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- fMRI (3)
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Reproducibility is a defining feature of science, but the extent to which it characterizes current research is unknown. We conducted replications of 100 experimental and correlational studies published in three psychology journals using high-powered designs and original materials when available. Replication effects were half the magnitude of original effects, representing a substantial decline. Ninety-seven percent of original studies had statistically significant results. Thirty-six percent of replications had statistically significant results; 47% of original effect sizes were in the 95% confidence interval of the replication effect size; 39% of effects were subjectively rated to have replicated the original result; and if no bias in original results is assumed, combining original and replication results left 68% with statistically significant effects. Correlational tests suggest that replication success was better predicted by the strength of original evidence than by characteristics of the original and replication teams.
Early maternal care may counteract familial liability for psychopathology in the reward circuitry
(2018)
Reward processing is altered in various psychopathologies and has been shown to be susceptible to genetic and environmental influences. Here, we examined whether maternal care may buffer familial risk for psychiatric disorders in terms of reward processing. Functional magnetic resonance imaging during a monetary incentive delay task was acquired in participants of an epidemiological cohort study followed since birth (N = 172, 25 years). Early maternal stimulation was assessed during a standardized nursing/playing setting at the age of 3 months. Parental psychiatric disorders (familial risk) during childhood and the participants’ previous psychopathology were assessed by diagnostic interview. With high familial risk, higher maternal stimulation was related to increasing activation in the caudate head, the supplementary motor area, the cingulum and the middle frontal gyrus during reward anticipation, with the opposite pattern found in individuals with no familial risk. In contrast, higher maternal stimulation was associated with decreasing caudate head activity during reward delivery and reduced levels of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the high-risk group. Decreased caudate head activity during reward anticipation and increased activity during delivery were linked to ADHD. These findings provide evidence of a long-term association of early maternal stimulation on both adult neurobiological systems of reward underlying externalizing behavior and ADHD during development.
Association between pubertal stage at first drink and neural reward processing in early adulthood
(2017)
Puberty is a critical time period during human development. It is characterized by high levels of risk-taking behavior, such as increased alcohol consumption, and is accompanied by various neurobiological changes. Recent studies in animals and humans have revealed that the pubertal stage at first drink (PSFD) significantly impacts drinking behavior in adulthood. Moreover, neuronal alterations of the dopaminergic reward system have been associated with alcohol abuse or addiction. This study aimed to clarify the impact of PSFD on neuronal characteristics of reward processing linked to alcohol-related problems. One hundred sixty-eight healthy young adults from a prospective study covering 25 years participated in a monetary incentive delay task measured with simultaneous EEG-fMRI. PSFD was determined according to the age at menarche or Tanner stage of pubertal development, respectively. Alcohol-related problems in early adulthood were assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). During reward anticipation, decreased fMRI activation of the frontal cortex and increased preparatory EEG activity (contingent negative variation) occurred with pubertal compared to postpubertal first alcohol intake. Moreover, alcohol-related problems during early adulthood were increased in pubertal compared to postpubertal beginners, which was mediated by neuronal activation of the right medial frontal gyrus. At reward delivery, increased fMRI activation of the left caudate and higher feedback-related EEG negativity were detected in pubertal compared to postpubertal beginners. Together with animal findings, these results implicate PSFD as a potential modulator of psychopathology, involving altered reward anticipation. Both PSFD timing and reward processing might thus be potential targets for early prevention and intervention.
Background
Non-typhoid Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) accounts for a high number of registered salmonellosis cases, and O-serotyping is one important tool for monitoring epidemiology and spread of the disease. Moreover, variations in glucosylated O-antigens are related to immunogenicity and spread in the host. However, classical autoagglutination tests combined with the analysis of specific genetic markers cannot always reliably register phase variable glucose modifications expressed on Salmonella O-antigens and additional tools to monitor O-antigen glucosylation phenotypes of S. Typhimurium would be desirable.
Results
We developed a test for the phase variable O-antigen glucosylation state of S. Typhimurium using the tailspike proteins (TSP) of Salmonella phages 9NA and P22. We used this ELISA like tailspike adsorption (ELITA) assay to analyze a library of 44 Salmonella strains. ELITA was successful in discriminating strains that carried glucose 1-6 linked to the galactose of O-polysaccharide backbone (serotype O1) from non-glucosylated strains. This was shown by O-antigen compositional analyses of the respective strains with mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis. The ELITA test worked rapidly in a microtiter plate format and was highly O-antigen specific. Moreover, TSP as probes could also detect glucosylated strains in flow cytometry and distinguish multiphasic cultures differing in their glucosylation state.
Conclusions
Tailspike proteins contain large binding sites with precisely defined specificities and are therefore promising tools to be included in serotyping procedures as rapid serotyping agents in addition to antibodies. In this study, 9NA and P22TSP as probes could specifically distinguish glucosylation phenotypes of Salmonella on microtiter plate assays and in flow cytometry. This opens the possibility for flow sorting of cell populations for subsequent genetic analyses or for monitoring phase variations during large scale O-antigen preparations necessary for vaccine production.
From the Drosophila virilis late puff region 31C, we microcloned two neighbouring genes, Kil-1 and Kil-2, that encode putative Kunitz serine protease inhibitor like proteins. The Kil-1 gene is expressed exclusively in prepupal salivary glands. Using a size mutant of the KIL-1 protein and MALDI-TOF analysis, we demonstrate that during pupation this protein is released from the prepupal salivary glands into the pupation fluid covering the surface of the pupa. 3-D- structure predictions are consistent with the known crystal structure of the human Kunitz type protease inhibitor 2KNT. This is the first experimental proof for the extra-corporal presence of a distinct Drosophila prepupal salivary gland protein. Possible functions of KIL-1 in the context of the control of proteolytic activities in the pupation fluid are discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Gilbert et al. conclude that evidence from the Open Science Collaboration’s Reproducibility Project: Psychology indicates high reproducibility, given the study methodology. Their very optimistic assessment is limited by statistical misconceptions and by causal inferences from selectively interpreted, correlational data. Using the Reproducibility Project: Psychology data, both optimistic and pessimistic conclusions about reproducibility are possible, and neither are yet warranted.
Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP), coesite-bearing edogites in the Himalaya have been documented from the Kaghan Valley in Pakistan and the Tso Morani area in northwest India. These complexes are part of the northern edge of the Indian plate that has been subducted to, and metamorphosed at, mantle depths of more than 100 km before being exhumed. Both UHP complexes are located today directly adjacent to the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone and are not separated by non-metamorphosed sequences of Tethyan sediments from the Asian margin. Herein, we present new data for one fresh coesite-bearing eclogite from the Tso Moran massif. Therein, garnets are zoned reflecting their growth during prograde and peak metamorphism and showing a thin retrograde overgrowth. Inclusions can be directly correlated to the compositional zoning and are seen as either relicts of the protolith mineral paragenesis and as "snap shots" of the mineral paragenesis during subduction and under peak conditions. Rare earth element concentrations (REE) were obtained for garnet, mineral inclusions in garnet and matrix minerals. The REE pattern in garnet reflects a sequential change in matrix minerals and their proportions due to net transfer reactions during subduction and peak metamorphism. Using conventional geothermobarometry, a peak pressure of ca. 44-48 kbar at 560-760 degrees C followed by an S-shaped exhumation curve has been deduced. Gibbs free energy minimization modelling was used to supplement our analytical findings. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Dynamics of solute export from catchments can be classified in terms of chemostatic and chemodynamic export regimes by an analysis of concentration-discharge relationships. Previous studies hypothesized that distinct export regimes emerge from the presence of solute mass stores within the catchment and their connectivity to the stream. However, so far a direct link of solute export to identifiable catchment characteristics is missing. Here we investigate long-term time series of stream water quality and quantity of nine neighboring catchments in Central Germany ranging from relatively pristine mountain catchments to agriculturally dominated lowland catchments, spanning large gradients in land use, geology, and climatic conditions. Given the strong collinearity of catchment characteristics we used partial least square regression analysis to quantify the predictive power of these characteristics for median concentrations and the metrics of export regime. We can show that median concentrations and metrics of the export regimes of major ions and nutrients can indeed be inferred from catchment characteristics. Strongest predictors for median concentrations were the share of arable land, discharge per area, runoff coefficient and available water capacity in the root zone of the catchments. The available water capacity in the root zone, the share of arable land being artificially drained and the topographic gradient were found to be the most relevant predictors for the metrics of export regime. These catchment characteristics can represent the size of solute mass store such as the fraction of arable land being a measure for the store of nitrate. On the other hand, catchment characteristics can be a measure for the connectivity of these solute stores to the stream such as the fraction of tile drained land in the catchments. This study demonstrates the potential of data-driven, top down analyses using simple metrics to classify and better understand dominant controls of solute export from catchments. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.