Do induced twin pregnancies influence the obstetric and neonatal results of multiple births born before 32 weeks? Comparison to spontaneous gestation

PURPOSE: To compare obstetric outcomes of induced preterm twin births (under 32 weeks gestation) with those spontaneously conceived. METHODS: Prospective study of twin pregnancies (25 induced and 157 spontaneously conceived) developed over a period of 16 years in a tertiary obstetric center. Demographic factors, obstetric complications, gestational age at delivery, mode of delivery, birth weight and immediate newborn outcome were compared. RESULTS: The analysis of obstetrical complications concerning urinary or other infections, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, fetal malformations, intrauterine fetal death, intrauterine growth restriction and intrauterine discordant growth reveal no significant statistical differences between the two groups. First trimester bleeding was higher in the induced group (24 versus 8.3%, p=0.029). The cesarean delivery rate was 52.2% in spontaneous gestations and 64% in induced gestations. Gestational age at delivery, birth weight, Apgar scores at first and fifth minutes, admissions to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and puerperal complications show no statistically significant differences between the two groups. These results were independent of chorionicity and induction method. CONCLUSION: The mode of conception did not influence obstetric and neonatal outcomes. Although induced pregnancies have higher risk of first trimester bleeding, significant differences were not observed regarding other obstetric and puerperal complications and neonatal results.

Spontaneous poisoning by larvae of Perreyia flavipes (Pergidae) in sheep

From a flock of 175 Texel sheep 25 animals died after consumption of a sawfly larvae subsequently identified as Perreyia flavipes. The disease occurred in June-July 2006 on a farm located in the county of Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Although there were 11 cattle in the same paddock, none of them was affected. High numbers of compact masses containing up to 150 larvae were scattered in the paddock where the animals were grazing. Most affected sheep showed severe apathy during 24-36 h before death, but weakness, muscular tremors and depression were also observed. Necropsy was performed on six sheep and the main macroscopic lesions were hemorrhages in the subcutaneous tissues, endocardium, gallbladder wall, and abomasal mucosa. In all animals was found hydrothorax, hydropericardium, ascites, and mild jaundice. Edema in the abomasal folds, mesentery, perirenal tissues, and gallbladder wall were also seen. The livers were yellowish with disseminated pinpoint hemorrhages in the parenchyma and had an enhanced lobular pattern. Perreyia flavipes larval body fragments and heads were found in the forestomach contents of the six sheep. Feces were scant, dry and formed balls coated by mucus and streaks of blood. Similar contents were also present at the end of the cecum. Prominent microscopic lesions included severe and diffuse periacinar or massive necrosis of hepatocytes associated with multifocal random hemorrhages. Diffuse necrosis of lymphoid follicles in lymph nodes and Peyer's patches, lymphoid depletion and necrosis in germinative centers of the spleen, and diffuse vacuolization in the renal tubular epithelia were also seen.

Spontaneous coffee senna poisoning in cattle: report on 16 outbreaks

Sixteen outbreaks of Senna occidentalis (coffee senna) that occurred in cattle in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were reviewed. The great majority (75%) of the outbreaks occurred in adult cattle at pasture during the autumn and winter months with 50% in May, evidencing a striking seasonality. Mortality rates varied from 4.2% to 55.2% and cattle died 2 days up to 2 weeks after showing clinical signs that included dry feces (occasionally diarrhea), muscle weakness, reluctance to move, tachypnea, instability of the hind limbs with dragging of the toes, tremors in muscles of the thighs, neck, and head, ear dropping, sternal recumbency, lateral recumbency and death. Myoglobinuria characterized by a dark red or black discolored urine was a consistent finding in cattle affected at pasture but not in those poisoned by ration contaminated with coffee senna beans. Creatine phosphokinase serum activity was marked ly elevated. Main gross changes observed in 23 necropsies involved skeletal muscles of the hind limbs. These changes consisted of varying degrees of paleness of muscle groups. Subepicardial and subendocardial hemorrhages were present in the hearts of all affected cattle. Histologically a segmental degenerative myopathy of striated muscles was present in every case and had a multifocal polyphasic or monophasic character. Myocardial (3/23), hepatic (3/13), renal (3/10), and splenic (1/6) microscopic lesions were observed occasionally. Myocardial lesions were mild and consisted of vacuolation of cardiomyocytes or focal fibrosis. Hepatic changes consisted of diffuse hepatocelular vacuolation, cytosegrosomes within hepatocytes, and individual hepatocellular necrosis. Kidneys had vacuolar degeneration of tubular epithelium associated with acidophilic casts (proteinosis) within tubular lumina. In the spleen there was marked necrosis of lymphocytes of the white pulp. No histological changes were found in the brains of 13 affected cattle. The data of this study suggest that coffee senna poisoning is an important cause of death in cattle in southern Brazil.

Histopathological and immunohistochemical findings of swine with spontaneous influenza A infection in Brazil, 2009-2010

Swine influenza (SI) is caused by the type A swine influenza virus (SIV). It is a highly contagious disease with a rapid course and recovery. The major clinical signs and symptoms are cough, fever, anorexia and poor performance. The disease has been associated with other co-infections in many countries, but not in Brazil, where, however, the first outbreak has been reported in 2011. The main aim of this study was to characterize the histological features in association with the immunohistochemical (IHC) results for influenza A (IA), porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in lung samples from 60 pigs submitted to Setor de Patologia Veterinária at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (SPV-UFRGS), Brazil, during 2009-2010. All of these lung samples had changes characterized by interstitial pneumonia with necrotizing bronchiolitis, never observed previously in the evaluation of swine lungs in our laboratory routine. Pigs in this study had showed clinical signs of a respiratory infection. Swine samples originated from Rio Grande do Sul 31 (52%), Santa Catarina 14 (23%), Paraná 11 (18%), and Mato Grosso do Sul 4 (7%). Positive anti-IA IHC labelling was observed in 45% of the cases, which were associated with necrotizing bronchiolitis, atelectasis, purulent bronchopneumonia and hyperemia. Moreover, type II pneumocyte hyperplasia, alveolar and bronchiolar polyp-like structures, bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) hyperplasia and pleuritis were the significant features in negative anti-IA IHC, which were also associated with chronic lesions. There were only two cases with positive anti-PCV2 IHC and none to PRRSV. Therefore, SIV was the predominant infectious agent in the lung samples studied. The viral antigen is often absent due to the rapid progress of SI, which may explain the negative IHC results for IA (55%); therefore, IHC should be performed at the beginning of the disease. This study has shown how important a careful histological evaluation is for the diagnosis. Since 2009, a new histological feature of swine pneumonia in animals with respiratory clinical signs has been observed in samples from pigs with clinical respiratory disease submitted to SPV-UFRGS. In addition, the results proved the importance of histological evaluation for swine herd health management.

Concomitant infection of Neospora caninum and Bovine Herpesvirus type 5 in spontaneous bovine abortions

Bovine Herpesvirus type 5 (BoHV-5) has not been conclusively demonstrated to cause bovine abortion. Brain lesions produced by Neospora caninum and Bovine Herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1) exhibit common features. Therefore, careful microscopic evaluation and additional diagnostic procedures are required to achieve an accurate final etiological diagnosis. The aim of the present work was to investigate the occurrence of infections due to BoHV-1, BoHV-5 and N. caninum in 68 cases of spontaneous bovine abortions which showed microscopic lesions in the fetal central nervous system. This study allowed the identification of 4 (5.9%) fetuses with dual infection by BoHV-5 and N. caninum and 33 (48.5%) cases in which N. caninum was the sole pathogen identified. All cases were negative to BoHV-1. The results of this study provide evidence that dual infection by BoHV-5 and N. caninum occur during pregnancy in cattle; however, the role of BoHV-5 as a primary cause of bovine abortion needs further research. Molecular diagnosis of BoHV-5 and N. caninum confirmed the importance of applying complementary assays to improve the sensitivity of diagnosing bovine abortion.

Spontaneous poisoning by Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae) in cattle

The aim of this study is to report cases of spontaneous poisoning of cattle by Ricinus communis (castor beans) in Paraíba, a semiarid region of northeastern Brazil. The cases were observed in 2 herds on neighboring properties in 2013. Clinical signs developed within 6-24 h and consisted of weakness, tachycardia, dyspnea, profuse watery diarrhea, dehydration, depression, instability, cramps, permanent lateral recumbency and death within 48-72 h. Of the 60 cattle at risk, 19 were affected and 14 died. Five fully recovered after the course of 12 days. Three animals were necropsied. The main gross lesions were hemopericardium, hemothorax, pulmonary edema, petechial hemorrhages in the epicardium and endocardium, ecchymoses at the papillary muscles and suffusions on the intercostal muscles. Hemorrhages were also observed in the abdominal cavity, spleen and mucosa of the abomasum and small intestine. The rumen content was liquid with a large amount of castor bean seeds. There were circular, whitish and focally diffuse areas in the liver parenchyma. The main microscopic lesions consisted of multifocal coagulative myocardial necrosis with the presence of mononuclear cell infiltration and varying degrees of bleeding between cardiac muscle fibers. The abomasum and small intestine mucosae and submucosa had mild edema and mononuclear and polymorphonuclear inflammatory cell infiltration. The diagnosis of R. communis was based on the history of plant consumption, clinical signs, pathology of the disease and the presence of large amounts of castor bean seeds in the forestomachs.

Noise and vibration damping of Fe-Cr-x alloys

The aim of the present work is to study the noise and vibration damping capacity of ferromagnetic Fe-16%Cr base alloys (before and after heat treatment) with different Al and Mo contents. The noise damping was evaluated by the level of sound emission after an impact. The vibration damping was studied using a cantilever device. In addition to these tests, the magnetic structure of the materials was also investigated by Kerr effect. It was verified that the materials can decrease noise level in the frequency range of human earring. The vibration damping is influenced by heat treatment and chemical composition of the alloy. The improvement of vibration damping after heat treatment is ascribed to the decrease of internal stresses in materials and changes in magnetic domain structures.

Spontaneous Focusing on Quantitative Relations and the Development of Rational Number Conceptual Knowledge

The aim of the present set of studies was to explore primary school children’s Spontaneous Focusing On quantitative Relations (SFOR) and its role in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge. The specific goals were to determine if it was possible to identify a spontaneous quantitative focusing tendency that indexes children’s tendency to recognize and utilize quantitative relations in non-explicitly mathematical situations and to determine if this tendency has an impact on the development of rational number conceptual knowledge in late primary school. To this end, we report on six original empirical studies that measure SFOR in children ages five to thirteen years and the development of rational number conceptual knowledge in ten- to thirteen-year-olds. SFOR measures were developed to determine if there are substantial differences in SFOR that are not explained by the ability to use quantitative relations. A measure of children’s conceptual knowledge of the magnitude representations of rational numbers and the density of rational numbers is utilized to capture the process of conceptual change with rational numbers in late primary school students. Finally, SFOR tendency was examined in relation to the development of rational number conceptual knowledge in these students. Study I concerned the first attempts to measure individual differences in children’s spontaneous recognition and use of quantitative relations in 86 Finnish children from the ages of five to seven years. Results revealed that there were substantial inter-individual differences in the spontaneous recognition and use of quantitative relations in these tasks. This was particularly true for the oldest group of participants, who were in grade one (roughly seven years old). However, the study did not control for ability to solve the tasks using quantitative relations, so it was not clear if these differences were due to ability or SFOR. Study II more deeply investigated the nature of the two tasks reported in Study I, through the use of a stimulated-recall procedure examining children’s verbalizations of how they interpreted the tasks. Results reveal that participants were able to verbalize reasoning about their quantitative relational responses, but not their responses based on exact number. Furthermore, participants’ non-mathematical responses revealed a variety of other aspects, beyond quantitative relations and exact number, which participants focused on in completing the tasks. These results suggest that exact number may be more easily perceived than quantitative relations. As well, these tasks were revealed to contain both mathematical and non-mathematical aspects which were interpreted by the participants as relevant. Study III investigated individual differences in SFOR 84 children, ages five to nine, from the US and is the first to report on the connection between SFOR and other mathematical abilities. The cross-sectional data revealed that there were individual differences in SFOR. Importantly, these differences were not entirely explained by the ability to solve the tasks using quantitative relations, suggesting that SFOR is partially independent from the ability to use quantitative relations. In other words, the lack of use of quantitative relations on the SFOR tasks was not solely due to participants being unable to solve the tasks using quantitative relations, but due to a lack of the spontaneous attention to the quantitative relations in the tasks. Furthermore, SFOR tendency was found to be related to arithmetic fluency among these participants. This is the first evidence to suggest that SFOR may be a partially distinct aspect of children’s existing mathematical competences. Study IV presented a follow-up study of the first graders who participated in Studies I and II, examining SFOR tendency as a predictor of their conceptual knowledge of fraction magnitudes in fourth grade. Results revealed that first graders’ SFOR tendency was a unique predictor of fraction conceptual knowledge in fourth grade, even after controlling for general mathematical skills. These results are the first to suggest that SFOR tendency may play a role in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge. Study V presents a longitudinal study of the development of 263 Finnish students’ rational number conceptual knowledge over a one year period. During this time participants completed a measure of conceptual knowledge of the magnitude representations and the density of rational numbers at three time points. First, a Latent Profile Analysis indicated that a four-class model, differentiating between those participants with high magnitude comparison and density knowledge, was the most appropriate. A Latent Transition Analysis reveal that few students display sustained conceptual change with density concepts, though conceptual change with magnitude representations is present in this group. Overall, this study indicated that there were severe deficiencies in conceptual knowledge of rational numbers, especially concepts of density. The longitudinal Study VI presented a synthesis of the previous studies in order to specifically detail the role of SFOR tendency in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge. Thus, the same participants from Study V completed a measure of SFOR, along with the rational number test, including a fourth time point. Results reveal that SFOR tendency was a predictor of rational number conceptual knowledge after two school years, even after taking into consideration prior rational number knowledge (through the use of residualized SFOR scores), arithmetic fluency, and non-verbal intelligence. Furthermore, those participants with higher-than-expected SFOR scores improved significantly more on magnitude representation and density concepts over the four time points. These results indicate that SFOR tendency is a strong predictor of rational number conceptual development in late primary school children. The results of the six studies reveal that within children’s existing mathematical competences there can be identified a spontaneous quantitative focusing tendency named spontaneous focusing on quantitative relations. Furthermore, this tendency is found to play a role in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge in primary school children. Results suggest that conceptual change with the magnitude representations and density of rational numbers is rare among this group of students. However, those children who are more likely to notice and use quantitative relations in situations that are not explicitly mathematical seem to have an advantage in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge. It may be that these students gain quantitative more and qualitatively better self-initiated deliberate practice with quantitative relations in everyday situations due to an increased SFOR tendency. This suggests that it may be important to promote this type of mathematical activity in teaching rational numbers. Furthermore, these results suggest that there may be a series of spontaneous quantitative focusing tendencies that have an impact on mathematical development throughout the learning trajectory.

Exit times for some processes with normally distributed noise

Denna avhandling handlar om metoder för att hitta begränsningar för det asymptotiska beteendet hos en förväntad uthoppstid från ett område omkring en xpunkt för processer som har normalfördelad störning. I huvudsak behandlas olika typer av autoregressiva processer. Fyra olika metoder används. En metod som använder principen för stora avvikelser samt en metod som jämför uthoppstiden med en återkomsttid ger övre begränsningar för den förväntade uthoppstiden. En martingalmetod och en metod för normalfördelade stokastiska variabler ger undre begränsningar. Metoderna har alla både förtjänster och nackdelar. Genom att kombinera de olika metoderna får man de bästa resultaten. Vi får fram gränsvärdet för det asymptotiska beteendet hos en uthoppstid för den multivariata autoregressiva processen, samt motsvarande gränsvärde för den univariata autoregressiva processen av ordning n.

Fibronectin in the ascitic fluid of cirrhotic patients: correlation with biochemical risk factors for the development of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

Cirrhotic patients (23 with alcoholic cirrhosis, 5 with posthepatitic cirrhosis and 2 with cryptogenic cirrhosis) with ascites and portal hypertension were studied and divided into two groups corresponding to high or low risk to develop spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) related to the concentration of total protein in the ascitic fluid (A-TP): group I (high risk): A-TP£1.5 g/dl and group II (low risk): A-TP>1.5 g/dl. Fibronectin (FN), C3 and C4 concentrations were measured by radial immunodiffusion while total protein was measured by the biuret method. The mean values (group I vs group II) of C3 (12.59 ± 4.72 vs 24.53 ± 15.58 mg/dl), C4 (4.26 ± 3.87 vs 7.26 ± 4.14 mg/dl) and FN (50.47 ± 12.49 vs 75.89 ± 24.70 mg/dl) in the ascitic fluid were significantly lower (P<0.05) in the group considered to be at high risk for SBP. No significant difference was observed in the plasma/ascites fibronectin ratio (3.91 ± 1.21 vs 3.80 ± 1.26) or gradient (131.46 ± 64.01 vs 196.96 ± 57.38) between groups. Fibronectin in ascites was significantly correlated to C3 (r = 0.76), C4 (r = 0.58), total protein (r = 0.73) and plasma FN (r = 0.58) (P<0.05). The data suggest that the FN concentration in ascites is related to the opsonic capacity of this fluid, and that its concentration in the ascitic fluid may be a biochemical risk factor indicator for the development of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

The carotid body of the spontaneous insulin-dependent diabetic rat

The carotid bodies from adult spontaneous insulin-dependent diabetic rats (strain BB/S) were perfusion-fixed at normal arterial blood pressure with 3% phosphate-buffered glutaraldehyde and compared with the organs from control rats (strain BB/Sc) prepared in the same way. Serial 5-µm sections were cut, stained, and using an interactive image analysis system, were analysed to determine the volumes of the carotid body and its vascular and extravascular compartments. There was no evidence of systemic arterial disease in the carotid stem arteries in either group of animals, and the microvasculature of the organs appeared normal by light microscopy. The volume of the carotid body was unchanged 3 months after the onset of diabetes but was increased at 6 months. The total vascular volume of the organ was unchanged, but the volume of the small vessels (5-12 µm) was increased. In the control group the small vessels comprised 5% of the total volume of the carotid body, or about 44% of the vascular compartment. The percentage of small vessels increased at 3 months in the diabetic group, but had returned to normal at 6 months. The extravascular volume followed the same pattern as the total carotid body volume and so did not change appreciably when expressed as a percentage of the total volume of the organ. The increase in size of the carotid body in diabetic rats is due, therefore, to an augmented extravascular volume. In one diabetic specimen the carotid sinus nerve showed signs of diabetic neuropathy, axonal swelling and intramyelinic oedema. The clinical implications of these results are discussed.

Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity in the Development of Early Mathematical Skills

The aim of the present set of longitudinal studies was to explore 3-7-year-old children.s Spontaneous FOcusing on Numerosity (SFON) and its relation to early mathematical development. The specific goals were to capture in method and theory the distinct process by which children focus on numerosity as a part of their activities involving exact number recognition, and individual differences in this process that may be informative in the development of more complex number skills. Over the course of conducting the five studies, fifteen novel tasks were progressively developed for the SFON assessments. In the tasks, confounding effects of insufficient number recognition, verbal comprehension, other procedural skills as well as working memory capacity were aimed to be controlled. Furthermore, how children.s individual differences in SFON are related to their development of number sequence, subitizing-based enumeration, object counting and basic arithmetic skills was explored. The effect of social interaction on SFON was tested. Study I captured the first phase of the 3-year longitudinal study with 39 children. It was investigated whether there were differences in 3-year-old children.s tendency to focus on numerosity, and whether these differences were related to the children.s development of cardinality recognition skills from the age of 3 to 4 years. It was found that the two groups of children formed on the basis of their amount of SFON tendency at the age of 3 years differed in their development of recognising and producing small numbers. The children whose SFON tendency was very predominant developed faster in cardinality related skills from the age of 3 to 4 years than the children whose SFON tendency was not as predominant. Thus, children.s development in cardinality recognition skills is related to their SFON tendency. Studies II and III were conducted to investigate, firstly, children.s individual differences in SFON, and, secondly, whether children.s SFON is related to their counting development. Altogether nine tasks were designed for the assessments of spontaneous and guided focusing on numerosity. The longitudinal data of 39 children in Study II from the age of 3.5 to 6 years showed individual differences in SFON at the ages of 4, 5 and 6 years, as well as stability in children.s SFON across tasks used at different ages. The counting skills were assessed at the ages of 3.5, 5 and 6 years. Path analyses indicated a reciprocal tendency in the relationship between SFON and counting development. In Study III, these results on the individual differences in SFON tendency, the stability of SFON across different tasks and the relationship of SFON and mathematical skills were confirmed by a larger-scale cross-sectional study of 183 on average 6.5-year-old children (range 6;0-7;0 years). The significant amount of unique variance that SFON accounted for number sequence elaboration, object counting and basic arithmetic skills stayed statistically significant (partial correlations varying from .27 to .37) when the effects of non-verbal IQ and verbal comprehension were controlled. In addition, to confirm that the SFON tasks assess SFON tendency independently from enumeration skills, guided focusing tasks were used for children who had failed in SFON tasks. It was explored whether these children were able to proceed in similar tasks to SFON tasks once they were guided to focus on number. The results showed that these children.s poor performance in the SFON tasks was not caused by their deficiency in executing the tasks but on lacking focusing on numerosity. The longitudinal Study IV of 39 children aimed at increasing the knowledge of associations between children.s long-term SFON tendency, subitizing-based enumeration and verbal counting skills. Children were tested twice at the age of 4-5 years on their SFON, and once at the age of 5 on their subitizing-based enumeration, number sequence production, as well as on their skills for counting of objects. Results showed considerable stability in SFON tendency measured at different ages, and that there is a positive direct association between SFON and number sequence production. The association between SFON and object counting skills was significantly mediated by subitizing-based enumeration. These results indicate that the associations between the child.s SFON and sub-skills of verbal counting may differ on the basis of how significant a role understanding the cardinal meanings of number words plays in learning these skills. The specific goal of Study V was to investigate whether it is possible to enhance 3-year old children.s SFON tendency, and thus start children.s deliberate practice in early mathematical skills. Participants were 3-year-old children in Finnish day care. The SFON scores and cardinality-related skills of the experimental group of 17 children were compared to the corresponding results of the 17 children in the control group. The results show an experimental effect on SFON tendency and subsequent development in cardinality-related skills during the 6-month period from pretest to delayed posttest in the children with some initial SFON tendency in the experimental group. Social interaction has an effect on children.s SFON tendency. The results of the five studies assert that within a child.s existing mathematical competence, it is possible to distinguish a separate process, which refers to the child.s tendency to spontaneously focus on numerosity. Moreover, there are significant individual differences in children.s SFON at the age of 3-7 years. Moderate stability was found in this tendency across different tasks assessed both at the same and at different ages. Furthermore, SFON tendency is related to the development of early mathematical skills. Educational implications of the findings emphasise, first, the importance of regarding focusing on numerosity as a separate, essential process in the assessments of young children.s mathematical skills. Second, the substantial individual differences in SFON tendency during the childhood years suggest that uncovering and modeling this kind of mathematically meaningful perceiving of the surroundings and tasks could be an efficient tool for promoting young children.s mathematical development, and thus prevent later failures in learning mathematical skills. It is proposed to consider focusing on numerosity as one potential sub-process of activities involving exact number recognition in future studies.

Is pancreas development abnormal in the non-obese diabetic mouse, a spontaneous model of type I diabetes?

Despite extensive genetic and immunological research, the complex etiology and pathogenesis of type I diabetes remains unresolved. During the last few years, our attention has been focused on factors such as abnormalities of islet function and/or microenvironment, that could interact with immune partners in the spontaneous model of the disease, the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse. Intriguingly, the first anomalies that we noted in NOD mice, compared to control strains, are already present at birth and consist of 1) higher numbers of paradoxically hyperactive ß cells, assessed by in situ preproinsulin II expression; 2) high percentages of immature islets, representing islet neogenesis related to neonatal ß-cell hyperactivity and suggestive of in utero ß-cell stimulation; 3) elevated levels of some types of antigen-presenting cells and FasL+ cells, and 4) abnormalities of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein expression. However, the colocalization in all control mouse strains studied of fibroblast-like cells (anti-TR-7 labeling), some ECM proteins (particularly, fibronectin and collagen I), antigen-presenting cells and a few FasL+ cells at the periphery of islets undergoing neogenesis suggests that remodeling phenomena that normally take place during postnatal pancreas development could be disturbed in NOD mice. These data show that from birth onwards there is an intricate relationship between endocrine and immune events in the NOD mouse. They also suggest that tissue-specific autoimmune reactions could arise from developmental phenomena taking place during fetal life in which ECM-immune cell interaction(s) may play a key role.

Effect of scanner acoustic background noise on strict resting-state fMRI

Functional MRI (fMRI) resting-state experiments are aimed at identifying brain networks that support basal brain function. Although most investigators consider a ‘resting-state’ fMRI experiment with no specific external stimulation, subjects are unavoidably under heavy acoustic noise produced by the equipment. In the present study, we evaluated the influence of auditory input on the resting-state networks (RSNs). Twenty-two healthy subjects were scanned using two similar echo-planar imaging sequences in the same 3T MRI scanner: a default pulse sequence and a reduced “silent” pulse sequence. Experimental sessions consisted of two consecutive 7-min runs with noise conditions (default or silent) counterbalanced across subjects. A self-organizing group independent component analysis was applied to fMRI data in order to recognize the RSNs. The insula, left middle frontal gyrus and right precentral and left inferior parietal lobules showed significant differences in the voxel-wise comparison between RSNs depending on noise condition. In the presence of low-level noise, these areas Granger-cause oscillations in RSNs with cognitive implications (dorsal attention and entorhinal), while during high noise acquisition, these connectivities are reduced or inverted. Applying low noise MR acquisitions in research may allow the detection of subtle differences of the RSNs, with implications in experimental planning for resting-state studies, data analysis, and ergonomic factors.

Involvement of the TRPV1 channel in the modulation of spontaneous locomotor activity, physical performance and physical exercise-induced physiological responses

Physical exercise triggers coordinated physiological responses to meet the augmented metabolic demand of contracting muscles. To provide adequate responses, the brain must receive sensory information about the physiological status of peripheral tissues and organs, such as changes in osmolality, temperature and pH. Most of the receptors involved in these afferent pathways express ion channels, including transient receptor potential (TRP) channels, which are usually activated by more than one type of stimulus and are therefore considered polymodal receptors. Among these TRP channels, the TRPV1 channel (transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 or capsaicin receptor) has well-documented functions in the modulation of pain sensation and thermoregulatory responses. However, the TRPV1 channel is also expressed in non-neural tissues, suggesting that this channel may perform a broad range of functions. In this review, we first present a brief overview of the available tools for studying the physiological roles of the TRPV1 channel. Then, we present the relationship between the TRPV1 channel and spontaneous locomotor activity, physical performance, and modulation of several physiological responses, including water and electrolyte balance, muscle hypertrophy, and metabolic, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and inflammatory responses. Altogether, the data presented herein indicate that the TPRV1 channel modulates many physiological functions other than nociception and thermoregulation. In addition, these data open new possibilities for investigating the role of this channel in the acute effects induced by a single bout of physical exercise and in the chronic effects induced by physical training.