131,434 research outputs found
Genomic analysis of the function of the transcription factor gata3 during development of the Mammalian inner ear
No full textWe have studied the function of the zinc finger transcription factor gata3 in auditory system development by analysing temporal profiles of gene expression during differentiation of conditionally immortal cell lines derived to model specific auditory cell types and developmental stages. We tested and applied a novel probabilistic method called the gamma Model for Oligonucleotide Signals to analyse hybridization signals from Affymetrix oligonucleotide arrays. Expression levels estimated by this method correlated closely (p<0.0001) across a 10-fold range with those measured by quantitative RT-PCR for a sample of 61 different genes. In an unbiased list of 26 genes whose temporal profiles clustered most closely with that of gata3 in all cell lines, 10 were linked to Insulin-like Growth Factor signalling, including the serine/threonine kinase Akt/PKB. Knock-down of gata3 in vitro was associated with a decrease in expression of genes linked to IGF-signalling, including IGF1, IGF2 and several IGF-binding proteins. It also led to a small decrease in protein levels of the serine-threonine kinase Akt2/PKB beta, a dramatic increase in Akt1/PKB alpha protein and relocation of Akt1/PKB alpha from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27(kip1), a known target of PKB/Akt, simultaneously decreased. In heterozygous gata3 null mice the expression of gata3 correlated with high levels of activated Akt/PKB. This functional relationship could explain the diverse function of gata3 during development, the hearing loss associated with gata3 heterozygous null mice and the broader symptoms of human patients with Hearing-Deafness-Renal anomaly syndrome
GC-MS metabolomics comparison of yoghurts from sheep's and goats' milk
No full textIn this study, the polar metabolite profile of commercial yoghurt samples produced in Sardinia (Italy)from milk of local sheep and goats was studied by GC-MS and multivariate statistical data analysis (MVA). Milks underwent the same manufacturing procedures and yoghurts were analysed one day post-manufacture. Results of discriminant analysis indicated that the two yoghurt types had very different metabolite profiles, with different levels of health promoting compounds. Goats' milk yoghurt was richer in free amino acids, γ-aminobutyric acid, pyroglutamic acid and β-phenyllactic acid when compared with yoghurt produced with sheep's milk. Sheep's milk yoghurt was characterised by higher levels of myo-inositol, N-acetylgalactosamine and N-acetylglucosamine. Comparing yoghurt metabolites with those of the original milk, it was found that goats' milk underwent stronger metabolite changes after inoculum. The comparison between the two yoghurt types gave us a deeper insight on the effects of manufacture on different milks
The Italian Face-Name Association Test (ItFNAT): a preliminary validation of three parallel versions
No full textBackground and objectives: Associating names with faces is crucial for social interactions and reflects cognitive health. To address the need for reliable tools to assess associative memory, we developed and validated the Italian Face-Name Associative Test (ItFNAT), a tool allows clinicians to monitor cognitive functioning and detect early signs of cognitive decline. Materials and methods: 101 Italian participants (51 females) aged 18–80 years completed the three parallel versions of the ItFNAT, which assessed immediate recall (IR), delayed free recall (DFR), and delayed recall with cues (DTR). ItFNAT was administered alongside other neuropsychological tests to explore its relationship with memory and attention. Results: ItFNAT demonstrated high internal consistency across its three versions. Principal Component Analysis revealed that IR, DFR, and DTR loaded strongly onto a single factor in each version. Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA indicated no significant differences in scores across versions. Non-parametric analyses showed that years of education significantly influenced all three scores, while age negatively correlated with DTR. Spearman’s correlations revealed strong associations between ItFNAT scores and other widespread memory and attentive tests. Discussions: This study introduces the ItFNAT, a test designed to assess cross-modal associative memory. It includes three parallel versions with good internal consistency, and minimal score differences. Scores—IR, DFR, and DTR—reflect a shared underlying cognitive construct, correlating with both traditional memory tests and scales assessing working memory and attention. Education significantly influenced all three scores, while age negatively impacted DTR. Future research should refine its application for tracking cognitive function and detecting neurodegenerative changes
Sicilia 1647. Voci, esempi, modelli di rivolta
No full textLa rivolta palermitana del maggio 1647 genera un vero e proprio modello. Ripreso, adattandolo e piegandolo alle esigneze locali, in gran parte dell'isola
Deficits in high- (>60 Hz) gamma-band oscillations during visual processing in schizophrenia
No full textCurrent theories of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia have focused on abnormal temporal coordination of neural activity. Oscillations in the gamma-band range (>25 Hz) are of particular interest as they establish synchronization with great precision in local cortical networks. However, the contribution of high gamma (>60 Hz) oscillations toward the pathophysiology is less established. To address this issue, we recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data from 16 medicated patients with chronic schizophrenia and 16 controls during the perception of Mooney faces. MEG data were analysed in the 25–150 Hz frequency range. Patients showed elevated reaction times and reduced detection rates during the perception of upright Mooney faces while responses to inverted stimuli were intact. Impaired processing of Mooney faces in schizophrenia patients was accompanied by a pronounced reduction in spectral power between 60–120 Hz (effect size: d = 1.26) which was correlated with disorganized symptoms (r = −0.72). Our findings demonstrate that deficits in high gamma-band oscillations as measured by MEG are a sensitive marker for aberrant cortical functioning in schizophrenia, suggesting an important aspect of the pathophysiology of the disorder
Normative data of the Italian Famous Face Test
No full textThe faces we see in daily life exist on a continuum of familiarity, ranging from personally familiar to famous to unfamiliar faces. Thus, when assessing face recognition abilities, adequate evaluation measures should be employed to discriminate between each of these processes and their relative impairments. We here developed the Italian Famous Face Test (IT-FFT), a novel assessment tool for famous face recognition in typical and clinical populations. Normative data on a large sample (N = 436) of Italian individuals were collected, assessing both familiarity (d′) and recognition accuracy. Furthermore, this study explored whether individuals possess insights into their overall face recognition skills by correlating the Prosopagnosia Index-20 (PI-20) with the IT-FFT; a negative correlation between these measures suggests that people have a moderate insight into their face recognition skills. Overall, our study provides the first online-based Italian test for famous faces (IT-FFT), a test that could be used alongside other standard tests of face recognition because it complements them by evaluating real-world face familiarity, providing a more comprehensive assessment of face recognition abilities. Testing different aspects of face recognition is crucial for understanding both typical and atypical face recognition
Deep learning applied to EEG source-data reveals both ventral and dorsal visual stream involvement in holistic processing of social stimuli
No full textPerception of social stimuli (faces and bodies) relies on “holistic” (i.e., global) mechanisms, as supported by picture-plane inversion: perceiving inverted faces/bodies is harder than perceiving their upright counterpart. Albeit neuroimaging evidence suggested involvement of face-specific brain areas in holistic processing, their spatiotemporal dynamics and selectivity for social stimuli is still debated. Here, we investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of holistic processing for faces, bodies and houses (adopted as control non-social category), by applying deep learning to high-density electroencephalographic signals (EEG) at source-level. Convolutional neural networks were trained to classify cortical EEG responses to stimulus orientation (upright/inverted), separately for each stimulus type (faces, bodies, houses), resulting to perform well above chance for faces and bodies, and close to chance for houses. By explaining network decision, the 150–200 ms time interval and few visual ventral-stream regions were identified as mostly relevant for discriminating face and body orientation (lateral occipital cortex, and for face only, precuneus cortex, fusiform and lingual gyri), together with two additional dorsal-stream areas (superior and inferior parietal cortices). Overall, the proposed approach is sensitive in detecting cortical activity underlying perceptual phenomena, and by maximally exploiting discriminant information contained in data, may reveal spatiotemporal features previously undisclosed, stimulating novel investigations
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