Attentional load associated with performing and stabilizing preferred bimanual patterns.

This study aimed to determine whether the stability of preferred coordination patterns could be modified intentionally and whether such stabilization involved an additional attentional load. Eight participants performed in-phase and anti-phase bimanual coordination patterns, a reaction time (RT) task, and several dual tasks (coordination + RT) that manipulated attentional priority by requiring either shared attention, priority to the coordination task, or priority to the RT task. Results showed that RT was smaller for in-phase than anti-phase. Moreover, attentional manipulations led to a trade-off between pattern stability and RT performance. This suggests that performing and intentionally stabilizing a coordination pattern incur a central cost that depends on the coordination pattern's dynamic properties. Thus, this study opens a conceptual and methodological bridge between information processing and dynamic approaches to coordination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of GABA,a Bacterial Metabolite,on Pseudomonas fluorescens Surface Properties and Cytotoxicity

Different bacterial species and, particularly Pseudomonas fluorescens, can produce gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and express GABA-binding proteins. In this study, we investigated the effect of GABA on the virulence and biofilm formation activity of different strains of P. fluorescens. Exposure of a psychotropic strain of P. fluorescens (MF37) to GABA (10⁻⁵ M) increased its necrotic-like activity on eukaryotic (glial) cells, but reduced its apoptotic effect. Conversely, muscimol and bicuculline, the selective agonist and antagonist of eukaryote GABA_A receptors, respectively, were ineffective. P. fluorescens MF37 did not produce biosurfactants, and its caseinase, esterase, amylase, hemolytic activity or pyoverdine productions were unchanged. In contrast, the effect of GABA was associated to rearrangements of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structure, particularly in the lipid A region. The surface hydrophobicity of MF37 was marginally modified, and GABA reduced its biofilm formation activity on PVC, but not on glass, although the initial adhesion was increased. Five other P. fluorescens strains were studied, and only one, MFP05, a strain isolated from human skin, showed structural differences of biofilm maturation after exposure to GABA. These results reveal that GABA can regulate the LPS structure and cytotoxicity of P. fluorescens, but that this property is specific to some strains.     

Implication of scavenger receptors in the interactions between diesel exhaust particles and immature or mature dendritic cells

Background  

The exposure to pollutants such as diesel exhaust particles (DEP) is associated with an increased incidence of respiratory diseases. However, the mechanisms by which DEP have an effect on human health are not completely understood. In addition to their action on macrophages and airway epithelial cells, DEP also modulate the functions of dendritic cells (DC). These professional antigen-presenting cells are able to discriminate unmodified self from non-self thanks to pattern recognition receptors such as the Toll like Receptors (TLR) and Scavenger Receptors (SR). SR were originally identified by their ability to bind and internalize modified lipoproteins and microorganisms but also particles and TLR agonists. In this study, we assessed the implication of SR in the effects of DEP associated or not with TLR agonists on monocyte-derived DC (MDDC). For this, we studied the regulation of CD36, CXCL16, LOX-1, SR-A1 and SR-B1 expression on MDDC treated with DEP associated or not with TLR2, 3 and 4 ligands. Then, the capacity of SR ligands (dextran sulfate and maleylated-ovalbumin) to block the effects of DEP on the function of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated DC has been evaluated.     

Fabrication of Optically Transparent and Electrooptic Strontium Barium Niobate Ceramics

The tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) type of Sr _x Ba_{1− x} ^m Nb₂O₆ (SBN) (0.5 ≤ x ≤ 0.75) was synthesized by a mixed-oxide route. Using the two-step densification process of pressureless sintering followed by oxygen HIPing, transparent ceramics were successfully fabricated. Microstructural, dielectric, optical, and electrooptic properties were investigated. All single-phase TTB-type SBN showed the characteristics of relaxor ferroelectrics. The extinction coefficients of the sample with the highest transparency were calculated from transmission spectra to be 30.4, 5.8, and 2.4 cm⁻¹ at 600, 1450, and 2000 nm, respectively. The linear electrooptic coefficients for SBN55, r ₃₃ and r ₁₃, were 46 × 10⁻¹² and 21 × 10⁻¹² m/V at 633 nm, respectively.     

Origins of children's helpless and mastery achievement patterns in the family.

An exploratory study examined the origins of children's motivational patterns in the family by observing 3rd-grade children (10 helpless and 11 mastery-oriented) and their mothers performing a series of solvable and insolvable problem-solving tasks. Mothers of mastery children appeared to show sensitivity and responsiveness to their children's ability perceptions and requests for help. They also appeared to support mastery behaviors in their children by increasing task-focused teaching behaviors and maintaining high-positive affect during the insolvable puzzles. Furthermore, in the face of failures, they retrained their children's low-ability attributions and performance-goal statements, while promoting mastery or task-focused behaviors. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that mothers of mastery children may socialize their children's achievement motivation. However, because of the small sample size and other limitations, the results should be interpreted with caution. Several directions are outlined for future research on the familial origins of helpless and mastery patterns in children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determination of pre-impact occupant postures and analysis of consequences on injury outcome. Part I: a driving simulator study

This paper considers pre-impact vehicle maneuvers and analyzes the resulting driver motion from their comfort seating position. Part I of this work consists of analyzing the driver behavior during a crash. The study is conducted using the LAMIH driving simulator and involves 76 participants. The emergency situation is created by a truck emerging from behind a tractor on the opposite side of the road and tearing along the participant. The driver positioning throughout the simulation is recorded via five video cameras allowing view of the front scene, the driver face, feet and pedals, hands on the steering wheel and global lateral view. Data related to braking force, seat pressure, muscular activity for major groups of muscles and actions on the steering wheel are also collected.The typical response to this type of emergency event is to brace rearward into the seat and to straighten the arms against the steering wheel, or, to swerve to attempt to avoid the impacting vehicle. While turning the steering wheel, the forearm can be directly positioned on the airbag module at time of crash which represents a potential injurious situation.These positions are used in Part II to determine scenario of positions for numerical simulation of a frontal collision.     

Sensitive and reproducible intact mass analysis of complex protein mixtures with superficially porous capillary reversed-phase liquid chromatography mass spectrometry

The compatibility of superficially porous (SP) resin for label-free intact protein analysis with online capillary LC/MS is demonstrated to give improved chromatographic resolution, sensitivity, and reproducibility. The robustness of the platform was measured against several samples of varying complexity and sample loading amount. The results indicate that capillary SP columns provide high loading capacities and that ～6 s chromatographic peak widths are typical for standard proteins in simple mixtures and proteins isolated from cell and tissue lysates. Subfemtomole detection limits for standard proteins were consistently observed, with the lowest levels at 12 amol for ubiquitin. The analysis of total heart homogenates shows that capillary SP columns provide theoretical peak capacity of 106 protein forms with 30 min total analysis time and enabled detection of proteins from complex mixtures with a single high-resolution scan. The SPLC/MS platform also detected 343 protein forms from two HeLa acid extract replicate analyses that consumed 5 × 10(4) cells and 30 min analysis time, each. Comparison of all the species observed in each HeLa replicate showed 90% overlap (309 forms) with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 89.9% for the common forms observed in the replicates. Efficient acid extract of 1 × 10(4) HeLa cells allowed reproducible detection of common modification states and members from all five of the histone families and demonstrated that capillary SPLC/MS supports reproducible label-free profiling of histones in <15 min total analysis time. The data presented demonstrate that a capillary LC/MS platform utilizing superficially porous stationary phase and a LTQ-Orbitrap FT-MS is fast, sensitive, and reproducible for intact protein profiling from small tissue and cell amounts.