Bekkenney1537

Orthographic uniqueness point (OUP) refers to the letter position of a word at which it is distinguishable from other lexical items in the language. Previous findings of OUP effects have been mixed and mainly demonstrated in native readers of alphabetic languages. The current study investigated whether OUP effects could be shown among non-native readers in a visual repetition detection task. The experiment tested three OUP conditions (early, mid, late) in native English readers and proficient non-native English readers whose native scripts were Japanese or Korean. Results revealed main effects of OUP on N170 amplitude, where early OUP words elicited more negative N170 and late OUP words elicited marginally less negative N170 than mean activation for both native and non-native readers. There was no indication that non-linearity or non-alphabetic nature of one's native script influenced OUP effects. Results were consistent with a parallel letter processing account in single word reading.We present the novel approach to mathematical modeling of information processes in biosystems. It explores the mathematical formalism and methodology of quantum theory, especially quantum measurement theory. This approach is known as quantum-like and it should be distinguished from study of genuine quantum physical processes in biosystems (quantum biophysics, quantum cognition). It is based on quantum information representation of biosystem's state and modeling its dynamics in the framework of theory of open quantum systems. This paper starts with the non-physicist friendly presentation of quantum measurement theory, from the original von Neumann formulation to modern theory of quantum instruments. Then, latter is applied to model combinations of cognitive effects and gene regulation of glucose/lactose metabolism in Escherichia coli bacterium. The most general construction of quantum instruments is based on the scheme of indirect measurement, in that measurement apparatus plays the role of the environment for a biosystem. The biological essence of this scheme is illustrated by quantum formalization of Helmholtz sensation-perception theory. Then we move to open systems dynamics and consider quantum master equation, with concentrating on quantum Markov processes. In this framework, we model functioning of biological functions such as psychological functions and epigenetic mutation.Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by synovitise, and its pathogenesis is complicated. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a lipid produced by sphingosine kinase 1 and 2 (SphK1/2), which participate in some of most-spread skeletal diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. To explore the anti-inflammatory activity of 2-epi-jaspine B analogs as SphKs inhibitors, we used LPS-induced rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synovial cells (HFLS-RA) as the research object to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of 16 2-epi-jaspine B analogs and the newly synthesized salt CHJ01. We found that 2-epi-jaspine B analog CHJ01 in hydrochloride salt form has excellent SphK1 inhibitory effect and better anti-RA effect. CHJ01 showed an anti-inflammatory effect similar to that of MTX in vitro, its IC50 value is 8.64 μM. Moreover, the anti-RA effect of CHJ01 was also studied by using a Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis (AIA) in a rat mode. Pharmacological experiments show that CHJ01 can help to significantly improve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by reducing the swelling volume, arthritis score, spleen index and the level of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 of AIA rats. Therefore, CHJ01 holds high potential for the treatment of RA.Four chain-extended analogs (12a-12d) and two related de-O-sulfonated analogs (13a and 13c) by introducing alkyl groups (a R = C3H7, b R = C6H13, c R = C8H17, d R = C10H21) to the side chains of salacinol (1), a natural α-glucosidase inhibitor from Ayurvedic traditional medicine "Salacia", were synthesized. selleck The α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of all the synthesized analogs were evaluated in vitro. Against human intestinal maltase, the inhibitory activities of 12a and 13a with seven-carbon side chain were equal to that of 1. In contrast, analogs (12b-12d, and 13c) exhibited higher level of inhibitory activity against the same enzyme than 1 and had equal or higher potency than those of the clinically used anti-diabetics, voglibose, acarbose, and miglitol. Thus, elongation of the side chains of 1 was effective for specifically increasing the inhibitory activity against human intestinal maltase.Leptospires are aerobic, Gram-negative spirochetes with a high invasive capacity. Pathogenic leptospires secrete proteases that inactivate a variety of host's proteins including molecules of the extracellular matrix and of the human complement system. This strategy, used by several pathogens of medical importance, contributes to bacterial invasion and immune evasion. In the current work we present evidence that Leptospira proteases also target human cathelicidin (LL-37), an antimicrobial peptide that plays an important role in the innate immune response. By using six Leptospira strains, four pathogenic and two saprophytic, we demonstrated that proteases present in the supernatants of pathogenic strains were capable of degrading LL-37 in a time-dependent manner, whereas proteolytic degradation was not observed with the supernatants of the two saprophytic strains. Inactivation of LL-37 was prevented by using the 1,10-phenanthroline inhibitor, thus suggesting the involvement of metalloproteinases in this process. In addition, the antibacterial activity of LL-37 against two Leptospira strains was evaluated. Compared to the saprophytic strain, a greater resistance of the pathogenic strain to the action of the peptide was observed. Our data suggest that the capacity to inactivate the host defense peptide LL-37 may be part of the virulence arsenal of pathogenic Leptospira, and we hypothesize that its inactivation by the bacteria may influence the outcome of the disease.Tigecycline and carbapenem are last-resort antibiotics for serious infections caused by pathogens with multi-drug resistance (MDR). Whereas, bacterial pathogens with co-resistance to tigecycline and carbapenem are poorly addressed. Here we report a tigecycline- and carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter indicus strain HY20 of duck origin, which co-produces Tet(X5) and NDM-3. Tet(X5) is harbored by a novel plasmid pAI01 (116,992 bp long), which carries 10 antimicrobial resistance genes (AMRs), and heavy metal resistance system cobalt-zinc-cadmium (czc) gene cluster. Unlike that tet(X5) is located in the res-tet(X5)-xerD segment of plasmid, the chromosomal blaNDM-3 is flanked by insertion ISAba125. Collectively, our result represents an example of co-carriage of tet(X5) and blaNDM-3, heightening the importance of AMR surveillance needed in poultry production.