<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rgcs1</Emphasis>, a dominant QTL that affects retinal ganglion cell death after optic nerve crush in mice

Background  

Intrinsic apoptosis of neuronal somas is one aspect of neurodegenerative diseases that can be influenced by genetic background. Genes that affect this process may act as susceptibility alleles that contribute to the complex genetic nature of these diseases. Retinal ganglion cell death is a defining feature of the chronic and genetically complex neurodegenerative disease glaucoma. Previous studies using an optic nerve crush procedure in inbred mice, showed that ganglion cell resistance to crush was affected by the Mendelian-dominant inheritance of 1–2 predicted loci. To assess this further, we bred and phenotyped a large population of F2 mice derived from a resistant inbred strain (DBA/2J) and a susceptible strain (BALB/cByJ).     

Unification and hierarchy from 5D anti-de Sitter space

We show that perturbative high scale unification and a solution to the hierarchy problem are possible with extra dimensions in the context of the warped geometry of 5D anti-de Sitter space ( AdS(5)). This is possible because the couplings for bulk gauge bosons run logarithmically below the AdS(5) curvature scale. The calculation is done in five dimensions, rather than in the effective theory, which is strongly coupled above the TeV scale.     

The developmental pattern of stimulus and response interference in a color-object Stroop task: an ERP study

Background

Several studies have shown that Stroop interference is stronger in children than in adults. However, in a standard Stroop paradigm, stimulus interference and response interference are confounded. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether interference at the stimulus level and the response level are subject to distinct maturational patterns across childhood. Three groups of children (6–7 year-olds, 8–9 year-olds, and 10–12 year-olds) and a group of adults performed a manual Color-Object Stroop designed to disentangle stimulus interference and response interference. This was accomplished by comparing three trial types. In congruent (C) trials there was no interference. In stimulus incongruent (SI) trials there was only stimulus interference. In response incongruent (RI) trials there was stimulus interference and response interference. Stimulus interference and response interference were measured by a comparison of SI with C, and RI with SI trials, respectively. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured to study the temporal dynamics of these processes of interference.

Results

There was no behavioral evidence for stimulus interference in any of the groups, but in 6–7 year-old children ERPs in the SI condition in comparison with the C condition showed an occipital P1-reduction (80–140 ms) and a widely distributed amplitude enhancement of a negative component followed by an amplitude reduction of a positive component (400–560 ms). For response interference, all groups showed a comparable reaction time (RT) delay, but children made more errors than adults. ERPs in the RI condition in comparison with the SI condition showed an amplitude reduction of a positive component over lateral parietal (-occipital) sites in 10–12 year-olds and adults (300–540 ms), and a widely distributed amplitude enhancement of a positive component in all age groups (680–960 ms). The size of the enhancement correlated positively with the RT response interference effect.

Conclusion

Although processes of stimulus interference control as measured with the color-object Stroop task seem to reach mature levels relatively early in childhood (6–7 years), development of response interference control appears to continue into late adolescence as 10–12 year-olds were still more susceptible to errors of response interference than adults.     

Zur Struktur der vierdimensionalen quadratischen Algebren

Assuming properties, which are essential for division algebras, but mostly invariant to extensions of the ground field, we investigate the structure of quadratic division algebras of dimension four over an arbitrary field of characteristic not two. We relate the size of the group of automorphisms of such an algebra A to algebraic laws valid in A, characterize Lie-admissibility by means of the skew-commutative vector algebra of A and outline the possibilities of describing A by irreducible identities of degree 3. Some results of the last chapter apply to arbitrary dimensions. We show, that a simple quadratic algebra with the right (left) inverse property for invertible elements is a composition algebra. Finally we conclude, that a quadratic division algebra of dimension four with a right (left) nucleus different from the center is associative.     

Directed flow of lambda hyperons in (2-6 )A GeV Au+Au collisions

Directed flow measurements for Lambda hyperons are presented and compared to those for protons produced in the same Au+Au collisions (2A, 4A, and 6A GeV; b<5-6 fm). The measurements indicate that Lambda hyperons flow consistently in the same direction but with smaller magnitudes. A strong positive flow [for Lambdas] has been predicted in calculations which include the influence of the Lambda-nucleon potential. The experimental flow ratio Lambda/p is in qualitative agreement with expectations (approximately 2/3) from the quark counting rule at 2A GeV but is found to decrease with increasing beam energy.     

Identification of a set of genes showing regionally enriched expression in the mouse brain

Background

We have recorded responses from single neurons in murine visual cortex to determine the effectiveness of the input from the two murine cone photoreceptor mechanisms and whether there is any unique selectivity for cone inputs at this higher region of the visual system that would support the possibility of colour vision in mice. Each eye was stimulated by diffuse light, either 370 (strong stimulus for the ultra-violet (UV) cone opsin) or 505 nm (exclusively stimulating the middle wavelength sensitive (M) cone opsin), obtained from light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the presence of a strong adapting light that suppressed the responses of rods.

Results

Single cells responded to these diffuse stimuli in all areas of striate cortex. Two types of responsive cells were encountered. One type (135/323 – 42%) had little to no spontaneous activity and responded at either the on and/or the off phase of the light stimulus with a few impulses often of relatively large amplitude. A second type (166/323 – 51%) had spontaneous activity and responded tonically to light stimuli with impulses often of small amplitude. Most of the cells responded similarly to both spectral stimuli. A few (18/323 – 6%) responded strongly or exclusively to one or the other spectral stimulus and rarely in a spectrally opponent manner.

Conclusion

Most cells in murine striate cortex receive excitatory inputs from both UV- and M-cones. A small fraction shows either strong selectivity for one or the other cone mechanism and occasionally cone opponent responses. Cells that could underlie chromatic contrast detection are present but extremely rare in murine striate cortex.