Role for the M1 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor in Top-Down Cognitive Processing Using a Touchscreen Visual Discrimination Task in Mice

The M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) subtype has been implicated in the underlying mechanisms of learning and memory and represents an important potential pharmacotherapeutic target for the cognitive impairments observed in neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia show impairments in top-down processing involving conflict between sensory-driven and goal-oriented processes that can be modeled in preclinical studies using touchscreen-based cognition tasks. The present studies used a touchscreen visual pairwise discrimination task in which mice discriminated between a less salient and a more salient stimulus to assess the influence of the M1 mAChR on top-down processing. M1 mAChR knockout (M1 KO) mice showed a slower rate of learning, evidenced by slower increases in accuracy over 12 consecutive days, and required more days to acquire (achieve 80% accuracy) this discrimination task compared to wild-type mice. In addition, the M1 positive allosteric modulator BQCA enhanced the rate of learning this discrimination in wild-type, but not in M1 KO, mice when BQCA was administered daily prior to testing over 12 consecutive days. Importantly, in discriminations between stimuli of equal salience, M1 KO mice did not show impaired acquisition and BQCA did not affect the rate of learning or acquisition in wild-type mice. These studies are the first to demonstrate performance deficits in M1 KO mice using touchscreen cognitive assessments and enhanced rate of learning and acquisition in wild-type mice through M1 mAChR potentiation when the touchscreen discrimination task involves top-down processing. Taken together, these findings provide further support for M1 potentiation as a potential treatment for the cognitive symptoms associated with schizophrenia.

Inorganic nitrogen wet deposition: Evidence from the North-South Transect of Eastern China

We examined the spatio-temporal variation of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) deposition in eight typical forest ecosystems of Eastern China for three consecutive years. DIN deposition exhibited an increasing gradient from north to south, with N-NH4(+) as the predominant contributor. DIN deposition in precipitation changed after interaction with the forest canopy, and serious ecological perturbations are expected in this region. DIN deposition presented seasonal fluctuations, which might be ascribed to agricultural activity, fossil-fuel combustion and environmental factors (i.e., wind direction, soil temperature). Notably, N fertilizer use (FN), energy consumption (E), and precipitation (P) jointly explained 84.3% of the spatial variation in DIN deposition, of which FN (27.2%) was the most important, followed by E (24.8%), and finally P (9.3%). The findings demonstrate that DIN deposition is regulated by precipitation mainly via anthropogenic N emissions, and this analysis provides decision-makers a novel view for N pollution abatement.

Precision Measurement of the p(e,e^{'}p)π^{0} Reaction at Threshold

New results are reported from a measurement of π^{0} electroproduction near threshold using the p(e,e^{'}p)π^{0} reaction. The experiment was designed to determine precisely the energy dependence of s- and p-wave electromagnetic multipoles as a stringent test of the predictions of chiral perturbation theory (ChPT). The data were taken with an electron beam energy of 1192 MeV using a two-spectrometer setup in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. For the first time, complete coverage of the ϕ_{π}^{*} and θ_{π}^{*} angles in the pπ^{0} center of mass was obtained for invariant energies above threshold from 0.5 up to 15 MeV. The 4-momentum transfer Q^{2} coverage ranges from 0.05 to 0.155 (GeV/c)^{2} in fine steps. A simple phenomenological analysis of our data shows strong disagreement with p-wave predictions from ChPT for Q^{2}>0.07 (GeV/c)^{2}, while the s-wave predictions are in reasonable agreement.

An investigation into the removal of Salmonella and enteric indicator bacteria from the separated liquid fraction of raw or anaerobically digested pig manure using novel on-farm woodchip biofilters

The objective was to investigate the removal of Salmonella and enteric indicator bacteria from the liquid fraction of raw and anaerobically digested (AD) pig manure in woodchip biofilters over a 14 week (98 day) period. Antibiotic susceptible Salmonella Infantis was detected in one influent material (liquid fraction of raw manure) on two occasions but was not found in the effluent at any time point. Furthermore, mean coliform reductions of 56% were observed in the biofilters treating the liquid fraction of raw manure. However, a mean increase of 228% was found in those treating the liquid from AD manure, despite the fact that the microbial challenge to these biofilters was lower. In addition, relatively high coliform counts were still present in the effluent from both biofilter treatments, especially in the systems treating the liquid fraction of AD manure. However, findings for Escherichia coli and Enterococcus were more promising, with reductions observed for both treatments (10 and 18.5% for E. coli and 71 and 87% for Enterococcus). Moreover, E. coli and Enterococcus were at, or just above, the limit of detection in the final effluents. Overall, although, there are no microbial limits for discharge or washwaters, the woodchip filter effluent would appear safe for discharge to waterways or use on-farm as regards Salmonella, E. coli and Enterococcus but not coliform. In conclusion, woodchip biofilters offer potential as a low-cost sustainable novel treatment option for the removal of pathogens from the liquid fraction of pig manure.

Experimental quantum-walk revival with a time-dependent coin

We demonstrate a quantum walk with time-dependent coin bias. With this technique we realize an experimental single-photon one-dimensional quantum walk with a linearly ramped time-dependent coin flip operation and thereby demonstrate two periodic revivals of the walker distribution. In our beam-displacer interferometer, the walk corresponds to movement between discretely separated transverse modes of the field serving as lattice sites, and the time-dependent coin flip is effected by implementing a different angle between the optical axis of half-wave plate and the light propagation at each step. Each of the quantum-walk steps required to realize a revival comprises two sequential orthogonal coin-flip operators, with one coin having constant bias and the other coin having a time-dependent ramped coin bias, followed by a conditional translation of the walker.

Measurement of double-polarization asymmetries in the quasielastic (3)He[→](e[→],e(')d) process

We present a precise measurement of double-polarization asymmetries in the ^{3}He[over →](e[over →],e^{'}d) reaction. This particular process is a uniquely sensitive probe of hadron dynamics in ^{3}He and the structure of the underlying electromagnetic currents. The measurements have been performed in and around quasielastic kinematics at Q^{2}=0.25(GeV/c)^{2} for missing momenta up to 270  MeV/c. The asymmetries are in fair agreement with the state-of-the-art calculations in terms of their functional dependencies on p_{m} and ω, but are systematically offset. Beyond the region of the quasielastic peak, the discrepancies become even more pronounced. Thus, our measurements have been able to reveal deficiencies in the most sophisticated calculations of the three-body nuclear system, and indicate that further refinement in the treatment of their two-and/or three-body dynamics is required.

Precision measurement of the neutron twist-3 matrix element d(2)(n): probing color forces

Double-spin asymmetries and absolute cross sections were measured at large Bjorken x  (0.25≤x≤0.90), in both the deep-inelastic and resonance regions, by scattering longitudinally polarized electrons at beam energies of 4.7 and 5.9 GeV from a transversely and longitudinally polarized (3)He target. In this dedicated experiment, the spin structure function g(2)((3)He) was determined with precision at large x, and the neutron twist-3 matrix element d(2)(n) was measured at ⟨Q(2)⟩ of 3.21 and 4.32  GeV(2)/c(2), with an absolute precision of about 10(-5). Our results are found to be in agreement with lattice QCD calculations and resolve the disagreement found with previous data at ⟨Q(2)⟩=5  GeV(2)/c(2). Combining d(2)(n) and a newly extracted twist-4 matrix element f(2)(n), the average neutron color electric and magnetic forces were extracted and found to be of opposite sign and about 30  MeV/fm in magnitude.

Measurement of the target-normal single-spin asymmetry in deep-inelastic scattering from the reaction (3)He(↑)(e,e')X

We report the first measurement of the target-normal single-spin asymmetry in deep-inelastic scattering from the inclusive reaction 3)He(↑)(e,e')X on a polarized (3)He gas target. Assuming time-reversal invariance, this asymmetry is strictly zero in the Born approximation but can be nonzero if two-photon-exchange contributions are included. The experiment, conducted at Jefferson Lab using a 5.89 GeV electron beam, covers a range of 1.7<W<2.9  GeV, 1.0<Q(2)<4.0  GeV(2) and 0.16<x<0.65. Neutron asymmetries were extracted using the effective nucleon polarization and measured proton-to-(3)He cross-section ratios. The measured neutron asymmetries are negative with an average value of (-1.09±0.38)×10(-2) for invariant mass W>2  GeV, which is nonzero at the 2.89σ level. Our measured asymmetry agrees both in sign and magnitude with a two-photon-exchange model prediction that uses input from the Sivers transverse momentum distribution obtained from semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering.

Probing the repulsive core of the nucleon-nucleon interaction via the (4)He(e,e'pN) triple-coincidence reaction

We studied simultaneously the (4)He(e,e'p), (4)He(e,e'pp), and (4)He(e,e'pn) reactions at Q(2)=2(GeV/c)(2) and x(B)>1, for an (e,e'p) missing-momentum range of 400 to 830  MeV/c. The knocked-out proton was detected in coincidence with a proton or neutron recoiling almost back to back to the missing momentum, leaving the residual A=2 system at low excitation energy. These data were used to identify two-nucleon short-range correlated pairs and to deduce their isospin structure as a function of missing momentum, in a region where the nucleon-nucleon (NN) force is expected to change from predominantly tensor to repulsive. The abundance of neutron-proton pairs is reduced as the nucleon momentum increases beyond ∼500  MeV/c. The extracted fraction of proton-proton pairs is small and almost independent of the missing momentum. Our data are compared with calculations of two-nucleon momentum distributions in (4)He and discussed in the context of probing the elusive repulsive component of the NN force.

Clinical and pathological features of adult pulmonary tuberculosis with reversed halo sign

OBJECTIVE

To understand the pathological correlation of the reversed halo sign (RHS) in adult pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients, and to compare the clinical characteristics of PTB patients with RHS with those without RHS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study included 80 patients consecutively diagnosed with PTB by pathology or smear-positive sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from 1 January to 31 August 2012. All patients underwent high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan, and were divided into two groups based on HRCT findings: RHS and non-RHS. All patients in the RHS group underwent CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy to evaluate histopathological abnormalities. Clinical features such as smoking history, TB-related symptoms and comorbidities were compared.

RESULTS

The 'ring' in the RHS corresponded to granulomata, with or without acid-fast stain positivity, and with or without caseating necrosis. Compared with the non-RHS group, patients in the RHS group were significantly younger, were less likely to have a smoking history and had fewer TB-related symptoms and comorbidities.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study shows that younger PTB patients with relatively better baseline status tended to present with RHS on HRCT, have fewer TB-related symptoms and present atypically.

Functional RIG-I-like receptors control the survival of mesenchymal stem cells

Because of their potent regenerative and immunomodulatory properties, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have promising therapeutic benefits in clinical treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases. Recent studies suggest that many biological activities of MSCs are largely determined by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs). However, the role of PRRs in regulating the survival of MSCs remains unknown. In the present study, we examined the viability of MSCs after stimulation of distinct PRRs. Activation of TLRs by direct addition with their respective ligands showed no significant effect on the survival of MSCs, whereas transfection with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) resulted in marked cell death in MSCs. Transfection of dsRNA upregulated cytosolic retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs), including RIG-I and melanoma differentiation-associated antigen 5 (MDA5). Moreover, transfection of dsRNA activated downstream transcription factors interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), as well as induced the expression of interferon-β (IFN-β) and pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6) via RLR signaling. Furthermore, we found that transfection of dsRNA triggered both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic responses via RLRs. However, ectopic expression of RIG-I or MDA5 was not sufficient to induce apoptosis of MSCs without dsRNA transfection. Our study also revealed that IκB kinase α/β (IKKα/β) was required for RLR-mediated apoptosis in MSCs, while TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1)/IKKɛ served a pro-survival role. Moreover, neither overexpression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) nor neutralizing autocrined IFN-β reduced RLR-mediated apoptosis. In addition, autophagy was induced upon activation of RLRs, however, blocking autophagy did not rescue MSCs from the dsRNA-induced cell death. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the role of RLRs in controlling the survival of MSCs, which may provide a clue to understand the pathogenesis of viral infection in MSCs.

Hard two-body photodisintegration of 3He

We have measured cross sections for the γ(3)He → pd reaction at photon energies of 0.4-1.4 GeV and a center-of-mass angle of 90°. We observe dimensional scaling above 0.7 GeV at this center-of-mass angle. This is the first observation of dimensional scaling in the photodisintegration of a nucleus heavier than the deuteron.

Treatment of separated piggery anaerobic digestate liquid using woodchip biofilters

The Irish nitrates directive restricts the land area suitable for landspreading of pig manure, so anaerobic digestion warrants consideration. In this study, six identical Lodgepole pine woodchip biofilters were set up to treat the separated liquid fraction of digestate after anaerobic digestion of pig manure. Two hydraulic loading rates were examined: 5 L/m2/d (LLR) and 10 L/m2/d (HLR). Following a start-up period of 70 days, an average of 90% and 71% of NH4(+)-N was removed at LLR and HLR, respectively. LLR resulted in higher total nitrogen removals than HLR (p < 0.05). Efficient nitrification occurred at LLR as indicated by the lower NH4(+)-N (p < 0.05) and higher NO3(-)-N (p < 0.05) concentrations in the biofilter effluent. A batch experiment testing the capacity of saturated woodchips in removing total oxidized nitrogen (TON) from the effluent of the woodchip biofilters showed that TON was reduced by 323 mg/L from 663 mg/L in 360 h, indicating that the aerobic woodchip biofilters should incorporate a saturated layer ofwoodchips at the base ofthe biofilters to enhance nitrogen removal.

Hydrolysis and acidification of grass silage in leaching bed reactors

Hydrolysis and acidification of grass silage (GS) was examined in leaching bed reactors (LBRs) under organic loading rates (OLRs) of 0.5, 0.8 and 1.0 kg volatile solids (VS)/m(3)/day. The LBRs were run in duplicate over five consecutive batch tests (Batch tests 1-5) to examine the effects of pH, leachate dilution and addition of inoculum on the process of hydrolysis and acidification. The highest GS hydrolysis yields of 52-58%, acidification yields of 57-60% and VS removals of 62-66% were obtained in Batch test 4. Increasing OLRs affected the hydrolysis yield negatively. In Batch test 4, the reduction of lignocellulosic materials was up to 74.4% of hemicellulose, 30.1% of cellulose and 9.3% of lignin within 32 days. Cellulase activity can be used as an indicator for the hydrolysis process. Methane production from the LBRs only accounted for 10.0-13.8% of the biological methane potential of GS.

Measurement of the neutron radius of 208Pb through parity violation in electron scattering

We report the first measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry A(PV) in the elastic scattering of polarized electrons from 208Pb. A(PV) is sensitive to the radius of the neutron distribution (R(n)). The result A(PV)=0.656±0.060(stat)±0.014(syst) ppm corresponds to a difference between the radii of the neutron and proton distributions R(n)-R(p)=0.33(-0.18)(+0.16) fm and provides the first electroweak observation of the neutron skin which is expected in a heavy, neutron-rich nucleus.

New precision limit on the strange vector form factors of the proton

The parity-violating cross-section asymmetry in the elastic scattering of polarized electrons from unpolarized protons has been measured at a four-momentum transfer squared Q2 = 0.624  GeV2 and beam energy E(b) = 3.48  GeV to be A(PV) = -23.80 ± 0.78(stat) ± 0.36(syst) parts per million. This result is consistent with zero contribution of strange quarks to the combination of electric and magnetic form factors G(E)(s) + 0.517G(M)(s) = 0.003 ± 0.010(stat) ± 0.004(syst) ± 0.009(ff), where the third error is due to the limits of precision on the electromagnetic form factors and radiative corrections. With this measurement, the world data on strange contributions to nucleon form factors are seen to be consistent with zero and not more than a few percent of the proton form factors.

Beam-target double-spin asymmetry A{LT} in charged pion production from deep inelastic scattering on a transversely polarized {3}He target at 1.4<Q{2}<2.7 GeV{2}

We report the first measurement of the double-spin asymmetry A{LT} for charged pion electroproduction in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic electron scattering on a transversely polarized {3}He target. The kinematics focused on the valence quark region, 0.16<x<0.35 with 1.4<Q{2}<2.7  GeV{2}. The corresponding neutron A{LT} asymmetries were extracted from the measured {3}He asymmetries and proton over {3}He cross section ratios using the effective polarization approximation. These new data probe the transverse momentum dependent parton distribution function g{1T}{q} and therefore provide access to quark spin-orbit correlations. Our results indicate a positive azimuthal asymmetry for π{-} production on {3}He and the neutron, while our π{+} asymmetries are consistent with zero.

Methane production from anaerobic co-digestion of the separated solid fraction of pig manure with dried grass silage

Anaerobic co-digestion of the solid fraction of separated pig manure (SPM) with dried grass silage (DGS) was evaluated in three identical continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) at 35±1 °C. The feedstock contained 20% DGS in CSTR1, 30% DGS in CSTR2 and 40% DGS in CSTR3 on a volatile solids (VS) basis. Organic loading rates (OLR) of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 kg VS/m(3)/d were studied and it was found that the OLR affected the digester performance more than the DGS proportion in the feedstock. Tripling the OLR increased volumetric methane yields by 88% and decreased specific methane yields by 38%. At the OLR of 3 kg VS/m(3)/d, post-methane production potentials of digestates ranged from 38% to 41% of total methane production potentials of the feedstock. An energy yield estimation on a 654-sow pig unit showed that 268-371 MWh/a electricity and 383-530 MWh/a heat would be generated.