So far, studies that investigated interference effects of post-learning processes on episodic memory consolidation in humans have used tasks involving only complex and meaningful information. Such ...tasks require reallocation of general or encoding-specific resources away from consolidation-relevant activities. The possibility that interference can be elicited using a task that heavily taxes our limited brain resources, but has low semantic and hippocampal related long-term memory processing demands, has never been tested. We address this question by investigating whether consolidation could persist in parallel with an active, encoding-irrelevant, minimally semantic task, regardless of its high resource demands for cognitive processing. We distinguish the impact of such a task on consolidation based on whether it engages resources that are: (1) general/executive, or (2) specific/overlapping with the encoding modality. Our experiments compared subsequent memory performance across two post-encoding consolidation periods: quiet wakeful rest and a cognitively demanding n-Back task. Across six different experiments (total
= 176), we carefully manipulated the design of the n-Back task to target general or specific resources engaged in the ongoing consolidation process. In contrast to previous studies that employed interference tasks involving conceptual stimuli and complex processing demands, we did not find any differences between n-Back and rest conditions on memory performance at delayed test, using both recall and recognition tests. Our results indicate that: (1) quiet, wakeful rest is not a necessary prerequisite for episodic memory consolidation; and (2) post-encoding cognitive engagement does not interfere with memory consolidation when task-performance has minimal semantic and hippocampally-based episodic memory processing demands. We discuss our findings with reference to resource and reactivation-led interference theories.
A&A 681, A48 (2024) Adaptive optics (AO) is a technique to improve the resolution of ground-based
telescopes by correcting, in real-time, optical aberrations due to atmospheric
turbulence and the ...telescope itself. With the rise of Giant Segmented Mirror
Telescopes (GSMT), AO is needed more than ever to reach the full potential of
these future observatories. One of the main performance drivers of an AO system
is the wavefront sensing operation, consisting of measuring the shape of the
above mentioned optical aberrations. Aims. The non-modulated pyramid wavefront
sensor (nPWFS) is a wavefront sensor with high sensitivity, allowing the limits
of AO systems to be pushed. The high sensitivity comes at the expense of its
dynamic range, which makes it a highly non-linear sensor. We propose here a
novel way to invert nPWFS signals by using the principle of reciprocity of
light propagation and the Gerchberg-Saxton (GS) algorithm. We test the
performance of this reconstructor in two steps: the technique is first
implemented in simulations, where some of its basic properties are studied.
Then, the GS reconstructor is tested on the Santa Cruz Extreme Adaptive optics
Laboratory (SEAL) testbed located at the University of California Santa Cruz.
This new way to invert the nPWFS measurements allows us to drastically increase
the dynamic range of the reconstruction for the nPWFS, pushing the dynamics
close to a modulated PWFS. The reconstructor is an iterative algorithm
requiring heavy computational burden, which could be an issue for real-time
purposes in its current implementation. However, this new reconstructor could
still be helpful in the case of many wavefront control operations. This
reconstruction technique has also been successfully tested on the Santa Cruz
Extreme AO Laboratory (SEAL) bench where it is now used as the standard way to
invert nPWFS signal.
A pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) bench has been setup at the National Research
Council-Herzberg (Victoria, Canada) to investigate: the feasibility of a lenslet
based PWFS and a double roof prism ...based PWFS as alternatives to a classical
PWFS, as well as to test the proposed methodology for pyramid wavefront sensing
to be used in NFIRAOS for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Traditional PWFS
require shallow angles and strict apex tolerances, making them difficult to manufacture.
Lenslet arrays, on the other hand, are common optical components that can
be made to the desired specifications, thus making them readily available. A double
roof prism pyramid, also readily available, has been shown to optically equivalent
by optical designers. Characterizing these alternative pyramids, and understanding
how they differ from a traditional pyramid will allow for the PWFS to become more
widely used, especially in the laboratory setting. In this work, the response of the
SUSS microOptics 300-4.7 array and two ios Optics roof prisms are compared to a
double PWFS as well as an idealized PWFS. The evolution of the modulation and
dithering hardware, the system control configuration, and the relationship between
this system and NFIRAOS are also explored.
Graduate
ABSTRACT
The complement system, and specifically C5a, is involved in renal ischemia‐reperfusion (IR) injury. The 2 receptors for complement anaphylatoxin C5a (C5aR1 and C5aR2) are expressed on ...leukocytes as well as on renal epithelium. Extensive evidence shows that C5aR1 inhibition protects kidneys from IR injury; however, the role of C5aR2 in IR injury is less clear as initial studies proposed the hypothesis that C5aR2 functions as a decoy receptor. By Using wild‐type, C5aR1‐/‐, and C5aR2‐/‐ mice in a model of renal IR injury, we found that a deficiency of either of these receptors protected mice from renal IR injury. Surprisingly, C5aR2‐/‐ mice were most protected and had lower creatinine levels and reduced acute tubular necrosis. Next, an in vivo migration study demonstrated that leukocyte chemotaxis was unaffected in C5aR2‐/‐ mice, whereas neutrophil activation was reduced by C5aR2 deficiency. To further investigate the contribution of renal cell‐expressed C5aR2 vs. leukocyte‐expressed C5aR2 to renal IR injury, bone marrow chimeras were created. Our data show that both renal cell‐expressed C5aR2 and leukocyte‐expressed C5aR2 mediate IR‐induced renal dysfunction. These studies reveal the importance of C5aR2 in renal IR injury. They further show that C5aR2 is a functional receptor, rather than a decoy receptor, and may provide a new target for intervention.—Poppelaars, F., van Werkhoven, M. B., Kotimaa, J., Veldhuis, Z. J., Ausema, A., Broeren, S. G. M., Damman, J., Hempel, J. C., Leuvenink, H. G. D., Daha, M. R., van Son, W. J., van Kooten, C., van Os, R. P., Hillebrands, J.‐L., Seelen, M. A. Critical role for complement receptor C5aR2 in the pathogenesis of renal ischemia‐reperfusion injury. FASEB J. 31, 3193–3204 (2017). www.fasebj.org
Patient and staff experience is a vital factor to consider in the evaluation of remote patient monitoring (RPM) interventions. However, no comprehensive overview of available RPM patient and staff ...experience-measuring methods and tools exists.
This review aimed at obtaining a comprehensive set of experience constructs and corresponding measuring instruments used in contemporary RPM research and at proposing an initial set of guidelines for improving methodological standardization in this domain.
Full-text papers reporting on instances of patient or staff experience measuring in RPM interventions, written in English, and published after January 1, 2011, were considered for eligibility. By "RPM interventions," we referred to interventions including sensor-based patient monitoring used for clinical decision-making; papers reporting on other kinds of interventions were therefore excluded. Papers describing primary care interventions, involving participants under 18 years of age, or focusing on attitudes or technologies rather than specific interventions were also excluded. We searched 2 electronic databases, Medline (PubMed) and EMBASE, on February 12, 2021.We explored and structured the obtained corpus of data through correspondence analysis, a multivariate statistical technique.
In total, 158 papers were included, covering RPM interventions in a variety of domains. From these studies, we reported 546 experience-measuring instances in RPM, covering the use of 160 unique experience-measuring instruments to measure 120 unique experience constructs. We found that the research landscape has seen a sizeable growth in the past decade, that it is affected by a relative lack of focus on the experience of staff, and that the overall corpus of collected experience measures can be organized in 4 main categories (service system related, care related, usage and adherence related, and health outcome related). In the light of the collected findings, we provided a set of 6 actionable recommendations to RPM patient and staff experience evaluators, in terms of both what to measure and how to measure it. Overall, we suggested that RPM researchers and practitioners include experience measuring as part of integrated, interdisciplinary data strategies for continuous RPM evaluation.
At present, there is a lack of consensus and standardization in the methods used to measure patient and staff experience in RPM, leading to a critical knowledge gap in our understanding of the impact of RPM interventions. This review offers targeted support for RPM experience evaluators by providing a structured, comprehensive overview of contemporary patient and staff experience measures and a set of practical guidelines for improving research quality and standardization in this domain.
The complement system is an essential component of our innate immunity, both for the protection against infections and for proper handling of dying cells. However, the complement system can also ...contribute to tissue injury and inflammatory responses. In view of novel therapeutic possibilities, there is an increasing interest in measurement of the complement system activation in the systemic compartment, both in the clinical setting as well as in experimental models. Here we describe in parallel a sensitive and specific sandwich ELISA detecting mouse C3 activation fragments C3b/C3c/iC3b, as well as functional complement ELISAs detecting specific activities of the three complement pathways at the level of C3 and at the level of C9 activation. In a murine model of renal ischaemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) we found transient complement activation as shown by generation of C3b/C3c/iC3b fragments at 24h following reperfusion, which returned to base-line at 3 and 7days post reperfusion. When the pathway specific complement activities were measured at the level of C3 activation, we found no significant reduction in any of the pathways. However, the functional complement activity of all three pathways was significantly reduced when measured at the level of C9, with the strongest reduction being observed in the alternative pathway. For all three pathways there was a strong correlation between the amount of C3 fragments and the reduction in functional complement activity. Moreover, at 24h both C3 fragments and the functional complement activities showed a correlation with the rise in serum creatinine. Together our results show that determination of the systemic pathway specific complement activity is feasible in experimental mouse models and that they are useful in understanding complement activation and inhibition in vivo.
Systemic exposure to high-dose corticosteroids effectively combats acute rejection after kidney transplantation, but at the cost of substantial side effects. In this study, a murine acute renal ...allograft rejection model was used to investigate whether liposomal-encapsulated prednisolone (LP) facilitates local exposure to enhance its therapeutic effect.
Male BalbC recipients received renal allografts from male C57BL/6J donors. Recipients were injected daily with 5 mg/kg cyclosporine A and received either 10 mg/kg prednisolone (P), or LP intravenously on day 0, 3, and 6, or no additional treatment. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed on day 6 to study allograft perfusion and organs were retrieved on day 7 for further analysis.
Staining of polyethylene-glycol-labeled liposomes and high performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed accumulation in the LP treated allograft. LP treatment induced the expression of glucocorticoid responsive gene Fkbp5 in the allograft. Flow-cytometry of allografts revealed liposome presence in CD45 cells, and reduced numbers of F4/80 macrophages, and CD3 T-lymphocytes upon LP treatment. Banff scoring showed reduced interstitial inflammation and tubulitis and fMRI analysis revealed improved allograft perfusion in LP versus NA mice.
Liposomal delivery of prednisolone improved renal bio-availability, increased perfusion and reduced cellular infiltrate in the allograft, when compared with conventional prednisolone. Clinical studies should reveal if treatment with LP results in improved efficacy and reduced side effects in patients with renal allograft rejection.
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