Search results for "language"

Lipid Mediators in the Regulation of Emotions, Memory, and Cognitive Functions

2017

This chapter aims at highlighting the diverse roles of endocannabinoids in the coordination of balanced neuronal activities, which finally set the basis for the organism’s characteristics to store and remember important and useful things, to forget non-useful things, and to cope with new challenges. Altogether, the fine-tuned regulation of these processes is crucial for optimal life and survival. The endocannabinoid system appears to be a central intrinsic homeostatic factor in the organism, modulating these processes. Receptors for (endo)cannabinoids are also targets for exogenous cannabinoids, putting also relevance of external substances in the interference with these processes. The gene…

Molecular Mechanism Involved in the Pathogenesis of Early-Onset Epileptic Encephalopathy

2019

Recent studies have shown that neurologic inflammation may both precipitate and sustain seizures, suggesting that inflammation may be involved not only in epileptogenesis but also in determining the drug-resistant profile. Extensive literature data during these last years have identified a number of inflammatory markers involved in these processes of “neuroimmunoinflammation” in epilepsy, with key roles for pro-inflammatory cytokines such as: IL-6, IL-17 and IL-17 Receptor (IL-17R) axis, Tumor-Necrosis-Factor Alpha (TNF-α) and Transforming-Growth-Factor Beta (TGF-β), all responsible for the induction of processes of blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and inflammation of the Central Nervou…

The Hidden Charm of Life

2019

Synthetic biology is an engineering view on biotechnology, which has revolutionized genetic engineering. The field has seen a constant development of metaphors that tend to highlight the similarities of cells with machines. I argue here that living organisms, particularly bacterial cells, are not machine-like, engineerable entities, but, instead, factory-like complex systems shaped by evolution. A change of the comparative paradigm in synthetic biology from machines to factories, from hardware to software, and from informatics to economy is discussed.

Visualizing In Vitro Type I Collagen Fibrillogenesis by Transmission Electron Microscopy

2017

Techniques and protocols for the in vitro formation of collagen type I fibrils and the extensive biochemical variation of the fibrillogenesis conditions are presented. In all cases, the incubation and fibrillogenesis product can be readily monitored by transmission electron microscopic study of negatively stained specimens. Representative TEM data is presented and discussed within the context of the products of the fibrillogenesis protocols, from which the extensive biochemical and structural possibilities of this integrated approach can be appreciated.

Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Citrus bergamia Derivatives: Where Do We Stand?

2016

Inflammatory diseases affect a large portion of the worldwide population, and chronic inflammation is a major risk factor for several dangerous pathologies. To limit the side effects of both synthetic and biological anti-inflammatory drugs, the use of herbal medicines, nutraceuticals and food supplements has increased tremendously as alternative and/or complementary medicine to treat several pathologies, including inflammation. During the last decades, the biological properties of Citrus bergamia (bergamot) derivatives have obtained important scientific achievements, and it has been suggested their use in a context of a multitarget pharmacological strategy. Here, we present an overview of t…

Human Leukocyte Antigens Class II Alleles Affecting the Response to 5–7 Year Antiretroviral Therapy in A Latvian Cohort

2019

Abstract Antiretroviral therapy (ART) aims at suppressing viral replication and strengthening immune system in patients with HIV-1. Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) are among factors responsible for effectiveness of ART. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of HLA Class II alleles on the response to long-time ART, assessed by a change in CD4+ T-cell count in relation to viral load. The sample included 69 patients (17 females and 52 males) aged 20 to 50 with HIV-1 infection, who were undergoing ART in the Latvian Centre of Infectious Diseases. The median period of observation was 5.7 years. CD4+ T-cell count and viral load were analysed at the baseline and end of the period of obs…

Next stop: Language : the ?FOXP2? gene?s journey through time

2016

How did humans evolve language? The fossil record does not yield enough evidence to reconstruct its evolution and animals do not talk. But as the neural and molecular substrates of language are uncovered, their genesis and function can be addressed comparatively in other species. FOXP2 is such a case – a gene with a strong link to language that is also essential for learning in mice, birds and even flies. Comparing the role FOXP2 plays in humans and other animals is starting to reveal common principles that may have provided building blocks for language evolution.

2018

The expertise of humans for recognizing faces is largely based on holistic processing mechanism, a sophisticated cognitive process that develops with visual experience. The various visual features of a face are thus glued together and treated by the brain as a unique stimulus, facilitating robust recognition. Holistic processing is known to facilitate fine discrimination of highly similar visual stimuli, and involves specialized brain areas in humans and other primates. Although holistic processing is most typically employed with face stimuli, subjects can also learn to apply similar image analysis mechanisms when gaining expertise in discriminating novel visual objects, like becoming exper…

Stem cell functionality is microenvironmentally defined during tumour expansion and therapy response in colon cancer

2018

Solid malignancies have been speculated to depend on cancer stem cells (CSCs) for expansion and relapse after therapy. Here we report on quantitative analyses of lineage tracing data from primary colon cancer xenograft tissue to assess CSC functionality in a human solid malignancy. The temporally obtained clone size distribution data support a model in which stem cell function in established cancers is not intrinsically, but is entirely spatiotemporally orchestrated. Functional stem cells that drive tumour expansion predominantly reside at the tumour edge, close to cancer-associated fibroblasts. Hence, stem cell properties change in time depending on the cell location. Furthermore, although…

Applying Conceptual Modeling to Better Understand the Human Genome

2016

The objective of the work is to present the benefits of the application of Conceptual Modeling (CM) in complex domains, such as genomics. This paper explains the evolution of a Conceptual Schema of the Human Genome (CSHG), which seeks to provide a clear and precise understanding of the human genome. We want to highlighting all the advantages of the application of CM in a complex domain such as Genomic Information Systems (GeIS). We show how over time this model has evolved, thus we have discovered better forms of representation. As we advanced in exploring the domain, we understood that we should be extending and incorporating the new concepts detected into our model. Here we present and di…