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International audience; Cannabis exposure during the perinatal period results in varied and significant consequences in affected offspring. The prevalence of detrimental outcomes of perinatal cannabis exposure is likely to increase in tandem with the broadening of legalization and acceptance of the drug. As such, it is crucial to highlight the immediate and protracted consequences of cannabis exposure on pre-and post-natal development. Here, we identify lasting changes in neurons' learning flexibility (synaptic plasticity) and epigenetic misregulation in animal models of perinatal cannabinoid exposure (using synthetic cannabinoids or active components of the cannabis plant) in addition to significant alterations in social behavior and executive functions. These findings are supported by epidemiological data indicating similar behavioral outcomes throughout life in human offspring exposed to cannabis during pregnancy. Further, we indicate important lingering questions regarding accurate modeling of perinatal cannabis exposure as well as the need for sex-and agedependent outcome measures in future studies.

Background: Biological interpretation of genomic summary data such as those resulting from GWAS and eQTL studies is one of the major bottlenecks in medical genomics research, calling for efficient and integrative tools to resolve this problem. Results: We introduce eXploring Genomic Relations (XGR), an open source tool designed for precision interpretation of genomic summary data enabling downstream knowledge discovery. Targeting users of varying computational skills, XGR utilises prior biological knowledge and relationships in a highly integrated but easily accessible way to make user-input genomic summary datasets more interpretable. We show how by incorporating ontology, annotation, and systems biology network-driven approaches, XGR generates more informative results than conventional analyses. We apply XGR to genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) summary data to explore the genomic landscape of the activated innate immune response and common immunological diseases. We provide genomic evidence for a disease taxonomy supporting the concept of a disease spectrum from autoimmune to autoinflammatory disorders. We also show how XGR can define SNP modulated gene networks and pathways that are shared and distinct between diseases, how it achieves functional, phenotypic and epigenomic annotations of genes and variants, and how it enables exploring annotation-based relationships between genetic variants. Conclusions: XGR provides a single integrated solution to enhance interpretation of genomic summary data for downstream biological discovery. XGR is released as an R package and web-app, freely available at http://galahad.well.ox.ac.uk/XGR.

Glasgow Mathematical Journal, 56 (1) ISSN:1469-509X ISSN:0017-0895

January 1974: In the dark of the electron microscope room, Paola Bonfante started up and looked again at the greenish screen; she was indeed looking at a round body very similar to a bacterium. Unexpectedly, this faint body was inside the cytoplasm of a mycorrhizal symbiotic fungus, which was inside the root cells of a plant.

Background: The posterior fusiform gyrus lies in a surgically challenging region. Several approaches have been described to access this anatomical area. The paramedian supracerebellar transtentorial (SCTT) approach benefits from minimal disruption of normal neurovascular tissue. The aim of this study was to demonstrate its application to access the posterior fusiform gyrus. Methods: Three brains and six cadaveric heads were examined. A stepwise dissection of the SCTT approach to the posterior fusiform gyrus was performed. Local cortical anatomy was studied. The operability score was applied for comparative analysis on surgical anatomy. Results: The major posterior landmark used to identify the fusiform gyrus with respect to the medial occipitotemporal gyrus was the collateral sulcus, which commonly bifurcated at its caudal extent. Compared with other surgical approaches addressed to access the region, SCTT demonstrated the best operability in terms of maneuverability arc. Favorable tentorial anatomy is the only limiting factor. Conclusions: The supracerebellar transtentorial approach is able to provide access to the posterior fusiform gyrus via a minimally disruptive, anatomic, microsurgical corridor. © 2016, Springer-Verlag Wien.

The instanton partition functions of 5d super Yang–Mills are built using elements of the representation theory of quantum algebra: Gaiotto state, intertwiner, vertex operator. This algebra is also known under the names of Ding–Iohara–Miki and quantum toroidal algebra. Exploiting the explicit action of the algebra on the partition function, we prove the regularity of the 5d qq-characters. These characters provide a solution to the Schwinger–Dyson equations, and they can also be interpreted as a quantum version of the Seiberg–Witten curve.

Phragmites australis for sludge dewatering and stabilization processes have been widely proved. The presence of reeds, indeed, efficiently allows solids dewatering and organic matter stabilization in order to obtain a stabilised product that can be suitable for land application, even if its environmental impact has to be considered. The actual revision of the European Union's Working Document on Sludge (2000), in fact, seems to be addressed to detect two principal categories of pollutants in sludge for agricultural use: heavy metals and toxic organic compounds. In this study are presented results about sludge stabilization and monitoring of heavy metal fractionation and organic compounds in four urban wastewater treatment plants managed by Acque S.p.A., (Tuscany, Italy). To evaluate the process of sludge stabilization parameters were determined that highlight the biochemical and chemico-structural properties of sludge organic matter. The results showed that stabilization of the sludge over time occurred as shown by the low content of water soluble carbon and dehydrogenase activity, and by the re-synthesis of humic-like matter highlighted by the pyrolytic indices of mineralization and humification. Results about fractionation showed that heavy metals were retained in fractions related to the stabilized organic matter. Moreover, toxic organic compounds showed a drastic reduction at the end of the monitoring period.

Abstract More than half of all known proteins, and almost all membrane and extra-cellular proteins have oligosaccharide structures or glycans attached to them. Defects in glycosylation pathways are directly involved in at least 30 severe human diseases. A multiple center cross-sectional study (China, Croatia, and Scotland) was carried out to investigate the possible association between hypertension and IgG glycosylation. A hydrophilic interaction chromatography of fluorescently labeled glycans was used to analyze N-glycans attached to IgG in plasma samples from a total of 4757 individuals of Chinese Han, Croatian, and Scottish ethnicity. Five glycans (IgG with digalactosylated glycans) significantly differed in participants with prehypertension or hypertension compared to those with normal blood pressure, while additional 17 glycan traits were only significantly differed in participants with hypertension compared to those of normal blood pressure. These glycans were also significant correlated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The present study demonstrated for the 1st time an association between hypertension and IgG glycome composition. These findings suggest that the individual variation in N-glycosylation of IgG contributes to pathogenesis of hypertension, presumably via its effect on pro- and/or anti-inflammatory pathways. Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text