Plos One
-
Pain interferes and disrupts attention. What is less clear is how pain affects performance on complex tasks, and the strategies used to ensure optimal outcomes. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of pain on higher-order executive control processes involved in managing complex tasks. ⋯ For the word generation puzzle, pain did not affect task performance, but did alter subjective accounts of the processes used to complete the task; pain affected the perceived allocation of time to the task, as well as switching perceptions. Sex differences were also found. When studying higher-order cognitive processes, pain-related interference effects are varied, and may result in subtle or indirect changes in cognition.
-
If conservation of biodiversity is the goal, then the protected areas network of the continental US may be one of our best conservation tools for safeguarding ecological systems (i.e., vegetation communities). We evaluated representation of ecological systems in the current protected areas network and found insufficient representation at three vegetation community levels within lower elevations and moderate to high productivity soils. ⋯ We used the Landscape Conservation Cooperative framework for regional analysis and found that increased conservation on some private and public lands may be important to the conservation of ecological systems in Western US, while increased public-private partnerships may be important in the conservation of ecological systems in Eastern US. We have not assessed the pros and cons of following the national or regional alternatives, but rather present them as possibilities that may be considered and evaluated as decisions are made to increase the representation of ecological systems in the protected areas network across their range of ecological, geographical, and geophysical occurrence in the continental US into the future.
-
Comparative Study
[18F]DPA-714: direct comparison with [11C]PK11195 in a model of cerebral ischemia in rats.
Neuroinflammation is involved in several brain disorders and can be monitored through expression of the translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) on activated microglia. In recent years, several new PET radioligands for TSPO have been evaluated in disease models. [(18)F]DPA-714 is a TSPO radiotracer with great promise; however results vary between different experimental models of neuroinflammation. To further examine the potential of [(18)F]DPA-714, it was compared directly to [(11)C]PK11195 in experimental cerebral ischaemia in rats. ⋯ In a clinically relevant model of neuroinflammation, uptake for both radiotracers appeared to be similar at first, but a high variability was observed in our model. Therefore, to truly compare tracers in such models, we performed scans with both tracers in the same animals. By doing so, our result demonstrated that [(18)F]DPA-714 displayed a higher signal-to-noise ratio than [(11)C]PK11195. Our results suggest that, with the longer half-life of [(18)F] which facilitates distribution of the tracer across PET centre, [(18)F]DPA-714 is a good alternative for TSPO imaging.
-
The feedback-related negativity (FRN) is an event-related potential (ERP) component associated with processing of performance feedback, with more negative amplitudes for losses relative to wins. The amplitude of the FRN following near misses, i.e. the experience of coming close to winning, is between the amplitude elicited by losses and wins. In gambling, however, outcome value may not always be obvious since initially placed bets need to be taken into account when evaluating wins or losses. ⋯ Crucially, P300 amplitudes were also smaller for ambivalent outcomes compared to losses. Thus, the different dimensions determining outcome value appear to be integrated in early and late stages of feedback processing. However, only at later stages reflected in the P300 were ambivalent outcomes with and without bet clearly distinguished from other outcomes.
-
Stimulation of the OSR1 (Oxidative stress-responsive kinase-1)/SPAK [STE20 (sterile 20)/SPS1-related proline/alanine-rich kinase]-NCC (Na(+)-Cl(-) cotransporter) signaling cascade plays an important role in the WNK [With-No-Lysine (K)] kinase 4 D561A knock-in mouse model of pseudohypoaldosteronism type II (PHA II) characterized by salt-sensitive hypertension and hyperkalemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the respective roles of Osr1 and Spak in the pathogenesis of PHA II in vivo. Wnk4 (D561A/+) mice were crossed with kidney tubule-specific (KSP) Osr1 knockout (KSP-Osr1 (-/-)) and Spak knockout (Spak (-/-)) mice. ⋯ KSP-Osr1 (-/-) triple mutant mice had low blood pressure and diminished phosphorylated Ncc. Both SPAK and OSR1 are important in the maintenance of blood pressure but activation of SPAK-NCC plays the dominant role in PHA II. SPAK may be a therapeutic target for disorders with salt-sensitive hypertension related to WNK4 activation.