Placebo Analgesia Affects Brain Correlates of Error Processing

Placebo analgesia (PA) is accompanied by decreased activity in pain-related brain regions, but also by greater prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation, which has been suggested to reflect increases in top-down cognitive control and regulation of pain. Here we test whether PA is associated with altered prefrontal monitoring functions that could adjust nociceptive processing to a mismatch between expected and experienced pain. We recorded event-related potentials to response errors in a go/nogo task during placebo vs. a matched control condition. Error commission was associated with two well-described components, the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe). Results show that the Pe, but not the ERN, was amplified during placebo analgesia compared to the control condition, with neural sources in the lateral and medial PFC. This Pe increase was driven by participants showing a placebo-induced change in pain tolerance, but was absent in the group of non-responders. Our results shed new light on the possible functional mechanisms underlying PA, suggesting a placebo-induced transient change in prefrontal error monitoring and control functions.     

The Association between Maltreatment in Childhood and Pre-Pregnancy Obesity in Women Attending an Antenatal Clinic in Australia

Introduction

Obesity in pregnancy is associated with increased risk of complications and adverse outcomes in mother and child. Childhood adverse experiences are known to have numerous negative physical and emotional sequelae. We aimed to examine if exposure to abuse and/or neglect in childhood increased the likelihood of pre-pregnancy obesity.

Methods

Demographic and clinical data including weight, height, mental health as measured by the General Health Questionnaire and exposure to childhood trauma as measured by the childhood trauma questionnaire was collected from 239 women attending antenatal care at an Australian tertiary hospital.

Results

More than one quarter of women were obese prior to pregnancy and approximately 20% of women self reported experiencing moderate to severe physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Almost 60% of women scored in the clinical range on the GHQ. Pre-pregnancy obesity in women attending antenatal care was associated with a self-reported history of emotional or physical abuse with those exposed to moderate or severe emotional or physical abuse having increased odds of being obese prior to pregnancy (O.R. and 95% CI: 2.40; 1.19–4.84 and 2.38; 1.18–4.79 respectively). There was no significant association between other forms of childhood maltreatment, demographic or current mental health status and pre-pregnancy obesity.

Conclusions

The high rates of obesity, mental health problems and self reported childhood maltreatment in the Australian antenatal population are serious public health concerns due to the extra health risks conferred on mother and offspring. Exposure to physical or emotional abuse during childhood increases the likelihood of obesity in women attending antenatal care. Further research is required to determine reasons for this association.     

Lack of endothelial diaphragms in fenestrae and caveolae of mutant Plvap-deficient mice

Plasmalemmal vesicle-associated protein (PLVAP, PV-1) is specifically expressed in endothelial cells in which it localizes to diaphragms of fenestrae, caveolae, and transendothelial channels. To learn about its function, we generated mutant mice that lack PLVAP. In a C57BL/6N genetic background, homozygous Plvap-deficient embryos die before birth and suffer from subcutaneous edema, hemorrhages, and defects in the vascular wall of subcutaneous capillaries. In addition, hearts of Plvap ^?/? embryos show ventricular septal defects and thinner ventricular walls. In wild-type embryos, PLVAP and caveolae with a stomatal diaphragm are present in endothelial cells of subcutaneous capillaries and endocardium, while a diaphragm is missing in caveolae of Plvap ^?/? littermates. Plvap ^?/? mice in a mixed C57BL/6N/FVB-N genetic background are born and survive at the most for 4?weeks. Capillaries of exocrine and endocrine pancreas and of kidney peritubular interstitium were investigated in more detail as examples of fenestrated capillaries. In these vascular beds, Plvap ^?/? mice show a complete absence of diaphragms in fenestrae, caveolae, and transendothelial channels, findings which are associated with a substantial decrease in the number of endothelial fenestrae. The changes in the capillary phenotype correlate with a considerable retardation of postnatal growth and anemia. Plvap ^?/? mice provide an animal model to clarify the specific functional role of endothelial fenestrae and their contribution to passage of water and solutes in different organs.     

The molecular architecture of the eukaryotic chaperonin TRiC/CCT

TRiC/CCT is a highly conserved and essential chaperonin that uses ATP cycling to facilitate folding of approximately 10% of the eukaryotic proteome. This 1 MDa hetero-oligomeric complex consists of two stacked rings of eight paralogous subunits each. Previously proposed TRiC models differ substantially in their subunit arrangements and ring register. Here, we integrate chemical crosslinking, mass spectrometry, and combinatorial modeling to reveal the definitive subunit arrangement of TRiC. In vivo disulfide mapping provided additional validation for the crosslinking-derived arrangement as the definitive TRiC topology. This subunit arrangement allowed the refinement of a structural model using existing X-ray diffraction data. The structure described here explains all available crosslink experiments, provides a rationale for previously unexplained structural features, and reveals a surprising asymmetry of charges within the chaperonin folding chamber.     

Ticket to spawn: Combining economic and genetic data to evaluate the effect of climate and demographic structure on spawning distribution in Atlantic cod

Climate warming and harvesting affect the dynamics of species across the globe through a multitude of mechanisms, including distribution changes. In fish, migrations to and distribution on spawning grounds are likely influenced by both climate warming and harvesting. The Northeast Arctic (NEA) cod (Gadus morhua) performs seasonal migrations from its feeding grounds in the Barents Sea to spawning grounds along the Norwegian coast. The distribution of cod between the spawning grounds has historically changed at decadal scales, mainly due to variable use of the northern and southern margins of the spawning area. Based on historical landing records, two major hypotheses have been put forward to explain these changes: climate and harvesting. Climate could affect the distribution through, for example, spatial habitat shifts. Harvesting could affect the distribution through impacting the demographic structure. If demographic structure is important, theory predicts increasing spawner size with migration distance. Here, we evaluate these hypotheses with modern data from a period (2000–2016) of increasing temperature and recovering stock structure. We first analyze economic data from the Norwegian fisheries to investigate geographical differences in size of spawning fish among spawning grounds, as well as interannual differences in mean latitude of spawning in relation to changes in temperature and demographic parameters. Second, we analyze genetically determined fish sampled at the spawning grounds to unambiguously separate between migratory NEA cod and potentially smaller sized coastal cod of local origin. Our results indicate smaller spawners farther away from the feeding grounds, hence not supporting the hypothesis that harvesting is a main driver for the contemporary spawning ground distribution. We find a positive correlation between annual mean spawning latitude and temperature. In conclusion, based on contemporary data, there is more support for climate compared to harvesting in shaping spawning ground distribution in this major fish stock in the North Atlantic Ocean.     

CIPK11-Dependent Phosphorylation Modulates FIT Activity to Promote Arabidopsis Iron Acquisition in Response to Calcium Signaling

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Spectral correction for handheld optoacoustic imaging by means of near‐infrared optical tomography in reflection mode

In vivo imaging of tissue/vasculature oxygen saturation levels is of prime interest in many clinical applications. To this end, the feasibility of combining two distinct and complementary imaging modalities is investigated: optoacoustics (OA) and near‐infrared optical tomography (NIROT), both operating noninvasively in reflection mode. Experiments were conducted on two optically heterogeneous phantoms mimicking tissue before and after the occurrence of a perturbation. OA imaging was used to resolve submillimetric vessel‐like optical absorbers at depths up to 25 mm, but with a spectral distortion in the OA signals. NIROT measurements were utilized to image perturbations in the background and to estimate the light fluence inside the phantoms at the wavelength pair (760 nm, 830 nm). This enabled the spectral correction of the vessel‐like absorbers' OA signals: the error in the ratio of the absorption coefficient at 830 nm to that at 760 nm was reduced from 60%‐150% to 10%‐20%. The results suggest that oxygen saturation (SO ₂) levels in arteries can be determined with <10% error and furthermore, that relative changes in vessels' SO ₂ can be monitored with even better accuracy. The outcome relies on a proper identification of the OA signals emanating from the studied vessels.