Innate (-like) T lymphocytes such as natural killer T (NKT) cells play a pivotal role in the recognition of microbial infections and their subsequent elimination. They frequently localize to ...potential sites of pathogen entry at which they survey extracellular and intracellular tissue spaces for microbial antigens. Engagement of their T cell receptors (TCRs) induces an explosive release of different cytokines and chemokines, which often pre-exist as constitutively expressed gene transcripts in NKT cells and underlie their poised effector state. Thus, NKT cells regulate immune cell migration and activation and subsequently, bridge innate and adaptive immune responses. In contrast to conventional T cells, which react to peptide antigens, NKT cells recognize lipids presented by the MHC class I like CD1d molecule on antigen presenting cells (APCs). Furthermore, each NKT cell TCR can recognize various antigen specificities, whereas a conventional T lymphocyte TCR reacts mostly only to one single antigen. These lipid antigens are either intermediates of the intracellular APC`s-own metabolism or originate from the cell wall of different bacteria, fungi or protozoan parasites. The best-characterized subset, the type 1 NKT cell subset expresses a semi-invariant TCR. In contrast, the TCR repertoire of type 2 NKT cells is diverse. Furthermore, NKT cells express a panoply of inhibitory and activating NK cell receptors (NKRs) that contribute to their primarily TCR-mediated rapid, innate like immune activation and even allow an adaption of their immune response in an adoptive like manner. Dueto their primary localization at host-environment interfaces, NKT cells are one of the first immune cells that interact with signals from different microbial pathogens. Vice versa, the mutual exchange with local commensal microbiota shapes also the biology of NKT cells, predominantly in the gastrointestinal tract. Following infection, two main signals drive the activation of NKT cells: first, cognate activation upon TCR ligation by microbial or endogenous lipid antigens; and second, bystander activation due to cytokines. Here we will discuss the role of NKT cells in the control of different microbial infections comparing pathogens expressing lipid ligands in their cell walls to infectious agents inducing endogenous lipid antigen presentation by APCs.
We studied the motor simulation processes involved in concurrent action observation and motor imagery (AO+MI) using motor evoked potentials induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation. During ...congruent AO+MI, participants were shown videos of a model's hand performing rhythmical finger movements, and they imagined moving the same finger of their own hand in synchrony with the observed finger. During incongruent AO+MI, the imagery task involved a different finger from the observed one. As expected, congruent AO+MI yielded robust facilitatory effects, relative to baseline, only in the effector involved in the task. Incongruent AO+MI produced equally pronounced effects in the effector that was engaged in MI, whilst no corticospinal facilitation was found for the effector corresponding to the observed action. We further replicated that engaging in pure AO without MI does not produce reliable effects. These results do not support the proposal that observed and imagined action are both simulated at the level of the primary motor cortex. Rather, motor imagery alone can sufficiently explain the observed effects in both AO+MI conditions. This bears clear implications for the application of AO+MI procedures in sport and neurorehabilitation.
Hard X-ray fluorescence microscopy is well-suited to in-situ investigations of trace metal distributions within whole, unstained, biological tissue, with sub-parts-per-million detection achievable in ...whole cells. The high penetration of X-rays indicates the use of X-ray fluorescence tomography for structural visualization, and recent measurements have realised sub-500-nm tomography on a 10-μm cell. Limitations of present approaches impact the duration of an experiment and imaging fidelity. Developments in X-ray resolution, detector speed, cryogenic environments, and the incorporation of auxiliary signals are being pursued within the synchrotron community. Several complementary approaches to X-ray fluorescence tomography will be routinely available to the biologist in the near future. We discuss these approaches and review applications of biological relevance.
Purpose: Rehabilitation professionals typically use motor imagery (MI) or action observation (AO) to increase physical strength for injury prevention and recovery. Here we compared hamstring force ...gains for MI during AO (AO + MI) against two pure MI training groups.
Materials and methods: Over a 3-week intervention physically fit adults imagined Nordic hamstring exercises in both legs and synchronized this with a demonstration of the same action (AO + MI), or they purely imagined this action (pure MI), or imagined upper-limb actions (pure MI-control). Eccentric hamstring strength gains were assessed using ANOVAs, and magnitude-based inference (MBI) analyses determined the likelihood of clinical/practical benefits for the interventions.
Results: Hamstring strength only increased significantly following AO + MI training. This effect was lateralized to the right leg, potentially reflecting a left-hemispheric dominance in motor simulation. MBIs: The right leg within-group treatment effect size for AO + MI was moderate and likely beneficial (d = 0.36), and only small and possibly beneficial for pure MI (0.23). Relative to pure MI-control, effects were possibly beneficial and moderate for AO + MI (0.72), although small for pure MI (0.39).
Conclusions: Since hamstring strength predicts injury prevalence, our findings point to the advantage of combined AO + MI interventions, over and above pure MI, for injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Implications for rehabilitation
While hamstring strains are the most common injury across the many sports involving sprinting and jumping, Nordic hamstring exercises are among the most effective methods for building eccentric hamstring strength, for injury prevention and rehabilitation.
In the acute injury phase it is crucial not to overload damaged soft tissues, and so non-physical rehabilitation techniques are well suited to this phase.
Rehabilitation professionals typically use either motor imagery or action observation techniques to safely improve physical strength, but our study shows that motor imagery during observation of Nordic hamstring exercises offers a safe, affordable and more effective way to facilitate eccentric hamstring strength gains, compared with pure motor imagery.
Despite using bilateral imagery and observation training conditions in the present study, strength gains were restricted to the right leg, potentially due to a left hemispheric dominance in motor simulation.
The elemental composition of single cells of Nitrosomonas europaea 19718 was studied via synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) as a function of inhibition by divalent copper (Cu(II)) and ...batch growth phase. Based on XFM, the intracellular Cu concentrations in exponential phase cultures of N. europaea exposed to Cu(II) were statistically higher than in stationary phase cultures at the 95% confidence interval (α = 0.05). However, the impact of Cu inferred from specific oxygen uptake rate (sOUR) measurements at the two physiological states was statistically not dissimilar at the Cu(II) doses tested, except at 1000 µM Cu(II), at which exponential phase cultures were significantly more inhibited. Furthermore, the elemental composition in uninhibited exponential and stationary phase N. europaea cultures was similar. Notably, the molar fractions of Cu and Fe, relative to other elements in N. europaea cultures were statistically higher than those recently reported in Pseudomonas fluorescens possibly owing to the preponderance of metal cofactor rich catalytic enzymes (such as ammonia monooxygenase) and electron transport mechanisms in N. europaea.
Over the last 20 years, the topics of action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI) have been largely studied in isolation from each other, despite the early integrative account by Jeannerod (1994, ...2001). Recent neuroimaging studies demonstrate enhanced cortical activity when AO and MI are performed concurrently ("AO+MI"), compared to either AO or MI performed in isolation. These results indicate the potentially beneficial effects of AO+MI, and they also demonstrate that the underlying neurocognitive processes are partly shared. We separately review the evidence for MI and AO as forms of motor simulation, and present two quantitative literature analyses that indeed indicate rather little overlap between the two bodies of research. We then propose a spectrum of concurrent AO+MI states, from congruent AO+MI where the contents of AO and MI widely overlap, over coordinative AO+MI, where observed and imagined action are different but can be coordinated with each other, to cases of conflicting AO+MI. We believe that an integrative account of AO and MI is theoretically attractive, that it should generate novel experimental approaches, and that it can also stimulate a wide range of applications in sport, occupational therapy, and neurorehabilitation.
•First basin-wide measurements of plankton metal quotas in the N. Atlantic Ocean.•Fe and Mn quotas significantly higher on western side of section.•Cu and Ni quotas significantly elevated on eastern ...side of section.•Evidence for Al scavenging by biogenic silica.•Dissolved ratios not an accurate measure of cellular Fe quotas.
Phytoplankton contribute significantly to global C cycling and serve as the base of ocean food webs. Phytoplankton require trace metals for growth and also mediate the vertical distributions of many metals in the ocean. We collected bulk particulate material and individual phytoplankton cells from the upper water column (<150m) of the North Atlantic Ocean as part of the US GEOTRACES North Atlantic Zonal Transect cruise (GEOTRACES GA03). Particulate material was first leached to extract biogenic and potentially-bioavailable elements, and the remaining refractory material was digested in strong acids. The cruise track spanned several ocean biomes and geochemical regions. Particulate concentrations of metals associated primarily with lithogenic phases (Fe, Al, Ti) were elevated in surface waters nearest North America, Africa and Europe, and elements associated primarily with biogenic material (P, Cd, Zn, Ni) were also found at higher concentrations near the coasts. However metal/P ratios of labile particulate material were also elevated in the middle of the transect for Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, and V. P-normalized cellular metal quotas measured with synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (SXRF) were generally comparable to ratios in bulk labile particles but did not show mid-basin increases. Manganese and Fe ratios and cell quotas were higher in the western part of the section, nearest North America, and both elements were more enriched in bulk particles, relative to P, than in cells, suggesting the presence of labile oxyhydroxide particulate phases. Cellular Fe quotas thus did not increase in step with aeolian dust inputs, which are highest near Africa; these data suggest that the dust inputs have low bioavailability. Copper and Ni cell quotas were notably higher nearest the continental margins. Overall mean cellular metal quotas were similar to those measured in the Pacific and Southern Oceans except for Fe, which was approximately 3-fold higher in North Atlantic cells. Cellular Fe quotas are in-line with those measured in laboratory cultures at comparable Fe concentrations. Particulate Zn, Cu, Ni, and Co are primarily associated with cellular material, but less than 30% of labile particulate Fe and Mn are biogenic. Particulate Al was primarily associated with lithogenic material, but the labile fraction was highly correlated with P, as well as with biogenic silica, suggesting that some particulate Al (perhaps around 20%) may occur adsorbed to biogenic material. Cellular element maps indicate that externally scavenged Fe was not a significant fraction of the metal associated with live phytoplankton, but adsorbed or precipitated phases are likely to be important in particulate detrital material. Such abiotic scavenging, along with differential remineralization of cellular nutrients in the water column, results in estimates of cellular metal/nutrient ratios from dissolved concentrations that significantly underestimate the ratios in phytoplankton. These data demonstrate the response of phytoplankton to the unique metal inputs to the North Atlantic Ocean.
This article analyzes central elements of Martin Buber's political thinking from a postcolonial perspective. It examines Buber's view of the “Orient,” his ideas about the social and economic ...constitution of the Arab-Jewish commonwealth in Palestine, and his attitude toward the evolving national conflict between Jews and Arabs. Buber's Zionism, despite its deep roots in European nationalist ideologies and entanglement with European colonialist ideas, nevertheless had much in common with the nationalism of anticolonial movements and is therefore best conceived as a subaltern nationalism. The incorporation of postcolonial theory makes it possible to see these anticolonial features and at the same time acknowledge Buber's indebtedness to European nationalism and colonialism, thus contributing to a more complex understanding of the history of Zionism and of its position in the European and global context.
Abstract
Action observation and imitation may facilitate movement in Parkinson’s disease (PD). People with PD have been found to imitate intransitive actions similarly to neurologically healthy older ...adults, but their imitation of object-directed hand movements has not previously been investigated using kinematic measures. The present study examined observation and imitation of object-directed hand movements in 18 participants with PD and 21 neurologically healthy age-matched control participants. Participants observed and immediately imitated sequences showing a human hand reaching for and transferring an object between horizontal positions. Both groups significantly modulated their finger movements, showing higher vertical amplitude when imitating elevated compared to direct trajectories. In addition, movements were lower in vertical amplitude and higher in velocity when imitating the reaching segment than the transfer segment. Eye-tracking revealed that controls made smaller saccades when observing predictable than unpredictable elevated movements, but no effects of predictability on eye movements were found for the PD group. This study provides quantitative evidence that people with mild to moderate PD can imitate object-directed hand movement kinematics, although their prediction of such movements may be reduced. These findings suggest that interventions targeting object-directed actions may capitalize on the ability of people with PD to imitate kinematic parameters of a demonstrated movement.
Copper plays an important role in numerous biological processes across all living systems predominantly because of its versatile redox behavior. Cellular copper homeostasis is tightly regulated and ...disturbances lead to severe disorders such as Wilson disease and Menkes disease. Age-related changes of copper metabolism have been implicated in other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease. The role of copper in these diseases has been a topic of mostly bioinorganic research efforts for more than a decade, metal–protein interactions have been characterized, and cellular copper pathways have been described. Despite these efforts, crucial aspects of how copper is associated with Alzheimer disease, for example, are still only poorly understood. To take metal-related disease research to the next level, emerging multidimensional imaging techniques are now revealing the copper metallome as the basis to better understand disease mechanisms. This review describes how recent advances in X-ray fluorescence microscopy and fluorescent copper probes have started to contribute to this field, specifically in Wilson disease and Alzheimer disease. It furthermore provides an overview of current developments and future applications in X-ray microscopic methods.
Figure
3 mm × 3 mm P, Fe, and Cu elemental maps of a lateral ventricle from a mouse brain. An H & E image is shown for comparison. The images are displayed as red temperature maps where lighter color indicates higher elemental concentration. The image emphasizes the power of XFM: the copper distribution around the lateral ventricle is extremely heterogenous with local copper concentrations exceeding 25 mM while the average is approximately 100 μM.
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