Long term potentiation

Soil quality refers to the ability of soils to perform their functions well. The soils of the Harran Plain, Turkey, have been put into intensive crop production with the introduction of an irrigation scheme and become increasingly degraded due to unsustainable management and cropping systems that resulted in the loss of production potential. The goal of this study was to quantify the quality of common soil series in the Plain using soil quality indexes (SQI) and to compare SQIs of two long-term crop rotations, cotton and wheat-corn cultivation, and different soil types...

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in understanding the implications of diagnosing normocalcaemic primary hyperparathyroidism (nPHPT). Many patients hope that nPHPT might explain some of their symptoms, but surgeons hesitate to offer treatment to patients whose calcium levels are normal but whose parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels are elevated in the absence of secondary causes of hyperparathyroidism. This potential new diagnosis is not well understood and may lead to inappropriate investigation and possible unnecessary operations...

While access and exposure to green spaces has been shown to be beneficial for the health of urban residents, interventions focused on augmenting such access may also catalyse gentrification processes, also known as green gentrification. Drawing from the fields of public health, urban planning and environmental justice, we argue that public health and epidemiology researchers should rely on a more dynamic model of community that accounts for the potential unintended social consequences of upstream health interventions...

The use of oocytes recovered from prepubertal donors for in vitro embryo production has great potential for accelerating the rate of genetic gain in the dairy industry. However, these oocytes are known to be less developmentally competent than those from adult donors. In this study, we investigated the effect of age and gonadotropin stimulation in Holstein heifers subjected to oocyte collection every two weeks between 2 and 6 months of age. In order to assess the effect of gonadotropin stimulation, animals were subjected to one of three treatments, namely Short (ST; 36-42 h), Long (LT; ≥72 h) and No Treatment (NT) prior to laparoscopic ovum pick-up (LOPU)...

Noninvasive biological readouts of tumor metastatic risk and therapeutic efficacy are needed as healthcare costs rise. Conventional imaging modalities are expensive; require significant periods of time to see appreciable change and repetitive use increases risk of hazardous side effects. Utilizing circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as a minimally invasive biological readout of tumor progression or therapeutic response is increasingly being studied. While focus has primarily been on the predictive value of naturally occurring CTCs, a more recent effort has emerged regarding the potential consequence of therapy induced CTCs...

The intervertebral discs are cartilaginous, articulating structures that lie between vertebral bodies, allowing flexibility, transmission, modification, and also distribution of the forces to the spinal column. Disc degeneration is characterised by progressive loss of disc height and exaggerated radial bulging. Therefore, the spine becomes shorter, stiffer, and less mobile. In the last several decades, there is a strong need for a tissue engineering strategy that alleviates pain and restores spine function by directly addressing the underlying biological causes of disc degeneration...

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of peripheral arterial disease patients with critical limb ischemia who accepted BSX or EVT. Methods: According to the requirements of systematic review, we searched MEDLINE (1980-2014), Emabse (1980-2014), Journals @ Ovid Full Text (1980-2014) databases, selected literature and extracted data, meta-analysis was performed through STATA11.2. Results: A total of 17 studies (3 RCTs, 14 non-randomized studies) and 5 515 patients (BSX group: 2 454, EVT group: 2 769) were deemed eligible...

OBJECTIVE: Cocaine use disorder is a very common condition that represents a substantial public health problem, and no effective pharmacological or psychological therapies have been identified to date. Urgent therapeutic alternatives are therefore needed such as neurostimulation techniques. The purpose of this review is to describe and discuss studies that have evaluated the safety and efficacy of these techniques for the treatment of cocaine dependence. METHODS: The electronic literature on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, theta-burst stimulation, deep transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, magnetic seizure therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, cranial electro-stimulation, and deep brain stimulation in the treatment of cocaine addiction were reviewed...

Measurements of trace element (As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn) deposition fluxes were conducted simultaneously in two contrasted environments, i.e., urban and forest, between April 2013 and October 2014. This was the first such project in central Poland, aimed at long-term observations of trace elements in the atmosphere and their distribution, transport, and deposition pattern. The receptor sites were different in terms of local meteorological conditions, emission potential, and distance to major anthropogenic sources...

Mesenchymal stem (stromal) cells (MSCs) possess unique biological characteristics such as plasticity, long term self-renewal, secretion of various bioactive molecules and ability of active migration to the diseased tissues that make them unique tool for regenerative medicine, nowadays. Until now MSCs were successfully derived from many tissue sources including bone marrow, umbilical cord, adipose tissue, dental pulp etc. The crucial step prior to their in vitro expansion, banking or potential clinical application is their separation...

Neuroimaging and patient work over the past decade have indicated that, following retinal deafferentation, the human visual cortex undergoes a large-scale and enduring reorganization of its topography such that the classical retinotopic organization of deafferented visual cortex remaps to represent non-classical regions of visual space. Such long-term visual reorganization is proposed to occur through changes in the functional balance of deafferented visual circuits that engage more lasting changes through activity-dependent neuroplasticity...

Previous studies in the field of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training have shown that this training has the potential to enhance a wide variety of cognitive abilities. It can also generate specific changes in brain structure and function. However, there is lack of studies investigating the impact of AMC training on the characteristics of brain networks. In this study, utilizing graph-based network analysis, we compared topological properties of brain functional networks between an AMC group and a matched control group...

Superhydrophobic-superhydrophilic patterned surfaces have attracted more and more attention due to their great potential applications in the fog harvest process. In this work, we developed a simple and universal electrochemical-etching method to fabricate the superhydrophobic-superhydrophilic patterned surface on metal superhydrophobic substrates. The anti-electrochemical corrosion property of superhydrophobic substrates and the dependence of electrochemical etching potential on the wettability of the fabricated dimples were investigated on Al samples...

The artificial mineralization of a polyresistant bacterial strain isolated from an acidic, oligotrophic lake was carried out to better understand microbial (i) early mineralization and (ii) potential for further fossilisation. Mineralization was conducted in mineral matrixes commonly found on Mars and Early-Earth, silica and gypsum, for 6 months. Samples were analyzed using microbiological (survival rates), morphological (electron microscopy), biochemical (GC-MS, Microarray immunoassay, Rock-Eval) and spectroscopic (EDX, FTIR, RAMAN spectroscopy) methods...

Long-term potentiation (LTP) has been known to be a mechanism by which experience modifies synaptic responses in the neocortex. Visual deprivation in the form of dark exposure or dark rearing from birth enhances NMDAR-dependent LTP in layer 2/3 of visual cortex, a process often termed metaplasticity, which may involve changes in NMDAR subunit composition and function. However, the effects of re-exposure to light after dark rearing from birth on LTP induction have not been explored. Here, we showed that the light exposure after dark rearing revealed a novel NMDAR independent form of LTP in the layer 2/3 pyramidal cells in visual cortex of mice of both sexes which is dependent on mGluR5 activation and is associated with intracellular Ca2+ rise, CaMKII activity, PKC activity and intact protein synthesis...

Astrocytes interact dynamically with neurons by modifying synaptic activity and plasticity. This interplay occurs through a process named gliotransmission, meaning that neuroactive molecules are released by astrocytes. Acting as a gliotransmitter, D-serine co-agonist of the NMDA receptor at the glycine binding site, can be released by astrocytes in a calcium [Ca(2+)]i-dependent manner. A typical feature of astrocytes is their high expression level of connexin43 (Cx43), a protein forming gap junction channels and hemichannels associated with dynamic neuroglial interactions...

Individuals that suffer injury to the spinal cord can result in long-term, debilitating sequelae. Spinal cord injured patients have increased risk for the development of metabolic disease which can further hinder the effectiveness of treatments to rehabilitate the cord and improve quality of life. In the present study, we sought to understand the impact of high-fat diet induced obesity on spinal cord injury (SCI) by examining transcriptome changes in the area of the injury and rostral and caudal to site of damage 12 weeks after injury...

BACKGROUND: Patients with myocardial infarction and concomitant COPD are at increased risk of poor clinical outcomes, including death, as compared to patients without COPD. AIM: To investigate and compare the severity of the clinical presentation of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and of the short-(7days) and long-term-(end of follow up) mortality in COPD patients treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS)/long-acting bronchodilator (LABD) - either long-acting beta2 agonist (LABA) or long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) - vs...

BACKGROUND: The incidence of uveitis associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) varies around the world. Our aim was to investigate the incidence and predictors of uveitis in a Nordic population-based cohort. METHODS: Consecutive JIA cases from defined geographical areas in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway with disease onset between January 1997 to June 2000 were followed for median 98 months in this prospective longitudinal cohort study. Potential clinical and immunological predictors of uveitis were identified with logistic regression analysis...

BACKGROUND: Increasing physical activity in patients with severe mental illness is believed to have positive effects on physical health, psychiatric symptoms and as well quality of life. Till now, little is known about the relationship between physical activity and quality of life in long-term hospitalized patients with severe mental illness and knowledge of the determinants of behavioural change is lacking. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationship between objectively measured physical activity and quality of life, and explore modifiable psychological determinants of change in physical activity in long-term hospitalized patients with severe mental illness...