Association between Ability Emotional Intelligence and Left Insula during Social Judgment of Facial Emotions

The human ability of identifying, processing and regulating emotions from social stimuli is generally referred as Emotional Intelligence (EI). Within EI, Ability EI identifies a performance measure assessing individual skills at perceiving, using, understanding and managing emotions. Previous models suggest that a brain “somatic marker circuitry” (SMC) sustains emotional sub-processes included in EI. Three primary brain regions are included: the amygdala, the insula and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Here, our aim was to investigate the relationship between Ability EI scores and SMC activity during social judgment of emotional faces. Sixty-three healthy subjects completed a test measuring Ability EI and underwent fMRI during a social decision task (i.e. approach or avoid) about emotional faces with different facial expressions. Imaging data revealed that EI scores are associated with left insula activity during social judgment of emotional faces as a function of facial expression. Specifically, higher EI scores are associated with greater left insula activity during social judgment of fearful faces but also with lower activity of this region during social judgment of angry faces. These findings indicate that the association between Ability EI and the SMC activity during social behavior is region- and emotion-specific.     

Metabolic response of yellow mealworm larvae to two alternative rearing substrates

Introduction

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia, Cucurbitaceae) is a popular edible medicinal plant, which has been used as a botanical dietary supplement for the treatment of diabetes and obesity in Chinese folk medicine. Previously, our team has proved that cucurbitanes triterpenoid were involved in bitter melon’s anti-diabetic effects as well as on increasing energy expenditure. The triterpenoids composition can however be influenced by changes of varieties or habitats.

Objectives

To clarify the significance of bioactive metabolites diversity among different bitter melons and to provide a guideline for selection of bitter melon varieties, an exploratory study was carried out using a UHPLC-HRMS based metabolomic study to identify chemotypes.

Methods

Metabolites of 55 seed samples of bitter melon collected in different parts of China were profiled by UHPLC-HRMS. The profiling data were analysed with multivariate (MVA) statistical methods. Principle component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied for sample differentiation. Marker compounds were identified by comparing spectroscopic data with isolated compounds, and additional triterpenes were putatively identified by propagating annotations through a molecular network (MN) generated from UHPLC-HRMS & MS/MS metabolite profiling.

Results

PCA and HCA provided a good discrimination between bitter melon samples from various origins in China. This study revealed for the first time the existence of two chemotypes of bitter melon. Marker compounds of those two chemotypes were identified at different MSI levels. The combined results of MN and MVA demonstrated that the two chemotypes mainly differ in their richness in cucurbitane versus oleanane triterpenoid glycosides (CTGs vs. OTGs).

Conclusion

Our finding revealed a clear chemotype distribution of bioactive components across bitter melon varieties. While bioactivities of individual CTGs and OTGs still need to be investigated in more depth, our results could help in future the selection of bitter melon varieties with optimised metabolites profile for an improved management of diabetes with this popular edible Chinese folk medicine.

     

Intention Understanding in Autism

When we observe a motor act (e.g. grasping a cup) done by another individual, we extract, according to how the motor act is performed and its context, two types of information: the goal (grasping) and the intention underlying it (e.g. grasping for drinking). Here we examined whether children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) are able to understand these two aspects of motor acts. Two experiments were carried out. In the first, one group of high-functioning children with ASD and one of typically developing (TD) children were presented with pictures showing hand-object interactions and asked what the individual was doing and why. In half of the “why” trials the observed grip was congruent with the function of the object (“why-use” trials), in the other half it corresponded to the grip typically used to move that object (“why-place” trials). The results showed that children with ASD have no difficulties in reporting the goals of individual motor acts. In contrast they made several errors in the why task with all errors occurring in the “why-place” trials. In the second experiment the same two groups of children saw pictures showing a hand-grip congruent with the object use, but within a context suggesting either the use of the object or its placement into a container. Here children with ASD performed as TD children, correctly indicating the agent''s intention. In conclusion, our data show that understanding others'' intentions can occur in two ways: by relying on motor information derived from the hand-object interaction, and by using functional information derived from the object''s standard use. Children with ASD have no deficit in the second type of understanding, while they have difficulties in understanding others'' intentions when they have to rely exclusively on motor cues.     

Relationship of Serum γ‐Glutamyltransferase to Atherogenic Dyslipidemia and Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes

We evaluated possible interactions between BMI and serum γ‐glutamyltransferase (GGT) concentration and their effects on the prevalence of poor glycemic control and common comorbidities of diabetes. We assessed whether the association of BMI with poor glycemic control, hypertension, atherogenic dyslipidemia (i.e., high triglycerides and/or low high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol), hypercholesterolemia, and hyperuricemia differed according to serum GGT concentration in a cohort of 3,633 type 2 diabetic individuals. The associations of BMI with different outcome measures were significant, but the associations varied remarkably by GGT concentration. As GGT concentration increased, the association of BMI with atherogenic dyslipidemia and glycemic control strengthened (P = 0.01 and 0.004 for interactions, respectively); in contrast, the association of BMI with hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and hyperuricemia did not change substantially across GGT quartiles. For example, within the lowest GGT quartile, BMI was not associated with atherogenic dyslipidemia or poor glycemic control, whereas in the highest GGT quartile, the prevalence rates ranged from 62.3 to 74.7% for dyslipidemia and from 75.3 to 83% for poor glycemic control. The results remained unchanged after adjustment for sex, age, alcohol consumption, diabetes duration, and diabetes treatment. In conclusion, our findings show that BMI was associated with atherogenic dyslipidemia and poor glycemic control only when serum GGT activity was in its high‐normal range. These findings suggest that obesity itself may not be a sufficient risk factor for atherogenic dyslipidemia or poor glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes.     

Accumulative Difference Image Protocol for Particle Tracking in Fluorescence Microscopy Tested in Mouse Lymphonodes

The basic research in cell biology and in medical sciences makes large use of imaging tools mainly based on confocal fluorescence and, more recently, on non-linear excitation microscopy. Substantially the aim is the recognition of selected targets in the image and their tracking in time. We have developed a particle tracking algorithm optimized for low signal/noise images with a minimum set of requirements on the target size and with no a priori knowledge of the type of motion. The image segmentation, based on a combination of size sensitive filters, does not rely on edge detection and is tailored for targets acquired at low resolution as in most of the in-vivo studies. The particle tracking is performed by building, from a stack of Accumulative Difference Images, a single 2D image in which the motion of the whole set of the particles is coded in time by a color level. This algorithm, tested here on solid-lipid nanoparticles diffusing within cells and on lymphocytes diffusing in lymphonodes, appears to be particularly useful for the cellular and the in-vivo microscopy image processing in which few a priori assumption on the type, the extent and the variability of particle motions, can be done.     

Free and conjugated polyamines during de novo floral and vegetative bud formation in thin cell layers of tobacco

The concentrations of three classes of polyamines, trichloroacetic acid-soluble (free), TCA-soluble conjugated (to small molecules) and TCA-insoluble conjugated (to macromolecules), was examined during de novo floral and vegetative bud formation in thin cell layers of Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Samsun. Explants (consisting of 5–6 layers of epidermal, subepidermal and parenchyma cells) were excised either from floral pedicels or from stem internodes at the unripe fruit stage and cultured on the same medium. In the former, the first de novo formed flower buds appeared on day 8 of culture, while in the latter the first vegetative domes appeared on day 10. In both cases the number of floral and vegetative buds increased up to day 12 and 15, respectively. Changes in dry weight were determined throughout the culture period. Free and conjugated putrescine titer increased 5–60 times in both types of culture and in the three classes of polyamines examined; spermidine content also increased, while spermine, when present, did not show significant changes. TCA-soluble conjugated polyamines were most abundant, being about 2-fold the TCA-insoluble conjugated ones and 10-fold the free ones. The major increment in putrescine and spermidine content occurred in stem internode explants developing vegetative buds. In pedicel explants the maximum putrescine level was reached before or on day 8 in culture (emergence of the first flower buds with calyx initials), while in stem internode explants the maximum level was reached on day 12, at the emergence of the first vegetative buds with leaf primordia. While spermidine prevailed on day 0, putrescine was the most abundant polyamine during both differentiation processes. The putrescine content rapidly increased immediately after the onset of culture. Thus conjugated polyamines, especially putrescine, and not only the free ones, seem to be involved in both the reproductive and vegetative phases of tobacco growth and development.     

Transition from absolute to quantitative short-day control in Nicotiana tabacum cv. Maryland Mammoth

The response in vitro of thin cell layers, excised from different stem regions of Nicotiana tabacum cv. Maryland Mammoth plants at various developmental stages, was studied under different photoperiodic treatments. The aim was to determine at which stage of plant development, and in which region of the stem, the absolute short-day requirement, indispensable for the induction of the flowering process in this genotype, becomes quantitative and whether it remains short-day. The explants were cultured on a medium suitable for flower neoformation, and were exposed for 30 days to the following treatments: continuous darkness, 8 h light/16 h dark per day, 16 h light/8 h dark per day, and continuous light. The first flowers on explants were observed from plants that were still in the vegetative state, but whose apex showed an accelerated production of axillary vegetative buds, as observed histologically. These explants were excised from the first 10 internodes below the first node with a leaf ≥ 5 cm in length (apical site), and produced flowers only under short-day treatment. When the apical dome initiated the organization of the terminal flower, the apical site explants developed flowers under both short-day and long-day treatments. At the same stage, explants from the 15th to the 20th internode below the first leaf ≥ 5 cm in length also formed flowers, but only under short-day. When the plant showed a complete inflorescence, flowers were also present on explants from the most basal stem internodes and from the inflorescence branches. At this stage, flower neoformation occurred under all treatments; however, under short-day the number of explants showing flowers not associated with vegetative buds on the same sample greatly exceeded that observed under other treatments, as did the mean number of flowers per explant (except the basal regions). In conclusion, in the post-inductive phases of the flowering process, the photoperiodic requirement of this genotype is always short-day. The superficial tissues of the stem require either absolute or quantitative short-day treatment, depending on their position on the stem and the stage of evolution of the flowering process in the terminal apex.     

The Plant OncogenerolDStimulates Flowering in Transgenic Tobacco Plants

TheAgrobacterium rhizogenesT-DNA oncogenerolDunder the control of its own 5′ regulatory region was transferred to day-neutral tobacco plants. The main trait induced byrolDin transgenic plants is a striking precocity in flower setting and a strong enhancement of the flowering potential. InrolDplants, early flowering is followed by the very rapid growth of numerous lateral inflorescences. The analysis of several morphological and histological parameters suggests that some characteristic morphological abnormalities observed inrolDplants can be accounted for by their early reproductive phase transition and points to the involvement in the transition of a greater portion of the plant body than is the case for untransformed tobacco. Thein vitromorphogenic potential of tissues fromrolDplants was also tested. Superficial thin cell layer explants fromrolDplants show an earlier and much enhanced flower organogenesis, compared to controls, both on flowering and on hormone-free medium.     

Epithelial V-like Antigen (EVA), a Novel Member of the Immunoglobulin Superfamily, Expressed in Embryonic Epithelia with a Potential Role as Homotypic Adhesion Molecule in Thymus Histogenesis

Thymus development depends on a complex series of interactions between thymocytes and the stromal component of the organ. To identify regulated genes during this codependent developmental relationship, we have applied an RNA fingerprinting technique to the analysis of thymus expansion and maturation induced in recombinase-deficient mice injected with anti-CD3 antibodies. This approach led us to the identification of a gene encoding a new member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, named epithelial V-like antigen (EVA), which is expressed in thymus epithelium and strongly downregulated by thymocyte developmental progression. This gene is expressed in the thymus and in several epithelial structures early in embryogenesis. EVA is highly homologous to the myelin protein zero and, in thymus-derived epithelial cell lines, is poorly soluble in nonionic detergents, strongly suggesting an association to the cytoskeleton. Its capacity to mediate cell adhesion through a homophilic interaction and its selective regulation by T cell maturation might imply the participation of EVA in the earliest phases of thymus organogenesis.