Visual and visuomotor processing of hands and tools as a case study of cross talk between the dorsal and ventral streams

A major principle of organization of the visual system is between a dorsal stream that processes visuomotor information and a ventral stream that supports object recognition. Most research has focused on dissociating processing across these two streams. Here we focus on how the two streams interact. We tested neurologically-intact and impaired participants in an object categorization task over two classes of objects that depend on processing within both streams—hands and tools. We measured how unconscious processing of images from one of these categories (e.g., tools) affects the recognition of images from the other category (i.e., hands). Our findings with neurologically-intact participants demonstrated that processing an image of a hand hampers the subsequent processing of an image of a tool, and vice versa. These results were not present in apraxic patients (N?=?3). These findings suggest local and global inhibitory processes working in tandem to co-register information across the two streams.     

Increased frequencies of circulating CXCL10-, CXCL8- and CCL4-producing monocytes and Siglec-3-expressing myeloid dendritic cells in systemic sclerosis patients

Objective

To investigate the ex vivo pro-inflammatory properties of classical and non-classical monocytes as well as myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients.

Methods

Spontaneous production of CXCL10, CCL4, CXCL8 and IL-6 was intracellularly evaluated in classical, non-classical monocytes and Siglec-3-expressing mDCs from peripheral blood of SSc patients and healthy controls (HC) through flow cytometry. In addition, production of these cytokines was determined upon toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 plus Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) stimulation.

Results

The frequency of non-classical monocytes spontaneously producing CXCL10 was increased in both limited (lcSSc) and diffuse cutaneous (dcSSC) subsets of SSc patients and CCL4 was augmented in dcSSc patients. The proportion of CCL4-producing mDCs was also elevated in dcSSc patients and the percentage of mDCS producing CXCL10 only in lcSSc patients. Upon stimulation, the frequency of non-classical monocytes expressing CXCL8 was increased in both patient groups and mDCs expressing CXCL8 only in lcSSc. Moreover, these parameters in unsupervised clustering analysis identify a subset of patients which are characterized by lung fibrosis and reduced pulmonary function.

Conclusions

These data point towards a role of activated non-classical monocytes and mDCs producing enhanced levels of proinflammatory cytokines in SSc, potentially contributing to lung fibrosis.

     

Breastfeeding and autoimmunity: Programing health from the beginning

Breast milk is not only a completely adapted nutrition source for the newborn but also an impressive array of immune‐active molecules that afford protection against infections and shape mucosal immune responses. Decisive imprinting events might be modulated during the first months of life with potential health long‐term effects, enhancing the importance of breastfeeding as a major influence on the immune system correct development and modifying disease susceptibility. The aim of this review was to clarify the link between breastfeeding and autoimmune diseases, inquiring the related mechanisms, based on data available in the literature. Being breastfed was associated with a lower incidence of diabetes, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis and asthma, explained by the protection against early infections, anti‐inflammatory properties, antigen‐specific tolerance induction, and regulation of infant's microbiome. The protective role of human milk in idiopathic juvenile arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel diseases remains controversial. On the other hand, the breastfeeding mother faces a health‐challenging period in life. High levels of prolactin may lead either to the development of autoimmune diseases in susceptible mothers or exacerbations of current immune‐mediated disorders. These features raise the question if mothers with autoimmune diseases, mainly systemic lupus erythematosus, should avoid breastfeeding.     

Metabolic syndrome and the decreased levels of uric acid by leflunomide favor redox imbalance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Oxidative stress plays a role in the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of the present study was to verify the influence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs on nitrosative and oxidative biomarkers in patients with RA. A total of 177 patients with RA and 150 healthy volunteers participated in this study, which measured lipid hydroperoxides, advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), nitric oxide metabolites (NOx), carbonyl protein, total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP), uric acid (UA), and C-reactive protein (CRP). NOx and the NOx/TRAP ratio were significantly increased in RA, while no significant differences in lipid hydroperoxides, AOPP, UA, and TRAP levels were found between both groups. Treatment with leflunomide was associated with increased levels of carbonyl protein, and lowered levels in TRAP and UA, while the NOx/TRAP ratio further increased. NOx and the NOx/TRAP ratio were significantly higher in women than in men, while TRAP and UA were significantly lower in women. MetS was accompanied by increased AOPP and UA levels. RA was best predicted by increased NOx/TRAP ratio, CRP, and BMI. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that NOx and NOx/TRAP are strongly associated with RA physiopathology. Our findings suggest that inhibition of iNOS may become an interesting therapeutic approach for the treatment of RA. In addition, the presence of MetS and a decrease in levels of UA by leflunomide favor redox imbalance in RA patients. More studies are needed to evaluate the impact of antioxidant capacity reduction on RA progression.     

Curcumin supplementation improves oxidative stress and inflammation biomarkers in patients undergoing hemodialysis: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial

International Urology and Nephrology - Recent studies have shed light on the potential role of curcumin in mitigating inflammation in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to...     

Diagnosing COVID-19 in human serum using Raman spectroscopy

Lasers in Medical Science - This study proposed the diagnosis of COVID-19 by means of Raman spectroscopy. Samples of blood serum from 10 patients positive and 10 patients negative for...     

Natural history of intraventricular meningiomas: systematic review

Review the data published on the subject to create a more comprehensive natural history of intraventricular meningiomas (IVMs). A Medline search up to March 2018 using “intraventricular meningioma” returned 98 papers. As a first selection step, we adopted the following inclusion criteria: series and case reports about IVMs, as well as papers written in other languages, but abstracts written in English were evaluated. Six hundred eighty-one tumors were evaluated from 98 papers. The majority of the tumors were located in the lateral ventricles (602–88.4%), fourth ventricle (59–8.7%), and third ventricle (20–2.9%). These tumors accounted for a mortality rate of 4.0% (25 deaths) and a recurrence rate of 5.3% (26 recurrences). The majority of the tumors were grade I (89.8%) and consisted of the following subtypes: fibrous, 39.7% (n = 171); transitional, 22.0% (n = 95); meningothelial, 18.6% (n = 80); angiomatosus, 3.2% (n = 14); psammomatous, 2.6% (n = 11); and others, 13.9% (n = 60). Forty-five patients (7.4%) presented with grade II (GII) tumors, and 17 patients (2.8%) presented with grade III (GIII) tumors. These tumors follow the histopathological distribution of meningiomas in general, with the exception of the higher prevalence of the fibrous subtype, possibly due to its embryonic origin. Recurrence and mortality were lower than in other localizations likely due to a complete surgical resection rate than in the convexity and skull base, which suggests that GTR is the gold standard for the management of IVMs.