Percept-related activity in the human somatosensory system: functional magnetic resonance imaging studies

In this paper, we review blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies addressing the neural correlates of touch, thermosensation, pain and the mechanisms of their cognitive modulation in healthy human subjects. There is evidence that fMRI signal changes can be elicited in the parietal cortex by stimulation of single mechanoceptive afferent fibers at suprathreshold intensities for conscious perception. Positive linear relationships between the amplitude or the spatial extents of BOLD fMRI signal changes, stimulus intensity and the perceived touch or pain intensity have been described in different brain areas. Some recent fMRI studies addressed the role of cortical areas in somatosensory perception by comparing the time course of cortical activity evoked by different kinds of stimuli with the temporal features of touch, heat or pain perception. Moreover, parametric single-trial functional MRI designs have been adopted in order to disentangle subprocesses within the nociceptive system.

Available evidence suggest that studies that combine fMRI with psychophysical methods may provide a valuable approach for understanding complex perceptual mechanisms and top-down modulation of the somatosensory system by cognitive factors specifically related to selective attention and to anticipation. The brain networks underlying somatosensory perception are complex and highly distributed. A deeper understanding of perceptual-related brain mechanisms therefore requires new approaches suited to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of activation in different brain regions and their functional interaction.     

Isomonodromic deformations and twisted Yangians arising in Teichmüller theory

In this paper we build a link between the Teichmüller theory of hyperbolic Riemann surfaces and isomonodromic deformations of linear systems whose monodromy group is the Fuchsian group associated to the given hyperbolic Riemann surface by the Poincaré uniformization. In the case of a one-sheeted hyperboloid with n orbifold points we show that the Poisson algebra Dn of geodesic length functions is the semiclassical limit of the twisted q-Yangian for the orthogonal Lie algebra on defined by Molev, Ragoucy and Sorba. We give a representation of the braid-group action on Dn in terms of an adjoint matrix action. We characterize two types of finite-dimensional Poissonian reductions and give an explicit expression for the generating function of their central elements. Finally, we interpret the algebra Dn as the Poisson algebra of monodromy data of a Frobenius manifold in the vicinity of a non-semi-simple point.     

Simultaneous analysis of buprenorphine,methadone, cocaine,opiates and nicotine metabolites in sweat by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for buprenorphine (BUP), norbuprenorphine (NBUP), methadone, 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP), cocaine, benzoylecgonine, ecgonine methyl ester (EME), morphine, codeine, 6-acetylmorphine, heroin, 6-acetylcodeine, cotinine, and trans-3′-hydroxycotinine quantification in sweat was developed and comprehensively validated. Sweat patches were mixed with 6 mL acetate buffer at pH 4.5, and supernatant extracted with Strata-XC-cartridges. Reverse-phase separation was achieved with a gradient mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile in 15 min. Quantification was achieved by multiple reaction monitoring of two transitions per compound. The assay was a linear 1–1,000 ng/patch, except EME 5–1,000 ng/patch. Intra-, inter-day and total imprecision were <10.1%CV, analytical recovery 87.2–107.7%, extraction efficiency 35.3–160.9%, and process efficiency 25.5–91.7%. Ion suppression was detected for EME (−63.3%) and EDDP (−60.4%), and enhancement for NBUP (42.6%). Deuterated internal standards compensated for these effects. No carryover was detected, and all analytes were stable for 24 h at 22 °C, 72 h at 4 °C, and after three freeze/thaw cycles. The method was applied to weekly sweat patches from an opioid-dependent BUP-maintained pregnant woman; 75.0% of sweat patches were positive for BUP, 93.8% for cocaine, 37.5% for opiates, 6.3% for methadone and all for tobacco biomarkers. This method permits a fast and simultaneous quantification of 14 drugs and metabolites in sweat patches, with good selectivity and sensitivity.     

Application of headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to determine short-chain alkane monocarboxylic acids in aqueous samples

In this study, a procedure was developed to determine short-chain alkane monocarboxylic acids (SCMAs) in aqueous samples using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS). A Stabilwax-DA capillary column (30 m × 0.32-mm inner diameter, 0.50-μm film thickness) was used for GC separation and a 60-μm poly(ethylene glycol) fiber was used to isolate SCMAs from water and introduce them into the gas chromatograph. Parameters of HS-SPME, analyte desorption, and GC-MS analysis were selected and an analytical procedure was proposed. Limits of quantitation were on the order of about 0.2 mg L^-1. As an example of the application of the procedure, SCAMs were determined in municipal wastewater at different steps of treatment.     

Synthesis of a natural gamma-butyrolactone from nerylacetone by Acremonium roseum and Fusarium oxysporum cultures

Natural gamma-butyrolactone - (4R, 5R)-5-(4'-methyl-3'pentenyl)-4-hydroxy-5-methyl-dihydrofuran-2-one (2) was isolated as the product of microbial transformation of nerylacetone (1) by fungal strains. This product was obtained as the enantiomer (+) in high yields 24% and 61% with ee=94% and 82% by the biotransformation in the cultures of Acremonium roseum AM336 and Fusarium oxysporum AM13 respectively.     

On the Role of Flexibility in Protein–Ligand Interactions: the Example of p53 Tetramerization Domain

The recognition of protein surfaces by designed ligands has become an attractive approach in drug discovery. However, the variable nature and irregular behavior of protein surfaces defy this new area of research. The easy to understand “lock‐and‐key” model is far from being the ideal paradigm in biomolecular interactions and, hence, any new finding on how proteins and ligands behave in recognition events paves a step of the way. Herein, we illustrate a clear example on how an increase in flexibility of both protein and ligand can result in an increase in the stability of the macromolecular complex. The biophysical study of the interaction between a designed flexible tetraguanidinium‐calix[4]arene and the tetramerization domain of protein p53 (p53TD) and its natural mutant p53TD‐R337H shows how the floppy mutant domain interacts more tightly with the ligand than the well‐packed wild‐type protein. Moreover, the flexible calixarene ligand interacts with higher affinity to both wild‐type and mutated protein domains than a conformationally rigid calixarene analog previously reported. These findings underscore the crucial role of flexibility in molecular recognition processes, for both small ligands and large biomolecular surfaces.     

Comparison of radiative energy loss models in a hot QCD medium

The suppression of high pT$p_T$ hadron production in heavy ion collisions is thought to be due to energy loss by gluon radiation off hard partons in a QCD medium. Existing models of QCD radiative energy loss in a color-charged medium give estimates of the coupling strength of the parton to the medium which differ by a factor of 5. We will present a side-by-side comparison of two different formalisms to calculate the energy loss of light quarks and gluons: the multiple soft scattering approximation (ASW-MS) and the opacity expansion formalism (ASW-SH and WHDG-rad). A common time-temperature profile is used to characterize the medium. The results are compared to the single hadron suppression R_AA$R_{AA}$ at RHIC energies.     

Air-water interfacial behavior of linear-dendritic block copolymers containing PEG and azobenzene chromophores

Fabrication of Langmuir films at the air-water interface of four linear-dendritic block copolymers (LDBCs) is described. The LDBCs are composed of a linear hydrophilic chain of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and the first four generations of hydrophobic aliphatic polyester dendrons functionalized at the periphery with cyanoazobenzene chromophores. Langmuir films of the LDBCs, coded as PEG-AZOn (n indicates the number of cyanoazobenzene units at the periphery of the dendritic block), have been characterized by a combination of surface pressure versus area per molecule isotherms, UV-vis reflection spectroscopy and Brewster angle microscopy. The observed PEG-AZOn Langmuir film behavior depends strongly on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio. A typical transition, related to PEG chains desorption from the air-water interface into the water subphase is observed for all the LDBCs, except for PEG-AZO16. In addition, PEG-AZO2 and PEG-AZO4 show a second transition whose nature has been studied in detail. Azobenzene chromophore interactions have been shown to be relevant in the organization of PEG-AZOn (n=4, 8 and 16) Langmuir films. Moreover, for PEG-AZO16 the orientation of the azobenzene units has been determined, revealing the formation of a well organized structure of azobenzene moieties at the air-water interface.     

Benzodicarbomethoxytetrathiafulvalene derivatives as soluble organic semiconductors

A series of new tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) derivatives bearing dimethoxycarbonyl and phenyl or phthalimidyl groups fused to the TTF core (6 and 15-18) has been synthesized as potential soluble semiconductor materials for organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). The electron-withdrawing substituents lower the energy of the HOMO and LUMO levels and increase the solubility and stability of the semiconducting material. Crystal structures of all new TTF derivatives are also described, and theoretical DFT calculations were carried out to study the potential of the crystals to be used in OFET. In the experimental study, the best performing device exhibited a hole mobility up to 7.5 × 10(-3) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)).