Primary Stimuli Research Articles

Dual regulation of IP3 receptors by IP3 and PIP2 controls the transition from local to global Ca2+ signals

The spatial organization of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-evoked Ca2+ signals underlies their versatility. Low stimulus intensities evoke Ca2+ puffs, localized Ca2+ signals arising from a few IP3 receptors (IP3Rs) within a cluster tethered beneath the plasma membrane. More intense stimulation evokes global Ca2+ signals. Ca2+ signals propagate regeneratively as the Ca2+ released stimulates more IP3Rs. How is this potentially explosive mechanism constrained to allow local Ca2+ signaling? We developed methods that allow IP3 produced after G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) activation to be intercepted and replaced by flash photolysis of a caged analog of IP3. We find that phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) primes IP3Rs to respond by partially occupying their IP3-binding sites. As GPCRs stimulate IP3 formation, they also deplete PIP2, relieving the priming stimulus. Loss of PIP2 resets IP3R sensitivity and delays the transition from local to global Ca2+ signals. Dual regulation of IP3Rs by PIP2 and IP3 through GPCRs controls the transition from local to global Ca2+ signals.

A Spin‐Polarized Electron‐Induced MXene‐KBi0.9Co0.1Fe2O5 Photocatalyst for Enhanced Dye Degradation

In photocatalysts aimed to degrade environmental pollutants, photons are generally used as primary stimuli to generate electron–hole pairs to target the chemical bonds to disintegrate. Recently, electron spin has been reported as an essential degree of freedom to improve the performance of photocatalysts. In this work, spin‐polarized electrons and holes are introduced into a brownmillerite KBi0.9Co0.1Fe2O5 semiconductor and a two‐dimensional (2D) MXene composite system by application of an external magnetic field. The spin polarization properties are monitored by measuring the magnetoresistance effect of the MXene‐KBCFO device, which is related to the carrier transfer efficiency. Remarkably, the photocatalytic performance of MXene‐KBCFO is significantly enhanced by the simultaneous application of an external magnetic field and illumination due to the increased number of spin‐polarized photoexcited carriers caused by the synergy effect of the 2D MXene heterostructure together with the ferromagnetic spin ordering. This results in increased reaction hotspots, effective built‐in electric field, extended carrier lifetime, and reduced charge recombination owing to parallel alignment of electron spin orientation. The results show that the efficiency and stability of photocatalytic dye degradation can be effectively enhanced by manipulating the spin‐polarized electrons in the MXene‐based oxide‐perovskite heterostructure photocatalyst.

Bile acids acting as a feeding signal and functional foods mimicking bile acid function.

To elucidate the function of the bile acid-binding receptor TGR5 in skeletal muscle, we developed transgenic mice expressing human TGR5 in the skeletal muscle tissue. A significant increase in muscle mass was observed in these transgenic mice, whereas a decrease in muscle mass was observed in the TGR5-deficient mice. Following treadmill exercise, TGR5 gene expression increased in response to ER stress induced in skeletal muscle via an ER stress response motif present in its promoter region. Exercise and rapid postprandial elevation in blood bile acid concentrations can be considered the primary stimuli for the TGR5-mediated increase in skeletal muscle mass. We developed a scoring system to identify food ingredients with TGR5 agonist activity, and identified the citrus limonoid nomilin. Similar effects were observed for other triterpenoids in addition to nomilin. Cell culture and in vivo experiments demonstrated that these food factors increase protein synthesis and muscle mass.

An Improved Scoring Algorithm for Indirect Evaluation Measurement With the Evaluative Priming Task

People tend to categorize the valence of a target stimulus more quickly and accurately if the target appears after a prime stimulus of the same (than of the opposite) valence. The evaluative priming task (EPT) utilizes this priming effect for indirect evaluation measurement but suffers from low reliability. The present research compared the reliability and validity of 2,160 EPT scoring algorithms across 12 datasets. In contrast to current norms to delete trials with error responses and to rely solely on differences in response latency between different task conditions, superior performance was found when incorporating latency and accuracy data, and when basing the score on differences in mean ranking of each condition’s trials by performance (a scale-invariant non-parametric dominance score named G score). We recommend seven new scoring algorithms that, in comparison to current scoring norms, increase internal consistency by a mean of 41% and correlations with other measures by 17%.

The assembly of neutrophil inflammasomes during COVID-19 is mediated by type I interferons.

The severity of COVID-19 is linked to excessive inflammation. Neutrophils represent a critical arm of the innate immune response and are major mediators of inflammation, but their role in COVID-19 pathophysiology remains poorly understood. We conducted transcriptomic profiling of neutrophils obtained from patients with mild and severe COVID-19, as well as from SARS-CoV-2 infected mice, in comparison to non-infected healthy controls. In addition, we investigated the inflammasome formation potential in neutrophils from patients and mice upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Transcriptomic analysis of polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs), consisting mainly of mature neutrophils, revealed a striking type I interferon (IFN-I) gene signature in severe COVID-19 patients, contrasting with mild COVID-19 and healthy controls. Notably, low-density granulocytes (LDGs) from severe COVID-19 patients exhibited an immature neutrophil phenotype and lacked this IFN-I signature. Moreover, PMNs from severe COVID-19 patients showed heightened nigericin-induced caspase1 activation, but reduced responsiveness to exogenous inflammasome priming. Furthermore, IFN-I emerged as a priming stimulus for neutrophil inflammasomes. These findings suggest a potential role for neutrophil inflammasomes in driving inflammation during severe COVID-19. Altogether, these findings open promising avenues for targeted therapeutic interventions to mitigate the pathological processes associated with the disease.

A Mathematical Model for Postimplant Collagen Remodeling in an Autologous Engineered Pulmonary Arterial Conduit.

This study was undertaken to develop a mathematical model of the long-term in vivo remodeling processes in postimplanted pulmonary artery (PA) conduits. Experimental results from two extant ovine in vivo studies, wherein polyglycolic-acid (PGA)/poly-L-lactic acid tubular conduits were constructed, cell seeded, incubated for 4 weeks, and then implanted in mature sheep to obtain the remodeling data for up to two years. Explanted conduit analysis included detailed novel structural and mechanical studies. Results in both studies indicated that the in vivo conduits remained dimensionally stable up to 80 weeks, so that the conduits maintained a constant in vivo stress and deformation state. In contrast, continued remodeling of the constituent collagen fiber network as evidenced by an increase in effective tissue uniaxial tangent modulus, which then stabilized by one year postimplant. A mesostructural constitute model was then applied to extant planar biaxial mechanical data and revealed several interesting features, including an initial pronounced increase in effective collagen fiber modulus, paralleled by a simultaneous shift toward longer, more uniformly length-distributed collagen fibers. Thus, while the conduit remained dimensionally stable, its internal collagen fibrous structure and resultant mechanical behaviors underwent continued remodeling that stabilized by one year. A time-evolving structural mixture-based mathematical model specialized for this unique form of tissue remodeling was developed, with a focus on time-evolving collagen fiber stiffness as the driver for tissue-level remodeling. The remodeling model was able to fully reproduce (1) the observed tissue-level increases in stiffness by time-evolving simultaneous increases in collagen fiber modulus and lengths, (2) maintenance of the constant collagen fiber angular dispersion, and (3) stabilization of the remodeling processes at one year. Collagen fiber remodeling geometry was directly verified experimentally by histological analysis of the time-evolving collagen fiber crimp, which matches model predictions very closely. Interestingly, the remodeling model indicated that the basis for tissue homeostasis was maintenance of the collagen fiber ensemble stress for all orientations, and not individual collagen fiber stresses. Unlike other growth and remodeling models that traditionally treat changes in the external boundary conditions (e.g., changes in blood pressure) as the primary input stimuli, the driver herein is changes to the internal constituent collagen fiber themselves due to cellular mediated cross-linking.

The temporal dynamics of familiar face recognition: Event-related brain potentials reveal the efficient activation of facial identity representations

While it is widely known that humans are typically highly accurate at recognizing familiar faces, it is less clear how efficiently recognition is achieved. In a series of three experiments, we used event-related brain potentials (ERP) in a repetition priming paradigm to examine the efficiency of familiar face recognition. Specifically, we varied the presentation time of the prime stimulus between 500 ms and 33 ms (Experiments 1 and 2), and additionally used backward masks (Experiment 3) to prevent the potential occurrence of visual aftereffects. Crucially, to test for the recognition of facial identity rather than a specific picture, we used different images of the same facial identities in repetition conditions. We observed clear ERP repetition priming effects between 300 and 500 ms after target onset at all prime durations, which suggests that the prime stimulus was sufficiently well processed to allow for facilitated recognition of the target in all conditions. This finding held true even in severely restricted viewing conditions including very brief prime durations and backward masks. We conclude that the facial recognition system is both highly effective and efficient, thus allowing for our impressive ability to recognise the faces that we know.

Persistent changes in nociceptor translatomes govern hyperalgesic priming in mouse models.

Hyperalgesic priming is a model system that has been widely used to understand plasticity in painful stimulus-detecting sensory neurons, called nociceptors. A key feature of this model system is that following priming, stimuli that do not normally cause hyperalgesia now readily provoke this state. We hypothesized that hyperalgesic priming occurs due to reorganization of translation of mRNA in nociceptors. To test this hypothesis, we used paclitaxel treatment as the priming stimulus and translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) to measure persistent changes in mRNA translation in Nav1.8+ nociceptors. TRAP sequencing revealed 161 genes with persistently altered mRNA translation in the primed state. We identified Gpr88 as upregulated and Metrn as downregulated. We confirmed a functional role for these genes, wherein a GPR88 agonist causes pain only in primed mice and established hyperalgesic priming is reversed by Meteorin. Our work demonstrates that altered nociceptor translatomes are causative in producing hyperalgesic priming.

Financial inclusion, socioeconomic shocks and social protection in Nigeria amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Financial inclusion and social protection have been recognised as the primary essential stimuli from the potential they carry as avenues for economic development, especially with respect to reduction in poverty and inequalities, the creation of employment and the enhancement overall welfare and livelihood. However, inclusive access to financial resources and equitable access to social protection interventions have remained a significant concern in Nigeria. In addition, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weakness of Nigeria in all sectors of the economy such as energy, health, education and food systems and low-level inclusive access to financial resources and social protection coverage. On the other hand, this study argues that financial inclusion and social protection has the potential to mitigation shocks orchestrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study empirically examines how social protection interventions and access to financial resources responded to COVID-19 pandemic. The study made use of data sourced from the World Bank’s COVID-19 national longitudinal phone survey 2020 and applied the logit regression. The findings show that social protection and access to financial resources significantly associated with the likelihood of shock mitigation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that social protection intervention reduces the probability of being severely affected by shocks by 0.431. Given this result, the study recommends that the government should put more effort into proper social protection intervention to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Roles of Segments and Tone in Mandarin Lexical Processing: An ERP Study.

Segments and tone are important sub-syllabic units that play large roles in lexical processing in tonal languages. However, their roles in lexical processing remain unclear, and the event-related potential (ERP) technique will benefit the exploration of the cognitive mechanism in lexical processing. The high temporal resolution of ERP enables the technique to interpret rapidly changing spoken language performances. The present ERP study examined the different roles of segments and tone in Mandarin Chinese lexical processing. An auditory priming experiment was designed that included five types of priming stimuli: consonant mismatch, vowel mismatch, tone mismatch, unrelated mismatch, and identity. Participants were asked to judge whether the target of the prime-target pair was a real Mandarin disyllabic word or not. Behavioral results including reaction time and response accuracy and ERP results were collected. Results were different from those of previous studies that showed the dominant role of consonants in lexical access in mainly non-tonal languages like English. Our results showed that consonants and vowels play comparable roles, whereas tone plays a less important role than do consonants and vowels in lexical processing in Mandarin. These results have implications for understanding the brain mechanisms in lexical processing of tonal languages.

The innate memory response of macrophages to Mycobacterium tuberculosis is shaped by the nature of the antigenic stimuli.

Trained immunity (a.k.a. innate memory response) is a novel concept that has been rapidly emerging as a mechanism underpinning the non-specific immunity of innate immune cells, such as macrophages. However, the association between the nature of the stimuli and the corresponding immune correlate of trained immunity is not fully understood. Similarly, the kinetics of immunological and metabolic characteristics of macrophages upon "training" by the same antigen as primary and secondary stimuli (homologous stimulation) are not fully characterized. Furthermore, the ability of antigens such as purified protein derivative (PPD) and heat-killed-Mtb to induce trained immunity remains unknown. Similarly, the response of macrophages primed and trained by homologous stimulants to subsequent infection by pathogenic Mtb is yet to be reported. In this study, we evaluated the hypothesis that the nature of the stimuli impacts the depth and breadth of trained immunity in macrophages, which differentially affects their response to Mtb infection.

Can Professionals Resist Cognitive Bias Elicited by the Visual System? Reversed Semantic Prime Effect and Decision Making in the Workplace: Reaction Times and Accuracy.

Information that comes from the environment reaches the brain-and-body system via sensory inputs that can operate outside of conscious awareness and influence decision processes in different ways. Specifically, decision-making processes can be influenced by various forms of implicit bias derived from individual-related factors (e.g., individual differences in decision-making style) and/or stimulus-related information, such as visual input. However, the relationship between these subjective and objective factors of decision making has not been investigated previously in professionals with varying seniority. This study explored the relationship between decision-making style and cognitive bias resistance in professionals compared with a group of newcomers in organisations. A visual "picture-picture" semantic priming task was proposed to the participants. The task was based on primes and probes' category membership (animals vs. objects), and after an animal prime stimulus presentation, the probe can be either five objects (incongruent condition) or five objects and an animal (congruent condition). Behavioural (i.e., accuracy-ACC, and reaction times-RTs) and self-report data (through the General Decision-Making Scale administration) were collected. RTs represent an indirect measure of the workload and cognitive effort required by the task, as they represent the time it takes the nervous system to receive and integrate incoming sensory information, inducing the body to react. For both groups, the same level of ACC in both conditions and higher RTs in the incongruent condition were found. Interestingly, for the group of professionals, the GDMS-dependent decision-making style negatively correlates with ACC and positively correlates with RTs in the congruent condition. These findings suggest that, under the incongruent decision condition, the resistance to cognitive bias requires the same level of cognitive effort, regardless of seniority. However, with advancing seniority, in the group of professionals, it has been demonstrated that a dependent decision-making style is associated with lower resistance to cognitive bias, especially in conditions that require simpler decisions. Whether this result depends on age or work experience needs to be disentangled from future studies.

An Intelligent Tutoring System for Identification of Learning Styles and Assignment Educational Strategies

The possibility of improving the learning that a student obtains considering the learning styles that he or she has, refers to the best way to retain learning based on 4 primary stimuli, such as sight, hearing, touch, and experience. In this research work, an intelligent tutoring system is described based on 2 small surveys. The system will obtain sufficient information to determine those educational strategies or techniques that favor not only the students as individuals but the classroom as a group, also favoring the teacher a route learning process focused on how students learn best. To obtain educational strategies, the intelligent tutor system makes use of one of the multiple techniques of artificial intelligence such as fuzzy logic, necessary to obtain a result with greater precision, an issue that would hardly be possible using basic logic or conventional due to the uncertainty it generates. In turn, the software is developed using the Laravel work environment using MySQL as the main database manager.

Evaluating the importance of construal for choosing between alternating forms: the case of Spanish change-of-state verbs hacerse and volverse

Abstract This paper offers a new approach to the alternate use of Spanish hacerse ‘to make (reflexive)’ and volverse ‘to (re)turn (reflexive)’ to express a change of state. Hacerse and volverse belong to the core of the family of change-of-state verbs in Spanish and constitute a prime example of alternating forms. The aim is to evaluate the importance of the notion of construal as an explanation to alternation. We do this by testing one of the major explanations regarding the difference between hacerse and volverse, namely that of Delbecque and van Gorp (Delbecque, Nicole & Lise van Gorp. 2012. Hacerse y volverse como nexos pseudo-copulativos. Bulletin hispanique 114(1). 277–306, Delbecque, Nicole & Lise van Gorp. 2015. The pseudo-copular use of the Spanish verbs hacerse and volverse: Two types of change. Cognitextes 13), who suggest that the distinction is one of construal. A sentence completion task involving priming and non-priming visual stimuli is used to investigate to what extent the distinct conceptual images associated with hacerse and volverse affect the choice of verb in given contexts. The results show little evidence of the importance of construal for the choice of verb. Instead, established V + ADJ combinations seem to have a greater impact on choosing either verb. This calls into question the applicability of construal as an explanation to alternation, especially from the perspective of choice between alternating forms.

Is Syntactic Priming from Multiple Speakers Stronger?

Syntactic priming in dialogue occurs when exposure to a particular syntactic structure implicitly induces a speaker’s subsequent preference for the same syntactic structures in their own speech. Here, we asked whether this priming effect is boosted when individuals are primed by several different speakers as opposed to one. In an initial baseline session involving a picture description task, we assessed adult participants’ production of double object/DO (vs. prepositional/PO) dative and passive (vs. active) transitive structures. Subsequently, participants played a picture description and verification game, in turns, with six other players (confederates). During verification turns, confederates primed participants by using DO and passive utterances. Crucially, participants were primed either by a single confederate (single-speaker priming condition, SSP) or by five confederates (multi-speaker priming condition, MSP). Across conditions, the same priming stimuli were presented in the same order, leaving speaker source/variation as the only different feature. The degree to which participants were primed for the target structures compared to baseline was measured. Results indicated a robust priming effect in both conditions. Nevertheless, the increase in the target structures’ use did not differ significantly between the SSP and MSP conditions, suggesting that speaker variation did not promote stronger priming.

PGPR-Mediated Defense Priming: A Sustainable Paradigm for Combating Biotic and Abiotic Stresses in Agriculture

In the face of complex biotic and abiotic stresses, modern agriculture seeks innovative solutions to ensure sustainable crop production. Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) emerges as powerful allies, offering a sustainable approach to fortifying plant defense mechanisms. This review delves into harnessing PGPR-mediated defense priming to combat both biotic and abiotic stresses in agriculture. Defense priming, a sophisticated mechanism acquired through exposure to primary stimuli, empowers plants to mount quicker and more resilient defense responses against subsequent challenges. PGPR induce a pre-conditioned state of heightened alertness, enabling rapid and robust defense responses upon stress encounters. This paradigm not only enhances plant resilience to pathogens and environmental stressors but also promotes sustainable practices by reducing chemical inputs. The review critically evaluates the mechanisms underlying PGPR-mediated priming, emphasizing its potential to modulate plant physiology, metabolite production, increased antioxidants enzymes, defense related enzymes activities and enhance stress tolerance. It further explores how PGPR can improve plant responses to a spectrum of stressors. This review also highlights PGPR-mediated defense priming as a cost-effective, enduring, chemical-free, and sustainable method for managing abiotic and biotic stresses in agriculture. Implementing this strategy offers effective crop protection with minimal fitness and environmental costs, even in harsh conditions.

Multiple sources of unconscious-information processing affect a single response: independent unconscious priming effects

At present there is little knowledge on whether and how multiple pieces of unconscious information can simultaneously affect a single conscious response. In the present study, we manipulated the congruency relation between a masked prime arrow and the target arrow, as well as that between masked flankers and the target arrow. The results demonstrated that the masked prime and flankers produced independent unconscious priming effects on the response to the target. In the process of studying the above phenomenon, two secondary findings were made. First, although the prime congruency effect was obtained, the flanker congruency effect was smaller when the flankers were displayed simultaneously with the target than when they were displayed sequentially before the target. This suggested that priming stimulation required enough time to be processed to a sufficient extent to produce an unconscious priming effect. Second, when the prime stimulus was removed, leaving only the flankers, the flanker priming effect increased, suggesting that the attention attracted to the prime and its conscious mask could also reduce the flanker congruency effect. These results observed across several experiments were replicated in one within-subjects experiment. We proposed an “independent unconscious influence hypothesis” for the phenomenon. This hypothesis was further integrated into a more comprehensive unconscious information processing model. The possible causes of the observed phenomena were discussed.

Advances in Additive Manufacturing of Polymer-Fused Deposition Modeling on Textiles: From 3D Printing to Innovative 4D Printing-A Review.

Technological advances and the development of new and advanced materials allow the transition from three-dimensional (3D) printing to the innovation of four-dimensional (4D) printing. 3D printing is the process of precisely creating objects with complex shapes by depositing superimposed layers of material. Current 3D printing technology allows two or more filaments of different polymeric materials to be placed, which, together with the development of intelligent materials that change shape over time or under the action of an external stimulus, allow us to innovate and move toward an emerging area of research, innovative 4D printing technology. 4D printing makes it possible to manufacture actuators and sensors for various technological applications. Its most significant development is currently in the manufacture of intelligent textiles. The potential of 4D printing lies in modular manufacturing, where fabric-printed material interaction enables the creation of bio-inspired and biomimetic devices. The central part of this review summarizes the effect of the primary external stimuli on 4D textile materials, followed by the leading applications. Shape memory polymers attract current and potential opportunities in the textile industry to develop smart clothing for protection against extreme environments, auxiliary prostheses, smart splints or orthoses to assist the muscles in their medical recovery, and comfort devices. In the future, intelligent textiles will perform much more demanding roles, thus envisioning the application fields of 4D printing in the next decade.

NAAA-regulated lipid signaling in monocytes controls the induction of hyperalgesic priming in mice

Circulating monocytes participate in pain chronification but the molecular events that cause their deployment are unclear. Using a mouse model of hyperalgesic priming (HP), we show that monocytes enable progression to pain chronicity through a mechanism that requires transient activation of the hydrolase, N-acylethanolamine acid amidase (NAAA), and the consequent suppression of NAAA-regulated lipid signaling at peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α). Inhibiting NAAA in the 72 hours following administration of a priming stimulus prevented HP. This effect was phenocopied by NAAA deletion and depended on PPAR-α recruitment. Mice lacking NAAA in CD11b+ cells – monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils – were resistant to HP induction. Conversely, mice overexpressing NAAA or lacking PPAR-α in the same cells were constitutively primed. Depletion of monocytes, but not resident macrophages, generated mice that were refractory to HP. The results identify NAAA-regulated signaling in monocytes as a control node in the induction of HP and, potentially, the transition to pain chronicity.

The Effects of Low-Load Squat Jump and Maximal Isometric Priming Exercise on Muscular Performance and Perceptual State.

Harrison, PW, James, LP, Jenkins, DG, McGuigan, MR, Holmberg, PM, and Kelly, VG. The effects of low-load squat jump and maximal isometric priming exercise on muscular performance and perceptual state. J Strength Cond Res 38(1): 1-9, 2024-The aim of this study was to examine responses at 3 and 27 hours after low-load jump squat (LL) and maximal isometric half-squat (ISO) priming stimuli. Fifteen resistance-trained males performed LL (4 × 3 at 20% 1 repetition maximum [1RM]), ISO (4 × 3 seconds), and control (CON) activities (standardized warm-up) in a randomized and counterbalanced order. Countermovement jump (CMJ) and isometric midthigh pull tests were conducted to assess performance changes after priming and CON activities. No clear changes in CMJ measures were found after priming activities compared with CON. However, small effect size improvements were found after priming stimuli completed on the same day. A 2.9% decrease in concentric phase duration (CI = 0.3-5.9, p = 0.333, Cliff's delta = -0.156) and a 9.1% increase in RSImod (CI = 0.2-12.3, p = 0.151, Cliff's delta = -0.218) occurred at 3 hours after LL compared with CON. Braking phase duration (CI = 0.8-10.6, p = 0.333, Cliff's delta = -0.213) was 2.9% shorter at 3 hours after ISO compared with CON. No clear changes in isometric peak force occurred after priming activities compared with CON. Additionally, questionnaires were completed to assess perceptual state and perceived effectiveness of the priming stimulus to influence performance. An increase in the "effect of activity" was perceived at 3 hours after LL and ISO (p = 0.013-0.044, Cliff's delta = 0.578-0.6) and at 27 hours after ISO (p = 0.99, Cliff's delta = 0.173) compared with CON. An increase in "muscular heaviness" was also reported at 3 hours after ISO compared with CON (p = 0.199, Cliff's delta = 0.320). The collective findings suggest limited benefits over the day after LL and ISO priming stimuli. However, as there was substantial variation in individual responses, the relative nature of priming responses should be considered when prescribing similar strategies in practical environments.