Manic episodes are one of the major diagnostic symptoms in a spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders that include schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder (BD). Despite a ...possible association between BD and the gene encoding phospholipase Cγ1 (PLCG1), its etiological basis remains unclear. Here, we report that mice lacking phospholipase Cγ1 (PLCγ1) in the forebrain (Plcg1
; CaMKII) exhibit hyperactivity, decreased anxiety-like behavior, reduced depressive-related behavior, hyperhedonia, hyperphagia, impaired learning and memory and exaggerated startle responses. Inhibitory transmission in hippocampal pyramidal neurons and striatal dopamine receptor D1-expressing neurons of Plcg1-deficient mice was significantly reduced. The decrease in inhibitory transmission is likely due to a reduced number of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic boutons, which may result from impaired localization and/or stabilization of postsynaptic CaMKII (Ca
/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II) at inhibitory synapses. Moreover, mutant mice display impaired brain-derived neurotrophic factor-tropomyosin receptor kinase B-dependent synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, which could account for deficits of spatial memory. Lithium and valproate, the drugs presently used to treat mania associated with BD, rescued the hyperactive phenotypes of Plcg1
; CaMKII mice. These findings provide evidence that PLCγ1 is critical for synaptic function and plasticity and that the loss of PLCγ1 from the forebrain results in manic-like behavior.
To review the empirical evidence of associations between television (TV) viewing, video/computer game use and (a) body fatness, and (b) physical activity.
Meta-analysis.
Published English-language ...studies were located from computerized literature searches, bibliographies of primary studies and narrative reviews, and manual searches of personal archives. Included studies presented at least one empirical association between TV viewing, video/computer game use and body fatness or physical activity among samples of children and youth aged 3-18 y.
The mean sample-weighted corrected effect size (Pearson r).
Based on data from 52 independent samples, the mean sample-weighted effect size between TV viewing and body fatness was 0.066 (95% CI=0.056-0.078; total N=44,707). The sample-weighted fully corrected effect size was 0.084. Based on data from six independent samples, the mean sample-weighted effect size between video/computer game use and body fatness was 0.070 (95% CI=-0.048 to 0.188; total N=1,722). The sample-weighted fully corrected effect size was 0.128. Based on data from 39 independent samples, the mean sample-weighted effect size between TV viewing and physical activity was -0.096 (95% CI=-0.080 to -0.112; total N=141,505). The sample-weighted fully corrected effect size was -0.129. Based on data from 10 independent samples, the mean sample-weighted effect size between video/computer game use and physical activity was -0.104 (95% CI=-0.080 to -0.128; total N=119,942). The sample-weighted fully corrected effect size was -0.141.
A statistically significant relationship exists between TV viewing and body fatness among children and youth although it is likely to be too small to be of substantial clinical relevance. The relationship between TV viewing and physical activity is small but negative. The strength of these relationships remains virtually unchanged even after correcting for common sources of bias known to impact study outcomes. While the total amount of time per day engaged in sedentary behavior is inevitably prohibitive of physical activity, media-based inactivity may be unfairly implicated in recent epidemiologic trends of overweight and obesity among children and youth. Relationships between sedentary behavior and health are unlikely to be explained using single markers of inactivity, such as TV viewing or video/computer game use.
The development of automated solutions to pattern recognition problems is important in many areas of scientific research and human endeavour. This paper describes the implementation of the Pandora ...software development kit, which aids the process of designing, implementing and running pattern recognition algorithms. The Pandora Application Programming Interfaces ensure simple specification of the building-blocks defining a pattern recognition problem. The logic required to solve the problem is implemented in algorithms. The algorithms request operations to create or modify data structures and the operations are performed by the Pandora framework. This design promotes an approach using many decoupled algorithms, each addressing specific topologies. Details of algorithms addressing two pattern recognition problems in High Energy Physics are presented: reconstruction of events at a high-energy
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linear collider and reconstruction of cosmic ray or neutrino events in a liquid argon time projection chamber.
The Twentieth Century Reanalysis Project Compo, G. P.; Whitaker, J. S.; Sardeshmukh, P. D. ...
Quarterly journal of the Royal Meteorological Society,
January 2011 Part A, 2011, 2011-01-00, 20110101, 2011-01-01, Letnik:
137, Številka:
654
Journal Article
Ramp compression along a low-temperature adiabat offers a unique avenue to explore the physical properties of materials at the highest densities of their solid form, a region inaccessible by single ...shock compression. Using the National Ignition Facility and OMEGA laser facilities, copper samples were ramp compressed to peak pressures of 2.30 TPa and densities of nearly 30 g/cc, providing fundamental information regarding the compressibility and phase of copper at pressures more than 5 times greater than previously explored. Through x-ray diffraction measurements, we find that the ambient face-centered-cubic structure is preserved up to 1.15 TPa. The ramp compression equation-of-state measurements shows that there are no discontinuities in sound velocities up to 2.30 TPa, suggesting this phase is likely stable up to the peak pressures measured, as predicted by first-principal calculations. The high precision of these quasiabsolute measurements enables us to provide essential benchmarks for advanced computational studies on the behavior of dense monoatomic materials under extreme conditions that constitute a stringent test for solid-state quantum theory. We find that both density-functional theory and the stabilized jellium model, which assumes that the ionic structure can be replaced by an ionic charge distribution by constant positive-charge background, reproduces our data well. Further, our data could serve to establish new international secondary scales of pressure in the terapascal range that is becoming experimentally accessible with advanced static and dynamic compression techniques.
Sightings of planktivorous elasmobranchs at their coastal aggregation sites are often linked to biological, environmental and temporal variables. Many large planktivorous elasmobranchs are also ...globally threatened species, so it is necessary to try and separate population trends from environmentally driven, short-term fluctuations. We investigated the influence of environmental variables on sightings of 3 species of planktivorous elasmobranchs off Praia do Tofo, Mozambique: the reef manta ray Manta alfredi, giant manta ray M. birostris and whale shark Rhincodon typus. We used 8- (2003 to 2011) and 6-yr (2005 to 2011) logbook data for manta rays and whale sharks, respectively, and constructed a generalised linear model with animal sightings as the response. Predictors included temporal (year, month, time of day), biological (plankton categories), oceanographic (water temperature, time from high tide, current direction and strength and wave height) and celestial (moon illumination) indices. These predictors best fitted reef manta ray sightings, a coastal species with high residency, but less so for the wider-ranging giant manta rays and whale sharks. We found a significant decline in the standardised sightings time series for the reef manta ray (88%) and whale shark (79%), but not for the giant manta ray.
We present 5-38 km mid-infrared spectra at a spectral resolution of R - 65-130 of a large sample of 22 starburst nuclei taken with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on board the Spitzer Space ...Telescope. The spectra show a vast range of starburst SEDs. The silicate absorption ranges from essentially no absorption to heavily obscured systems with an optical depth of t sub(9.8) k sub(m) 6 5. The spectral slopes can be used to discriminate between starburst and AGN powered sources. The monochromatic continuum fluxes at 15 and 30 km enable a remarkably accurate estimate of the total infrared luminosity of the starburst. We find that the PAH equivalent width is independent of the total starburst luminosity L sub(IR) as both continuum and PAH feature scale proportionally. However, the luminosity of the 6.2 km feature scales with L sub(IR) and can be used to approximate the total infrared luminosity of the starburst. Although our starburst sample covers about a factor of 10 difference in the Ne III/Ne II ratio, we found no systematic correlation between the radiation field hardness and the PAH equivalent width or the 7.7 km/11.3 km PAH ratio. These results are based on spatially integrated diagnostics over an entire starburst region, and local variations may be "averaged out." It is presumably due to this effect that unresolved starburst nuclei with significantly different global properties appear spectrally as rather similar members of one class of objects.
A multiple-time step computational approach is presented for efficient discrete-element modeling of aerosol flows containing adhesive solid particles. Adhesive aerosol particulates are found in ...numerous dust and smoke contamination problems, including smoke particle transport in the lungs, particle clogging of heat exchangers in construction vehicles, industrial nanoparticle transport and filtration systems, and dust fouling of electronic systems and MEMS components. Dust fouling of equipment is of particular concern for potential human occupation on dusty planets, such as Mars. The discrete-element method presented in this paper can be used for prediction of aggregate structure and breakup, for prediction of the effect of aggregate formation on the bulk fluid flow, and for prediction of the effects of small-scale flow features (e.g., due to surface roughness or MEMS patterning) on the aggregate formation. After presentation of the overall computational structure, the forces and torques acting on the particles resulting from fluid motion, particle–particle collision, and adhesion under van der Waals forces are reviewed. The effect of various parameters of normal collision and adhesion of two particles are examined in detail. The method is then used to examine aggregate formation and particle clogging in pipe and channel flow.
The field of dental materials has undergone more of a revolution than an evolution over the past 100 y. The development of new products, especially in the past half century, has occurred at a ...staggering pace, and their introduction to the market has been equally impressive. The movement has mostly come in the area of improved esthetics, marked by the gradual replacement of dental amalgam with dental composite and all-metal and porcelain-fused-to-metal indirect restorations with reinforced dental ceramics, all made possible by the rapid improvements in dental adhesive materials. This article covers the time course of dental materials development over the past century in which the Journal of Dental Research has been published. While there have been advances in nearly all materials used in the field, this article focuses on several areas, including dental amalgam, dental composites and light curing, dental adhesives and dental cements, ceramics, and new functional repair materials. A few short statements on future advances will be included at the end.
The dentin-enamel junction (DEJ), which is the interfacial region between the dentin and outer enamel coating in teeth, is known for its unique biomechanical properties that provide a crack-arrest ...barrier for flaws formed in the brittle enamel1. In this work, we re-examine how cracks propagate in the proximity of the DEJ, and specifically quantify, using interfacial fracture mechanics, the fracture toughness of the DEJ region. Careful observation of crack penetration through the interface and the new estimate of the DEJ toughness (∼5 to 10 times higher than enamel but ∼75% lower than dentin) shed new light on the mechanism of crack arrest. We conclude that the critical role of this region, in preventing cracks formed in enamel from traversing the interface and causing catastrophic tooth fractures, is not associated with the crack-arrest capabilities of the interface itself; rather, cracks tend to penetrate the (optical) DEJ and arrest when they enter the tougher mantle dentin adjacent to the interface due to the development of crack-tip shielding from uncracked-ligament bridging.
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