Neuropeptidergic organization of the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the blind mole rat (Spalax ehrenbergi)

The blind mole rat, Spalax, is a subterranean rodent with atrophied, subcutaneous eyes. Whereas most of the visual system is highly degenerated, the retino-hypothalamic pathway in this species has remained intact. Although Spalax is considered to be visually blind, circadian locomotor rhythms are entrained by the light/dark cycle. In the present study we used anterograde tracing techniques to demonstrate retinal afferents to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and immunohistochemistry to examine the distribution of neuropeptides that are known to be involved in the regulation or expression of circadian rhythmicity. Based on the localization of retinal afferents and neuropeptides, the SCN can be divided into two subdivisions. The ventral region, which receives retinal afferents, also contains vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-containing neurons, and fibers that are immunopositive to neuropeptide Y (NPY) and serotonin (5-HT). The dorsal region contains vasopressinergic neurons, but this latter cell population is extremely sparse compared to that described in other rodents. The dorsal region is also characterized by numerous VIP-immunoreactive fibers. The presence of NPY and 5-HT fibers suggests that the SCN receives afferent projections from the intergeniculate leaflet and from the raphe nuclei, respectively. These neuroanatomical results, together with previous studies of behavior, visual tract tracing, and immediate early gene expression, confirm that an endogenous clock and the capacity for light entrainment of circadian rhythms are conserved in the blind mole rat.     

IT capability and organizational performance: the roles of business process agility and environmental factors

The business value of information technology (IT) has been one of the top concerns of both practitioners and scholars for decades. Numerous studies have documented the positive effects of IT capability on organizational performance but our knowledge of the processes through which such gains are achieved remains limited due to a lack of focus on the business environment. Such a linkage therefore remains the subject of debate in the information systems literature. In this study, we fill this gap by investigating the mediating role of business process agility and the moderating roles of environmental factors. On the basis of matched survey data obtained from 214 IT and business executives from manufacturing firms in China, our analyses show that even though firm-wide IT capability presents the characteristics of rarity, appropriability, non-reproducibility, and non-substitutability, its impact on organizational performance is fully mediated by business process agility. Our results also show that the impact of the environment is multifaceted and nuanced. In particular, environmental hostility weakens the effect of IT capability on business process agility, while environmental complexity strengthens it. The theoretical and practical implications of this study, and its limitations, are also discussed.     

Genome size and base composition in Oryzaephilus surinamensis (Coleoptera: Sylvanidae) and differences between native (feral) and silo pest populations in Israel

In this study, flow cytometry was used for assessing and comparing the genome size (GS) and the whole genome base composition (AT/GC ratio) of the saw-toothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.). In addition, the presence and frequency of endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria was studied. The haploid GS was estimated to lie within the range of 151.5-154 Mbp in O. surinamensis, making it the smallest value of haploid GS known among beetles. Furthermore, it was found that in eight silo pest populations GS was significantly smaller than in eight feral (native) populations obtained from fallen oak acorns. The ability of O. surinamensis to colonize different habitats globally could be connected with an unusually AT-rich (for an invertebrate) genome (AT-base content ranging from 68 to 76%). Native (feral) populations of O. surinamensis appear to have genetically diverged from the storage-pest populations tested. Larvae of pest origin survived better than larvae of native (feral) origin under laboratory conditions, which resembled silo conditions more than natural habitats.     

Organizational memory information systems: a transactive memory approach

Effective management of organizational memory (OM) is critical to collaboration and knowledge sharing in organizations. We present a framework for managing organizational memory based on transactive memory, a mechanism of collective memory in small groups. While being effective in small groups, there are difficulties hindering the extension of transactive memory to larger groups. We claim that information technology can be used to help overcome these difficulties. We present a formal architecture for directories of meta-memories required in extended transactive memory systems and propose the use of meta-knowledge to substitute for the lack of tacit group knowledge that exists in small groups.     

The effect of residual strain on the diastolic function of the left ventricle as predicted by a structural model

The unloaded heart is not stress-free. It is subjected to residual stress and strain. Their extent and influence on the global performance of the left ventricle and on local phenomena in the ventricular wall are studied by model simulation. The analysis focuses on the equatorial region of the ventricle, with an approximate thick-walled cylindrical geometry. The in vivo myocardium is considered to be incompressible, consisting of fibers embedded in a fluid matrix, with transmurally varying anisotropic microstructure in accordance with morphological characteristics. The results show that residual strain is transmurally distributed with a pattern and magnitude which agree well with measurements. The calculated residual strains are within mean +/- one standard deviation of the measured ones. Their magnitude was found to increase with increasing opening angle and with increasing wall thickness. The residual strain was found to have several effects on ventricular function: At volumes higher than the reference one it gives rise to more uniform transmural distributions of stress and intramyocardial pressure; it causes about 50% increase in the ventricular compliance at high volumes and doubles the suction of atrial blood at low volumes, thus facilitating the diastolic filling. In addition, residual strains cause bias of in vivo measured strains from their true values. This may significantly affect physiological interpretation of measured ventricular deformations. In conclusion, the present structural analysis predicts that residual strain has favorable effect on left-ventricular diastolic performance, and gives rise to more uniform ventricular stress distribution.     

Enhancement of contrast echocardiography by image variabilityanalysis

BACKGROUND: Although there have been recent advances in echocardiography, many studies remain suboptimal due to poor image quality and unclear blood-myocardium border. We developed a novel image processing technique, cardiac variability imaging (CVI), based on the variance of pixel intensity values during passage of ultrasound microbubble contrast into the left ventricle chamber, with the aim of enhancing endocardial border delineation and image quality. METHODS AND RESULTS: CVI analysis was performed on simulated data to test and verify the mechanism of image enhancement. Then CVI analysis was applied to echocardiographic images obtained in two different clinical studies, and still images were interpreted by expert reviewers. In the first study (N = 15), using contrast agent EchoGen, the number of observable wall segments in end-diastolic images, for example, was significantly increased by CVI (4.93) as compared to precontrast (3.28) and contrast images (3.36), P < 0.001 for both comparisons to CVI. In the second study (N = 8), using contrast agent Optison, interobserver variability of manually traced end-diastolic volumes was significantly decreased using CVI (22.3 ml) as compared to precontrast (63.4) and contrast images (49.0), P < 0.01 for both comparisons to CVI. CONCLUSION: CVI can substantially enhance endocardial border delineation and improve echocardiographic image quality and image interpretation.     

Coupled systolic-ventricular and vascular stiffening with age: implications for pressure regulation and cardiac reserve in the elderly

OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that age-related arterial stiffening is matched by ventricular systolic stiffening, and that both enhance systolic pressure sensitivity to altered cardiac preload. BACKGROUND: Arterial rigidity with age likely enhances blood pressure sensitivity to ventricular filling volume shifts. Tandem increases in ventricular systolic stiffness may also occur and could potentially enhance this sensitivity. METHODS: Invasive left ventricular pressure-volume relations were measured by conductance catheter in 57 adults aged 19 to 93 years. Patients had normal heart function and no cardiac hypertrophy and were referred for catheterization to evaluate chest pain. Twenty-eight subjects had normal coronary angiography and hemodynamics, and the remaining had either systolic hypertension or coronary artery disease without infarction. Data recorded at rest and during transient preload reduction by inferior vena caval obstruction yielded systolic and diastolic left ventricular chamber and effective arterial stiffness and pulse pressure. RESULTS: Left ventricular volumes, ejection fraction and heart rate were unaltered by age, whereas vascular load and stiffening increased (p < 0.008). Arterial stiffening (Ea) was matched by increased ventricular systolic stiffness (Ees): Ees=0.91 x Ea + 0.53, (r=0.50, p < 0.0001), maintaining arterial-heart interaction (Ea/Ees ratio) age-independent. Ventricular systolic and diastolic stiffnesses correlated (r=0.51, p < 0.0001) and increased with age (p < 0.03). Both ventricular and vascular stiffening significantly increased systolic pressure sensitivity to cardiac preload (p < 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Arterial stiffening with age is matched by ventricular systolic stiffening even without hypertrophy. The two effects contribute to elevating systolic pressure sensitivity to altered chamber filling. In addition to recognized baroreflex and autonomic dysfunction with age, combined stiffening could further enhance pressure lability with diuretics and postural shifts in the elderly.     

Fully refocused multi-shot spatiotemporally encoded MRI: robust imaging in the presence of metallic implants

Object

An approach has been recently introduced for acquiring arbitrary 2D NMR spectra or images in a single scan, based on the use of frequency-swept RF pulses for the sequential excitation and acquisition of the spins response. This spatiotemporal-encoding (SPEN) approach enables a unique, voxel-by-voxel refocusing of all frequency shifts in the sample, for all instants throughout the data acquisition. The present study investigates the use of this full-refocusing aspect of SPEN-based imaging in the multi-shot MRI of objects, subject to sizable field inhomogeneities that complicate conventional imaging approaches.

Materials and methods

2D MRI experiments were performed at 7 T on phantoms and on mice in vivo, focusing on imaging in proximity to metallic objects. Fully refocused SPEN-based spin echo imaging sequences were implemented, using both Cartesian and back-projection trajectories, and compared with k-space encoded spin echo imaging schemes collected on identical samples under equal bandwidths and acquisition timing conditions.

Results

In all cases assayed, the fully refocused spatiotemporally encoded experiments evidenced a ca. 50?% reduction in signal dephasing in the proximity of the metal, as compared to analogous results stemming from the k-space encoded spin echo counterparts.

Conclusion

The results in this study suggest that SPEN-based acquisition schemes carry the potential to overcome strong field inhomogeneities, of the kind that currently preclude high-field, high-resolution tissue characterizations in the neighborhood of metallic implants.