Partition Test Research Articles

Модуляція прогестероном тривожності та активності дофамінергічної мезолімбічної системи мозку у щурів з алкогольною залежністю і за умов зоосоціального конфлікту

Exogenous modulation by progesterone of the central neurosteroid mechanisms of regulation of anxiety and its important component, the activity of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, is a promising method of correction of emotional behavioral disorders. The aim of this work was to study the effect of intranasal progesterone administration on the baseline level of anxiety and the activity of the dopaminergic mesolimbic brain system in alcohol-dependent and zoosocial conflict rats. Neuroethological studies by the method of assessing the individual level of anxiety. The levels of catecholamines (dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline) in the brain structures were determined by the method of immunoenzymatic analysis. Emotional stress, namely zoosocial instability and confrontational interactions, was modeled using the sensory contact technique and the partition test. Alcohol dependence in rats was induced by voluntary consumption of alcohol-containing food. Progesterone was administered intranasally at a dose of 80 μg per animal. It is shown that the level of anxiety in rats under conditions of alcohol dependence and emotional stress is associated with dopamine and adrenergic disturbances in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens. The anxiolytic effects of progesterone are manifested in the suppression of the increase in anxiety following exposure to emotional stress in alcohol-dependent rats and its suppression in rats with baseline low levels of anxiety following repeated exposure to emotional stress. A balanced activation of the dopaminergic mesolimbic system during progesterone administration leads to the formation of a new allostatic state in rats with a decrease in anxiety levels.

Experimental and Numerical Performance Evaluation of Bio-Based and Recycled Thermal Break Strips in LSF Partition Walls

The thermal performance of Lightweight Steel Framed (LSF) walls could be strongly compromised due to steel’s high thermal conductivity and their related thermal bridges. In this paper, the performance of bio-based (pine wood) and recycled (rubber–cork composite) Thermal Break Strip (TBS) materials, to mitigate the thermal bridge effect originated by steel profiles in LSF partition walls, is evaluated. This assessment was achieved by measurements under controlled laboratory conditions and by predictions using some numerical simulation models. Regarding the measurements, two climatic chambers (cold and hot) were used to impose a nearly constant temperature difference (around 35 °C), between the LSF partition test samples’ surfaces. To measure the overall surface-to-surface thermal resistance (R-value) of the evaluated LSF wall configurations, the Heat Flow Meter (HFM) method was used. Moreover, the measured values were compared with the calculations by 2D (THERM models) and 3D (ANSYS models) numerical simulations, exhibiting an excellent agreement (less than ±2% difference). Three TBS locations and three materials are evaluated, with their thermal performance improvement compared with a reference interior partition LSF wall, having no TBS. The top performance was accomplished by the aerogel super-insulating TBS material. The bio-based material (pine wood) and the recycled rubber–cork composite present quite similar results, with a slight advantage for the pine wood TBSs, given their higher thickness. Considering the TBS location, the inner and outer side present comparable performances. When using TBSs on both sides of steel profile flanges, there is a relevant thermal performance improvement, as expected. The thickness of the TBS also presents a noteworthy influence on the LSF partition thermal resistance.

Chronic Lithium Treatment Affects Anxious Behaviors and theExpression of Serotonergic Genes in Midbrain Raphe Nuclei of Defeated Male Mice

There is experimental evidence that chronic social defeat stress is accompanied by the development of an anxiety, development of a depression-like state, and downregulation of serotonergic genes in midbrain raphe nuclei of male mice. Our study was aimed at investigating the effects of chronic lithium chloride (LiCl) administration on anxiety behavior and the expression of serotonergic genes in midbrain raphe nuclei of the affected mice. A pronounced anxiety-like state in male mice was induced by chronic social defeat stress in daily agonistic interactions. After 6 days of this stress, defeated mice were chronically treated with saline or LiCl (100 mg/kg, i.p., 2 weeks) during the continuing agonistic interactions. Anxiety was assessed by behavioral tests. RT-PCR was used to determine Tph2, Htr1a, Htr5b, and Slc6a4 mRNA expression. The results revealed anxiolytic-like effects of LiCl on social communication in the partition test and anxiogenic-like effects in both elevated plus-maze and social interaction tests. Chronic LiCl treatment upregulated serotonergic genes in midbrain raphe nuclei. Thus, LiCl effects depend on the treatment mode, psycho-emotional state of the animal, and experimental context (tests). It is assumed that increased expression of serotonergic genes is accompanied by serotonergic system activation and, as a side effect, by higher anxiety.

Oxidative stress induced antioxidant and neurotoxicity demonstrated in vivo zebrafish embryo or larval model and their normalization due to morin showing therapeutic implications

AimsThe study examined that morin as possible antioxidant and neuroprotective due to oxidative stress (H2O2) in zebrafish larval model. Materials and methodsZebrafish larvae were induced with oxidative stress using H2O2 at 1 mM; their behavioural changes were assessed through partition preference and horizontal compartment test. The head section without eyes and yolk sac of zebrafish larvae were employed for enzyme assays such as SOD, CAT, Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay, reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase activity, glutathione S transferase, Acetylcholinesterase activity and nitrate levels. Also, intracellular ROS and apoptosis in larval head was detected by DCFDA and acridine orange staining followed by gene expression studies. Key findingsMorin exposure was not harmful to the larvae at concentration between 20 and 60 μM, but it caused non-lethal deformity between 80 and 100 μM. In the partition test, zebrafish embryos treated with H2O2 showed cognitive impairment, whereas the morin-treated groups showed an improved behavioural activity. The study also found that restoring antioxidant enzymes and reduced lipid peroxidation which had a neuroprotective impact. Inhibition of NO overproduction and increased AChE activity were also shown to reduce the neuronal damage. Apoptosis and intracellular ROS levels were reduced in larvae when it was co-incubated with morin. Morin treatment up regulated the antioxidant enzymes against oxidative stress. SignificanceMorin provides protection against H2O2 induced oxidative stress through a cellular antioxidant defence mechanism by up-regulating gene expression, thus increasing the antioxidant activity at cellular or organismal stage.

Feasibility of Kd-Trees in Gaussian Process Regression to Partition Test Points in High Resolution Input Space

Bayesian inference using Gaussian processes on large datasets have been studied extensively over the past few years. However, little attention has been given on how to apply these on a high resolution input space. By approximating the set of test points (where we want to make predictions, not the set of training points in the dataset) by a kd-tree, a multi-resolution data structure arises that allows for considerable gains in performance and memory usage without a significant loss of accuracy. In this paper, we study the feasibility and efficiency of constructing and using such a kd-tree in Gaussian process regression. We propose a cut-off rule that is easy to interpret and to tune. We show our findings on generated toy data in a 3D point cloud and a simulated 2D vibrometry example. This survey is beneficial for researchers that are working on a high resolution input space. The kd-tree approximation outperforms the naïve Gaussian process implementation in all experiments.

Simultaneous removal of siloxanes and H2S from biogas using an aerobic biotrickling filter

The feasibility of simultaneous removal of siloxane and H2S from biogas was investigated using an aerobic biotrickling filter (BTF). The biodegradation of H2S in the BTF followed a first-order kinetic model and more than 95 % H2S was eliminated within a residence time of 0.3 min. The removal of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) increased with longer empty bed residence time (EBRT). The partition test and microbial community analysis further reveals that up to 52 % removal of D5 was reached mainly by the chemical-absorption in acid recycling liquid. Finally, D5 was converted into mixtures of dimethylsilanediol (DMSD) and hexamethyldisiloxane (L2) via ring-opening hydrolysis in acid liquid and ring-shrinking polyreaction using CH4 derived from biogas. These operational characteristics demonstrate that the abiotic removal of D5, in addition to biological removal of H2S in an aerobic BTF can significantly decrease the siloxane loading to the downstream siloxane removing units.

A Single Test to Study Social Behavior and Repetitive Self-grooming in Mice.

The ability to recognize and interact with members of the same species is essential for social communication. Investigating the neural substrates of social interest and recognition may offer insights into the behavioral differences present in disorders affecting social behavior. Assays used to study social interest in rodents include the 3-chamber test, a partition test, and a social interaction test. Here, we present a single protocol that can be used to quantify the level of social interest displayed by mice, the ability to distinguish between different individual mice (social recognition), and the level of repetitive self-grooming displayed. In the first part of the protocol, a social habituation/dishabituation test, the time spent by a test mouse sniffing a stimulus mouse is quantified over 9 trials. In the first 8 interactions, the same stimulus mouse is used repeatedly; on the ninth trial, a novel stimulus mouse is presented. Intact social recognition is indicated by a progressive decrease in the investigation time over trials 1-8, and an increase in trial 9. The interval between each social trial is used to quantify self-grooming, a stereotyped repetitive behavior in mice. We also present a method for randomized, blinded analysis of these behaviors to increase rigor and reproducibility of results. Therefore, this single behavioral test enables ready assessment of phenotypes of both social and repetitive behaviors in an integrated manner in the same animals. This feature can be advantageous in understanding interactions between these behaviors and phenotypes in mouse models with genetic variants associated with autism and other neurodevelopmental or neuropsychiatric disorders, which are often characterized by these behavioral differences.

Prognostic Value of Molecular Breast Cancer Subtypes based on Her2, ESR1, PGR and Ki67 mRNA-Expression in Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

INTRODUCTION: Gene expression analyses have identified similarities between bladder and breast cancer, where clinical risk stratification is based on Her2, ESR1, PGR and Ki67 expression. The aim of the study was to assess the respective marker gene expression in patients treated with radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and to evaluate the applicability of breast cancer subtypes for MIBC risk stratification. MATERIALS & METHODS: 102 patients treated with radical cystectomy for MIBC were assessed. Using routine FFPE tissue and an IVD validated kit, mRNA expression was measured by single step RT-qPCR. Partition test were employed to define cut-off values for high or low marker gene expression. Association of expression with outcome was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate cox regression analysis. Finally, we performed validation of our results in the MD-Anderson cohort (n=57). RESULTS: Cancer specific survival (CSS) was impaired in patients with high gene expression of Her2 (P=0.0009) and ESR1 (P=0.04). In the multivariate regression model Her2 expression remained significant for the prediction of CSS (HR=2.11, CI 1.11-4.21, P=0.024). Furthermore, molecular stratification by breast cancer subgroups was significant (P=0.023) for CSS prediction. Especially the differentiation between Her2-positive and Luminal A (HR=4.41, CI 1.53-18.71, P=0.004) and Luminal B (HR=1.96, CI 0.99-4.08, P=0.053) respectively was an independent prognostic parameter for CSS. External validation resulted in comparable risk stratification with differences in fractional subgroups distribution. CONCLUSION: Gene expression of Her2, ESR1, PGR, Ki67 and corresponding breast cancer subtypes allow a risk-stratification in MIBC, whereby Her2 overexpressing tumors reveal a particularly poor prognosis.

Fire Insulation of Aluminum Glazed Partitions Depending on the Infill Solution of Framework Profiles

This paper presents the main problems related to the fire resistance of aluminium glazed partitions. It discusses technical solutions used in partition systems with a specific fire resistance class, as well as a procedure and the general principles of classification of fire resistance for structures of this type. Moreover, the paper presents the comparison of fire resistance test results of glazed partition test specimens, depending on the volume of insulation inserts placed inside the aluminium structure profiles. To made the comparison the specimens with the same transom - mullion structure were tested with two filling solutions - with same profiles filled only in the middle part and fully filled.

Behavior of Arvalis and Obscurus chromosomal forms of common vole (Microtus arvalis Pallas, 1779) males in the Partition test

To compare the social and individual behaviors of common vole (Microtus arvalis Pallas, 1779) chromosomal forms («arvalis» and «obscurus») the Partition test was performed using different compositions of opponents (conspecific or heterospecific). Tests were performed in «arvalis» and «obscurus» males kept in animal facilities of the Zoological Institute (St. Petersburg, Russia). Laboratory populations originate from animals caught in the hybrid zone of these chromosome forms of voles (Vladimir region). Independent groups of animals were used for test with conspecific (N=28 for «arvalis» form; N=32 for «obscurus» form) and/or heterospecific (N=31 for both chromosomal forms) opponent. Test duration – 10 min. The behavior of animals (consequence and duration of behavioral elements) was registered by video films with special computer program «Ethograph» (ver. 2.07, RITEC, Russia). It was established that locomotor activity was greater in «obscurus» males. The level of anxiety estimated by amount of fecal boluses was higher in «arvalis» males. There were no differences in aggressive behavior of vole’s chromosomal forms, though both «arvalis» and «obscurus» were more aggressive towards individuals of heterospecific chromosomal form. The results of the present study confirm our previously published assumption about different behavioral strategies of common vole’s chromosomal forms: active-offensive for «obscurus» and passive avoidance (hiding behavior) for «arvalis».

Magel2 knockout mice manifest altered social phenotypes and a deficit in preference for social novelty.

MAGEL2 is one of five protein-coding, maternally imprinted, paternally expressed genes in the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS)-critical domain on chromosome 15q11-q13. Truncating pathogenic variants of MAGEL2 cause Schaaf-Yang syndrome (SHFYNG) (OMIM #615547), a neurodevelopmental disorder related to PWS. Affected individuals manifest a spectrum of neurocognitive and behavioral phenotypes, including intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Magel2 knockout mice carrying a maternally inherited, imprinted wild-type (WT) allele and a paternally inherited Magel2-lacZ knock-in allele, which abolishes endogenous Magel2 gene function, exhibit several features reminiscent of the human Prader-Willi phenotypes, including neonatal growth retardation, excessive weight gain after weaning and increased adiposity in adulthood. They were shown to have altered circadian rhythm, reduced motor activity and reduced fertility. An extensive assessment for autism-like behaviors in this mouse model was warranted, because of the high prevalence of ASD in human patients. The behavior of Magel2 knockout mice and their WT littermates were assayed via open field, elevated plus maze, tube, three-chamber and partition tests. Our studies confirm decreased horizontal activity of male and female mice and increased vertical activity of females, in the open field. Both sexes spent more time in the open arm of the elevated plus maze, suggestive of reductions in anxiety. Both sexes displayed a lack of preference for social novelty, via a lack of discrimination between known and novel partners in the partition test. The in-depth investigation of behavioral profiles caused by Magel2 loss-of-function helps to elucidate the etiology of behavioral phenotypes both for SHFYNG and PWS in general.

Sampling diverse characters improves phylogenies: Craniodental and postcranial characters of vertebrates often imply different trees.

Morphological cladograms of vertebrates are often inferred from greater numbers of characters describing the skull and teeth than from postcranial characters. This is either because the skull is believed to yield characters with a stronger phylogenetic signal (i.e., contain less homoplasy), because morphological variation therein is more readily atomized, or because craniodental material is more widely available (particularly in the palaeontological case). An analysis of 85 vertebrate datasets published between 2000 and 2013 confirms that craniodental characters are significantly more numerous than postcranial characters, but finds no evidence that levels of homoplasy differ in the two partitions. However, a new partition test, based on tree-to-tree distances (as measured by the Robinson Foulds metric) rather than tree length, reveals that relationships inferred from the partitions are significantly different about one time in three, much more often than expected. Such differences may reflect divergent selective pressures in different body regions, resulting in different localized patterns of homoplasy. Most systematists attempt to sample characters broadly across body regions, but this is not always possible. We conclude that trees inferred largely from either craniodental or postcranial characters in isolation may differ significantly from those that would result from a more holistic approach. We urge the latter.

Test Scheduling for Network-on-Chip Using XY-Direction Connected Subgraph Partition and Multiple Test Clocks

It is attractive to reuse the on-chip functional interconnects as test access mechanism (TAM) in network-on-chip (NoC) system testing. However, in the methodology of NoC-reuse as TAM, the influence factors in NoC testing significantly increased. To further reduce test time and show significant gains over other work, we propose XY-direction connected subgraph partition (XYCSP) approach to eliminate the path conflicts before testing, and concurrently determine the position of test access points. We then present a multiple test clock strategy to bridge the gap between the NoC channel bandwidth and the core test wrapper bandwidth. With the help of adaptive probability gate quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm (APGQEA) strategy, which blends adaptive strategy and multi-nary oriented techniques, the proposed NoC test scheduling algorithm permits quick exploration and exploitation of the solution space. Moreover, power constraints are also taken into account. Experimental results for the ITC'02 benchmarks show that the proposed scheme can achieve shorter test time compared to prior works.

FIRE RESISTANCE TESTS OF ALUMINIUM GLAZED PARTITIONS, Results comparison

This paper discusses the main problems related to the fire resistance of aluminium glazed partitions, including the tests methodology and way of classification of this type of elements. Moreover, the paper presents the comparison of fire resistance test results of glazed partition test specimens, depending on the number of insulation inserts placed inside the aluminium structure profiles. To made the comparison the specimens with the same transom – mullion structure were tested in two configurations and with two filling solutions – with profiles filled only in the middle part and with fully filled profiles.

Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) in Tuberculous Meningitis

Abstract not availableBangladesh J Medicine Jul 2014; 25 (2) : 61-71

Phylogenetic Relationships Within Arctornis (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) Based on COI Gene Sequences

Genus Arctornis is one of Tussock moths which are most diverse in tropics, particularly in Sundaland. Several species associate with cultivated plants and have potential to become pests. The systematic of this genus is still in dispute, especially on the monophyly and the relationship within this genus due to the fact that it is very large genus (137 described species). To clarify the monophyly of the genus Arctornis, and to reveal the phylogenetic relationship among the Indonesian species, we analyzed ten species of Indonesian Arctonis involving seven other species distributed around the world based on a 600 bp region in the COI gene. The results showed that the monophyly of Arctornis was supported by a high bayesian partition test at Maximum likelihood tree building method. The relationship among groups was supported by moderate to high bayesian partition values. Indeed, COI gene was very useful to characterize Arctornis species, especially to distinguish member of Indonesian species. Nevertheless, this should be taken with precaution because more species and more conserved genes should be involved in the future analysis to test the validity of the proposed phylogeny.

Modified Anderson-Darling test-based target detector in non-homogenous environments.

A constant false alarm rate (CFAR) target detector in non-homogenous backgrounds is proposed. Based on K-sample Anderson-Darling (AD) tests, the method re-arranges the reference cells by merging homogenous sub-blocks surrounding the cell under test (CUT) into a new reference window to estimate the background statistics. Double partition test, clutter edge refinement and outlier elimination are used as an anti-clutter processor in the proposed Modified AD (MAD) detector. Simulation results show that the proposed MAD test based detector outperforms cell-averaging (CA) CFAR, greatest of (GO) CFAR, smallest of (SO) CFAR, order-statistic (OS) CFAR, variability index (VI) CFAR, and CUT inclusive (CI) CFAR in most non-homogenous situations.

Deletion of PTEN produces autism-like behavioral deficits and alterations in synaptic proteins.

Many genes have been implicated in the underlying cause of autism but each gene accounts for only a small fraction of those diagnosed with autism. There is increasing evidence that activity-dependent changes in neuronal signaling could act as a convergent mechanism for many of the changes in synaptic proteins. One candidate signaling pathway that may have a critical role in autism is the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. A major regulator of this pathway is the negative repressor phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN). In the current study we examined the behavioral and molecular consequences in mice with neuron subset-specific deletion of PTEN. The knockout (KO) mice showed deficits in social chamber and social partition test. KO mice demonstrated alterations in repetitive behavior, as measured in the marble burying test and hole-board test. They showed no changes in ultrasonic vocalizations emitted on postnatal day 10 or 12 compared to wildtype (WT) mice. They exhibited less anxiety in the elevated-plus maze test and were more active in the open field test compared to WT mice. In addition to the behavioral alterations, KO mice had elevation of phosphorylated AKT, phosphorylated S6, and an increase in S6K. KO mice had a decrease in mGluR but an increase in total and phosphorylated fragile X mental retardation protein. The disruptions in intracellular signaling may be why the KO mice had a decrease in the dendritic potassium channel Kv4.2 and a decrease in the synaptic scaffolding proteins PSD-95 and SAP102. These findings demonstrate that deletion of PTEN results in long-term alterations in social behavior, repetitive behavior, activity, and anxiety. In addition, deletion of PTEN significantly alters mGluR signaling and many synaptic proteins in the hippocampus. Our data demonstrates that deletion of PTEN can result in many of the behavioral features of autism and may provide insights into the regulation of intracellular signaling on synaptic proteins.

Early-life seizures result in deficits in social behavior and learning

Children with epilepsy show a high co-morbidity with psychiatric disorders and autism. One of the critical determinants of a child's behavioral outcome with autism and cognitive dysfunction is the age of onset of seizures. In order to examine whether seizures during postnatal days 7–11 result in learning and memory deficits and behavioral features of autism we administered the inhalant flurothyl to induce seizures in C57BL/6J mice. Mice received three seizures per day for five days starting on postnatal day 7. Parallel control groups consisted of similarly handled animals that were not exposed to flurothyl and naïve mice. Subjects were then processed through a battery of behavioral tests in adulthood: elevated-plus maze, nose-poke assay, marble burying, social partition, social chamber, fear conditioning, and Morris water maze. Mice with early-life seizures had learning and memory deficits in the training portion of the Morris water maze (p<0.05) and probe trial (p<0.01). Mice with seizures showed no differences in marble burying, the nose-poke assay, or elevated plus-maze testing compared to controls. However, they showed a significant difference in the social chamber and social partition tests. Mice with seizures during postnatal days 7–11 showed a significant decrease in social interaction in the social chamber test and had a significant impairment in social behavior in the social partition test. Together, these results indicate that early life seizures result in deficits in hippocampal-dependent memory tasks and produce long-term disruptions in social behavior.

Separation of phenylethanoid glycosides from two Lantana species by High-Speed Countercurrent Chromatography

The genus Lantana (Verbenaceae) comprises approximately 150 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. Lantana fucata Lindl. is a small shrub used in the Brazilian traditional medicine as a carminative, anti-inflammatory, and to treat colds and bronchitis. In a previous work from our group, the alcoholic extract from this plant and Fucatoside C, isolated from it, showed significant in vitro antiinflammatory activity (Julião et al., 2009). Lantana trifolia L. is used in Brazilian folk medicine for respiratory disorders and as sedative. Its antiinflammatory and analgesic activities were also demonstrated by us (Julião et al., 2010). In the present study, n-butanol extracts from leaves of L. fucata and L. trifolia were fractionated by HSCCC as a new strategy to isolate the active compounds for biological investigations. CCC is a technique based on liquid-liquid extractions and uses no solid stationary phase. The choice of solvent system was performed by test-tube partition test. The solvent system chosen was ethyl acetate/n-butanol/water (1.0:0.2:1.0, v/v) for both n-butanol extracts. The isocratic elutions (normal phase) were performed on HSCCC equipped with a multi-layer coil, conditions as follows: column 80 mL, 1.6 mm id, flow rate 2.0 mL/min (4.0 mL/tube), 60 tubes, 850 rpm, temperature 26 °C, loop injection 5.0 mL, wash off = 80 mL. Stationary phase retention (Sf) was 75%. Two phenylethanoids – Numioside A (23 mg, 77.4%) and Fucatoside C (31.9 mg, 77%) were isolated from L. fucata, and two from L. trifolia: Verbascoside (29.5 mg, 80.5%) and Apiosylverbascoside (39.3 mg, 81.8%). Purities were determined by HPLC. All substances were isolated in one-step separation from circa 400 mg of each extract, in a much more efficient and costless process than the other techniques used in the previous works. Support: CAPES and CNPq.