Project description:Since its discovery, the Chauvet cave elaborate artwork called into question our understanding of Palaeolithic art evolution and challenged traditional chronological benchmarks [Valladas H et al. (2001) Nature 413:419-479]. Chronological approaches revealing human presences in the cavity during the Aurignacian and the Gravettian are indeed still debated on the basis of stylistic criteria [Pettitt P (2008) J Hum Evol 55:908-917]. The presented (36)Cl Cosmic Ray Exposure ages demonstrate that the cliff overhanging the Chauvet cave has collapsed several times since 29 ka until the sealing of the cavity entrance prohibited access to the cave at least 21 ka ago. Remarkably agreeing with the radiocarbon dates of the human and animal occupancy, this study confirms that the Chauvet cave paintings are the oldest and the most elaborate ever discovered, challenging our current knowledge of human cognitive evolution.
Project description:Varicocelectomy is the most commonly performed surgical procedure for the treatment of male infertility. Although several different techniques for varicocele repair have been described in the literature, microsurgical varicocelectomy performed through a subinguinal or inguinal incision is recognized as the gold-standard approach for varicocelectomy, due to high success rates with minimal complications. Standard indications for varicocelectomy include palpable varicocele(s), with one or more abnormal semen parameters, and, for the couple trying to conceive, in the setting of normal or correctable female infertility. However, varicocele repair is often recommended and undertaken for reasons other than infertility, including low serum testosterone, testicular pain, testicular hypotrophy and poor sperm DNA quality. This article reviews the technical aspects of microsurgical varicocelectomy, and its indications in adults and adolescents.
Project description:Individuals tend to perceive the direction of light to come from above and slightly from the left; it has been speculated that this phenomenon is also producing similar lighting preferences within 2-dimensional artworks (e.g., paintings, advertisements). The purpose of the present study was to address if lighting bias was present in the 3-dimensional medium of sculpture by implementing a virtual art gallery lighting paradigm. Thirty-nine participants completed a computer task that consisted of 48 galleries each containing one sculpture (24 original sculptures, 24 mirror-reversed) which was surrounded by eight lights (above/below, left/right, front/back). Participants would select one light source to illuminate the sculpture in a manner they perceived to be the most aesthetically pleasing. The results indicated a significant preference for lights positioned from above and from the right, a finding that is contradictory to previous lighting bias research examining artworks. An interpretation for the rightward bias applies the perceptual concept of subjective lighting equality. Objects illuminated from the left typically appear brighter in comparison to right-side lighting; in sculpture, however, increased luminosity can reduce the sculptural detail, and may have been compensated via right-side lighting choices within the lighting task.
Project description:Microsurgical training is imperative for urologists and clinical andrologists specializing in male infertility. Success in male infertility microsurgery is heavily dependent on the surgeon's microsurgical skills. Laboratory-based practice to enhance microsurgical skills improves the surgeon's confidence, and reduces stress and operating time, benefiting both the patient and the surgeon. This review provides guidelines for setting up a microsurgical laboratory to develop and enhance microsurgical skills using synthetic and animal models. The role of emerging techniques, such as robotic-assisted microsurgery, is also discussed.
Project description:PICKLE (PKL) codes for a CHD3 chromatin remodeling factor that plays multiple roles in Arabidopsis growth and development. Previous analysis of the expression of genes that exhibit PKL-dependent regulation suggested that PKL acts during germination to repress expression of embryonic traits. In this study, we examined the expression of PKL protein to investigate when and where PKL acts to regulate development. A PKL:eGFP translational fusion is preferentially localized in the nucleus of cells, consistent with the proposed role for PKL as a chromatin remodeling factor. A steroid-inducible version of PKL [a fusion of PKL to the glucocorticoid receptor (PKL:GR)] was used to examine when PKL acts to repress expression of embryonic traits. We found that activation of PKL:GR during germination was sufficient to repress expression of embryonic traits in the primary roots of pkl seedlings, whereas activation of PKL:GR after germination had little effect. In contrast, we observed that PKL is required continuously after germination to repress expression of PHERES1, a type I MADS box gene that is normally expressed during early embryogenesis in wild-type plants. Thus, PKL acts at multiple points during development to regulate patterns of gene expression in Arabidopsis.
Project description:Gene Expression of muscle tissue during microsurgical free tissue transfer was basicly studied in animal models. There was found activation of inflammatory and apoptotic cascades and of genes regulating intracellular metabolism. We used microarrays to detail the programme of gene expression in human muscle tissue which is activated during this process.