The Simon effect occurs relative to the direction of an attention shift.

We investigated whether the Simon effect depends on the orienting of attention. In Experiment 1, participants were required to execute left-right discriminative responses to 2 patterns that were presented to the left or right of fixation. The 2 patterns were similar, and the discrimination was difficult. A letter at fixation signaled whether the current trial was a catch trial. The results showed a reversal of the Simon effect. That is, spatially noncorresponding responses were faster than spatially corresponding responses. In Experiment 2, the discrimination of the relevant stimulus attribute was easy. In Experiment 3, the discrimination of the relevant stimulus attribute was difficult, but the stimulus exposure time was long. In either experiment, the regular Simon effect was reinstated. In Experiment 4, the letter that signaled a catch trial appeared to the left or right of the imperative stimulus. The Simon effect occurred relative to the position of the letter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Macrophage-derived cytokines in the follicular fluids of women with infertility due to immunological causes. Elevated levels of interleukin 6 and low levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor

Myoclonus of the middle ear is a rare condition characterized by abnormal repetitive muscle contractions of the tympanic cavity. In this paper we describe what we believe is the first reported case of continuous high-frequency objective tinnitus caused by middle ear myoclonus. During exploratory tympanomastoidectomy it was hypothesized that a small dural arteriovenous malformation not identified on previous tests was the cause of the tinnitus. However, complete disappearance of the tinnitus during administration of curare for anesthesia led us to believe that the tinnitus might have been caused by myoclonus of the middle ear. Sectioning of the stapedius and tensor tympani tendons rendered the patient asymptomatic and confirmed the diagnosis of middle ear myoclonus. At follow-up of one year, the patient's quality of life had improved substantially; the tinnitus did not recur and she no longer had vertigo.     

The Multifunctional Sactipeptide Ruminococcin C1 Displays Potent Antibacterial Activity In Vivo as Well as Other Beneficial Properties for Human Health

The world is on the verge of a major antibiotic crisis as the emergence of resistant bacteria is increasing, and very few novel molecules have been discovered since the 1960s. In this context, scientists have been exploring alternatives to conventional antibiotics, such as ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). Interestingly, the highly potent in vitro antibacterial activity and safety of ruminococcin C1, a recently discovered RiPP belonging to the sactipeptide subclass, has been demonstrated. The present results show that ruminococcin C1 is efficient at curing infection and at protecting challenged mice from Clostridium perfringens with a lower dose than the conventional antibiotic vancomycin. Moreover, antimicrobial peptide (AMP) is also effective against this pathogen in the complex microbial community of the gut environment, with a selective impact on a few bacterial genera, while maintaining a global homeostasis of the microbiome. In addition, ruminococcin C1 exhibits other biological activities that could be beneficial for human health, as well as other fields of applications. Overall, this study, by using an in vivo infection approach, confirms the antimicrobial clinical potential and highlights the multiple functional properties of ruminococcin C1, thus extending its therapeutic interest.     

Changes of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase and FoF1 ATP synthase subunits in rat cerebral cortex during aging

The contents of subunits I, II/III, and IV of cytochrome c oxidase and of subunits alpha, beta and gamma of FoF1 ATP synthase in inner mitochondrial membrane proteins purified from cerebral cortex of rat at 2, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 26 months of age were analyzed by western blot. Age-related changes in the content of subunits, either of mitochondrial or nuclear origin, were observed. All the cytochrome c oxidase (COX) subunits examined showed an age-related increase from 2-month-old rats up to 24 months with a decrease at the oldest age (26 months). The same pattern of age-dependent changes was observed for gamma ATP synthase, while the alpha and beta subunits increased progressively up to 26 months.     

Effects of different doses of apomorphine on the glutamate decarboxylase activity of the substantia nigra and the medial basal hypothalamus

The activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesizing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD, EC 4.1.1.15) was assayed in the rat substantia nigra (SN) and medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) following systemic injection of different doses of the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine. In SN, the highest dose of apomorphine (1000 micrograms/kg) causes an increase of the GAD activity whilst an opposite effect is observed with the lowest dose (35 micrograms/kg). Results obtained in SN are in accordance with previous neurochemical and behavioural data suggesting an opposite action of high (500 micrograms/kg) and low doses (100 micrograms/kg) of apomorphine in nigro-striatal system, probably due to the existence of two classes of dopamine receptors, i.e. classical postsynaptic dopamine receptors and presynaptic inhibitory dopamine autoreceptors. In MBH, the evidence for similar effects of low and high doses of apomorphine (the decrease of GAD activity) may suggest that, as already reported, at this level only one class of dopamine receptors is present.     

Near optimal control of batch reactors

A modified form of the Discrete Maximum Principle (DMP) is derived for systems with finite memory. It is shown that this form of the DMP may be used for the optimal control of nonlinear continuous dynamics systems, when the control policies are bound to be piecewise constant. In this case the modified DMP allows one to determine, in an optimal way, both the control vectors and the switching points. A computational procedure for practical applications is presented. A numerical example is given relative to the computation of the optimal temperature sequence in a completely mixed batch reactor where two consecutive irreversible reactions are taking place.     

Device decapsulated (and/or depassivated) – Retest ok – What happened?

One of the very first steps to enter into physical device failure analysis is the device decapsulation. In some cases, an additional depassivation follows to give access to contact needles for internal probing. However, it happens from time-to-time that the device has been cured from its failure behaviour. Such cases often end as non-conclusive analysis result. Our principle investigations and results, however, will help to understand the mechanisms and allow in many “hopeless” cases to draw useful conclusions on the root causes. These are linked in most cases to metal related failures. Besides the “classical case” of touching bond wires, typical root causes are metal filament shorts in the nanometer-order-of magnitude, which can be removed easily by mechanical and/or chemical effects of any delayering procedure. Surface metal shorts may also be generated by bump metal or pad-interface-metallisation-redeposition onto the passivation surface and by metal residue-related recombinations of trimming fuses. In both latter cases, nanometer metal films short-circuit neighbouring pads or fuses in trimming-fuse-arrays. This paper describes these and some second-order mechanisms in detail, which sometimes let the chip recover after decapsulation and/or depassivation.     

AN ANALYSIS OF NEURAL NETWORKS AS SIMULATORS AND EMULATORS

Recent advances in artificial neural networks (ANNs) have led to the design and construction of neuroarchitectures as simulator and emulators of a variety of problems in science and engineering. Such problems include pattern recognition, prediction, optimization, associative memory, and control of dynamic systems. This paper offers an analytical overview of the most successful design, implementation, and application of neuroarchitectures as neurosimulators and neuroemulators. It also outlines historical notes on the formulation of basic biological neuron, artificial computational models, network architectures, and learning processes of the most common ANN; describes and analyzes neurosimulation on parallel architecture both in software and hardware (neurohardware); presents the simulation of ANNs on parallel architectures; gives a brief introduction of ANNs in vector microprocessor systems; and presents ANNs in terms of the "new technologies". Specifically, it discusses cellular computing, cellular neural networks (CNNs), a new proposition for unsupervised neural networks (UNNs), and pulse coupled neural networks (PCNNs).