interferometer.