[en] Objective. Unintentional drowsiness, when we should be alert, as for example when driving a vehicle, can be very dangerous. In this investigation we examined the effects of unintentional drowsiness on the relative velocities of eyelid closing and reopening movements during spontaneous blinks. Approach. Twenty-four young adults volunteered to take part in this experiment, and 18 were finally accepted. They performed a 15 min visual reaction-time test at the same time of day and under the same environmental conditions with and without overnight sleep deprivation, one week apart. Their eyelid movements during blinks were monitored by a system of infrared reflectance blepharometry during each test. Main results. Very close relationships between the amplitude and maximum velocity of eyelid closing and reopening movements were confirmed. Frequency histograms of amplitude–velocity ratios (AVRs) for eyelid closing and reopening movements showed significant differences between alert and drowsy conditions. With drowsiness, eyelid movements became slower and AVRs increased for many but not all blinks. We also described a time-on-task effect on the relative velocities of eyelid movements which was more apparent in the drowsy condition. Eyelid movements became progressively slower during the first half of the test. This was presumably due to a short-lived alerting effect of starting the test. Significance. The relative velocity of eyelid closing and reopening movements during spontaneous blinks decreases with unintentional drowsiness but is sensitive to the brief alerting stimulus of starting a reaction-time test. (paper)

[en] Contents of the Talk: 1. Plasma Gene/Molecular Introduction 2. The Mechanism of Introduction • Current or Field? 3. The Random Genome Integration-free • Spontaneous Uptake induced by complex of stimuli 4. The Applications and Future Tasks of the Plasma Gene/Molecular Introduction 5. Growth Acceleration of Fish using Plasma

[en] Interest in stimuli-responsive polymers is steadily gaining increasing momentum especially in the fields of controlled and self-regulated drug delivery. Delivery systems based on these polymers are developed to closely resemble the normal physiological process of the diseased state ensuring optimum drug release according to the physiological need. Also termed 'environmental-sensitive' or 'smart', these polymers experience rapid changes in their microstructure from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic state triggered by small changes in the environment. The changes are reversible; therefore, the polymer is capable of returning to its initial state as soon as the trigger is removed. Stimuli may occur internally (e.g. a change in pH in certain organs or diseased states, a change in temperature or the presence of specific enzymes or antigens). External stimuli include magnetic or electric fields, light, ultrasound, etc. This review will delve into the various internally and externally stimuli-responsive polymers and the drug delivery systems that exploit them. (topical review)

[en] The importance of improving the effectiveness of Plan EIA and SEA-type evaluations in China cannot be overstated: at a time when the country's economy is being boosted by a stimulus package worth over RMB 400 trillion - largely for infrastructure - the pressure on China's already strained environment and resource base is bound to increase. The aim is to propose the criteria for plan EIA's effectiveness to raise the awareness of the need to strengthen the performance of the assessment and maximize its potential benefits. The authors first review critically the discourse on the effectiveness of the impact assessment, identifying three dimensions: substantive, procedural and incremental. The resulting conceptual framework allows them to interpret the weaknesses of the Chinese discourse on the effectiveness and of the practice of the Plan EIA to date. The result is the identification of a clear gap, both in terms of the breadth of the concept, and in terms of the quality of the existing criteria, which tend to be very generic to the point of inapplicability. The analysis also reveals a need for transitioning from formal models of the Plan EIA to more strategic approaches, in a gradual manner that is consistent with context-specificities. The proposal of a set of preliminary criteria for effectiveness is therefore structured on three levels. This framework is meant to input into the ongoing debate on how to improve the practice of PEIA and the SEA-type evaluations in China, and provide ideas for a government strategy aimed at maximizing the positive impact of PEIAs on planning, as well as on the context of application.

[en] Because eye movements are a fundamental tool for spatial exploration, we hypothesized that the neural bases of these movements in humans should be under right cerebral dominance, as already described for spatial attention. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging in 27 right-handed participants who alternated central fixation with either large or small visually guided saccades (VGS), equally performed in both directions. Hemispheric functional asymmetry was analyzed to identify whether brain regions showing VGS activation elicited hemispheric asymmetries. Hemispheric anatomical asymmetry was also estimated to assess its influence on the VGS functional lateralization. Right asymmetrical activations of a saccadic/attentional system were observed in the lateral frontal eye fields (FEF), the anterior part of the intra-parietal sulcus (aIPS), the posterior third of the superior temporal sulcus (STS), the occipito-temporal junction (MT/V5 area), the middle occipital gyrus, and medially along the calcarine fissure (V1). The present rightward functional asymmetries were not related to differences in gray matter (GM) density/sulci positions between right and left hemispheres in the pre-central, intra-parietal, superior temporal, and extrastriate regions. Only V1 asymmetries were explained for almost 20% of the variance by a difference in the position of the right and left calcarine fissures. Left asymmetrical activations of a saccadic motor system were observed in the medial FEF and in the motor strip eye field along the Rolando sulcus. They were not explained by GM asymmetries. We suggest that the leftward saccadic motor asymmetry is part of a general dominance of the left motor cortex in right-handers, which must include an effect of sighting dominance. Our results demonstrate that, although bilateral by nature, the brain network involved in the execution of VGSs, irrespective of their direction, presented specific right and left asymmetries that were not related to anatomical differences in sulci positions. (authors)

[en] A tool that will generate UVM test environment is presented. After the verification plan has been finalized, the verification process starts by creating the test environment. During some period, there are no verification results, since the test environment is not ready. The tool which is presented here is an automated way of generating the test environment from GUI, which provides a complete test environment in a complete state leading to drastic time reduction in the verification process

[en] To assess the dynamic activations of the key brain areas associated with the time-course of the sexual arousal evoked by visual sexual stimuli in healthy male subjects. Fourteen right-handed heterosexual male volunteers participated in this study. Alternatively combined rest period and erotic video visual stimulation were used according to the standard block design. In order to illustrate and quantify the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions, the activation period was divided into three different stages as the EARLY, MID and LATE stages. For the group result (p < 0.05), when comparing the MID stage with the EARLY stage, a significant increase of the brain activation was observed in the areas that included the inferior frontal gyrus, the supplementary motor area, the hippocampus, the head of the caudate nucleus, the midbrain, the superior occipital gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. At the same time, when comparing the EARLY stage with the MID stage, the putamen, the globus pallidus, the pons, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the lingual gyrus and the cuneus yielded significantly increased activations. When comparing the LATE stage with the MID stage, all the above mentioned brain regions showed elevated activations except the hippocampus. Our results illustrate the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions across the three stages of visual sexual arousal

[en] The manipulation of numbers required during calculation is known to rely on working memory (WM) resources. Here, we investigated the respective contributions of verbal and/or spatial WM manipulation brain networks during the addition of four numbers performed by adults, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Both manipulation and maintenance tasks were proposed with syllables, locations, or two-digit numbers. As compared to their maintenance, numbers manipulation (addition) elicited increased activation within a widespread cortical network including inferior temporal, parietal, and prefrontal regions. Our results demonstrate that mastery of arithmetic calculation requires the cooperation of three WM manipulation systems: an executive manipulation system conjointly recruited by the three manipulation tasks, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus, and the caudate nuclei; a left-lateralized, language-related, inferior fronto-temporal system elicited by numbers and syllables manipulation tasks required for retrieval, selection, and association of symbolic information; and a right superior and posterior fronto-parietal system elicited by numbers and locations manipulation tasks for spatial WM and attentional processes. Our results provide new information that the anterior intra-parietal sulcus (IPS) is involved in tasks requiring a magnitude processing with symbolic (numbers) and non-symbolic (locations) stimuli. Furthermore, the specificity of arithmetic processing is mediated by a left-hemispheric specialization of the anterior and posterior parts of the IPS as compared to a spatial task involving magnitude processing with non-symbolic material. (authors)

[en] Smac/DIABLO is released by mitochondria in response to apoptotic stimuli and is thought to antagonize the function of inhibitors of apoptosis proteins. Recently, it has been shown that, like XIAP, Survivin can potentially interact with Smac/DIABLO. However, the precise mechanisms and cellular location of their action have not been determined. We report for the first time that Smac/DIABLO translocates to the nucleus and is colocalized with Survivin at mitotic spindles during apoptosis resulting from G2/M arrest due to docetaxel treatment of DU145 prostate cancer cells. Our data demonstrate that the nuclear interaction of Smac/DIABLO with Survivin is an important step for suppressing the anti-apoptotic function of Survivin in Doc-induced apoptosis. This suggests that the balance between cellular Smac/DIABLO and Survivin levels could be critical for cellular destiny in taxane-treated cancer cells

[en] The termination of pinned spirals on a defect by means of local stimuli is studied. On a completely unexcitable defect, the elimination process is discussed and its corresponding mechanism is presented. Especially, the mechanism of unpinning spirals on a partially unexcitable defect, which has not been investigated so far, is explored. With fixed pacing frequency ω _L, there exists a maximal radius R _max above which the pinned spiral cannot be removed. It is found that the value of R _max does not increase as ω _L in a dynamical regime, forming a platform in the $R_{\mathit{\text{max}}}\text{-}{\mathrm{\omega <!--\; ??\; -->}}_L$ curves. Based on analyzing the dispersion relation on the spiral tip around the obstacle, the underlying mechanism is clarified. Also, it is found that when multiple spirals are pinned, the value of R _max decreases on a partially unexcitable defect while the change is very slight on a completely unexcitable one. (letter)