Relationship between family functioning and health-related quality of life among methadone maintenance patients: a Bayesian approach

Quality of Life Research - To examine the relationship of family functioning on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among methadone maintenance patients using the Bayesian approach. A...     

Brain-state determines learning improvements after transcranial alternating-current stimulation to frontal cortex

Background

Theories of executive control propose that communication between medial frontal cortex (MFC) and lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) is critical for learning. 6-Hz phase synchronization may be the mechanism by which neural activity between MFC and lPFC is coordinated into a functional network. Recent evidence suggests that switching from eyes closed to open may induce a change in brain-state reflected by enhanced executive control and related functional connectivity.

Neutrophil Migration in Opposing Chemoattractant Gradients Using Microfluidic Chemotaxis Devices

Neutrophils migrating in tissue respond to complex overlapping signals generated by a variety of chemotactic factors (CFs). Previous studies suggested a hierarchy between bacteria-derived CFs and host-derived CFs but could not differentiate neutrophil response to potentially equal host-derived CFs (IL-8 and LTB₄). This paper reports neutrophil migration in conflicting gradients of IL-8 and LTB₄ using a microfluidic chemotaxis device that can generate stable and well-defined gradients. We quantitatively characterized the movement of cells from time-lapse images. Neutrophils migrate more efficiently toward single IL-8 gradients than single LTB₄ gradients as measured by the effective chemotactic index (ECI). In opposing gradients of IL-8 and LTB₄, neutrophils show obvious chemotaxis toward a distant gradient, consistent with previous reports. When an opposing gradient of LTB₄ is present, neutrophils show less effective chemotaxis toward IL-8 than when they are in a gradient of IL-8 alone. In contrast, the chemotactic response of neutrophils to LTB₄ is not reduced in opposing gradients as compared to that in a single LTB₄ gradient. These results indicate that the presence of one host-derived CF modifies the response of neutrophils to a second CF suggesting a subtle hierarchy between them.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrected author affiliations